DRAGOSTEA C.W

CHAPTER SEVEN

"How do you guys survive in this heat?!"

"Just me!" You called from the bathroom while washing your face.

"Where's Charlie?" Tonks called from what you assumed was the kitchen. "Still on that trip you wrote me about?" She answered her own question.

"Yeah!" You called back, drying your face before hurrying to the kitchen. "You really have got to stop apparating inside the house."

"You're not scared by it anymore, so no reason for me to stop," she grinned. "Can't apparate in front of the muggles either, can I?"

"Fair point," you sighed, before pointing to a hamper nearest to Tonks, "There's a bag of food in there, should suffice for you three for a month."

Tonks opened the hamper and took out the bag, skipping over to you to kiss you on the cheek, wrapping her arm around your shoulder. "You're the best."

"I know," you grinned back, reaching your hand up to ruffle her hair. "Purple suits you well."

"Of course, everything suits me," she said, making you chuckle. As you both quieted down, she squeezed your shoulder. "Do you know when Charlie will be back?"

You shook your head, shoulders slumping. "I haven't gotten a letter either, and it's been a month. Romeo said the leader of the group wrote to the reserve and said that everyone is fine, it's just some people got sick from the heat."

"Did they say who?" She asked. You shook your head. "Well, then I'm sure it's not Weasley. The man loves dragons too much to let heat beat him."

"It'll probably take until September, they said, at the worst."

"And the soonest?" She asked, trying to give you a positive look on it.

"August," you sighed. "Not that there's much of a difference. I mean, I thought work would keep me preoccupied but... "

"But?" Tonks urged, when you trailed off.

"Well, I don't think curse breaking is something I enjoy doing," you said.

Tonks opened her mouth to say something- probably that you were crazy, you were born to be a curse breaker- but she shut it. She lifted her arms off of your shoulders and leaned on the counter, nodding at you. "If it's not something you like, I'm sure you can find another job. It's not too late for you to ask to work somewhere else."

"I know, I've been searching. I haven't even been able to tell Charlie about it, because the reserve asked the families and friends of the people on the dragon chase to not write letters for a bit, in case the owls end up having horrible timing, and because they're trying to keep the fact that there's a loose dragon under wraps."

Tonks pat your back. "He's probably complaining about that. Hey, they might kick him off because of his complaints and he'll come early."

You laughed softly, bringing your head down. Then you remembered your predicament at work. "My boss found out I've been looking for other work and he's been cutting down my salary."

"No!" Tonks gasped, her hair turning a bright shade of red. "Tell me where the bastard lives, I'll"-

"You don't have to do anything," you cut her off. "It makes sense, they would do that with any other employee, so it's only fair."

"You're not any other employee," Tonks raged, her eyebrows knitted together. It was a bit self assuring, you weren't going to lie, having her get mad on your behalf. You'd told Romeo about it and all he'd said was, "That sucks."