♥️ 𝑅𝑜𝓃𝓀𝓈 ♥️

【Remus gets fond of a regular customer to the salon...】

(Muggle AU)

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"I've got an Appointment at 2 o clock?" She asked the red-headed girl at the desk, running a hand through her own hair the colour of bubblegum.

"Who's the hairdresser?" The redhead asked kindly, glancing down at the little computer.

"Erm, it should be Mary MacDonald?" She looked around the small hairdressers to find Mary was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh! So sorry miss but there's been a shift change! You should have received a call? I'm afraid you'll be in the capable hands of Remus today." The redhead smiled and gestured to the young man behind her.
"And I'm Lily by the way. I'm a hairdresser too."

She nodded, "I wondered where Hestia went."

"Hello?" The man who called himself Remus held out his hand awkwardly, blushing slightly.

"Tonks. Nice to meet you," Tonks grinned, shaking his hand and allowing him to lead her down to a chair on front of a mirror.

As she sat down she was stricken by the man's softly handsome features. His hair flopped over his head in textured waves of sandy brown and his eyes were pure honey. His cheeks were pinched and his smile was warm and comforting.

"So what are you looking for today?" Remus asked her as he laid a robe over her shoulders, covering her ripped denim jacket completely.

"Like a rose-gold? I've had this pink for too long." Tonks replied, studying him in the mirror she was placed in front of; she noticed how extremely tall he was that he nearly had to bend to get in the mirror's reflection.

"Sounds cool, do you want it cut?" Remus then asked, picking up her hair in a bundle and running his hands though it, like he was studying it.

"Yeah, only a little." She replied, trying to hold back the blush that was rising up her neck as he toyed with her hair.

Remus nodded and set off to mix the colour.

When he came back he set to work on her hair immediately. Sniping and spraying and soaking and everything in between, all the while keeping her giggling and chuckling at anecdotes of his boarding school days. In return she told him all about her and her best friend Charlie and the pranks they pulled across the public school.

They discovered that they had a mutual love for pranks and mischief, even if Remus was always the silent threat in his group of friends (or at least that's what he said). They also shared a love for reading, although they were interested in very different genres.
Conversation between the two seemed to flow much easier than it ever did with any other hairdresser, perhaps even better than her usual hairdresser Mary. And he was good at his job too. Once he was finished he swivelled her around to face the mirror so she could see her hair and it was evident to see he had done an admirable job. Her hair was still below shoulder length but now it was rose-gold-pink, catching the light and shining in an almost strawberry blonde manner.

"Whatcha think?" He asked, almost shyly the tips of his ears going only a few shades brighter than her current hair.

"Honestly? I absolutely love it! No offence to Mary but I might just change hairdresser!" She grinned at him from in the mirror, he smirked back and again blushed softly.

On her way out Tonks stalked over to Lily Evans with the confidence that a gorgeous new hairstyle gave you. She glanced at the row of piggy banks with the hairdressers names labelled on them for tips. Lily, Hestia, Remus, Mary (her usual hairdresser).

The redhead smiled at her knowingly, "are you going to schedule another appointment with your usual hairdresser?"

Tonks frowned, glancing up at Remus who was sweeping hair from the tiled floors.
"No, I'll... I'll leave it for now."

Lily nodded, and passed over the card reader so Tonks could pay, "thank you." She smiled, placing a five pound note into the piggy bank marker Remus.

He looked up and smiled at her gratefully, nodding at her as she made her way out.

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She was back sooner than she anticipated. Of course it was nothing to do with the hair- she loved the rose-gold but it seemed more to be the fact she rather wanted to visit the hairdressers again.

"Hello, Lily." Tonks grinned at the ginger woman across the room, cutting the hair of a middle aged woman while she rambled about her children.

This time Remus was at the desk, his mouth slightly open in surprise of seeing her again, especially after only four weeks. Tonks blushed at the realisation he remembered her.

"Hey Remus. I've got an appointment, I'm a little late though," she explained as Remus rifled through the book of schedules.
"Yeah, you're with me again."

Tonks couldn't help but smile, "perfect."

He lead her down to the same chair she was in four weeks ago and once again pulled her hair out from its place in her jacket while he placed a cloak over her shoulders.
"What colour this time then? Assuming that's what you want?"

She smiled as he ran his fingers through her hair, "yeah. I was thinking of a lilac maybe?" She offered, as if it was up for brainstorming.

"Lilac? Sounds nice, the look for anyone in particular?"

Tonks stopped herself from laughing, "oh no! Not so all! Just my own benefit!"

Remus did his best to look nonchalant over his cover of happiness, "okay then, I'll... I'll fetch the colours!"

Not half an hour later Remus and Tonks we're sitting together, waiting for the little machine wheeled over to dry her head to finish its job. Remus has taken a seat in the space next to her that was unoccupied by a client.

"I can't believe you've not read To Kill A Mockingbird!" He cried at her. For some reason or another their topic of conversation had veered to books. Tonks was never one for reading but when she did it was contemporary mystery or modern topical books that she opted for, she wasn't a classical girl.
"Harper Lee is one of the most influential authors of all time!"

Tonks shook her head, "if you want a book on race injustice then you should read Noughts and Crosses! Malorie Blackman is the real topical hero, and she's still alive!"

"You see that's where you're wrong. All the best books come from the classics, there's no joy in new books, they're too this-and-that; they don't have the same guaranteed greatness about them!"

She giggled mirthfully and looked up from her phone to watch his amber eyes flare with passion, "Agatha Christie, Harper Lee, Virginia Woolf- they're all your typical writers of the twentieth century. Or even further back you've got Dickens, Twain, Brontë, Austen, Wilde; the real, authentic, old-school writers that influenced literature as a whole!" Remus was in full swing now, enjoying the argument completely.

"What did you say you study and Uni again?"

"Classics."

"Figures."

Remus chuckled, "you see my point though?"

"Of course I do!" Tonks grinned, "but you don't see mine! Hear me out! Margaret Atwood, Malorie Blackman, Stephen King, Anne Taylor! They're changing literature for the better, what about Sophie Hannah? She's the next Agatha Christie if you ask me. Or James Patterson? Or Karen Slaughter? I'm not saying we should forget about the classics or that we shouldn't read them; I'm saying that we need to make way for good new authors and give them a chance to make their own classics!"

Remus considered this for a while.
"You put forward a fine case, I'll give you that but you can't convince me just yet. And for the record I am a very big fan of Margaret Atwood so don't tempt me with modern classics."

The conversation was drawn to a close when Remus disappeared to collect a hairdryer from the back room.

"Oh by they way, you never told me what you study in your uni?" Remus inquired as he washed the remaining dye out her hair.

"Oh I study forensics. I want to work for the CID when I graduate."

"Really? My mate James is studying forensic psychology! Sirius is in genetic biology. Me and Peter are the more English-y brains- Peter does Art History."

"Hmm, what uni? I might know your James guy?" Tonks frowned, trying to remember a James in any lectures.

"He's in UCL- same as me and Sirius. Peter's in UWL- said he didn't want to mix with the middle class bastards that come with UCL."

Tonks sucked in through her teeth, "that's a hard Uni to get into! You guys must be good?"

Remus blushed slightly pink, "I don't want to sound vain."

"You wouldn't, I'm impressed."

"Thank you."

It only took Remus fifteen minutes after that to finish her hair- and it looked gorgeous as always.

"Thank you, Remus- you're a star honestly!" Tonks grinned, fluffing up her hair in the mirror.

"You look great." Remus replied with another blush which she returned at his praise.

On the way out she handed Lily her card to pay for the cut.
"Thank you, Lily."

"You look beautiful. You've left Remus babbling like an idiot!" The hairdresser hissed with a laugh as Tonks looked over to see him holding his phone on front of him, but he wasn't looking at it- he was staring into space instead.

"Hmm. Thank you anyway." She smiled, taking another five pound note and slipping it into the little ceramic piggy-bank marked Remus.

He grinned at her with gratitude as she left, feeling way too warm on the inside for a cold day in March.

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She was back much sooner than expected. This time with a book in hand.

"Appointment for Nymphadora Tonks please? Cut and colour?"

Lily Evans scurried over to the desk and offered Tonks a warm smile, "back so soon?"

"I've got a wedding to go to. My best friend's brother is getting married and my hair doesn't agree with any dress I want to wear!" She explained, Lily nodded while clicking a few aimless things on the computer in front of her.

"I feel you there. Redheads can only wear so many colours."

Tonks nodded, "I can see that."

"Anyway, Remus should be ready for you now," Lily stole a look around, unless he's in the back room?" Low and behold Remus was no where to be seen.
"I'll just go and grab him, take a seat, anywhere you like, get comfy."

So as Lily went to fetch her hairdresser, Tonks sat in her usual seat and waited patiently, staring at the book in her hands.

"Hello stranger!" Came the smiling voice.

"Hello again, Remus. I brought you a present!" She handed him the book in her hand with a small blush.

"Normal People by Sally Rooney?" Remus read, frowning at the cover.

"One is my current favourites. I thought it might begin to change your mind on contemporary books?"

He smirked, "it's funny you should say that because I've got something similar for you. It's what I was doing in he back room, I put it here about a week ago so the next time you came by I could give it to you." Remus produced a more worn out book from behind his back and handed it to Tonks.

"The Great Gatsby?!"

"One of the classics, as requested." He replied with a smirk.

"I shall cherish it forever."

Remus smiled as he draped the cloak over Tonks' shoulders and pulled out her hair.
"So what colour is it this time?"

"Well I'm going to a wedding and my dress is navy blue so I was thinking maybe I could go silver or a silvery-blue? Whatcha think?"

"Sounds beautiful. I'll be right back." Remus scurried away, leaving Tonks blushing furiously.

They talked about everything and nothing as he worked on her hair, they gossiped about their friends and colleagues and they debated political issues like a married couple.
By the time he was finished Tonks wasn't ready to leave.

But inevitably she got bored of the colour and returned less than a month later, bearing another novel (this time it was Elenor Oliphant is Completely Fine). She also received a copy of Pride and Prejudice and electric blue hair.
And yet again on her way out she placed a five pound note in the piggy-bank marked Remus.

The next time it was The Lie Tree she brought, in return Remus gave her Little Women and a more natural bleach blonde hair. Again, he received the routine fiver in his piggy-bank.
Not three weeks later Tonks arrived with American Gods and left with ebony black hair and Wuthering Heights. Then it was Private Peaceful in exchange for A Tale of Two Cities and caramel hair, once again a five pound note found its way into Remus' piggy-bank.

One day this all changed...

It started off as routinely as it had been for the past nine months. Tonks brought in The Hate U Give with the hopes of getting her hair turned a salted caramel ginger. As well as her wish she was given Treasure Island from her handsome hairdresser.

They talked about the last books they gifted each other and how they differed so widely and everything seemed to be going fine until Tonks spied her old hairdresser Mary MacDonald She smiled at her and she brunette came bounding over.

"Hello Tonks! How are you keeping?" She grinned merrily before turning to Remus and patting him on the back.
"How did the date go I set you up with?"

Tonks felt her heart drop in her chest. It wasn't as if they were dating or anything but it still made her squirm with unfamiliar jealousy when Mary asked Remus the question.

"It was a nightmare. Total car crash. She barley knew anything about anything if I'm honest. I'd much prefer someone who could actually challenge my opinions."
He shot Tonks a short glance which Mary seemed to catch, she smirked at him and patted his back once again.

"I see." Then she was gone.

It was that pang of jealously that made Tonks decide to break their cozy routine of books, debates and fivers.

So once Remus swivelled a now ginger Tonks out of her chair she made her way to the counter to speak with Lily.

"I must say I approve of this new look. Ginger is a very wise choice."

Tonks grinned politely before taking a glance over at Remus to see him disappear into the back room.
"Do you have any scrap paper, please?" She asked Lily.

She nodded and handed her a slip with a confused frown. Tonks didn't address the unasked question; instead she scrawled onto the sheet before folding it up and slipping it into the piggy-bank marked Remus.

"Thank you for the paper." She smiled before stalking off, filled with the new-hair-confidence that fills any women once they leave the hair salon with a complete new style...

It wasn't until closing time that Remus noticed the inconsistency in his and Tonks' usual cut and colour routine:

He was left to lock up the salon after a long day jam packed with clients. As he usually did, Remus emptied his ceramic piggy-bank, he tended to use the money to head to the bookstore in search of a new classic. Pound coins and five pound notes fell out one after the other but not one from Tonks (he knew this because she had always made a point of folding it three times lengthways exactly). That was until he saw a piece of scrap paper tumble out the piggy-bank, folded three times lengthways.

He opened it with trepidation. In the top corner was eleven numbers, followed by a message in rounded handwriting...

If you ever want a date that will challenge your opinions then call me :)
Love Tonks
(a.k.a. the modern classics enthusiast) xoxo
P.s. What would you say if I told you I'm thinking of going back to pink? ;)

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I'm quite fond of Ronks despite being a wolfstar shipper so this oneshot is for all my peeps who guiltily ship this little pairing (: