I don't own any of these characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling. Such a lucky woman.

A/N: There's A HELL OF A LOT of place, date, time changes that go on in this chapter. Just read each heading thoroughly and you should be fine. I think… (I checked all the headings like 3 times over, but knowing me, I'll have missed one and it'll be something completely different than what's relevant.) Sorry if I mussed anything up. Just tell me and I'll change it later. Happy reading!

ooooooooooooo

Ω 12 Grimmauld Place. Before the day that certain members of the Order pick up Harry Potter from the Dursleys. 4 o'clock in the afternoon, otherwise known as teatime. Ω

"Tonks, would you be a dear and get the kettle off of the stove?" Molly asked loudly from the edge of the sink; she was preparing potatoes for dinner later that night.

"Sure thing, Molly," Tonks replied and she walked jauntily over to the stove, flicking her wand and letting it dance its way through the air and onto the hotplate sitting on the table. The lemon-shaped tea-cozy instantaneously found itself flying through the air and onto the kettle, snuggling down and hugging it closely.

Molly didn't look over her shoulder before asking, "Did you put the tea into the pot, dear?"

Tonks stared at her wide-eyed, wondering how she could tell such things. 'Well… having a million children might be why she's so keen on everything…' she grinned to herself before stepping over to the pantry. On her way, she bumped into a tall man reading a newspaper as he walked into the kitchen. "Oof! Sirius! Watch where you're going, will you, please?"

He brought the newspaper down and grinned at her insolently, his teeth sparkling as he did so, "Sure thing, Tonks." And he lifted the paper back up and walked blindly over to the table, sitting down. "Molly? Are you two having tea?" Sirius asked, still not glancing up from The Daily Prophet.

"We sure are, dear. Do you want to join us?"

"I'd love to," he grinned again, and though no one could see it, all in the room could tell he was.

"Sirius? Is there anyone else that might want some tea? Or biscuits? They're baking in the oven… if you could just go over and pop them onto a plate, that'd be nice…" Molly enjoyed having a little kitchen army that would do what she wanted at her beck and call. It was a nice change from being at the Burrow where her children would groan and complain all through the tasks she gave them.

Sirius folded the newspaper and walked over the oven, magicking the little cookies out of the oven and getting a gold plate from a nearby cupboard to present them on. "MOONY!" he yelled suddenly, closing the oven door with a kick.

"Padfoot! What?" came the soft cry from another room far off in the house.

"THERE'S TEA – DO YOU WANT SOME? …BISCUITS TOO!"

By the time Sirius had finished yelling, Remus stood in the doorway, about to lean on an elbow against the doorframe. It took a moment before he saw Tonks rummaging about in the pantry for some tea and he misplaced his elbow, slipping a little on the doorjamb and eliciting a bark-like laugh from his friend.

"Smooth, Reems." Sirius smiled at him.

Remus rolled his eyes and pushed himself out of the door and walked in, "Hello Molly," he paused a moment, looking at Tonks' back, still looking for tea, "Hi Tonks," he said a little softer before standing close to Sirius, bringing himself nose to nose with him, "Hey."

The two glared at each other, locked into some sort of odd staring game before Remus blinked, his eyes becoming extremely dry, and Sirius sat down triumphantly. "Got you Remus."

"This time… but let's not forget the last four times that you lost…" Remus quirked an eyebrow at Sirius, as he was now self-satisfied with his biting reply.

Sirius rolled his eyes and hit the newspaper playfully at Remus.

The werewolf ignored the swipe and said politely, "These cookies look marvelous, Molly…"

Everyone could tell that Mrs. Weasley was gushing like she always did with any compliment on her cooking. "They're coconut macaroons, Remus. And thank you. Took me all of what? Hm… almost 2 hours."

A snort came from the pantry.

"What?" the elder woman snapped.

"Took you like half an hour!" Tonks giggled as she emerged from the pantry, successful in her hunt for some tea. The tea cozy found itself sliding off of the pot as Tonks stood over it and let the little bags steep inside.

Both men stifled their laughter as Molly told Tonks off about how preparation and cleaning and finding ingredients were always counted as part of the time it took to make something. Tonks let one of her hands snake behind her back and imitate someone blabbing on and on and on as Molly berated her lightheartedly, and Remus and Sirius found it harder to stay quiet.

"And if you can't find the recipe then of course—what are you doing! Don't think I don't know what you're doing!"

Tonks turned around and put on a sarcastic-oh-darn-am-I-in-trouble face for the boys, looking at each of them. When she focused on Remus, she subconsciously found herself lingering just a little bit before turning back to Mrs. Weasley and taking the rest of the good-natured, verbal beating. "—Of course you've got to look for it all over and it could sometimes take up to half an hour! I know… it's rough, Molly. A really rough job…" Tonks condescended sweetly.

Molly put down her potato and let it float in the air, peeling and washing itself. "All right. Enough of that. Let's eat." And she sat down at the table, opposite Sirius, leaving the other space for Tonks to eat across from Remus.

Tonks wondered if she had meant to do that, but didn't say anything or have any looks to give her thoughts away. Instead, she reached for a biscuit and tipped a cup over onto a saucer, "Bugger…" she muttered.

"Oh, no harm done, dear, it's empty," Molly said soothingly as she righted the cup and saucer, pouring some tea into it, giving it to Tonks and reaching for another set to pour some tea for someone else.

The rest of tea went rather uneventfully, full of Molly talking more about finding recipes and choosing the right ones and sticking with them, no matter how wrong they seemed to be, because they would always turn out wonderfully in the end.

Remus felt he was reading into it a bit much, but he could have sworn that Molly was lecturing both he and Tonks and hardly paying any attention to Sirius at all. Though what they had to do with recipes seemed to be over his head. He blinked a few times and munched timidly on a cookie, looking intently at Mrs. Weasley, trying not to ignore her outrightly.

Sirius tried not to smirk at Molly's rather unguarded attempt to talk to Remus and Tonks about their little… well… Sirius didn't quite know what, but there was definitely something going on with them. Every other time they saw each other, they ended up doing stupidly klutzy things or acting too stiffly or any number of other things. Besides, Sirius knew something was up with Remus. He hadn't seen him act this way in a long time. Granted, he hadn't seen him for a twelve-year stretch, but still… There was something different about the old rascal, and Sirius was determined to find out what. He swirled his cup and let the dregs settle to the bottom of the greenish liquid, "Right then… Um, Remus? Can you help me with something up in my room? There's this thing—"

Remus looked up from his own tea dregs, seeing some odd formation that meant something or other… he didn't really care for tea reading anyways though. "Hm? Okay, let's uh—let's go then, if that's all right with you two," he looked at Tonks and Molly. "Oh wait… do you need help cleaning up? We can stay if need be."

Sirius wanted to smack him on the head as he stood up from the table, "You're both fine, aren't you? I'm sure it won't take more than five minutes. It's only a few tea dishes…"

Molly nodded. "You two can go now."

Remus smiled, getting up after Sirius, "All right, thanks. The tea was lovely, by the way," he looked at Tonks, half-smiling as he spoke to her about the tea, but both Molly and Sirius were convinced it was something more than tea.

As soon as they heard the distinct sound of footsteps traveling up the stairs, Molly turned to Tonks with a sort of zing that was reminiscent of girls twittering about at sleepovers. "So dear? What are you two little lovebirds up to?"

Tonks' head whipped around, trying to conjure up a confused look, "I've got no idea what you're talking about…"

Ω 12 Grimmauld Place; Sirius' room. The same day. A few minutes later. Ω

Sirius lunged towards his bed and leapt onto it, making it creak madly as he rode the bouncy shockwaves the mattress had. He laid back, his arms resting behind his head and his legs crossed at the ankle.

"You know Padfoot, you still act like we're in the fifth year…"

Sirius gave him a reproachful look, "Oh really? Look who's still playing that staring game and bragging about winning!"

Remus raised his brows, "I wasn't the only one bragging! If you'd have won those four times in a row, you'd be just as smug if not smugger."

"So?" Sirius retorted, shrugging awkwardly with his hands still behind his head.

Remus rolled his eyes again and plopped down onto the bed next to his friend, leaning against the bedpost, one knee was cocked and brought up to his chest and the other leg was dangling off of the bed. "Anyways," he said, trying to get the subject off of their insanely boyish behavior.

Sirius found a segue into the topic that he was sure Molly was pressing upon Tonks downstairs at this very moment. A very bad segue, but one nonetheless. Nonchalantly, he said, "But I see you're taking a long time to win at some other game you're playing…"

Remus stared at him, wide-eyed, "What the hell're you talking about Padfoot?"

Ω 12 Grimmauld Place; the kitchen. The same day. Simultaneously or a few minutes later... whatever. Ω

Molly felt that she had nearly broken her victim. Just a few more pokes and prods and Tonks would be singing like a lark. Or that's at least what Mrs. Weasley had hoped to accomplish. "Come now dearie, it's not as if I'll be telling anyone. Your secret will be absolutely safe with me…" she told Tonks, her voice sickeningly sweet, like the caramel on a candied apple, oozing with coercion.

Ω 12 Grimmauld Place; Sirius' bedroom. That very same day. A few minutes later than the other few minutes ago… Ω

"Come on man… you remember that one bird… um… what was her name? Named after some Muggle literary something or other… When we were in the 6th year? Remember?" Sirius had sat up and had a look on his face as if he was about to find a huge vat of gold; his lips were curled into a sly smirk and his eyes had a glint in them reminiscent of what he looked like in his Animagus form.

"Rosalind," Remus muttered.

"Who?"

"Rosalind…" he repeated, rolling his eyes, "That was a fucking disaster. Why're you bringing it up?"

Sirius pointed a finger at Remus, getting a little closer, "Well, you remember how you were with her at first?" He was getting excited now… maybe a little bit too excited. He sat back a bit, trying to play everything coolly.

Remus ignored the question and arched an eyebrow in inquisition. "I know that antsy sort of movement. What do you want? Your eyes have something secret written all over them." He narrowed his eyes as if trying to peer down into Sirius and find out what he was fishing for.

"Just tell me what it was like for you at first with her." Sirius had started to use his hands and gesticulate what he was trying to get at, as if using more body parts might lure Remus into giving in and biting the bait.

"It was lovely," was all Remus said; he was somewhat annoyed at Sirius and his stupid little game… and where was that thing that needed to be helped with?

"Right. And I'm getting those vibes I got back then again—"

Remus cut him off, "What? Like you want to have something that you can't have? That your best friend has, but you don't have so now you have to go and outdo him? Hmmm?" He looked very smug with his assumption. It wasn't pleasant that 6th year when Sirius had first gone after his girlfriend, but found there was no way that he was going to get her – so he went onto some other girl and her friend. Looking back on it, Remus could have laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of it all, but back then it was quite a big deal. A big enough deal for the entire house to be gossiping about it, and Remus had to admit that it wasn't so bad to be in the limelight for a little while – but only for a little while.

Sirius put on an expression of mock astonishment, and sounded more than a little like an old woman as he spoke, "I would never!"

Remus chuckled, "Right – then out with it you old dog. What is it?"

"I was saying," he paused for dramatic effect, "that I was getting those vibes back. Like… you've actually got something that you're happy about. Or somewhat happy, I guess… It's hard to tell these days when you're always off in some other room when a certain someone else is in the room that I'm in…"

Blinking, Remus scrambled to find words to shoo Sirius off of the subject, but he couldn't think of anything to say. 'Am I being that painfully obvious?' he thought dreadfully to himself. He almost smacked a hand to his head in frustration, but thought not to. His stunned silence wasn't sounding reassuring to himself and he was sure that hitting himself would be the cherry on top of the Remus-can't-control-himself sundae.

"Ahhhh," Sirius looked incredibly smug, "So it seems that I've hit a nerve? Perhaps I would be able to guess who this lucky lady is?" The smirk had extended to all of his features, making him quite animalistic in the way that he had cornered Remus. It was as if he were a puma cornering a shrew between certain death by jaws and certain death by falling off a cliff… not an encouraging thought for Remus.

"You're full of it and you're full of yourself. I have no clue what you're talking about," Remus said quickly, futilely trying to veer Sirius off of the topic. If Sirius knew that he had a… a… what? A… thing. Yes, that's what he would call it. A thing for Tonks… to whom he was related… well… what would happen? 'He would probably rub it in every chance he got,' Remus thought acrimoniously.

"Is it… Mrs. Weasley?" Sirius barked out, very blatantly joking.

"Dreadfully in love with her. How did you guess?" Remus' voice was monotonously dripping with acidic sarcasm.

Sirius clapped his hands together loudly, "Ha! So that's it! You're in love with someone!"

Remus was very still for a second, blinking very fast. "No," was his reply," I was merely replying to your insane accusation. Which… by the way is very… erm…not true." 'God,' he thought, 'I sound like a blithering idiot.'

"Maybe not a lady then? Don't tell me you've fallen for Mundungus!"

He could only glare at Sirius with a look of utmost disgust etched across his handsome features.

"Right then… not Fletcher…" Sirius faked a gasp, "Dear sweet Merlin… it's not Kreacher is it!"

Remus let out a loud snort – the thought was so unexpected and so implausible… His snort turned into a chuckle, which morphed into laughter to the point of him doubling over.

Sirius had thought that would lighten the mood a bit and found that he, himself, was caught in laughter's extremely funny and seemingly-never-ending grip.

Ω 12 Grimmauld Place; the kitchen. The same day. More than a few minutes later… Ω

"So how much do you like him?" Molly could taste victory as she ignored that little voice in the back of her head saying that she shouldn't be doing things like this… How could she pass up such an opportunity? Ginny never really told her anything about boys and Tonks was almost turning into a second daughter for her. And being a child of Molly Weasley's meant that you had certain obligations to fill… and if they weren't filled willingly, they were filled unwillingly… or unwittingly.

"I—I don't know what you're going on about. We've been through this like… six times, Molly!" Tonks let out an exasperated sigh, still swirling the, now cold, remnants of her tea.

Molly patronized her, "Mmm… Of course you don't…"

Ω 12 Grimmauld Place; Sirius' bedroom. The same day. After much laughter and many dirty jokes and inferences on a somewhat dusty old bed… Ω

Their laughter having subsided a little after the last joke about a filthy (of both mind and body) house elf and an overly-drunken pretty barmaid, Sirius thought it would be apt for him to start prodding at Remus again, "So when did you start your thing for Tonks?"

Remus choked on a hiccup of laughter, "What? Seriously man… I uh… um…"

Sirius gave him a knowing look, "No… I'm going to 'seriously' you. I know I was faking about knowing before, but honestly… it's brutally obvious that you two have something going on… It's just that no one really knows what yet though…" His voice had settled down and was low – almost a growl.

"Fuck. You're serious that it's that … out in the open?" he whispered, as if someone was pressing a glass against the door. Remus looked worried, he couldn't stand to think that Tonks knew what he still felt for her…

"Yeah Moony. I am."

Remus ran a hand through his ashen-brown hair nervously, "Shit," he exclaimed to himself. "Does she know?"

"No. I don't think so… The way it looks is like you two think that you're the only ones in the know about it and therefore you do some pretty noticeable things with each other sometimes. I saw how you were looking at her ass when she was in the pantry earlier…" Sirius smirked again, chuckling softly.

He opened his mouth and closed it again several times, again at a loss of what to say. "You—you saw that!"

"I think Molly saw it and she was messing with potatoes. You two just give off this… aura or something and if I didn't know better, I'd say you two've done something together. Am I not right?"

Remus debated whether or not to cave in, but found that it was a losing battle either way. First, he could tell Sirius – but that meant that Sirius had wheedled all the information out of him… but if he didn't talk – that meant that Sirius would not stop pestering him about it until he did say something… 'Fuck,' he thought to himself dejectedly, 'Here goes my credibility for keeping secrets… my own secrets at that…' He ran his tongue across his teeth a couple of times before consenting softly, "Yeah."

Sirius punched him friendlily on the arm, "Ooooo! Moony's getting some moonlight action!"

Remus rolled his eyes and once again thought back to what he had said earlier – they still acted like they were in the fifth year… "It was only one time… and that was like… I don't know. Like… a year ago? I think… Hm…" he trailed off, concentrating far to much on the inane details – like the date.

"A year ago! A year! What? Are you kidding me? You didn't say anything about it. Not a fucking word. What the hell is that?" he seemed genuinely shocked that his best friend in the world had kept such a secret from him.

"I—tch—I don't know. I just… it… It went really badly and I didn't want to bring it up. Ever. But… seeing as how that plan is shot to hell…" Remus could feel the guilt welling up inside of him, knowing how much Sirius would have liked to have been there. And he could have been there for him – he wasn't locked up in a horrendous prison anymore; that was the thing that he could tell stung Sirius so much.

Sirius didn't say anything, instead opting to run his hand through his raven-black hair, mulling over what had just come out. He supposed that he could see where Remus was coming from and he could tell that deep, deep down – somewhere inside of himself, he could empathize with the werewolf.

Remus couldn't tell what was going through that somehow perpetually mysteriously brooding head of Sirius' and feared the worst. It wasn't all that big of a deal in some aspects, but in others it was. It was a matter of trust between the two friends. There were just certain things that weren't kept secret and the fact that he had just done so meant that there was a violation of some unwritten rule somewhere in the contract of their friendship. "Listen, Padfoot… I'm sorry I didn't—"

He turned to the more fair-hair inclined and said very seriously, "There's only one thing that will make this all just a jolly story that we joke about in the very near future."

"Hmm?"

That devilish smile edged its way onto his face, "Tell me all about it."

Remus could only chuckle a little at this reply.

Ω 12 Grimmauld Place; the kitchen. The same day. After a certain someone swirls her tea dregs into nothing more than a murky, powdery sort of substance at the bottom of her cup. Ω

"Fine Molly! Sweet Merlin… I can't believe the lengths that you're going to… trying to eke this out of me…" Tonks set down her tea cup with a bit more force than she'd have liked and ended up with the odd concoction her tea had turned into being sploshed onto her hand and the saucer. She wiped it off irritably as she muttered, " 't's Remus."

Molly grinned. She had done it and victory was sweet. She blinked for a moment, still a bit taken aback at the rather overbearing sorts of thoughts that were scampering about in her head – no matter… there were bigger things to think about now… "Oh, I know it's him."

Tonks was utterly shocked and her jaw dropped a bit as she turned towards Mrs. Weasley. "You—you knew! How? What? Are you… no… were we that conspicuous about it?"

All Molly could do was nod and smile; it was rather funny really, seeing Tonks figure things out for herself. "Oh… Do tell then… since we both know now…"

"Oh man…" Tonks murmured dismally.

Ω 12 Grimmauld Place; Sirius' bedroom. The same day. After a certain someone divulges the not-so-graphic-and-somewhat-self-glorifying-details of a certain day that was… a year ago, was it? Hm… Ω

"No fucking way, man… That's amazing…" Sirius was in disbelief as to just how Remus won Tonks over… or was it the other way around? Either way… it sounded like they fit each other perfectly – Tonks was the bit of spunky, edgy yang to counterbalance Remus' cool and collected yin. Sirius found himself a bit like the sixth year Padfoot and exactly how Remus had put it earlier – wanting what he couldn't have. Of course he didn't want Tonks per se – no, that would be wrong on so many levels… but to have something like that, what Remus had, when all he, himself, had had were flings… Sirius almost felt empty inside. Almost.

"Wait – I haven't even finished telling you… See, after that, then things went to hell…" Remus' voice hinted at the fact that he was flustered beyond belief. He hadn't divulged the details of his love life to anyone since… well… a long time. And now that he had just done so, it felt weird – not to mention he was going to mention the fight that mussed up things… the fight that he had started.

Ω 12 Grimmauld Place; the kitchen. The same day. After a certain someone leaves out many-a-detail in the telling of a certain one-day had a year ago, feeling weird about talking to a motherly figure like that. Ω

"Well, I guess then you could say that since we were both feeling the same way… we sort of… Um. You know…" Tonks had a very bright red flush that had set into her cheeks and she couldn't make eye contact with Mrs. Weasley – and hadn't for the last five minutes. Granted, she was only talking about them having ice cream together, but all the while, she knew what was coming up. The best way to deal with it seemed to be to use a 4th year mentality about the whole ordeal and just skirt around it as fast as possible and then forget about it. "Yeah," she started again quickly, "and then we had this fight… almost right after. Well… not right after… you know," she whispered the last couple words with such hurry that she wasn't even sure that they came out as their respective words at all – or if they even made sense. "But yeah. So then we had this—this fight."

Molly nodded, looking very much like an in-person Annie Flanders or someone or other she had read about in some Muggle magazine while in King's Cross a little while back. She didn't want to say anything about that incident though, as this Flanders person was talking about nearly the same issue – instead, Molly occupied herself with trying to remember what Flanders had written and trying to reword it to relay to Tonks. "A fight you say…?"

"Yeah. It was stupid, really," Tonks shrugged a little.

Ω 12 Grimmauld Place; Sirius' bedroom. The same day. After there's a bit more self-glorification that has gone on in the event of talking about a certain altercation. Ω

"You di—wha? Shit. What the hell?" Sirius sat up, appalled at how Remus had acted after… well… you know. "Why on Merlin's green earth would you berate some chick right after you've shagged her? What is that?"

Remus couldn't even find the strength in himself to follow Sirius and get up too. He lay there, an elbow bent behind his head as he did a sort of half-shrug. "I have no fucking clue. I feel like I was on those um… what were they? Fourth year? Remember? That um…"

Sirius let out a snort, "Tchyeah… god… it was um… Woah. That was a long time ago – I'd forgotten till now. Let's see… weren't they something to do with the merpeople?"

Remus laughed a little, "Yeah – it was that time we snuck out of the castle and there was that mermaid on the rock, really staged looking, and then she started hitting on you?"

Sirius smacked a hand to his forehead, "Merlin. I'd totally forgotten her. You know… having the wrath of the entire merpeople population of the lake is not fun… Holy shit… but that was some good stuff she gave us…"

Remus rolled his eyes, "Yeah, if you count the whole… you, me, and James being stuck in the hospital wing for the next day. Really fun."

Suddenly coming to and remembering the topic at hand, Sirius turned to Remus and asked, "So… what next?"

"Well," Remus swallowed, "I couldn't tell you what she did. But I know what I did. I felt like such a bleeding idiot…"

"You were a bleeding idiot…"

"Shut the hell up."

Ω A sub-alley of Diagon Alley between a stationery shop and a broom repairing station. The same day (nearly 1 year ago to the time when before the Order went to go and pick up Harry). Nearly 15 minutes after Remus has left Tonks' flat. Ω

Remus had spent the quarter of an hour, walking briskly down the street, which he noted was much less crowded than earlier in the afternoon. 'The afternoon. Fuck. The afternoon. Fuck," he glowered, thinking to himself.

He took a breath, trying to clear his head. It was no use. He had been trying to do so for the last fifteen minutes and found that it was impossible. Remus only wanted to go blank for a moment so that he could get home – then he could think and over-analyze and bitch and do whatever he wanted. He took another breath. This was the fourth alley that he had walked into and suddenly realized with a sinking feeling that if he didn't focus soon, he would keep walking and walk into Knockturn Alley. Not a place he wanted to visit this evening.

The thought seemed to help and he stood up, focusing his mind's eye on the dusty little street corner by his flat. There it was: the flickering lamppost with the bad light, the overgrown grass right by the base of the lamppost, the cracked street curb…

With a slight popping noise, he was there, his shoe crushing some of the overgrown grass. Remus paused a moment before continuing down the street, happy he hadn't misplaced an eyebrow or an earlobe when he'd apparated. 'Well, it's not like I've ever had any trouble with it…' he thought scathingly, as if he needed to impress the fact upon himself. His heels clicked ever so slightly on the street as he headed off to his flat. It was a five-minute walk to the rickety old building. He stood outside it for a moment, subconsciously comparing it to Tonks' flat complex.

The building had a brick façade made of a deeply hued red brick… well… red bricks and tan bricks and brownish bricks… every color of brick imaginable. The assortment of hues gave the building a mottled and rather unattractive appearance. Behind that nasty mosaic of brick, there was only a thin sort of layer of wood separating the inhabitants of 4 Brebury Lane from the outside. There was a charm protecting the wood as well, but no one had bothered to check the date on which it was cast or how well it actually was holding up. Everyone just agreed to not muss it up and live like they actually had a decent flat.

Remus swung open the door, stepped into the meager foyer and started up the 5 flights of stairs to his flat. Walking that far was usually therapeutic for him, it helped him sort out his thoughts, what had happened during the day. Tonight, it proved to be more detrimental than helpful. He almost wanted to just stop on one of the flights and sit… maybe roll himself down the stairs he had just climbed… But he ventured onward to the top floor and tapped a brassy doorknob with his wand, muttering a charm before stepping into his room.

That was all it was. A room. The cheapest flat he was able to get without being 40 miles out of London. 'It's not even a flat,' he thought to himself when he first saw it, 'it's a fucking studio and I'm paying everything for it…' Despite appearances, he was incredibly grateful to the landlord for letting him stay. It stung so much having to put 'werewolf' on the applications that he signed for different places, but here it didn't seem to bother the reclusive old woman too much. She just needed to let the place out to someone so that she wouldn't have to work.

His room couldn't have been more than twelve by fifteen square feet, and within it, he packed his bed, a stovetop, a fridge, a tiny closet, a desk, a chair, a nightstand, and a rather sorry-looking bookshelf. He wove his way into it, closing the door behind him and muttered another charm to keep people out and from bothering him.

Remus kicked off his shoes by the door tiredly and unclasped his robes before throwing them onto the desk-stool on the opposite side of the room. He slumped into his bed, hardly bothering to change into anything else as he pulled the covers up and rolled over onto his side, trying to close his eyes and drift off somewhere else. Somewhere where he wouldn't have to think about anything. Just black. Black and blank and peaceful.

His feet hung over the edge of the bed, and Remus felt a slight draft run across the foot with the holey sock. He tried desperately to ignore it. He tried to ignore the creeping sensations that he felt at random places all over his body. He tried to ignore the insane creaking noises from below – Remus highly doubted that the two men who had just moved in below ever got any sleep – he knew that he didn't… 'Not with their goddamn bed-riding every fucking night…' he scowled as he turned over again. Most of all though, Remus tried to ignore the thoughts that kept berating him for being such a…

'A fucking bastard, I was,' he thought dolefully. 'No. I don't want to think about this. Not now. Just let me sleep…' Remus thought that it was dreadfully ironic that at that moment, there was a noisy creak and a terribly loud groan from the flat below. 'Damn thin walls and floors and everything else…' He'd never quite worked up the courage to bang on the floor at them. Or maybe it was just that he hadn't the heart to stop something that they enjoyed doing in the semi-privacy of their own flat. Bitterness wasn't something that Remus usually felt so deeply. But now… He just couldn't control himself. He shut his eyes tightly and rolled over again, the sheets now tangling themselves betwixt his trousers and hiking the pant-legs halfway up his calves. Remus halfheartedly tried to kick the pant-legs down again, but ended up more tangled than before and he gave up – instead, trying to let unconsciousness settle in.

Remus lay on his bed in the dark for the next hour and a quarter, all throughout, completely awake. The last five minutes were spent on his back, staring ruefully up at the ceiling plaster. Suddenly, he flipped the covers off of himself and sat up, planting his feet onto the floor. He sniffled slightly and reached for his wand that was sitting on the nightstand next to his bed, squeezed between that and the bookshelf. With a flick of his wrist, the room was lit up and he walked over to his refrigerator and opened it unceremoniously. There was half a sandwich, some orange juice, two beers, a peach, and a handful of grapes. He blinked. 'Right then,' he thought, 'something else then…' And he walked less than a foot over the shabbily built closet-pantry. He sifted through some boxes on the top shelf and found a few bags of ramen, a chocolate bar, and an unopened bag of dried apricots. He paused again, looking at the contents of the box contritely, "All right," he spoke aloud, "Um…" He put the box back up on the shelf and spun on his heel, looking around.

The desk. Right. The desk. He walked over and sat at the much-to-short-for-its-desk stool. Remus' knees were bent at odd angles as he looked through the drawers for some sort of something to take his mind off of things. Nothing.

He turned and looked at the bookshelf. It was chockfull of books, but nothing seemed to interest him right now. Remus vaguely wondered why he had ever bought any of them if he didn't want to read them, blocking out the fact that only just yesterday he had been reading quite a few.

Remus twisted back around, setting his elbows on the desktop and flopped his face into his hands. He needed to talk to someone. Merlin… he needed to stop being so restless. He needed to stop balling his feelings up inside of himself. 'I wonder if Sirius is up for a talk,' he wondered to himself distantly before deciding against it. This wasn't that big of a deal. It was just a fling. Just a one-night, or one-day rather, stand. The thought made him sick. Tonks was right. He didn't just do that sort of thing and leave. He wasn't like that. Was he? No. This was just a one-time thing. He would apologize to Tonks tomorrow and then they would forget all about it and then… then they could go back to just being friends.

The only problem was that Remus didn't want to be just friends with her…

Ω 12 Grimmauld Place; the kitchen. The same day (in other words, a few days before some members of the Order are to pick up Harry.). After much talk about a woman's duty to herself and perhaps future familial generations… and a little bit of talk about a fight… or something. Ω

"Tonks! I still cannot get over the fact that you didn't use a charm! I—I just don't know what to say, other than the fact that I'm quite disappointed in you! You've no doubt learned your lesson, I suppose?" Molly had resumed her usual mother-like self again and her voice had been elevated to an odd pitch that grated the air like the scrape of a fork against a plate. Tonks had to consciously keep herself from recoiling.

"Yes mum, I have. Now can we get back to what you've been wheedling out of me for the past what? Hour?" Tonks was highly annoyed about the you-need-to-cast-a-charm-because-you-never-know-what-could-happen-and-yes-that-situation-can-happen-even-if-it-is-your-first-time talk. She chose not to divulge the fact that no, it wasn't her first time – far from it actually – and that she was completely competent in her charm-casting skills, but she just didn't think to do it that time… She just couldn't think at all…

"All right. Just so long as you have had it stamped and imprinted into your mind to remember to use that charm. And don't you take that tone of voice with me…" there was warning in Mrs. Weasley's voice that hinted that there was much more wrath lurking under the already perturbed exterior of this red-headed woman.

"Right then… so after that…"

Ω The living room of Tonks' flat in Diagon Alley. The same day (nearly 1 year ago to the time when before the Order went to go and pick up Harry). Thirty seconds after Remus has left the flat. Ω

Tonks found she could only lay on her rusty couch for half a minute after she'd heard the door slam behind her. Her leg was shaking; another one of those random nervous habits that tended to creep out into the open when she was under emotional stress… or when under the influence of too much caffeine – which happened far too often. She actually thought about her leg going to and fro at 190 kilometers a minute and found that it took a tremendous amount of effort to stop jiggling around. After having to make herself still, she had the overwhelming urge to start moving again. "Fuck," she said softly, "Maybe I'll just unpack. That's um—That's something that'll take my mind off of things. Mmhmm." She nodded to herself as if she needed physical motivation and affirmation of her actions to actually get up and do anything.

She shifted slightly so that she could get up, her legs crossing over one another. Tonks stopped as she heard the sickening squelch accompanying the slick feeling she had between her legs. She closed her eyes, opening them as she did her legs, revealing the remnants of events from earlier in the day. Swallowing hard, one of her hands slowly reached down to an inner thigh, dragging a pale finger across the milky substance coating that area. Getting a bit on her finger, she brought it back close to her face, pressing her thumb and forefinger together then pulling them apart at an agonizingly slow pace. The creamily translucent fluid formed a slimy string, delicately connecting both fingers. Tonks repeated the gesture, seemingly staring at her fingers, but in fact staring past them as she brought them closer and closer to her face. She moistened her lips a little, parting her lips, not quite sure of what she was doing – her head was completely devoid of any thoughts whatsoever. Some form of restraint stopped her from licking at her fingers, but instead, she blinked back a few tears and pressed some fingers against her lips as if trying to seal away any sobs trying to make a break for it.

That was it.

It was enough.

She had to get him off of her – all of him. Tonks thumped off the couch, padding behind it and down the hall towards her bathroom. She chose to ignore both the little white splotch working its way into the fuzzy fibers of that damn couch, as well as the bit of Remus oozing down a leg.

Sitting in her bath was supposed to be soothing and relaxing. It was anything but that. Tonks couldn't help but replay the day over and over in her mind. What if she hadn't invited him over? Then… maybe they'd have apparated over to a park or something; then what if they felt the same way? What if they went back to her place anyways – or his place? What would have happened had Remus rejected her invitation? What would have happened had they never gone out for ice cream? Nothing. Her overly active imagination wasn't game for such a simple and complete answer and instead tried to complicate things again by bringing her more forward in her thinking rather than back. What if she'd said, "I love you?" What if he hadn't walked out? What if she really were pregnant – she didn't know yet, did she?

"FUCKING WHAT IF!" she suddenly screamed, completely distraught and overwhelmed.

A lout bit of beating from the floor reminded Tonks that yes, she did live in an apartment complex; and yes, it was late; and yes, Mr. Finglehorn, the only cat-man ever, lived downstairs and had a penchant for being able to have his broom handy at all times, ready to chastise rowdy neighbors – especially Tonks.

"Sorry Mr. Finglehorn!" she shouted towards the floor, otherwise known as his ceiling. Merlin, barely a week in here and my neighbors despise me, she thought bitterly.

A single thump was the reply and after that, peaceful calm was spread until Tonks sprinkled curses all about as she scrubbed at her arms and legs with a majestic-purple scrubby thing. Had it been any other bath, she'd have amused herself with the round scrubbing utensil, wondering how it was made, perhaps what it was actually called. For now it was scrubby thing, and it lived up to its name as she rubbed it and grated it along her pallid features, bringing a slightly glistening, pink glow to her skin. Tonks submersed herself in the water, wriggled about like an overly large, pinkish minnow and considered that a good enough rinse as she pulled up the plug with a toe and got up to dry off.

After getting dressed with some random articles of clothing that she pulled out of some random boxes stacked throughout her room, Tonks plodded into the living room and got her wand out of her robe, twirling it betwixt her fingers as she spun around slowly, surveying what she needed to do to unpack.

"Mum packed," she thought to herself aloud, "so that means that everything's been stored away where it should be. Right? Right. Mmhmm. So I'll just open the boxes and everything will be able to be done smoothly without any trouble whatsoever…"

The moment she waved her wand, the box that she had been trying to deal with turned itself right side down and landed on the floor with a thud and a few cracks and plinks. She stood there for a second, staring at the spot where the box had been before the disastrous attempt at unpacking, her face full of contempt. "Fuck. Damn. Gahhhhhh!"

Mr. Finglehorn had made himself known once again, thumping obnoxiously on her floor.

"Sorry Mr. Finglehorn!" she yelled again, rolling her eyes and kicking silently at the floor, wishing for nothing more than to be a klutz alone and in peace, rather than receiving criticism from some wrinkly old man with sixty cats dwelling in his flat with him. Tonks could swear that she could smell cat litter or some sort of rancid smell creeping up into her flat sometimes and made another mental note to seal off the cracks by the walls and floor. But this time, she could smell something different…. Something… nice. 'Wow, that's a good change,' she thought, perking up slightly.

Though, Tonks couldn't quite put a finger on what she smelled yet. She walked over to the box, squatting down a little and sifting through the contents that were spewing out of the opening. It wasn't long before her hands touched something slightly damp and she lifted a tye-dyed scarf, soaking with what smelled like… like… She lifted it to her nose and sniffed timidly.

Vanilla. Vanilla perfume. That sugary sweet smelling crap that she had gotten from someone a while ago. It had a pretty bottle – the only reason she kept it, but it was a leaky bottle too.

The handkerchief had been balled up and smacked against the wall before she had even really processed what she smelt. She closed her eyes, holding back her tears and letting the pain within her chest well up. 'Fuck no. Fuck no.' She was being very careful to not cry out or scream or make any other noise that might just elicit another thump from the cat-man. In her efforts to do so, she bit onto her lip, sucking on it with absentminded vigor.

It tasted slightly bitter. A good kind of bitter. Slightly salty, a little sweet, but mostly bitter. It was nice.

'Wow. Two nice things in a row. I wonder what shit this is gonna bring me now…' She thought, sucking slightly harder on her now slightly swollen bottom lip. Tonks thought back to what could possibly have been on her lip and realized with a sickening roil in her gut that it was Remus.

Her eyes were scrunched up and her hands balled into fists before she slapped her palm against her forehead, hitting it several times before she took a breath and stood up quickly; too quickly in fact, because she stumbled and nearly slipped in some white puddle that was on her scratched wood floors.

A white puddle. A white, vanilla puddle. Remus' white, vanilla puddle.

Tonks was shaking with some feeling that she, nor anyone else, would have been able to decipher. Though despite all uncertainty of just what one emotion she was experiencing, it was sure to contain rage, despair, exasperation, disbelief, and defeat. Despite her emotions, she gripped hard onto her wand and spat out, "Scourgify!" before going into the kitchen and looking through all the cabinets like a madwoman.

She found the liquor and glared angrily at it before hoisting a bottle off of one of the taller shelves and twisting at the cap. She sat at the table in her kitchen, nursing the bottle for the rest of the night before owling the Ministry to say that she would be in late that day.

Ω 12 Grimmauld Place; Sirius' bedroom. The same day (in other words, a few days before some members of the Order are to pick up Harry.). After altogether too much detail about what was stashed in someone's fridge and how amazing dried apricots could really taste at a little after dawn. Ω

"Fuck. So… did you apologize to her?" Sirius asked.

Remus looked at him like he was insane, "Of course I did! You know that I would have! I've got this little thing called a conscience that kind of restricts me from not doing the right thing most of the time. Because you know that if I don't listen to the damn thing, I end up a complete wreck." Remus couldn't believe that he was explaining this to Sirius, 'Honestly!' he thought to himself, 'where was he during all of school?'

"Oh right. Forgot about that. Most of the time I just tell it to shut the fuck up and it usually complies," Sirius said facetiously. "Anyways… by the way that you've told this rather enjoyable little story, it sounds like it was even worse than your first time…" He snickered a little.

Rolling his eyes at Sirius for what felt like the thousandth time that day, Remus said, "That's a bit of an understatement."

"Well, I know you haven't really bedded as many women as I… But—" Sirius was bragging jokily.

Remus shot up, "Yeah – shut up. You know that isn't true! I've shagg—" he cut himself off there, feeling a bit odd talking about how many notches he had scratched into his metaphorical bedpost, and to tell the truth – it was more than a few…

Sirius patted the werewolf on the back, "I know. I was only jesting."

"Jesting?" He quirked an eyebrow, "Since when do you say jesting?"

Sirius stared at Remus. "Um. You know. That's a good question. Something that should be settled over… um… something delicious… say… more of Molly's biscuits?" He grinned, rubbing his stomach like a little kid.

Remus parroted the action and they both got off the bed and made for the kitchen.

Ω 12 Grimmauld Place; the kitchen. The same day (in other words, a few days before some members of the Order are to pick up Harry.). After many more details of a certain story are left out – particularly the parts about ingesting certain things from certain other people… Ω

"Right then. So that's basically what happened. I spent half the next day trying to magic myself better, but only succeeding in making myself worse and missing the entire day of work because I was hunched over a fucking toilet. Oops! I'm sorry… I didn't mean to say 'fuck,' whoops… there I go again…" Tonks frowned a little at her slip and bit onto her lip, sucking on it a little.

"That's fine dear. Just try not to say it anymore… At least around me. But I'm sure that the world wouldn't lose any of its luster because you decided not to curse anymore…" The normal, non-interrogator Molly was back and swinging – scolding about sex, language… now all that was left would be violence, drugs, and alcohol. Tonks could stand to take a rain check on those.

Tonks let out a deep sigh, "Well it felt better to get all of that off of my chest. It's really been mounting up for such a long time…"

Molly gave Tonks a half-hug, "Just know that you can always come to me – anytime – and I'll be there to listen."

Tonks nodded, giving Mrs. Weasley a bright smile, before turning her head to look at what made a slight scuffling sound.

In the doorway, both Remus and Sirius stood; Sirius with a ridiculous grin on his face and Remus with a contented smile flashing towards the two women – one in particular. "We just came in to get some more of those lovely cookies of yours, Molly. Do you know if there are anymore?"

Molly couldn't suppress the slight blush that was welling up in her cheeks, "Of course Sirius – they're just over there. Yes – behind that um… that…" She pointed to a corner of the kitchen behind… well – something.

Sirius had walked over to the spot that Molly was pointing to, "Yeah. I don't know what it is either… but I found the cookies. Thanks again." For a moment, Sirius caught Molly's eye and he winked at her, finding that she had winked in return. Success was found on both sides. He found his grin widening and he started for Remus, "Come on Moony," he said, walking out the door again.

"Thanks you two," Remus said softly and he turned to follow Sirius. "Knowing us, we'll probably be back for more…" And though he didn't quite realize it when he spoke, he was looking directly at Tonks…

ooooooooooooo

A/N: Okay. So another chapter squared away. And this was quite an insanely hard chapter to write. My god. It's 15 pages, single-spaced, TNR font. DEAR LORD. So now you guys know why it took a while to update. I originally was going to include more (which will now be the next chapter), but I figured that this bitty was enough for you to savor for the next week or so. And I say 'week' not because I'm evil and want to keep you waiting, but because I'm going on vacation for the first time in 2 years and I highly doubt that I will have access to a computer (and even if I do have access, I'm sure that it's going to be very unlikely that my parental units will let me anywhere near it). So I'll be back soon. I'll be writing like mad when I'm alone in the woods. Eeek. Sounds creepy. Lol… Mort Rainey creepy. twitch (Lol. Loved the novella and the movie though!) Anyways. I really hope that you guys liked this chapter. It took a lot of effort and I'm sorry that it took so long – like what? Um… by the looks of things, it took maybe a week or a week and a half? Either way, hope you guys are still on board.

Cheers!

Elf Girl 4

PS: Sorry for any unchecked typos. I've read through it, but chances are that I'm really stupid sometimes and I don't actually catch many errors. .

PPS: Okay. So on my second read-through I noticed some weird words that are actually words, even if they don't sound like it. These words include, but aren't limited to: 'friendlily' and 'jokily.' Quite odd if you ask me.

PPS: The person that lets me use their computer was gone all weekend and up till today (Wednesday), so that's another excuse (jeez! I have to stop!) about why this is kinda late!

A sweeeeeeeet thanks to: (Sorry these're shorter – I'm running low on time.)

-Moo-cow- Thanks! Sorry this time it took so long.

-JadedDiva-Thank you! I will totally keep going. And your comment about the author's notes and story being separated has been duly noted and changed as needed – thanks for telling me, I didn't realize it before!

-Painin Uranus- Wow. Was someone a li'l sugar high? Lol… Still love your reviews, no matter how crazy they are.

-Van-Hey to yourself! Thanks – hope you didn't think my beta-ing on your story was too out of whack… Lol… That's a good thing ('wasn't too graphic') coming from you! Lol. 3

-LuvzRock16-Yeah. I'd felt like I'd heard that somewhere and it seemed really fitting – btw – I loved TKAM! It was such an awesome book… Atticus is my hero!

-Butterflyblonde- Lol… Yep. Here's an update – hoped you liked it. Lol – 'Saucy sex scene'… That makes my day.

-Aljinon- Yes. Both R & T are quite pig-headed. But I hope that they were a li'l more flexible and whatnot in this chapter – hope you liked it too!

-Princess Persephone- Thanks very much! Lol… I love toe socks too. Don't you just see Tonks having like 6 pairs of toe socks? Lol… I'm glad that you liked the procession of events in the last chapter – and I really hope that this one went well too and that it wasn't to confusing.

-xanya-forever- Aw – thank you! I'm really happy that you're attached to this story – that means a lot! And I know how writer's block it… damn, it's totally a bitch, but hopefully you'll be able to pull yourself out of it! And I'd be really excited to read a R&T story by you. Omfg. When I saw the allusion to Eternal Sunshine I was SO happy! It totally like… made my week. I love that movie ( owns it )… I watched it a couple days ago… Lol. Anyways… I think that Remus dreams are more than abundant with all of us… :)

Aquarius Galuxy- Yeah, a li'l late, but much appreciated nonetheless. Thanks for liking the citrusy side of my story. I'll take into account the whole… skin on skin contact thing when writing the next bit of stuff (whenever that comes up…:P). Thanks for the pointers there! Oh – and the thoughts thing. It really got to me… In a good way though – hopefully… Lol… cuz I put a lot (in my opinion) more thoughts and stuff into this chapter. Hope it wasn't too draggy though… that would be a bummer. And yeah. Neither of them are virgins – I tried to subtly slip that into the story… it was probably sticking out like a sore thumb. .

-TrinityDD- I know it was sad! It was rough writing it… .. Anyways, I hope this chapter was a bit of an upper! Hope you liked it!

-Lady Underworld- Thanks! Glad you thought it was cute! Lol… no one's said kudos to me in a looooong time… thanks!

-Rockin-J-Fanfic-Chick- Lol… No toning it down then:) I'm really happy you like it so much. A breath of fresh air? My smut? Wow… That's an awesome compliment if I've ever heard (or read, rather) one! And yes, I do believe that the two of them are in need of a hug. Soon. Hope that you liked this post!

-Just a fan- Totally screwed stuff up. But yeah… I'm REALLY glad that you got excited! Wow – that's totally sweet! I hope that I didn't keep you waiting too long for this chapter!

-lupin-girl88- Thanks! Glad you liked it! But let's remember – this is a fanfic! Nothing is definite! (Not to say that everything's indefinite… Lol… I'm confusing myself!)

-Aquarius Galuxy- Hey again… Yeah. Random net access is rather hellish. Anyways… Him. Um. I guess it's kinda explained? You could probably tell that it's Sirius. I've gotta tweak some stuff though. Lol… Hope that this update came at an opportune time so that you could review:)

-ArtysThunder- Thanks! Glad you liked it! Hope that you had fun reading this chapter!

-ShC- Thank you very much! I'm a stickler for characterization (as I've said many, many times before) even when I'm on crack (I'm not really! I don't think… hm…) I hope that this update wasn't too long from the last time for you! Hope you keep reading!

-Kwala- Thanks a lot! I'm glad you loved it! And yeah, Sirius would be him. And NUUU! No intimate stuff between them (I tried to put it in that that wouldn't happen in this chapter… it was probably too subtle and hidden though. . ) Babbling is always encouraged by me… since I tend to do so (like right now). Lol. Hope you liked this chapter!

-Real-fan05- Oldies're cool (only in moderation though… lol)! So that's cool… I'll have to go get those songs and listen to them! Maybe I'll get more story ideas. Perhaps a songfic will find its way onto my agenda after this little fic is over:) Hope you liked this post! Keep reviewing!

-Katameran- Thanks! Glad the dialogue is good... And glad they're not ooc... Hope you liked this chapter -- it hopefully had more characterization.

-ImHopeful- I luff you! And I luff Johnny too! Lol...

-Crazyfordrama - (I'm crazy for drama too! lol) Thanks! Glad you loved it... hope you liked this chapter too!

-Har- I'll try and update asap! Hope you liked this post!

-Mucada- Thanks! I'm sooooo glad that you reviewed again! I loved it! Sorry I've got to go now, but I'll totally reply longer next time... >. Please keep reading!

-Goofy518- Thanks! I hope I'll be able to... I'm working on it... I'll try and update asap!

Thanks to everyone else! I luff you guys:)