This story follows In Sickness in the Transfigured Hearts series, and is set during chapter twenty-four of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Special thanks to Gilpin for inspiring this by asking if I was ever going to deal with that interrupted whispered conversation in OotP; I doubt she had any idea of this turning into a four-chapter fluff epic.

Part One

When Remus Lupin entered the basement kitchen of number twelve, Grimmauld Place, he expected to be greeted by a cheerful, if not slightly harried, Molly Weasley and the mingling aromas of buttered toast, porridge, and bacon. The food smells did assault his olfactory sense that frosty January morning, but it was a "wotcher" that rang in his ears. Instead of being mothered to the table by Molly, he caught a flash of pink hair as Tonks threw herself into his arms and kissed him breathless.

It was a delightful surprise and his favourite salutation, but lack of oxygen compelled Remus to pull away from Tonks. "You're here rather earlier than I expected."

A cursory glance around the kitchen revealed they were alone. Molly must be upstairs, helping her children, Harry, and Hermione with last-minute packing for the return trip to Hogwarts.

"For this," Tonks murmured, then pressed her lips to his again.

As she leant into him, she pushed him back through the doorway. Without breaking their kiss, Remus shifted so that they stood inside the kitchen again, just to the side of the door, and he nudged it shut with his foot. Alleviated of the fear of being caught by any of the residents of the Black house, Remus closed his mind to every thought but how eager Tonks' mouth was on his, how insistently she clutched at his jumper, how few and far between these private interludes had been lately, and how glad he was today would hold more such moments.

The thought made him chuckle, and Tonks drew back to study him through slightly glazed eyes. Her lips were too red and slightly puffy, and Remus had mussed her hair running his fingers through it.

"What?" she asked, and Remus loved the sighing quality of her voice.

"Nothing." He tried without success to smooth her unruly spikes back into place, only to realise the point of the coif was to look unkempt, then kissed the tip of her cute, slightly upturned nose. "I was just thinking it's very good to see you."

Her eyes narrowed briefly in scepticism, but the expression vanished. As she stepped around him en route to the table, she stumbled slightly. Grinning over her shoulder, she said, "You made me dizzy."

"That would be quite flattering," Remus said, pulling out a chair for her, "if you were not constantly tripping over your own two feet without the influence of my kisses."

Tonks helped herself to a few slices of toast from a heaping platter. Spreading them liberally with jam, she said, "You really need to work on your follow-up to romantic moments."

"I shall keep that in mind," said Remus with a grin. He poured tea for Tonks, then for himself.

"Fanks," Tonks said, mouth full. When she swallowed, she said, "So, Christmas and New Year were hardly holidays for us."

They certainly were not. Tonks had been up to her eyeballs at the Ministry, dealing with the aftermath of the attack in the Department of Mysteries and covering Arthur's tracks. Time had flown by for Remus, too, as he carried out various tasks for Dumbledore, tended the Weasleys at number twelve, and dealt with a full moon.

Tonks continued, "Do we get one today, after we see the kids back to school? We could celebrate my birthday, since it slipped by."

Remus swallowed a bit of toast too quickly, but despite the ensuing coughing fit, he trained his eyes on Tonks' face in the hope of reading her thoughts in her expression. Had she made her suggestion on the sly? Had she guessed he was scheming something? He could not tell; she merely looked concerned for him as he coughed. He supposed her question should not have caught him off guard. Though he had given Tonks a birthday gift in conjunction with her Christmas present, the couple's conflicting schedules had not allowed them a private celebration. It was only natural she should inquire.

"Sorry," Remus said hoarsely when the paroxysm passed. "What were you saying?"

He set his expression in a mask of seriousness and leant back to study Tonks' face. The Auror was either as unreadable as he hoped he was, or truly had no clue as to Remus' plans.

She chewed her toast, then placidly sipped her tea. "You promised a picnic for my birthday. It's Sunday, so I don't have work after we take the kids to Hogwarts."

"I am afraid we've a second assignment."

"Oh."

He had never been happy to see Tonks' face fall, but her drooping features brought him a good deal of relief; she was so genuinely disappointed that if she had suspected anything, she no longer did.

"Anyway," Remus said, dabbing the crumbs from the corners of his mouth, "it is hardly picnic weather."

"At least we get breakfast together," said Tonks.

She leant over and kissed him languidly, but Remus found himself unable to enjoy it properly. His conscience pricked him that Tonks had accepted his dismissal of a birthday celebration without the promise of one. Didn't she expect better from him?

Tonks moved back to her breakfast and before Remus could offer a bit of encouragement, she asked, "What's this second assignment?"

Her abrupt shift to professionalism was startling. "You really need to work on your follow-up to romantic moments."

The look she gave him clearly said that if her mouth were not full, she would poke out her tongue at him.

Chuckling, he said, "I have not yet been informed as to the details."

"You may have an okay poker face, Remus," said Tonks, "but Aurors are trained to see through that sort of rubbish. You know more about this mission than you're telling. If there's a mission at all."

Thankfully Remus managed not to choke on his toast again. He drank his tea slowly, contemplating his counter. Was Tonks bluffing?

"Are you accusing me of fabricating a mission?" he asked.

"You are a Marauder."

Not smiling was a difficult feat; it was nice to know Tonks didn't think him stodgy and straight-laced, but he had to maintain that front for now.

"I have been a professor, and now I am a responsible member of the Order of the Phoenix. The Marauder does not often come out these days."

"Bollocks," said Tonks.

She shifted closer to him, resting one hand on his thigh. Remus felt a rush of warmth, but a chill coursed up his spine as Tonks' other hand slid up his chest and neck to run through his hair.

Voice at a teasingly low pitch, Tonks said, "I know precisely how to bring the Marauder out."

She kissed him tantalizingly, tongue just tracing the inside of his lip. Just as she was drawing him in, the stir of people upstairs – feet pounding, doors slamming, pipes groaning – reminded Remus that privacy in twelve Grimmauld was only an illusion.

"Tonks," he fairly groaned, "the children will walk in at any moment—"

Tonks only relented with her barrage of affection in order to say, "So?"

"So…" Remus turned his head, but the way her lips grazed the corner of his mouth and his cheekbone exacted no less sensation than her kisses on his mouth. "They had best not catch us."

Tonks caught his face in her hands and made him look directly at her. "Professor Lupin likes to kiss girls. I think they'd be fascinated by this side of you."

"Or disturbed."

He gave in to a few quick but soft kisses, during which the pounding of feet grew louder. People were coming down the main stairs. But Tonks seemed not to notice – or not to care – and her lips melted him again.

"Tonks," he rasped, cupping her cheeks, "we've discussed—"

"You're an expert kisser. It would be good for the kids to see how it's done. Think of it as another Defence Against Dark Arts lesson."

She was appealing too much to his male ego. The legs of Remus' chair screeched against the floor as he turned to achieve the proper angle to initiate the kissing. "What Dark Arts do kisses drive away?"

"Dementors?" Tonks said dreamily – then, for all her bravado, she abruptly broke away as voices and feet sounded at the top of the basement stairs. But she whispered, "Broken hearts."

"Have you a broken heart?" Remus whispered back.

"Shattered. Bloody assignments getting in the way of birthday—"

The door flew open, and Harry, Hermione, and Ron fell suddenly silent as they entered. Remus removed his arm from the back of Tonks' chair and pretended to look at his wristwatch. Did the trio have any idea what kind of talk they had just interrupted? Theywere not blushing, at least; hopefully they assumed he and Tonks had been discussing secret Order business, or plans regarding the trip to school.

"Wotcher!" Tonks broke the silence – her voice rather too bright and high, even for her.

"Morning," Remus greeted the teenagers, also failing miserably at sounding casual. "Anxious to get back to Hogwarts?"