A/N: You guys have been so awesome with such wonderful and inspiring reviews. Not to mention some great advice! And DragonChaos, yours came in the middle of a really rotten day, so thank you so much more than you can know. Because of all your positive comments, chapter 11 flowed much more easily and quickly than a few previous chapters have been. Ought to wait to post this tomorrow night, as it's a full moon, but alas, I figure Remus will be busy!

And, of course, Moony and Padfoot don't belong to me. Ooooh how I wish they did!!!.

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"You didn't kiss her?"

Sirius' voice echoed throughout 12 Grimmauld Place, and Remus stared at him in wide-eyed horror. "Do you think you could say it a bit louder, Sirius? I'm not sure they heard you in Portugal."

The dark-haired man began to pace though, shaking his head. "I knew you were rubbish with women, but this is ridiculous. You were on a date, yes? One usually kisses the girl at the end of the date. How could you be so bloody stupid?"

Appalled, Remus could only watch from his position in the large easy chair as Sirius made a path back and forth across the room. "You're being irritating," Remus countered. "It's not like you're dating right now or anything."

The look Sirius shot him was so icy, Remus actually drew back. "As if that's by choice," he snapped. "Think I'd be in here while you're gallavanting around London wasting time with someone who obviously would love to be snogging your face off if I had a choice?"

Remus at least had the decency to wince. Of course Sirius wouldn't be. But to say he was wasting his time... "You know, I'm not completely stupid," he began, but cut himself off with a roll of Sirius' eyes.

"I know you're not," Sirius commented with annoyance. "Hell, you always were the smartest of all of us. But honestly, Moony, the girl's obviously crazy about you. Just make your move already."

Shifting his eyes away from the steely gray ones of his friend, Remus shrugged his shoulders. "Not that easy."

"And why not?"

If Remus were the growling sort--on days that weren't full moons, that was--he probably would have just then. Sirius could be so bloody frustrating when he wanted to. "Because," he began pointedly, "she's this beautiful, smart, young Auror. I'm me."

"No, really?" Sirius reported sarcastically. "I thought you were me. Which you're obviously not because I'd at least have had the brains to make a move on her by now."

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Sirius!" Remus snapped, getting to his own feet. It wasn't characteristic for him to raise his voice and argue, but Sirius had always been one of the ones who could pull that from him. "I'm pushing forty years old over here, what do you want from me? She could have absolutely any man in London. She'll move on from this...whatever it is, and then where will that leave me?"

For the first time since he'd started pestering Remus about the date, Sirius' eyes softened. The stormy-sea colour they had been eased back into their natural silver. "You know, I know her pretty well. We may have just met recently, but she's over here almost as much as you are. Plus, she's family."

Remus was listening intently, though he was still standing and glaring at Sirius, his arms crossed in front of him. "Your point?" he asked, coolly.

A small but amused smile crossed Sirius' face. "My point is, Moony, that she's got it bad. This isn't some puppy love type thing."

"But how do you know?" Remus asked insistingly, his eyes wide and just a bit hopeful. Maybe Sirius had picked up on something he'd so blatantly missed.

His dark-haired best friend took a seat, curling in a large, squashy armchair in the corner, looking quite similar to how his dog-form would in the same location. "I know because I watch her," Sirius said simply.

Rolling his eyes, Remus began pacing the path that Sirius had just abandoned. "Watch her do what? What is it about her? How can you possibly know something that important just by watching someone?"

"Easy there, mate," Sirius chided, as Remus' ramblings grew so intense he ran shin-first into a small table. A wry smile flickered on his features as Remus swore softly and gave the table a small kick. "Have you not seen the way she looks at you?"

Remus threw himself into the armchair opposite Sirius with a groan and rubbed his shin. "You're not being all that helpful. Of course I see her look at me."

Shaking his head, Sirius' smile widened. "No, I know she looks at you. Do you see the way she looks at you, though, mate?"

Pausing, Remus took a long moment to think it over. He'd always thought he was just imagining it. Hoping that her eyes lit up in his presence, her smile widening when he walked into a room. Part of him had almost hoped he was imagining the attentive way she'd listen to him, or the soft giggle she gave when laughing at his jokes. "Why?" he asked softly, rubbing his temples with his thumb and forefinger. "Tonks is amazing, she could have anyone."

"You're starting to babble and repeat yourself," Sirius pointed out, a laugh in his pale eyes. "I've told you, you need to talk to her. I can't answer things I don't know."

The corners of his lips turning up slightly, Remus lifted an eyebrow. "But I thought you knew her so well," he taunted.

Sirius gave one of his typical barking laughs. "I've my suspicions, Moony, but that's not to say that I can guarantee anything. I obviously don't think you're all bad or I'd never have kept you around as my best mate, you know."

For a moment, Remus only gaped at him, but then his face went slightly pink. "That was almost touching, Sirius," he said, somewhat bashfully.

"Don't get used to it," Sirius replied gruffly, but there was a bit of pink in his face as well. "It's true, though. You're a good friend, and she probably sees that. Probably wonders if you'd be good for other things. Merlin, this is awkward," he continued, glancing away from Remus and toward the fireplace.

"Thought we were done with all this years ago, didn't we?" Remus teased half-heartedly.

Sirius glanced up at his friend and grinned. "Yeah, after James got married. You weren't dating, I couldn't be bothered, and Peter..." His voice trailed off and he gave a small shrug. "Well. Regardless, I never thought I'd be handing out advice to you on dating my little cousin. Course, last time I saw her she was practically an infant."

Which wasn't exactly helping in Remus' eyes. In fact, it caused him to drop his gaze to his hands, folded neatly in his lap. "Toddler, more like," he said quietly. "The way to a girl's heart isn't exactly to tell her you remember when she was born. She's invited me out to her place...well, her parents' place, more like, you know?"

Eyes widening, Sirius grinned even wider. "Meeting the parents?" he taunted. "I'm so proud, have you two set a date yet?"

"I can still hex you, you know," Remus shot back, though he was trying not to laugh. "Besides, it's not like I've never met Ted or Andromeda."

"But," Sirius taunted, "you've never met them as their daughter's boooyfrieeeend."

Remus flicked out his wand so quickly that Sirius didn't have time to react. "Hey!" the dark-haired man yelped, as he found himself hanging in the air by his ankle.

"Ahh, I've missed that sight," Remus muttered appreciatively. "Now. Let's get a couple of things straight. I'm not her boyfriend, this isn't a 'meet the parents' sort of thing, and you are never to use that annoying little playyard sing-song with me again. Are we clear, Padfoot?"

The look he was receiving would've killed most men. Remus merely smiled and lowered a grumbling Sirius back to the ground.

"Not really," Remus informed him smugly. "Had to grow up at some point though, yeah? None of you were around and..." That time, his own voice trailed off. It wasn't a part of life he liked talking about, and he was hoping Sirius didn't either. "Anyway, had to learn to take care of myself, didn't I? No one to hide behind anymore."

"Sad," Sirius replied, sighing. He looked bored, though, and Remus could tell he was shifting anxiously. "Going upstairs to feed Buckbeak. Need anything?"

Determined to break the strain he'd put on the room, Remus smiled hopefully. "Oh, bring me back a dead rat, would you? If you can wrestle it from Buckbeak?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, but was back to smiling good-naturedly. "I'll let you have first dibs."