Finally... sorry it took so long. Love you all madly. Disclaimer: some of the dialogue within this FF was taken from Hp and the HBP by JK Rowling. She owns it and has the rights to it, and I'm merely borrowing it for my nefarious purposes.







Tonks jerked her hand from Molly’s and stared at her as if she’d suddenly sprouted antlers. “What are you on about? I’m not in love with Remus.”

“What were you going to tell me about Remus then?” Molly cocked her head to the side and gave her an infuriatingly steady, patient look. It made Tonks feel as if she were going mad and no one was letting her in on it.

“I kissed him,” Tonks tried to explain, but Molly simply looked triumphant. “No, it wasn’t because I’m in love with him.” She jumped up and sloshed tea all over the table. With a sigh, Tonks reached for the towel and knocked over Molly’s mug as well.

Molly stilled Tonks’ nervous hands and had the table cleaned and the cups refilled with two flicks of her wand. “Of course not, dearie. You kissed him because that’s what friends do.”

Tonks sipped her tea slowly and glared at Molly over the rim of the cup. “It was an accident.”

“So…” Molly weighed her words, and Tonks realized she could hear the house settling for the night all around her. “So you’re telling me that your lips fell onto his? Or did you black out, only to regain consciousness in Remus’s embrace?”

Tonks shivered at the memory of her kiss with Remus. “You make it sound so… awful.” And it wasn’t awful. For all that it had ruined her friendship with Remus, it had rather been one of the nicest moments in her young life.

“Not awful, dearie,” Molly shook her head and her eyes went to the clock in the laundry basket at a thump in the hall. “I just don’t want you confused on what you feel for dear Remus. You wouldn’t have kissed him if all you had were friendly feelings.”

Tonks opened and shut her mouth before she let her mind grasp what Molly was asking of her. Why had she kissed Remus? Aside from being in the moment and in close proximity, there had to be a reason. If given the chance, would she like to kiss Remus again? That was a no brainer… definitely.

“Your mouth is hanging open like a Warbling Gingerpuff flower. Did you think of something, or have you fallen asleep in your tea?” Molly seemed to be laughing at her as she smoothed her worn green dressing gown, but Tonks couldn’t be offended by it.

“I…” Tonks was perfecting the noiseless opening and shutting of her mouth. “I’m in love with Remus. Oh…” She thunked her head against the table repeatedly. “This is such a very bad bad thing.”

“Bad?” Molly’s voice went suddenly sharp, and Tonks eyed her from where her cheek was pressed hard against the table’s wood grain. “What makes it so bad? Because he’s so old, you mean?”

“Old?” Tonks rolled her forehead to the table and considered pounding her head again. “To the contrary, I think he believes me too young for him. I think I prefer men a bit older. He’s much steadier and kinder than men my own age.” She couldn’t help but think of Bill and his frilly fluff of a fiancée.

“So then it must be that he’s a werewolf,” Molly moved impatiently to the stove, lighting it with her wand before she began to toss items into a large pot. It was far too late to be making food, and yet… Molly was cooking. “All your precious training and spending time with Remus, and you have that same old bloody prejudice. I ought to owl your mother and…”

Tonks held up a hand to stave off Molly’s ranting. “It isn’t that he’s a werewolf. You know me… I like the dangerous. Remus is like the best of both worlds.” She had to keep herself from sighing over him. Where was that impulse coming from? She was turning into… a lovesick nincompoop.

Molly turned at the stove and waved her wand impatiently. A legion of onions and potatoes chopped themselves and marched into the pot without so much as a glance from her. The pot settled on an unlit backburner, and Molly returned to the table. “So what’s so bad about being in love with Remus?”

Tonks couldn’t stand the penetration of Molly’s stare, and she studied her cup of tea again. There was that same little tea leaf floating around and around and… “He’s my best mate. If he knew that I felt like this, then he would go all odd on me and not want to be mates anymore. I can stand it if he doesn’t want to love me as a woman, but I couldn’t stand not to have his friendship.”

Molly refilled both their mugs. “I think you…” She was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door, and Tonks was shocked that anyone would visit at the late hour. She was then shocked by the fact that she had the energy to be shocked by anything. Before she had time to think on that, she realized that Molly had opened the door to Dumbledore and Harry.

“Hello, Professor. Wotcher, Harry,” she tried to smile, but it was worse than a failure. Her mouth didn’t even tip up at the corners, and she wanted to be away from scrutiny. Dumbledore watched her knowingly, and Harry’s intent gaze was fixed on her miserably brown hair. “I’d better be off. Thanks for the tea and sympathy, Molly.”

Dumbledore tried to argue politely as she gathered her cloak, but it was clear now that Molly had been staying up with her in expectation of Harry’s arrival, and the boy clearly needed some food and a long sleep. These days… who didn’t need a decent meal and some dreamless sleep?

“Dear, why not come to dinner at the weekend? Remus and Mad-Eye are coming…?” Molly thought she was being so subtle, but Tonks felt pain at the mention of his name. If he knew she was coming, he wouldn’t come, and it hurt too much to know that he was really avoiding her.

“No, really, Molly… thanks anyway… Good night, everyone.” She pulled her cloak tightly around herself and apparated as soon as she was surrounded by the dark of night.