"Tonks, please will you take him out? Just for a few hours?"
Sirius was asking, but he made it clear that she couldn't say no.
"He's a great guy, fun to be around, but this time of year..."
"What's so special about this time of year?" she asked.
"I wouldn't call it special…it's when he was bitten. I'd take him myself, but I'm not exactly allowed to leave this house. See, the whole idea of a depressed man, in a depressed house kind of depresses me. So we're in agreement?"
Sirius was staring her down rather ominously, so Tonks agreed. She'd always had a soft spot for Lupin, who was always so patient with her, who managed to be kind and respecting at the same time.
But she just couldn't see how he could be a werewolf. Or fun, for that matter. He, quite frankly, was a bit boring.
Except for the whole being a werewolf thing. Tonks could tell that everyday he wished he hadn't been bitten, wished he was normal. She was glad that he'd had people like Sirius and James, who didn't make him feel normal (they weren't exactly normal themselves) but like he could at least, have friends.
"So, you'll take him?" Sirius asked again. "Good. Not too much though. Full moon is in a few days…might lose some inhibitions."
"Lupin, lose his inhibitions?" Tonks asked in not-exactly-fake shock. Lupin carried his inhibitions around like lead weights tied to his ankles. At the look on her cousin's face, she amended, "I'll take care of him."
"Just be nice, Tonks. Remember, up till two years ago, he believed that his best friend and his wife were betrayed by his other best friend. And now…they only thing that's changed is that it wasn't me."
Sirius had a point. Tonks knew the story of Pettigrew's betrayal of Lily and James Potter. How the two remaining felt guilty and responsible for Harry's hard life, and still tremendously proud of the boy. She knew that Harry respected the two and loved the men who provided the only link to his past.
Tonks found Lupin in one of the smaller rooms, prepared as a study, finishing up what she presumed was something for Dumbledore.
She knocked on the doorframe and asked, "Erm, when will you be through with whatever it is you're doing?"
He looked up. "Oh, I'm finished."
"Then do you want to come to Hogsmeade with me for a few drinks?"
"Sorry, but no."
"Come on, Lupin! It's the holidays, and we'll be up to our ears in work, not to mention trying to cheer Sirius up. I might never have you alone to myself ever again."
She pouted, and Lupin raised an eyebrow, which she took as an invitation to keep begging.
"Please? I'll pay…"
A slow smile played on Lupin's lips.
"Now, I can't say no to that can, I?"