The Order meeting was running long as usual, and Tonks' attention was starting to drift. Mad-Eye was doing yet another one of his "constant vigilance" speeches. Tonks groaned inwardly and dropped her head into her hands.
Remus' eyes shot from intently looking at Mad-Eye down to Tonks immediately. His eyebrows furrowed in concern. He placed a gentle hand on her back and leaned toward her to whisper, "Are you alright?"
Tonks tilted her head just enough to be able to see Remus before responding, "I'm bored. Mad-Eye's given us this speech so many times I can practically recite it."
Remus smiled fondly at her and kissed her temple. "If you know it so well, then you know he's nearly done, love," he said.
The sound of Mad-Eye clearing his throat startled the couple into looking up. "Nymphadora, I'm sure you and Lupin were discussing the importance of constant vigilance on stake outs and such."
Tonks raised her head to look at Mad-Eye. "Of course we were, Mad-Eye, because there is nothing more interesting to talk about." Tonks' voice was obviously laced with sarcasm that Mad-Eye pointedly ignored.
Molly interjected before Mad-Eye could launch back into his speech. "I think this is a good place to end the meeting. Let's have some dinner." Molly didn't exactly have the authority to end the meeting, but the murmurs of agreement spread around the table.
"It seems like everyone is in agreement. I'm sorry, molly, but I'm afraid I need to get back to Hogwarts," Albus Dumbledore stated as he rose from his chair.
"Next time, Albus," Molly admonished sternly. Dumbledore smiled appreciatively and left Grimmauld Place. Molly added, "Tonks, would you be a dear and go fetch the kids?"
"Love to," Tonks responded. She stood up so quickly her chair crashed loudly to the ground. "Sorry," Tonks said as she left to gather the children.
Tonks tripped her way out to the stairs. "Hey, I know you guys were listening the whole time, so just come down for dinner," Tonks called quietly up the stairs.
Six heads popped over the bannister. "Be right down," Ginny said with a grin.
Tonks smiled back and turned back to the dining area. "They're on their way down, Molly," she said as she sat down beside Remus, who was deep in conversation with Arthur.
While she had no idea what the conversation was about, she could tell is was something Remus felt passionately about by the way he was talking. Tonks propped her head up on her hand and watched her boyfriend talk. She watched as his lips eloquently formed words. She lost herself in throught of what she knew that mouth could do. She was brought out of her thoughts by someone saying her name. she blinked herself back to reality and narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Dora, are you alright?" Remus asked for the second time that night.
Tonks nodded, "I'm good." It was weird that he called her 'Dora.' A good weird. He didn't usually do that in front of other people.
At this point, the kids had taken the place of Order members who had left and Molly had the food spread across the table. Diner passed uneventfully with Remus making quiet conversation and Tonks morphing faces at Ginny and Hermione.
As the dinner dishes were cleared away, Remus pulled a stick of gum out of his coat pocket and popped it into his mouth. He chewed the piece thoughtfully before he noticed Tonks staring at him again. "Want a piece?" he asked as he reached a hand into his pocket.
"Sure," she said. She placed a hand on his shoulder and kissed him. Remus didn't respond for a second. Then, he kissed her back in the middle of Headquarters.
"Hey, Tonks, I wanna show you something in my room," Ginny called from the doorway.
Tonks pulled away from the kiss. "Thanks for the gum," she said getting up to follow Ginny with his piece of gum in her mouth.
"You're—" He cleared his throat. "You're welcome."
He turned back to the table and Sirius gave him a thumbs up while Arthur looked slightly uncomfortable. Remus blushed profusely. He hated when she did that, and he would so get her back.