Remus is acting oddly, Tonks thought to herself one day after an Order meeting. At first, Tonks didn't notice the small changes in his behavior, but now it seemed that she and Sirius were noticing how Remus was now acting.
One of the nicer side effects of Remus' sudden oddness was that he was now kinder than before, pulling out Tonks' chair for her when they sat down at Order meetings and letting her look off of his notes were just a few of the things that were different.
Remus was also seemed nervous at the meetings; worried about almost everything he said and did. One day, Tonks overheard some conversation between him and Sirius one when she arrived early for an Order meeting.
"Are you getting her anything for Christmas?" she heard Sirius ask. Tonks crept slowly past the troll umbrella stand as to avoid knocking it over…and to eavesdrop.
"Maybe," she heard Remus reply tentatively. "The problem is, I don't have a lot of money to get her anything real nice."
"Do you think she'll care about that?"
"I'd care."
"Well stop thinking like that. There are plenty of things you can get her out there for under a Galleon and if you can't find anything, feel free to take some gold out of my vault."
"I couldn't do that."
"Fine, go take some out of Harry's. I have a copy of his key somewhere."
"Sirius!"
Unable to stand listening to the two of them without any of them confirming who "she" was, Tonks quickened her pace and stepped through the kitchen door. They immediately stopped their previous conversation when she entered.
"Hello, Tonks!" Remus greeted a little enthusiastically. His gaze shifted slightly over to Sirius. Sirius was staring down at his lap, but he was moving he head side to side by fractions of an inch. Remus' face fell slightly. "Tea?" he offered. Tonks nodded and smiled.
"I'd love some tea," she said. Remus' smile returned full force as he got up and walked around her to the kettle. "So who were you two talking about?" Tonks asked as she unwrapped her scarf from around her neck. She froze as she heard the tinkling of breaking china. Remus had accidentally knocked over a teacup. Muttering the spell, he repaired it easily.
"We weren't talking about anybody," Sirius lied casually as Tonks plopped herself down in the seat next to Remus'. Tonks raised an eyebrow.
"I heard you two talking about a girl," she said. "I didn't catch her name, but-"
"Eavesdropper," Sirius coughed. Tonks glared at him.
"I was not eavesdropping," she hissed. Remus returned to the table and set down her tea in front of her. "I was trying to get past that dumb umbrella stand without knocking it over again and I overheard you. It's not my fault your voices carry. Now, I repeat: Who were you two talking about?"
Both Sirius and Remus were spared answering this question by the arrival of more Order members.
Several meetings later, Tonks insisted on staying and making dinner.
"I've found a recipe," she told Sirius. "I'm actually getting real good at cooking now and you need food in you, so…" Tonks waved her wand in a complicated motion and the food instantly began to prepare itself. "I'll let you handle the plates though."
"I was thinking the same thing," Sirius said amusedly, grabbing two plates, forks, knives, and spoons and setting them on the table. Sometime later, Sirius was mentally admitting to himself that Tonks' meal wasn't so horrible.
Tonks herself was eating the food she made in silence, staring down at her plate. Her long purple hair she was sporting that day fell across her face, making her expression unreadable to Sirius. Suddenly, Tonks set her fork down, tucked a strand of hair behind her ears and looked right at Sirius.
"Who were you and Remus talking about the other day?" she asked. At the uttering of Remus' name, Tonks felt an odd sensation in her stomach. She ignored this, not breaking her gaze from Sirius.
"We weren't talking about anyone important," he replied. Tonks knew he was lying.
"Come on, Sirius," she said, clearly exasperated. "He's been acting odd for weeks, now. Haven't you noticed?"
"You're right, you are improving at cooking," he told her, ignoring her question. "This is really good, you're going to have to leave me the recipe." Tonks looked at him pointedly. Sirius sighed.
"Remus is fine," he told her. Tonks ignored the odd sensation in her stomach once more. "He's not acting odd at all."
"Yes, he is acting odd!" Tonks insisted. "He always seems a little nervous nowadays, he's in a much better mood, and you and him were talking about a girl the other day! Now I want to know-" Tonks stooped, a look of comprehension on her face. Sirius tried to hide his wince. He should've known she'd catch on. Tonks was an Auror. This was all in the job description.
"How?" Tonks asked. "How did I not see it before?"
"Well," Sirius said tentatively. It would probably be best to ease in to the subject, considering Remus would positively kill him if he told her directly. "He really didn't want anybody to know. Remus isn't great at being subtle."
"No, he's pretty good at it," Tonks defended. "How could I miss it? All the clues were right there in front of me. How long?" she asked suddenly. Sirius felt himself whiten and his eyes grow wide.
"How long what?" he asked, fearful that she was going to ask exactly the question he wanted to avoid. Tonks sighed.
"How long has…he…Remus…how…" Tonks trailed off, not able to put her words in to a coherent sentence. Sirius understood though and supplied the answer.
"About a month and a half," he muttered. Tonks shook her head disbelievingly.
"Why hasn't he said anything?" she asked. "It's been a over month he should've said something." Sirius rubbed his face with his hands.
"Moony is just very…shy about these kinds of things," he told her truthfully. "I'm sure he would've told you in his own time." Sirius turned back to his food, eating slowly, waiting for Tonks to respond.
"I still don't understand why Remus didn't tell anybody he has a girlfriend," Tonks muttered. Sirius choked on his food. What did Tonks just say?
"It's not as if anyone would make fun of him for it," she continued. "With his condition, I think most everybody would actually be very happy that he's finally found somebody that likes him for him. No wonder he looks so much happier these days and he's so much nicer than usual to everybody. The poor bloke needed a girl to brighten up his life. I-Sirius? What the bloody hell are you doing?"
Sirius was currently banging his head on his hand resting on the tabletop.
"Idiot. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot," he muttered with each bang of the head. "Idiot. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot."
"Sirius," Tonks said, growing exasperated. "Who exactly are you talking about?" Sirius looked up.
"I thought you were an Auror!" he cried. "I thought it was your job to figure these things out! Especially the things that are lying three bloody feet in front of you!"
"What are you talking about?" Tonks asked. Suddenly, she mentally pieced together the puzzle pieces once more and suddenly she was very angry. Her blood instantly boiled and she physically stiffened all over. Sirius had a vague idea of what was about to come.
"That…girl!" she cried. "That slag! She's just dating Remus because she felt sorry for him, isn't she? Well I want to know who she is and where she is because I'm going to hex her in to oblivion." Tonks jumped to her feet, knocking over her chair in the process, but she either didn't notice or didn't care. She whipped out her wand. Sirius jumped up and grabbed both of her wrists.
"Tonks," he breathed. "Listen to me!"
"No!" Tonks cried. "That little bitch is toying with Remus' heart and she can't just get away with it! She doesn't deserve him! Remus deserves somebody better than her and if I have to hex her then fine! At least I'll know that Remus is happy and that's all that matters to me!"
"TONKS!" Sirius shouted. "Remus. Does. Not. Have. A. Girlfriend." Tonks glared at him.
"What do you mean?" she asked cautiously. "The evidence is all there and you said that they've been dating for over a month-"
"I didn't say that!" Sirius snapped, growing frustrated. "I thought you were asking how long Remus has fancied you because that's precisely how long he's fancied you and you with your supposedly brilliant Auror skills should know that since he's being bloody obvious about it!" Sirius let go of her wrists and sat back down. He had just picked up his fork when a conversation with Remus flooded back to him.
A month and a half ago, Tonks had visited during the day. After many awkward moments, Remus sat down at the table when Tonks left the room temporarily and muttered incoherently in to his arms. Sirius had inquired what it was with a wide, knowing grin and Remus finally lifted his head and said quietly, "OK, you win. I like Tonks."
Sirius punched a fist in the air triumphantly. Remus groaned and rested his head back in to his arms. Suddenly his head snapped back up and he was looking straight at Sirius.
"Do not tell her!" he said frantically. Sirius raised an eyebrow to that.
"Why not?" he asked teasingly. "Don't you want her to know you fancy her?"
"No! At least…not yet. I-I'll tell her in my own time. But if you tell her, I swear I will bloody kill you!"
Sirius remembered the conversation crystal clear in his mind.
Oh…shit, Sirius thought to himself.
He looked up at Tonks, who was wide-eyed and…blushing?
"He…Remus-he…" she once again, failed to put words in to sentences. Sirius answered for her.
"I wasn't supposed to tell you, but…yes," he confirmed. "Remus fancies you and judging by the wonderfully jealous display you just put on, I would say that you fancy him too." Tonks turned even more red. Sirius' eyes grew wide. "Bloody hell, I was right! I was just taking a guess! You do fancy Remus!
"I don't-" Sirius waved his hand, cutting her off.
"Remus tried to deny it too," he told her. "As a result, he fancies you, almost always manages to knock over a teacup if he thinks you suspect him, and has won your affection as well. Am I right?"
"Shut up, Sirius," Tonks muttered, sliding back in to her now upright chair, slightly humiliated. "Don't say a word to Remus," she warned.
"I won't," Sirius promised. "As long as he doesn't try and go off on a jealous killing spree like you."
Tonks turned red and pushed her plate aside to bury her head in her arms while Sirius laughed uproariously at her. She swore that she would do her best not to get in to a jealous rage again. But if it involved Remus…that might be an exception.