A/N - So I have no idea how long Tonks and Lupin knew each other before they were married, but for the purposes of this I'm saying they were childhood friends. Facts may have been bent according to what I have forgotten, if so sorry about that ! Reviews are appreciated :)
Nymphadora Tonks wasn't a fool.
She and Remus had been friends since forever, and she'd realised almost before he did about Remus' feelings for his fellow marauder, Sirius Black. Who, she soon realised, felt the same way.
At first, she tried to deny it. After all, Sirius was a notorious playboy, and Remus a quiet intellectual. They were each other's polar opposites, far too different to be in love. But looking at them, at the stolen glances and quiet blushes, Tonks had to admit that even a fool could see that they were. Besides, who was to say it wasn't the differences that made their love so strong?
Whenever she thought about it, Tonks felt unfamiliar jealousy burn through her. She couldn't understand why until she saw them kiss, quiet and full of emotion, and she knew. She loved Remus.
And he didn't love her back.
When Sirius was thrown into Azkaban, Remus was the only one to stubbornly stand by him.
But time marched on relentlessly, and as days slipped into months slipped into years, Remus realised that Sirius wasn't coming back. That what they had shared was lost forever, irreparably so.
It nearly broke him - it would have broken him - but Tonks was there, picking up the pieces as a friend, as a sister, as whoever Remus needed.
One day, an impulse drove her to kiss him.
When he kissed her back, it was bittersweet. The kiss was warmth and tenderness, the kind of kiss you give to someone you truly treasure. But Tonks knew that he wasn't kissing her, but Sirius. When they broke apart she looked into his eyes, and what she saw confirmed what she already knew. It wasn't her that Remus had kissed, he was looking at a memory, seeing laughing silver eyes and the smile that was just so Sirius.
Tonks ached.
She swallowed a sob, and took Remus' hand, smiling as she intertwined their fingers. Remus' hand gripped her own softly, and he touched her hair gently, watching the soft strands change colour. She knew what he felt for her wasn't love.
But it was enough.
