"Home!" Nymphadora Tonks Lupin dashed through the door, arms out in a bold declaration of excitement as if the grin etched over her face wasn't enough. "We have a house!"

Her husband Remus followed her in— husband! Wasn't that a wonderful word? He didn't look nearly as thrilled as she was, but at least he was smiling over the top of the trunk he was carrying. Sort of. For some macho manly reason, he had refused to just logically levitate the trunk. "You like it?"

Tonks took a moment to think. It was a tiny, log-fashioned cottage with two bedrooms, a bath, and a kitchen/dining room. Well, she had never been the domestic sort. The outside was pretty, lots of poplars and willows hiding them from the Muggles if those morons ever decided to venture this far from their village. It smelled a tad musty, but she could certainly do something about that. And who cared about the latest or most fashionable architecture? She wasn't a Malfoy and hardly a Black! She threw her head back and laughed. "I absolutely love it!" And, despite the trunk Remus was carrying, she threw her arms around him and kissed him hard.

The trunk fell just as hard on his foot.

"Sorry, dear," she said with a giggle.

"No mind!" His face was red and his teeth were clenched. But in her eyes he looked positively adorable. "Just fractured a few bones, no harm done!"

"Then I'll take this." She leaned down, clenched her fingers around the edge of the trunk, and pushed. Or tried to. "What do you have in here?"

Remus coughed. "Your things."

Oh. Brilliant. "At least I didn't bring a lot with us on the honey moon."

"Thank goodness." Remus, still grimacing, leaned against the tiny, dust-smeared corridor wall. "Some women would have thought the Black Forest deserved more."

"Good thing I'm not some women." She stood up, in pain herself, and took another look at the house. From the unlit hall she could see the unlit kitchen/dining room and a corner. They were going to need a table. And some rugs. And everything. Oddly enough, she was excited. Her own home to decorate.

Great. She was turning into one of those women. "Honey, did we get any sort of... house-hold gifts from the wedding?"

He shrugged.

Of course. A man wouldn't pay attention to those sort of things.

In fact, the only comment he gave was "Why are you calling me honey?"

She smiled back at him. "Well, I figure we're married people now, and it seems like all sort of married people say 'honey' and 'dear' and 'darling' every chance they get."

He nodded, accepting the information.

"They're stupid names, aren't they?" she said with a sigh.

"Oh, yeah. It makes me feel even older than I am."

"For crying out loud, Remus, you're not old!" Tonks marched into the kitchen/dining room, yanked out her wand, and called "Lumos!"

A large rat darted into the corner. She screamed, swore, and leapt back against the wall. The beady yellow eyes continued to glow. "Remus!"

There was a heavy sigh outside. "What?"

She was not going to be one of those women. She was not going to be one of those women. But she heard herself whimpering just the same. "There's a rat in here!"

Another long sigh is what she expected. Instead it was a laugh. "I thought you weren't afraid of stuff like that."

Her fingernails were digging into the ancient wallpaper. "I'm not afraid of snakes, I'm not afraid of spiders, I'm not afraid of bats... but I don't like rats!"

He appeared at the entrance, more amused than he had been earlier. "You're a witch, Tonks. You're an Auror! Kill it yourself."

She shook her head. That rat was probably eating stuff... in her baby kitchen/dining room. "It's not a dark wizard."

The look he sent her was enough to make her almost scream again. "You know, if it were a full moon, I would happily eat that myself."

"Eat it?" Like hopping on a broomstick, the weight of the fear left her body, and she doubled over in near hysterics. "You are disgusting!"

He just shrugged. "Full moon starts in a week and a half. If Mr. Rat stays around that long..."

"No. I want it gone, and I am not coming back into this kitchen until it is!" Still mostly gripping the wall, she slid around the corner and back into the hall, hoping and praying Remus would do something about the rat.

And he better not save it for a full moon. No husband of hers would be darting around the kitchen on all fours chasing a rat.

Full moon. A week and a half. She suddenly felt dizzy as the memory hit full realization.

She was married to a werewolf.

She really needed to practice making that wolfsbane potion stuff.

At that moment there came a rap at the still-open door that shook Tonks back to reality. Oh, great.

Fleur Weasley, of all people, standing in the doorway with a perfectly fake smile and a plate of something that, admittedly, smelt pretty good.

Tonks forced a grin of her own. "Fleur! I... hi! I almost forgot..." Lots of blabbering coming out without what she wanted to say. Bill and Fleur lived next door.

"Welcome to ze neighbor'ood!" Fleur said with the same unbreaking smile. "I wanted to be ze first to greet you! You an' Remus just unpacking?"

Tonks stared outside into the pretty little tree-shadowed yard. Boxes and other crap were everywhere. She nodded.

"Vell, then!" Fleur held out the plate. "I bake for you two! Eclairs!"

"Ooh!" Tonks grabbed the plate despite her better judgement; she had never really liked being around Fleur. It was enough they had invited the couple to the wedding. But, gosh darn it, eclairs were good. "Thanks a bunch!"

Fleur gave a small shrug. "Vell, I did not think you and Remus vould want anything too fancy... eclairs are seemple."

And how was someone supposed to reply to that? Say thanks again? "Well, it's very kind of you and I'm sure they are delicious. Remus and I are just..."

Fleur nodded politely.

If this just weren't supremely awkward. Tonks didn't want to be there. Was she supposed to invite Fleur in? "If you want to see the house... we haven't done anything with it yet..."

Fleur instantly shook her head. "No, thanks. I must be getting back." She pointed down the path to the next house.

Good, good, good! Tonks flashed her best smile. "Thanks again! I guess... we'll be seeing each other more, now that were neighbors!" Why?

Fleur nodded politely. Again. "Yes. Farewell." She turned to leave.

At that exact moment came a half-scream, half-snarl from the kitchen and the squeal of something inhuman.

Fleur almost screamed herself. "What was that?":

Tonks sighed and slapped her hand to her face. "Rat catching."

Fleur couldn't get away fast enough.