DISCLAIMER: Anything you recognise belongs to JKR.

"Dad?" The blurry male figure came into focus and Tonks felt herself blushing at the mistake.

"I can go," he said quickly and was half out of the chair before she realised what was happening.

"No, stay please Remus."

He settled back down, perched on the edge of the horrendously uncomfortable St Mungo's visitor's stool, ready to take flight if necessary.

"So er-"

"Um..how-"

They both stopped adn looked at each-other before she smiled and said "You first."

He shifted again and didn't meet her eyes as he asked, "I just…how are you doing?"

"Okay," she replied, clamping down on her emotions, determined not to cry this time. "You?"

This time he did smile wryly and meet her eyes. "Okay I guess."

Her memory of the fight in the Department of Mysteries ended with a flash of white light and an uncontrollable falling sensation. She had apparently hovered in and out of consciousness for the next few days as she remembered seeing Mum, Dad, Kingsley and Professor McGonagall at various times by her bedside. When she finally woke it was Mad-eye, his grizzled features twisted into a grimace of relief at her recovery who told her about Sirius. She had raged at his memory for not staying behind like he was told to, for baiting Aunt Bella when he was so out of practice. Then she had raged at herself for not stopping the mad Death Eater before Aunt Bella had a chance to kill Sirius. She had hidden from Remus for several days, not wanting to face the man whose best friend got killed because she wasn't good enough until Kingsley ordered her to snap out of it. She still wasn't entirely convinced that it wasn't her fault, but her boss was right; Remus needed all the support they could give, and she could give a lot.

It had started out as a joke, Sirius flippantly commenting on the apparent lack of female company in Remus's life. She, along with Bill and Kingsley had howled with laughter as Remus turned red and fled the room. Over time the repeated light-hearted comments about how they were well suited, despite the age difference that she refused to acknowledge became more serious and pointed. It took her a while to realise Sirius was playing match-maker, but since she didn't really mind she let him continue. She wasn't the one he'd need to convince.

One night in early February they had managed to get Remus a little drunk (the rest of them had been very drunk, but that only made it easier) and she managed a brief kiss on the staircase. He'd turned red for the next week whenever she looked at him, and had been very careful not to find himself alone with her for at least a month, but eventually they had settled into a comfortable sort of not saying anything about it. The fact that they often sat next to one another at meetings, or dinner when she was at Headquarters, or that their hands or legs occasionally touched went unremarked.

Actually having him in the room alone, as she did now was more than she had hoped for, and she could almost hear Sirius's commentary over her shoulder; "Go for it, don't just lie there. And for Merlin's sake don't let him get away. He'll run if you let him."

Slowly, as though he was a trapped animal she was trying not to spook, she reached out and curled her fingers around his, feeling him go suddenly still. Then all of a sudden he relaxed, his hand turning in hers so that their fingers intertwined, and she wondered if she wasn't the only one hearing Sirius egging them on in their head.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence he looked away, down on the floor next to his chair.

"Oh, I almost forgot."

She rolled over to see what he was doing as he gently released her hand and started rummaging. With a triumphant "aha!" he drew from the worn bag that she could just see the top of what appeared to be a covered plate and cutlery.

"From Molly," he explained as he helped her sit upright and conjured a board across her lap to sit the dish on. "She doesn't believe that you're being fed properly after hearing about Arthur's stay here. I've been instructed to make sure you finish it all."

Curiosly, she lifted the cover and was swamped by the wonderful aroma of steak and kidney pie, with a heap of mashed potatoes and vegetables. Her stomach rumbled and they both laughed as she tucked in to her first decent meal all week. It didn't take her long to inhale the food, and Remus kept her company by filling her in on the Order details from the last few days. She felt incredibly revived by the time she had finished, though she wasn't sure if it was Remus's company or the decent meal she had to thank. Maybe both.

He vanished the empty plate for her while she gulped the last of the pumpkin juice, and she relaxed back on her pillows with a sigh.

"Don't fall asleep on me yet, or I'll eat all this cake by myself."

"Cake?"

He laughed as she forced her drooping eyelids open and sat up again, honing in on the smell of chocolate and strawberries. In the end she was forced to split it with him, full after a week of hospital meals. She took the opportunity to enjoy watching him eat the last of the chocolate-coated strawberries.

"So you visit me alone and bring me cake in bed. Does this count as a date?"

He froze again, toying with the strawberry leaves as he tried to formulate an answer.

"I…I guess," he muttered hesitantly, and she figured he was thinking of the difference in their ages again. Then she realised how young she must look, tucked into bed while he fed her dinner.

Hesitantly she reached out for his hand again and this time he curled his fingers around hers straight away. She squeezed in what she hoped was a comforting way and was rewarded with a smile that made him look ten years younger. Her age, nearly.

They could do this.