Author's note: thanks for the reviews, everyone! Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter...alas, alas! Also, sorry that it took so long to update—but last night I saw the midnight showing of DH Part 2 and it was AMAZING but I was crying pretty much constantly. Especially when Fred, Tonks and Lupin died... O_0
Chapter Two
Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place
When one falls into a dreamless sleep, time seems to pass quite slowly—this was a fact with which Tonks was well acquainted, and she was reminded of it yet again when morning dawned and she woke to find herself curled up on a semi-unfamiliar bed.
She was also, Tonks realized with a start, not alone—she was lying beside someone, her cheek pressed against...wool? The person beside her was very warm and lying very still, and Tonks realized that they were wearing a sweater vest, a worn red sweater vest. She only knew one person to wear sweater vests.
Oh, no.
"Remus." She pushed herself upright, feeling a blush heat her cheeks. "What are you doing here?"
It was a stupid question, she knew, but at this time of morning Tonks wasn't very quick on her feet.
"Well, you seemed quite...distraught...last night..." Remus said somewhat slowly, "I tried to leave around midnight but," She saw the shadow of a smile on his face, "You were holding on pretty tightly."
"Merlin, Remus." She pushed herself into a cross-legged position. "You could have woken me up."
"You weren't asleep." Remus looked deeply sad, and Tonks remembered, in a sudden rush, the events of last night. She hung her head, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.
"So...Sirius..."
He nodded silently; Tonks tried her hardest not to cry—really tried, bit her lip, forced herself to recite Mad-Eye's list of 'Ten Things an Auror Should Never, Ever Do' (crying loudly in the company of others was number five), but she was trembling with the effort of not breaking down. When Tonks felt a tentative hand on her shoulder, the dam broke and she began to sob wildly.
"Hey," A soft voice said, very close to her ear, "It's alright."
Tonks felt very foolish and very childish, crying into the shoulders of a fellow Order member like a little girl. For most of her life she had barely spoken with Sirius—surely Remus knew more about him then she did...
"To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die." Remus said suddenly; Tonks sniffed quietly.
"What?"
"An author said it once." Remus said somewhat sheepishly. "Maybe a poet. Anyways, it's..."
"I think it's beautiful." Tonks swallowed again, trying—and failing—to not sob. "Sirius would h-have wanted us t-to keep on working a-against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
"You're right." Remus said. "I think that's exactly what Sirius would want if he were with us." He paused for a moment, and the shadow of a smile returned to his face. "That, and a bottle of firewhisky."
A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews are always welcome! :) Also, the Lupin is quoting Thomas Campbell (The quote belongs to him, copyright, etc. etc.) Thanks again for reading!