CHAPTER FOUR – Hungry Like the Wolf

Grimmauld Place was fast becoming Tonk's favourite place to be. It seemed it always smelled of Molly's fantastic cooking, there was always somebody there to talk to, and now that the Weasley children were there for the rest of the summer, noise and lots of laughter.

"But Mum, he's bored!"

Well, almost always.

"Dumbledore said no Ron, so the answer is no." Mrs Weasley snapped, flicking her wand so that the potatoes she had been peeling flew into the cooking pot.

"But –" Ron began.

"Enough!" Molly said sternly.

Ron fell silent and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"What was that all about?" Tonks asked.

Molly tutted, "He wants to tell Harry about the Order but Dumbledore has told him not to."

Tonks understood Harry and Ron's frustration, but she also knew that they couldn't risk any of their owls being intercepted.

"That sucks." She said.

Molly clapped her hands together. "Not to worry, we'll have him here soon enough. Are you staying for dinner, dear?"

Tonks bit her lip, she hadn't seen her flatmate in ages and didn't want Maud to begin questioning her long absenses. On the other hand the meals that came after the Order's meetings were the best part of the meetings. She eyed the cooker and its contents appraisingly.

"It's steak and ale pie." Molly said smiling.

Tonks threw up her hands in mock-defeat. "Oh alright then!"

Molly chuckled and went back to her cooking. The door to the kitchen opened and Remus walked in.

"Molly, Tonks –" He made to say something else but then Sirius bounded into the room and launched himself on Lupin.

"MOONY MY LOVE!" Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus's shoulders in an over-exaggerated hug. "Thirteen years of cold, cold nights in Azkaban without your embrace to keep me warm! No one knows how I've suffered!" He released Remus from his grip and instead took Lupin's chin in his hand. "Kiss me you fool!"

Remus, to his credit neither laughed nor looked particularly offended by this display. In fact he seemed rather bemused. "Are you quite finished?"

Sirius nodded. "I think so." He turned on Tonks grinning, "So, are you not entertained?"

Tonks did not reply and instead turned to Remus, "So I take it you told him?"

Remus smiled ever so slightly as he sat down and opened up the copy of the Daily Prophet that was on the table. "It might have come up."

Sirirus sat down beside Remus. "Oh my dear Nymphadora I wouldn't be so embarrassed. If I had a galleon for every time someone thought Remus and I were a couple…why I would have two whole galleons."
Remus raised his eyebrow from behind the paper. "Two?" He asked.

Sirius nodded eagerly. "James often suspected that one day the two of us would ride off into the sunset together. Moony and Padfoot, together forever."

Throughout all of this Tonks remained silent, she watched as Molly bustled in the background, clearly listening in on the entire conversation, she watched as Sirius grew more and more pleased with himself, and she watched as Remus's eyes kept flickering to look at her from over his paper.

He looked tired. More so than we she had last seen him on Potter watch. His clothes hung a little looser than she thought they had last time. And she thought she saw the beginnings of a new scar, running down the side of his neck.

She stifled a gasp as realization dawned on her, how had she been so blindingly stupid?

He hadn't been at the last meeting. Sirius always referred to him as Moony. He never gave his reports in front of the whole Order. And hadn't she read an article a few years back about the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher having left Hogwarts after his dangerous condition became wildly known?

He was a werewolf.

"Tonks, are you alright?" Remus asked, when Sirius finished his detailed description of how he and Remus had first met. (First year at Hogwarts, their eyes met over the glazed ham, they both reached for the same carrot stick – it was magical.)

Tonks smiled. "Yeah. I'm fine."

She could barely focus in the meeting that day, and it barely registered that she had been one of the members put forward for collecting the Potter boy. It took all her effort not to stare at Remus Lupin, his scars had an entirely different meaning to her now.

When the meeting finished and Molly began serving up dinner, Tonks found it safe to watch him again. He was talking quietly with Sirius, his hand placed on the table. He had such long fingers – elegant even. It was a strange thing to notice.

She tried not to stare too noticeably at him as he ate his dinner. She could not help but try and see the animal in him. But everything he did was simply too refined, from the way he held his knife and fork, to the way he folded his napkin and the way he would say "Thank you Molly" and compliment the meal.

As far as Tonks could tell, there was absolutely nothing wild about him.

As this thought crossed her mind, Remus looked up at her and fixed her with a knowing gaze so intense that she shuddered. His eyes were an icy, watery blue and the scars along his face shone silver.

Wolf.