Title: Competition in Courtship
Rating:PG
Disclaimer: These things are soooo boring.
A/N: Well, here it is. It's been...FOREVER since I've posted a chapter for you guys, but as an extra special treat for your unwavering patience (if you've come back), I went through and re-wrote all of the chapters. They are now compliant with HBP and DH (to come in future chapters). It'll all make sense even if you don't go back and re-read, but feel free to do so if you'd like. Love to all of you, and I promise you'll never have to wait that long again.

"I don't think there's a rule book for these kinds of things, Remus." I frowned down at him.

"No, but there are standard ways of behaving. Traditions. Courtships has existed for years, and we're breaking two of the norms: age and gender."

"Okay, if we're talking about courtship, here, first of all, you should know, the age divide has been HUGE before." I grinned at him and he scoffed.

"But, Harry, not –"

I picked up his bowl of soup and shoved the spoon into his mouth. "Will you just shut up with your doubts and eat already? I slaved over a hot stove for about 10 seconds to make this!" He laughed, spitting warm soup all over me, and put a hand to his mouth, his eyes wide with shock. "Now," I sat up, "was that really necessary?"

"Don't make me laugh. It hurts."

"Okay." I pushed another spoonful to his lips before he grabbed the bowl and utensil from me.

"I can feed myself, you know, why don't you eat your sandwich?"

There was a tap on the window, so I got up and walked over to it, letting Pig into the room. He flitted around happily and landed on Remus' head, holding out a letter to me on his tiny leg. I untied it and picked the twittering owl up, setting him down in Hedwig's cage so he could have some water. "Ron says his Mum's out of her mind with worry. Bugger! Remus, we forgot to reply to her letter. Here." I jogged out of the room to the den on the next landing, and grabbed a quill. "Ron, I'm fine! Tell your mom I'm so sorry, Remus and I just forgot to reply. We'll come over tomorrow." Sprinting back to our room, I attached the letter to Pig's leg and dropped him out the window. "I told Ron we'd come visit tomorrow. You'll be fine by then, right?"

Remus nodded, tipping the last of his soup into his mouth. "But Harry, and please don't be upset, but I'm not sure I'm ready for anyone to know about us."

"Well, I can't not tell Ron and Hermione, but I promise we won't let anyone else know, okay?" I sat down cross legged next to him and he put a hand on my knee, nodding, before he closed his eyes and his breathing slowed. I swallowed thickly, and tried to ignore the prickling sensation in the back of my eyes. Remus and I had only been together a short while, I knew, but it was still hard to recognize that, somewhere, in the back of his mind, Remus thought this was wrong.

I got up off the bed quietly and walked down stairs to clean up the bloody footprints and then continued the study. With everything that had happened so far, I hadn't had time to think about the Horcruxes, which now weighed so heavily on my mind. I know Dumbledore hadn't wanted me to tell anyone other than Ron and Hermione, but weren't things different now that I was in a relationship? Had Dumbledore taken romance into account? What if I fell in love? Didn't my partner deserve to know what I was doing, running around the country side with two other people?

Questions made my mind reel until I felt sick with confusion and had to sit down on the desk to keep from falling over. Of course Remus would trust me with Ron and Hermione. Ever since we had first met in my third year, Remus had never shown anything but trust in my judgement, but I still couldn't imagine leaving him with only the knowledge that I was on a mission from a dead man. I choked at the thought. It was difficult to come to grips with the fact that Dumbledore had died only a short while before.

A ringing doorbell and Mrs. Black's screaming roused me from my reverie. I hopped up and jogged down the hallway to the door. It was fruitless to try and pull the curtains back on my own, but maybe the guest at the door could help me. I pulled it open and was greeted with a shock of pink hair. "Watcher, Harry." Tonks stepped into the house, but as soon as I closed the door, her hair melted into a mousy brown mass on her head, she suddenly looked tired and drawn. Without asking, she helped me shut the curtains on Mrs. Black. "Sorry about the doorbell, it's hard to remember all the rules sometimes. Is Remus here?" The question she had been waiting to ask spilled out of her mouth like hot lava, and she looked at me sadly. I knew she didn't want to ask why I was still there.

"He is, he's just sleeping. He was pretty banged up this morning..."

"He let you see him? He always makes me wait at least 12 hours."

"Um, he wasn't...he didn't want me to." I finished lamely, feeling a horrible sense of pity for her. I would never want to cause Tonks pain, and I felt a little guilty for stealing Remus right out from under her variably shaped nose. "I kind of forced myself on him. I mean, to help him!" I stumbled over my words, trying to make it sound like everything was perfectly platonic here. "Since I was here, and all."

"Oh, right," she nodded slowly, before turning to go up the stairs. "I'm sure he won't mind if I just pop in to say hi, right? I do it almost every month." She said this as an afterthought, not waiting for me to answer before tromping up the stairway. Not that it really mattered anyway, what could I say? 'Oh no, I don't think that's the best idea. You see, my clothing is all over the floor and he doesn't want anyone to know that I've been sleeping in there with him, that we're in a relationship. So maybe it would just be best if you waited here for a few moments while I dash up there and tidy up a bit." Somehow, I couldn't see that going over too well. So I followed her up the stairs cautiously, and stayed about a yard behind her as she opened the door. "Harry?" Remus rolled over and opened his eyes a crack, before sitting upright as though someone had prodded him with fire. "Tonks! What are you doing here?!"

"I told you I'd come see you, Remus." I needn't have worried about my belongings scattered about the room, Tonks had eyes only for Remus. "So here I am. How are you? Can I get you anything?" She walked lightly over to the bed and crouched next to him, putting a hand on his forehead. I felt anger bubbling up in my stomach. Her words stung. Even though I knew she didn't mean to, Tonks was insinuating that the care I provided was inadequate to Remus' needs. I got the sudden urge to throw her out the window, but managed to control it.

"No, thank you, though." Remus whispered, already starting to close his eyes again, melting back into the mattress. "Harry's taken very good care of me."

Tonks' eyes narrowed, but she quickly hid her jealousy. "Oh, he has?" she asked sweetly. "Good then, I guess you don't need me. Well, I'll see you at the Burrow tomorrow. I was going to come over for tea as well, as long as that's okay with you two?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Remus opened one eye, I could see his chest start to rise and fall more quickly.

Tonks glanced around the room, finally taking in all of my clothing, my trunk, my watch on the nightstand. "I just wouldn't want to interrupt...anything."

Remus struggled to sit up again, he was using far too much energy at the moment, I could see him struggling to focus. "You didn't interrupt anything here, and it would be the same there. Nothing's happened." His voice was slurring, this couldn't be right. I saw him sway as Tonks opened her mouth to reply.

"Tonks!" I finally spat out. "I don't think Remus is feeling well enough to continue this conversation now. Why don't you talk to him later?"

"Oh yes, little nurse maid Harry makes all the rules now, does he?" She turned to me, standing up.

"Tonks, don't." Remus tried to stop her, but she ignored his pleading. She starting stepping toward me, her wand pointed at my chest.

"Look at him," I told her, trying to stay calm. An angry auror is a dangerous one. "He's still weak. It's taking too much energy out of him."His eyes were closed again, as he let his head drop against the wooden head board with a painful thunk. "Why don't you and I go sort this out downstairs?"

"Yeah," she seemed to realize what she was doing and lowered her wand. "Yeah, that's a good idea."