Author's Note: You can read the NC-17 (M) version of this chapter here.

post/95855797658/chapter-10-nc-17-version

For far above these heavens, which here we see,

Be others far exceeding these in light,

Not bounded, not corrupt, as these same be,

But infinite in largeness and in height,

Unmoving, uncorrupt, and spotless bright,

That need no sun t' illuminate their spheres,

But their own native light far passing theirs.

Sirius groaned and rolled over in his bed, wishing himself to sleep, knowing full well that he probably shouldn't. It was not like he had gotten any sleep last night, between the argument that took place, and laying awake wondering if he was the one to blame for their friendship falling apart. The yelling stopped around 2am, and Sirius laid awake, tossing a ball in the air for hours, as his mind raced to what could have been said to Remus seeing him come morning. Finally giving up, Sirius crawled out of bed, dressed, and made his way out of his bedroom, noticing that Remus' door was shut, suggesting that his friend at least went to bed. Walking downstairs, he walked by Kreacher who was mumbling something about something-he never really paid close attention to the elf. The kitchen was how he left it, and began to shuffle around, it was Saturday, and Sirius knew that the house would be filled with Order members soon, for their bi-weekly meeting; Saturdays, when teachers could escape for a few hours under the pretense of visiting Hogsmeade. Sirius knew he still had a few hours before they would start arriving, and moved to make himself some breakfast.

By 8am, Sirius still had not heard or seen Remus emerge from his bedroom, the man usually was up with the sun, but he had no idea what time he had made his way to bed, prompting Sirius to stand in front of the closed bedroom door, debating waking his friend, or letting him sleep for a little while longer. His thoughts were interrupted by a knocking which Sirius knew, must be Molly and Arthur, leaving the door, he made his way downstairs, and through the darkened hallway, to open the front door for the Order members who would start arriving.

One by one, the house started to see members pop in for a chat before the meeting, and Sirius smiled at each one of his friends who came in. His mind kept floating upstairs, to Remus' room, concerned about his friend, and the potential down spiral of his relationship. Tonks usually arrived early to every meeting, but she wasn't there either, as more people started coming in.

"Has anyone seen Remus?" Kingsley asked looking around.

"Probably still sleeping, he and Tonks were on duty last night," Sirius said cautiously.

"Emmaline and I relieved them around 11pm," Hestia said.

"You know Remus, sometimes he just reads, and forgets to sleep," Sirius shrugged. "I'll go wake him."

"See if he knows where Tonks is too," Kingsley said. "Its not like her to be late, tripping over things yes, but that girl is always early."

"Sure," Sirius mumbled standing up. He didn't think it was his place to be the one to explain to the Order than the two members in question were up yelling at each other all night. But he was concerned for Remus, and thus made his way up the stairs.

Remus opened his eyes at the sun making its way into his bedroom, and blinked, feeling the warmth of the woman sleeping on him, made his heart swell. They had agreed, one day at a time, so until midnight he decided, he would be blissfully happy with this woman. Why he was allowing himself to indulge was something he didn't quite understand, but deeply, he wanted the illusion that he was normal, a human. He was brought out of his musings, at the feeling of her hand start to lightly scratch his chest. "Mmm, good morning," he whispered as he felt her kiss his chest. Tonks looked up, and smiled at him.

"Good morning," she smiled coyly. "It's still the same day."

"I am quite aware," he whispered, quiet enjoying her the fact that he got to see her at her utmost happiness.

Remus moved his hands so that they moved towards her hair, which turned into a caramel brown and long enough for him to run his hands through. Tonks smirked at the feel of his hands running through her hair, and sat up, winking at him, as she swung a leg over his torso that she was straddling him. Leaning down, she captured his lips with her own, and let her tongue sweep past his, as she felt his hands slide up her thighs and rest on her hips.

"Remus?" followed by a knock caused the two to stop all movements, and Remus' hand to immedietly cover her mouth.

"Yes?" he asked, hoping to all that was holy, whoever it was, would not open the door.

"Molly made lunch, and we have a meeting soon," Sirius said from behind the door.

"I'll be down in a little bit," Remus called, as he shot Tonks a look, who was placing kisses to his hand, trying to move his hand.

"Okay, be quick, Dumbledore likes to start on time…" he trailed off, as Remus let down his hand as Tonks fell down to his chest in giggles.

"Sssh," Remus mumbled, his own smile twitching at his lips. Another knock, made him turn his head. "Yes Sirius?"

"Have you seen Tonks? She's not here yet, and uh, she's usually early," Sirius asked on the other side of the door. Remus looked at the woman who was now running her hands over his ribs in an attempt to tickle him, and pressing languish kisses on his neck. Why yes, he had seen her, in fact, he was seeing her right now.

"Yes, uh, she is in bed, slept here last night, I'll get her in a few moments," he lied as if on cue, Tonks muffled a laugh.

"Okay mate."

"You know what I'm going to do in a few minutes?" Tonks asked slyly as she quickly continued her tickling. "I'm going to make you see stars." Remus laughed as he gently took her hands into his.

"We should get dressed," he mumbled pressing a kiss on the top of her head.

"Okay," she grinned, pulling herself off him, feeling the tenderness between her legs, and the stickiness that came from both of them. Both dressed in silence, Remus in clean clothes, as Tonks slipped on her leggings, and grabbed one of his shirts, putting it on under her vest. Glancing at herself in the mirror on his wardrobe, she smiled. "I actually quite like this hair."

"I agree," Remus said as he buttoned his cardigan. "It is my favourite by far."

"Well, just because you said that, I'll keep it today," she winked and pulled two elastic bands from her pocket, drawing her hair into two pig tails.

Remus stood, staring at the door, knowing that beyond the large door, was a world that probably would be over the moon at knowing that they were together, but was he ready for that? Not at all… Sensing Remus' hesitation, she came up behind him, placing a hand on his upper arm. "They don't need to know. This isn't about them. It is about us. So this, whatever this is," she gestured, "is between us. To them, we're just friends."

"Thank you," Remus mouthed as he opened the door, and the two stepped into the world.

Tonks smiled, and walked out after him, her usual bounce in her step, which was almost more prominent than usual. They walked down the stairs, listening to the chatter, they stepped into the library, boots and cloaks still where they were left. Grabbing her boots, she slipped them on quickly tying her laces, as Remus merely waved at his, to made their way to their proper place in his wardrobe. He was quite comfortable in his slippers, and would be for the day. Together, they walked into the dining room, which was filled with people, all whom smiled and said hello.

Remus moved and sat down next to Sirius who was eating what seemed to be his second helping of Shepherd's Pie. He accepted the plate Molly handed him with a thank you, and brought the fork into his mouth. Sirius watched his friend leaning towards him. "You had sex last night."

Remus coughed on his nosh, and wide-eyed looked at his friend. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Uh huh," Sirius grinned wickedly. "You look relieved, have this look like you got some." Watching his friend's face change, Sirius laughed. "I'm just kidding. However, I heard the yelling…"

"Oh," Remus said softly his eyes travelling towards Tonks, who was having an animated conversation with Emmaline.

"You two all right?"

"Yes, we're fine," Remus stated, before turning back to Sirius. "We're just friends."

"That's good," Sirius smiled as the dining room door opened again, and the Hogwarts staff moved in. "If you need to talk."

"I know that you will be there to provide you oh so helpful comments," Remus smirked.

The meeting went by painfully slow, each sector giving reports, and updates on the situation. When it came to the tracking of the death eaters that escaped from Azkaban, Kingsley took over, explaining how he and Sirius had been working on a false trail, making it so he was responsible. Remus' attention strayed to Tonks, who was sitting across from him, she noticed him, brought her lip between her teeth and winked at him. He smiled as he felt her boot clad foot rest upon his stretched out slipper clad foot. There was something about that woman, that made Remus' heart skip a beat.

Two hours later, the members started trickling out of Grimmauld Place, each with new duties, and schedules for the next two weeks. Tonks walked out of the dining room, as Remus quickly excused himself, and followed the young woman. The hallway was empty, and she was standing there, leaning against the wall, her arms folded over her chest.

"Hi," she grinned.

"Hi," Remus smiled.

"So, I was thinking," she said inhaling. "We both have tonight off, I so maybe you'd like to have supper?"

"You cook?"

"Barely, but I make a really good spaghetti and meatballs," she teased. "We can do it at my flat."

"Sounds delightful," Remus smiled, because it was 11 more hours of this day, and he was determined to make their 'one day at a time' pact worth it. Tonks grinned brightly, and stood up on her tip toes, placing a soft kiss on his cheek, before she bounced out of the house. Sirius, who was standing in the doorway of the dining room smirked.

"A kiss huh?"

"It was nothing," Remus groaned turning to see his friend.

"Sure," Sirius started. "Listen Remus, you know, the teasing…"

"It's who you are, I know," Remus smiled softly, patting his friend on the shoulder. "Would you care to play a game of Chess?"

"I'm going to beat you," Sirius proclaimed. "I've been practicing!" Remus chuckled as the two walked into the library.

Remus spent the afternoon playing chess with Sirius, who for the first time in months, did not pester him about Tonks. Remus figured that Sirius had no real idea what occurred last night, but felt responsible. He always did have the urge to insert himself into everyone else's problems, but in true Sirius fashion when things got awkward, he got distracting. And so it was, Sirius had kept him occupied for hours, and it wasn't until the clock rang six that Remus started off towards Tonks home. Repeatedly stating to a curious Sirius that it was two friends having supper, nothing more.

He stood in front of her door, not knowing if he should knock, or enter at will. The last time he was there, there was no choice but to enter, it was an emergency. But now, now they were something else, not like he knew what, and it was new, and settled on one day at a time, with six hours remaining. he gently raised his fist to the door, and rapped it a few times. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Remus quickly turned around, he shouldn't be here, shouldn't be indulging in his feelings. There was a reason he was alone; he preferred to be alone…

"You're not leaving," a voice said from the doorway. Remus turned around and shook his head. She had changed, if it was one thing they shared, they both preferred to dress as Muggles, rather than the typical robes. His preference came from his mother, and her stating that a true gentlemen wore clean trousers, and a button up shirt. He assumed hers, came from her unique quality of doing what she wanted. So here she was, standing in her doorway looking at him. "Come in," she smiled softly. Remus walked past her outstretched arm. Her kitchen was an absolute disaster, and he chuckled by the dishes that littered the counter. She had a cauldron brewing something off to the side. "So I attempted to make something, but then, I got distracted, and so, toast and jam?" she pointed to the small table in front of her couch, that held a plate of toast, and a jar of jam, marmalade, and a jaw of peanut butter.

Remus smiled at the young woman, and allowed her to guide him to her couch. The one thing he didn't notice the last time he was in her flat, was the clutter of things from both worlds, much like his own. "My dad is Muggleborn," she explained jumping onto the couch, and bringing her sock clad feet to rest on the cushion. She smiled at him, not her usual wide- I'm so excited- smile, but a soft one, comforting.

"My mother," he smiled softly. "was a muggle."

"I didn't know that," Tonks smiled grabbing a piece of toast from the stack. "So, did you grow up that way?"

And that is how the evening went, nothing straying from how they were prior to her declaration a few months back. There were a few laughs, and a game of chess, which Remus let her win, just once, and her handing him one of her favourite books, stating that they could have a weekly "hang day" that didn't involve the moon. Remus chuckled and opened the book, and started to read.

"Although I am an old man, night is generally my time for walking…."