Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Jo Rowling. Get over it, people.

A/N: Merry Chrishanakwanaramadanaka!!!!! (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Ramadan, and every other winter holiday) It's been a while since I've updated ((sobs)) like, before Thanksgiving ((sobs harder and begs for forgiveness)) and I'm so sorry. I also apologize because I loathe the second half//part//whatever of this chapter. I want to stab it. But sadly, I can't, because it's merely writing.

A/N 2: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS!!!!!!!! OMFG!!!!!!!

A/N 3: I love you, reviewers. You are awesome. Readers, too. But I like reviewers better. : ) On that wonderful note I give you:

Chapter 14

Figuring It Out and Flipping Stances

There was a soft knock at her bedroom door. Tonks moaned. It had to be him. Who else could it be? And although she had laid in bed from the moment she had fallen asleep to...5:47 pm, on the dot, because she was so distraught, she most certainly did not want to see him.

"Go away," she ordered her pillow. There was the shy sound of a door opening slowly. Why would he even want to see her? She rolled over and glared at the tresses that had changed overnight. She tried valiantly to change them.

Nope.

"I said go away," she told her bed covers as his feet softly treaded the floorboards. Suddenly her blankets were thrown off of her and she felt almost blinded by the sudden change.

"THAT IS NO WAY TO TALK TO YOUR BEST FRIEND!" And standing there, shocking Tonks into oblivion, was not Remus.

But Ami.

Ami had curly brown hair that fell gracefully past her shoulder blades that came the a delicate stop right where every woman dreamed of it stopping. She was fairly tan and had dashingly green eyes. She wore stylish robes that she often decorated herself with careful stitching or beads. And she was the kind of wild person that would throw your blankets off of you when you are obviously going through a very traumatic time in your life.

That was Ami.

And Tonks wasn't all that happy, as shocked as she was to see her. She glared at her and tried to pull her blankets back.

"No, I don't want to talk about it," she said as she valiantly tried to pull her sheets back, "Two: no, I cannot change my appearance, and three...GIVE MY BLANKETS BACK!"

Ami completely ignored her requests. "You mean you can't change? I mean, I knew something must've happened for you to look that pathetic, but I never thought that you couldn't change back..." She paused. "Hey look! I remember this! It's your old diary! I remember I knew the spell to unlock it and-" Ami went ranting off. Tonks often wondered if she had a tiny concentration problem. "OH MY GOD! REMUS! I JUST REMEMBERED! WHAT DID HE DO? WHAT DID YOU DO? WERE YOU READING THIS? AFTER YOU FOUGHT OR SOMETHING? DID YOU JUST TORTURE YOURSELF READING THIS OR. . . SOMETHING?" She paused, waiting to see if Tonks would answer. Glaring at her when she didn't, Ami licked her thumb and flicked through the pages. "Ha, ha, I remember that. Pillow kissing."

"Shut up, will you?" Tonks said again, trying valiantly to pull her blankets back. When she failed she turned and plunged her head under her pillow.

". . .You weren't pillow kissing last night, were you. Because that's just wrong, Tonks."

"No! I wasn't pillow kissing last night, no, I wasn't kissing anyone else last night, no I did not write about any of it in my diary, and NO, I don't want to talk about it!" Ami paused respectfully.

"It's not your 'time of month,' is it?" she mumbled. Tonks threw her pillow at her, trying to hide her smile. How did she always manage to do that? She looked down cautiously and slowly rubbed her eyes. Ami looked down pityingly at her. "Want some tea?"

Tonks lips curved into a small smile again. "This is the first time I've ever been offered tea in my own house."

"That's why we're friends," Ami replied, helping Tonks out of bed. "And while I make tea without burning down your flat, you can give me some sort of explanation to why your hair is the same color as a dead chicken."

OoOoOoOoOo

"Well, no, it's not dead chicken, it's more wild turkey or–"

"Remus Lupin?" Tonks said miserably, staring into her steaming cup of tea.

"Oh. I get it." Ami shifted in her chair. "Can I ask what happened?"

"Yes." Ami paused, waiting.

"Well. . ."

"Fine! I was talking to Remus -"

"There we go. Right there is your problem. Yes, he loves you, Tonks. Okay? We all know that already. Or most of us do. I think even he knows it. But for some reason or another, he is rejecting you. If you force yourself on him he's just going to pull away more. Therefore you should stop-"

"Confronting him about it, I know," she interrupted. Tonks put her head in her hands. "It's just he's so. . ."

"Shut up, Tonks. As many good excuses you have, none of them will work. We know he's 'amazing' and 'irresistible' you lovesick SLUG. But for the time being Remus is rejecting you. And you know that."

"I know," she whimpered back, tears pricking her eyes.

"Tonks. . ."

"We had a fight, okay? A huge, earthshattering fight! And there is no way he can even think about loving me anymore! I don't care what you or anyone else says about this - he doesn't! He hates me! He -" her voice quieted for a moment. "He hates me."

"Nymph, see some sense. Remus is not the kind of person that would go from loving to hating someone in three seconds."

"You weren't there, Ams. You didn't see his face. . ." An image of his drunk and enraged figure formed in front of her eyes - him lifting his glass back and the shocking flight she would've never expected to come, the drink it had held seeping down the walls. . .the sob she had heard before she had opened the door. . ."I don't know."

"Just take a break Tonks. Dawlish was pissed when he realized that you missed work today. Try and avoid Lupin for a bit. Your life has been so much him and so little. . .everything else. He probably isn't feeling all that accepting, yet."

"But, I love - "

"It'll be best for the both of you."

Tonks paused for a moment, trying to think of anything to say while staring into her banged up teacup, weary from being dropped so many times. Nothing came to her. "I hate it when you're right."

"I know. But you love me anyway."

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Remus woke up to an incessant knocking on the warehouse door. He glanced down at the shredded drawing he had slept on. It had been padded down from him sleeping on it, unrecognizable. He stood up groggily, straightening the best he could. His back cracked several times.

The knocking on the door continued.

He pulled on his robes and grabbed his trainers, pulling them on absent-mindedly. He sauntered to the metal door of the warehouse and knocked back.

"'Lo?"

The muffled voice of Molly Weasley answered him. "Remus, it's Molly. I was sent to get you."

Remus rubbed his eyes. "Yes, um, who," he straightened and tried to sound more professional. "Where is your Ford Anglia?"

"The Forbidden Forest," she answered hurriedly. "And you. Who was the fifth boy in your year at Hogwarts?"

"Frank Longbottom," he said strongly, magically unlocking the door with a quick flick of his wand.

"Oh, are you all right?" She asked, brushing dirt off his robes. Remus stepped back half a step and took to the task himself. "We're going back to The Burrow for the time being. Well, I am, I mean, you're going with Kingsley to scout out a new headquarters after we arrive there. . ."

"All right, Molly. I understand." They were silent for an awkward moment. She bit her lip. Remus noticed she looked a lot paler since he had seen her the week earlier. "We should go soon, it's not safe to - "

"Just apparate to our walkway, we have an anti-apparation jinx on our house. The Ministry insisted ever since Arthur got promoted and I personally think - "

"All right Molly," he said politely, once again stepping forward into his turn.

"Wait! Remus, I know we shouldn't hang around,"

"No, we shouldn't," he agreed, slightly frustrated at all the stops but hiding any sign of annoyance from his voice.

"I heard about you and-"

"I don't want to talk about it," he said curtly, vaguely aware of his rudeness. This time he completed his turn and arrived instantaneously at the Burrow. Molly arrived closely behind him.

"I just think you should talk to her, is all," she said. Remus flushed, but Mrs. Weasley ignored it and acted as though she had never mentioned Tonks. "Kingsley's arriving at one."