A/N: First off all, lt me apologize for the pause in updates. I've been mad busy. Next, I have a little announcement to make to all you loyal fans reading (and hopefully, reviewing as well) this story.

Secondly, as of this chapter, I am going on a brief writing hiatus in order to reconvene with my muse for this story. You see, at the rate this story is going and how it took 20 chapters to get through the events of Order of the Phoenix alone, it looks like this fic isn't halfway done yet. That would make this the longest damn story I ever wrote, and I also want it to be the best story I ever wrote. This one month hiatus will help me figure out where I am going with this. I already know I want to quicken the pace, because the Half Blood Prince events are going to be hell to write, seeing as they mainly will be Tonks crying her eyes out and Remus reconsidering everything, blah, blah, blah. I want to make these next few chapters more than that, and the hiatus will help with that. Because I know once I hit the events of Deathly Hallows, this fic's action element will pick up again, but it will be a challenge getting to that point.

To those who are sad to see me go, be assured that it will ONLY be a a little more than a month, and hopefully by July 9th (exactly one month after my 20th birthday), it will be ended by a new chapter appearing, so keep an eye out and keep reviewing! To those who whine: would you rather have a story finished tomorrow with a sucky second-half, or a fic that's finished in December (hypothetically) with an incredible ending? Yes, despite this fic being completely canon, I can still make a really good ending.

Those who want to chat with me about this fic or ask questions, feel free to meet me either on my own Remus/Tonks forum (The Full Moon Pub) or where I usually hang, The Reviews Lounge. For this is only a WRITING hiatus, not a chatting or reviewing hiatus! See you in a month!

Tonks moved into the small suite above the Three Broomsticks that Saturday, the second Saturday in August. Madame Rosemerta had stocked the room (usually reserved for travelers passing through) with towels, soaps and shampoos, and she even stocked the cupboard with dishware and food. Tonks had just assumed for the duration of her mission she would eat downstairs in the pub. The suite itself was only half the size of the tavern downstairs, for the other half was Rosemerta's own quarters on the other side of a small hallway. But compared to the Tonks Cottage, it was as big as the Hufflepuff Common Room (and that was decently big). A small sitting room and kitchenette was the first room when Tonks entered. A small hallway led to the bathroom, and a door led to the bedroom. In the bedroom, a window overlooked the center of Hogsmeade village, and in the distance, above the street scene below, was Hogwarts, standing proud and tall at the side of the Black Lake. The setting sun when Tonks moved it was red and purple and setting over the castle. It was a genuine postcard view.

Tonks offered to help Rosemerta in the pub on busy nights to pay for her keep, but Rosemerta insisted that what she was doing for the cause was payment enough: Keeping Hogsmeade safe. Tonks was well aware she was the only one on duty, because her would-be partner, Emmeline Vance, had been killed by Death Eaters just a single day prior, and no one volunteered to take her place. Apparently, the pairs rule did not exist anymore now that deaths were beginning to occur. Remus was alone in his mission too. However, as much a loss to the Order as Emmeline's death was, Tonks did not personally miss the woman too much. She was always too formal and very boring. Tonks never bothered to get to know Emmeline, but she did pay her respects as any respectable acquaintance would nonetheless.

Tonks unpacked and crashed down on the bed to sleep before nine that evening, just after setting up a small photograph of Remus next to the bed.

Sunday, the first day after Tonks settled herself into her new apartment, she went down to have breakfast with Madame Rosemerta before the Sunday-brunch crowd came in. Tonks would only sip some mint tea, and Rosemerta noticed.

"Tonks, love, you sure you're not going to touch your toast?" she asked. Tonks shook her head.

"No, I'm still quite tired. Didn't get much sleep last night," Tonks replied. "But, duty calls. The Hogsmeade road won't pace itself."

Rosemerta nodded and cleared her throat before speaking again. "Admirable," she said.

"What is?" Tonks asked.

"A lass your age taking on such a job in times like these. Out of school for only a few years, out of Auror training for only two years. A hundred years ago, I'll bet the youngest Auror was close to ten years older."

"Please, Madame Rosemerta, I'm not really in the proper mood to be admired right now. Most of this talk is going in ten meters over my head," Tonks said softly. Madame Rosemerta sighed and understood.

"More tea, then?" she offered. Tonks shook her head and got up. Making sure her wand was in her back pocket, she headed for the door that would take her out onto the street.

"Before you go—" Rosemerta suddenly stopped. Tonks flipped her head around.

"Yes?"

"Just a bit of a suggestion, but if you're looking for conspiracies or suspicious activities, the Shrieking Shack is a great place to find it," Rosemerta advised. Tonks knitted her eyebrows.

"Oh?"

Rosemerta nodded. "It's got no windows and doors, but there are things that happen in there, mark my words," she informed.

"Then how do you get inside?" Tonks asked.

"I don't know if I'm supposed to know, but I overheard a young James Potter—mischievous little devil he was back then—talk about the entrance being under the Whomping Willow," Rosemerta said.

Tonks nodded silent thanks and wandered out of the bar and down the street. She was only playing dumb for the most part. She knew what the Shrieking Shack was, and it was where Remus would transform during his school days. But she never knew the way in, and she assumed Remus never intended to take her to a place with such terrible memories for him.

The streets weren't crowded, but nor were they deserted. Tonks easily made her way out of the village. Deciding that Rosemerta might actually have something there with suspicious activity occurring in the Shack, Tonks decided to have a look for herself. She could not Apparate directly into the Shack, so Tonks trekked up the hill to the Whomping Willow. Upon seeing the tree violently wave it's branches, Tonks raised her wand.

"Immobilus!" she said, shooting white sparks up at the tree, paralyzing it for a moment. Tonks quickly scurried to the base of the tree and hunted around for an opening. She found a hole barely big enough for a grown man to fit into, and she crawled in quickly before the spell wore off the tree.

She followed the dark tunnel until she found herself climbing stairs again. She opened the door to find a large, dusty, run down old room. This was it. The whole Shack must have been this one room. Granted, it was a fairly large room, but nonetheless, when you're a full-grown werewolf, longing for the open air, Tonks could see where this room got stuffy.

In the dusty on the floor, Tonks could make out odd-looking prints. Most were, interestingly, human prints. Not full-grown prints, but possibly preteen footprints. There was a set of paw prints (Padfoot's?) and then a set of small mouse-like trails that suddenly evolved into full-grown feet (Wormtail's?). The whole floor looked like two or three years ago, some erratic tango was rehearsed here.

Tonks surveyed the empty room cautiously. There were remains of whatever activity she assumed was in here last. A piece of rough cloth, almost like the prison suits the prisoners in Azkaban wore, caught in a floorboard. Did Sirius hide out here while he was newly escaped, knowing no one would look for him there?

Tonks looked down at the piece of cloth, and for no reason, grabbed it and attempted to pry it free from the splintered floorboard. It was stuck more than Tonks anticipated, and when the cloth finally ripped free, she was thrown back by the release of force several feet, hitting her head against the wall and causing a shower of dust to fall over her. Tonks groaned. What a great time to be a clumsy fool.

Tonks stood up and suddenly realized that she'd not hit the wall. The piece of wall she'd hit sounded hollow and seemed to have been forced free of whatever lock and key it was under. There was another room. And what was that silvery-blue glow coming from it?

Tonks had to investigate. She armed herself with her wand and cautiously stepped inside this newly-discovered room. It was no bigger than a closet and very bare, though not as dusty as the rest of the Shack. The only thing that occupied the room was a large crudely-made stone basin, the source of the strange blueish glow.

It was easily recognizable to Tonks as a Pensieve.

But what the bloody hell was a Pensieve doing in the Shrieking Shack? Wizards who used Pensieves were major Aurors or Ministry members, older people who forget easily. Mad-Eye had a Pensieve (though his paranoid nature refused to let anyone near it).

It occurred to Tonks this could've been Remus' own Pensieve. But why? Remus only used this Shack in his childhood. No child knew how to create or properly use a Pensieve (Tonks herself was still completely unsure of how they worked). No child NEEDED to use a Pensieve. Besides, wouldn't it have made more sense for a Pensieve to be put up in a place Remus still went to often? Like, his HOME?

Tonks put her wand in her back pocket and moved up to the Pensieve. Should she look inside? She'd find out whose thoughts were stored here. Then again, she'd clearly be invading privacy. Then AGAIN, if this belonged to a Death Eater, or Voldemort himself, she could emerge from this basin having done a service worth an Order of Merlin…

Tonks decided to dive head first into the Pensieve before her conscience got the better of her. She felt herself falling as the world around her changed all of a sudden…

Tonks landed face down on a hard, wooden surface. She coughed and brushed herself off. Getting to her feet, Tonks realized that she hadn't moved anywhere. She was still in the Shrieking Shack in the daytime. Maybe the Pensieve was so old it didn't work? Did the person who owned it die, and therefore the memories didn't exist anymore?

But Tonks could hear other voices. Boys' voices. Young boys' voices. Tonks ducked behind a wooden beam, until she realized she still had to be in the Pensieve, so therefore to whoever was here now, she would be invisible.

Curiously, she followed the sounds of the voices back into the small room that contained the Pensieve. It lacked the silver glow it had before.

Four boys, two taller than average, pone average, and one short and dumpy, stood hovered around the large, familiar stone basin. Tonks could discern full conversation from the door now.

"Well I think it's brilliant!" said the short lad.

"Wormy, you think everything is brilliant!" moaned the tallest of the four, whom Tonks seemed to find strangely familiar….

"So, Padfoot?" challenged the average-height boy. "Wormtail can think whatever he wants."

"Moony, I still don't understand why the bloody hell you need one of these?" asked the second tallest boy. Tonks still could not see faces, but the name 'Moony' immediately rang a bell with Tonks, and she realized a young Remus had to be among them. Were…were these The Four Marauders? They had to be. Who else COULD they be?

Then this WAS Remus' Pensieve!

"You see, Prongs, when you're taking three extra classes in order to potentially earn your N.E.W.T.s a whole term early, you feel your mind is a wee bit stretched. I have no room in my brain for memories when I have to make room for Ancient Runes and Seventh-Year Arithmancy!" explained the boy of average height, Moony. Tonks' Moony.

"Won't you get into trouble?" Wormtail asked. Moony shook his head.

"No. Pensieves are not illegal. This was mighty tricky to prepare, and the fact that as a sixth year I could pull it off might make some of the Professors a bit nervous, however," Moony explained.

"Nerd," Padfoot muttered. Moony nodded.

"I try my damndest," Moony retorted. Tonks smiled. As a boy, Remus wasn't bad looking. But the scars on his face looked even more painful on the younger, tighter skin.

"Even if I wanted one, I don't think I'd be able to make it," Prongs said. "You're a genius. He'll probably invent some wand that Muggles could use to do magic next!"

Moony shook his head. "That's physically impossible. This, however, DID take intense, deep studying and research since spring term our second year. Just now I finally figured the last bit out."

"It's just your ruddy memories we can shove in this thing, is it?" Padfoot joked. "I mean, if Prongs and I finally are able is successfully make Snivellus dunk his OWN greasy head in the loo, we couldn't save that grand feat for posterity to treasure?"

Moony shrugged. "I suppose if I were there to see it, maybe. But no. It takes only my memories."

"And why is this out here in the Shack?" asked Prongs. Tonks laughed at this whole interrogation. "Once we graduate, you won't have access to it!"

"Oh, I will," Moony argued. "Once I pass the Apparition test, I could always Apparate here to store a memory because it's just outside the school gate. But here, I know no one can look into my private thoughts without my permission…"

Padfoot raised a mischievous eyebrow, and Tonks felt a pang of guilt surge through her.

"Let's see you put your first memory in there!" asked Wormtail, who looked so excited he could wet himself. "Please, Moony?"

"Yeah, before Wormy has a coronary!" Padfoot laughed. Prongs laughed too. Moony nodded.

"My first memory is the four of us hovered over this thing, talking about me putting my first memory in here," Moony snorted, putting his wand to his forehead. Tonks smiled. Remus was such a smart lad.

A ribbon of silverish-blue began to appear out of the side of Remus' head. The world around Tonks changed as the memory ended.

The world around Tonks re-materialized in the hallway outside the Great Hall. Tonks was standing off near the hallway that lead to Ravenclaw Tower. Two people, Moony and a girl Tonks could not recognize, stood facing each other up against the wall a few feet away. Tonks was, again, completely invisible. The girl was Moony's exact height, a little chubby around the middle, had a dusty blonde head of frizzy hair, and had a nose that looked too small for the rest of her face. She was not pretty in the least, at least in Tonks' eyes. She wore the robes of a Ravenclaw. Tonks could see the tears on her cheeks shining in the torchlight.

"I really don't care," said the girl. Her voice was deeper than most girls her age Tonks had heard. "I really am not afraid of you. I'm glad you came to me with this, but what difference does that make?"

Tonks already knew what was going down. Moony was giving this girl the same excuses he gave her. The excuses Sirius talked about many times.

"I'm too dangerous for you, Nellie," Moony said. "One night during a full moon and you make one wrong move with me, you're history. I can't do that to you. You're too nice a girl."

"This reason is ridiculous," pouted Nellie. "I JUST said I don't care!"

"You tell him, sweetheart," Tonks mumbled under her breath.

"If there's another reason," Nellie asserted. "I would like to hear it. Be honest. I've heard it all in the past! What is wrong with me?" Tonks could hear the desperation in her voice rise.

Moony took the girl's hand in his and looked her right in the eye. "Listen to me, Nellie Ryan, there is nothing wrong with YOU!"

The name triggered a stray thought in Tonks head. There was a half-blood woman named Nellie Ryan-Wilkinson who worked with Arthur Weasley in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department at the Ministry. Perhaps it was she? The nose and figure were different now, but the hair was a dead ringer. She was married to a Muggle named George Wilkinson, who worked as what the Muggles called an 'insurance auditor.' Nellie had tried to explain it to Tonks once, and Tonks had to excuse herself before she fell asleep over her desk.

But regardless, it was already obvious how this scene was going to end up.

"Just….go away!" Nellie suddenly blurted. "Lie to me. I know it has to be me," she said boldly, strongly, without a hint of tears or crying fits in her voice.

"Nellie, let me explain—"

"—I think enough was said here!" Nellie said sharply, jerking her hand out of Moony's hand. She crossed her arms and turned towards Tonks, looking her right in the eye, but obviously not seeing her. Moony looked slightly hurt and casually brushed off his robes and walked away, looking totally fine now.

Nellie looked to see if he was gone, then began weeping. Tonks gritted her teeth and followed Moony, who was no quite out of sight yet. She wanted to punch him.

"Moony!" she called out. "You ass! Can't you see she loves you? Can't you hear her?! She's crying for YOU, and you break her heart because you are a selfish bastard! Can't you even—"

But when Tonks turned the corner, she saw Moony, forehead against the wall, fighting back tears of his own. He looked almost ready to explode, and Tonks suddenly realized something she hadn't before, and it hurt her insides thinking about it. Remus was not being selfish in breaking up with her. It hurt him just as much, maybe even more. Maybe, maybe he truly felt it was his job to keep the one he loved safe from all harm?

Tonks put a hand gently on Moony's shoulder as he fought back more tears.

"Moony?" a deep voice called from behind the pair. Both Moony and Tonks turned around to see Padfoot, his handsomely long hair casually pulled back into a ponytail (Moony's shaggy hair was kept down around his ears). "Please say you didn't do it again."

Moony nodded. "You know as well as I that I have no choice—"

"—rubbish," Padfoot hissed. "What did you say this time? What her hair too big? Was she too fat? Was it the fact that her chest is too small for the rest of her?"

Moony growled. "I told the truth this time, Pads." Tonks looked up at Padfoot. She was surprised to see the look on his face. He seemed surprised at this news himself.

"Well, there's a start, anyway," Padfoot mumbled. "Maybe next time you'll have the guts to actually keep a girl for more than a fortnight." Coldly, Padfoot turned his back on Moony and strolled down the hall, leaving Moony there alone. Tonks wanted to hug him, but the scene around her changed once more.

Tonks was no longer in Hogwarts. Now she seemed to be in a small, but nicely-furnished sitting room, decorated for the Christmas holiday. The people in the room were all gathered around another person, sitting in a fetal position on the sofa. The man in the fetal position was Moony. The redheaded woman at his side rubbing his shoulder gently was Lily Potter, Tonks saw (she could recognize her from pictures, for unlike Nellie Ryan, Lily was an attractive young woman). Prongs (aka James Potter) was standing with his head in his hands, his back to the two others. He seemed to be thinking deeply.

"I don't understand how you even came to be in their possession in the first place. Was it an accident, Moony?" Prongs spoke after a few minutes.

Moony looked up. The scars on his face now were red and deep. The full moon was very recently past.

"Prongs, I would never…I still can't believe I…" Moony stuttered. Lily gently rubbed his shoulder and 'shhed' him. Moony seemed to have little comfort from this.

"Remus, what's done is done. I trust you and know you would never betray anyone," Prongs reasoned. "But what I'm worried about is when Padfoot gets he—"

The door slammed open and Prongs was caught off guard. Tonks jumped a foot in the air and fell backwards. Padfoot stood in the doorway, looking angry. No, furious. No, absolutely driven to madness. He looked like a wild animal about to kill. He eyed Moony as if Moony was his intended prey.

"Padfoot," Prongs said quickly, running to his friend's side. "Before you say anything—"

"—bet he's pretty damn pissed because he didn't get them!" Padfoot said, his voice surprisingly civil as he stepped into the room. Tonks could smell the firewhiskey on his breath from across the room. "When Mad-Eye told me how he plucked Andromeda's daughter from the middle of the woods outside their cottage after she was microseconds away from being YOUR midnight meal, I didn't believe it!"

Tonks understood the scene now, and it took her longer to do so than the previous two memories. The date was December 18, 1979. The day after her home was attacked and she nearly got the bite from Remus Lupin. This was the beginning of the end of The Marauders. For Tonks knew from one of the many rantings of Sirius Black under the influence of alcohol, this was around the time Sirius began to suspect Remus of being capable of betrayal, and Remus began mistrusting Sirius. Tonks had no idea she was behind much of the suspicions that tore the four (five, counting Lily) friends apart forever.

"But when he showed me the destroyed house this morning, and the tiny footprints in the snow, followed by paw prints, I realized…you…you sold yourself to the Death Eaters in exchange for safety!" Padfoot quickly accused. Lily gasped airily.

Prongs went wide eyed and looked hurt. "Padfoot, friends don't betray. It's a rule of the world. I believe Moony was either tricked or forced against his will into this situation."

"I don't want to hear it!!" Padfoot shrieked. "FUCK FRIENDS!! HE NEARLY KILLED MY LITTLE COUSIN, THE ONE WHO HAPPENS TO BE THE FIRST HALF-BLOODED BLACK!! Sound a little SUSPICIOUS, Moony old boy?!"

Tonks was flat-out frightened by the maddened appearance of Sirius Black.

Padfoot looked at the visible occupants of the room. He gritted his teeth and uttered a low growl. Afterwards, the room was dead silent for a while minute before Moony broke it meekly.

"I…I didn't mean to…"

But Padfoot slammed his fist with full-force and then some into the wall, causing a framed photo to fall and shatter. Everyone jumped up and stood back with the exception of Moony. Padfoot then stood in the doorway for another minute before rushing out. The room was silent in the aftermath of Padfoot's quick but powerful visit.

The scene melted away before Tonks, and she felt herself thrown backwards.

Tonks fell flat on her back as she was ejected from the Pensieve. She was back in the present, dust-encrusted Shrieking Shack, in the present day. No one else was with her in the room as she got to her feet and dusted herself off, or so she thought at first.

Because the moment she turned around to exit the Pensieve closet, she found herself face to face with, who else but the Pensieve's owner: Remus Lupin.