Again, I apologize for the delay. I'd love to say it'll get better from now on, but I don't think I can keep that promise. :/

Rest assured that this story is completely written though, and will be uploaded completely in time. However long that will be.

CaseLC: Outwardly, Vektor dislikes Tonks' perceived lack of professionalism. Inwardly, though, there's definitely some rivalry over Remus involved. And probably the idea that she needs to protect Remus from what she sees as a inconsiderate youth who ignores his fragile health.

VlighPhase: Vektor's anouncment was wishful thinking more than anything, and maybe the attempt to scare off Tonks. She certainly tried to visit Remus after the full moon, but he didn't answer the door.

confusedblondie: Thanks! I did see it, yeah, and I quite enjoyed it. Not sure how I feel about that whole greater story arch that is being set up, though. Personally, I feel like it would have worked better as a small stand-alone story without the Grindelwald stuff being thrown in. But I'll just have to wait and see. After all, I didn't expect much of this either and was pleasantly proven wrong.

Agony Aunt Padfoot

„And then when he swiped with his claws, and Harry did that roll – "

Remus sighed, and slowly got up from his chair to make them another round of tea. They had been back in the castle for almost two hours now, but Sirius was still recounting every single flight manoeuvre of Harry's fight against the dragon, again and again, as if Remus and Tonks had not been sitting right next to him while it happened.

"You know," Remus said to the Auror when Sirius made a little pause to catch his breath, "He doesn't even boast this much about his own achievements. And that's really saying something."

"Oi!" Sirius said, "He was awesome! If Karkaroff wasn't a biased piece of dung Harry'd be first place!"

"You can hardly accuse him of cheating, can you? We weren't supposed to help Harry at all."

Sirius huffed. "As if Krum didn't have help, too," he muttered angrily, but mercifully dropped the topic.

Sirius had insisted on coming as Snuffles, and Remus had actually been grateful for that. His legs had still felt rather wobbly, and having the large black dog to lean on had prevented any embarrassing tumbles. It also meant that Harry wouldn't feel bad about going to the party the Gryffindors were throwing for him, instead of coming here and reporting to Sirius. Now that Ron and he had reconciled, Harry would hopefully spend a bit less time here, and concentrate on his school life instead of Sirius' one sided stories about the Marauders' endeavours.

Which sadly meant, as Remus discovered now, that Sirius would find something else to focus his attention on. And as it turned out, he went back to one of his favourite topics, much to Remus' horror.

"Alright, then. Dragon, check. Now, to another pressing issue – when are you gonna find yourself a girl, Moony?"

Remus groaned. "Padfoot, shut up," he hissed, in the vain hope that Tonks might not have hard that. Judging by her widening eyes, she had.

"Come on," Sirius went on, sprawling on the sofa and lazily summoning a pack of Bertie Bott's beans, as if torturing Remus was a popular spectator sport. Which to him, it probably was. "Do I even want to know for how long you've been single? You don't have your 'I can't afford shit' excuse anymore; you've got a job now!"

Focusing a lot more attention than was strictly necessary on the milk he was pouring into cups, Remus avoided looking into Tonks direction. These talks were annoying when it just was Sirius and him, but now, with her watching, they had reached a whole new level of mortification.

"Since when is my love life any of your business?"

Sirius laughed. "Because if it was your own business, you'd have gone bankrupt long ago."

At that, Remus actually looked up, far too confused to feel awkward. "What?"

Sirius waved it away, not bothering to explain his confounded metaphor. "I was thinking you could go for this Vektor woman. Looks dreadfully stiff and bookish, but that's sort of your thing, isn't it? And she's totally into you."

"I- what?" Remus gave up making tea completely, and turned around to face Sirius. "How on earth would you know that?"

Sirius shrugged. "She comes by here a lot, doesn't she? Borrowing books, bringing over some papers... Only Tonks and Harry are here more often than she is. And when we met her during our walk last week, she actually giggled when you made that flea comment about me. It wasn't even funny!"

Remus closed his eyes, shaking his head in resignation. "You're absolutely bonkers."

"I'm not!" Sirius turned to Tonks. "Back me up here. She does fancy him, doesn't she?"

Tonks, who had been silently watching the whole exchange, visibly flinched when the attention was turned to her, and a touch of pink tinged her cheeks. "Uhm...maybe, I guess. Whenever I'm around she just frowns, so it's hard to tell." She looked at Sirius questioningly, and added quietly, so that Remus had to strain to catch it, "Didn't you say he's still in love with...you know, with that Val?"

If Remus had been embarrassed before, it was nothing to the sheer mortification he felt now. "What in Merlin's name did you tell her!?"

Tonks flinched again and turned pink, obviously caught out by his werewolf hearing, but Sirius merely shrugged. "She saw you with Val back in summer; I told her who she was. Didn't know you were over her then, did I?" He turned to Tonks. "Apparently he is, by the way. Which is why we have to set him up with someone. Any ideas beside Professor Arithmancy?"

Tonks seemed just as embarrassed as Remus did, and didn't look either of them in the eye. "Err...no."

Remus decided to end this idiocy before it could get any worse. Or before he could reveal anything that he rather wouldn't, least of all in front of Tonks. "Look, regardless of what you seem to think, who or if I'm dating really isn't any of your business. I'm doing fine without your help, thank you very much."

Sirius snorted. "Fine? When was the last time you had sex?"

Remus balled his fists. "Padfoot, I'm warning you. Shut. Up."

"Do you think Rosmerta still remembers you? I know it was me she had a crush on, but if you played your cards right you could totally – "

He yelped painfully when the bean he had been eating flew up into his nose, firmly jamming in his left nostril. "Moony!" He yelled in a rather nasal voice, pawing at his nose and snorting to try and dislodge it, making noises usually reserved for asthmatic pigs.

"Sorry about him," Remus said, turning to Tonks with as much casualness as he could muster, while hoping his ears weren't too pink. "I wish I could say Azkaban addled his brain, but really he has always been a pain in the arse."

Tonks offered him a grin, even though she too still looked a little embarrassed. "Cool spell."

He nodded slowly. "Invented specifically against him, actually. Works better with chewing gum; that sticks a lot longer. I'm afraid this will only be a temporary-"

There was a triumphant shout when the bean flew out of Sirius' nose and into his lap. He flicked it towards Remus. "You're a wanker, Moony."

Remus vanished the bean before it could hit him. "Learned from the best. Will you give it a rest now?"

Sirius shot him a resentful look. "No," he said defiantly.

"I think I'll leave you to it, then," Tonks said, getting up.

Remus winced. "Don't let him drive you away. There's a lot of beans left, I can shut him up for a while."

Tonks grinned vaguely, but shook her head. "I got to go anyway; I'm meeting Charlie and his friends at the Three Broomsticks. "

Her words felt like a punch into his stomach. Remus sunk back into his chair. "Ah. Alright then, have fun" He did his best to smile convincingly, though it was hard to do so when inside, he wanted nothing more than to storm into the village and feed Charlie Sodding Weasley to his stupid sodding dragons.

Tonks returned the smile somewhat half-heartedly, and left.

Remus stared at the closed door for a moment, all anger leaving him. Of course she would go out with a guy like Charlie Weasley. Somebody young, healthy, who didn't have to fear losing his job every time the ministry passed some new laws. Someone who wasn't older by...thirteen years. His stomach turned at that number.

That's it. You finally turned into that lecherous old man parents warn their children of at the parks.

Vaguely he was aware of Sirius rattling off names of various women he knew, weighing up the pros and cons of Remus dating them, but he barely paid attention. Only when Sirius' voice suddenly stopped was he dragged back to reality.

"Wait a second..."

Remus looked up, and found Sirius' gaze switching rapidly between him and the door that Tonks had just left through. He winced at the realization that lit up the grey eyes.

"It's her, isn't it? You fancy Tonks!"

Remus stiffened. "I do not," he said quickly. Too quickly.

Sirius grin grew even broader. "You do!"

Remus groaned inwardly, closing his eyes in anticipation for the hexes that would inevitably follow. Nothing happened. When he opened them again, rather confused now, Sirius was still grinning at him triumphantly.

"I- aren't you supposed to be angry?" he asked weakly. "You know, considering how you freaked out this summer when you thought we were-"

"Angry!?" Sirius repeated incredulously. "Why would I be angry!? You could do a great deal worse than Tonks – at least when she's over, I don't have to go hide as a dog. You just shocked me back in summer – I mean, the last time I had seen her she was four!"

Remus groaned again. "Don't remind me. I feel enough like a pervert as it is."

Sirius cackled. "Pervert? You? Oh come on, Moony! It's not like she's underage! Lots of men have girlfriends younger than them – actually, I always planned on dating twenty-somethings until I was at least fifty." Remus made a face at the mental image that presented itself. Having his love life compared to Sirius' standards was not making him feel better in the slightest. "So when are you asking her out, then?"

Remus stared at him in astonishment. "I'm not asking her out!" he exclaimed incredulously.

Sirius froze. "What!? You just said you fancied her! Are you scared she might say no? She seems to like you well enough, and if it helps, there's still a bottle or two of Firewhiskey. I think she's the kind of girl who gets easier when drunk..."

"You are absolutely disgusting." Remus rose from his chair. "I'm not asking her out because I am a werewolf on the brink of joblessness who's old enough to be her father. And if you breathe any of this to Tonks, I will steal Lancelot from Hagrid and destroy him."

"Soo, cousin..."

Tonks' hand froze mid-sentence, spraying ink all over her report. By now she knew Sirius well enough to be extremely wary of this tone. She looked up. "If this is about the Blast-Ended Skrewts again, I'm not helping you hide one in Remus' office."

"Spoilsport," he said, flicking a ball of crunched up parchment at her before leaning back, and asking in a far too innocuous tone: "How was your night out, then? Found yourself a hot dragon tamer?"

Tonks rolled her eyes. "Really?"

Sirius grinned. "What! I thought chicks dig the dangerous type. And didn't you and Charlie Weasley use to go out?"

Not bothering to ask how he knew that – with Sirius it was usually best not to – she sighed. "For about two weeks or so, yeah. In sixth year. He's really not my type."

Sirius eyes lit up. "Then who is?"

Tonks felt herself blush, as a certain werewolf professor crept into her mind. "Dunno," she said, trying very hard to sound bored, even though she was certain her voice was a little higher than usual. She could only imagine the horrifying embarrassment should Sirius find out that she fancied his best friend. Being the bastard that he was, he'd probably tell Remus right away, and then they could both have a right laugh at her...

"Oh, come on. Moony's a boring old fart, but you really don't have any excuses not to date."

Tonks sighed. "So is this your thing now? You bug all of us about our love life because you don't have one of your own?"

Sirius shrugged. "Nah, just curious. I mean, you've got all these funny stories about dates, I'd have thought you go out more. And yet since the year started, you spent what, maybe three evenings away from Hogwarts?"

Tonks felt herself blush again. This was hitting dangerously close to home. "It's my job to stay here." Even to her own ears, that sounded pathetic. Sirius threw her an odd look, as if he was trying to guess her thoughts and failing. The whole situation suddenly reminded Tonks eerily of the interrogation classes during her training.

"Your job – " Sirius threw a meaningful look on the heap of discarded paper work, carelessly cluttered around the room. "Yes, you do take that very seriously." He shot her another probing look. "Sure you're not here so much because the person you want to date isn't actually outside the castle but right here?"

Shit. He knows.

For a moment she simply stared at him, like a deer caught in the headlight. Then her Auror training kicked in.

He doesn't know anything. He's just fishing.

"Why do you think there's someone I fancy? Maybe I'm just sick of morons asking me to turn my hair blond."

Sirius grinned, momentarily distracted. "Yeah, I bet you get that a lot... let me guess, first question: Can you change your whole body?"

Tonks inwardly congratulated herself. Sirius really did have the attention span of a goldfish. "Almost. You forgot to goggle at my boobs while you said it."

Sirius laughed. "I would have, but I didn't feel like getting hexed – anyway, your secret crush. Spill."

Dammit. That was one determined goldfish.

She sighed. "Look, even if I did have one – which I don't – why would I tell you? All you do is point and laugh."

"That's not true!" Sirius sounded earnestly offended. "I'm a great help with relationships! I'll have you know I singlehandedly set up Remus and Val back in the day."

"Before or after you pointed and laughed at them?"

He grinned. "Both. And during. Moony's ridiculously easy to make fun of. He blushes like a girl."

Tonks snorted dryly. "You're such a great friend, Black. I think I'd go to my Mum for romantic advice before I'd ask you. And we're talking about the woman who once tried to set me up with a troll trainer, who I still maintain should have been the trainee instead."

Sirius laughed, and swung his chair back so it was balancing precariously on its back legs. "Come on. I promise I won't laugh...Not for long, anyway."

Tonks shot him a withering look and returned to her paperwork.

"You know, I could probably just guess. Not that many candidates here."

She kept her eyes fixed on the parchment, but did not see a word of it.

Act normal. He can only assume as long as you don't react.

"I don't think it's one of the students," Sirius mused. "And we can rule out Dumbledore and Filch as well, I should say." He paused a little, gauging her reaction. Tonks rolled her eyes, still not looking up. "So that leaves...Hagrid – don't think so, Flitwick, no, Binns is a ghost, Snivellus – Merlin, please no, and..." He paused a while as if he was trying to remember who he might have forgotten. Waiting for her to fill in and betray herself.

Git.

Well, Tonks was not going to make it that easy for him.

"Karkaroff?" she offered, looking up with a smile of mock innocence.

For a moment, Sirius eyes widened in shock. "You don't- oh, very funny," he muttered disgruntled, slamming his chair back on all four legs. "Alright, I'll get to the point. Do you fancy Moony or don't you?"

Now it was Tonks who was baffled, staring at him in shocked silence at his sudden bluntness. "I... what?"

"Remus," Sirius repeated, staring at her earnestly as if they had been having a perfectly sincere conversation. "You know, that professor bloke you hang out with all the time. Do you like him?"

Confused by this sudden mood change, Tonks tried to stall. "Of course I do; he's a great friend."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Very clever. Come on, do you like him or not? Because my plan about setting him up with someone still stands, and I'd much rather have it be you than Professor Arithmancy."

Tonks narrowed her eyes. "Doesn't he get a say in that?"

Sirius grinned. "Is that a yes? Because I really don't think he's into Vektor."

Tonks felt herself blush. "Well, he's not into me either, is he?" she asked, quietly and unable to keep the rejection out of her voice. Sirius had probably found her out already anyway.

His grin broadened. "But if he was..."

He waggled his eyebrows, and Tonks surrendered. "Alright, yes. I do fancy Remus. Now for the love of Merlin, please don't tell him."

"Why?" the animagus asked, a puzzled frown replacing the triumphant grin. "It's not like he's gonna figure it out by himself; he's seriously thick with these things!"

"Good," Tonks said, picking up her quill once more. "I don't want things to be awkward."

Sirius sighed dramatically, rising to his feet to go look for a bottle of butterbeer. "You know, you're really making this more complicated than it has to be…"

Bit of a lighter chapter today with not much actual plot happening, but I had great fun writing it. (And hope you enjoyed it as well, of course.)

For those waiting on the Letter sequel, I know I said it would be a few weeks and now it's been months, but I have not abandoned it! Progress is just a lot slower than I had hoped. The first chapter is sort of done now, apart from some polishing, but I'll want to have a few more written before I post it. The current plan is to start posting around Christmas (or a few days after, when I'll have some spare time), so bear with me!

As always, reviews are very welcome :)