Since their fight at the Ministry in early January, things had been good between Tonks and Keith. She'd rushed Malfoy through his report and made it to the last half of Keith's game to surprise him, and they'd gone out to dinner to celebrate his team's win. He'd apologised for the way he behaved and she'd apologised – she wasn't entirely sure what for, but felt that he'd deserved an apology – and, with Mad-Eye's advice still lingering in her head, she'd done what she could to make things better between them.

She'd sworn him to secrecy and then, slowly over several weeks, told him what she could – and also several things she shouldn't have – about being a trainee. She told him about the Greyback case, and the legendary camp where he kept his victims. She told him how Greyback had been quiet lately, though she and Mad-Eye couldn't work out why. She told him that she was also working undercover on the Potter-Black case and that was the reason she'd been so busy lately. She didn't tell him that she'd been working for Malfoy, however, and she also didn't tell him that she'd been pretending to be three people instead of one, or who those people were.

In turn, he'd made an effort to be understanding when she had to cancel a date, and was also making an effort to be nicer to her friends. Unsurprisingly, he and Melvin got along swimmingly, brought together by their love of Quidditch, and Florence was less opinionated than Ben or McKinnon, who Keith tolerated and was tolerated – barely, in McKinnon's case – by.

By the end of January, life had finally settled into a routine – with the only irregularity being Malfoy's random and often inconvenient demands of Tock or Remus.

Keith was sitting beside Melvin on the couch in Tonks' sitting room – he'd been unusually quiet today, but Tonks figured he'd tell her what was bothering him eventually. Both he and Melvin were looking at Quidditch Quarterly – though Melvin was supposed to be studying for the Stealth and Tracking test they had in four days. Florence and Tonks were spread out on the floor, writing revision notes.

"What are the seven ways you can track someone?" Tonks asked. "I've got sight, sound and spells, but-"

"Smell," Florence said, immediately; she'd been in Ravenclaw, after all. "Touch, by magical traces, and with Legillimency."

"That's right," Tonks said, scribbling them down. "Thanks."

"Stealth and Tracking, right?" Florence said.

"Yes," Tonks said slowly. "What about it?"

"S and T," Florence said. "Sight, sound, smell and spells and then touch, traces and telepathy."

"Telepathy?" Tonks laughed.

"Legillimency," Florence said, shrugging. She tossed her dark hair over her shoulder. "Don't ask why; I know it's wrong, but it works, so-"

"Wait, what was that?" Melvin asked.

Florence and Tonks shared a look, wordlessly deciding whether it was worth repeating. Eventually, Tonks sighed and relayed the information and Melvin nodded before his attention drifted back to the magazine.

"Name a tracking spell," Florence said. Tonks groaned; Stealth and Tracking was her weakest subject in both theoretical and practical applications.

"That one..." Tonks said vaguely, squinting into the distance as she tried to remember.

"Very helpful, thank you," Florence said, smirking. "Full marks for that-"

"You've been spending too much time with McKinnon," Tonks groaned, trying to read her notes out of the corner of her eye.

"Answer the question, Nymphadora," she goaded.

"Don't call me..." Tonks muttered darkly. Florence ignored her. "Fine. The Faux Feather Charm."

"Which...?"

"Allows one to track an owl over any distance and provides the caster with an exact set of Apparition coordinates upon the owl's return," Tonks recited.

"Disadvantages?"

"Even the simplest ward will displace the charm and render it useless," Tonks said. "Which is why it's not used much. Incantation?"

"Sequitur Pinnam," Florence shot back. "How's it cast?"

"Start with the wand on the owl's head and move it down the back, between the wings, stopping in line with the- Oi!" In a move almost too quick for Tonks to register, Florence had grabbed Tonks' notes and hidden them behind her back.

"You were cheating."

"Was not!"

"Stopping in line with the what, then?" Florence asked.

"The... er... the..."

"That's what I thought." Tonks snatched her notes back and poked her tongue out at Florence, who laughed. "It's the secondary coverts, in case you were interested." Tonks grimaced. "Okay, now ask me something."

"Er... name one important stealth spell."

"The Cushioning Charm," Florence said.

"How would you use it?"

"Cast it on the outsides of your clothes and the bottom of your shoes to muffle any noises you might make," she said confidently. "How would you find someone who was Disilliusioned?"

"You might be able to hear them, you might see a slight shimmer where they're standing or you could cast something like a Homenum Revelio to reveal their presence," Tonks said.

"Goo-" Florence reached into her pocket and pulled out her Sidekick. Melvin had done the same. They shared a look and whispered the passwords – Keith obligingly put his fingers in his ears, as Tonks made him do whenever her Sidekick went off.

"That's odd," Melvin said. "The clock hands are just spinning around."

"Probably a panic signal if she's not somewhere she can talk... Do you have a map?" Florence asked, sitting up. Tonks grabbed a street directory off Dad's bookcase, which was in the corner of the room and brought it back. Florence muttered a few coordinates, and traced what looked like a map of London before looking up at Melvin. "That's Knockturn Alley," she said quietly.

That obviously meant something to Melvin – though not to Tonks or Keith, who exchanged confused and, in Tonks' case, worried looks.

"Lonsall?" Melvin asked. Aurors Finch and Shacklebolt had been reassigned to another case – one which Tonks knew little about – because in the eleven months Sirius had been loose, he'd made absolutely no attempt to get close to the Longbottoms.

"Must be," Florence said, getting up. She flicked her wand and all of her books and parchment stacked themselves neatly into her rucksack; Tonks watched enviously, having never been able to manage any sort of tidying charm. Melvin's things hadn't even made their way out of his rucksack before he'd been distracted by Keith's Quidditch magazine so he had little to pack up.

"Would you like me to go with you?" Tonks asked. Keith sucked in a breath.

"No," Florence said, glancing in Keith's direction; he'd let out a relieved sigh. "We'll go to the Ministry and let someone know what's going on and then work from there."

"Thanks for having us over," Melvin said. "Do you mind if we use the fireplace?"

"Of course not!" Tonks said. "Be careful, both of you, and let me know when everything's okay."

"We will," Florence said, giving her a hug, as Melvin vanished into the Floo. "I'll be in touch!"

"Be careful!" Tonks said again, as Florence vanished.

"Are they going to be okay?" Keith asked, patting the couch next to him. Tonks went and sat down, curling into his side.

"I hope so," she said, snaking an arm around his waist. "I hope Auror Finch-"

"Nymphadora," Keith said, looking unusually serious. Tonks had given up trying to correct him with her name; aside from anything else, he'd know that she didn't like the statue he'd bought her for Christmas, and she didn't want to hurt his feelings. "I was wondering if I could ask you something." Tonks shifted away so that she could see his face.

"What?" she asked.

"Please don't get angry, or upset," he said, holding up his hands. "Just listen, and then you can have your say, all right?"

"All right," she said warily. Keith swallowed and she wondered what it was. Did he have bad news? He must, if he thought she'd get angry or upset. Maybe he was breaking up with her, or maybe-

"I think you should quit the Program." Her mouth fell open. "Please, listen," he pleaded. Tonks swallowed several angry responses and frowned at him, arms folded over her chest. But, she didn't say anything. "Thank you. Look, everything you've told me about the Program is great – I feel like I know what's going on now, you know? And I know how much you enjoy it-"

"Then why would you even ask-" she began, feeling angry and hurt, but more than anything, betrayed.

"Because I'm worried about you. You've got two cases on the go, as well as lessons for seven different subjects and I know you've been tired lately-"

"And that means I should quit?" she asked flatly.

"Look, life's about balancing, and you haven't been able to do that-"

"I'm balancing," she said defensively.

"Nymphadora-"

"Don't call me that," she snapped. "I know things are busy at the moment, but I chose this. I worked hard to get in and as much as I appreciate-" That word was hard to get out. "-your concern, this is my future we're talking about. I'm not just going to quit-"

"What about our future?" he asked quietly.

"Our- as a couple?" He nodded.

"It's important, right?"

"Of course it is!" she said, throwing her hands up. He twitched, startled. "That's why I told you everything. Iwant you to understand- I thought you did understand."

"I do," he said. "Sort of. And better than I did before... It's just... I'm worried about you. What if you don't come home one day-"

"It's an occupational hazard," she mumbled.

"Exactly," he said. "That's not fair to you or to me."

"No," she conceded. "But it's something I've accepted and that you should too-"

"And time together?" he asked. "I get that you're busy and things have actually been better lately, but I don't want to be pushed aside. I want to be your priority. I deserve to be your top priority."

"You do," she agreed, and then winced, because this was going to sound absolutely terrible no matter how she put it. "But you can't be with everything else that's going on, and I'm sorry that that's the way it is, but-"

"This is why you should quit," he said persistently.

"I'm not quitting," she said, and he looked angry for the first time.

"You're everything to me – you are the most important person in my life-" Tonks stared at him, feeling extremely uncomfortable with that declaration; surely his parents were more important to him than she was? She hoped that was the case. "-but to you, I'm just something to keep you entertained while you're not with the Program and then I'm a burden the rest of the time."

"That's complete and utter rubbish!" she snapped. She was so hurt that he could think that of her and knew that she had two options; she could cry, or she could shout. She picked the latter. "If that was true, then why the bloody hell would I have told you about the Program? Why would I have introduced you to my friends, or-"

"All right, maybe that was taking it a bit-"

"Far?" she asked furiously. "Do you think so?"

"Look-"

"No, you look," she said. "I'm quite happy to talk to you about anything that's on your mind – even if I may not particularly like what you've got to say – but I'm not just going to sit here and let you insult me and tell me I don't care about you." She stood and stalked out of the room.

"Where are you going?" he asked, hurrying after her.

"To find something else to entertain me," she said. She knew it was nasty and that he already felt terribly guilty – one look at his face was evidence of that – and that she'd probably feel awful for saying that to him later, but right at that moment, she was too angry to care.

She was also aware that she was probably overreacting but she didn't care about that either. She flicked her wand at the front door which leaped open, and stalked out into the muddy front garden. She slipped, landing in the muddy, grassy, snowy mess on the ground, picked herself up and Disapparated.

Remus glanced over his shoulder to check that he hadn't been followed out of the main building. He hadn't – which was remarkable, in his opinion, given how closely Greentooth had been watching him since the full moon – and that was good, because he'd spent all of yesterday with Sirius and Harry, and Greyback was beginning to get suspicious again.

What he doesn't know won't hurt him, he thought hopefully.

Since Remus was still quite battered after the full moon, with his shredded arms, scratched ear and what he suspected was a strained hamstring, he was quite keen to keep Greyback as complacent as possible. That was even harder because Matt had sneaked home today for some time with his parents and if Greyback found out, he'd likely be furious with both of them. Debbie, thankfully, spent so much time in her room that she wasn't guilty by association and had been more or less left alone.

Remus checked his pockets to make sure he still had the letter from Malfoy – apparently he wanted to meet with Remus first thing tomorrow morning, and since he'd been given such short notice, Remus couldn't afford to put off posting it - and then he turned on the spot.

He Apparated onto his doorstep, breathing in the calming, familiar scent of home. He pulled out his wand, tapped the lock and the door swung open.

He stepped inside... and found Dora curled up on his couch, fast asleep. Remus closed the door as quietly as possible and tiptoed in as well as he could with his hamstring in its current condition. He wondered what she was doing here and - more importantly - why she smelled of tears. He would have liked to talk to her, but he couldn't afford to waste time; Greyback or Greentooth could realise he was missing at any moment and that would have serious repercussions for him and for Matt. He was also a little afraid that she'd cry...

He crept over and tried to tuck the letter into her hand, but her fingers were too limp to hold it. He bent her fingers carefully, and slid the letter in, but it slipped right through. He made a little noise of frustration and was trying to put it in her other hand, when she stirred.

"Damn it," he muttered, stepping back so he wouldn't scare her. She jumped anyway, and gave him a bleary look.

"Keith?" she mumbled. "How did you find me?"

"It's Remus, actually," Remus said apologetically. "I've got a letter for you."

She blinked and rubbed her eyes and Remus pressed the letter into her hand. Remus shifted a strip of his bandage so that he could get a look at his watch .

"Oh, it is you," she said. Then she jumped again and her hair turned a brilliant pink, so bright it was almost blinding, though oddly, Remus found it welcome after the dull camp. "I'm so sorry!" she said, fully awake now. "I didn't think you'd- I just needed somewhere to-"

"Dora," he said firmly. "Relax. You're more than welcome to use my couch."

"Thanks," she muttered. Remus looked at his watch again, but this time, she noticed. "What happened to your arms?" she asked, pushing herself up into a sitting position. "Did Greyback-"

"No. Some of it was me, but most of it was caused by a little savage called Greentooth."

"It looks pretty bad," she said, wincing, but she hadn't seemed overly horrified by the fact that some of it was self inflicted. He was grateful for that, though her concern made Remus fidget and try to hide his arms behind his back.

"It would have been a lot worse if Greentooth had had her way," he said, shrugging.

To his horror, she gave a bleak laugh, and then started to sob. Remus froze. He wanted to comfort her, so he'd have an excuse not to go back to the camp, but he also wanted to get as far as possible from her tears. And, with each passing second, it grew more and more likely that Greyback would discover he was missing. Remus glanced at his watch again, grimaced and sat down next to her.

"Hey," he said, giving her shoulder a tentative pat. "Dora, I'm fine. All in one piece-"

"It's n-not that," she sniffed.

"Oh," Remus said, at a loss, now. "Was it something else I-"

"I'm so s-stupid-d," she said. Remus silently prayed for help, and for her to stop crying, and patted her shoulder again.

"Dora, you're a very intelligent young wom-"

"Stop b-being nice to me," she said, which completely confused Remus. He decided to keep his mouth shut this time, and just rubbed her back. "Y-you're b-being attacked at the c-camp and you h-hate it there but you haven't c-complained once and then h-here I am c-crying about s-stupid things l-like b-boyfriends when I h-have absolutely n-no right to complain about anything- What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you," Remus assured her. Except for the fact that you're crying and it's making me uncomfortable. "You just need to calm down."

"Why-" She hiccoughed and looked at him with teary grey eyes and hair that was pink for embarrassment and a sickly green for guilt. "Why do I always cry around you?"

"I really don't know," he replied.

"If I'm w-with anyone else, I'm all right, but with you I just-" He glanced at his watch – feeling extremely rude for doing so and winced. He'd been away for ten minutes, now. "Do you need to go?" she asked. It seemed she'd spotted the movement.

"I'm afraid so," Remus said, wincing again.

"It's okay," she said, giving him a small smile, as she wiped the last of her tears away. Remus let out a little sigh of relief. "It was nice to have some good company for a few minutes, at least."

"Tell me about it," Remus mumbled, thinking that – despite the tears – she was the best company he'd had all day; Matt had left before Remus woke and Debbie hadn't left her room. He checked his watch again.

"And there I go again," Dora said, exasperatedly. "Your problems are so much worse than mine... Merlin, I must drive you mad!" Remus smiled and shook his head and she grinned. He had to admire her composure; most people didn't recover from an emotional breakdown as quickly as she – now twice – seemed able to. "Just... I dunno... kick me or something next time."

"I'm not going to kick you, Dora," he said, shaking his head at her again. Then he smiled ruefully. "Though Imight get a kick or two if I don't get back in the next few minutes."

"Is it really that bad?" she asked, and Remus got a strong whiff of guilt, fury – presumably at Greyback - and irritation, that he suspected was directed internally.

"I'd love to say I'm exaggerating," he said, pulling a face. "But yes, it is that bad. Worse today," he added as an afterthought.

"Why?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Matt's not there. He's gone home for the day," Remus hastened to add, forestalling the thousands of questions he could tell she'd been about to ask. "Which is perfectly fair, because I come and go regularly, but it still makes for an unpleasant few hours." He checked his watch again. "Why am I still here?" Dora, didn't answer him – though Remus hadn't really expected her to – and was instead giving him a speculative look.

"I could arrange for Matt to go with you, if you'd like," she said suddenly. Remus cocked his head to the side. Her features shifted and then a different, but still familiar face was looking back at him. Matt's face.

Remus was sorely tempted to take her up on her offer; if he Apparated them, she'd still have no idea where they were and wouldn't be able to find the camp again, even accidentally. It would be dangerous but she was an Auror – well, an Auror trainee – so he wasn't even going to bring that up.

"You let me cry all over you," she said persuasively. "It's the least I can do."

Remus glanced at his watch again and said, "It's a pretty awful place to go, but if you want to come, I'm not going to try to stop you."

She'd probably try to follow anyway, and he did have a problem with that; Sirius had found him – he'd told Remus yesterday that he'd used a simple, but rather temperamental tracking spell, which had been attached to Hedwig. The False Feather Charm... or something similar, Remus thought Sirius had called it. It was a spell he claimed to have learned early in his Auror training, which meant Dora quite probably knew it. And, if she used it to find him, it would work, and she could accidentally – because he doubted she'd do it on purpose – let the location slip to Mad-Eye, who'd then be duty bound to investigate.

"You won't stop me?" she asked, beaming at him.

"No, though I'll warn you to be careful, and to follow my instructions." She nodded, accepting this easily. Remus checked his watch again. "If you're coming, you need to get ready, and quickly," he said, and she hurried down toward his bedroom to change.

"It's in a forest?" Tonks whispered, not sure what she'd expected. Remus had never exactly described the camp to her, but she'd imagined buildings, not just snow and trees. It was eerie though, which she had expected; aside from the wind, she and Remus were the only things making any noise, and it was starting to get dark, so everything was shadowy.

"Were you expecting Hogwarts?" Remus muttered, sounding amused, as he limped along beside her.

"No, I- Where do you sleep?" she asked. "Do you have a den or something?"

"You'll see soon enough," he said, and she was surprised how quickly he'd changed; back at his cottage, he'd been reasonably relaxed (once she stopped crying, at least) but now his shoulders were stiff and his tone was slightly harder than she was used to.

"Why are you limping?" she asked; she'd thought he'd moved a little gingerly when they made their way into the garden to Apparate, but it was much more pronounced here.

"Hamstring," he replied, grimacing. "Greentooth again," he added, before she could ask. "Now, remember to-" Remus stopped abruptly, moving ever so slightly to stand in front of her. Tonks squinted into the trees, but couldn't see a thing.

"What is it?" she breathed.

"It's time to see if those charms worked," he whispered back. He'd cast a variation of a Notice-Me-Not Charm on her scent – something she hadn't even known was possible – which wouldn't stop it from clinging to things she touched, but would stop anyone from smelling it on her. Or so they hoped. "If anything happens, get out of here. Do you understand?" Tonks nodded.

Remus began to walk forward again, and Tonks followed him, being careful not to slip in the snow. They'd only gone a few more paces when three figures emerged, seemingly out of nowhere, startling Tonks. One of them – a girl – laughed at her surprise.

"Lupin, Rosier," said the largest figure. He was tall, broad-shouldered with whiskers, matted grey hair and a very nasty smile. She immediately recognised Fenrir Greyback. "We've been looking for you," he growled softly. Tonks shivered; the wind was blowing from behind him, and she could smell his sour, meaty breath from here.

"Greyback," Remus replied. "Greentooth." Tonks assumed that was the middle girl – maybe four or five years younger than Tonks - with straggly, blond hair and brown eyes. "Yellowpaw." Yellowpaw was a tiny little thing, with very long, blond hair and huge eyes. The moment Remus spoke to her, however, her face contorted and she snarled. Tonks stared at her.

"Did you sneak out?" Greentooth asked, pouting at Tonks. "I wanted to play cards and I couldn't find you."

"We didn't sneak anywhere," Remus said curtly, before Tonks could think of something to say. "And we'd bedelighted to play cards with you later." Tonks frowned at Remus, wondering why he was treating her so harshly; even if she had hurt him, she was only a little girl.

"So where were you?" Greyback asked, watching them carefully. Tonks tried not to squirm.

"Walking," Remus said. Yellowpaw snarled again and Tonks gave her an alarmed look; she was quite wild.

"You were recruiting, weren't you?" Greyback snarled, though Tonks thought he looked a little afraid.

"Recruiting who?" Remus asked, sounding frustrated. "The squirrels? A pine martin, maybe?"

"Don't you get smart with me..." Greyback warned, as both Greentooth and Yellowpaw made angry noises (Remus had just mentioned hedgehogs).

"Terribly sorry," Remus said. "I'll try to keep the conversation at a level you can follow." Greyback howled and charged forward incredibly quickly.

So quickly, that Tonks was too stunned to do anything about it. Remus seemed to have been expecting it, however, and drew his wand just in time. Greyback skidded to a stop, inches from Remus. Remus pressed his wand into Greyback's shoulder, making him step back.

"Well," Remus said, twirling his wand between his fingers. "I think I've lost my desire to walk any further. Matt?" Tonks nodded. Remus gestured for her to follow and stepped around Greyback and the girls. Trying to look as if none of this was new to her, Tonks walked after him. His limp was barely noticeable and she suspected he was trying very hard not to let it show.

Tonks was relieved that they weren't followed when they left; Greyback scared her, and Remus scared her when Greyback was around, because she was worried he was going to get himself hurt.

"What was that?" she breathed when she thought the others were well out of earshot.

"I told you things were different here," he said, sounding much more like his normal self. "I'd forgotten you'd met him, though." He sounded angry.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"It's not your fault," he said, looking abashed. He'd stopped walking. "It's mine; upon reflection, it was stupid of me to bring you here when your scent's familiar to him. I didn't even think about-"

"Remus, calm down," she said. "He didn't notice anything back there-"

"Only because we're both wearing Notice-Me-Not Charms," he said, looking agitated. "He might not smell you on us, but we're bound to touch something, or have our scents caught by the wind-"

"Is your sense of smell really that strong?" she asked.

"That's what you got out of what I just said?" She gave him a sheepish smile and he just shook his head. "Do you still want to come?" he asked.

"I'm already here," she said, smiling.

"Come on, then," he sighed, gesturing for her to follow again. "We're probably safer inside."

It turned out Tonks had been right to expect buildings, and she felt a new wave of embarrassment over her comment about dens; in the middle of a rough ring of cottages was an absolutely enormous building.

"No windows?" she asked, looking at it.

Remus gave her a tight-lipped smile and led her over toward a door. Two men sniffed them – both Tonks and Remus held their breath – but after a suspicious look and a follow-up sniff, they were allowed inside.

A large group of people were milling around near the door, taking off damp jumpers and soggy shoes; Tonks assumed they'd just come inside. Tonks and Remus squeezed past, and Tonks knocked into several of them – most of whom turned around and snapped or growled at her – before they made it into clear space.

Inside was bigger than she'd imagined, and made her wonder if magic had been used to stretch the room. It reminded her a bit of Hogwarts, with the long tables and constant chatter, although she could tell at once that this was a much grimmer place than Hogwarts had ever been.

"Are they doorways?" she whispered, well aware that most of these people had very good hearing.

"You're number sixty four," Remus said, and it was then that Tonks noticed each one had a number above them. Sixty four was almost directly opposite the door they'd just come in through. They both crossed the room – Tonks bumped into even more people, and tripped on the leg of an ugly throne – and slipped inside. Tonks turned to close the door... and found there wasn't one.

Remus had gone straight to a large rucksack and pulled out one of Matt's jumpers. Though he was on the other side of the bedroom, he only needed to take one step to be able to pass it right to her.

"Where's the door?" she said, taking the jumper from him. "Don't you have any privacy, or-"

"I told you things were different here," Remus said again, far more grimly than he had before.

"But- but privacy's a basic human right-" she started.

"We're not human," Remus said bitterly. Tonks opened her mouth to argue, and found that technically, she couldn't.

"Do you really believe that?"

"We're werewo-"

"Do you believe that you aren't human?" she said. Remus looked a little surprised by the question.

"I don't know," he said after a moment, and then gave her a curious look. Tonks wondered what he was thinking about, and then he shook his head. "Put that on," he said, nodding at the jumper. Tonks pulled off the jumper she'd transfigured back at Remus' cottage and replaced it with Matt's. Remus' nose twitched and he nodded. "Much better." Tonks transfigured her old jumper into a silver ring and went to put it on. Remus started to laugh.

"What?" she asked. "No one'll look twice at it." Remus pulled a face and picked the ring up. He held it for a few seconds and then dropped it back into Tonk's hand. Then, he showed her his palm, which had an angry red, circular burn on it. "Oh," she said.

"Yes," he said, looking a little bit pained, but more amused than anything.

"You didn't have to burn yourself," she said exasperatedly. "What should I make it into?"

"You know what?" Remus said. "Leave it as a silver ring, and we'll put it on Greyback's stupid chair. Then, when he sits down, he'll burn his ar-"

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"Assuredly not," Remus said, with a smug little smile that made her think she was missing something. "But I do think this is a good idea."

He talked her into it relatively easily, and they left Matt's room talking in whispers; Remus was telling her about making Greyback's fur fall out on the full moon. Remus even cast a spell on the ring to get rid of both of their scents; Remus smelled it and said it just smelled faintly of a lot of other people (probably those that she'd bumped) and he levitated it onto the throne. Tonks had a quick look around, but no one was paying them any attention.

They went to his room – number thirty seven – so that Remus could also change jumpers, and put a few drops of Dittany on his hand. Then, with a grimace, Remus led her back into the main area.

"We can't stay in there?" Tonks asked.

"It's too suspicious," Remus said, rolling his eyes to show what he thought of that. They chose a spot at the end of the bench on the left (since that was close to both Remus and Matt's rooms) and also because it was several yards from anyone else.

"Does Greyback let you do anything?" she asked.

"Breathe," Remus answered. "If he's in a good mood, that is." He didn't appear to be joking.

"Wow," she said.

"You saw what he was like," Remus sighed. "He hates me." He didn't sound overly upset about that, though that didn't surprise her; someone like Remus shouldn't care what a monster like Greyback thought of him.

"It's not just that, though, is it?" she said. There was something else about it, something that she couldn't quite place.

"I'm afraid I don't-"

"He's afraid of you," she said; Remus' use of the word had made everything click together. "Isn't he?" Remus didn't seem surprised by Tonks' revelation. Remus inclined his head slowly. "Why?" she asked, and then thought that might have been a tactless thing to say. "Not that you aren't... er... frightening, just that you-"

"Matt," Remus said, putting so much emphasis on the word that Tonks grinned. "Firstly, I'm very frightening-"

"That's what I said," Tonks replied, snickering.

"Well good," he retorted, grinning and she laughed. "And secondly," he said, sobering, "while I'm more than happy to explain it all to you, this isn't the place to do it."

"It's why Greyback's been so quiet lately, though, isn't it?" she pressed in a lower voice. "No one's seen him in London – or anywhere really – for over a month now." And a month and a bit ago, Remus had made his hasty departure to save Matt. "Mad-Eye and I have been trying to figure it out- how were we so thick? It's because ofyou-"

"I might be a contributing factor," he admitted. Tonks leaned back, impressed.

"Well damn," she said, giving him a wry smile. "That means the case is going to go nowhere for another few weeks."

"Sorry about that." Remus opened his mouth, as if he was going to say something else. Then, he looked as if he'd thought better of it. Just as Tonks sighed and prepared to ask what it was, Remus spoke: "Perhaps you could use the time to sort out your boyfriend problems."

He said it gently, giving her the perfect opening to talk about it if she wanted to, but also let her know that she didn't have to talk about it if she didn't want to. Something in Tonks' chest still deflated at the reminder.

"Perhaps," she agreed glumly, and Remus gave her a sympathetic look. "I- no. I shouldn't keep dumping all of my problems on you. You've got enough to worry about."

"It's actually refreshing to hear about problems I can do something to help fix," he said with a wry smile. "But if you don't want to talk about it, I won't pry."

"Thanks," she said.

"How's training?" he asked, clearly thinking this was a less touchy subject. It wasn't, after what Keith had said about wanting her to quit, but she appreciated Remus' effort.

"It's good," she said finally. "I've got a Stealth and Tracking test in four days, which I'm a bit worried about-"

"Do you know about the False Feather Charm?" he asked randomly.

"Faux Feather, I think it is, but yes. Why?" Remus just smiled and shook his head.

"How's Mad-Eye?"

"Good," she said, and proceeded to tell him about Mad-Eye's latest trap on his garden; muggle gnomes that had attacked her with little hammers and tripped her with their fishing line wire. "I swear he keeps buying new ones, because they're irreparable by the time I'm finished with them, yet every time I go back, there are ten more!" Remus chuckled.

"And the search?" he asked. "How's that going?"

"No Sirius or Harry, but you're almost out of a job," she said apologetically. Remus didn't seem overly fussed about that, but she supposed he'd had a long time to get used to it, and he'd had a taste of what life without the search would be like while he was here. "By the end of next week, I think Malfoy will have sacked-" She dwindled off, because for some strange reason, she was the only one talking. Remus had gone very still.

A door slammed, and Tonks wondered if Greyback had returned. He wasn't by the door, but Greentooth and Yellowpaw, as well as several other children of similar ages were positioned in front of it like bodyguards.

"What's-" she began in a whisper, but Remus shook his head and she fell silent; his eyes were glued to Greyback, who Tonks could now see standing in front of his throne. In his hand, was the silver ring.

"She's here," he said. Tonks didn't need to look at Remus to know he was just as horrified as she was.

"I thought you spelled my scent off of it," she breathed, without looking at him.

"I did," Remus hissed back. "I don't know how-" Greyback held the ring to his nose and inhaled deeply. Tonks was sure his fingers must be burning, but he didn't appear to care.

"Come forward, my sweet," Greyback said. "I know you're here." Tonks stayed very, very still. Everything was silent again. "You want to play games?" Greyback asked. "Greentooth! No one comes in or out until She's found."

Next to her, Remus swore.