The days preceding the attack on Arthur passed in a blur. Tonks had thought she had been overworked before, now she didn't have a spare minute to think much about it. The cover story for Arthur's injury had been accepted with little comment, but Tonks and Kingsley both suspected Scrimngor hadn't believed it for one second. He found every opportunity to grill them, slipping in questions about the night Arthur was attacked in every conversation and surprising them with unexpected questions about Dumbledore and his "associates". Tonks dodged him as best as she could when she was in the office. Luckily, she was spending far more time in the field lately.
Despite Fudge's ongoing public assertions that everything "is business as usual", internally many of the Ministry employees were starting to show concern. The Office of Magical Law Enforcement was seeing an increase in mysterious disappearances and the number of reports of odd and unexplainable behaviors were more and more common. Scrimngor was sending the aurors out in force to maintain the image of Ministry control and stability. Unfortunately it mostly resulted in an increase in citations and hearings for minor offenses. While the aurors were busier than ever, politics were keeping them from investigating anyone who was actually dangerous. The former Death Eaters like Malfoy who had managed to stay out of Azkaban after the first war had all maneuvered themselves into positions of safety, using gold and politics to protect themselves from scrutiny.
Tonks would have been quite upset about the injustice of it all, not to mention the waste of resources, had she only been a little less sleep deprived. As it stood she didn't have the energy for outrage. When she wasn't on the clock, drowning in busy work, she was on Order business. Since the attack on Arthur, people were doubling up for hall duty, which made it safer but also increased the amount of time they each spent in that damnable hallway. When it wasn't the hallway it was escorting Molly and the kids to and from the hospital or going undercover to seek out information. She'd spent a few evenings, disguised as a dark, brooding young woman hanging in places known to have Death Eater recruiters, trying to attract someone who might have some new intel.
It was hard to tell if she had lost weight due to the frequency of modifying her body, but she was getting used to missing meals, especially when it was a choice between food or sleep. She hadn't seen Remus in several days and had limited interactions with Sirius. With the house so full, she hadn't even been able to sneak into his bedroom to sleep in the same bed.
It wasn't until the Sunday before Christmas that she had a night off. Managing to slip out of the office before Scrimngor could corner her again, she rushed home daydreaming of a Molly cooked meal.
To her delight, she found that Molly had set a seat for her. "Kingsley stopped in earlier," Molly explained as she placed a large bowl of hearty stew and a flakey crust of bread in front of her. "He said you'd have tonight off."
Tonks wasted no time in tucking in, burning the roof of her mouth but deeming it worth it. She smiled at Molly and exclaimed, "Delicious!"
Molly gave her a faint smile in response before moving on down the table to fuss over her children's dishes. Tonks noticed she looked about as tired as Tonks felt, but it didn't stop her from forcing another few ladles of stew into Harry's bowl, nor chiding Fred for directing a hunk of bread straight into Ron's face with his wand.
Tonks ripped her piece of bread apart to dunk in her stew. She was too tired to keep up with the conversation going round the table but felt more relaxed than she had all week, savoring each bite of dinner in the busy hum of the kitchen. It was good to see the kids having fun, everyone safe and happy together at the table.
Her moment of introspection was interrupted by a pair of hands on her shoulders. "Good to see you, Tonks," Sirius whispered in her ear before taking the seat next to her.
"Hey Sirius," she said nonchalantly as Molly hurried over to get him a bowl as well. Once Molly was out of the way she asked, "Heard from Remus?"
Sirius shook his head, mouth already full with stew. Tonks had known it would be unlikely for Remus to be home tonight too but she had still held out some hope. She couldn't remember the last time she had gone so long without even seeing him. But she took solace in the fact that she was at least getting to eat dinner with Sirius. She bumped her shoulder into his playfully and he hooked his foot around her ankle under the table, out of sight.
Tonks remained silent for most of dinner, while Sirius had a long discussion with Harry, Ron and the twins about the Hogwarts Quidditch season. It was mostly about how unfair the punishments Umbridge had dolled out to them were and how poor the odds were without their star seeker and veteran beaters. Tonks couldn't help but notice that Ginny seemed a bit put out by the conversation. Bill had finally come to her rescue by changing the subject to another one of his Egyptian tomb misadventures.
Tonks tried to keep up with the story but found it hard to focus between her overworked brain and the way Sirius kept nudging her under the table. Most of them had finished dinner some time ago but no one seemed in any hurry to leave the table. Tonks was just beginning to wonder if perhaps her and Sirius could find a few moments alone when he leaned in and whispered, "Meet you in the hallway in a few minutes. You go first."
The combination of his words and his breath on the bare skin of her neck sent chills down her back. The good sort. Without a word she got up and stretched before making her way out of the kitchen.
It was only a few moments before Sirius emerged from the kitchen to meet her. He closed the distance between them swiftly, pushing her against the wall. "I've missed you," he whispered seductively and she smiled.
She took a deep breath anticipating his kiss. It was deep and long, filled with need. She only pulled back when his hands began to wander. "We're still in a hallway," she pointed out.
"I can't seem to care," he replied crashing his lips back into hers. She kissed him back hard, pushing them both away from the wall.
"I think you'll find you do if Molly catches us," she countered.
With an exaggerated sigh he picked her up, holding her around the waist and carried her into the closest available room, which happened to be the lounge.
As soon as the door was closed he had her pinned to the wall again, this time trailing kisses down her neck. She giggled in delight, grabbing fistfuls of his hair. His hungry hands were tugging at her clothes, seeking a point of entry, when they were startled out of their intimacy by a pronounced gasp and the sound of something very large hitting the floor.
"Oh! Excuse me! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Hermione squealed from the middle of the room. She had her hand over her eyes and her face was beat red. Tonks saw a large old book at her feet.
Sirius let Tonks down and took a step away, his face unnaturally pale. Tonks pulled at her shirt, making sure nothing much was revealed.
"Err, I'll just— err being going. I didn't see anything. I mean I didn't mean to see anything. I didn't know you'd be using this room. I mean it's your house you can— of course you can— I'm sorry!" Hermione sputtered as she made her way to the door, her hand still blocking her view of them. The book lay forgotten on the floor.
Neither Tonks nor Sirius moved or said a word until she had left the room.
"Well fuck," Sirius said breaking the silence.
"Do you think she'll say anything?" Tonks asked, moving to lock the door.
"Well I don't think she'll go telling Molly but you know how Harry, Ron and Hermione are. If one of them knows something they all do." He pulled out his wand and cast a silencing spell. "But I don't even know if the kids know about you and Remus, so maybe it won't really matter? I doubt any of them would mention anything like this to another adult."
Tonks slumped onto the sofa, exhausted. "Well that really killed the mood."
Sirius sat down next to her and pulled her against his chest. "I haven't been this close to you or Remus in a week." She closed her eyes, relishing the closeness. "It's nice having the kids around, especially now that we know Arthur will be fine, but I'm just constantly worrying about you both."
Tonks snuggled closer. He must really miss us to be so honest, she thought. "Well I'm here now." He squeezed her gently. "Do you think they will notice we're missing?"
"They'll probably just think we went to sleep," he murmured, idly running his fingers through her hair. After several silent moments he realized that wasn't entirely untrue.