11

TONKS knew she had made a bloody mistake by agreeing to supervise Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class, the day before, in fact, that she had agreed to stop by Professor Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts class to see how his group of third-year-students dealt with that old nasty boggart in the decrepit wardrobe.

She had not anticipated that she would be dealing with an angry hippogriff and learning that Malfoy had managed to insult the vain and proud beast in the process.

Maybe it hadn't been a great idea to rush into this, and it felt like a failure in this regard was not a possibility at this point, not with all of these kids screaming and running away from the enraged Buckbeak, terrified the hippogriff would attack him next.

This single hippogriff, though somewhat unfamiliar to Tonks, did not seem like much of a threat.

She bit down accidentally on her tongue, hard enough that the metallic tang of iron settled on her tongue, and kept her wand mid-level, lowering it slightly so as to not be perceived by the beast as a hostile threat.

It was bigger than a human. Definitely bigger than her, for sure.

"Easy, Buckbeak, buddy," Tonks murmured as a sheen of perspiration had started to throng on her forehead. "Let's all just…calm down, yeah, shall we? You don't want to hurt me, yeah?"

The hippogriff, Merlin damn it, did not find her attempts to quell its temper amusing, and responded by letting out a harsh shrill screech of immense displeasure.

For her against this hippogriff, it seemed like a minor inconvenience more than anything else. Hagrid had escorted the Malfoy boy to the Hospital Wing, leaving her alone to deal with this prideful, enraged creature.

Tonks had ordered the rest of his class to clear out, ending the lesson on a grim and somber note, unsure of the outcome of Buckbeak's attack on Draco.

From what she knew of the Malfoy family, the results were surely going to be less than ideal, as no doubt good old Lucius Malfoy would hear of this from his son.

She gave her head a curt shake to clear it, shoving aside thoughts of Lucius Malfoy for now. She'd deal with Draco later. Now, it was just her and this beast.

Tonks could take care of this creature. Quick and easy, it wouldn't be a big deal. She had been up against something similar before, sometimes even worse, and had gotten through it in the end.

But it didn't take long for Tonks's confidence to waver, considering how agitated the Hippogriff was, flapping its wings in agitation, its tail flicking wildly.

After spending not even five minutes attempting to calm down Buckbeak, Tonks was rendered breathless, a bit scratched up, a cut trickling blood on her brow and down her cheek, and she was even trying to calm it down from a distance with her wand.

She hadn't even intended on getting too close to it.

It was beginning to look like Buckbeak the Hippogriff had her outmatched, and Tonks did not want to dare admit that to herself or anybody else around, and she supposed she was lucky no one was around to witness this for themselves.

This fiend was quick, Merlin damn it! The hippogriff was able to dodge several of her jinxes she fired at Buckbeak's general direction with the intent to subdue, not maim or injure the poor frightened beast! The only thing she would succeed in doing is provoking its anger even further.

The hippogriff roared in frustration and lunged towards the frazzled young witch with sharp, deadly precision in its movements. The creature's talons were razor-sharp and pointy, and the speed and ferocity with which this hippogriff moved were unparalleled.

With a pained and sharp gasp, Tonks took a faltering, stumbling step backward as Buckbeak lunged towards her.

She raised her wand shakily and fired a spell, a Stunning Spell, and either missed the beast entirely or hit it where it didn't matter, and then fell back onto the earthen floor beneath her black boots.

Tonks grimaced, her face contorting into a pained expression as she felt sharp stones and twigs digging into her hands as she used her wrists to support her fall.

Dirt and rocks had been kicked up by both her and the hippogriff she was attempting and failing to subdue, making visibility, and breathing rather difficult.

The whole forest clearing was a Merlin-damned bloody, awful mess. As she forced herself to scramble up onto her hands and knees, looking at the creature with a pained wince, her lungs gasping and heaving for sweet, precious airflow, her heart gave a painful lurch as she swore she saw Lupin's silhouette emerge.

Merlin damn it, she thought through gritted teeth, huffing in frustration, and swiping a lock of dark plum hair out of her eyes.

Tonks debated whether or not she should call out to the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher or not, suggesting that the man flee and save himself the potential injury from an agitated hippogriff.

She did not want to be the one to say it, but she was in over her head.

Gritting her teeth together and staggering forward as she attempted to scramble to her feet, the young witch couldn't help but scream at what she saw before her wide, fearful gray-blue eyes.

"Professor, get down!" she shouted, raising her wand up to aim at the hippogriff that was charging the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus having noticed that Tonks was in trouble and had stepped into the hippogriff's clearing in order to help Tonks.

Before the young professor had a chance to even wonder what his new partner was screaming at him for, Tonks felt a horrible, sharp pain in her left arm, as the creature's beak clamped down over the limb, viciously tugging the young witch backward, off her feet.

Tonks let out a startled scream and accidentally relinquished her ironclad grip on her wand as she was dragged rather harshly against the ground by Buckbeak in the Hippogriff's agitated state, for a moment, hardly even feeling the throbbing pain in her arm as her assailant dragged the poor Auror backward, its beak tearing viciously into the delicate flesh of her skin, and she felt blood well.

Pain seared through her arm hotter than the branding of a Dark Mark, her mind conceding to the torment as Buckbeak's grip on her arm only tightened, unable to bring a thought to completion.

Without meaning to, her body curled into something fetal, all the while the pain burned and radiated. The pain wasn't sharp, like needlepoint or a knife, it burned around her arm hotter than boiling water.

Everything felt scalded, and move or not, Tonks was in more pain than she could have ever imagined was at all possible.

A Killing Curse would be mercy right now, but for Buckbeak to let go of her arm before the beast wrenched it right out of its socket, or worse, even clean off, was the best that Tonks hoped for.

Gritting her teeth together as Tonks twisted her body in an effort to get the hippogriff to let go and in an effort to reclaim her wand, Tonks quickly realized that the beast had dragged her too far away from it, hellbent on making her pay for agitating him further.

She breathed in a shaking breath as her wand lay nestled on top of a pile of fallen leaves, several yards away, but she had no way to get to it.

Not with her arm wrapped so securely in her aggressor's beak-like this, and with the pain taking over her mind, she was unable to concentrate her energy on using her nonverbal magic to summon her wand back to her, much less get Buckbeak to let go of her arm.

"Let. Go!" Tonks screamed in a hoarse, fading voice, balling her free hand into a fist and punching out at the hippogriff's face, an act of aggression that only succeeded in angering it even more because it merely proceeded to clamp down its beak even further, and then she felt its talons dig into her arm as well, and that really bloody hurt, making her already-injured arm throb in pain as a pained cry escaped her lips.

"R—Remus, help me!" she begged through her gut-wrenching screams, moving her free arm up over her face and head in an attempt to protect herself from further attacks as the hippogriff thrashed wildly, or at the very least, shield her eyes from view as she did not want to watch as this thing dug its talons into her stomach and gutted her intestines to her death.

This promptly shattered whatever futile hopes she'd had of defining her career as an Auror and apprehending Sirius Black. Tonks couldn't even manage one wild hippogriff on her own.

She felt like such a failure as a consequence of her own stupidity.

Tonks was a liability here. She needed help, she'd gotten in way over her head, she screwed up, and now she was seriously injured.

Tonks couldn't get out of this on her own, and her only prayer was that Professor Lupin would come to his partner's aid and help her out, just this once.

He could be mad and scream at her later. She would even be the first to admit that she bloody deserved it. Tonks could be embarrassed and ashamed later, but for now, she just needed to get out of this, and she couldn't do it on her own.

She felt the entire forest clearing around her start to spin, her vision ebbing and flowing, blackening at the edges as it faded.

Tonks had admittedly never fainted quite like this before, and she wondered if the dizziness and the light-headed sensation she was currently experiencing was a warning sign that her arm was losing too much blood.

It was then, as the creature bit down on her arm even harder this time, and she swore she saw a flash of red light whizz its way past her head towards the hippogriff, narrowly missing her right ear in the process, that a strange thought entered into her mind.

I wonder if Remus would enjoy Hogsmeade with me…

Remus, who stood rooted to his spot, watched in horror as his partner went limp in the hippogriff's beak, her arm held hostage by the hippogriff's beak.

His heart instantly rose up into his throat and he tasted bile as the beast finally let go, and the young witch fell against the soft earthen floor of the forest clearing the pair had found themselves in, her arm bleeding profusely and poor Tonks was clearly unresponsive.

Buckbeak lowered his head and nudged Tonks's head backward, exposing pale, vulnerable skin as her head lolled back.

He watched, lips parted open in shock, as the beast raised one of its hind legs and held it squarely over her chest, and his eyes flew open even wider.

It was going to strike her, and the force of his blow, not to mention the hippogriff's talons digging into her skin would kill her.

Tonks was going to die from blood loss if he didn't do something—anything—that he could think of to save her life.

"No!" Before he could question his actions, or quite possibly even have time to sort through his burning range of emotions at the horrific, grisly sight before him, Lupin pointed his wand with a steady, firm hand squarely at the hippogriff's chest. "Immobilus!"

The spell had almost an instantaneous effect as the creature ceased to move, become unmoved, unstirred, almost like a statue.

If Lupin had been confused before when he had stumbled across the odd scene, he was most certainly panic-stricken now as he rushed to his partner's side, his face blanching at how much blood she had lost, and if, he wasn't mistaken, the beast had pulled her arm clean out of its socket and dislocated it.

"Merlin's Beard…"

She did not respond to his words, seeming not to see him at all, though a muted, watered-down, half-choked sob escaped her lips, and a single tear fell from her right eyelid.

It was enough for him to act, hearing that sound filled with such utter anguish and despair at her new injury, that poor Professor Lupin nearly felt his own heart cry out as his heartstrings gave a painful lurch just now.

Much to his relief, Tonks opened her eyes with a small, shaking breath and focused her gaze more than a few feet in front of herself.

Lupin breathed a relieved exhale through his nose, his hands shaking as he knelt at her side and assessed her wounds.

"N—no, Merlin's left...not this," he groaned. He shook his head almost violently. He could not do this now, whatever 'this' happened to be. He could not afford to panic.

Not when his partner needed him to be strong and for him to help her get to the Hospital Wing in whatever ever way he could.

"It's all right, Tonks," he murmured, wincing as he heard the warbling note of fear laced in his tones. "Y—you're safe, I promise. The—the hippogriff is incapacitated."

Remus shook himself, hard. He had to try and stay calm. They were alone unless more help came, and the responsibility fell to him to ensure Nymphadora's safety.

Yet how could he help Tonks?

He knew little of medicines and healing, that area of expertise was best suited to Madame Pomfrey, and it was a long walk back up to the castle… Merlin's Beard, by His Light, what could he do?

"PROFESSOR!"

The aforementioned Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor glanced up, his head turning towards the source of the noise. Remus was not in a patient mood and so help whoever—

It was Hagrid, having returned from the Hospital Wing. Lupin thought he might very well cry out in relief and joy at seeing a face that he could trust.

Hagrid's face was flushed bright pink from exertion, and Lupin struggled to bolt to his feet, but he found that he was shaking so badly that he very nearly collapsed and almost slipped in a puddle of garish crimson blood from poor Tonks' arm.

Hagrid shot a truly withering glower towards Buckbeak, the tip of his beard twitching without prompting, and he did not hesitate to throw what looked to Lupin suspiciously like a dead ferret hanging from around his neck, no doubt an incentive to get the beast to cooperate once Remus's spell wore off the massive beast.

"Are ya hurt? What about—" The half-giant's baritone voice trailed off as he paused, looking towards Tonks, then went rigid.

Off to the side, lay the rapidly paling figure of the vivacious pink-haired Auror whom Hagrid fondly remembered during her days as a student here, and he himself had been utterly delighted when Auror Tonks had agreed to supervise alongside his first Care of Magical Creatures class.

When Buckbeak had attacked Malfoy, Tonks had assured the gamekeeper that she could handle it, but Hagrid knew that the creature's powerful stamina had bested her.

Buckbeak had already been insulted by Malfoy, as these beasts were proud creatures, and Tonks attempting to subdue him by the use of magic had surely only succeeded in ruffling his feathers, but never in a million years did Hagrid think the brute capable of this.

"Merlin's Beard, what happened here…" Hagrid swore and trailed off.

Tonks's head was turned away, so the gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures professor could not see her face, but her petite, slender body was twisted in an uncomfortable tangle of limbs.

Her jeans and sweatshirt were dotted with earth and rubble from the skirmish.

However, it was the slight, uneven rise and fall of her shoulders and the huge, gaping wound in her arm currently staining the forest floor permanently red with her own blood that was cause for concern.

Drawing in a sharp breath, Hagrid struggled to fight back his own panic, and in the effort to regain some small measure of control, Hagrid turned back towards Lupin, and found the man and werewolf in near hysterics, almost apt to launch into a panic attack.

"She'll be right as rain, Professor Lupin, you'll see," Hagrid offered shakily, attempting in vain to believe his own words as he knelt into a crouch as best as he could, which was a difficult feat to manage give how extraordinarily tall he was, given his status as a half-giant. "Madam Pomfrey will put her ta rights before you know it."

Without almost a painstaking slowly, Lupin slowly (albeit reluctantly) tore his gaze away from his partner's ashen face, away from the beads of feverish sweat starting to gather on her brow, and lifted his chin and felt his light brown eyes darken in anger as he regarded Hagrid.

"H—how is this fine, Professor? Tonks is my partner, and she could die from this if I don't get her medical help immediately. She's lost a lot of blood and it could get infected!"

His words came out harsher than he meant to, his voice grating, rough, coarse, and at the moment, not at all kind and quiet.

But for once, Remus did not apologize for his father's inherited temper as he watched as Hagrid shirked away in hurt and surprise and murmured under his breath.

Lupin's wolfish hearing twitched in his eardrums as he swore he picked the gamekeeper mumbling something about "just a scratch."

His blood boiled in his veins, though before he could allow his father's inherited temper get the better of him and chastise Hagrid for covering hippogriffs to a class of inexperienced, naive third years, Tonks stirred.

Tonks's eyelids fluttered open, regaining some small semblance of consciousness just when she was sure she was about to have her heart clawed out of her chest by Buckbeak's talons.

Tonks suddenly felt light and she opened her eyes with a small, shaky breath in time to see Remus reach out a shaking arm and grip onto her uninjured shoulder and, as gently as he could, haul her to her feet.

She gritted her teeth in the effort to keep from screaming. The poor witch couldn't even bring herself to speak, to thank Remus for saving her life…to ask if he and Hagrid thought she was going to make it, to ask the two wizards if the pair of them were ok.

She didn't feel quite safe yet. Tonks was still so incredibly out of bread, shaky, panicked, and losing a lot of blood in her left arm.

Tonks blinked, fighting down against the swells of nausea that wracked her entire body, swallowing down the bitter bile that had settled on her tongue, hoping she wouldn't throw up, though as she stood on incredibly shaky legs that felt as though she had been hit with a full-bind Jelly Legs Curse, Tonks made the mistake of looking over at her left arm and gagged, almost throwing up at the grisly, garish sight, wishing she had not looked.

She barely had an arm left, and what was there was drenched in blood, the flesh of the wound so horribly mauled.

She reached up with shaking fingers, trying to put as much pressure on the gaping hole in her arm as to quell the worst of the bleeding, and shot Remus an apologetic look as he did not hesitate to shrug out of his jacket and wrap it around her arm as a tourniquet.

"N—no, can't…take this…take…back…" she gasped hoarsely, attempting to sidestep and shove his jacket back at him.

"You can and you will," Remus snapped in a tone bordering on finality, and Tonks flinched, knowing better than to argue with him. "Y—You're going to be fine, Dora, just stay calm. Keep quiet," he spoke, his voice low and even.

Tonks admired how the man thus far seemed to remain so stoic, even under intense pressure, but then again, she knew there was a reason Dumbledore had appointed him and not Professor Snape as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Tonks nodded mutely, feeling her face drain of colors as it turned an interesting shade of green. She was too afraid to speak, afraid that if she did open her mouth, she might very well vomit.

If Tonks were in Remus's place, with Remus bleeding, injured, maybe even close to death, Tonks wasn't sure if she'd be able to be as calm as the man's demeanor was exhibiting at this moment, as he tightened the jacket around her shoulders and draped her good arm over her shoulder and helped her to walk away from the edge of the Forbidden Forest and towards Hogwarts, to the Hospital Wing.

"R—Remus," Tonks stammered in a pitiful low whimper, cutting herself off with a shaking breath and squeezing her eyes shut.

She felt hot, briny tears starting to slide down her pale cheeks. The young witch wasn't sure if they were because she was gravely injured or scared.

Bloody hell, but she wasn't even sure she could separate the pain from the fear she felt at this point in time.

The only thing that she was certain of was that it felt as though her lungs would on fire as they heaved and gasped for air that simply was not coming to them, and she felt like she could barely breathe, could hardly get her legs to function to take a step forward.

Her vision blurred into black spots at the edges, rendering her unable to see more than a few feet in front of her.

It was a damned bloody miracle she could even stand upright, much less walk, even with the aid of Professor Lupin and Professor Hagrid, she thought.

"Just keep moving, Dora, try not to speak. You've lost a lot of blood. Save your strength," Remus murmured lowly, almost whispering it into the shell of her ear. "Are you able to walk? If you can, use your legs. Hagrid and I can escort you to the Hospital Wing, but you need to help us, you have to keep moving and stay awake."

He glanced towards Hagrid for confirmation, who nodded.

Letting out a breathless, shaking sob as poor Tonks practically stumbled over a twisted, gnarled tree root hidden in her path underneath a pile of dead leaves, Tonks tried to keep up, tried to help them in order to help her out.

Remus had essentially saved her life and the only thing she was doing in return was slowing him up.

She couldn't even bloody walk on her own! Her legs weren't injured, so why was she having so much trouble? Was she truly that panicked over an injury?

Why was she moving so slowly and the—

"Oh, the hippogriff!" she squeaked, cringing at how hoarse her voice sounded. "Hagrid. Where…?" But her voice trailed off faintly.

"Don't ya worry none about the ol' brute, Tonks. He'll be fine, it's you we worry for," Hagrid's deep, rumbling baritone announced. "I shoulda been by your side," he growled, sounding angered and the note of self-loathing in Hagrid's voice was unmistakable. "It's my fault. I shouldn't a left you alone."

"Not your fault...Hagrid...mine. I—I'm sorry…" Tonks apologized, gasping out her words in between shaking, painful breaths as she stumbled forward, letting out a squeak as her equilibrium was still quite off, and she would have fallen forward and re-injured her already wounded arm had Lupin not shot out an arm to catch her fall, causing her to fall against his chest, hard enough she felt the muscle beneath his thick woolen sweater, perhaps for the first time realizing how strong he was.

His condition, she thought wildly, looking into his brown eyes.

Tonks swore she saw something in Remus's face soften as she felt drawn into the man's gaze and something about the intensity within those darkened brown orbs of his had rendered her devoid of words. She felt her cracked and bleeding lips part open to speaking, though nothing came out. Remus, luckily, saved her from talking.

"Don't be sorry," he murmured in a quiet voice laced to the brim with concern for his partner as he placed both hands on either of her shoulders and did his best to steady her and right her stance.

"Remus?" Tonks managed to choke out, and she cringed as she turned her head to the side and spit out a mouthful of blood, much to her disgust.

She cringed and couldn't manage to turn around.

"I'm sorry…I—I screwed up. I thought I could handle Buckbeak. I c—can't do this…I can't walk, I—I can't breathe…" Tonks sobbed.

The young pink-haired Auror felt a surprisingly firm but gentle grip on her shoulder.

"You're okay, just stay calm," Remus replied, though her partner didn't quite sound convinced by his own words.

Tonks shook her head in disbelief and let out another startled yelp as she tripped over a tree root, or the more likely cause was her own Merlin-damned foot or something, and very nearly fell again.

"Lupin, she can't keep up," Hagrid noted, his deep, rumbling voice sounding far away and muffled to Tonks like the half-giant was underwater. "She's panicking. Sooner we get her ta Pomfrey…"

"I know," Remus barked in a surprisingly hostile voice. "We don't have time to entertain panic and terror, Hagrid," he snapped.

"Then I'll carry her. Give her ta me," Hagrid offered, not at all taking offense to Professor Lupin's seemingly cold response, choosing not to blame the man for not knowing how to react at seeing the young witch who the staff knew he'd taken a liking to.

But whether or not they were aware of it was another matter entirely, Hagrid knew, as without waiting to be asked, he scooped Tonks's fading form into his arms, bridal style, letting her head loll back against the crook of his large elbow the size of a throw pillow.

Tonks let out a muffled squeak, surprised by the forcefulness of the gesture, feeling a shiver journey through her beaten, battered body as she hugged her injured arm close to her chest protectively as best as she could, cringing as she pressed Lupin's tattered jacket as firmly against the bleeding hole in her arm as best as she could.

She made a mental note to clean it and give it back to him later. Tonks gritted her teeth against the pain, not wanting to bring herself to look at it again for a second time, unable to be sure if she could stomach it or not the way her stomach churned and flipped.

When she'd laid eyes on it before, it had been brief, and she hadn't really gotten a close enough look at it.

She knew it was bleeding profusely at the very least, and Tonks swore she saw a flash of white bone jutting out of her arm at an odd angle. But she could not bring herself to look at it. Tonks didn't want to look.

Let Pomfrey take care of it, she told herself, firmly keeping her eyes squeezed shut as Hagrid carried her.

"We—are we almost there, Remus?" Tonks croaked out, weak.

"We're close. Stay with us," Lupin urged, a note of panic and uncertainty lacing into his voice, though he tried his hardest to mask it and tamper it down, Tonks wasn't at all fooled by his effort.

Tonks offered a nod and kept her eyes shut, letting out a slower, but still shaking breath, her nostrils flaring, forcing her mind to remain calm, just a little bit, knowing that once Hagrid and Remus got her to the Hospital Wing, that her injury would be set right and she would be on the mend, and hopefully would be well enough to stop by Professor Lupin's third-year boggart lesson.

She felt like as Hagrid accidentally jostled her in his stronghold, that her vision was becoming less cloudy, and the numbness in her arm was slowly fading away, replaced by a burning sensation.

It meant she was feeling more of the pain, everything all at once, but at least that meant that she was probably not dying…

Tonks felt her bottom lip quiver like mad as she forced her vision to focus solely on Professor Lupin, whose gaze never left hers once as he held her hand, never flinching as she squeezed onto his hand tight enough to break his fingers as white-hot, flaring jolts of pain traveled up and down her arm and down her spine to her toes.

"Remus?" she whispered hoarsely, not bothering to stifle the small smile as she swore she saw the man blush when she called him by his first name, though Tonks was grateful he didn't look away.

"What is it?" he asked, a note of concern in his voice as he looked at her, worry evident in his light brown eyes as glistening, unshed moisture, that wasn't exactly tears, but still concerning.

"Will you stay with me?" she croaked, blinking back a fresh wave of tears as Hagrid (finally) ushered her into the Hospital Wing and barked gruff orders at Madam Pomfrey to prepare a bed for her. "Please? I...don't want to be alone."

She clenched her teeth and hissed as Hagrid accidentally laid her on top of one of the Hospital Wing's beds a little too roughly.

Remus shot the half-giant a withering look, though the groundskeeper had already spun on the heels of his huge brown boots in order to go alert Professor Dumbledore and apprise him of the situation of what had happened in the forest with old Buckbeak.

"I will," he promised, and without even hesitating, pulled up the spare chair that rested beside the bed, and leaned over it, reaching from Tonks's hand of her uninjured arm, and squeezing it. "I promise that I will be here when you wake up. I'm not going anywhere, Dora. I'm right here where I'm sitting. I'm not anywhere else."

Tonks smiled at him then, a faint ghost of a smile that flitted across her ashen features, though it was more than enough as she collapsed back against her pillow and allowed Madam Pomfrey to bustle about in startled shock at the true severity of her wounds.

There were so many things that Tonks wanted to say to Remus, but she was tired, and her parched throat protested at the idea of talking too much.

So, for now, Tonks just lay in the bed with her eyes closed, holding Lupin's hand, glad that the hippogriff hadn't killed her and in the company of her partner who she knew she liked.

"Remus?" she whispered after several moments spent in silence.

"Mmm?" he murmured, seemingly startled by the fact that Tonks could still manage to summon enough strength to speak. "What is it? Do you need something to help you sleep? A drink? I could get you a Sleeping Draught or make you a cup of hot tea if you'd like."

Tonks shook her head no faintly. "No. I...was wondering if you'd like to go to Hogsmeade? I—I was th—thinking next weekend, i—if you're up for it, spending a day. I could…use the company if you…want to come with. As…well, I mean, if you want," she began hesitantly, wondering if she was overstepping her boundaries by asking her partner on a date.

But Tonks had seen the way Lupin had looked at her, and if he said yes to her invitation, then her suspicions would be proven right.

Lupin blinked, startled at the bluntness of her request, though he was unable to stop the small smile that spread across his scarred, prematurely lined features as he nodded.

"I'd like that, Dora. More than anything."

And he truly looked as though he meant it to, for when he smiled at Tonks, the man looked years younger than his actual still quite young age of thirty-five, which sent Tonks' heart fluttering.

She smiled at him again and closed her eyes, satisfied for now that the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor had accepted her invitation, not knowing that she had an ulterior motive for asking him to spend time with her next weekend.

Though she wanted to spend more time with her new partner outside of Hogwarts and away from gossiping tongues, yes, that was true, Tonks had decided to take matters into her own hands and tell the man not only about the truth as to her relationship with Sirius Black but also that she knew of his deepest, darkest secret, that Remus was a werewolf.

Tonks offered a tiny little nod and rested her head against the smooth silk pillowcase. She truly was pleased that he had agreed to sit with her, but she was mentally and physically exhausted from her ordeal in attempting to deal with Buckbeak.

She could not shake the feeling of dread that settled in her heart like a cold chill as she knew that Lucius was surely going to stir up trouble over this, and the holy hell that he would raise with the Board of Governors when he learned the creature attacked not only his son, but viciously mauled an Auror in charge of protecting the school as well, but Tonks would worry about that later.

For now, she was content to close her eyes and keep her head pressed firmly against the pillow. As long as Remus was holding her hand and stayed by her side, she felt as though everything was going to be okay.

Eventually, her eyelids became heavy, and Tonks succumbed to the dark world of sleep and allowed her subconscious to take her far away into sleep.

As she fell into a deep, surprisingly peaceful slumber courtesy of the Calming Draught Pomfrey had given her, she enjoyed the first tranquil sleep she'd had in ages. That afternoon and well into the evening, Tonks did not dream of her ex-boyfriend, Ollie, for the first time in a long time.

No. That night, she dreamed of Remus John Lupin.

Ouch. Bad Beaky for attacking poor Tonks, but what happened to her really was* an accident! Personally, I blame Draco for riling the Hippogriff up. The next chapter features an appearance by a surprise someone that causes Tonks to go on a nighttime journey through the halls of Hogwarts during the witching hour when all others are sound asleep in their beds...