Remus couldn't believe he was actually thinking about doing this. No, he couldn't believe he was going to do this. Because he was. No maybes about it. He thought for a moment and smiled. Definitely no maybes. This had to be the most certain he had ever felt in his life. But that didn't mean he couldn't be nervous. Because he was definitely nervous. Extremely nervous in fact and he wasn't even ready to act on what he wanted to do yet.

Dora hopped by him on one foot, inexplicably trying to tie her combat shoe in mid-air. He grabbed her just before she went crashing into the corner of the table. Having to treat a split open head would not be the best way to start tonight's Order Meeting.

"What are you doing?" he asked, leading her over to the sofa.

A much safer place for this sort of thing.

"Tying my shoes," she stated matter-of-factly and then frowned. "But I can't find my other shoe."

She wiggled her left foot which very much did not have a shoe on it, only a brightly coloured, fluffy sock. It had like green polka dots on it. Remus shook his head.

"And you thought doing it in mid-air was a good idea?"

She stuck her tongue out at that.

"Also," he continued. "Why aren't your shoes together?"

Surely you took both shoes off at the same time so they really should be together.

"If I knew that I wouldn't have this problem, would I?"

Another head shake. Yes. He really did love this sparky, sarcastic, bubbly, young woman with a perchance for mischief. This no longer shocked him though he was still in awe of her loving him right back. Though he knew better than to voice this now for fear of an awful scolding. One thing Dora had apparently inherited from her mother.

Dora ran last him somewhat more steadily this time, with both feet on the ground but still only with one shoe.

Okay, now wasn't the right time for it. There were other things to do first. He wanted to do this right and it needed to be perfect. Or perfectly imperfect. Now wasn't the time. Or the place.

"Ah ha!" came the triumphant cry from upstairs where Remus assumed she had found her missing shoe.

He didn't even bother to wonder what it was doing up there. Dora probably wouldn't know either.

She clattered down the stairs, dragging her jacket behind her. Apparently, she had found that up there as well, despite him having free hooks under the stairs for it.

"Come on, Remus," Dora said in exasperation, yanking him on the arm. "Where's your head at? We're going to be the last ones there!"

Huh. Maybe now wasn't the time for him to tell her that he had always kept his kitchen clock five minutes fast...

"Do you want me to side-along you again?"

Okay, that got him into action.

"No, no, I'm good. I'm ready!"

That was the last thing he wanted to repeat. No thank you. Though, she had some cheek, he had been ready for ages, unlike her. Which had given him plenty of time to let his mind wander to more pleasant things rather than running around like a headless chicken.

She gave him an odd look. "Are you okay?"

"Yep!" he said, probably far too brightly but he couldn't take it back now.

"Okay," she said doubtfully and then brightened. "Race you there!"

"Wha-?"

Before Remus knew it, she had darted out the door and was heading towards the apparition point. That little cheat! It was a good thing he had a much longer stride than her or he would have never caught up.

'Pop' 'pop'.

She got there just before him. Just.

"It's only because you cheated," he grumbled good-naturedly as he caught her just as she was about to fall over.

Normally she was okay with apparating but when you but speed ahead of concentrating... well, let's just say it was a good thing Remus was only a split second behind her.

She just laughed at him as she got solidly back on her feet.

"You're just a sore loser."

"It's not a loss if the race wasn't fair. Aren't you Hufflepuffs meant to be all about fairness?"

"Oh! Look! There's, Mad-Eye!"

And with that she literally bounced over to the grizzled, older man about to walk into the Burrow. Remus shook his head fondly.

"Mad-Eye!" she greeted happily.

The man in question narrowed his eyes at her and took a step back before she could launch herself at him.

"You need to ask me a security question!" he barked.

She came to a skidding halt and frowned at him before looking back at Remus in question.

"Are you actually doing that? The Ministry hasn't agreed if it's a good idea."

Moody snorted disparaging at that.

"Course they haven't. They pussyfoot around anything. But it's always good to have -"

"Constant Vigilance, I know," Dora dismissed with an eye roll.

Remus had to hide a smile. She was probably the only person who could get away with something like that.

Then she put her hands on her hips. "But you do realise that we have yet to set up such a question so I can't ask you one or answer one, right?"

Moody gave her a long look before acquiescing. "I suppose you're right, lass," he agreed begrudgingly.

The man in question then looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Good to see the hair back," he said bluntly, making everyone around them wince.

Remus had to hide a smile. Trust Moody to ignore what everyone else had noticed but was pussy-footing around. Something Dora couldn't stand, he knew.

"Good to have it back. Now I'm not boring anymore."

Remus flinched at that, unable to help it. He just knew that Moody had picked it up too. Thankfully, Molly chose this moment to poke her head out the door.

"Oh, good. I thought I heard you three."

They were ushered into the kitchen and soon had mugs of tea in hand as well as a biscuit.

"Arthur will be home soon," she said, looking at the clock.

Arthur's hand still firmly being on work.

"Good on him for getting that job," Dora said eagerly.

Molly went pink in pleasure. "It is good, isn't it? Oh!"

Arthur's hand had turned to travelling and then there was a 'pop' outside and Arthur came through the front door.

"Hello, everyone!" he greeted cheerfully. "Am I late? Has everyone arrived?"

"Still waiting on Kingsley, Minerva, Bill and Fleur," Molly told him as she took his cloak.

They didn't have long to wait and soon they could get started. It was... odd, for lack of a better term. Somewhat bittersweet. It was good to all be together again but there were so many people missing now... War was a terrible thing.

They soon got into the swing of things, however. The main issue being how to retrieve Harry and keeping everyone safe. Each person here was a target after all.

Soon the meeting was over with not much resolved. They did, however, come up with security questions for each other but no one could think of a way to extract Harry safely. They would have to have another meeting. Soon.

Fleur dragged Dora off to the side as soon as the meeting was adjourned. Probably talking about her wedding. She was, quite rightly, excited. Remus wondered...

"Lupin," Moody said gruffly. "Come here a second, would you."

"Sure."

He probably wanted to go over everything again. Make sure he knew it. Moody was like that. They walked off to the side, Remus giving a brief wave to Dora so she knew where he was.

"What's this about, Alastor?"

"I really ought to punch you in the face."

Remus' mouth gaped open.

"Excuse me?"

Moody looked dead serious. So, he had heard that right then. Remus didn't think he had ever heard Moody threaten physical violence. He was more than adept enough with his wand, after all.

"For what you did to Tonks," he said gruffly.

Remus' eyes widened. Oh. Somehow, he had managed to forget just how close Moody and Dora were. She had been his protégé, after all. How could he be so stupid?

So, Remus found himself, again, explaining how he was never going tondo something like that again and that he had been the most idiotic man to ever walk the planet.

Moody, thankfully, looked somewhat mollified by this. Thank Merlin. Though he did still look very threatening.

"It's good to see her happy," he changed topics abruptly. Then he narrowed his good eye at him. "Don't screw it up."

"I'm not going to."

He wasn't. He really wasn't.

That got him a long look. Long enough to put him on edge.

"You better not or I really will punch you."