AN: This is a sequel to my previous work In the In Between. I think it can probably stand on it's own but it's intended to be read after the original story In the In Between.

Awareness clawed its way mercilessly through the comfortable layers of dreams and warmth. Reluctantly, Tonks opened her eyes. She could tell from the amount of light streaming around the sides of the curtains that it was well into the morning. She listened for the rhythms of breathing emanating from Remus and Sirius beside her. The deep, slow patterns assured her that both were still sleeping.

She was on her back, with one of Remus' arms resting across her midriff. He was curled around her, snoring softly. Sirius cuddle close behind him, his face slack and peaceful in away she could not ever remember seeing when he was awake.

Gingerly she removed Remus arm, holding her breath as she slid off the edge of the bed. She did not want to wake either of them but her bladder insisted that she seek the toliet. She retrieved Remus shirt from the floor, unsure of where her own clothes had landed last night. Slipping the shirt over her head she tiptoed to the doorway. She smiled when she noticed they had been so distracted last night they hadn't even bothered with closing the door.

After relieving herself, she stood for a moment in front of the mirror contemplating her own image. Her hair was a softer pink than usual, more rosey than bubble gum and it hung down to her shoulder in a gentle wave. She also noticed that her facial features seemed softer as well though not much different than the day before. Blurred she thought. She could feel a slight redistribution of weight in her hips and breasts but that was often the case after a night like last night. She felt herself grin, really, there weren't any other nights like last night. Nothing even close she mused.

Heat made its way into her cheeks as she replayed her favorite bits in her mind. The months of anticipation, of longing for Remus in her bed had finally bore fruit. She could not recall ever pursuing someone for so long. When you could subtly reorganize your features to please any palate it rarely took much time to get someone's notice. But such tricks had not worked on Remus, nor had she felt the compulsion to use them. When she finally had found her way to him, it was as herself, or as much as herself as any of her lovers had ever seen. That had seemed to make a difference, somehow. She realized now thinking back on the encounter that it had felt like more, more than the usual game of chase, more than simple sexual gratification. Was that because she truly loved Remus or was it because she had been, for a small moment, part of what Remus and Sirius shared?

Sirius had been an unexpected but marvelous addition to the entire thing. He knew what he was doing in the bedroom and he brought out confidence in Remus that Tonks had not expected. They made an excellent team, she thought. It made her legs shaky just thinking about it.

Swiftly she turned on the faucett and splashed cold water over her face. She needed to get ahold of herself. Plan how to proceed. Last night's confessions and the passionate night of release that followed had been different, more complicated with three rather than two, but not uncharted territory for her. She had lived that scenario before, more than once. It was what came after that terrified her.

Tonks was excellent at starting relationships. She was well practiced in the honeymoon phase full of passionate sex and emotional highs. It was the continuing part where she always seemed to fail. She always inevitably lost interest, became too bored or realized too late that she had been thinking with her libido instead of her head or her heart and came to the sudden realization that the person in her bed hadn't a thing in common with her or worse, not one redeeming quality to speak of.

The problem was, Tonks enjoyed sex quite a bit but she enjoyed partners much less. Her longest relationship to date, with a charming blonde witch named Alison she had met in Auror training, had lasted all of four months, the last month of which probably shouldn't count as she had been actively trying to avoid Alison in an attempt to get her to initiate the break up so she wouldn't have too.

She leaned in toward the mirror, giving herself a stern glare. Things would be different with Remus and Sirius she promised. For one thing, she had genuinely liked Remus before she had began to lust for him. She had actually had little sexual interest in him when they had first met as he was older and more timid than her usual standards. Not that she hadn't thought him attractive, even then. But once they had began to spend time together, he had charmed the pants off her, or at least she wished that he would. He had made her laugh and think and feel something she hadn't quite felt before. She found herself interested in him in a way that was beyond mere sexual attraction. He was different, like her. He understood what it was like for people to never quite understand you.

Sirius on the other hand, was more her usual type. Arrogant, teasing, and crude. And while she undeniably found him pleasing to lay eyes upon, she had not felt the same strong pull she felt for Remus. At any other point in her life she would never have noticed a wallflower like Remus standing next to someone as charismatic as Sirius. Perhaps she was finally growing up. She laughed aloud at her own reflection.

Finally after she washed her hands, brushed her teeth and cleaned the dirt under her nails she ran out of excuses and resigned herself to return to the bedroom. At the very least she had to retrieve her own clothes and wand.

On her return trip she stopped in the doorway to the room, looking down at their sleeping forms. She felt a sudden twinge of regret as she watched their chests rise and fall in the same easy pattern, their limbs still entangled. The two men looked comfortable and peaceful. Complete. she thought. She did not belong. She would cock it up, a terrible way to thank them for the space they had made for her last night. This had been a truly beautiful experience, one she needed to flee from before either of them woke and gave her a chance to mar all memory of it.

She edged her way around the room, collecting her errant articles of clothing. Holding her breath so she wouldn't wake them. If she could just sneak out, leave for the day, come back tonight and joke about this whole thing, like it was just a fun one night stand between friends… maybe it wasn't too late to go back to how things were. Now that they had all slept together maybe things didn't have to change. She didn't have to ruin everything, again.

She scrambled to grab her bra that she finally located peeking out from under the corner of the bed. She leaned over and snatched it up quickly, stumbling as she rose back to her feet. She caught herself on the edge of the bed, dropping her clothes out of her hands onto the floor in her surprise. She cursed as quietly as possible.

"Tonks?" she heard Remus whisper blearly.

"Hmm?" she replied, annoyed that she had just realized if she had grabbed her wand first she could have used accio to summon her clothes.

She felt his arm around her waist, gentle and warm. "Do you have to leave already?" he asked quietly, his voice heavy with disappointment.

She suddenly felt guilty for wanting to sneak out before he and Sirius woke. She owed them more than that. If she was having second thoughts, they deserved to hear them. She turned to face him, noticing the concerned lines in his face. "No. I just had to use the loo."

He seemed to relax as he released his arm from around her waist. She smiled at him and he smiled back, shly.

She climbed back in the bed next to him and he tentatively put his arm around her again as if he expected her to flinch away. She felt her heart pounding. Again something was different. Usually after a night like last night she would have had no shame. If it were anyone else in the bed she would have rolled on top of them, ready for another round. But with Remus she hesitated and it wasn't just because his boyfriend was asleep next to him.

She realized all at once that she was afraid. Normally Tonks did not care what people thought of her. She knew better than anyone that people saw what they wanted to see. And if they don't, it's easy enough for me to give it to them. But suddenly she was aware that she cared deeply about what Remus thought. She wanted him to know her, to see her, really see her. But she was terrified of what he might see.

She knew he thought she was brilliant, beautiful, and funny. But he didn't know all of her yet. He didn't know how selfish she was, he hadn't seen her cry in frustration when she was passed over for praise by the senior aurors or how she could hold a grudge for the slightest provocation when it suited her. He thought she was kind and heroic. And she knew she could be those things at times but she was so many other petty things too. She could be inconsiderate, forgetful, downright rude when the mood took her. She was known to exaggerate to the point of lying and though he seemed to find her sarcasm endearing she knew she was capable of pushing it past fun and into painful territory in order to make herself more comfortable. Would he still want her when he found out she was like this? And why suddenly did that matter so much to her?

He was watching her with a strange look on his face. She continued to smile, or at least she hoped that he was interpreting what she was doing as smiling.

"Can I- Can I kiss you?" he asked timidly. She almost laughed at the request, wondering if she could remember anyone ever asking her permission when she was already half naked in their bed, but she knew he would take a laugh as a sign of rejection. Instead she rolled closer so that her face was next to his, moving her mouth toward his and closing her eyes.

His kiss was soft and tender and she felt herself melting into it. He hesitantly pulled her closer and allowed his hands to linger on her back. When they broke for air he moved one hand to the bottom of his shirt that she was still wearing, holding the edge of the fabric between his fingers. She leaned closer to him, hoping to encourage his exploration. "Is it okay if I-"

This time she couldn't hold back a soft giggle but before he could misinterpret she grabbed his hand and guided it underneath the shirt. "I'll tell you if I want you to stop," she whispered breathlessly.

He pressed his palm against her stomach, the tips of his fingers barely brushing the underside of her breast. "I'm sorry, I'm just not used to- Most people don't even want me to touch them at all, let alone like this."

She kissed his nose lightly. "What about Sirius?" she teased.

"He's a special case," Remus replied. "He's known me most of our lives and he's known what I am long before we…"

She moved his hand up onto her bare breast, nestling it close. "What you are is an amazing person. All those other people who didn't want you to touch them are really missing out you know." Through the dim light she could seem him blush. "More for me," she teased.

"Don't forget about poor lonely Padfoot," Sirius replied peeking from behind Remus, his hands moving up to Remus' chest as if to hold him more securely.

"I said more. Not all," Tonks teased winking at him.

Remus removed his hand from her chest and turned onto his back so he could see them both. He seemed to be struggling to find a response. Sirius was appraising her with a hint of his wicked grin. It seemed to indicate he approved of her answer. His attention shifted to Remus. "You are going to have to get use to affirmation, Moony. I know it's going to ruin your whole self deprecating werewolf thing but I'm not sure that is working out anyways since in addition to a quite dashing boyfriend, you also have a smoking hot girlfriend."

Remus squeezed his eyes shut and pulled his hands to cover his face. Tonks wondered what the shade of red he had turned was called. Somehow knowing how embarrassed he felt in these intimate moments made her feel the slightest bit better. Like perhaps he would understand her fear if she was ever brave enough to admit it to him.

"Ah ah ah! No hiding. You need to get up and appreciate how lucky you are Remus!" Sirius insisted, attempting to pull Remus' hands away from his face. "We are going to start feeling unappreciated."

Remus sat up hastily, favoring Sirius with an incredulous look. "I know you are joking but don't. You have no idea how grateful I am. I'm still trying to figure out what the hell I ever did to deserve this… both of you." He reached out a hand to each of them. "I know how lucky I am. Incredibly lucky…" He was breathing intensely and Tonks felt herself leaning toward him. She could feel a sense of urgency and a deep feeling that she thought must of felt sort of like falling into sunshine. Exhilarating and brilliant and somewhere in the back of your mind the knowledge that you might just get burnt to a crisp if you got to close. Too much of a good thing and all that.

The moment was broken when Sirius launched himself forward onto Remus and licked his face. Remus made a disgusted noise from beneath him. Sirius just laughed and said, "You are taking yourself entirely too seriously."

Tonks sat on the edge of the bed unsure of how to react. She had seen them both be playful before but not to this extent. She felt like she was intruding on something very private. She wondered if they had momentarily forgotten she was there.

Remus struggled beneath Sirius unable to push him off completely. "Come on Sirius! Get off!"

"Do you surrender?" Sirius asked cheekily.

Remus sighed in a way that Tonks interpreted as analogous to an eyeroll. "We aren't playing right now," he insisted, making another attempt to shake Sirius off. "We have company."

Sirius turned to look at Tonks and winked. Frustratingly she felt her face redden in response. "Tonks isn't company. She sleeps here."

Remus groaned. "Tonks, you may want to move. I need to teach this arrogant prat a lesson." Sirius laughed and licked his face again, while Tonks slid off the bed. Remus flipped Sirius over in one fluid motion. The sight gave Tonks a slight shiver, though she wasn't entirely sure why. He loomed above Sirius smuggly. "Surrender," he demanded, his voice coming out gruff and commanding.

It made Tonks' hair stand on edge. She felt a brief bout of envy as she pictured herself in Sirius' place. She realized she must have made some sort of noise as they were both now staring at her.

Remus released Sirius and jolted off the bed. He took a step back to distance himself from them both. "Tonks, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. We were just messing about. I wouldn't-"

He was cut off by the sound of Sirius laughing. He moved to stand behind her, gently brushing his hands along her sides until he brought them to rest on her shoulders. "Remus that was not a gasp of fear." She shivered as his breath tickled the back of her neck. He dropped his hands to her waist. "Was it?" She was suddenly very aware that she was only clad in Remus' shirt.

She looked across to Remus, willing him to understand that she would not and could not think of him as a monster. "Definitely not,"she whispered just loud enough that they could both hear her.

Remus looked at her with a mixture of disbelief and hope. "I think she fancies you being on top of her, just like that," Sirius suggested. His thumbs tracing the lines of her hips. She whimpered, unsure if she could trust herself to speak. "Is that what you want? You want Remus to hold you down?" He put a hand at the small of her back, gently guiding her toward Remus.

She studied Remus' face, expecting it to be flushed and flustered again but finding a combination of desire and confidence reflected back at her. He took her hands in his own.

Sirius positioned her between the two of them. "Or do you want to be in the middle?"

If she had more oxygen making it to her brain, she would have appreciated how smoothly this transition had happened. "I'm not fussy, really," she managed.

Sirius let out a barking laugh as Remus closed the distance between them. All her fears were forgotten.

AN: When I was writing my first story I was able to commit to uploading once a week but I think for this one I will need to do a chapter every other week. But on the bright side I seem to have gotten the hang of writing longer chapters so they are going to (mostly) be longer chapters than in my previous work. Thanks for reading!