Hi Everyone! I know it's been the better part of a decade since I've added anything here, so I thought I would give a mini life update. For anyone that doesn't care, that's cool, just skip ahead, and I hope you enjoy :)

I highly doubt that there's anyone here from 7 years ago, but if you're still here, hello again, and thank you for coming back! For anyone new, welcome! I started writing this story when I was 17. Since then, I've graduated high school, gotten a degree in Biological Engineering, moved a few times, gotten married, and gotten a real job. Like probably a lot of people, I've been a little bored during COVID. I suddenly remembered that I had this account and was writing this story.

Full disclosure: I'm not sure how often I'll update. This could be the only chapter for a while, or I may post again. It most likely will rely on how much real life picks up again. Also, while Harry Potter will always have a soft spot in my heart, I haven't read HP in years, and the books are at my parents' house. Sorry for any inaccuracies there may be. It's also been a really, really long time since I've read Fanfics, so sorry if I seem a bit out of touch with how things are now. I'm old now :(

Finally, if you like what you read here, go and check out my page. I posted a new oneshot inspired by my own life experiences in the last few months, and I have some other stories you may enjoy.

Now without further ado, on to the chapter!

THE RETURN

Grimmauld Place came into view just in time for me to see Tonks head through the front door. I followed her in and slumped down into one of the large armchairs in the library. I suddenly became aware of what a long night it had been. A glance to the clock on the wall told me it was just past 5:30. I yawned, and my eyes felt heavier and heavier as I could feel myself start to drift off.

Suddenly, I heard heavy footsteps come bounding down the stairs, and there was no question in my mind as to whose they were. I opened one eye a peak to see Sirius closing the doors to the library.

"Sirius, do we have to do this now?" I groaned, shifting in my seat.

"Look, Remus," Sirius enthused, jumping excitedly into the chair across from mine, "Harry is off at school, so you and my dear cousin are about the only entertainment I can get in this wretched place. I'm going to make the most of it," he finished with a smirk. "Now, tell me," he prodded, "how did it go?" I rolled my eyes, and sank deeper into my chair.

"What the hell were you thinking?" a gruff voice scolded loudly from the dining room. "What would have happened if he'd caught on? You would have blown the entire operation!"

I could barely make out Tonks' frustrated sigh through the library door. "Mad-Eye, I know you're concerned, but I have these abilities, I might as well use them!"

Sirius and I exchanged worried looks and made our way to the dining room. Tonks and Mad-Eye were standing at the head of the table, and Mad-Eye's mechanical eye was whizzing furiously in its socket.

"Concerned?" Mad-Eye started angrily. "You think I'm bloody concerned?"

Tonks rolled her eyes. "All I meant was—"

"I'm not concerned! I'm trying to run a damn war! This whole bloody Order is a delicate operation, and you could have very well gotten us all killed!"

"Alright," I interjected, trying to diffuse the tension. "What's wrong here?"

Tonks sighed again. "Mad-Eye's upset that I morphed into Yaxley," she began. "He says it was 'too dangerous'" she finished with a huff.

"It was more than dangerous, it was bloody stupid," Mad-Eye spat.

"Mad-Eye, Tonks didn't mean to endanger anything," I reasoned. "We were risking losing Strout, and she made a call. We needed any information we could, and she got it."

"That doesn't change—"

"Look, there's an Order meeting tomorrow," Sirius interrupted before Mad-Eye could start again, "let's discuss it then." Mad-Eye glared at Sirius, but seemed satisfied with that solution and hobbled out of the dining room.

"Thanks for coming to my rescue," Tonks whispered gratefully once Mad-Eye was out of earshot. "He'll come around," she finished with a yawn.

"You two look rough," Sirius teased, "Go up and get some sleep, and I can deal with Grumpy, there," he gestured to the way Mad-Eye just left.

"'S not a bad idea," Tonks yawned again, making her way for the staircase. "I'll see you in the morning, Remus."

"See you," I called after her before heading upstairs for some much needed sleep.

The next day, we sat around the dining room table for an Order meeting.

"Remus, Miss Tonks," Dumbledore began once we'd finished discussing Sturgis's findings (or lack thereof) within the Ministry, "Would care to present your findings from your first surveillance mission?"

I cleared my throat. "Yes, we went on the mission the night before last," I started. "Mr. Strout had a rather uneventful evening. He finally left his home around 3:30 in the morning." I paused. I had to be careful with what I said next so as not to get Tonks in more trouble that she was already in. "We followed, but, not wanting to risk losing Mr. Strout, Tonks thought of a way to get more useful information out of him."

"And what idea was that?" Dumbledore asked Tonks pointedly.

"I morphed into Yaxley," she responded. Some whispers echoed around the table.

"Tonks, that was very dangerous," Molly scolded. "If he saw through it, or worse—" she cut off with a shudder.

"But he didn't," Tonks replied defensively. "I'm not stupid."

"No one is saying that you are," Arthur retorted from the other end of the table. "Just that we have to be careful—now more than ever."

"I saw a way to get more information," Tonks continued, "and I took it. Not that it really paid off," she added, sounding defeated. "He didn't know anything."

"Yes, but he could have," I piped, coming to her defense.

"That may be true," Emmeline's small voice rang from next to Arthur, "but was it worth the risk?"

"Of course it wasn't," Mad-Eye grumbled. "You shouldn't have done something like that without approval. Now he could be aware that someone was on to him. He could be on high alert, or worse, he could have told You-Know-Who!"

"I just wanted to do something!" Tonks' hair was starting to turn scarlet as her voice raised. "We've been sitting in this room for weeks! We've made no real progress, and You-Know-Who's getting stronger every single day!" She was standing at the table now and growing more agitated. "People are disappearing…dying, and what have we done? I couldn't just sit and watch anymore! Maybe you all can, but I just can't!" She stormed off. I heard one of the bedroom doors upstairs slam, causing the portrait upstairs to come alive again.

"Abominations!" it cried, as we sat speechless around the dining room table.

I slowly rose from my chair and snuck away from the table. I went upstairs and knocked on the door.

"It's me," I called. I heard Tonks stomp clumsily over to the door.

"Remus, I know I shouldn't have said it, but I've had enough," she argued before I was even half way into the room. "I just can't sit idly by anymore. We've been biding our time, while You-Know-Who just keeps getting stronger and stronger and killing more and more," she continued, slumping onto the bed in a huff.

I sat next to her, and we were silent for a few moments. She sighed. "I'm awful, aren't I," she conceded, resting her forehead in her hands. "After all, they're trying to help, and Mad-Eye told me when I joined up that things were slow-going." She sighed again. "I shouldn't have snapped."

"Perhaps," I began, "but I don't blame you."

Tonks flashed me a kind smile, "Thanks."

She looked back down to the floor, and things were silent again. I just looked at her. Her nose turned up slightly just at the tip. Her skin was so smooth, and her cheekbones were high and plump. I looked at her as if it would be the last time I would ever see her. I needed to remember every single detail from the freckle above her right eyebrow down to the toe of her clunky boots.

She glanced to me, and I glimpsed a twinkle in her eye. I had seen it before, so many years ago. I was transported back to my old sitting room. She was sitting curled on my sofa with a book clutched tightly in her hands and her brow furrowed. She glanced over to me and smiled so wide it lit up her whole face, her dark eyes always twinkling.

It was so strange. Those times simultaneously seemed so close and yet a world away. It felt like a different lifetime. I had grown and changed. I was more wrinkled, more scarred, and yet, here she was, exactly the same.

She looked back down, and I suddenly became aware that I'd been staring. I looked down to the floor awkwardly.

"So, what now?" she asked slightly jokingly.

I drew in a deep, slow breath. I sympathized with Tonks' earlier outburst. She was right: Voldemort was growing stronger, while we stayed quiet, waiting for a perfect opportunity that would never come. The purpose of the Order was to fight You-Know-Who, yet so far, we had failed at every turn.

"I'm not sure," I started.

Tonks stood back up and started pacing around the room. "Remus, you were a member of the Order during the last war," she reasoned. "I respect you and the others, but I can't keep doing this. I'm not going to sit here and bide my time while there are people out there being murdered."

She stopped at the small chest of drawers at the back of the room and tapped her fingers against them anxiously. "There has to be something," she thought under her breath. The tapping stopped suddenly as she hurried back over to the bed and sat next to me once again.

"Remus, I have an idea, and I hope you'll help me."

I hope you all enjoyed it! If you did, leave a review! They make me happy :)