Disclaimer: Oh, Christ! If I owned Harry Potter why would I be writing fan fiction!

Chapter Three: All Things in Moderation.

A/N: This chapter contains detailed sexual content, and is a moderately hard R. You have been warned. And as always a huge hug for my one-of-a-kind beta, Madam Celeste

He was running, if he ran any faster his legs would explode but he had to. The shouts of the Death Eaters were still behind him ringing in his ears.

"Sirius, come back!" he shouted at the black dog.

The trees shrouded Sirius so that he was very difficult to see. He ran faster through the woods, faster after Sirius. Sweat poured down Harry's face and obscured his vision.

The shouts behind Harry were becoming louder now; they were gaining on him as he was gaining on Sirius.

"Sirius, stop!" Harry shouted. But his throat was so raw that he himself couldn't make out what he was trying to say.

Harry reached a hand up to wipe the sweat from his brow when he ran into something very solid, or rather someone.

He crashed backwards to the ground. He looked up, expecting to see the masked face of a Death eater, but he did not.

He stared at the familiar man in front of him for what must have been an eternity.

The man stared back. His dark hair was untidy from running and he looked down on Harry as though he had never seen him before.

Speech eluded Harry, what did he possibly have to say? He had wanted so much to speak to him but now that he was standing in front of him, he found that words were beyond anything that words could reach.

He wanted desperately to ask him about Veronica, ask him all the things that Remus didn't know. He wanted to ask him about Cressinda, had he known her? Had he even known of her? There were so many questions that were escaping speech, so many, many, things.

The man reached out to Harry, set his glasses straight, and smiled a sad smile; one that told Harry what it meant that he was here staring at him now and that it would be the last time.

"Your eyes are so much like your mother's," he said at last.

"I miss you," Harry said lamely.

"I know," He ran a hand through his disheveled hair.

"You have to know something Harry, I never meant for it to be this way. I love you, Harry. But now you have to run." Harry could hear the Death Eaters approaching,

"Run!" the older man shouted.

"I love you," Harry said blankly.

"I love you too, son," James said tightly.

Harry ran, and as he ran he could hear his father fighting them off. And a bright green light illuminated the forest, and there was a terribly cold and high laugh...

Harry sat straight up in bed. He had been having an awful dream. He had dreamt of his father and Sirius again, for the first time in almost three years.

He walked silently to the bathroom and drank water straight from the tap before climbing shakily back into bed.

It was just past dawn, and Harry could hardly contemplate going back to sleep. He lay back against his headboard just thinking.

Thinking about Sirius and the life he never knew that he had. The conversation he had with Remus was rushing back at him.

"Harry," he had said, "did Sirius ever mention a woman named Veronica to you?"

Harry just shook his head.

"Never?" Remus asked.

Another shake of his head.

"Well, then, I'll just start right from the beginning," He shifted in his chair in the kitchen to make himself more comfortable, and continued on.

" After we left Hogwarts, roughly three years before you were born, dangerous times were approaching, Harry. We were out numbered by Voldemort's Death Eaters, you didn't dare get friendly with anyone, it just wasn't safe. So it was a surprise to all of us that Sirius had found himself a girlfriend. Veronica, beautiful girl. She was a bit younger than Sirius, but he didn't care," Remus smiled sadly.

"Well, to make a long story short, Sirius and Veronica were married not long after they met. Maybe three months. And no one could understand why until some months later when Veronica was visibly pregnant. Now, I'm only repeating to you what other members of the Order have told me, because Sirius and I had a falling out shortly after they announced Veronica's pregnancy.

"But it came out that Veronica's reputation was not sterling," he swallowed. "Her parents were Death Eaters, or at least Voldemort sympathizers." Lupin paused and drank a sip of his tea.

"You see, Harry, she was Professor Snape's sister." Harry's eyes widened in shock.

"SNAPE!" he said loudly, causing Neville who was still in the room to drop his third tea cup.

"Yes," said Lupin tiredly, "and obviously you know how Sirius felt about Severus, so it is needless to say that Sirius was less then pleased. As was Severus when he became aware of her marriage to Sirius," He paused in a sort of anticipation, unsure to go on or not.

"Harry," he said heavily, "do you know of how it came to be that Severus became a spy for us?"

Harry shook his head, his mind reeling from this new found information.

"At the time that he found out about his sister's marriage he was still in Voldemort's ranks, still a Death Eater. And I'm sure you remember how well Sirius and he got along in school, how much resentment Snape felt towards him, how he loathed him...

"You must remember Harry that this was before he came to our side. But Snape felt betrayed when he found out. So Snape waited, he's a very patient man, and he chose to get even with the pair of them shortly after you were born." Remus poured himself some more tea and continued.

"He informed Voldemort of two people who were vehemently against his cause, two people who believed in muggle loving, and he convinced Voldemort that these two people were a great threat to him. He told them about Sirius's involvement in the Order. Well, Voldemort, naturally, ordered their deaths.

"So Snape arranged the attack. One night in August, the August before your parents were killed, Snape and six other Death Eaters apparated outside the house that Sirius and Veronica were living in...." he trailed off.

"Go on," Harry said hoarsely, "I need to know."

"Very well," Remus said, "when Severus and the other Death Eaters entered the house it was said that they killed Veronica and two-year old, Cressinda. It was also told to me that in an attack of conscience, Severus saved Sirius by saying that he wasn't in the house.

"I had always believed this to be the 'great personal risk' that he had taken when becoming a spy. But now I realize that he must have also saved Cressinda as well."

"But if you haven't seen or heard from her in all these years, how do know that she wasn't killed? And if she wasn't, why's she been hiding all this time?" Harry asked quickly.

"I know she's alive, Harry, because of this will," Seeing the confusion on Harry's face he explained. "Magical contracts, typically wills, become void after the death of the beneficiary, which doubled with the fact that this was written only three years ago, tells us that Sirius knew she was still alive.

"And as to the matter of her hiding, I assume that Sirius must have placed her in the care of some Canadian friends of Veronica's."

"But---," began Harry, "why Canada? Isn't that a little far away? Why not somewhere in Europe?"

"Voldemort has Death Eaters fanned out through Europe. Canada and western America are a little out of his reach. It just so happens to be that Veronica had some school friends that lived in Canada."

Harry was pulled out of his memory by a sharp tapping noise.

"What the---,"he looked over at the window and discovered the source of said noise.

Hedwig, his owl, was tapping loudly at his window, a letter tied to her leg. Harry rose instantly to let her in and was rewarded by a sharp jab of her beak. Apparently, she had been tapping for some time before he had noticed her. As he untied the letter she soared off with a screech and into the other room which held her cage.

'Hello Harry, dear,

I hope it isn't too early to owl you, but I could scarcely wait. Remus has contacted Cressinda and she's coming to London tonight! We're having a special dinner for her at headquarters and I sincerely hope you'll join us.

Love,

Molly

PS. She's agreed to let us use
YOU KNOW WHERE as headquarters!'

Harry rolled up the parchment. Dinner with the Order, and Cressinda...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Percy Weasley hung his cloak on a peg in the hall. He felt incredibly uncomfortable here.

He had only come to Headquarters once before almost three years ago. After the Ministry announced He Who Must Not Be Named was back. It was only a brief dinner with Ron's friend Harry, the boy hero, and Ron's little girlfriend.

He could hear voices down the hall in the kitchen. By the sounds of it not everyone had arrived. He didn't know whether or not to be pleased about this. Relations with his family had been strained ever since that row he had with his father a few years ago.

He was not quick to forget about it; neither were his six siblings, or the Order.

He drew closer to the door, pompously squared his shoulders and strutted through.

"Oh Moody," his father was saying, "Mundungus' heart is always in the right place, but I think he---,"

He had just noticed Percy.

"Percy, son," he said shaking his shoulder, "how was work?"

"Fine," Percy said awkwardly.

"Good, good," He said as though he didn't notice, "Moody and I were just discussing---,"

"Oh, Percy!" wailed his mother, who had just entered the room. She hurled straight at him and hugged tightly around the middle. "I'm so pleased you could make it!"

"As am I Mother," Percy nodded.

Over the next hour and a half Percy sat at the kitchen table stiffly in forced conversation with Mad Eye Moody, a highly unseated Auror, and his father. They greeted people as they came in, very quietly of course, so they wouldn't wake Mrs. Black.

Percy met a number of people that he would pretend not to know later if they came up to him on the street. His parents certainly had little taste in friends.

"Percy," his father started, "have you met Luna Lovegood?"

Percy looked up to see a large eyed, batty looking girl, who was wearing a sarong over her muggle skirt with an aqua cloak over that.

"How do you do?" Percy said politely.

"Oh, you know," she said vaguely.

"Luna," Author began, "is Harry's girlfriend."

Percy nodded, which is sort of a habit of his now.

"Speaking of Harry," Moody was saying gruffly, "where is he? I thought he was coming."

"Oh," said Molly, "he owled me saying he'd be a little late," she paused. "You know, I think the poor dear has been under so much strain lately. It'll be a wonder if doesn't end up in Saint---,"

CRASH!

It sounded as though something very heavy and breakable had exploded right outside the door.

"Blood traitors! Half bloods!" came an awful, shrill voice. "Be gone from here, leave!" wailed the voice.

Percy and the rest of the kitchen were standing and moving towards the door. His mother and Mad Eye moved swiftly through it.

"Oh Tonks!" he heard his mother saying. "I thought it might be you. Come in the kitchen we're only waiting for a few more---,"

CRACK

"AHH! FRED! GEORGE!" she bellowed.

"Vermin! Desecraters of my home! Leave this place, the Noble and most ancient---,"

"Moody?!" came Molly's voice.

"Mudblood swine!"

"Can you put the curtain over her?"

A second later the horrid voice was gone.

It sounded as though Percy's menacing twin brothers had just apparated in front of her.

"You two just go in the kitchen!" she said angrily. "I want to show Tonks something upstairs."

Percy barely had time to groan, for the twins were bounding through the kitchen door. They stopped short at the sight of Percy, and both did a kind of double take before nodding briefly.

"Fred, George," Percy said snippily.

"Hey Perce," said George.

But before Fred could mutter his own forced hello the door opened again.

"Hello everyone," said the voice of Remus Lupin. "I would like you to meet Cressinda Black." A young woman walked through the door; she had to be close to Percy's age.

She was tall and willowy, her russet hair was shoulder length, and her eyes were a violent shade of indigo.

"Hello," she said in an accent that Percy could not quite identify.

The kitchen door swung open once more.

Percy's mother walked through beaming and let out a tiny squeak when she spotted Cressinda.

"Oh, Cressinda!" she exclaimed. "How very pleased I am to meet you!" she wrung Cressinda's hand.

"Hello," Cressinda said again in her strange accent, "you must be Molly. Remus has told me all about you."

"Have you met everyone yet?" Cressinda shook her head. "Oh well," and she was off with introductions.

First, Mad Eye Moody, then, the twins who were eying her lecherously, then, Luna Lovegood, and so on

But Percy wasn't paying very close attention to the introductions; he was staring at the woman who had walked in after his mother.

He had seen her around the ministry, though he barely knew her. He supposed that she was the girl his mother had referred to as "Tonks".

Her hair he had so often seen bubble gum pink and shorter than his own was long today. It had a short amount of wave to it and was startlingly the color of wine.

Her beautiful brown eyes scanned the room and rested on Percy.

"You must be Percy," she said extending her hand.

"Y-yes," he breathed shaking her hand briefly.

"I've seen you around the Ministry," she said brightly. "I'm Tonks."

He nodded, not knowing what else to do. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"How---," he began, "how did you do that? With you hair?"

"Oh," she laughed, reaching a hand up to her breast length locks, "I'm a metamorphmagus."

His eyes widened slightly. He had read about that before, but had never met one, they were very rare...

"Hey," she said sharply, "didn't we go to school together?"

"Had we?" Percy thought vaguely. He couldn't remember a Tonks from Hogwarts.

"Yeah," she said, "yeah we did. But I was a few years ahead of you, and in a different house."

"Oh," he said lamely.

"Oh, Percy, dear," Molly said, "dinner's almost on the table."

He didn't get another chance to speak to her at dinner, and no one really spoke to him much.

It wasn't until much later that night that he saw her quite by mistake.

He walked into The Leaky Cauldron feeling decidedly depressed. He had refused all offers to spend the night at headquarters, saying he needed to get to bed early. Seeing Harry Potter and his dynamic twin brothers made him feel uneasy.

Percy chose a bar stool and sat down with a huff before ordering a glass of Port.

He rested his head in his hands, Tonks...

He had never been good at talking to women. In fact, he had only had one girlfriend in his entire life, Penelope Clearwater, and that had ended catastrophically when he had broken up with her to pursue his career in the Ministry. Come to think of it, he still had the scar from where she had thrown a very large text book at him.

"Ahem."

He jumped slightly before turning to his left. It was her.

Tonks was sitting on stool to his left, a playful smile resting on her soft mouth.

"Going to bed early, eh?" she said lightly.

"Tonks," he said, "I-I didn't expect to see you here. Do-you do you, I mean to say," he paused, gathering what was left of his dignity. "do you come here often?"

"No," she laughed, "not really."

"Ah," he said, "I see."

"Do I make you uncomfortable, Percy?" she asked frowning.

"Yes," he said suddenly. "I mean, no." Oh, this was not going well. "What I mean is---," not well at all, "I, er, I don't----I love you." There, he had said it. The thing he had been thinking all night, and it had just come stumbling out of his normally pompous mouth.

He covered his mouth with his hand. Love? Did he even believe in love, or at least, love at first sight?

Her eyes widened. There was no turning back now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ginny and Hermione sat at their makeshift kitchen table. A large pot of lukewarm tea sat in between them.

Tears were spilling down Ginny's cheeks in pools.

"And-and-and then," Ginny sobbed incoherently. "he s-said that it was MY child, and t-that he couldn't be a f-father."

Hermione sat open mouthed. She had suspected that Ginny had told him about her pregnancy but never did she dream that he would abandon her and their child.

"Oh, Gin," she said softly, "have you heard from him since? It's been three weeks; I mean, maybe he's come to grips with it."

"N-no," sniffed Ginny, "He won't answer my owls, he just keeps sending them back unopened."

"That useless whelp," Hermione said angrily.

"And he said that he couldn't be a father because we're in the middle of a war!" she wailed. "I'm going to be a single mother! And I have no money at all! And I'm afraid!"

"Oh, Ginny," Hermione said sympathetically, "He'll have to pay child support won't he?"

"What?"

"Child support," Hermione said pouring her some tepid tea.

"What are you talking about?"

"Child support, it's where if one parent raises a child then the other parent has to give them a set amount of money each month."

"Hermione," Ginny said seriously, "I think that's only in the muggle world."

"You mean the Ministry doesn't have anything to ensure single parents!?"

"No," Ginny said, "that's why it's so hard for single parents 'Mione!"

"Why don't you go and stay with your parents, Gin, your Mum loves babies," she said helpfully.

"Oh no, Hermione," she hiccupped. "I couldn't, it just-just-just," she dissolved into noisy tears.

Hermione rubbed her shoulder soothingly, but she knew that nothing could console her now.

A baby, a war-time baby...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tonks stared in disbelief.

She could not believe what he had just said. Love...

He loved her?

She could not deny her attraction towards him, she had seen him around work, changed the path to her office even just so she could glimpse that Weasley hair of his.

Without thinking, Tonks leaned in towards him and pressed her mouth into his so hard that she knocked his glasses right off his face.

He was startled beyond all recognition.

Her soft, soft mouth was on his.

He had never had a kiss like that. Ever.

He brought a hand up around her waist and relaxed into her sweet kiss.

Two hours later, they were still kissing. But they were no longer in The Leaky Cauldron; they were in Percy's bedroom, in his flat.

Tonks had a glass of wine in one hand and Percy's face in the other.

Percy himself was very nearly drunk.

He slid an unskilled hand through the opening in her robes. She wasn't wearing a bra.

His mind reeled, never had he been with a woman. How many men had she been with?

But suddenly it seemed that he did not care. A pure, natural, primitive instinct over took him. He took the glass of wine she was holding and threw it backwards onto the fire place.

He heard it break on the hearth but he could care less, which was really saying something because his life revolved around order and tidiness.

She gasped. Her breath was becoming shallow.

The wine was certainly having an unexpected affect on his inhibitions, for he found that he didn't have any. With one semi fluid motion he bent down and swung her up into his arms.

Five minutes later, he was enjoying the feel of her thighs straddling his stomach as she blew and pressed her perfect mouth to his neck.

A low moan escaped her throat.

And Percy found that clothes were no longer necessary, and that buttons were a pain in the arse. And that her breasts were everything that was perfect. And that sex was wonderful.

And the most wonderful part was the next morning when he discovered what it felt like to have her curled up next to him. Her wonderfully supple body rising and falling in sleep, and his heart swelled with love that he did not know was possible.