A/N: Congrats, you've reached Chapter 2. Have a smiley face :) Don't forget . . . read and review, it's the right thing to do! ;)

Chapter 2 - Alone in the dark.

Harry Potter entered the kitchen the next morning to find it empty, no surprise there, and smelling of Firewhiskey. He began to make himself some toast, only to realise he wasn't hungry. He saw an old Daily Prophet on the side, but reading it would be too painful. He looked up to see Tonks descending the stairs.

"Hi," he said quietly, almost nervously. There was no energy to be found in his being. No life to be found in those eyes. He just was, nothing more than that.

"Wotcher," Tonks replied in a like tone. She approached him, standing face to face briefly before folding him in a tight embrace.

"I'm so glad you're here," she mumbled into his shoulder. He didn't speak. She pushed him at arms length, keeping her hands on his shoulders for a moment before letting go completely. Harry sat down and stared at the table.

"Toast is in if you want it," he commented, only to get a groan from Tonks.

"No thanks, I don't think I could stomach it." She laughed nervously. She made some tea (spilling the milk as she did so) and handed Harry a mug. He nodded in thanks.

"Can I just say . . .?" she said after a while, causing an involuntary flinch from Harry. "That I know you won't want to talk, that's fine, you're a teenager after all. I just want you to know that I'm here if you do ever want to, you know," she ended lamely.

"Thanks," Harry muttered numbly.

"And Harry, I am sorry," she added, looking straight into his dead eyes and finding nothing.

"Yeah, me too." He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. Tonks thought she saw a flicker of a smile but dismissed it, knowing it was just a hope. She began to believe that Harry Potter would never smile again

The rest of the day passed slowly for the two housemates, Harry preferring to sit up in his room alone, and Tonks in the kitchen staring at the empty bottle of Firewhiskey, silently wishing there was more. Various Order members popped in throughout the day. Molly arrived with Arthur. They chatted to her a while, Molly offering an empathetic smile across the table every now and then, but not mentioning their conversation the night before. Tonks guessed that she had already told Arthur anyway, as he kept clapping her back affectionately every time he passed her.

As evening fell, the muggy weather brought a storm. It was a relief in a way, breaking the tension of the air, if not the tension in the Order itself. Remus Lupin sat in the drawing room on the long sofa by the fireplace. Thunder rumbled down the chimney causing the ashes in the bone-dry hearth to rise. The lightening started, sending flashes around the blackened room. He heard the door creak open and light spilled into a corner of the room until it was closed again. A female form moved quickly across the room to one of the large windows.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed, stubbing her toe on the table as she went. Lupin smiled slightly, knowing immediately who she was: Nymphadora Tonks. She had failed to notice him again it seemed. Large raindrops began to fall against the window, making a clinking sound. Tonks sighed loudly.

"Waiting for someone?" Remus called, then chuckled as he saw her outline startle.

"Lupin, is that you?" she whispered in a hiss. "What are you doing sitting in the dark?"

"Same thing as you it would seem," he retorted. "Who are you avoiding? If it's me then I'm afraid you've failed miserably."

Tonks took one more quick glance out the window before crossing the room to sit by her friend. She perched on the other end of the sofa with her elbow on its arm, and rested her head in her hand.

"My mother, if you must know. I don't think she's here yet though. Let's hope the weather puts her off! So, who are you hiding from?" Lupin looked away but Tonks had already guessed. "Harry," she answered her own question. "That's big of you," she mumbled.

"Excuse me?"

"Never mind," Tonks said, hating this sudden feeling of annoyance that was building up inside.

"If you don't mind, Nymphadora, I would like to be alone," he said shortly, then faltered at his own words. Alone. He certainly got that wish granted. His eyes began to sting. "Would you just go!" his voice broke and he covered his face with his hand.

"No," she said quietly, after a while, "No, I won't." She moved up on the sofa until their sides were touching. Slowly, she reached for his hand and brought it down from his face but he would not look at her.

"Remus it's ok, really it is. You don't have to keep this up, not with me."

He lowered his head and saw their hands together in her lap. Realising that he had stopped breathing, he took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.

"I can't," he told her and she nodded.

"I know, I know. Last night you told me you didn't want to talk. Harry doesn't want to talk either. But, Remus, I do and it's killing me. He saw her eyes shine with fresh tears. She's cried too many of them, he thought to himself.

There was another clap of thunder. After it had finished, Lupin cleared his throat.

"Ok Tonks, tell me how you're feeling."

"How I'm feeling? Well, kinda like . . . like I'm not feeling anything at all. You know what I mean." It wasn't a question.

"Yes," he said. She looked into his grey eyes and gave a breathy laugh.

"What?"

"Your eyes, I never noticed they were grey before. I thought they were blue."

"Well they're grey," he replied then felt stupid for doing so.

"You know . . . no that's silly, never mind."

"Go on,"

"You know when you're walking down the street and there's loadsa people around, do you ever look up at someone passing by and make eye-contact, only for a second maybe, but there's a definite moment?"

"I never really thought about it," he admitted. "Why do you ask?"

Tonk's face seemed to fall at his reply and she sighed.

"No reason." She put her feet up and nuzzled her head into Lupin's neck.

"You know Sirius…?" Stupid question Tonks!

"Yeah . . ."

"Did you love him?"

Silence, save for the weather. The rain hit the window so hard it was almost deafening.

"Isn't your mother coming, Tonks?"

"Uh huh."

"Good, I would like to meet her."