Title: Sensitivity
Author: cinderalex (with some help from my Best Friend Becky on the storyboard end)
Disclaimer: I don't claim ownership of anything you recognize. The plot, however is mine.
Chapter Title: Puzzles
Chapter Summary: Mr. Weasley, Sirius, and Tonks each put together the pieces of a puzzle.
Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to Caitlin for encouraging me to come out with my fangirliness. Whether you were making fun of me or not, it was a fantastic idea. Ever since the day I put the link to my fanfiction page in my aim profile, my life has been filled with Harry Potter goodness. (It would have been dedicated to Brilliant Roommate Bridget except for she hasn't even reviewed ONE chapter. Come to think of it neither has Caitlin. Or Best Friend Becky. You're all fired.)

Author's Note: I almost didn't post this week. Thanks to FLUFF MASTER who harassed me into writing an entire chapter last night, so I could, indeed, post today. What, you may ask (probably not, but hey, you might), kept me from writing this week? The answer is simple: http: Read the first chapter and I swear you wont get anything done this next week either. It's an addiction. An obsession.

here's to opening and upward,to leaf and to sap
and to your(in my arms flowering so new)
self whose eyes of the sound of rain

and here's to silent certainly mountains; and to
a disappearing poet of always,snow
and to morning ;and to morning's beautiful friend
twilight(and a first dream called ocean)and

let must or if be damned with whomever's afraid
down with ought with because with every brain
which thinks it thinks,nor dares to feel(but up
with joy;and up with laughing and drunkenness)

here's to one undiscoverable guess
of whose mad skill each world of blood is made
(whose fatal songs are moving in the moon
–e.e. cummings

September 1995

Kitchen of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place

"Oi! Hello Molly! Dinner smells wonderful." Tonks cried, as she strode into the kitchen, levitating a large cardboard box in front of her. The box banged the door frame, rattling its contents.

"Well, hello. We weren't expecting you tonight," said Molly, briefly looking up from the dishes busily scrubbing themselves in the sink. "We've already eaten."

"You were here just two nights ago and a couple nights before that. Don't you have your own family to bother?" Sirius quipped, not looking up from the crossword in front of him.

Molly silently agreed that Tonks had been spending an unnecessary amount of time at Grimmauld Place, always offering weak, unconvincing reasons for her presence. Two nights ago, she'd been 'in the area.' Doing what, she hadn't said. Before that she'd heard from 'someone' who'd heard from Kingsley who'd heard from Arthur that Molly was baking something delicious for dinner and she 'couldn't pass up the opportunity for sample more of Molly's savory cooking.' However, that morning Molly and Arthur had decided to order take out, so Tonk's story was utterly implausible. When they'd told Tonks this, she said she'd probably just 'confused the day.'

"You're right, I do. And they're sick of me. So they sent me to bother you. Anyway, you'remy family too." She let the box drop onto the table with a loud thud, again jarring the contents. Huffing with exasperation, she sat down across the table from Sirius, the box directly between them. "Better? Now you can't see me."

"Molly? Have you– " Arthur broke off upon entering the room. "Tonks!"

"Wotcher Arthur! You're just the man I wanted to see!"

Molly smiled, unbelieving. She had no doubts Tonks was here to see Remus Lupin. The younger woman might be convinced Remus wasn't interested in her, but that obviously didn't stop her eyes from lingering too long on his lips or from watching intently his hands as they played with his tea cup. According to Lupin, he and Tonks were becoming fast friends. This new friendship would, Molly allowed, explain the private smiles that flitted from Remus to Tonks, but it did not explain the blushes that frequently followed such smiles.

"Me?" Arthur asked, clearly taken aback. Perhaps he'd seen as much as Molly and assumed Tonks had come to see Remus, as well. She'd have to ask him later.

Tonks, stood up abruptly, and began to open the box on the table. "The other day you were asking how muggles entertain their children without magic..." Molly turned to glance at her husband, who's hungry eyes had fastened on Tonks' hands as she tore the cardboard away.

"Breathe, Arthur," Molly teased, Banishing the dishes back to their cupboards.

"What's an eight letter word- gnome's favorite food?" Sirius queried.

"Easy,"she said sitting down next to him, "Horklump. It's probably taken over my entire garden at home..." She missed her garden. She missed the Burrow.

"I don't understand. How are these bit of plactis supposed to keep a young person entertained. I mean, I could study them forever but..."

Tonks took the box off the table and sat it on one of the empty chairs. "I'll show you. Can I have that?" She took the piece he was holding, laid it on the floor, pulled another from the box, and connected it to the first.

"Ooo! Train tracks!" Arthur exclaimed, excitedly pulling more pieces from the box.

"Yep! And you can configure them in any way you'd like. They connect like pieces of a puzzle." Tonks rummaged through the box while he went back to connecting the pieces of track on the floor, bent over, his bottom in the air. Finally, Tonks produced a small engine and several cars which she connected to its rear. Setting them on his partially completed tracks, she flicked something on the bottom of the engine and the train began moving.

"Do they run on eckeltricity?"

"Yes, the engine has batteries."

"I collect batteries!"

"You've told me."

"Molly, the clue is 'drinks blood,' and vampire doesn't fit. It's only five letters, and the second letter is an 'a.' The puzzle's theme is Magical Beasts." Molly tore her eyes away from her husband and his newest best friend, Tonks, to look at Sirius.

"I want to say a Kappa... a Japanese water creature, Charlie was telling me about them one time... He said they'll leave you alone if you throw them a cucumber with your name on it which leads me to believe he might have been making the whole thing up."

"Sounds right to me." He jotted the word into the boxes.

The train reached the end of the tracks, and Tonks turned it off to begin helping Arthur lay more track.

"You know what would make this train much more exciting?" The gleam in Arthur's eyes made Molly nervous.

"Arthur," she warned, "you know you're not allowed to charm muggle artifacts." When he opened his mouth to protest, she continued, "No, not even for experimental purposes."

But her husband wasn't not listening anymore. He'd pulled out his wand and was brandishing it at the engine, muttering to himself.

"Alright. That should do it." He smiled, squatting down next to the engine and flicking the 'on' switch again. When the train began to move, he squatted down next to it. "Blow." A whistle

sounded.

Tonks laughed, delightedly. "Marvelous!"

Deciding she needed to pry Arthur away from his new toy while she still could, Molly said, "Honey, I'm tired. Let's go to bed."

"But..." He looked pleadingly at her and gestured to the train tracks sprawled out in front of him. Sometimes he was worse than the children.

"You can play some more tomorrow... but we have to talk tonight."

Sighing and pouting, he rose. "Thanks for bringing this over, Tonks!"

"No problem!" She was still laughing. "I certainly don't use it anymore."

As they exited the room, Molly murmured to Arthur, "Let's go home. I miss the Burrow. I want to cook in my own kitchen. They don't need me here anymore. Everything that'll ever be clean, finally is."

"Alright," he agreed, leaning down to brush a soft kiss across her mouth. "You just have to tell Sirius."

Sirius was in a wretched mood. He knew Molly wanted to go home, and leave him here to care for this horrible house all alone. More than anything, he wanted to leave too, to work for the order, but if he couldn't, he certainly didn't want to have to endure Number Twelve Grimmauld Place and Kreatcher by himself. Well, not completely by himself, Remus would be there when the moon wasn't full. The full moon. Another reason to scowl. He returned to his crossword puzzle, which was proving more difficult than he'd anticipated.

"'Lays silver eggs'- six letters, any ideas Tonks?" Tonks, who had been watching the Wealsey's disappear from the room, returned to her seat across from Sirius, and shook her head.

"I'm really rubbish at remembering creatures."

"Me too. I thought I knew 'blows–" The train whistled. "fire,' but 'dragon' doesn't fit right with 3 down. I wish Lupin was here. He'd know."

"Yes, where is he?" Her voice rose awkwardly. She was trying, and failing, to sound casual. Sirius wondered at her obvious interest.

"I can't really say. I've promised to keep it a secret." And that was true. Once, during their school years he'd as good as told Snape. After that, Remus hadn't wanted to trust him again, and Sirius couldn't blame him. So he'd promised Remus, in a magically binding vow, that he wouldn't tell anyone about his transformations.

"Why not? Is it a kept secret?"

"No, I just can't tell." He sighed, and thought of Remus, all alone, suffering in the moonlight. Everyone, including Remus, had decided it was best if he went back to his own flat to transform. If something went wrong, he didn't want to endanger another member of the Order. Despite the Wolfsbane Potion, his transformations still wreaked havoc on his system, exhausting him. He needed someone to take care of him, and dammit, Sirius would have been happy do it, but he wasn't allowed to leave the house.

"You're worried about him."

Tonks' had read him well. He looked up at her; she appeared as worried as he felt.

"Can't you tell me anything? I'm his friend too," she pleaded. "I care about him."

She'd only known Remus for a few months. How much could she truly care about him, Sirius wondered. He didn't think she knew anything about Remus, or his past. Would she accept him if she knew? Would she still want to be 'friends' with a werewolf? "Sure. I bet you don't even know how he takes his tea," Sirius muttered, more to himself than to Tonks.

She grinned, her eyes gleaming. "How much?"

"What?" He asked, confused.

"How much do you want to bet?"

"Are you trying to tell me that you do, indeed, know how Remus takes his tea?" Sirius asked, surprised.

"With two lumps of sugar."

"Hmmm... you've had tea with him then?"

"Don't look so surprised. I know a lot about Remus. Like I said, we're friends."

"I guess so. His favorite food?"

She paused, obviously contemplating this answer. "Chocolate."

"Damn. You're good." He frowned at her. "But if you're such good friends, I wonder why he hasn't told you where he goes each month..."

"Maybe the right opportunity hasn't come up," she suggested hopefully.

"Well, perhaps, since you know so much about him, you have enough information to figure it out without me telling you."

She looked doubtful. "I don't know where to start."

"Then let me help you. I like puzzles."

Tonks blinked. "Wouldn't that be breaking your vow?"

"Nope. Wording is very important. As long as I don't tell or show where he goes or why, I've kept my promise."

"So..."

"So what do you know about Remus' past?" Sirius finished for her, sounding slightly agitated.

"Ummm..." She really didn't know anything at all about his past.

"Oh, come on. Let's start with the easy stuff. You know he went to Hogwarts. You know he was friends with me and with James Potter and..." he muttered another name she didn't catch.

"Yeah. That's true." Perhaps, Sirius was right. Perhaps, Tonks knew more than she thought she knew. "And he studied dark creatures," she added remembering the first conversation she'd had with him. "Specifically werewolves."

Sirius nodded.

"That's why you need him for your puzzle."

He nodded again, more vigorously. "You're definitely going in the right direction."

"Is he out studying dark creatures? Or maybe meeting with them, trying to convince them to join the Order or at least not to join Voldemort?"

Frowning, Sirius said, "Not exactly."

"Hmmm... Is teaching someone else about dark creatures?"

Chuckling bitterly, Sirius shook his head, "I certainly hope not."

She scowled at him. Obviously he wasn't really going to help her, just laugh at her. "Well, I don't know then."

Sirius studied the puzzle in front of him and then scribbled an answer, ignoring her. She wasn't really ready to give up discovering Remus' secret reason for disappearing, despite Sirius' unhelpfulness. But without his hints, she had no ideas, none at all. She kicked him in the shin.

"Help me."

"I was thinking," said Sirius defensively. "Perhaps we should try a different approach to the problem. Did you happen to see Remus' boggart the other day?"

She closed her eyes trying to remember. She'd seen Remus raise his wand and point it at... "A white orb?"

Sirius' lips twisted. "You saw it, but, obviously, didn't understand it. Who would be afraid of an orb?"

This seemed to be an even less promising line of thought. What did Remus' worst fear have to do with his absence? "I don't know. Someone who'd had a terrible experience in divination?"

"No." He set the puzzle. "That was a rhetorical question, the point of it being to suggest that Remus' boggart wasn't an orb, but instead something that resembles an orb."

Sirius' tone made her feel incredibly dense, but she still had no idea what he was trying say. She had no idea what the orb could have represented.

Frustration apparent, Sirius practically shouted, "A MOON! A FULL MOON!"

"He's afraid of full moons? But why?" He stared at her, obviously incredulous at her continued lack of understanding. Shaking his head, he glanced down at his puzzle, then, quickly, triumphantly, his eyes flickered back up to her face.

The train hummed distractingly in the background.

"Well, if you don't know the answer, I'll think I'll just go back to my puzzle." Sirius sounded smug. He was playing with her and she knew it.

"I have to know, Sirius. Tell me where he is!" When he didn't say anything, she shoved her chair back from the table and threw her hands into the air. "Why did you ask me all these questions if you weren't going to eventually tell me! Go blow–" The train whistled. "yourself, you bloody poof!" Realizing what she'd just said, Tonks felt terribly tactless, but Sirius only laughed and wagged his eyebrows at her, exhibiting incredible confidence in his sexuality.

"That's what you think."

"I'm leaving." Tonks rose, and moved toward the door, tripping over the train tracks. She gave an angry screech as she landed hard on her bottom. Before she had a chance to rise, the toy train came barreling into her hip. Exasperated and on edge, she flew up and to the door.

"Last one."

Unable to stop herself, she asked, "Last what?"

"What's an eight letter word for a wizard or muggle that, once a month, on the full moon, transforms into a murderous beast?"

"A werewolf, you dolt." She answered automatically, exiting the kitchen.

But as she made her way to the door and walked outside into the bright moonlit night, she realized that Sirius hadn't been asking for her help with the puzzle. He'd been trying to tell her something. Remus Lupin was a werewolf.

Author's Note:

All the creatures in Sirius' puzzle came from Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them. The information the characters gave about the beasts (and more!) can be found there.

Thanks to Little Sister Lauren for the toy train idea.

Review, please. makes puppy face

I know this chapter was short and atrocious, but the next one completely makes up for it. In every way. I wish I could post it now. But I can't. (I have completed the first half of this story! YAY!) Also, I'm still working out the beta thing. Please have patience with me.

Reviewer Responses

You are all my best friend, just as promised. (If you read my dedication, you've seen that Best Friend Becky has been fired.)

bri007- They will kiss... eventually. But I do promises many lovely passionate kisses in the future of this fic.

DeD kAkE- After that rave about Remus, I feel particularly terrible about leaving him out of this chapter. But just you wait till next chapter.

FLUFF MASTER- Were it not for you, I would not have posted a chapter this week. Thanks.

tenten-kun- So, about whether or not Remus is gay in canon... I don't think so. At all. Especially after HBP, obviously. However, I, and many other fans, do adore the a good gay fanon Remus. But do not get confused. For the purpose of this story, he is, in no way, gay.

Harry Clone- Yes, very ironic, that jealousy. More jealousy to come, so watch out.

homelesshobbit- e.e. cummings is amazing. Thanks for offering to be my beta!

jadeddiva- I'm not going to lie. I was very sad when I looked at your story and it was so similar to mine, only better. I feel like such a poser. e.e. cummings is definitely the Tonks/Remus poet.

DarkSideoftheMoon- Sorry to disappoint, but you're going to be waiting quite awhile for the revelation.

okami kaze- More updates just for you because of the kitty Ann which you have given me.

zan189 - Thanks for the reviews! Let's be friends!

ellieo- Hey! I read your profile and I feel exactly the same as you about reviews. Let's you and I change the world of fanfiction by going on a review crusade! Reviews for EVERYONE!