Author's Note - Ack! Sorry I haven't updated in, what, months? My computer was freezing up every few minutes (which made writing very difficult), and we seem to have finally fixed it (mostly). Many apologies. Blame the old comp.

Disclaimer - It would be nice to own Tonks and Remus and everyone. But they're copyrighted. Sigh...

Chapter 6

I woke to yellow rays of bright sunshine streaming through the open window and the sound of morning traffic a few blocks away. I groaned, pulling my pillow over my head. Judging by the amount of sunlight shining in this cursed east-facing window, it was much too early to be awake. Especially after staying up past three.

Past three? For a few seconds my mind was completely blank as I sought an answer, but my sleep-deprived brain found it eventually. I was at the temporary headquarters. I had come here last night to talk to Remus.

Remus? Had he left already? I couldn't hear any noise from the rest of the place. Or maybe he had the sense to sleep in a bedroom with a window facing west.

Molly should have come here, I thought irritably as I pulled the pillow closer around my face and glared at the wall. The windows don't even have blinds.

I briefly imagined what I would have done, had I been in charge of the decorating: Bright pink, cyan, and green walls with black-out curtains. Maybe Grimmauld Place could use a makeover once I got the amount of sleep required to get up and actually find my wand.

"Nym, are you going to get up?"

For someone extremely tired, I managed to jump pretty high off the bed and grab my wand from the bedside table quite quickly. Auror training can be handy. Mad-Eye would be proud. You never know if Remus will be trying to kill you at seven in the morning with a cup of tea in hand. Constant vigilance.

I lowered my wand sheepishly. "Morning, Remus." He raised an eyebrow, but otherwise didn't question my odd reaction to his sudden appearance. I stretched and looked down, noticing I hadn't even changed before going to bed. No matter. That's what wands were for. Transfiguration had always been one of my favorite subjects at Hogwarts.

"Why the hell did you wake me up, anyway? It's got to be about seven-thirty."

"Seven-fifteen."

I groaned and sat on the edge of the bed, wishing Remus would possibly let me turn the window's glass black so I could sleep more. "Not everyone's a bloody morning person, Remus."

"We're moving back to Grimmauld Place. Dumbledore came after his argument with Scrimgeor. It's safe."

"Scrimgeor." My face was bound to be the image of pure disgust. "My dear boss. Now my even more powerful boss. Must have been a long, pleasant conversation. And you were actually awake when he came?"

Remus chose not to comment on this. "We need to move, anyway. Grimmauld Place is much more secure than here."

"Can't it wait until a decent hour?" I grabbed the pillow and put it over my face again, a feeble attempt to block out the light and the sound of his voice.

"To most people, this is a decent hour." He snatched the pillow off and tossed it away. I looked up at him, and our eyes met. My breath caught in my chest, and his eyes lingered a second before he looked away.

"Fine." I stood again, looking around for my wand. I seemed to have set it down somewhere. "Just hold on a minute."

I managed to stall another half hour, which I mostly spent looking for a coffee maker. Figures that with Remus having been the main resident, there wasn't one. I was far too lazy and tired to Transfigure something into a coffee pot, besides the fact that it wasn't really something McGonagall had ever taught me for fear of the caffeine's effects on me. It was too bad, really; I could have scared Madam Pince to death. I had always wanted to do that.

But anyway, I found myself dragging my feet (or rather, my whole body) down the few blocks to Grimmauld Place. I couldn't help but think about the last time I had been on this street. Remus didn't question my unusual silence, but he probably thought it was because I was lacking my daily four cups of coffee and not really as competent as usual.

And I still didn't see why I couldn't have just gone back to sleep. Remus was taking all his bags with him, and I thought that rather strange considering he would be leaving in a little over twelve hours. But it's better not to point out stuff like that when your brain isn't functioning properly. At 8 AM, it's better to leave that to the morning people.

It suddenly struck me as very odd that here I was walking with a person I didn't want to see mere days before to a place I had never wanted to set eyes on again. Without any protest or comment of any kind. But then again, there was a coffee maker in the kitchen of Number 12.

By the fifth cup of coffee, I no longer needed the nap I had planned. It was midmorning by then. Remus looked more edgy than I had ever seen him. It was unsettling to see him that way, after knowing him to be so calm, a nice big rock to lean against for support. He kept riffling through papers he had spread across the kitchen table, muttering something under his breath, and sending parchment flying again. I noticed he had dark circles under his eyes, even though the full moon was weeks away. So much for being a morning person, I mused, but I thought I understood why he had woken me so early, and why he had wanted to move to someplace safer.

I had expected Dumbledore at least to show up, since he was the one responsible for Remus being like this, but the hours dragged by without a knock on the door. It really was too bad Molly hadn't wanted to come to headquarters for the summer again. She would have been able to distract Remus from the approaching night. But that job fell upon me. What fun.

I sighed. Remus didn't even look up.

"What are you doing, anyway?"

At last Remus stopped and glanced up. "Looking through all the files on Greyback the Ministry has. Kingsley got them for me before he left. I don't want to gather useless information."

I felt a spasm of guilt. I should have thought of that. In the Auror's office there were huge filing cabinets full of such information about various known dark wizards. It was just around the corner from where I had gotten those books about Inferi for that stupid paper. But all I said was, "I see."

Remus gave a brief nod, already immersed in reading a five-foot-long piece of parchment. If the situation had been less tense, he would have looked comical with the end of it trailing on the floor.

Knowing him, he already knew the words on there by heart. I was willing to bet he had done the exact same thing before exams, back when he was in school. Nervous habits die hard, I suppose.

"Er... would you like some more tea?"

It was hard to tell if he had nodded or not, considering he was bent almost double, now poring over an old book. I filled his teacup anyway. It was a bit of a challenge, finding a space to put it that wasn't covered by papers.

After a few seconds, I decided my method wasn't working. "Oh, for goodness sake, Remus!" I closed the book with a snap, nearly catching his nose inside it, and pushed papers and parchment onto the floor. I marveled at how much I had sounded like Molly. Evidently he was surprised too, since he stared at me unblinkingly in what can only be described as shock.

"You're just making it worse! You're out of your mind, stressed about all this, and what do you do? Stress yourself more!"

Remus blinked up at me, rubbing his nose absently as though checking for permanent damage. "Sorry," he said meekly.

Though I managed to resist the urge to laugh, it was a close call.

"You already know everything in those papers, don't you?" I demanded, pointing to the piles on the floor.

Remus nodded guiltily, obviously still in awe of my outburst.

"That's what I thought." I sat down again in the chair beside him. "It's better to get your mind off things for a little while."

"Easier said than done." He gave a half-smile.

So I was right. That was why he looked more tired than me, and why he wanted to come here.

"You don't have to go tonight," I said quietly. Remus looked up, horrified.

"And let Dumbledore down?"

"You're afraid, though…"

"Of course not." He discovered the cup of tea and took a sip, hiding his eyes a little too efficiently to be plausible.

I sighed. Remus was not a good liar.

I searched for some topic that would get his mind off things, but all I could think of was the last time we had been here together…

"Oh! I almost forgot! I have to go to Hogsmeade tonight!"

Remus put down his teacup, perhaps realizing he couldn't fool me with it. "Why?"

"A new job. I'm protecting the village from dementors and the like, though I'm really protecting Hogwarts from anything that could threaten it for the Order."

Remus nodded. "Better than a desk job, I'm sure."

"Exponentially better." I didn't tell him I had asked for this job specifically to get away from London.

"So you'll be fighting dementors… and maybe Death Eaters?"

What was that emotion in Remus's eyes? I couldn't quite decide.

"Yes," I replied quietly, looking at him out of the corner of my eye while I pretended to sip my coffee, trying to figure it out.

Could it be… worry? For me?

"Just be safe, Nym."

It was! But why?

I looked at him carefully, but he turned away. "I will," I replied slowly, guardedly, "if you promise you will, too."

There was a brief silence.

"I promise."

Why did he sound almost… reluctant when he said that? I stared into the depths of my coffee mug, deeply confused.

A/N – Not much of an ending, I know, but I had to break this into two chapters. It was getting a bit long… So wait till the next one! .