"How does this look?" Tonks asked Remus as she stood in front of the mirror, preparing for her undercover mission with her partner, Alfie, in Knockturn Alley.

"Stunning," Remus said. "I'm wishing I could be out with you tonight." Tonks smiled at him and kissed him. He grinned admiringly at her; whenever she showed him unexpected affection, he managed to smile stupidly, as if he were an infatuated teenager.

"I shouldn't be home too late," Tonks said. "Thank you for making me dinner. That pub is disgusting."

"Just undercover drinks with Alfie?" Remus clarified for the tenth time that week. He felt anxious that his witch would be out on a "date" with another wizard, even if it was for an undercover job. He had swallowed the desire to ask her if he could come with her as a nearby observer; she'd have taken offense, and he knew the situation would be far safer than some other possibilities. He merely hoped the pub wouldn't be crawling with Death Eaters and their sympathizers.

"You'll send me a message if anything goes wrong?"

"Yes, love," Tonks repeated. "I'm sure we'll be just fine." She kissed him again and wrapped her arms around his body.

"I love the way you smell," he noted. "Even when you look different, I know it's you from your smell."

"That shouldn't surprise me as much as it is right now," Tonks said slowly. "What do I smell like?"

"Chocolate," Remus provided promptly. "You taste like chocolate too," he grinned.

Tonks blushed at him; it was always so endearing to see her blush at his words. "What kind of chocolate do I smell like?" Tonks asked.

"A rich chocolate," Remus answered, while inhaling her enchanting scent. "A little nutty, a bit earthy, and sweet. It's hard to describe. It's delightful."

"So when you have chocolate, do you think of me?" Tonks asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Now I do," Remus admitted. The right bar of chocolate nearly aroused him, he thought. As if he had enough problems!

"I'll have to keep getting you chocolate then," she grinned. "That way you'll always think of me."

"I already think of you always," Remus confessed. "You're always on my mind." Tonks blushed again, and Remus felt his heart beating erratically. He looked at the clock – it was nearly time for her to go.

"As much as I want you here with me, love," he said. "You've got work, and I'm meeting with Sirius tonight. Let me know if anything goes awry, Dora. I love you." He kissed her and drew her body close to his; her lips and face might look different, but she kissed and tasted the same way. She was his Dora.

"I'll be back before you know it," Tonks winked. "I love you!" she called, as she stepped out the door to Apparate to her job.

Remus turned back to the flat they shared and smiled to himself. He already missed Dora – how was that possible? – and set himself to plan for the weekend ahead. Dumbledore had agreed to tell Andromeda and Ted about Sirius' innocence, as a gauge for introducing them to the Order, as long as Sirius agreed when they met tonight. If all went well, a family reunion would be a happy result.

He walked towards the fireplace and gathered a bit of Floo powder, calling out "Grimmauld Place," and felt the warm flames take him to the dingy kitchen of Order Heaquarters.

"Sirius!" Remus called. Remus noticed Kreacher, the dirty house-elf, in the corner of the kitchen.

"Kreacher," Remus said as kindly as he could, "Do you know where Sirius is?"

"The filthy half-breed speaks to Kreacher, dirty beastie asking Kreacher nasty questions about Kreacher's bad Master," Kreacher continued to speak obscenities against both Remus and Sirius. Sighing, Remus went up the stairs to find Sirius himself.

Remus found Sirius asleep in the drawing room with an empty bottle of Firewhisky at his feet. Remus gently shook Sirius awake.

"Sirius? Padfoot? It's me, Remus, I'm here now," Remus gently woke up the sleeping man.

"Moony?" Sirius croaked. He sat up from the armchair and looked up. Remus looked at his best friend of over 25 years and was moved with pity; the years had broken Sirius. The mirth he used to have in his eyes was barely there; dark circles graced his eyes.

"It's me, Padfoot," Remus greeted softly. Remus sat opposite Sirius in the other armchair.

"How have you been?" Remus ventured.

"Drunk."

"I can tell."

"D'you blame me? I'm rotting away in a new prison."

"I'd like to offer you something," Remus said. "I think you'll like it."

"Yeah? Here to take me away to another nightmare?"

"No," Remus said, rolling his eyes at Sirius' theatrics. "I'm wondering if you'd like to reconnect with your family."

"Fuck them."

"You haven't heard who I had in mind."

"Other than Tonks, there isn't—" Sirius seemed to understand. "—Andromeda?"

"Yes," Remus smiled. "Would you like to see her and Ted?"

"Right now? Let's go, hell yeah!" Sirius agreed happily.

"Not right now, no. Dora is busy tonight, anyway, and she wants to be there. We're thinking Sunday."

"Do they know I'm coming?"

"No," Remus answered, "but Dumbledore has agreed to my plan."

"A plan?" Sirius asked, with an unreadable expression. Was it excitement? Nervousness? Remus couldn't tell.

"Andromeda and Ted have been asking questions about what Dora and I do for Dumbledore, and we thought to start with you to see how they take it. If they're open to your story and believe your innocence, we might get them to join the Order too."

"Fuck yeah! I'm in! What am I doing?"

"You, me, Dora, and Dumbledore will go to Sunday tea at the Tonkses', but you'll show up as Padfoot, Dumbledore's friendly dog," Remus explained, as Sirius' eyes filled with nearly-forgotten mirth.

"We'll tell the whole story, and if they agree, you can become Sirius again and we can have a happy family reunion. What do you think?" Remus offered.

"Hell-fucking-yes," Sirius agreed. "Thank you, Moony. I'm going mad here."

"I know you are. When Andromeda and Ted asked about Dumbledore, I couldn't help myself."

"How are they? How do they feel about you being with my baby cousin?"

"She's hardly a baby," Remus protested. "She's a 23 year old Auror."

"She'll always be my baby cousin, to me," Sirius teased. "How are they taking you?"

"Well, I think," Remus said. "Bellatrix complicates things, as I think Andromeda wants me to become mates with Dora, for the protection. I haven't the foggiest if she actually wants me to do that, knowing I'd lay down my life for Dora without sparing a second thought, or if she actually likes me."

"Can't it be both?"

"It could," Remus admitted. He hadn't thought of that; it was possible Andromeda did like him and find him useful for protecting her daughter.

"What about Ted? He's as good as they come, isn't he?"

"Ted is a great man," Remus agreed. "Dora takes after him in personality. He's been nothing but kind to me. I thought that if I ever had a child with Dora, I'd name him after Ted."

"Moony!" Sirius cried in shock. "You? Thinking of children? With my baby cousin?"

"It's a thought that crosses my mind every now and then," Remus confessed. "I can't do that to Dora. She doesn't want children, and anyway, it's best that my condition die with me."

"Remus, mate, that's not how it works," Sirius said.

"No one can know for certain."

"Guess there's only one way to find out?" Sirius beamed impishly at Remus. As much as it annoyed Remus to hear such nonsense, it was good to see his friend happy for a moment. These moments were rare.

"Anyway, even if that were to happen, it's a long, long way off," Remus said. "If ever," he added, with emphasis. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Where is my baby cousin tonight, anyway? Out with girlfriends?"

"No, she's doing undercover work, with her partner, Alfie."

"How do you feel about this undercover business?"

"Jealous," Remus readily admitted. "She looked gorgeous on her way out. It's only drinks, but I'm worried too."

"Where's the assignment?"

"That one pub down in Knockturn Alley, The White Wyvern, I think?" Remus provided.

"Never been there," Sirius remarked. "If it's in Knockturn, not likely to be hosting any pleasant sort."

"How long will she be out?"

"No idea," Remus answered. "I hope it's just a few hours."

"If it's the really wrong sort, it might be all night."

"Don't remind me," Remus grumbled. "I hardly like the idea of her going undercover with that Alfie prat, let alone staying out all night with wizards tailing her."

"You know that if she's out all night it's because of her work? She wouldn't do that to you."

"I know. It's not her I'm worried about."

"You don't trust the bloke?"

"I hardly know him. It's hard to trust anyone these days."

"Mmm," Sirius mused. "Did I tell you that Harry started a little defense club at school?"

"He did? With that Umbridge hag still in charge?"

"It's a secret group," Sirius explained. "I'm so proud."

"James' son would be breaking rules to study defense."

"I wish I could be there to help," Remus admitted. "Teaching them that year was the best job I've ever had."

"Fucking Snape," Sirius cursed. "If he hadn't 'accidentally' outed you as a werewolf—"

"—the position was cursed, anyway," Remus said. "I was lucky to get a year."

"Even if the position wasn't cursed, you'd still deserve it," Sirius said.

Remus snorted. "You sound like Dora."

"How are things with her? Decided to settle down?" Sirius pestered. "Or still afraid of commitment?"

"I'll stay with her as long as she'll have me," Remus explained. "Or as long as it's safe for me to be with her."

"Leave it to you to find any way to prevent your own happiness," Sirius grumbled.

"It's not my happiness I'm worried about. It's Dora's life. She shouldn't have her life in danger because I love her."

A quick pop! announced the arrival of Kreacher in the drawing room.

"What are you doing here?" thundered Sirius. "I told you to get out of my sight."

"The shifty brat is making a mess in the foyer," Kreacher croaked. "How my Mistress—"

"—the shifty…Kreacher, do you mean Tonks?" Sirius asked. Kreacher shrugged and popped away.

Remus ran down the steps to find a bloodied Dora in the foyer of Grimmauld Place.

"Dora!" he called, rushing to her side. "What happened?" He looked over her frame; she had a split lip, a gash on her forehead that had spilled blood into her auburn hair, and a deep wound gushing blood out her side; Remus suspected splinching. Besides the metallic smell of her blood, Remus picked up various alarming scents.

"You were touched," Remus said harshly. "Who touched you?"

"Long story," Tonks coughed. "Help me up? I think I've splinched myself."

"Bloody hell, Tonks, what did you do to yourself?" Sirius asked, having run up the stairs to get Dittany and bandages.

"Help me up, will you?" Tonks said weakly.

Remus lifted Tonks in his arms and led her towards the closest empty bedroom, setting her down gently on one of the two single beds. Tonks was moaning from the pain and was looking too pale for Remus' liking. The scents coming off her body were no more pleasing to him.

"Good thing my best mate's a werewolf," Sirius remarked. "Plenty of supplies to go around." As Sirius tipped Blood Replenishing Potion down Tonks' throat, Remus worked to heal the splinching wound with Dittany and began working on the rest of her cuts and scrapes.

Remus' nose wrinkled in distaste every time he smelled someone else on his girlfriend's body; she had been touched by more than one werewolf that evening, and his skin was crawling with hatred for whoever had touched her. He recognized Greyback, but he was far from the only one who'd gotten near his Dora.

When Tonks was finally bandaged and all that remained of her wounds were bruises, Remus propped a few pillows behind her back to support her. It had taken nearly an hour to attend to all her wounds carefully.

"What happened?" Remus demanded. Tonks coughed weakly, and Remus willed himself to soften his expression. "Take your time," Remus forced himself to say. Being more patient and less aggressive in his anger was taking its toll, but the will to keep himself from snapping at Tonks again kept his fury at bay.

"Water?" Tonks asked weakly. Sirius quickly provided a goblet full of water for her, and she drank gratefully.

"Need food?" Sirius asked. Tonks shook her head. "Rest?" Sirius offered. Tonks nodded at this suggestion, and Remus squeezed her hand gently.

"C'mon, mate, she needs rest," Sirius told Remus.

"I'm not going anywhere," Remus hissed. "I'm staying with her."

"She needs rest," Sirius pressed. "She's not going anywhere. Let her sleep."

Remus looked at the pale, small frame of his girlfriend; her eyes were fluttering in exhaustion. He sighed as Tonks appeared to be falling asleep. Remus checked the time; it was nearly 1 AM.

"It's late," Sirius said. "Stay in the other bed if you'd like." Remus assented and reluctantly crawled into the single bed opposite Tonks'. Sirius, for his part, transformed into Padfoot and curled up at the foot of Tonks' bed.

"Really, Pads?" Remus asked. "You'll share a bed with her?"

The big, shaggy dog merely wagged its tail and lolled its tongue around. "Whatever," Remus sighed. "She'll be safe here."

Exhausted and worried, Remus let his head hit the pillow. He'd ask about Tonks' adventures in the morning.

Remus was sitting comfortably in an armchair in the bedroom where Tonks was sleeping. It was nearly dawn; he'd slept poorly, keeping a close eye on his healing girlfriend. Every inch of his body longed to find and torture the wolves who'd been near her, but his heart remained there, with her.

"R-Remus?" Tonks whispered. In a moment, Remus was at Tonks' side, holding her hand gently.

"Good morning, love," Remus murmured. "How do you feel?"

"Sore," Tonks said. "Hungry."

"I'm afraid I haven't much in the way of food, but I'll see what I can get you." Tonks nodded faintly.

Remus rushed down the steps to the kitchen of Grimmauld Place to see what he could find. Sirius' kitchen was poorly stocked, but Remus managed to find a loaf of bread, and brought it up to Tonks with a cup of tea.

"It's not much, but it will have to do until I can get us home," Remus explained, as he handed her the slices of bread and tea."

Tonks began nibbling on the bread, gaining some of her color back. Remus sighed in relief to see her looking better with the food.

"Are you going to work today, Dora?" Remus asked tentatively. Tonks shook her head.

"Alfie and I are both taking the day off," she replied. "Long night last night."

"Are you able to tell me what happened? I've been worried."

"You won't panic?" Tonks asked.

"I'll do my best," Remus promised. "I've made it this far, haven't I?" Tonks smiled weakly at him, feeling suddenly grateful for the amount of self-control he'd been practicing the last several hours.

"I'll tell you now, then," Tonks decided. "We made it to the pub last night just fine to look for these anti-Ministry supporters, but waited around for almost two hours before we saw anything. 'Round nine, a few creepy looking blokes came into the pub and sat down in one of the tables in the back, so Alfie and I made our way there to try to overhear. I had my suspicions when I saw them, but when I saw them up close I just knew they were werewolves." Remus swallowed the lump in his throat, afraid of what was going to happen next.

"We sat far away enough, or so I thought, that we could hear their conversation. One of them knew Greyback and they were talking about his plans to align himself with a more powerful force than the Ministry. I think that's where our tip got the idea about anti-Ministry nonsense," Tonks added. "One of them said Greyback was meeting them there in a little while, with some news, so Alfie and I stayed around for another hour till Greyback came in." Remus clenched his jaw, unhappy with the turn of events in Tonks' tale.

"At first, Greyback and his companions were just drinking, but as the pub got less busy, there were fewer people, and I think that helped Greyback and the wolves to smell me. I think there were too many smells before? I dunno how it works," Tonks confessed, looking at Remus sheepishly.

"If there are a lot of scents, it can be harder to pick one out, yes," Remus confirmed. "Even If one is particularly strong, like yours." Tonks' eyes widened.

"I smell bad?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"No, not at all," Remus said quickly. "You smell a lot like I do, because we live together. Normal witches and wizards wouldn't be able to identify my wolf smell like other wolves can. You smell stronger to wolves because you smell like me."

"Oh, well then," Tonks said. "Explains a lot."

"Please, keep going," Remus urged. Despite the fear and rage threatening to take over his senses, Remus desperately wanted to know what had happened to his girlfriend, especially to ensure that she was still safe from harm.

"Right, so it was just me and Alfie, and the werewolves after a while. They were getting rowdy and drunk, but Alfie wanted to stay to hear them talk more about the Ministry, the prat," Tonks continued. "It was obvious they weren't going to support the Ministry, with all the anti-werewolf legislation." Tonks rolled her eyes. "Alfie insisted we'd be able to get something on them."

"Someone opened a window near us and let the wind through, and I think that's what carried my scent over, 'cause as soon as I felt the cold air from outside, all the werewolves stopped talking and started sniffing. Alfie was shocked, but that's when I realized what had happened."

"Your scent carried and they smelled me," Remus said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah," Tonks grimaced. "Fenrir was the first to react. He stood up and walked right over, sniffing me. Alfie was gobsmacked and had no idea what was happening. Fenrir said I was clearly your 'whore,' which made me really annoyed." Remus clenched his jaw at hearing this; how dare Fenrir make such an accusation?

"The other wolves must've heard, because they came up right behind Greyback and started taunting me and making passes at me, 'cause I was already one 'wolf's whore' and I'd make a nice 'plaything' for their pack." Tonks scrunched her nose in disgust, as Remus grabbed a bunch of blankets in one hand to keep him from losing his temper.

"Alfie finally realized what was happening, and threatened them for getting too close to us, but they didn't care," Tonks explained. "It was four big, burly werewolves against Alfie. You've seen him – he's not exactly small, but he's far less intimidating. They pushed him against the wall and one of the werewolves pinned him against it, while the others went after me. We tried to avoid using magic at first, as we didn't want to reveal who we were right away, but we had no choice."

"Alfie broke first and started hexing them, but Greyback and one of the others had wands, and they were using all sorts of Dark magic against us," Tonks explained. "Greyback was especially good, saying he'd been learning from some powerful wizard who would make the world a better place for werewolves." Remus' jaw dropped.

"Voldemort," Remus concluded. Of course the werewolves were starting to rally around Voldemort. With Umbridge passing all those anti-werewolf laws, anything but the Ministry could offer a better life for werewolves.

"My guess as well," Tonks said. "Greyback must already be working for him."

"At one point, the other werewolf managed to disarm me, and Greyback and the others descended on me. One of the unarmed wolves got me first, but the others fought him. I think that's how I got so many smells on me," Tonks clarified. "Greyback was the worst. He held me right against him and it was disgusting. He smells awful." Remus' face and neck were flushing red in anger, but he held onto the blanket in his hand tightly, trying to contain his rage.

"Alfie had been knocked out completely, so it was just me then. I'm not proud of this, but I attempted to distract Greyback by asking him to prove he was a better wolf for me than you," Tonks explained. Remus blanched upon hearing this.

"Dora, that's incredibly dangerous," Remus explained in a shaky voice. "You may as well have told him you'd mate with him. He's an alpha, and I'm not. How could you?" He felt hurt and angry. He knew it wasn't out of real desire for another wolf, but the idea of her seducing another wolf felt excruciating; the wolf within was howling with pain.

"I know it was stupid, Remus," Tonks said. "But I didn't have a wand and it was four werewolves against me. The fucking barkeep had disappeared and no one bothered to care about what was happening," she retorted angrily. "It was that or let them take me and do Merlin-knows-what with me. Do you really want to imagine that possibility?"

Remus hung his head, and murmured "no," softly. "I know you did what you had to, even if I don't like it," he admitted. He felt the anger and possessiveness coursing through his veins; it was almost too much to bear that she had nearly given herself to Greyback, even if it had been under false pretenses. If it weren't for her quick thinking…Merlin, no, he couldn't bear the thought of her with anyone else, let alone another werewolf.

"Greyback was distracted enough by my proposal that I was able to escape from him and get Alfie's wand, which I used to disarm the wolf who'd taken my wand," Tonks elaborated. "With my wand back I was able to send warning messages to any Aurors to come as back up. Thank Merlin, a few minutes later, we had more Aurors there, and they got the two unarmed werewolves. Proudfoot and I tried to go after Greyback and the armed one, but they were too quick and got away. I stumbled running after them, and that's how I got the cut lip."

"I know it was dangerous and stupid, but I had no other choice and had to gamble," Tonks explained. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry it had to come to that, Dora," Remus said evenly. "I wish I'd been there to help."

"S'okay," Tonks said softly. "If I'd known it was werewolves, I think I'd've been fine having you there. Next time I'll send a Patronus somehow."

"Did they give you all these other injuries?" Remus asked. He was worried with the possibility that she might have incurred cursed wounds from the other wolves.

"I hit my head against something in the pub trying to fight off the wolves. The cuts and scrapes were from the scuffle," Tonks explained. "I don't think any of them actually cut or scratched me, did they?" Remus looked over her body once again.

"You'd have cursed scratches if they'd cut or scratched you," Remus said, scanning over the injuries. "I think your injuries are more from bruising. How did you manage to get splinched?"

"I was already in bad shape from the fight, so I tried Apparating home first, but you weren't there, so I came here next," Tonks explained. "I must've been too tired to Apparate properly."

"Dora, you know I'd have come home to see you," Remus admonished. "You hurt yourself trying to come here." Was she really so shortsighted as to hurt herself in the process of trying to see him? What had he done to her to make her forget her own safety?

"I know, but I wanted to see you right away to tell you everything," Tonks confessed. "I didn't want you coming home to me all bloodied and smelling like other wolves without me telling you what happened first." Was he really so possessive that she felt it necessary to hurt herself to pacify his own insecurities? He vowed to himself to continue working on his insecurities; they could never be the reason for her carelessness.

"You were worried about how I'd react?" Remus suspected. He felt the shame and embarrassment wash over him.

"Mmhm," Dora confirmed. "I didn't want you going after Greyback and the others so late at night, either," she added. "I just wanted to be with you."

"Promise me that if you get injured like that again, stay home," Remus said. "I've been working really hard to control the possessiveness of the wolf," he explained. "I don't want you hurting yourself to soothe my anxieties." Make it clear that she comes first, he thought, she always comes first. No matter what happens to me, or how I feel, my Dora must be safe, well, and alive, he thought.

"I know, Remus," Tonks said. "I wanted to see you too, even if I wasn't worried about your reaction."

"I'm flattered, love," Remus said. "But please, take care of yourself. You're far too important to me to stay hurting."

"Can we go home yet?" Tonks asked. "I want real food."

Remus chuckled. Tonks' increased appetite meant she was returning to herself. "If you're well enough to get out of bed, I'll take us home, Dora."

Tonks gingerly pushed the covers off her body and gasped at the ripped clothes she was wearing.

"We were a bit busy working on your wounds," Remus said guiltily. "I can try to mend your clothes for you."

"No matter, occupational hazard," Tonks dismissed. She was able to stand from the bed and hugged Remus tightly. She now smelled more like herself, but the smells of the other wolves lingered on her clothes and hair.

"Let's have you shower when we're home," Remus suggested. "You'll feel better."

"I'll smell better for you too, yeah?" Tonks said teasingly.

"Yes," Remus admitted. "When you're better I'll happily reestablish my scent all over you, if you don't mind."

"Not at all, sweetheart," Tonks grinned. "You smell much better than the other wolves." She paused momentarily. "Do you think it's because you're an indoor wolf?" She smiled teasingly.

Remus huffed exasperatedly. "Yes, I'm sure that's why," he said sarcastically. "Now, let's get home." He led them out of the bedroom, and left a quick note for Sirius that they'd come by later once he and Tonks had showered, eaten, and (though he hadn't put it in the note), loved on one another.