Summary and Disclaimer: See Prologue

Rating: PG-13/T (whatever). Boosted the rating as it went from innuendo to stated last chapter. Of course, if you read the Mature one-shot it was much, much worse.

Chapter Notes: Chapter title taken from Lupin's line in Prisoner of Azkaban (American paperback edition, pg 346). I started writing this to write more than R/T, but we all know how that turned out. I'm heading back to that 'actual' storyline. Or I'm going to try to! Lycanthropy—I'm sure we all know what it is (I hope you do). It's just not used in canon, because the publishers think the Harry Potter novels are children's books. Ha-ha, that's funny!

Thanks to my fellow "wine" lover, Starsea, for her line.

Laundering Spell and Shaving Spell are all mine.

Chapter Eight- The Cleverest Witch Of Her Age

Tonks woke midmorning the next day. For a moment, she was disorientated. She wasn't as she usually was when she woke; spread out diagonally in bed, but curled up in a ball on the right hand side. A moment later it hit her that she was not alone. Rolling over onto her back, she came face to face with a still slumbering Lupin.

She brushed a stray lock of hair out of his eyes and smiled at him. With his face relaxed in sleep, the premature lines had all but disappeared. He looked much younger than he usually did, closer to his actual age. She leaned in a placed a feather light kiss on his cheek, giggling softly as his overnight growth of beard tickled her lips.

Lupin's eyes opened and he blinked rapidly. Turning his head slightly, he realized she was awake.

"Good morning," Tonks whispered.

"Morning yourself," he grumbled in reply, rolling over towards her.

She laughed. "Not a morning person, are we? What time do we have to get…you okay?" There was a loud crack. He shifted and winced at another loud creak. "What was that?"

"That was my knee," he told her quietly. "It only acts up after…er, strenuous activity."

Tonks grinned broadly. "Well, I'd say last night qualified as 'strenuous activity'; both times, that is. What?"

Lupin grimaced at her. "It just serves to remind me of my age…and our age difference."

She sighed. "I told you last night that I don't care, Remus. Why are you still persisting with this?"

"Nymphadora, I met your parents last night. Your father cared more about the fact that I'm thirteen years older than you than he did about my lycanthropy. Your mother realized that since I was Sirius' friend, that I must also be his age."

Tonks was silent for a moment. Then she said, "I think men are like fine wine; they get better with age." She was amused to see a faint blush on his cheeks.

After regarding her for a long moment, he said, "Thank you, sweetheart." He smiled when she leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"What time do we have to get Hermione?" she asked shyly.

"Two o'clock," he told her. He reached for her and pulled her to him. "And no, I'm really not a morning person, by the way. But it'll be a good morning soon." He grinned wolfish at her and began to kiss her neck.

Tonks sighed. "Well, it's only 11AM. The Tube ride won't take too long. We could always walk down to Euston. It's in Zone 1."

Lupin stopped kissing long enough to ask, "How do you know so much about the Muggle Underground?"

"My grandmother used to take me on it all the time."

"Oh, I see."

"It won't be too long a walk," she told him.

"Nymphadora," he said, nuzzling the side of her neck, then her ear.

"Yes," she asked.

"Hush. I'm trying to concentrate here."

Tonks laughed as his head disappeared under the covers. "Like I said last night, 'You just look sweet and innocent.' It's always the quiet ones."

"Glad you've realized that, sweetheart," was his muffled response.

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Tonks insisted on leaving by 1PM and she could tell that that dismayed Lupin. She did give in to him and they showered together. ('To save time and water,' he pointed out. Tonks, of course, didn't believe him, but she went along with it.) He performed Shaving Spell on himself, followed by a Laundering Spell on his clothes.

"1245," Lupin told her as he came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her. Tonks was at her dresser, finishing up picking out jewellery. "See, we're early according to your schedule."

"What should we do to pass the time," she paused, pretending to think. She noticed the wistful expression on his face in the mirror's refection. "Remus!" she exclaimed.

"What!" He threw his hands up in mock indignation. She burst out laughing, and laughed harder as he grinned sheepishly at her, then joined in.

"We'll walk to Euston Square to pass the time and cool you off. If we do anything else…" Tonks trailed off as she realized something. "Hey! Have you thought what you're going to tell Sirius? He's going to know that you didn't go home last night. He's not stupid; he'll know you stayed here."

"He already knows," Lupin said.

"How?" Tonks asked confused.

"Well…remember when he chased after us last night, then pulled me aside and whispered into my ear?"

"Yes."

"What he said was," Lupin cleared his throat. "Remember, this is Sirius, not me. He said, 'When you walk her home and she invites you in, you're going to get-"

Tonks' shriek cut off his last word. "I'm going to kill him!"

Lupin laughed. "But, he was correct."

"That's beside the point," she huffed; more annoyed at that Sirius could read her so well, instead of at Lupin. "Let's go, I need to cool off now."

Hand in hand, they exited her building. It was a short walk to Euston Square. At the Underground station, Tonks wanted to use the automated ticket machine, but Lupin insisted on waiting in the queue for the ticket seller. They hurried to catch the train that just arrived at the platform. Soon, they were rattling along towards central London.

As they exited Charing Cross station, Tonks pulled Lupin away from the crowd and into an alleyway. She gave him a deep kiss, then scrunched her eyes up and morphed into Molly Weasley. Lupin blinked rapidly at her, then grinned. "I think you even have the number of freckles on her nose correct."

"Now why would you know anything about the number of freckles on Molly's nose?" Tonks teased.

Lupin gave a small shudder before he joined in with her laughter. "This is…odd, talking to Molly, but I'm not. Anyway, Ron and Ginny both have her nose freckles as well. You were studying her last night, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was, briefly, just before we left. My wild hair and the Muggle clothes…that's just an act I hide behind. Works well for me. Most people don't take me too seriously." She grinned cheekily at him, and then changed the subject. "Here we are." Tonks waved towards the front door of the Leaky Cauldron. "How do we get Hermione? Mrs Weasley and Professor Lupin together or do we separate?"

"Separate. Why would Molly and I know each other? Aside from the fact that I taught some her children two years ago."

"True," Tonks said. "See you in a bit." She giggled at the look on his face as she blew him a kiss over her shoulder.

"Mrs Weasley!" she heard a girl's voice cry. Before she could brace herself, a teenaged girl with brown hair ambushed Tonks.

"Hermione, dear, how are you?" she asked in character. "Anne, Edward," she smiled at Hermione's parents, glad that Lupin had briefed her on the Tube ride.

"How is everyone?" Hermione asked. "I've had letters from Har-"

Tonks cut her off abruptly. "Not here, dear."

"None from Ron," Hermione switched friends without missing a beat. Tonks noted the faint blush as she said Ron's name.

"Well, you know Ron," she told the younger girl. "I love him, but he's not the brightest star in the sky."

"No," Hermione agreed, looking slightly taking back. "He's not."

Tonks bit her cheek trying not to laugh at Hermione's sigh. She turned round as Hermione called, "Hello, Professor Lupin."

"Hello, Hermione," he responded as he joined their group. "Mrs Weasley." He nodded respectfully at Tonks, who bit her cheek harder.

"Professor, these are my parents. Mum, Dad, I had Professor Lupin third year for Defence Against the Dark Arts class. He was one of the best teachers I ever had."

Tonks smirked inwardly at the slight blush that graced Lupin's cheeks as he greeted the Grangers. "Hermione dear, we need to get going. It was wonderful to see you again," she told the younger girl's parents.

"Bye, Mum, Dad, see you at Christmas." Hermione waved as Tonks began to lead her away, carting her truck behind her.

"Allow me escort to you," Lupin said as he began to follow them.

After a flurry of kisses and goodbyes, Tonks and Lupin finally had Hermione out the door. Lupin cast a Shrinking Spell on Hermione's truck and placed it in the pocket of his robes. They began the twenty-minute walk to Grimmauld Place, passed in relative silence. Tonks knew that Hermione was trying to work out what was going on, but was smart enough to know not to ask where they might be overheard.

As they approached number ten, Lupin handed Hermione a small scroll. She took and read it. Looking at him, he said quietly, "Think about what you just read." He took the scroll back and tapped it with his wand, incinerating it.

Hermione let out a small gasp as number twelve magically appeared. "Fidelius Charm," she muttered under her breath. Tonks was impressed.

Lupin tapped the front door with his wand and it opened. As it swung open, Hermione asked, "Where are we?"

"My home, sweet home," Sirius' voice said as they entered the house. Tonks turned round, and there, coming down the stairs, was her cousin. "But you better keep quiet, Hermione, or else you'll wake dear old mum." He waved his hand towards the curtains that covered Mrs Black's portrait.

"Hello, Sirius!" Hermione said brightly, but quietly. "Your home and your mum?" Sirius nodded and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, Hermione dear, you're here!" They all turned to see Molly bustling down the corridor towards them. Hermione looked at Molly, and then back at Tonks. She looked confused, then frightened.

"Oh! Sorry," Tonks said as she scrunched her eyes up to morph. As she opened them, Hermione was staring at her. "Wotcher, I'm Tonks," she said by way of actually introducing herself. Hermione took her hand and shook it, her eyes darting at Lupin. "That's really is Professor Lupin, don't worry." She saw Lupin smile faintly.

"You're a Metamorphmagus." Hermione concluded.

"Yes, I am. You're as bright as Remus said you were." Tonks smiled at Hermione's blush.

"Let's not tempt fate," Molly said. "Hermione, let's take your trunk upstairs to your room. I believe Ron and Ginny are there, scrubbing." With a flick of her wand, Molly had Hermione's trunk levitating.

"Yeah, dear old mum is still quiet," Sirius said sourly. "Don't want to wake her."

As Molly and Hermione headed up the stairs, Sirius moved down the entrance hall to get out of the way. When Hermione disappeared around the corner, he turned to Lupin and Tonks and grinned at them. "You could have at least written to say that you weren't coming home, Moony. I could have worried."

"Sorry, Padfoot, we were…busy," Lupin told him dryly.

Tonks laughed at the look on Sirius' face. "You're kidding me…aren't you?" he whispered.

"Let's go downstairs," Lupin said. He and Tonks exchanged small, knowing smiles as he guided her down the corridor towards the kitchen, a hand resting possessively in the small of her back. Sirius followed behind.

"I'm happy for you two," he told them as he entered the kitchen. "With all this hell going on, you two found one another." He sounded anything but happy.

Tonks and Lupin exchanged glances. "Sirius," Lupin began. "Just because Nymphadora and I are together now doesn't mean that we're going to ignore you."

"I know, Remus," Sirius sighed. "I just want to get out of here. It's like I exchanged one prison for another. And to top it all off, Dumbledore wants Harry to be kept in the dark. You know what Harry's like, Moony, he's not going to be happy about that. Some godfather I am." He hung his head and sighed.

Tonks and Lupin once again exchanged glances. She was apprehensive. He drew a deep breath and said, "Tomorrow."

Sirius looked up. "What's tomorrow?" he asked.

"Tomorrow we are going to get you out of here." Tonks' eyes widened, but she didn't say anything. She and Sirius watched Lupin start pacing back and forth decisively. "I'll stop by Mad-Eye's later to see if I can cajole him into lending me one of his Invisibility Cloak. Tonight you'll have to act your usual cantankerous self." Lupin quirked a playful eyebrow at him. Tonks was amused to see the ghost of a sparkle in Sirius' eyes. "The Weasleys will think that you've spent all day in your room. But Tonks will sneak you out of the house and take you away."

She was impressed with him. Dumbledore had said that Sirius was to stay in the house, but here was Lupin plotting to sneak him out. It made her love him even more. Tonks' head snapped up as this last though crossed her mind. Love? Her attention snapped back as Sirius laughed.

"Moony, I remember that pacing from school." Sirius tuned to her and explained, "James and I would come up with some harebrained scheme and it was Remus here who plotted it out so we wouldn't get caught."

"James?" she asked.

"Potter, Harry's father," Lupin told her. "He, Sirius, and I were best mates at Hogwarts."

"You know, I know he did it; but I just can't look at Remus now and picture him breaking rules back then."

"You have no idea, Tonks. No idea." Sirius laughed. "Well, I'm off to be my…what was it, Remus? My 'usual cantankerous self' now. What do you two have planned for tonight? Well…besides that…" He laughed even harder as Tonks and Lupin exchanges looks. "Goodbye. See you tomorrow."

They watched as Sirius left the kitchen. A moment later, Mrs Black began to scream. Lupin took her hand and said, "Come on. We'll sneak out during the commotion."

"Where are we going?" Tonks asked as he led them down the corridor. At the stairs, Sirius and Molly were wrestling with Mrs Black's curtains. Lupin quickly opened the door. As she looked over her shoulder, Sirius winked at her. "He did that on purpose?"

"Yes, he did," Lupin kissed her nose. "He's a true friend." He pulled the front door closed and the house magically disappeared.

"Where are we going?" she asked again.

"Just follow me."

They entered the square across from number twelve. Lupin took her arm and Side-Along Apparated her.

Tonks looked around as they reappeared a moment later, taking in her surroundings like a good Auror would. Lupin came up behind her and said into her ear, "Welcome to Lupin Manor."

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TBC