Tonks and Remus had Apparated to Diagon Alley, and then headed off on foot towards Mulligan Street. After a twenty minute walk, they stood in front of a red-brick terraced house in the middle of a Muggle neighbourhood.

"Well, this is my place – casa Tonks! Let's hope that dinner's ready."

Remus nodded eagerly; his stomach had started to grumble during the walk. As they walked towards the door, he asked, "So, this Cal, he won't mind me showing up for dinner?"

Tonks turned to look at him, a bit startled. "Of course not, he loves cooking. But, you've met, haven't you?"

"I don't think so."

Tonks looked a bit worried, and then shrugged as she opened the door. "Well, too late now." Then, she smiled disarmingly and walked in. Remus followed, closing the door as Tonks hurried along the hallway, pushing through a door, saying loudly, "Cal, I'm home."

A quieter voice answered. "Yes, I noticed. You're looking well. Finally have a good day at work or something?" The voice was calm and uninflected.

"Not really. Spent all day standing around in a cold, windy field in the middle of Yorkshire."

Remus walked towards Tonks, feeling a little nervous. Tonks whipped round, and motioned for him to step forward. "Right, this is our extra dinner guest."

Remus stepped into the kitchen, and stopped abruptly, his mouth opening slightly in surprise. The young man talking to Tonks was tall, with lank, shoulder-length black hair and grey, fathomless eyes. They were empty, and his face was similarly blank. He would have been handsome, but for the air of hopelessness around him. Remus stuttered, "You ... you look just like ..."

The young man cut him off rapidy, a cold sneer tightening across his features. "Thank you. I am perfectly well aware of who I look like."

Remus could not think of anything to say, and an uncomfortable silence stretched out. Tonks winced and stepped forward between the two of them. "Right, well, I'll make the introductions then. Remus Lupin. My cousin, Nero Lestrange."

Remus put his hand out mechanically, somewhat shocked. "I taught you, didn't I? At Hogwarts."

"Yes." The voice was cold.

"Yes. I didn't recognize you, though."

"That was a long time ago."

Remus cast around for something to say. "I didn't realize you were living with Tonks."

Nero smiled bitterly. "My cousin has been most welcoming. So, what brings the famous Remus Lupin, werewolf, here?" His lip curled at the word 'werewolf'.

Remus winced, and said, "Oh, I bumped into Tonks today, out in Yorkshire, and she invited me round for dinner."

Something flickered in Nero's grey eyes, and his face softened slightly. "Indeed. I saw the paper this morning, Mr. Lupin. You and your kind have been attracting a lot of attention lately."

Remus stiffened, feeling rather put out now. Before he could say anything, Nero's face reassumed its previous blank look. "Forgive me. I have forgotten all of my manners. Would you like an aperitif?"

Remus was rather startled by the volte-face. "Erm, sure."

"Is sherry okay?"

"No problem."

Nero nodded firmly, and then stuck out his hand. "Call me Cal."

Remus shook the offered hand, completely confused. At this point, Tonks took over, and ushered Remus through to the living room. It was a comfortable room, with a small fireplace in the corner, and a sofa and armchair round it. At her invitation, Remus sat down in the armchair. A second later, Cal appeared with a small glass of sherry. He disappeared back into the kitchen, saying that dinner would be served in ten minutes, and then closing the door firmly.

Remus looked at Tonks, his eyebrows creased in question. Tonks settled into the sofa and then leaned forward, to whisper confidentially, "Well, that didn't go too badly. After you said that he looked like Bellatrix, I thought that he would take completely against you. He doesn't like being reminded about his parents."

"I wasn't going to say that. I was going to say that he looked like, well, like Sirius. Sirius, after he had been in Azkaban." Remus stopped speaking, and closed his eyes in sorrow.

Tonks patted his knee gently. "Oh. I never thought. He might like that better. But probably best not to mention it again. After all, he told you to call him Cal. That's a mark of respect." She was grinning, and Remus was not entirely sure if she was serious or not.

Remus opened his eyes, to see Tonks' worried eyes staring at him. He found a smile somewhere. "Don't worry. I was just surprised. And, well, the last time I saw Nero, uh, Cal, was at his appeal." He sipped his sherry thoughtfully.

Tonks nodded, and then leaned back. "So, when are you going to tell me your suspicions?"

Remus looked towards the kitchen door, and pointed, mouthing the word, "Safe?"

Tonks sniffed, looking quite offended. Remus suddenly noticed the hard lines in her face that seemed quite akin to Cal's expression earlier. Tonks said, "As you prefer. He'll be going out after dinner."

Remus took another drink, and glanced round the living room, feeling decidedly uncomfortable. "So, why did you decide to get a place in the Muggle part of London?"

"It seemed like a good idea. It's a bit of a faff, changing my Galleons to be able to pay the rent, but even with the exchange rate, it's better than most Wizarding houses. And, the fireplace is a fixed size – no unwelcome visitors."

"But you can still communicate?"

"Oh yes, it's big enough for that kind of thing."

At that point, the kitchen door opened, and Cal called out that dinner was ready. Tonks and Remus went into the kitchen, where the rectangular dining table had been set out for a formal dinner, with a pristine white table cloth, and sparkling stainless steel cutlery.

Cal looked at Remus' expression, and smiled briefly. "We don't have guests very often."

Tonks and Remus sat down, and Cal served up the food. Tonks stage-whispered, "I find this a most satisfactory arrangement – Merlin only knows that I'd drop everything everywhere."

The dinner consisted of kidneys wrapped in bacon and mustard, sitting on a bed of rice mixed with carrots. Remus thought that it smelled divine. Tonks nodded in appreciation. "This is new, Cal."

"I got the recipe from a friend down the pub. I've added my own special ingredient, though."

Remus said, "It looks quite exotic."

Tonks said, "Well, the Muggles round here, they take recipes from all over the place. It's wonderful."

"This is a Muggle recipe?"

Cal replied, "Close enough. I hope that you like kidneys."

"It's been a while since I had any, but yes." Remus cut one in half and tasted it. "That's very good. In fact, that's damn fine."

Cal smiled. "That's why I like cooking kidneys, or liver for that matter. You get real flavour, but they're quite cheap to buy."

A bottle of red wine had already been opened on the table. Tonks reached over and poured everyone a glass. Remus sipped it, and found that it matched the meal perfectly. If he remembered correctly, Tonks had never been a connoisseur of food or wine, which meant that this Nero Lestrange knew his stuff.

"So, what do you do, Cal?"

Cal's face remained blank. Remus found it quite intimidating. "I do, well, this and that."

Tonks snorted. "That's exactly what Remus said when I asked him the same question."

"You could be a chef," said Remus. "I mean, this is really good."

Cal looked away from the table, as if he could not trust himself to speak. Tonks had started to blush. Remus sat there, unsure as to what he had said wrong. Cal finally turned back to the table. "Mr. Lupin, I read about your problems with the Muggle school. I was awfully sorry to hear about that. The new rules make it awfully difficult for any of us to do anything outside of the wizarding world."

Remus frowned. This was not one of his favourite topics of conversation. "The Ministry has a responisibility to protect Muggles from wizards, as well as vice versa. But, in many senses it is only fair."

"But it's not fair. How is a wizard supposed to function in the Muggle world if he is sporting some ridiculous name? How is he supposed to get a job of any value when his educational qualifications are not recognized by the Muggle world?"

"But that does not make it right for us to use our magic to create false certification. Or to use false names. I did it because I ..." Remus faltered.

"We know why you did it," said Tonks. "Anyone with a brain would know why you did it. What I don't get is why the Ministry has been so draconian. They never used to have a problem with people sidestepping into the Muggle world."

"From a moral point of view," countered Remus, "getting a job by fraud is wrong, no matter the personal situation. And on being arrested by the Muggle police, it's true that because of my condition, I would have soon been in violation of the International Statute of Secrecy. I had no choice but to contact the Ministry. I'm just lucky that they didn't send me to our prison." His voice faded away on the last word, and he threw a nervous glance at Cal.

Cal replied, "You're right, but it is a shame that they decided to make it a serious offence for wizards to use fake names in the Muggle world. And with the qualifications thing, it makes it so much more difficult to earn a reasonable living."

Remus laughed mirthlessly. "That's true enough. Although even if we did have qualifications, we'd still have a job to use the computers. But you still haven't answered my question, Cal. Oh, and call me Remus, too. What do you do for a living?"

Cal's face tightened. He looked angry, and yet his eyes were still blank and untouched. Remus shivered. Sirius had sometimes looked very similar, after his time in Azkaban. "I work in a bar. The Green Dragon."

"Never heard of it, sorry."

Tonks said, "Well, that's not surprising. It's a Muggle pub a few minutes away from here."

Cal chipped in, "I have it better than a friend of mine, at any rate. I have a bona fide Muggle name. Calvin Matthews."

Remus was intrigued. "How do you have two names? Wizard names are very difficult to change. An acquaintance of mine tried to change her name a while ago, but it was too expensive. Not many people have the strength to cast the charm, either."

"Before I went to Hogwarts, while my parents were in Azkaban, I grew up in the Muggle world."

The conversation stopped for a moment, and the three concentrated on eating. Cal had prepared a pudding as well, a warm steamed treacle pudding covered in custard. As he said, exotic cuisine was all well and good, but a good pudding was perfect. Remus had not eaten so well in many days, and he savoured every mouthful. Tonks asked Cal about his day, and was listening half-heartedly, occasionally glancing at Remus. He tuned in again as Cal started to describe a recent news broadcast.

"It was that Martin Felcher, roving reporter. He was in Worthington. Apparently the Cunning Changeling struck again. He wandered into the local clothes shop, disguised as some old fogey well known at the shop, cleared out their new Gladrags line, and then paid with leprechaun gold!"

Tonks had started to bite at one of her fingernails during this recital. "That isn't good news, at all. I wish I knew who it was. They should assign me to that case. But no, of course not." She shook her head, and then glanced up at the wall. "Oooh, look at the time, Cal."

He nodded. "I had better go. I'll take care of the washing up."

"Thanks, you're a star."

Cal stood up, and then said, in an oddly formally voice, "I will be at the Green Dragon until eleven thirty, and then I will be coming back directly."

Tonks smiled sadly. "Understood and noted." She stood up and motioned to Remus. "Let's go back through to the other room."

Remus sat down, and watched as Tonks fussed around, making a cup of tea. As she carried two cups through into the room, something happened, and suddenly both cups were on the floor in pieces. Tonks looked incredibly annoyed.

Cal dashed into the room and looked at the floor. "Well, that hasn't happened in a while. Don't worry, cousin, I'll bring through another. You go and sit down."

Tonks sat down, shame-faced. "That hasn't happened in years, Remus."

"Well, it's not the end of the world."

Cal brought through two cups of strong white tea, and with a shouted goodbye, headed out of the house. As soon as the door closed, Remus turned to Tonks, and said, "So, what exactly is he doing here?"

Tonks looked cross. "He's my cousin. He is quite welcome. But stop changing topics, Remus. I've been waiting all evening. I want to know what you know about that werewolf."

Remus sighed, and leaned back in the armchair. "It's complicated."