Remus was not awake early enough to see what time Calvin made it back. He got out of bed late and, seeing no one in the kitchen, left a note saying that he was going out for a walk. He picked up his his jacket and wallet and set out. He wandered aimlessly for quite a while, turning on to different streets as the mood struck him. For the first part of his stroll, he did his best not to think of his many problems, but eventually he could do little else.

He had no home. He thought that he might be able to return to his house and collect some things, but living there again was out of the question, and he could not impose upon Tonks and Calvin for much longer. Thinking about Tonks and Calvin reminded him of his conversation with Tonks in the pub last night, and he winced. He had not meant to sound so dogmatic, but he had never really believed that Calvin had been another mole in the Death Eaters' ranks. When the victims of the Comatose Curse had been woken up, Minerva McGonagall, Filius Fitwick and Severus Snape had all claimed that 'Nero Lestrange' had been working with them, and had been responsible for setting the wards that had saved so many of the children at Hogwarts during the last battle. Remus had thought at the time that their four missing years had addled their brains, or that the curse had altered their memories. Now that he had spent some more time with 'Nero', he could not really see him as a Death Eater. He seemed to be a nice enough fellow, although Remus could not see them becoming fast friends.

Tonks certainly seemed fond of him; the little brother she had never had. That was a good mark in his favour, in Remus' book. He kicked aimlessly at a stone, sending it rattling off the kerb, to roll underneath a car. Tonks was something else that he shoud think about it, but he instinctively avoided doing so. That was a problem for another time. Nonetheless, it was good to see her again.

It had also been good to see Hermione again; he would have to write her a note. He decided to do that this evening. He really ought to have kept in touch more, but that was not something he could do anything about now. Hermione had seemed to be as bright as ever. Perhaps she would be able to offer some insight into the murder case that he and Tonks were looking into. Albus had always said that she was good at logic; she might be able to see a way out of the locked room mystery that he seemed to be blocked with. Quadrille Beaufort was the murderer, or rather his wolf was, but Remus did not see how he could have escaped from Sorrel's. Unless it was some kind of sick joke by one of the attendants there.

Remus stopped in a small park and sat on a bench to chew over that idea. It seemed unlikely. The attendants were all supervised, and would not be able to take a werewolf out of his cage without someone noticing, especially if that wolf was not calmed by Wolfsbane. As far as Remus could tell, all of the attendants hated werewolves in any case, and would not be keen to spread lycanthropy. But then who would? Remus sighed; he was getting nowhere.

The sun was low in the sky when he started to walk back towards Mulligan Street. He had some difficulty remembering his way, and the sun had set by the time he arrived. He knocked on the door, and as he waited for an answer he looked up at the night sky. Orion the Hunter was standing proudly in the middle of the sky. The moon was aso present, hanging fat above a line of houses. Remus stared it at with loathing.

Tonks opened the door. "Remus, I was just starting to get worried! Come in."

Remus stepped through, wondering if he was imagining a slight unease in her tone. "I thought I'd go for a walk, you know, to clear my head and everything. I've been trying to get another angle on the murder case."

Tonks nodded slowly. "Me too." They walked through to the living room, and Remus made a point to say hello to Calvin, who was in the kitchen, cooking.

Remus sat down and steepled his hands in front of his face. "If we assume that Quadrille was the attacker, then he had to get out of Sorrel's, whilst in werewolf form, and then return. Frankly, the last part is completely incomprehensible." He said this in the same dry tone, and Tonks didn't react for a moment, before giving a small grin.

Remus was slightly disappointed; he had thought that that would make her laugh. "I am sure that he transformed before I did. I can only conclude that one of the attendants at Sorrel's took him out and then brought him back, if my first assumption is correct. But that would be difficult to do unless there was a grand conspiracy throughout the Institution. And I don't believe in big conspiracy theories."

Tonks snorted. "The truth is out there, mate." When Remus looked blank, she said, "Its a Muggle thing. I was thinking that perhaps we should take a different angle here. What has happened to the two children who disappeared? From the evidence at the crime scene, I can only assume that they were bitten. But where were they taken? Where are they now?"

Remus clasped his hands together. "They must be dead. The wolf will have eaten them."

"But it doesn't add up. We should have found their bodies. That whole area was carefully studied, and we didn't find the slightest trace. No, I think those kids are now werewolves. I mean, doesn't that make some kind of sense? Werewolves must only bite sometimes, otherwise they'd die out?"

Remus shook his head slowly. "No, I don't think the wolf is that rational. It just wants to feed. I think in nearly all cases werewolves ony survive because someone interrupts the wolf."

Tonks looked dubious. "What about Fenrir Greyback, then? He infected tons of people."

Remus' mouth twisted. "He was a special case. He was psychotic."

"But it does happen, right?"

Remus was forced to concede that it was a possibility. Tonks smiled slightly as if she had won a point. "So, assuming that these two kids are now werewolves, someone must be looking after them. They'll need to heal, I guess, and they're being hidden somewhere. But I have no idea where. Before I was kicked off the case, I did put a request in through the Muggle liaison office to see if any children had been seen alone, but I haven't heard anything yet." She paused, and then her face lit up, as if an idea had come to her. "But if there is some kind of big conspiracy, then it's all a setup. Your friend Quadrille was taken, infected the kids. He was taken back and the kids were taken somewhere else by the organizer!"

Remus raised his eyebrows. "That's crazy. The simplest explanation is that the kids are dead. Or else that they're wandering around somewhere. Anyway, why would someone want two child werewolves?"

"Erm, I haven't thought of that yet." Tonks rubbed her chin in thought.

"I was thinking that it might be a good idea to speak to Hermione," said Remus. " I said that I would be in touch, and she's pretty smart. Maybe we could meet up and go through the case?"

Tonks glanced over to the kitchen and then said, "Maybe. I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Well, say that you want to meet up or something like that, and then we can decide later on what to say." She stared off into space for a few seconds. "I'm still convinced that the Wolfsbane has something to do with it. I've got a gut feeling about it. Do you know if Hermione knows anything about potions?"

Remus shook his head. "I think she was pretty good at school. I remember Harry once told me that she brewed Polyjuice in their first or second year. But Wolfsbane is a pretty complex potion."

At that moment, Cal shouted, "Dinner!" Tonks and Remus stood up and went through.

Remus had decided that he would make an effort to speak to Cal, and so as soon as they were all seated, he said, "So how was your clubbing?"

Cal permitted himself a small smile. "Great! There were some fantastic choons." He pronounced the last word with a thick accent.

"Choons?" said Remus delicately.

"Oh sorry, tunes." This time, Calvin's diction was cut-glass. "It was good. There were plenty of people. My mate, the boy Drake was pretty happy as there was plenty of strobe lighting! He looked a right sight."

Tonks grinned. "Did he have any luck with the ladies?"

"You know him too well!"

Tonks looked at Remus and saw that he was not following. "Calvin's friend thinks that he is very smooth, although I'm not sure how many people would agree."

"Ah." Remus nodded sagely, although in reality he had no idea what they were talking about. "Strobe lighting?"

Calvin smirked. "It's probably best if I show you." He took out his wand, and muttered, "Strobo Scopus Minimus." The kitchen suddenly went dark, to be filled with sudden flashes of bright light. After a few seconds the lighting returned to normal. "If you're wearing certain types of colours they light up really brightly."

Remus was quite bemused. Tonks leaned over and stage-whispered, "He invented that spell."

Remus was trying his best to see Calvin in a positive light, but he could only think that that was part of some bizarre type of Death Eater torture ritual. He decided to move quickly to another topic. "Your friend Bobby, did you meet him working at the pub?"

"No. I've known him for a bit longer than that."

They continued to chat until all of the food was eaten, and it was time for Calvin to head out to work. Once Calvin had left, Remus turned to Tonks and said, "I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. It was the beer talking, or I don't know what. I was out of line. Now that I've met him, Calvin seems like a very nice young man."

To his surprise, Tonks' shoulders sagged as she gave a huge sigh of relief. She dashed forward and gave him a hug, and then just as suddenly rushed back to a safe distance, as if surprised by her own actions. "You have no idea how glad I am that you said that, Remus."

Nonplussed, Remus said, "Why?"

Tonks started to babble, and Remus was suddenly reminded of her younger self. "Well, I know you're in trouble at the moment, and don't really have a place to stay, and I would have felt awful if I'd had to say that you had to leave, but I couldn't have someone who felt that way about Cal staying here for very long. I mean, he's really important to me; family, you know? And you two seem to have been getting along so well. It's really good for him to meet other non-Muggles. I get so worried 'cos he only really speaks to me and Drake; it's just not healthy. And I would have felt so guilty turfing you out."

She finally ground to a halt and Remus risked stepping forward and pulling her into another hug. After a second he pushed her out to arm's length. "Don't worry, Nymph. Everything will work out." He did not believe that, but it seemed like the right thing to say. "I was thinking of getting a Muggle job during the day; I figure I ought to avoid the wizarding world for a bit. Perhaps Cal can help me find something. And then, when I've got some income, I can try and find somewhere to live."

Tonks smiled at him, and said, "You can stay here for as long as you like, Remus."

"We'll see. I can at least pay some rent, as soon as I get a job." He did not really feel like leaving, though. It was seductively comfortable, having other people around.

He took his arms off her shoulders and they went through to the living room. Tonks fired up the WWN, saying, "There's a really good serial on at the moment on Sunday evening. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. You know, the story about the Muggles who wander through a Portal to the Island of Jadis. I haven't missed a single episode, and it's the last one tonight."

Remus had not been watching it, but he had heard that it was good. After about thirty minutes, the programme was interrupted by some breaking news. Both Remus and Tonks sat up at that, wondering what had happened now.

A nondescript newsreader appeared, speaking in over-excited tones. "I am delighted to inform you that we have just received some news from 12 Grimmauld Place. Yes, we have a newsflash concerning Mr. Harry Potter, the Man-Who-Needs-No-Introduction! He and his wife, the delectable Ginevra, commonly known as Ginny, are expecting. Yes, Mrs. Potter is three months pregnant. The happy couple had kept the news to themselves until now, in case of any complications, but are now proud to announce that they are expecting a boy." The newsreader grinned smarmily. "For watchers of the Potters, this is no surprise, as Ginny comes from the Weasley clan, renowned for producing legions of boys. In fact, Ginny was the first female Weasley to be born in five generations, according to my notes here. The announcement was made earlier today at at a press conference in Ottery St. Catchpole, where the Weasley family live. We have some images from that event which we will be showing shortly." He continued to prattle on.

Remus said, "Wow. That's great. Finally some good news. I'll have to send Harry a letter." He glanced over at Tonks, but too late to notice that she had had her eyes closed during the last part of the announcement.

She returned his look and a wide smile was suddenly plastered on her face. "Yes, this is fantastic news. I'm a bit surprised that Molly didn't mention it to me last time I saw her, but then perhaps they kept it a secret from her as well! They must be so happy."

The picture in the fire changed to show Harry and Ginny holding hands, both sporting huge smiles. Harry's lightning-bolt scar seemed very prominent. The fire-Harry started to make his announcement. Remus leaned back in his chair. "He looks so happy. I'm so glad for him. He deserves it, he really does."

They watched the end of the broadcast, and then Remus said, "Do you have any parchment? I'll write him a letter right now, and one to Hermione while I'm at it."

Tonks stood up, and handed him some Muggle-style paper and a pen. "You'll have to practise if you want to work Muggle." She then yawned, rather exaggeratedly and rubbed at her eyes. "Well, I think I'll be off to bed. See you tomorrow."

Remus nodded, not really listening, and turned to concentrate on his letters. He was so pleased for Harry; he did not see him very often at all, but he knew that James and Sirius would have been over the moon about this news.

After the special broadcast had finished, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe reappeared in the flames, and Remus paused in his letter-writing to watch the end.