Rating, Summary, and Disclaimer: See Part One

Author's Note: Part Two was becoming this HUGE monster, so I split it off. Going off a bit of angst here (as you could tell at the end of two). It starts off rather gloomy, but there is a ray of sunshine at the end.

I'm sorry it too so long to get this up. I got ch6 back of "HP and the Hunt" from the beta, so I had to do that. This is unbeta'ed 'cause I think you waited long enough! If it's REALLY bad, tell me to pull it! Also, I'm not quite sure about the ending...

Part Three: The Big Event

Lupin was in a quandary: he wasn't quiet sure how to approach Tonks. He was positive that she fancied him back. It had been years since he had played The Dating Game; the rules had changed dramatically. Sirius, his supposed best friend, seemed to be enjoying his dilemma a tad too much, taking the mickey out of him whenever he could.

Tonks was supposed visit on Christmas Day and go with everyone to visit Arthur. But she had yet another emergency that called her into the office. She Floo'ed right before lunch to let them know that she wasn't able to go because she was heading right off to her parents when she was done.

"Wonder if the owner even knows that their car's missing," Sirius whispered into Lupin's ear when Mundungus Fletcher turned up with a "borrowed" car to drive everyone to the hospital since the Underground wasn't running.

"Probably not," Lupin muttered back. They watched Molly debate taking the car, her children pleading with her, and fought hard not to laugh aloud.

"Caught another day to figure out what to do about Tonks, you lucky dog. Oh! Looks like you're taking the car after all."

"You're the dog actually," Lupin shot back as he exited the house and climbed into the car. He chuckled to himself at the look on Sirius' face as the door closed and Grimmauld Place magically disappeared.

The trip to St Mungos was uneventful. Everyone cleared out as Molly realized that Arthur and a Healer had been experimenting with Muggle remedies. The children ran off the tearoom and Lupin took himself over to the new werewolf that Molly had told him about. The poor bloke had been gazing wistfully over towards the crowd around Arthur's bed.

"Happy Christmas," Lupin told him as he took the seat next to the bed.

"The hell it is," the man replied bitterly. "Better clear off, I'm a dangerous werewolf, just to let you know."

"I know. My name is Remus Lupin." He knew the exact moment the man realized who he was.

"Michael Smithe. So…you're the bloke that Weasley knows. Says he can live an almost normal life. Ha! My life'll never be the same again."

"Well, no," Lupin told him. "The transformations take a while to get used to, but with the Wolfs-"

"That's not what I meant!" Smithe snapped. "My…wife, today of all days, stopped by to tell me she's filed for divorce. She hasn't spoken to me ever since I woke up here a fortnight ago."

Lupin was silent. Unlike the Muggle world, divorce was very, very rare in the wizarding world. They were granted only under extenuating circumstances, such as your spouse becoming a werewolf.

"Think I can still live a normal life now?" Smithe asked nastily. "What kind of woman's going to want to live with us?" He went back to staring moodily at the ceiling and ignored Lupin. There was high suicide rate among werewolves that were bitten when they were older, mainly due to broken marriages and families and lost jobs. Lupin dreaded that Smithe was going to be one of those statistics.

What kind of woman indeed? Lupin found himself thinking on the car ride home. In a way, he had been lucky being bitten as a child. Growing up a werewolf, he never knew the other side of life. The side where you got a job, got married, and had children. That avenue had never been open to him.

Lupin was fortunate that Dumbledore, eccentric as he was, had allowed him to study at Hogwarts. He was privileged that he had good friends that saw past his lycanthropy, to the man beneath. But would Tonks be willing to deal with all the baggage that came with dating a werewolf?

The rest of Christmas holidays passed in a blur for him. After Christmas Day, Sirius' happiness began to dissipate. It seemed that a gloom had settled over Grimmauld Place and all its occupants, so no one questioned Lupin's sullenness.

Tonks arrived the morning that the children were to go back to Hogwarts, a bright ray of sunshine attempting to penetrate the blackness that had descended on the House of Black. She practically bounced into the kitchen, her grin widening as she spotted Lupin alone at the table.

"Wotcher Remus!" she said, sliding into the chair next to him and helping herself to some of his potatoes. "How have you been? It's been so hectic at the office over the holidays, then having to see Mum and Dad, and a get-together with a bunch of my Hogwarts mates. I feel bad that I haven't stopped by more often. Oh…I left your present in the drawing room," she paused from chattering at him to look at him. "Remus, are you all right?" Tonks asked, laying a hand on his arm.

"I'm fine, Tonks," he said woodenly. "Thank you for asking."

She arched a pink eyebrow at him, probably over his use of her surname. "You don't seem fine."

"I'm fine," Lupin all but whispered.

Tonks started to say something, but at that moment Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked into the kitchen. Breakfast was a quick affair (Tonks morphed into an old woman right before his eyes in the corridor) and they had the children loaded onto the Knight Bus and back at school.

After watching to make sure that that everyone was safely inside Howarts' confines, Tonks turned to him and demanded, mid-morph, "What's wrong, Remus?"

"Nothing," he said a tad too quickly. Lupin knew she didn't believe him because she arched another eyebrow at him.

"We're going back to my flat and we're going to discuss this. That is what friends do. I'll see you there." In a blink of an eye, Tonks had Disapparated. Sighing to himself, and knowing she'd come looking for him if he didn't appear soon, Lupin Disapparated.

She was waiting for him in the mews. "Intelligent man, Remus," Tonks said by way of greeting. My flat's on the fifth floor, no lift."

Slightly panting, they finally made it to her flat. Tapping the door with her wand, it opened and Tonks waved him in with a "Welcome to my humble abode."

Lupin looked around. The flat was small, but impeccably tidy. Spying a hook, he took off his cloak and hung it. Turning around, Tonks was holding out her cherry-red cloak to him to hang.

"Thanks," she grinned. "Would you like hot chocolate or tea?"

"Tea, please."

He wandered into the living room, noting the fireplace, the large padded window seat, and the wireless. But the thing that caught his eye was the huge bookshelves that took up an entire wall. Skimming the titles, Lupin noted that they were as diverse as their owner's morphs: defence books and Auror manuals, Hogwarts schoolbooks, Astronomy books, Quidditch books, Healing books, and, to his astonishment, a large number of books on Dark Creatures, specifically, werewolves. Before he could process what that meant, Tonks calling his name penetrated his brain.

"Remus, are you listening?" she repeated. "I'm going to need some help here." Tonks was taking small baby steps, attempting to balance a tray with two mugs of tea and a plate of biscuits perched precariously on it.

He rushed over to relieve her of the tray. Placing it down on the coffee table, Lupin sat down on the couch. Tonks pointed her wand at the fireplace and instantly there was a roaring fire. "Wireless?" she asked, pointing her wand at it next.

"Very low," he responded, taking a sip of his tea. It was perfect. She had noted how he took his tea (milk and five sugars), which he took as another sign. Tonks finally settled on some Weird Sisters-like music, and settled next to him on the couch.

"So, and don't say nothing, what's wrong?"

"The truth?" he asked, taking another sip.

"Yes."

"You're sure about this?"

"Yes."

"Everything?"

"Remus!"

"All right then." Lupin smirked at the exasperated look on her face. "Get comfortable, this goes all the way back to my childhood." Tonks arched an eyebrow, but did snuggle into the cushions, cradling her cup of tea. "Are you sure you should be doing that?"

"Remus!" It was growled out as a warning.

"Okay. Here we go. I've never done this before for a woman: laying everything out there. All right." He cleared his throat. It was all or nothing. "I was bitten when I was six. My father spoke out in favour of werewolf laws, and, as retribution, Fenrir Greyback bit me. My father was horrified: his only child was now a werewolf. I managed to survive my bite, now looking back on it I think Greyback bit me only enough to turn me, he didn't loose control, he meant for me to survive." Tonks shifted, but remained silent. "You know the Hogwarts years, you know about all the marauding we did, you know why Snape hates Sirius and I," he paused and she nodded.

"Seven months ago, I had a witch tumble headfirst into…well, you know where you went," Lupin paused again and they both grinned over the memory of their first meeting. "From the very beginning, I was interested," he continued on, pretending he didn't hear Tonks' quiet gasp of shock. "She accidentally kissed me one time and, I, in turn, kissed her on purpose. Then, an unnamed source," Tonks grinned, "opened my eyes that this witch might fancy me as well. So, I racked my brain over how to approach her. I'm quiet a few years older than her and have been out of the Dating Game for a bit-"

"Twelve years isn't that bad an age gap, Remus," Tonks interrupted. "I have not problems with it."

Lupin smiled, and then continued. "But then I went to St Mungos to visit Arthur. There I spoke to a man who had just been bitten a fortnight prior. It seemed that on Christmas Day, of all days, his wife announced she was divorcing him." Tonks let out another gasp, this one of outrage. "And he pointed out to me, how do werewolves have normal lives? We're not normal." She frowned, but he continued on. "By law, I'm not allowed to have a job. I have about 30 Gallons in my Gringott's vault. How am I supposed to support a family? I turn into a dangerous beast once a month-"

"Remus," Tonks interrupted gently, sitting up and setting her cup of tea down on the coffee table. "I know all this, and I still fancy you."

"Yes, I know that. But do you really comprehend what dating a werewolf would be like? What will your parents say…your friends?"

She took his hands in hers. "I understand what it entails. I understand everything. But all I want right now is the chance to know you better. Maybe a date. I'm hoping for some more kisses…"

"I just don't know."

"Let's take this one day at a time, all right? We'll see where it goes."

Lupin really wanted to jump up and shout, "Yes", but his brain overruled his heart. He had to protect her; Tonks really had no idea what dating him would do to her. And, he admitted to himself, he had to protect himself. He couldn't get involved with her and risk heartbreak if she dumped him when she eventually came to her senses.

"I figured we'd be good together," Tonks said. "I understand what its like to be outcast sometimes. I'm a fully licensed Auror and I still get looks from people like Umbridge and her crowd if I'm not morphed to their standards."

"It's not the same, Nymphadora."

"I've been shunted aside for missions, not because I'm too inexperienced, but because I'm a Metamorphmagus. Why send another Auror that graduated Training with me off to do a mission where he has to rely on Polyjuice Potion and I don't?"

"They really did that to you?" He was shocked.

"Yeah, they did. Listen, if you don't want to try, I suppose we can be just friends."

Without reason, without thinking, he leaned in and kissed her. Lupin planned on another chaste kiss to seal their friendship, but when Tonks opened her mouth to deepen the kiss, his heart won out over his head and he followed her lead.

It was like coming home. Out all the kisses he had ever given or received, this was the most powerful, the most passionate one ever. Lupin had heard about soul mates, about how two people just click instantly, like they were one. He had been sceptical at best about their existence…until he met Tonks.

The kiss, or one of several, he wasn't sure, finally ended. They both pulled back and just looked at each other. "Wow," she whispered, holding her fingers to her lips.

"Yeah," he replied, raking a hand through his greying hair. This kiss just sealed what he was already both suspecting and dreading: Tonks was his soul mate.

"We going to be just mates then?" she asked, a small smile playing about her lips.

He answered her with another kiss.