Harry watched Ron and Hermione come down the stairs with backpacks on their backs while Ginny stood in the middle of the floor of the foyer, her bag at her feet with Harry's while she captured her hair in a rough ponytail.

Harry soon turned to the Study and saw Remus still staring at the family tree and moved to the doorway. Remus soon turned around and smiled weakly at him.

"I feel like I should give you some lecture about being careful and keeping safe...thing is I can't really think of how to say it..." whispered Remus, running a hand through his already messy, slowly graying, brown hair.

"I know. I'll be fine Remus, you just make sure you take care of yourself...I'd rather not come back to the house to see it destroyed after a full moon...but some things you just can't prevent...Bye Remus." Smiled Harry, before he turned back to the foyer and took his bag from Ginny.

The two young couples soon left the house, the door closing behind them and Remus rubbed his eyes.

The next few days he could tell were going to be a living hell.


Remus soon went to the kitchen when he couldn't stand his stomach growling any more and saw Tonks sat at the kitchen table, her hair long and black, held back in a ponytail, her eyes stormy blue though looking at the glass cup in her hand not far from the fire whiskey bottle and her skin seemed to have brought a new definition to the term 'pale'.

She was dressed in what was considered normal for Tonks... but didn't seem to reflect well with her new appearance. A pair of plain blue jeans with holes at the knees and a Weird sisters T-shirt, from their greatest hits tour.

"Do you know if we have any food in the house...Tonks?" asked Remus, though he saw her flinch at the use of her name.

"Dung was supposed to go shopping this week... daft prat must have used the money on dodgy cauldrons yet again." Said Tonks, obvious bitterness in her voice.

"Oh... well I..." began Remus when he noticed Tonks fill the glass with fire whiskey and down it all in one. She had an alcoholic problem... like he had the first time he realized Sirius was dead. Like Sirius had the whole way through Hogwarts from his fourth year to his seventh.

"I think I'll go get some sleep..." murmured Tonks putting the glass down, picking up the bottle and downing a mouthful as she got to her feet.

"I think you'd better leave the fire whiskey here." said Remus making a grab for it which he missed.

"No. It helps me sleep...its just as comforting as having a man's body beside me..." murmured Tonks stumbling to the door, Remus managing to catch her before she fell.

"Come on... let's get you to bed then..." sighed Remus putting his hands on her waist to support her as she walked up the stairs...him behind her.

They soon arrived at the bedroom Tonks had made hers and Remus helped her on the bed before going out the door to leave when he heard Tonks cry 'Wait!'

He turned around and saw Tonks' eyes had turned to sky blue and were wide, almost pleading him not to go.

"What is it Tonks?" asked Remus, leaning against the doorframe.

"Please stay...I missed you Remus..." whispered Tonks, the fire whiskey bottle falling to the floor so all the amber colored liquid spilled on the bland cream colored carpet.

Remus shook his head and he saw Tonks' eyes change back to stormy blue as she lay on the bed, her legs curled up to her chest, her eyes closed.He watched her sleep for a while before leaving and closing the door behind him. All he'd wanted was a sandwich or some soup and instead he was stuck playing the baby sitter for a drunken Tonks.

Harry obviously hadn't been kidding when he said Tonks was a little down lately...only down wasn't exactly the word he would have used if given the chance.

Remus walked down to the kitchen and sat at the kitchen table, he could still remember when their relationship had been called quits vividly in his mind.

It was at that very table...about seven months ago. Harry and Co. had just been admitted into the Order and while everyone else was celebrating in the lounge, Remus had been sat in the kitchen deep in thought about how much more responsibility Harry was getting himself into without even knowing it.

He'd felt someone else enter the room and had looked up to see Tonks stood in the door way, her hair was long and brown with excellently placed blonde highlights and her eyes were sky blue. She was wearing a gorgeous pink dress made of satin and lace, he could remember her complaining about how it itched... though he could see it in her eyes it didn't really matter to her as long as he thought she looked Beautiful.

He had said she'd looked beautiful...right before he said the words any person in a relationship dreads "we need to talk.". Her smile had fell at those words as she sat down opposite him, her sky blue eyes clouding over slightly, though she'd tried not to let it show how much she doubted what he was going to say next.

"Tonks, I think we should cool our relationship for a while…" said Remus, his voice trying to appear as confident as was possible at that moment in time.

"I don't understand... I thought everything was going so well." Said Tonks the highlights in her hair disappearing.

"Tonks its not you…" began Remus as he saw the length of her hair becoming shorter and shorter as he spoke.

"…Its me? Yeah I've heard it before Remus. So come on then…if its not me then why do you think we should split up?" asked Tonks, her eyes becoming stormy as though to show her inner emotion.

"Tonks we both know that a relationship isn't a good idea now, we have to concentrate on our order duties and you have to do your job at the ministry too. " said Remus trying not to sound like this was anything but what he really wanted.

"So your saying there's still hope…after the war is over?" asked Tonks hopefully.

"I wish I could Tonks. But we both know that no type of hope is worse than the fake kind. I've got to go…I think Harry needs me…" said Remus before he got up and left Tonks sitting alone in the kitchen.

But as he had been walking away he remembered hearing a sob, and his inner voice yelling at him for being so stupid and insensitive, a part of him told him to go back to her and comfort her...to admit to her that he loved her with all his heart...but he ignored it and kept walking.