The doorbell chimed through the house announcing that someone had arrived at my front porch. I sat up at my desk, where my head had been lying, in surprise. A piece of parchment was stuck to my cheek so I quickly pealed it off with minor embarrassment. I had fallen asleep while reading Mitchell Scott's file on Rickon Form.

Also on my desk was a file that I had created from my encounter with Form. Even though I had not worked for the Ministry at the time, I had created a file for them under Scrimgeour's orders. Gabriel did work for the Ministry and he was also involved in Form's…capture, for lack of a better word. Below my file was a copy of Gabriel's reports of the incident. He had kindly brought all three files home for me the day I told Benjamin who his mother was.

I replaced all the pieces of parchment into the file folder and closed it quickly as the doorbell rang again. I frowned. No one I knew was patient. Everyone expected me to come running the moment they rang the bell. I left my study and descended the stairs to the foyer. Through the long skinny windows on either side of my front door, I could see Remus Lupin's scrawny figure. I smiled as I pulled the door opened. My wand was tightly held in my right hand, but hung at my side, ready to strike.

"Remus!"

He looked frail, thin and aged. His long brown hair was tucked behind his ears and graying at the roots. His dark brown eyes looked tired, as they always did now. And his clothes were patchy, warn and faded.

"You just open the door to anyone? I could have blown your face off!"

I lifted my wand immediately and pressed it to Remus' neck. He stood rigid on my porch, staring at me with wide eyes. "You didn't take advantage of my foolishness then. Where did Sirius go when I turned down his marriage proposal?"

"Which time?" Remus joked with a beaming smile despite my wand stabbing his throat.

"The only time," I said sorely.

"He came to my house. Stayed there until he went to Azkaban." I nodded and pulled my wand back. "Why does Tonk's Patronus take the shape of a wolf?"

"It's a werewolf actually," I replied. "And it's because she loves you."

Remus nodded. "I couldn't remember if she had told you or Molly that. For a moment, I thought that was a bad question to ask you."

"She told both Molly and me," I said motioning for him to enter the house. He passed under the threshold and looked around the foyer. "We were all having tea last month."

"You have time for tea?"

"Not really, no," I said as I closed the door. "But everyone seems to think that I'm obsessing over Carrigan's disappearance so much that it is blinding me. I try to make time for tea to appease the people who love me."

"Then you don't mind me dropping by?"

I lead Remus to the back of the house into the kitchen. He was looking around curiously. It was the first time he had ever been in my new home. Truthfully, I hoped it would be my last home. I liked the location so close to the Burrow and frankly, I didn't want to have to move again. I was tired of my home and all my belongings being blown up or burnt down.

"To be honest, I had fallen asleep with my face on the desk, so you're not interrupting anything anyways. Do you want tea?"

"Of course," Remus smiled as he took a seat at the kitchen table. I made my way across the kitchen to the stove and put the kettle of water on to boil. "What were you working on?"

"Hm?"

"You said you fell asleep on the desk, what were you working on?"

"Oh," I turned to face Remus and leaned against the counter. "I was reading an old Ministry file on Rickon Form."

"I'm not familiar with the name."

"Set off the bomb last year that put Gabriel in a comma and killed Mitchell Scott."

Remus nodded in understanding. "He assaulted you and Carrigan."

"Yes," I replied. "We caught him and interrogated him. Discovered that he and Penelope Talon were responsible for experimental magical research for Voldemort. Talon was the mastermind behind the experiments performed on Haiden."

"Why are you reading about him?"

"Benjamin came across a pattern that ties Carrigan's kidnappings to eleven others in the city. All twelve girls were taken in order of ascending age. No one has been kidnapped since the twelfth girl was taken. Benjamin couldn't find any spells, curses or rituals that require twelve girls in ascending age. Our next guess is experimental research. We feel that Form and Talon's research is the best lead we have."

"But the Ministry files would just concern the results of your interrogation. Was this sort of experiment brought up with Form?"

"No," I frowned. The kettle behind me on the stove began to whistle. I turned and quickly pulled it off the heat. I turned off the stove before retrieving two cups from the cabinet. I placed tealeaves in the bottom of the cups and poured the water. As the leaves absorbed the water, I walked to the table to sit with Remus.

"So, what do you hope to find in these files?"

I forced a smile at Remus. "I don't know. Benjamin hasn't been home in over a week, so I don't know if he's made any headway either."

Remus looked at me confused. "Why hasn't he been home?"

"I informed him when he presented me with this new lead that Penelope Talon, a.k.a. Savanna Snow, was his mother," I said bluntly. "He didn't take the news kindly and walked out." I sipped my tea as Remus' brown eyes looked at me with bewildered surprise.

"He's upset you didn't tell him sooner?"

Remus was very wise and understood young people better then I did. It was one of the reasons he was such a good teacher. He was perceptive and considerate. He considered everything before speaking; and even after that, he still understood that different people have different perspectives. He was very open minded and level headed. I'm sure that's why Tonks was so taken by him, despite their significant age difference.

"Apparently," I shrugged. "Which is fine, I guess. He's either upset that I didn't tell him for a year or that his mother was a cold-hearted, backstabbing bitch. He can deal with the truth however he likes. But, because Gabriel has seen him at the office, that leads me to deduce that he's mad at me and doesn't want to live here."

"You're moodier then usual today," Remus smirked then took a sip of his hot tea.

"I told you I fell asleep on my desk," I said with a laugh. "I haven't slept in at least three days."

"Perhaps you should."

"I think I will after you leave," I said. "I know you didn't come out here just for tea. What is on your mind, Remus?"

"I wanted your opinion on something."

"Mine?"

"Yes," he continued slowly. "Dumbledore has asked me to go underground with the werewolves who follow your father. He wants me to be a spy for the Order."

"I think it's a brilliant idea," I said instantly. "We need someone inside their ranks. It's important we keep tabs on Greyback."

"Yes," Remus conceded. "I agree, however, I am very concerned about how it will affect my relationship with Nymphadora."

I smiled when Remus referred to Tonks by her first name. She hated the name. I could only imagine how she rung Remus out when he called her 'Nymphadora' in person.

"Why are you worried about that? Surely, she'll understand that it's an important mission and that you're the only person who can really accept the job."

"I'm worried that she'll see it as a way to avoid her," he admitted. I looked at him puzzled. I wasn't sure what he meant. Why would he be avoiding Tonks? They both loved each other and enjoyed the other's company…I frowned abruptly, realizing that sometimes love wasn't enough.

"Are you avoiding her?" I asked softly to clarify. Remus put his teacup down and turned his brown eyes away from me. He sighed deeply as if he were carefully thinking about what to say.

"I think that it's better and safer for us to be apart," he said sadly. He looked up at me. His brown eyes revealed more then his tone of voice. He was pained. He knew that this choice, the decision to go underground, was something that could break his relationship with Tonks.

"You think it's better for Tonks that you two aren't together?"

"I'm a werewolf, Cadence!" Remus said abruptly as if I didn't know it already. "How can I have a serious romantic relationship with any woman?"

I looked at Remus very seriously as realization dawned on me. "You don't know if you love her."

Remus frowned as he sat back in his chair. He looked relieved that I had said it instead of him, but I could see that my statement was true. He was unsure about his feelings for Tonks.

"Remus," I said in a comforting tone as I reached out and touched his arm. He gave me a grim smile.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I'm afraid that there are so many things working against us that it doesn't matter how much she loves me or I love her. Sometimes, love isn't enough. Like you and Sirius…"

"Using my relationship with Sirius is a terrible idea," I said honestly. "It's not a fair comparison. At some point, I loved Sirius. I loved Sirius a little, but not as much as he loved me or I loved Gabriel. It's possible that you only love Tonks a little, and that's not a bad thing. But if you don't see a future with her then you should end it. Don't lead her on like I did Sirius."

"No," Remus shook his head. "It's not that. You're right, comparing my relationship with Nymphadora to yours with Sirius was a bad example. I love her, Cadence. I am sure of that. She's about ten years younger then me, which makes things interesting, but complicated. The biggest issue is that I'm a werewolf—I could hurt her accidentally. I could kill her, or worse turn her into a werewolf! Kids aren't even an option. Doesn't she deserve someone who can give her a full life that isn't dangerous with children?"

"Does she want kids?" I asked. "Maybe what matters to her most is spending the rest of her life, even if it is dangerous and child free, with you. She doesn't care about the other things. And let's be honest, Remus, we all live in a dangerous world. Sadly, I don't think that will change in the near future."

Remus sat back, pondering what I had said. "But, I think this is a conversation you should be having with her," I smiled honestly. "You love her, Remus, tell her that. And discuss your feelings with her. That's all there is too it."

Remus looked at me seriously. "Normally, I would have gone to Sirius about this."

"About your relationship problems?" I laughed. "He would have laughed at you and said that he was a terrible person to give advice about relationships."

"He would have," Remus laughed with me. "And it's true. If I had gone to Sirius, he would have told me to let it be and go underground because it was the right thing to do. He wouldn't tell me to talk about my feelings."

I smiled and squeezed Remus' hand. "I do miss him," I whispered sadly. "Despite how angry he was and how much we fought, I miss him. I miss fighting with him. He'd never let me hear the end of Carrigan's kidnapping."

"He was angry because he felt out of control," Remus said. "Most of his adult life passed him by. When he got of Azkaban he had nothing to hold onto…life kept going as if he still wasn't really apart of it. I miss him too, but it helps me to know that he died happy. He died dueling. He wouldn't have had it any other way." Remus paused and took a sip of his tea before he continued. "And about Carrigan, he would have stood by you, Cadence. He would have become just as obsessed as you and he wouldn't have stopped to have tea with those who loved him. He would've given you hell for doing so."

I smiled because I knew he was right. Think about Sirius and his death though made me think more of Carrigan. How I missed her and how she reminded me of Sirius; how she had his eyes and laugh; how she smiled…

"I just can't imagine what Carrigan is going through right now," I said still in a low tone. "She saw Sirius die and then was kidnapped by the woman who killed him…she's probably so scared she can't even mourn his death. I'm scared that even if we do find her that she won't be the same…that really she'll be gone…"

Remus took my hand and squeezed it. "You can't think like that. You know she's stronger then you. If you can survive being kidnapped, I'm sure she can. Let's worry about getting her back, then we'll worry about healing her."

"Thank you," I tapped his hand.

"Benjamin is Carrigan's Guardian, like Gabriel is yours?"

Remus never ceased to amaze me. Guardians weren't well known or accepted in the magically community. They were supposed to be mythical guides of powerful witches and wizards. Usually, when someone heard of a Guardian they laughed and said they were just legend. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised as Remus was Sirius' best friend. He probably told Remus in a rant that Gabriel was my Guardian.

"Yes," I nodded.

"He can't find her? Gabriel was always able to find you by sensing for you," Remus said slowly.

I frowned deeply. "No, he can't find her for some reason."

In my head I was thinking, sometimes love isn't enough.

It didn't matter that Benjamin was Carrigan's Guardian or that he loved her, because sometimes, love just wasn't enough. In Carrigan's case, it certainly wasn't enough because I couldn't sense her location either and I loved my daughter more then the world itself.