Remus had a warm cup of tea resting between his hands. He had made the tea himself, too. The ceramic was almost too hot against his skin, yet it was comforting enough that he felt adequately comforted by it. It was a plesant reminder that he wasn't the only person alive. He didn't care for the taste right now, though.

He thought someone had once told him that his hearing, touch, smell, and taste were going to be "refined" (in hindsight, this was Sirius who told him and he probably knew no better) and they were a liar. Remus had lost interest in food. He didn't want to eat or drink much because everything was beginning to taste dull or the effort that went into getting food seemed pointless. Though Molly always made sure Remus had dinner to eat and when she didn't, Tonks was beginning to insist on bringing him food. She had devised a plan so clever Remus was both in awe and adequately frustrated by it. Whenever she was out and decided to buy herself a biscuit or a crumpet, she would "accidentally" buy two and, "accidentally" leave one of them on Remus's nightstand, only "accidentally", she would end up charming the wrappings to give off a bright enough glow that he could find it.

Their kindness wasn't going unnoticed, yet now more than ever, Remus felt isolated. His ventures out of his room were less and less and he had fewer reasons to do anything. He continually told the others not to bring him food, that he could manage, or to not bring him things like toiletries or clean clothes. He barely felt like even changing out of his pajamas most days. Remus had managed to amaze himself, however. He didn't know that all those mornings he spent with his eyes half-closed as he went through the motions of preparing for the day paid off in the form of being able to shave with minimal damage to his skin. Not that it even mattered. He just hated the scraggly and sharp feeling on his skin. He didn't remember when he last brushed his teeth.

Remus didn't know what day it was or what time, even. All he knew was he was alone downstairs. He wasn't even sure if he knew it, or if he had been standing long enough that he convinced himself of it. And now, he decided, was time for him to disappear again.

It occured to him that someone was coming barrelling towards him. "Remus! Hi!" A woman exclaimed. "You're up awfully early."

"Hello!" Remus thought he shouted his greeting a bit too loud as soon as he realized there was suddenly a real person in front of him. "So sorry! You must be up awfully early then too."

"Remus, it's me, Tonks." It seemed a bit unnecessary. He was getting better with voices and her chipper, excited tone was like no other in the house. Even with half her energy, she always sounded like she was at her fullest. "And it's just me, by the way."

"Fancy seeing you again." Remus replied.

"Fancy..." She stopped herself. "Oh... erm, nevermind, actually."

"Are you really going to do this? You can say it, you know." He assured her. "I really don't care. I fancy seeing you again."

"I fancy seeing you again, too." Her voice sounded more confident now. "When Alastor first came back, he didn't really want help, but he needed a couple weeks to recuperate. Actually, he probably should still be... besides the point, I was there with him and he always got hateful with me when he wasn't wearing his eye and I'd say something like 'fancy seeing you here'. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

She sounded very genuine. That irked Remus. She was so kind, yet what did she expect in return? Even during the last two meetings, he heard her talking in the kindest of voices towards everyone, even people opposing her. Yet somehow, Remus felt that she was being honest.

"It's alright." Remus nodded. "You... I suppose I just feel awkward about my eyes. Like the last thing I would want is to be an imposition on you all and yet... nevermind, just don't feel like you've got to dance around me."

"Actually, I came looking for you with an inquiry."

"An inquiry?"

"Come on, would you like to go out?" Tonks offered.

"What?" Remus asked. "Out? Out where?"

"Out. Outside? Out of the house."

He was still blown away at her proposition. "With me?"

"Yes, with you. And Sirius. All given that Sirius is even awake. Is Sirius still asleep?

"Probably."

"Too bad, then, I guess we'll just have to go wake him up." Tonks remarked.

"And we're subjecting ourselves to this willingly because...?"

"Because it's nice outside." She nagged. "The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and all the two of you do is mope around the house depressed all day."

"I am not depressed."

There was an awkwardly long pause.

"Remus."

"What!" Remus shook his head. "I'm not depressed!"

"I... Hey, look, I get it, this is hard to talk about." The woman sighed. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine!"

"Even about tonight?"

"Tonight?"

Tonks didn't want to answer at first. "You didn't know... tonight's the full moon."

There was a sinking feeling in his gut. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Remus..." Her voice became pitiful. "Tonight's the full moon. You haven't been taking your potion, have you?"

"No!" Remus scorned. "Oh god, I had no idea. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now that I'm here. I don't have a plan-"

"Hey, it's not that big of a deal." Her voice grew gentle again.

"Yes, it is!" He was having to fight back her docility. "I don't even have a plan made! I don't know where to go! What am I supposed to do?"

"You've got Sirius. And you've got me, you know. I'm on your side here."

"I'm... please take this as nicely as you can, there's not much you can do to help me right now."

"I can set up wards." Tonks suggested. "I can offer emotional support, at least. I was sort of hoping we were at least friends enough for that."

"Friends." Remus repeated.

"Yeah, sure. Why not? Is something wrong with that?" She countered. He could feel that Tonks had stepped closer to him.

"No, but I don't know why you'd want to be friends with me."

"Why wouldn't I? What? Are you some sort of... I dunno, baby-killing... cannibalistic... jaywalking psychopath?"

Remus paused. "Is that really the best insult you can manage?"

"No, but you didn't answer my question."

"No, but I could be."

"So could I."

"Yes, but you're not a werewolf."

"How do you know that?"

"You don't smell like one."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because I'm conscious?"

"But my point still stands." Tonks paused. "Remus, let's go out for the day."

"I can't." He said simply. "I've... I've got to get ready, and-"

"We won't be gone all day." She assured softly. "The fresh air will be plenty soothing for your mind, I'm sure."

"Not when I... when I change." Remus made a noise as if he whimpered. "Tonks, this is very nice of you, but I had no idea what was going on and now I have to prepare and-" He waited for his protesting to be interrupted. He waited for her to tell him to stop. His words and fears had gotten caught in his throat, choking him from the inside.

"You'll be ready. Sirius will take care of you. I know it." Tonks told him. "I know you must be hoping you can... forget this. I can't imagine how hard tonight is going to be on you. But can't you trust me just a second? Whatever happens, we won't let anything bad happen to you. You're safe here. You're safe with us."

A cold hand wrapped around the back of his own. He could feel her fingernails gently grazing over his fingers as she took his hand. It was an innocent gesture, yet the contact was the most profound thing anyone had given him, perhaps in a month. Perhaps longer. Sirius had never been much of a physical person before, and certainly not after. Remus realized how much he missed everything in the world. Even a warm mug of tea, didn't replace how much he missed taking in the wonders of all the people around him. All of the beautiful things and all the ugly. Even his magic had been stripped of him. Was this what death felt like? He imagined when someone died, their soul entered an abyss of nothingness. Even staring straight into nothingness, he didn't know what it was or if he was in it. All he wanted was to know that he was still alive.

"Are you okay?" Tonks asked. She got even closer to him, yet she sounded concerned. "You're awfully pale."

"I-" His mouth was hanging open and his eyelids twitched. "Where's the sink?"

"Oh, gosh-" She firmly grabbed his shoulders and whipped him around. His hands became light and there was a thud as the mug went shattering into the sink. And following were the contents of his stomach, whatever they were, violently and acidic, boring into his flesh all the way up the back of his throat and out of his mouth. Remus's arms wrapped around his middle, trying to ease the violent lurching inside of him. He tried to lean forward, away from the woman beside him, wherever she was. He gripped the metal edge of the sink and he only wanted to be as far away from there as he could be. "I'm... sorry..."

"Shh shh shh," The woman cooed. "Don't talk. Get it all up. Let me get you a wet rag, you need to sit down."

"No-"

"Yes." Tonks hissed back from across the kitchen. Her heavy footsteps were walking towards him. Was she wearing boots in the summertime? "You need to lie down."

"I can't breath-" Remus gasped, coughing and sputtering. Spit ran down his face. He tried to hide the slobber and the embarrassment with his hand, but he was getting nowhere.

"Sirius!" Her voice yelled.

"Don't call him!" He insisted, hiding behind his sweater sleeve. "Tonks, please, I don't want him."

Her hands firmly grabbed her shoulders again. Water was running in the basin. Something ice cold and soft touched the side of his head. "Come on," Tonks coaxed. "You need to rest. If you're feeling up to it in the next few days, we'll go outside, but you're burning up. I watched you start sweating. Is there something I can give you? Anti-nausea or fever-reducer?"

"I don't want anything." Remus told her in a still choking voice. They were walking somewhere. He didn't know where. They were going up some steps; he wasn't pretending to lay out the house in his mind. "Stop playing healer with me, will you? I can handle myself."

"I'm sure you can." She said dryly. "But I can walk to a sink faster than you. Come on, just a few more steps. It's your bed Watch your shins. Lie down. I'll get you a bin in case you get ill-"

"Tonks!" Remus raised his voice. "Stop it! I'm tired of this! I have to learn to do things on my own!"

"You are learning." She replied, handing over the cool rag. "Who made that tea his own morning? Who walks up and down the stairs all on his own? Not me, you know, you fall less than me and my eyes work fine. You chopped vegetables and helped fold your own laundry just last week. You're getting there. But you've got to trust that I won't let you get lost."

"Why?" Remus gasped. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I-" She cut herself off. "You need to rest." And she left.