"What in Merlin's name did the three of you think you were doing?" Molly Weasley shouted across the table. She had become so angry that her voice was dry and straining with every word. "Really? Sirius, you had been recognized, you would have been killed on the spot or worse! The police would have been called! The Ministry! They would have sent dementors on you! And the two of you would have been arrested for corresponding with a known mass murderer!"

"But they weren't looking for a dog, Molly!" Sirius protested. He was very human and very much clothed now after Molly had initially yelled at him to change back and he did... in the middle of the hallway. Naked, as a sort of vengeance.

"But what if something happened? What if someone let slip it was you? You didn't say his name at all while you were out, did you?"

Remus shook his head. He presumed Tonks did as well, but of course, he had no idea. "Molly, we were plenty safe. We didn't go far, we blended in." Tonks told her.

"What about the death eaters?" She shot back.

"We didn't see any." Tonks told her.

"Right, well, of course you didn't. Tonks, you had to watch over them, you weren't watching over yourself! You weren't checking to make sure all your tracks were covered, were you?" Molly demanded.

"Remus and I, we handled ourselves perfectly fine, isn't that right, Remus?" Sirius said.

"I-"

"And after everything that happened to Harry, all this mess that he's gotten himself into, you still felt it was safe to go outside? Sirius, what if the dementors were looking for you? What if that had been you and not him?"

"Wait, what?" Remus cut in over her. "What happened with Harry? Did he get attacked by dementors?"

Tonks let out a sigh. "I... meant to talk to you about that. Harry, he, er... he's coming over tonight because he's got to go to court."

"Court?"

"He had a run in with a couple dementors so he said, used a patronus in front of that cousin of his, and now he's been expelled for using magic outside of school, in front of a muggle, and he has to testify to be able to be reinstated." Tonks explained.

"You never told me." Remus huffed. "You never told me that Harry got expelled!"

"It just happened!" Sirius shouted back. "I'm sorry that I've got enough to preoccupy me right now that I can't always give you a play-by-play of what's gone on in the world!"

"How hard would it have been for you to just tell me what happened! What did that take? An entire five seconds of your precious time, well excuse me, some of us can't just pick up the paper and know what's going on in the world!"

"How do you think I feel? I don't ever get to see my own godson because of something that isn't even my fault!" Sirius exclaimed. "And on top of that, I have to pretend that it's not the same reason that James and Lily are dead, right now, Remus! Do you have to live with that? Because at the moment, I've not got very much going for me! I'm sorry that I just had to go and ruin this for you!"

"Would you two stop yelling at each other, please!" Tonks shouted from between them. Despite her raising her voice, she sounded desperate and almost pained. "Really. This was a mistake. Remus, I should have told you about Harry as soon as I heard and it's my responsibility for not doing so, but Sirius, this is on you as well. You should have been here for Remus, too. It's not his fault you've put this wall between you two."

"Oh please, and what have you been doing?" Sirius taunted.

"Excuse me, but I'm trying to be the friend that Remus needs most right now because you seem to be all about yourself right now." Sirius got weirdly still after she said that.

"This is not what we are talking about right now." Molly interjected. "Tonks, you're going tonight to get Harry, correct? And when you get back, we'll be having a meeting and all three of you best be here for it. We're going to have a conversation about your conduct and leaving the house, and I will be leaving up to Alastor to handle you, Tonks."

Tonks grumbled something inaudible about Alastor handling her. "I'm sorry, Sirius." She said softly, her back turned to Remus. "I didn't mean that. I just meant that you- Sirius, wait a second-"

Remus was standing there awkwardly, the two of them trekking upstairs. He wasn't quite sure if Molly was still there, but he had a feeling- "Remus," She said. "I'm sorry that you got dragged into this."

Dragged into this? "I wanted to leave. I wasn't an accomplice." Remus said stubbornly. "I hate it here, and I can tell you that it's even worse for Sirius. You have no idea what he has to live with here, what he has to remember every time he-"

Molly seemed to be pursing her lips with disappointment. "I'm sorry that I have to treat the three of you like children, but that's how you're acting."

"I'm sorry, Molly." He began to cower back. There was so much more he could say in protest, but he didn't. He could tell her about how he and Sirius hasn't left the house in a month now or how this should have been a basic right to them, but he didn't say anything because she knew it. And deep down, Remus knew she was right. After all of the things that he had seen while he thought Sirius was a muderer and after what happened to the Cedric Diggory boy, they weren't safe. They could have outed the magical world. They could have outed the Order and all been arrested. They could have been killed. "I'll come back downstairs for the meeting."

Remus treaded up the stairs back to his room. Sirius and Tonks we're having a heated discussion across the hall. It was dark and gloomy. He had to step over piles of laundry to get to his unmade bed. He sat on the edge of it, quickly jumping up to empty out his pockets before sitting back down. There was a sort of crushed up lily, a leaf, and a couple of rocks that Tonks had said she thought were "pretty neat." He liked how the rocks felt on his fingers, though he had no idea what spell to use to preserve the flower. He settled on pressing it inside of a heavy spell book.

As soon as Remus laid down on his bed, his face staring up at the ceiling and off into space, there was a knock on his door. "Hello? Who is it?" He sat up quickly.

"Tonks! Are you wearing clothes?" A muffled voice shouted.

"We just got here!" He replied. "You can come in, you know."

The door swung open and promptly shut. "He slammed my fingers in a door." Tonks said. She sat down on the bed beside him, appearing to be rubbing her hand.

"I'm sorry." Remus replied. "Are they purple?"

"Pinched, but not broken." She sighed. "I didn't mean that, you know. I think Sirius is actually a great friend and I think you're a great friend back, but when I watch you? It's like... you're always left out. When the Order talks about you, they don't say bad things, but they act like you can't do anything yourself."

"No they don't-"

"Yes, they do, Remus." Tonks insisted. "I want to help you and keep you company, but I can see what the others are saying about you. You can be grateful for what they've given you and still resent the way they treat you. You're a very capable person, and a very talented wizard, you're just stuck between a rock and a hard place."

Remus pondered this for a second. "I assume you're going out to get Harry tonight, aren't you?"

"Yeah, once it gets plenty dark. We had to plant some bait to lure the Dursley's out. My idea, too." She mumbled.

Remus nodded. "Stay safe, okay? I'd hate to have to come out there and get you."

They both laughed and it broke up their awkward tension. "I'll manage, I think." Tonks said lightly. "Remus, do you think he was being serious about... you know, Sirius being all feeley and protective over me?"

"I..." Remus stuttered. "You do realize I only said that as a joke right? I... guess I thought you'd find it as a compliment, not that I thought you'd be the kind of woman to hit on men twice your age, so please don't take offense to that. Yes, Sirius and I talked about you but only because I wanted to know what you looked like and he was making comments about you 'dressing immaturely for your age' and all I said back was that he used to do the exact same thing before he went to Azkaban. He wasn't all stuffy, you know. I don't know what got into him that made him want to wear clothes he found here of all places. He used to think of himself as being all punk-rock back in the day."

Tonks seemed amused at his story. "It's hard to remember that. I never knew him before Azkaban though, only through my mother's old stories and photos. This war really... it did a number on him. On his head, at least."

"It was Peter, mostly. After he found out it wasn't me he... snapped. I guess that's why I wasn't surprised when I heard it was him." Remus reclined on the bed.

"Wait, did you know Peter was the mole?"

"No. Not until James and Lily were gone. Sirius got in touch with me once, right before he went to go and get Harry. I just remember him storming in, and the look he had on his face... and I think he would've hurt me. Actually hurt me. I was so terrified when he grabbed me and he asked me what I knew, what had happened, why I did it, and of course I had no clue what had even happened at that point." Remus told her. "So the whole thing blows up and Sirius gets arrested, I thought he had lost it completely. Or better yet, he was panicking and trying to fake me out and make me think it wasn't him... you know, because Peter had just 'died' and all. It could've been any of us. Meadows, McKinnon, the Longbottom before all of... all of..." His voice had strangely trailed off.

He could hear Tonks breathing. She sounded like she was trying to hold everything up inside of her. "He's still handsome, you know? Even after Azkaban."

Remus shook his head. Suddenly some of the... odd comments that Sirius had made were slowly coming together. Sirius was jealous of the time Remus and Tonks had together, but perhaps it hadn't been for the reason he had initially thought. He was talking down at Tonks's appearance, perhaps not out of direct spite. Perhaps Remus wasn't supposed to be kidding when he called her a flirt. And that legitimately scared him and made him feel awkward. What, was Sirius trying to make his claim on her? This felt almost predatory, to make such comments behind her back and then supposedly have feelings for her to her face. Remus wondered what went on behind closed doors. He wondered if he even knew Sirius as well as he thought he did. "I... I don't think I would know."