"Sirius, if this is the wrong house-"

"It isn't." Sirius said, more than confident in himself.

"Sirius," Remus urged, fidgeting with his tie. Despite his rush home, he still made Sirius pick out a jacket and tie for him to wear. He demanded Sirius wear nice clothes as well, but it didn't matter how much he yelled at him, all he could do was hope the two of them looked decent. "You do realize if you've somehow managed to mess this up, some... poor old woman's going to answer the door and see a mass murderer standing there."

"Wouldn't that make her day? Maybe she'll invite us in for dinner anyways." Sirius's laughed. "Oh, and by the way, I wanted to give you these."

The two of them stopped and Sirius took out his wand again. "Give me what?" Then, Remus felt something top-heavy and wrapped in paper appear in his hands: a bouquet of flowers.

"I thought maybe Andromeda would probably really like you if you gave her flowers." Sirius said.

"Damn, I hadn't even thought about that!"

"Then—I dunno! Just pretend that it was your idea." Sirius encouraged. He was too busy thinking about other things that he forgot to mention the mailbox that was leaning at an awkward angle, sticking out towards the driveway.

This was the same mailbox that suddenly punched Remus in the stomach and sent him staggering backwards with a sharp cry, doubling over in pain. "Sirius!" He exclaimed. Sirius let out a bellow of laughter. "Oh! I'm sorry, was that funny to you?"

"Remus?" A familiar voice exclaimed. A door slammed. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Remus coughed hard, his arms wrapped around his middle. He had dropped the bouquet. Tonks didn't seem to be alone, only furthering his embarassment. His face was hot with anger. And Sirius didn't seem to be the only one laughing either. Remus tried to straighten himself up but he was still in a nearly unbearable amount of pain. He cleared his throat and smoothed out his clothes to try and regain some kind of composure in front of Tonks's parents. "You know, I've been meaning to fix that stupid thing for forever now..." A new voice said. It was a man's voice, and although he seemed friendly enough, his humour was off putting. "Are you alright, son?"

"I'm... I'm fine, thank you." Remus said still shocked. He held out his hand in the general direction of the voice. "Sirius, could you grab the-" Sirius quickly knelt down to pick up the flowers and hand them to him.

"The plesantries can wait a few more minutes," a woman's voice said harshly. She sounded firm and cool. It was almost eerie to listen to her. "Please, before the neighbours see you."

Remus was initally shocked hearing someone say something like that before he realized she wasn't talking about him. An arm quickly wrapped around his and started leading him forward. "I've got you. Don't worry, we'll catch up." Tonks said softly. The others hurried inside, the woman talking quietly but sternly to Sirius. "So... you came."

"I wanted to." Remus told her, turning his head towards her.

She huffed. "What, so we're just going to play some kind of game of back and forth now, huh? " He didn't respond and she paused, taking a deep breath. "I'm just glad you came."

"I'm sorry I'm late. And I'm sorry I brought a guest." Remus murmured. Tonks carefully helped him up an unfamiliar set of wooden steps. "Am I dressed appropriately? Was I supposed to bring anything?"

Tonks leaned over and picked him on the cheek. "You're here. You're perfect."

"He didn't charm my clothes, did he?"

"Lime green. The whole ensemble." She laughed. Remus's fist tightened around her arm. "You look very well put together, Remus. Very handsome."

"And I'm sure you look... absolutely stunning."

"Hmm, yeah, I know I do." Tonks said lightly. "I think my Dad's talked about meeting you all day long, according to my mother."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Remus asked warily.

"Oh no, he's excited." She boasted. "I've told them a little bit about you and all."

"Lovely." Remus sharply inhaled. "I'm so sorry I brought Sirius with me. He was the only person who knew how to get here."

"I'm surprised he remembered where Mum lived." Tonks chuckled, helping him hang onto the banister on the front steps. Her hand was placed gently on his back and as soon as they got to the top, she trapped him in a side hug. "But I'm just glad you're here."

"I'm glad I'm here too." Remus smiled.

"...I don't understand why you're so upset, cousin." Sirius said in a charming voice.

"Get. Inside. The house. Now." The woman growled.

Someone reached behind Remus to catch the door as Tonks carefully made sure he didn't fall over the threshold, only to subsequently fall over it herself. "Oh bloody-" Remus held tightly to her, preventing her legs from collapsing and sending her into the floor, carefully hoisting her back up to a steady standstill.

"Good catch." Tonks's father laughed lightly. A firm hand clasped against Remus's shoulder. The house was almost uncomfortably warm and smelled of savoury food. A radio was softly playing music in the other room.

"Thanks." Tonks sounded a bit embarrassed.

The other woman took a painfully deep breath. "I will handle you in a minute." She exclaimed. Remus felt a hand appear and grasp onto his own. It was well manicured and bony, and her skin felt like it was saggy. "Hello, you... must be Remus."

"Yes, and you must be Mrs. Tonks." Remus put on a big smile for her. "I um, I thought it would be nice if I brought you flowers, but I didn't plan on dropping them. I apologize if they're a bit crushed." He stuck out his hand into the void, hoping she was somewhere nearby that he wasn't being weird.

"Oh! They're for me?" She sounded almost embarrassed, but happily took them from him. "They're absolutely lovely! How thoughtful of you, Remus. Thank you, I'll go put them in water."

"And I'm Ted." The man behind them said.

"Hello, Mr. Tonks." Remus turned to hold his hand out for a handshake.

"'Mr. Tonks,' it's alright, you can call me Ted." Her father said with amusement. His handshake was intimidating. "Well don't just stop in the doorway, I better go set the table for Andy."

"No, no," Mrs. Tonks said in a warning voice. "That's sweet of you, but I still need a word with Sirius."

"Oh come on-" Ted protested.

"Forget about it," She cooed playfully. "Sirius, why don't you come help me set the table?" Sirius grumbled and shuffled away into the kitchen. There was a distant fussing coming from the kitchen.

"Poor thing, Molly's going to tear right into him when we get home anyways." Remus shook his head.

Ted chuckled. "Oh I'm sure Andy's leave her some scraps." He stepped around the side of his daughter. "Come on in, you two, you've not got anything to be afraid of. You don't want to let anything in." Tonks and Remus both awkwardly shuffled forward out of the doorway. "So, Dora's not really mentioned much about you. Besides the fact that the two of you are in the Order."

Remus tensed up with panic. "You know about the...?"

"Oh don't worry, we were more than happy to lend a hand for the cause. We weren't just going to hand over our only daughter without offering to help ourselves. We're a safe house, should we ever have to... you know." Ted's voice was weirdly calm. He didn't let these kinds of things bother them. Tonks escorted Remus through the kitchen towards a dining table. "Do you do any work outside of the Order?"

"Dad-"

Remus flushed with embarrassment. "Well, yes and no. I've done a lot of various jobs. I worked in the Prophet's mailroom for a while before my accident. Haven't had a chance to start looking again."

"I think that's very admirable." Ted said confidently. "They really do like their underpaid slave labour, the Ministry does. I see it all the time."

"Where do you work?"

"I work within the international communications department. Boring stuff."

"Doesn't sounds like it." Remus said.

"Wait, Lupin... didn't you teach over at the school for a while just a few years back?" Ted wondered.

"Only for a year. I was the Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher." Remus nodded.

"And what drew you to teaching exactly?"

Sirius laughed. "Oh Professor Lupin over here has always wanted to be teacher, ever since we were in school together. I dunno how that man ever ended up in Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw."

"Sirius, grab that bowl of rice please." Mrs. Tonks said. Remus carefully sat down and Tonks sat down beside him. Remus was suddenly very nervous and very aware of what he was doing, trying to be as meticulous as possible when he put food on his plate and even more careful in eating it.

"Ah, anyways, enough business. You two are here on your night off." Ted remarked. "So how did you two meet?"

"We just sort of... bumped into each other, really." Tonks took over. "I mean, we live together."

"Oh... and how... how is that going?" Ted got a bit awkward.

"Not like that, Dad." She said, rolling her eyes. Remus tried not to think of the night before. "We have separate rooms, separate bathrooms... we just... happen to eat meals together a lot. I think talking to each other was inevitable."

"I think you broke a vase." Remus said.

"Was there someone in it?" Andromeda asked in shock.

"No... not this time."

"Mum, did he really need to know that?"

"Who did you knock in the floor?" Remus asked curiously.

"Poor old Granny Tonks took a tumble in the floor when Dora was about nine or so." Ted said.

"She was in a bag." Tonks said defensively. "Gran didn't just go splattering all over the carpet."

Ted had many stories to tell about his daughter: stories of her short-lived adventures as a Hufflepuff chaser, of he rambunctious times as a metaphoragus child, and stories of her time in the auror academy. Tonks was gushing with embarrassment. Mrs. Tonks frequently interjected with more charming details. Remus was listening intensely, though Sirius was more interested in Ted and Mrs. Tonks's history since he had been thrown in Azkaban. Remus was still torn between eating because he felt like he had been starving all day, and being picky with his food for the simple fact he was afraid he looked too ravenous and getting curry on himself in front of his sweetheart's parents seemed like an inevitable disaster waiting to happen. He spent dinner with a napkin protectively close to his face. Ted made a joke about his eating, something suggestive about how next time they would fix something a bit more to his taste. He didn't seem to be derogatory in making a joke about Remus's condition, but Tonks swept in to chastise him.

Mrs. Tonks had said something about dessert, but Remus couldn't focus. He had slowly dazed off, his mind wandering away from dinner. "Can Remus and I be excused for a few minutes? We haven't had a chance to talk." The was a quiet pause. "Dad! Don't look at me like that! We're just going outside." She managed to turn her father's name into two syllables. Ted thought it was funny.

Remus carefully got up from the table. "Dinner was great." He managed to remember to say something before disappearing the way they came.

"I wouldn't normally sneak out like this, but I have got to have a word with you." Tonks said in nearly a low growl. "I've been needing a word with you all evening. After this morning?"

A coat was forced at Remus and he quickly put it on. "I wholeheartedly agree." He said quickly, realizing that he didn't really have any say in the matter. He was a little bit frightened by her irritation.

"Can Remus and I talk outside for a few minutes?" Tonks asked, throwing on her coat before wrapping her arm around Remus's. "We'll be right back in in a few minutes."

"Okay, well, I'm going to make some coffee." Ted announced. "Should be done before you get back."

Tonks helped him out of the door. The air was biting cold compared to the cozy house. The wind wasn't more than a light breeze but it quickly froze Remus to the bone and made him shiver. The door shut behind them.

"I'm... I didn't really know what to think after this morning." Tonks confessed. "I didn't know if I scared you off or if I went too far or if you ever wanted to speak to me again. You really had me worried there for a bit."

"I didn't mean to frighten you." He confessed. "I... I do feel a bit foolish and I think I should have thought out what so wanted to say a bit better."

"Oh." Her voice dropped and she pulled back. "So you meant it then? What, you don't think we're good for each other and you don't want to be around me? Then why did you-"

"I don't think we're good for each other, but I absolutely don't know what I would do without you." Remus blurted out. He tried to reach for her, but he couldn't find her. Her footsteps walked around him to the side of the porch, the railing creaking as she leaned on it.

"Then what makes you think that you aren't the best person for me right now?" Tonks asked earnestly. "What makes you think that you've got this all figured out for me?"

"I don't." Remus confessed. "But I just can't help but think you don't have this figured out for yourself either."

"Why not?" She demanded. "Why are you so against this? Why are you even here?"

"I want what's best for you-"

"And why can't that be you?" Remus slowly walked towards her and put his arm around her back. "Why did you come tonight if you just wanted to tell me that you're done with me?"

"I don't want to be done with you. I don't want to lose you, Tonks, and everything that I've said is because I don't want anything to happen to you." He tried to keep his voice soft. "Tonks, what if something happened and you ended up like me? Do you think I like living like this? Do you think that this sort of thing can't happen to anyone?"

"You're not... you're not like that." Tonks crosses her arms, leaning back against his arms. "You've never hurt anyone like that-"

"How do you know?" He cut her off.

"I... well I guess I don't." Tonks said. She became very quiet and unusually still. "Would you hurt me? Right now. Do you think you would be capable of hurting me?" Remus didn't exactly follow her question. She took his hand and placed it against the top of her chest, the crook of her thumb fitting right beneath her throat. He could feel her breathing and faintly, her heart beating beneath her ribcage. "Maybe this can put it into perspective. Would you be capable of hurting me? I know you could, perhaps, it's not like you couldn't just kill me right now if you wanted to. Probably wouldn't finish me off because I wouldn't give you the chance. But would you do it?"

"No-" Remus yanked his hand back, completely appalled.

"Then if you were unable to hurt me, right now, of your own will... after you've transformed, when you lose that will, if you were to hurt me do you actually think I would hold it against you?" She asked.

"I would." He said. "I would hold it against myself, yes."

"Why? You wouldn't hurt me as a human, why would I think that you would intentionally hurt me as a werewolf?"

"I don't care if it's unintentional, do you not understand the fact that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you got hurt? Or killed because of me?" He exclaimed.

"So if the roles were reversed, if I was the werewolf, you would-"

"I would think that you were being careless and negligent, yes!" Remus spat at her. "Do you not have any concept of what's going on around you? I have less than nothing to offer you in this relationship and I am a constant threat to your safety and well-being!"

"I love you, and I don't want anything from-" Her voice was forceful. She didn't shout exactly, but it made Remus wonder if she had alerted the members inside as to what was going on. The realization hit him hard enough that he stumbled backwards, his mouth hanging wide open. She seemed to be struck with a similar realization. "Wait, I know how that I sounds, I meant that-that I-" Remus's body grew rigid as he became more impatient. His heart was pounding. "I love you, but not like that... this doesn't have to be serious if you don't want it to be. You know I wouldn't force you into anything, but you keep saying that you do have feelings for me, so what's the truth? Do you want to make this work or not?"

"Of course I want to make this work, Tonks, but I don't see how that could ever be possible." Remus felt his voice giving away.

"I guess the joke's on you because I can see better than you." Tonks blurted out. There was a brief pause before both of them erupted into laughter at their foolishness. "Okay, I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Remus told her softly. "That's the best one I've heard."

"Yeah..." Tonks laughed with embarassment. "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that like that, I meant that-I really worry about you and I care about you and I enjoy being around you, not that-I'm not trying to make this something it isn't, it's something I say to all of the people I care about."

Remus didn't know if he felt good or bad about that. "Right. No no, I know what you meant. There's not really any other good word for it."

"No, there's not..." Her hand found hand and squeezed it. "So... I guess I should take you and Sirius back when you're ready."

"Whenever you want to take us back, I would be perfectly fine with going home. Not that meeting your parents hasn't been absolutely lovely, they're such nice people."

"I'm glad." Tonks giggled. "I'm so glad you had a good time. And I'm sure they'll be happy to have you around any other time you want to come over."

"Maybe we should come back then." Remus nodded.

"You actually... want to?" Her voice became tense.

"I... I think I do."

"So, I guess you're going to keep playing this back and forth, are you?"

"I don't want to."

"Then maybe... maybe we need a compromise. Or a break. Or... we can't just keep ignoring this. You're either in or you're out, but you can't just keep one foot in this relationship." Tonks coaxed. "What can I do to make you feel better? Maybe I back off touching you. We don't have to hold hands or hug or anything until you want to. I'll back off you."

"Maybe I just need to clear my head. Try and get some proper sleep." Remus said. "I need to focus on my work, and do do you. We'll step back for a bit, then we'll talk."

"Okay." Tonks said in a voice that wasn't much more than a whisper. "And we don't have to talk about what I said."

"I knew what you meant."

She was so delicate, so small when she cowered down, curling up against his chest, her hands burying against his sides. Her hair was soft too, and smelled like an all-too-familiar scent. Remus tried to take in all of the small details of her face. Her cheeks were round, and the sides of her face fit comfortably in his hands. He nuzzled the top of her head. Time was moving too quickly around them, the moment slipping away as they both felt they were hanging on for too long, yet neither wanting to be the first to let go.

And that was the first time Remus thought maybe he was in love, too.