Thursday 12th April 1979

Library, 18:00

"You're staring at her again."

"Mm."

"Tonks."

"Mmh?"

"Tonks!"

That yanked her rather abruptly out of her thoughts.

"What?"

She hadn't caught any of what Chryssie said, except that she was going to get them kicked out of the library, yet again, for shouting. Of course, Tonks ignored the fact that she was normally also to blame for them being thrown out but that was besides the point.

"You're staring at Malkin again."

"I am not!"

But Tonks could feel the blush creep up her cheeks before she even finished talking. Okay, maybe she was staring. Just a little bit. But she wasn't going to admit to it. No way.

Chryssie gave her a look. The look that said that she didn't believe her and she was annoyed that Tonks would even think that she didn't believe her.

Whatever. It wasn't her fault that the girl was so damn pretty, what with her long eyelashes (yes, Tonks noticed things like eyelashes, sue her) and gorgeous shiny brown hair. Hair that she yet to mimic on herself, much to her annoyance. She couldn't quite get the right level of shine...

"I don't have a crush on her," Tonks said stubbornly.

Chryssie raised her hands. "Hey, no judgement of you do."

That hadn't been what Tonks was worried about but it was nice to know. It wasn't that she didn't like girls, she did. She thought both boys and girls were attractive. Because they were.

But, like she said, her liking both genders weren't a problem here. It was the fact that she shouldn't be fancying anyone else at all whether they be boy or girl. She just shouldn't. It was weird.

"It just doesn't seem right," Tonks said in a guilty tone.

Chryssie gave her an incredulous look.

"What in Merlin's name are you talking about?"

Tonks shrugged, not knowing how to put her feelings into words. And not wanting to either. How was she supposed to explain anyway? She would sound like a right idiot.

"Nothing. Never mind."

But of course, Chryssie wasn't going to let this go. She never did.

"No, go on."

"It's nothing."

"It's obviously something."

"It really isn't."

It wasn't anything at all. Tonks fiddled with her quill, shredding little bits off it. Whoops. It had gone past the point of being raggedy and was pretty much destroyed. Eh. It had never been a good quill anyway.

Chryssie just gave her a look. A look she had no business in giving her. There was really nothing. Nothing to talk about. Nothing to think about. She wasn't doing anything.

"So, you're saying that you staring at Sophie Malkin and blushing whenever she compliments your hair as nothing?"

"Yes!"

Chryssie ignored her and continued, "And then you keeping your hair the colour she complimented for a week is also nothing!"

"Hey, that meant it was a good colour."

Of course, she kept her hair a colour for a long time if it was a good colour. That was just common sense in her opinion.

"Dora. She said she liked that horrible neon green and red combination. That was not a good look."

Tonks winced at the memory. Yeah, that had been a bit much bit still.

"Just because you thought it was bad doesn't mean it's bad."

"Trust me. It was bad. You have it bad."

"No, I don't!"

If she was standing up, she would have stomped her foot in annoyance. She did not fancy Sophie Malkin!

Chryssie didn't say anything and just stared at her. Tonks felt herself calm down and a blush rise to her cheeks. She had been being a bit dramatic, hadn't she?

"I don't," she repeated more softly. "Well, maybe I do. But what of it?"

"Ha! I knew it!" Chryssie said triumphantly.

Tonks just shrugged. Whatever.

"Wait, why is that a problem?" Chryssie asked when she noticed Tonks' lack of an enthusiastic response.

"It's just that I kind of, you know, like someone else."

"Remus."

Tonks felt herself blush. "Yeah."

Chryssie didn't have to say it 0ut loud like that! And now she was giving her an expectant look.

"What?"

"We-ell," Chryssie dragged out. "I'm not seeing the problem here. Though you obviously think there's a problem."

"Well, I fancy two people. That's a problem!"

"You do realise that you aren't going out with Remus therefore you don't have to feel guilty about making eyes at someone else, don't you?"

"I'm not making eyes at anyone!"

Chryssie snorted. "Yeah, right."

"I'm not!"

"You totally are."

Tonks crossed her arms. "I'm not!"

"Shhh!"

Of course, Madam Pince heard that. She heard everything. The two of them fell silent for a moment so they were no longer in her clutches.

"You are so in denial," Chryssie whispered.

She was not in denial. She wasn't. She wasn't "making eyes" at Sophie Malkin. She didn't have a crush on her. And she definitely didn't think she was pretty. Okay, the last one really was a lie. Because Sophie Malkin was pretty. She had admitted that much to herself.

But it wasn't weird to think another girl was pretty. Girls could compliment other girls and not mean anything about it except the fact that they thought another girl was pretty. Chryssie was just reading too much into it. She already fancied someone and his name was Remus Lupin. So, she couldn't fancy anyone else. That's not how it worked.

"Deeeeniiiiial."

Tonks smacked Chryssie with the nearest textbook. It was their Potions one. Good. It was the heaviest.

Saturday 14th April 1979

Evans Home, 11:00

"You must think I'm mad," James said jokingly as she led him into her house.

It was just her and him in it this afternoon. Her parents were having a weekend together in Manchester and, of course, Chryssie was in school. It was her final year. NEWTs would be mere weeks away once Easter was over so she was soaking up what little of Hogwarts she had left as well as frantically revising if her last letter was anything to go by. And Petunia, well, she didn't come up much from London these days. Even though Lily had offered to Side-Along her up home to save 0n the travel expense. But she wasn't having any of "that freakish nonsense". Honestly, Lily was starting to believe that Petunia was never going to come around.

Not that that mattered right now. Not when she and her boyfriend were actually spending time together that didn't involve one of them falling asleep on the other or restaurants coming under attack. Of course, they were using this time to explain the finer points of a television but hey, at least they were spending time together.

"No, I don't think you're mad," she assured him. "Just curious."

"But it's something so silly."

"You've never seen 9ne before. Of course, you're going to want to know how it works."

That's just how James was. Lily could totally imagine him being the type of child that liked to prise things apart to see how they worked. Not that he was going to be allowed to do that to the television.

"I just don't understand how it works without magic," James admitted as they went into the living room.

"Muggles have lots of things that witches and wizards don't," Lily pointed out. "All with no magic."

"Yeah, but how does it work?"

"Electricity."

He looked both sceptical and intrigued.

"That thing that turns your light on?"

Lily nodded. "It powers things so it also lets us use the vacuum cleaner and hair dryers and all sorts of things."

"Things that we would use magic for."

"Yes, but also no. There's not a magical equivalent to the TV for witches and wizards, is there?"

"No, we have the theatre but so do you guys. Which makes the TV so cool and interesting!"

Okay, his enthusiasm and intrigue about a simple television was adorable and just a little bit infectious. Now Lily just wanted to show him everything you could do with it. Which, granted, wasn't a lot but still.

Their television was quite slick. It wasn't as clunky as some other people's and it didn't take much fiddling with the knobs to get a clear picture if the frequency wasn't exactly right. Not like her grandparents' one where you could miss the whole start of a show because of how hard it was to get a picture that wasn't fuzzy.

Her dad was drooling over one that had buttons instead of knobs to change the channels but her mum said it was way too much money to spend on a television. The look on her dad's face implied that he was going to try and find a way to win her over.

James went right up to the screen, so close that his nose was touching it.

"You aren't going to be able to see into it," Lily told him.

"But there is something behind there?"

"Well, yes," Lily floundered, not expecting that line of questioning. "The stuff that makes it work is behind it."

That's what she assumed, anyway. She hadn't exactly ever taken a TV apart to check.

"And you use these knobs to change channels and the volume," she said before he had a chance to think about taking it apart.

Then of course there had to be a quick explanation on what channels were and how they changed. It wasn't too difficult, James said it sounded a bit like how a radio operated which wasn't exactly wrong.

"That film you brought me to was so cool!" James said enthusiastically. "Does this TV show things like that?"

"Yeah. It does. Not all the time, though. They're usually scheduled for certain times."

"Aw."

"You can get video cassettes with the film on it and play it as often as you like," Lily told him, pointing to the machine under the TV.

"Any time?"

His eyes actually lit up at that.

"Any time," she confirmed. "As long as the video is in the shops."

"I'm getting one for the flat," James announced, still fiddling with the buttons.

Sunday 22nd April 1979

Hogsmeade, 12:30

"Remus? Remus!"

Remus turned around to face the street and smiled as he saw Dora run towards him.

Of course, as usual, this didn't not go well for her and she caught her foot on a stone. Which meant that she fell. He darted forwards to catch her just before her face hist the road.

"Woah, there. You okay?"

She wriggled out of his grasp, her face and hair bright red. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for catching me."

"No problem."

He didn't mind catching her, he really didn't.

They stood there in somewhat awkward silence. It was weird. When was the last time it had been just them? The last time he saw her they had been in a group. They were normally in a group when they hung out before splitting off and doing something together. Usually, Defence related.

"Hi," Remus said shyly.

What else was he supposed to say?

"I didn't know you were coming!" Dora said accusingly. "You should have told me you were coming! I would have met up with you!"

"I hadn't realised it was a Hogsmeade weekend," Remus told her a little white lie.

He had heard Lily tell James that it was a Hogsmeade weekend. Chryssie had told her. Which he normally wouldn't care about but he felt like he wanted to see Dora. He had asked James and Sirius but they both had things planned. James was spending the day with his parents - he was still worried about them after Christmas - and Sirius had to fix something with his motorbike at the garage. Merlin knows what that involved and, to be Frank, Remus wasn't sure he even wanted to know.

"Well, it is. It's so cool you're here," Dora said enthusiastically and looked around. "Did anyone else come?"

"Just me." He held up his bag. "Scrivenshaft's does the best quills."

Which they did. Remus got his quills here whenever he could. And he did need new ones so he didn't feel too bad about surprising Dora and not telling her.

"Oh."

Remus heart sank. Did she not want to see him? Was je too boring for her by himself.

But then a smile broke out across her face and she linked her arm with his.

"Want to go grab lunch?"

Wednesday 25th April 1979

Snape's Flat, 18:30

"D'you think he's eaten?"

"It's Severus, he almost definitely hasn't."

"He hasn't even taken his cloak and shoes off."

"Typical Shadow."

Severus cracked an eye open and grumbled, "Don't call me that."

He just got three satisfied grins in reply hovering over his head. It was creepy.

"Ah ha! It speaks!" James said.

"It breathes," Sirius added.

"It moves," Remus threw in, not wanting to be outdone.

They all turned to one side where Severus assumed Peter was.

"You guys took all the good ones," he complained.

"Have to be quick, Wormtail," Sirius taunted.

"You all need to go away," Severus told them, rolling over in an effort to go to sleep again.

Of course, his friends weren't having it at all and one of them decided to give him a push and make him roll off the bed and onto the floor. The hard floor.

"Alright, I'm awake," he grumbled.

He was doing a lot of that but could you really blame him? He was tired.

Of course, they didn't pay any attention to that. Because they were heartless.

"Come on," James said, pulling him upright. "You've been ignoring us long enough."

"I haven't been ignoring you, I've been tired. And you're one to talk! You've been the same until recently!"

"Yeah, but none of us spend extra time where we work just to read books."

"The Potions Master I'm apprenticing under has rare volumes," Severus defended himself. "Rare ones. That he lets me read. Me."

James and Sirius rolled their eyes while Remus gave him an understanding look. Because he was the sensible Marauder. And the only one who appreciated such things, let's be honest here.

And it was a legitimate excuse. He wasn't allowed to remove the books from the room they were kept in, he wasn't trusted enough for that and he doubted je ever would be. Severus was surprised he was now trusted enough for the man (whose name was Arnold Jigger) to not be in the same room as him while he was handling the book. Which meant he tended to lose track of time while he was reading. Once neither he or Master Jigger had realised that he had read through the night. That was definitely not a pleasant day, he was basically a zombie.

"Well, tonight you aren't doing anything with books," James said firmly. "And, Moony, you are not allowed to ask him about them."

Severus swore he could hear Remus' mouth snapping shut.

Lily chose this moment to walk in the still open door.

"Oh, I see that you got to him first."

"Come to drag him out?" James asked knowingly.

"Levitate, actually," Lily corrected. "I'm not strong enough to drag him but yes."

"I'm right here, you know?" Severus grumbled.

"Yes, and that's the problem," Lilt told him.

"It's a problem that I'm sleeping?"

"Yes."

Severus sulked. There was no need for all five of them to agree.

"You've all been busy too!" He accused. "There's evenings when you all aren't free!"

A briefly guilty look appeared on James' face before that stubbornness came back again.

"Yeah, but we're doing things."

"That aren't work related," Lily added as he opened his mouth.

Great. They were tag teaming him now.

Monday 30th April 1979

The Leaky Cauldron, 19:00

"This is stupid, isn't it?" Merton said absentmindedly as he swirled his glass in his hands.

"What's stupid?" Peter asked.

"This. Everything."

Well, that didn't exactly clear anything up for him, did it?

Merton jerked his head at the door where there was a security wizard. Which was a pretty good idea, Peter didn't know why other people hadn't thought of that. They were all probably relying on the Aurors but he knew from James and Sirius that they were stretched thin. And they were Trainees and they knew that!

"All these precautions and worrying."

"Well, it does keep us safe," Peter replied.

It was nice to be kept safe. He certainly didn't want to get hurt or worse. He shuddered just thinking about it.

Merton didn't seem to think so from the rather loud snort that he gave him. Peter frowned. Why wouldn't you want to be kept safe?

"Why do we need to be kept safe?"

And that confused him. What in Merlin's name did he mean by that?"

"Sorry?"

Merton sniffed derisively at him which Peter did not appreciate. It was hardly his fault that Merton wasn't explaining himself.

"Seriously, Pettigrew? Are you trying to be dense?"

"No!" Peter snapped back. "You aren't making any sense."

The man sighed heavily and slung back the dregs of his drink.

"I'm saying that we aren't the ones that need to be kept safe."

Peter looked at him blankly. That still didn't explain anything at all. Why was he being so... so annoying?

Oblivious to how annoyed he was making Peter feel, Merton continued, "I mean," he gestured at the two of them. "We're purebloods. Everyone in the office is. What do we have to be scared of?"

"Of getting hurt?"

Peter didn't like the idea of getting hurt. No thank you. No one liked getting hurt.

"Yeah, but they won't hurt the likes of us. We are mud- Muggleborns or halfbloods."

That was true. Peter frowned in thought. That was the Death Eaters whole thing. They wanted everyone to be pure-blooded.

"But they still kill purebloods," Peter had to point out."

"Because they try to kill them."

That... that kind of made sense? Of people were trying to kill you then you tried to kill them, right? Yeah.

With a satisfied look on his face, Merton leaned back in his chair.

"See? So, if we don't bother them, they won't bother us. We have other to worry about."

Banquet Hall, Ministry of Magic, 20:00

"We've done it," James said in amazement, looking down at his robes in amazement.

They were no longer the Trainee ones. No, these ones didn't have a drop of grey in sight. These were full-fledged, scarlet Auror robes.

"We did!" Marlene congratulated, holding a glass in the air.

"Hey, where did you get the champagne?"

It wasn't exactly a party or anything, just a table full of glasses of the stuff by way of congratulations. Couldn't ha e anyone drunk on Ministry time, after all. Couldn't have many people in to celebrate either. It was a security risk. So, it was just the trainees and whatever Aurors wanted to attend. It was still fun. Mainly because James was felling on top of the world because he was now an Auror! He looked down at the badge in his hand. He hadn't let it go yet.

"Over there," Marlene said, pointing to a crowd of the classmates. Graduates.

Alice emerged from the crowd clutching her own glass of champagne. She looked very happy as well. James had never seen such a smile on her face.

"Hey, Smith," Marlene said with the biggest smile she had ever given Alice (had she even ever given her one?).

Alice gave her a tight-lipped smile. "Yes, Marlene?"

She was probably expecting Marlene to go off on her or something. James couldn't blame her; he was kind of expecting that too. Hence why he was staying close at hand.

"Nice job."

That made Alice blink at her. To be honest, James was pretty shocked as well. You see, Alice was top of their class. Top marks in pretty much everything. Which was pretty damn amazing. But for Marlene to congratulate her on it? That was big. Big enough that Alice relaxed.

"Thank you."

"Just what is in that champagne?" James joked, trying to peer into Marlene's glass.

Dumbledore's Office, 20:30

"Ah, Remus," Dumbledore said with his characteristic smile. "Glad you could come."

As if he would actually turn down a request from Dumbledore. But he's, he was here.

"I haven't anything pressing to do," Remus replied instead, taking a seat when Dumbledore gestured for him to do so.

And that was polite talk for he had nothing to do at all. Except read but he could always read.

"How have you been?"

"I've been good," he replied automatically.

That actually got him a raised eyebrow from his old Headmaster. Most people just politely glossed over niceties like that.

"Really?"

And now je felt guilty for not telling the man the truth. Which was ridiculous but still.

"It's just that..." he trailed off uncertainly, not knowing how to put his feelings and thoughts into words.

"You're finding yourself at a loose end," Dumbledore said knowingly.

"Yes, sir." Remus said in relief, thankful that Dumbledore understood how he felt.

He just felt useless, that was probably a better word for it. He wasn't an Auror or a Healer, helping people who the Death Eaters affected. He wasn't someone influential so that he could sway people in the Ministry. Just what could he do?

"It's understandable," Dumbledore reassured him. "People like to be doing something worthwhile."

Remus tried not to make a face at that. He didn't need to be reminded that his job at the bookshop wasn't worthwhile. He already knew that. He mutely nodded his agreement."

"Well, it just so happens that I have a proposition for you."

Remus gave him a wary look. "A proposition?"

"For a task that I think you will be well suited for."

Now that got his attention.

Hogwarts, 22:00

Remus was in a daze when he left Dumbledore's office. Had that just happened? Had he been given his first actual mission for the Order that didn't involve him just listening for information? He had. He really had. Wow. This was definitely a contrast to what James and Sirius were doing tonight.

A mission. He had been given a mission. An actual, real mission. What? It was about Knockturn Alley too. Somewhere somewhat risky if you didn't know what you were doing. And he didn't. He was going to have to figure this out. Because he was an adult now. He had to solve his own problems.

Idly he wondered what Dora would think if it. Then he shook his head. Why was he thinking of what Dora would think? One, she wasn't even an Order member and two, what did it matter what she thought?

Anyway, less thinking about that and more thinking about how he was supposed to accomplish his task. Dumbledore didn't give him a time frame. Just "as soon as adequate information has been gathered".

What did that even mean?

Wednesday 2nd May 1979

Auror Office, Ministry of Magic, 08:45

"This is so cool," Sirius heard as soon as he came into the cubicle.

He and James were sharing one, thankfully. All new Aurors had to double up, that was just the way of it. Sirius didn't mind as long as he was with James.

He was a bit later than James because his so-called best friend had abandoned him this morning claiming he had been taking too long getting ready. Sirius didn't think he had been. It was important to look your best after all. First impressions and all that.

James was currently walking around their (small) cubicle, running his hand over everything like he couldn't quite believe that this was real. Sirius didn't blame him. He didn't really think it was real either.

He looked all around him. It didn't take long. It was a cubicle, after all. A small one. There were two desks on opposite walls that faced each other. A map of the United Kingdom on the wall and two filing cabinets. And a corkboard. That took up a wall by itself.

Not exactly how he thought an Aurors Office would be like but he didn't care. Because he was an Auror now.

"Hey, you already claimed a desk!" Sirius just realised.

"Yeah? You snooze, you lose!"