"-'And now I'm about to do something even more ridiculous than that, something that you'd think was entirely stupid, especially seeing that it's probably going to get me killed'" Remus read, his expression a sullen mixture of sad and confused, "I have discovered the dark lord's secret, he is using an old, dark magic to keep himself alive, at least in part, or rather in parts. I know where one such fragment of the Dark Lord's being is. I plan to steal the item and destroy it, hoping that one day the rest will be destroyed also, and that he who must not be named will meet his match once he is mortal once again",

Tonks suddenly let out a loud, deep sniff, drawing the attention of the man reading,

Tears were running down both of her cheeks, and she was also hiccupping silently, picking at the moth bitten duvet beneath her.

"Here" Remus said pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and handing it to her,

"Thank you" she nodded, taking it from him, she then dabbed her eyes and sniffed again, "Keep reading" she said desperately, finally making eye contact with him,

She looked extremely serious, so very unlike herself, and her eyes were rimmed bright red and glistening with tears.

Remus nodded, and looked back to the book "'I never meant for so much to happen, I'm seventeen and I never thought that so much could happen in so little time. The only thing I ask is that you forgive me Sirius. Forgive me for taking the mark and for turning into something awful. But also forgive me the little things, if you will. The stupid brotherly arguments, the times at school when my friends would jeer at you and I'd join in, and all the times I was just a little less than kind to you. Forgive me. I love you my dear brother, and I hope that you can still love me in return. I hope that everything I do from this point on redeems me. R.A.B'" the werewolf then paused again and closed the small book slowly, "Regulus Arcturus Black" he said holding it out,

Tonks looked at him, and with shaking hands took the book from his hand, gripping it tightly,

"My cousin" she frowned, she then pulled her crossed legs up to her torso, holding the book right against her chest,

"Yes" Remus nodded.

"You must have met him, what was he like?" the metamorphmagus asked, looking to him hopefully,

The brunette shrugged helplessly and sighed, "I met him a few times, but I never knew him beyond him just being Sirius' younger brother", after a slight pause he stood from the bed and brushed the fine sprinkling of dust off of his lap, a sign that he had nothing more to say on the subject, whether he wanted to or not.

Tonks took in a raspy breath and looked down to her feet,

He was still as distant as ever, even after sharing that heart-breaking moment with her, even after sharing two in fact, the death of Sirius and learning the truth about Regulus,

There was silence between the two until the girl noticed that Remus hadn't moved since standing- perhaps there was more to say after all.

The werewolf sighed and sat once more, his head finding his hands, "He was a child" came the whisper from between his fingers, "He was a child and he died fighting a terrible evil. It- it's insane",

"It is, it's crazy that a kid tried to take on the Dark Lord all alone" Tonks nodded in response,

At this Remus looked up at her, a disgusted anger on his face now, "No, I mean us. The order. We're insane"

"What do you mean?" she replied, confused, entirely taken aback by his sudden change,

"By the very definition, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is insane. We think that throwing children into the fray will make a difference, we keep doing it and instead they just become martyrs… and Harry's next" he growled, gesticulating wildly as he did so.

Tonks had nothing to say, but a sick feeling was settling in the pit of her stomach,

"We're insane and sick and Harry will suffer for it" the brunette said bitterly,

"It's not like that Remus, Dumbledore knows what he's doing" she said in response, trying to reassure the man in any way she could,

"Does he?"

The question was harsh.

Silence fell between them again, but it was now thick and almost suffocating to sit in,

"I need to get out of this house" Remus said suddenly, standing from the bed once more,

"What? No" Tonks said quickly kneeling on the bed and trying to get closer to him, she managed to catch his sleeve between her fingers and hold his arm still, her eyes, now blue and sad staring deep into his own hazel eyes,

"Just for a while" Remus told her, "I just need to think",

The man was much calmer now, she could see that, in fact he only seemed desperate to leave.

Slowly, Tonks released her grip on him and sat back on the bed,

"I won't be gone long" the brunette said softly, but he froze on the spot, his eyes fixed on his unmoving hand which was resting on the door handle,

Remus then left the room.

The girl listened as he headed down the stairs and went straight out of the front door- not hesitating for a second longer,

Tonks felt numb, had Remus been right?

Just thinking he was, made her feel sick and guilty and all the more worried that they were fighting a losing battle- was this a battle that they couldn't win?

The metamorphmagus opened the book and skimmed over the small, scratchy writing, reading it again and again, making sure that nothing was missed. She couldn't help but feel terrible for Regulus, the cousin she never met who undoubtedly had experienced things way beyond his age,

Her eyes then fell to the wooden box that still sat at her feet, Sirius' memory box, his 'box of stuff' and a thought suddenly occurred to her,

Tonks jumped up from the bed, her socked feet and clumsy disposition almost sending her flying across the room when she touched down on the ground- but on this occasion, she was in such a rush, so focused and determined, that she recovered almost immediately, instead throwing herself towards the bedroom door.

She thundered down the stairs swiftly, using the banister to swing and shoot herself further downwards,

As she passed the covered portrait of Mrs Black, she heard grumbling and muffled hissing, but luckily she made it past without causing an uproar.

Tonks then slipped into the sitting room, finally stopping when she made it to the centre of the room,

She knew she'd seen it somewhere, somewhere in this room!

She then darted to the mantelpiece and rummaged through the dozens of framed pictures,

Most of the images were of Mrs Black, they were ugly, ugly pictures that Kreacher had saved and snuck back in, putting them back where he had saved them from,

And then she found it, tucked in at the back, in the shadow of the others.

The image showed Sirius and Regulus, both young and full of life,

They were perhaps seven and six, dressed in very smart clothes, the kind that Tonks felt were made just to embarrass children, and most importantly, they were both far too young to know anything beyond their own, and each other's immediate worlds.

They were smiling, laughing with one another, looking like brothers who loved each other and got along,

They were too young to be corrupted, too young to know hate or anger, they were too young to even guess what the future held.

Tonks picked up the picture and opened the back of it, her hands shaking violently as she removed it from the box of glass and wood; walking slowly she then began out of the room, heading back up the stairs and entering Sirius' room once more, moving as if a ghost through the house.

She sat on the bed, cradling the image in her hands, as tears once again started to build in her eyes,

She then took up Sirius' memory box and slowly slipped the photograph inside, lying it over everything else, nestling it with everything else that was important to Sirius.

Tonks wouldn't claim to know anything about death, in fact she would say that perhaps she knew even less than the average person as it was one subject she didn't like to dwell on,

She would say however that she was certain, far more certain than she had ever been about anything else, that somewhere, somehow, Sirius and Regulus were together, and despite the fact that he had never read the confessions of Regulus like she and Remus had, that Sirius knew what his brother had done and that he did indeed forgive him.