-

Tonks floated in darkness like a feather on air until a voice called her name.

She frowned. Was it time for patrol already? It couldn't be. She needed more sleep. Tonks flung a hand out to hit the snooze button on the wizarding alarm and felt cloth. She sighed happily. How had she forgotten that Remus had come to visit? He was so thoughtful, trying to wake her gently. Maybe she could seduce him into postponing his return to Salford. Eyes closed, she trailed her fingers down the sleeve to reach her lover's hand. "Come back to bed," she murmured, tugging his hand toward her heart.

"Merlin and Nimue!"

Tonks' eyes snapped open. It took a few seconds to recognise the woman who stood a few metres away. She jack-knifed upward. "Madam Pomfrey! What the hell are you doing in my room?"

The mediwitch said stiffly, "You are in my hospital wing." She adjusted her matron's cap. "Now, precisely why was I summoned, Professor Snape?"

"Auror Tonks fainted."

Tonks abruptly realised the hand she held so tight wasn't warm enough to belong to Remus. Not daring to look at Snape, she tried to let go. His fingers gripped hers warningly.

Pomfrey cleared her throat. "Ahem. I said, what were your symptoms, Miss Tonks?"

Toil and trouble, he'd been attempting to cue her to pay attention! "Erm," said Tonks, trying to think of something besides Legilimency overload. She wasn't about to tell what had really happened. "I, uh, felt nauseous. Maybe it was something I ate."

Pomfrey's lips thinned. "There has never been a case of food poisoning at The Broomsticks. When was the first day of your last menstrual period?"

"I don't know. I've taken contraceptive potion for almost a year and a half. What does that have to do with anything?"

The mediwitch gazed at a point over Tonks' shoulder when she said, "No contraception is one hundred per cent effective." Two spots of red appeared on the woman's cheeks.

Tonks' eyes flew to Snape. His expression was glacial. She finally realised what Pomfrey was driving at. "I'm not pregnant," she said, fighting the urge to laugh hysterically. "People faint for all kinds of reasons. Nausea, dehydration—even Muggles know that."

Pomfrey swished her wand about. The tip glowed yellow. "You are slightly dehydrated."

Snape released her hand to conjure a goblet of water.

Tonks said, "Thank you," and drank it down.

He refilled it four times.

"I hear my insides sloshing," Tonks said after drinking the final cup. "I'm sure I'll be fine. May I leave?"

"Tomorrow morning." Madam Pomfrey's tone was brisk. "On the slight chance that you suffer from a more serious malady than dehydration; your condition must be monitored."

"Monitored—meaning every time I fall asleep you're going to wake me up to ask how I feel?" Tonks swung her legs over the side of the bed. "No thanks."

Pomfrey's nostrils flared. "I must insist."

Tonks was set to argue when Snape moved into her line of vision. "I advise you to follow Madam Pomfrey's counsel," he said. "Goodnight."

"You're leaving?" Pomfrey asked the question Tonks might have if she hadn't caught the "until later" look accompanying the farewell.

"Unless you believe Auror Tonks in need of constant, personal supervision."

"No...no..." The mediwitch seemed mesmerised by Snape's low, silky voice. She snapped out of her daze the second he glided out of sight. "I will return to check your progress," she said distractedly, bustling out of the ward.

Was Pomfrey chasing after Snape to confess her burning desire or running to McGonagall to share juicy gossip? Tonks didn't care. She was glad to be left alone.

Her communication mirror was still tucked safely into an inner pocket of her Auror robes. Softly, she said, "Remus."

His face appeared immediately. Worry deepened the lines around his eyes. Tonks yearned to wipe them away. He said, "The children arrived safely? Harry—how did he look? Is he well?"

"The train arrived on schedule." Tonks bit her lip. "But there was an incident..." She took a deep breath and began her story.

When she paused after relating the scene at the gates, Remus said, "There's hope yet for Draco Malfoy. He had the opportunity to kill Harry and didn't take it."

"I hadn't thought of it that way."

"Have you thought of why Severus mentioned your Patronus?"

"I asked him about it after I patrolled the school." That was one way to put it. Tonks decided to further condense the sequence of events, ending with, "And so I'm spending the night in the hospital wing."

Remus didn't comment. He continued to regard her steadily. It was easy to imagine the same look being used on a student who had fallen asleep in class. Under that professor-y gaze, the schoolgirl Tonks would have confessed that she'd stayed up all night to write an essay assigned weeks prior. The unspoken demand for further explanation worked on women, too. Tonks blurted, "Okay. I sort of provoked the Legilimency by taking a swipe at him."

"Define 'swipe'."

"A scratch, to prove the wounds weren't cursed."

"That was foolhardy," Remus said sharply. "Severus is deathly afraid of werewolves. He could have killed you."

"He didn't."

"Still, you take too many risks."

Her stomach clenched. What was Remus trying to say, that she should do her duty and bide her time like a good girl? She said, "And I'll take more if I have to. I won't give into Dawlish, I won't give up on brewing Wolfsbane Potion, and I won't stop coming to see you!"

"You have restricted duty this month."

"Then I'll see you in my dreams."

Remus' lips twitched.

Tonks grinned. "Not those kind of dreams. The ones we shared on full moons when we couldn't be together." She expected him to smile. He didn't. She started to feel uneasy. "What's wrong with that?"

He didn't meet her eyes. "Since you used blood magic to bind the wolf, he's grown progressively stronger. This time, he forced the change."

"How—"

"—he clawed his way out at moonrise." Remus paused, as though reliving the memory. "Before that, it took moonlight."

She chose her words carefully. "If you've grown stronger because of our bond, it makes sense he has too. Is that so bad?"

"Yes, it is," Remus said heavily. "For as long as I can remember, I've fought to subdue my animal nature, to keep it as weak as possible."

Tonks couldn't remain silent. "Maybe you were wrong to fight it," she said. "We've had this talk before. You promised to try and accept—"

"—I have tried."

Was he about to tell her he had tried and failed? What if he wanted her to break the bond with his wolf? She wouldn't, even if she could. Footsteps in the outer corridor gave her an excuse to avoid the subject. "I love you for that," Tonks said hurriedly. "I love you so much, I'd love to talk all night, but I think Pomfrey's returning to check my vital signs or something so I'd better go. Goodnight. I love you."

"I love you too. Goodnight."

She slid the mirror into her pocket and flopped down on the narrow mattress. The footsteps she'd heard only faintly grew more distinct. "I'm still alive," she said. "Try not to be too disappointed."

"Why should I be disappointed?"

Snape stood at the foot of the bed. Tonks sat up. "Not you. Pomfrey. She thinks I'm standing between her and constant, personal supervision."

He made a noncommittal noise.

Tonks changed the subject. "Told you I wasn't a werewolf," she said, pointing to his hand.

Snape held up his palm. It was completely healed. "I had reason to believe otherwise."

"Yeah? What?"

"You smelled like an animal."

"Like an animal?" Tonks gaped incredulously. "I might have slept next to a wolf, and not taken a shower after s—sunrise…." She trailed off. Her face was growing hot. "Okay, you had reason, but don't try to force Legilimency on me ever again!"

Snape curled his lip. "Or you'll faint again? I shall endeavour to avoid such a possibility at all costs." He left and did not return.

Tonks gradually fell asleep to dream of running through the forest, chasing a wolf that refused to stop or look back when she called. The dream was so upsetting; she didn't mind Madam Pomfrey waking her to ask if she was in pain and didn't grumble when the mediwitch returned to check vital signs throughout the night.

-

Remus experienced a pang of guilty relief to end his conversation with Nymphadora. If he had admitted his second thoughts about their bond, she would have been upset. She wanted him to accept the wolf, to embrace it as freely as she did.

The thought made him flinch. Although blood magic enabled Remus to have a better understanding of wolfish instinct and drive, that empathy only went so far. He never wanted to be one with the animal. He wasn't a werewolf by choice.

It was impossible to fully convey to Nymphadora the difference between her experiences as a wolf and his own. On full moons, she took animal form in dreams. Her mind shifted patterns to adapt, but she was still human. Her wolf form was an illusion. She understood that. What she couldn't quite grasp was how complete his transformation was. His thoughts didn't merely shift. They were forced into a corner of his psyche while his brain and body conformed to the likeness of an animal. While the vestige of consciousness he retained might influence the wolf, it had no control.

For a man who cherished his humanity, the loss was torturous.

Knock, Knock, Knock!

Will called through the door, "Kemp's here. Dix wants to see you."

"I'll be there shortly." Remus placed the communication mirror in a hidden pocket inside his robes and went downstairs.

Kemp was standing near the front door, facing Will. "The boss only asked for Lupin," he said.

"Did he say Lupin only? If he didn't..." Will smiled persuasively.

"He did." Kemp chuckled. "Maybe next time, pup."

Will bristled. "I'm not a pup. I'm a full pack member. I should be trusted same as you."

"Kemp isn't trusted," said Remus, striding into the room. "None of us are. Trust is a luxury Dix can't afford."

"I didn't peg you as a cynic, Lupin." Kemp scratched his chin. "You struck me as the hope for the best type."

"I do hope for the best." Remus opened the door, looking directly at Will. "I also prepare for the worst."

Outside, Kemp bit at his thumbnail. "Why'd you say that to the pup? You expecting Dix to be mad or you or something?"

His partner's visit; the status of his assignment for Dix; his cover blown; there were several reasons Dix could be angry. Remus shrugged. "Or something." He saw a dinged-up white and black idling at the kerb and asked, "Aren't we meeting him at the pub?"

"No. His place. Get in."

The Squire Cab zoomed through city streets to reach the motorway. Remus caught glimpses of the Muggles they passed. Some drivers sang. Some talked into tiny phones or to their passengers. In one car, a mother and father talked in the front seat while a dark-haired girl and a boy slept in the back. As the cab squeezed between the car and a lorry, the boy yawned and opened his eyes.

"Tell me that kid didn't see us!" the driver yelled.

"'Course he didn't," Kemp said.

Remus remembered the amazement on the boy's face and smiled.

The cab stopped in front of a house that looked Muggle at first glance. Large, brick, and situated on a manicured lot, it had an attached building that could have passed for a garage—if the builder had included doors.

Dix ushered them inside. He was dressed in business robes.

"You have a lovely home," Remus said politely.

Dix snorted. "Brenda wanted to live in Wizarding Wilmslow, so I let the place. Now she hates the isolation and says the neighbours are snobs. We'll be moving back to the city at the end of the month."

"The pack will be glad to have you closer, sir," said Kemp. He cringed when steely blue eyes turned his way. "Will there be anything else, sir?"

"No."

"Right. I'll see myself out."

Dix warded the door after his messenger left. "The neighbourhood is infested with Witch Guides. They're always selling something." He led the way through the house, saying dryly, "They would make good werewolves. The girls travel in packs, relentlessly tracking down their prey."

In a study devoid of books, the pack second sat on a leather settee next to a round-faced, middle aged wizard. Cleave nodded to Remus when he entered. The other man jumped to his feet. "Mr. Lupin! As Mr. Fletcher told you, I am accustomed to a diverse clientele, but never in all my years of practice have I been forced to attend a meeting at wandpoint!"

Remus said calmly, "I'm sure Mr. Cleave meant only to ensure your safety, Mr. Nelthorpe."

A gleam of humour flashed in the bodyguard's eyes. "Indubitably."

Nelthorpe said, "I require no such consideration in the future." He waved impatiently toward the desk. "Go on. Sign the paperwork, Mr. Lupin. I have a glass of elf wine and an imported cigar waiting at home!"

Remus turned to Dix. The pack leader's smile was predatory. "Even a sham corporation requires a board to run it. You hired the solicitor; I'm rewarding you with the position of Co-Chairman." He held out a quill. "Sign and Black Wolf Brewery is officially in business."

"Sign my name?" He couldn't sign his name to a fraudulent document. Not even for the Order. His good name was all he had.

Dix barked with laughter. "Sham and real don't mix. Look at the document."

Remus walked forward. "Chairman, Tom Wolfe," he read aloud. "Treasurer, James Wolfe." He looked toward the sofa.

Cleave grinned. "Aren't all wolves brothers?"

Dix placed the quill in the ink pot. "Sign, brother."

If he didn't sign, his cover was blown, and there would be no brewery to provide jobs for werewolves in Salford. Remus was reminded of the time he impersonated Peter Pettigrew. He could hear Nymphadora say, "Placed in a tough situation, you did the right thing."

He bent and signed John Wolfe to the document.

-

A/N: I'm so thankful to readers who stay with the story even when it's updated only every other week! I'm going to do my best to make it weekly, even if I have to post shorter chapters. The readers who reviewed the last chapter and made me glad just to be sad not to give them another chapter sooner were...40/16, alix33, Alone All Along, Cad2u, Calenmarwen, ElspethBates, Enorance, excessivelyperky, FNP, Freja Lercke-Falkenborg, GraceRichie, IrishCailin16, ishandtwofourths, Kates Master, Ladyofthebookworms, lbf1412, ladyofthelight101, MollyCoddles, Moontime, Mrs.Hermione Jane Weasley, obliviate36, Operamuse, Phoenixtear19, RahNee, Silverlake, Slipknot3113, Siriusblack18, siriuslycoco, sunny9847, tambrathegreat, Too.Nice.1108, twouble, UnderworldBabe, your nightmare, WriterMerrin, and Ziroana.