A/N: Whew… I've posted a lot of chapters in the past few days. I think I'm going to post only one more… maybe two … depending on the number of reviews. More reviews means more chapters.

So… I think we can all safely say that this has definitely turned into a Tonks/Harry vs. Harry/Hermione fanfic. Originally, I thought to include some other possibilities… Ginny and Harry, for instance… but the story just wouldn't allow it to come. It took on a life of its own.

I want to say thank you to everyone that has reviewed. I'm enjoying seeing everyone's ideas of where this fic should go, plus all of the constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Hopefully, I can take all of your suggestions and use them to get better.

Thanks… and see you soon…

O X O X O X O X O X O

ALL I CAN SAY

A pin could have fallen and everyone assembled into the room would have heard it like a gong sounding off… it was that quiet. No one seemed to want to break the effect, each lost in their own thoughts considering the enormity of what had just been revealed… everyone was struck stupid. Everyone, that was, except for the youngest people in the room.

The wizard sitting nearest the door opened his mouth several times, the desire to ask a question… to say anything… it was there, but nothing would come out. Instead, he hung his head and brushed back some of his prematurely graying hair from his face, his eyes suddenly more tired than they'd ever seemed before… and for Remus Lupin, that was saying a lot.

Movement from across the room drew many of the Order's attention, Headmistress McGonagall standing there, her mouth open and a look of having just been slapped across her bum on her features. At present, she was the only one still standing… Harry Potter, the young man who had effectively knocked everyone senseless, had sat back down and was sharing a look with Professor Tonks, who was currently rubbing her hand across his back in a show of comfort.

"Hermione?" Bill Weasley broke the silence of the room, his voice drawing everyone's attention over to where he was currently resting against the back wall. At her look, he smiled. "Just what exactly are we supposed to be looking for?"

Elphias Doge nodded, his raspy voice following immediately after. "Too true. Saying we need to find a large rock or jewel seems a bit…"

"Vague?" Mad-Eye Moody completed.

Kingsley Shacklebolt sighed from his seat directly across from where Harry had sat down. "Ridiculous."

"What!" Ron Weasley suddenly shouted at the larger wizard, his eyes alive. "Like you would have a clue as to what's really going on with You-Know-Who!"

His mother, Molly, looked scandalized. "Ronald Bilius! How dare you…"

The youngest Weasley male shook his head at his mother, his jaw set. "Harry was right… you know that?" The whole room started watching him. "He didn't want to tell any of you… we convinced him months ago. He gave in, but seeing you all react like this? Just proves him right."

"Mister Weasley…" Minerva tried to cut the young man off, but he continued shaking his head. "Professor Dumbledore chose Harry for this… Harry to save us all. And you know what? He's doing it. There were six of them to find. Six!" The room flinched as a whole. "Five are gone… and now that he asks for your help in find one… ONE… you act like this?"

"Son." Arthur walked up to him, gently resting his hand on Ron's shoulder,

Minerva McGonagall glared at Kingsley, who catching her gaze ducked his head and nodded. Sighing, he stood them. "I apologize. I was not referring to Mister Potter as being ridiculous, but rather the task of finding a needle in such a large haystack."

"It's actually not that bad…" Hermione offered weakly. Once she had their attention, she brushed her hair away from her face and looked at some of parchments sitting in her lap. "Going on the hypothesis put forth that it is something that was once possessed by Rowena Ravenclaw and then later passed down to Albus Dumbledore… a family history, wills… last testaments. We should be able to find some record."

"And there are plenty of people here that had been in Albus' office that could be researched in a pensive." Lupin offered from his corner.

The room began to break out in individual conversations, everyone breaking off and clustering into small gatherings. Tonks and Harry watched it all, his eyes darting about the Room of Requirement, the newest meeting place for the Order. A voice from his left pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Is this why you wanted access to his things?"

Harry looked up and nodded to the headmistress. "Yes, ma'am. Tonks and… and other people helping me suggested that Tom might want to, well, slap at Dumbledore by using something of his. I wasn't sure even really where to begin, but once Hermione got brought back into things… research and all, it was really just a matter of time."

At hearing her name, Hermione smiled brightly and drew closer to join the conversation. Harry only passingly noted that while both Tonks and Hermione were civil to one another, something between the two had changed… and not necessarily for the better. To drive the point home, Tonks intertwined her fingers with his and gave his hand a tight squeeze.

"Can I cut in?" Hermione's words were polite, but Tonks' eyes flared at the possible double-meaning.

Harry shot a quick smile towards Tonks before his attention turned to his former girlfriend. "Sure. Professor McGonagall was just asking about where we should start looking…"

"Yes. Quite." The headmistress nodded. "Most of Albus' personal effects were left to the school. Awards and memorabilia from his lifetime. Books were to be added to the library…" Hermione's eyes flashed. "But nothing has been moved since you asked to be able to go through everything."

He nodded as Luna walked up. True to form, Ron wasn't far behind, although he made sure to not stand too close to her.

Pursing his lips, Harry leaned back in his chair and absently began running his thumb across the back of Tonks' hand, eliciting a bright smile from the ex-auror. Tonks, realizing that he was pulling inward, his mind racing through possibilities, smiled as she leaned back with his keeping her body close to his.

"Talk out loud, Harry." She whispered, though everyone near them could hear what she said.

He looked over at her then, his eyes slowly regaining focus as he leaned over and kissed her cheek… an act he might have been less inclined to do in a room that included two of his Professors (not counting Tonks) and his headmistress. On her part, Tonks blushed at seeing Luna's knowing smile and Ron's roll of his eyes. She didn't bother to look and see Hermione's response.

Harry just shook his head, oblivious to everything else going on. "I wonder if we're trying to hard on all of this…"

Hermione cocked her head to the side. "Too hard?"

Nodding, Ron looked among the small group, only dimly aware that most of the other groups that had formed had started gravitating towards where they were. "I'm the first to look for the easy answer, Harry… but this is You-Know-Who we're talking about."

Tonks flashed a quick smile at Ron before returning her gaze towards Harry. "What are you thinking?"

He started sucking on his upper lip. "While there has been some pattern to his madness as far as the horocruxes go… I still think a lot of it was more opportunity than just what we are suspecting. I mean, the diary was by a sixteen year old Tom Riddle…"

At this, Hermione leaned forward. "I see… going by his ages at the time… and since all were before 1981…"

"Why 1981?" Ron asked. At the sudden look that everyone in the room was giving him, Ron blushed brightly. "Right. Sorry 'bout that. Halloween. 1981."

Shaking his head, Harry smiled very briefly and indicated that Hermione should continue.

"If he graduated from Hogwarts in 1945… "

"The diary was from 1943." Ginny Weasley's voice suddenly popped into the conversation. Everyone turned to look at her, to which she just smiled. "Well… if anyone was to know, it'd be me."

"Right." Harry nodded at her look. "He was at Borgin and Burkes after that… where he eventually got the cup."

"How did he get the ring and the locket?" Luna asked.

Tonks smiled up at the girl, her eyes suddenly as green as Harry's were. "Not how, Luna. When? The question is when? If we can figure out the order of when he made them…"

"We can trace his steps and figure out where he got them." Ron smiled at finishing the thought.

"Okay." McGonagall looked proud, her face alight in satisfaction. "But finding where they came from does little for where they are now."

"True…" Harry's eyes flared like living flame. "But he also has the disturbing habit of putting things close to where he either got the horocrux or where the victim for making it was killed."

"Well, then…" Arthur Weasley clapped his hands together. "What are we waiting for? Let's get to work."

O X O X O X O X O X O

"Luna?"

At the sound of his voice, Luna Lovegood turned around, her pale blue eyes moving directly to meet his… brown eyes that she knew so well… still dreamed of, at times.

"Yes, Ronald?"

She watched as the redheaded young man approached hesitantly, his face betraying how close he wanted to draw near to her, but his mind screaming at him to be careful. Even if she didn't care so much for him anyone could see the controversy running throughout his entire being. Luna waited patiently as he seemed to finally make up his mind, his steps much surer as he drew closer.

"I wanted… no. I hoped… hoped that we might talk." His voice was soft, almost lost in the dark hallway. "At the very least, I can escort you back to your tower."

Nodding, she turned and waited for him to walk next to her, their strides soon matching as they navigated the stone cooridors… the lateness of the Order meeting leaving them all but alone in the gloom of the ancient castle.

"You said you wanted to talk."

Ron jerked at her voice, his face flushing and his ears going bright red as he smiled, his face lightening up… though the smiles never seemed to fully reach his eyes. Sad eyes. "I wanted to again say I'm sorry for everything this summer…"

She stopped, bringing them both to an abrupt halt. At his questioning gaze, Luna reached up and pulled Ron's head down closer to hers, his face filling her vision before she closed her eyes to kiss him. He flinched at first, unsure, but Luna opened her mouth and ran her tongue across his lips… Ron instinctively reacting as she knew he would, opening his own mouth and the kiss deepened.

His hands tightened around her waist as her won pulled through his hair, her hands guiding his head as she moved into him, their bodies fitting so well together…

It was with a heavy heart and a small sigh that she broke the kiss. Luna smiled in satisfaction at seeing the dumbstruck look on his face, his eyes not bright, matching the rest of his face.

"Wow."

Luna smiled sadly. "Ronald… we cannot be together right now."

The happiness of the moment before vanished instantaneously as his eyes widened. "But… why did… and you… I don't understand, Luna… we can't be together? Then why did you kiss me?"

Sighing, she started walking again. Ron wasted no time in keeping up with her. "I wanted you to know how I felt about you… that I still want you, Ronald."

"Well if you bloody want me then why can't you bloody be with me? Is this still about those damned cookies and the spell?"

She ignored the harshness of his words. She deserved it. Luna shook her head. "I forgave you and Hermione long ago, Ronald… this has nothing to do with that…"

"Then what?"

"You should have someone that can be with you… give you everything. You deserve to have everything from the one you love." Her voice was wistful. "I've made… commitments. Promises. And that means that I can't give you everything… not anymore."

Ron's hands clinched into fists, his taller frame looming over her. "I don't understand… I love you, Luna… you're the only one that I want… and you want me, too. I know it. I could feel it in that kiss."

"I shouldn't have kissed you…" She continued walking, all of her efforts into keeping one foot in front of the other and to hold back the tears that now threatened to fall. "I just wanted to kiss you and you looked like you needed tat kiss…"

Ron laughed, though there was no humour in it. "I did… Merlin above, I did… but I need more… lots more, Luna. I need your kisses…"

She stopped in front of the Ravenclaw dorm entrance. Her eyes luminescent, the combination of unshed tears and torch light, she looked up at him. "Could you have just that, Ronald? Just my kisses? Just my body? Knowing that my soul was elsewhere?"

He looked at her then, his face near unreadable as it was covered by shadows. "I want you, Luna. All of you… but I would take what I could get. I love you… and I need you. And I know you love me, too."

The tears finally started running down her cheeks. At seeing her cry, Ron reached for her, but she darted from his grasp, quickly moving through the Ravenclaw's secret entrance… to a place where he couldn't follow.

The redhead turned then, his countenance dark… Luna's last words fading in the gloom of the evening. "I do, Ronald… Circe be merciful, I love you…"

O X O X O X O X O X O

Humming a soft tune, Tonks kicked her feet over the edge of the table, her legs well short of the floor as she waited. Harry had made a quick dash for the kitchens… the idea of a late night snack before they both snuck into her room sounding like a capital idea… once she planned to reward him for later… twice maybe if he remembered to get chocolate.

Even as late as it was, the sky seemed unusually bright… the stars in the sky adding the perfect garnish to the half moon high that sat directly overhead… the pale illumination casting an ethereal glow to everything.

She laughed at herself when she realized her thoughts. Trust in the fact that being in love with Harry Potter would have her waxing poetic on the way the moon made a magical castle look more… well, magical. Tonks couldn't help but let out a small giggle… the very idea. She was turning into such a… well… girl. Her mother would be thrilled.

Leaning back on the table, Tonks decided to match on her outside as she felt on the inside. Scrunching up her nose, she focused and allowed for her hair to fall down in cascading waves… a near black colour (probably since Harry filled her thoughts) spilling to below her shoulders. She lightened her eyes… not a dark violet like before, but softer… lilac. Her skin whitened, the glow coming from the moon on her flesh added to the look.

Without a mirror, she couldn't be sure, but she'd yet to fail at any look that Harry had not liked… well… all but for one, and that was only for therapeutic reasons.

Tonks was suddenly excited. She loved it when Harry saw her in new forms, the different reactions he offered her, the honest opinions of those things he liked versus those he didn't. She blushed at the memory of how he had stuttered through an explanation of how he liked her body lean and tight… with smaller breast… not the large tracks of land that other boys all seemed to drool over. Tonks ran a hand through her now longer hair as she waited.

"Nice look." Remus Lupin stepped out from the shadows. "Posing for a picture?"

Closing her eyes, Tonks sighed as she sat back up. Running into a former crush on a romantic night while waiting on her lover was not on her list of things to experience. Relaxing, she allowed the new form to melt away… the Tonks that everyone knew and loved was back.

"What's up, Remus?"

"I wanted to talk to you… I think there are some things that need to be said."

"Really?" This was so not what she needed right now. "About what?"

"You and Harry." He replied simply.

"Let me get this straight… you want to talk to me about Harry? Or about me and Harry… together.?"

Remus sighed, his eyes unusually bright in the moonlight. "What are you doing? You and Harry… Nympha…"

"Don't!" Her voice shot out into the quiet night. "What business it is of yours what is going on between me and Harry. We're both adults. We're consenting…."

"That's not what I meant…"

"Then what the bloody hell do you mean?"

"I wanted…"

"You wanted what, exactly?" Tonks interrupted. "To tell me how to live my life? Tell Harry how to run his?" She laughed then. "Better luck with me than him… and I'm not going to let it happen."

"He's like a son to me…" Remus sighed, his shoulders sagging. "I promised Sirius… and James and Lily."

"Well… he may seem a son to you, but he is a lover to me."

Remus flinched. Rolling her eyes, Tonks jumped off of the table and drew nearer. "What do you want? Are you here to tell me to leave Harry? I won't do it. To warn me of getting hurt? I've been hurt before…"

"Tonks…" She had drawn too close. Remus reached out, his arms grabbing hers and pulling her in for a kiss. Their lips touched…

It was only the surprise that allowed it to draw on for as long as it did. With a surge of strength, Tonks pushed at the larger man, his body suddenly away from hers, his eyes wild. She looked at him as he approached her again.

The crack of the slap across his cheek seemed to bring him out from whatever illusion he might have had regarding the kiss. His hand came up to the redness of his left cheek, his eyes wide as they fell to meet hers, the question there enough for her to want to slap him again.. or better yet, to break his nose.

Taking a moment to calm down, Tonks looked around… goddess, but if Harry had seen that. Her eyes flashing in anger, she stepped away from where the werewolf was still standing.

"How dare you?" It was all she could do to keep from screaming. "That you… for you to… and…" She began pacing, her hands in tightly gripped fists.

"I'm so…"

"If you so much as dare to try and apologize, I'll tell Harry everything."

"What?" Remus whispered.

Tonks tried to relax, failing miserably. "You kissed me. Me! I'm his… well… girlfriend, I guess. What do you call a teacher that's sleeping with her student… and one word out of you and you'll wake up next week in the hospital." She shot out at him, never looking at him.

"Tonks…"

"No, Remus. No." She stopped and looked at him. "I did care for you before Harry… I really did, and maybe things would have turned out differently. But you told me no… that it wouldn't work."

"I didn't…"

"Didn't know what you wanted?" She nodded. "Me, too. I think we could have had something special, Remus… but that ship sailed. I tried everything and you turned me away. You only started looking for me once I was gone."

"You and Harry…"

"I love him, Remus." Tonks smiled sadly. "I am so in love with him that it makes my teeth ache when we're together and my soul cry when we're apart. There's no one else for me while I've got him… and I'm going o do everything I can to keep him."

Remus looked at her, his expression near unreadable. "I didn't think… I thought it was…"

"You thought it was sex." She said dryly.

"Well… yeah." He stepped further away from her, his features becoming lost in the night's cover. "I don't think anybody really expected…"

"What?" She retorted. "I can't fall in love? It can't be something real and beautiful… it has to be something dirty and perverted?"

"I didn't mean…"

"I know." She huffed. "But you're not the only one. Hermione and all of hers won't leave me alone… the Weasley's barely looked me in the eye at the meeting. I thought Molly was going to explode when Harry kissed my cheek."

Remus chuckled softly. "I really blew it, didn't I?"

"Which time?" She leaned back on the table. "When you told me that there would never be anything between us? Or when you kissed me?"

"Both, I think."

Tonks nodded. "Harry will be back soon. You want to stick around and see him?"

The former DADA professor shook his head. "No. I think I'll put my tail between my legs and run away with what little dignity I have left after tonight…"

She smiled. "You are important to me, Remus. Harry, too."

Tonks watched as he nodded, more to himself than in response to her. "When are you going to tell him?"

Tonks blinked rapidly. "Tell him what? That you kissed me? I won't…"

"No." Remus reached into his cloak and pulled out a thick rope, most likely a portkey out of Hogwarts. "That you're in love with him."

"Oh. That." She shrugged. "Not sure. I was kinda hoping he already knows…"

"Never leave something like that to chance, Tonks." Remus smiled briefly. "Don't let something that means so much to you the chance to slip away…"

"Remus…"

"No." He turned back to face her. "I'm not sure that you and I could ever really have worked… but you were suddenly gone. I had to try. Sirius would have made me try…"

"Sirius would have made you try long ago." She smiled. "But he would have kicked your furry arse out of England for kissing his godson's girl."

"True… very, very true." He held up the rope. "Take care of him, Tonks."

"I will."

Reality warped, and suddenly Remus Lupin was gone. She sighed at the rollercoaster that her life had become… the emotional highs and lows. Straightening her shoulders, she glanced over at the archway leading into the castle and smiled.

"How long have you been there?"

Harry stepped out from the darkness, his eyes sparkling green. "Long enough to know that I'm glad I missed the part where he actually kissed you."

She worried at her lower lip, his temperament one that could swing either way… but she was pleasantly surprised as Harry moved over to her quickly, and brought her into a quick kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck as the kiss became something more… her heart suddenly racing as her body tightened in anticipation of him.

Pulling away, Harry laughed as he wrinkled his nose and then wiggled his eyebrows. "Eww…. Wolf breath."

"Prat!" She slapped at his arms, the laughter bubbling out from her mouth the only thing preventing her from chasing after him, "Where's the food?"

"Your room." At her questioning look, Harry shrugged. "I saw Lupin headed your way and I thought since he obviously wanted to talk to you that I could use the time to stash our feast."

"Feast?"

"Yeah…" He groaned. "Dobby's here."

She started laughing again. "Oh, boy…"

"So… you and Lupin okay?"

Tonks nodded as she interlaced her hand with his, the two of them walking towards her quarters. "I hope so. I really did like him, you know… I hate that he realized that we could've had something after it was too late."

"Is it too late?"

At his question, Tonks turned to look at him. She could so get lost in those eyes. Taking a deep breath, she nodded slowly. "Yes. Way too late. My heart is yours, Harry."

Harry smiled as he pulled at her hand, drawing her closer to her bedroom door. The feast of foods prepared by Dobby was all but forgotten by them both until much, much later…