First things first. A Massive thankyou to everyone who has reviewed my story so far, you make my day. You really do. This is chapter three of Perfectly Aligned, I really hope you enjoy it (it's massively fluffy, yay!) and I will keep you no longer.

Firewhiskey Girl

Tonks sat at the table at grimauld place that evening, uncharacteristically quietly. She had just witnessed the extremely heartwarming yet monumentally saddening argument between Sirius and Molly over Harry. Her heart went out to all three of them. Molly and the motherly position she had taken when it came to Harry. Sirius and his indignation and frustration that only thing that he had responsibility for, he wasn't allowed to look after, and to Harry; who simply wanted to know the truth.

When the meeting had finished she was looking forward to settling down with a glass of firewhiskey and her favourite book. As she made her way out the door, she heard somebody call her name. Lupin caught up with her outside.

'…Tonks! Do you fancy coming back to mine for a drink? Kingsley needs to kill some time before his shift and I haven't thanked you properly for everything you did for me today.' He smiled at her, there was just something about his smile made her insides melt like butter.

'I'd love to' She said, hoping she hadn't replied too quickly. 'And it was nothing, really' She grinned back. Kingsley waved pleasantly at her as he walked up towards them before he turned on the spot and disapperated. Lupin looked at her expectantly for a moment before he seemed to realise.

'Of course! You haven't been to my house before, have you?' He said, cheerfully. Tonks shook her head, cursing the colour that she knew was rising in her cheeks. 'Here…' He wrapped his arm casually around her, holding her close to his chest, then disapperated too. Even though she hated side along apparition with every fibre of her being, she enjoyed this moment enormously. His arm was wrapped tightly around her and even though she felt like she was being sucked through a tube, the butterflies in her stomach were for a different reason. Then before she knew it, the journey was over and it suddenly seemed ridiculous that one person could make her heart race like that.

Once they were inside, Tonks took a look around. Everything was so… Lupin. From the Navy, slightly battered couch down to the huge stacks of books, occupying one of the wooden shelves on the wall. A fire was lit in the grate and Kingsley, who had obviously been here before, threw himself into the armchair before taking off his cloak and saying 'Just a butterbeer for me please Remus, I've got to go back out in a few hours' He leant forward, took the copy of the Daily Profit from the wooden coffee table, rested his feet in its place and began to read.

'I don't envy you.' Remus said from the kitchen, already holding a bottle of butterbeer. He threw it to Kingsley who caught it with one hand. 'What do you want Tonks?'

'I'll have a firewhiskey if you've got it' She replied, sinking back into the sofa. It had been a long day. Remus returned with two glasses and a bottle of firewhiskey, he placed them on the table and sat down next to Tonks. He then began to pour the amber liquid into the glasses.

'Huh…' He said aloud, as if he were pondering something.

'What?' Tonks asked.

'I just didn't have you down as a firewhiskey Girl, that's all.'

'Well, I'm full of surprises.' She replied cheekily, Kingsley chuckled.

'I heard about you're little disagreement with the head legal office' He said in his deep, rich voice. He chuckled again 'Made my day. I wish more people would take a leaf out of your book… I still can't believe you threatened to fire them all!' He burst out laughing 'I mean they're your bosses!' Lupin joined in, chuckling. Kingsley stopped for just long enough to gasp 'And they believed you!' This caused all three of them to laugh harder. And just like that, conversation started.

They talked for ages about the Order, Harry, Sirius and Work. There was a little dispute about Quiddich, after which several bets had be made about the outcome of the world cup. Tonks was really enjoying herself. Lupin was so easy to get along with; they shared opinions, quiddich teams and a sense of humour. It was almost unnerving how much they had in common. Kingsley was great to be around too, she got the impression that he was a very good friend to Remus, second only to that of Sirius. Kingsley also found Tonks incredibly funny, especially so when she was telling them a story from her Auror training days a couple of hours later. At this time, both she and Kingsley were sat on the floor and the bottle of firewhiskey on the table had become substantially emptier.

'So…' Tonks continued over the sound of Remus and Kingsley's laughter 'When it came to the inspection' She was laughing so much it made it hard to continue 'He was walking… walking down the line.' She gasped for breath 'He got to Chester, and he was staring at his own beard…' Lupin laughed harder 'His own beard! On Chester's face… and then' Tonks became incapable of speech.

'What happened?' Kingsley asked, wiping his eyes on his sleeve

'He gave him full marks!' Tonks cried, giggling hysterically. This was too much for Lupin; he was bent over double, clutching his side when he fell right off the couch, onto the floor. The image of somebody marking the quality of their own beard in a disguise exam continued to amuse them for a while.

'Of course I completely aced that exam' Tonks grinned, when she'd stopped laughing. 'It was the least I've ever had to work for anything.'

It was at this moment that she realised her and Remus' arms were touching. Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to ignore it. She didn't move her arm, neither did Remus. She knew he must feel her skin, brushing against his. But neither of them budged. Instead they kept the innocent contact for a bit longer. Tonks' face flushed a darker shade and the three of them sat in silence for a half a minute, thinking.

'Well' Said Kingsley, looking at his watch and sounding genuinely disappointed that their evening was being cut short. 'I've got to go now.' He sighed and stood up, Remus stood up too. 'Thanks so much for the drinks, Remus' He gestured at the couple of empty butterbeer bottles on the table. He then addressed Tonks as he held out his hand to help her up. Saying quietly and only half seriously into her ear 'Don't let him drink any more. He's getting through that bottle pretty sharpish without your help.' He winked at her and she laughed. They said goodbye once more and then he was gone.

Lupin turned to her and smiled. 'Tea?'

'Tea would be perfect.' With a wave of her wand, she cleared away the drinks and Remus made the tea. About a minute later they were sat side by side on the sofa both holding a steaming mug and talking quietly. They talked for a little bit about Kingsley, Lupin seemed to open up to her. Talking honestly about how Kingsley had been there for him during some bad times and how they became friends. Tonks guessed that his honesty was owed to the fact he was drunk. She had drank three firewhiskys, which in her opinion was three too many and Remus had drank significantly more than that. After a while the conversation changed to their shared hatred of Slasior Zain.

'He asked me out you know?' Tonks said, looking up from the dregs at the bottom of her empty mug at Lupin. Lupin choked on the ends of his tea.

'He what?' Remus' brow narrowed, he was looking at her with an expression she couldn't work out. '…Seriously?'

'Yes' Tonks laughed. She didn't know why she chose to tell him this. 'Twice, actually'

'…and you said…'

'I said no of course!' She cut in. Then she began to tell the whole story, along with her theory that her rejection was the reason behind his rudeness to her and Beth. They talked for a bit longer until it really was time for Tonks to leave. Lupin walked over to the front door with her and opened it.

'Thank you' Tonks said as she stepped out into the cold. 'I've had a really good night.' Lupin looked up at her face, she meant it.

'Me too' He replied. Then, without thinking about what he was doing in his semi drunken state, he leant forwards and kissed her on the cheek.

'Goodnight' He said quietly. She simply stared at him. His face already began to flush with humiliation.

'…Goodnight' Tonks could barely speak for shock. She turned round, still not quite believing that he'd done it. Her cheek was tingling and her mind was racing. She didn't seem to care how awkward it was going to be the next morning as she disapperated on the spot, a smile playing round her lips and her heart dancing in her chest.

Beth listened with rapt attention to every single detail as Tonks recounted the story of the night before. By the end she was grinning from ear to ear.

'You like him!' She sang smugly, throwing her feet onto her desk and surveying Tonks over her parchment. 'You really, really like him!'

Tonks didn't look up from her work; she knew the colour of her cheeks would give her away. This was pointless as the colour of her hair gave her away anyway. She could hear Beth laughing as she tried to concentrate on the file in front of her.

'Keep it down' she heard somebody drawl. It was Zain, who had just strolled into the room. There was an uncomfortable silence. Both she and Beth knew that he had done nothing to try and help Tonks the other day when she was very, very almost fired. On the contrary, he almost seemed to be doing the opposite. Beth glared at him and spent the day making occasional loud farting noises with her hands then throwing him dirty looks. Tonks grinned; she honestly had no idea what she would do without her.

The rest of the day was relatively boring; there were no operations to go out on. So she spent it reading reports and drawing out complicated maps of potential and sighted criminals. There was only one thing on her mind however as the day drew ever closer to an end. She knew who was going to be on guard duty that evening, and she was quite keen to go and visit him. At the end of the day she was all prepared to have to shake off Beth to sneak down to the department of mysteries. But to her surprise, Beth left almost instantly, without even saying goodbye. Tonks frowned slightly as she watched her leave, she had been acting strange today… well stranger than usual.

She shook this thought from her mind and hurried out of the office. Striding quickly along the corridor she reached a lift, looked around then descended, unnoticed down to the department of mysteries.

Lupin was sat, alone in the almost pitch black. This was his least favourite thing to do. The guard hours were long and very boring, he was also freezing cold. He was sat on the icy, hard stone floor underneath Mad-eye Moody's invisibility cloak, his knees pulled up to his chest. He held his wand tightly in his hand and looked out pointlessly into the darkness of the corridor stretching in front of him. And then he heard something that made his heart pound furiously in his chest. What was that?

He could hear slow, echoing and completely unmistakeable footsteps. He gripped his wand and braced himself, his heart beating in his throat. Somebody was out there and they were getting closer and closer to him.

In the dim light he saw a figure standing above him. His stomach lurched in fear. Without missing a beat he lifted his wand and stunned them. The figure crumpled on the spot with a sickening crack of skull hitting stone. He lent forwards to investigate the person, collapsed in front of him and he felt his heart plummet.

'Oh no' He whispered aloud to himself. His voice echoed in the silence.

Tonks lay, as pale as a sheet, her eyes shut peacefully as if she was just sleeping. There was a horrible pool of crimson where her head had hit the stone floor.

Something happened when he saw her. Something stirred up inside him that he'd never felt before. His heart seemed to burn inside his chest. There was a painful wrench that grew stronger and stronger, the longer he looked at her. Emotion began to rise up inside him like the tide; it was unexplainable, unreasonable and completely unstoppable. Without using words without even using thought, he seemed to realise something. He couldn't lose her.

He heard two glass bottles of what was obviously butterbeer rolling away to a stop on the floor. He began to panic. What had he done?

'Shit! Shit!' He hissed to himself, throwing his wand to one side. He had to get her out of sight. He knelt over her and easily picked her up in his arms. He then pulled her over onto his lap, her head rolled to rest onto his chest, still bleeding slowly. Somehow he managed to pull the cloak over to cover the pair of them. He felt around for his wand. Once he got hold of it he vanished the blood on her face and on the floor with a flick of his wrist. Hands shaking, he examined Tonks in his arms. His panic evaporated as soon as it had come. The damage wasn't as bad as he'd feared. Muttering under his breath, he healed the wound on her head and revived her from the stunning spell. Slowly she began to stir and Lupin became very aware that she was still in his arms. She gasped, unable to see in the darkness 'What's going on?' she said loudly, confused.

Lupin clamped his hand over her mouth in a jerk reaction to the sudden noise. She let out a muffled scream. 'Shhhh' Lupin hushed her furiously, he didn't want to think what would happen if they were found.

'…Remus?' She breathed 'Is that you?' He could feel her hot breath on his skin. His heart began to pound again, but this time it wasn't in fear.

'Yes, sorry. I stunned you by accident.' He whispered, cringing at how stupid it seemed. There was a pause, in which Lupin realised he was still gripping her tightly to his chest. For some unknown reason he didn't seem to want to let go. He instantly loosened his grip. He could feel her shaking with silent laughter 'you idiot!' She giggled, her words weren't angry, but affectionate. He helped her to move. She settled herself beside him and reached for the two abandoned bottles of butterbeer. They were very close together under the cloak. Tonks looked up and he could just about make out her face, her eyes glittered at him.

'I came down to keep you company' She whispered. Smiling, she held out one of the bottles. 'You didn't have to stun me for it' She laughed quietly again, Lupin joined in as he took it from her.

'Thank you' He grinned at her, unscrewed the top of the bottle and drank. After a little silence he wondered aloud 'It's so gloomy here isn't it?' He gestured round the damp, dark stone walls and floor. 'I don't think I'd like to work in there' He looked round his shoulder to stare at the door they were leaning against.

Tonks took a sip of butterbeer. 'No, me neither. If I'm being honest with you, the department of mystery lot are all a bit funny, never talk very much.'

Lupin smiled 'Probably why they're called unspeakables.' He thought for a moment 'Aren't you curious though? I mean, what do you think is in there?'

'mmm…' Tonks thought hard for a while. 'I have no idea. It's probably full of things that humans can't possibly understand.' She looked at Remus before adding, cheekily 'Maybe Snape's dress sense is in there.'

Lupin snorted loudly, he covered his mouth to stop himself spraying butterbeer everywhere, before melting into a fit of silent laughter. Tonks tried to shush him but she too was giggling quietly, she loved how he always laughed at her jokes, they seemed to share a sense of humour. If she ever found something funny in an Order meeting she would always catch his eyes, glinting impishly at her. They would share the joke silently and whoever was talking would continue, oblivious that what they had just said was amusing in the slightest.

They passed a lot of time talking and joking quietly with each other. Remus was bursting with gratitude, she had turned what was going to be a long, boring and lonely night into the most fun he'd had all week. She had an uncanny ability to raise his spirits, he was never really unhappy when she was around. He wondered if she had this effect on everyone.

The hours ticked by slowly as the pair talked themselves hoarse about anything and everything, the whole time, making extra care to be quiet. Tonks felt as if she was getting to know him better and better by the second. They talked about their childhoods and where they grew up. They discussed their time at Hogwarts and told story after story; some happy, some sad, some hilarious and some, heartbreaking.

It was the early hours of the morning before Tonks really felt the full working day combined with the lack of night's sleep take effect. It was very warm with just the two of them huddled under the cloak and as their conversation began to slow a little, she felt her eyelids become impossibly heavy. They sat in silence for a little while and before she knew it, her head had dropped onto Remus' shoulder and she was drifting off into sleep. Remus didn't move an inch. He could feel her chest, rising and falling slowly as she slept, her cheek resting on his shoulder. He knew he should probably wake her up, tell her to go to bed but he couldn't bring himself to. She was so peaceful, so perfect that he didn't dare move a muscle in case he ruined it. After about ten minutes he noticed goosebumps rising on her arms, she was shivering. Remus wasn't quite sure what compelled him to do so but he shrugged off his cloak and with one hand, covered her with it. So Lupin finished the last hour of his shift in the freezing cold, listening to her gentle breathing as she slept, slumped against his side.

There you go :) Please let me know what you think, and feel free to review with any critiques you have or mistakes you've noticed. Thanks to ThisLoveHasNoCeiling for letting me know I kept on spelling Kingsley wrong! Untill next time, take care xxx