Hello again! All my cyber love goes out to you guys for the lovely reviews on the last chapter, you rock! This is chapter number four, lots of lovin' but I've injected some plot in there as well ;) I really hope you like it xxx

Tonks made her way up to the atrium the next morning with a huge smile that she just couldn't shake off her face. She ran last night through her mind over and over again. It had been so romantic! Tonks knew she was being foolish, she knew Remus would never feel that way about her, but she couldn't help it. Every time she thought of him it was as if somebody let fireworks off in her tummy. Today was her day off, but she decided she would HAVE to tell Beth everything that had happened before she went, even if she would have to alter the story to exclude the Order of the Phoenix. She was so preoccupied; she didn't spot the figure ahead, waiting in the shadow of a corridor for her to pass. She was just thinking of how she was going to start her story when she felt somebody grab her arm and pull her into an empty office. The lights were low but she recognised the man at once.

'Zain! What the hell do you think you're playing at?' She asked, rubbing her arm furiously.

'Calm down, Tonks' He sneered back, amusement in his voice but something that resembled panic in his eyes. What was going on?

'What do you want?' She asked impatiently, a steely note to her voice

'You'

'That's a bit vague' She responded dryly

'I need you to give me the location of Dumbledore's secret weapon' Tonks looked blankly at him. What was he on about? The whole of the order knew that the secret weapon was the prophecy and was in the department of Mysteries. Unless… Zain had been away on Order business when they were told that. Tonks now knew that was no accident on Dumbledore's behalf. He spoke again 'Dumbledore told me to get the location from you at the Ord-'

'Shhhh!' Tonks hissed 'Not here! Are you as stupid as you look?' He must have thought she was an idiot. She may be one of the youngest members of the Order of the Pheonix, but by no stretch of the imagination was she weak. And there was no way she was going to tell him that Dumbledore's secret weapon lay a few floors beneath their feet.

He looked angry at her 'Don't be stupid Tonks. Tell me what it is.'

'What it is?' Tonks replied, she didn't trust him and she wasn't sure Dumbledore did either. He took a step forwards, she took one back; he gripped her arm tightly in his hand

'Get off me' Tonks replied at once, her wand at his throat. He obeyed immediately. She stared into his face, his features seemed to return to his normal sneer.

Beth had disappeared from her mind, which was set on heading to Grimauld Place. She needed to talk to Dumbledore immediately.

Tonks' conversation with Dumbledore was short and very frustrating. He listened to her story carefully in silence, and then stared at her for a little while. Blue eyes blazing he asked her one question – 'Did he threaten you?'

'No' Said Tonks, surprised that this was the thing he was focussing on. Dumbledore relaxed, and then seemed to dismiss the matter, saying only one thing.

'Slasior Zain, is not the most agreeable person in the world. I, myself do not care for him, but he isn't going to betray the Order.'

'But- sir- I…'

'I know he isn't.'

'Then why didn't you tell him about the prophecy'

'It must have slipped my mind.' He said without hesitation. Dumbledore's word seemed so final, that she didn't bother to argue. So Tonks left it at that.

By this time it was about nine in the morning, Tonks hadn't had much sleep at all. After asking (very casually) where Lupin was, she discovered that he'd gone back home to catch up on some sleep. This seemed like a very good idea indeed.

A few minutes later she was letting herself into her flat, it struck her then just how tired she was. Once she was in, she took of her cloak and made to throw it on the couch. To her surprise, however she discovered there was already somebody on it. Beth lay curled up, her head resting on a pillow as she breathed deeply. She looked as if she had waited for Tonks to arrive but had fallen asleep in the meantime. In a moment of panic, Tonks looked round at the pile of Order notes, left on the side by Lupin. Sure enough, she saw they had been rifled through, it was clear that somebody had been reading them. She cursed herself for not putting them away sooner.

Tonks had always felt guilty when she had to lie about the Order in front of Beth. It had been her intention to get Beth to join, but Mad-eye had stopped her. She could remember his words exactly- 'Not yet- the girl is under every ministry surveillance available at the moment, it's too risky…for us and for her.'- She remembered Mad-eye being disappointed, Beth was very good. Why she was under surveillance, they weren't quite sure. But Kingsly was convinced it was because the ministry got an anonymous tip off that she was working against them.

She stared down at her peaceful looking friend and sighed. Tonks was, of course wondering why she was there, but she didn't have the heart to wake her. She covered Beth with a blanket and wrote her a note before going into her bedroom. Tonks yawned widely, her mind, although worrying about Beth was too full of happy thoughts about Remus and sleepiness to keep her up. She changed into her pyjamas and as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was asleep.

Tonks awoke that afternoon to find Beth had left. She wanted more than anything go blow off that afternoon's Order meeting to go and find her, but she knew she couldn't. Instead, she quickly inspected herself in the mirror by the door. She closed her eyes so her hair lengthened down her back. She inspected this before closing her eyes again. This time it rose into loose waves around her face and past her shoulders, it was a deep chestnut colour. She closed her eyes once more and it transformed into a dusty pink. She grinned at her reflection.

'Perfect'

Lupin was facing the rattling wardrobe in front of him, his wand gripped tightly in his hand. He wondered just how many more of these wretched boggarts there could be hiding in Grimauld Place. He raised his wand to open the cupboard door, thinking hard about the full moon that was lurking inside.

The cupboard door sprung open and for a moment he was confused, he looked up above him and there was no sign of a full moon. In fact there was nothing there at all. He remained puzzled for a few seconds, before he noticed something on the floor. Lupin felt as if somebody had just kicked him hard in the stomach.

She lay quiet and motionless on the ground, just like she had the previous night at the ministry. But this time it was worse. There was blood gathering slowly around her, all coming from one large gash across her chest. It didn't take a second glance to tell him that her injury has been caused by a werewolf. The feeling he had felt the previous night returned in full force, but it was stronger. Guilt and grief beyond anything he could explain raged and tore at his insides. He tried to say the spell, but he couldn't talk, he could barely move at all.

He knew it wasn't real. He tried to tell this to himself… to scream it, but the words wouldn't come. He stood there for a few seconds, paralyzed in fear. Then, summing up every ounce of courage inside him, he swallowed the lump in his throat.

'RIDDICULOUS!' He roared

And like that, she vanished. Lupin stood alone, his chest heaving and his heart pounding furiously inside it. He suddenly felt very small. The truth was that Lupin was scared. He had just realized something that both exhilarated and terrified him.

CRASH

'Tonks!'

'Sorry!' a distant voice groaned from downstairs as Mrs Black began to screech the house down. Lupin hardly heard her at all; his thoughts were silent, but they seemed big enough and loud enough to be heard over anything. He looked at the spot on the floor where she had just been. His legs threatened to go from under him so he sat down shakily. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't get the image of her lying there, out of his mind.

Tonks made her way up the third flight of stairs, she had been sent by Mrs Weasley to find Lupin and tell him that the meeting was starting. It didn't look it, but Grimauld Place was a big house. Tonks was looking in the seventh room, just about to give up when she spotted him.

He was sat down on a bed, illuminated by the dusty sunlight filtering though the round window. The room looked as if it hadn't been touched in years. There was dust everywhere apart from the newly made footprints on the wooden floor. Dust particles hung, suspended in the air. It was warm, quiet and very peaceful. Remus however, looked the opposite.

His face was as white as the sheets of the bed he was sat on. He was staring furiously at the floor, his hands clasped very tightly together. He looked as if he'd just seen something awful. Tonks noticed his eyes were very red.

'…Remus?' Tonks said tentatively, her face full of concern. He started and looked up. 'Are you alright?' She walked towards him slowly. He was looking at her with an odd expression in his eyes.

'Fine' He stood up abruptly and cleared his throat. 'Thanks for the butterbeer and the company last night, by the way' He smiled weakly

'It was my pleasure' She beamed back at him 'I'm sorry for falling asleep on you… literally' She laughed, so did Lupin. There was silence for a few seconds.

Lupin looked into her face and an impulse inside him took over, leading him to do something so unlike himself he could scarcely believe he'd done it.

Tonks studied Remus, hard. She was really starting to worry now. '…Are you sure you're alri-'But she never finished her sentence. This was because Lupin had moved forward and kissed her.

The moment his lips met hers, her heart began to race. She couldn't believe it was happening. Every inch of her skin tingled, and butterflies began to stir in her stomach. He went to move back after the kiss but she grabbed a fistful of his robes and pulled him towards her. Taken by surprise, he tentatively put his hand on her back as he kissed her again. He then moved his hand up her hair, it flushed scarlet the moment he touched it. She broke into a smile against his mouth and he laughed gently, they both seemed incapable of speech.

Mad-eye Moody leant back in his chair and took a gulp from his hipflask, his magical eye whizzing around as usual before it rolled up into his head to look above him. Both his eyes immediately widened in shock.

'MERLINS BEAR-'he spluttered and choked on his drink, Sirius clapped him hard on the back.

'Are you okay, Alistor?' Mr Weasley asked, concerned

'Fine, Arthur, Fine…' He wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his coat, thinking fast 'Just need to slow down a little' He raised his hipflask and laughed, heartily. Nobody noticed, but the laugh didn't quite reach his remaining eye. Anybody who knew him well enough could have told that Mad-eye looked angry. As if he'd just seen something, of which he didn't approve in the slightest.

For Remus, the rest of that order meeting passed in a blur of complicated discussions about giants and dementors. His already lifted spirits were boosted even higher when he learned that Harry wasn't going to be expelled from Hogwarts in the end. They were going to have a little celebration after the meeting. Although he was thrilled, Remus wanted to skip it. This was because he needed to talk to Tonks. After their kiss, neither of them had mentioned the subject at all. There was merely a long pause before Tonks proposed that they went downstairs.

He looked at her from across the table and saw that she was already staring at him. They looked away simultaneously. He looked back and saw pink rising in her cheeks, he wanted nothing more than to kiss her again. Just once more.

But through all this there was a nagging voice in the back of his head, causing a degree of guilt to rise steadily in his chest. She's too young for you.

It would seem that he was not alone in this particular opinion. Mad-eye glared at him from across the room, but Remus remained blissfully unaware of his onlooker. His mind was busy replaying that kiss over and over; each time made his heart beat furiously fast. After the meeting was over and Molly began to set up for the party, he looked around for her. But she was nowhere to be seen. Then he spotted her (now chestnut) curls out of the corner of his eye, she slipped out of the room into the hall. He heard the front door open, then close.

His heart sank. He didn't bother trying to follow her. Instead he turned to greet Harry who just walked through the door. Harry looked ecstatic as well as just a tiny bit sheepish. His resemblance to James was uncanny, causing a fleeting pang of grief for Lupin, as it often did.

'Cleared! Of all charges!' Lupin beamed at him and pulled him into a hug. When he released him, Harry was grinning from ear to ear. 'I suppose that deserves a butterbeer' Lupin winked at him before handing him a bottle and leaving him to Ron and Hermione.

He watched from the corner of the room as Sirius too, hugged Harry. Lupin saw the very smallest trace of disappointment in his handsome face. He knew that he would never, ever, admit to anyone that it was there, but a small part of him wanted Harry to stay. But Lupin saw it. He had a feeling that he was the only one who knew Sirius well enough to. It was heartbreaking to watch the shift in his expression when Harry turned away, Lupin decided to take him out of the party atmosphere for a while, besides he didn't know if it was just his imagination but Mad-eye had been glaring at him for the last few minutes straight.

He took Sirius by the arm and pulled him into the reasonable quiet of the hall. Sirius didn't even need to ask why he'd done it. They stood in awkward silence for a few seconds.

'Don't make him feel guilty, Sirius'

Lupin could see Sirius visibly bristle at this remark. 'Don't you dare accuse me of-'but he stopped mid-sentence. Lupin saw Sirius' expression shift from defensive to pure loathing in a split second. He turned around and saw Snape had just come through the door, his face somehow, even more punchable than usual.

'What do you want?' The miniscule amount of patience that Sirius usually had for Snape was today, simply non-existent.

'Manners, Black. Just because you have the responsibility of an irritable housewife doesn't mean you have to act like one.' Snape drawled.

'You slimy little-'Sirius began, Lupin cut in just in time as Sirius raised his wand.

'What do you want, Severus?' Lupin asked calmly. He held onto Sirius wrist tightly, frowning.

'Dumbledore'

'He's not here. Now get out of my house' Sirius said rudely, his eyes boring into Snape's.

'With pleasure' Snape replied, the trace of a smirk playing round his mouth. 'You know, if it really is the only thing you have to do, I would have expected it to be… well, actually clean.' He cast a contemptuous glance around the gloomy hallway. And with that Snape turned to leave.

Lupin felt Sirius shaking with anger, he knew what was coming before it happened.

'Protego!' Lupin shouted, stepping in between them and casting a shield charm. Two different curses bounced off it and hit the walls. Mrs Black began to stir.

'GET OUT!' Sirius thundered, barely audible above the noise. Snape didn't need to be told twice. Mr Weasley along with Fred and George fought admirably to get the curtains shut on the painting. By the time they succeeded, Sirius had disappeared upstairs.

Lupin's briefly uplifted heart was now heavy with concern for Sirius and anxiety over Tonks. Had she regretted kissing him? Had she even wanted to? And why had she left so abruptly? Lupin didn't feel in the mood to be around this much happiness, he feared he would darken the atmosphere. So after waiting ten minutes he gave his excuses and goodbyes before heading off, back home.

He stopped in his tracks on the steps leading down from Grimauld place and mentally changed his destination, there was something he needed to do first.

Please let me know what you thought :) Thanks for reading, and hopefully it won't be long untill the next update. Bye bye xxx

Ps: If you get the chance, I would much appreciate you checking out my new story 'Dystopia' It's a bit different and I'm quite anxious about it. I would love to hear your opinion xxx