A hard Truth

Remus lay in bed next to Tonks. He'd been awake for hours, just lying there, listening to her breathing. Every now and then, he would hear a tree branch from outside groan under the weight of snow. It was far more peaceful then Tonks' London apartment.

The sound of floorboards creaking sounded throughout the quiet house. Slowly, Remus slid his arm from Tonks' grip. Even more gently, he climbed over her and out of the bed. Only once out in the hall, was he was able to see light escaping from underneath the kitchen door. With a lightness of foot he could only achieve so close to a full moon he crept down the hall in a few quick steps and turned the door handle hoping that he would find Ted and not Andromeda.

"Ted." Remus felt his body relax. Ted spun around so fast he had to catch the bench top to stop him from falling over.

"Merlin's beard! Remus I didn't hear you at all."

"Sorry, I was creeping a bit. Didn't want to run into the wrong parent."

"Look, mate, sorry about the missus. She just needs time."

Remus gave a warm smile before sitting down on one of the kitchen stools. "That's what Tonks says as well."

"Well it's true. I think her dislike for you comes from her family. Werewolves being considered such a dark creature and all, by her reasoning you have to be a bad guy. She doesn't want Dora anywhere near bad guys."

"She couldn't have been too happy when Dora decided to be an Auror?"

"Oh no. They had a huge fight and they didn't speak to each other for six months. Same almost happened when she told us she'd joined the Order."

"You know about the Order?"

"Your old pal, Sirius Black, tried to get us to sign up last time. Andromeda said no, on account of our little baby girl. This time it was that little girl who was trying to get us to sign up."

Remus sat in thought for a while. "So if I haven't yet passed the mother test, have I at least got your approval?"

"You have my approval as long as you have my daughter's."

Remus let out a sigh of relief.

"Now, I'm not up this early because I like it. There is a Christmas breakfast to be made and seeing as you're up already, you're helping."

Lupin, despite being so close to a full moon, had to fight off fatigue. Since he and Ted had laid out the breakfast table he had not stopped eating. Tonks and her mother had eaten only one serving of the meal before moving into the kitchen to cook the main event.

There was so much food there appeared to be more leftovers than there was food eaten. Ted had already moved on the couch and was fast asleep, his Santa hat askew.

Tonks came back from the kitchen and collected the last few dishes that littered the table. Remus watched the way her hips moved as she moved in between the chairs and table. The long red hair she had donned for the day slipping out from behind her ears. Suddenly it wasn't the urge to sleep he was fighting off.

"Why don't you go over to the tree? Mum and I will be through soon," Tonks said with a smile. "She's great with her dish washing charms."

Remus obediently padded over to the Christmas tree that looked like a display tree at a shop. The decorations all matched, it managed to look full without looking cluttered. The lights twinkled so magically that he knew that it was no simple charm. In short, it made Remus' tree in his shack look pathetic.

"Whoo-hoo. Present time!" Tonks bounced into the room and grabbed Remus round his bloated belly.

Ted woke up with a groan.

"There is no changing you, is there Dora?" Andromeda said gliding into the room with the grace of every member of the Black family.

Tonks gave a cheesy grin, before dropping to the floor and dishing out presents. "This one is for Dad from Mum."

Before long the floor was littered with bright scraps of paper. Remus sat leafing through a tower of books, a new jumper pulled on despite the warmth of the room. Tonks had a bigger pile than any of them. Remus had mostly given her books that had a distinct, well-loved feel about them. While her parents had lavished her with home wares that she was likely to never use.

Remus glanced at the clock on the mantle. She stood bolt upright, sending his new books tumbling around him. "I'm meant to be at the headquarters . . . now."

"Oh crap. You better go straight there." Tonks stood up more slowly yet still managed to send her books tumbling to the ground as well.

"Thank you for your hospitality, sorry for rushing out on you," Remus said to the Tonks'.

"Anytime mate." Ted extended his sausage fingered hand. Remus shook it whole heartedly.

"Good to see you," Andromeda added with a forced smile. Remus returned it with an equally forced smile.

Tonks walked him to the door. "Meet me at nine tonight and I'll have all your things."

Remus nodded and gave her a quick kiss before jogging off down the drive way.

"So how is my lovely cousin Andromeda?" Sirius greeted Remus in the hall and surprisingly he had a large smile on his face.

"It was-"

"You're late," said the gruff voice of Mad-Eye.

"Yes, I lost track of time. Sorry." Remus mumbled apologetically.

"Well, Mundungus has acquired a car from somewhere; we're ready to go now if that's ok with you?"

Remus nodded mutely and let Mad-Eye tell the Weasley's that it was time to leave.

Remus kept a keen look out for anything on the trip but it was uneventful. If death eaters were out to get Harry they weren't working on it on Christmas Day. St Mungo's was quiet as well and they all made their way into Mr Weasley's room without much fuss.

Mr Weasley looked good, too good. The last Remus had heard, was that none of the charms or potions had been working against the poison. Remus wasn't the only one to notice. As Molly began her interrogation, Remus looked for an escape. He swept his eyes around the room and caught sight of the werewolf patient.

"Not too long now and you'll be over the first full moon."

The patient gave Remus a deathly stare. "What would you know?"

"I've been infected for longer than I haven't."

"You'd be the friend that he tries to talks to me about," the patient gave a nod in Arthur's direction.

"That would be me."

"Does it get better?"

There was a large burst of noise as Mrs Weasley began to yell at her husband. In amongst the noise Remus quietly shook his head answering the patient with the truth. "No, it doesn't."