A/N: Hey readers, old and new, silent and talkative: just wanted to say I love all of you. And I truly hope you are enjoying this story as much as I am enjoying writing it. I also want to remind you that in this story since Sirius and Remus aren't dead, Fred isn't either. Enjoy!

"Where is my damn bank card?" Sirius was beside himself after Rita Skeeter had left the flat. He wondered if he had said too much, or if the whole situation could have been avoided altogether. He knew Hermione would probably be angry with him when the article came out, and he was thoroughly regretting letting that pest of a woman into his apartment. But he knew if it wasn't her it would be another eventually.

He was literally trashing the living room looking for his money clip with his Gringotts' bank card so that he could go down to Diagon Alley and blow a sizeable amount of his account on anything and everything. He admitted that he could be a bit of a woman sometimes, because when he was angry like this – shopping helped.

And shopping for Hermione also made his mood cheer up considerably.

However, he couldn't find it, or for the life of him remember where he placed it last, and with Remus gone and Hermione at the Burrow, he had no one to help him look. He started digging through the jacket pockets on the coat rack and at the bottom of one of the pockets he felt a piece of paper.

He pulled out the tightly folded piece of parchment and realized he had accidently taken it from Remus' coat, and it certainly wasn't his bank card. He was about to stuff the little piece back where he found it, but an overwhelming sense of curiosity got the better of him.

He deviously wondered if it was a love note Hermione wrote to him that he had been carrying around and he unfolded it quickly. However, upon reading the short letter over again twice, he wished he hadn't snooped.

Sirius put the letter back into Remus' jacket pocket and retreated to his favorite chair in the library, which had as of late become his pondering spot for the unusual situations that were unfolding around him. But this particular turn didn't require pondering so much as Sirius feeling hurt and betrayed for both himself and Hermione.

Remus had promised Black that he would never go back to her. And now suddenly he had taken off on a mysterious 'errand' and there was the traitorous letter in his pocket. He was sure Remus had not instigated it, but he no longer trusted his whorish cousin and knew Hermione would be positively devastated if she found out – or worse if she came back to the flat later that night and Remus told her he was back with Tonks.

Sirius wracked his brain trying to think of where Remus would offer to meet her. He desperately wanted to interfere, to yell at both of them, especially her.

00000

"Thanks for meeting me, Remus."

It took him by surprise when she said his name as they both sat down in a little muggle coffee shop near the edge of the city. She had offered him to come by her new flat, but he suggested meeting in a more neutral ground. And it had to be a muggle place since the last thing he wanted was pictures of the two of them in the Prophet.

"I just wanted to hear you out, that's all," he said noncommittally. He looked at her for the first time in a long time. She was smiling from ear to ear, that goofy smile he had once found so attractive and endearing. Her hair was dark and long, and she had bangs. It looked like she was using her metamorphagus abilities to give her a boost in the beauty department, unlike her previous quirky style. Remus just chalked it up to her trying too hard.

"I'm so glad, it's so good to see you again," she gushed, reaching out to hold his large, calloused and scarred hands over the table but he gently recoiled. He wondered if this was even a good idea.

"Can you please explain to me why you agreed to cheat on me with Ron? Why you said 'yes' knowing he was in a relationship with Hermione and you were in a very, very serious one with me?" Lupin was angry now; the hurt of their final breakup was welling up inside of him again. He had never understood it.

She looked at him sadly, "Remus you wanted to mark me. It just came out of the blue…"

"We were together for years, you had to have known I wanted some kind of commitment…for Merlin's sake I asked you to marry me twice and you refused. And you know bloody well I can't control who I want to mark, otherwise I certainly wouldn't have told you," he relayed sadly, memories running through his mind of the times she had rejected him and then run back to him begging for forgiveness. This wasn't the first time for that.

"I was stupid and scared Remus, I hadn't really dated anyone outside of you and Ron was just an opportunity to experience something different. I just needed to spend some time apart from you to realize that you are all I ever need," she looked up at him with her large eyes that were so full of what he assumed was well-practiced sincerity. He looked away from her.

"I don't believe it."

"Remus, please…I want you, I want to get married, to have you mark me, to have children with you. I was so blind, and so stupid. You are such an amazing man, and I feel so terrible that I hurt you," she apologized.

He studied her face, and he could read her well enough to know she honestly believed what she was saying, but there was no guarantee that what had happened before wouldn't happen again. There was a long period of time when he had wanted to grow old with Tonks, but she was no longer the centerpiece of that fantasy.

"I wish you would have felt that when I asked you to marry me, I truly do. You and Ron have hurt a lot of people, all for some bloody idiotic fling that barely lasted a few months!" he said sternly to her, not wanting to draw too much more attention to them in the small café.

"But maybe this is a second chance! After all, Ron really wants to be with Hermione and I really want to be with you. Everything can go back to how it's supposed to be. Just ask me again Remus, please, just ask me to be yours…"

Remus paused, there were seven words that caught his attention and everything else Tonks just said flew out the window, "Wait, Ron wants to be with Hermione?"

Tonks looked at him like he was crazy, "Yes, yes he does. He knows he made a mistake. That she's not for you and I'm not for him…this was all just a little bump in the road…"

"You cheating on me is not a bloody 'bump in the road' Dora," he bit his lip, trying his best to control his anger. He couldn't believe both her and Ron were so flippant about the whole thing, thinking that something like this could be resolved with a few sweet words.

"I am so truly sorry Remus. I've changed." She was begging him, her full lips pouting as she looked up at him. He avoided her eyes the best he could.

"I am in love with someone else now, and nothing is going to change that fact."

"You can't possibly be saying you are in love with Granger?! She's twenty years your junior. That's just not right Remus…" Tonks looked physically ill.

"And you are ten years mine, so what's another decade? Honestly Dora, age means nothing. Love can transcend that," he said and the sweet, pleading look on her face started to harden.

"She's not meant for you…I mean, for Merlin's sake if she can't even be with you exclusively, isn't that just the same as cheating? So you won't take me back but you will put up with that shit from her?" she argued.

It hurt Remus to hear that, he knew that to everyone else he looked like a cad. And Hermione must look like a bit of a whore to everyone who didn't know the situation. But he really didn't feel like explaining the whole thing to Tonks and expecting her to understand that from even the most bizarre circumstances can come life-changing love. He knew that his and Tonks' love wasn't life-changing, it had just changed.

"I think it's best if we leave," he said softly and stood up from the table, walking outside of the small café. He didn't really care if she followed him or not, but she had and he felt her presence besides him after a few seconds.

"She's going to choose Sirius, you told me yourself every other girl you've ever been with has left you for him," she whispered and it cut him deeply. That was something he had been trying to come to terms with for years. And it hadn't happened in two decades. Sirius had apologized. There was no anger between the two men, but Lupin's insecurities had remained. And she was playing into them. He tried to ignore her.

"It's her choice. But I am madly in love with her," he sighed, putting his hands into the pockets of his trousers. He just wanted to be done with all of this. He wished he had never played her little game and come in the first place.

She turned quickly and her hands were on his cheekbones, pulling him down to her lips forcefully. The kiss only lasted a second before Remus pushed her off of him coldly.

"Stay away from me Dora, I don't want you," he told her. He had never been so blunt with a woman. He had never felt strong enough to take a stand. Usually he took girls back because he felt there was nothing better out there for him. But not this time.

"I need you," she breathed.

"Goodbye, Dora," he told her with a look of hard finality before disappearing into the alleyway next to the coffee shop. The traffic on the street all but completely obliterated the sound of him dissaparating.

00000

"This is going to be the most awkward dinner of my life, isn't it?" Hermione groaned as she, Harry, and Ginny stood on the front steps of the Burrow.

"Yes," Ginny giggled, clearly amused at her best friend's discomfort.

"It will be fine, I just wanted you to see everyone, to get out of that flat for a little while. And I for one miss you." Harry told her, giving her a pointed look that clearly told her that all of them thought she was spending way too much time with the last remaining Marauders.

Seconds later Molly Weasley flung open the door and took her daughter into a large hug, attacking her son-in-law (who in reality was truly just a son to her) next and then grabbing Hermione's shoulders and appraising her at arm's length for a moment before drawing her into a tight hug as well.

"Come in, come in! Everyone's here, dinner's almost ready!" she smiled at all of them and the trio went into the homey living room where the rest of the Weasley clan was gathered, sans Ron, which Hermione was endlessly grateful for.

Hermione went immediately to Angelina Johnson; Fred's wife, who was holding their brand new baby in her arms. She felt awful that with the break up and her new job, she hadn't had a chance to properly congratulate either of them.

"She's gorgeous," Hermione said, holding the baby's hand as Angie rocked her back and forth in her arms. Fred sidled over to them, beaming like the proud new father he was.

"Her name's Aislinn," Fred grinned. It was a pretty name for the sweetest little bundle in her mother's arms.

"I'm so happy for you both," Hermione gave them hugs. She hated to admit it, but since her and Ron had broken up she had really distanced herself from the Weasley's. And she missed them all dearly.

"And we'll be next…" Katie Bell, George's wife piped up.

"Yeah, we've been trying…she's keeping me up all night this one…" George pointed to his laughing bride and the atmosphere in the room was just plain happy. Hermione looked around at all the couples in the room. Charlie and his wife Melissa and their two little ones; Bella and Jack, Percy and his fiancée Claire from the Ministry, Bill and Fleur and their two angelic twin girls Rose and Elana, the Twins and their wives and the new little one for Fred, and Harry and Ginny of course.

She was the only single one now. Of course she had used to fit right in with Ron as her boyfriend. But now, she just felt like she stood out.

"And I've heard you've been kept up all night by my drinking mate," Fred smiled down at Hermione, obviously referring to Sirius.

"And we also heard that the halls of Hogwarts aren't as quiet as they used to be, if you know what I mean…" George continued.

Hermione was fairly sure she was crimson by this point and Harry had thankfully jumped in to pull her from the rather awkward conversation. He told the twins to screw themselves and lead Hermione over to the staircase that lead up the many floors of the Burrow to the bedrooms. They sat on the bottom step together.

"I miss you. I miss having you as my best friend. Ron and I never see each other anymore, and I never see you now that you are a little preoccupied with my Godfather and my old Dark Arts Professor," Harry sighed with a twinge of brotherly jealousy.

"I miss you too Harry, I talked to both of them today, and I told them that I really needed some space to get back to doing the things that I love to do. This all just took me by surprise, you know…and I know you're mad, Ginny told me…"

"I'm not mad, just worried. I know Remus won't hurt you. And I know Sirius will love you fiercely. That's not the problem. The problem is dating them at the same time," Harry looked at her with concern.

"I'm starting to gather that it's becoming an issue, actually," she admitted. They weren't jealous per say, more possessive than anything, and anxious for time with her. And she was still not a bit closer to making a choice. She loved them both so deeply.

"What do you truly want 'Mione? Let me help," he took her hand in his.

"I want them both. I need them both Harry; you don't understand I am so confused. I can hardly sleep anymore. It's just one emotion after another constantly!" he could see a tear form in her eye as she sad it but suddenly Ginny made an unpleasant yelping noise and they turned to see that Ron had just walked through the door to the Burrow and he was very much alone.

A/N: A little change of pace with this chapter, but they do all have separate things going on that I thought it was time to explore. Review please, as always! I love reading them!