A/N: I'm back from the dead! I'm so sorry that I've taken so long with this chapter. Truly, this school year is busier and more stressful than the past few. Aside from that, I've been horribly busy helping my friend get ready for her wedding. Hopefully, I've adjusted to my new, hectic schedule, and I'll be able to update more frequently.

This chapter was also very hard for me to write. It's not that it was emotionally close to home, per se, it's just that it was tough to get it the way I wanted it. I hope that it's worth the ridiculously long wait. If not … well, I think the upcoming chapters are even more exciting than this one!

Thanks again for your patience, and for reading and reviewing!

I don't own Harry Potter.

Friendship

On the appointed day, Remus went to the Weasleys' for lunch. He rang the bell, hoping that he wasn't too early. He didn't want to impose upon his hosts.

He shouldn't have worried. Molly smiled warmly as she opened the door, clearly pleased to see him. Her eyebrows rose in surprise, however, when she realized that he was standing on her doorstep by himself.

"Hello, Remus," she said, hugging him as she admitted him to the house. "Where's Olivia?"

"She had already made plans to have lunch with a friend from work," Remus replied. He smiled. "It seems rather quiet in here."

"That would be because the children are all outside playing Quidditch. I was just going to call them for lunch."

"I'll get them," he volunteered.

"You don't mind?"

"Of course not. I hardly ever get to see them."

Molly nodded her agreement, and Remus went to call the two youngest Weasleys, Harry and Hermione for the meal.

He stepped out into the back yard, and looked up to see four broomsticks in motion. He raised his hand to shield his eyes from the weak sun, watching as Harry threw the Quaffle to Hermione. She caught it rather awkwardly and began flying toward the goal.

"Look out, Hermione!" Harry yelled.

Hermione turned to see Ginny barreling toward her at top speed. She squealed in surprise and dropped the Quaffle. Harry and Ron both took off after it, trying to catch it before it hit the ground.

"Hi, everyone," Remus called.

Their shouts at one another turned to greetings to Remus. All four teenagers flew toward him and landed their brooms. Ginny gave Hermione a teasing grin.

"I'll bet you're glad to see Professor Lupin," she said. "He saved you from complete humiliation after you dropped the Quaffle."

"I would have saved her anyway," Harry said loyally. "I was about to catch it."

"Ha!" Ron said. "You would have come up with a fistful of grass. That Quaffle was mine."

"You wish," Harry replied. "Who's the Seeker in this group?"

"You wait and see … after lunch …"

"Hi, Professor Lupin," Hermione said loudly.

"Hi, Hermione," Remus replied. He was grateful for her interruption. The exchange between Ron and Harry had left him in an ocean of bittersweet memories of Sirius and James. The way they teased one another, the way they battled for recognition, the way they were almost as brothers … Had it not been for Hermione, Remus was sure that he would have been caught somewhere between laughing and crying.

"Hi, Professor," Ginny and the boys said as one.

He grinned at them. "Enjoying your summer?"

"It's been great," Harry said enthusiastically. "Best summer ever."

"It's a little early to say that, isn't it?" Remus grinned. "You've only had about a month off. We haven't even hit your birthday yet!"

"Oh, yeah, Mum's doing something special for that," Ron said. "You'll come for the party, won't you, Professor?"

"Yes, please?" Harry asked. "I've never really had a birthday party before …"

Remus smiled sadly, thinking of Harry's first birthday and the elaborate party his grandmother had thrown him. "I'd love to come," he said.

"Excellent!" Harry exclaimed, his face lighting up with a smile. "Thanks, Professor."

Watching him grin like that made Remus's heart constrict. He realized that this was the first time he had seen a grin light up Harry's features quite like that; he was surprised to see Lily's smile spread across his face. While he normally smiled just like James had, his "excited smile" was a copy of his mother's.

"I can't wait," he said sincerely. He cleared his throat. "We'd better get inside. I was sent out here to call you for lunch."

The teenagers began chattering excitedly again as they made their way inside. Remus remained quiet, observing their interactions.

"There you are!" Molly smiled as they entered. "Wash your hands, everyone, and sit down for lunch."

"Hey, Mum, Professor Lupin said he'd come for Harry's birthday party," Ron called as he wound up a towel to snap at his sister.

"Oh, good," Molly said warmly. "I was going to ask you about it today, Remus."

"Ron beat you to it," he said. "I'll certainly be here."

"I'm so glad," Molly smiled. She lowered her voice. "I know it will mean so much to Harry to have you at his party."

"It means a lot to me, too," Remus replied, wishing for the thousandth time that he had been a part of Harry's life for all sixteen years of it, rather than only a few.

Molly looked back at the teenagers in time to see Ron and Ginny abandon the towels they had been battling with and start kicking each other. "Ronald! Ginevra!" she yelled. "Sit down now!"

Giving each other dirty looks, Ron and Ginny took their seats with Harry and Hermione. Remus had to hide his smile, knowing that Molly wouldn't appreciate the fact that he was amused by her children's behavior.

Ron and Ginny calmed down almost immediately, and the meal passed without incident. Remus loved being there and having the chance to spend time with Harry and his friends. He knew that his opportunities to do so would be severely limited once the teenagers were back at Hogwarts.

After lunch, the teenagers went back outside to finish their Quidditch match. Remus helped Molly clean up.

"Have you seen Tonks recently?" Molly asked nonchalantly as they finished putting the dishes away.

"No," Remus said. "You know how I feel about that, Molly. Spending time together doesn't do either of us any good. All it's done is to set us up for the pain that we're going through now."

She frowned. "I still don't see why you think you have to put yourself through this pain and heartache. If you care about her – and I know that she cares about you – why not just be together?"

"She deserves more," he said simply. "I want her to be free to find the man she was destined to be with forever."

"And if that man is you?" Molly asked quietly.

Remus smiled sadly. "That isn't possible."

"Remus, I –"

"Molly, please," Remus said, holding up his hand to stop her. "Can't we talk about something else? Please?"

She gave him a look that promised that she wasn't through with him. "All right. Choose a new topic."

"Tell me about what you have planned for Harry's birthday."

Molly's eyes lip up as she launched into a detailed description of her plans. She was talking about the food that she would serve when a knock sounded on the door. She looked at Remus in surprise.

"Did Olivia plan to come over when she was through with lunch with her friend?"

"She didn't say anything to me about it," he replied.

Molly stood to answer the door, leaving Remus in the sitting room. When she came back, it was not Olivia walking a step behind her, but rather Tonks. Remus felt the blood drain from his face then return in full force as he looked at her.

"Remus," Tonks breathed.

"Tonks," he said in a choked voice. "Hi."

He was amazed that he managed to get that much out. He was completely shocked by her appearance. Molly had told him that she was taking their separation hard, but he had never dreamed that it would impact her to the point that she would lose interest in changing her appearance, or even, so it would seem, sleeping and eating. Dark circles surrounded her eyes, and her robes hung loosely on her thinner-than-usual frame.

"How are you?" he asked gently.

"All right," she said, giving him a sad smile. "You?"

"Oh, I'm … are you sure you're all right?"

She smiled sadly again, her broken heart clearly visible in her eyes. "I'm fine, Remus. You don't need to worry about me."

"I don't know about that," he said quietly, looking deeply into her eyes. He cleared his throat. "How are things at work?"

"Fine," she said again. "I'll have the other Aurors at Hogwarts with me soon enough."

Remus nodded, casting around for another safe topic of conversation. Fortunately, Molly saved him.

"Tonks, dear, are you hungry? We've only just finished lunch, and there's plenty of food left."

Tonks smiled weakly. "Just something small, please, Molly."

"All right, dear. You sit down while I find you something."

Tonks obediently took a seat at the table. Remus felt awkward standing while she sat alone; he sat down across from her. He watched her for a moment as she looked down at her hands. He felt an incredible guilt overtake him as he realized that he had forced this vibrant, energetic woman to become this pale shadow of her former self. He had to say something, to let her know … something.

"Tonks," he began.

"Yes?"

He sighed as he looked into her lost, haunted eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" she frowned. "Why?"

"Well … for everything I've put you through."

Tears gathered in her eyes. "Why should you apologize for your feelings?" she whispered. "It's my own fault that I'm letting it affect me like it has. It's my own fault for caring too much."

Remus couldn't stand the sight of her tears. He abruptly stood to his feet. "I should be going."

"Don't leave on my account," Tonks said, blinking in an effort to clear her swimming eyes. "Stay and spend some time with Molly and the kids."

"No, that's okay … I need to …." He couldn't finish the statement. There was no reason, aside from his jumbled emotions, for him to leave. But, it was reason enough.

He quickly left the kitchen, and went to find Molly in the pantry to say goodbye. He barely heard her as she tried to convince him to stay. Any pleas that she made were useless. He had to leave. He had to get out.

"Liv! Over here!"

Olivia smiled as she spotted Stephanie sitting by herself on the outdoor patio at their favorite Muggle restaurant. They always ate there because they felt that it gave them the freedom to discuss anything that came to mind. There was never a need to censor themselves out of fear of revealing some departmental secret to the entire wizarding world. If a Muggle overheard something, he or she would only think that the two women were out of their minds or, at the very least, made no sense.

"Hi," Olivia smiled as she sat down. "How are you?"

Stephanie returned the smile. "Great. You?"

"Never better."

They looked at one another and laughed.

"I already ordered us our usual drinks," Stephanie said. "God, Liv, I'm so glad you're back in the area. I think that I missed our lunches more than anything."

Olivia smiled. "Me, too."

Their waitress appeared to deliver their drinks and to take their orders. Once she had gone, Stephanie rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward.

"So, tell me. Now that you've been back for awhile, are you glad you came?"

"Yes, of course," Olivia replied without hesitation. "Only..."

"Only what?"

"Work is …"

"Just say it."

"I'm not pleased with some things that are happening."

"Like what?"

Olivia sighed. "Steph, be honest. Are you happy with the way John is running the department?"

Stephanie bit her lip. "Total honesty?"

"Please."

"I think he's running it into the ground."

Olivia exhaled. "That's what I was afraid of."

"I didn't mean to offend you!" Stephanie exclaimed. "I just … well, you said you wanted an honest opinion –"

"No, you said exactly what I think," Olivia said. "I thought that maybe it was just me. I mean, I've been gone for a long time, and I've gotten used to a different way of doing things. I thought that it was just that John isn't Moody, and that I had forgotten how to work without him."

Stephanie shook her head. "No, John is very different from any Head I've ever worked for. He's … I think that he's too distant."

"Yeah, I can see that," Olivia said, thinking of the way he acted as though he barely knew her at work.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that he doesn't seem to care about his Aurors. I'm not suggesting that he needs to attend everyone's birthday parties, but at least making sure that he knows us as people, that he knows our personalities and preferences, would be nice."

Olivia nodded slowly. "You're thinking about the way he split up the teams."

"Yes, for one," she agreed. "But, I also don't like the way he reassigned us all. Like I told you before, I was very good at interrogation. I'm not so good at all the research I have to do now. I can understand that John wanted to shake things up. Like he said himself, You-Know-Who came back when we were running under the old system. Obviously, something had to change. But, why not talk to the Aurors first? Really find out what we're good at, what we're comfortable with and what we might like to try. The way that he did it makes it feel very random."

Olivia nodded again. "Do the others feel the way you do?"

"Most do," she admitted. "Liv, you're sure you don't mind hearing this?"

Olivia smiled sadly. "It's what I've thought ever since I came back. I just needed to know that I wasn't the only one who felt this way."

"Are you …" Stephanie trailed off.

"Am I what?"

She drew a deep breath. "Do you intend to go to John with this information?"

"I would never do anything to get you in trouble," Olivia said without hesitation, shocked that her friend would think that she would do such a thing. "I didn't ask for your opinions so that I could get you fired, Steph!"

"No, that wasn't what I meant," Stephanie said quickly. "I know you better than that, Liv. Trust, remember? We've had it since training. I meant …" She bit her lip. "Are you planning to make some suggestions to John as to how he could improve things?" She smiled apologetically. "Will you let me use our friendship to push my agenda?"

"What exactly is your agenda?"

She sighed. "Anything that will fix the horrible mess that is our department."

"Well, you're in luck," Olivia said. "That's my agenda, too."

Remus was already home and sitting on the couch when Olivia walked through the front door. She looked at him in surprise.

"I didn't expect you to be back so soon," she smiled. "I thought you wanted to spend more time with Harry."

"I'll see him for his birthday," Remus said dismissively. "Liv – why didn't you tell me what a wreck Tonks is?"

Olivia slowly sat down next to him. "She was at the Weasleys'?"

"Yes," Remus replied. "She – Liv, she looks awful. I've never seen her so pale or so thin. Does she sleep at all anymore?"

"I don't know," Olivia said honestly. "You're right, Remus. She looks horrible. She's been pretty upset."

"This is all my fault," Remus moaned, burying his face in his hands.

"You can end it, you know," Olivia said. "It doesn't have to be this way. You could go to her and make everything right."

He shook his head. "This will be better for her in the long run."

"Remus, we've been over and over this," Olivia sighed. "I refuse to have the same conversation with you again."

"Fine," Remus said testily. "How was lunch with Stephanie?"

Olivia gave him a sarcastic smile. "Oh, great. There's nothing I love more than having my worst fears confirmed." She sighed. "She agrees with me about John ruining the department – and said that the majority of our coworkers do, as well."

"What are you going to do, now that you know?"

She shrugged. "What can I do? I can't go to John. It would destroy him to know that his Aurors feel like this about him."

"But wouldn't he want to know the truth? That way he can fix what he's doing wrong."

Olivia laughed shortly. "You know that I love my brother. I think that he's a great guy. But, he's never wrong."

"Aren't you over that whole 'older brother as demigod' thing?"

"Please," she laughed. "I was over that by the time I was ten. But, in his own mind, John is always right. He has a lot of problems admitting that he made a mistake. "Don't you remember what happened when I was dating Sirius? It took John forever to admit that he wasn't a horrible person."

"True."

She sighed and shook her head. "I can't tell him about this. It would just kill him."

"All right," Remus said. "But if that's how you feel, we're going to have to drop that one like the Tonks conversation."

Olivia laughed. "Deal."

Tonks cocked her head to the side to look critically at her kitchen table. She shook her head, and rearranged the bright flowers she had placed in a vase for a centerpiece.

"There," she smiled to herself. "Perfect."

A knock sounded on the door, and her smile widened. "Perfect timing!"

She grabbed her wand as a precaution as she made her way through her flat. She put one hand on the doorknob, clutching her wand with the other.

"Who's there?"

"Dana and Laura."

Smiling as widely as she had in recent days, she opened the door. "Hi, ladies."

"Hi, Tonks!" Laura said, giving her a beaming smile. "Thanks so much for inviting me over."

"You're welcome," Tonks smiled. "I'm so excited that you could come."

"Well, I have some shopping to do while I'm in Hogsmeade," Dana said. "Shall I come back to pick you up in a few hours, Laura?"

"You don't have to do that," Tonks said. "I'll bring her home."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. That way you don't have to waste your whole day waiting for us. Once we get started on my Weird Sisters collection, there's no telling how long this visit could take."

Dana smiled. "Thanks, Tonks. I'll see you both later tonight, then."

"Bye, Dana."

"Bye, Mum!"

"Are you hungry?" Tonks asked as the door closed behind Dana. "I thought we could start with some lunch."

"Yeah, that would be great," Laura grinned.

"Good," Tonks smiled, leading the way into the kitchen. She waved her wand to play an old Weird Sisters album. "I thought we could start with some of the older music."

"Great," Laura said again.

"I'm not a very good cook," Tonks said as they sat down at the table, "so, I got us some Chinese for lunch. Is that okay?"

"I love Chinese," Laura grinned.

"You're easy to please," Tonks said, serving the food onto their plates.

Laura giggled. "You should talk to my mum. She'd tell you how picky I can be."

"Mums are good at that," Tonks grinned.

"Does your mum think you're too picky?"

"Not about food," Tonks said. "But, believe me, she gets on my case about other things."

Laura wrinkled up her nose. "I thought she would start to leave me alone when I got older."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but no," Tonks smiled. "There's pretty much no escaping her interference. Well, unless you do like my mum and disown your family. But, honestly, I wouldn't recommend that course of action."

"I don't want to disown my family," Laura said. "I just wish that my mum would let me think for myself."

"She doesn't let you think for yourself?"

"It's more that I think she doesn't trust me."

Tonks's eyebrows shot up. "That's pretty serious, Laura. What do you mean?"

"I feel like she … I don't know. It's tough to explain. It's almost as if she won't let me walk through the house alone."

"Well, I don't think that's because of anything you've done," Tonks said. "Things are pretty dangerous here now with the Death Eater attacks that have been going on recently. Everyone's a little more cautious than they usually are."

"It's more than that," Laura said with a shake of her head. "You don't know what happened."

"Will you tell me?"

She flushed slightly. "Did Mum or Aunt Olivia or Uncle Remus tell you that I have a boyfriend?"

"Yes, I knew that," Tonks said.

"Well, Mum let him come to visit me," she said. "He stayed with us for a few days. Everything went great for awhile, then, on the second to last day …"

"What happened?"

Her blush deepened. "Mum caught us snogging on my bed."

"Oh, no," Tonks exclaimed, covering her eyes with her hands. "What did she say?"

"It wasn't pretty," Laura said grimly. "I was actually glad that he was leaving the next day."

"How did things go until then?" Tonks asked. "Did your mum like him?"

Laura shrugged. "I suppose. I don't really think she'd go for any boyfriend I had." She rolled her eyes. "She doesn't think I'm old enough to date."

"Yeah, my mum was like that for a long time, too," Tonks said. "Then, one day, she decided that I should be married. There's just no pleasing the woman." She paused. "Really, it's great that she let him stay at all. My mum wouldn't let my boyfriend come to visit when I was your age."

"You had a boyfriend when you were my age?"

"What year are you?"

"I'll be in fifth year."

"I guess I was a little older, then," Tonks admitted. "I was in fifth year when I started dating Charlie."

"Are you still dating him?" she asked.

"No," Tonks said with a slight smile. "We broke up after graduation."

"Why?"

"He was moving to Romania and I was staying here," she said. "Neither of us was willing to give up our dream. So, we decided to go our separate ways. We're still friends, though, even if we don't see one another all that often."

"Did your mum ever catch you snogging him?"

She laughed. "No. I can't even imagine how you must have felt."

"It was awful," Laura affirmed.

"I'm sure your mum was pretty horrified, too."

"Yeah, she was. I think she thought … I probably don't want to think about it."

"There's a big difference between snogging a boy and shagging him," Tonks said.

Laura blushed again. "I'm not sure that she sees it that way, based on her reaction to seeing us snogging."

"She must," Tonks said. She rolled her eyes. "I mean, really. Why on earth would you sleep with him in your mother's house?"

Laura's face was flaming red. "I've never slept with him anywhere," she said quietly.

"Good for you," Tonks said quickly. "I hadn't shagged anyone when I was fifteen, either. Well, I guess you knew that, since I just said I didn't even have a boyfriend until I was in fifth year."

"How old were you the first time you slept with a boy?" Laura asked quietly.

"Seventeen," Tonks said. "But, honestly, Laura, I think I was too young."

She looked at Tonks with wide eyes. "But seventeen is so old!"

"Hey!" Tonks exclaimed. "I'm definitely older than seventeen! Don't say that it's old!"

Laura laughed. "That's not what I meant. I just meant … well, plenty of kids my age have already shagged someone. Sometimes I feel like I'm behind because I haven't. Like maybe I should shag Pierre just so that I can get it over with."

"Laura, that is the worst possible reason for having sex with him."

"I suppose so," she said noncommittally.

"What does your mum think?" she asked, trying to buy herself a bit of time.

"That I should wait for marriage," Laura said in a tone that indicated that she had heard that advice more than once. "That's what she and my dad did."

"But you don't agree?"

"No one waits for marriage anymore," Laura said evenly. She looked directly into Tonks's eyes, letting her bare soul show. "Sometimes I think that shagging him just so that I can say I have is the right reason."

Tonks bit her lip, knowing that it was up to her to help this girl through this very major decision. She certainly wasn't a counselor, but hoped that her own personal experience would suffice. "Can I tell you why I think seventeen was too young?"

"Yes."

She nodded. "Charlie and I had been dating for two years before we made love for the first time. It was the first time for both of us, and we were both nervous wrecks. Obviously, it gets easier with time, but … Laura, the important thing wasn't that we did it, but why we did it. You need to understand that I really, truly loved him. I was completely convinced that we would get married. Had it not been for our jobs, I'm sure we would be married now. It just didn't work out."

"So why do you regret it, then? Because you didn't get married?"

"Well, yes, there's that," Tonks said slowly. "But …"

"Tell me. Please."

Tonks took a deep breath. Very few people knew about this most terrifying time of her life. "We had been shagging for about a month when I thought that I was pregnant."

Laura's eyes widened. "Were you?"

"No," Tonks said. "But my period was late by a couple weeks. So, for two weeks, I was completely convinced that I was going to be a mum."

"Why was it late?"

She shrugged. "I still don't know. But it was the most terrifying thing that's ever happened to me."

"Did you tell anyone?"

"Charlie and one of my friends," she said. "Charlie was just as scared as I was. We couldn't even look at each other for two days after I told him."

"But it was fine in the end," Laura said.

"Yes," Tonks agreed, "it was. But, every time I was even a day late after that, I panicked. Every time my stomach hurt, I'd start to think that I had morning sickness. I spent far too much time paranoid that I was pregnant."

"But what does being seventeen have to do with that?"

Tonks smiled. "Oh, I can be paranoid at any age. That's not what I was getting at. It's the fact that if I had been pregnant, I wouldn't have been able to start Auror training. They won't even let pregnant Aurors do any fieldwork; obviously, they won't accept pregnant trainees. My entire career would have ended before it started."

"I probably wouldn't want to have a baby so soon, either," Laura acknowledged.

Tonks nodded. "I'm not saying that you shouldn't make love to him if you really love him," she said. "You're right; not everyone waits for marriage anymore. Plenty of people still do, though. There's no real right or wrong answer. You have to do what's right for you. If that means waiting for marriage, then wait. If it means shagging Pierre the day you get back to Beauxbatons, do it. I can tell you all the stories in the world about my past, but I can't tell you what to do. You have to decide what's right for yourself.

"But, remember, Laura that it's more than the act. There are a lot of consequences that come with sex. There's enough going on in your life right now without worrying about having a baby."

Laura nodded seriously. "I know."

"And, Laura, if you don't love him, don't shag him. There's a reason that one of its many names is 'making love.' Love is the only reason that you should do it."

Laura smiled. "I get your point."

Tonks smiled and reached across the table to squeeze her hand. "I know that you have a mum, but I also know that this sort of stuff can be impossible to talk to her about. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here for you. I know that I'm probably not as easy to talk to as your friends, but I have been there, and I know what you're going through. I'm not always full of advice or stories, but I'll listen and try to help you."

"Thanks, Tonks," Laura said sincerely. "That's really great. It means a lot to me." She smiled and flushed slightly. "I always wanted to have a sister."

"So have I," Tonks smiled. "Can we stand in as family for one another?"

"I'd like that," Laura grinned.

"Good," Tonks smiled. She was fairly certain that they had both hit their limits for serious discussion, and tried to move them to lighter conversational territory. "Now, little sis, pass me a fortune cookie."

Laura handed her one and picked another cookie up for herself, cracking it open and extracting her fortune. "'Trials come before happiness,'" she read. "Sounds a bit depressing, doesn't it?"

"A bit," Tonks agreed. "At least you have the happiness to look forward to."

"What does yours say?"

Tonks cracked open her own cookie and pulled out the small slip of paper. "'A change of heart will change your life.'"

Laura frowned. "Whose heart will change? Yours or someone else's?"

Tonks smiled sadly. "Hopefully, someone else's."