A/N: Okay, I think I've got my schedule all figured out, and I think that I'll be able to update on Sundays from now on. No definite promises, but I will make every effort to post a new chapter by Sunday every week.

I want to thank you for your reviews on the last chapter. I was pretty worried about writing the scene with Tonks and Laura, but I was pleased with how it turned out. I'm glad that you liked it, too.

Thanks again for reading and reviewing. I hope you like this chapter!

I don't own Harry Potter.

Exposed

"Hello!" Dana said cheerfully as Tonks and Laura Flooed into her living room. "How was your day?"

"So much fun," Laura said, giving Tonks a wide grin. "Tonks is great, Mum. I'm so glad that Uncle Remus introduced us to her."

"So am I," Dana smiled. "You've had an owl, Laura. I put the letter on your desk."

Laura gave a squeal of excitement. "I hope it's from Pierre!" she yelled as she ran out of the room and up the stairs.

Dana gave Tonks an apologetic smile. "She tends to forget her manners when she hears from him."

"Don't worry about it," Tonks replied. "I remember how I was at that age."

"How did your afternoon go?" Dana asked delicately.

Tonks smiled. "Great. You have a fantastic daughter."

Dana smiled. "I think she's pretty special."

"She is," Tonks affirmed. "And," she added, knowing that this was what Dana wanted to hear, "she's still quite innocent."

"You mean she hasn't –?"

"No," Tonks said quickly.

"Oh, thank goodness," Dana said, expelling all the air in her lungs.

"I'm not entirely sure she'll ever talk to you about anything like that, though," Tonks cautioned.

Dana smiled. "That doesn't surprise me. I never talked about anything like that with my mother, either. Still haven't, truth be told."

"Neither have I," Tonks chuckled. "Nor will I."

"There are some conversations that are better left to others," Dana acknowledged.

"Yeah," Tonks said quietly. "Listen, Dana, I hope you don't think that I'm being forward, but I told Laura that she can talk to me about … well, anything. I know how hard it is to talk to your mother about sex, but I also know how valuable the advice and experience of an adult can be. I want to be able to help her if I can. I basically offered to stand in as her big sister."

"That is so sweet of you," Dana said, her eyes open wide. "You really didn't need to do that, Tonks."

"I know," Tonks replied. "But, like I said, she's a fantastic kid. I'd love to be able to spend more time with her, as long as you're okay with it."

"Okay with it?" Dana asked, obviously still shocked by Tonks's generosity. "Tonks, that is the nicest thing you could have done. Laura loves you; I know that having you to confide in will mean the world to her. And I love the idea of you advising her." She smiled. "I can understand why Remus thinks so highly of you."

Tonks's smile faded at the mention of his name. Unable to think of a reply, she remained silent, willing the tears not to surface.

The awkward moment was broken by a vibrating noise. Dana raised her eyebrows questioningly. Tonks laughed slightly.

"Summoning globe," she said, pulling the small sphere from her pocket. She read the message quickly, then put the globe back into her robes. "I need to go," she said. "I'm sorry to just run out like this."

"Don't worry about it," Dana said. "I'll tell Laura what happened."

"Thanks," Tonks said. "Tell her that I said good bye, and that I'll see her soon."

"No problem. Bye, Tonks. Thanks again."

"You're welcome," Tonks called over her shoulder as she walked outside to Disapparate.

Tonks Apparated into Kingsley's living room, where he was sitting on the couch flipping through a Muggle magazine. She was surprised to see him so at ease.

"You rang?" she asked.

He grinned and put his magazine down on the coffee table. "That was quicker than I had expected."

"Well, I didn't know what to expect from you. It was a rather cryptic message."

"I told you to come here as soon as you could. What's cryptic about that?"

"What isn't cryptic about that?" Tonks replied, sitting down next to him. "I suppose you had a good reason for calling me over?"

"Of course."

"And that would be …?"

"Do you know how hard it is to find you?" Kingsley asked in reply.

Tonks gave him an odd look. "Not really. I've never tried to find me."

"Funny," he said, rolling his eyes. "I've been looking for you for the past three days."

"I've been busy."

"Right," he said, giving her a look that clearly indicated his disbelief. "Well, I'm not the only one who hasn't been able to find you."

"Really? Who else is looking for me?"

"Your mum."

"My mum?" she asked blankly. "How would you know about that?"

"She was here."

"She was here?" Tonks repeated in surprise.

"Yes. She was looking for you."

"Oh, man."

"She's worried about you, Tonks," Kingsley said gently. "She just wants to talk to you, to make sure that you're all right."

"Why does she think I'm not all right?"

He gave her a look of disbelief. "Tonks. You haven't been eating or sleeping. You're pale as a ghost, you've lost weight and you haven't changed your appearance in ages. It's fairly obvious to anyone who looks at you that you're upset. But, Andromeda isn't just anyone. She's your mother. To her, you're on the brink of suicide."

Tonks sighed, knowing that everything he had said was true. "What did you tell her about me?"

"I told her that your heart is broken."

Tonks ran her hands over her face. "God, King. Why would you tell her that?"

"Because it's true. Because she's your mother and she's terrified about you. She deserves to know what's going on in your life, Tonks."

"What did you tell her, King?" she asked in a dangerous voice.

"Just that you've had your heard broken," he repeated. "I wouldn't tell her anything else. She was shocked to hear just that much, given that you technically haven't dated anyone recently."

"Technically?" she repeated with a hollow laugh. "I haven't dated anyone recently. That's all you needed to say."

"What exactly were you and Remus, then?"

"Friends."

"With some pretty serious benefits."

"Not that serious," she said sadly. She sighed. "What else did my mum say?"

"She just asked if I had talked to you about what's going on. She also suggested that Remus talk to you, so I'm pretty sure that she hasn't guessed that there was anything other than friendship between the two of you."

Tears filled Tonks's eyes again. "God, King, when is this going to stop hurting?"

He looked at her with compassion and pulled her into a comforting embrace. "I don't know, love."

She buried her head in his shoulder. "I just want to be me again."

"You will be," Kingsley said gently. "Just give yourself some time."

She nodded against him. "I should go talk to my mum, huh?"

"Yes."

"All right." She pulled away from him, then leaned in to kiss his cheek. "You're the best friend I've ever had. You know that, right?"

He smiled and touched her cheek. "You're a great friend, too."

Knowing that waiting would only make it worse, Tonks went straight from Kingsley's flat to her parents' house. Her mother jumped up from the couch when Tonks Apparated into the living room.

"Dora!" she exclaimed, hugging her daughter close. "I've been so worried about you! I've been trying to find you for days!"

"I'm sorry, Mum," Tonks said. "I didn't mean to scare you. I've been busy with work."

Andromeda looked at her closely. "They're making you work too hard, Nymphadora. You look exhausted."

"I'm fine," she said, sitting down on the couch.

"Of course you are," Andromeda said, sitting down next to her. "Darling," she said slowly, "I talked to Kingsley."

"I know," she said. "He just told me that he had seen you."

"He said … Dora, he said that you've had some problems with …"

She sighed. "He told me what he told you."

Andromeda bit her lip. "Will you tell me what happened?"

"It was stupid," Tonks said, feeling the tears fill her eyes once again. "I had a crush on someone, but he told me that we can't be more than friends."

Andromeda frowned. "Are you sure that's all that happened?"

"Are you looking for a better story?"

"No, it's just …"

"Just what?"

"You've never been the sort of girl to be this devastated over something like a crush. Even when you were a teenager, you got over crushes quite easily."

"I guess this one was more than a crush, then."

Andromeda looked at her closely. "You're in love with this man, aren't you?"

"Yes," Tonks barely whispered.

"Who -?"

"Mum, please don't ask me," she begged.

Andromeda studied her for a moment, then her eyes widened. "It's Remus, isn't it?" she whispered.

As much as she didn't want her mother to know, she couldn't fight it. "Yes," she whispered.

"Oh, darling," Andromeda sighed, pulling her into a warm hug. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"What could I have said?" Tonks asked as the tears streamed down her cheeks. "I feel like such a fool, Mum. I let myself crush on this older man – Sirius's best friend, who has probably always thought of me as a little girl – for months, then find out that he doesn't want to be anything more than my friend. By the time he tells me that, I'm completely, stupidly, head over heels in love with him. So, now he's walked out of my life and I feel completely shattered."

Andromeda hugged her daughter to her, trying to comfort her without words. She didn't dare to speak what was in her heart: That, although he was considerably older, Remus was exactly the sort of man Andromeda would have chosen for her daughter.

Those were not the words Tonks needed to hear.

It was late when Tonks finally left her mother. She had cried out her pain and heartache, and received warm embraces and comforting words, along with no small amount of her favorite foods, to bring up her spirits.

And, somehow, miraculously, it had worked. Tonks left her mother's house feeling much better, and much more prepared to face what lay ahead:

Hogwarts.

One week to the day before classes began at Hogwarts, the Auror team arrived at Hogwarts. Tonks, who had been up since before dawn making sure she was ready for them, was a nervous wreck. She had barely slept a wink the night before, terrified over beginning her first turn as lead Auror. She hoped that she would do well – well enough to make Kingsley and Moody, the two men she considered her mentors above all others, proud of her.

She had elected to hold her first meeting with her team in the Great Hall. She knew that it, along with her common room and dormitory, was the room she best associated with her days as a student at Hogwarts. She wanted the Aurors to remember their own days as students, hoping that the memories would give them a true sense of what they were protecting. It was more than just a building full of people. It was a place that most within their world considered almost sacred.

Promptly at eight o'clock, the Aurors arrived. Olivia was the first one there, crossing the Great Hall to join her new leader. Tonks gave her a nervous smile.

"Hi," she said in greeting.

Olivia cheerfully returned the smile. "Hi," she said. "Am I the first one here?"

"Yes," Tonks said.

Olivia nodded and smiled again. "I'll have to tell Remus that this means I can sleep in ten more minutes."

Tonks frowned slightly, hoping that her face wasn't betraying the pain that was spreading through her. "What?"

"Oh, I wanted to get up later, but he insisted that I'd be late," Olivia laughed. "I mean, we live in Hogsmeade – it's not exactly like I'm commuting in from continental Europe!"

"Wait," Tonks said, hoping that her puzzled expression hid the dreams and hopes that were crashing all around her. "You live with Remus?"

"Yes," Olivia said, now frowning along with her. "We've lived together ever since we moved out of the Leaky Cauldron. I'm sorry … I thought you knew?"

"No," Tonks said, swallowing. They were living together? Remus had left her to move in with the woman he had always said was a best friend and nothing more? "I had no idea."

"Oh," Olivia said, blushing slightly. "Well, it's not a big deal, really. I mean, we're just flatmates. Neither of us wanted to live alone, we both wanted to save some money, we've been friends forever …" She trailed off and laughed. "Really, it's pretty much like living with my brother. Not that Remus ignores me the way my brother does …"

Tonks's expression changed to one of concern as she started to calm down. Roommates who were like siblings she could handle. All she wanted now was to move away from the subject of Remus and Olivia's living arrangements. "Is John still treating you like he doesn't know you?"

"Yes," Olivia said irritably. "I'm considering talking to my sister-in-law about it."

"You don't want to do that," Tonks said, thrilled that the conversation was leading away from Remus. "You don't want to cause problems between them."

Olivia sighed. "I know. And I know that I'll never talk to either of them about it. It just makes me feel better to think that I can."

Tonks giggled as more Aurors began to arrive. "Excuse me. I'd better go get things ready to go."

"Tonks," Olivia said, touching her arm, "you're going to do fine."

Tonks smiled, flushing slightly. "I hope so."

"I know you'll be brilliant at this," Olivia said. "You've learned from Moody. What better teacher could you have?"

Smiling fully for the first time in ages, Tonks moved away from Olivia and to the center of the group.

"If everyone could please have a seat, I'd like to begin," she said.

The Auror team chatted amicably as they chose seats at the table Tonks that had requested to be placed in the center of the room for their meeting. Dawlish gave her a grin as he sat down next to her.

"Can't we sit at our House tables, Tonks?"

She smiled. "No. We need to be united in this. As of today, we all have lost membership in our Houses. We're Aurors, not Ravenclaws, Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs or Slytherins."

"So, what are our House colors, then?" Proudfoot asked with a grin.

Tonks rolled her eyes. "Can we just get started here?"

The conversations stopped at once. She surveyed the faces seated around the table, trying to decide if they would be able to work together to accomplish their goals.

Her team was small, consisting of only four other Aurors. She had rather hoped that John would send more; Hogwarts was a large school with extensive grounds. She hoped they would be able to be effective guardians.

"Right," she said as the chatter died down. "As you all know, we're here to provide extra security to Hogwarts and the surrounding area. You all are also aware that Harry Potter is one of the main reasons we are here. The Death Eaters have worked very hard to capture him in the past; there is no reason to believe that they will give up their campaign to attack him now. While the entire school, including the staff and student body, falls under our protection, we must be extremely vigilant when it comes to Harry. Dumbledore and the Minister have been very clear on that point.

"I have been asked to make Harry's protection my pet project. I am very willing to accept that mission; however, I can't work twenty-four hours a day. So, my plan for us is to work in shifts. No less than three Aurors will work the school and grounds at a time. Of those three, one will always be assigned to watch Harry Potter. You will do this while completely concealed. Dumbledore's main concern is that Harry be allowed to live his life as a normal Hogwarts student. To that end, we are not to function as his bodyguards. We are to work more as undercover agents.

"Harry's friends will be our secondary concern. Because of their association with him, they are also in great danger. Based on my past observations of Harry, I would guess that he is aware of this, and will be rather protective of them, too. I just ask that we make sure that we take good enough care of Harry, his friends and the other students and teachers that Harry doesn't feel like he needs to save any of them. He has an inherent need to help others; he will not stop to think before risking himself to save someone else. We need to make sure that he never finds himself in a position to risk his own safety."

"So, we're looking at Harry first, his friends second and everyone else third?" Dawlish asked.

Tonks grimaced. "I hate to think of it like that, but, yes."

Dawlish nodded. "Will you tell us who his friends are?"

"Yes," Tonks said, grabbing a stack of parchment and passing a packet to each Auror. "I've prepared dossiers on Harry, his closest friends and the classmates that he spends time with. I've also included information on his enemies."

"Enemies?" Proudfoot asked. "You mean, aside from You-Know-Who?"

Tonks nodded. "You were in school once. Did you get along with everyone?"

"Good point," Proudfoot grinned.

"You can look those over on your own time," she said. "Right now, I'd like to take you on a tour of the grounds. I know that you were all students here, but I've recently learned that there's more to this school than I ever knew."

As they all stood up from the table, Olivia grabbed Tonks's arm. Tonks looked at her questioningly.

"I need you to do something for me," Olivia said urgently.

"Sure," Tonks said, still frowning slightly.

"Don't tell Harry that I'm here."

"What?" Tonks asked in surprise.

"He doesn't know me," Olivia said. "We've never met, and he doesn't know anything about me … and I'd like to keep it that way."

"But you were his parents' best friend," Tonks said, still bewildered. "He doesn't remember them, and I know that any connection to his past is special to him. Think of how much he loved Sirius. Wouldn't you like to help him to get over Sirius's death? Wouldn't you like to be able to share some of his parents' lives with him?"

"Please, don't," Olivia said with a pained expression. "Remus and – and Sirius have spent hours trying to convince me to meet him. But, Tonks, I just can't do it. Please, don't make me. Just let me protect him from afar without him ever knowing that I'm here, or that I even exist."

"All right," Tonks agreed. "I don't know if it's the best idea, but …"

"Thank you," Olivia smiled. "This means a lot to me."

"Right," Tonks said quietly.

She wanted desperately to drive home the point that meeting Olivia would mean a lot to Harry, but refrained. If Sirius couldn't convince her to meet Harry, who could?

Olivia returned home at the end of her very busy day to find Remus making dinner. He smiled at her as she walked into the kitchen.

"How was your first day at Hogwarts?" he asked.

"I have a bone to pick with you," she said, rather than answering his question.

"What are you talking about?"

"Why didn't you tell Tonks that we're flatmates?"

Remus looked at her blankly. "Why does it matter?"

"Because I said something about it today and she was shocked!" Olivia exclaimed.

"Why does it matter?" Remus asked again. "She's not my … Liv, it's none of her business who I live with."

"Don't do that," Olivia said.

"Don't do what?"

"The way you said that, it makes it seem like we have something to hide. But, Remus, you know as well as I do that we're doing this as friends – as siblings, in a way."

"Liv, you know that I've never had romantic feelings for you. Tonks knows that, too," Remus said. "So, what difference does it make to her that we live together?"

"Because, Remus, I'm a woman," Olivia said impatiently. "She feels threatened by it!"

"Why should she?" Remus asked. "She and I … we're not together, and we never will be. She knows that I don't want to be in a relationship with any woman, and she knows that you and I have been friends forever. Why would she feel threatened?"

Olivia sighed. "You really believe all that, don't you?"

"Yes," Remus said, looking at her in confusion.

"Okay," Olivia said slowly, sitting down at the table. "You told her that you don't want to date her, right?"

"Yes."

"Right. Well, until you marry someone else or she falls in love with someone else, she's always going to consider you a possibility."

"But, why?" Remus asked blankly.

"Because she's in love with you!" Olivia exclaimed. "You know how hard it is to give up on the person that you love!"

"Fair enough," Remus said, thinking of how miserable he had been when Laura had broken up with him during their seventh year at Hogwarts.

"Right," Olivia said again. "Well, you living with me … Tonks, even if she'll never admit it aloud, is afraid that you're living with me because we're romantically involved."

"But, we're not."

"I told her that," Olivia said. "I went on about how we've been friends forever and you're really more of a brother to me than anything else."

"She believed you, right?"

"I think she did in the end. Just … Remus, please be careful with her. She's still really hurting from everything that happened, and she's very fragile." She bit her lip. "Can't you please go talk to her? Offer her friendship again?"

He smiled one of the saddest smiles she had ever seen. "That's a brilliant idea. I'd love to be her friend. It's just … I don't think my heart can take that, Liv. I really don't."