Tonks stretched her arms over her head, kicking out her legs. She was sitting in the drawing room of Grimmauld Place, a glass of firewhiskey on the table next to her. She had decided to spend some quality time with her cousin, who was depressed because his godson had left for school. Sirius, in his typical fashion, had passed out about thirty minutes ago and was sprawled out on the couch. Tonks took another gulp of firewhiskey, the bruning sensation in her throat was only matched by the intense heat coming off the large, crackling fire. Tonks stared into the fire, her mind wandering. It was very very late, but she wasn't concerned because she had the day off tomorrow. Still, she was sleepy, and she should probably get back to her flat. But as she downed the rest of her glass, she realized: she was too drunk to safely apparate home. She'd probably splinch herself. Sighing, she made herself comfortable in the chair and closed her eyes waiting for sleep to come.

But then, in her mind's eye she saw a pair of chocolate eyes gazing at her. Remus' eyes. Why did she see his eyes whenever she closed hers? He was crossing her mind so frequently that it was unnerving her. He's her cousin's best friend, thirteen years older than her. She should not be feeling these, these butterflies everytime she saw him.

But she was, and no matter how much she tried to stop herself, she still felt her heart drop anytime he walked into the room.

She internally chided herself for letting herself fall so hard, Tonks never got this hung up over anything. Especially not some guy. She sighed loudly and rolled her eyes at herself. How could she be feeling like this, she barely knew the man! Technically she'd known him since she was young, but had only seen him a handful of times before the previous year. Once she had discovered Sirius' hiding spot , she made sure to visit frequently, trying to make up for all the years they had been apart. Sirius truly was her favorite cousin, not that she had many to choose from. And she hadn't exactly minded the chance to get to know Remus. She still found him to be a fascinating person.

He was kind and gentle. His eyes were warm and inviting. Tonks had to admit, she was captivated by him, and wasn't very good at hiding it. It was easy to see her crimson cheeks whenever he picked her up off the floor (which happened more frequently than she'd care to admit). She knew that whenever he spoke her eyes lit up and she paid attention. She paid attention to whatever he said, whether they were at an Order meeting or he was commenting on the weather. Her infatuation was surely obvious, and she was sure that Remus was just too polite to comment on it. Which, she could live with.

"So I see Sirius has also celebrated Harry's return to Hogwarts."

Tonks jumped at the voice behind her. She turned her head to see Remus standing in the doorway, and amused expression on his face.

"And I see you have joined him, tsk, tsk."

She blushed as he pretended to chide her. He walked over and perched himself on the arm of the couch where Sirius was currently snoring.

"I'm impressed, Nymphadora. I come home to find you and Sirius both obviously drunk, him passed out but you not. No one could ever out drink Padfoot."

Tonks grimaced slightly at the use of her proper name, but grinned at his insinuated compliment. She just happened to be a marvelous drinker and told him that.

"Drinking is obviously a Black family trait. Probably the only good thing I inherited from those damned people."

She sighed, talking about her hated family sure put a damper on their conversation. She looked over at Sirius, who was still snoring obnoxiously on the couch and groaned.

"Oh I'll never sleep if he doesn't shut up!"

"Sleep here? You can't sleep here!"

Her face fell at his exclamation. Maybe if the idea of sleeping in the same house of her repulsed him so, she would risk splinching herself. She set her mouth into a hard line and turned to him.

"Fine, its obvious I'm not wanted here. I'll just be going then."

Remus was shocked to hear such a reaction from the young woman in front of him. She thought he didn't want her there. He quickly explained himself.

"No, Dora, stay. I don't mind if you stay here. I'd love for you to stay here. Just not on this chair, it can't be comfortable."

Her heart sped up at his response. She wasn't sure if it was healthy for her to switch so quickly between such extreme emotions, and hoped it didn't show on her face. She bagan to stammer.

"I'm fine here Re-remus. I really am."

She was just so tired. Not even as drunk as she was tired. All she wanted was to sleep, and for her heart to stop fluttering. She laid her head on the side of the chair and closed her eyes.

But Remus would have none of that. He stood and walked over to her chair and bent before her. He gently lifted her into his arms, wrapping around her. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt him so close to her. She was certain he could hear her heart pounding in her chest, or even feel it. They were much closer than they had ever been before and it was causing havoc in her brain. Looking at his kind eyes, she wanted nothing more than for him to close the short distance between them and to kiss her.

"Remus..."

"Hush Dora, sleep now."

He carried her up the stairs and into a room. One of the spare room's that the kids had used she gathered, because when she went in the bed was already made and the covers turned down. He placed her in the bed and pulled the covers up around her. She snuggled into the pillow and inhaled. There was something, so alluring about the way it smelled.

She looked up to Remus, who was standing over, watching her. He smiled gently at her, bent and kissed her forehead.

"Good night Dora."

He silently walked out of the room and Tonks found herself drifting into a deep, content sleep.