Lucius closed the distance to where Tonks sat in a few quick strides. He stopped in front of their booth, placed a hand on the table, and leaned in towards Tonks with a disingenuous smile plastered on his face.

"I've been waiting for your companion to take his leave so I could come speak with you," he said.

"Come to chat me up, did you?" Tonks asked, keeping her face impassive. "What makes you think I want to talk with somebody who's not my date?"

"A lovely witch such as yourself," he drawled, scanning his eyes down her body, making Tonks' skin crawl, "should be with someone a little less…rough around the edges." Tonks fought hard to keep from showing her irritation as his eyes made their way back up to her face.

"I happen to like that he's rough around the edges, thank you," she said, meeting his stare.

"I believe you could do better, my dear," Lucius said. "What could you possibly see in him?"

"He's hung like a Hippogriff," Tonks deadpanned.

"Oi! Malfoy!" One of the potential Death Eaters shouted from the bar. "Come buy us another round!"

Without breaking his stare, Lucius held up a hand signaling to the group across the room. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Who's your companion?" he asked curtly, apparently tired of their antagonistic small talk.

"None of your bloody business," Tonks said with a huff of amusement. "Who are your companions?" she asked pointedly.

"Well, let's see," he said, looking up as if in thought. "That would also be, to coin your phrase, none of your bloody business."

Tonks was ready for their conversation to end. As much as she might enjoy verbally sparring with someone as despicable as Lucius Malfoy, she had the feeling he had ventured a guess as to why she and Remus were there that night.

"Since it seems that we've nothing to talk about, I suggest you move along." She moved her hand to her right thigh where her wand was concealed, wanting to be ready if Lucius decided to become aggressive. Thankfully over the last hour a few more patrons had entered the bar. She hoped that meant he would turn and walk away rather than risk calling too much attention to himself. "A trip to the loo doesn't take long, and I don't reckon you want to make my date angry."

"Given who I am, you don't want to make me angry either."

"I don't give a toss who you are, really," Tonks said, trying to keep her tone even. "All the same, I asked you to move along."

The sound of shattering glass brought Lucius' attention back towards the bar. The barman began yelling about an entire bottle of Firewhisky wasted, as the now raucous Death Eater crowd booed and hissed over the spilled drink. Lucius turned back towards Tonks.

"Until we meet again," he said with a slight bow.

Tonks let out the breath she had been holding, looked back toward the hallway and saw Remus walking back towards her. Rather than move aside for him to slide in first, she smiled up at him, attempting to look unbothered, and scooted down the seat.

"Keep your face turned away from the bar," Tonks said softly, grabbing Remus by both wrists as he sat and placed his arms around her body. She slid her arms around his neck and brought his face down to rest his cheek against hers. Placing her mouth close to his ear, she whispered, "We're going to sit and pretend to snog for a bit, then we're going to leave."

"Is it sad that that's the best offer I've had in a while?" Remus murmured against her neck, pushing her hair and scarf aside, as she laughed lightly. "How did Malfoy end up over here?"

"Saw him, did you?" Tonks asked as she ran a hand through his shaggy hair. "He pretended to chat me up, but I think he was really hoping I'd tell him who you were."

"I heard."

"You heard?"

"I did. Well, bits of it anyway," he said, running his hands up her back. "Hung like a Hippogriff?"

"A girl can dream, can't she?" Tonks asked sweetly, grasping a handful of his overgrown hair. "How'd you hear us?"

"Advantage of being a werewolf."

"Have you got wolfie hearing?" she asked, crossing her legs. She shifted to let her crossed leg rest over Remus' thigh.

"Among other 'wolfie', as you call it, senses," he answered, bringing a hand down to stroke the leg she'd draped over him.

With all of Remus' words being spoken softly at the sensitive spot just below her ear, and his hands roaming her body, Tonks was finding it increasingly hard to focus. "You're distracting me, Professor."

"Am I?" Remus asked mildly, brushing his hand dangerously close to her backside.

"Yes," Tonks whispered. "I haven't even asked you if you found anything."

"I found something of note, but we'll have to talk later," he said quietly. "First we need to make our exit."

"Have we snogged quite enough, then?" Tonks asked, brushing her lips across Remus' earlobe, delighted that she felt him shiver slightly at the contact.

"Not nearly. But we can't sit here all night."

"Shame, really." Tonks pulled the hand fisted in Remus' hair down to run it across his chest while he placed a kiss on her collar bone. Her breath hitched at the contact of his lips on her skin and she realized they indeed needed to make their exit or she was in danger of straddling his lap and actually snogging him senseless. Tonks took a deep breath, hoping to calm her wits. A thought occurred to her, thankfully helping her ignore the sensations Remus was sending through her body. "Do you suppose this is what Dedalus and Hestia do when they're on a mission together?"

"I certainly hope so, for their sakes," Remus said. "Or Sturgis and Emmeline?"

"Dumbledore and McGonagall?"

"Dung and—"

"Don't you dare!"

"Don't you think Dung wants a good snogging?"

"Merlin, if he does I certainly don't want to know about it," Tonks said with a slight shudder. "Out of curiosity, just who were you going to pair him with?"

"Arabella Figg."

"Bugger, now you've killed the mood," Tonks said, leaning against Remus' chest and laughing into his shoulder. She was actually grateful that the mood was broken since she could actually think clearly again.

"Just as well," he said with a sigh. "The crowd over by the bar is getting lively enough that I think we should get going."

"When we get up, keep your head bent low like your talking into my ear," Tonks instructed. "I think Malfoy is going to try and get your attention on the way out. Just ignore whatever clever thing he says."

They slid from the booth, Remus keeping his head low and wrapping an arm around Tonks' shoulder. "This would be easier if you weren't so short," Remus muttered into her ear.

"Well, I could morph myself a few inches taller, but I reckon they would take notice." Tonks slid her arm around Remus' waist, grabbed a fistful of his robes, and pulled him forward. "Stop complaining, Professor, and let's go."

They started for the door, arms wrapped around each other, attempting to look like a couple hurrying home at the end of a date. They'd only made it a few paces before Lucius' voice called out from the bar. "Heading out, are we?"

Tonks and Remus continued walking without missing a step, making it halfway to the door before Lucius began again. "Lovely lady you've got there. Mind if I have a go with her when you're through?"

"Clever, indeed," Remus said into Tonks' ear.

"In fact," Lucius started again. "I believe we've enough Galleons between us that we could all have a go."

Tonks could feel Remus tense slightly at Lucius' words and pulled him forward. The last thing she needed at that moment was for Remus to become defensive; they needed to exit the bar without incident. She reached up to her shoulder where his hand rested and linked her fingers through his. Tonks could feel the warm pulse of his magic running through his fingers and hurried to pull them through the door and out onto the street before he lost control and cast a wandless spell.

"Don't break away," Tonks said, keeping one hand gripping his robes and the other still grasping his hand. "There's a spot in the alley where I think we can Apparate." They walked swiftly towards the alley and had scarcely turned the corner before Remus shifted their positions, wrapped his arms tightly around her and turned on the spot.

Tonks opened her eyes once the dizzying feeling of Apparation lessened and looked up into Remus' face, which was inches from her own. His arms were still wrapped around her, and she found herself pressed against the brick wall of the building that formed the alley close to Headquarters.

"Well, that was interesting," Tonks said, catching her breath. "At least we learned some things."

"We certainly did." Remus said, still staring down into Tonks' face. "May I see your face?"

Tonks closed her eyes in concentration and morphed her face back to her own. She opened her eyes to meet Remus' gaze once more, suddenly feeling dizzy and breathless again as she took in the feel of his long lean body pressing against hers. Thankfully, Remus' arms and the wall at her back were steadying her—otherwise she felt certain she would have fallen to the ground under the intensity of his stare. Tonks felt her heart pounding in her chest and found herself hoping he would close the distance between their lips and kiss her. Never in her life had she wanted to kiss someone as much as she did in this moment. Just as she was sure he would, Remus shook his head slightly, blinked a few times and loosened his grip on her body.

"We should go inside." His usually hoarse voice was even more so at these words.

"Right," Tonks said, trying to keep the disappointment from her tone. Perhaps after a mission wasn't the right time, she thought. Especially a mission where they'd spent the better part of the time with their hands on each other. Remus stepped back, taking a deep breath and pulling his arms away from her. Tonks felt a wave of displeasure at the loss of contact from his body. She pulled the black scarf from around her neck, transfigured it back to her black robes and slipped her arms into the sleeves. They both turned to leave the alley, quietly making their way to the front door of Headquarters. She made no objection when Remus slipped an arm around her waist, guiding her through the entry hall. After two days of work, sandwiched around guard duty and the mission that night, Tonks was sure her fatigued body wouldn't make it to the kitchen without stumbling and waking up Mrs. Black. They walked through the door to find Molly and Sirius reading at the table.

"How was the mission?" Sirius asked, looking up from his copy of the Evening Prophet.

"Fine."

"Very informative."

He narrowed his eyes at the two of them standing there. "Fine and informative, huh?"

"Tonks, dear, you look flushed, are you quite all right?" Molly asked as she place her book on the table.

"Fine," she said again, realizing Remus' arm was still around her waist. She pulled away and walked toward the cooker to busy her hands with making a cup of tea.

"Two 'fines', then. Are you sure you're actually fine?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," Tonks said curtly, pulling a mug from the cupboard. "We had to make hasty exit after an encounter with Lucius Malfoy." Tonks wondered if she'd feel more or less awkward at the moment if she and Remus had kissed. She definitely knew she needed a few moments to catch her breath before turning around to face the room.

"How'd you get him to bugger off?" Sirius asked.

"Not sure, really," Tonks said, placing the kettle on the cooker to boil. "I told him I didn't care who he was and then—" She whirled around to face Remus. "You made that bottle crash, didn't you?"

"I did," Remus said levelly. "I saw your hand go to where your wand was hidden and decided it was quite time for the conversation to end."

"I can take care of myself, Remus," Tonks said defiantly.

"I certainly never meant to imply otherwise," he said, raising his hands in defense. "But, I didn't think you would want one of your colleagues showing up to arrest you because you'd beaten up Lucius Malfoy."

"Fair point," Tonks said with a huff. "Where were you?"

"When I was coming back from my task I saw Malfoy at the table, so I Disillusioned myself and stood against the wall to watch what he was up to." Remus walked across the kitchen and took the mug from Tonks' hand, his fingers brushing against hers. "Here, allow me." He prepared her tea, even adding a bit of milk from a jug. She watched him with a slight smile on her face as she realized he knew exactly how she took her tea.

"Thanks," she said quietly. As Tonks leaned against the counter sipping her tea, she felt the adrenaline from the mission drain from her body. The events of the last two days caught up with her body, and she suddenly felt extremely tired. She yawned widely and rubbed a hand wearily over her face.

"You look dead on your feet," Molly observed. "When was the last time you slept?"

"I kipped at the office for a couple of hours this morning before work."

"Go home," Remus said gently. "I'll start writing out the report tonight and you can help me with names and faces you recognized in the morning."

"Albus stopped in earlier to talk to the kids about Harry. He said he'd be back tomorrow to read your report and hear what you had to say," Sirius said.

"Don't expect me early," Tonks said with another yawn. Not until I've had a long run and a shower to clear my head.

"If you're not here by ten for breakfast, I'll come to collect you myself," Molly said reproachfully. "You look like you need feeding up."

"Since I don't want to be on the wrong side of your temper, I'll make sure I'm here early enough for breakfast," Tonks said, placing her mug in the sink. "I'm off to Bedfordshire."

"Start your report, Remus," Sirius said, rising to his feet. "I'll walk her out." He walked over to Tonks and linked his arm through hers, pulling her towards the door. She turned to lock eyes with Remus once more and saw a pensive, and slightly disappointed, look on his face as she was guided through the kitchen door. Once Sirius had walked her through the entrance hall, he whispered, "Fine, was it? You two looked as though something more than 'fine' happened when you walked into the kitchen."

Tonks said quietly, "Maybe I like him, too, but leave me alone about it, all right?"

He grinned. "I'll not say another word."

"I get the sense that I shouldn't believe you," Tonks said suspiciously, opening the door and stepping out onto the stoop. "But, for now, I'm too knackered to argue with you." She closed the door quietly in his face, turning to walk from the stoop to the sidewalk.

Once she was home, Tonks barely made it out of her dress and into the bathroom to ready herself for bed before she collapsed onto her pillow, pulling the duvet around her. She fell into an exhausted sleep, not waking until the light began peeking through her kitchen sink window. She groaned as she rolled over, pulling her pillow over her head. After a few moments, Tonks decided that she'd rather not have Molly Weasley burst through her door to drag her to Headquarters, so she pushed herself out of bed to make coffee and gather her running clothes.

As Tonks began her run twenty minutes later, she let her mind wander to Remus. She needed to decide if she was ready to let somebody grow close to her again. She'd certainly been hurt before, but was that a reason to keep him away? Remus seemed unlike any man she had ever known. She was definitely attracted to him; she'd been sure of that from almost the instant she'd laid eyes on him. But beyond that, he was considerate and attentive in ways she'd never encountered. Tonks had never known a man who knew how she took her tea without asking. It seemed such a simple thing, but it really showed her so much of who he was as a person. She knew her hesitancy had nothing to do with him being a werewolf. She didn't give a toss about his condition. Although that lead her to reflect on how life couldn't have been easy for Remus. Had he been hurt before? Would he even want to pursue anything with her? Sirius had said Remus liked her. But, just as friends? Did he fancy her? She was becoming more certain with each thought that she fancied him. She sped up her running pace, allowing the physical activity—the sweat, the rapid beat of her heart, the heaviness of her breathing—to bring some relief to her mind.

Tonks finished her run, gasping for breath, but very much refreshed. She returned to her flat in order to stretch and shower before leaving for Grimmauld Place. Once she arrived at Headquarters, Tonks made it past the entry hall and through the kitchen door unscathed. She found Remus sitting at the table, still in his pajamas and dressing gown, drinking coffee and reading the paper. The table was covered in dishes full of food, telling her that Molly was also awake somewhere in the house. "Well, look at you, lazy," Tonks said, taking in Remus' rumpled appearance. "Decided to have a bit of a lie-in, did we?"

"Good morning, Nymphadora," Remus said, looking up from his paper. "I stayed up far too late entertaining your cousin with the tale of our mission last night."

"Nymphadora?" Tonks asked, raising her eyebrows at him and walking to the cupboard. "You're lucky I'm in a good mood this morning, Professor. Don't you remember what I threatened Sirius with if he called me Nymphadora?" She reached up for a mug and poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot resting on the cooker.

"I thought I'd take the risk and try it out," he said, his eyes going back to his reading. "I happen to think it suits you."

"Suits me?" Tonks asked, taking a seat next to Remus at the table. "You don't reckon it's a bit showy and ladylike for me?"

"No," he replied, folding up his paper and placing it down on the table. "I also happen to think it's lovely to say." He leaned forward slightly and met her eyes. "Nymphadora."

"I think you're mental," Tonks said, reaching over to brush his shaggy hair from his eyes, trying to ignore the thrill that ran through her body as she heard him speak her name with his hoarse voice. "Certainly don't encourage the others to use my name."

"No, I'd rather it just be me."

Tonks breathed a shaky laugh at those words. She'd always hated her name, but the thought of Remus whispering it into her ear—possibly just before a passionate kiss—left her feeling as if she needed to catch her breath. "Now, Professor, I can't be seen to play favorites," she said, hoping the slight quaver to her voice wasn't giving away her thoughts. The kitchen door opened at that moment, and Tonks peered over her shoulder, not sure if she was grateful or irritated to be interrupted. Hermione and Ginny filed into the kitchen, closely followed by Molly.

"Wotcher, girls," Tonks said, turning to the door. "Decide to come take advantage of breakfast before the boys come down leaving nothing but crumbs in their wake?"

"I've watched Ron eat breakfast almost daily for nearly five years," Hermione said loftily. "There wouldn't even be crumbs left."

Once breakfast had been eaten and cleaned up, the boys having finally joined and made the table completely devoid of food, everyone moved on with their day. Molly scooted the grumbling teenagers off to keep them busy with cleaning, and Remus excused himself to shower and dress, handing Tonks the mission report he had started before heading upstairs. She busied herself with reading and adding to the report while waiting for Remus to return and Dumbledore to arrive. Just as she was finishing up, Sirius walked through the door, looking like he was in desperate need of coffee.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Tonks said, looking up with a grin.

Remus entered the kitchen directly after Sirius. "Speak to him before coffee at your own risk," he said as he sat next to her again.

Tonks indelicately snorted a laugh. "Please, I endured Mad-Eye in the morning for three years," she said, returning her attention back to the parchment in front of her. "He's been known to have people in floods if they so much as look at him crossways before noon."

Tonks heard Sirius grumble something that sounded like "inconsiderate bloody werewolf" under his breath as he sat across from her with a coffee mug in front of him. He pulled the mission report over and began scanning through the pages.

Dumbledore arrived, read through the report and sat to discuss the events from the previous night. Tonks discussed the ministry employees she recognized, specifically the assistant in the Magical Law Enforcement office. Dumbledore wanted her to find more about this person while at work the following week. Remus told them that there was indeed not a crowd in the men's bathroom, which had lead him to do a quick search of the hallway, finding a trace of a magical wards on an open stretch of wall.

"I reckon there's a door that's either password protected or uses wand recognition to allow entry," Tonks speculated. "It'd take some time to work out exactly how it works."

"Is it your belief that Lucius actually recognized Remus?" Dumbledore asked Tonks.

"No," Tonks said, shaking her head. "He'd have wanted to let us know he was clever enough to recognize him. Instead he pretended to chat me up to see if I would slip and give away who he was. And we left before he had much more time to think on it."

"Now, it says here," Sirius spoke up, picking up a piece of parchment from the table, apparently caffeinated enough for coherent speech at this point. "That you were able to exit the bar after keeping your cover as a couple intact. Care to add any details?" he asked with a roguish grin.

"Care to stop being git?" Tonks asked, snatching the report from his hands.

"Moving on, then," Dumbledore said, peering at Sirius over his half-moon spectacles.

"My apologies, Albus," Sirius said with a smirk, looking none whatsoever apologetic.

"Before we move on completely, sir," Tonks said. "I have a few thoughts on keeping better tabs on the activities going on at the Poison Quill." Dumbledore gazed at her with his penetrating stare—a stare she knew well from her school days, her inability to behave herself earning her many trips to the headmaster's office. She met his stare, thinking that he definitely gave the impression that he could read minds.

"Indeed," Dumbledore said with a thoughtful look. "Something we will discuss at a later date. For now," he began in a lighter tone. "I've another mission in mind for you, my dear. One that will involve more spying on Lucius. The Malfoys host a summer party every year, and I need you to attend."

"So, I get to crash a party at my dear aunt and uncle's house?" Tonks asked with a wide grin. "Too bad I can't go as myself, really." She gave an exaggerated sigh. "Do I get to bring Remus with me?"

"Unfortunately, no," he answered, lips twitching slightly under his mustache. "I've arranged for you to attend with someone who already holds an invitation to the event. You'll be working with Severus."

Bugger.

A/N: Who else loves Severus Snape? We're in for some fun coming up, so stay tuned!

Hugs to Kerichi!