A week after her mission with Remus to find Hagrid, Tonks entered the hospital wing of Hogwarts in a towering fury. She hadn't been able to run, she hadn't seen Remus, and she had been on Sirius duty all week. After the third day of sitting in her cubicle sorting tips primarily turned in by batty old witches, she'd lost her temper. The offending tip had been submitted by an elderly witch who'd claimed Sirius had helped her pick out a melon while shopping at her local Tesco supermarket. After Tonks had calmly entered Kingsley's office and closed the door behind her, she'd cast a Silencing Charm on the room and began a tirade that rivaled those of the mad portrait of Mrs. Black hanging at Headquarters. By the end, she wasn't entirely sure what all she'd threatened, but knew full well she couldn't carry out the threats until Poppy had cleared her, so she had resorted to begging Kingsley to take her out to conduct interviews about the few tips that could prove useful to his campaign to throw off the search for her fugitive cousin. He'd decided—not without a fair amount of teasing—that accompanying Tonks to check out some of the less dangerous tips would be better than her siting in his office shooting daggers at him until she was cleared for duty.
Her frustration at not being able to run was driving her absolutely bonkers. She'd tried to talk Hestia into clearing her for running over the weekend when they had crossed paths over guard duty—Tonks had refused to sit out that task—but Hestia had said that she didn't question decisions made by Poppy Pomfrey. Running was her way of relieving stress, and between her unhappy assignment at work and Remus being away, she could use a way to blow off steam.
Tonks had no choice but to admit to herself that part of her stress for the week was anticipating Remus' return. After the time they'd spent together the previous week, she hoped he wouldn't come back in the same brooding state he had the last time he'd been away on a mission. To make up for his absence, she'd played the lovely moments they'd spent lying next to each other in her mind again and again. Once Remus had been gone for a few days, she'd allowed the thoughts to morph into fantasies about what she wished had happened. Instead of grasping her hip to stop her, he'd slide his hand around to slowly caress her belly, run his fingers teasingly just under the band of her knickers, trailing lower as he leisurely kissed his way down her neck. Bugger! Rather than easing her tension, these delicious thoughts were more likely to make it necessary to cast an Augamenti to her face. Tonks was wound up tighter than a drum and would likely hex Poppy if she didn't let her go for a run the moment she was done checking her over.
Kingsley had become tired of her mood while she sat in the office, biding her time until she could escape to Hogwarts. Soon after lunch, he'd sent her out of the office under the guise of checking on another tip. The note he'd flown to her had hinted that if Poppy didn't clear her for a run before their Order meeting that evening, he would require her to find a seat as far away from him as possible. And so, she sat, as patiently as she could while Poppy performed her check-up, praying to Merlin that she would be done soon.
"You're cleared to do any activity you like, my dear," Poppy said with one last sweep of her wand.
Tonks jumped from the bed, shrugged out of her work robes, and grabbed her bag from the floor. "About bloody time!" She dropped the bag on the bed and tugged it open, pulling out running clothes and her trainers.
Poppy looked on with an amused expression. "Are you going to run at this very moment?"
"Yes! I've been cooped up in my cubicle most of the week, and I've been—" Tonks felt her cheeks heat up as she thought of her daydreams about Remus' hands on her all week. "Distracted," she finished lamely.
"I hope they've been pleasant thoughts," Poppy said over her shoulder as Tonks carried her running things to the bathroom. "And do be careful on your run. No need to find yourself injured again before the day is out."
Tonks changed into her running tights and tank, throwing on a long-sleeved t-shirt to combat the chilly Scottish air once the sun dipped low in the sky. She hurried through the castle and practically jogged down the Grand Staircase and through the entrance hall. She burst through the front doors and took the steps at a run. Smiling as she began running toward the lake, she happily noted that the grounds of Hogwarts were far more relaxing and picturesque than running through the crowded streets of London. Maybe she'd do a lap around the lake and end with jogging the steps of the Quidditch Stadium.
An hour later, breathless and dripping with sweat, she was busy congratulating herself for not falling down the steps of the stands. She left the stadium and turned for the greenhouses, thinking she would stop in to see if her old Head of House was around. She approached the greenhouse Professor Sprout used as her office and knocked. The door to the greenhouse next door slammed, and Tonks turned to see Professor Sprout walking toward her with a smile, hastily dusting off the front of her dirt-soiled robes.
"Tonks! Come here and give me a hug, girl." She gave Tonks a vice-like hug and pulled back to brush a bit of dirt from Tonks' t-shirt. "Poppy told me you were here last week. Hit your head, she said. No surprise there. What are you doing here today? Need a new place for your exhausting habit?"
The rapid-fire speech made Tonks laugh. "Poppy put me off running until she could check me over today. It's been a long week of desk duty so I took advantage of the grounds after she was through prodded me."
"You never did like being idle," Sprout said, shaking her head with a smile.
"No, ma'am."
Sprout looked over Tonks' shoulder, prompting Tonks to turn. She saw Dumbledore striding across the grounds toward them.
Placing a protective arm around Tonks' shoulders, Sprout waved a threatening finger at Dumbledore. "Don't you take her away so soon, Albus. I'm sure you have something very important to discuss with her, but I haven't even invited her in for tea."
"My regrets, Pomona," Dumbledore said, raising his hands in apology. "But I do have matters to discuss with Nymphadora prior to our engagement this evening."
"Oh, very well." Sprout enveloped Tonks in another hug. "Come see me again soon and we'll have a proper catch-up with tea and cakes."
"You know I won't turn down food," Tonks said, returning the hug.
She said goodbye and began walking toward the castle with Dumbledore, wondering what mission he had in mind for her next.
"Poppy said you were most anxious to return to your regular routine," he said conversationally. "Not worried, I see, after your adventure in the Polish forest?"
"It'll take more than a couple of nasty blokes to scare me off."
"A true Hufflepuff," he said happily. "Unafraid of toil and hard work. And absolutely dedicated to the task at hand."
Tonks smiled at his description. "I like to think I do my House proud, sir," she said as she removed a shrunken hand towel from the key pocket of her running tights. She enlarged the towel and used her wand to wet one corner to wipe her face.
"Indeed, you do. Now, I believe I once again owe you a lost meal," he said, a small smile twitching his moustache.
"Like I told Sprout, I won't turn down food."
They had walked to the front steps of the castle, and Dumbledore held open one of the giant oak doors for Tonks. He stopped at the bottom of the staircase and turned to her. "Why don't you use Poppy's facilities and meet me in the Hog's Head when you are finished." At Tonks' raised eyebrows, Dumbledore explained, "I have information I need to gather before our meeting tonight, and, despite rumors to the contrary, the food at the Hog's Head is quite good."
Tonks showered and dressed quickly before using Poppy's Floo to reach the Hog's Head. She stepped not so gracefully from the fireplace and guiltily brushed the soot from her robes that Poppy had pressed for her while she'd been running. Looking around, she noticed that Dumbledore was the only person, aside from the barman, in the deserted pub. She took a seat next to him at the bar.
"What's safe to eat?" Tonks asked Dumbledore quietly as Aberforth went to the door to lock it. She figured he would be privy to the virtues of his brother's cooking.
"Heard that," Aberforth said gruffly.
Dumbledore chuckled lightly. "I assure you, it's quite safe to eat my brother's cooking," he said, patting her arm. "So long as you take a potion for indigestion after. The onion soup he's serving today is one of his specialties."
Aberforth walked back behind the bar and placed both hands on the wooden surface. He stared appraisingly at Tonks, his gaze flitting from her pink hair to the Auror badge pinned to her robes before he met her eyes challengingly. "Bit young for this job, aren't you?" he asked.
Being the youngest member of the Order—and the youngest Auror in the Ministry—she was used to this sentiment. She met his stare unflinchingly. "If you're not too old, then I'm not too young." She sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll have the onion soup, please."
Aberforth harrumphed. "Feisty. Isn't that what Kingsley said?" He stared at Tonks again for a long moment before his lips twitched in an almost smile. "Reckon he's right." He turned from the bar and pushed through a swinging door that Tonks guessed led to a kitchen.
"I do believe he likes you," Dumbledore said.
"It seems hard to tell," Tonks replied wryly.
Dumbledore chucked. "Indeed, it does. I've known him for a century and I'm not entirely sure he likes me," he said. Tonks detected some seriousness to his statement despite the slight smile he wore.
"I'm still deciding," Aberforth said as he pushed through the door of the kitchen with a large bowl of steaming soup in his hands. He set the soup on the bar in front of Tonks. "Albus says I'm shit at making tea, so if you want something other than Firewhisky, you'll have to ask him," he said with a wave of his hand to Dumbledore.
"I do happen to owe you tea and cakes," Dumbledore said with a wave of his wand. Tea for two and a plate of dainty tea cakes appeared on the bar.
"Show off," Aberforth muttered as he turned back to the kitchen.
Tonks was shocked to discover that the soup tasted as delicious as it smelled. Over the years, she'd heard debates as to whether the food served at the Hog's Head was edible and had steered clear, but the soup Aberforth had served was quite good.
Taking another bite of her soup, she was surprised when green flames suddenly appeared in the fireplace. She thought Aberforth would have closed his Floo connection for their meeting since he'd locked the door to customers. Her surprised ended when Severus stepped from the fireplace and strode toward the bar, taking the seat next to Tonks.
Dumbledore conjured a third cup and poured tea for all of them. "Now that we're all here, it's time we discussed the goings on at the Poison Quill," he said.
At the Order meeting the week prior, Hestia had mentioned two men coming in to St. Mungo's reporting memory loss after an evening at the Quill. Tonks had sat up to attention and mentioned the similar reports she'd taken from two men the week prior. She had wanted at the time to discuss it, but Dumbledore had given her a look that clearly said to wait and told her and Hestia to report any other such incidents.
"Am I correct in assuming you have some ideas, my dear, as to how we should proceed with this mission?"
Tonks smiled at Dumbledore. She'd had an idea in her head since the mission with Remus weeks ago. "The Quill doesn't have a barmaid, sir."
"Have they not?" he asked mildly, after taking a drink of his tea.
Severus scoffed. "That's your grand plan?"
"What's your plan, then?" Tonks asked, her head cocked to the side as if waiting patiently for him to explain. When Severus simply stared impassively at her, she smiled sweetly and pushed away her empty bowl and reached for a cake to go along with the tea Dumbledore had poured for her. "With the increased volume of Death Eaters in there, you'd think they'd needed someone to serve them drinks."
Dumbledore hummed thoughtfully. "Your idea has merit. How do we establish your new position?"
Tonks shrugged after a drink of tea. "Confund the owner."
"Simple as that, is it?" Severus asked with a sneer as he reached for a cake from the plate. Tonks smiled at Severus as he took a bite of the delicate sweet. He chewed his bite and swallowed, looking impatiently at her. "I happen to like cake as much as the next person."
"I didn't say it was simple," Tonks said, still smiling at the image of the feared Potions Professor eating tea cakes. "But surely you can manage a Confundus Charm."
Severus stared at Tonks for a moment. "You want me to Confund the owner?"
"Unless you'd rather be the barmaid?" she asked with a cheeky grin.
"Don't be absurd," he said before placing the rest of his cake in his mouth.
"What are your thoughts, Severus?" Dumbledore asked, smiling slightly at their exchange. "Can this be accomplished?"
Severus took a deep breath. "It isn't a bad plan," he said grudgingly. "But, it's not entirely practical." He held up a hand to stop Tonks as she was about to object. "The Quill is a rather unpleasant establishment and did little legitimate business until Lucius decided to use it as a meeting place. Since Lucius isn't there every week, I believe the barman would become suspicious of your employment when there are no patrons to serve."
"Does he show up randomly, or is it planned?" Tonks asked.
"To my knowledge, it is planned, but not every week."
"Perhaps Nymphadora's alias could be called upon only when Lucius will be there."
"It could be part of the Confundus," Tonks said. "The barman is grumpy that Lucius actually expects service. He can owl me when he knows it's going to be a busy night."
"Have you an alias in mind?" Dumbledore asked.
Tonks closed her eyes and morphed her pink hair black, lengthened it to her shoulders and added thick straight fringe across her forehead. Her eyes became bright blue and she elongated her face to an oval shape. The result was a young witch, not striking in her appearance, but pretty enough to draw attention. "Piper has been to the Quill before as a decoy. She fits in nicely."
"There are details that need tended to, but this scenario could prove advantageous," Dumbledore said, stroking his long beard. "If you have no work duties Friday night, I'd like you to make an appearance at the Quill."
It was not her weekend to work and she was scheduled for guard duty the next day, which was Thursday. "As Piper?" she asked as she closed her eyes and morphed her features back.
"Not yet." Dumbledore thought for a moment. "I think a business deal with Mundungus would do nicely."
"Really, sir?" Tonks asked with a groan. Severus smirked and reached for his tea. "Do you want to know what happened the last time I was at the Quill with Dung?" Dumbledore simply smiled at her, so she continued. "He ended up bound to a chair after hitting me with a Stinging Jinx while my back was turned."
"Incidentally, I did happen to hear about that."
Tonks eyed him suspiciously, wondering if there was more to the story than she knew. Before she could contemplate further, Dumbledore spoke again. "Mundungus has been meeting associates at the Quill recently, so his presence will not seem odd."
"If he's there a lot, why do I need to be there?" Tonks realized she was on the verge of whining, but the idea of an evening with Dung was about as desirable as an evening preparing Severus' more disgusting Potions ingredients.
Dumbledore gazed at her with an amused expression over his spectacles. "Mundungus has his uses, of course. But, he doesn't have the trained eye for detail as you do. Your meeting him will provide a nice cover for you to observe."
Tonks sighed. "Please tell me I don't have to buy one of his dodgy cauldrons."
The Order meeting that evening was dull without Remus there. He still wasn't back, which didn't seem to concern Sirius or Dumbledore, so Tonks decided to keep a steady stream of Remus-centric thoughts going through her head to keep her mind off worrying. But she couldn't deny she was worried. According to Dumbledore, Remus was away speaking with werewolves, gauging their reactions to the news that Dolores Umbridge, werewolf enemy number one, had been named the new Defense teacher at Hogwarts. She wasn't worried for his safety; Tonks knew that he was a talented wizard and could take care of himself. Her worry came from wondering how he would act when he returned after more than a week of speaking with people whose reactions to the topic he was bringing up would no doubt be less than pleasant.
Rather than dwell on what she couldn't predict or control, Tonks decided to hope for the best upon Remus' return and prepare to cheer him up if he came back brooding. In an effort to cheer herself up, she stopped by a Muggle book shop on her way home from Headquarters. She wanted to take up Poppy's suggestion and browse through some books on massage before the next full moon. There were quite a few to choose from. The Art of Sensual Massage caught her eye, but after flipping through the book—becoming quite distracted by the pictures—she decided to save that one for another time. In the end, she picked one that had techniques along with explanations as to why the techniques were helpful. She tucked her purchase into the pocket of her robes the next day so she'd have something to read during guard duty.
The morning after her overnight shift watching the door to the Department of Mysteries, Tonks stood and rolled her shoulders, thinking a back rub for herself would come in handy at the moment. She stretched carefully, making sure Mad-Eye's invisibility cloak still covered her feet. Slipping her reading material for the night back into her robes, she slowly walked the long length of the corridor to the lifts, waiting until she was inside to pull off the cloak. With a smile, she remembered some of the tips she'd read from her new book. Apparently, there was a science behind using massage to relieve and treat sore and injured muscles, something about increased blood flow and muscle attachments. One passage from her late-night reading from the chapter on relieving tension in the lower back stuck out in her mind. She'd had to smother a giggle as the book had described the benefits of massaging the gluteal muscles along with those of the lower back since the muscles had attachment points near each other. Don't mind if I do.
Smiling even broader at the thought of her hands caressing Remus' bum, Tonks went in search of one of the charmed carts she'd learned of that rolled pots of freshly brewed coffee around the Ministry over night for the Magical Maintenance crew and the Watchwizards. She found a cart in a corridor off the atrium and was pouring herself a cup when she heard footsteps. The footsteps paused for a moment, causing Tonks to look up for the source. It was early yet for many employees to be trickling in, but not unheard of for someone to make an early start to their day. With the corridor empty, Tonks decided that whoever the footsteps belonged to had entered a nearby office, so she returned to the lifts.
Tonks pushed through the large wooden door of the Auror office, finding it almost completely dark. The sun had not risen in the enchanted windows, making the office look eerie in the grey pre-dawn light. Given the early hour, she was not surprised that the office was so quiet. She was surprised, however to see a pair of feet propped on her desk as she approached her cubicle, and drew her wand reflexively as she saw who was sitting casually in her chair.
"Early start today," Lucius Malfoy said, eyeing her wand.
"Your day seems to be starting just as early as mine," Tonks said, keeping her wand raised.
"Or is it a late ending to your previous work day?" he asked, ignoring her statement as he idly flicked a piece of lint from the front of his robes.
"My duties are none of your business."
Lucius turned his gaze to Tonks, his grey eyes sweeping down her body before meeting her eyes again. "You look as though you slept in a gutter."
"I didn't realize the safety of the Wizarding world relied so heavily on my ability to perform laundry charms. Anyway." She cocked her head to the side and gave him a wry smile. "We don't all have house-elves to make sure we leave the house everyday looking like a poncey git."
Lucius abruptly swung his legs from her desk and stood, giving her a disdainful look. "Your manners must have been influenced by your Mudblood father."
Tonks stood her ground, even with him standing just inches from her. "Actually, it was my mother who taught me to speak my mind."
Lucius pulled a pocket watch from inside his robes and glanced at it before giving her a final withering look and strode from the office. Tonks took a deep breath to calm her racing pulse and plopped down in her chair, no longer feeling like she needed the caffeinated beverage that was warming her hand, although she would drink it to combat the fatigue that would no doubt settle in after the rush of her encounter with Lucius wore off. Even though she was certain he hadn't seen her in the Department of Mysteries, she now had an idea of whose footsteps she'd heard near the Atrium. Tonks was pretty sure he knew why she was at the Ministry so early. She wasn't overly worried about this. What was he going to say? That he was watching the Department of Mysteries for You-Know-Who and thought the Order was too? The Death Eaters were keeping a low profile just like the Order.
Tonks drank her coffee and wondered whether she should tell someone right away about her surprise meeting with Lucius or not. In the end, since she didn't see Kingsley all day and she never found time to pop over to Headquarters, she decided to make a note to Dumbledore when she wrote her report later that night after she met with Dung at the Quill. Her day was busier than she'd hoped, leaving her time only for a shower and a change of clothes—instead of the nap she had really wanted—before she had to meet Dung.
The Poison Quill was as quiet and deserted as Knockturn Alley had been as Tonks had made her way down the depressing streets to the bar. Dung had arrived before her and was sitting in the same booth she'd sat with Remus weeks ago. Lowering the hood of her cloak, she sat across from him so she could see the door.
"Wotcher, Dung," Tonks said to identify herself, waving the smoke from his pipe from her face as it wafted across the table.
"All righ'?" Mundungus asked with a genial smile. "Not lookin' as pretty as usual, if you don't mind me sayin'."
Tonks smiled and shook her head. "I'll take that as a compliment." Her disguise tonight was one she was rather proud of. She'd morphed her face to one that resembled a female Mad-Eye. Grizzled grey hair, a nose that looked to have been broken several times, and a scar that ran the length of one cheek.
"Rotten hole of a place, in 'it?" he asked as he passed her one of the glasses of Firewhisky sitting on the table. "Reckon there's not much goin' on tonigh'."
Tonks glanced around the pub and thought Dung was unfortunately right. Lucius Malfoy and his band of cronies were nowhere in sight. If this was all the business that comes in on a Friday night when the Death Eaters weren't meeting, Severus was right that the barman would be suspicious of her employment. The only other people in the pub besides her and Dung was a pair of wizards at the bar. One of the men was nursing a drink and speaking in hushed tones to the man next to him who was…Remus! Even from the back, Tonks thought she would recognize his patched cloak and shaggy brown hair anywhere. She felt a flutter of excitement course through her body at seeing him again after nearly nine days of him being away.
Wanting nothing more than to rush over and throw her arms around Remus' shoulders, Tonks controlled the impulse and settled for watching him as Dung started in on a tale of some back-alley deal he recently participated in. The man next to Remus looked to be older than him, but she thought it could be due to his careworn appearance; his cloak was more heavily patched then Remus' and his boots looked as though they were close to wearing through the soles. She watched as they conversed, her ears half-tuned in to Dung's stories. Their conversation appeared to be friendly enough. They didn't laugh the way friends would in conversation, but didn't seem hostile. It made her curious as to what the other man—she suspected that he was a werewolf—thought of Remus and the topic they were discussing.
Their discussion seemed to end when Remus reached his hand out and the other man grudgingly shook it. Remus stood from the barstool and took a deep breath and checked his watch before looking around the pub. Her breath caught as their eyes met for a long moment. His lips quirked up in a knowing half-smile. Tonks fought to keep her face impassive as Remus held her gaze for a moment longer. He nodded his head almost imperceptibly and left the pub, Tonks feeling bereft at his departure. She thought for sure he'd known it was her disguised as the craggy witch. Even though it was a tiny thing, she was glad for the little smile he'd given her. She hoped that since he was back in London, perhaps his mission was complete and he'd now be returning to Headquarters.
Half an hour later, Tonks had listened to about all she could take of Dung telling her about his business deals. Tonks was frustrated and ready to go home. She felt like she had learned all she needed to know within twenty minutes of arriving; there was obviously very little business on nights when the Death Eaters didn't meet. In the middle of one of Dung's stories about some Potion ingredient he was tracking down, the barman emerged through a swinging door behind the bar with a bundle of parchment in his hands. He rounded the corner and ducked down the hallway toward the toilets. She watched as he placed the tip of his wand to the blank expanse of wall and entered the door that appeared after he traced a pattern.
"Shut it for a minute," Tonks said snapping her fingers in front of his face to stop his story. He stopped and looked at her, surprised at the interruption. "Does he go in there a lot?" she asked, jerking her head to indicate the dark hallway.
"Dunno," Dung said, squinting to peer down the dimly lit hall. "Ain' never seen that door before."
Tonks rolled her eyes. Dumbledore was right; Dung may have his uses, but attention to detail certainly isn't one of them.
"Anyway, I was in this 'pothecary down the way, and I says—"
Tonks scooted to the end of the booth and stood. "Hold that thought, mate." Or don't. She didn't want to lose the chance to at least get a glimpse of the door that the barman hadn't thought to conceal once inside.
Relying on the little stealth she possessed, Tonks approached the door silently. Once she reached the door, her pulse quickened when she realized that he hadn't shut it closed behind him. Even though the pub was empty, she gave a quick glance to make sure nobody—save for Dung—could see her. Tonks cast a Disillusionment Charm and used her wand to silently prod the door open further. She crossed the hall and flattened her body to the wall and leaned her head forward to peek through the small crack she'd made. When she couldn't see anything, Tonks used her wand to non-verbally push the door open further.
The room was not large, barely able to fit the table and chairs set in the middle. Against one wall there was a long side table that held two cauldrons and a scattering of empty glass vials. The barman was tidying up piles of parchment that were scattered over the wooden surface. Tonks' fingers itched to rifle through the piles of parchment to find out what they contained.
Finished with his task, Tonks watched as the barman straightened and made for the door, pulling his wand and muttering "shit" as he saw the door standing open. Tonks pulled her head back and rested it against the wall. She held her breath and willed herself to remain as still as possible. The door was wrenched open as he hastily exited the room, standing mere inches from where Tonks stood pressed against the wall, scanning the hall for any intruders.
Satisfied that there was nobody there, he pulled the door closed. Tonks continued to hold her breath as he traced a few runes on the door with his wand and the door disappeared. With a final glance up and down the hall, he turned the corner back to the bar.
In a slow shuddering breath, Tonks exhaled and crept along the wall to the door of the ladies toilets. She entered and lifted her charm, taking a few deep breaths before exiting the loo and returning to the table.
"You're a bit mad, you know?" Dung whispered, still puffing away on his foul pipe. "Thought for a bleedin' minute he saw you." He downed the last of his Firewhisky in one gulp and extinguished his pipe. "Reckon we've seen all we're goin' to see?"
"Somewhere better to be?"
"Not better, really. Got a deal to finish, is all."
Tonks couldn't help but roll her eyes once more at the disheveled man in front of her. Of course he had a deal to finish. Honestly, Tonks was anxious to leave as well. She wanted to get to Headquarters and see if Remus was back. She even offered to take full responsibility in writing the report on their mission that evening as she reached across the table to shake Dung's hand, keeping up the illusion that they were meeting about business.
Tonks crossed the pub to leave, pulling the hood of her cloak back over her head. She turned the corner into the alley to Apparate to Headquarters and gasped when a hand she couldn't see grabbed her arm and pulled her back against a tall masculine body. Another hand grasped her wrist as she drew her wand, ready to fight in case this person turned out not to be who she hoped it might.
The hood of her cloak was pulled off and as someone spoke into her ear. "It's me." Remus' familiar hoarse voice brought a smile to her lips.
Tonks morphed her face back to her own and turned to face Remus as he released her arms. His Disillusionment Charm lifted, slowly revealing his face. She reached a hand up to stroke the beard that had grown in while he was away before running the hand through the hair that had fallen across his forehead.
"Missed me, did you?" Tonks asked as she took in the contented look on Remus' face as her fingers slipped through his hair.
Remus brought her hand to his mouth and placed a kiss to its palm. "It's possible," he replied with his shy grin.
"Good. Are you done?" she asked hopefully.
"Unfortunately, I have one more contact to seek out before I return. I was supposed to be finished tonight after meeting here, but he didn't show." He pushed her scraggly grey hair back from her face with a sigh. "We shouldn't linger."
"You're probably right." Tonks looked up at Remus and asked hesitantly. "How'd you know it was me?"
Remus put a hand to Tonks' hip and pulled her toward him. Tonks' pulse sped as she thought for a wild moment that he was going to kiss her right there in the alley. Instead, he pushed her hair back further and lowered his head to nuzzle her neck just below her ear, taking a deep breath through his nose.
"Citrus," he said softly into her neck. "Orange and ginger and…Nymphadora. I knew it was you the moment you entered the pub."
Tonks grasped Remus' arms for support as she felt her knees weaken at his words and the feel of his lips lightly brushing the sensitive skin of her neck as he spoke. His voice sent a shiver down her spine. The thought that he knew her scent from across a room seemed so intimate and erotic. She felt her cheeks flush as the thoughts she'd been having of him all week came slamming into her head at once, completely distracting her from their immediate need to go their separate ways.
"I'd like to take you out properly when I get back," he said, his lips trailing across her jaw before placing a kiss on Tonks' cheek.
Unable to form a coherent sentence, Tonks simply grinned widely and nodded her head in response before Remus Disapparated. She took a deep breath and pressed her hands to her cheeks to cool the heat in her skin before Apparating to Grimmauld Place. Feeling lighter and happier than she had in days, Tonks tried to wipe the silly grin off her face before she had to enter the kitchen where, no doubt, Sirius would be waiting to hear about her outing to the Quill. She found that she couldn't stop smiling as she walked up the steps and through the front door of Headquarters. The tiredness from guard duty the previous night, the appearance of Lucius Malfoy, spending the evening in the Quill; none of it mattered at this moment because Remus wanted to take her out properly.
"What's with you?" Sirius asked as she entered the kitchen. "Nobody's ever that happy after any length of time with Dung."
Tonks laughed loudly and grabbed a piece of parchment from the counter. Not that she was particularly entertained by Sirius' comment, but it felt good to release a little bit of the giddiness she was holding in.
He looked at her suspiciously. "Are you sure you're all right? Dung pour you too much Firewhisky?"
"I'm fine," Tonks said as she sat across from him at the table. "Just knackered after guard duty last night."
She wrote out a short report about the Quill, making sure to add a quick note at the bottom about Malfoy's appearance in the Auror office early that morning. She looked up once she'd finished to find Sirius watching her.
"Have you two snogged yet?" he asked without preamble.
"None of your business," Tonks replied tartly.
"Does that mean you're not going to tell me what happened when you spent the night together in the hospital wing?"
"Nothing happened," Tonks said with a shrug, hating that she could feel a blush tinge her cheeks.
"Something happened."
"Why are you so sure?"
"Moony is frugal by necessity."
Tonks raised her eyebrows at her cousin, wary of the wicked grin on his face. "Meaning?"
"He never wastes that much water in the shower," he said with a waggle of his eyebrows.
"Do you consider it your job to drive me mad?" Tonks asked as she swatted the top of Sirius' head with her parchment.
"I haven't anything better to do with my time," he grumbled, his mood shifting quickly. "I can't go on any missions. I can't drink myself into a stupor with the kids in the house. And my conversations with Buckbeak are pretty one-sided." He sighed heavily. "I'm tired of sitting here bloody behaving myself."
"You're very whiny when Remus is away, did you know?" Tonks asked, trying to lighten his mood. She felt terrible for him being stuck in the musty old house, watching as all the other Order members came and went. It had to be maddening having your face plastered all over the Wizarding world as a fugitive, not able to leave the house even to the corner shop. Tonks was getting ready to pat him on the head and tell him to be a patient pooch, when a thought struck her. "What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow I'm simply swamped with finishing up the drawing room," Sirius said with a roll of his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And then I thought I'd take tea with the Minister before my try-out with the Chudley Canons."
"Stop being a grumpy sod." Tonks folded up her report and sent it to the inbox with a flick of her wand. "Would Snuffles fancy a field trip?" Tonks swore Sirius' ears perked up as she imagined Snuffles' would at the mention of a walk. She smiled, hoping that they would get away with said field trip now that she'd suggested it. "I'm going to sneak you out during the chaos of breakfast, and we'll go for a run."
"You're not having me on, are you?" Sirius asked with a cautious smile.
"I wouldn't do that to you! You just have to keep quiet about it," Tonks said, rising from the table. She felt a pang of sympathy for him at the hopeful look on his face and thought that if they got away with this, she'd have to schedule another field trip for him. "My runs are serious business, so get some sleep and be ready at nine."
At exactly nine the next morning, Tonks slowly opened the door to Headquarters to find Snuffles sitting on his haunches, ready to go. She smiled as she saw his tail wag in response to the whispered "wotcher" she gave in greeting. After motioning him onto the stoop, Tonks pulled the door closed and unrolled a red leash she'd Transfigured from a scarf.
"Now, I'm trusting you not to get us lost," she said, crouching down to slip the leash around his neck. Tonks thought that if dogs could smile, Snuffles was grinning from ear to ear. "And don't do anything daft or we'll never do this again."
Snuffles barked in response and bounded down the steps and onto the sidewalk, breaking into a run. Tonks was glad she'd stretched before she left her flat, because she thought there was likely no stopping Sirius now that he was out of the gloomy old house. She was barely able to keep pace with him as his massive doggie form thundered down the sidewalk, moving side to side, smelling things and barking as he went. Laughing at his antics, Tonks followed his lead through the unfamiliar neighborhood. They circled back closer to Grimmauld Place and ended up in a park where they did several circuits around the sunny perimeter before Tonks pulled on the leash, signaling Sirius to slow to a walk.
After covertly offering Snuffles a drink from her wand, they walked back to cool down, stopping along the way at a bake shop Tonks spied when they'd first set out. With a box of croissants and pastries in hand for the occupants of Headquarters—and a cup of coffee for herself—they rounded the corner onto Grimmauld Place and headed toward number twelve. Tonks stopped in her tracks when she saw Remus standing at the bottom of the steps watching them, the look on his face warring between amusement and shock. Sirius gave a loud bark and pulled on the leash, dragging her toward Remus.
So much for keeping quiet.
A/N: Hooray, a date is on the horizon! For those who have reviewed wondering when they are going to kiss properly, I solemnly swear it is in the next chapter! Now, click the box below and review, even if it's just to say hello:). I love to answer reviews!