Remus settled into Grimmauld Place's library with a glass of firewhisky and an amused grin. He'd surreptitiously seen Sirius and Kingsley share an intimate moment before the Auror had to return to his own flat for the night. A part of Remus was thankful that Sirius wasn't so alone in the house anymore, while another part worried for his own future with Tonks. When he left her, he hoped Sirius and Kingsley, together or not, would see to her happiness and well-being.
"Knut for your thoughts?" Sirius appeared in the doorway with a glass of his own, and flopped gracelessly onto a chaise, which emitted puffs of dust from its seams.
"Have you told Harry?" Remus pointed his nose in the direction of the fireplace. "About him?"
"There's nothing to tell," Sirius replied coolly. "We're enjoying each other's mutual company. We've got an understanding."
"An understanding?"
"I'd think you were aware of such arrangements." Sirius raised an eyebrow and Remus flushed; all of Remus's relationships were never more than short-lived flights of fantasy, where no commitments ever came to be.
"Unlike me, you've got a chance of making this work," Remus challenged.
"Oh yes." Sirius straightened and clapped his hands together. "Runaway ex-convict openly dates Senior Auror and raises a targeted orphan together—just think of how popular we'll be at parties!" Remus knew there was truth and bitterness hiding under his sarcasm.
"If you weren't a runaway ex-convict?"
"I'm sure Kingsley would be interested in someone less complicated," Sirius replied, as a hint of color rose in his pale cheeks. "I've little to offer but this." He gestured towards his body, and Remus stifled a snort. If Sirius wasn't a wanted man, he'd have plenty to offer. Years and years of losing potential love matches to his better-looking, confident friend taught him that.
"Anyway, enough about me—"
"—what about Harry?" Remus interrupted, enjoying the upper hand for once. "Don't you think he'd want you to be happy?"
Sirius coughed as he sipped on his firewhisky. He clutched his chest, where the liquid burned, and shook his head. "That's the other reason—there's only room for one most important person in my life. It's Harry."
"How has he been?"
The little color in Sirius's face disappeared. His brow came together tightly, and he took several gulps of his drink. "I don't know. He wrote once and I replied with a Floo call, but…" Something akin to guilt appeared in his eyes. "Harry doesn't want Padfoot to visit. Dumbledore doesn't want us exchanging letters, for my 'safety.' He believes Umbridge or her cronies will intercept them, and there's nothing else I can do. I reckon Molly knows more than I do, through Ron." He slumped back into the chaise with a deep scowl.
Remus pressed his lips together, forming an idea. "Surely he could write to others? They can tell you how he is and pass messages?"
"If you mean you'll write to him," Sirius said icily, "I'll believe it when I see it. If I'm not mistaken, you successfully avoided him for most of his life."
Remus's fingers pressed around his glass. He, a werewolf, had every good reason not to involve himself in Harry's life. The single time he'd graced Petunia Dursley's doorstep, he was turned away at once, being called a 'ruffian, a low-life, and not deserving a penny.'
"What about Kingsley?" Remus suggested, putting his ire away for now. "Harry wants to be an Auror. He could write to him, looking for advice."
"And risk his livelihood?" Sirius was incredulous. "He's an asset to the Order. We need to keep him clean. He can't be seen writing to Harry Potter, the 'Boy Who Lies.' If anyone can do it, it's you, Tonks, or the Weasleys, and they've got their own kids to worry about."
"Tonks is already risking her reputation with me," Remus murmured, dismissing her as an option. "I don't want to make it worse."
"Or," Sirius countered, "it can't possibly get worse, and a little bird told me her job is quite secure, despite her recent connections." He took another swig of his drink, eyeing Remus over the edge of the glass. "That leaves you and your lady love to keep an eye on him, but we both know you'll write once and never again. I ought to have my dear cousin write my godson and forget about you."
Remus balled his hand into a fist and stuck it in his pocket. He had a few spare coins in it—why not splurge and get an owl for himself? He didn't want Tonks to write Harry, if it could make her life harder. Besides, she didn't have an owl, claiming her parents' or a Ministry one was enough.
"I'm getting an owl," Remus said abruptly. He downed the rest of his drink and pulled out the shiny coins. "This should be enough for an unremarkable barn owl."
Sirius smirked in response. Remus recognized the ploy; he'd been goaded into spending money he didn't have on something he didn't need. Worse yet, promising to write to Harry might be unwise.
"Tonks could use one, anyway," he said defensively, watching Sirius's victorious grin curl wider. "It'll be hers. I'll write to Harry with it and she can keep it after—"
"—or it becomes the Lupin family owl," Sirius interrupted, with a mischievous smile. "You can send each other love notes—"
"—nothing of the sort will happen." Remus scowled and glared at his friend; somehow, Sirius had cornered him. Remus's victories were never long enough for him to enjoy. "This is a purchase of necessity, and if I'm going to get one before Eeylop's closes, I need to go."
He muttered a quick goodbye and left Grimmauld Place, ignoring the way Sirius barked in laughter at his obvious discomfort. There wasn't going back now, and Remus could at least justify the expense by knowing it would be for Harry's (and Tonks's) benefit.
Cold water pounded on Remus's shivering frame. His teeth chattered, his body protested, but the ice-cold stream was taking effect and dampening the unwanted arousal between his legs. Tonks spent the afternoon in the living room, running exercise drills in the tiniest shorts Remus had ever seen. Her bouncy breasts were just barely contained by a scrap of stretchy neon fabric, and it had taken all of his resolve not to force them to stay in place by covering them with his hands.
Instead, he remembered he had a standing invitation for a party at a co-worker's house, so he hopped into the shower to make himself presentable. He wished he'd remembered earlier, as he desperately needed a Tonks-free night. With the increasing number of overnight missions they were assigned to and their living situation, he'd hardly had time away from her. He knew he needed some distance from her, as it was the only cure for the schoolboy crush he'd developed.
"Oi, Remus!" He winced at hearing Tonks's exuberant voice. Even here, in the privacy of the freezing stream and suds covering his eyes, he found no escape. "REMUS?"
"Yes?" he returned.
"Are you going somewhere?" she asked loudly. "You left dinner for me."
Remus squeezed his eyes shut and tensed the other muscles in his body. Through gritted teeth, he replied, "I am. Jane, my coworker, is hosting a small party."
A brief silence followed his reply. Remus's body was almost back to normal, with hardly any evidence of his sexual frustration, so he turned off the water and reached for his towel.
"Can I come?"
Remus stilled as cold water dripped from his body and onto the tiled floor. Tonks could come—Jane had mentioned all significant others were welcome—but he'd just remembered the party existed and looked forward to a temptation-free night.
"Remus? Did you hear me?" said Tonks. "Can I come with you? I'm bored."
"I don't know if you'll be interested in the party," he replied cryptically. He started drying himself off; he couldn't stay in the bathroom forever. "It's about a Muggle book."
"That's fine. Which book? You can tell me about it on the way."
Merlin's beard, he thought. How can I say no to her? He put on his clothes, having learned to take a full set of clothes with him into the shower, lest he embarrass himself in front of Tonks by being shirtless or underdressed. He disliked the feeling of clothes against his damp skin, but it was a necessary sacrifice to avoid showing off any more of his pathetic body to her.
"I've read a good number of Muggle books," she said. "I could manage."
"It's less about a book," he replied, opening the bathroom door to find himself within inches of her. "The BBC, the broadcasting company, made a film based on Pride and—"
"—Prejudice?" Tonks finished, brightening. "I know that one! My Nan read it to me. They're putting it on the telly?"
Remus nodded and carefully maneuvered himself around her to get to his room. "Jane invited all of us at the bookshop to see it at her place."
"Do you think she'd mind if I came?"
Swallowing hard as he bent over to pick up a pair of socks, he concluded that he couldn't lie to her. She stopped by the bookshop often enough that she'd discover his deceit, and he knew that to successfully fool her out of marrying him, he'd have to save his dishonesty for more urgent matters.
"Actually," he said, trying to appear calm and nonchalant, "you were always welcome. I didn't think it was something you'd be interested in."
"I prefer concerts and dancing, but this sounds like fun! Let me get ready!" Tonks scrambled into her room and made her usual oofs and acks of navigating her personal pigsty.
While she dressed, Remus grabbed a cheap bottle of merlot he'd meant to use for cooking, and slumped by the door in defeat. He hoped that there would be plenty of others at Jane's, so he could avoid Tonks for most of the evening without drawing attention to himself. He'd foist her on his coworkers and stay out of the way.
The owl cage to his left was empty. Tonks was pleasantly surprised when Remus came home a few nights before with a young, ruffled screech owl. She praised his selection and gave him a dazzling smile when he said it was hers, but he'd use it on occasion. The owl was dubbed Daisy and sent out later that night with her first letter. She hadn't returned yet, but Remus supposed Scotland would be a tiring adventure for the newly acquired bird.
Tonks came out of her room and they began their walk. She blathered enthusiastically all the way to Jane's home. He gave her short, terse answers, but they were sufficient for her to talk nonstop until they reached their destination. Once they arrived and exchanged pleasantries with the other guests (Remus was relieved it was only his coworkers and their significant others invited), Tonks found her way to a table laden with snacks, where she struck up a conversation with one of Remus's coworkers.
"Your girlfriend—or should I say fiancée—is wearing a ring," said Jane, meeting Remus by the tea kettle. "Are you engaged?"
"Oh, er, yes," he replied awkwardly. "We are."
"Did you propose recently? I saw you at work only yesterday and you didn't say anything about it."
"I like to keep my personal life private." Remus filled his mug, Tonks's, and Jane's with boiling water, trying to avoid his coworker's scrutiny. "I proposed at the end of August."
"What? You've been engaged for a month and haven't said a word?"
"What's this about engaged?" said Boris, one of the bookshop's oldest workers.
"Remus is engaged!" Jane replied brightly. She tapped her spoon against her mug, calling everyone's attention away from the upcoming film. With a huge smile, she beckoned for Tonks to come over, and introduced her as Remus's fiancée, adding, "He's been keeping a secret! They're getting married!" Polite applause and mild cheers followed Jane's pronouncement, and Remus found himself being glued to Tonks's side as his coworkers barraged them with questions about their big day.
He thought they'd be given space away from each other during the film, but as the jaunty introductory music began to play and actors' names appeared on the screen, Jane ushered everyone to her living room. Tonks plopped herself on the sofa, and with the limited seating, she insisted on having Remus take her place so she could sit on the floor and lean her back against his legs. She wiggled until they were spread apart and her head rested between his knees.
She looked up at him, smiling, and his chest grew warm, as he'd imagined her head between his legs many times. It was never like this though, with his coworkers surrounding them and a Muggle telly playing images of a banshee and her daughters.
During a break, she looked back up at him and crooked her finger, gesturing for him to come closer. He bent down and felt the gentle, warm breath of her lips against the shell of his ear.
"Why didn't you say anything before? About us?" she whispered.
"I don't like drawing attention to myself," he murmured, with his mouth so close to her jaw that he was tempted to taste her and quell the curiosity burning in his heart.
"Everyone's so nice here. This was loads better than how my coworkers responded."
There was a soft crack in her whisper, and Remus wanted to soothe whatever pain she felt, preferably with his tongue. The reminder that her department took their engagement poorly could almost be forgot, given the way Tonks's fingers ran along his thigh.
"Oi, lovebirds!" Boris said loudly. "The show's back on!"
Remus straightened and sat still. Tonks continued to absentmindedly run her hand along his leg as she lost her attention to the characters on-screen.
The film ended too quickly. Remus had no clue what happened, despite his best efforts to keep his mind off Tonks and her delicate touch. He ought to have feigned illness and not gone at all. Rather than leaving her with his coworkers, the two of them had been brought closer together.
Remus and Tonks were congratulated heartily on their way out, with Tonks promising they'd return for the next episode and updates on their wedding plans. Remus wanted to bash his head into the nearest lamppost as soon as he heard her. He'd forgotten that it was a television series rather than a film and would take six weeks to air. Tonks gladly promised away the next several Sunday nights, and Remus had no choice but to grin and bear it.
She chatted animatedly on their way home, saying something about the costumes and the actors' performances. She was enchanted by the program and resolved to reread the book, remarking that it reminded her so much of her Nan that it brought tears to her eyes.
Remus was spared from her grief when a set of brown feathers appeared in his periphery.
"It's Daisy!"
The owl landed proudly on Tonks's proffered arm and hooted her greeting. A letter was securely attached to her leg, and she stuck it out for Remus to remove.
"Can you fly home, Daisy?" Remus asked softly, noting the Muggle passersby eyeing them curiously, and tucked the letter into his pocket. "We'll meet you in a few minutes."
Daisy hooted and flew away. Tonks tugged on Remus's shirt, dragging him into a pizzeria, and before he could argue, they were sitting at a table and ordering drinks. It was infuriatingly easy for her to get her way with him.
"Open the letter!" she demanded, when their drinks had arrived, and batted her eyes at him. "Please, of course." Her attempts at politeness worked and Remus dutifully handed her the letter. "No, you muppet," she said, rolling her eyes. "Read it to me. That way we can both find out what it says at the same time." Remus cleared his throat and unfolded the short letter.
Dear Moony,
Relieved to hear that you and your colorful friend are okay. Things at school aren't much different than the first week. We're still missing our biggest friend. Snuffles's mum would be a better professor than who we've got now. The thing I've written to Snuffles about over the summer keeps happening. I'm worried about our O.W.L.s, but Hermione says she's got a plan to help us. It'll be nice to go to Hogsmeade soon. I could use the fresh air.
Harry.
"That was…" Tonks began, clearly confused at the contents of the letter. She snatched it from Remus's hands and read through it, holding it up against the light, as if a secret message were encoded.
"Some of it I understand," said Remus. "Other parts I don't. I believe the biggest friend refers to Hagrid—he's still with the giants. If a screaming portrait is better than Umbridge—"
"—I don't doubt it," Tonks said darkly. "She's a hag."
"An understatement if I ever heard one." Tonks handed him the letter and he frowned as he read it again. "I know he wrote to Snuffles to say his scar hurt, but none of us know why that's happening. Hermione having a plan, but I'm worried. She's brilliant, to be sure, and one of the brightest students I ever taught. She's got just as much of a penchant for rule-breaking as Harry and Ron, believe it or not."
"Including kidnapping," Tonks mumbled, as Remus's jaw dropped.
"What?"
"You didn't hear it from me." Tonks innocently put her hands up. "Ask Ginny. She let it slip but didn't say anything else about it." Remus decided to chalk up the kidnapping as some silly misunderstanding. Hermione was bright, but certainly not ruthless.
"Anyway," he said quietly, shaking his head, "He mentioned Hogsmeade. I can't help but think—"
"—he wants us to be there, Remus. Why would he have mentioned it otherwise?"
"It'll have to be you," said Remus. "You can disguise yourself, but he'll need to know what you'll look like if he wants to talk to you."
"That defeats the purpose of disguise."
Remus groaned in frustration. Writing Harry had only led to more questions; the teenager's short response said volumes more with what he didn't write. What those volumes contained were anyone's guess.
Tonks put a fork in her mouth after taking a bite from their appetizer. Her tongue licked the tines clean—Merlin, how he wished that tongue was on him—and her voice lifted Remus out of his lecherous thoughts.
"I've got an idea," she said boldly. "We tell Snuffles and Kings. Next Hogsmeade weekend, we keep a closer eye on the students." A triumphant grin spread across her face. "We don't even have to go in disguises, you and me! We're holding our wedding at The Three Broomsticks! We could be taking a stroll through the pub and planning our wedding. No one'll bat an eye."
Remus took a quick breath, readying a reply, but Tonks plowed on. She said, "Let's start going next week. Every Saturday we'll go for an hour or so and have 'dates' or whatever. Madam Puddifoot's, the bookshop, maybe get another set of robes—" She prattled on about potential 'date' spots at Hogsmeade, claiming it would be a fabulous opportunity for the two of them to be seen together in a wizarding village, further corroborating the authenticity of their relationship.
"—and when we get to the wedding, everyone in Hogsmeade should know who we are and see we're good together. Oh, this'll be brilliant! We can keep an eye on Harry and his friends and help our own cause!" She pumped her fist victoriously and beamed at Remus. "Genius, am I right?"
The pizza arrived, and despite her full mouth, Tonks went on about her foolproof plan while Remus sank into his seat, realizing that the next several weekends would be anything but temptation or Tonks-free.
A/N: Pride and Prejudice really did air for the first time on the BBC in the fall of '95. If you're following my Tumblr at all and have seen the uptick in P&P-related posts, I did some research for this fic to find cute bonding activities for Remus and Tonks and remembered that the mini-series aired in 1995, and was tickled pink when I realized it was the FALL of '95 and therefore perfect for this story. Anyway, don't be surprised when P&P fanfic starts popping up in my works.
