"Wow. Wicked gloves!"

Tonks commented with impressed wide eyes checking out his gloved hands.

"Thank you." Remus responded quietly with a shy smile.

They had both just met in the backyard of number 12 Grimmauld place to get ready to mount their brooms for their first Order assignment together. She shamelessly ran a finger in curiosity over the top of his gloved hand feeling the texture. Remus watched in amusement how she raised one eyebrow.

"What type of dragon hide is that?"

He paused for a moment and wondered how much he should share about them. The gloves brought back a lot of memories.

Tonks mounted her broomstick. She paused and then stared at him waiting expectantly for his answer with her twinkling coffee brown eyes. Remus reached up to his neck and felt a dragon tooth necklace he always wore underneath the fabric his shirt. Then he responded while he looked down at his other gloved hand.

"They are Hebridean Black. They were actually a Christmas gift from my father a number of years ago; hand made by some friends of his all the way over at a dragon reserve in the Hebrides islands."

Remus grew introspective as the memory unlocked in his mind of getting the gloves on his mothers last Christmas. He decided not to share that piece as suddenly he felt a sharp twinge of sorrow missing his mother.

His father and him had worked so hard that last Christmas to make it special for her. She was delighted at all their efforts and it was good to know it brought her so much comfort amongst such terrible pain. In retrospect, her presence was truly the best gift that year. He swallowed, tightened his jaw and blinked back tears.

Tonks was very perceptive. She watched Remus' face as it became distant and a melancholy facial expression crossed over him like a shadow. He looked away from her down at his gloves that grasped his broom handle. She could tell he was somewhere far away in his thoughts. She wasn't quite sure how to respond.

Remus felt her eye contact on him and became self conscious of his clothing. The rest of his attire was ordinary and a bit shabby in comparison to the gloves. He hoped silently she wasn't making that observation.

"Well those are quite special then. Never seen the likes of them before. Pity, I only ever had the boring brown ones listed on our Hogwarts supply lists from Madam Malkin's Robes shop."

Remus snapped out of his distant memories and looked back up at her. His sadness melted away when he saw her smiling brightly back at him. To his relief, she didn't seem to be eyeing the rest of his clothing at all. When she made her last comment, he nodded and said,

"Oh yes… well I had those same kind you said at Hogwarts as well. These pair were too special to use for Herbology or Potions classes. Um, shall we be off then…are you ready? I'll follow you."

Tonks happily replied, "Yes, indeed. I'm more than ready but…oh wait, I almost forgot, how's this?"

She then scrunched her face a bit and began to morph into a completely different face. A long, gray mustache sprouted under her nose on her upper lip. Her brown eyes faded magically into a crystalline light blue. Remus watched in amazement as her pink hair disappeared on top of her head into a shinning bald patch while the rest dramatically transformed into fuzzy wisps of smoky gray hair. She looked like either a mad scientist or an untold long lost cousin of Albus Dumbledore.

She leapt off her broomstick and gave a dramatic bow. Then she dropped her voice to a lower frequency and said,

"Ta daaaah! Would you like to try one of my latest and greatest dung bombs, my dear sir?"

Remus found himself greatly amused and broke out into involuntary laughter. When he finally regained his ability to speak, he told her,

"That's quite remarkable…really. It looks just like the pictures of Alberic Grunnion on the chocolate frog cards. Well done."

Tonks nodded and mounted her broomstick again. Remus noticed a few spikes of hot pink were still showing on the back of her head. But he opted to not call any attention to it and just smiled quietly to himself.

They lifted off on their broomsticks from the backyard into the dark, chilly night air of London. Remus noticed as they flew higher, he caught a glimpse of Sirius Black watching them from one of the windows. Sirius made a military salute gesture next to his forehead at them. Remus gave him a small wave in return. He wondered if he had been watching them the whole time when they had met in the backyard.

Tonks was indeed a skilled flyer and Remus wondered if she had ever played on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. He flew intentionally a bit farther back from her broom to allow her to maintain the lead. She occasionally glanced back at him to make sure he was still following her. Sometimes she gave him a thumbs up and he'd promptly give her one back.

The nineteenth century prankster wizard face she had morphed into was still intact and her gray mustache flapped vigorously in the breeze like moving ripples in a flag. An uncontrollable big smile of amusement spread across Remus's face whenever he caught a glimpse of her flapping gray mustache. He couldn't remember the last time he had been smiling so much.

After an uneventful landing in a wooded area they had circled around near Malfoy Manner, Remus & Tonks carefully crept soundlessly closer to the residence. They wanted to gain a better vantage point. They decided to sit behind a large trunk of an old tree that seemed to have a good overlook of the place. They both could easily peek around the sides of the trunk to monitor any flagitious activity.

Several hours of silence passed between the two of them. They both just sat carefully watching the residence. There was only a few lights glowing dimly from several windows and nobody flew off nor arrived there on broomsticks. It appeared to be a quiet night with little to no suspicious activity afoot.

As the night continued, Remus could tell Tonks was growing restless with boredom as she began fidgeting with fallen leaves on the ground and biting her fingernails to pass the time. Tonks began to stare at Remus until he felt her steady gaze and made eye contact with her. He raised his eyebrows with a questioning expression back at her.

She whispered, "God I wish we had a cuppa n' some biscuits about now."

Remus smiled politely at her. "Are you feeling peckish?"

Tonks nodded. "Yeah, silly me, I skipped my supper and now I'm famished. I just plain forgot to eat. It's my own darned fault. Too much buzzing through my head about our mission tonight, I guess. Oh well. I'll survive. I suppose I could start chewing on some roots or tree bark if I start withering away."

Remus smiled, tucked away his wand into his robe and started digging into one of his pockets. Then he pulled out a square object wrapped in foiled paper. He crept closer and handed it to her.

"Well, in that case... here. Take this, it'll taste much better."

"What is it? Chocolate? Oooo, it's Honey dukes! I recognize the smell. Oh how lovely. Thank you!" She reached out and patted him graciously on the arm. Then she unwrapped the foil, broke off some pieces and began nibbling away at them.

"Mmmm."

Remus watched her eat happily. He noted that although she was morphed into this other masculine character he could still observe some mannerisms of her true self. That included her idiosyncratic facial expressions, speech patterns that slipped back into her normal voice and a feminine twinkle in her eye shined through the disguise. She chewed, raised a curious eyebrow and then asked,

"Do you always carry a chocolate bars with you?"

He smiled again in amusement. "Well, I do actually, or try to as much as I can. I guess I'm a bit of a 'chocoholic' one could say."

"There's certainly worse addictions out there."

"True. It also…well, I suppose it's a bit difficult to explain, well, it just helps me feel better after certain lunar times of the month."

"Me too…but in a different kind of times of the month, ha! Here. I don't want you to be without any in your possession on my account," she said folding the foil back around the remaining amount and handing it back. Remus waved a hand at her in refusal.

"Oh no. No. Please. Eat it all. It wasn't much to begin with anyway."

"Are you quite sure?"

"Yes, quite."

"But I don't want to take your very last bit."

"It's no matter. Go ahead. I insist."

"Cheers. It is hitting the spot. The hungry spot that is. Mmm, I haven't had Honeydukes chocolate in ages. It's so good. They sure do know how to make it right."

"Yes, it is delicious. I hope it dulls the hunger aches a bit for you."

"Oh yes, it's already dulled the hunger aches. Thanks to you. So kind of of you to let me be piggish and eat your last bit."

"Not at all. My pleasure, Tonks."

She savored the last mouthful of chocolate and gazed thoughtfully at Malfoy Manor. Then she sighed heavily and swallowed.

"Ugh. Coldness."

Her body shivered as if she was chilled.

"Would you like my jacket?"

Remus began to take off his fraying old jacket, carefully pulling out each of his arms from the tattered sleeves. He noticed areas at the seams where threads had come loose. He started to feel embarrassed at its shabby state when normally he didn't even think about it.

Tonks looked back carefully at him. She wasn't looking at the condition of his clothing. Her heart stirred with warmth seeing his gentlemanly gesture. She quickly placed a hand on one of his arms to stop him and he began to pass his jacket to her.

Remus immediately stilled at her touch and looked down at her hand on him with surprise. He froze and his mind pondered her gesture for a moment. How could she be so comfortable and at ease touching a known disgusting lycanthrope like me?

Then she quickly said,

"Oh! No no no, that's kind of you to offer. I don't need it. I wasn't asking for it. Sorry. I didn't mean it that way. That's not what I meant at all. I said 'coldness' because I was getting nostalgic about when I visited there when I was little. But you know, perhaps nostalgia is not the proper word for it. I certainly don't look back on it fondly.

It's… it's the biggest thing I remember about the place, you see. Coldness - this overwhelming sense of coldness there. It's like an evil coldness… just dreadful."

"Ah, I see. Yes, I don't doubt it. When I went to Hogwarts as a student, Lucius Malfoy was a bit older than I. As a professor I had his son Draco in my Defense Against the Dark arts class. Warmth or any loving kindness would certainly be unfitting descriptor words for their character traits. Coldness and the pursuit of the dark arts go hand-in-hand."

"Right. That's precisely it. It was always dark and chilling at Malfoy manor like there was no love there at all. That's tragic, I think. It's a shame really that my poor cousin Draco had to grow up in that kind of environment. I mean, I suppose he doesn't know any different. Plus I'm sure Aunt Narcissa doesn't have have a complete heart of stone and there has to be some love buried deep in her dark heart. But I'm glad we didn't visit there much…it's about as pleasant as visiting a pit of a vile, hissing vipers."

"Indeed."

"Well, it's obviously a quiet night…not a lot of coming or going happening. But hard to say what's going on inside, though. I think I'm done with this disguise…god I don't know how you men stand it with this facial hair. It's gets so bloody uncomfortable, all sweaty, scratchy, itchy and the lot. Ugh."

Tonks got a very focused look, scrunched her nose and squeezed some of her facial muscles. Her body and face began to morph back to her usual appearance. She was soon back to her normal appearance with her vibrant fuchsia pink hair - all except one feature. She kept the gray mustache hanging comically from her upper lip and pointed at it.

"I mean, really? They're annoying as hell, I don't know how you do it."

Remus chuckled quietly. He subconsciously reached up and touched his own small mustache on his upper lip. He always kept his small and neatly groomed.

"Perhaps I should just shave mine off prior to our next assignment… if we're paired together again, that is."

"Oh Merlin, no! No, Remus, I didn't mean it to come across that way or mean for it to imply you do that. Just saying I'm glad, really, that I don't live with one everyday. Yours looks nice. Don't shave it off."

"Aw okay. Very well," Remus said feeling a little confidence boost at her compliment. He continued to fidget with the hairs above his upper lip.

"Sorry. I think that came out all wrong. I hope I didn't offend you. I'm good at…how does that Muggle saying go? Sticking my toes in my mouth? Or sticking my mouth on my foot… ugh, you know, when one says something they shouldn't."

Remus told her gently, "Yes. Close. It's 'sticking one's foot in their mouth' - my mother was a Muggle and used that idiom. Although she wasn't one to do that very often. And please, don't worry. It's quite alright. No offense taken."

Tonks exhaled a relieved sigh. Her gray mustache disappeared and she then she proceeded to twist tufts of her bright pink hair for a few moments with her finger. Her face still held onto a shadow of lingering apprehension that she had offended Remus somehow. She wondered why she kept getting so flustered by him. Nobody ever made her get so flustered like that. What was it about him that kept undoing her?

"When did your parents first discover you were a metamorphmagus?"

Remus asked hoping the change of subject would help her feel less awkward. He actually already knew the answer as he remembered when Sirius had first excitedly mentioned his niece and her special abilities upon the news of her birth. They were both still at Hogwarts. But he pretended to not know.

Tonks felt her tense shoulders relax and she immediately obliged answering him with a hearty laugh right away.

"Oh they knew right away since the moment I was born - I came out crying and my little head was all covered with this candy floss fluff! That certainly doesn't happen everyday."

Remus smiled and said, "Right. I imagine it must of been a wonderful and beautiful surprise for them."

"Yeah. Yeah, I think so."

Remus had his gaze fixed on Malfoy manner and he felt his eye lids begin to grow heavy. He blinked and took a deep breath trying to stay alert. If he was being truly honest, he was always in various levels of exhaustion and never fully rested before or after the full moon.

Tonks watched him and noticed the way the moonlight seemed to highlight the scars across his face. She wondered how long ago he had scratched his face in the werewolf form. She turned her gaze upwards to the moon and studied it for a moment.

"Is the moon waxing or waning right now? I forget."

Remus looked up at the night sky with his eyes scanning the heavens. He grimaced a bit when he looked at the moon and turned away from it quickly. His body quietly shuddered. He felt goosebumps rise up on the surface of his arms underneath his sleeves and was glad they were hidden. He answered her with disheartened tone,

"Waxing, unfortunately."

"Oh….. can you, I mean, do you feel it getting larger?" she asked hesitantly.

Remus sighed heavily and Tonks wondered if she should not have asked the question. She back paddled and said,

"I'm sorry. Maybe you don't want to talk about it. You don't have to answer."

Remus held up one hand and reassured her,

"No. It's alright. Please, feel free to ask. Its only natural to have questions. I asked you a question about being a metamorphmagus. Its only fair you have a question for me about being a werewolf."

"Okay. But if I ask anything too personal, you don't have to reply."

"It's fine. I don't feel the moon when it's waxing or getting larger. Not really; not until it's full and I make the transformation. I do feel my body grow increasingly ill when it's close to the full moon night. Don't worry, I'll inform you if I'm unable to attend an assignment and I assure you I will take the proper precautions so that I won't be a danger to others."

"Oh I'm not worried. It doesn't bother me, Remus. I'm sure you're diligent about keeping track of those lunar cycles. God it brings back memories of astronomy class at Hogwarts and being bored out of my mind. I even got detention once for dropping one of the telescopes off the edge of the tower."

Remus chuckled and then told her,

"Admittedly, Astronomy was my least favorite class at Hogwarts. I loathe looking at the moon unless I absolutely have to do it. I'd rather look at just about anything else. I do dutifully keep track of the lunar tables for the most part, that is, if I'm not distracted with something else. Also, I have this special magical pocket watch that shows the current moon phase and the on-going lunar cycles. It was given to my family by a group of very kind healers at Saint Mungos. It was when I was little and shortly after they treated me… when I was first bitten."

"Really? You're really full of surprises. Can I see it?"

"Yes. Hold on."

He dug around the inside of his robe and then Tonks saw a brassy glimmer flash in the dark when he pulled it out. He held it out to her and she took it. She settled against a nearby tree trunk and gave a quick glance back at Malfoy Manner.

"Lumos minimus" she whispered and a very minuscule amount of light glowed at her wand tip. She examined it careful with eyes full of wonder.

"Blimey, that's brilliant. I wonder who made it, Remus? I've never seen such a gadget."

"I never found out who made it. It's certainly been very useful over the years."

"Yeah I imagine so. So nice of them."

After handing it back, Tonks yawned. Her eyes watered and she blinked heavily. She leaned her head back against the tree trunk and closed her eyes for a few moments. Before she knew it, the moments multiplied and she drifted off to sleep.

Remus watched her nod off but stayed quiet allowing her to catch a snooze. He smiled to himself glad it wasn't himself dozing off. Admittedly, he had fought the urge to do the same that night since there was not a lot of activity. He noticed she had her arms folded and hands tucked underneath her armpits as if she was cold. He took off his jacket again and gently tucked it over her hoping it helped give her a bit more warmth.

Later, as the first light of dawn began to gradually brighten across the horizon Tonks blinked her eyes open. She gazed at the morning light above the tree tops and felt disoriented. Then she had the strange sensation creep across her that she was being watched.

She drew her wand in a flash and quickly looked around. Remus sat against a nearby tree staring at her with a half smile. He held both his hands up in surrender.

"It's just me. Good morning."

She looked down at the unfamiliar jacket covering her with surprise. Then she felt a warming sensation inside her that was not from the extra layer of fabric. He had covered her while she slept and she didn't even notice or awaken.

"You must think I'm the worst partner you've ever had sleeping on the job."

Remus answered, "Of course not. I'm glad you got a bit of rest."

Tonks returned his jacket to him and then gazed at Malfoy Manor.

"I didn't miss anything did I?"

"Nothing from Malfoy Manor but I held back a dozen angry bow truckles that were offended you were sleeping against their tree. They nearly gouged out your eyes."

"What?"

Tonks frowned and hastily looked upward at the tree branches above her. Then she looked suspiciously back at Remus after not seeing anything.

He smirked and gave her a wink with one eye. She frowned at him.

"I'm kidding. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Nothing happened. It was uneventful the whole time you slept."

"Alright, glad you didn't need me and I didn't let you down."

Suddenly, she felt a twist of anxiety tighten across her abdomen at the thought of Order members or Madeye Moody finding out about her falling asleep on their first assignment paired with Remus. She asked hesitantly,

"You, you won't tell Madeye about this, will you?"

"Tell him about what?" He reassured her with a mischievous grin.

All the tension melted away from her face and she grinned back at him.

"Thanks. He'd never let me live that one down. It would have been a complete failure of his life motto: 'Constant Vigilance'."

"I won't say a word. I promise."

"Whew. Thank you. Sorry, I can't believe I did that."

"It's okay. You didn't miss anything and I understand feeling tired."

When they flew back to London, Tonks still couldn't stop thinking about her falling asleep. She had never done that before with a work partner. It wasn't so much the act of her falling asleep that she couldn't stop thinking about. It was more feeling intrigued that she had felt comfortable enough around him to fall asleep.

When they had parted ways and she returned to her flat, she found her mind couldn't stop thinking about Remus. He had been so polite, kind and gentle in demeanor. It was hard to even believe he was a werewolf. She stared at her "Weird Sisters" band poster on the wall and cuddled under her favorite plush, purple blanket.

Her mind replayed the recent memories of their night; him giving her his last bit of Honey Dukes chocolate and his gesture of covering her with his robe while she slept. She silently vowed she'd never let herself fall asleep on the job again and let him have that affect on her. Soon she drifted off to sleep surprisingly comforted by the recent images of his shy, polite grin and compelling deep blue eyes gazing back at her.