"Did you know, Harry," Luna lay stretched upon the overstuffed green couch in the midst of her library, carefully digesting the diagrams within a volume on sensual touch she'd already read three times. "that you share a name with a boy I have a crush on?"

The black tabby that had been visiting her for the last four days suddenly stirred, shifting with a stretch from his position at her side. His emerald green eyes bore a curious expression.

"It's true. I think you'd like him, Harry. He's perfect. He's strong and kind, and he's got perfect hair and a charming smile. I think I might speak to him this year."

The black tabby began to nuzzle her chin, pawing her chest and purring aggressively.

"Oh, thank you, kind sir." She returned his affections, drawing his nose to hers and scratching his ears. "Do you know, I had never really thought of him that way. We don't really know each other, you see, and he's in a different house." She paused, closed her eyes, smiling warmly. "A few weeks ago something changed. It was the most bizarre experience, Harry."

The black cat with the curious marking curled playfully beneath her breasts, still watching her intently.

"You see, I woke in the early hours of the morning. It was like a touch — almost what I imagine a kiss might feel like, but the shadow of a kiss... as if through a veil. Or perhaps it was like attention — pleasant, radiating attention, as if you could physically feel the searching eyes of a lover. And this shadow of a kiss, this distant attention, it —" she breathed full, bit her lip, reliving the experience, "it traced the lines of my jaw, the path of my clavicle, the swell of my chest. Harry, it was incredible. And then..."

At this she blushed, her eyes lit with secret visions. "And then this attention, this shadow of a kiss, traced the shape of my thighs; it drew nearer and nearer. And then it taught me a pleasure I'd never really known." She laughed, bit her lip again, lost in the memory of it.

"I can't tell anyone, of course, Harry. But I can tell you, because you won't tell anyone. And because you're an excellent listener."

She sat up, crossing her legs, lifting the tabby cat to her lap and renewing her playful attention. He leaned into her scratches, curling tighter between her thighs.

As they sat in silence, Luna revisited the memory of the sensations again and again as she traced the cat's spine and shoulders with her fingertips. He purred contentedly, eyes fixed upon her.

The tension he'd felt, the radiating pleasure pulsing from his center, had become an overpowering rhythm, a beating drum consuming his thoughts. And every second he spent with Luna was compounding this tension.

"Something off, Harry?" Tonks broke the enchantment, and he stirred to awareness.

"Er, I'm sorry?"

"You okay, mate? Something seems off today."

"Oh. Right, sorry. It's, I mean, I'm good. I'm okay." He forced a smile.

Lupin cast a heavy glance his way, shifting his gaze to Tonks meaningfully.

Tonks' brow furrowed. "Now listen, Harry. We're going to war together, yeah?"

Harry nodded.

"Thing is, Harry, we've got to trust each other."

Harry nodded.

"And the thing is, Harry, I have a talent for seeing through deception."

Harry nodded.

"And the thing is, Harry, you're a terrible liar."

Harry took a deep breath. And nodded.

"So what's going on, Harry?" Tonks' expression adopted a playful lightness, and Harry gave a half-hearted smile in exchange.

"It's stupid."

Lupin shook his head. "Harry, every four weeks or so I turn into a beast and, unless I've medicated appropriately, eat all my friends. That's stupid. So now that the stupid index is calibrated, why don't you tell us what's going on."

Harry's eyes shifted from Lupin to Tonks, and back again. "Okay, but I'm serious. It's a little stupid and a little weird and a little awkward."

"Try us." Tonks replied, without a moment's hesitation.

"Well, so you know that Luna and I are, you know, sort of connected. It's a force called Nexus, and it drew us together. It's meant to knit us together, to, I dunno, make from that bond something stronger than we'd both be without it."

He hesitated.

Tonks broke the silence. "Kitty?"

Kitty appeared with a sharp whip-crack.

"Can we get a few fingers of scotch for young Harry?"

"Certainly, ma'am."

A moment later, a squat glass appeared before him.

Harry's brow furrowed. "But..."

Tonks shook her head. "Harry, you're more of an adult than half of the adults I've met."

He shrugged, threw back a quarter of the glass's contents, and carried on.

"The thing is, that gravity hasn't let up since I arrived. I'm fighting it every minute. It sounds so stupid, but I think about her all the time. I miss her, and I look for any excuse to be with her."

Tonks fought back a smirk. "Uh huh."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Look, I know how it sounds. It's just, I dunno, it's consuming me."

"Harry?" Lupin's gaze was attentive and kind. "What have you been doing with your afternoons?"

Harry dropped his head in his arms, flat against the table. "I'm transfiguring myself into a cat so I can hang out with Luna."

Tonks laughed full at this. "Well, that's perhaps the most adorable and ridiculous thing I've ever heard of."

Lupin smiled. "Harry, are you sure that's the best way to spend your time, given you've got another forty-nine weeks before you'll see her again?"

Harry deflated, his head falling flat again in his arms. "No."

Tonks laughed. "Harry. Little brother. If I've learned anything the hard way, it's this. Don't play with fire." She patted his deflated shoulders.

"Look, the time will pass before you know it. Unless you carve out every moment to think about what you can't have right now."

Remus nodded. "She's right, Harry. Best to set your attention on the heavier matters before us."

They comforted him with kind words and another drink, telling stories to redirect his attention. It was nearly eleven when they called the night.

As they parted ways, Tonks tugged on Harry's sleeve. "Hey Harry?"

"Yeah, Tonks?"

She reached into her pocket, pulling out a small glass vial containing the deepest purple liquid.

"This driving force of yours? This might help."

She pulled him into a hug, placing the vial in his left hand.

"See you in the morning."

Precisely nine minutes later, Remus Lupin stirred from his nightly ritual due to an unexpected knock at the door.

The top buttons of his shirt undone, his blazer cast aside, he opened the door in a state of heightened awareness, immediately concerned that Harry was somehow in danger.

Tonks stood before him, wearing a thin silk nightie, tight around her chest, loosely draped a few inches below her waist. Her olive skin, impossibly smooth; the graceful lines of her neck, the swell of her chest, the textures of her nipples clearly visible. Time slowed, and his eyes strayed, and the shape and swell of her thighs registered as perfect in his mind.

"Tonks, is everything alright?"

"Remus, I like you."

He hesitated, overwhelmed.

"Tonks, I-"

"I've seen the way you look at me, Remus. When you think I'm not paying attention. I know you how you feel."

He stumbled.

"Tonks, you don't understand, I'm-"

"I don't care how old you are, Remus. I'm 28. I think I have earned the right to decide for myself."

He faltered.

"You see, Tonks, my-"

"I don't care about your condition, Remus. You're a werewolf. It's a thing, and it's totally something we can account for, and it's totally something I find kinda sorta sexy."

He was captivated, and utterly silent.

"So here's the thing, Remus. I've kept a steady stock of liberatio because we've been seeing a lot of each other lately and you're just not making a move. But I've just given my last vial to Harry."

His brow furrowed.

"So if you don't do something in the next three days, honest to God, you'll need to ward your room."

At this she turned, walking across the hall to her room. Remus was captivated by the swell of her bottom, just visible beneath the hem of her nightie as she closed her door.