Remus

He's on his fifth coffee of the day but the adrenaline from trying to win at cards and listening to her talk about that time her dad took her to see the Cranberries keep him awake.

'Lost again!' he chuckles and she slumps against her chair. 'I'm too sober, that's the problem, lets grab a pint!' she moves to get up but he grabs her arm and pulls her back down.

'Are you kidding?' he growls. 'We're on the clock!'

'Oh, come on, Remus, loosen up! No one's died from a few beers!'

Before he can grab her again, she's gotten up and made her way towards the bad. They're on day three of the stake-out and nothing. They've spent their time playing cards, walking around and watching old movies. She's shown him heavy metal and he's showing her David Lynch.

Moody has said that there'd be no point patrolling around for longer than a week so he desperately hopes for something to show up.

He grabs one of the beers that Tonks has brought to the table.

'Easy, tiger, they were both for me,' she jokes.

'Not on my watch!'

The beer turns into two and then three and by the fourth Tonks is having a hard time keeping her voice down.

'By God, woman,' he grins, slightly tipsy himself. 'You have quite a low alcohol tolerance!'

'Be not surprised, my good friend for I used to be able to outdrink entire tables of men. But I know better now!'

'I see…a party girl!' he grins. Had she slept with any of those men? Maybe she's dating one of them. Either way, it's absolutely none of him business, he has no right to mull over it.

'I bet you were the life of the party yourself,' he notices her inch closer.

'Oh, you wish, I was the nerd who stood in the corner, scared to ask anyone to dance, but boy when the right music came on…'

'Oh yeah?' she giggles and by now she's fully leaning on him. He needs to push her off, he really needs to push her off, but his brain has gotten all fuzzy from the alcohol. They're just talking after all; they're allowed to talk.

'Yeah, you wish you could've seen me on the dance floor!'

That is when Lucius Malfoy and his wife step in and they both sober up immediately.

Tonks

Her head is buzzing but she'd recognise that awful voice anywhere. She's felt nothing but disgust for her mother's side of the family for as long as she can remember, but now she feels something else. Fear. Not for herself, she can handle it. For her parents.

'You ok?' she hears Remus whisper and she lets out a small sob. Lucius's wife has her mother's nose. And her chin. Would she hand her mother over to Voldemort if she had the chance?

She watches them sit down and she feels Remus set and enhancing spell. She startles a little ,the clearness of her aunt's voice feels haunting.

'I'm telling you, Lucius, you need to be careful this time! They all know you took a plea deal! You'd better hope I can get Bella to vouch for you, otherwise-'

Bella? She locks eyes with Remus. His face is hard and his jaw tight. They're planning a breakout. How can she even access Azkaban files, she doesn't even know if she has the authority. Maybe Kingsley?

'I can't stay waiting around for Bella' she hears an exasperated sigh, 'it's the prophecy or nothing. I get him the prophecy and we're safe! But there's suspicious security around that!'

Narcissa snorts loudly. 'It's a highly guarded Department, of course there's going to be security. Honestly, Lucius-'

'Your niece was patrolling around the other day,' he mentions.

Tonks inadvertently grabs Remus's hand tightly. She realises she's hurt him and mumbles a quick apology. But when she tries to move it, he holds it back just as tightly. She cannot help but be grateful.

Narcissa's tone is harsh. 'I thought I told you not to mention that bitch to me!'~

'Yes, sorry, I just-' Lucius stammers, but she's gotten up.

'I don't care what you have to do, but you're going to fix this mess!'

'I'll prove my loyalty and then we'll be safe, I promise-' he makes to grab her, but Narcissa has long since left.

The background noise of customers drinking and talking loudly buzzes around her. At least she seems to have escaped careful scrutiny by now.

'I feel sorry for them…but also I don't feel sorry for them,' she whispered and turns to Remus's worried face. 'Does that make sense?'

He nods and help her up. The alcohol has made her clumsiness infinitely worse and he now has to basically drag her upstairs. She finds herself imagining what it would be like to be carried by him. He seems strong enough to manage it.

'I'll update Mad-Eye, you just get rest ok?'

'I'm not a princess, I can manage it,' she mumbles leaning against their bedroom door. It instantly gives way and she stumbles. His arms catch her right as she's about to hit the floor. The hour of Polyjuice is almost gone by now and she sees his scars resurface.

She smiles. 'Hi,'

That seems to take him aback for a moment, but then he lets out a small giggle. 'You really are wasted!'

He gingerly puts an arm around her waist and another around her legs and lifts her up. He's so gently putting her to be she almost doesn't want to let go.

'Come back to bed, honey!' she giggles. She knows she shouldn't be flirting with him, but she thinks that if he'd kiss her right now, she wouldn't mind.

His face glows a bit red but he doesn't reply as he sends off his Patronus to Mad-Eye.

'It's a wolf,' she remarks and his face falls.

'Yeah'.

'You hate it'.

'Yeah'. He shakes his shoes off and moves towards his bed. She can tell he doesn't want to talk and she knows she shouldn't ask, but she's drunk and her filter's off.

'How long ago was it?' she whispers.

The silence is so long, for a while she thinks he won't answer at all.

'I was four. My dad insulted a maniac who turned out to be a werewolf. For the longest time I felt so sorry for him, knowing how awful and uncontrollable the transformations were. I thought it was eating him up on the inside knowing he had doomed a child. Only later did my father tell me he had tracked me down as revenge.'

'Remus, I-' she gasps.

'It's all right,' he says quietly.

'No, it's really not…'

'No, it's not. But it is what it is. Nothing left to do now but make the most of it. I feel terrible for even thinking this, because I know we're at war with a psychotic fascist and his racist followers, but it is kind of nice being useful again.'

'Didn't you use to teach at Hogwarts?'

'For a while. Had many jobs but once people figure it out, they don't really want me around and to be perfectly honest, I can't blame them'.

'Of course you can blame them!' she finds the strength to rise up, but Remus doesn't look at her. He doesn't even glance in her direction but is starting straight at the ceiling. He suddenly looks so tired.

'I'm really dangerous, Tonks. I'm constantly terrified of hurting someone. I'd doom them with a life of being me. I really couldn't live with myself if something ever happened…'

'Well, it hasn't, has it?'

'Yet…'

'And it's not like any of this is on purpose!'

'A werewolf bite has the same effect regardless!' his voice has now turned bitter and she fears she has pushed too much. 'What difference does it make?'

'It makes all the difference in the world, Remus!'

She turns around on her side, hiding her frustration at the state of Remus's life. It's most probably much worse than he's letting on, too. Still, she shouldn't have pushed. After all she barely knows him.

'Thanks for helping me to bed, Remus,' she whispers, trying to change the subject. 'And I'm sorry I embarrassed myself.'

'You could never embarrass yourself!

She laughs. 'No one believes that, my friend'.

'I do.'