Taijitu

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"Why...why am I blindfolded?"

"Again...you'll see."

"You know, I could just..."

"Don't even think about reaching for your wand. I took it."

"You...Ah, you know me too well!"

"Don't I," said Lupin, smiling.

Lupin was leading his wife up a steep hill. For her part, she was wearing a black blindfold and a rather bemused expression.

"Where are we?"

"Why must you ask questions that you know I can't answer?"

"Just part of my charm, I guess," Tonks sighed, resigned to her fate.

Lupin led her up the last of the hill and halted. Tonks, not expecting the sudden stop, stumbled. Lupin caught her arm, and with one quick motion swept the blindfold from her eyes.

Tonks blinked for a moment in the bright sunlight, and stared up at the residence, a perplexed expression on her face.

"Ta-da!" Lupin looked immensely pleased with himself as he swept his arm through the air. His face fell as Tonks continued to look confused.

"It's Ottery St Cottage!" he informed her, a faintly disappointed frown appearing on his face. "Where we spent our honeymoon night?"

"I remember this place, Remus," said Tonks, turning to her husband. "Of course I remember. But...what are we doing here? You only rented it for one night."

"Ah..." Lupin's smile reappeared on his face as fast as it had evaporated. Tonks stared at him, obviously wondering if he had lost his mind.

"Yes, well," Lupin continued, ignoring her baffled expression, "about that...It seems as though the owners of this cottage have recently vacated in favour of a newer house closer to London." When Tonks continued to look confused, he continued, "Kingsley was able to provide a lovely reference to the old owners of the cottage, and they couldn't be more happy with the new owners of Ottery St Cottage."

"You mean..." Tonks' brow furrowed. "You mean Kingsley owns the cottage?"

"No!" Lupin laughed. "We own the cottage."

There was a shocked silence for a moment. Then...

"We own it?" squeaked Tonks.

Lupin nodded, smiling. "As of yesterday afternoon, Ottery St Cottage is now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Remus John Lupin!"

Tonks' eyes darted from the cottage to her husband and back again several times. She looked stunned.

Then, without warning, she burst into tears.

Lupin jumped, startled, the smile sliding off his face. Tonks continued to sob loudly, her eyes streaming.

Ever since the unexpected death of Alastor Moody a week ago, Tonks had been down. She had contracted a flu she just couldn't seem to shake. She was pale and ill looking, seemed uninterested in visiting Harry, who was still staying at the Burrow, and even the upcoming wedding of Fleur and Bill didn't seem to be able to raise her spirits. Lupin had been sure when he surprised her with the news that they had a home of their own that she would become happier, but he had obviously been wrong.

Very wrong.

"Dora?" said Lupin uncertainly. "Are you all right?"

She flung herself into his arms, still sobbing: he caught her with great surprise, rocking back on his heels to catch her weight. He patted her on the head uncertainly, extremely nonplussed.

"Don't...don't you like the house?" he asked doubtfully, feeling rather disappointed.

"Oh!" she gulped, turning her tear-stained face up to look at him. "No, Remus, I...love...love it!"

And with that, she burst into a new round of sobs, crying into his robes.

"But...then... why are you crying?" he asked, a little scared.

"Because...because...it's so beautiful...a house of our own..." She looked up again. Lupin was startled to find the tears were gone as fast as they had appeared- she was now beaming up at him happily.

"Uh..." Lupin was at a loss for words. "Yes, well, I thought we needed a place of our own..."

"Yes!" She wiped her eyes. "But...how did you do this?"

"I thought it might be a nice way to use the money from our new Gringotts account," Lupin explained, glad she seemed to be back to normal. "So, you do like it then?"

She beamed up at him and then stood on her tiptoes to give him what seemed to be an extremely passionate kiss considering they were standing in the middle of the street. When she released him, Lupin cleared his throat, trying to centre himself.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"You bet Merlin's pants that's a yes!" she beamed. "Oh, come on, let's go have a look inside! Come on!"

And, tugging on his hand, she led him up the stairs of their new home, Lupin still looking slightly bewildered by the whole situation.

**********

"So, did you like your surprise, Tonks?" Molly Weasley asked as Lupin and Tonks entered the kitchen of The Burrow later that morning.

Lupin eyed Mrs. Hyde warily, afraid the sobbing, emotional Mrs. Jekyll would suddenly reappear. But Tonks merely grinned, nodding.

"Oh, it's perfect, Molly! I can't believe Remus kept it from me!"

"Well," Lupin said, sitting in a kitchen chair, "I thought it would be better if it was a surprise."

Tonks smiled at him, giving him a quick peck on the lips. Then she glanced over at Molly.

"Want a hand, Molly?" she asked. In her enthusiasm, she managed to knock over a potted plant. Lupin stifled a chuckle behind his hand.

"No, that's quite all right," said Molly, eyeing her plant.

Ron suddenly slouched into the room, looking grumpy.

"Where's Harry?" he asked his mother.

"Cleaning out the shed with your father."

"And Hermione?"

"Helping Ginny tidy her room."

"Are they coming to breakfast? Or have you stopped feeding them?" Ron said churlishly.

"They're busy at the moment, they'll eat later!" said Molly, her ears reddening slightly.

Ron snorted and Lupin looked at him curiously.

"She's trying to separate us," Ron said quietly to Lupin and Tonks. They all exchanged significant looks.

"Here!" Molly suddenly slammed a large plate down in front of Ron containing two large bacon and egg sandwiches, a glass of pumpkin juice and three sausages.

Ron, looking sour, picked up one of the sandwiches. He went to bite into it, but a new voice suddenly rang out.

"Accio sandwich!"

Ron's sandwich, inches from his mouth, suddenly zoomed out of his hand.

"Hey!" he protested as Tonks deftly caught his sandwich and took a hearty bite out of it.

"Mmm...these are good!" she said to a shocked-looking Lupin.

"Tonks, dear, I can make you some of your own," said Molly, looking uncertain.

"No need," said Tonks cheerfully, polishing off the sandwich. Then she pointed her wand at Ron again.

"Accio!"

Ron, going to take a sip of his juice, cried out in surprise and choked on his beverage as both the plate containing the other sandwich and sausage patties and his pumpkin juice slid out of his grasp and landed neatly in front of Tonks.

Lupin leapt up and thumped Ron on the back: Ron's face slowly turned back to its normal colour.

"Those were mine!" Ron gasped out as Tonks finished off the other sandwich and began to tuck into the sausage patties.

"First in best dressed, Ron!" Tonks finished Ron's breakfast and looked up to find a very stunned Molly and Lupin staring at her in shock.

"What?" she asked innocently. Then she looked at her watch and gasped.

"I'm late for work! I can't be late again, the Ministry is already snotty with me!"

She leapt from her seat. Then she leaned over to kiss her husband, again with much more passion than Lupin usually expected in a room full of people, waved to Ron and Molly, and left the kitchen.

"At least now she's gone I can eat something," said Ron, grabbing an apple from the side-table.

"Accio!" Tonks had suddenly reappeared at the kitchen door. The apple in Ron's hands slipped out of his grasp and flew through the air. Tonks caught it.

"Thanks, Ron!"

She gave another cheerful wave and left, a loud crunching noise telling them she had bitten into her apple with gusto, before the front door slammed shut.

There was silence for a moment.

"Do you ever feed your wife, Remus?" Molly asked casually.

Lupin stared at her, obviously in shock. Ron seemed unsure whether or not it was safe to eat: his head kept darting between the apple bowl and the kitchen door. He suddenly lunged for the bowl, snatched an apple, and streaked from the kitchen, obviously nervous someone would accost him if he stayed too long.

"She's been acting strange all morning!" Lupin said in a strangled voice, ignoring the hastened departure of Ron and sinking back into a kitchen chair. "I don't know what's gotten into her! First she cries when I tell her we own our own house, then she's suddenly all happy, then she steals people's food and eats like she hasn't been fed in a month..."

But Lupin suddenly trailed off, looking over at Molly, who had an extremely strange look on her face.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh- nothing." Molly's face instantly cleared. "Nothing."

"Molly..." Lupin started to say, but was interrupted as Arthur Weasley entered the kitchen.

"Oh, morning Remus," he said cordially.

"Morning," said Lupin distractedly, still thinking of his wife's odd behaviour.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked, noticing Lupin's tone.

Lupin filled him in quickly and Arthur looked perplexed.

"I really don't know what to tell you, Remus," he said, scratching his chin.

Lupin shook his head. "Anyway," he said. "That's not why Tonks and I called in. I managed to overhear something very interesting last night at the Hog's Head..."

"What?" Arthur asked, sitting at the table next to Lupin.

"Voldemort seems ready to strike. Aberforth overheard two Ministry employees talking about Albert Runcorn and Dolores Umbridge..."

"Now there's a pair," Arthur said to himself.

"Well, apparently, the Ministry is implementing what they're calling 'behaviour tests'."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning," said Lupin darkly, "that they're trying to weed out the few valuable Ministry personnel left."

Arthur was silent for a moment. "And you think You-Know-Who is behind this?" he asked.

"I'm sure of it," Lupin said. "Arthur, I really don't think we have very much time left until Voldemort comes out into the open. I have a feeling the Ministry, which really wasn't very safe to begin with, is about to fall."

The two men were silent, each absorbed in their own thoughts. Then Arthur shook his head.

"I don't think there's much we can do about it at the moment though, Remus. We'll just have to be on guard from now on..."

They were suddenly interrupted as Harry came into the kitchen from the backyard, his hair sticking up in all directions.

"Morning," he greeted Lupin. Then he turned to Molly, who was standing at the kitchen sink supervising the self-washing dishes.

"Where's Ron and Hermione?"

"They're busy!" Molly snapped immediately. "Are you finished cleaning out the chicken coup?"

"Yes," said Harry. "I can help Ron or Hermione..."

"No, that's fine dear!" said Molly hurriedly. "You can go and take the washing off the line. Off you go!" she added cheerfully as Harry glared at her.

With one last mutinous glance, Harry turned and left. They heard the back door slam. Molly glanced at her husband and then hurriedly turned back to the sink, her ears red.

"She's trying to separate Ron, Harry and Hermione," said Arthur in a low voice as Lupin turned to him questioningly.

"I heard. Why?"

"Well, the three of them are off to do something after Bill and Fleur's wedding. They won't tell us what, only that it was a task left for them by Dumbledore. Obviously, though, it's going to involve You-Know-Who's destruction, and be quite dangerous." Arthur glanced over at his wife who was plainly listening to their conversation, even though she still had her back to them. "Molly thinks if she keeps them separated they won't be able to go. I, however, think they are of age and, as such..."

"They're seventeen years old!" Molly said angrily, turning from the sink, obviously uninterested in pretending she wasn't listening any longer. "Harry is still only sixteen! What did Dumbledore think three seventeen-year-old wizards were going to do about defeating You-Know-Who? Obviously Harry misunderstood..."

"I doubt very much that Harry misunderstood Dumbledore's wishes," said Lupin quietly. "Dumbledore always had the highest respect for Harry, and for Ron and Hermione, too. If he's given them something to do, you can be sure it's important..."

"So important a task that he couldn't give it to wizards who were older and had more experience?" said Molly quickly, rounding on Lupin.

"Being older doesn't always mean being wiser, Molly..."

"I don't want my son going on some crackpot adventure!" said Molly, her voice growing louder with every word. "God knows what will happen to him...to all of them...I won't let it happen! I WON'T!"

The sink gave a dull clank as she aimed her wand at it; soapy dishes flew from the sink, wiped themselves clean and placed themselves in a cupboard above the fridge. Molly hands were shaking so much that one suddenly fell to the ground and smashed.

Molly turned back to the two men. "He's your son, Arthur!" she said furiously, addressing her husband. "How can you let him, and the other two, go off to try and destroy You-Know-Who when you know they're going to fail!"

"I don't know they're going to fail." Arthur sounded tired, as if he had had this conversation many times. "Harry, Ron and Hermione have proved many times that they're very resourceful." His voice became hard. "They're of age. They're mature. They're responsible. They have their orders from Dumbledore. Nothing you can say will change their minds, Molly. It's not up to us anymore what they do or don't do."

Molly stared at him for a moment more, her eyes blazing. Then she stormed from the room, her face a bright, glowing red.

They heard a door slam.

Arthur turned back to Lupin. He suddenly looked very old.

"As you can see, we disagree about the situation."

"I can't say that I'm thrilled with their plan myself," said Lupin, frowning. "I knew they had orders from Dumbledore, but I didn't know they were planning to try to carry them out alone."

"Ron says Dumbledore asked Harry not to tell anyone else."

"I suppose Dumbledore had his reasons," said Lupin, sighing. "But still...three seventeen-year-old wizards going head to head with Voldemort...it's not really a comforting thought, is it? Especially when Voldemort or one of his followers has tried to kill Harry at least once a year for the past six years."

Arthur shook his head. Then he glanced at his watch.

"I'd better get going, or I'll be late."

Lupin stood also. "I'm meeting Kingsley, so I'd better hurry on as well. Maybe sometime today I'll be able to figure out what's wrong with my wife."

Arthur shook his head. "Remus, I'll give you a bit of advice that I wish someone had told me when I married Molly."

"What is it?"

"Never try to understand a woman," Arthur said wisely, a twinkle in his eye. "You'll never be able to, and she'll get mad at you for trying."

Laughing, both men left the kitchen.

**********

"Morning, Tonks!" Eric the watch-wizard didn't even look up from the morning paper as Tonks hurtled past him in an attempt to get to work on time.

"Morning!" Tonks puffed over her shoulder, jumping into the golden grilles of the elevator just as they swished closed. Leaning up against the back rails, she took deep gulps of air, trying to catch her breath.

When the golden grilles once again opened, Tonks hurried out of the elevator, turned a corner and entered the Auror headquarters, several cubicles passing her in a blur until she reached one at the very end, and burst inside.

A tall, slightly balding man jumped at her unexpected entrance and glared reprovingly at her.

"Sorry!" she groaned, sinking into a chair behind a messy desk, wheezing. "Sorry I'm late!"

"This is the third time this month!" The man didn't look too sympathetic.

"Sorry, Bob!" Tonks grinned over at him, and the man couldn't help smiling back.

Robert Marcela was Tonks' boss. They had worked together, tracking down Lord Voldemort's supporters, ever since she had become an Auror. He looked tough, Tonks reflected, but he was a big teddy bear at heart.

"I have a good reason, I swear!" She held up a hand.

Bob grunted. "I'm sure you have. What is it this time? You haven't broken another one of your mother's priceless crystal vases, have you?"

"No," Tonks said witheringly. "Remus surprised me this morning! He bought a lovely little cottage near Ottery St Catchpole! A house of our very own!"

She looked so excited that Bob couldn't help but smile.

"That's great, Tonks," he said sincerely. "I wish I could've been at your wedding."

Tonks smiled. "It was very, very small," she replied. "But it was all I needed."

Bob seemed to study her for a moment; then he nodded.

"Fine." His voice had returned to its normal gruffness. "But don't let your lateness continue!"

Tonks grinned at him. "Come on, we have work to do," she said, settling down at her desk and pulling out some paperwork.

Shaking his head, Bob followed suit and they settled into a companionable silence.

**********

Tonks looked up from her desk at half past twelve and groaned, stretching.

"God, I miss the days in the field," she said, rubbing her stiff neck. Bob grinned at her.

"Be careful what you wish for, Tonks."

"I've got to get out of this office!" Tonks stood up suddenly. "I'm going to get some lunch. You want anything?"

Bob shrugged. "Whatever. I'm not all that fussed, actually."

Tonks nodded and headed out of their cubicle.

Whistling, she passed Kingsley's cubicle. He was holed up inside, looking highly stressed. She backtracked.

"Trouble?"

Kingsley jumped, his bald pate gleaming under the artificial lighting. Recognising Tonks by her trademark pink hair, he leaned back in his chair and sighed.

"I hate paperwork!" he groaned. "I wish I were out in the field, catching bad guys!"

Tonks patted him on the back. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll soon get a chance," she said, sitting on the edge of the desk and yawning. He grinned up at her.

"Admit it, you're as bored by the whole paperwork thing as I am."

"Well, at least you're protecting the Muggle Prime Minister for a large part of the day!" Tonks protested. Kingsley laughed.

"That's true. But most of the time it's, 'Kingsley, get me a coffee...Kingsley, get me that memo'...It's like I'm a house-elf!"

Tonks laughed and jumped off the desk. "Suck it up, Kingsley. We all have our duties," she called as she made her way out of the cubicle.

"Yes, and I'm sure you're doing yours!"

Tonks blinked as a hissing voice spoke, very different to that of Kingsley. She turned slowly to see Albert Runcorn shuffling some papers nearby.

"Excuse me?" she asked slowly, unsure she'd heard correctly.

Runcorn looked up, his face spiteful. "Nothing," he snapped, bending low over his papers again.

"If you have something to say to me, why don't you just say it?" Tonks put her hands on her hips and surveyed the tall man through narrowed eyes. He straightened up, his eyes narrowing also.

"Nothing," he growled. Tonks took one last look at him and snorted, turning on her heel and heading for the door, deciding to let it go.

"How is that husband of yours?"

His voice rang through the office and all chatter in the surrounding cubicles suddenly ceased. Tonks turned slowly.

"He's fine, thanks," she said coldly.

"So he hasn't bitten any innocent Wizards lately?" Runcorn shot back at her. Tonks looked immensely surprised.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Tonks and Runcorn's voices were getting louder: people were starting to poke their heads out of their cubicles, curious.

"You know what I'm talking about," continued Runcorn. "I'm surprised you even still have a job after your marriage to that disgusting half-breed."

Tonks approached Runcorn, her face bright red. "Back off, Runcorn," she snarled, pulling her wand out of her pocket.

He raised his own wand and the two of them stood almost nose-to-nose, both breathing heavily and looking furious.

"Tonks! Runcorn!"

Kingsley had hurried out of his cubicle, followed closely by Bob.

"What's going on?" Kingsley asked, his eyes darting between Tonks and Runcorn.

"He's walking a fine line between being human and being a newt!" Tonks said furiously.

"You wouldn't dare!" Runcorn sneered.

"Wanna bet?" Tonks raised her wand and Kingsley grabbed her hand.

"Tonks, no!"

"You just leave my personal life out of things, Runcorn," said Tonks menacingly, wrenching her hand out of Kingsley's grip.

"Personal life?" Runcorn laughed derisively. "You couldn't pay me a hundred galleons to get involved in your personal life, Tonks. Personally, I think we should be a little more selective about whom we let become Aurors around here. Nasty little blood traitors like you don't deserve such a position!"

Tonks started forward but it was Bob who spoke, his voice raised in anger.

"Luckily it's not up to you who decides who does what around here, Runcorn!"

Runcorn stared at him loathingly. "For now," he said quietly. Tonks sneered at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she challenged.

Runcorn looked trapped and looked around. Their argument had attracted a lot of attention and there was a rather large audience gathered around them. He turned back to Tonks, glaring at her.

"Just stay out of my way!" he said menacingly. Then he turned on his heel and stormed away.

Tonks stood there for a minute, breathing heavily. Then she turned to Kingsley, her face bright red. "Thanks for the support!" she said angrily. "I especially liked the part where you said nothing!"

"Look," Kingsley said, dragging her into his cubicle and away from curious stares and mutters, "Runcorn is only trying to cause trouble. You know we have to lay low."

Tonks went to open her mouth but they were interrupted as Bob hurried in.

"What a jerk," he muttered, shaking his head. "Don't worry about him, he's just trying to cause trouble."

Kingsley gave her a look that plainly said 'I told you so.' Tonk just grimaced at him.

"Look," said Bob, plainly trying to diffuse the tension, "I feel like some lunch. Why don't we go grab something?"

Tonks shook her head. "I'm not hungry now," she said gloomily. "I'm just going to go for a quick walk. Back soon."

And she walked quickly out of the cubicle, leaving an embarrassed silence in her wake.

**********

"I'm home!" said Lupin, opening the door of his new house late in the afternoon.

There was no answer.

As he crossed the threshold and shut the door behind him, he sniffed the air, a worried frown appearing on his face as he smelled smoke.

"Dora?" he called.

There was still no answer.

He followed the smell, which was getting stronger, all the way into the kitchen. When he got to the kitchen door, he stopped short, looking stunned. Then he began to laugh, looking around the kitchen.

There was a large puddle in the middle of the floor, and pots and pans were strewn everywhere. On the counter was the same knife that had cut off a sheaf of his hair, merrily carving what looked like the word 'poo' into the breadboard. There were two large steaks on a platter to the side of the psychotic knife. Both of them had a rather greenish tinge to them that Lupin didn't want to think about. The lettuce was shredding itself with an indecent enthusiasm, its leaves flying everywhere, smoke was pouring from a frying pan on top of the stove, and the fridge hung open, a bottle of milk overturned on its side, dripping slowly.

A string of sudden curse words drew Lupin's attention, and his eyes found his wife in the middle of the kitchen. All he could see of Tonks was her rear end; she was poking around in the oven, muttering to herself darkly, as the black smoke filled the kitchen. He watched her for a moment, wondering how she would react if he snuck up behind her and gave her a smack. He decided against this, however, as a bang emitted from the end of her wand and the oven suddenly began to sing. She straightened up, looking extremely annoyed.

Barely controlling his laughter, he raised his voice over the caterwauling of the oven.

"Dora! Dora!"

She finally turned around, surprised.

"Remus!" she yelled as the oven continued to sing. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here!" he yelled back.

"Blue moon," the oven warbled. "You saw me standing alone..."

"I know that! But I thought you were going to be late..."

"Without a dream in my heart..."

"I was able to leave early!"

"Without a love of my own..."

"Oh," Tonks said, looking around the chaotic kitchen helplessly. He reached out a hand and she came closer to him.

"What are you doing?" he yelled in her ear, as the oven continued to sing merrily.

"I'm trying to cook you dinner, what does it look like I'm doing?" she answered crossly.

Remus bit back his reply; it looked like she was trying to demolish their kitchen, but he didn't think that was the type of answer that would please her.

"What happened?" he asked, pointing to the singing oven.

"I...I just tried to get it to bake!" she said helplessly. She pointed her wand at it.

Another loud bang made Lupin jump. The oven, instead of falling silent, began to sing even louder.

"BLUE MOON, YOU KNEW JUST WHAT I WAS THERE FOR..."

"How do I shut it off?" Tonks bellowed at her husband, who had covered his ears.

"What?" yelled Lupin.

"YOU HEARD ME SAYING A PRAYER FOR..." shrieked the oven.

"HOW DO I SHUT IT OFF!"

"I don't even know how you got it singing in the first place!" hollered Lupin.
"Silencio!"

The kitchen suddenly fell silent. Lupin and Tonks, both still covering their ears, turned around.

Kingsley stood in the doorway, doubled over with laughter.

"Having fun?" he chuckled.

"Of course!" Tonks looked pleased. "Of course! Silencio! Why didn't I think of that?"

Kingsley moved into the kitchen, looking extremely amused. "You let her cook?" he asked Lupin.

"Excuse me?" Tonks suddenly looked mutinous. "Let me cook?"

Kingsley just laughed.

"What're you doing here anyway?" Tonks said sulkily, still unable to completely forget what had happened at the Ministry.

"Molly just wanted me to call in and ask you to dinner," said Kingsley, a wide grin on his face. "But, obviously, everything's going so wonderfully here that I needn't have bothered. You'd think that between two intelligent wizards, one of you would've managed to remember 'silencio', but..."

"Silencio!" said Tonks suddenly, pointing her wand at Kingsley. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. He glared at her reproachfully.

"Funny," said Tonks, turning to her amused husband. "I don't seem to be having any trouble remembering that spell now."

Lupin just shook his head, glancing at Kingsley. He was hopping up and down in rage, giving himself over to a silent storm at Tonks, who stared at him appraisingly.

"What was that, Kingsley?" she asked sweetly. "I didn't quite hear that last part."

He narrowed his eyes and gave her an extremely rude hand gesture. Lupin chuckled. Tonks turned to him.

"Dinner at Molly and Arthur's?"

"Please," Lupin said hurriedly. Then, catching her expression, he added hurriedly, "Not that your cooking isn't lovely, but..."

Suddenly there was a swooshing noise. All three of them looked over as the lettuce gave a cheerful bounce and flew out the kitchen window.

"Finite," said Lupin hurriedly, pointing his wand at the kitchen in general, not wishing to lose any more hair. Immediately all activity in the kitchen settled. Lupin turned back to his wife.

"You really need to work on your household spells."

She sighed. "All I wanted was a peaceful dinner..." She trailed off, looking dejected.

Lupin laughed. Kingsley, obviously tired of not being able to say anything, stalked out of the kitchen. Lupin and Tonks, laughing and hand-in-hand, followed him, the promise of a proper dinner too much to resist.

**********

"Potatoes, Tonks?"

Tonks shook her head. Lupin glanced at her worriedly.

"Where did that woman go from this morning? The one that was stealing everybody's food?"

She looked at him, her face slightly green. "It must have been those steaks," she replied.

They were at The Burrow. The table was full to bursting with people, including the full contingent of Weasley family, Kingsley, Lupin, Tonks and Fleur. The only people missing were Harry, Ron and Hermione. Molly hadn't seemed to notice, and Lupin and Tonks decided not to mention it to her.

"So," said Kingsley from down the table, his voice returned, "About the run-in with Albert Runcorn today..."

Tonks shook her head quickly, trying to signal Kingsley, but it was too late.

"Albert Runcorn?" Lupin said sharply, turning back to Tonks. "What were you arguing with Runcorn about?"

"It was nothing, Remus! Really!" said Tonks, glaring at Kingsley.

"It doesn't sound like nothing," said Lupin, his eyes narrowed. He stared between his wife and Kingsley. "Well?"

"Ah... well..." Kingsley cleared his throat uncomfortably and looked down at his plate, concentrating on his steak and kidney pie.

"Really, it was nothing!" Tonks said again. Lupin turned back to her. "It was just his usual pure-blood mania, Remus, you know him."

"Yes." Lupin's voice was terse. "I know him. He and Dolores Umbridge wrote the book on me. They've made it almost impossible for me to get a job."

There was an uncomfortable silence whilst everyone pretended to be eating.

"Well!" said Molly in a falsely cheerful voice. Everyone turned their heads to her. "Is everyone done?"

Everyone nodded, although Lupin could see that most of them had only finished half of what they had on their plate. He began to stand up to help Molly clear the plates from the table, his anger still simmering inside him.

Why didn't she just tell me? he asked himself silently as he took the dishes to the sink and returned to the table for more. Why does she feel like she has to hide these things from me?

He glanced over at the object of his thoughts and did a double take. She was sitting silently at the table, her face a distinct green. Arthur, apparently, had noticed as well, because he looked over at Tonks with some concern.

"Tonks, you ok?"

The young witch didn't respond. Instead she suddenly bolted from the table, her hand over her mouth. They heard a door slam.

There was a ringing silence. Lupin quickly put down the plates he was holding and hurried after her.

He found her emerging from the bathroom, looking pale and shaky.

"Are you all right?" he asked in concern, taking in her appearance.

She nodded. "It must have been those steaks," she said again weakly. She turned to the sink and began to wash her hands. Deciding that she was ok, Lupin spoke again.

"Why didn't you tell me about what happened today?"

Tonks groaned and rested her head against the bathroom mirror. Lupin frowned.

"What?"

"You want to know why I didn't tell you?"

Lupin nodded.

"Because I knew you were going to react this way," she continued. "Who cares what he said? Albert Runcorn is a jerk."

"What did he say?" Lupin pressed. Tonks sighed.

"Does it really matter?"

"Yes!" Lupin exclaimed. "It matters to me! I hate the fact that you're being hassled at work because of our marriage!"

"It was one person!"

"What about Bellatrix Lestrange?" Lupin challenged. "I know she tried very hard to kill you that day we took Harry from Privet Drive. How do you think that makes me feel?"

"I'm a big girl," Tonks said firmly. "I can take care of myself."

Lupin sighed. "I don't think you understand."

"I understand perfectly," Tonks said gently, putting a hand on his chest. "You want to protect me. But Remus, you can't go picking a fight with every person who decides to harass me, or who calls me a mean name."

"I'm not going to go picking fights." There was an amused tone to Lupin's voice, but it vanished as he continued. "You're in constant danger. I don't know if you understand that."

"Remus!" Tonks put a hand to her head and closed her eyes. She looked very tired. "Stop it!"

"I'm just-"

"No! I don't want to hear it!" Tonks swayed on the spot. Lupin went to reply but stopped, shooting her a concerned look.

"Are you all right?"

"I don't feel well," she said weakly, her eyes still closed.

"Maybe you should sit down..." he started. Before he could complete his sentence however, Tonks' legs suddenly gave way and she collapsed into his arms, unconscious.

**********

"Ok, you've got water, crackers, a magazine..." Lupin looked around the bedroom. "Is there anything else you'd like?"

Tonks looked at him from her position in the king-sized bed. "I think you've bought the whole of the kitchen in here. I'm pretty sure I'm set," she said ironically.

"I just want to make sure you're comfortable," Lupin said defensively as he began to change into his pyjamas.

"I am," she said. He looked satisfied and continued to change.

"Are you sure you feel ok?"

"I feel fine," Tonks said for what felt like the fifteenth time.

When Tonks had come to at the Weasley's, she found herself surrounded by seven pairs people with red hair and one concerned werewolf. Lupin had wanted to take her to St. Mungo's, but Molly had recommended, to Tonks' relief, that he just take her home and let her rest.

Lupin, finished changing, turned back to his wife, only to find her with a very peculiar look on her face.

"What?" he asked. She looked up at him, a faint frown on her face.

"Just as we were getting ready to go home, Molly pulled me aside," Tonks said slowly. "She asked me something. I'm sure it was important, but someone-" she glanced amusedly at her husband "-was so worried that he practically carried me from the house."

Lupin blushed slightly. "I was worried about you," he said sheepishly.

Tonks grinned up at him. "I know you were." She frowned as the last light snapped off and the room was plunged into darkness. "I just wish I could remember, though..."

"It can't have been that important." Lupin shrugged as he got into bed beside her. "I'm sure you'll remember soon."

"I was feeling a bit woozy," said Tonks, obviously not listening to him. "Molly managed to pull me aside while you got my coat...and then..." Tonks sighed in frustration.
Lupin pulled her to him and put an arm around her. "Don't worry about it," he advised her. "It'll come when you least expect it."

"I suppose," she sighed, snuggling down beside him.

"Speaking of which," he said, his voice tickling her ear, "I'm sorry about tonight. I just don't like the idea of you being interrogated at work."

"That's okay," she sighed. "I really should've told you about it, I just didn't want you to get upset..."

Lupin shook his head. "I guess I can still be a child sometimes," he said.

"Don't say..." Tonks began to say, but suddenly trailed off. Lupin turned to her. In the darkness, her face was a mask of shock.

"Dora?" he asked her worriedly. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, I'm fine, fine..." she said distractedly.

"What's wrong?"

"Just..." She swallowed. "I just remembered what Molly asked me."

"What?"

"Oh- nothing." Tonks shook her head. "Nothing important."

"You sure?"

"Sure."

"Okay," said Lupin dubiously, obviously not believing her but deciding to let it go. "Night."

"Night," she said faintly.

Suddenly Molly Weasley's concerned face popped into her minds view.

"Tonks," she had said. "You're almost...glowing. Being a woman who has had seven children, I know a few things...is there any chance you could be pregnant?"

Tonks shook her head in the darkness. It was impossible.

Wasn't it?

She quickly added up dates in her head. Coming to the end of her equation, she drew a sharp breath.

It seemed that, going by the dates, it certainly was possible.

Very possible...