Ink: An Epistolary Romance

She didn't answer that note right away, partly because she wasn't quite sure what she ought to say, and partly because she didn't want to seem too eager too soon. She'd never had such a qualm before, having always answered his notes as soon as she read them, but for the first time it occurred to her that he might get the wrong idea if she were to answer this particular letter in a hurry.

She also wasn't entirely sure what the wrong idea was, but whatever it was, she certainly didn't want Remus Lupin to get it.

So she waited.

And as luck would have it, two days after she read the letter a rare thing occurred: Tonks and Remus found themselves at number twelve, Grimmauld Place at the very same time.

Making her way sleepily into the kitchen that morning, Tonks opened her mouth to greet Sirius, who was rummaging through a cupboard for something. Someone else spoke first: "Hello."

It took a moment for her to realize that it was not Sirius' voice that had spoken, but Remus'.

Only a well-timed spell on Sirius' part saved Tonks' teacup from shattering on the floor.

"Remus! Hi! Sorry," she added, retrieving the cup from where it hung patiently in midair. "Hi! I said that already. Sorry. You startled me. Heh. Obviously. Hi!"

Sirius, who'd resumed his rummaging, snorted. Remus, as always, seemed unfazed.

"Good to see you, Tonks," he said with his habitually cordial smile. "Care to join me? I was just thinking of having another coffee."

"Coffee," she repeated, and then a chuckle escaped her lips. "I usually see you drink tea. I mean. Not that I pay that much attention, but you know. You seem more like a tea person. You know. Um."

"I've a long day ahead of me," said Remus. "Though for you, might I suggest something without caffeine?"

She blinked, then let out a laugh as she realized what he meant. "I... yeah," she conceded, trying to force herself to calm down. "I've had a few cups already, actually. With caffeine," she added, hoping that he'd accept the lie as an explanation for her admittedly ridiculous behavior.

"Ah," he said, his smile growing a bit larger as he set his paper down on the table. "Well, will you sit with me anyway? It'll be nice to have a chat with someone besides this old git."

"Who, me?" said Sirius innocently, without even turning to face them. "Ah, found them!" He withdrew from the cupboard triumphantly, holding a rather battered box of what looked like rainbow-striped sweets. Tonks didn't recognize the label. "I thought I remembered those Weasleys hiding a box in here somewhere."

Without further explanation, Sirius fled the kitchen, clutching the box with what Tonks thought was a distinctly manic look on his face. She raised her eyebrows at Remus, trying very hard not to think about how this was their first time alone together since the notes had started.

Remus shrugged. "Experimental sweets of some sort, I expect," he said. "Sirius has been combing this place for the past ten minutes. I'd hate to think what might've happened if he hadn't found them."

Tonks chuckled, outwardly smiling and inwardly thankful for the distraction that Sirius had provided from her own odd behavior. Having had those few seconds to calm down, she smoothly Summoned the coffee pot and filled her cup. And then his. She smiled to herself; most of her friends insisted on perpetuating the English stereotype by practically living on tea, so she didn't actually know many people who drank coffee. It gave her a warm sort of feeling to know that Remus drank it too.

"So," she said, feeling far more casual and in control of the situation than she had a moment ago, "what brings you here today?"

"Well," he began, "I do live here, you know...."

"I know that," said Tonks. "I mean you're never here - when I am, at least. When I come in the morning, you've already left, and when I come at night, you've either already gone to bed or you haven't come back yet."

She blinked.

"Again," she said casually, "not that I pay that much attention."

"Ah," said Remus. "You've a point there."

He sipped at his coffee.

She tried again: "So what brings you here on this day?"

"Sirius," said Remus with an almost parental shake of his head. "I wanted to pay him a visit before my interviews began."

"Interviews? Are you looking for a job again?" She regretted the words almost as soon as they left her mouth; it was really none of her business.

He gave her a wry sort of smile; if he minded her nosiness, he didn't let on. "Not exactly," he said. "I'm not interviewing so much as... meeting with people. Use a false name, pretend to want to sell them something or seek information or what have you, and drop a few well-placed questions that will help me to ascertain whether they're the sort that we're looking for."

"The sort that... wait, who's looking for... what sort of what?" she said, by now as much confused by her own grammar as by his vague explanation.

"The Order," he said simply. "Dumbledore isn't ready to start admitting complete strangers into the ranks, of course, but we need to begin feeling out the crowds. We need to know who we can trust in times of emergency, if it should come to that."

"So you're spying on people," she said, grinning.

His eyes widened. "That's... that's one way to put it, I suppose! You do have a way with words, Miss Tonks," he added with a chuckle, taking another sip of his coffee.

"So do you," she added absently.

The thing was, she had been referring to his effortlessly articulate way of explaining the situation to her. But as soon as she said the words and thought about what they meant, her mind jumped right to the note. And while she would never presume to think that Remus' mind had gone to the same place, she couldn't help but notice that he'd suddenly gone strangely quiet.

She hadn't exactly meant for the subject of the note to come up that way, or at all for that matter, but it had. And now she was faced with the problem of dealing with the pointed silence of two people staring into two half-emptied coffee cups.

She let her eyes wander across the table and watch as he stirred, sipped, and returned the cup to its place in front of him. He had nice hands. He held his spoon just so....

"I'm meeting with Kingsley in a little while," she volunteered, loudly enough to drown out the thoughts that were forming in her head.

"Is that so?" he said, perhaps a little too quickly.

"Mmhmm," she replied, hearing her voice go slightly squeaky in her attempt to sound casual.

She felt an inane comment of some sort begin to slide out of her mouth, but luckily she never found out what it was. For at that moment, Sirius made a grand re-entrance, sporting the biggest pair of ears that Tonks had ever seen.

"Look, Remus!" he cried, pointing quite unnecessarily at his head. "Just like in first year, remember?"

When Tonks looked at Remus again, the grin on his face was wide enough to make her heart do a little flip-flop. "How could I forget?" he replied.

"James would have loved these," said Sirius fervently, holding out something in a green foil wrapper. "Try one, Remus?"

Remus, whose smile had faded just a touch at the mention of James, shook his head with a little laugh. "I'd better not," he said. "There's only ever been one Ear Boy in our ranks, and I'd very much hate to steal your thunder."

Tonks wasn't sure, but she could have sworn that Sirius looked a bit proud.

"Tonks?" said Sirius, offering her a sweet.

"No thanks, Mister Black," she said seriously. "Only you look like an utter idiot and I'd rather not look like one too."

Sirius dropped the sweet back in its box, looking even prouder than before. She couldn't help but laugh.

"First year," said Sirius, dropping himself into an empty chair. "I was such a prat back then. You remember, Moony?"

Tonks saw Remus' eyes twinkle a little as he smiled at his old friend. "Not much has changed, has it?"

For a moment she wasn't sure whether Sirius would laugh or burst into tears at those words, but he settled for a sigh instead, running both hands through his hair as he slumped down in his chair. "Plenty has changed," he said.

Clearly detecting the ominous tone in his friend's voice, Remus gently tried to change the subject, asking Sirius about the twins' candies and how he'd known they were still in the cupboard. Suddenly struck by an uncomfortable feeling of having intruded on an intimate conversation, Tonks quietly rose and headed for the door.

She looked back at them once before she left, and Remus caught her eye. He smiled, she smiled back, he returned his attention to Sirius, and she left, resolving to answer the note directly after her meeting with Kingsley.