The Return of Lady Godiva.

"Godiva's coming?" Tonks bounced with excitement. "I love her! Merlin, I haven't seen her in years."

"You were at Hogwarts still, weren't you?" Remus asked over his paper.

"What was that...7 years ago? Oh, this is so exciting!" Tonks' hair had gone an excited shade of purple as she swirled onto the bench across from Lupin. "When? When did you hear?"

"She sent me a letter this morning. She should be here by dinner, she's taking Muggle transport."

"Does Dumbledore know? Will she be able to find us?" Tonks had the sudden vision of going out to meet her friend in the circle and then disappearing back into a wall where Godiva couldn't follow.

"Of course, they're meeting this afternoon at the Ministry."

Tonks nodded thoughtfully and then snapped to attention. "Hey, does Sirius know?"

"I don't see why he should. He's been on the back balcony all morning."

"I'm going to tell him," Tonks remarked with certainty, rising from the table and taking off up the kitchen stairs. Remus passed a faint smile and returned to his paper.

Sirius leaned heavily on the rusted railing, peering out and over the mangled remains of a decidedly questionable garden. Among large iron trellises engrossed in hairy vines laid remains of what appeared to be animal bones. Tonks did not envy Mrs. Weasley- or Sirius- in their job of cleaning up the Black House. She thought perhaps fighting the Dark Lord may be a little safer.

"Sirius, have you heard who's coming?" she asked, the excitement in her voice escaping.

"Someone new, eh? Well, that might be a nice break in monotony."

"It's Godiva!" she screeched. "Remus got a letter this morning. She'll be here for dinner!"

Sirius swirled to face Tonks, "Godiva? Really?" He leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair, eyes fixed on some invisible point over Tonks' head. "I thought she was living in the Muggle World."

"Not anymore. Since the Order's re-grouped she's come back. She was in the original Order, right?"

"For a few years, yes," Sirius said, mind miles away. "After she graduated."

Sirius had a lot of memories of Godiva, not the least of which during their time in the Order.

"How did she find out about us? Did someone contact her?"

"I don't know, ask Remus, he got the letter."

He nodded, then addressed Tonks again, "Molly's out on errands. I know this is your day off, don't worry about chores. Just relax, a'right? I'm going to talk to Remus." He walked past her and back into the dreary townhouse.

Tonks went upstairs to do just as Sirius ordered her. She contemplated a bath, and then felt bad about such an indulgence when everyone else was out working. She supposed it was the same type of thing Sirius felt, all the time. Instead she watched Remus step down from the porch of number twelve, Grimmauld Place from the vantage point of her bedroom window. He turned to no doubt watch the house fold back into the brickwork between number eleven and number thirteen. It was a chill day in mid-October and he braced himself against the breeze. The gloves he wore seemed wonderfully warm, but his patched coat appeared to do little to help. He then turned and stared towards the enclosed alleyway where the current residents of number twelve Apparated to and from.

She sat back onto her bed and contemplated buying him a new coat. What size was he, anyway? She found herself tracing the outline of his shoulders in her mind, trying to size them up.

Molly's chore today had been scrubbing the floors of the upstairs bedrooms before the 'Hogwarts lot' returned for the holidays, but Tonks was in no mood, and after her conversation with Sirius, she knew he wasn't either. It was her one day off from the Ministry and Godiva was coming. It was no time to scrub.

Molly was out on errands, Sirius back on the balcony, and Remus had his own mysterious dates to make. She wondered where he went. More interviews for jobs? Probably. She wondered often about his closely guarded responsibilities.

But she pushed those thoughts aside like a guilty girl peeking into a friend's diary, Instead she turned to her latest read, a light paperback about Muggles and love.

Godiva knocked twice in a plodding, certain hammer and then proceeded into a light rapping beat. Tonks leapt from where she still lay on her bed. Godiva! Who else gave such an original rap? She bolted down the stairs, careful to avoid the ever-confounding troll's foot umbrella stand, making it to the landing without incident. It was only down the last flight that she slipped and rolled down on her bum, teeth jarring.

"Tonks, are you alright?" Remus called from behind her, apparently back from his errands. He stooped down to give her his hand and she took it, heart still thumping from her fall. His hand was warm and rough, stronger than his ratty clothes allowed.

"Yeh, thanks." She rose, dusting herself off and nursing what she knew would soon be a nasty bruise.

Remus cocked her an eyebrow and she thought she saw a small smile on the corner of his lip. It made her legs jelly a bit, but that was just the fall...

He moved to the door, which had gone silent as suddenly as Tonks had taken her rather loud tumble. He peered out through the peephole, leaned back, took a deep breath and pulled the door open.

He was suddenly accosted by a ruffle of dark cloth and luggage, which dropped to the floor with a thud, "Remus!" A woman about a half-head above Tonks and with a full female figure, Godiva was a ball of energy almost as bad as Pigwidegon himself. She let Remus out of her grip and held his face between her palms, kissed both cheeks and hugged him again. "I missed you so much I wanted to write everyday, but rules are rules and... I'm here." Her voice dropped down an octave, "You must tell me everything. Dumbledore told me some, but I want to do all I can." Remus nodded and shut the door, gathering her bags and he did.

"We'll wait until Molly returns, then we'll tell you all we know," Godiva responded with a face only siblings fully understand and turned her attention to Tonks, who stood beaming in the background.

"Tonks!" Her voice rose again and she embraced the girl, squealing in excitement. "How are you dear? You've graduated? Oh, I've missed you like my kin, darling!" She pushed Tonks' violent violet hair back and smiled. "I love it." She looked around for the baggage Remus had collected and caught the dark figure leaning in shadows at the end of the hall.

She froze, was silent, her whole demeanor changed in an instant. Tears formed suddenly as recognition invaded her gray eyes. Eyes all to like her brother's. She walked to him slowly, disbelieving, taking deep breaths, and then threw herself into him, wiping her face on his robes.

"I've missed you," she breathed. "So much."

They stood there, Sirius rocking her slightly in a deep silence, hands running through her hair, until a few long moments later Remus suggested they all sit down in the kitchen, he'd make tea.

They sat around the kitchen table and Godiva told her story, while constantly holding Sirius near her, as if afraid he might Disapparate into nothing.

She'd finished at the University of Yorkshire with a double-degree in Spellcasting and Muggle Studies. After a few internships, even a year-long stint in the same Ministry department as Mr. Weasely, she caught a job at Cauldron Publishing where she edited Spellcraft textbooks.

Sirius listened in quiet rapture to the life she'd led without him. Tonks saw it in his face as he followed the line of her jaw, her eyes, surveyed her changed face. What, fourteen years? She couldn't imagine fourteen years without Remus, not that he held the same place in her life. She felt the color rise in her cheeks and suppressed it, listening on.

"I would've come sooner, but I was given a three-year grant to study Muggles in their own world, and, well, that's not an offer I could afford to refuse. But it meant no contact with the wizarding world." She took a long draught of tea and continued. "The grant's supposed to run out in February, but Remus sent me an owl and, well, I always could read you better than a book." She looked over at him with a teasing smirk that suddenly disappeared. "I knew something important had happened."

"What are you going to do?" Tonks asked, hands spread wide on the table around her mug. "Muggle Studies aren't exactly the best skills for fighting You-Know-Who."

Godiva sighed and rolled her eyes, "Tell me something new. But we'll see what Dumbledore wants. He should be here tonight."

Sirius snorted, "You'd better tell Molly that, she's a fiend for knowing dinner guests."

"I'm a what?!" A voice called from the upstairs hallway. "Sirius, can you help me with these bags in the hallway? And is Remus down there? Ah! Will someone move this troll's foot! It's a nuisance and not to mention absolutely hideous." Tonks snorted as Mrs. Weasley came teetering down the stairs carrying two large shopping bags and paused to see the stranger at the table. Godiva stood up to introduce herself, but Sirius seemed reluctant to let her go, hand lingering in hers like a young couple.

"Hello, you must be Mrs. Weasley." She let go of Sirius and crossed the kitchen to shake hands. "I'm Remus' sister, Godiva." She paused, "I worked with your husband at the Ministry a number of years ago."

Mrs. Weasley stood surprised for a moment and then engulfed the woman in a warm hug. "Oh, darling, Remus told me you were coming and any family of his is a family of mine. Are you hungry?" She crossed the kitchen, dropping her bags by on the counter along the far wall. "I'm afraid dinner isn't until later, but could I make you a cup of tea?"

"Remus already has, thank you. I'd just like to get settled for now. Of course I'm not sure how long I'll be staying." Molly quirked an eyebrow at her, and she continued, "Dumbledore seems to have an assignment for me."

"Ah," Mrs. Weasley consented, "well that's all good then. However long you're here, love, you're welcome." She gave a cheery smile, but not without its perpetual creases and furrows of stress. "Now all of you, out," she said, addressing the group at large. "I have dinner to get started and few letters to write beforehand. Arthur should be here soon and then we'll hear the news."

She shooed them out of the kitchen and up into the narrow hallway. Remus was the first to speak, "I have some matters to take care of as well, writing letters to some lesser papers, I'll see you for dinner," and he headed up the stairs.

Tonks hung around for a moment, thinking of something to say, not quite wanting to leave. She'd missed Godiva, but there was something there between her and Sirius. She was aware of their former relationship, of Godiva's constant faith in him, but for the majority of her friendship with Godiva, Sirius had been in prison and their dynamic was new to her. "I've got to go too, Molly wants me to wash the top floor's bedrooms. I'll, I'll see you at dinner." She smiled and turned to the stairs, letting the couple alone in the hallway.

She was still pondering the two when she met Lupin on the landing.

He looked tired, wary but relieved. Content. "They were so happy together. It was, it was like Lily and James." His voice trembled minutely at his lost friend's name. He looked down into the foyer where they could be heard whispering. "I wondered when she'd come home. He asked about her sometimes, and I...I could say something of her I could never say of myself. She never doubted him for a moment."

Tonks was surprised and a little thrilled to be shown this side of Remus. He was always so guarded, but here was sadness, humanity. Affection welled up inside her and she struggled to suppress it the extent of it.

"You didn't doubt him either. You just, think you did. Deep down, you knew he could never do that. You knew." And then in a strike of boldness she reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, "See you at dinner," and scurried up to her room, heart pounding in her eardrums.

She came down to dinner early, enticed by the smell of Ms. Weasley's cooking, only to find Godiva already there, setting up a small metal box on top of one of the spice racks. She was talking about her years in the Muggle world.

"It's called a radio, I only hope it works around here. It picks up signals transmitted over the air."

"You would fascinate Arthur. What does the, raideeo, do?"

Godiva fiddled with a dial, retrieving only static, until a light tap of her wand brought it to life. "It plays music."

A jazzy song popped on and catching sight of Tonks on the stairs, Godiva brought her into the dance. "Twirl with me, love! Dance!"

Godiva and Tonks were spinning in a frenzy, laughing at their own immaturity. Mrs. Weasley continued stirring the cauldron, letting a carefree smile fall across her face. It was an unfamiliar song to the young witch, but Godiva sang along with every word.

Remus came down the stairs, presumably drawn by the sound of music and laughter, and paused on the final step to watch.

"Remus, c'mon. Don't just stand there like a knarkle," Tonks cried.

Godiva laughed and urged him over.

He shook his head, "You girls are having too much fun, I'm afraid I'm only ruin it."

"I wouldn't," Sirius said from behind him, jumping in. The song faded from the jazzy tempo and a new one emerged in a pizzicato of guitar strings. Sirius took Godiva by the hand and swung her gently into a sway, placing his arm around her waist. She smiled and suddenly everyone in the room had the impression that the pair had gone a place none of them could follow.

A steady strumming joined in and a pleasant male voice began singing, "On a dark desert highway..."

Tonks moved to give them room and instead took a seat on one of the table benches and sighed. She looked over to Remus who still stood by the stairwell, watching the couple with a sense of approval, of memory, as if he'd not only expected the event, but had seen it a million times before.

She sighed again. Sirius swung Godiva out into a spin and she took is gracefully, falling back into his arms with a light puff. Tonks had a sudden aching longing for that kind of love.

There was movement from upstairs and all three onlookers turned their heads while the couple continued to sway, moving in small circles around the room.

"That'll be Arthur now. Dinner's almost ready, would you mind telling him, Remus?" Remus turned to head upstairs and Tonks felt a pull to follow him, bring him back downstairs with her and the song, but that was not what she wanted at all. It was depressing and confusing. She signed and excused herself, silently leaving Mrs. Weasley to dinner and the engrossed couple to themselves.

Mr. Weasley had returned from finishing some paperwork at the Ministry and leaned to hang his hat on the coat rack. Remus greeted him and Tonks listened in for a moment before sneaking out to the back balcony for a breather. The fresh air was tainted only slightly by the acrid smell of decay from the garden and the sun moved a little lower towards the empty trees and bare rooftops. She sighed, suddenly feeling lonelier than ever. Birds flew through the air, chirping final daysongs and a large, obtrusive raven sat perched on the tall garden fence gave a caw in her direction before swooping over.

. "Hello Zoltan," she said absently stroking the oily head feathers. It was Godiva's raven, a smart animals, crafty, careful, and old as the hills. He gave out a low crow of recognition and looked out over the garden.

"Dinner's ready," a soft voice said from behind her. It was Godiva, who made her way to the railing besides Tonks. "It's nice to see you again, love," she said, ruffling the now pink hair. Tonks looked over at the older witch. She had to be in her late thirties now, but held the swaying movements of a woman half her age. Small lines had begun to form around her mouth and eyes, bearing a stunning resemblance to Remus.

"You and Sirius look so happy," she remarked with a smile, strangely forced.

Something glittered in Godiva's eyes, her face was flushed, Tonks noticed, thinking it was from something more than dancing. "As happy as we can be, now."

There was a pause and then older witch let out a breath, "I really thought he was dead. Remus told me nothing for years. I thought the dementor's had got him and now...he'd be only a shell," her voice faltered.

Tonks had a sudden vision of the time the lovers had been separated. The best years of their lives to waste and ruin and wars, and now how long did they have? A week? A month? A year? Then separation. And there was always the ever-present danger of the looming war, threatening to tear them apart forever. It was more tragedy than Tonks could bear.

"You're so young, love." Godiva said, breaking her course of thought. "Promise me that when you find him, you never let him go."

"I never knew you when you loved Sirius."

"I always loved him, I never stopped."

"I would've liked to have had you in the family..." Tonks stopped, wondering if she'd gone to far, but Godiva only smiled, turning her head down, and then back up at the fading sun and wrapped her shawl a little more tightly.

"I don't know if it ever would have gone that far, but thank you Dora, that means a lot." She clasped the younger witch on the back. "Let's eat."

Tonks lay in bed that night thinking of all the sad, beautiful things she had witnessed. Dumbledore had come by for a short time after dinner to talk with Godiva. It seemed her Muggle Studies and proficiency in spells put her in a prime position to work with news outside the Ministry, small occurrences perhaps not noticed by the wizarding world. Sirius disliked the danger inherent in an undercover position as a muggle dealing with dark wizards, but only responded with a scowl, bursting out once at the mention of possible torture, but Godiva placated him enough so that he was able to leave the room without major incident.

When the discussion was over, she excused herself to the hall and Dumbledore said short goodbyes. Tonks could hear Sirius' raised voice thought the ceiling above her, but soon enough it was whispers, and when they returned his scowl was still present, but he stayed close by her.

Tonks turned in her bed, lighting the small gas lamp atop the bed stand. Soft noises came from the landing prompting her to cover the light of the lamp crack the door. Two figures stood in the dark. She recognized Remus' slumped figure and Godiva's soft curves.

"...doesn't want me to leave, but, this has to be done."

Remus nodded, "I know. There's danger inherent in everything now..."

"Just like before," she slumped against the wall. "I love him, Remus, I want to be near him as long as I can."

"I know." There was a sigh.

"When this is over, promise me you'll find someone. I worry about you, Remus."

"You always did," his voice lightened a bit.

"You do realize it's my job?" They both gave a small chuckle and hugged. "Sleep well, big brother."

"You too." Remus turned to his room and Godiva watched as he closed the door. Then she turned to Tonks and, surprised, Tonks started, smiled, and closed the door. She felt suddenly good, content, excited. Was it a spell? If it was, it was a good one. She lay back into bed, blew out the lamp, and slept.

Godiva watched Tonks close the door and smiled. The eyes of a woman are perceptive, and often can see things about a person they themselves are blind to. She whispered a few words under her breath, "Amoris puella, adificare fortuno." Then she opened the door of room she shared with Sirius and tiptoed in, lying beside her lover for the first time in fourteen years. She needed no spell for contentment, it was always there, resting in the touch of his hands on her skin.