Remus Lupin moved through the streets of Hogsmeade. Darkness had settled over the town and rain misted down from darkness. His ragged cloak clung to him as he made his way to The Hogs Head for a meeting. He was undercover for the Order of the Phoenix at the moment, trying to infiltrate and gain information from the werewolves as to the movements of Voldemort.

Earlier today he received an interesting message through the Owl Post to come and meet someone today at 10 pm. He did not know who sent the message. The note was short and left Remus’ mind spinning. It had said:

“Power and Money interesting things. Meet me today at The Hogs Head and it will gain you both.”

Remus wondered about who would send such a message, what it meant, and if it would give him information that help the Order in their fight against Voldemort.

He moved into the tavern and took a seat in the back; he hung his damp cloak on a hook behind the table. The bar wench moved over and took his order. He ordered a Fire Whiskey to sip while he waited.

After a few minutes a figure dressed in a ragged navy cloak moved towards his table. Remus could not tell if the figure was a man or a woman, but obviously the figure was moving towards his table. The figure’s face was hidden deep in the hood and covered by a red scarf. Red eyes stared out at him, glowing in the darkness of the hood.

“Good evening Mr. Lupin. It appears that you received my message,” a course whisper came from under the scarf as the figure handed Remus a piece of paper. Remus turned the paper over in his hands and read the block letters upon it:

“If you kill Nymphadora Tonks I will deposit 100,000 galleons into your Gringotts account.”

Remus blinked in surprise. He worked to keep a neutral expression on his face, something that came quite naturally after all these years of living as a werewolf. At first he wondered how this figure could know about his feelings for the younger woman. Then he realized that it might be a test, to prove that he was indeed on the side of the werewolves. If he did not accept this challenge, he would blow his cover. He also blinked at the amount of money listed. How much he could do with a figure such as that, more money than he had ever had in his life. The life he could build for himself and Tonks…but it was she he was to kill. He knew he needed to accept this mission. He would figure out how to carry it out…without actually harming her later.

“I accept,” he calmly said and the figure faded into the night.

*****

Nymphadora Tonks walked glumly through the streets of Hogsmeade. Her shoulders were slumped and her normally vibrant hair hung limp and mousy brown instead of her normal bright pink. Even her normal Weird Sister’s t-shirt was covered by black robes that were worn and almost threadbare.

Times were hard for her. The man that she loved had turned his back on her, her cousin Sirius was lost in the war. Work had her pulling twelve hour days while not paying her any different due to a tight budget. Now her mother and father were about to lose the only home she had ever known to the Malfoys because they couldn’t pay taxes that Lucius Malfoy had persuaded the Wizengamot to pass before getting caught with the Death Eaters in the Ministry of Magic.

Listlessly, she walked into the Hogs Head and sat down in a booth. When the bartender plodded by, she ordered a Firewhiskey. Tonks took no notice of those around her and just stared into her drink while her weary feet enjoyed the rest.

It took a minute for Tonks to realize that someone had slipped into the booth across the table from her. Slowly she raised her head to find a deeply cloaked person that seemed to be carefully watching her. Her Auror senses took over and Tonks tried to find at least one defining trait to the form. There was no way to know who this person was.

The cloaked person reached into their robes and slipped a piece of paper out of their pocket. Tonks watched as the paper was placed on the table in front of her. Carefully Tonks unfolded the paper and read:


If you kill Remus Lupin I will deposit 100,000 galleons into your Gringotts account.


Tonks stared at the note in shock for a moment. Here could possibly be the answer to her parents’ problems. With one easy assignment she could save her family from financial ruin. It took another moment for the name on the paper to enter her weary brain…Remus Lupin.


All the emotional and physical stress of the past few months caused something to snap in her brain. Red flowed in front of her eyes as she thought about how the man she loved kept pushing her away and would not even give her a chance. Perhaps it was some spell on the parchment, or just the weariness of the past few weeks causing some madness in her, but Tonks found herself looking up at the cloaked form as she said, “Yes, I’ll do it.”

*****

Remus finished his drink and then moved out of the tavern. As he walked away he realized he was being followed. This must be part of the test. They are going to make sure I complete the task assigned to me. How am I going to get out of this without really harming her? I guess I’ll have to cross that road when I get there. She’s working for the Order up at Hogwarts tonight, so I’ll go try to find her.
Remus pulled his cloak up around his head and cast a few protective spells about himself. A disillusionment charm should help me lose the person following me. I also need to figure out a way to talk to Tonks and let her know that someone wants her dead. I need to find a way to make it look like I carry out this mission but protect her at the same time!

Remus moved out of the town and towards Tonks’ normal patrol area. He did a quick search and soon found the younger Auror. He did not know if he was still being followed and was unsure how to go about this mission and protect Tonks. As quietly as he could he followed Tonks on her patrol looking for an opportune time to confront her.

He was afraid of the unknown. He was afraid to blow his cover for the Order. He was afraid that the person following him would discover his secrets. He was afraid that he would be forced to carry out this mission he had foolishly accepted in order to stay useful to the Order. Most of all he was afraid of facing his feelings and having to admit that he truly did love the woman he had been assigned to kill. Maybe she won’t know it is me. Maybe I’ll be able to figure out a way to save her. Maybe she will kill me before I have a chance to harm her.

As she neared the edge of the Forbidden Forest he drew his wand, now was as good a time to confront her as any. He released the Disillusionment Charm and stepped out of the shadows.

*****

Tonks went looking for Remus the next night. She would pay for missing more sleep, but wanted to take advantage of a night off. It was a night she usually worked for the Order, but Molly Weasley had insisted she get some rest when they last saw each other.

A part of her brain seemed to burn with the need to get rid of the werewolf that had spurned her love and made her feelings into a warped mess. Her blood-shot eyes seemed to be tinged with a ring of red and someone that knew her aunt would have finally seen a resemblance. There would have even been a few people that could have mistaken Nymphadora Tonks for Bellatrix Lestrange from a small distance.

Her search led her back to the Hog’s Head Inn. It was an obvious place to start since Remus was supposed to be luring the werewolves over to the Order of the Phoenix’s side in the war and several went to the Hog’s Head in disguise, including Remus to pass information back to the Order. As she was walking by the pub, she tripped over a bucket full of spider eyes and fell face first into a mud puddle. As she stood up, she saw Remus standing in the doorway of the inn.

Frustration filled Tonks as she thought Remus had seen her. It only took a moment to realize that his back was towards her. Quickly Tonks picked herself up and headed back to the main part of town.

Tonks walked to the Three Broomsticks and up to the room she had been calling home for the past few months. Morphing into a fat old lady and transfiguring her clothes to fit the part took a moment. She walked through the bar and back into the street after performing a disillusionment charm.

Feeling that her disguise was good enough to fool Remus, she headed back towards the Hog’s Head. Quickly Tonks hid behind some boxes in an alley beside the inn and morphed so she blended into the bricks around her. Then she slid into a small space behind the boxes to wait for him to come out.

Time passed slowly as she waited. All the sleepless nights began to catch up to her and slowly her conscience began to bother her.

What am I doing here? Remus is the man that I love! I know that he has all but called me a fool for loving him, but I can’t help it. For all that he has gone through; there is a strength and kindness to him that I have never seen before. He has every right to be bitter and mean, but he does everything he can to be a contributing part of society. Standing up for what he believes to be right and fighting against those who would take the freedom of Wizards, Witchs, and Muggles show what a great man he is.

He doesn’t mean to break my heart. Remus tries to protect those he cares for and he believes he is doing that for me. What he doesn’t realize is that I know what the dangers are and I don’t care. I want to be with him in spite of what he is. He is a beast only once a month and I just can’t see him that way. I see the man, not the beast! It doesn’t matter to me that he is older than me. Age is relative. Everyone grows old.

As she sat and thought about his disregard for her feelings and her ability to care for herself, anger filled her once again. Slowly her eyes once again glowed red.

Finally Remus emerged from the inn, and Tonks found herself trailing him. She would follow through with the orders to kill him, even if it slowly killed her.

*****

The figure in front of Remus had her wand quickly in her hand. He then heard Molly Weasley demand, “Halt! Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“Molly? What are you doing here? I thought Tonks was working tonight?” baffled Remus asked of the older woman. Molly pulled back her hood a bit so Remus could see her face in the misty night air.

“Remus! Thank goodness. I really didn’t want any trouble. Tonks has been so exhausted lately so I told her to go get some rest and that I would work her shift tonight. Between work, extra shifts for the Order and emotional stress she has just worn herself out,” Molly said with a knowing eye, staring Remus straight in his eyes.

Remus looked a bit sheepish and could not keep eye contact. “I know she has had a rough time. I have been hoping that keeping my distance will help her forget me, but it doesn’t seem to be working. I’m too old for her and I’m a werewolf! I don’t want to hurt her emotionally or physically, but I can’t change who and what I am. I’m here tonight looking for her for that very reason. Someone is trying to have her murdered. In fact I was trying to find a way to protect her. Actually, I’m supposed to be the one killing her. I needed to maintain my status with the werewolves, and think this is a test to see how reliable I am, how true I am to the part I’ve been playing. The person who hired me for this task I believe has been following me tonight. I just don’t know what to do! I am useless if I can’t maintain my cover, but I’ll kill myself if I harm Nymphadora. I need to make it look like I kill her while I protect her,” Remus explained to Molly.

As Remus told the story of the evening Molly first looked sympathetic and then shocked as she heard about the danger Remus and Tonks were both in. “Well, first we have to find Tonks. I can’t leave Hogwarts until the end of my shift, but you can go try to find Tonks. I’ll try to go talk to Dumbledore and see if he has any ideas on how to make it look like you kill her, but to keep her alive. We’ll also try to figure out who hired you for this dreadful task. I’ll send you my Patronus with any suggestions we come up with,” Molly said as she rushed towards the school.

Remus turned back towards Hogsmeade. While he moved back towards town he looked for signs of who was following him. He was not as careful on his return trip to the town. He was contemplating the events of the night. How was he going to protect Tonks?

As he walked through the Hogwarts gates he saw something sparkle just off the path to the right. He went over to see what it was and as he bent over to pick up the necklace he saw lying there green light passed over his head, missing him by mere inches. Remus quickly spun around, his wand in his hand in an instant searching for the person who had just tried to kill him.

“Tonks! What are you doing?” the astonished man asked of the younger woman who looked like she was ready to duel him…to the death.

Tonks watched as Molly rushed towards the castle. Soon she would have her chance of catching him by surprise. It would be better to just get this done with quickly, and then she would be rid of this burden and could quit worrying about her parents losing their house.


Remus’ mind seemed to be far off as he headed for Hogsmeade. This would be easier then she originally thought. As he exited the Hogwarts gate she took aim and whispered, “Avada Kedavra!”


She cursed under her breath as Remus bent down and the curse flew over his head. Doing everything in her power to keep from meeting his eyes, Tonks stared at the end of his wand. She stepped out of the shadows and kept her wand raised.


Fear flashed across Remus’ face, followed quickly by confusion and surprise. “Tonks! What are you doing?” Remus exclaimed.


Tonks realized she wasn’t going to have the easy time that she had thought was coming. Now she would have to look the man she loved in the face as she was trying to kill him. This was going to be a duel of wills and skill. Hopefully she wouldn’t have a moment of clumsiness while fighting him, or she would definitely fail in her quest.

*****
Tonks raised her wand up and took aim at Remus again, without saying a word. Her hood flew back as she pounced forward; almost like a cat moving towards a mouse to play with it before bringing about its end. With the hood back Remus saw madness in her eyes…in fact she had a peculiar resemblance to her Aunt Bellatrix.

Remus reflexively went into a defense position. “Tonks, what are you doing?” he exclaimed again as she started casting a steady stream of curses and jinxes in his direction. It was almost all he could do to defend himself from the woman who had stolen his heart. What is going on here? Why is she trying to kill me? How can I get through to her?

Remus moved back through the gate of Hogwarts and tried to move into the Forbidden Forest to find some cover. It was almost all he could do to defend himself from all her spells that were obviously meant to kill or disable him.

Remus gasped as he tried to defend himself. Finally he found himself moving into the trees, and he almost sighed aloud in relief…he was unsure how much longer he could keep up his defenses…the longer she fought, the more Tonks seemed to lose control. The look in her eyes almost tore Remus in two pieces. There was a mixture of anger, desperation, and madness on her face as she sent curse after curse in his direction. Suddenly she tripped over a tree root and sprawled forward with a sob.

“Momma, Daddy, you can’t lose your house! My heart aches, but I need to do this!” He heard her gasping aloud to herself.

Someone must have hired her to kill me, just like they hired me to kill her. What kind of person would do such a thing….unless they know we are both part of the Order and opponents to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Is my cover with the werewolves blown? Is my death enough to save her? She deserves to live much more then I. She has her whole life in front of her, my life is forever cursed. If my life is what she so desperately wants, then I’ll give it to her.

Remus gathered his courage and stepped from the shadows of the trees to offer his life up to the woman he loved. It was all he could give her, and he hoped it was enough to stop her suffering.

*****

Tonks followed Remus into the trees with a fog filling her brain. She was moving as if chasing some criminal for the Auror department, and not some obscure mission for some stranger which would just give her some money. The more Remus fought back, the angrier Tonks got. Why did he have to make things so difficult? If she had given herself time to think about what she was doing, she would have realized it was totally insane.


This was all like a bad dream. The curses she fired at Remus came almost reflexively from long hours training with her fellow Aurors. She had given up on the killing curse, figuring she could injure him enough to get him to stop fighting back and then killing. Madness seemed to be separating her from her body as a part of her started to rebel against killing the man her heart wasn’t totally ready to give up on.


Suddenly her foot caught on a tree root and she sobbed on her way to the ground. “Momma, Daddy, you can’t lose your house! “ Tonks felt her heart rebel at her mission as she landed hard. After getting her breath back she gasped, “My heart aches, but I need to do this!”


Tears flowed unnoticed down her cheeks as her already shattered heart broke into even more pieces because of what she was trying to do. She looked up as Remus walked from the shadows of the trees and into plain view. Tonks stared at Remus and saw resignation on his face and noticed his wand sitting comfortable in his hand. There was no way she would be able to jump to her feet in time to protect herself from whatever he was going to cast at her.


The spells Remus has been firing at her had been equivalent to those she had been firing. What if he had been trying to kill her too? Her wand felt heavy in her hand, but the knock her shoulder had received in her fall made her arm feel weak and powerless. Not daring to see what he would cast, Tonks lowered her eyes, and waited for the inevitable.

*****

Remus looked out towards Tonks who was still sprawled out on the ground, having only pulled herself into a sitting position. Her gaze was lowered and she seemed to be waiting. What is she waiting for? I’m in the open now, an unshielded target.
He moved closer to her but she just sat there. “Tonks?” he whispered as he moved in closer with arms spread wide in surrender. “Go ahead, finish your task. Your life is worth much more than mine.”

Tonks let out a small gasp and her head slowly rose to meet his gaze. “You aren’t coming out to kill me?”

“I never tried to kill you! I was trying to find you so that I could warn you that someone is trying to have you killed. I was hired by a mysterious cloaked individual to commit this crime. I had to accept the mission so that my cover with the werewolves was maintained, but I never planned on carrying out the mission!”

He stared at her a moment, for the first time seeing the tears streaming down her face. The manic look was also gone from her features and she looked much more like the woman who had stolen his heart. Her hair even seemed to have just a bit of purple highlights for the first time Remus could remember that year. There was an intensity between the two of them that had been missing for many months now, ever since he had run away and started to avoid her. She deserved so much more then he could offer her.

“In fact, it was all I could do to keep reflecting your curses away from myself! I had no time to cast offensive spells, not that I wanted to!” he finished after a minute of awkward silence.

“But I saw similar spells to those I was casting come back at me,” she replied in shock.

“They probably were your spells. I’ve always been better at reflecting spells then actually stopping them. What are you doing anyway? Get up!” Remus said as he walked over and assisted her back to her feet.

“Oh…I was waiting for you to…to kill me,” she stuttered softly as her eyes fell back towards the ground.

He gently pulled her head up so she was looking him in the eyes. “I could never kill you. You mean too much to me, but you deserve so much more then I could ever give you,”

This time he broke eye contact and backed away. “I’m a worthless, weary werewolf who will never be accepted as a part of mainstream society. I cannot provide for you. I can barely provide for myself sometimes!”

“Stop this nonsense! We will talk about this later. Right now we need to figure out who hired me to kill you and you to kill me. He or she said that they would know when the task was accomplished and would contact me,” Tonks replied, getting down to business.

Maybe I shouldn’t have admitted that I love her. She has a spark in her eyes now. But she is right; we need to figure out this mystery about who is trying to have us killed. They don’t seem to know about our…er…um…feelings for each otherwise they would not have us against each other. It would never work.

“He or she also told me that I would be paid as soon as the mission was complete…but I was under the impression that no further meetings were indicated. They can easily just deposit the money into our personal Gringotts accounts without ever seeing either of us again. Perhaps Dumbledore will have an idea. Molly Weasley went to tell him about my mission and to brainstorm with him about ideas how to keep my cover but keep you safe, too.”

“You told Molly about your mission?” Tonks exclaimed as she hastened towards Hogwarts.

“Yes, where did you think she scurried off to?” Remus asked as he rushed to keep up with the young woman.

“I just thought that maybe you had news from the werewolf underground that you were passing onto the Order. She is going to be so worried! We need to go let her know that I am alright.” Tonks replied as she quickened her pace even more.

When the pair reached Hogwarts they made a beeline for Dumbledore’s office. As they reached the top of the staircase they heard Molly’s raised voice.

“How could you? Do you know the trouble the pair of you have caused? Do you know the distress that you have caused that poor man and woman? You are going to go find each of them and apologize for your ridiculous…” Molly stopped mid rant as she saw the duo standing looking confused in the doorway of the office. A pair of high-backed chairs stood in front of the enraged Molly while Dumbledore stood off to the side of the room, a grin spread from ear to ear at whatever was going on between Molly and those who sat in the chairs.

“Come in, come in! Welcome.” Dumbledore waved his good hand in their direction. “It seems we have solved your mystery for you,” amusement filled his voice as he waved the two into the office.

Remus and Tonks moved into the room. Both a bit confused as they saw Fred and George Weasley sitting in the chairs, looking a bit sheepish, especially once they saw who was entering the office.

With a gasp, Tonks came back to herself. All the madness she had felt in the past few days evaporated on the spot. As Remus admitted that he had only been protecting himself and the spells coming at her were her own spells, Tonks looked at him in wonder. The love she felt for him grew ever larger, and when he admitted his love for her she was almost breathless. As he talked about his unworthiness, Tonks knew that she would have to find a way to change his mind. Hope filled her heart at his confession, and she knew he saw it.

As they decided to chase those that had hired them, Tonks felt more herself then she had all year. As they entered Dumbledore’s office, confusion filled her for a minute, but soon she thought she knew what was going on as she saw the sheepish look that came off of Fred and George Weasley’s faces.

Tonks moved with Remus close behind to face the Weasley twins. Molly looked on with a stern look as Dumbledore just seemed to smile larger. It was nice to see him smile since he wore a look of worry more and more these day; however, Tonks wished it was at a more humorous situation.

“What is going on? Remus and I have just found out we were hired to kill each other, and came here to let Molly know I was ok. We were then going to go hunt down the person that hired us to kill each other.” Tonks watched Fred and George squirm as she talked.

Molly glared at the boys before turning to Tonks, “I’m relieved that you are safe. I think that the boys have something to tell you both.”

“Um, we ah. . .,” George started.

Fred glanced at his brother before clearing his throat and added, “It was us. We were the ones that met with both of you and gave you the notes. We were trying to get you to talk to each other.”

Tonks looked at Remus out of the corner of her eye and noticed a completely shocked look. “Do you realize that because of everything that has happened this year, I was actually trying to kill Remus? As he started to talk to me, I managed to snap out of the madness I was feeling and come back to myself!” Tonks yelled.

Dumbledore lost his smile as he heard her words.

Molly looked shocked as she heard Tonks had actually tried to hurt Remus.

Fred and George cringed under her barrage.

“We didn’t think either of you would take the assignment seriously,” George managed to say softly after a moment.

Fred swallowed and added, “We expected you to come here and discuss who could have given you this mission and whether it was real or not. We never thought either of you would be in danger. I told George that I had seen a weird look in your eyes as you accepted the mission, though.”

Remus finally found his voice, “Couldn’t you think of a less confrontational way of getting us to meet up?”

“Well, since you were off undercover, it had to be something big to pull you back,” Fred explained. “Tonks has been so depressed, we thought knowing you were in danger would pull her back to her normal spunky self, not put her into some out of control madness where she was an actual danger.”

George cleared his throat and looked first at Remus, and then at Tonks. “We do intend to give both of you the money that was promised in those letters. The shop is doing well, and we would never promise something like that and not go through with it. It is the least we owe you now after all you have gone through the past few days. Sorry.”

“Sorry,” Fred agreed.

Tonks was speechless. Finding out she would be able to help her parents after all, was a relief. Normally she would turn the money down, but because of the trouble that had come from the past few days; she was going to make sure they paid up.

“You don’t owe us anything. I took the mission because I thought it was a test to prove I was actually working with the werewolves,” Remus replied.

“Remus, dear, you better let them pay up. I insist, even if they hadn’t first. They should have never played such a dangerous prank.” Molly walked over and took Remus’ hand and then turned to Tonks and pulled Remus over to her. “I’m just glad that you are both here and safe, for the moment anyhow.”

Remus met Tonks eyes for a moment before turning his head and pulling his hand out of Molly’s.

Dumbledore came out of the shadows and into the center of the room. “We are all glad that everyone is safe. Fred and George had good intentions, but that isn’t always all that is required. I hope that you boys have learned your lesson.”

Fred and George nodded to everyone standing around them. The stood up as a team as Dumbledore beckoned them to join everyone else.

“Times are still dangerous, and will probably get worse before this all ends. I hope that we can all pull together and be thankful for who and what we are,” Dumbledore added with a strange glint in his eye as he looked to Remus and Tonks.

“Well, I had better get back to my mission. I just wanted to make sure that Tonks didn’t have anyone else after her,” Remus glanced awkwardly at Tonks as he backed towards the door.

“I’m glad that it wasn’t anything else more serious too. All of us have Death Eaters targeting us, but to think someone had actually put a contract out on Tonks had me worried.” Molly hugged Tonks.

Tonks watched Remus leave the office. A wave of sadness washed over her as she wondered when and where she would see him again. Knowing he loved her, she would find a way to convince him of his worthiness. Now all she needed was the opportunity.