Chapter 1-A Place To Stay
Another boring Wednesday at Grimmauld Place was still going on. The meeting seemed to be dragging on forever. The only members of the Order sitting at the table were myself, Remus, Sirius, Kingsley, Molly, Arthur, Roma, and Ronan. I was not paying much attention, as I was staring at Remus, who was sitting across from me. I have been doing that a lot lately, ever since he came back from being underground with the werewolves.
"Tonks, you've volunteered to patrol Hogwarts and Hogsmeade the 7th through the 10th, with Remus starting the 8th, correct?" Sirius asked, interrupting my thoughts. "Tonks?" he asked again. "Nymphadora?"
"Don't call me Nymphadora!" I snapped at my cousin, my hair turning red.
"Now that you've decided to stop staring at Remus, perhaps I can have an answer before Christmas, it's only 17 days away," Sirius said.
"Of course, what was the question?" I asked.
"The question was, 'Are you patrolling the 7th through the 10th with Remus starting the 8th?' Sirius said.
"Yes, I am, and I wasn't staring at Remus," I said.
"No one said you were, Tonks," said Molly, giving me a sympathetic smile.
"All right, if we can back to business," said Remus. "There is still the matter of deciding where I am going to spend the full moon, starting tomorrow, for the next 8 nights."
"All right, Remus needs a place to stay, so let's think. How about Hogwarts dungeons?" I asked
"Too dangerous, the Slytherin common room is in the dungeons. Since Severus told the Slytherins about my condition, I had no choice but to resign. I also had to promise not to set foot inside the castle while students were there," Remus explained.
"What about the Shrieking Shack?" I asked. "After all, that is where you hid once a month and the students are convinced it's haunted."
"Too risky," said Sirius. "That's the first place Death Eaters would look."
"What about here?" I asked. "Grimmauld Place has an attic."
"Still too risky, Death Eaters were spotted near here just two days ago. If they find me here, the last thing we need is them finding out I am a werewolf, but they may already know," Remus replied.
"Well then, Moony, it looks like we are out of ideas," Sirius said.
"There has to be a solution, Padfoot," Remus replied.
Before I even knew what I was doing, I stood up from the kitchen table and said, "He can stay with me, he can stay at my flat."
The whole room fell into stunned silence. "Tonks, are you sure you know what you are doing?" Remus asked.
"No, I'm not Remus, but you need somewhere to spend the full moon. I am not trying to make up for what I said a few months ago, I am simply offering. Accept it or not, it's your choice," I said.
"I hate to say this, Padfoot, but she's right," Remus said.
"All right, Tonks, we accept your offer," Sirius said. "But you have to understand you are taking a risk, and precautions have to be taken."
"I understand that, Sirius," I replied "But what's life worth if you don't take risks, especially for a friend?"
"I knew you would say that," Sirius replied, with a smile on his face.
Remus spoke up saying, "Since the full moon starts tomorrow, I would like to Apparate to your flat tonight, so we can set up the spells."
"All right. I'll go pack," I said.
I left the kitchen, and started down the hall, tripping over Kreacher on the way. I know I'm dead clumsy, but must that house elf always get in the way?
I went upstairs to the room with I shared with Roma and Ronan. I packed my trunk, which didn't take long. I don't own that many things, and the most important thing to me, which I have had since I was eleven, before I even started at Hogwarts. After I had finished packing, I sat on my trunk, and looked around the room. My thoughts began to wander, mainly saying, "Tonks, are you sure you know what you are getting yourself into?" and "Why in the name of Merlin did you offer to let Remus stay with you?" My thoughts wandered again, this time to why Roma had become a Death Eater. I heard rumors she was kidnapped after leaving Hogwarts. I haven't asked Roma or Ronan about this, because they don't like to talk about it.
"Tonks, are you ready?" Remus' voice cut into my thoughts.
"Yes, Remus, I'm ready. I just want to say goodbye to everyone."
I went downstairs and hugged them goodbye. Roma gave me a ten-day supply of Wolfsbane potion and her lunar calendar so I would be able to track the moon properly. I took Remus' hand, thought very clearly of my flat's living room, and the next thing we know Remus and I were there.
We set our trunks down in the corner of the living room.
"This is my flat, Remus," I said. "It's not much."
"I like it," Remus replied.
"Thanks, how about I give you a tour, then I can make some tea and we can discuss the protection spells?"
"That sounds great Tonks, thanks."
Again, before I even know what I was thinking, I said "Dora."
"What?" Remus asked.
"Dora," I repeated. "Call me Dora, I don't like it as much as being called Tonks, but I can deal with it."
"All right, Dora. Would you happen to have any Earl Gray tea?"
"Sure," I replied. "Follow me and we'll start the tour. My kitchen is rather small, I'm afraid."
"It's bigger than mine, Dora, and I especially like the rubber ducks on the shelves. Where did you get them?"
"In and around London. I started with one to celebrate when I successfully morphed my face into a ducks. I think I have over 100."
"Who knew there were over a hundred different types of rubber ducks?" Remus said, smiling. I walked over to the stove, lit it with Incendio, and in no time we had two cups of tea, Earl Gray for Remus and Blackberry for myself.
We sat on my purple living room sofa to discuss the protective spells.
"Remus, before we start, I just want to say that there has been a lot of tension between us since you came back. I've accepted that we can't be together, but can we at least be friends?"
"Yes, we can. No matter what happens, we'll always be friends."
"Thank you, Remus." I said, smiling and feeling happier than I had in months.
"Dora," Remus asked. "Do you know if any Muggles live in the building?"
"Yes, several do, so we can't repel them from the building, but I think we can repel them from my flat."
"All right, so we can cast Repello Muggletum for starters," Remus said.
"Hold on, I'll be right back," I said. "I have a lot of my school books in my room. They may help."
After several hours, several cups of tea, and lots of scones, we decided on Repello Muggletum and Muffliato outside the door of my flat, and Protego Totalum, Protego Maxima, Repello Inimicum, and Fianto Duri outside the building itself. After we finished our spell casting, I continued the tour.
"Why is your living room pink and purple, Dora?"
"Because, Remus, I couldn't decide on a color. My bedroom and bathroom are purple, though."
"Speaking of bedrooms, Dora, it's already the 7th and according to Roma's lunar chart, the moon will be full at about 1:42 a.m. I already took my potion before we came here, but to be completely safe, I think you should wait in the hallway, until I am done transforming, so you don't have to hear it and more importantly so I don't hurt you."
"All right, but how will I know when it's safe to come back in?" I asked.
"It doesn't take long for me to transform, the only thing I can suggest, is to give it at least an hour. I'll be curled up by the fireplace, most likely asleep."
I did as Remus suggested, and as he said, he was asleep in front of the fireplace. I lit a fire so he wouldn't be cold, took the spare blanket and pillows from my wardrobe, placed the pillows under his head, and covered him with the blanket. I changed into my nightdress, grabbed my pillows and blanket from my bed, covered myself, laid my head down on my pillows and fell asleep next to Remus.
The next morning was a very interesting one, Remus woke up as soon as the sun came up, he had already transformed back into a human. He lay by the fireplace a long time, as it was too painful for him to get up. When he eventually did I bought him some tea and breakfast, and we ate it by the fire. Later he had a bath, and we spent the rest of the day talking by the fire. I think Remus staying here will definitely work.