One Last Chance: A Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin Love Story

XVI

Remus was beginning to hate his job. Living amongst the werewolves for months now. Fun, right? Fenrir Greyback was constantly suspicious of him. Remus had to take a new name and mess up his appearance a little.

He was glad to have been given a bit of a break to spend the Christmas holiday with the Weasleys. But after what had happened with Tonks, he knew he needed to stay away from her more than ever. Remus was making the right choice, wasn't he?

The Burrow had been rebuilt in the time that passed. Dumbledore was glad to have Remus spying for the Order. He really knew he should be here this long, but he had one last mission.

But living with his fellow werewolves sucked. A new pack every month. Spy on some other lone wolves. Every so often Remus wondered why the bloody heck he was doing this. What was he going to get out of throwing himself into potential danger.

But Remus quickly got over it. He wasn't that type of person, to be selfish and arrogant, right? He was doing this for a better world. For James and Lily. For Sirius. For Harry. For the Weasley family. For the Order. For Dumbledore. Remus wanted a better world for future generations. He hoped to watch Harry and his friends grow up and have their families. He wanted to see the Order members smile without the worry and the pain. He wanted to see Tonks again.

He wanted to see her bright and alluring smile. Her practical jokes and snickers. Her clumsy but winning personality. So many things, Remus couldn't count. He just wanted to see her truly beautiful and loving smile once more.

Remus glanced up the pack her was currently residing in, under the name John Church. Before temporarily joining this pack of werewolves, he'd casted a few charms to change his hair and eye color, a bit of his facial features, and the clothes he wore. He had the appearance of a twenty year old, light, wavy, and short haired, blue eyed werewolf with a cunning smile. Remus was currently attempting to construct his backstory.

He and the other lived in this kinda of secluded village buried deep into the woods. It was evening now, few weeks before the full moon. Everyone had decided to eat their dinner together. Remus wasn't too shocked that they acted like regular people. Just people with an illness. A few people made food while other had set the tables. This pack was a but more welcoming than a few others Remus had visited.

The head of this little family was a man by the name of Alexander Scott, a close friend of Fenrir Greyback. They often conspired with one another and spoke about their plans to the group. Fortunately, Remus had not interrupted a meeting.

Unlike Greyback, Scott was calmer and a tad more welcoming. He didn't outright attack Remus for pleading a place amongst his pack for a short while. Remus knew Greyback would be sure to attack him if he begged a place among his friends. Scott was a dark haired, dark eyed man. His hair draped across his shoulders in a messy and unnerving way. The outfits these people wore were seeking new and tidy. Whatever few rips and tears were hidden in the creases of the fabrics.

The meal consisted of a simple bubble and squeak (I'm personally sorry if I get any of these British things wrong, the internet isn't very reliable and I'm from New York.) shared among the group. It was made of leftover vegetables from their last meal, which Remus assumed was lunch. He sat and ate politely as Scott tried for a simple conversation. 

"So, Mr. John Church, where are you from?" Scott glanced at him, as did the rest of the table.
Almost forgetting that he was John Church, Remus weakly responded, "Upper Scotland. I had just graduated from Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts, you say." Scott smiled, "You can do a bit of magic?"
"Yes, so to speak."
"Interesting."

Remus was getting nervous under Scott's glare. He fidgeted under the table, drumming his fingers on his knees. Remus had to ask his extremely important question.

"Alexander Scott, may I ask how the war against You-Know-Who, is coming along?"
"War against him?" the head werewolf gave a hearty laugh, "We can discuss that later. For the moment, enjoy the meal."

Scott sent Remus a look saying they would talk about this later. He nodded and finished eating his food. Remus was so tired, it had been such a long time since he slept well. He nearly face planted into his food.

Remus had been chased off by the other pack he had visited. And had so much as two hours of sleep and serenity.

His sleepy thoughts drifted to the Order, something that would help him keep awake with their mishaps and accidents (mostly caused by Tonks, he reminded himself). Remus felt the corners of his lips turn upward and the heat spread across his cheeks at the thought of the clumsy Metamorphmagus.

Her laughter and sky comments kept him awake at the dinner. Of course, the thing that struck him the most was her kind and natural personality. So easy going and jaunty. A beautiful and wonderful woman like her could never fall for a simpleton like him.

Of course, Remus expected the alpha of the pack to notice his tired manner. Scott had pulled him aside once the dinner had terminated. Scott greeted him with a sly smile, telling Remus that he knew something he did not.

"I see you fancy a lady,  John." Scott began, quite bluntly.
Almost forgetting he was John Church, Remus' eyes widened in shock, "How can you tell?"
"Your silly smile." Again with the silly smile thing, Remus thought. Exactly what Sir—a lump of sadness and mourning filled Remus's throat, "Mr. Scott, please explain to me why this is relevant to this conversation."
"It is not, I'm afraid. I do enjoy talking about rumors and gossip." Scott sighed, glancing at Remus.

Remus folded his arms against his chest crossly, hating Scott for withholding information from him. Then again, Remus had been here for less than a day. He shouldn't expect to have an instant answers within this pack.

He sighed, listening to Scott's statements about the gossip, hoping to please the alpha with his listening skills. About the silly rumors of affairs and romance. Remus knew that werewolves were still human, he just didn't expect them to be into these sorts of things. They were a lot like Remus's former students.

"Now, John. What had you what to talk about?" Scott asked, notably kind.
Remus blinked, "Ah, yes. I would like to know if you and your pack are fighting for You-Know-Who."
A sly and devilish smile appeared on Scott's pale face, "Yes, we are."
Remus took a step back, "You are? But why?"
"So we can get what we want." Scott began walking toward the village. Remus followed him, "You see that us werewolves are just normal people with a monthly problem, yet we casted out by the rest of society. But, if the Dark Lord wins the war, we will finally have better treatment. We can rise above all. And even if we are betrayed by the Death Eaters, we have a plan to fight back. The more bitten people there are, the larger the army. This will make such precious information to your beloved Order, won't it," Scott looked him in the eye, "Remus Lupin."

Hey everyone! What do you think so far? Thanks for everything!
-Abby