*Deserving Of Love*

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Remus entered the kitchen and was greeted with a chaotic sight. Molly was directing several serving trays onto the table with her wand, as well as attempting to keep Fred and George from attacking the trays when they landed. She looked up as he stepped into the kitchen, sighing with a mix of exasperation at his earlier absence and relief at his arrival.

“Where have you been? People are starting to arrive – did Severus find you? He said it was important – and hardly anything has been set up. Have you seen Tonks? She disappeared after I sent her up with tea for you – FRED! GEORGE! If I find ONE more canary cream hidden on this snack tray you will be banished to your room for the entire evening!”

Remus stood confused as Molly practically threw the serving tray in his hands as she scurried off in the direction of the twins who were running through the kitchen door, nearly knocking into Tonks as she descended into the kitchen. Remus looked up as she entered, and nearly dropped the food at the sight of her.

She had on a pair of tight fitting jeans, a pair of stiletto boots, and a black tank top with a gold rhinestone picture of a wolf howling at the moon across the front of it. Her hair was also gold now, and stood up in a messy array of spikes all over her head. Her eye makeup was dark, giving her a smoky smoldering look, and her small mouth was covered in shiny pink lip gloss that practically made her lips glow in the faint light of the kitchen.

Remus could not keep his eyes off of her lips as she walked toward him, and when she stopped in front of him and ran her tongue slowly over her top lip, he felt slightly dizzy as all the blood left his brain to pool elsewhere.

“Why hello Remus. You look like you need a hand… with that tray.”

Tonks smiled as she reached out and took it from him, turning and carrying it out of the kitchen toward the large sitting room down the hall. Molly rushed back in, snapping him out of his daydream by thrusting a tray of drinks at him.

“Do be helpful please Remus… people are already arriving, please take these to the sitting room dear and send Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny in here for more food.”

Molly flicked her wand at the goblets covering the tray, insuring that they would not spill before practically pushing Remus out of the kitchen. He fumbled up the steps and walked carefully down the hall, not so much worried about the tray as he was about controlling his body if Tonks licked her lips like that at him again. He entered the room and spotted her immediately by the food table, holding the tray with one hand and talking loudly to Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Remus felt a small twinge of jealousy as she touched Kinsley's arm, and he turned away quickly to avoid throwing the tray of drinks at the male auror before possessively grabbing Tonks to warn off the other men in the room. His head was swimming slightly, and he shook it to try and clear the fog clouding his mind.

It was past dusk out, and the moon was rising. With it only being five days until the full moon, his werewolf instincts were surfacing more and more, causing him to lose rational thought and act more animalistic. He reached into his trouser pocket and found the vial of potion Severus had given him earlier, thankful that he had brought it with him. He pulled the cork out and tipped it back, grimacing as it slowly made its way down his throat; the jealousy and anger fading away as it made its way into his stomach. He replaced the cap and returned the empty vial to his pocket, not noticing that Snape and Tonks had both approached him.

“Feeling better Lupin? I figured you had already taken it, but you were quite distracted earlier.”

“Yes Severus, I was. Thank you. I trust you brought the other bottles with you.”

“Yes. I actually left those in your room under the window.”

“Thank you again Severus.”

He looked down at Tonks and gave her a wide smile, noticing that he did not have to fight so hard to let her keep her clothes on in front of the other guests anymore.

“Are you okay, Remus?” She raised her small hand and placed it on his forearm, moving her thumb in gently strokes across the hair-covered skin.

“Yes, fine.”

He smiled down at her and gave her a wink quickly before she let go of his arm. Remus quickly turned and grabbed two wine glasses, handing one to Tonks as she stood staring blankly at Severus, who was smirking at her from behind a glass of brandy, his eyes plastered firmly on her chest.

“I like your shirt, Miss Tonks. Tell me; is that a coyote howling at the moon?”

Remus nearly choked as Severus said this, coughing lightly as he tried to keep the wine from simultaneously spraying over Severus and Tonks, as well as ending up in his lungs.

“No. It is a wolf.”

Tonks said through clenched teeth, her cheeks turning slightly pink at the mockery in his tone. Sirius joined their group, pounding Remus on the back and taking his wine from him, pushing a glass of firewhiskey in his hands instead.

“You’re going to need something stronger mate… Tonks told me that Snivillus caught you two in the library. Drink up.”

Remus raised the glass to his lips and took a large gulp, feeling the liquor burning its way down his chest.

“It looks like a coyote. Are you quite positive it is not?”

“No it is not a coyote, Professor Snape. It is a wolf.”

Everyone stopped talking and looked at the four of them as Tonks turned from the men, tripping over her heels and flying through the air in front of Severus. He stepped back slightly, letting her hit the floor, and then finished his drink in a single gulp.

Severus excused himself from the group, stepping over a fuming Tonks, making his way to the bar. He turned and smirked at her as she jumped up suddenly, her hair turning a fierce red, her eyes blazing gold in anger.

“Tell people it is a coyote. They will never understand the wolf thing.”

Remus reached out and grabbed Sirius and Tonks, both of whom went after Severus, wands drawn, and pulled them close to him. He turned them all toward the table and bent his head in to talk quietly to them, grateful that the kids were all in the kitchen with Molly still.

“Sirius, stop. You can not go around cursing people for insulting me, especially since you are a wanted fugitive who could be turned in at any time. Understand?”

Sirius nodded his head earnestly from where it was pressed against Remus’ shoulder and Remus released his grip on him.

“Now Nymphadora. Are you okay?”

She let out a muffled ‘Yes’ against his chest and he released her as well and turned to face her. She was still fuming, her hair was fiery red and her cheeks where still flush, but besides that she did not seem hurt in any way. Sirius jabbed Remus in the arm and he turned to face his livid friend.

“Tell me Remus, how are you going to stand there and let him do that to Tonks? He easily could have caught her. I’ve seen you do it a million times-”

Remus’ face went bright red at this last statement and he cut his friend off by raising a single finger in the air.

“I did not say he was getting away with it. But there are better ways to deal with this than by immediately jumping to wand usage. You know Severus; he likes to rile people up. You have to play his game to make him understand you. Force does not work with him. ”

He left them suddenly and crossed the room to where Severus was leaning against the bar, watching them intently, his face growing even more amused as he saw Remus approaching. He set down his glass and stood very erect, his hands at his sides, ready to draw his wand at any given moment. Remus picked up a glass and started filling it with ice for a moment before he turned to talk to the man standing stiffly beside him. Remus smiled as he talked, leaning in close to make sure that nobody was in earshot.

“Let me just say you are lucky that she is not hurt, and you are extremely lucky you brought the potion with you tonight. Good thing I took it before that little incident, because you of all people know how out of control I can get close to the full moon. And we would not want any accidents now, would we? More brandy, Severus?”

Remus looked into Severus’ eyes for a hint of understanding and poured him another generous drink before setting the bottle down.

“Let me know how the Wolfsbane Potion works in accordance with what you will take at St. Mungo’s. If there is an improvement in your condition, maybe a change to the Wolfsbane is in order.”

Remus watched him with amusement for a few minutes, realizing that this was Severus’ way of calling a truce.

“Thank you Severus. I will keep you informed.”

He excused himself and walked back to Sirius and Tonks, who were talking with Molly, Arthur, Charlie Weasley, and the kids, who had just walked out of the kitchen. Tonks had her arms wrapped around Charlie, his arm in a sling with a nasty looking gash running the length of his neck, and was looking up at him as he talked about dragon training in Romania.

“… She had me cornered between a stone wall and herself, and she was raging – her eyes were blazing, she was spitting fire at me, her claws were digging into my arm and I was pinned against the wall. I was pretty sure that I was not coming out of that one alive. But finally mum settled down and let me finish telling her about the dragon that did this to me.”

Charlie motioned to his arm as a roar of laughter erupted from everyone but Molly, who blushed a deep crimson and rolled her eyes.

“You got to come visit me sometime, Tonks… I’ve got a new Hungarian Horntail I’m training right now.”

“Sod that for a game of soldiers, C. By the looks of you, it does not look like it is going very well.”

Remus watched as Tonks hugged and talked with Charlie, listening to his stories of dragon training and living in Romania, smiling up at the young man, and a twinge of guilt overcame him. Charlie was the type of man who Tonks should be with: successful, strong, and most of all, close to her age.

Remus looked down at the glass of Firewhiskey in his hand, swirling it slightly before tipping it back and draining the glass fully. Tonks caught his eye when he raised his head, the smile on her face fading slightly at the sad look on his. She slowly pulled herself away from Charlie’s chest, and very nonchalantly made her way over to Remus. She squeezed in next to him and the food table, reaching for a treacle tartlet.

“Thank you for dealing with Severus. He has not so much as looked at me in the last ten minutes. What did you say to him, anyway?”

“I simply reminded him of what I turn into every month around this time.”

“Well played, sir. I never took you for the type to use threats. So what do you think of Charlie here? He has some of the greatest stories… I adore him.”