Soon after, Sirius and Jenna Apparated to Grimmauld Place for the Order meeting, even though almost an hour was left for it to start. Remus had been strangely quiet the whole time they were there, gazing into nowhere fixedly, deep in his thoughts.

     Sirius still hated returning to Grimmauld Place for the Order meetings, but he was glad that at least Kreacher was now gone. Dumbledore had suggested that Kreacher better be sent to Hogwarts and work there in the kitchen. Sirius agreed with it gladly, and ordered Kreacher to leave, and to help Harry if he ever needed it there.

    "I'm still not sure if it was a good idea to send Kreacher to Hogwarts," said Sirius as they were all sitting in the kitchen, waiting for the rest of the Order to arrive so the meeting could start. "I mean, I'm glad he's not here insulting everyone, but I'm worried he might do something stupid again."

    "Don't worry about him, Sirius. He's been under strict orders from you not to leave the castle or to talk with anyone about the things that have been happening in the Order of the Phoenix," Jenna tried to reassure him. "Besides, I can ask Mickey to keep an eye on him, if you want."

    "Oh, yeah. I forgot Mickey worked at Hogwarts as well." Sirius nodded in realization. "That would be a good idea."

     "Anyway," Jenna started again, after sipping on her Butterbeer, "how's Buckbeak doing? Do have any news from him?"

    "Not much," Sirius shrugged, "but Hagrid says he's happier than ever now that he's back at Hogwarts."

     "What if the Ministry finds out?"

     "They've got too much on their mind with Voldemort murdering everyone to care about a Hippogriff," said Sirius. "Besides, Hagrid's given him a new name so he wouldn't be recognized."

    "Oh? What?" Jenna asked with amusement.

     "Not sure. I guess Hagrid has named him Witherwing, or something."

    Jenna chuckled, but then her smile faded when her glance fell upon Remus. He hadn't even touched his Butterbeer, and he was staring at a fixed spot on the table, barely blinking.

    "Didn't you like the drink?" Jenna asked him, but Remus didn't seem to have heard her.

    Sirius eyed him curiously, as if trying to read his mind. "Remus?"

     No answer.

     "Remus!" Jenna yelled, and Remus's head suddenly snapped up, as if he were finally dragged out of his thoughts and back to reality.

    "Sorry, what did you say?" Remus looked up at them, blinking a few times.

    Jenna shook her head at him. "Can you please tell us what's wrong?"

    "Nothing." Remus shrugged, though Sirius and Jenna could both easily tell that it was obviously a lie.

     "You can't fool a child, Moony. Tell us what's bothering you," Sirius persisted.

     "Did... did something happen between you and Tonks?" Jenna asked in a low and careful tone.

    "What!? N-no! Why on earth would you think that?" Remus spoke briskly, going paler than how he already was.

    "Because of the way you just reacted to a simple question," Sirius answered wittily.

     "No. I'm fine. It's — it's nothing." Remus shrugged the matter off and brought the bottle closer to himself, taking a sip of the butterbeer as a desperate way to escape the conversation.

     Jenna opened her mouth to protest, but she fell silent when they heard footsteps nearing the kitchen, and the next moment Arthur and Molly entered. Soon, the Order members showed up one by one, filling up the room, and Remus was glad that he had gotten out of the conversation for the time being.

     He didn't want to talk about it. Not to Sirius or Jenna, and certainly not to Tonks herself. Remus knew that being with Tonks was out of question. He knew that she deserved someone much better than him, despite his own feelings for her. But seeing as she wasn't going to be reasonable about it, Remus took it upon himself to be the logical one.

Deep down, Remus loved Tonks more than he'd ever liked a woman before. But he had to keep on pushing her away, because he knew this was for the best. Although he had no idea how he could tell her off, without breaking her and even his own heart.

    Dumbledore and Snape were the last to show up. As soon as they arrived, right on time, the meeting began. Snape was the first to start speaking, giving his usual reports on the Death Eaters and Voldemort's newest plans.

    As Dumbledore had predicted, Voldemort had been keeping a low profile before, taking the Ministry's gullibility to his advantage. But now that the whole world knew that he was back, Voldemort didn't care about keeping his plans hidden and low anymore. He had taken drastic measures against the Wizarding world. There were already a lot of deaths and missing cases.

    Although while Snape was in the middle of reporting, the kitchen door opened and Tonks walked inside, slightly panting.

     "Sorry I'm late," she said, her eyes briefly falling on Remus, who was looking at the opposite direction.

    With her heart aching, Tonks walked toward an empty seat and took her place, trying her best to keep her hair from changing color. But she realized that lately it had become harder than ever to control her Metamorphic abilities.

     "As I was saying before I was interrupted," Snape went on, speaking each word in a careful and yet cold tone, "there are also talks that the werewolves are thinking of joining the Dark Lord. He has offered them the freedom that the rest of the Wizarding world had been denying them for ages."

    "Well, if they were smart, they would know that it's just a pack of lies," said Jenna, leaning back in her chair. "This is exactly what Voldemort wants; for them to think that they're going to have freedom, but he won't grant it to them in the end. He's against half-breeds as much as Muggleborns."

    "And are they any close to deciding whether they'd want to join the dark side or not, Severus?" Dumbledore asked him.

"Not that we're aware of," said Snape.

"Then we certainly need a way of talking their way out of it," said Dumbledore thoughtfully. "If the werewolves decide to join Lord Voldemort — which they most likely will — it will be much to their advantage. I personally suggest —"

    Dumbledore was saying, but he was cut off when Remus suddenly said, "I can go undercover."