During Order meetings, he would hastily take a seat between two people as far away from Tonks as possible. unfortunately for Remus, this didn’t go unnoticed. Sirius watched his friend with quiet amusement, observing each time Remus flinched at the mere mention of Tonks’ name, or the way he had yelped and spilled hot tea all over himself when Molly casually mentioned she was coming to dinner. When Remus walked into the lounge that afternoon, he didn’t realise that he was walking straight into Sirius
Sirius:“Care to join me, Moony?”
Sirius asked. He was slumped on the sofa making the flames in the fireplace dance with lazy flicks of his wand. He smirked.
Sirius:”Or are you too busy scouting out new places to hide?”
Remus:“I don’t know what you’re talking about,”
Remus, feigning nonchalance. He took a seat on the sofa opposite.
Sirius:“Interesting I swear I saw you dive into the broom closet when Tonks turned up yesterday.”
Remus:“I did not dive in It just needed organising.”
Sirius:“It was empty, Moons. We cleared it when we realised half the contents was cursed.”
*Remus did not have a response. He avoided eye contact as though Sirius might cease to exist if he didn’t pay him any attention. This only seemed to make Sirius more determined. *
Sirius:“Something happened on the stakeout, didn’t it?”
Remus:“Nothing happened, Sirius.”
Sirius:“Bullshit,What was it? Did she kiss you or hex you?”
Remus:“Neither”
Sirius:“Hmm Well, I guess I’ll just ask Tonks then.”
Remus:“Sirius-”
Remus interjected quickly, sitting up in his seat at once. Sirius looked at him expectantly. Remus shifted uncomfortably.
Remus:”It was just... a minor mishap.”
Sirius:“A mishap?” repeated Sirius, intrigued. “You need to give me more than that, mate.”
Remus:“It was...”
Remus hid behind a cushion as if it could protect him from what was coming.
Remus:”We were underneath the invisibility cloak... it was very small and we were standing very close, and I... had an unfortunate reaction.”
Sirius stared. And then a wicked grin spread across his face in realisation.
Sirius:”Unfortunate reaction? Why, Remus, my dear dignified friend... you’re going to have to spell that out for me.”
Remus threw the cushion at him.
Remus:“You know what I mean. Don’t play stupid.” he scowled.
Sirius:“An ‘unfortunate reaction’? That could mean anything,” replied Sirius, mockingly, clearly enjoying the torment. “Did you elbow her? Did you sneeze on her? Did you-”
Remus:“My body decided to broadcast my attraction without asking permission. Is that explicit enough for you?”
blurted Remus, instantly wishing he could take it back. He looked around, paranoid, as if the walls might have ears.
Sirius howled with uncontrollable laughter.
Sirius:“You - you got hard on her - on an Order mission - Moony, that’s brilliant!”
Remus:“You're not helping,”
Sirius:“Did she notice?”
Sirius wipes a tear from his eye.
Remus:“I was practically impaling her appendix, Sirius, of course she noticed,”
Remus muttered as he shook his head. He felt a deep regret of his life choices, particularly the one that involved walking into the lounge today. Sirius laughed even harder. Sirius doubled over again in another round of laughter.
Sirius:“Merlin’s balls, Moony. Did she say anything?”
Remus:“Just about it being a normal bodily reaction.”
Sirius:“What’s the issue then?”
Remus:“It - it’s humiliating! probably made her feel uncomfortable, or objectified, or - I don’t know, like I can’t control myself. She probably never wants to be near me again.”
Sirius:“Oh, for - Moony, it probably made her day. You know as well as everybody else that she fancies you. Stop turning this into a moral crisis. She probably thought it was a compliment.”
Remus didn’t respond but that night at the meeting Sirius makes sure to give up his seat for Tonks to sit next to Remus