"So where do we go from here?" she asked him, gently squeezing his hand. He fought to battle the tears that were escaping. They had seen too much sorrow in just one short day. Dumbledore was gone. Who now, was left to lose? Harry…Tonks?

"I'm not sure," he answered truthfully. She began to cry. Her hair had changed to a dull grey, her stormy emotions apparent to the eyes. He brought her closer to him and enveloped her in his arms. He stared at his arms, covered in horrible scars. The full moon had done more to him that turned him into a beast. It scarred him, followed him around in broad daylight. It made him cast a shadow in the moonlight and now that shadow was permanently fixed over Tonks.

It broke his heart.

--

It was an unremarkable day that followed a remarkable night. It had been a full moon and while his body had transformed, his mind had never been clearer. She had stayed with him that night, watching him in wonder as he howled at the moon. He woke first, feeling the sun touch his body. There was one new scratch suspiciously placed over his heart. He could barely recall being the wolf and watching her through the bars of his cell. She was staring at him, weeping as he growled and tore at his own body. She had watched him with nothing but fear for his safety and because she loved him. She hadn't left him during the moonlight for even a moment.

He gathered all the strength he could muster and crawled to her. She woke quickly, dried tears still marring her face. He looked into her eyes.

"I love you, Nymphadora Tonks. Marry me."

He didn't even need to hear her answer as he collapsed on her lap.

--

They both wanted a small and quiet wedding. In attendance were only the priest and themselves. She turned her hair a rich, dark brown. She wore a simple white dress and smiled, only breaking it momentarily when the priest called her Nymphadora. He gently kissed the back of her hand and then kissed her with such passion, he felt he may explode.

"I love you Remus," she said in his ear. "Until death do us part."

He prayed to anyone who would listen that death would not come knocking at their door.

--

"I'm pregnant."

He wasn't sure what he should be feeling. Happy? Sickened? Frightened?

"Speak to me Remus," she said desperately.

"I thought we were being careful," he said, his voice not betraying his raging interior. He wasn't sure if it was raging anger or raging fear.

"Aren't you happy about this?" Tonks screamed, her hair quickly changing to a bright red and her eyes darkening.

He paused. He had no answer. He was ecstatic and angry all at once. What kind of father would he be? What would he do when it was time for the full moon—howl so loudly he would wake his precious child? Would he or she inherit his lycanthropy and be made to share his fate—forever bound to the curse of the moon?

It wasn't fair.

Any of it.

--

"I'm sorry."

Her eyes forgave him long before she held him in her arms. "I was a coward and I was wrong. I love you Nymphadora. I will never leave you."

She didn't even scold him for calling her Nymphadora.

--

They were unable to go to St. Mungos and Remus blamed himself. Once again, he had managed to put his family in danger. There she lay in her mother's bed. She would scream as her contractions passed. She had lost all control over her morphing abilities. Had Remus not been so worried for her, he would have laughed. She kept morphing into all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours. Right now her arms were very hairy, her eyes a bright shade of orange and her hair jet black.

"You can do it," he said encouragingly as she screamed. He felt her go limp.

It was a boy.

--

"I have to go!" he told her as she held Teddy in one arm and clutched at him with the other.

"Please be safe," she wept.

Andromeda looked on, tears falling down her face. Remus kissed her with everything he had left. After a soft kiss to the forehead to his precious son he Apparated away.

Moments later, Tonks had grabbed her own wand. There was a time to fight and now was it. She kissed her mother and her son goodbye and hoped she would return to them.

--

He was shocked to see her charging through the doors headfirst into the battle. He felt a familiar fear running through his veins. He had left her and their son on purpose—to protect them. He should have known better. He married a noble woman with morals and ethics much like his own. Together they would fight for a better world, a world where no prejudice or hatred would mar the life of their son. Teddy would mourn them if they died but he would never need to mourn a world where good people stood by and let evil take control.

As a father, as a Gryffindor, as a person, he would not allow it.

His wand raised, he began to shout out spells against the Death Eaters, his wife standing right beside him.

"I love you, Nymphadora!" he screamed to her amongst the chaos. She faintly smiled.

"Don't call me Nymphadora."

Moments later, Bellatrix Lestrange had a wand pointed in her face. A green flash of light and she was gone. For one moment, Remus Lupin wished for the ceiling to explode and for a full moon to beam down upon him. He released the wolf inside him and for once, meant his AvadaKedavra. The green beam of light missed his wife's killer and hit Dolohov squarely in the chest. He felt many things as Bellatrix hit him with the same words that killed his wife.

As he fell unceremoniously next to her, his last emotions ran through him. Hatred, fear, vengeance, despair and love.

Until death did them part.