Hey, guys! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Obviously this is the end of the fic, though I have a few that I'm working on atm, including another G/L one.

Epilogue

Christmas 1999.

"More eggnog, dear?" Molly asked, hovering around Ginny anxiously, wishing there was more she could do for her daughter, but Lupin rarely let her more than a meter out of his reach.

"Thanks, mum." Ginny took the mug out of her mother's hands.

"You haven't put any firewhisky in it, have you?" Lupin asked suspiciously, because Molly's firewhisky-laced eggnog was legendary. Molly gave him a look that was simultaneously offended and disbelieving. "You don't have to look at me like that. Just because you never heard that expectant mothers should drink."

Molly yawned dismissively, resembling her daughter-in-law Fleur greatly when she did it. "If I hear one more thing about Ted Tonks and his crackpot muggle theories, I'll dig up his grave and have a word with him myself," she said.

"Hey! Those 'crackpot muggle theories' mean that both your married children can have children themselves," Hermione protested good-naturedly. She knew that no matter how helpful elements of muggle sciences could be when couples with magical know-how, some people, even those with the best of intentions like Molly, would never take to them. It was part of what she enjoyed about teaching Muggle Studies, opening her student's minds to the possibility that muggles had things that they could teach them.

"She's got you there, mum," Bill agreed. He, too, had been apprehensive about being a father being of the unknown factor of his werewolf status. And he, too, had almost fallen asleep listen to Hermione's explanation as to genetics – but he'd been awake for the part about not being able to have anything but human children.

Hermione flashed him a grateful smile. Lupin possessively wrapped his arms around his wife's swollen stomach, his hands moulding around the curve of her belly. He couldn't help but think how different this pregnancy was to Tonks with Teddy. The knowledge that this baby would be nothing but human gave him a sense of peace that he hadn't known with Teddy – not to mention the knowledge that he would be bringing up his children in a safe, peaceful environment free from the evils of Voldermort.

He kissed her neck and rubbed her cheek with his. It had been a blissful six months. Two months of summer holidays spent travelling around Europe before returning to Hogwarts with his pregnant wife. It had been all he could do to wrench himself from her side and teach. And with Neville and Hermione teaching now, she was far from lonely. They had been married for a year now, and living truly as husband and wife for over half of that. Molly and Arthur hadn't been happy to learn that their relationship had become real but when they had seen how happy he made her – not to mention the relief of learning there was no danger of putting something wild inside her – they had gradually come around to accept him as something in between a son and son-in-law. He had excellent relationships with his brothers-in-law, even Percy, who was still struggling to cast off the indoctrination that the Ministry of Magic had been touting for several years while he'd been working there. And he was proving to be a very popular Professor, with people caring less and less about his werewolf status.

There was a knock on the door, and Molly went to get it. A few seconds later, she poked her head around the door of the spacious family room. "Remus, Ginny, can I see you?" she asked. Lupin got to his feet and helped Ginny to hers. "Andromeda's here to drop Teddy off. I wanted to invite her to stay – she's got no other family – but I wanted it to be OK by you. I thought it would sound better coming from you, anyway." Lupin exchanged a glance with his wife. They had become so in sync with one another that he rarely needed to use Legilimency on her. She nodded slightly.

But before they could say anything to Andromeda, she quickly walked over and gave Ginny a brief kiss on the cheek. "Congratulations," she said. "You look radiant." Ginny squired at the well-wishes, unsure of what she was supposed to say to this regal, strong-willed woman whose daughter had once been her husband's wife.

"Thankyou, that means a lot to us," Lupin said in her stead, sensing his wife's discomfort. "Do you care for some eggnog? There are already fourteen of us here, one more won't make a difference."

"Fourteen?" Andromeda said, a little breathless at the thought of so many people crammed into the house. She had grown up in a house with just two sisters, and then just her husband and then their daughter. She couldn't fathom fourteen people running around.

"Eight Weasleys, two in-laws – me and Fleur – Neville, Luna, Harry and Hermione," Lupin said. "Actually, fifteen with Teddy. No-one will take offense if that many people is simply too much for you, but you really are welcome to stay."

He seemed keen to be on good terms with her, and Andromeda had nothing but an empty house to go back to – no way was she spending time with the Malfoys, her only remaining relatives other than Teddy. She allowed Lupin to escort her through to the main living area where everyone was assembled. "I could have sworn this place is bigger than it used to be," she said. Which was odd, because everyone was so much bigger than when she had last seen them all at the Burrow, so really, the house should look smaller, not bigger.

"It is," Charlie piped up with a grin. "Mum had this idea that she was going to put Gin and Fleur in together and Bill and Remus in with me. Remus informed her that it was an excellent way to save space because he'd rather spend Christmas with Ginny is his dingy little apartment then have his marriage disrespected." There were grins from Percy, Ron and George at this, and Andromeda got the distinct impression that it had taken one hell of a screaming match before Lupin had gotten the upper hand. "So now we have another story up top, their bedroom, Bill and Fleur's and a nursery."

Andromeda took note of the fact that Lupin and Ginny were settled back on the floor, one of his hands on her waist, the other playing with her hair. Teddy awkwardly tottered over to them and wrapped his little arms around Ginny's stomach. "Buva!" he cried happily. Ginny mussed his hair. He had an understanding way beyond that of an eighteen-month-old that his little brother was growing inside her. Andromeda took note of the way she stretched out her legs so Teddy could curl up across them. Any worry she had had that Ginny would favour her biological children over her step-son were obliterated then; it was clear that she was as devoted to him as if he were her own flesh-and-blood. For an eighteen-year-old, she was remarkably compassionate and wise... perhaps wiser than her own daughter had been, Andromeda thought, because in her love for him, Tonks had been submissive and grateful for anything he gave her... whereas Ginny no doubt gave him hell whenever he tried his 'too old, too poor, too dangerous' crap on her. And it appeared to have worked well on her, if the way he was holding her and looking completely content was anything to go by.

She found herself relaxing, surrounded by a happy family, albeit one which bickered a lot, and found herself drinking far too much firewhisky. "You can't Appirate home, you're likely to splinch yourself," Molly protested when Andromeda went to go home. "You can have Ginny's old room. It's – "

"I'll show her where it is," Lupin offered, eager to talk to his – first? former? – mother-in-law alone. "Gin, I'll see you upstairs, OK?" Ginny nodded and took Andromeda's arm lightly to direct her to the cupboard that had once been Ginny's room. "Thankyou for being so supportive," he said quietly.

"She's a sweet, wise girl – woman – who's very good for you," Andromeda said. "Better, I think, than what Dora was. But she doesn't let you get away with much."

Lupin chuckled at that. "Very true," he said.

"I loved Dora – still love her – always will – but when it came to you, she just wasn't strong. She was so scared to get you offside that she would have accepted almost any treatment from you so long as it meant you were there." And even that didn't always work, they both thought.

"I wasn't a very good husband to her," he admitted. "I wish I had known then what I know now."

"And yet – when you came back – I used to watch you when you thought no-one was looking. You were terrified but you never showed that to anyone, least of all her. She never knew how many doubts you had. And she died knowing she loved her. You may have stepped up to the plate very late in the game, but you did everything right by her that you could have in the end, and I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful that she didn't die feeling abandoned. And if it's worth anything to you, I think she would approve of Ginny. It's obvious that she won't make any difference between Teddy and her own children."

"That means a lot to me." He hugged Andromeda and felt like he understood her better than he ever had before. While she would never see Ginny as an equal substitute for Tonks, she at least accepted her as a worthy replacement as mother – and wife. He made his way up to the top floor where his and Ginny's newly-built room was. She had already changed and was sitting up in bed. He slipped in beside her, manoeuvring her onto her side so he could spoon her. Since he preferred to lie on his side, and it was the only way he could cuddle her in her condition, it had worked out well. "Everything OK?" she asked.

He nuzzled her neck. How did she manage to become more lovely each day? "Everything's perfect," he murmured. A lot of things he had done, were he given the opportunity, he would have done again, in the way he had treated both Tonks and Ginny. But he was here now, however reluctant he might have been to get here, and he was far happier than he had ever even dared imagine being. "Everything's just perfect."