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Chapter 56 "Pre-Wedding Jitters"

Remus was pacing around his living room, while Tonks sat on the couch. Unlike him, she was calm, sipping on a glass of Firewhiskey.

"You're doing it again." she murmured, and he stopped the pacing to sit next to her. The wedding was tomorrow, and Remus had been seriously worked up all day. They had both taken the day off from work to get all the final touches on the plans complete. The wedding was nothing fancy, just a few of Tonk's relatives, the Snape clan, and Sirius. They had found a nice place, a beautiful garden that was rented out for ceremonies. It was not a muggle place, so the setup was enchanted with floating lanterns and fireflies buzzing around the dance floor when it got dark. The whole garden area was surround by rose bushes in full bloom, which were magically tended so they created an enourmous room, growing into each other and up to create walls and a ceiling.

It was a very nice place and they were lucky that they got a spot so soon. It seemed as if wizarding couples nowadays were going for much fancier places instead of what they had picked.

Tonks smiled as Remus clenched his hands nervously. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It just seems like this isn't real. I feel like it's all a dream andwhen I wake up, it'll be gone."

Tonks leaned forward to kiss him. She knew how he felt about the relationship from the beginning, treating it as if it were a fragile thing that might break at the slightest touch. It was getting though; he was mostly relaxed around her all the time now.

"I never thought that I would ever-"

"I know." Tonks interrupted, and ran a hand through his hair. "I get it, Remus."

Even though it wasn't as bad as Remus' 'furry little problem', her transformation powers freaked most people out. To be honest, she never saw herself settling out with someone that truly loved her for who she was either, so she did understand Remus' feelings to some degree.

Remus shifted awkwardly and looked away. There was still some part of him that felt like Tonks was going to take off and leave him. Not that he would admit that to her; he felt like a fool for even thinking such a thing when she was watching him like that, her eyes full of love.

They sat in silence for a bit, Tonks leaning easily against Remus. Occasionally Tonks would bring her glass to her lips to take a sip, smacking her lips as the fierce liquid burned her throat. She could still feel Remus was still pretty tense, his muscles pulled tight and taut beneath her.

"You probably get tired of how much I think about it..my afflication." Remus said the last word as if it were bitter poison on his tongue.

Tonks was quiet; she knew that Remus wasn't really asking her opinion or expecting her to say anything, but allowing the conversation to touch upon a delicate subject with him. Quickly, she swalowed the last of the firewhiskey in her glass and set it on the table.

"It affects everything I do, every moment of my life. I can never forget about it." Remus put an arm around Tonks' shoulders and held her close. "Since I was a kid, when I first bitten, I've never been able to get it out of my mind. Except when-"

He stopped suddenly, his voice getting hoarse. Tonks glanced up at him worriedly. "Remus? What?"

"Except when I'm with you. Then it's like a wave of complete bliss washes over me, and I never want that feeling to go away. When I'm with you, nothing else seems important."

Tonks smiled, bringing a hand up to rest on the nape of his neck. A few tears squeezed from the corners of her eyes, running down her cheeks to drop into Remus' lap. Although she almost never cried, it was the most wonderful thing anyone had ever said to her and she just couldn't stop the tears of happiness. Her fiance looked surprised to see them, and maybe a bit alarmed as well.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

Tonks let out a snort of laughter before leaning forward to gently press her lips to Remus'. "Don't be a bloody idiot Remus."

The expression on Remus' face made Tonks laugh again. "I promise you I won't ever let that feeling go away."

Their lips touched again, and warmth spread through Remus' body. After all these years, these horrible torturous years, he had finally found happiness, and he knew deep down that it would last the rest of his life as long as Tonks was with him.

Next Chapter is the last, I think!