Author's Note: Hey all! Every now and then for a competition, a request, or a prompt list I have to write an AU; so I've decided from this point on that all of my AU fics featuring Remus and Tonks are going to get neatly stashed in this multichapter story. And, why yes, this chapter is here to bookmark/announce this series and also provide my flimsy justification for this agglomeration of AUs. Please accept the ridiculously long quote introducing this story and indulge your local Greek mythology nerd. A list of previously published AUs is at the bottom, though I may reuse the AU trope here. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition. This particular translation of The Symposium was taken from the MIT's Internet Classics Archives.
Warnings: Character death
This week's AU: Greek Mythology AU (Set in Modern Era)
The Origins of Love
"In the first place, let me treat of the nature of man and what has happened to it . . . the primeval man was round, his back and sides forming a circle; and he had four hands and four feet, one head with two faces, looking opposite ways, set on a round neck and precisely alike; also four ears [ . . .]
—Plato's The Symposium
Remus cupped her face in his hands and ran his thumbs in small, delicate circles on her cheeks. As far as she was concerned, it was the most reassuring gesture in the world. Still, the blood in her veins felt frozen in place.
"I don't like this," Dora said quietly, meeting his eyes unflinchingly.
"I know," he said quietly. "Neither do I. But if You-Know-You actually shows himself at Hogwarts… we might actually be able to end this tonight. This war might end. Imagine waking up in a world tomorrow where there's no war. Where our biggest problem is just how much lung capacity our son inherited…"
Dora smiled. "That's not the issue. I don't like you going alone…"
"I won't be alone," Remus said. He pressed his forehead against hers. "I won't be alone."
She took a deep breathing, and then another, and another until she could do it without the air coming out shakily. Then she looped her arms around his neck.
"Be smart," Dora said.
"I will be."
"Be careful."
"Yes."
"Be…" Dora sighed and closed her eyes, trying to think of the right word. She settled on being honest instead. "Come back, Remus."
"I would want nothing more and will do absolutely everything to make it back," Remus said. "But if I don't…"
"No," Dora said.
"Listen—"
"You will come back to me," Dora said insistently. "In one way or another. In this life or the next. But really try to make it this one."
Remus laughed and closed the short gap between them to kiss her.
"I'll really try," he promised.
Terrible was their might and strength, and the thoughts of their hearts were great, and they made an attack upon the gods [ . . .] Doubt reigned in the celestial councils. Should they kill them and annihilate the race with thunderbolts, as they had done the giants, then there would be an end of the sacrifices and worship which men offered to them; but, on the other hand, the gods could not suffer their insolence to be unrestrained.
"Nymphadora…" her mother stuttered.
"Mum, take the baby," Dora said. Her heart was beating fast now—she hadn't been afraid until now, until she'd wrapped herself in her travel cloak and brought the baby to her mother.
"Have you thought this through?" Mum asked.
"My son needs a better world," Dora said. "And for that to happen, they'll need all hands on deck tonight. We need all hands on deck tonight. That's why Remus is there and that's why I have to be there too."
"Dora, don't," Mum said again. "Dora, what if he loses you? What if I lose you?"
"I'll come back, Mum," Dora said again. She kissed her mum's forehead, a quick peck as if she was about to run out the door to go to school or run an errand. Then she kissed Teddy and it was much, much harder to pull back from the smell of baby shampoo and the softness of his turquoise curls. The next few words came by only as a whisper. "One way or another."
At last, after a good deal of reflection, Zeus discovered a way. He said: "Methinks I have a plan which will humble their pride and improve their manners; men shall continue to exist, but I will cut them in two and then they will be diminished in strength and increased in numbers; this will have the advantage of making them more profitable to us. They shall walk upright on two legs, and if they continue insolent and will not be quiet, I will split them again and they shall hop about on a single leg. [ . . .]
"Mrs. Tonks," Harry said awkwardly, shuffling his way towards Andromeda at the funeral. He had Teddy propped up against his hips. He'd spent more than a few days at her house, taking care of the baby with and for her, but he was still so stiff and awkward and polite around her.
"Hello, dear," she said. She smiled even if it felt like her lips—no, her whole face—were cracking. "What you said about Remus was beautiful."
Harry looked down at his feet but was tugged back to reality by Teddy's cooing. He cleared his throat before speaking to Andromeda next.
"Is, umm… is there anything that you need?" Harry asked.
"Thank you, dear, but I'll be alright," Andromeda said. She reached out her arms and he passed her the baby. She liked the way he fit against her, like a puzzle piece she hadn't expected to have a spot for. She bounced him up and down. "It's just… well, it's difficult to think that they'll be alright, after all this."
"Alright?" Harry asked hesitantly, panic in his eyes as if he was suddenly concerned that she'd forgotten that her daughter and son-in-law were dead. For a second she was afraid he'd take the baby back.
"Alright," Andromeda said. "Somehow..."
Each of us when separated, having one side only, like a flat fish, is but the indenture of a man, and he is always looking for his other half."
—Plato
Other Tonks/Remus AUs which you can find on my profile:
*Long Night — Soulmark AU
*A Good Memory For These Things — Coffee Shop AU
*The Right Idea — Tattoo Shop AU
*Chapter By Chapter — University/College AU
*A Tad Victorian — Flower Shop AU
*When They Come Pre-Bitten — Creature!AU
*New Heights — Circus!AU
*Iron and Silver — Fairy!AU
*The Brightest Colour — Little Red Riding Hood!AU
*Finding A Way In— Hacker!AU
*Not So Definitely Over — Bookshop!AU
*All Was Well — Series of Everyone Lives!AU drabbles
Stacked with: MC4A; Shipping Wars; Hogwarts
Individual Challenge(s): Ties That Bind; Folklore Focus; Gryffindor MC; Hufflepuff MC; Slytherin MC; Bow Before the Blacks; Order, Order; Brush; Spring Rain; Seeds; Golden Times; Old Shoes; Themes & Things A (Love); Themes & Things B (Loss); Themes & Things F (Resilience); Advice from the Mug; Ethnic & Present; Tiny Terror; True Colours; Rian-Russo Inversion; In a Flash
Word Count: 707
Shipping Wars
Ship (Team): Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks (Technicolour Moon)
List (Prompt): Fall Medium 1 (Reincarnation)