A/N: I've broken up the two parts into two chapters now, just to ease the weight on the mind! Hope you enjoy this!

Five years and several weeks later

It was five o'clock in the evening, but the sun was still beating down on the family as they made their way back to their bed and breakfast. They had been lucky to find one that was on the very sea front, making their walks home after the day's activities consistently scenic. The tide was out and it was very quiet; the only sounds that could be heard were the waves, the seagulls, their footsteps and the wheels of the pushchair. And, of course, the gentle snores of Olivia, who had grown tired during the afternoon shopping trip and was now asleep on her father's comfortable shoulder.

"Do you want to put her in here?" Tonks asked Remus quietly, gesturing the pushchair.

"No, she's fine." he replied, but gently handed her Olivia's stuffed dog, Padfoot, who was precariously dangling from her chubby hand by his plush black tail.

Teddy, in contrast, was full of energy and was skipping ahead excitedly. The balloon tied to his wrist, which he had bought with the money Granny gave him for the holiday, moved back and forth with him. Everyone had a treat; Teddy had his balloon (which happened to be a Luminous Balloon from the Blackpool branch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes), Olivia had a new dress (bright pink, her favourite colour) and their parents each had a simple ice cream (both chocolate), and nothing else. It was Remus and Dora's fifth wedding anniversary and they intended to celebrate it as fully as possible tonight.

"What time did you book the restaurant?" Dora asked Remus.

"Seven-thirty." he replied, glancing at his watch. "Should give plenty of time. They'll be needing a bath after this morning."

She laughed. "Yes, the babysitters will be coming at seven fifteen. They said we could stay out as long as we liked, no charge."

"Wonderful." he said with a grin, and she beamed back at him only for Teddy to come between them, reaching for both their hands.

"Let's do that thing." he said. Of course, though people like Harry always got confused, Teddy's parents knew exactly what he meant by 'that thing'. Remus put Olivia in the pushchair while Dora and Teddy checked the pavement to see if anyone was around. When they saw that the (quite literal) coast was clear, Teddy took his father's hand in his left and his mother's in his right and they swung him. All three of them laughed joyfully, without a care. After their arms got tired and they realised they had taken up the pavement for a little too long, they walked back to the B'n'B together in relaxed holiday happiness.

The B'n'B was a wizard's holiday haven which stood inconspicuously on the seafront as an abandoned café. Though it was busy this time of year, they had booked a perfect room; large and simply furnished; the main room consisted of a double bed that took up most of it, and there was a small bathroom to the right and a bedroom containing a single bed and a cot to the left. Dora scooped Teddy up in her arms and took him to the bathroom, while Remus woke Olivia and took up a picture book to read to her.

Teddy and his sister had gotten quite grubby through the day, as they had a tendency to. His mother placed him in the bath, which contained only hot water...for the moment. With the old saying in mind, she asked him; "Are you ready?"

He nodded his turquoise head enthusiastically.

"Ebullius." With a flick of her wand, a mountain of white, yellow and pink bubbles surfaced from the still water. Teddy squealed excitedly as they rose to his height, hiding him in their midst.

Yes, Dora thought to herself, the Muggles give perfect water, but only a wizard can do perfect bubbles. Teddy was now concealed behind the foam, giggling quietly, and she looked in mock panic around the room, trying not to laugh herself.

"Oh, WHERE is TEDDY? Oh, WHERE did my little boy GO? Did he go down the plughole? OH!"

"I'm HERE!" he shouted, parting the bubbles with a sweep of his arms, spreading them all over the room and on her. He grinned and splashed, and she laughed, scooping up the small mound of bubbles that had landed on her leg and blowing them into his smiling face.

After some minutes of splashing and playing, the little boy's face grew gloomy. Tonks leant towards him and asked him what the matter was.

"Why can't me and Livvy come with you and Daddy tonight?"

She smiled sympathetically and touched his wet cheek. "Well, Teddy, this time five years ago your daddy and I got married, and we want to celebrate that together. Now, you've been to a wedding and you know how soppy they are, and Daddy and I...well, we're probably going to be quite soppy tonight. We might even kiss." He pulled a face. "I know, but that's what you do when you're in love. So we thought, well, Teddy and Livvy won't want to hang around with us when we're acting like that. So we invited Harry and Ginny to come and look after you. You like playing with them, don't you?"

He nodded, smiling a little. "But it'll be boring staying here."

"We'll be back in the morning, don't you worry. And we'll have lots of fun all together tomorrow, that's a promise." He still looked a little unsure, so she said; "I'm worried your little sister will be upset about me and Daddy going away tonight, even though we're not going for long. She's only little, after all. Will you be a good big brother and take care of her tonight?"

Of course, Harry and Ginny would take perfectly good care of Olivia without Teddy's assistance, but he loved being her brave, good big brother and protector and was always excited by the opportunity to show this. He nodded enthusiastically, and she grinned and prepared to wash his hair.

Harry and Ginny arrived with perfect timing, and the children were delighted to see them. Teddy, after hugging Harry, immediately ran to his room and grabbed as many toys as he could to throw on the bed, while Olivia introduced her babysitters to Padfoot and did a twirl for them in her dress. Remus talked with them while Tonks tried out different hairstyles in the full length mirror.

"Five years, eh?" Harry said, brightly.

"Yes." Remus replied. "And we owe them to you."

"Don't say that." the younger man responded quickly. "You could've worked it out without me."

"Imagine...if we hadn't stayed married, we wouldn't have had the children, and where would we be without them?" Remus delighted in watching Harry's modest embarrassment at his achievements. Perhaps he was exaggerating, but sometimes he really felt he did owe Harry his happiness.

"Well," Ginny said, blushing. "You're making it up to us with the opportunity to practise being parents."

Tonks turned from the mirror and gasped comically. "Ginny?"

Harry cleared his throat. "We're just in the, hrmm, planning stage."

Knowing the couple probably didn't want to be questioned further, but feeling happy for them, Tonks asked everyone what they thought of her hair. She had experimented several times but chosen, with the automatic agreement of everyone, her usual pink. It was less bright than it had used to be, more reddish, but it went well with her white dress. Taking hands, Mr and Mrs Lupin prepared to leave, giving the children hugs and kisses.

"Are you sure you don't want to be paid?" Remus asked Harry, who was currently helping Teddy set up his Triwizard Tournament playset. He shook his head vigourously, and with a quick beam at Tonks Remus put his hand on the doorknob, only to feel a weight on his leg. Olivia was stood beside him, clinging to the fabric, and there were tears pouring down from her dark blue eyes.

"Daddy?" she said, her little voice wavering forlornly. She was used to her mummy leaving because she went to work every day, and she was used to her daddy going out, but both going together? It was a horrible thought for the toddler, and her little face crumpled in despair.

Feeling his heart melt for her, Remus bent and picked her up, holding her close. "Oh, Olivia, don't cry! Mummy and I will be back in the morning, we really will. Come on, you'll make Ginny sad if you're sad." Ginny sniffled and sighed emphatically, but Olivia ignored this and continued to cry.

"Daddy kiss." she asked, quietly, and he hugged her tightly and kissed her wet cheek firmly, making sure to give her a big, assuring smile.

Taking a quiet breath, the little girl turned her head to her mother, and added; "Mummy kiss." Tonks leant towards her and kissed the other side of her face. Olivia stopped crying then, and her father gently sat her on the bed next to Teddy, Harry and Ginny.

"Be good, both of you."

"We will!" Harry and Ginny responded, laughing.

The restaurant Remus and Tonks had dinner at served exquisite seafood accompanied by soft classical music and illuminated by candlelight. Remus's senses were overwhelmed; there was the taste of the delicious fish, the mellow sound of violins and the ever beautiful smell of Tonks's perfume. She was wearing make-up tonight as well as perfume, a rare use of beauty products. She was beautiful without them, but tonight, she was perfect. Remembering the dreams he had had of her, it seemed almost unreal that it had been five years since they had married. She had been optimistic, he pessimistic...and of course, she had been right. Her hands reached for his as they waited for their bill.

"Shall we go to the beach?" she asked him. The candlelight made her glossed lips as well as her eyes sparkle. The thought of the sand, the sea, the new moon and her in one place was irresistible.

"Yes, but don't you want to have another drink?"

Her head moved towards his. "I didn't much feel like the pub." she said. "The local is having a quiz night, and as much as I love quizzes, I'd much rather be alone with you tonight. I've got a bottle of mead in my bag and two glasses, so we can head straight there."

Wine as well? It was too good to be true, or so he thought, until the bill arrived. She gave a disappointed sigh at his raised eyebrows.

"It's alright, we won't have to wash up. We're just...indulging ourselves a bit." he said, thinking of the last time they had gone out, only two months ago for her thirtieth birthday. It was a different kind of evening, as they had brought Teddy and Olivia with them, but the money was from the same budget. The holiday was also emptying their pockets. She, however, just rolled her eyes.

"When you publish your book, we'll make so much money we'll laugh at ourselves for getting so frantic over our little holidays in Blackpool. We only get one fifth wedding anniversary, you know."

His hands relaxed as hers caressed them, and he looked into her deep blue eyes as he had done the same day five years ago, when she had vowed to be his until the end of their days. He nodded, left enough cash for the meals and a decent tip, and they headed for the beach.

Tonks found them a perfect spot without much effort, and they reclined on it, removing their shoes and wiggling their toes in the soft sand. She placed her small, old shoulder bag between them and removed from it a tray, two wine glasses and a large bottle of French white mead. After she struggled with the corkscrew, he kindly took the bottle from her and poured them both a glass with far better co-ordination than she could have. They lifted their glasses in a toast.

"To our marriage." he said, happily.

"May we have at least fifty more years." she agreed, and they drank to that with deep satisfaction, then, placing their drinks back on the tray, shared a warm celebratory kiss. As they parted, she noticed his large amber eyes dart behind them to see if anyone was around, and her husband's modesty inspired an exciting thought in Tonks. She grabbed the sleeve of his old black suit jacket and grinned knowingly.

"Let's go for a paddle."

He looked towards the sea. "Won't it be cold?"

With a glance at the moonless sky and the smoothly flowing waves, she paused, and then said "Well, you can carry me."

And so, with a groan of mock reluctance, he lifted himself from his comfortable seat on the sand, rolled up his trouser legs, walked over to her and lifted her in his arms as he did when he carried her over their flat's threshold on their wedding night. She was heavier than she had been then, but he seemed not to notice. She felt his fingers tighten around her thighs as they rushed to the water's edge, and almost didn't notice when he swung her precariously.

"Don't you DARE drop me in there!"

He burst out laughing, and rushed forward as a wave met them, and sprayed her a little with water. She laughed with him, and he put her down with another kiss. They gripped hands and ran back and forth with the waves as their children had done that morning, twirling in and out of tight embraces, shrieking and squealing with cold and wetness, and above all, feeling an increasing sense of love and desire.

Eventually they staggered back to their tray and their shoes, their clothes heavy after being soaked almost up to the waist, still chuckling together. They lay next to each other-him on his back and her on her stomach-ignoring the sand clinging to their feet, and talked reminiscently.

"I wonder what we were doing this time five years ago?" he thought aloud.

"Well, it's got to be about ten o'clock, so I'd say this was about the time you were struggling with the back of my dress." she replied matter-of-factly, drawing a heart in the sand with her wand.

"It was a good night." he said, a smile spreading across his face.

"It was a perfect night. We were married, we had a home, we were happy, and best of all...we made ourselves a baby."

Another good memory. Though Teddy had not been the best planned baby in the world, by the time of his arrival he was one of the most welcome. And now Harry, the very boy who was responsible for directing Remus back to his wife and child, was about to experience that himself. A wistful look had come over Tonks's face as she also remembered the birth of their son. Olivia's arrival had been just as wonderful, but Teddy had the additional merit of being unexpectedly healthy, as well as being born at a time of extreme stress and anxiety for both his parents.

"I love being a mother, you know, Remus..." she began.

"We did agree to stop at two." he said, before she could finish her sentence. "I'm getting too old."

She turned to him, raising her pink eyebrows. "We did agree to only have two, but not because you're too old, hubby dearest." Though the grey hair suggested otherwise, her optimism relaxed him as always. "...and I want you to show me tonight just how youthful you really are. It isn't just the anniversary of our wedding day, you know." she whispered seductively, leaning over him, her hand on his chest.

"We shan't be having any more 'happy accidents'." he said with a light-hearted laugh, embracing her tightly. She threw her hair back in a youthful manner, then turned back to him.

"I wouldn't change our family for the world." she told him honestly, placing her head on his shoulder.

"No worries Dora, we'll never have to." he replied, putting his arms around her.