Unto Life We Cling
It was calm and peaceful when their eyes opened. They seemed to be resting on a large bed. She rolled over, snuggling closer to him.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"I don't know. Does it matter?" she breathed.
"It very much matters," Remus retorted, sitting up. His brown eyes darted around, taking in the serene surroundings. He looked down to see himself in white dress robes. His gaze darted sideways to see Tonks in a matching set. Something was very wrong. They hadn't been wearing these earlier. Before he could open his mouth to speak, he heard a familiar voice call out his name.
"Moony?" a very surprised sounding Sirius Black called out, his tall form appearing before them. He was dressed in white robes as well, his prison tattoos showing ever so slightly.
"S-Sirius?" Remus stuttered, pushing himself to his feet.
"Oi! James it's him!" Sirius bellowed and two more forms joined them, becoming James and Lily Potter.
"Good to see you, mate," James greeted, clapping the werewolf on the back. Remus shot a look at his wife; she was sitting there just looking at them all.
"Where are we? What happened?" Remus finally asked.
"Well…we don't know much from our end about what's happening…but we can tell you with a fair amount of confidence that you are…dead," Sirius answered. Remus sputtered, trying to find words. He suddenly felt very angry and turned to face Tonks.
"How could you!" he roared at her.
'What did I do?" she shot back, her hair taking on a bit of red.
"You left our son! You left him all alone," he shouted, his entire body shaking. She didn't seem to understand his point.
"Nymphadora, we are dead. Do you understand that?" he begged, taking one of her hands roughly in his. His tone and insistence seemed to snap her from her daze.
"Oh…oh God," she rasped, finally realizing what had happened.
"I'm sorry," she whimpered, trying to climb into her husband's arms but he wouldn't have it.
"Remus….please," she sniffled. She'd been so worried for his safety that the safety and well-being of their son had flown out the window.
"I was…I was worried I'd never see you again," she finally managed to get out.
"It's a war 'Dora. People die. But it didn't mean you had to leave our son without parents," he said, trying to calm down. James and Lily exchanged a look and intervened.
"Remus, Believe me. It is a horrible thing to leave a child alone in the world," Lily said gently, placing a soothing hand on his shoulder.
"But she was just trying to protect her family," James added. Remus turned from all of them.
"Well if she'd wanted to protect our family she would have stayed put," he spat.
"Remus just shut up a minute. You've done enough to make the poor girl a wreck," Sirius snapped.
Lily sat down next to Tonks and wrapped her in her arms. Grateful for the comfort, Tonks began to sob in earnest. She couldn't believe she'd orphaned their son. Remus was right. How could she have been so irresponsible?
Silence fell over the five of them as Remus tried to calm down and collect his thoughts. He had been so elated at the birth of Teddy. After getting over the initial shock of prospective fatherhood, he'd been dedicated to that child. And now…like James and Lily, he would never get the chance to see his son grow up. He understood why Tonks had come but there was a part of him that was still furious at her. He finally turned back around and took Tonks by the hand, pulling her up and embraced her. She clung tightly to him.
"It is my fault. I am so sorry," she sobbed once again against his shoulder.
"I just pray that Harry succeeds. I want my son to know his parents died trying to make a better life for him," Remus breathed, rubbing her back.
"And he will know that, Remus. Because Harry will be there for him," Sirius answered.
"If I know my godson, he's going to do everything he can to be there for that boy," he added.
"Harry won't let Teddy stray far. And he's got his grandmother too," James interjected. Remus nodded, feeling a little better. He knew it would a long time for him to fully forgive his wife but it would come with time. Tonks' sobs had started to subside but she continued to cling to Remus. He hugged her back as tightly as he could muster, trying to show her without words that he was on his way to forgiving her.