Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight,
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
-Dylan Thomas, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
An explosion will rattle the corridor they stand it, hurling them away from each other.
Remus will hit the floor hard but force himself into a controlled roll to recapture himself and hoist himself into a kneeling position. His wife, much less graceful, will skid until she collides with the opposite wall. Remus will rush to her and help her to her feet. Both will glance back out the window and see black, cloudy masses rushing for the open windows across the school. Dread will settle deep in their guts as they realize that they have officially entered the battle.
One such mass will race through the window Tonks had been standing at moments before. A man will emerge, wand already raised. He'll unleash a killing curse in a bright, green burst, but Remus will take a protective step in front of his wife and easily deflect the attack. In moments, Remus will defeat the Death Eater.
The next few hours will pass in a blur for the married couple. Though they will try and remain close to each other, they will try to trust each other enough to handle their own battles. Eventually, Remus will find himself in the midst of a duel with Antonin Dolohov while Tonks, convinced that her opponent is under the Imperius Curse, will do the best she can not to hurt the woman in front of her.
Remus will prove himself to be a fair match for Dolohov, something that the arrogant man will not like. As Tonks is finally able to safely render her opponent unconscious, Dolohov will aim his wand slightly to the side of Remus. A green flash will burst from the tip of his wand, something every witch and wizard is able to identify as the Killing Curse. Remus was confused as to why Dolohov would deliberately miss him; he will not be naïve enough to believe that Dolohov has suddenly lost his mind or any of the intelligence that wicked brain of his held. He will glance in the path of the curse and be horrified to see Seamus Finnigan just successfully ending a duel with a Death Eater, his back turned to Dolohov.
Without thinking, Remus will rush towards Seamus.
Remus's outstretched hands will collide with Seamus's back, catching the seventeen-year-old off-guard and sending him flying forward. Unfortunately, Seamus will never be given the chance to thank the lycanthrope for saving his life.
As the bright green light illuminates Remus's eyes, all he will be able to think of is the wife he will never be able to grow old and gray with, and the baby boy he will never see grow. An agony like he had never felt before will flare up inside him, choking him, making tears spring to his eyes. A little over a year ago, he had thought he would never have a future to look forward to; then, he had been gifted with a beautiful wife and a healthy baby. What a simple life they had planned, full of burnt birthday cakes that Tonks would sheepishly grin over, chocolate frogs sneaked out of Tonks's sight to their son even though he had yet to finish his vegetables, little arguments and big laughs, hand holds and hugs, everything that a man could possibly look forward to.
How cruel it is, he will think, that he must now sacrifice the most wonderful life he could have ever had.
Vaguely, he will wonder if this is what James had felt like as he faced Voldemort, urging Lily to save baby Harry.
Tonks will watch in horror as the force of the blow sends her husband reeling backwards. The world will seem to lurch around her, spinning wildly in a sudden whirl of colors and nauseating sickness. She will tumble to her knees, begging for the mad merry-go-round to stop.
And it will. Everything will seem to fall away. Everything except for Remus.
In the all-out war around her, all she will see is Remus.
As if in a daze, she will crawl over to her husband's body. She will lay a gentle hand on his chest, as if afraid to break him any further. She will lean over him slightly and stare into his face, and that is when her mind will finally comprehend that her husband is dead. In the cruelest fashion she has ever known, the numb feeling that had consumed her body will vanish, leaving nothing but pain. For a moment, she will be so overwhelmed that she will not even notice the young man falling to his knees beside her.
"I'm so sorry," Seamus will sob.
As best as she can through the agony, Tonks will shake her head at Seamus and whimper, "Not your fault…not your fault…" Still, she will not be able to keep her face from twisting in anguish to spare the boy's feelings. She will collapse on top of her husband's body, trying to form words but only managing incoherent, devastated screams. It will be one of the most heartbreaking noises any of the nearby wizards and witches had ever heard.
Too late, she will sense Dolohov's attention still fixed on her. Thankfully, Seamus will react quickly enough to save her, deflecting the Death Eater's Killing Curse with a rekindled fire blazing in his eyes. He will leap to his feet with his wand raised, determined to avenge the man who had saved his life. Dolohov will smirk, seemingly amused that this student – barely even a man – believes he can defeat a Death Eater as powerful as Antonin Dolohov.
Before Seamus can accept the duel, though, Filius Flitwick will intervene. "Stand aside, Mr. Finnigan," Flitwick will snap, his usually cheery demeanor lost with the waves of the battle. Seamus will turn sharp eyes onto the professor, but there will be no room for argument. Before Seamus will be able to claim this as his battle, Flitwick will have already begun a wizard's duel with Dolohov. Seamus, with nothing else to be done here, will flash one final regretful glance at Tonks before charging into the battle and disappearing amongst the fighters.
Tonks will be almost entirely unaware of what has just happened. She will clench the collars of Remus's tweed jacket in her fists as she sobs into his vest. Her shoulders will heave with each and every gasp for air.
Everything will hurt inside of her. It will hurt her lungs to breathe, her heart to beat, her eyes to see the body of her husband. In the back of her mind, though, she will acknowledge that she has to stand up. For her son, her baby boy who will now be without a father, she will have to stand because he will need his mother more than ever. For beautiful little Teddy, she will force herself to face a life without Remus.
"I'm so sorry," she will choke out, stroking his face. She will notice that his eyes are closed and his features are relaxed, making him seem as if he is sleeping. Tonks will feel something wrench at her heart, and she will lean forward and plant a long, desperate kiss on his lifeless lips. "I love you, Remus," she will sob softly before forcing herself to her feet.
Right as she stands, though, she will notice a very unwelcome sight less than ten feet away.
Bellatrix Lestrange will be standing there, watching the whole thing with satisfied, half-lidded eyes and a smug smirk twisting her lips. Her hair will be as mad as ever, flying in every which direction, but Tonks will not be looking at that. Instead, her eyes will immediately fix upon the wand that was pointed directly at her. She reached to draw her wand, but with a swipe of Bellatrix's hand, the wand went flying yards away.
No, she will think in horror. No. No. I can't leave Teddy. I can't let him grow up alone!
But as soon as the thought occurs to her, she will realize that, even without her, Teddy would never be alone. He will have no mother and no father, but he will have a grandmother who will love him more than anything in the world and raise him the way she had raised Tonks. He will undoubtedly have his godfather to guide him where only a man could, to lead him through life and to watch him become a man. He will have the Weasleys and Hagrid and all the rest. Teddy will have all the family he can ever ask for.
Except for a mother and a father.
For that, Tonks will truly be sorry. She will fight back the tears, staring her aunt dead in the eye. "Go ahead and kill me," she will declare, her voice shaking more than she would like. Her only comfort would be in the fact that she will see Remus again soon. Keeping this small silver lining in her mind, she will hold her head high, standing tall. Her hair will flare to a bright flaming color before dulling to its original mousy brown. "Make no mistake," she will snarl – and here she will draw all of her courage to utter the word – "Voldemort will fall. And you will die."
Bellatrix will only laugh. With a lazy flick of the Dark witch's wand, Tonks will crumple beside her husband.
The couple will lie there for over an hour, almost seeming to cuddle, like a single oasis of peace throughout the chaos of what will follow. It will not be until the eye of the storm that a few nearby witches and wizards carry the two into the Great Hall and lay them side-by-side.
Tonks's arm will be thrown off the side of her stretcher slightly, as if reaching out for her husband. Remus's arm, lying like that of a broken ragdoll, will appear as if it is stretching out towards her. His fingers will barely be brushing the top of her pinkie.
Before the sun rises, both Remus and Tonks will be long dead.
But right now, they stand side-by-side, just outside of each other's reach. They stare through the windows of the Hogwarts tower with a strange mixture of horror and determination at the battle that has just begun on the grounds. It is awful to watch so many people fall so quickly in bursts of green and violet, and perhaps even worse to know that they will soon join the chaos.
Tonks takes in a deep, trembling breath, trying to prepare herself for the toughest battle she will ever face. She glances at her husband. His scarred face is expressionless, as if chiseled from stone, but she can see the anxiety deep within his watery, green-gray eyes. His hand is clenched so tightly around his wand that his knuckles are beginning to turn white. There is an awful worry in him due to her presence, and though Tonks is sad he feels that way, she knows that she is needed here.
She looks out the window again. The world around them seems as if it is falling to pieces.
As life as they know it begins to shatter around her in a rain of imaginary glass, Tonks knows that she lacks the strength to stand on her own. She sees Remus faltering as well, and something inside of her snaps. Completely sacrificing her pride and independence, she reaches a desperate hand towards her husband.
Remus notices this, and his eyes take on a horribly broken look as he sees his wife struggling through her weakness. He purses his lips, trying to hide the tears that glittered from the light of the battle. Unable to watch her pain any longer, Remus looks away. Still, he extends an arm towards her, stretching it as far as it can go.
Their hands begin to tremble with the effort, but still they crane their arms, struggling to reach one another.
Both notice the massive fireball approaching the school. They lack the power to stop it, leaving them with no other choice but to ready themselves for it.
Their fingertips brush up against one another's, and they brace themselves for impact. They reach out further in one final, desperate attempt to catch each other's hands.
They have no idea of the fate that lies before them.
But none of that matters, because in this moment, all they can see is each other.
And they know that as long as they can reach each other, then everything will be okay.