Was anyone else majorly pissed that Lupin and Tonks died in book seven? Yeah, I thought so. What got me the most though, wasn't that they died (I sort of expected Lupin to die, being the last living Marauder, I reasoned that he had to join his friends in the afterlife before the series ended) but that they didn't get a death scene! It was sorely needed I feel, so here it is. I wrote it in about half an hour so apologies if it's a bit rubbish, but let me know what you think.
NB some Harry Potter details about spells might be wrong cos I can't be bothered to look them up. Also the stuff about patronuses was totally made up.
Nymphadora Tonks ran along the dark corridor, her boots smacking the stone ground with determined crashes. She reached the end of the corridor and leant over the balustrade of mezzanine to see the battle taking place in the room below.
With her heart in her throat she watched Remus Lupin and Bill Weasley duel three Death Eaters. She watched, her soul in agony, as Lupin threw spells at Fenrir Greyback and dived behind stone pillars to avoid Greyback's deadly curses. Bill also had to take cover behind stone walls as streams of green light from the wand of a masked Death Eater chased him. As Lupin crouched behind a pillar the masked Death Eater that had been duelling with Bill fired jets of red fire towards him. Lupin dodged the flames only to be hit by a curse from Greyback. Greyback's curse lifted Lupin off his feet and threw him into a wall. Lupin slid to the floor his head throbbing painfully from the impact. Bill was now taking on Greyback and the third Death Eater, whom Tonk's knew to be Antonin Doholov. Lupin, still in a heap on the floor, shot a powerful spell at the pillar behind the masked death eater, causing it to collapse on top of him.
Lupin dragged himself from the ground and turned his attention to Bill who was struggling to defend himself from the attacks of Dolohov and Greyback. In a shrill voice, Dolohov screamed 'crucio!'. The red light that erupted from his wand hit Bill with such force, Bill flew into the air before crashing into the ground wailing in agony. Lupin ran to Bill's aid. He cursed Dolohov as he ran then saved Bill from Greyback's killing curse by sending his patronus to absorb the curse before it hit Bill. Lupin's patronus, a beautiful silver kite, flew towards Bill and swallowed the green light threatening to take his life. Then the patronus shattered into a thousand silver shards which shimmered in the sky before vanishing.
Tonks breath caught in her throat as she witnessed this. Although effective, it was rare for a wizard to sacrifice his patronus to save someone from a killing curse, because of the sorrow that the wizard was forced to feel as his patronus died. Tonks watched her husband duel with Dolohov and Greyback with all his strength in spite of the sadness she knew he must be feeling.
With her wand held tightly in her hand Tonks jumped over the balustrade. She landed on her feet in the room below and began to fight at Lupin's side. She enchanted a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw and directed it to lift Greyback from his feet and trap him in a stoney embrace. Lupin disarmed Dolohov and bound him with enchanted chains while Bill stunned Greyback to silence his angry shouts.
In the moment of calm, Lupin turned to Tonks and grabbed her by the upper arms.
"What are you doing here?" He shouted angrily at her. "I told you not to come!"
"I couldn't stay behind and let you fight on your own!" She yelled back with ferocity borne from love. Lupin looked at Tonks' young heart-shaped face and bright blue eyes. His mind flooded with memories as he looked at her. The first time he had kissed her and surrendered to the earthly pleasures he never felt he deserved. The warm summer day a year ago when she told him she loved him; the way that wonderful word, the word he had been certain would never be said to him, 'love', escaped her lips causing every molecule of his body to blaze with joy. The birth of his son, the beautiful boy who so resembled his mother. She had made him so happy. How could he carry on if she died today? How could he live the rest of his life knowing he would never feel that happiness again? This fear was one Tonks shared, and was what had driven her here. She knew with certainty that she couldn't live without Remus. Either they would both survive this war, or they would die together. It couldn't end any other way.
Suddenly a door burst open. Bellatrix Lestrange entered, her lips parted in a sinister smile. Bill, Lupin and Tonks raised their wands, but Bellatrix disarmed them before they could curse her.
Lupin and Tonks' wands landed on the floor with a clatter. Bellatrix didn't bother to pick them she freed Greyback and Dolohov who recovered their wands from the floor where Bill had dropped them.
"How shall we do this?" Bellatrix asked her fellow death eaters who were smiling with the same soulless malevolence as her.
"We should kill the woman first. She is his wife." Dolohov said pointing to the brave Lupin.
"Yes Dolohov," Bellatrix hissed with venomous excitement, "we'll make the half-blood freak watch his mudblood lover die." Lupin stepped in front of Tonks and held her behind him.
"So long as I have breath in my body, you will not harm her." Lupin said, his voice quiet but strong. Bellatrix laughed shrillly.
"What can you do, you fool? You are unarmed!" She cried with misplaced confidence. It was the fundamental flaw of all Voldemort's followers that they underestimated the power that resulted from loving someone enough to be willing to die for them. Bellatrix had no idea that loving as strongly as Lupin did meant he didn't need a wand. Wordlessly and without a wand Lupin conjured a wall of blue fire that split the room in two. The death eaters trapped on one side, and Lupin, Tonks and Bill safe on the other. Tonks retrieved her, Bill and Lupin's wands. She looked towards Lupin. His face was snow white from the effort of maintaining the wall. Tonks grasped Lupin's hand and quickly performed a charm so that some of her life energy flowed into him. Then she gave Lupin and Bill back their wands.
"Lower the wall, Remus." She told her husband, her voice strong and steady. Lupin let the fire dissolve. A vicious battle ensued. Bill against Greyback, Lupin against Dolohov and Tonks against Bellatrix.
After an imperceivable amount of time and an uncountable amount of spells, Dolohov was writhing on the floor frantically trying to put out the flames that Lupin had sent to consume him, Bill and Greyback were duelling on the floor above and Lupin and Tonks were together fettering Bellatrix in chains. Once Bellatrix was sufficiently incapacitated Lupin picked up her wand and turned to Tonks.
"I want you to get out of the castle," he told her, "go home-"
"I'm not leaving you!" Tonks insisted. Before Lupin could argue further he saw Dolohov rise from the ground, his robes still aflame, and raise his wand behind Tonks' back.
"Avada Kedavra." Dolohov hissed. Tonks could see the green light reflected in Lupin's wide terrified eyes, but before she could even think what this meant, Lupin had seized her by the arms and thrown her behind him. Dolohov's killing curse hit him instead. Tonks watched in horror as her husband dropped to his knees in front of her, his eyes still open but lifeless. A gasp of despair escaped her as Remus Lupin's body fell face-forward to the ground. She raised her eyes to Dolohov who's face bore a grotesque grin. Tonks hair turned jet black, the same shade as her deceased cousin Sirius Black, and lengthened till it reached her waist. It billowed and rippled as if captured by the wind of a fierce storm. Then her vengeful eyes turned black and she aimed her wand at Dolohov. Dolohov cowered in the witch's mighty glare. She didn't even need to say the words. Every inch of her body was rigid with murderous intent and a hunger for vengeance. A life for a life. Dolohov was dead before he hit the ground.
A door behind Tonk's opened. Tonks turned her head to see Fred and George Weasley enter. The twins saw Lupin's body lying at Tonk's feet and saw her broken heart behind her tear filled eyes. Then the twins were distracted by Bellatrix who had managed to break free of the chains that bound her. With a laugh and a shriek she cast spells to kill Tonks and the twins. With her last breaths Tonks cast a spell that would protect the twins and channel Bellatrix's deadly spells towards her alone. Three curses hit her. As she fell, her dying mind sought sanctuary.
Tonks felt the warmth of the summer sunshine that spilled from the open window, and slowly opened her eyes. She took a moment to enjoy the sensation of comfort she felt lying in the sunlit bed. She turned her head and noticed that her bedfellow was no longer beside her. No doubt he had already got up, he didn't sleep late like her. Not unless it had been a full moon the night before, then he typically slept all day. Tonks sat up in the bed and brushed her pink fringe out of her face. He eyes fell on the man sitting in the old wicker chair by the window. The light from the window was bathing him in golden light making him look much younger and really quite handsome. He smiled at Tonks with such a tender expression that Tonk's felt her heart flutter.
"Marry me." He said in his gentle voice. Nymphadora felt tears gather in her eyes. She jumped from the bed and flung herself into Remus Lupin's arms knocking the book onto the floor. Heavenly bliss. That was all she could feel.