Title: Mr. and Mrs. Lupin

Summary: Tonks and Remus are getting married. A sort-of-sequel to 'Chance'

Disclaimer: I own Rayne Lupin, Mr. Barris, and the priest and priestess.

Author's Notes: This was a challenge written for searching4romeo. She wanted me to write a wedding fic.

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Nymphadora Tonks paced the room fretfully, ignoring the irritation of the wizard who was trying to spell her hair and makeup. "What am I doing?" She asked Ginny Weasley, her Maid Of Honour, "I'm not mature enough for this! What if we fight? What if he hends up hating me? This isn't such a good idea after all! Ginny, I need you to go out and tell everyone the wedding's off."

Ginny rose one eyebrow. "I'm not going to tell everyone the wedding's off, Tonks. Now stand still. Poor Mr. Barris looks ready to curse you."

"But I can't do this!" Tonks wailed, obeying Ginny's command and sitting down.

"Why not?" Asked Hermione Granger-Weasley, the only bridesmaid.

"Because I can't!"

Mr. Barris ignored the entire conversation, focusing purely on styling Tonks's long black hair. Tonks had obeyed her mother's simple request and gone completely natural. Therefore, she was a short woman with waist length black curls and dark blue eyes. She looked rather like Sirius would as a girl. Everything about her was slender and clear-cut. She wasn't beautiful, her nose tilted up at the end, and her mouth was too large, but she was eye-catching. She looked fragile, until you felt the muscles lying under her pale skin.

"Why? Don't you love him?" Hermione persisted.

"Of course!" Tonks said, startled.

"Then problem?" Ginny queried, full lips tilting upwards into a smile.

"Something's going to go wrong." Tonks said miserably. "My spider-sense is tingling."

"That's it, Hermione, no more DVDs for Tonks, got it?" Ginny said, turning around to glare at Hermione, then turning again, enjoying the way the robin-shell blue silk flared as she moved. It was rare that she wore such beautiful, well-cut dressrobes, and she planned to enjoy every moment of this. Harry had given up offering to buy her clothes after their third date and the hissy fit she'd thrown.

"Got it." Hermione said, laughing. "Look, Tonks, you love Remus, he loves you, nothing's going to go wrong. If you leave him at the alter he's going to be crushed. You'll make him think he's not worth it. Gin, can you help me here?"

Tonks turned around, glaring. "He is so worth it! OW!" She glared at Mr. Barris, who'd just pulled her hair.

"Don't move." Mr. Barris snapped. "This is hard enough."

"If he's worth it then there's no reason not to marry him." Ginny said pragmatically. "Now stay still so Mr. Barris can do your make up." She walked over to Hermione, buttoning up her dressrobes.

Tonks sighed. "I guess you're right." She said.

"Quiet now. I need a perfect canvas." Mr. Barris said, spelling concealer onto Tonk's pale skin. "Dreadful freckles." He mumbled.

"Hey!" Ginny yelped, outraged. Her entire face was covered in freckles, as was her body. "Freckles are pretty!"

"Freckles are cute." Mr. Barris corrected. "I don't do cute."

"I take it back, Tonks. Squirm as much as you like." Ginny said, glaring at Mr. Barris.

Tonks frowned. "I don't want you doing my face anymore. I want Ginny to do it." She told Mr. Barris. "You're fired." She pulled her hair out of the elabortate french twist, shaking her head until it flared around her, a nimbus of shadow.

"That's it!" Mr. Barris shrieked. "I can't take it anymore!" He stormed out.

"That was mean, Tonks." Hermione said, laughing.

"Don't care. He's a bloomin' poof and not even a sexy one." Tonks said. "Ginny, can you do my hair and makeup?"

Ginny grinned. "Sure."

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"As friends and family of Nymphadora Andromeda Tonks and Remus Joseph Lupin, we welcome you here today. Come join the celebration of this, the most mystical of unions between a man and a woman." Priest Artur intoned.

"For that which is truly eternal is a binding of life and love. It is more than just flesh to flesh, it is mind to mind, feeling to feeling, soul to soul, in this world and the next. Remus and Nymphadora ask you to celebrate this joyous uniting with them now." Priestess Emilee added.

"There are many elements that make up a marriage." Priest Artur said. "Let them be called forth."

Harry, Remus's Best Man, stepped forward to stand in front of the High Priest and Priestess. "I am north, the symbol of earth. Know and remember that this is the element of law, of endurance, of the understanding which can not be shaken. I bring to your wedding the power of steadfastness." He stepped back, and Ginny moved forward.

"I am East, the symbol of Air." She said. "Know and remember that this is the element of life, of intelligence, of the inspiration that moves us onward. I bring to your wedding the power of mind." She moved back, and Ron, the Groomsman, walked so he stood in front of the altar.

The altar was covered with a white linen cloth embroidered with the runes of peace, love, fidelity, fertility, and life. It held the God and Goddess candles, as well as four quater candles, one for each corner, a feather pin and marriage license. By the west candle was the wedding chalice, by the east the cord, by the north the rings, and by the south the Unity Candle.

"I am South, the symbol of fire." Ron said. "Know and remember that this is the element of light, of energy, of the vigor which runs through our veins. I bring to you wedding the power of will."

Finally, Hermione stood at the front. "I am west, the symbol of water." She said, voice strong and clear. "Know and remember that this is the power of love, of growth, of the fruitfulness of the earth. I bring to your wedding the power of desire."

The four of them went to their seats in the front row.

Priest Artur and Priestess Emilee smiled, and motioned for Tonks's parents and Remus's older sister to step forward to stand by Tonks and Remus.

"These two who are joined in love now have the desire to make their bond a matter of record, so that all the world and the society in which they live may witness it, and lend to them the support of their hearts and minds." Priest Artur said.

"For the thoughts which arise in the hearts of us all are not mere fantasies, but real things; and each person who witnesses this marriage creates a part of the structure which strengthens the bond between these two who love each other." Priestess Emilee continued, looking sternly at both Tonks and Remus.

"And so in token that this, your marriage, is not just a casual joining, I ask that some member of your family speak for you." Priest Artur finished.

Andromeda Tonks, Tonks's mother spoke up. "I, Andromeda Belladonna Tonks, speaking as the mother of the bride, declare that Remus shall henceforth be welcomed into the community of our family and friends. May our love and welcome strengthen the bond between them."

"So Mote it Be." Priest Artur and Priestess Emilee chanted.

"I, Rayne Jemma Lupin, speaking as the sister of the groom, declare that Nymphadora shall henceforth be welcomed into the community of our family and friends. May our love and welcome strengthen the bond between them." Rayne Lupin said.

"So Mote it Be."

The Tonks family, and Rayne, went back to their seats.

Tonks and Remus stepped into the circle, both decidedly nervous. This was it. After this ritual, they would be joined, even after death.

Remus picked up the candle of the Goddess. "Thou art Goddess."

Biting her lower lip, Tonks picked up the candle of the King of the Gods. "Thou art God." She said softly, all doubts leaving her when she looked into Remus's golden eyes.

Priestess Emilee stepped forward. "Your separate lives are symbolized by the separate candles you now bear. As you join their flames to make one flame, know that at that moment you are willingly joining your lives forever. Is this what you wish?"

"I do." Tonks said.

Remus nodded. "I do."

"Then so be it." Priestess Emilee said.

Tonks and Remus tilted their candles, bringing them together, both flames lighting the Unity Candle which sat in the south corner of the altar. They then returned their respective candles to their holders.

Priest Artur and Priestess Emilee picked up the cord from the east corner.

"Likewise, this cord is a symbol of the lives you have chosen to lead together. It has been woven, by your own hands, to symbolize the intertwining of your lives. Up until this moment you have been separate in thought, word and action. As these cords are tied together, your lives become intertwined." Priest Artur said.

Remus and Tonks faced one another as the Priest and Priestess tied their wrists together.

"As the right hand is to the left hand, may you be forever one, sharing in all things, at home and abroad, in love and loyalty for all time to come." Priest Artur finished tying the knot and stood back.

Priestess Emilee stepped forward, a serious look on her face, purple eyes full or graveity. "Remus, repeat after me:
By seed and root, by bud and stem,
by leaf and flower and fruit, by life and love,
In the name of the God and Goddess
I, Remus, take thee, Nymphadora,
To my hand, my heart, and my spirit."

Remus repeated her words, making and keeping eye contact with Tonks.

"Nymphadora, repeat after me," Priest Artur began,
"By seed and root, by bud and stem,
by leaf and flower and fruit, by life and love,
In the name of the God and Goddess
I, Nymphadora, take thee, Remus,
To my hand, my heart, and my spirit."

Tonks repeated the words, trying to convey her love for Remus using only her eyes.

"But you cannot always be physically joined." Priestess Emilee warned, removing the cord without untying it and laying it on the altar. "And therefore the exchange of rings is one of the deepest symbols of a marriage. It is a constant reminder, a shared touch between a man and a woman. The circle is a symbol of the eternal. To give a ring to someone you love is to say that your love has no beginning and no end."

She picked up the rings and gave them to Remus and Tonks. "This bond I draw between you: that though you are parted in mind or in body, there will be a call in the core of you, one to the other, that nothing and no one else will answer to. By the secrets of earth and water is this bond woven -- unbreakable, irrevocable; by the laws that created fire and wind this call is set in you, in life and beyond life.

Above you are the stars, below you are the stones; as time passes, remember..."

"Like stones should your love be firm." Priest Artur claimed. "Like a star should your love be constant. Let the powers of the mind and of the intellect guide you in your marriage; let the strength of your wills bind you together, let the power of love and desire make you happy, and the strength of your dedication make you inseparable. Be close, but not too close. Have patience with one another, for storms will come, but they pass quickly."

"Be free in giving affection and warmth." Priestess Emilee continued. "Have no fear and let not the ways of the unenlightened make you uneasy for the Goddess and God are with you always. Ever love, help and respect each other and then know truly that you are one in the eyes of the Gods.

May the blessings of the Lord and the Lady be with you now and always, Blessed Be!!"

Tonks felt a warm magic pass through her, and found that a part of her which had always been epmty was now filled. She smiled at Remus, who returned it wholeheartedly.

Priestess Emilee handed Remus and Tonks the Wedding Chalice filled with mead, and a platinum athame. Remus and Tonks stirred the mead, then drank. Remus took chalice to Hermione, and she drank, before passing it to Ginny, who drank then passed to Priestess Emilee, who passed it to Priest Artur. He passed the chalice to Harry, who passed it to Ron. Ron then returned it to the altar.

"By the power of the God and Goddess, We now declare that you are husband and wife. May you be joined in heart as you are in law. I bid you exchange a kiss.
May you be one forever." Priest Artur and Priestess Emilee said.

Tonks and Remus exchanged a kiss.

"Friends and family, we now present Mr. Remus Lupin and Mrs. Nymphadora Lupin." Priestess Emilee pronounced. "May you have a long and happy life full of love and light."

Looking at her new husband, Tonks had no doubts they would.

End Ficlet