AU, covering a few years post-war, happier(touches of drama), it's just a quick story covering one of my favourite ideas(Harry living with Remus and Tonks) to use for post-war, plus another idea I was kicking around.
Rated M, because it's me.
Also, I couldn't decide who to kill and who to save. No one dies yay! Except for Snape, he was necessary. And Voldemort, he was necessary too. And Bellatrix, because she's a bit- ahem, also necessary.
...
I'm sorry my other stories are kind of slow with updating. I'm trying lol
Harry, Ron and Hermione walked towards the Great Hall, the vial of memories in Harry's pocket. Hermione wasn't sure why Snape had wanted Harry to have them, but if her theory was correct, it was important.
She was conflicted, honestly. They had spent the last year, all of them, assuming the worst of Snape. So why would he give Harry his memories? Why would he have interest in helping?
The Great Hall was crowded, more so than Hermione really expected, because she had severely underestimated how many students had stayed behind and how many people had arrived throughout. Students were everywhere, some clinging to each other, some crying and some just silent. There was a row of bodies on the raised platform, and Hermione realised that they were the dead. How many would they know?
She was spotting more and more familiar faces, so she began to wonder if she'd recognise any bodies at all.
Ron drifted away, towards his family, who were grouped together. Charlie had arrived at some point, and was helping Molly to bandage Fred's head wound. Fred, however, didn't seem bothered by the wound in the slightest- he was talking animatedly with George.
Hermione spotted Remus, but realised Tonks wasn't with him- had she been sent away? Perhaps she had gone back to Teddy. Hermione couldn't let herself assume the worst- that perhaps Tonks was among the ones on the platform.
She was mildly relieved when she realised Tonks wasn't on the platform at all, she was sitting on a cot beside where Remus was standing, nearly unrecognizable without her pink hair and because of the fact she was bleeding heavily from gashes to her pale face. There was blood in her hair, some had even dripped down the front of the sweater she was wearing, but just like Fred, she didn't seem to be too bothered by her injuries. Remus was talking to McGonagall, who was just as disheveled as the couple in front of her and was writing something on a piece of a parchment.
Hermione remembered she still had Dittany, which could be extremely useful in the Great Hall right now. She took out her beaded bag, rummaging through it. She didn't have much left, but it'd be enough for a few people.
Harry didn't seem to know where to go or what to do. He looked lost, looking around the Great Hall at the injured or exhausted fighters.
"Dumbledore's office." Hermione said. "If Snape wanted you to have those..."
Harry nodded, turning and leaving the hall. Hermione just hoped he'd listen, and not turn himself in. However, as she thought it, she realised that might be exactly what Harry needed to do. And, unfortunately, it seemed exactly like something he'd do anyway.
She finally found the Dittany, realising a moment later that she could have summoned it. She walked towards Remus, who was now kneeling in front of Tonks, wand in hand and a handkerchief in the other.
"Remus?" Hermione asked, and Remus looked up. "I just- I have this, will it help?"
She held out the Dittany, and Remus looked extremely grateful. "Thank you, Hermione." He said, taking it.
"Do you need help?'' Hermione asked. "I can help clean the blood-"
Remus nodded, handing her the handkerchief. She walked around to Tonks' other side, soaking the cloth with a quick Aguamenti and kneeling. Remus set down the Dittany for a moment, taking Tonks' arm gently.
"Dora met Bellatrix." Remus said, before Hermione could ask. "She wasn't pleased."
"I can see that." Hermione commented. "Curses?"
"No, she Disarmed me, caught me with a Cruciatus, and when I was down..." Tonks said. "She wanted me and my mutt to match.''
Tonks sounded more bitter than Hermione had ever heard her. She winced slightly when Hermione began to wipe blood from her face.
"I was dueling Dolohov, I couldn't get away to help her." Remus said slowly. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have let Bellatrix walk away."
"Well, she didn't walk. Bloody coward Disapparated." Tonks said. "As soon as Voldemort spoke, she was gone. If she hadn't Disarmed me, I would have-"
Remus muttered a spell, and Hermione heard Tonks' wrist snap back into place. Tonks winced, cutting off her own sentence with an almost hiss-like sound.
"You know Bellatrix's problem, right?" Tonks asked as Remus uncorked the Dittany.
"Your marriage? Your parents?" Hermione asked, gently wiping blood from underneath Tonks' eye.
"Yes, but I meant more that she can't kill someone without some big spectacle first."
"I'm very relieved about that, thank you." Remus said pointedly. "Andromeda would have killed me if you hadn't come home."
"She would not." Tonks said, as Hermione finally wiped the last of the blood away.
"I firmly disagree." Remus said, standing over Tonks and tilting her face upwards to drop a few drops of Dittany on the gashes. Tonks winced as the cuts healed slightly- but Hermione noticed they didn't heal completely, and she wondered if Bellatrix had a whole collection of cursed knives. It wouldn't surprise her. "You may have to lie down so we can heal that other one."
Tonks nodded, shifting so she lay down on the cot and Hermione realised part of the lower section of her sweater was ripped. Remus pulled her shirt up a few inches, and Hermione's eyes widened involuntarily. Bellatrix had carved the word freak into Tonks' abdomen. Hermione stood as Remus reached for the handkerchief. She handed it to him, and Remus handed her the Dittany.
Remus began to clean the blood slowly. "I can't tell how deep she did it, but probably not very deep if you're still-"
"She asked if we were due to have a cub." Tonks said. "Like I'd be foolish enough to battle while pregnant-"
"Well, technically, you did just that. In July."
"I'm not sure that counts, I would have just conceived by the time we did that mission." Tonks said as Remus wiped the blood away. "Anyway, I'm sure she just wanted to make her point and cause a miscarriage while she was at it."
"You didn't-"
"I didn't correct her, I don't want her knowing about Teddy."
Remus nodded, and Hermione held out the Dittany as Remus placed the bloody handkerchief next to Tonks' arm. "Your mother won't be happy, Dora, I wouldn't be surprised if she blamed me-"
"Oh, she will not." Tonks said, wincing as Remus dropped Dittany on the word. It healed slightly, but remained very visible. Remus helped Tonks sit up as she shifted her shirt again. How Tonks didn't seem bothered by any of these wounds, Hermione had no idea. She had been a wreck for a few days following her own experience with Bellatrix. Then again, Tonks was an Auror and Hermione was not.
"She- uh, she did something similar to me." Hermione said.
"Who?" Remus asked.
"Bellatrix." Hermione said. She pulled up her sleeve, showing them the scar. "I think it was a cursed blade, it hasn't healed fully. I wonder if she did the same to you. Used a cursed blade?"
"Well, if she did, she must forget that I can morph scars away." Tonks said.
Remus seemed to notice none of the cuts had healed fully, and brushed his thumb over one on her cheek, inspecting it carefully. "I think Hermione might be right." Remus said. "Dittany heals all wounds, but cursed ones can't be healed fully. I wouldn't morph them away yet, Dora. You might just cause them to bleed again-"
"Well, I'm not going to morph right now. Merlin knows I haven't morphed voluntarily in months." She said, grabbing his hand away from her cheek. "You're hurt." She said, sounding slightly accusatory when he winced.
Remus shrugged, handing the Dittany back to Hermione.
"I should go see if anyone else needs help." Hermione said as she took it. "This might help someone else too."
"Thank you, Hermione, that made it a lot easier to heal her." Remus said, sitting next to Tonks, and she grabbed his hand immediately, examining a bruise on his palm.
Hermione nodded. "Of course, Remus. I'm sure anyone here would do the same. We're all fighting for the same thing, after all."
Hermione stood, turning to see who else she could help. There were a lot of injured people, she realised, but at least a few could be helped with the Dittany.
"You should go home." Remus said, after Hermione had walked away.
"No." Tonks said, taking his wand from his hand.
"Dora-"
"I have no idea where my wand is, Remus. For all I know, Bellatrix has it." Tonks said, as she pressed the tip of his wand against his hand. He felt the bones click painfully, and hadn't even realised it had been broken. He had been dueling all night with a broken hand, and felt terrible- maybe that was why he had been unable to subdue Dolohov and get to Tonks. "Well, at least your wand doesn't seem too stubborn."
"Dora, you're injured. If the battle starts again-"
"If the battle starts again, I'm fighting again." Tonks said firmly as he took his wand back. "Remus, I survived this long-"
"Possibly only because Voldemort called his forces away, and now you don't have a wand." Remus said. "Besides, Dora, won't Teddy be hungry? Aren't you a little uncomfortable?"
"He's with mum, and of course I am, but being here or at home isn't going to solve that particular problem-"
"Perhaps not, but you could be resti-"
"So could you, you're the one who gets up at night. I'm not leaving, Remus." Tonks said. "Anyway, Mum made me do that-uh, pumping thing before I left, or I would have been here sooner. She said he should be alright for the night, plus she could multiply if she had to- but not for more than a day-"
"We won't be here a day." Remus said. "Dora, you should go home."
"No. You're here. I'm here. That's the end of it."
"You're too bloody stubborn, this isn't something to argue about." Remus said. "If anything happens to you-"
She took his hand, entwining her fingers with his. "Nothing will happen, to either of us." She said. "Once this is over, we'll go home- together."
Remus nodded. "I should- I'm just going to see if I can help elsewhere, I'm decent at Healing spells, right?"
"I can-"
"Rest, because you're injured." Remus said, releasing her hand and standing. "And I mean it, Dora. You don't have a wand, you can't do much."
She stood as well, and Remus sighed. "Remus, I-"
"Dora-"
However, she wasn't looking at him. She was looking passed him, and Remus realised a few people were looking towards the doors of the Great Hall. And then he heard it.
Laughing. Shouting.
From the courtyard outside the doors of the school, it sounded like people were gathering. Slowly, people began to walk towards the noise, and Remus followed Tonks through the crowd, out into the courtyard.
She was going to vomit, she was sure of it. Remus was once again dueling Dolohov, and Bellatrix had come for Tonks personally(again). She had taken a wand from an injured student- really, he handed it to her after the first Killing Curse barely missed the both of them. She was a little mad that she noticed Bellatrix did have her wand, and it almost felt insulting that her own wand was casting Killing Curses against her.
Bellatrix had hit her with a Slicing Charm, right along her collarbone, and the pain was horrendous. By the end of this, she was going to rival both Remus and Alastor in scars.
If she didn't get killed, of course.
Bellatrix dodged a curse, striking her with a Crucio, and she hit the ground, screaming as the pain tore through her. She felt Bellatrix stomp onto her hand, knocking the borrowed wand from her hand, and the curse ended. She looked up at the end of her own wand. She could tell exactly what Bellatrix's next move was going to be.
Remus would turn from his duel with Dolohov and see her.
Teddy was going to lose his mother.
Her mother was going to lose a child.
Why did she come to the battle?
She closed her eyes, waiting for the flash of green. "Avada-"
Behind her closed eyelids, there was a flash of red. She opened her eyes, and Bellatrix looked murderous as she stared at someone.
"You filthy Mudblood." Bellatrix sneered, twisting her foot on Tonks' hand. She looked down at Tonks. "Darling Auntie will be back, Nymphie."
She twisted her foot again, stepping over Tonks' arm and towards the person who had tried to Stun her. Tonks rolled over to see Hermione, Ginny and Luna with wands raised at Bellatrix. She crawled towards the borrowed wand as Ginny sent a Stunning Curse at Bellatrix, who easily deflected it. All three girls tried to duel, but each curse was easily deflected by Bellatrix.
"It's pretty pathetic when three children think they can fight me, when a qualified Auror can't." Bellatrix commented. "Although, I suppose, motherhood made you soft, Nymphadora."
Bellatrix cast a Killing Curse, which barely missed Ginny, just as Tonks managed to grab the wand. She heard Molly scream something as she pushed herself to her feet, and realised most duels seemed to be over- there were people lining the walls, avoiding the two most violent duels. While Voldemort dueled three, Bellatrix was now trying to kill five. Tonks' heart missed a beat when she realised she couldn't see Remus or Dolohov anywhere.
"Auntie Bella?"
Bellatrix laughed at Molly's approach, turning to face Tonks again. "Not done, are we?" Bellatrix asked, stepping back towards Tonks. "How like your whore of a mother, she never knows when to-"
"Avada Kedavra!" Tonks spat, and the green flashed between the two women, a startled look crossing Bellatrix's face before she crumpled to the ground. Tonks walked towards her corpse, purposely stepping on the woman's hand. "That is how you kill someone, you absolute bitch."
She bent down, retrieving her own wand as she heard Voldemort yell in anger, and saw Kingsley, McGonagall and Slughorn get thrown back. He had turned towards her and Molly, wand raised.
"Protego!" A voice yelled, and Tonks felt the Shield Charm erupt between them. There were yells of confusion as Harry stepped between the last of the fighters, yells of relief when they realised he was alive. Tonks was simply relieved because she had barely survived Bellatrix, she'd have no chance with Voldemort himself.
"You duel me, and me alone." Harry said. "You're done killing, Tom."
Voldemort laughed. "Is that so, Potter?" He sneered. "You wouldn't like a shield? You have two behind you, who will shield you?"
"I don't want anyone to help." Harry said loudly. "It's got to be me, and only me."
"Potter doesn't mean that." Voldemort hissed. "That isn't how it works, is it? Who will it be, Potter? Who will be your shield?"
So, i did use part of DH dialogue. If you recognise it, it's not mine.