The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns.
He was known as "The Gray Man of the Ministry." It was easy to see why. His clothing had long since become a non-descript color and the shape drooped in a general slumpishness that gave the impression of gray even on days when it was a shade of brown or blue. Old timers would whisper of the days when he was young and vibrant, with a gorgeous wife, even if she was a Muggle, they would whisper amongst themselves. Some knew him as a real fire-eater who spoke out of turn as like as not and seemed to be headed for a fall. The fall came, but did not hurt him. Instead it hurt his small son, and the color seemed to seep out as the next few years went until he seemed older than he was.
If he knew that he was called the Gray Man after that, he didn't acknowledge it. He had more than his share of concerns in the world, but he shouldered them fairly well. It worked fine for a couple of decades at least, but then another, sadder fall came upon him. The beautiful Muggle got sick and died. He stopped caring what became of himself, although his work never failed. He simply floated from one project to the next and didn't mind overtime or extra work. By this point, if someone said, "Let the Gray Man handle it," he raised his head over his cubicle, looked for the speaker, and put out his hand to receive the airplane that unfolded into a project folder on his desk. There were even days when he referred to himself as "The Gray Man."
The war with Voldemort didn't affect the Gray Man in the same sense that it affected his son, who wanted him to take a side. His son had a particular side he wished to everyone to take, and indeed it seemed the only reasonable side to take. Yet he couldn't summon the will to chose a particular side. It didn't really affect him, anyway. Dark creatures had to be found and contained and then turned over to the next person, who would see them to their proper place. Politics might decide what that place was, but it didn't affect how he did his job.
At the age of thirty-odd years, the boy finally got married. He found a young woman, not quite young enough to be his daughter. She was quite a looker, or at least she seemed to be in some of the pictures. In other snaps, she had rather odd-shaped nose or eyes, and in still others she simply looked... off. The boy said she was a metamorphmagus. The old man looked it up to check. Metamorphmagi weren't considered dark or controlled for any reason, so there was no need to worry about her non-conformity. The Gray Man wasn't invited to the wedding.
Yet fate was at the window, and walked into his Ministry office in the form of a middle aged sort of man. The Gray Man had seen him around the Ministry, in the canteen and where have you, but hadn't put the face together with any name. There was just a tremor of something in the air as the man held out his hand and said, "Lyall Lupin? I'm Ted Tonks, Nymphadora's dad."
It was a solid shake, and Lyall noted that his son's father-in-law to be was younger than himself and had at one time been far more active than his Ministry job must now allow for. "How do you do, Ted, you say?"
"Short for Edward, but only the wife ever calls me that."
The Gray Man nodded with a twitch of his mouth. He remembered having a wife. He even remembered how and why proper names were used.
"Speaking of which," said Ted, "I'm supposed to give you this and make sure you read it."
Lyall unsealed and unrolled the scroll, which was heavy linen-weave parchment written upon with a well-schooled hand.
Dear Mr. Lupin,
You are expected at 4:30 today at the Registry Office for the wedding.
Do not be late.
Sincerely,
Edward and Andromeda Tonks
He looked up in confusion . "I was not planning to go."
Ted held up his hands. "We were told the kids wanted to go it alone, but that's been overruled by Andromeda."
"I'm the reason he was-"
"Remus told us all about it, including the fact that doesn't see it that way. He points out that Greyback was known to target children and that it could have been any child that night."
"Surely you can't want your daughter exposed to-"
"We've already argued that out with Remus. Our Dora can look out for herself. She's an Auror, you know."
"I'm still not sure."
Ted rested his hands on Lyall's desk. "Look, mate, if Dromeda were here, she'd tell you that family is something you only throw away when it's life or death. She'd tell you how important these moments are and a hundred other things that she believes. I've given up trying to figure out if those things are woman things or pure blood things or just her. She'd tell it all to you, and you would find that you believe it deep in your soul as if you'd believed it from childhood. Trust me on that. The kids were planning to run to Gretna, but she wanted to be there, and she insists that Remus's family be there, too."
Ted looked around and lowered his voice. "What I'm going to tell you is that you'd better be there. The witch posts a mean Howler."
The Gray Man considered it, his mouth twitching all the while. His own wife hadn't had the means to post a Howler even if she'd wanted to write one, but he'd seen one or two from his own mum, not to mention those received by friends and co-workers from time to time. No doubt the House of Black had its own special spin on the technique. A Howler was quickly over, of course, but he wanted Remus to have as fair a start with his in-laws as possible.
He sighed. "I'll be there."
Ted smiled and held out his hand to shake again. "We really like Remus. The combination of our families will be a good thing."
Due to the events of the following week, he would never exchange more than a greeting with Tonks again, yet because of that short conversation, Lyall Lupin would come to think of Edward Tonks as a kindred spirit.
He worked on the folder on his desk, making notes for what he would do when he went into the field the next day. He told himself that he wouldn't go to the wedding, after all. If he didn't go, he wouldn't be late, would he? Could it really matter that much to Remus, or to the Tonkses? Besides, his clothes were rumpled. Surely that was enough reason not to go.
He sighed and set the folder on the top of his desk. Then ran out the door. There was a twenty-four hour dry cleaner around the corner from the Ministry, and with luck, there was more than enough time to do something about the rumpled state of his robes.
At four twenty-five, wearing robes that were still distinguished when proper care was taken of them, The Gray Man walked through the doors of the Registry Office. The first thing he saw was the beaming face of his son. Remus wasn't looking at him, though. He was smiling at his bride, who was gorgeous in quite elegant dress robes. Her brown hair was swept up, and she looked very much a bride. Ted Tonks caught his eye and nodded, and then the Gray Man saw Andromeda, who was looking at him with a face full of approval. She was glad he was there, and for some reason he knew that she was aware of the care he'd taken in his appearance. He allowed himself to bask in that approval for the instant he had.
"Tonks! Lupin!" Their names were called from a clipboard and the wedding commenced. It was a sweet ceremony, and Lyall judged for himself that this was indeed the right woman for Remus. The nuptial charm was said, and the newly-wed couple kissed briefly before turning their radiant faces toward their parents. A moment later, everyone was outside the office. Nymphadora walked up to the Gray Man with a twinkle in her eye that she'd surely gotten from her father. "Thanks for coming... Dad!" She gave him a quick hug and moved on to her parents, leaving him with the impression of a vivacity that would soon exhaust him.
An instant later the bride was pulling her dress robe off, showing significant amounts of denim and a football shirt underneath. She handed the wadded up garment to Andromeda and said, "Thanks so much, Mum! We'll see you later!" A moment after that, the newlyweds were gone.
Andromeda stared after them with narrowed eyes and thin lips. "And what sort of wedding is this?" She shook out the dress robe in her hands. "Barely over and off to whatever takes her fancy. No time for a proper meal, or cake and a toast? The only greeting just a, 'Thanks for coming, see you later?'" A moment later the robe was folded into a neat package, which she twisted as her hands moved to emphasize her point.
Ted took the robe before she could damage it. "Ah, Dromeda, you know it's how she's always been. No tying her down. No doubt they've planned a romantic time for themselves and wanted to get to it as quickly as possible. Not much time off these days."
"No, I suppose not, and we have to worry about the moon, too."
They looked at the Lyall a little sheepishly. Andromeda stepped forward and took his hand into both of hers. "Mr. Lupin, I'm so sorry that this wasn't more of an event. I believe Ted got some pictures of it though, and at least they'll be able to tell their children a little bit of a story about it."
The Gray Man found himself smiling. "It's no trouble at all, Mrs. Tonks. It was more than I expected to participate in."
She sighed and looked at her husband. "I suppose I might as well take that shift at the hospital. There are one or two children I'm worried about."
Ted kissed her cheek. "I'm sure they'll be far better off for your care dear. Lyall, it's a pleasure. I'm sure we'll see you again soon."
They stood so close to each other, and there was something so intimate about the way they shared smallest of life's details. The Gray Man felt a wave of nostalgia for the time when that existed in his life. He made an awkward goodbye of some sort and left them at the elevator.
A/N: Thank you to Blue Artemis for the look over and the reassurance that this isn't too strange a boondoggle.