Author's Note: This was written for someone outside of FFN - the plot was an idea from them. Please review :)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you can recognize from the world of Harry Potter.
Nymphadora Tonks, at twenty-five, felt much too young to be tying the knot as she looked in the mirror in her parents' tiny bedroom. Her hair, its signature shade of brilliant, bubble-gum pink, made her look tiny in her mother's old, white wedding dress. Taking a shuddering deep breath, she forced it to change to a light red color. Nodding in approval, her mother hugged her, then held her at arm's length to look her in the eyes. "You look beautiful, Dora," she said, resting a hand on her cheek. Her eyes were watering a bit.
Tonks hugged her mother. "Thank you for letting me wear your dress," she whispered.
Her mother held her at arm's length again. "I thought you'd like it," she replied, smiling.
Tonks looked down at her dress again and grinned. The tea length skirt stopped halfway below her knees, belling out around her legs. The short sleeves and scalloped lace just added simplicity – Tonks felt like a little girl dressing up in her mother's clothes again. Meeting her mother's gaze, they shared a look before there was a loud rap on the door.
"That'll be Ted," her mother said in a low voice before turning in the direction of the door. "Come in," she yelled, and Tonks's father burst through the door, clutching a bouquet of white daffodils in one hand and a box in the other. He was breathing a little heavily. Forcing the box into his wife's hands, he kissed his daughter on the cheek and handed over her bouquet.
Looking down at the bouquet, she couldn't help but smile a little sadly. Once, when she'd still had a desk job in the Auror's Office, she'd received a bunch of white daffodils on her birthday. She'd been unable to find out whom they were from – she was sure that all of the other Aurors were in on it, otherwise, the flowers wouldn't have been able to reach her desk – but she'd suspected her mentor for a long time after that.
"You look lovely, Dora," Ted said, catching her attention again.
Tonks, startled out of her revelry, looked back up at him. "Oh, thank you, Daddy," she said, smiling, but still preoccupied.
The sound of cardboard and paper shuffling made them turn to Andromeda, who had opened the box Ted had given her and taken a small tiara out of it. She put the little crown of silver wire lightly on Tonks's head, whose mind had returned to the present time. The cold metal poked into her scalp, and she itched to adjust it, but knew her mother would be a little disappointed with herself for not putting it on just right.
A piano played softly from somewhere in the distance.
"That's our cue," Ted said, offering Tonks his arm.
She took it, smiling anxiously.
So not ready for this… she thought, but walked with her father anyway. Her mother led the way before them, setting a pace too slow for Tonks's speeding heart. She wanted to get to the altar and get it over with before she could turn and run.
I love him, she told herself fiercely. This is right.
But no matter how much she thought about it, a little voice in the back of her mind squeaked, This is wrong.
Halfway down the short little aisle that had been set up though, the trio's slow march was interrupted by a brutally scarred man getting out of his seat. With only eleven people total present, this caused a stir. Moody made his way toward Ted, wooden leg clunking, and whispered something in his ear. Ted nodded, grinning, and hurried to stand with his wife, who had made it to the dais at the end of the aisle.
A jolt of elation that had no place at her wedding – that feeling belonged at Hogwarts with old memories of her sneaking through corridors to meet an old boyfriend from Gryffindor – shot through her when Moody offered her his arm. She grinned at him; feeling like the silly teenager she'd been when she'd first started training with him, she took his arm, the rough fabric of his long coat familiar against her palm. Tonks could have been mistaken, but she would have sworn that his ever-present gruff expression had softened for a moment.
Everything was perfect. The little voice had stopped arguing with her better judgment, and Remus was waiting for her up there –
– and looking stricken. It was just a flash of shock across his face, but Tonks saw it.
She couldn't understand. What did Remus think was going on? But now was not the time – deciding to leave it 'til later, she continued up the aisle, anyway.
Once they stepped up on the dais, Tonks let go of Moody's arm rather reluctantly and stood across from Remus. Holding her hands out to Lupin, he took them and an almost imperceptible shiver passed through him. While the pastor looked down at his book, Tonks gave Remus a meaningful look. "What's wrong?" she mouthed.
He nodded a tiny bit toward her hands. "You're cold," he mouthed back.
Not able to believe him, she sighed as quietly as she could as she looked at their entwined hands. The little voice came back. He's lying. He thinks there's something between you and Moody.
The voice that usually came to Tonks's defense didn't have a retort.
She tried not to panic. She really did. She stumbled through her vows, tried repeating them again, stumbled some more, and finally got them right. Moody's presence a few feet away from her should have made her steady. Instead, he made her nervous and edgy.
She was glad when the vows were done with and it was time for the reception. She could mingle and hope and pray that Remus didn't notice her evasion of Moody. She couldn't get close to him.
Her efforts were a waste, anyway – Mad-Eye was over by the food and drink, watching it carefully whenever a waiter went back to pick up more food for his tray.
Tonks laughed and giggled with Molly and Arthur, Remus finally smiling at her side. Gleeful at last, she took a drink from the waiter passing by and lifted it to take a sip –
– Moody was there in an instant, taking the glass from her and dumping its contents on the ground. The liquid pooled on the ground at his feet, turning an acid green and steaming as it burned a little hole in the ground. Everyone watched the smoke rise with a frightened eye.
"That would have killed you in an instant, Dora," Moody growled. His use of her nickname startled Tonks. "Keep an eye on your drinks, girl."
Surprising even herself, she threw her arms around Mad-Eye. For a moment he stood there, looking a bit awkward, but eventually gave her a light pat on the back. She pulled away from him and looked him in the eye, which was something so few people could do. "I knew I had a good reason for keeping you around, old man," she said, grinning.
He paused for a moment, then smiled weakly back at her for a second before putting the mask of toughness back over his friendly self. Clapping her on the shoulder, he said, "Be careful, Tonks."
Both of them tried to ignore the fact that Lupin was watching them suspiciously. "Thank you for keeping Dora safe, Alastor. Now if you'd please excuse us, we've to go catch the Portkey before it leaves…" Remus took Tonks by the hand and led her away from the party to their honeymoon.
Not a week later, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody died. They said he'd bit hit in the face by a Killing Curse. They said that after that, he'd fallen off his broom from much too high for a human body to survive.
Tonks cried for days. She didn't understand it – her teacher, her mentor, her best friend; he was gone. She'd only gotten to see him for a few hours in the days after her wedding. Remus tried to comfort her; he couldn't do much. All he could do was try to hide the bottles of butterbeer and firewhiskey. It didn't work – all it took was a powerful Summoning Charm and they were hers again when he went to work.
She'd loved him. She truly, truly had. There was no denying it, not anymore.
But she couldn't change the past and Moody wouldn't be in the future.
She went outside with her bottles and threw them with all her might at a rock wall next to the house. When she was done, she collapsed and stared at them for a while.
She could change the present.
Remus came home to find his wife curled in the sun outside their house, sleeping deeper than she had in a long time, with shards of glass surrounding her but not cutting her. Clearing a spot next to Tonks, as she still liked to be called, he sat down and stroked her hair. She moaned a little in her sleep and reached for his hand. He let her have it, twining their fingers together. He leaned down next to her when she twitched again, her face contorted in a frown. "He will be with us," Remus whispered to her, "in both this life in the next."
Tonks relaxed once again and let him hold her as she slept.
She'd finally – finally, even after that daffodil fiasco at the office – let Moody go.