A/N: I told you that you hadn't heard the last of me! This is an alternative ending to my longer fic 'To Love and Be Loved', which told the story of Remus and Tonks through DH, but should work on its own as well. There are two parts to it that can be read seperately or together... I only wish this were canon. Enjoy!

This Was Their Life

Teddy would not drink his formula. No matter how many soothing sounds his grandmother made, or how much she rocked him, he refused it. She hoped he wasn't frightened by the absence of his mother. She was frightened enough herself. She didn't want him to have to convert to formula; he refused to drink it, it was probably horrible, and it would be no replacement for the warm body and kind voice the small baby was no doubt missing. Andromeda didn't want to cry, but it was impossible. It was getting very late, or at least it felt like it was. Teddy was getting so hungry. The time was dragging, something just had to happen. If Nymphadora and/or Remus were coming back, then let them come now. If an Order member was coming to tell her they had died though the war was won, let them come now. She couldn't stand the waiting. The only thing worse than waiting was the thought that if they had lost, these agonising minutes would be the last moments of her grandson's life. They wouldn't spare a half-werewolf.

She wondered why she was surprised when there was a knock at the door. She hesitated to answer it at first; though she wanted to know, she was not sure how she would handle the knowledge. However, she was a brave woman, and she took a deep breath, held the screaming baby in the crook of her arm and headed towards the door. Her entire body going tense, her breaths short, she opened it.

At first she didn't believe it. It was unreal. But there they were; Remus and Nymphadora, both in one piece, illuminated by the light pouring from the house. They both looked terrible apart from the smiles that lit up their faces and eyes. Their voices were quiet and strained.

"Mum...it's finished. Harry...flipping...killed Voldemort. He's dead."

"And we're alive." Remus added, unnecessarily. "We've made it."

"Oh, Merlin." Andromeda replied, and burst into tears. Her daughter and son-in-law looked slightly tearful too. Nymphadora gulped and asked for the baby, and her mother handed him to her. She gave him a firm kiss on the forehead and held him against her, scrunching up her face tearfully as he was. His cries softened a little as his little hands gripped her cotton robes. Remus put a hand over his mouth emotionally. Andromeda stepped back to allow them to come in, and they walked in steadily, as if in a dream.

"Tea?" she asked, slightly giddy with joy and disbelief.

"Yes, please." Her daughter and son-in-law replied wearily. She went to the kitchen, and, seeing herself reflected in the glass cupboard door, smiled and gave a little squeak of joy. The sound of laughter bubbled from the living room. Everything seemed right.

When Andromeda returned to the living room, Nymphadora was already nursing a quiet Teddy, and Remus was slumped on the sofa beside them, barely able to keep his eyes open. She gave him his tea and asked him a selection of the thousands of questions she had.

"Do you know what happened to my sisters? Just...out of interest."

"Narcissa, Lucius and Draco are all alive, although Merlin knows what's going to happen to them all. Bellatrix is dead. Don't be offended when I saw I'm very glad about that."

"Mm-hmm." Dora agreed, her eyes fixed on her satisfied baby.

Andromeda responded with no remorse. "Who killed her?"

"Molly." Remus said. "Mrs Weasley, henceforth known by all but her closest confidantes as 'The Dragon'." He was a little too tired and emotional to talk more about the war, but his mother-in-law was supremely satisfied. They had years, after all, to discuss these things.

Tonks and Remus were a little reluctant to put Teddy to bed that evening, even though they knew now that they were only saying goodbye to him for a few hours. He wasn't being a good boy tonight and would probably keep them awake, but that was no problem. They sang a quiet song to him and watched him close his big amber eyes and sleep softly under his rotating mobile. With whispered goodnights, they left the room with their arms around each other. Silently, Remus sat on the bed and crawled over to the bedside table to get the letter he had written for Teddy, and was not surprised to see another letter clipped to it of better quality paper and in a different, scruffier handwriting. He gave his wife a look of deep tenderness as he handed it to her.

"I thought my actions deserved a separate explanation." she said, her voice still very quiet and humble.

He smiled, then, with a nod towards her, counted; "On three...one...two...three!"

They tore up their letters with relish. They didn't need to say a permanent goodbye to Teddy. They didn't need to give him a last message. Remus laughed to himself as he sent the pieces into oblivion with his wand, but immediately froze when he saw that his wife was breaking down in tears.

He quickly crossed the bed towards her, and she pressed herself against him, sobbing into his robes.

"I thought...I thought I'd never see him again..."

"So did I." her husband told her, stroking her soft brown hair.

"I shouldn't have left him, I could have died, I should have listened to you, it was a terrible thing to do, I'm an appalling mother. I'm s-s-sorry!"

He hugged her more tightly and planted a kiss on her forehead. "The only thing that upsets me is the thought that I would have had to live without you if you died. Otherwise, Dora, your heart was in the right place. You loved Teddy, you were prepared to die for him, is that a sign of a bad mother? But Dora...the war is past. We have time. Lots of time."

She stepped away from his embrace and looked up at him mournfully. "I know." she gasped. "I'm so glad...I can't believe we're alive, I literally can't believe it..." He nodded. "...but so many people are dead, Remus, it's so horrible, it's not good at all but it is good and I just, I just don't know how to feel..."

Remus didn't know how to feel either. He recalled the darker days of his life, when he had considered his life to be a continuing stream of pain and loss. This had never been more significant than when Lily and James had died, because everyone was so glad the war was over and it seemed to him that no one was mourning...Recognising his own, twice-experienced feelings in her, he took her hands, and lent forwards and gently kissed her.

"It's alright..." he said, his own voice cracking. "I know how you feel, I know how it seems like just can't be over...but it really is over and this...Dora...this is our life, this is what it's all lead up to, this is what all our suffering has been for...you and me and Teddy..." They embraced again, both crying now, both dazed and emotional with relief, fatigue and despair. They climbed into bed and lay in each others' arms, kissing and whispering their feelings to each other until they were too tired to do so, yet they could not sleep. Teddy's cries to be fed and changed came in a few hours and the hour hand of the clock began a new circle, and they both felt calmer then. This was the new reality. This was their life.