Hey, there. I'm kind of new here; I had an account but deleted that e-mail, so, yeah. Let me say that this is my first actual Remus/Tonks fanfic (I've written things down before, but not an actual story), so I'm pretty excited about it. I just wrote this at one in the morning, so bear with me if it seems somewhat sloppy, or not well-written.

WARNING; MAJOR DEATHLY HALLOWS SPOILERS...

Full summary: Starting off with the end of Half-Blood Prince and the gap in between, I'm writing about all the Remus/Tonks you didn't read about, such as their wedding, the birth of their child, etcetera. Hopefully you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter sniff

Albus Dumbledore was dead.

That was the only thing Remus could think about as he silently prepared for Dumbledore's funeral, to be held that morning, in the room he was sleeping in at the Weasleys' home, the Burrow. He wore a solemn expression on his face while pulling on black dress robes for the occasion (these were even a little shabby, as were the rest of this robes), thinking about the man who was once, a long time ago, his headmaster while he was at Hogwarts, and the man he worked under only three years previous.

Remus didn't know exactly why, but he was spraying the cologne left in Percy Weasley's old bedroom on himself, somewhat absentmindedly, yet still aware of what he was doing. But once he picked up the strong smell, he wrinkled his nose, disgusted by the odor. He let his mind wander, to ponder how Percy had ever gotten himself a girlfriend with such horrible-smelling cologne…

"Remus, let's go," said a sudden voice, and he looked up to see Tonks standing in the threshold of the door, leaning casually against the doorframe. She was, of course, wearing black as well, colliding magnificently with her bubble-gum pink hair, and had the same look of sadness and remorse on her face as Remus.

Remus flattened his prematurely graying hair a little as he looked at his reflection in Percy's overly large floor mirror. "How do I look?" he asked Tonks quiet, wanting her to speak. Tonks walked over to him and leaned her head on his shoulder while rubbing his back in a caring fashion.

"I think you look wonderful," she said softly after a moment, trying to force the corners of her mouth into even the slightest smile. But she found herself unable to do so, too upset about Dumbledore's death. "Come on, we'd better go. Everyone's going to be waiting on us."

In silence, the two of them walked out of the Burrow and into Mrs. Weasley's garden, where the others - some of them Weasleys, others, members of the Order - were waiting patiently for them. Remus barely took note of the fact that Tonks had taken a small hold on his hand.

"Right then," said Arthur quietly, noting that everybody was there, "we'll be Apparating to where the Hogsmeade-Hogwarts path begins, and once we're all there we will be heading up to the castle. Right…let's get going…"

One by one they disappeared on the spot, except for Remus and Tonks, who went together. As they all reappeared at the Hogsmeade entrance, the started up the path to the enchanted school, the one that they'd all once attended. A melancholy, slightly uncomfortable atmosphere surrounded them as they walked in eerie silence.

As they were led to where the funeral was taking place on the grounds, Remus found that most of the Hogwarts students had already arrived, some with their parents; members of the Order of the Phoenix that he recognized upon short glances; Dumbledore's remaining family, and various others.

He felt a sudden wave of sadness wash over him as his eyes found the white tomb Dumbledore was to be laid to rest in. He felt his eyes get wide, as if he couldn't believe the scene, and grasped Tonks's hand tightly. She glanced up at him for a moment before they slowly approached the tomb to pay their final respects to Dumbledore.

Something happened as they silently stood in front of the tomb, their fingers enlaced, and as Remus was averting his eyes from the tomb to the ground, he felt Tonks shake and she took her hand away from his while she emitted a sob. Alarmed, he looked at her to find that tears were falling rapidly out of her eyes, the eyes he loved so much to stare into.

"Tonks," he whispered, but he knew words would do no good now. Instead, he followed his human instinct and pulled her into the tightest embrace he'd ever done. Feeling her chin rest upon one of his broad shoulders was almost a reassuring feeling, he realized, and he rubbed her back as she'd rubbed his.

"He's in a better place now, Dora," he said calmly. "Don't…don't cry; everything will be all right…" But he couldn't say the words and mean them properly, for he found his own eyes unexpectedly welling up with tears as well, and he squeezed them shut in almost shame.

No, he thought firmly, stay strong…Stay strong for Dora…

But as they pulled away, Remus opened his eyes and found that his teary eyes restricted his clear vision of Tonks's face. Tonks noticed this and gently rubbed one of his arms while saying tenderly, "Remus, it's okay to be sad…Don't be afraid to cry…" Her voice cracked and again she was in his warm embrace. Remus turned his head to the side.

A single teardrop that had been forming in his eye finally leaked down the bridge of his nose and dripped off onto his lower lip, and as he licked his lips, he remembered how salty his tears were. But as he hugged Tonks, he felt more and more tears streaming down his face…

A/N: Quite short chapter, but think of it as sort of an introduction to everything else. Please let me know what you think - some suggestions about how to explain Lupin's feelings during the wedding (remember, he was very doubtful about it and regretted it and everything though he still did it - he loves her that much! haha) would be great, as well as constructive criticism. I'm not a fan of flames, so keep it to yourself. More on the way, possibly another short, yet very romantic one...wink