So I probably should have said this in the prologue, but it completely slipped my mind. This is an AU fic, in an entirely non-magical, Muggle world.

Everyone is alive at the moment, except for James and Lily. You know how it is with those two.

This chapter was a bit rushed, what with it being exam week and all. Hope you like it anyway.

Drop a review in if you have a chance, ta.

Funny how a heart shatters all at once;

seems like it should make a sound.

-The Weepies, "Wish I Could Forget".

Tonks winced as something heavy thumped her on the shoulder. She slowly stretched her aching limbs and cracked one eye open in search of whatever had awoken her from her peaceful slumber, cringing when she moved her leg and the numbness that was already present began to spread.

It took a moment, but her brain finally caught up to her body and the reality of the situation came crashing down around her.

Mad-Eye stood a few feet away regarding her with a look that could have been one of either pure annoyance or general concern. She was slumped against the side of the vending machine, half eaten chocolate bar in hand, and she cursed herself for even beginning to believe that the ground was a good place to take a nap.

In the middle of the day at work, she remembered suddenly, and jerked into a more decent position.

Mad-Eye took a step forward and offered her his hand. 'Bit of an odd place to fall asleep, lass.'

Tonks groaned as her legs protested against the sudden rush of blood to her feet. 'Sorry Mad-Eye,' she mumbled and rubbed a hand sleepily over her face. 'I was just getting a snack... I'm not really sure how I got to the ground...'

Mad-Eye gave her a once over and started to head back towards his office, catching Tonks' arm when she stumbled in her haste to keep up. 'You seem tired,' he said gruffly and she nodded.

'I had night shift last night.'

'No,' Mad-Eye said lowly as they passed by several cubicles. 'You seem tired all the time nowadays. How many extra shifts have you taken on?'

Tonks grimaced, her hand automatically clenching around the chocolate bar she was still carrying. 'A few. Not enough in my opinion.'

Mad-Eye led her into his office and shut the door behind her, indicating for her to sit in the seat opposite his own. 'You're running yourself into the ground,' he warned.

'I need the extra cash' Tonks admitted with a shrug. Her head was pounding just from the mere effort it had taken her to walk down the corridor and her stomach was cramping painfully. She leant her head back and closed her eyes, listening to the shuffle of papers as Mad-Eye skimmed through some reports.

'Tell me girl, how many hours have you worked in the last two weeks?' Mad-Eye asked.

Tonks screwed her face up and opened her eyes to look at him. He was watching her closely and she suddenly felt self conscious, though she knew that Mad-Eye would not be one to judge.

'272' she admitted feebly, curling a strand of fading red hair around her finger and scrutinising it closely.

It had been four weeks since Remus had left, and Tonks believed that she was coping absolutely fine. The first couple of weeks had gone by slowly; she had cried for a bit, punched a suspect when he got on her nerves and had spent six days chained to her desk as a punishment.

But then she had discovered the perfectly brilliant idea of distractions and had thrown herself into her work almost too enthusiastically. She had picked up extra shifts and had barely seen the inside of her apartment as a result, but it was what she needed.

That is, until time caught up with her body and the lack of sleep became too apparent to ignore.

Mad-Eye's gaze softened the slightest. 'You need to go home.'

Tonks nodded and let out a long breath. 'I don't want to.'

'Go home, get some sleep,' he ordered. 'You need it. And I don't want to see you for another week.'

Tonks groaned but bit back her retort, feeling the need for a fight leave her almost as quickly as it had come. Standing, she bid Mad-Eye goodbye and ditched the melted chocolate bar in his bin on her way out.

She made her way to her own desk, grabbed her trench coat and handbag and switched her computer off. Shrugging on her coat, she left the second floor via the back stairs and made her way outside.

The parking lot was empty save for one of the senior officers, Scarlett Proud, who stood leaning against the wall with a cigarette between her thin lips.

'Can I bum one?' Tonks asked.

Scarlett pulled a smoke out of the pack, lit it with her own and passed it to Tonks. They stood shoulder to shoulder, rubbing their arms to keep warm.

'Didn't know you smoked,' Scarlett said after a minute.

Tonks shrugged. 'Old habit. Haven't for years, really.'

'You going home?' Scarlett asked.

'Yea. Moody reckons I'm too tired,' Tonks replied. She squinted at the cars, trying to find hers, when she remembered that she had caught a lift in with Kingsley a few days ago.

'Fuck,' she muttered, and took an extra long drag. 'Looks like I'm walking.'

Scarlett dropped her smoke and stamped it out, turning to regard Tonks. 'I would take ya, but my lunch is over now.'

'It's fine' Tonks sighed. 'The walk will do me good. Thanks for the ciggy.'

Scarlett left and after a moment's hesitation in which she considered going back inside and begging someone to drop her home, Tonks started off in the opposite direction.

The air was colder than usual and bit at her exposed cheeks as she slowly made her way down the busy sidewalk. A few people pushed past her but she barely payed them attention, using all of her remaining energy on focusing on where she was walking.

Of course it was bound to happen, and after navigating around a large crack in the pavement, Tonks found herself rather ungracefully falling to her knees after knocking shoulders with someone who was travelling in the opposite direction.

'Shit' she muttered, pushing herself up into a squatting position and inspecting the new rip in her work pants. She caught sight of who she had rammed into and groaned. 'Shit.'

Molly Weasley hovered by Tonks' side, eyes wide and too kind. 'Oh Tonks, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there,' she said and offered a hand.

Once on her feet, Tonks gave the older woman a tight smile and pretended not to care that she hadn't gotten the chance to finish her cigarette. 'It's fine, Molly, really...'

Molly frowned and straightened Tonks' collar, her fingers of her free hand tightly curled around the handles of two plastic bags. 'I didn't recognise you dear. You're very pale; yes, you're looking a bit too peaky for my liking.'

Fighting the urge to roll her eyes – because she certainly wasn't in the mood to be coddled by Molly Weasley – Tonks nodded her head towards the bags. 'Been shopping?'

'Oh yes' Molly said, as if just remembering what she had been doing before running into Tonks. 'Yes, I had to quickly duck to the supermarket. Arthur's got the car so I took the bus.'

Tonks looked over Molly's shoulder and noticed for the first time the bus stop and the crowd of people that had gathered there. She was closer to her apartment then she had realised.

'It's Ginny, you see' Molly continued, drawing Tonks' attention back to the conversation. 'She's... well, you know what happens when you grow up. The boys are furious she's getting the day off; I didn't tell them why, just that she wasn't feeling well. The poor thing, we weren't prepared.'

Molly rustled the bag as if proving a point and laughed. 'I suppose that's what happens when you have one girl after so many boys, you forget about "that time of the month".'

Tonks nodded and forced a smile, stuffing her hands into her jacket pockets as she was suddenly hit with a startling thought. Pushing it aside, she said, 'I hope you got her chocolate too then.'

'We have some at home. She's probably already eaten half the block' Molly answered as a bus pulled up to the curb. She reached out and rubbed Tonks arm. 'I'll have to go then. Come for dinner wont you Tonks? You're always welcome.'

'Thank you' Tonks said sincerely and watched the woman walk away. 'Bye.'

She waited until Molly had boarded the bus before changing direction and walking back the way she had come, her mind whirring. It was what Molly had said, "that time of the month", that had Tonks thinking so hard. If her calculations were correct, she had been due three days ago.

She had missed her period before, especially when she had been beginning her police training. She had barely eaten, was overworked and exhausted back then; much the same as she was now. In fact, it was almost normal for her to skip one every few months.

Tonks sighed as she found a small corner shop and pushed the door open, stepping into the little warmth it offered. She found the aisle she was looking for and blindly grabbed two boxes of tampons, her eyes scanning the opposite aisle and the array of sweets it showcased.

She picked up a small bag of chips and four Freddo's before making her way to the counter. The adolescent boy who had to serve her hesitated as he noticed her items and looked extremely embarrassed when he had to scan them.

'W – would you like a bag?' he asked, voice squeaking, and if Tonks hadn't of been so tired she would have found the situation highly amusing.

'Nah, I'll chuck 'em in here' she said, and held her handbag open for the boy. He placed her items in and drew his hands away as if he had been burnt, earning himself an eye roll from Tonks as she handed him her money.

'Ta mate' she said before leaving, drawing her jacket tighter around her body and ducking her head against the slight drizzle of rain that had started.

By the time she reached her apartment there was a full storm underway and Tonks' spirits were low. Busting for the loo and experiencing stomach cramps that had slowed down her journey from the shop significantly, Tonks ran to the bathroom without even bothering to take off her muddy boots.

Tonks reached into her bag and pulled out one of the boxes of tampons, ripping it open without paying much attention to what she was doing. She hummed a Weird Sisters song as she pulled the tampon out of its wrapper but abruptly stopped when her fingers wrapped around plastic and not the absorbent material she had been expecting.

Her fingers released the offending item and she heard it hit the bottom of the toilet with a small clunk noise. She searched desperately for the box she had picked up and felt her heart stop beating as she stared at the label.

Unknowingly, she had just brought two boxes of pregnancy tests, and now one was resting in the porcelain bowels of her loo.

'Shit' Tonks muttered and stood, discarding her pants and boots on the ground as she kneeled in front of the toilet. With a crinkled nose she looked inside, discovering the plastic stick resting in a pool of loo water and her own piss.

'What are the rules on flushing pregnancy tests down the toilet?' she thought out loud as she carefully stood and examined the situation. 'There is no way I am sticking my hand in there.'

She padded into the kitchen and scavenged through some drawers until she found a pair of tongs. Figuring there was nothing better to use, Tonks took them with her back to the bathroom and, after a moment's hesitation where she considered just leaving it there forever, she plunged the tongs into the toilet and successfully retrieved the test.

She tossed the tongs and test straight into the bin and immediately washed her hands very thoroughly twice. God, she thought to herself as she finally began to undress. Brilliant work there, Tonks. Fucking genius, you are, picking up something like that.

Now dressed comfortably in her pyjamas, Tonks returned to the kitchen and gladly took the chips and chocolate out of her handbag. She settled with them on the couch, switched on the TV, and prepared herself for a lonely night.

Tonks finished brushing her teeth and reached into her makeup bag for her moisturiser. She tied her hair into a loose bun and was just rubbing the cream into her cheeks when she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, the tongs sticking out of the top of the bin.

'Ew' she grumbled and reached down to close the lid properly. Instead, of course, she lost her balance, knocked the whole bin over and ended up on her arse.

Mumbling profanities under her breath, Tonks wiped her hands clean on her singlet and began to pick up the contents of the bin. And there, resting by the wall well away from everything else, was the pregnancy test, complete with two tiny pink lines.

Tonks stopped what she was doing, her heart almost jumping out of her chest as she reached with shaky hands to pick up the plastic stick. She brought it closer to her face, praying that what she was seeing was a hallucination from lack of sleep.

Taking a deep breath, she found the box and read the instructions carefully. Take out of wrapper, pee on stick, wait five minutes for results. One line means it's negative, two means it's positive.

Tonks took a deep breath, dropped both the box and the test, and tried not to freak out.

Oh fuck.