Chapter Seven
Lupin groaned. His whole body ached, kind of like the time in a way that he couldn't remember. Only enough, it didn't hurt so much as ache, but he couldn't remember ever pushing his body so far beyond its limits to make it ache like this. His strength as a werewolf had been phenomenal – and not even that high, compared to werewolves like Greyback who fed on human flesh every month. No, actually, there was pain. His arm throbbed. He groaned again and tried to move his arm. Now it really hurt as the muscle protested violently at even that use and whatever wounds in his arm screamed in searing pain.
Charlie looked up from his book. "Hey, easy, Remus. No-one knows what your limitations are."
"Where – " His brain felt foggy, like he was drunk.
"You're in St. Mungos."
"Died. Heart... cold..."
"You want another blanket?" Lupin nodded weakly. "Dad left you a whole heap. You do realise you're under enough blankets to suffocate most humans?" Charlie asked, draping another blanket – this one a hand-knitted quilt of Molly's – over a bed that was already piled with them. Lupin struggled to sit up. "Don't you dare. I'll help you sit up but you are not to try and move until you've been assessed."
"Sound like Molly," Lupin muttered darkly.
"Least your recovering your ability to talk back," Charlie retorted. Lupin allowed Charlie to wrap his arm around his waist and hoist him into a sitting position. It was humiliating to need to be moved by someone else, let alone Tonks's ex, but since the alternative was staring at the ceiling, Charlie it was. Lupin closed his eyes for a few seconds, gathering his mental strength.
"Dora," he murmured.
"She's fine. Well, she's frantic about you but she's physically fine. I don't know what the hell you did to get her out of Greyback's hold, but it was impressive."
"Just... kinda... willed it."
"Shame. Mum was hoping you could teach it to her. You went totally berserk, you know that. You had this expression on your face that was exactly like mum whenever anyone threatens one of us, particularly Ginny."
"What happened? I felt... cold... heart slowing..."
"No-one knows exactly. We don't know if it was killing a werewolf or killing the one who bit you specifically, but it seems to have reversed the effect. Your heart and body temperature are running at normal human rates – it's no wonder you feel so cold. And there's no toxins in your blood."
Lupin frowned. What Charlie was saying made no sense. "I don't understand."
"No-one does. Look at your arm." Instinctively, Lupin looked at his right arm, the one that felt so sore. It was covered in bandages. "That was done by a couple of Healers who were fascinated and decided it warranted a little experimentation. Dug pretty much anything silver that was sharp enough to pierce skin into your arm. Dad really had a go at them when he found out, and that's why we've been taking turns watching you. I sort of don't blame them, as far as anyone knows, lycanthropy has never been reversed, but it's still a nasty thing to do to someone who's unconscious."
Lupin closed his eyes, struggling to accept what Charlie was telling him. "I'm human?"
"Looks like it. And you've got the exhaustion to prove it. That's why I told you not to push it. Your body's been working off werewolf strength for thirty years, we have no idea how drained you are."
"What happened? At the battle, I mean."
"Dumbledore is dead," Charlie said flatly. "Snape killed him. We all feel – well, I'm sure you can imagine it. But I'd say we inflicted almost as much damage. We only lost Dumbledore – " he said this with a fair hit of irony, because there was no such thing as 'only' when it came to Dumbledore, " – and you took out quite a few Death Eaters all on your own. Remind me never to so much as look at Tonks for more than a second again," he joked.
"Dora," he said again.
"She's fine. We've had to restrain her from storming in here. Dad finally convinced her that going in too exuberant might set you back. Though you'd better do some quick thinking if you're not going to marry her," Charlie added. "She already checked with the Ministry. They agreed that so long as you can pass all their tests, they'll decree you human and you can marry her."
"Marry," Lupin said. Though he had meant it when all his heart when he'd told Tonks he would marry her if he could, he had never thought it would be possible. And he became so overwhelmed with emotion that he started to cry. "Sorry," he said, feeling embarrassed to be acting like such a sook – and in front of Tonks's ex, too. "I want to see her," he said. "I won't move a muscle but – I need to see her."
Charlie nodded. He had that same fierce expression on his face that he had when he'd seen Tonks in danger. He had no doubt that he could be just as stubborn as she was, and if denied what he wanted, he would try getting out of bed and finding her. "I'll talk to someone, see what can be done," he promised. "In the meantime, try and get – "
"Some rest, yes, I know," Lupin said. He was already feeling tired again. He hated feeling tired like this. Even after the poor sleep he always had during a full moon, he never felt tired like this. Was this being human? He wasn't sure that he liked it, he thought as he wriggled around weakly under the blankets in an attempt to get warm...
... "What time is it?" Lupin asked groggily. He glanced out the window. It was dark.
"Three in the morning," Tonks's voice came softly. She took his hand with a gentleness that was completely out of her nature and even in his weak, drowsy state, he could tell that she was struggling to remain restrained. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired. Sore."
"Human?" she asked hopefully.
"I wouldn't know, love, it's been thirty years. I certainly don't remember feeling this shit when I was a kid. But Charlie says everything checks out as being human. Hey, don' t cry. Please don't cry. I thought you'd be happy."
"I am happy. I – this is what I've always wanted." She stopped crying and went uncomfortably silent twisting his fingers around, searching for the words. "Remus – what you said – I won't hold you to it. I know it's one thing to say something like that when you know – or, rather, you think – that it's not going to be an option – and another to actually mean it. I mean, I know you meant it at the time but..."
He laughed weakly at her awkwardness. "Love, I still want to marry you. I just don't know what kind of husband I'll be. I'm thirteen years older than you," he reminded her quietly. "I have no idea what condition my health's in. I have no idea if I'm going to be able to keep up with you – as a husband, as a father. I can't in all good conscience marry you without trying one last time to convince you that you'd be better off with someone younger with a less chequered past."
"I don't want anyone else," Tonks said, her eyes starting to flash in the way they did when she was angry. Lupin gripped her hand as strongly as he could.
"I know you don't, love, I just wanted to make sure. Nymphodora Tonks, will you marry me?" he asked.
Her eyes glistened with happiness. "Of course," she said.
"Dear, I must say, I never saw you as one of those types," Dolores Umbridge said in that sickening tone that was a combination of patronising and maternalistic.
"One of what types?" Tonks asked, glad that her work as an Auror kept her mainly away from the Ministry and people like Umbridge.
"One of those types... who gets a thrill out of being with men who are – you know..."
"Fraid I don't, Dolores," Tonks said. "And I have a job to do as well as a wedding to plan, so if you don't mind, could you please just say whatever it is you're thinking so I can get back to it."
"Your – er – relationship with Reus Lupin," Dolores said in a combination of disgust and intrigue that Tonks was heartily sink of by now. "It's – well, a little scandalous, isn't it? I mean, I know they say he's human and all, but really, don't you think you can do better?" Of course Umbridge would know about Lupin 'seeming' human – she had made him submit to test after test to prove that he was human. In fact, her insistence was proving counter-productive – many of the more moderately-minded Ministry members were starting to feel that Umbridge was going overboard and being unfair towards him; there were several whispers that she was only doing it because she couldn't stand the fact that nothing she could do, no punishment she could inflict on her students when she had been DADA professor and the Headmistress at Hogwarts, could make them relinquish their opinion that Lupin had been the best DAD professor in living memory.
"Actually, Dolores, I don't," Tonks said pleasantly. "In fact, I reckon I could do a lot worse – just look at the Death Eaters that my aunt married."
"Well – they may have demonstrated some bad judgement but – there are plenty other men out there."
"And you know what the kicker is? Now that he's human, Remus is actually more pure-blood than me," Tonks couldn't resist informing Umbridge. "The irony is, if he were marrying someone who was only one-quarter muggle-born like him rather than one-half like me, his children would be considered pure-bloods." The official definition for pure-blood was someone who had all four grandparents wizard- or witch-born and no more than one great-grandparent – like Lupin's grandfather – who was a muggle-born, so in theory at list, Lupin's blood status was higher than Tonks's. Of course, people like Umbridge would never accept someone with a muggle-born great-grandparent as a pure-blood, let alone one whose father had spent thirty years as a werewolf, but it was still fun to tell her that.
"Well – I hope you know what you're getting into, marrying someone like that," Umbridge said. "You'll be ostracised. And you being a Black, too."
Tonks smiled brightly. "If you mean my aunts and anyone who aspires to associate with them, been there, done that, quite enjoying my life without them. Oh, and Dolores, dear," Tonks added as Umbridge turned to storm off, that ugly bow in her head bouncing as she went. "I suppose I owe you a thankyou. If you hadn't so thoroughly fucked up over the Department of Mysteries and caused Sirius's death, Remus would never have given into my interest. So feel free to come to our wedding. We owe you that much."
"Narcissa," Andromeda said resignedly. "Can't say I'm surprised to see you here. So just spit out your disapproval and be on your way, won't you?"
Narcissa pushed past Andromeda and walked through the Tonks house, making it clear she thought it was nothing on the Malfoy mansion. "Is it true?" she asked. "You're actually letting Nymphodora marry that half-breed?"
"Firstly, Dora's not someone who needs anyone's permission to do anything. Secondly, didn't you hear the good news? He passed every test even Dolores Umbridge could think to throw at him."
"He'll never be accepted," Narcissa said.
"Yes, that has already occurred to us. But you know what? All they ever wanted was to be legally married and not to worry about what children they might have. They don't care about anything else. And to tell you the truth, neither do I. She can do a lot worse than a man who's crazy about her who'll do everything in his power to make her happy." She spoke these words with a deceptive edge to them, and she thought she saw Narcissa flinch. Narcissa had refused to believe the allegations about Lucius, although Andromeda had always suspected that deep down, she knew there was at least a grain of truth to them. Lucius's initial interest in Andromeda was too well-known for Narcissa to completely believe that Lucius had wanted her for herself and not because she was the next Black down.
Narcissa continued her stroll through the Tonks house, stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her niece, sitting on that werewolf's lap, looking completely oblivious to anyone but him, kissing him like some teenager – Narcissa bet her own teenage son didn't behave like such a hormone-driven adolescent. She recoiled when Lupin noticed her and gave her a bright, and completely insincere, smile. "Cissy," he drawled, making it clear he shared Sirius's opinion that it was a good name for her. "I guess we're almost family now. Forgive us if we decline any invitations to Malfoy Manor, though."
Narcissa glowered at Lupin when he moved his hand just below Tonks's breast, drumming his fingers against her body. She was sure he would have been more obvious in his display of affection had Andromeda not been there. "You would dare put your hands on a Black?" she seethed.
"I would dare a lot more," he said. "And it certainly beats creeping into a teenager's bedroom," he added. Narcissa flounced off, muttering something about no good coming of it. "I was rather hoping for a greater confrontation," he said.
"She's always done a good job of keeping her feelings to herself," Tonks said. Unlike Umbridge, who had started shaking with rage to be in the same room as Tonks for a week after Tonks had gleefully informed her that she was indirectly responsible for her and Lupin getting together. She went back to kissing him. "I never thought I'd kiss you again," she said breathlessly after a few minutes.
"Me, neither." He kissed her face and rubbed his nose against her neck. "I miss the way you smelled," he admitted. Now it felt like she wasn't quite his, like a watered down version of herself, at least when it came to her unique scent. He pulled his cardigan tighter around him. He still felt cold all the time, and no amount of jumpers and blankets would fix that because he was missing a warmth he was used to coming from internally, not externally. It was certainly taking some getting used to. But at least being cold was a damn good excuse for having Tonks with him, cuddled up on the couch under the doona.
"You want to find someone to bite you again?" she teased, knowing what the answer was.
"You know damn well that I don't," he said, and kissed her again.
"We can get our own place if you like," Tonks said. "Or you can dress this place up more to your taste."
"A few basic cleaning spells would be nice, but that's about it," Lupin said. "I never much cared about where I lived," he admitted. It had usually been enough to have a roof over his head that he hadn't cared much what that room looked like.
"You might, in the future," she said, knowing what he was thinking. She twisted the simple gold-and-diamond wedding band around her finger that had been his mother's. It was nothing on the Black and Malfoy family jewels, of course, but in her opinion, it was much more valuable because it had been given in pure, genuine love and not a desire to demonstrate how wealthy he was.
"Right now I only care about making love to my wife," he said huskily. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and nuzzled her neck. "This sounds idiotic, but I feel like a virgin," he admitted. She threaded her fingers through his.
"It doesn't sound stupid," she said. "You've never had sex... as a human," she pointed out. He turned her around so he could kiss her full on the mouth. He hadn't realised how well she understood him. "I love you," he whispered.
"Love you too." They kissed passionately, tongues tangling in each other's mouths, hands roaming each other's bodies. He growled in frustration at the intricately-buttoned dress that she was wearing at her mother's insistence that she at least resemble a bride on her wedding night. It was times like this that he missed his werewolf strength and couldn't just rip the damn thing clean in two. His fingers fumbled with it, while she found it much easier to pull at the buttons of his shirt. Soon they were both naked and on the bed. It didn't take much to get either of them thoroughly aroused. He penetrated her quickly, impatiently, impatient as she was. She cried out and he grunted when he pushed his erection inside her. "Dora, love, love," he cried out as he began pumping her. It was a strange feeling and did feel almost as new to him as the first time he'd had sex. They climaxed quickly and he rolled off her, panting. "One thing I miss about being a werewolf," he said. "My stamina."
She cuddled up to him. "You did fine by me. D'you think we made a baby?"
He chuckled. "Trust a woman to be thinking that on her wedding night."
"Don't tell me you don't want children, too," she teased.
"I've thought about it constantly for almost thirty years. I was a kid, I'd never thought about having kids myself, and then suddenly the option was taken away."
"I'm so sorry for what you went through. If it means anything, you showed so much integrity and I don't think I'd love you the way I do if you didn't have that." He kissed her deeply.
"There are some benefits to having been a werewolf for thirty years, I suppose," he said dryly. He kissed her deeply, and brought her hand to his penis. Despite his new human stamina, he was hard again in a few minutes. At her instigation, he rolled onto his back and she straddled him. He grabbed her hips and guided her onto his waiting erection. "Ahhh, Merlin, love..." were the last coherent words he managed to say before he started grunting and moaning, bucking underneath her and driving his erection into her in a very pleasant way...
Teddy Lupin's birth was meant with threatening owls from both Voldermort supporters in the form of the Malfoy-LeStranges and people who opposed Voldermort but still believed it was an abomination for a werewolf, even a werewolf who had miraculously become human again, to have a child. His very existence was an offence to more people than those who considered it a blessing. Lupin and Tonks decided it was for the best to go into hiding, and made Kingsley Shaklebolt their Secret Keeper. They moved to a picturesque village in the English countryside. "I don't feel right about this," Tonks admitted. "People are out there fighting – my mum and dad are fighting – and we're here, safe and sound, playing happy families. I feel like I should be there joining the ranks."
"Go, if you want," Lupin said with rare coolness. "I'll stay. I don't give a shit about this war compared to Teddy." He watched his son adoringly. Tonks understood in principle how much it meant to him to be able to have children, but no-one could truly get it if they hadn't lived for thirty years knowing that it could never happen, that he risked impregnating a woman with a cub that could rip her apart, not to mention be damned to live the life he'd led for thirty years. Thirty years of knowing that could never happen, and then a miracle had occurred and here was Teddy, perfectly human and strongly resembling his mother, but with his green eyes. As far as he was concerned, the war could be lost and the world could fall around them, he wouldn't leave Teddy.
"I didn't mean it like that," Tonks said. "I just feel bad."
He took her in his arms. "So do I, love. But nothing's more important than Teddy as far as I'm concerned. And no-one begrudges us this. Everyone knows how much we've already contributed to the war effort." She snuggled into his arms and felt his arms tighten around her waist. He was still stronger than her, even without his werewolf physique, and she felt safer in his arms than ever.
"I know. I just wish this thing were over and we could raise Teddy in peace and in the open."
But not even they could stay away when word came that both sides were amassing for a showdown at Hogwarts. Harry had returned from wherever he had been – neither of them had ever lost faith that he was alive, Voldermort's supporters would have been quick to offer the proof had he been killed – and Hogwarts was the place where the final showdown would occour. While they were reluctant to expose both of themselves to danger, they wanted to have every man available for the battle, and decided it was best to leave Teddy with Andromeda. The castle was swarming with students, teachers, Death Eaters and people like themselves, a veritable bedlam. They were thrown in the thick of things, curses flying everywhere. It felt like there were enemies on all sides and they just kept coming. Voldermort had gotten so many of the half-breeds onside – giants, trolls, werewolves (at least there was one werewolf that wouldn't hurt anyone else, Lupin thought with vicious glee) and the like were firing curses at them, or just smashing their heads in. He found himself in a fierce combat with Anton Dolohov, the Death Eater's face twisted into an evil smile. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched his wife battling her aunt Bellatrix – if anything, Bellatrix looked even more triumphantly evil than Dolohov. Bellatrix hated Tonks because of what she represented – a half-blood married to a (former) half-breed who openly disdained Voldermort and everything he stood for. To Bellatrix, Tonks was worse than a blood-traitor and she would take a special amount of glee in killing her...
... She was fading, she knew. She could feel it in her reflexes, her strength – she couldn't keep it up forever. Bellatrix was simply too powerful a witch with too large an axe to grind. She couldn't keep this up, and yet the idea of being defeated by Bellatrix terrified her. Bellatrix watched her niece with a look of evil triumph on her face. How a mudblood had managed to produce such a talented witch was beyond her comprehension – and there was no denying that Tonks was a talented witch. Which only made her talent more of an abomination. "You can't keep this up forever," she jeered. "You'll stumble eventually, and you'll end up like your mudblood father. They tortured him, you know," she taunted her niece. "They tortured him and he died in agony, recanting his marriage. That makes you a bastard, you know. Your mother should have married in her own class."
"So she could rot in Azkaban?" Tonks retorted. Or be married to a man who has the hots for her older sister, she thought. She had spotted Lucius Malfoy around, and she hoped someone took him out. "I think I'll stick to a husband who loves and respects me."
"You won't have him for long," Bellatrix jeered. "I wonder who of you will die first – you or him? And once you're miserable excuse for a life is snuffed out, I'm going after that half-breed brat you call a son. What they did to your father will be nothing compared to what I have in store for him. He'll die screaming with no idea why he's in agony." Tonks could take all the threats to herself and Lupin, she could even deal with the pain of her father's death because he had died a fighter, knowing what he was fighting for. But her son – her son – the thought of anything happening to him made her feel sick in every pore of her body. If she wasn't there to protect him, Bellatrix would go after him until she had killed him – and killed him in as painful a way as she could think of. And Bellatrix had always been very inventive when it came to torture. There was no doubt about it, Bellatrix LeStrange would hunt down her great-nephew and torture him to death merely for being what she considered a half-breed. Unless someone stopped her.
"NO!" she screamed. "You – will – not – have – my – son!" And Bellatrix, like Voldermort before her, made the key mistake of not realising the power of a mother's love. Tonks's killing curse hit Bellatrix with such force that she stumbled backwards, the remnants of her hysterical, triumphant jeers still on her lips. There was a moment of dead silence as it sank in that Voldermort's greatest and most powerful Death Eater was dead – killed by her half-blood niece. Lupin took advantage of the silence to hit Dolohov with his own killing curse. Tonks felt the adrenaline from killing her aunt running through her veins. Her maternal instincts kicked into high gear and she fired off curses at any Death Eater she could spot. If she had to kill them all and Voldermort to boot in order to keep Teddy safe, then that's what she would do...
... The battle was going badly for Voldermort and his Death Eaters, and he wasn't sure exactly where they had gone wrong. Bellatrix had been doing well, playing with her niece – that was Bella, couldn't just kill a person, had to torment them before killing them. But now Bellatrix was dead and his Death Eaters were dropping like flies...
... Tonks ploughed through the Death Eaters with a maternal rage, barely aware that they were winning the battle, when she felt a curse hitting her from behind. She stumbled; it was meant to force her onto her knees, not kill her, and as he knees connected painfully with the floor of the Great Hall, her adrenaline abandoned her and she knew exactly who had struck her. Her uncle. "Got you," he whispered gleefully. She was as paralysed as magic as she had been by fear all those years ago, made all the worse that it was Lucius who had her unable to move. She felt a sob wrack her throat. She had always known that she could die in this battle, but to die at the hands of the man who had violated her over and over and sought to do it one last time...
... The spell broke suddenly as Lupin shot a killing spell at Malfoy. He had seen the Death Eater curse his wife, forcing her onto her knees, and his heart had twisted painfully to see her completely at his mercy. Perhaps if it had been anyone else, he wouldn't have reacted so quickly, but he couldn't stand the thought of the last man to touch her – even via his wand – being Lucius Malfoy. Malfoy fell backwards as the spell hit home. "I told you I'd kill you if you touched my wife again!" Lupin said, a note of hysteria in his voice. Oblivious to anything and anyone else, he Appirated directly to his wife's side – the enchantments that forbade it within the castle had long since been obliterated – and took her in his arms. "It's OK, love," he whispered protectively, holding her tightly. "He's gone. He can't hurt you anymore." She lurched in his arms and threw up all over the floor. He pulled her hair back and let her empty her stomach. "It's OK. I'm here. He can't hurt you anymore," Lupin repeated over and over. He could feel her shaking and crying in his arms and knew there was nothing he could do for her other than hold her. Around them, the battle continued, but he was barely aware of it. Nothing mattered more than being a constant presence to remind his wife that he was here and that Malfoy couldn't hurt her anymore.
He was vaguely aware of Harry defeating Lord Voldermort, and felt a distant feeling of relief that it was all over, and that they had won. He kept hold of Tonks, although he became increasingly aware that while most of the survivors had congregated around Harry, they had an audience of their own. "Remus," Molly Weasley suggested. "Perhaps you'd like to take her up to the Gryffindor tower to get cleaned up?."
"Hufflepuff," Tonks croaked. "I want to show you something." Remus had a feeling what it was that she wanted to show him, and, nodding slightly, he Appirated them straight into the Hufflepuff House, completely emptied of students.
"Wow," Charlie Weasley said, having witnessed the encounter. "He wasn't kidding. I would too have tried to kill him."
"What? You knew?" Molly asked incredulously. It had been clear from the way Lupin had been holding her so protectively, promising her that Malfoy would never hurt her again, that her uncle had abused her. "Oh, that poor girl. When did you learn? Why didn't you tell me?"
"About two years ago, shortly after they got together. I didn't take them being together too well," he admitted, "and I was pretty hostile towards her. Remus told me what had happened to her, though he wouldn't tell me who it was. Said I was likely to go off and challenge him to a duel. Which I totally would have."
"And gotten yourself killed for your troubles!" Molly said.
"Yeah, that's what he said, too," Charlie said. "God, I feel like being sick myself," he said as the extent of what she had suffered at the hands of her uncle sank in. "I'm glad he killed him. I'm only sorry he didn't use the Cruciatus Curse on him."
"Poor girl," Molly said sorrowfully. "Poor, poor girl." There was nothing else she could think to say.
At that moment, Sprout came rushing up. Tonks had always been one of her favourites, despite her pathological inability to behave herself, and she had witnessed the girl almost be taken out by Lucius Malfoy onto to end up throwing up violently on the floor, unable to support herself before her husband had Appirated them somewhere – probably somewhere quiet where there was no witnesses to her breakdown. "Will she be OK?" Sprout asked. "We all react in different ways," she said. Tonks had just taken out a dozen Death Eaters, including the notorious Bellatrix LeStrange, the shock had to be setting in as the adrenaline wore off.
"What do you know about Lucius Malfoy?" Molly asked, having instantly forgiven Tonks for hurting Charlie and taking her side like the protective mother and mother-figure that she was. "Lucius Malfoy? He's a Death Eater and a snob and I'm glad I never had any of his family in my house," Sprout said, shuddering at the thought.
"You mean apart from his niece?"
"Nymphodora was always more her father's daughter than anyone else," Sprout said loftily. "He father was in my house, too." Because muggle-born witches and wizards tended to be among the most humble and open-minded, Hufflepuff attracted more than its fair share. "What are you getting at?"
"Malfoy abused her for God knows how long," Molly said flatly. "Probably in this castle. He was spending an awful lot of time here at the time, wasn't he? The late eighties? I was always surprised at that and I certainly didn't like him spending so much time here when I had three boys here at the time."
"Malfoy? But – he's – I mean, he was – her uncle!" Sprout said, her immediate reaction disgust, although as she started to collect herself, she realised Lucius Malfoy was evil and bigoted enough to do such a thing. Unlike his sister-in-law, who believed that all muggle-borns and half-bloods should be rounded up and executed, Lucius had believed they came in handy when it came to his comfort and convenience, there to do menial work – and fulfil his sexual appetites, it appeared. She remembered complaining to Dumbledore that Tonks was becoming increasingly withdrawn and anti-social, a complaint that, come to think of it, had coincided with Lucius Malfoy not spending any time at the castle until his son had come to study at it several years later.
"Yeah, we got that," Charlie said dryly.
"You knew?" Sprout said.
"I didn't know who it was. Remus always did, apparently." He shrugged. "I don't know exactly what happened... but she could barely stand me touching her and she didn't have that hang-up with him."
"Well, that makes sense," Sprout said. "He knows what it's like not to have control over his own body." She sighed sadly. While it was such a small thing in the great scheme of things, it was all those small things that added up to the bigger picture – the hatred and bigotry, the attitude that as a half-blood, she had been worth nothing more than a fancy to fill his sexual appetites. "That poor girl." It seemed to be the only thing anyone could think to say. "I wish I had known. I could have done something for her."
As things settled down as much as they could, given what had happened, Andromeda Appirated into the Great Hall, holding Teddy, with an unerring sense of timing. "I heard it's over," she said in a funny kind of flat voice, because although she was glad that Voldermort had finally been vanquished – properly this time – and her older sister killed in the battle, so much had been lost in the lead-up to it, her husband's life included. "Where is she? Where's my daughter?" She had heard that both Tonks and Lupin were still alive, but she needed to see them – well, she needed to see her daughter, her son-in-law she didn't care so much about – to put her mind at rest.
"Remus took her to the Hufflepuff House," Charlie said, explaining briefly that Lucius Malfoy had almost gotten her and the experience had forced her to relive the experience. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said when he saw that Andromeda was a second away from Appirating straight into the house.
"What would you know?" she snapped waspishly at him.
"I know that she flinched every time I touched her but she could fall asleep in his arms," Charlie said with quiet dignity. "If she wanted to be there with him, there's a reason for it. Leave them be. And show us Teddy, he's practically family." Reluctantly, Andromeda turned Teddy around so she was facing the small crowd, all of whom smiled indulgently. Andromeda would no doubt be as protective a grandmother and Tonks and Lupin would be protective parents.
And they had all the time in the world to be that.
Lupin had suspected why Tonks wanted him to take her to her former school House, and when she led him towards the single rooms – assuming the layout was similar in all four house – his suspicions were confirmed. "Love, you don't have to relive this," he said. "You don't have to show or tell me anything you don't want to."
"I want to," she said dully, but with a strange conviction to her voice that made him understood that this was something she had to share with him. She led him to what had been her old room. "He engineered me to have this," she said. "He wanted to have easy access to me, and isolate me from everyone else as well. All the other girls hated me for having my own room." Lupin wrapped his arms around her from behind, feeling her trembling but knowing that this was something she needed to do. "I felt so alone."
He kissed the top of her head in a vaguely paternalistic manner, taking note of the fact she had used the past tense to describe feeling alone. "You'll never be alone with me," he said with quiet conviction that seemed to penetrate her memories, because she stopped trembling slightly. He led her to the armchair that looked like it hadn't been dusted in years – not that it mattered anymore – and drew her into his lap, his arms wrapped girly around her. "Talk about it, if it makes you feel better," he whispered soothingly, protectively in her ear.
"It hurt – so – much," she whispered painfully. "I didn't think something could hurt so much without being cursed."
"A werewolf using their canine teeth to bite – they're the ones you typically think of as fangs, towards the middle of the jaw," he explained, habitually running his tongue over one of them because after a year, it still felt unnaturally short. In a good way. "They extend during the full moon and there's a gland at the root of the tooth that produces a toxin – it's fucking painful to be bitten. I felt like I was being ripped apart. I wanted him to kill me and have it be over. And then a month later I transformed for the first time. Human bodies aren't meant to do that. Try explaining to an eight-year-old what's going on." He shuddered at the memory; it would take more than a year for the pain of transformation, even under the relative ease of Wolfsbane, to recede. "Sorry, I didn't mean to tell you about my problems."
She rubbed her face against his shirt. "It makes me realise you understand. Did you ever feel like you couldn't be loved? Whenever Charlie touched me – I tried so hard to like it, but the harder I tried, the more I hated it, and I was terrified that I wasn't capable of being loved. Did you ever feel like that"
"All the time. I thought the only woman who was ever going to love me was my mother, and even she didn't love me the way a mother ought to love her son." He chuckled drily. "And then you came along and didn't give a shit about me being a werewolf. I had no idea what I was supposed to do with you. And somewhere along the line I ended up loving you and letting you love me... even when you wanted me to turn you."
"You really love me?" she asked in a small voice, and it broke his heart because she reminded him so much of himself growing up, unsure of even his mother's love.
"I really love you," he reassured her – and he would keep reassuring her until she truly believed it. "Listen, Dora, we can stay here if you need to, but I think we need to go back down to the Great Hall. I think you're about to become almost as big a hero as Harry." She smiled at him through her tears.
"How do I look?" she asked.
"Like the most amazing woman I know."
"You'll stay with me?"
"Until you beg me for some time by yourself." And he Appirated them back down to the Great Hall. The first person he saw was Andromeda. "Oh, Thankgod, you brought him," he said, attempting to take Teddy from her. She refused to hand him over, wanting answers first.
"Is it true?" she asked. "Bellatrix and Lucius are both dead?" Lupin nodded. She took note of the way he tightened his grip around Tonks's waist. She looked drained, and Andromeda was glad she had Lupin there for her – both now and an hour ago. "And what about Narcissa?"
Lupin shrugged. "Don't know, don't care," he said frankly. Narcissa Malfoy would hardly be a major player in the world that was to come – that was, if she even escaped being sent to Azkaban.
There was a rustle of skirts and there was Narcissa. She had found her son, but lost everything else that was dear to her – her sister, her husband, her family name. If it hadn't been worthless following his death and Voldermort's destruction, it was now that people were whispering – and often not bothering to whisper – that he had taken his infatuation with her sister out on his niece. She didn't have a friend in the world. Well, there was no hope for it. "Andromeda," she said, swallowing her pride.
Andromeda shot her younger sister a look that could kill. "I thought you made it clear that my daughter and I were dead to you if I let her marry that werewolf," she said coolly.
Narcissa swallowed. "I was angry," she admitted, in as humble a voice as she could manage, which for Narcissa wasn't easy. "I had hoped that you and she would both marry pure-bloods, like Bellatrix and I."
Andromeda laughed ironically at that. "And I see that's done you the world of good."
"Andy, please – my husband is dead."
"The same husband who raped my daughter," Andromeda reminded her coldly. "I'm only sorry he died quickly. My son-in-law is too decent a human being to exact revenge out of him for the pain he caused her." She spoke the words human being with no small degree of irony, aware now that even as a werewolf Lupin had shown more compassion than the rest of her pure-blood, pure-breed family put together. "I assure you, no-one else who loves Dora would have let him off so lightly." Narcissa gasped at the idea of her darling husband being tortured. The gloom of Azkaban had been bad enough.
"Andy, you can't mean that," she cried. "I'm your sister."
"You're no sister to me," Andromeda said coldly. "You've made that pretty damn clear in the last twenty-five years."
Lupin went to step forward to speak for both him and Tonks, but she gripped his hand tightly. She didn't relish the idea of a confrontation with her aunt, but she knew she would regret it if she didn't. "Aunt Narcissa," Tonks said, heavy irony dripping on the word aunt, because Narcissa had never been any sort of maternal figure to her; precisely the opposite. "Your husband and sister are dead. Your name is ruined. Your son will be known as the brat of a Death Eater and a shamed Black, while mine will be known as the son of two heroes of the war. And it's only what you deserve. You knew what Lucius was, you knew he wanted my mother, and when she didn't return his interest, he turned on me. You forfeited your right to have anything to do with me and my mother when you denied what he did to me. Now get out and if I see you or your son again I swear, I will give my husband permission to perform the torture he was too decent to perform on Uncle Lucius – or, God help me, I'll do it myself." Despite her relatively youthful twenty-five years, Narcissa saw something in her niece's eyes that she had often seen in Andromeda's and even Bellatrix's. Bellatrix had proudly rotted in Azkaban for her beliefs and Andromeda had proudly married for love and been exiled for it. Both were strong woman who had followed their hearts and their beliefs, albeit in very different ways. She, Narcissa, had never had that strength. And she certainly didn't have it now. Scurrying off to find her son, she disappeared from Tonks's line of sight.
"Wow, remind me never to piss you off," Lupin said admiringly. First she had dispatched one aunt for threatening Teddy, now she had dispatched the other for being, well, a sissy who's refusal to believe in her husband's guilt had led to so much heartache...
"I know we have to stay for a bit," Tonks said. "But people are preoccupied with Harry and it won't be long before they don't miss us. I want you to take me and Teddy home. I want to live openly and unapologetically with my husband and son. I want to build something out of all this wreckage."
He smiled lovingly at her. Her confrontation with Narcissa had given her a kind of strength, and he approved of it. "That's exactly what I want too, love," he said, leaning in to kiss her to great applause.
The End.
