Chapter 10: Not-So-Merry Christmas

Disclaimer: NOT NOT NOT J.K. Rowling...

Tonks, Remus, and Andromeada were spending Christmas at the Burrow since Ted was now ,officially, in hiding. Tonks was in her sixth month of pregnancy. She was pretty much only wearing Remus's clothes now, as she did not see any reason to buy new clothes that she would only wear for three months.

They, along with Arthur, Molly, Bill, Fleur, and Ginny were all sitting in the living room around the tree and fire. Charlie was preparing his move over from Romania to help the Order, Fred and George had their shop open late for last minute shoppers, and Ron was with Harry and Hermione on the Horcrux hunt. The group was listening to Molly's favorite singer on the radio. Molly and Arthur were sitting close together on the couch, Bill and Fleur were speaking intently to each other on the floor, and Tonks was seated on Remus's lap in the large armchair. There were two people, however, feeling left out. Andromeada was sitting on the end of the couch opposite of Molly and Arthur with a book in her lap. At first glance, she appeared to be reading it, but if you looked closer, you could see that the book was upside down. Then, there was Ginny. She had an extremely depressed look on her face and was staring into the fire. She had been more and more depressed as the war went on. Even though, she and Harry had officially broken it off, they both knew there was still something there that somehow the break up was just for show.

The song on the radio had just ended when there was a sharp knock on the door that caused everyone to jump. Arthur, Bill, and Remus were immediately on their feet, wands drawn. Remus stood in front of Tonks, as if he were acting as a shield.

Arthur walked over to the door. "Who is it? Declare yourself!"

A deep voice came from the other side of the door. "It is I, Kingsley Shacklebolt, acting Minister of Magic since the death of the previous Minister. I have very important news."

Arthur opened the door, and Kingsley walked in. He rubbed his hands together, trying to warm them.

"What news, Kingsley?" Arthur asked. All eyes were on the Minister.

"It is, I regret to say, grave news. Nymphadora, Andromeada?"

Tonks felt her heart drop. "Yes?"

"I feel horrible that I must ruin your holiday with this news, but yesterday, Ted was caught by Snatchers." Kingsley explained.

Tonks gasped, and Andromeada clutched her chest before sitting down on the couch.

"His body was discovered this morning. It is suspected that a Killing Curse is what killed him, so it is quite a safe bet that he felt no pain. I know this doesn't change him being dead, but I thought you should know that he didn't suffer."

Tonks immediately had tears falling down her face in tears. Andromeada stared at Kingsley in disbelief. He spoke again. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. I still have to speak to other families. I am so sorry for your loss." Kingsley walked out the door.

Tonks fell to the floor, sobbing. Remus was, immediately, at her side. He held her close, rubbing her back soothingly. Andromeada, however, was apparently a silent sufferer. She sat in the chair, staring at the fire for a few moments before standing. "I think I'm going to head up to bed."

This pain is just too real

Tonks looked up at her mother, through tear-filled eyes. "Are you alright, mum?"

"Of course, darling." She walked up the stairs without looking back.

There's just too much that time cannot erase

Remus spoke to the Weasley's, who were all still in disbelief. "I think that I shall take Dora up to bed, if you don't mind."

"Of course, dear." Mrs. Weasley assured him, with tears brimming her eyes.

Remus took Tonks's hand and led her up to their room. When they entered their room, Remus let go of her hand and walked to the bed. He took off his shoes and started to prepare for bed. He believed that she would do the same, but when he looked up, Remus saw that she was standing in the same place as before. Her hair was a deep, depressing blue, her head was bowed, and her arms were around her, as if she were trying to comfort herself.

Remus immediately stood and walked to her. Slowly, he embraced her, and after a few seconds, their embrace was tighter than they had ever held each other before. Tonks was hurting, and there wasn't a damn thing that he could do about it. He suddenly felt tears threatening to fall from his eyes, and as much as he tried, he couldn't hold them back. Perhaps it was the 'animal' inside of him, but it killed him to not be able to protect her.

When she pulled away from him, he caught her face between his hands. She tried to prevent herself from meeting his eye, but he brought her face to his. As soon as their eyes met, Tonks broke down even more.

Remus didn't know exactly what to sat to make her feel better. "Dora…I am so-so sorry." He wiped the tears off her face with his thumbs, but her face was almost instantly covered again.

When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears

Tonks was so upset that she had trouble speaking. "I-it's not f-fair. W-why him? He n-never d-did anything t-to anyone. H-he was t-the nicest m-man you would ever meet. I-it's not f-fair." She buried her head in Remus's chest, her delicate body racked with sobs.

Carefully, Remus picked her up and carried her to the bed. He sat down, placing her on his lap and holding her close as she sobbed. "I know, love, I know." He held her close until he heard her breathing become deeper. Easily, he lifted her from his lap and into the bed. After taking a shower, he joined her, falling asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

A few hours later, Remus was awoken by Tonks tossing and turning next to him. Her face looked pained, she was sweating, and whimpering. When he woke up a little more, she noticed she was crying and calling out to someone. "No! No, Dad. Daddy! Don't-no-don't-NO!" She was thrashing in the bed, tears running down her face.

He shook her shoulder, gently as he called out her name. "Dora, Dora. Wake up, baby. Come on, get up, sweetheart. It's just a dream, just a nightmare."

When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears

When she awoke, her eyes were wide with fear and she clung to Remus for dear life. "Remus…"

He pulled her towards him, holding her tight. "It's alright, it was just a nightmare."

Tonks looked up at him, tears falling down her face. "I-it was so r-real."

There was a knock on their door; it was Arthur. "Remus, Tonks, is everything alright? We heard screaming."

Remus spoke. "Yes, it's fine. Tonks just had a bad dream is all."

"Alright then; g'night."

"Night!"

Tonks was laying on his chest, sniffing. "Just go back to sleep baby, I'm right here."

"I-I can't. I'm a-afraid. I don't want to see it again. It was horrible." She buried her face into his chest.

"I have some Dreamless Sleep Potion from when I was away. Do you want some?"

She nodded, tears pouring down her face.

He had to practically pry her hands off his shirt to get up and get her the potion. He had left it downstairs. "I'll be right back, love."

She nodded, still crying slightly.

When Remus returned to the room, he smiled when he saw that she had fallen asleep again. He lay down quietly next to her, placing his arm around her before falling asleep again.

Christmas was an extremely somber time this year. Tonks barely spoke, and didn't even respond when the Weasley twins tried to cheer her up. Most of the day, she sat, staring into the fire with her hand on her stomach, defensively.

Three days after Christmas, there was a small funeral held at the Burrow. Tonks sobbed the entire time, while Remus held her tight. Only Tonks, Remus, Andromeada, and the Order members came to the graveside. Tonks buried her head in Remus's chest for a majority of the final words.

And I held your hand through all of these years

When she saw her father's casket being lowered into the cold ground, she bawled, "No, no, daddy. Don't leave, please."

Remus felt as if his heart was breaking. Seeing her in this type of pain was extremely difficult for him. He held her close, trying to calm her down. "It's alright, Dora. You will be fine."

"No! He's leaving forever! I want him back." Tonks slipped out of Remus's grasp and moved towards the grave's edge. She fell to her knees on the side of the grave. The ground was covered with snow, but she didn't even seem to notice. There were white snowflakes littering her indigo-colored hair. Her head was in her hands as she sobbed.

Remus ran his hand through his hair before resting them over his face. Her reaction to her father's death was tearing him up on the inside. He could feel the hot tears running down his scarred face but could do nothing to stop them from coming.

He watched, unable to move, as Mad-Eye, Tonks's mentor and close friend, walked up to her. He kneeled down with difficulty and pulled her to him. Remus felt a pang of unnecessary jealousy but couldn't bring himself to do anything about it. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see Sirius standing beside him. "You alright, mate?"

Remus looked over at him and spoke with difficulty. "I-I have no idea what to do. I can't help her feel better. I just don't know what to do; I feel so helpless."

"There are some things, like this, that you won't be able to fix. Just be there for her, comfort her. That's all you can do." Sirius smiled sadly at his friend.

Everyone at the graveside was beginning to leave when Severus walked over to Remus. He handed Remus two potions. "The small vial is a Calming Draught and the slightly larger one is a Dreamless Sleep Draught."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Thanks, Severus."

"Don't thank me, thank Albus."

"Right."

Remus and Sirius spent the night drinking firewhiskey while Tonks ate chocolates, pretending they tasted like firewhiskey.

A/N: Sorry for the wait...longest chapter so far. How do I find out how many hits this story has? The lyrics are "My Immortal" by Evanescence...

NO BOARDING SCHOOL YAY

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