Dedicated to nancystagerat.

Remus was on his knees on the floor of an upstairs room in the Shrieking Shack, breathing heavily, his clothes ripped so badly that all that remained were mere shreds hanging from him feebly. It was dawn; the sun was slowly rising on the day after the full moon, and Remus felt more exhausted than usual: Last night's transformation had to have been one of the most painful he'd ever experienced. As he transitioned from the hard wooden floor to a dusty armchair, he rested up a little, trying to think.

Since he'd made the decision to go back to his wife after the full moon, he'd had a couple of days to evaluate himself and the poor choices he'd made in the past month or so. He felt horrible, at the lowest of the low, for making a dedicated commitment at the altar and abandoning his promise and the only woman he ever loved. He didn't like to think about how much he'd probably hurt her by walking out on her, but every so often it would come to him, constricting its way around his throat until it choked him. He knew he missed her. Furthermore, he knew he loved her. Forcing himself to wait through the full moon had been incredibly tough on him, but through all last night's pain he still felt was pure happiness…

He would be returning to her today.

He spent most of the rest of the day sleeping, resting his tired and worn out muscles. At dusk, he changed into a different set of robes and packed up his rucksack, feeling anxious. He was afraid of what she'd say when she saw him for the first time in a month. Would she cry tears of joy, or would she yell at him in anger? Knowing Tonks, he guessed she'd be aggressive with him.

He threw on an old traveling cloak before covering his tracks and Disapparating from the Shrieking Shack, a place that had been his hideout while he was a schoolboy at Hogwarts. He felt excited to return to the Burrow, to see Tonks again, and to savor one of Molly's simply delicious home-cooked meals. He arrived safely in Molly's well-kept garden and, being careful not to tread on her precious plants, he walked around the house to the front.

But on his way, he heard a great commotion coming from out the kitchen window, and he stopped just outside it, hiding below it and eavesdropping in on the conversation. From what he could tell over the clatter of something like pots and pans, he could hear Tonks's voice, and he listened intently.

"Tonks, we've been over this a thousand times!" Remus recognized it as Molly's voice. "Can't you just have a little hope?"

"He isn't going to come back!" said Tonks's easily identifiable, and it sounded as if there were tears in her throat. Remus stopped breathing: Had he really caused that much pain on her?

"Tonks!" It was Arthur, who sounded angry. "He was just scared about rushing into this, that's all, he'll come back, I know he - "

"He won't!" His wife now sounded like she was crying, and this told Remus that it seemed to be the most appropriate time to become her knight in shining armor and save her from her troubles. He went around the house so he wouldn't be seen, and when he approached the front door, he took a breath. Nerves were catching up: Was he ready to do this? Was he ready to face the woman he'd left behind and betrayed?

He shook the doubts out of his head. He knew it was time for him to come back to her. He raised a fist and knocked loudly on the door. The sounds of the heated argument inside subsided almost immediately, and Remus heard Molly's voice quavering as she asked nervously, "W-who is it? Who's there?"

Remus sighed, keeping a completely straight face. This is it. "It is I, Remus John Lupin. Married to Nymphadora, and soon to have a child - "

But he didn't even get to finish the sentence as the door was thrown open and little Molly Weasley seized the collar of his robes, pulling him in roughly. Remus felt worried as he winced at the angry expression on her face, but as his chocolate eyes glanced around the room, he felt even worse.

Arthur was shooting disappointed looks at him, shaking his head and looking away and back every few seconds; Ginny was staring at him absently, obviously amazed that he'd come back; Fred and an earless George looked stunned themselves; but the worst sight of all was Tonks, whose hair was a very dank brown color. There were tear tracks on her face. As she looked at Remus, her big eyes showed a strange combination of emotions: He saw anger and hatred deep in them, but on top was sadness and hopelessness. As he locked eyes with her, he felt a horrible feeling stir in the pit of his stomach. He gulped, his throat feeling tight.

Molly finally let go of his robes and he continued to stare at Tonks. An eerie silence fell over the kitchen, making Remus's skin crawl unpleasantly. He felt strange and almost sick with nerves. Why was he so afraid? His feet felt heavy as he slowly approached her with a look of utmost care and respect for her on his face, as if to apologize by his expression, but he had a bad feeling that wouldn't work.

They stood in silence for another minute longer, doing nothing but looking at each other, as if they were waiting for the other to make a move. The kitchen remained completely silent. There was so much Remus wanted to say, but the words were stuck in his throat. He opened his mouth to say something, but Tonks acted first.

It happened fast: There was a short gasp from somewhere behind him before he felt an incredible pain in his left cheek - Tonks had slapped him, and hard, at that. He was knocked back a couple steps by the impact; he hadn't been expecting her to hit him, but he guessed he deserved her. He looked back at her with a mixture of horror and fright in his face, afraid of her slapping him again.

"Are you out of your mind?" he exclaimed immediately, not realizing it was a mistake until after he said it.

"What d'you mean; 'am I out of my mind'?" shouted Tonks angrily, he sound of her voice scared Remus. She went on, "What about you, who was so out of his own mind to leave me a damned note telling me you're leaving and won't be coming back? You could have at least waited until I woke up to tell me such thing, so I could say goodbye, Remus!"

"I - "

"Remus," Tonks went on, and it seemed she was near tears, "how could you leave me? I thought…" She paused to blink a few times, trying to stop the tears from flowing. "I thought you loved me…You go and leave me, Remus! Why did you have to do this?"

"Dora, I - "

"You don't realize how much you hurt me," Tonks said, now unable to resist crying, and the tears fell out of her eyes and poured down her cheeks. Remus felt remorseful at seeing her cry, and he turned his head away, but her seizing his robes made him look straight into her hurt eyes.

"I thought you loved me," she repeated, and the words seemed to have an inevitable effect on Remus. He stared at her, and it was quiet for a moment. His eyes were locked with hers and he almost felt as if he were put under her command.

"I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME!" shouted Tonks suddenly, making at least one other person in the room jump. Remus recognized that inextinguishable fire in her eyes, and the only thing he could do was to fight fire with fire.

"I DO LOVE YOU!" he yelled as loud as he could, knowing he was earning the stares of the Weasleys on his back, knowing he was being truthful. His chest was heaving as he breathed unusually heavily, and he looked her straight in the eye and said, "Nymphadora Tonks, I love you with all my heart. I was an idiot, a complete fool, to leave someone like you behind..." He paused to bite his lip: The angry flare in her eyes had vanished mysteriously.

Tonks had stopped crying, but it was impossible to tell whether or not she had stopped for good. She looked up at him through now hopeful eyes and said breathlessly, "Why?" Her words fell like feathers upon Remus's head and he embraced them as softly as they came.

"I was afraid," he admitted to her in a gentle tone. "I was so scared about having a child with you…I was regretting the fact that I ever married you. I'm a werewolf, and werewolves don't usually marry and breed." He paused, searching for the perfect words to say. "I felt that marrying you, Dora, was a mistake," he said, "but if it was…then it was the best mistake I've ever made."

Tonks looked up at him with starry eyes for a few seconds before shouting his name and enclosing herself in his big arms. She hugged him tightly, crying silently into his shoulder. He held her close to him, his fingers in her now soft, bright pink hair.

"I'm sorry I hit you," she said quietly.

"Shh," he shushed her quietly.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

The reason I dedicated this chapter to nancystagerat is because I'm quite sure she's been pretty excited to read about Remus's return to ol' Tonks. Plus, she's been helping me out by pointing out and correcting my grammar mistakes and also naming the good stuff, which boosts my confidence about this story. Also - talk to me on AIM, guys, my screen name is AdelineFlip. I want to hear from ya personally, I guess. Either that, or I'm THAT bored…