A/N: Sorry for the unusual time delay; needless to say, I did not find this easy to write. I'm truly sorry if it doesn't do them justice. I don't own HP, 'cos if I did, well...I hope you, er, enjoy the chapter. Thank yous go out to all reviewers and readers!

Chapter Ten: Until Death

Nymphadora Lupin did as she was told. She soothed Teddy, and held his warm body in her arms. As always, he took hold of her body, her soul and her thoughts, and the pain of the goodbye eased a little as she whispered optimistically to him about where she would take him if they won the war. Would you like Blackpool Tower, Teddy? Your daddy says he's never been. The man's thirty-eight, been to Peru and back and hasn't been to Blackpool. I ask you. Or we'll wait, wait till you're bigger and we've got a little more money. We could go to France. I think Daddy has some relatives there. I'm sure they'd love to see you.

She knew she was a different person since becoming a mother. Her life, to a greater extent than Remus's, ran solely around Teddy, and she didn't mind. She felt she was not the clumsy Tonks she had been, but Dora Lupin, who was calmer, and drifted tranquilly from room to room while her little boy slept. Was that who she wanted to be? As Teddy, tired as she was but hopefully not with the same returning headache, settled into her arms to sleep, she closed her eyes to block the painful, still strong sunlight and the even more agonising sight of Teddy's eyes, which were the same as his father's, her husband's. Yes, Remus and Teddy had cleaved her life into two equally satisfying parts, but what of the first part? Memories came to her as they had the time Bellatrix had attacked her, only more slowly this time and with a recurring theme...

"Well, Nymphadora, do you have any career plans?"

"Yes, I do now. I've been reading that book, you know 'October 31st'. The one about..."

"Lily and James Potter? I remember, I taught them both. The books got a fair few inaccuracies, even I could tell...never once mentions poor Remus Lupin, for instance."

"Who? Anyway, their story really inspired me. I know I'll never do anything like what they did, but I want to preserve the peace and...well, make a difference. And I think being an Auror would be pretty cool."

"Well, you're capable of getting the grades. All you need is to sort out your behaviour."

Professor Sprout's voice was always friendly even when she was trying to be strict. It had made her teenage self laugh and make an unenthusiastic promise not to annoy Professor Snape any more...on purpose.

it was finally over. She had reached the end of the course, and the sun was setting outside. Auror Moody was waiting for her with his arms folded. Pushing her lime green hair out of her eyes, the trainee Auror sighed and jogged up to him, feeling angry with herself for getting so far from the others. She was always so clumsy.

"Sorry." she said. "I'll just go inside, shall I?"

A puzzled look came over Moody's scarred face. "What're you apologising for, girl? You're first."

"...Sorry?"

"First to come back." said another official whose name she'd forgotten. "I'm surprised."

"I'm not." Moody said, with what was almost a smile. "She's good, this one."

Nymphadora Tonks beamed.

Poor Mad-Eye...he'd always supported her. He'd offered her the opportunity of her life...

"I, Nymphadora Andromeda Tonks, recognise that with the sign of my Patronus and the signature of my name, I hereby give my whole-hearted allegiance to the Order of the Phoenix and Harry James Potter. I will, if necessary, put my life on the line for them both, as I recognise that by doing so I will make an invaluable contribution to the good of the Wizarding World..."

And then, the day everything really changed...

"I wish to announce to the Order that my Patronus...has changed. Yeah. so, without further ado...Expecto Patronum!"

Oh, it had been painful and satisfying to see that new Patronus. True, the memory it had come from hadn't been all that strong-Remus had kissed her many times since then-but now, of course, she had their wedding to think of. Or the day he came back, and promised that he wouldn't leave again...

Unable to stop herself, she began to cry quietly. Teddy, now fast asleep, didn't notice. He probably hadn't realised his father had gone, and might possibly never come back. Perhaps he would be upset in the future for not having a decent goodbye, just as his mother was upset now. 'Love you'? Not even an 'I' in the front. That was what he was going to battle with. 'Love you', and a nice kiss. He'd probably forgotten it already.

She put Teddy to bed with loving dedication, though her eyesight was blurry with tears. Giving him a kiss, she wandered downstairs, the image of him imprinted on her mind. He was so small and precious, and he was hers and Remus's...he was a symbol of their love, as well as an innocent human being. She had never loved anyone as much as him, not even Remus, really. She would bear anything for Teddy.

Even staying at home? She asked herself. There was nothing to do for Teddy now. He would sleep a few hours before his nappy needed changing or he got hungry again. She hadn't forgotten to burp him. So what was there to be done? She didn't want to ask her mother, who would probably suggest 'The washing up' as if there wasn't a battle going on. She could not forget about it. Whenever she closed her eyes, Teddy's eyes, Remus's eyes, closed in front of her. Would they open again? She almost began to cry again at the thought. Sitting on the bottom of the stairs, as she had done when her father died and other times before, she nibbled her sleeve and thought.

She had a million reasons to go. She had wanted to be an Auror since she was sixteen. Mad-Eye Moody would want her to go. She had worked her arse off for the cause and should see it to the end. Staying at home like this when seventeen-year-olds were fighting was disgraceful, not to mention insulting. It was not who she was...was it?

She was not an Auror any more. She was a wife and a mother. She would honour and obey Remus, though her vows had not contained that particular phrase, and stay. She would wait for Teddy to need her again. He was the important thing now, even if the battle was so big and he was so small. He was a precious, innocent life, and he was what her friends were fighting for. By looking after him, she furthered their cause.

But Teddy needed more than feeding and changing. He needed safety. If they lost the war, he wouldn't live long...she did not want to think about it. Thinking of Remus's death was hard enough, but she had done it for years and she was doing it again, but Teddy...Bellatrix would probably give him to Greyback as a thank you present. It made his mother's heart thump painfully to think of them even in the same room as him, let alone...

...she had to go. For Teddy's sake, she had to go. She had to see his father once more. She had to honour her mentor's memory. She had to avenge her dad. She had to go.

Morally obliged or not, Tonks felt an agony like no other when leaving Teddy. She had not strayed from his side since he had been born...since he had been conceived, technically. She wrote a note for him on some fine paper her dad had found at a crafts fair-'Nymphadora' was written in gold at the top of every page, and pressed hard with the ink as if it that made the words mean more. She gave the paper a kiss, marking several x's to symbolise it, and sprayed it liberally with the perfume Remus had given her when the ink was dry. She folded it and drew a heart in the old-fashioned wax envelope seal with her fingernail, making sure to write 'Teddy' on the front of the envelope. Finally, she used the remainder of the ink to write something on her hand. Then, walking as though her spine was cracking, she went to Teddy and kissed him. She couldn't wake him, however much she wanted him to see her. He looked so peaceful.

"Sweet dreams, baby." she said. "Think of the seaside, Teddy. You'll take your first steps there, and I'll help you do it. I won't leave you, even if my body does. I love you."

Upon exiting what had been her room, she cast her Patronus for him, as she sometimes did when she left. It was stronger in shape than she had ever seen it, but its light was a little dim as if it knew the baby was sleeping.

Her mother was sorry to see her go, but like her daughter, she made a fierce effort not to cry. The two women hugged each other tightly.

"I'll be back soon." Nymphadora assured her mother. "If I survive and we win."

"What are the chances of that?" Her mother asked, her voice strained. "You're safer here."

"At this moment, I agree." she said, her fingers going towards her wand. "But I want to do everything I can to keep it that way in the future. For Teddy, Mum."

Andromeda nodded mutely. "I'd do the same for you."

"Take care of him. Especially if I don't come back."

"I will. He'll be safe with me. Don't worry. I love you, sweetheart..."

Tonks kissed her mother, who was becoming tearful, and then, fighting back her own emotions, she headed for the Hog's Head.

In what seemed like no time at all, she was running to the grounds, the green grass of which was being torn by battle. Ginny was following her with equal determination It was astonishing how similar their lives were...Ginny had been left aside too, by her hero. She was only sixteen.

Ginny disappeared when they got to the grounds. Tonks hoped for the best for her, and, gripping her wand tightly, ran around in search of a Death Eater while keeping an eye out for Remus. Where was Dolohov? She hoped he had not used that purple hex on him.

She paused for a moment. She was not as fit as she had been before Teddy was born. She had forgotten the last time she ran. However, her deep intake of breath was interrupted as an arm came across her throat. She flailed weakly as her breath was constricted, her wand almost falling to the ground.

"Nymphadora," whispered a rasping voice in her ear. She recognised it instantly. It was Fenrir Greyback. "I've looked forward to meeting you. I've heard a lot about you."

"Bellatrix." she spluttered, coughing.

"No." he said. "Your husband. Used to scream it in his sleep. Went half mad when he was with us, but we got through to him in the end."

"You never did." she said.

"Oh?" he said, tightening his grip on her. "I told 'em to spread the curse, and he did. Gave you a pup. I'm proud." She kicked him. "Oh, no need to act like that. I'll do nothing to harm your cub. I can be quite the foster father... and you'll be needing one, because I'm not letting a plump morsel like you get away." His other hand was squeezing the flab at her hips.

Thinking determinedly of Remus's real emotion for Teddy, she cast her Patronus forward, and then, once it had bounded on, used her wand to push Greyback from her. He went far back enough to allow her to breathe again, but soon had her by the waist again.

"They don't work well on me." he said. "'Could say I've built up an immunity...enough chit chat. No talking..." he licked her, and she shuddered. "...at the dinner table."

Suddenly, a blast of hot, white light skimmed past her ear and hit her attacker. She looked ahead of her. Her husband was stood in front of her, his face twisted in rage.

"Let go of her, or pay with your life!" he said. Sure enough, she was thrown to one side, and Greyback leapt towards Remus with an animalistic roar of anger. She distanced herself, but could not pull her eyes from him. If he was to die, she didn't want him not to see her. To her delight, Remus, with some considerable effort, overpowered his attacker with a simple spell, and then leant over him, eyes glowing, wand pointing menacingly at him. For the first time, she saw fear in the feral werewolf's eyes.

"This," he said, "is for my son."

Then, suddenly, as if it was in slow motion...a jet of green light blasted towards Remus, hitting him in the back. He immediately flopped lifelessly onto Greyback, who pushed him off and stood up, dusting himself down.

"Cheers, Dolohov."

Tonks looked at her husband's killer, who was smiling viciously.

"He was wrong to think he could get away from me..." Dolohov replied with a laugh, and the two wizards moved on.

Remus was lying on his back, arms and legs askew. His skin had drained of all colour. Looking around her beforehand, she rushed to him, and gently touched his face. His amber eyes stared vacantly back at her. He had paid the ultimate price for his family.

"I love you." she told him, slowly. "I love you so much. I can't stay. I'll come back..." She was beginning to cry. Hot tears flowed from her eyes and down her cheeks. Her hair fell limply to her shoulders. She knew he wasn't taking in a word she said, because he was gone...her husband, Teddy's father...Remus was dead.

With a heaving sob, she sent a flare of sparks into the air to alert whoever was fetching the bodies, and ran back into the battle.

Her battle with Bellatrix was over quickly. She was drained of energy, both physically and emotionally, and her aunt, a warrior all her life, did not fail to take advantage of this. She blocked nearly all of her niece's various curses, including a Torture Curse, one that Tonks had never employed before now. She wanted to take out the woman who'd killed Sirius, the woman who'd made her mother's early life a misery, the woman who'd tried to kill her, and Teddy in the first few weeks of his existence. But the Auror, gifted as she was, failed her last mission. Her aunt Bellatrix ended her short life with a Killing Curse to the stomach, and then moved on with a cold, high, feminine laugh. Nymphadora's last thought was of hope for her baby.

"...Remus and Tonks, pale and still and peaceful-looking, as though asleep beneath the dark enchanted ceiling."

Ginny, unable to look at Fred for much longer, walked over to Lupin and Tonks. They too had died for Harry; where was he? She breathed heavily, crying harder. It was a good thing Harry was baby Teddy's godfather, because he owed him something big.

She looked at them both. Lupin's clothes had been straightened on his body by some dedicated carer, and his eyes had been closed. He looked thin, and his hair was grey, and there was a shape in his pocket that could have been a letter or a photograph. Ginny did not try to find out. Instead, politely moved her eyes to Tonks. She too had had her eyes closed, and her hair was brown, as it was naturally. Dora had been like an older sister to her; fun, yet caring. She would have been an excellent mother...Ginny gasped and gave another sob for her. It was so unfair on poor Teddy, not to mention them...it would have been their first wedding anniversary this summer. She looked at the rings on either of their hands, and was surprised to see a smudged scribble on Tonks' left hand. There was an arrow on her ring finger, and a note that started from her wrist.

If I die, please take off the engagement ring, as I do not want to be buried with it on. Instead, please give it to my son, Teddy, so that he can pass it on to his Mrs Lupin. Do leave the wedding rings on, though. Thank you.