A/N: Some fluff, some action, some angst. Something for everyone in this chapter :-)

Nymphadora Tonks stood before the mirror in her bedroom in her parents' house wearing a vintage, floor-length, cream sheath dress with a lace overlay. Around her neck was a strand of pearls her mother had given her. At her mother's request, she'd changed her hair from her favorite pink to a medium brown that fell down her back in soft curls. She was grateful her Metamorphosing powers had returned. She was sure it was her happiness with Remus that had brought them back.

Tonks had never been the kind of girl to get excited about weddings, and she'd refused to let her mother throw the massive wedding that Andromeda had suggested. Neither she nor Remus had wanted to wait; they'd done plenty of that already. Tonks laughed softly, remembering her mother's shock when they'd told her that the wedding would be less than two weeks after they got engaged. Andromeda had insisted on Tonks wearing a real wedding gown, and Tonks had to admit that the dress was lovely.

When she heard a familiar and unmistakable clunk, she didn't need to turn to know that Mad-Eye Moody stood in the open doorway.

"Your parents asked me to come up and check on you," he growled. "We're just waiting for you."

Without turning, she asked, "Is it wrong to feel happy when Dumbledore just died?"

"Of course not! Life's made up of the good and the bad. You can't have happiness without sorrow. Besides, Dumbledore would be thrilled," he said in his gruff voice.

Tonks turned and smiled her thanks.

"Now, let's get you married before you come to your senses and realize marriage is a terrible idea."

"Ever the charmer, you are, Mad-Eye," she replied, but took his arm and let him guide her downstairs.

Her parents were standing at the bottom of the stairs, both had tears in their eyes. Mad-Eye stumped off to join the few guests they'd invited outside.

"You look beautiful, Nymphadora," Andromeda said.

Her father seemed to be at a loss for words – a first, she was sure. He simply offered her his arm. Andromeda hurried out the door ahead of them, waving her wand to start the music. Tonks vaguely recognized Pachelbel's Canon in D, her favorite piece to play when she'd learned the violin as a child. She wondered if her mother had remembered it was her favorite, or if it was simply chosen because it was a traditional wedding song. She took a deep breath, nodded to her father, and they walked out the front door.

Tonks marveled at the beautiful job her mother and Molly Weasley had done. It was twilight, and they'd lit hundreds of candles to light Tonks' way to Remus, who stood beneath an archway made of white lilies, Tonks' favorite flower. Molly and Arthur Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody, and Tonks' mother watched as she walked slowly down the candlelit path. When she reached Remus, everything seemed to fade away. She'd never seen him look so handsome. It wasn't the new dress robes or the haircut; it was the look of joy on his face and the loving, adoring way he was looking at her. She barely heard the official's sing-song voice. She automatically repeated her vows, only coming to herself once more when she heard him declare them bonded for life. She moved into Remus' arms and put all her joy and love into the kiss they shared.

They escaped a short while later to Remus' cottage – their cottage now.

Remus looked down at Tonks and said, "You look so beautiful. How did I get so lucky?"

Tonks just blushed and smiled. "I was wondering the same thing."

"What now, Mrs. Lupin?"

"I think I have a few ideas, Mr. Lupin."

They moved into the bedroom and made love slowly and tenderly.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Two weeks later, after countless hours of planning, the Order was ready to move Harry from his aunt and uncle's home. The original plan had been for Mad-Eye to take Harry by Side-Along Apparition, but when Thicknesse made it an imprisonable offense to connect Harry's house to the Floo Network, Apparate in or out, or place a Portkey there, they'd had to come up with a Plan B. They'd been at a loss until Mundungus suggested they use Polyjuice Potion, so it would appear there were several Harrys flying through the skies. Remus and Tonks had immediately volunteered to be protectors. They were preparing to meet the others at the Burrow when Remus pulled Tonks down to sit on the bed with him.

"We need to get going, Remus," Tonks said, but making no real effort to get up. She was hiding it well, but she was nervous.

Remus took her hands. "If anything happens to me-"

Tonks cut him off, "No, we're not doing this."

"Yes, we are. We have a good plan, but it'll still be dangerous, love. I need you to know that I've updated my will, everything will go to you. I know it's not much, but at least you'll have the cottage and the little money in my vault in Gringotts."

Tonks bit her lip, her eyes filling with tears at the thought of losing him. "Everything of mine will go to you, as well."

Remus sighed and pulled her into his arms. They sat there for a few minutes, arms wrapped around one another, before they stood and moved out the door. They paused in the living room to pick up their brooms, then walked outside.

Tonks turned to face Remus once more when they'd moved beyond the wards. "I love you, Remus."

Remus kissed her deeply. "I love you too, Nymphadora."

They grasped hands and Disapparated.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

They'd explained the plan to Harry and everyone had mounted their brooms, thestrals, and, in Harry and Hagrid's case, motorcycle.

"Hold tight now, Ron," Tonks said to Ron, the "Harry" she would be protecting. She saw Remus raise an eyebrow and smirk at her, and she rolled her eyes.

"Good luck, everyone. See you all in about an hour at the Burrow," Mad-Eye shouted above the roar of the motorcycle, "On the count of three. One…Two…THREE."

Tonks and Ron kicked off hard together and saw the others rising up around them. Tonks was hit with a sudden instinctual fear.

"Wand out, Ron," she said over her shoulder, pulling her own wand out at the same time.

Her fear was proven correct just moments later. They'd risen in the middle of a circle of at least thirty Death Eaters hovering on broomsticks. Tonks heard a scream and then saw flashes of red and green light. She'd fired a spell at the nearest Death Eater without even thinking, and heard Ron shout "Stupefy" behind her. She rolled the broom and a spell narrowly missed her. She accelerated through the gap created when her spell knocked one of the Death Eaters off his broom. She turned when they were outside the circle to try to help the others and saw Remus fire a spell at a Death Eater who had just pointed his wand at her.

"Tonks, GO!" he shouted.

Tonks saw the others flying off it every direction and spun her broom around once more and flew off, Ron clinging tightly to her waist. She bent low over the broom, accelerating as quickly as possible towards Molly's Aunt Muriel's.

"Tonks! We've got company!" Ron shouted in her ear.

Tonks looked back over her shoulder and saw four Death Eaters following them. She felt Ron shifting behind her and he let go of her waist. She felt his back pressed against hers and heard him firing spells back at the Death Eaters. Suddenly, there was someone flying right next to her. She looked over and saw Rodolphus Lestrange with his wand pointed at her.

"Impedimenta!" she shrieked and saw him blasted sideways off his broom.

She heard a voice she knew belonged to Bellatrix scream, "Avada Kedavra!" and Tonks saw a beam of green light shoot past her. She could hear Ron shooting Stunning Spells back at the Death Eaters and she looked back in time to see him Stun one of the Death Eaters straight to the head.

"Good one, Ron!" she shouted.

They now had only Bellatrix and one other Death Eater following them. Another flash of green shot past Tonks as she looked down and saw that they were approaching Muriel's. She started the descent and could just make out Muriel's house below them. She heard another scream of "Avada Kedavra" but saw no flash of green. In panic, she turned to look at Ron, and saw that the Death Eaters were gone; they had crossed through the protective enchantments.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Much later that night, Tonks paced the floor of her and Remus' living room. Tears streamed down her face unchecked, she didn't bother to wipe them away. Mad-Eye had been her mentor; he'd trained her when she'd joined the Auror Department, and now Remus was out searching for his body. Molly had asked her if she wanted to stay and wait at the Burrow, but Fleur's fretting over Bill had been driving her mental, so she'd come back here. Not that the silence here was any better.

She was distracted momentarily by a wave of the nausea she'd been fighting – and hiding – for several days. She was almost positive she knew what was causing it. Combined with her tender breasts and the fact that her usually like-clockwork period was four days late, there was little doubt in her mind what was going on. She sipped on her ginger tea and wondered how to tell Remus.

The door burst open and Remus slammed it shut behind him. He ran his hands through his hair and looked around for her.

"Did – did you find…?" Tonks trailed off.

"No. We searched for hours and nothing. It makes me sick to know they got ahold of it," Remus said, disgusted.

"Maybe you missed it; it's the middle of the night."

"Bill saw it happen right after we broke out of the circle, so there wasn't too much ground to cover. We searched every square foot. The body's gone."

Another intense wave of nausea hit her, and she bolted to the bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet before she lost the meager dinner she'd forced herself to eat. Remus had come in after her and rubbed her back as she heaved. She stood up shakily and turned to the sink to splash water on her face. She gargled some mouthwash and could feel Remus watching her closely. She finally turned to him and his face was full of concern.

"I'm fine, Remus," she answered his unspoken question.

"How long have you been sick?" he asked.

"I'm not sick, I just…got sick." Tonks attempted a feeble joke to try to divert him.

"Dora, you have the strongest stomach of anyone I know, there's obviously something going on."

"It's really not a big deal, Remus."

Tonks moved past him toward the bedroom. She stripped off her sweater on the way and dropped it on the floor, something she knew irritated him but she couldn't bring herself to care. She flung her bra and jeans at the hamper in the corner of the bedroom, pulled one of his big T-shirts on over her head, and crawled into their bed. A few minutes later she heard the rustling of clothing as he came into the bedroom and stripped off his own clothes and felt him climb into bed beside her. He curled his body around hers and kissed her neck softly.

"What's going on, love?" he murmured.

Tonks sighed. "Please, Remus, I'm exhausted and I can't handle anything else tonight. Can you just let it go?"

Remus was silent for a moment, then murmured, "All right."

Tonks didn't allow herself to relax until she heard him snoring quietly.

The next morning, Tonks was out of bed and dressed before the sun came up. She grabbed some Muggle money, slipped out the door, and Apparated to the Muggle village a few miles away. She slipped into a shop.

Ten minutes later, she was home again with a small brown paper bag in her hand. She peeked into the bedroom to be sure Remus was still asleep, then went into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. She knew there was a spell to determine if she was pregnant, but she didn't know the incantation, and couldn't bring herself to ask her mother or Molly Weasley. She pulled the little stick out of the box and read the instructions. She followed the directions and waited three agonizing minutes. She paced the tiny bathroom, trying to wrap her head around the idea of having a baby. She'd never really thought about whether or not she wanted children, and the most she and Remus had discussed it was her confirming that she took a Contraceptive potion each month. While she was terrified, she couldn't deny she was thrilled by the idea at the same time. To have a baby with Remus, even with all the difficulties she knew they'd face, would be exciting and wonderful.

The three minutes had passed and Tonks turned to the little stick, actually hoping for a positive result. She looked down and a smile spread over her face. Two unmistakable pink lines. She vaguely heard Remus call her name, but couldn't bring herself to move. Her heart was racing and she couldn't wipe the excited smile from her face. There was a sharp knock on the bathroom door.

"Dora, love, are you all right?"

Tonks opened the door. "I'm fine."

"Are you going to tell me what's going on with you now?"

Tonks took his hands and looked up into his prematurely lined, but still handsome face and gave him the news. "I'm pregnant, Remus."