Rendezvous
by Matthew W. Quinn and Kyli Ann Rasco
August 3rd, 1997 AD
8:15 AM
Remus Lupin waited in a clearing in the woods a mile or so from the Tonks home.
This should be far enough away that it doesn't attract the attention of any passing Law Enforcement personnel, Lupin thought. I don't trust Fenrir Greyback as far as I can throw him.
A branch cracked. Lupin whirled, wand out.
"Who goes there?" he demanded.
An old woman with tightly-curled iron-gray hair wearing an incongruous outfit of blue jeans and a "Weird Sisters" shirt approached. Lupin repressed the urge to sigh in relief.
That's one of her usual disguises and the clothes are pure Dora. But one has to be sure.
"Name a particularly amusing episode from the honeymoon of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks," Lupin said.
The old woman smiled, though it appeared a very sad smile.
"Remus Lupin felt the need to drop Nymphadora Tonks in the ocean when she'd fallen asleep in the chair. Then, after a brief interruption by Kingsley Shacklebolt's Patronus, she wore him out."
Lupin smiled.
Definitely her.
A tear escaped the old woman's eye and the old woman's features dissolved, replaced by the familiar face of his wife. Lupin barely had time to notice her hair hung mouse-brown and limp before she had leaped onto him and held him tightly.
"Remus!" she cried. "Where've you been?"
"I assume you read the Prophet," he replied.
"Yes," she said. "They said you killed the Healers at the clinic, that you were in the company of Greyback's people." Her voice trailed off. "Remus, where did you go?"
"The one place I was sure I could find sanctuary."
"The werewolf colony," she said, a statement rather than a question. "The Prophet isn't lying, then. But with the Ministry under Death Eater control and Greyback..."
Her voice trailed away. "No," she whispered. "No, no you didn't..."
Yes. Yes I did.
Lupin slowly nodded. Tonks pulled away from him and slumped down onto a nearby log, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Lupin felt his heart twisting inside his chest and blinked back a tear himself. He sat down and slid his arm around her. Rather than pull away as he half-feared, she buried her face in his shoulder and wept.
Then, head still buried in his shoulder, she started hitting him, pounding his chest with her left fist.
What do I do?
If he caught her hand, she might get even angrier. He decided to let her expend her anger and hope she didn't do significant damage.
Eventually, Tonks ran out of energy for hitting. She looked up and locked eyes with her husband. He focused on her, ignoring the ache in his chest from the pounding he'd received.
"Why, Remus?" she said, anger beginning to seep into her voice. "Greyback is a monster! All the problems you've had all your life, they're his fault! He bit you!"
"That he did, Dora, that he did. But he did not make the entire wizarding community other than my parents and the Order of the Phoenix turn away from me in disgust, he did not make the people I applied to for work turn me down, and he did not make the doctors refuse to treat you..."
As he rattled off the slights that he — and she — had experienced over the years, wheels began turning in his head.
Wizarding society has treated both of us poorly, but Greyback's mad, he thought. But what if Greyback wasn't in charge of the werewolves? What if they could be put to better use?
A wolf's grin momentarily crossed his face and it took him a bit longer than usual to force it away.
"Dora," he said. "Dora, I have a plan."
She looked up at him through tear-filled eyes.
"What sort of plan?" she said skeptically. "One that involves murdering people?"
The anger in her voice was getting stronger. If Lupin wasn't careful, the Auror would overcome the wife and would-be mother and he would be in for a world of hurt.
"Only the ones who deserve it," Lupin said. "Namely Fenrir Greyback and perhaps some of his lieutenants."
That would be tricky, given how he'd be closely watched as not only a newcomer but also a longtime ideological foe. If he challenged Greyback and failed, he'd get torn to pieces, and the werewolves could even come after the Tonks family in reprisal.
Tonks raised an eyebrow.
"Kill Greyback? And then what?"
Hmm…that's a good point. Greyback is the one holding the pack together. This could require some thought.
"I don't know, Dora. If I can hold the werewolves together, we can help Harry with whatever task Dumbledore gave him before he died, perhaps ally with the Order of the Phoenix to bring the Death Eaters down."
His expression darkened for a moment.
"In exchange for certain concessions, of course."
If the Order of the Phoenix wants an army of werewolves at their command, they'll have to earn it. It shouldn't be that difficult — if Voldemort's rule endures for long, we can tar much of the existing Ministry as collaborators if they object to abolishing the anti-werewolf laws and instituting certain helpful programs.
He shook his head.
"The problem is, Greyback united the various werewolf packs of wizarding Britain. He's all that holds them together. Even if I managed to bring him down, there's no guarantee they'd follow me. The werewolf army could simply dissolve, especially if I order them into action against the Death Eaters."
Unless I can pin the blame on someone else, on the Death Eaters.
That matter would require further thought. He decided to change the subject, at least for the moment.
"Now enough of this," Lupin said. "How are you?"
Tonks face fell.
"I went back to our house. The place is a ruin. The Death Eaters were probably searching for that damned diary. I managed to get some of our stuff out of there and I've moved back in with Mum and Dad."
She swallowed.
"Or at least Mum. Dad's gone."
Lupin's heart sank.
"What? Why?"
Tonks handed him her copy of the Prophet.
"Page 3A," she said.
Lupin looked.
"The Ministry for Magic has begun investigation into the true origins of magical power," he read. "Given how magic is almost always the dominant gene, it would appear that it would only be passed on by wizards reproducing. So-called 'Muggleborns' are invited to assist the Ministry in…"
Lupin began trembling with rage and crumpled the paper in his fist. He handed it back to Tonks before he could do further damage.
"This is just the beginning," Tonks said, her tears beginning to return. "Dad knows where this is going to go. Once they come up with some bullshit theory to justify it, they're going to start rounding people up. There were Death Eaters in the neighborhood last night and he knew he'd be the first they'd come after."
Due to his supposed seduction of the high-born Andromeda, I suppose, Lupin thought. The Death Eaters are going to do what the Muggles were doing in Germany, 50 years ago.
Tonks swallowed, fighting back her tears.
"How's your Mum?" Lupin asked. "If your Dad's had to go on the run, that can't be easy for her."
"She'll manage," Tonks said. "She always has. But I wouldn't go asking her how she's doing in person. She's assumed the worst about you, and she'll kill you if she sees you."
She locked eyes with her husband.
"I mean it, Remus."
She's a Black by birth. I wouldn't put it past her.
Lupin nodded.
"And Harry, Ron, and Hermione?"
Tonks shook her head.
"Nobody knows. They haven't been seen since the wedding. We've been avoiding 12 Grimmauld Place — the Death Eaters are sure to be keeping an eye on it, in hopes of catching us there. Even if the enchantments keep Snape from telling anyone its location, he can still give them the general area."
Lupin sighed.
"I'll see if anyone at the colony is aware of anything. Greyback will probably think it's silly sentimentality on my part, but I don't think he cares. He's not ideologically invested in the Death Eater regime — for him, it's solely a matter of convergent aims."
Then he rose.
"Now I've got to get back to the colony. Spending too much time away will likely make the old bastard suspicious and we don't need that right now."
Tonks clung to his robes.
"Please," she whispered. "Please don't go. Not yet."
Lupin looked down at her. Their eyes locked. He remembered how he said he would stay and he didn't, instead setting off to wreak justice for their dead son.
"All right," he said.
He sat back down on the log. They held each other until the sun hung directly overhead and Lupin realized he'd been gone from the colony all morning.
They're going to start wondering. Questions about my loyalty will threaten the plan.
He pulled himself and Tonks to their feet.
"Dora," he said. "I have to go now. They'll be wondering where I am."
Tonks was crying again.
"When will I see you again?"
"We can communicate via Patronus and arrange to meet up now and again. Provided I can avoid your dear mother, I don't think that will be that difficult."
He smiled and Tonks smiled back through her tears.