A/N: hello all, I hope each of you had a lovely *cough* holiday invented by greeting card companies *cough* I mean, Valentine's day regardless of your relationship status. I hope you took time to give yourself a hug and treated yourself to something nice, bc you are your own valentine. and if you haven't read the latest update to For In Dreams, what are you doing, go do that now, otherwise some stuff here might not make sense.

(yes I still am single isn't it obvious?)

October 29th, 1995, 8:24a.m., their quarters

Remus

Remus had every intention of sleeping in that Sunday, before traveling to Diagon Alley to meet with the Weasleys and the Potters, however, the plan of sleeping in was interrupted, as was his very pleasant dream, by the very irritating and sudden voice of Dora Tonks.

"Sirius? Remus! Oi, the both of you, wake up!"

Remus sat up suddenly, the voice startling him from sleep. Sirius groaned and tugged at his shoulder absently. Remus ignored him and threw the blankets off, getting out of bed.

"Nuu, Remus, come back to bed," Sirius mumbled.

"Tonks?" Remus called. Sirius sat up.

"I need to talk to you!"

Remus opened their bedroom door and walked into the lounge. Tonks's head floated in the flames, her expression close to panic.

"Wha's goin' on?" Sirius asked as he followed Remus into the lounge. "Tonks, what are you doing?"

Tonks did not even react to the sight of Sirius in naught but his boxers, rather she looked between them with ever increasing anxiety in her eyes. "Can I come through? I need some advice."

"Go ahead," Remus said, covering a yawn.

Tonks nodded, then a few moments later she stumbled out of the fire. She grabbed the back of the armchair and inhaled deeply. Remus stepped forward, concerned by her blanched face and wondering if she was going to vomit.

"What's wrong, Dora?" Sirius asked her. Tonks raised a finger, still concentrating on her breathing.

"Are you going to throw up?" Remus asked.

Tonks inhaled deeply. "Nope. Nope, did that already. Not doing it again."

"Is it contagious?" Sirius asked, already reaching to pull Remus back from her.

Tonks shook her head quickly, then seemed to regret it. "Pretty sure you can't catch this."

"What's wrong?" Remus asked.

Tonks heaved a heavy sigh then finally straightened up, and she looked at them in the eye. There were dark circles under her eyes and her hair was not the bright pink it had been when she had left for America three weeks before, rather it was wispy and pale blonde. "I'm pregnant," she said flatly.

Remus's jaw dropped. They were quiet a second, then:

"Definitely not contagious then," Sirius said.

"Sirius!" Remus scolded.

Tonks moved around the chair and dropped down into it. "I just Floo'd from the Ministry; when I got back from America I had to get checked by a Healer to make sure I hadn't brought over any illnesses and the Healer asked me why I was travelling cross continent through the Floo instead of taking a boat –" Tonks's voice was rising steadily, her hair quickly becoming just as white as her skin – "and I said because boats take too long," Tonks inhaled rapidly, then said in an even higher voice, "and the Healer laughed at me and said that the extra time shouldn't be much of a bother because it's safer for my baby!"

Remus glanced over at Sirius. Sirius gave a shrug.

Tonks hung her head in her hands. "I just had my period, like right before I left for New York! I was literally one day off my period when we did it, how the hell did I get pregnant?!"

"Er, who's we in this situation?" Sirius asked.

Tonks let out a particularly loud groan. "One of the American Aurors, the day after I arrived, I helped in a raid that was extremely successful, then after everyone when out to celebrate, and John and I…"

"Celebrated?" Sirius asked.

Tonks gave a nod. "Worst is, the next raid… one of the Scourers shot John."

Remus drew in a gasp. "He's not – he isn't dead, is he?"

Tonks nodded. "I mean, I was sad about it because, well, he died, but I didn't know him that well even if we did – you know, but now, the last guy I did it with was too far back to be the dad so it has to be John, who's fucking dead!"

Tonks fell back in her chair, covering her face with her hand. Remus glanced at Sirius. Sirius, once again, only shrugged.

"I'm going to make you a cup of tea, Tonks," Remus said. "And get you some chocolate."

"That would be nice," Tonks murmured. Remus patted her shoulder and walked over to the kitchen. He busied himself with making tea and pulling some of his good chocolate out of the pantry, then walked back over to the lounge area to pass the mugs out. "Thank you," Tonks said as she took her mug and the chocolate from Remus.

"You're welcome," he said to her. He took a seat with Sirius on the couch, giving him a mug as well. Sirius took it with a smile, then sipped from it. They all drank their tea in silence for a little while, until Tonks had finished the chocolate.

"What if that Healer was wrong?" Sirius asked.

Tonks shook her head. "I made him check again four times, then he got another couple of Healers to check another two more times. I'm pregnant."

Sirius glanced at Remus, who had nothing for him. He turned back to Tonks, then slipped off the couch, knelt in front of Tonks and reached out a hand, touching her knee. "Do you want to stay with us for a while? Until you're ready to go home and tell Andromeda and Ted?"

Tonks nodded absently. "That would be nice. I don't really want to be alone right now."

Sirius gave her knee a squeeze. "That's okay, you don't have to."

Tonks set down her mug, then slid off her chair and wrapped her arms around Sirius's neck. He patted her back slowly, while her shoulders began to shake. Remus could do nothing, but sit there and watch them. Eventually, Tonks's sobs stilled and she pulled away. She rubbed at her cheeks, then fell back against the chair. She looked down at herself and touched her stomach with a shaking hand.

"I don't know what to do," she whispered.

Sirius touched her shoulder. "It'll be okay, Dora. We'll help you, and your parents will help you. You can get desk duty until the baby's born, then you'll get two months off for maternity leave. Personally, I was always jealous of women for that excuse."

Tonks laughed softly. "Except my two months off will be spent not sleeping and trying to get a baby to stop crying…" She trailed off, unsmiling, still staring down at her stomach. "I don't even know if I want to keep it," she whispered.

"It's up to you," Remus said.

Her hand had begun to rub small circles into her belly, almost as if she wasn't even aware of it. Tonks slowly shook her head and leaned it back, staring up at the ceiling. "I feel bad now for not feeling as bad when John got shot," she said. "I mean, I barely knew him, but now…"

"You didn't know," Sirius said. "It's okay, Dora."

She nodded vaguely. "Do I have to call his mother? Should I tell his family? I don't even know if he had siblings, I don't know if his parents are still alive…"

"It's up to you," Remus repeated, "but you'll have people at your back every step of the way."

"But what do I do?" she said. "I'm not ready to be a mom; I can't take care of a baby, I can barely do my own laundry! How am I supposed to take care of a helpless infant?"

"Your mum will help you out," Sirius promised. "She'll love this baby to death."

"But what if she doesn't?" Tonks ask, her hands moving up and gripping at her hair now. "What if she's so mad at me for getting knocked up that she never speaks to me again and I'm left all alone with a screaming baby?"

"Your mum wouldn't do that," Sirius promised. "She's much too kind, alright? She'll be beside you for everything."

"I don't know how to change a diaper!" Tonks said, her voice rising. "I don't know how to feed a baby! Which boob does it use? Do I just put my boob in its face and it just knows what to do? How do I put it to sleep? How do I keep it from crying? What if it gets at my wand when I'm not looking and destroys everything in sight? What if –"

"Dora, Dora, stop freaking out," Sirius said, "you will be fine. Your mum will teach you how to change diapers and which boob the little one will drink out of. You have nine months to learn how to take care of your baby."

Tonks nodded slowly, her eyes a little to the left of Sirius's face. "What do I tell my boss?" she whispered.

Sirius glanced over at Remus and raised his eyebrows. He mouthed something, but Remus wasn't sure what he was saying, so he got off the couch and moved closer. Sirius looked a little annoyed, then whispered in his ear: "Calming draft."

Remus nodded and got up. Tonks didn't notice. He crossed over to the fire and quickly Floo'd to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey looked up from her desk and waved him over.

"What has Mr. Potter done now?" she asked him with a straight face.

"Nothing," Remus answered, though a smile twitched the corner of his mouth up, "but I need a calming draft."

"For whom?"

"Nymphadora Tonks."

Madam Pomfrey looked up at him skeptically. "What's she done?" she asked. "And why is she here?"

"Sirius is her cousin," Remus explained, "and she's just discovered that she's – well, she's very shocked and uncertain of what to do with herself now."

Madam Pomfrey sighed and rose from her chair. She crossed to a cabinet and unlocked it with a tap of her wand. She withdrew a tiny bottle, then handed it to Remus. "That's one dose."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Remus said, bowing a little. He started back towards the fire, then paused. "Erm, Madam, calming drafts are perfectly safe for pregnant women to drink, correct? Just out of curiosity."

Madam Pomfrey didn't skip a beat as she took her seat again and answered him: "Of course they are. And please tell Ms. Tonks that she's going to need to start seeing a Healer more regularly now. I know a few to recommend to her."

"Yes, thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Remus said once again, then Floo'd back to his quarters.

Sirius and Tonks were sitting where he had left them, and Tonks was speaking shrilly again; " – what if I fall asleep and it crawls out of its bed and gives itself brain damage, what if it gets at my Invisibility cloak and I can't fucking find the baby?!"

"Dora, you keep your Invisibility cloak at your office," Sirius reminded her. "The baby wouldn't get at it." He spotted Remus and waved him over. "Remus brought you a calming draft, okay? You can take it with your tea and then go and lay down."

Tonks looked up as Sirius was speaking, spotting Remus, and she exhaled heavily. Remus sat on the floor beside her and poured the calming draft into her tea, then tapped it with his wand to reheat it. He handed it to her, and she took it with shaking hands. The two of them waited until she had drunk all of the tea, then they helped her to her feet.

"You can sleep in here," Remus said, leading her towards the guest room. "When you wake up, we'll be in our room, okay?"

"Yeah," Tonks said, her voice soft. "Just don't forget silencing charms this time, okay?"

Remus blushed as Sirius shook his head; at least they knew the calming draft was working. Besides, their rooms were already charmed to be sound proof. They got Tonks settled in the guest room, then pulled the door closed, leaving her to herself.

Sirius looked at Remus and raised an eyebrow. Remus exhaled forcefully, then smiled a little.

"Pregnant," he said. "Not something that happens every day."

Sirius let out a short laugh. "As long as you don't act like you did when Lily was pregnant. Dora will not take that as well as Lily did."

"Lily hexed me once because I offered her a poof," Remus said. "How can Tonks get any worse than that?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm sure that she'll find a way."

Remus rolled his eyes and stepped past Sirius. "You talk big game, but we both know that Harry had you wrapped around his finger the minute he looked at you."

"I'm a giant teddy bear, what do you expect?"

Remus shook his head at him as they went back into their room. "In that case, do what teddy bears do best and spoon me."

"I'd love to," Sirius said with a warm smile.