*~* Chapter Twenty Six

"It's worse than that. They have a son."

There may as well have been a dementor in the room. After Harry, no one spoke. There was nothing to say in those few silent moments as each struggled with the enormous implications of this new threat.

It was eventually Tonks who spoke next. "So," she said falteringly, "Teddy gets unwritten if we stay here?"

Goldstein seemed to have forgotten how to exhale. He nodded, pale faced. "Yes, yes, that's right," he breathed quietly. "I wish I could say it was different..."

Tonks haphazardly swiped a hand through her hair. She turned pain filled eyes towards Remus. "So we don't stay. We leave straight away, we go back, we do whatever it takes to keep that from happening."

He nodded shakily. "Absolutely." He would not allow his son to be unwritten. He'd do anything to keep Teddy here, to keep him safe.

The Unspeakable frantically rubbed his bald spot, an action Tonks could no longer find amusement in. "I suppose that's what must happen, but it won't be easy."

If they lived, then Teddy would die. Tonks could truly understand for the first time how she must have felt in her last battle. She knew she would give her life for her child. She'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.

"How can we do this?" Kingsley's deep voice wondered. Never one to sit back, the Minister jumped immediately into action. "Goldstein?"

Goldstein shrugged uncomfortably. "It's hard to say. I mean, it's never been done before." Seeing the overwrought expressions of the parents, he hastened to reassure them. "It's just that timing is everything. Pinpointing the exact second to return to could prove paramount." He gazed sympathetically at Remus and Tonks. "But I know a thing or two about time travel; I'm sure we'll figure this out."

Remus shook Goldstein's hand. "Thank you, Thaddeus."

His old schoolmate mustered a slight smile. "I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to work with this complex type of time legally." He looked again to the anguished couple in front of him. "And I understand what's at stake here. I'll do all I can."

He bundled his rolls of parchment into his arms and started to the door. "If I need any more information, I'll know where to find you." Goldstein nodded once and then exited, presumably to begin immediate work on the problem.

The Unspeakable left, and the room returned to silence. Remus' mind was racing. What would it take to save Teddy's life? He'd do it all.

Tonks tried her best to be hopeful. Goldstein was the best in the business; that's why Kingsley had called him. They'd find a way out of this.

She glanced to where Harry sat. His hair was more tousled than ever, and his green eyes blazed with fire. It made sense. They'd only just met Teddy and were terrified for his safety. Harry had known her son all his life, and could truly appreciate this threat.

"This will be all right," Kingsley reassured them all. "We won't stop until we have an answer." He gazed at the sorrowful parents.

Tonks let out a slow breath. "Right. We'll just get out of here before anything bad happens." She'd faced worse scrapes than a little time travel, but she couldn't recall a time when her mistakes had so endangered others.

Remus nodded, mustering all of his considerable self control to regulate his emotions. "Right."

Kingsley too, nodded in affirmation. "If there's anything else you need..."

"Actually, yes," Remus said reluctantly. He resolved himself, met Kingsley's eyes, and said the sort of words that had condemned him to judgement hundreds of times before. "The full moon is tomorrow night."

The expression that greeted him this time held no judgement, nor did it exude the sympathy he'd grown to hate. "You will transform, then?"

"Yes," he said simply. "I've lived too much life to expect miracles." Remus felt Dora take hold of his arm. He turned to face the greatest miracle to ever step fulfilled into his life, and the smile rose unbidden to his face. "I've had more than my share already."

Harry had managed to find control of his voice as well. "We'd discussed the possibility of the Shrieking Shack as a transformation sight."

The Minister turned to the werewolf. "The Shack is unoccupied. And the pretense of its haunting has been kept up for this sort of situation."

"I doubt this is the sort of situation you'd imagined."

Kingsley shrugged. "Perhaps not, but all the same, you needn't worry. I can get you Wolfsbane here at the Ministry. I'll get some to Grimmauld this afternoon."

"Thank you, Kingsley," Tonks said before Remus could get it out. She'd seen firsthand the difference that one potion could make, and she was grateful for anything that made these nights easier for him.

The Minister nodded, still grave. "Anything for a friend." A smile broke across his face as he gazed amazedly at the couple in front of him. "Whatever happens, this chance to see you isn't one I'd give up. Now I won't keep you from others who'll want to share in this chance."

Remus and Kingsley stood in a brotherly embrace. "We'll see you around, Kingsley. If Thaddeus has any other questions, you know where to find us."

Tonks gave her old friend a tight hug. "Your life sounds brilliant, King. Say hi to your kids for me."

He smiled widely. "I'll do that. I'd love for you to meet them." Kingsley looked as though a thought had struck him. "If there're any other old friends you'd like to see, I don't see any harm in it. I could arrange a visit or two if you like."

Tonks was the first with an idea. "Mad-Eye," she said happily. "I'd love to see him now. 'Course the old codger probably wouldn't even be surprised to see us."

Two of the wizards in the room exchanged a glance, and Harry cleared his throat, preparing to speak. Tonks beat him to it. "Not Mad-Eye, too," she murmured.

"I hate to be the one to tell you this, Tonks," Kingsley said, confirming their suspicions.

So Mad-Eye was gone, too. "I trust it wasn't old age that got him," Remus voiced. Alastor Moody had ever been a fighter. He would have refused to go out any other way.

"Age would never have been allowed to do battle with him. Moody was too stubborn for that," Kingsley agreed. Remus met Tonks' pained gaze. Moody had been family to her, and she was feeling his loss only slightly less than her own father's. "It was at the real start of the Second War."

Tonks closed her eyes for a fraction of a second, long enough to regain the sort of rigid control Moody had taught her. "So that's something else I've got yet to see."

"You'll be proud of him yet, Tonks. It took Voldemort himself to finish him off."

"That I don't doubt," Remus said.

The room was silent a moment as all paid homage to the brave man they still missed. A lighter mood was partially restored as they made to leave, but the news of Moody's death was a forceful reminder that a similar fate might await their son if they didn't make it out in time.

"See you later," Tonks waved to her Order friend.

Kingsley smiled, truly glad to see that head of pink hair bob through his office. "I'll make sure of that."

Harry led the way out of the room and soon the trio was in the magical phone booth, heading back to the outside world.