Ch 37
A/N: I'm not going to say much about this chapter, other than I hope it surprises most of you. I've kept it pretty well hidden from everyone other than slenderpanda579 who got to read the beginning to beta it. Other than that I've been trying really hard to not ruin any surprises. Please let me know how I did, I've been worrying about this chapter since I first thought it up over a year ago.
...
The months seemed to stretch on endlessly as Victoria was stuck in solitude. The only time she ever saw anyone was to give Mr. Flourish the rent money once a month and he would give her a bag of tins to live on. She couldn't thank her landlord more than she did now. Without his help she surely would have been caught by now.
Since leaving the Ministry, she and Tonks were now just as much fugitives as Harry and his friends were. She and Tonks were now not only hunted by the Death Eaters, knowing that they were in the Order, but also by the Ministry who wanted them for questioning.
The only saving grace was that they could still communicate by patronus. This was the only form of communication that the Ministry or the Death Eaters hadn't figured out a way to intercept. Since going into hiding she'd only been able to receive contact from Tonks a handful of times. The first had been to tell Victoria thanks for sending Remus back to her. Another had been to tell her about Ted going into hiding. The last had been to invite Victoria over for Christmas.
Now, as Victoria stood in her sitting room, about to apparate to Andromeda's house, she started having second thoughts. What happened if she apparated wrong? Something could happen and she could wind up getting caught and potentially put them all into danger. She wasn't sure if she was willing to do that to them. Just as she was about to send a patronus telling them she wasn't coming, one suddenly materialized next to her. The silvery werewolf startled her, backing away from it she collided with the sofa. Victoria laughed at herself, feeling as clumsy as Tonks for a moment.
The werewolf opened its mouth and Tonks's voice came from it in a rather annoyed tone, "Vicky where are you? Get a move on!"
Smiling, Victoria realized that she did need her friends. It was obvious now. Not even waiting for the werewolf in front of her to disappear she disapparated.
Standing in front of Andromeda's house a moment later, she was still smiling as she knocked on the door. From behind it she heard Tonks's voice, "Who is it?"
"Would a Death Eater really be knocking on your door?" Victoria answered a slight laugh in her voice.
The door suddenly flew open, causing Victoria to take a step back to not be hit by it. Tonks flew out and caught Victoria in a tight hug, "Vicky I've missed you so much!"
"I missed you too, Tonks," Victoria choked out, "but I can't breathe."
"Oh, sorry," Tonks said sheepishly, releasing her crushing hold on Victoria. "Come inside, Remus will be so happy to see you," she smiled tugging on Victoria's arm like a small child.
Victoria laughed lightly at her friend's enthusiasm as she was pulled into the house. It was everything she'd imagined Andromeda's house to be. It looked like the cover of a magazine had come to life before her eyes. Everything was immaculate, down to the doilies on the furniture. She couldn't help but wonder how Tonks had grown up there without breaking something daily. With this thought still running through her mind, Tonks managed to bump into a small spindly table, knocking it over along with the plant that was sitting on top of it. Victoria had to jump out of the way to avoid the collision, but Tonks merely pointed her wand at it, righting both instantly.
Tonks laughed, "I do that all the time. I don't think there's a piece of furniture in this house that hasn't been broken at least once."
"I wouldn't doubt it," a voice came from the sofa on the other side of the room. Remus stood, giving Victoria a hug, "She's broken nearly everything just in the time we've been here."
"It was worse when she was younger," Andromeda added, stepping into the room with a smile. "It is nice to see you again Victoria."
"You too Andromeda," Victoria gave a small smile, remembering the first, and last, time they'd met as Victoria had pulled her wand on the woman.
"Please, sit. Lunch will be ready presently," with that Andromeda made her way back into the kitchen, leaving the three friends alone.
"So, tell me about that little one!" Victoria exclaimed, smiling at Tonks and gesturing towards her stomach.
Tonks sighed, "Ugh, be glad you're not living with me anymore. They say morning sickness will go away, but I guess my body never got the memo. I am still getting sick daily. And the mood swings are a killer. I'm just glad I'm not going through Auror training now."
Victoria laughed, "I do remember one morning when you were a little green around the gills."
"That was nothing compared to this," Tonks lamented. "If I knew I would feel like this I would never have gotten pregnant."
"You don't mean that," Victoria retorted, a little sharper than she'd meant.
"No… you're right." Tonks answered quietly, looking at Victoria curiously, not understanding her friend's change in demeanor.
"You look well," Remus smiled looking over Victoria, trying to alleviate the awkward moment.
Giving a short laugh she scoffed, "Right, I look well. I've lost about 30 pounds in the last three months and now I'm nearly as white as a ghost."
"We're all pale, it's winter and we're English. That is expected," Remus joked lightly.
"Honestly, Mr. Flourish is the only reason I'm still alive. He's been sneaking me food each month when I pay him rent," Victoria explained.
"Not many people would do that," Remus nodded.
"He's too good to me. I just don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to stay there," Victoria said, sadly sinking back into the sofa.
"What do you mean?" Tonks asked, flopping into a chair across from her.
"Well, since we're not working I don't know how much longer I'll be able to afford staying there. I don't exactly have a fortune backing me," Victoria sighed, wrapping her arms around herself.
Andromeda had chosen that moment to come back into the room. Looking at Victoria inquiringly she asked, "Why have you not mentioned this previously?"
"I didn't want to trouble any of you with my problems. You don't need to worry about it," Victoria answered, shrugging it off.
"Victoria," Andromeda came over to her, giving her a serious look, "all that was needed, was for you to ask."
"Ask? I'm not asking anything," Victoria answered, perplexed.
"We have a spare bedroom. You are more than welcome to use it if you are in need of accommodation," Andromeda said, her tone making it sound more like an obvious statement than a request.
"Really, you don't have to…" Victoria tried to refuse.
"Nonsense," Andromeda said waving her off, "you are in need of a place to stay and we have one. You will come here, and that is the end of it."
Victoria laughed, looking over at Tonks, "Do I have a say in this?"
"Nope," Tonks smiled, "once Mum's got a plan, there's no talking your way out of it."
"Reminds me a bit of Molly in that way," Remus added, smiling up at Andromeda.
Victoria laughed, "Alright then. It looks like I'll be staying here."
"Good," Andromeda smiled clapping her hands together once to indicate the subject to be closed. "Lunch is ready; let us get to the table."
…
It was now the middle of January and neither of the girls had been out of the house in nearly a month. Remus or Andromeda had been doing any shopping necessary for them to live on. This time, however, after much pleading, and promising that they would be careful, nearly sounding like small children begging to go and play in the snow, Andromeda and Remus gave in and let them go.
The biting winter wind blew harshly against Tonk's face giving her a rosy glow and tossed back the long blond hair she had morphed into. With her current blue eyes, and high cheek bones she looked like she could have been on a poster for Sweden. Victoria kept her hood up, nearly covering her eyes, with a scarf wrapped around her face so that only her brilliant blue eyes showed through.
Dusk was settling in, making the temperatures dip even farther and making the shadows seem even more menacing. They had promised to be home before dark, but still had a few stops. They had just exited a small muggle grocery when Victoria spotted what looked like three raggedy looking teens making their way towards them. There was something strange about this group, something… magical. That's when they spotted the wands they were holding. "Snatchers," they breathed in unison. Victoria and Tonks looked at each other and froze.
Suddenly Victoria pushed Tonks into an alley and whispered, "Tonks, run now."
"No, I'm not leaving you!" Tonks said quietly but urgently clutching onto Victoria's coat.
Victoria shook her head and pulled away, "No you have too much to lose. Just go now!"
Tonks looked quickly from the three teens, and back to Victoria before finally nodding, "Just come back as soon as you can."
Victoria nodded and watched as Tonks disapparated. Knowing this would trigger the Snatcher's attention she immediately transformed into her animagus form. As she'd expected the three boys started running towards her. Looking behind her she realized that there was no way out of the alley. She instead bolted straight at the group, praying that the agility and speed of her cat form could let her outrun them. One was nearly on her as she leapt into the air, catapulting herself over his shoulder and out of his reach. Doing some fancy bobbing and weaving she managed to make the second trip over his own feet, landing on the ground, nearly on top of her. The third, now more determined than the previous two, ran at her. She leapt into the air once more. Thinking she was out of his reach she quickly found she was not. Feeling a sharp tug on her tail that radiated pain all the way to her ears she cried out. Just as she was about to land on the ground, she saw a foot coming up to meet her. She heard the cracking of multiple ribs before she felt it. Landing on the ground in a lump all she could do was moan pitifully. Finally the pain became too much. As she felt herself being picked up by the tail everything went black.
...
She awoke to find herself lightly bouncing up and down as pain continued to radiate through her body. One of the snatchers still had her by the tail and she was bouncing with each step he took. Groggily she tried to look around, but between the bounce and being upside down she couldn't make out much. The movement stopped however, as she found herself inches from a wrought-iron gate. Behind it there was a large, menacing looking man in the traditional, black, Death Eater's robe. "What've you got there boys?" he asked in a low, rasping voice. "Finally managed to catch something for supper?"
"Somethin' better. This here's an animagus it is." The boy holding her said, puffing out his chest a bit.
The man looked at the boys and down at Victoria who was now clawing and biting at the boy's leg, but to no avail, "How'd you know?"
"Saw her with me own eyes," he said his tone slightly annoyed. "One minute a person was there, next there was this cat."
"What makes you think it's so special?" The man rasped looking over Victoria suspiciously.
"Seems to me someone wouldn' turn theyself into an animal 'less they was tryin' to hide somethin'. Maybe they're on the run suppose?" The boy stared straight into the man's eyes daring him to argue.
The man considered this for a moment and then nodded, "I suppose you could be right. It wouldn't hurt to take it to the others anyway. See exactly what we've got here."
The man threw a small pouch at one of the other boys which jingled as he caught it, making Victoria realize that they'd just been paid for their services. The boy raised his hand that still held Victoria's tail up allowing the man to seize the scruff of her neck and bring her through the bars as if they were nothing more than vapor. She immediately started clawing at him with her back legs, just praying to get away. Unfortunately the man was much stronger, grasping onto her back legs with his other hand, she knew she was stuck.
She continued to struggle even though she knew it was futile as he made his way up the long curving path. A high hedge blocked her view of anything else around them until she caught sight of an impressive manor at the end of the path. She could see dim light coming through the diamond-paned windows as she felt him stop and knock at the door. A moment later a figure she, unfortunately, knew appeared in front of her.
Bellatrix in all her dark glory stood looking at the man as if he'd lost his mind, "What is it Rabastian?"
"A group of Snatchers just brought this one in. Claim it's an animagus," he retorted shortly, annoyed at his sister-in-law's attitude towards him.
"Is that so?" she asked sounding almost bored. "Alright bring it in; let's see if they were right for once."
They entered the manor and made their way into a large sitting room. A massive fire roared in one corner, where Lucius was sitting in a wing-backed chair. Narcissa was across the room on a small velvet covered sofa, looking over some papers. As they entered the room, the two didn't even stir. Lucius merely asked, "What is it this time?"
"Rabastian claims it's an animagus," Bellatrix explained casually.
"Should we find out?" Narcissa asked coming over to stand next to her sister.
Bellatrix nodded and motioned Rebastian to hold Victoria down on the floor. She gave her best fight as he did so, making her nearly pass out once more from the pain coursing through her. Victoria watched in horror as Bellatrix pulled out her wand and pointed it at her. A moment later she could feel her body returning to normal, and the pain increase as her bones grew. Whimpering she tried to get up, but instantly found herself bound and gagged.
"Well what do we have here?" Bellatrix asked with a smirk. "Looks like they got it right after all."
Staring down at her for a moment Bellatrix's smirk left her face, a dark scowl replacing it, "I know this one."
Lucius made his way towards them quickly, looking her over, "Miss Knight," he smiled threateningly, "so good to see you again."
Victoria grunted against her gag as a strong hand landed across her cheek.
"Knight," the spark of recognition flitted over Bellatrix's face, "she's the one who sent me to Azkaban. Oh I'm going to have fun with her." Her dark laugh echoed through the room.
Bellatrix leant down and pulled Victoria up by her hair. Victoria tried to fight her way free, but to no avail. Suddenly a thought occurred to her, her wand, it was still in her pocket. Fighting with all her strength, sending more pain through her body, she tried to reach for the wand. Seeing this Lucius disarmed her quickly. Victoria grunted, but stopped fighting for the moment. Bellatrix motioned to Rabastian to hold her again and Victoria immediately felt hands holding her arms like vice grips.
Moments later a white hot pain radiated through her already painful body. She emitted a scream so loud she thought even her eardrums were going to pop. She struggled against the hands holding her as her knees buckled out from under her. Rabastian continued to hold her in place, even after she could no longer hold herself up. The pain seemed to go on forever, the piercing pain of thousands of red hot knives slicing through her simultaneously. There were no words to describe the amount of pain she was in.
After what seemed like a lifetime the pain ended. She hung limply in Rabastian's grasp, gasping for air against the gag.
"Wasn't that fun to watch?" Bellatrix asked the room.
Narcissa placed a gentle hand on Bellatrix's arm, "I fully understand wanting to inflict pain on her after what she's done to you, but is she not a member of the Order of the Phoenix as well?"
"Get to the point Cissy!" Bellatrix shouted, obviously irritated by the interruption to her fun.
"Should we not be using her as a tool? To see what the Order is doing." Narcissa explained softly, backing away towards the sofa once more.
Bellatrix stared at Victoria, contemplating her sister's words. "Perhaps you're right," Bellatrix said finally stepping up to Victoria once more. "She could be useful."
Taking the gag from her mouth, Bellatrix didn't step back quickly enough to miss the wad of spit that Victoria sent at her, connecting with her cheek.
"You bitch," Victoria said softly breathing heavy, "you think you'll ever get anything from me?"
In one fluid motion Bellatrix wiped the spittle from her cheek and smacked Victoria across the face, splitting her lip and causing large red welts to form on her pale skin. "All in good time. You'll break sooner or later."
The only sound Victoria heard was her own screams as the pain hit her full force, knocking her out once more.
…
Hours turned into days, and days turned into weeks as Victoria continued to endure her captivity. Each day was worse than the last. Starting with the Cruciatus curse, and slowly escalating. She'd been there nearly a month now, and saw no hope of escaping in the near future. She had been acting as Bellatrix's toy for the last few hours and was now bloodier and more bruised than any time before. Blood poured from her nose and lip, a large gash was dripping steadily from her wrist where Bellatrix had used her blade, and it seemed there wasn't a place on her skin where she couldn't see a bruise.
She was about to give up when she saw another familiar, and much more welcome, face arrive. It was Severus, his billowing black cloak had never looked more wonderful than it did now. The light from the fireplace lit his dark hair like a halo. As he looked down at her, his dark eyes remained expressionless.
What was going on inside his head however, was something completely different. The moment he saw her laying there on the floor, eyes begging him to help her, something seemed to snap within him. There was a war going on inside of him, he wanted to hold her in his arms and never let her go, but he also had never felt such an overwhelming desire to hurt someone in his entire life. He wanted to hurt them, the people who had done this to her. He wanted to kill them, to do as much damage as was within his power. His safety no longer mattered; he simply could no longer see her in pain. They could curse him into oblivion, as long as she was safe he didn't mind.
It was in that moment that he finally realized what his heart had been trying to tell him for years, he was in love with her. Severus Snape was in love with Victoria Knight.
Even with the epiphany surging through his brain, he knew there was nothing he could do about it. He had to maintain his allegiance to the Death Eaters no matter what. His mask firmly in place he continued to stare down at her, broken, bleeding, and bruised, sprawled agonizingly on the stone floor with Bellatrix standing over her, the dark witch's wand still poised to shoot at any second.
"Enjoying yourself Bella?" he drawled lazily.
"Very much Severus," Bellatrix smiled sending out a fresh wave of pain at Victoria. "We've caught an Order member this time."
"Have you learned anything of value?" he asked, hiding his concern.
Bellatrix ended the spell, leaving Victoria curled into a ball and whimpering, "Not yet, but it's only a matter of time."
"Have you tried Legitimency on her yet?" He asked, trying his best not to look down at her.
"No Severus, it's my first time doing this," Bellatrix answered sarcastically. "Of course I did you idiot," she shouted. "It seems she's quite the accomplished Occlumens as well as an animagus."
"I see," he said quickly. "I would certainly like to talk about your new toy Bella, however I am busy."
Bellatrix gave an irritated huff and bound Victoria once more. "Fine Severus, have it your way."
Crossing the room Bellatrix left the room quickly not waiting for Severus to follow. Severus stepped over Victoria and looked deep into her eyes sending her a message mentaly, "I will get you out of here. I promise."
Victoria nodded and responded in kind, "Please Severus, I don't know how much longer I can hang on."
"Severus, are you coming?" A shout pulled them out of their connection quickly. Giving her one last glance Severus closed the door, leaving Victoria curled up in agony once more.
…
Severus had just arrived back at the castle after seeing Victoria at Malfoy manor and couldn't get the image of her out of his mind. It tore at his heart that he wasn't able to save her himself, but he knew someone had to. There was only one thing to do.
Taking out his wand he sent a patronus out, pacing around his office much like his predecessor did. It only took a few minutes before he heard an incessant knocking at the door. He opened it with his wand, already knowing who was behind it.
Minerva entered the room in a panic closing the door and leaning against it heavily, "What do you mean Victoria is in trouble?"
Severus turned around slowly, leaning against his desk. He took a deep breath and slowly drawled, "I was at the Malfoy Manor, not an hour ago. They have captured and tortured her. I do not know how much longer she will survive if she stays there."
Minerva launched at him clutching his robes, "You just left her there? Severus…"
"I had no choice," he interrupted her quietly unable to look at her. "If the Death Eaters knew, she and I would both be dead."
Minerva released her hold on him and studied him for a moment. Looking over his haggard appearance, and downcast eyes, she knew instantly what he was talking about. 'At least if Victoria gave her heart away it was to someone who reciprocated,' Minerva thought, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly. "Do you have some sort of a plan?"
"I do actually." Snape said slowly, finally looking her in the eyes. It was going to be a long shot, but with any luck it just might work.
…
She knew she shouldn't be going to him, it was dangerous and either of them could be caught. Yet somehow none of that mattered right now, all that mattered was that she saw him again. She needed to be wrapped in his strong arms once more and be told that everything was going to be alright even if it was a lie.
It was nearly midnight as she quickly, but quietly made her way through the corridors, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible while being terrified out of her wits. As she approached the girl's lavatory on the third floor, she glanced back and forth quickly, determining no one was watching she slipped inside. The bathroom was as quiet as the corridor, with the exception of the soft snoring coming from the middle stall where Myrtle was sleeping. Crossing to the bank of sinks she looked for one specifically. Finding the one she was looking for she took out a torn piece of parchment from her pocket and whispered a soft, strange hissing sound.
A moment later the tap in front of her glowed a brilliant white light and began to spin. The sink began to slide back into the wall, out of sight, and left a pipe exposed large enough for a person to enter. The thought of doing this made her hesitate slightly, but knowing what she was going to find down there she threw caution to the wind and slid down. Sliding down the slimy pipe she couldn't help but think that she'd gone insane. This was so unlike the prim and proper image she'd always portrayed, she was just glad that no one else could see the disgusting state she was in. Once she'd reached the end she landed on the wet stone floor of a large dark tunnel. As she stood her shoes made a sickening squelch in the filthy slime beneath her feet. Taking out her wand she cast a quick cleaning charm over herself and continued on down the tunnel.
She tried her best to ignore the scurrying sounds as she continued on, doing her best not to think about what was making those noises. The fact that one small furry creature ran over her foot made this an even harder thing to do. Finally she reached a place where the tunnel branched off and headed to the left. It was only a few more minutes until she saw a light in the far corner of a large chamber. Seeing a man in the dim light she knew she was where she was supposed to be.
Seeing his brilliant white hair shining in the light from a nearby torch gave her more happiness than she'd felt in months. She sped up her pace, making her steps echo off of the stone floor loudly. He turned raising his wand in front of him, only to lower it upon seeing who it was. A curiosity crept over his face, but he couldn't stop the smile that accompanied it, "Minerva, what are you doing here?"
She didn't answer for a moment wrapping her arms around him and feeling his encircle her in a warm embrace. "Victoria," she breathed into his chest, "she's in trouble."
He pulled away from her slightly, still keeping her in his arms, "What happened?"
"The Death Eaters have her Albus," she explained looking up at him. "Severus said she was horribly tortured by Bellatrix."
"I have to go to her," he said hurriedly, pulling out of her embrace.
"You cannot," she said gently catching his arm. "No one can know you're alive yet."
"Minerva, I cannot simply sit back and wait while my daughter is being tortured and potentially killed. You cannot ask me to do so," he turned away from her, not allowing her to see the fear in his eyes.
She closed her eyes taking a deep breath, "You must Albus. There is nothing that you can do to help her now. We have taken care of it."
"How?" he asked whipping back around to look at her.
"I have already contacted the Order. They are setting up a rescue mission as we speak. Remus and Kingsley are going tonight."
"How do they plan to arrange this?"
"I do not know. They didn't want anyone to have more information than was necessary. It is a precaution in case they are captured," she explained.
He nodded contemplatively, "Were there no others willing to go?"
"Many," Minerva said with a smile, "in fact most of the Order had offered, but we couldn't risk losing more people."
"I see."
"I do believe Miss Tonks was the most upset however, she tried for a good hour to get them to agree to let her go." Minerva smiled at the thought.
"Why was she denied?" Albus enquired.
"She is pregnant." Minerva answered, "Six months along now."
"That is tremendous news. It is always good to hear that some happiness could come at such a dark time."
"It is," Minerva nodded.
They stayed silent for a few minutes, until Albus broke their peaceful revere once again, "If there is already a rescue set my dear, why is it you chose to come to me?"
Minerva looked sheepishly at her shoes, an uncharacteristic fear starting to show through her usually tough mask, "I needed you."
Albus couldn't help the smile that broke out on his face as he pulled her into his embrace once again. "Minerva, you are the strongest witch I know. You can get through this."
Minerva shook her head and leant against his chest, "I needed to hear you say it would work out. I needed to feel your arms around me again. I simply needed you Albus."
He placed a hand under her chin, forcing her to look at him. He placed a chaste kiss to her lips before he whispered, "Everything will be alright."
"Thank you Albus," she whispered back capturing his lips once again.
"Now you must go, before anyone catches you," he said pulling away from her slightly.
"I know. Take care of yourself Albus. I'll be waiting for you," she said looking him deep in his brilliant blue eyes.
"As will I my love," he leant down and kissed her a final time, "until we are together again."
…
Victoria had lost track of how long she had been there. All that she knew was that she was in a deeper pain than anything she'd ever felt. Half of the bones in her body were broken, and nearly all of her body was covered in bruises and cuts. A long slash ran across her neck in the exact line Bellatrix had given her all those years ago. Blood was pouring out of her at an alarming rate, yet she didn't seem to be bothered by it. How could she be? She'd seen so much of the scarlet liquid coming from her in the last week that more barely seemed worrisome.
It was when she was nearly on the brink of passing out yet again that she heard a loud crashing noise coming from the entrance hall. Not even having the energy to pick up her head she heard them coming closer. Having no idea what was going on she could no longer keep her eyes open.
Suddenly the crashing sounds were coming from directly outside the door. A large blast caused the door to the room to splinter and finally explode into a million pieces. Opening her eyes groggily, she saw the hazy image of two men enter the room, one a large black man with something gold glinting by his ear, and the other a skinny, lanky, man in a gray sweater. It took a moment for her brain to register who they were, but as the man in gray approached her he said comfortingly, "It's alright Victoria. We're here. You're safe."
She smiled, feeling the other man pick her up in his strong arms as she once again slipped into darkness.
…
Once Kingsley and Remus had saved her it had taken no time for Andromeda to mend the bruises and most of the cuts, however some of them remained along with some of the bones. As she'd told Victoria many times over there was no way to fix injuries done by dark magic. Luckily all of her bones had mended in the following weeks, but the gash across her neck remained. It stayed as vibrantly red as it had been when she'd first received it. Now she was more thankful to Severus than ever for getting her the necklace she wore daily to cover the wound.
It was a few weeks later when she was awoken by a scream. Bolting up from her bed in the guest room of Andromeda's house she looked around quickly for the source of the scream. Hearing it again she realized that it was coming from the living room. Quickly throwing the covers from her body she sprinted to the door. Opening it she saw Tonks lying on the floor with a towel spread out beneath her, screaming in pain. Remus held her hand as Andromeda knelt by her feet holding something that Victoria couldn't see.
"One more push and it'll all be over." Andromeda said firmly.
Tonks grunted and then started screaming once more as she pushed with all her might. Mere seconds later, the room was filled with an entirely different scream, one of a newborn baby. Both Tonks and Remus beamed down at the squirming little bundle Andromeda was holding. "Congratulations, it's a boy."
They looked at each other, unable to stop smiling as Andromeda handed him over to Tonks. "Do you mind if we call him Teddy?" she asked Remus quietly, nervous of his answer.
"I think it would be a perfect name for him," he said leaning down and capturing her lips in a gentle kiss.
"Edward Remus Lupin, what do you think little one? Is that a good enough name for you?" Tonks asked, watching as Remus beamed.
The baby cooed in her arms and then did something neither of them expected, his hair suddenly turned orange, then yellow, purple, finally settling on a vibrant turquoise.
Andromeda laughed at the look on both of their faces, "I think he agrees."
Victoria finally stepped over to them after letting them have a moment, "He's beautiful."
"Thank you," Tonks smiled again, looking up at her. "We did want to ask you something."
"What's that?" She asked curiously.
"We'd like you to be his godmother," Tonks answered softly.
"Me?" she asked surprised.
"Of course, you know we were planning on asking Harry to be his godfather." Remus explained.
"Sure… I mean I'd be honored. Thank you so much." Victoria smiled hugging Remus and then Tonks.
No matter how dark this war would become, seeing this little baby was all the reminder they needed that some good could still be found out of life.