And they did make it work. It was hard work but they were doing it. They were talking more. Both of them. Remus talked about what he was scared of for this child of theirs and Dora listened to him. Listened properly and didn't just assure him that it would be okay. Because it might not be, at the end of the day, and they had to be prepared for that as well. Strangely enough, talking helped. Who would have thought?

It eased his worries a little, just saying things out loud and having Dora validate his fears but still agreeing to stay and go through everything with him was even better. Freer in a way? Remus wasn't sure but he definitely felt lighter for it.

Of course, they didn't just talk about the heavy stuff. They coukdnt do that all the time. No way. Their day's weren't just one big therapy session. There were other things. Happier things.

Like finding the correct combination of potions that help Dora's morning sickness that in no way was just restricted to the morning. And finding out that both of them gave extremely good back rubs. Dora knew exactly where he hurt after a full moon and wasn't afraid to dig into his muscles to get him all loosened up. He felt like he had no bones after a session with her. He joked that if being an Auror ever got too much for her that she would have a great career as a chiropractor or masseuse. And he found that rubbing along her lower back really eased her aches.

"If I'm like this now, what's going to happen when the baby grows more?" Dora complained as he rubbed her back one morning.

She had had a dull ache that just would not go away so Remus was working his magic.

"I'll just have to get better at this," Remus replied.

"Hope you don't mind doing it for the better part of a day."

"Sounds good to me."

Dora had shook her head but it was with a fond look. He was getting more of those now that he wasn't acting like an idiot.

They both looked down at her stomach. Remus was trying to imagine her the way Lily was when she was pregnant with Harry. He couldn't quite see it yet. Dora was barely showing. Actually, to the average person, she wasn't showing at all. He knew there was now a small bump because of his roaming hands. It definitely didn't look like a baby bump yet. And it was going to be weird when it was. Dora was small and slim, what was she going to look like with a rounded belly?

He found that he really liked that picture. Though he suspected that Dora would not. Pregnancy tended to retrict a woman's movements and Dora was not one to sit around. This was going to be an interesting seven months. She was already two months in, how crazy was that?

"This is weird," she said, giving her stomach a poke.

"It is," Remus agreed. "But in a good way."

Because he had decided that yes, this child was a good thing. A very good thing. He still had his fears but he was learning how to deal with them.

They also made the decision that she couldn't go to work anymore. One, the Auror Department was very obviously not what it used to be. It wasn't what Dora stood for. And two, if they were moving against Muggle-borns and Harry then it was only a matter of time before they moved against the rest of the Order. In the Ministry she would not be able to fight back as effectively.

They hadn't quite gone into hiding. That was something that would require a bit more planning which required more time. Though, hopefully, with both of them at home they woukd be able to sort that out sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, they were lying low, gathering supplies they would need and organising how they would live when they were officially in hiding and how they would communicate with the rest of the Order. It was a lot of work.

"I thought you had experience with this?" Dora complained, clutching at her hair that she had decided to leave long and purple today. Very useful for frustrated clutching.

Trying to organise how to do things when they went into hiding was difficult. It wasn't like there was going to be many people 'on the outside' to lend a hand. Most of the Order also planning on going into hiding, if they weren't already.

Except for the Weasleys. Arthur was still working and Ginny was going to have to go to Hogwarts. Which was crazy but Arthur's office was still open, unlike the Auror Department.

"Not to this extent!"

There were so many options to consider. There was the Fidelius Charm but that meant that they woukd have to all but disappear for it to work properly. Or else they could just cover the whole property in protective charms and wards - between the two of them they knew a fair few. But no matter how complex they could still be broken.

And then they had to think of food and other things needed for daily living. Candles. Household products. So much went into just living.

But besides all of that, they were just living life. Or, living life as much as you could when you were on the wrong side, so to speak. But still, it was a little w bit of normality. Reading. Chatting. Playing extremely bad games of chess. Dora was good at chess, she just chose to make a complete farce of it all in the name of "fun".

"Dora, pawns can't 'rise up against their overlords'," Remus said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You can't make them declare themselves to be revolutionaries and overthrow the monarchy."

Dora looked at the board and nodded.

"You're right. I don't have nearly enough pawns left for that. They'd be slaughtered."

"That isn't what I meant."

"It's what I wanted to do though."

Remus rolled his eyes and thankfully his stomach growled, interrupting them. He stood up.

"I'll get dinner started, shall I?"

"Is it that time already?" Dora asked, looking at her watch. "Huh. It is."

Time was passing really weirdly now. It either went too fast and a few days had passed or it dragged so slowly that it felt like hours had gone by but somehow it was still the morning.

"Bangers and mash sound good?"

Dora's stomach growled in appreciation.

"That's two votes from us," she said cheerfully.

Remus chuckled but offered her a hand to get up.

"Come on, you can sort the sausages out."

"And the gravy, you can't forget that."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

And that's what they did, they sorted out dinner together. How very domestic of them. It was actually quite pleasant, if you ignored the fact that Dora nearly sliced her finger open while she tried to open the packet of sausages with a knife of all things...

A chime sounded throughout the house, making them look up from their dinner preparations.

"The floo?" Dora asked.

"Who could be calling?" Remus wondered, already going to the fireplace. "Wait, we're disconnected now."

That's right. Because, you know, Minsitry takeover and all that. Security measures meant they couldn't be hooked up from the floo network.

"Then what-?"

A silvery bear interrupted her. The patronus of his mother-in-law.

"Andromeda?" He asked in surprise.

"Mum?"