Chapter 7:

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in the story, or the world in which the story is set, they all belong to J.K Rowling.

A/N: Sorry for the wait for this chapter, I've been very busy! It's the start of the school holidays where I live next week, so don't expect an update for 3 weeks or so! This chapter will be a sort of filler chapter so that I as the author and you guys as the readers can explore the different relationships between characters. There won't be too much happening down on Earth, so you could not read this chapter and wait till the next one, which will be filled with drama. Happy reading!

Fred looked into the distance, his eyes unfocused as he stood quietly, the sounds of Remus, Sirius, James, Lily and Tonks' voices floating through the air. He had never felt more alone in his life. Even before he was born, George had always been there with him, ready with a joke or prank to spice up their everyday life. His partner in crime. It was childish, but Fred had always thought that he and George would never be separated, not even in death. He had held onto this wistful fantasy even as the war picked up speed, and danger met them at the back door every morning. Not even death should have been able to break up the Weasley twins, yet it had happened. What would happen to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes now that one half of the founders of the store was gone? Fred sighed. His heart ached every day for his brother down on Earth, who was struggling just as much, if not more, than he was. His heart ached for his mother and father, whose children had escaped death by a whisker multiple times, except for him. They now had to deal with the loss of a son, one who they had hardly seen in the last year of his life. His heart ached for Ginny, Bill, Charlie, Ron and even Percy the prat, the best siblings he could have ever asked for. His heart ached for Harry, the teenager that had gone through so much in the seventeen years he had been alive. His heart ached for the surviving members of the Order and his old teachers who had fought so hard in this war. Fred felt a lump form at the back of his throat and he swallowed thickly. "Don't be such an emotional flobberworm," He hissed, but that didn't stop the lump growing larger and a prickling feeling jabbing at the back of his eyes. A hot salty tear slid down his freckled cheek, and Fred hurriedly wiped it away with the back of his hand in case someone came and saw him crying. "You can't be caught crying by the Marauders," He thought, scolding himself silently. He stretched his arms above his head and jumped when a hand came down on his shoulder. "Gaah!" He yelled and spun on his heel to see ahead of bubblegum-pink hair and mischievous brown eyes. "Tonks!" He exclaimed. "Don't do that to people!"

"Do what?" She asked, smiling.

"Sc-scare people like that!" He spluttered, though he couldn't stop a smile playing on his lips."What are you doing here anyway?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"I figured that Sirius, Remus, James and Lily could use some time together without me, so I thought I'd come and hang out with you. Also, you seemed pretty lonely." She said, her voice growing gentler as she said the last sentence.

"I'm fine!" Fred said angrily, purposefully not meeting Tonks' eyes.

"Fred," Tonks implored, studying his face intently."What's wrong?"

"Nothing! I was just thinking about… stuff." He murmured, shuffling his feet.

"About what?" Tonks asked although she had an inkling that he had been thinking about his family. She saw his eyes flick to her face, to his feet, to the Marauders and Lily and back again. "Fred, I'm not going to think you're weak if you admit that you were upset," Tonks said kindly, and Fred nodded.

"I was thinking about George, and my family, and Harry, and the Order, and my teachers, and WWW, and…" Fred trailed off, the tears forming in his eyes again. Tonks pulled him into a friendly hug, and Fred smiled his thanks when they released each other.

"If you need to talk, come to me, come to ANY of us whenever you want, alright? I know you never really met James or Lily, but from what Remus and Sirius have told me, they are both very kind and loving people." Tonks said with a grin.

"Thanks, Tonks, I mean it," Fred said sincerely. The pair stood together in companionable silence before Tonks spoke.

"Shall we head over to Sirius, Remus, James and Lily then?" Tonks asked, and they walked off together.

Remus looked up quickly when he heard the footsteps approaching, worry etched in his prematurely lined face. He, Tonks and Fred alone had seen the Second Wizarding War to its end, and he still hadn't shaken off the automatic habit of becoming tense and alert whenever footsteps were heard. Almost immediately, however, he sighted his wife and Fred coming towards them, and visibly relaxed, although he jumped slightly when a hand came down on his shoulder.

"Relax, mate, it's just me," Sirius said, looking concernedly into his friend's troubled brown eyes. "Why are you so worried? I saw what you did when you heard their footsteps." He said, lowering his voice as Tonks and Fred rejoined the group, chuckling at something James had said.

"Old war habits, I guess. You can never quite shake them," Remus sighed, running a hand through his sandy-brown hair, the grey steaks glinting in the ethereal glow that surrounded them. He glanced quickly over at his wife before turning back to face Sirius. "It's worse than last time, you know. I was jumpy at footsteps after James and Lily died, even though Voldemort had gone for the time being, but it stopped being so worrying after a few weeks or so," Remus said softly, and Sirius' grip on his shoulder grew almost imperceptibly tighter. "Obviously, once you were, well, you know, I was distraught. I thought I was going to be the only Marauder that would survive to see Harry off to Hogwarts. I didn't have contact with any of my friends for 12 years, Sirius, 12 years of waiting, wondering whether I would have been better off joining James and Lily," Remus put his head in his hands, and Sirius felt tears welling up in his eyes. It was his fault that his friend had grown so old in 2 years. He should have been there for Remus, and they could have raised Harry together. He saw his friend lift his head, take a deep breath, and carry on."I hardly remember what I did for most of those years. I kept in contact with the surviving members of the Order of the Phoenix but didn't do anything significant until Dumbledore offered me the post of DADA teacher in Harry's third year. When I heard that you had escaped Azkaban, there was a glimmer of hope that we might be reunited at last. It was subdued for most of the year until I got hold of our old map. When I saw Peter's name on it, I knew why you had broken in to the Gryffindor dormitories. You weren't after Harry, you were after Ron's rat. It was so hard, Sirius, so hard, to see Harry struggling with the false information that you, his dad's best mate, had betrayed James and Lily to Voldemort. So many times I nearly spilled everything to him, but I couldn't." He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before continuing. "And then, of course, Harry met you and discovered that you are his godfather. I thought too that your name would be cleared, and that you could come and live with me, and enjoy life as a free man. But alas, it wasn't to be. Harry told me, you know, about how you had to live off rats in a cave." Remus' eyes darkened, and Sirius shuddered slightly at the memory."And then, of course, the Order was reformed at the end of Harry's 4th year. I was scared, genuinely scared. We had already lost James and Lily, who were we going to lose this time?"

"Me," muttered Sirius, so quietly that Remus didn't catch what he said.

"And then I met Dora. She- I… She was so kind and funny and loving and caring, and I found myself falling head over heels for someone for the first time. I kept pushing my feelings down, though and tried to ignore her as much as I could throughout that year. When you left, Sirius, I thought I would never smile again. Laughter seemed stupid, and something as naive as love was not on my list of priorities. But one night, she and I were the only ones left in the kitchen after dinner, and Dora started to talk. I don't think I would have gotten through those months after your death without her counselling sessions, for want of a better word." A ghost of a smile flitted across Remus' face." We became acquaintances, and then friends, and then a mix of friends and lovers. My feelings for her drowned out all the sadness and worry that awaited in the real world. And one night, at the end of one of our talks, I hugged her when I said goodbye. I had done this so many times before, and then we-she-I, we kissed." A soft blush spread across Remus' cheeks, but Sirius, thankfully, didn't tease him, and instead put his arm around Remus' shoulder.``I felt so guilty afterwards, because I thought I would never be able to marry her, and that I was just leading her on. So, during the summer, I told her that we couldn't keep seeing each other. I thought I was doing the right thing for both of us, and I kept telling myself that every time I saw her during Order meetings or at the Burrow and saw how upset she was. I guess I hoped that she'd meet another person, but it didn't happen. I saw her getting more and more depressed throughout the year, and it continued until the night Dumbledore died. She… Well, you probably saw what happened in the Hospital Wing. We talked that night whilst the teachers and the rest of the Order sorted out the funeral and whatnot. We helped out later, but that night it was just the 2 of us. No one, not even Mad-Eye, interrupted our talk. We stayed together this time around, but being in love during the war is hard. I think we both knew that it was highly unlikely that we would both survive the war. So, after much worrying and fretting, I proposed. We got married, but when we found out she was pregnant, I… I was a coward. I was so scared that I had passed on my condition to our innocent child. I don't know why I thought that would change anything, but Harry convinced me to go back to her. When Teddy was born, nothing else mattered. The war faded into the background, and the deaths and worry disappeared. Our family was complete, and my child wasn't a werewolf. And then, we left our child on Earth. We both died, and left Teddy with no memories of his parents." Remus started to cry silently, and Sirius quietly beckoned for Tonks to come join them."I just can't help thinking about what could have happened if I hadn't broken up with her. We could have been married for a year. Our son might have known his parents better." Tonks sat down next to him and pulled Remus into a tight hug. Sirius gave Remus' shoulder a last, comforting squeeze before leaving the couple for some time alone.

"Hey, Remus, it's not your fault. We had a son, for goodness sake. And you KNOW that Harry and Ginny are going to take the best care of Teddy. And how lucky are we that we can watch our son grow into a strong, independent, caring and loving man with our best friends." Tonks comforted her husband, who smiled weakly up at her.

"Thanks, Dora. I feel kinda bad for Sirius though. I just completely opened the floodgates on him, and you know how good he is at dealing with emotions."

"He would have got me to come over much earlier if he was uncomfortable, Rem. Besides, when it really matters, Sirius can be a great support crew. I would know, I am his cousin once removed." Tonks grinned, and Remus stood up and offered his hand to his wife. She took it with a curtsey, stumbled, and laughed as Remus caught her around the waist. "Thank you, my handsome prince." He bowed comically, and the pair half ran, half stumbled with laughter toward their friends.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and reviews are always appreciated! See you on the other side of the holidays :)