"He's so beautiful!" I cooed, smiling widely at the gurgling newborn before me. "Aw!" I shrieked with pleasure as the baby seemed to smile. "That's right, Jamie! Yes …" I stuck out my tongue, and crossed my eyes, almost purring with pleasure as the baby giggled.
Moving away from Jamie slightly, I looked straight at Ginny. "He really is beautiful, Gin. I'm not just saying that. He's gorgeous."
Ginny rolled her eyes, and held her baby closer. "That's 'cause he has Harry's eyes." She smiled wistfully. "I hope he doesn't inherit the Weasley hair." Sighing, she moved her fingers gently along her new baby's scalp.
I snorted. "That'll be the least of your problems, Ginny."
Her face fell. "I know."
I tensed. I really need to learn how to shut my mouth … "But you have Harry, now. And be happy Jamie here is lucky enough to be growing up in a world …" I grinned madly. "A world without a war. And all thanks to his daddy, no less." I smiled at the baby again, not able to contain myself.
"Not like he did it alone," Ginny replied smoothly. I looked down "Oh, stop being so modest," she prodded, elbowing me. "You did more than you know."
"I wouldn't have without Remus' help," I smiled sadly, flashes of the Final Battle skimming through my mind. And it was true. Without Remus, I would have been long gone, and Harry probably wouldn't have had enough time to cast that final deadly curse at ol' Voldie. We owed so much to Remus.
"Well, I'm not going to deny that," she grinned at me, showing her teeth.
I smirked. "Ice chips?" I said innocently, shaking the glass of solidified water her way.
"I'm good," she said, though her expression seemed pensive. "I want a turkey sandwich," she said finally, conjuring one quickly with her wand.
Snorting, I checked my watch. 5:30. Damn. "Gin, I'm sorry, I gotta go…" I rushed, slinging my coat over my shoulder. "Harry should be here soon … and your Mum will be back from the cafeteria anytime now …"
"Go," she drawled, rocking Jamie slowly. I smiled as I turned to leave. She'll be a great mother.
As I jogged down the crowded hospital halls, I nearly tackled over Harry.
"Tonks!" he exclaimed, looking quite shocked as I quickly sidestepped around him. "How is she?"
"Oh, fine!" I called, half run walking backwards (a dangerous thing to do, being me). I squealed, and narrowly avoided running into an old man in a wheelchair. Said man yelped and began whacking me with his cane. "You have the cutest son!" I cried, avoiding the man's whacks.
Harry stopped, an awed expression passing over his face. "Son?" he repeated, his voice cracking with emotion. Oh. Damn. I reddened at my accidental blab, but Harry had already whizzed in the room, a huge grin on his face.
The old geezer gave a final whack, hitting me square in the shins. I glared at him, and he stuck out his tongue. Paling, I continued on, quite disturbed. As soon as I found my way outside, I checked back down at my watch. 5:35. Ok, Ok. I wasn't late. Yet. Without another thought, I Disapparated behind an oddly placed willow tree.
I reappeared under the shade of a low roof, shadowing my view from the man I was sure was waiting above.
Climbing up over the ledge, I swung up onto the flat roof, my arms aching as I pulled myself to my knees. Crawling over, I carefully plopped myself down behind the Disillusioned figure of a man, who had been oblivious to entrance until now.
"Wotcher, Remus," I panted, attempted to pull myself into a cross-legged position, but only managing to fall into an awkward sitting position with my legs twisted under me at weird angles.
As per usual, I gave him a quick kiss, letting the warm feeling of chemistry wash over us for a moment. I couldn't help but feel happy whenever he was around.
He smiled at my disposition, twirling his wand absently between his fingers. "Nymphadora," he acknowledged me with a nod. Waiting until I got comfortable, he lifted his wand to my head. "Here," he said, quickly casting the Disillusion spell. I felt the weird sensation pass over me, and shook it off.
"I could of down it myself," I grumbled, propping my chin up against my hand. I could feel Remus smiling behind me. Cheerful bastard. "I don't see why we still have to keep watch," I complained, my eyes scanning the horizon. "Death Eaters are gone, and Voldemort's dead. What else are we looking for?"
"Nothing."
I looked swiftly at Remus. He had this crazy grin on his face. For a moment I was actually scared. "Huh?"
"We don't have to keep watch anymore, we're not looking for anything." The crazy grin had now spread to his eyes and voice. He sounded like a madman. I tensed, and looked behind me, searching for a quick escape rout if things got ugly.
"Then why …" I started, raising an eyebrow in suggestion, "are we here … ?"
Remus was now seemingly trying to control his giddiness. It wasn't working out well.
"Nymphadora," he said, his voice calm and excited, if that was possible.
A plunging sense of worry washed over me, for not much reason. "Yes?" I squeaked, my bright pink hair quickly losing color before my eyes. I couldn't help it. He was scaring me.
Remus looked around in his pockets for a moment, before finally pulling out a small, velvet box. My heart soared, and I gasped. I couldn't breathe. Oh, my God, I couldn't breathe.
"I love you," he started, his eyes deeply examining mine. I couldn't stop looking at him. I couldn't even care less that I still wasn't breathing. I wasn't going to let the necessities of life get in the way of this. "I've hurt you, and I know that, and I can never express how sorry I am for that." Blah, blah, blah, hurry up, hurry up! My heart seemed to have jumped to my heart. "But, Nymphadora – I love you. I can't imagine now … after everything … being without you." Assembling himself awkwardly, he got down on one knee. "Will you marry me?"
I screamed. I actually screamed. I'm sure I frightened quite a few birds out of their nests. Remus looked shocked for a moment, fearing denial, but nowhere as shocked as he was when I jumped and tackled him to the ground with hugs, screeching, "Yes! Yes! Oh, Merlin, Merlin, yes!"
There were more than a few eyebrows raised as the whole of the neighborhood seemed to stop and stare at our general direction, trying to find the source of the noise.
Kissing him deeply, I moved us up into a sitting position. My eyes brimming with tears, I watched, choked, as he delicately slid the ring onto my finger. Sniffing pathetically, I stared at it, tears splashing to the ground all around me. The band was thin, made of a shining white gold, with a tiny, but equally beautiful, sparkling crystal in the middle of it. My sobs racked, and I gave him another kiss, nearly knocking him to the ground again.
He held my face, so I was forced to look into his eyes. "I love you," he whispered, smiling.
"I love you too," I squeaked, and fell into his shoulder, my arms wrapped tightly around his neck. We sat there for a few minutes, ignoring the neighbor's points and confused whispers, before Remus lifted his head.
"How is Ginny?" he asked.
I grinned. "She's fine. And he's beauuutiful!" I cawed, my voice still cracked.
Remus smiled. "Did Harry miss it?"
I nodded. "Ginny named him Jamie. He has Harry's eyes," I sighed, staring off into space. "I want one of those."
Remus turned to my, eyebrow raised suggestively. "Oh, do you?"
"So much," I cried, remembering the warm feeling of excitement and want when I had seen Ginny and Jamie. I turned excitedly to Remus, hanging my hands loosely on his shoulders. I cracked a sly grin. "So what do you say?"
Remus' expression turned solemn for a moment. "But don't you want your wedding dress to be white?" I caught a glimpse of a smile before he continued, "And not twenty sizes bigger?"
I swatted him, laughing. "I think it's too late for white," I replied sadly. I cuddled up against him, sighing loudly and dramatically. "I'm not so sure I can wait until after we get hitched."
"I'm not sure I can, either," he admitted, his breath warm and excited on my neck.
I couldn't contain the huge grin I found creeping onto my face. "Eh, who cares about being born out of wedlock, anymore, anyways?"
We exchanged knowing looks.
"Grimmauld?" he asked, gathering himself.
"I'll meet you there."
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A/N: Yeah … it's actually over now -sigh- It's been fun. Hope you enjoyed this final installment. R&R, if you can (you know you want to)!