"Nymphadora, are you quite sure you know what you're doing?" Andromeda asked impatiently.
"Trying my damndest to save my marriage and family, that's what I'm doing," Tonks said hotly. She was sitting on her childhood bed, where she'd been sleeping, alone, for several nights. Although Remus had returned, they had yet to share a bed together.
"Has he made any new promises of never leaving?"
"I don't think he needs or wants to," Tonks replied carefully. "I think he knows what he's done and I reckon he's more upset with himself than I am."
"Is that why you're punishing him?"
"What?" Tonks asked, genuinely confused.
"Why aren't you sleeping in the same room?"
"Umm," Tonks stammered. "I didn't think this would be interpreted as a punishment? Do you think that's how Remus feels?"
Andromeda stared blankly at Tonks until she smacked her palm on her forehead. "Of course that's how he feels, and you know that because you're a sodding Legilimens," Tonks said frustratingly.
"If by sodding, you mean natural, then yes," Andromeda said curtly. "It's harder to rein in when the both of you wear your hearts on your sleeves."
"He thinks I'm punishing him by keeping us in separate bedrooms?"
"Have you explained to him why this is?"
"I thought he'd know," Tonks said quietly. "I just…don't want to get my hopes up unnecessarily."
"Why don't you tell him how you feel, Nymphadora?" Andromeda sighed.
"Is this so we're both less moody?" Tonks asked shrewdly.
"It was helpful for both of us when you were at school as a teenager," Andromeda said, curling her lips into a smile.
"Fine. I'll go talk to him." Tonks stood from the bed and meandered down the hallway, where Remus was reading in the spare bedroom. She knocked softly at the door, and she heard his hoarse voice call "come in."
"Hi," Tonks said awkwardly. Remus' eyes lit up when she came into the room, and he immediately put his book down.
"Dora," Remus said warmly. "Hi."
"You've been back a few nights now," Tonks began unceremoniously. "We haven't slept together yet." Remus blushed furiously and looked down at his feet.
"I didn't mean it that way," Tonks said hurriedly. "I meant, we're not sleeping in the same bed or room. We're not doing that either, though…"
"I thought you wanted it this way," Remus said quietly. "Because I've hurt you."
"You have, but I didn't want this to be some sort of punishment for you—"
"—I don't think that," Remus responded. "It's not a punishment if I deserve—"
"—come with me, Remus," Tonks said. "I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but you're probably berating yourself enough for the both of us. Just come with me."
"Are you—"
"—yes, I'm sure. I thought the space would be helpful, but I think it's just making things worse."
"Okay." Remus gathered the few things he had in the spare room and followed Tonks out to her childhood bedroom.
"We'll have to make some changes in here, but this could be our room now, if you'd like," Tonks offered. "I know it's a bit, err, unicorn princess meets punk witch, but…."
"We can make it any way you like," Remus said. "We'll be here as long as the war lasts, and I hope it's not forever. We'll move back to my cottage or Mad-Eye's house and make that our home."
"Maybe this could be the nursery?" Tonks asked. "Maybe we'll have a kid who loves unicorns as much as I did."
"I hope so," Remus murmured.
"Really? You wouldn't mind if your son loved unicorns?"
"I don't care what our child is interested in," Remus said firmly. "I never thought I'd even get a chance at this. They can like whatever they like."
"You're going to be a wonderful father, Remus," Tonks said, beaming. "All you have to do is stick around and let yourself be a father."
Remus' eyes were welling up with tears, and Tonks took the opportunity to wrap her arms around his torso. Instantly, his arms wrapped around her body, holding her tightly against his chest. He placed his cheek on Tonks' head, and she felt him quaking around her as he began to cry.
"C'mon, love," Tonks said softly, as she took him by the hand and laid him down with her on her bed.
"I never did say I was sorry for leaving again," Remus mumbled.
"I know you're sorry, and you don't need to keep saying it. If you really mean to stay this time, I want you here with me, in our bed, in our room. You belong with me. With us."
Remus wrapped his arm around her abdomen and drew her in closer to himself. "I never deserved you," he murmured.
"You definitely didn't deserve a klutz," Tonks teased.
"Not what I meant."
"It's what you should've meant."
"Is it better to say I'm grateful for you?"
"Much better," Tonks replied. She paused for a moment, deep in thought. "Did you really think I was trying to punish you by keeping you in another room?"
"Did your mother tell you this?"
"It's easier to tell what we're thinking because we wear our hearts on our sleeves."
Remus groaned. "I suppose that shouldn't surprise me."
"Just stay with me, Remus," Tonks said. "I dunno if I'm ready for anything more than this right now, but stay with me, please."
"I will, Dora," he murmured. "Thank you." Tonks turned over to face him. He still looked apprehensive, but hopeful again. She could see the desire in his eyes, but, fearing for her own heart, she pressed her face against his chest, hoping he would understand.
…
"You're hovering again," Tonks said for the third time that morning. Ever since Remus had returned from his little 'escapade,' as her mother derisively put it, he had been a little too attentive to Tonks' needs.
"Oh. I'm sorry," Remus said sheepishly. "I didn't mean to."
"Apparently keeping an appropriate distance from me seems to be the issue," Tonks snarked. "Too far or too close, or so it seems."
"Err," Remus stammered.
"Relax, Remus. It's fine. I think you're just overcompensating."
"For leaving you."
"Yes…that. Reminding me over and over again isn't doing you any favors."
Remus flushed red and looked uncomfortable.
"Is anything I'm doing helping?" Remus asked awkwardly.
"Me, or our relationship?" Tonks asked suspiciously.
"Both?"
"It's…getting better," Tonks said truthfully. "I know we love each other, but learning how to be in a relationship – a healthy one – is going to take time again, Remus. You'll have to be patient with me. With us."
"Am I helping you at all?"
"When you're not following me around, yeah," Tonks said. "I'd have said like a puppy, but I didn't think you'd like that comparison."
"You said it anyway," Remus said, his lips curling slightly.
"I did," Tonks smiled. "See? We're getting there. It'll just take…time."
"Would you like if I went out to the garden every now and then? Leave you alone?" Remus asked hesitantly.
"You and leaving can't be in the same sentence," Tonks said coolly. "But you're welcome to do things other than pretend you cast a Sticking Charm on yourself."
"Right." Remus' ears grew pink as he blushed.
"What do you want to do with your time, Remus?"
"Whatever will make you happiest."
"You simply being here, with me, is enough. What do you want to do for you?"
"I've no idea. I haven't done much for myself in, well…"
"Never?"
"I wouldn't say…never…just, not recently, other than…"
"Marrying me?"
"Yes. Being with you in any capacity has been the most I've done for myself in years, pathetic as that may seem."
"Seems about right for you, actually," Tonks said knowingly. "If you could do anything – anything at all – what would it be?"
"Not be a werewolf anymore," Remus deadpanned.
"Be realistic," Tonks huffed. "I'm trying to help you."
Remus stayed silent for several moments, and Tonks grew anxious that she had asked too much of him.
"Sex? Would that make you happy? It's made you happy before…" Tonks said nervously.
"While I appreciate the offer, love, I'm not sure we're at that point in our relationship," Remus said carefully. "I don't want you doing anything you don't want to do."
"I'm offering," Tonks said flatly.
"As a last resort to make me happy," Remus sighed. "I don't want it to be a last resort. I want you to…want me, for me." Remus hung his head and looked at his feet, fiddling with a loose thread on his jumper.
"You're adorable, but I think I understand what you mean," Tonks said affectionately. "C'mon, think of something. I'm losing my mind as much as you are stuck in this house all day."
"Would you err, wanttoshopforbabythings?" Remus said breathlessly.
Tonks felt her jaw drop. "You, Remus Lupin, want to willingly and publicly go shopping for baby things…with me…for our baby?"
"Yes," Remus said nervously. "I thought it might be nice."
"That would make you happy?" Tonks asked, still incredulous. "You?"
"I thought it would be nice to get some things with you."
"Right, then, I'll tell my mum," Tonks said thoughtfully. "I'll be right back."
Tonks descended the stairs to the kitchen, where her mother was sipping a cup of tea.
"Mum, what kinds of things do babies need?" Tonks asked hopefully.
"A parent who doesn't run away," Andromeda retorted sharply.
"He's back, mum. Anyway, the kid'll have me, even if something happens to Remus. Can you please just answer my question? What things do babies need?"
Andromeda looked at Tonks pensively before speaking again.
"I don't want to crush your hopes, darling, but what if you buy things and the baby doesn't make it?" Andromeda asked gently. "I've seen you lose hope too many times lately. You said yourself that you didn't want to get your hopes up unnecessarily."
"You think it will die?" Tonks asked, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes. "I know it might be too early to tell, but I have a good feeling about this baby."
"As long as you understand the risks," Andromeda exhaled heavily. "You're nearly at twelve weeks now, so the chances that you lose the pregnancy now are much lower, aside from the possible lycanthropy."
"There is almost no chance of that, anyway," Tonks said impatiently. "Lycanthropy is only transmitted through werewolf bites at the full moon. This kid wasn't made with a bite, or anytime near the full moon, for obvious reasons."
"If you're certain, Nymphadora, then give me a few moments to make a list of some supplies you'll need," Andromeda finally said. "Is your husband going with you?"
"Remus is going with me, yes. It was his idea, after all."
Andromeda raised her eyebrows in surprise, but said no more as she pulled out a piece of parchment to make a list of supplies. Tonks ran upstairs to meet Remus, who was pacing anxiously in the smallest bedroom.
"Mum's giving us a list of things to get," Tonks said happily. "Let's go!"
"Dora, shouldn't you be wearing something different? We'll have to go to Muggle shops," he added hastily. "Not that I'm afraid to be seen with you in Diagon Alley—"
"—no, you're right," Tonks said. "I don't fancy meeting with Death Eaters while looking for baby shoes."
"Babies don't need shoes, do they?" Remus asked curiously.
"I dunno, they walk sometimes?" Tonks added.
"It's a good thing we have your mother," Remus said, in defeat. "We'd be hopeless without her."
"Good thing indeed. Now let's get that list and start shopping!" Tonks said enthusiastically.
…
"Mum, what's Remus thinking?" Tonks asked her mother, as she was nursing a cup of ginger tea to stave off nausea.
"Why do you ask?" Andromeda asked in surprise. "You've never asked about his thoughts before."
"I like to respect his privacy, but he's been…weird," Tonks said slowly. "Just a little too, err, loving?"
"How do you mean?"
"I s'pose I'm wondering if Remus is doing all these things for me because he wants to, or if he's feeling guilty," Tonks said.
"Which one do you think it is?"
"Both," Tonks said truthfully. "I think he loves me, but I don't want him doing all of this out of a sense of guilt or duty to me or the kid."
"He's hopelessly in love with you, darling," Andromeda said. "Guilt-ridden as well, but he's felt that way for a long time."
Tonks was momentarily pensive. "Mum, what do you really think of him?"
"Why do you ask?"
"You haven't spoken to him since he came back—"
"—since you dragged him here."
"He was going to come back, mum. Why haven't you spoken to him?" Tonks was irritable with both her mother and husband for each refusing to speak to one another.
"Why hasn't he spoken to me?"
"I think he's afraid to, honestly."
"He is," Andromeda said softly. "He has difficulty with courage."
"He was a Gryffindor, so he's got to have some courage," Tonks said. "Look at how much he did in the first war, and just last year with the werewolves. He's brave."
"He's courageous when it comes to others' lives, but not his own."
"Is that all you think of him?" Tonks asked, slightly put out that her mother had said so little.
"Why are you asking me, Nymphadora?"
"I don't want to spend the rest of the war in a home with people who can barely talk to one another," Tonks explained. "If I can, I'd like to get us all back on speaking terms."
"You can't fix him, Nymphadora."
"What do you think I'm trying to fix?"
"Darling, Remus is a good man with many flaws. He thinks the world of you. This much is obvious to anyone who spends more than a few moments with you two together. He lights up whenever you're in the room. He looks at you with eyes of wonderment and longing. He simply adores you. Absolutely besotted," Andromeda said. Tonks was beaming brightly upon hearing all this.
"He has many flaws. He is courageous, but he won't be courageous for himself. He will protect others, at the cost of his own life or happiness. This, I believe, is why he may have been Sorted into Gryffindor," Andromeda continued. "He is self-destructive. He doesn't understand how destroying his own happiness devastates those around him. These flaws, I'm afraid, cannot be fixed by you alone, as much as you may try. He is broken, though not beyond repair. I had been hoping, that with you in his life, he may have grown beyond his insecurities. He has not. So long as he has these problems to work through, your marriage will suffer for it."
"So you don't like him?"
"It's not so simple, Nymphadora," Andromeda said, sighing heavily. "I like him as a man, but as a son-in-law, he has been disappointing. I only ever wanted you to be loved, cherished, and adored, but never left behind."
"Does dad like him?"
"Your father and I are of similar minds, though he has greater patience than I do." Andromeda pursed her lips.
"I figured as much. You don't think I'm mental for taking him back, do you?"
"It's what I expected of you."
"Why?" Tonks asked, half-offended.
"You are loyal to a fault."
"Is that so wrong?"
"It can be," Andromeda said curtly. "He has hurt you terribly, despite the love he professes for you. You're also mated to him now. I understand now why he was so against the idea."
"You think we shouldn't have?"
"It's not what you meant to do, is it?"
"No, it's not," Tonks said quietly. "But if I get this sprog out of it, maybe it'll be okay."
"How are you feeling?"
"Tomorrow's the full moon," Tonks said, looking down at her moonstone pendant. "I don't feel any different."
"How is Remus?"
"Why don't I have him come in to tell you? He's due for his dose of Wolfsbane any minute now, anyway."
"I'll be rather surprised if he talks to me." Andromeda crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the countertop that was now laden with Tonks' pregnancy potions for the next week.
"Fine," Tonks said, standing up with a huff. She approached the door to the garden, and opened it to find Remus tending to what she assumed were root vegetables.
"Remus," Tonks called. He looked up at her with a soft smile. Ever since he'd come home from his 'escapade,' as her mother had called it, he had mostly returned to his pre-werewolf-encampment adorations of her. They were exacerbated by her pregnancy, and his hovering had been nearly suffocating at times. It had prompted her to ask her mother about his thoughts, as the return to his usual adorations contrasted sharply with the events of the summer.
"Yes, love?" Remus asked. "Is there anything you need?"
"Yes," Tonks said firmly. "I need something." Remus stood up quickly, wincing slightly. Even through his pre-full moon pain, he was nothing if not devoted to her every whim.
"What do you need? I'll get it for you, anything you like." Remus' eagerness would have been endearing, if hadn't been simultaneously exasperating.
"I want you to talk to my mother." Remus' face fell.
"Why? Have I done something wrong?"
"You haven't spoken to her."
"She hasn't spoken to me."
"I'm not an owl. Mum was asking how you are, as it's the day before the full moon. I thought you might want to answer that question yourself."
"Are you—"
"—I'm sure. Stop doing the self-destructive thing, and get yourself inside the house. Now." Remus was dumbfounded at Tonks' order, but cleaned his hands of dirt and followed Tonks into the house.
The atmosphere in the kitchen was colder than it had been before, but Tonks had had enough of the silence between two of the people she most loved.
"Well?" Tonks looked between Andromeda and Remus.
"I-I'm sorry, Andromeda," Remus said quietly. "For all the pain I've caused your daughter."
"I know you are," Andromeda said evenly. "Your guilt radiates off your body."
Remus and Tonks were silent upon hearing Andromeda's words.
"As does your love for my daughter," Andromeda said softly. "Please know that my daughter loves you as well, and what you do to hurt yourself, hurts her as well."
"I'm sorry," Remus said softly. "I am trying to do better. Be better."
"It's all we can ask of you," Andromeda replied. There was another awkward silence before she spoke again. "What are you doing for the full moon tomorrow night?"
"As in, where am I staying?" Remus asked, and Andromeda nodded in response.
"I want to be close to Dora, in case Fenrir comes back."
"How are you going to do that?" Tonks asked. "You'll have to stay here, then. He knows this is where we live now."
"Why not the Fidelius Charm, as you have on your cottage?" Andromeda asked.
"That will prove problematic now, as there are two suspicious figures living here."
"D'you mean us, Remus?" Tonks asked.
"I'm one of them," Remus said slowly. "Your father is the other."
"How do you mean?" Andromeda asked hotly.
"Did you read The Prophet today, Andromeda?" Remus asked carefully. Andromeda shook her head.
"Err," Remus stammered. He procured the day's edition of The Prophet from a nearby table and began to read aloud:
Suspicious figures are those individuals who may pose a threat to the Wizarding World. These suspicious figures are identified by their level of danger:
Level 4 (extreme threats): Undesirables (for full listing, see page 2 of today's Prophet)
Level 3 (major threats): Known traitors to the Ministry of Magic
Level 2 (moderate threats): Sub-human beings
Level 1 (minor threats): Uncooperative Muggle-borns
All suspicious figures shall be required to register their residences to the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry reserves the right to perform welfare checks upon all suspicious figures with no less than one day's notice. Failure to be present at the appointed time for the welfare check will elevate one's status to Undesirable. Attempts to disguise, disillusion, confound, or otherwise make one's residence unavailable to the Ministry for any length of time shall elevate one's status to Undesirable. Harboring an Undesirable shall elevate one's own status to Undesirable.
"Is dad an 'uncooperative Muggle-born'?" Tonks asked indignantly. "This is rubbish!"
"I assume that he will be, once he refuses to appear for his summons before the court," Remus said darkly. "He's expected there within a month."
"They're rounding up Muggle-borns?" Andromeda asked, aghast.
"They have been, for weeks," Remus said bitterly. "I saw Ted's summons arrive this morning. I haven't yet updated my own registration for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures…though I believe I should."
"Why can't you keep your registration at the cottage?" Tonks asked.
"It's already under the Fidelius Charm. If a notice comes for me for a so-called 'welfare check,' and I am not there, I will become an Undesirable, which carries a life sentence in Azkaban."
"Update your registration," Andromeda said shortly. "No need for you to risk your life any further."
"What about dad?" Tonks asked. "What's he going to do?"
"I'm not certain," Remus said uneasily. "When he's home from work, we can discuss the options."
"What are we going to do about your transformations?" Tonks asked. "If you're expected to be here, then you'll have to stay…but if we keep you in the spare room, what if Fenrir comes by?"
"I have a proposition," Remus suggested. "Though it would involve shutting me out of the house tonight."
"Where will you go?" Tonks asked sharply. "Please don't leave again. I don't want you to get hurt."
"The garden," Remus said simply. "I can place enchantments on the house which will bar me from entering, but will keep me on the property…and take care of Fenrir, should he come by."
"Are you sure that's safe?" Andromeda asked. "Won't passers-by notice a werewolf in the garden?"
"To the untrained eye, I will appear as a larger-than-usual dog, I think," Remus said. "Are there many Muggles in this area?"
"It's about half and half," Andromeda replied. "The Muggles notice us, but keep to themselves."
"With the Wolfsbane, I will keep my human mind intact. I shouldn't be a threat to the Muggles. With additional enchantments, the Muggles won't come by. If Fenrir comes, I will manage."
"Will you be…safe?" Tonks asked hesitantly.
"As safe as I can be. I assume Fenrir will have taken Wolfsbane as well, as he did last moon."
"Is that the only option?" Andromeda asked.
"It's the best I can do, given the circumstances," Remus said. "If Ted has another suggestion, I'll gladly hear it."
"What might I be suggesting?" Ted's voice came booming from the fireplace as he came home from work.
"My plans for transforming in the garden tomorrow night," Remus supplied. He quickly informed Ted of his plans, including the summons that had arrived for Ted that morning.
"If we set up enchantments for you, Remus, will we be able to come to your aid, should you need it?" Ted asked.
"I'd really rather if you didn't," Remus said awkwardly. "Not that I doubt any of your magical skills, but werewolves are very difficult to restrain in their transformed states."
"It's true," Tonks added. "Last November, when I was in the Shrieking Shack with Remus, I tried every spell I could think of, except for the Avada Kedavra. Nothing stunned him for more than a few seconds. If his wolf hadn't recognized me as his mate, I'd have died."
"It will be what it will be, then," Ted said softly. "We will keep a close eye on you, Remus, and you will keep an eye and ear out for Fenrir in the garden."
"What will you do, Ted? With the summons?" Remus asked.
"I don't know," Ted answered uncomfortably. "I…had some news to share with you all."
"You got sacked?" Tonks asked in disbelief.
"I resigned," Ted said grimly. "I was given the option to resign or be sacked. My department head was furious over the options. If I were to be sacked, he would have had to turn me over to the Ministry. If I resigned, it would have been my choice…and so I resigned."
"So there are now two unemployed Tonkses," Tonks said bitterly.
"You're a Lupin now, aren't you?" Andromeda asked.
"I hadn't gotten around to changing it," Tonks said. "You don't mind, do you, Remus?"
"It's your name, Dora," Remus said. "Our baby can be a Tonks, if you'd like."
"No, I want a little Lupin," Tonks said with a smile. "Maybe, when the war is over, I'll change my name with the Ministry."
"Whatever you'd like, Dora," Remus said softly.
"We should celebrate," Tonks said abruptly.
Remus' jaw dropped. "What in Merlin's name are we celebrating? Your father just lost his job!"
"We're all talking," Tonks said simply. "It's been weeks since it was like this. Remus, will you make cinnamon rolls?"
"Anything you'd like, Dora," Remus said, grinning. As Remus began preparing the cinnamon rolls, Tonks settled back down at the kitchen table with her parents. Though the atmosphere was still tense from the news of Ted's lost job, a new ease had settled into the home.
…
"You ready?" Tonks asked Remus. They were sitting out in the garden, just minutes before moonrise.
"As ready as I ever am," he replied sadly.
"Can you smell anyone?"
"Other than you? No, thankfully," Remus admitted. "That doesn't mean much if Fenrir's out of my range of smell."
"Can I show you something that might cheer you up?"
Remus stared at her in exasperation, but nodded. Tonks pulled out a sign from behind her back and showed it to Remus. It was a tin sign that would be displayed just outside the garden, bearing the message: WARNING – BEWARE OF DOG.
Despite his obvious pain, Remus laughed raucously upon seeing the sign.
"Sirius would've loved this," Remus finally said. "Thank you, Dora."
"I'll be keeping an eye on you, sweetheart," Tonks said gently. "Be safe tonight, please."
"I'll do my best," Remus said quietly. Tonks bent down to kiss Remus softly before moonrise. He looked surprised at the affection, and looked at her with wonder in his eyes before she kissed the top of his head and ran back into the house.
Tonks closed the door behind her, where her parents were sitting at the kitchen table.
"Are you going to watch him?" Andromeda asked.
"Transform? I don't think he wants me seeing that."
"Keep an eye on him, Dora," Ted suggested. "Just to be safe."
"Okay," Tonks relented. She strode back to the door that led out to the garden, to look out the panes on the door to see Remus beginning his transformation.
Tonks had seen the transformations of the werewolves from their wolf to human state the prior moon, but had been so bewildered that she hadn't really noticed the finer details of the transformation.
Remus was screaming. Tonks couldn't hear the screaming, due to a Silencing Charm placed on the garden, but Remus' mouth betrayed the torture he was experiencing. He was on his hands and knees, screaming and crying up at the moon. His spine was elongating and his body was shaking. A tail began growing from the base of his spine, as his limbs began shifting shape. Remus' chin fell to the ground as his arms gave out and began cracking apart unnaturally. His mouth opened, still screaming, as his teeth grew to expose sharp canines. Fur sprouted from every inch of his body. Within minutes, the human being had been completely replaced by the werewolf.
The wolf's amber yellow eyes looked at the house, and then sat awkwardly on its hind legs, perking its ears up towards the distance. Tonks hadn't realized she was holding her breath, but seeing Remus in his transformed state again was breathtaking, especially as he was on Wolfsbane and was fully aware of what was happening around him.
"How is he?" Andromeda asked.
"Take a look for yourself," Tonks replied. "He's just sitting there."
Andromeda and Ted stood from the kitchen table and joined Tonks at the door to look out the small window panes onto the garden. Remus was sitting awkwardly on the grass, and paused momentarily to look at the three faces staring at him from the windowed door. Remus-the-wolf cocked his head to one side and then back to the other side.
Tonks stifled a laugh. "I think he's embarrassed we're looking at him."
"We'll go back to the table, then," Ted said. "You'll stay here?"
"All night. I'm not letting him out of my sight. Not until I know there won't be another wolf."
"Be safe, Nymphadora," Andromeda cautioned. "Even if you see another werewolf, you mustn't leave. Remus insisted."
"I know, mum," Tonks said absentmindedly, still looking out into the garden. Remus was now staring at the sky, at the full moon.
The hours passed; Andromeda and Ted retired to their bedroom upstairs. Remus stayed awake and alert, looking up and around him. His ears and snout sometimes twitched. Tonks supposed he was hearing or smelling for any sign of another werewolf. Tonks' eyelids grew heavy, but she refused to let herself look away from the garden. At long last, the moon was finally setting.
Just as the transformation to the wolf form appeared painful, the transition back to a human looked excruciating as well. Remus was making strangled noises, but no sounds reached Tonks' ears. Tonks saw as the wolf's legs grew and snapped back into human limbs. The fur retracted back into his human skin, as did his canine teeth into his human mouth. Tonks began fiddling with the doorknob of the door to the garden, anxious to rush out the door to meet him. Remus' enchantments were highly effective, as it wasn't until the moon had fully set that she was able to leave the safety of her parents' home.
"Remus!" she called. Her husband was panting, naked in the garden.
"No one came," he croaked. "Thank Merlin, no one came."
"I know, sweetheart," Tonks said, helping Remus up to a sitting position so she could wrap a dressing gown around him. "I watched you all night."
"Why did you do that? You should've been resting," Remus said hoarsely. "I could've taken care of myself."
"I didn't like the idea of you alone. Next time, I want you inside with me," Tonks declared. Remus looked at her in disbelief.
"Your moon enchantments held beautifully, Remus," Tonks said. "We can try again, with you inside the house next month."
"Only if your parents permit it."
"I hope they will. Now, c'mon, let's get you inside for a kip." Remus nodded and stood shakily with Tonks, and she led them back to their bed, falling into it for a deep slumber.