Chapter 10

22 March 5:19 pm

It seemed nearly forever as Tonks and Remus waited for Venoma to work whatever magic was required for her tests. Tonks nearly laughed at Remus and how giddy he was acting, for it was very unlike his character to behave in such a way. They were both giddy, and yet still nervous over the facts the witch doctor had already given them. In an effort to calm his nerves, Tonks pulled Remus to her and kissed him gently. It only lasted briefly until Venoma's voice distracted them at long last.

"Come see," she called to them.

Remus took hold of Tonks' hand as they passed through the beaded doorway. They only took a few steps into the lab when Venoma stopped them. "Wait," she said, pointing a long finger at Remus. "It is not safe for you. You come no further." Venoma rested an elegant hand on top of a device Tonks had never seen before.

"What are you doing?" questioned Tonks, glancing over an unusual device sitting on the table next to the beautiful witch. A metallic stem twisted up from a base made of rock. The bulb at its center was circular, magically suspended in a silver dome, which served as the shade.

"This lamp was a gift from a werewolf hunter. Payment for service I gave him." Her fingers danced over the device. Upon closer inspection, Tonks could see that it was, indeed, a lamp. "Watch," Venoma instructed as she tapped the dome with her wand and muttered an incantation. The bulb lit up and gave off an eerie glow. It wasn't as bright as the electric light some of Tonks' Muggle relations used, but the glow was certainly stronger than that of a candle.

"It simulates light of full moon." Venoma glanced over her shoulder at Remus, who still stood in the doorway. "I doubt it would cause you to transform, but we should be cautious. Now, look here." She picked up a vial and held it up for both of them to see. "This is blood I took from you," she said indicating Remus. Slowly, she brought it to a position under the lamp. The blood in the vial began to bubble as if being boiled on a hot stove. "You see reaction." She said with obvious fascination. "Now see this." She picked up the second vial and held it under the lamp. Tonks held her breath, expecting to see a similar reaction, but it didn't come. The blood in the second vial hardly moved at all, popping only once.

"What does that mean?" Tonks asked.

"I told you there was sensitivity to moonlight, but I would have never suspected lycanthropy. The blood of werewolf is much more potent."

"So where does that leave us?" Tonks sighed, looked back at Remus in uncertainty.

Venoma tapped the lamp and it went dark. She walked slowly towards Remus, her boots clicking on the wooden floor as she went. "The life line I found from your blood is tainted from lycanthropy. It alters human lines into more animalistic lines." She turned back to Tonks. "The line from your womb is similar, but not so animalistic. I can suspect your metamorphic qualities have altered the line, making it more human. But, this is an unusual case, as I said. I give no certainties."

Tonks stepped closer to the witch, feeling a twitch of excitement mixed with nervousness. "What does that mean, then…for the baby?"

"That I cannot answer. I do not know specifics for the child. I cannot tell you if full moon will cause transformations. I cannot tell you if child will be a full metamorph. I have not seen such a child before, so new ground is where we walk. I am sorry not to be more help. But," Venoma paused, pointing a finger at Tonks, "this is not what you came to me for. You came to me for help finding father of child. That question I can answer." She smiled slyly and glanced over at Remus.

Tonks felt as if her heart was beating so fast it would explode any moment. She met Remus' eyes to find his looking totally awestruck. "You're sure?"

Venoma tilted her head to the side and lightly laughed. "Do you make love with another werewolf?"

Tonks laughed though her tears. She fixed her eyes on Remus and said, "No, there's no one else."

In two long strides, Remus crossed to her and embraced her so tightly she though she might break. His arms went around her waist and she felt him lift her off the floor ever so slightly. He kissed her gently and slowly. Tonks wished with all her being that they were at home alone, experiencing these feelings in the privacy of their own bedroom. But that would have to wait.

"I take it you are pleased?"

Remus chuckled into Tonk's hair. "More than pleased."

Tonks leaned back to look up into his eyes with a bright smile. "I love you."

"And I love you." Remus echoed with another kiss.

When the kiss broke, Tonks turned her head to look at the witch doctor and offered her eternal thanks to her for her work.

"No need to thank me. Payment is all I need." She held out a piece of parchment to Tonks.

Tonks sniffed, wiping away some of her tears, and looked at the figure the woman had written on the parchment. Remus looked over her shoulder at the number as well. The giddy feeling in Tonks' stomach vanished almost immediately. The amount of money Venoma was asking for as payment was far more than she had agreed to when she first arrived.

"I'm sorry, I thought it was less than this," Tonks said.

"Yes, that was for one test, but I did two," the woman said matter-of-factly.

"Oh…I see…"

"Is there problem?" Venoma asked.

"I don't have this kind of money," Tonks admitted with a glance up at Remus.

"Not worry," Venoma said airily. "We make arrangement. One more of these and we call it even." She held up the vial containing the blood she had so easily taken from Remus.

The air in the room was suddenly so thick it could be cut with a knife. Tonks felt Remus stiffen beside her. To her surprise he asked, "For what reason would you need one, let alone two vials of my blood?"

The other witch gave a sly smile and opened the cabinet she was standing next to. "You think it comes easy looking so young?" Her eyes darted to Tonks. "You are blessed. You will never know how it is not to stop your body from aging. That you control. I, however, cannot. I use potions and creams and anything to help turn back time." She pulled out a glass jar filled with some sort of milky white substance. "My personal concoction. Stronger than the ones I sell." she said eyeing the jar with great affection. "Only one left. It will last another year, and then I must find substitute."

"What is it?" Remus asked.

"You think I give up my secret so easily?" she said with raised eyebrows. "I sell similar mixture, but leave out one important and rare ingredient."

"Werewolf blood," Tonks said under her breath.

"It gives my skin a glow like no other. A firm sign of youth." She held her chin up in such a way that Tonks couldn't help but admire her beauty. "What you give me, I will make enough for years to come."

Remus eyed her skeptically. "How do I know you won't use it in a lethal potion?"

Venoma tossed her head back in laughter. "You think I give up my beauty to kill someone? I assure you, I have other means of taking revenge, should I need to."

Remus looked down at Tonks questioningly. She couldn't believe he was even considering it. "Don't," she said.

"How else can we pay her?" His voice dropped to an almost inaudible level. "Keep in mind that she knows you're pregnant. I don't know about you, but I don't especially want a witch doctor angry with either one of us right now."

Out of an unknown instinct, Tonks' hand flew to cover her abdomen protectively. "Do you trust her that much to give her your blood?"

Remus smirked and turned to face the other woman in the room. "I'll give you want you want…on one condition." Venoma nodded. "I want to be present when you make the mixture. I don't have any interest in the other ingredients, so I promise you that I won't take notes or give your secrets away. I only want to see that you keep to your word and use only what you need."

She clearly didn't like his condition. "It would be easier to just give me what I want."

"Yes it would, however I can't, in good conscious, do that. If you really want my help, you'll allow me to watch until I am satisfied you won't use the blood for any other potion."

The woman considered the offer, clearly torn between her desire to stay young and the need to keep her recipes a secret. Her beauty won and she handed Remus a parchment and quill. "You sign agreement to be here two weeks from today. I make mixture, you watch." She didn't sound pleased with the arrangement in the slightest.

Remus went to sign the parchment, but Tonks stopped him, grabbing his arm and holding him back. "Are you sure about this?" she said under her breath. "You're about to sign a contract with a witch doctor."

Remus gave her a solid look. " I really don't think we have much of a choice. I'll be careful when I come to fulfill the contract." He ran the quill over the parchment, closing the deal with his signature.

Venoma gave a haunting smile as she rolled the parchment up and placed it among her other papers. "Is done then." Her eyes darted from one face to the other. "You enjoy your evening." She bowed slightly and raised her hand, directing then to the door.

Once outside, Tonks couldn't help but consider the odd sensations passing through her. She looked up at Remus, who seemed to be having similar feelings. It was indescribable really. Happiness over the outcome, mixed in with worry of the unknown, not to mention the relief that all the misunderstandings had been put to rest. She felt drained emotionally from the upheaval of the previous week. Remus must have sensed this in her, for he wrapped his arms around her and held her steadily against his chest.

"Shall we go home?" he asked quietly.

She nodded. "I'm tired."

"I don't doubt it. Let's find a floo."

"Floo?" she asked, leaning back to look at him with a puzzled expression.

"You shouldn't Apparate in your condition," he explained.

"I'm just tired."

Remus smiled. "I meant…concerning the baby…"

Tonks bit at her lower lip. "Oh…yeah. But I've been Apparating all over the place. Once more couldn't hurt?"

"If it's all the same to you, I'd like to begin my role as the over protective father by insisting on finding a floo."

Tonks couldn't hold back the smile that lit her face at hearing the word "father" come from him with such ease. She agreed and they made their way back to the normalcy of Diagon Alley where they could floo safely back to the comfort of their own flat.

It was so odd to be standing there, in their home, as if nothing much had happened over the day. Tonks wasn't sure how to behave or what to say, as she had never been in a situation like this. What's the correct method for ending a day that had just changed your life forever in the most amazing way? Her eyes met Remus' again, and she was comforted to see that he, too, seemed to be at a loss for how to proceed.

"It feels strange, doesn't it?" she muttered, breaking the silence of the room.

"But a good kind of strange. Strange and unbelievable," he added, stepping closer to her.

Tonks shrugged. "I'm not sure what to do."

"I know. I feel as if the world has been altered, and yet I look around and I don't see any noticeable changes."

"Exactly! Everything feels different. Shouldn't something look different?"

He brushed her fringe back out of her eyes and cupped her face with his hands. "Give it a few months and something will look different."

She smirked at him. "Ta."

He kissed her then, softly and lovingly, as if offering thanks for the miracle growing within her. His mouth lingered against hers as he murmured a quiet, "I love you."

Breaking away, and feeling more lightheaded than she had all day, Tonks reminded him that she was tired. "I think I'll go lie down for a bit."

"Are you hungry?"

"A little, but I'm more tired than anything."

"You go and have a rest and I'll make up something to eat," he offered.

"Sounds good. But don't stay away too long."

In a matter of moments, Tonks had managed to change into her nightclothes, pull herself into bed, and fall into a comfortable sleep. She wasn't even aware of how much time had passed between crawling into the bed and being awoken by the gentle nudge on her shoulder. She blinked open her eyes to find Remus smiling down at her.

"Wotcher, Remus," she said sleepily, yawning and stretching out her long arms over her head.

"It should be a crime that you can fall asleep so quickly."

"I told you I was tired."

"I know, and I almost let you alone, but reconsidered it when I took into account that you hadn't eaten anything all day." He nodded over to the tray of food perched on the nightstand.

Tonks rolled her eyes. "I skip meals all the time."

"I know that as well, and I'm sorry but you're not going to get away with it anymore. You need to eat." His hand caressed her abdomen protectively.

"Are you going to keep this up for the whole nine months?"

"That's my plan," he said with a wink.

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Fine. I'll eat."

Tonks made well on her word and finished off the sandwich Remus had prepared for her. She was even relatively surprised to find that the slightly nauseous feeling that had plagued her almost all day vanished more with each bite. With her stomach settled and her mind at ease, Tonks nestled back under the covers contentedly. It was only upon seeing Remus begin to leave that she felt herself frown.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked, taking in the unhappy face she was making.

"Aren't you going to stay with me?"

"Yes, of course. I'm just not very tired right now. In fact, I'm quite the opposite really."

Tonks tugged on the sleeve of his robe. "You don't have to sleep, you know. You can just lie here with me."

Remus cocked an eyebrow at her.

"You may be wide awake, but I assure you that I am too tired for anything else. Please, Remus, I just want to be with you. I want you to stay."

"How can I possibly resist you?"

Tonks grinned madly as he pulled off his robe and slipped into bed next to her, wrapping his arms around her in the process and planting a loving kiss in her hair. She snuggled up next to him, entwining her legs with his and resting her arm over his hip.

This was exactly what she had wanted – what she had always wanted from him. It was this feeling – this moment that should last them forever. Yet she had almost lost this, and it suddenly gripped at her heart that both of them had so foolishly jumped to conclusion about each other. Conclusions that were so unnerving it sent a chill down her spine. It wouldn't do. A change had to be made.

"Remus," she murmured into his shoulder.

"Yes, love?" he replied running an affectionate hand up and down her back.

"Will you do something for me?"

"Anything. I'm at your mercy tonight."

"Will you marry me?"

The hand tracing her spine stopped and she felt Remus tense up at her question.

"Nym…" he began tentatively.

"Just listen to me for a sec," she said, pushing away just enough to look into his perplexed face. "I don't like how we handled things today. We both made hasty and potentially damaging assumptions today that should never have even crossed our minds. I don't like keeping secrets and I don't like that you still worry I might up and leave you some day."

"But Tonks - "

"I'm not finished," she interrupted gently. "I don't want there to be any doubts between us ever again. I want stability and commitment and all that jazz that comes with it."

"You don't think I'm committed to you?"

"I don't think you feel I'm totally committed to you, and I want to remedy that as soon as possible."

Remus' face resembled that of a scolded child. "I can't say how sorry I am for that, can I? But marriage, Tonks? We can't. It's impossible."

"No it's not, you just refuse to see the possibility. I want to stand next to you in front of all our friends and family and anyone that gives a damn about us and make it publicly known that I love you and chose to spend the rest of my life loving you. I want to make it official that my life is your life, and what hurts you hurts me. I want to be able to call you my husband and never have to second-guess the use of the term. If you'd let me, I would shout it from the roof tops just to make sure the whole world was aware of how much I love you."

Remus sighed and searched her face with his eyes. "But…legally…"

"I don't give a rat's ass about that. If you need a piece of parchment as proof of my devotion, then I'll have something worked up for you. I'll sign whatever you need me to sign."

Remus smiled slightly and closed his eyes in disbelief.

"Besides," Tonks added, "it might sound old fashioned, but I don't want our baby born out of wedlock."

Looking back into her eyes, Remus agreed. "No, it's not old fashioned. You're right about that."

Tonks pressed closer to him. "I want everyone to know this is your baby, complete with the last name of Lupin to prove the point."

Remus chuckled. "You marry me and the baby won't be the only one with the last name of Lupin…Tonks," he said emphasizing her name in the process.

"True."

"You'd have to start letting people use your first name."

"Why? Lupin is a perfectly acceptable name. I might even hyphenate my last name, you never know."

"Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin?" he said with a chuckle.

"I like the sound of it." She leaned in for a kiss.

"So do I," he said, returning the favor.