Remus threw off his cloak, swiping back his windswept locks of hair, and ran upstairs to find Tonks reclining on the sitting room sofa with her mother at her side and her newborn son in her arms. "I found Harry," he told her, grinning broadly as he bent down to kiss her and the baby. "He was at Shell Cottage with Bill and Fleur—he looked wonderful, Dora, him and the others—and he agreed to be godfather!"

"Oh, brilliant," Tonks murmured, peering down at the baby. "You hear that, Teddy? The most famous wizard in the country is going to be your godfather!"

Remus settled down beside her, still smiling, and wrapped his fingers around one of Teddy's tiny hands. The baby's hair, as he'd guessed, had changed color in the few hours he'd been gone—it was now a bright, electric blue. Tonks seemed to have changed her hair to match it, though hers was much duller in shade: she looked exhausted after a long day of labor, pale and dull-eyed but absolutely radiant.

"You should get some sleep," he told her softly, pressing his lips to her cheek. "You deserve it."

Tonks nodded, yawning. "I know. Mum said she'd watch Teddy for a bit while I go take a nap—I just fed him half an hour ago, so he should be fine."

"I'll watch him," Remus offered quickly, glancing a bit nervously over at Andromeda Tonks. He knew that Tonks's mother had yet to fully forgive him for walking out on her daughter, but he hoped that she thought enough of him to grant him a bit of time alone with his son.

Tonks glanced at her, too, communicating silently through her gaze; Andromeda dipped her head in response. "Of course," she said, standing up. "Come on, Nymphadora. I'll help you to bed."

Tonks slipped Teddy into Remus's outstretched arms and gave him a soft kiss before following after her mother. Remus leaned back against the sofa and raised his son up to his chest, watching raptly as his hair changed and darkened into a light brown similar to what Remus's own had been before he'd gone gray. The baby was clearly just as much a Metamorphmagus as his mother; whether he had inherited his father's lycanthropy remained to be seen. But there was more than enough time to worry about that later—right now, Teddy was perfect and happy and healthy, and that was all that mattered.

He and Tonks had named their son after Tonks's father Ted, who had been murdered by Snatchers only weeks before Teddy's birth. At Tonks's insistence, his middle name was Remus's—Remus still couldn't comprehend how anything so wonderful could share his name. Teddy Remus Lupin.

As the hours wore on, the night growing deeper and darker, he gently rocked his son back and forth and began to hum an old Welsh lullaby his mother had once sung to him, and he in turn had once sung to baby Harry. There was a thick air of happiness surrounding him that he had never quite felt before—it was something like contentment, like peace with himself.

Remus was seized by a sudden, strange desire; he pulled his wand from his pocket, his eyes fixed on Teddy, and murmured "Expecto Patronum."

A large silver wolf burst from the tip of his wand, circling the sofa and then settling on the floor beside Remus, standing sentinel against the darkness outside. Before tonight, Remus had always hated his Patronus—he had never truly appreciated how strong and elegant the spirit looked. It was the same Patronus as Tonks's, a testament to the strength of the love she had for him, and it was beautiful.

Remus glanced from Teddy to the wolf and back again. He had always considered himself a monster, unclean and sinister—but what kind of monster could create such beautiful things? What kind of monster could win the hearts of Sirius Black and Nymphadora Tonks, or win the trust of Dumbledore or Harry Potter? He had so many people, past and present, who'd cared for him—and for the first time in his life, he began to wonder if he might actually be worthy of all of it, despite his disease and despite the faults and flaws that had come with it. He wasn't a monster; he was a man, and he was good.

The warmth within him growing, Remus spent the rest of the night smiling to himself and singing to his son, and it wasn't until the morning had come again and filled the sitting room with sunlight that his Patronus finally left his side.