"Serpensortia!" Dolohov yelled, flicking his wand at Remus; a massive cobra emerged from the tip of it and reared up before its target, opening its mouth to strike; Remus only barely avoided its fangs, dispelling of the snake with a hurried "Evanesco."

Dolohov laughed, a sneer souring his twisted face. "I thought you were supposed to be a great duelist, Remus Lupin," he said. "Looks like you took too much time off for your honeymoon with that blood traitor's daughter."

"You haven't killed me yet, Antonin," Remus breathed back, shooting off a Body-Bind Jinx that Dolohov deflected with a lazy flick of his wand. The Death Eater was right: Remus was no match for him, not after all the months he'd spent hidden away with Tonks. He'd managed to fend him off for a while, but there was no question who the better duelist was of the two of them. It was only a matter of time.

Despite their efforts to contain them on the grounds, the Death Eaters had managed to infiltrate Hogwarts's castle; now they filled the entrance hall with their dark cloaks and masks, easy to pick out now that their surroundings were illuminated by the hall's flaming torches. Some of them had swept up the marble staircase into the castle proper, on the hunt for Harry and his friends.

"Remus!" Remus's heart stopped at the sound of her voice; momentarily forgetting Dolohov, who was preoccupied dealing with a pair of fiery-eyed seventh years, he turned to see his wife racing towards him down the hallway, her robes torn and her arms mottled with dried blood.

It was as though everything else had melted away, and there was no one left except Remus and Tonks, locking gazes a few yards away from each other amidst the chaos. "What are you doing here?" Remus asked her; his voice was quiet, but he knew that Tonks would be able to read the question from his lips.

"I couldn't stay home," she said. "Not with you here. My mum's watching Teddy—he'll be fine—but I had to see if you were all right, Remus, I lo—"

There was a brilliant flash of light from behind Tonks; her face went instantly slack, the light dying from her eyes, and she collapsed to the floor with the word love still rolling off her tongue. Behind her stood Bellatrix with her wand outstretched, cackling with triumphant glee as she peered down at her fallen niece.

Remus watched, frozen, as the pink leached from his wife's hair like blood, returning it to its natural mousy brown. It had been so sudden, just as sudden as Sirius's death, just as sudden as reading about the Potters' murders…another person he loved, taken from him by Voldemort and his war.

This time, though, Remus knew he would not be far behind. He was certain of it, as certain as he was of anything, and he did not mind. He was ready.

"That was your woman, wasn't it, werewolf?" Dolohov was taunting him; Remus turned back to him, but his eyes still saw nothing but Tonks. "Off to join all your little school friends in their graves. You've really lost everyone now, haven't you?"

Remus shook his head. Now he was seeing Teddy as well as his wife, smiling and giggling as he lifted him into his arms. He saw Sirius, kissing him fiercely as they flew together beneath the stars on his bike; he saw James, throwing a blanket over his shoulders after a long full moon's night, and Lily, scribbling helpful tips in the margins of his notes after he fell asleep studying with her in the library. He saw Peter, even, his terrified, traitorous old friend who had died for his final impulse of mercy and regret. He saw Dumbledore, kind and gentle, telling him that he'd be allowed to attend Hogwarts and live the life he had always dreamed of; he saw his parents and his years with them, small and secretive but always loving; he saw his friends from the Order and the Hogwarts staff, he saw Harry fighting on despite the odds, he saw everyone, dead or alive, who had ever brought him any sort of joy or comfort or love. There were so, so many.

"No," he said, not to Dolohov but to himself. "I haven't lost any of them."

Bellatrix had now trained her sights on a pair of students: Seamus Finnigan and Luna Lovegood, their backs turned to her as they took on a pair of men in masks. So many of his old students were fighting…his heart swelled with pride at the sight of it. But he needed to protect them from Bellatrix, who'd just killed his wife and was salivating to kill again….

"Protego!" he cried, and the largest, most powerful enchanted shield he'd ever cast materialized in front of Seamus and Luna, repelling the jet of green light that Bellatrix had aimed at them. At that same moment there was another jet of green, this one sent by Dolohov for Remus; it hit him directly over his heart, stopping it mid-beat and ending his life.

Remus fell back against the floor beside his wife, reuniting with her and everyone who'd gone before her with a look of utmost bliss upon his face.