Totally just hitting the AUs here.
Official warning: Dark themes, murder, sexual shit, swearing
...
Harry leaned back. "Tell me, Tonks. You Obliviated Dolohov- and we thought all along he was lying about not knowing a damned thing, because we found no traces of any spells on him- we might have to move him to Spell Damage at St Mungo's, so thanks for that- another Death Eater is free of Azkaban. You brutally killed Greyback, I don't think I'll ever get those images out of my head. The burn, Tonks- every male Auror was disgusted for months about that. And then Rookwood tells you that Teddy's not with the Death Eaters, but you still killed him and two others?"
She nodded slowly.
"So, why? And which other Death Eaters did you kill, because like I said-"
"Rabastan Lestrange."
"That was you?" Harry asked, his jaw dropping. "I would have thought that was a spell backfire, the mess was-" He took a deep breath. "And the fourth one?"
"Travers."
"Bloody Hell, Tonks." Harry said. "What is wrong with you?"
"Apparently a lot." She said quietly. "Harry, can I ask something?"
"I still have questions."
"And I will answer them, but now I want answers."
"I should really tell you to sod off, because you're technically the criminal here, but I'll indulge you- because I know you won't answer my questions if I don't answer yours." Harry said. "What do you want to know?"
"Is Teddy- is he alright on full moons?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, he's fine. A little restless, but we take him to visit Remus the next day and that's good for both of them-"
"Wait, what?" She asked. ''You take him to Remus' grave?"
"No." Harry with with a confused frown. "Oh, shite, you didn't know. You were only there when we did the ceremonies for the burials, and it took a while for St Mungo's to release the bodies of the dead for us to do the actual burials, and we weren't told until six months after you left- we just knew they weren't releasing his body for burial, we assumed it had something to do with his condition-"
"Is he alive?" Tonks asked, staring at Harry, completely shocked.
"Yes." Harry said.
"But then, if he's alive, why is Teddy with you? I saw him die, I was there!"
"You saw the spell hit him. If we go off of what eyewitnesses have said, you then got distracted by Bellatrix, and the spell set in. It was Dolohov's creation, as we expected, but it- yet again- wasn't cast right. It didn't kill Remus. He's been in the Spell Damage Ward for the last three years."
"And-"
"He woke up, properly, almost six months after the battle. Before that, he was switching between simply unconscious and the dead-state that he had been in, and because of the amount of people in the Spell Damage ward at that time, they had no idea who he was. There has been talk with the Healers about releasing him soon-"
"Harry, what does he know? About the battle?"
"He knows you survived the battle. He knows Teddy was returned." Harry said. "He knows we won, and he thinks you're dead- like the rest of us thought. It nearly destroyed him when I told him, Tonks. Why would you fake your own death, are you insane?"
"I didn't want anyone to follow me-"
"You were going for Teddy. What were you going to do once you got Teddy? Keep him from us too?"
"No-"
"So, you were going to come back from the dead, with your son, and act like nothing happened?" Harry demanded. "Fucking Hell, Tonks!"
"I just wanted to find him!" Tonks cried.
"So did we!" Harry yelled. "In case you forgot, the Order was searching! Every Order meeting was spent trying to figure out where the Death Eaters would take an infant, where there were sightings of known escaped Death Eaters! We were trying! But we didn't go and murder a bunch of people to find him!"
She didn't say anything.
"Now, Tonks, I should just arrest you again, submit your confession to four murders to Head Auror Dawlish, but I want to know why you continued killing after finding out the Order had Teddy."
"I want to see Remus."
"No."
"Harry-"
"Tonks, you've been arrested, you've confessed to four murders. I'm not letting you see Remus or Teddy. You were an Auror, you know what rights the arrested have, and being allowed to demand a family visit is not one. You do, however, have the right to refuse answering any more questions- but will that really help your case?"
Tonks glared at him, and Harry simply shrugged. He was doing what he had to do. He was protecting his family, and Teddy and Remus were part of it.
"Can I ask one more question-?"
"I should say no, but go ahead."
"Why did the Death Eaters hand over Teddy so easily?"
Harry sighed. "We don't know." He said. "We do know, however, who handed him over- but he refuses to answer any question about the situation."
"Who handed him over?"
"Lucius Malfoy."
November 5th, 1998
The Burrow
Harry woke with a start, to an owl tapping urgently on the bedroom window next to Harry's bed.
"Harry, get that bloody bird before I kill it." Ron grumbled into his pillow. Harry sat up, opening the window. The owl didn't enter, but simply stuck out its leg, and Harry took the letter that was addressed to him and had a St Mungo's wax seal. The second he took the letter, the owl took off.
He ripped open the letter- would it be saying they had the wrong child? The only letters he got from St Mungo's were from Amelia, who was extremely fond of Teddy, but those never had the official seal.
Dear Mister Harry James Potter,
I am Healer Miriam Strout, and I am the Healer in charge in the Janus Thickey ward of St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I am writing you in regards to the case of Remus John Lupin.
I have been told that you are the last known family member of Mister Lupin, and have been waiting to claim his body for burial.
I request you meet with me, today before noon, if possible. I will be at St Mungo's every day for the rest of this week if you can not visit today, and will be waiting your arrival.
Sincerely,
Healer Miriam Strout
Harry read the letter three times. Why would Spell Damage have Remus' body? He got out of bed slowly, feeling the pain of Remus' loss all over again. True, this meant it could be put behind them- that Remus could finally be laid to rest, but he still couldn't understand why Spell Damage would have his body.
November 5th, 1998
St Mungo's- Janus Thickey Ward
"Mr Potter!" A motherly looking witch greeted as soon as she spotted him. Harry recognised her from when they had met years ago, when he had been at St Mungo's to visit Arthur and ran into Lockhart.
"Healer Strout." Harry greeted, holding a hand out. She shook his hand eagerly. "Please call me Harry."
"In that case, call me Miriam." She said. "I appreciate you making it today, and so early. I understand the last few months have been... difficult."
Harry nodded slowly. That was a way to describe the last few months, for sure.
"Miriam, if I may ask, why did Spell Damage claim Remus' body?" Harry asked. "The others weren't- they were released to us months ago."
"Oh, yes. They were." Miriam said. "It took us quite a while to identify him, even though we had to have him in a private reinforced room during full moons-"
"I'm sorry, you're going to have to explain this to me."
"Mr Lupin is alive. We're not sure how, because we were told no less than five people confirmed his death at the battle." Miriam said. "He's been with us for four months-"
"And why did it take six months for anyone to be told?" Harry asked.
"We weren't sure, until early this morning, about who he was. He confirmed it for us just an hour before I wrote to you-"
"He's awake?" Harry asked. "How long has he been awake?"
"Around four hours now."
"Can I see him?" Harry asked immediately.
Miriam nodded. "Of course, it might be good for him to see a familiar face, we had to give him a Calming Draught shortly after he told us who he was, he started panicking because he couldn't remember a thing since he was facing Dolohov." Miriam gestured for Harry to follow her. "He might seem a little disoriented because of that, and the fact he's been in a spell induced coma for six months, but he should be relieved to see you."
She led him to a door at the end of the ward, passed all the curtain separated beds.
"Like I said, Harry, we have to keep him separate because of his condition, and we just figured we wouldn't keep moving him back and forth." She explained as they passed the beds where the Longbottoms were.
"Will he- will he be here permanently?" Harry asked.
"I don't think so, but he won't be leaving any time soon." Miriam said. She waved her wand at the wand and it clicked open. "Remus? You've got a visitor."
Harry followed Miriam in the door, his eyes falling on the thin man sitting on the bed, wearing similar pajamas to what Madame Pomfrey made Harry wear in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts. Remus looked up and Harry was startled at first because of how unfocused Remus' eyes seemed to be- but he also remembered how Calming Draughts seemed to do this to people.
"Hi, Remus." Harry said, and Remus smiled.
"Harry, I'm so- you're alive-"
"I'll leave you two alone." Miriam said, slipping from the room and shutting the door.
Harry approached the bed, sitting in the chair next to it. "How are you, Remus?"
"Alive." Remus said with a sigh. "What happened at the battle? I assume because you're free to walk around that it didn't go badly-"
"Voldemort is dead." Harry said, and at first, Remus seemed startled at Harry saying the name so bluntly, but then he grinned.
"I knew you could do it." Remus said, and then his smile faded. "Does Dora know I'm here? That I'm alive?"
Harry looked down, not wanting to meet Remus' gaze.
"Harry? Where's Dora?"
He finally looked back at Remus. "You need to rest, Remus-"
"Harry, tell me." Remus said firmly.
"We think she's dead." Harry finally said.
Remus exhaled loudly. "No-" He said, his breath coming in short, harsh gasps. "Harry, no-"
"Remus, I'm sorry." Harry said. "We didn't even realise anyone would get her, but she left an Order meeting months ago and we found the house destroyed and-"
"She's not dead, she can't be-" Remus said, breaking into a harsh sob. "And Teddy- what about Teddy-?"
"Remus-" Harry said, placing a hand on the man's shoulder. "Teddy's alive, we have Teddy. He's safe, I promise you."
And Harry did the only thing he could think of, he stood, wrapping his arms around the sobbing man. It may have been the first time in Harry's memories that the two men hugged, other than the time Remus had held Harry back from the veil- but that wasn't really a hug, but more an attempt to keep Harry from dying as well- but it felt right- like family comforting each other. And it was all Harry could do.
Also, to the review from Alicia Olivia Mirza: Your review about Remus possibly not being dead totally gave me an idea. Unfortunately, I did say Remus was buried the day after the battle.
I would like to publicly announce that when I said Remus had been buried in Chapter 3, I'm going to get around that with a few lies/cliche plot points.