Tonks had fallen asleep beside Remus' inert body, it looked like she too was dead after awhile. Harry Potter assumed so, actually, considering he'd not been there when she entered the room alive and lay down beside her true love. But indeed, she only slept. While she was sleeping, the Death Eaters had been defeated, Voldemort had been killed, and the entire wizarding world was celebrating a bittersweet morning with as much happiness as possible, despite the over fifty deaths that had taken place. The festivities had been moved out of the Great Hall and outside, where a grand summer's dawn was slowly rolling over the grounds. The Great Hall was much quieter, as families of victims and other war veterans moved through the Hall, honoring and saying goodbye to the dead. All assumed that Tonks was dead beside her husband. She refused to wake.

The Weasleys (aside from Ron, Ginny, Bill, and Charlie who were outside celebrating) sat by Fred's body, mourning over it, particularly his twin, George. Percy looked up briefly to see a new figure walking among the bodies. Curiously, Percy noted that this was a hooded woman in a black cape. Her face was completely concealed. She walked with a slight forward lean, and she carried a bundle in her arms. Percy tapped his mother on the shoulder, and Molly looked up and sighed.

"Andromeda Tonks," she muttered to her son. "She's here for Dora's sake."

"How long has she been asleep?" asked Percy.

"Hours. She doesn't even know we won," Arthur answered. "Poor little thing."

Meanwhile, the hooded woman continued to wander in and out of the people. Everyone seemed to know who she was, and many people stepped aside for her. It had only been a few hours since Voldemort's defeat, and already people whispered about Andromeda, calling her "The Widow of The Second War." Indeed, Andromeda's own husband, and Tonks' father, Ted, had been killed a while earlier, before his grandson, whom Andromeda now held in her arms, was even born. Having also lost her favorite cousin, son-in-law, and (rumors were), daughter, Andromeda had suffered more personal loss than anyone else. However, Ginny was smart enough to mention in the letter that Tonks lived.

Andromeda, her face still hidden from the world, found Remus and Tonks's space and knelt down on Remus' side. She unwrapped the bundle she carried to reveal baby Teddy, his hair a bright cotton-candy blue. She took out a small, tear-stained piece of parchment with Ginny's handwriting on it and read it.

Mrs. Tonks,

Dora lives. Lupin has died. When it is safe, bring Teddy to Hogwarts.

G. Weasley

She folded the parchment and put it away. She reached over and lightly touched Tonks' face. As white as it was, it was still warm. Andromeda looked down at her precious grandson. She took the baby and leaned his tender cheek against Remus' rough, scarred, but cold cheek.

"This was your Daddy, Teddy," Andromeda muttered, her voice barely audible. Teddy's hair turned mousy brown, as if he knew. Andromeda wouldn't have doubted if he did know who he was saying goodbye too.

She picked the baby up again after giving her infant ward a moment. His hair did not change back to blue. Instead, Teddy started crying. Andromeda, for the first time, lowered her hood and exposed herself. Her dark, thick hair (not unlike her older sister Bellatrix') was matted and mussed from the long journey from her cottage (she had chosen to go by thestral, as it would have been hard to steer a broom with a baby in one arm). Her eyes were puffy and red, but not lined with tears. She wore a golden charm on a chain that resembled a pentacle. Her skin was red and blotchy, to match her sad red eyes.

She stood erect again and walked around Remus to her own daughter, in a deep sleep, her head leaning on Remus' shoulder. Teddy cried and winced, writhing in his grandmother's arm. Andromeda sighed and fingered a section of Tonks' dark brown hair (as dark as her own), that was straight and sad, wrapped around Tonks almost like a blanket. She caressed Teddy's eyebrow with the hair. Teddy almost automatically calmed down. Andromeda sighed woefully for a second time, and took two of her fingers and gently touched Tonks' cheek with them. She then took her daughter's arm and posed it so Teddy would fit snugly in the crook of her arm, formed by her elbow. This sudden involuntary movement is what made Tonks stir for the first time in hours. But she didn't come to consciousness quickly.

A Healer woman dressed in white stopped by Andromeda's feet. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

Andromeda didn't look up. Instead, she answered with her deep, emotionless voice. "No, thank you."

"Good Merlin, she's alive!" the Healer proclaimed as Tonks moved. "I was certain she was—"

"—sleeping," Andromeda said sternly, finally looking the old woman in the eyes and jerking her head, telling the woman to move elsewhere in the room…PLEASE. The Healer nodded an apology and immediately obeyed.

Andromeda turned back to Tonks, who was slowly re-establishing the world around her. She looked at her baby in her arm and smiled. Her hair grew to be a lighter brown and shrunk about 6 inches.

"Teddy," she murmured. She then looked over at Remus and smiled. Her hair grew lighter still and shrunk more. Andromeda's expression didn't change.

"Remus, you still sleeping? Come on, Teddy needs a bath, we have to get home! I KNOW it was a hard battle, but—"

"—Nymphadora, don't play this game. It doesn't help being in denial," said Andromeda coldly. Tonks turned to her mother and groaned.

"Mum, how many times MUST I tell you? DON'T call me by my first name!"

"I am you damn mother and I will call you Garbage Truck if I want to!" Andromeda snapped. George, who was still leaning over his twin, looked up, startled. Andromeda didn't apologize.

"Go to hell!" barked Tonks.

"See you there!" retorted Andromeda.

Teddy began crying. Tonks, suddenly feeling very small, looked her child in the face, then looked back at Remus, still lying beside her.

"Oh….oh Merlin…" Tonks muttered, tears coming to her eyes for the first time. "Mummy…he's gone, isn't he? My Remus…he's…he's…"

Andromeda leaned over and took Tonks in her grip, embracing her and her grandson tightly. Tonks, for the first time, let it all out in one huge sob. Andromeda kept quiet, but she didn't shush her daughter. After all, it had been months since the same thing happened to herself, and she still felt like wailing. But she wanted to hold back for Tonks and Teddy's sake.

Tonks tried to talk from behind her heavy, breathless sobs, but Andromeda couldn't understand a word. Tonks could have been speaking Japanese.

Molly Weasley jumped over and, in turn, embraced Andromeda.

"Come back to Grimmauld Place with us," Molly whispered in Andromeda's ear. "I don't think you three should be alone just now. Arthur is taking Ginny and George in the car in an hour," she suggested.

Andromeda looked up at Molly and gave a half-hearted smile. "Thank you, Molly. That's a good idea."

Molly nodded and bit her lip again. Before the day is over, everyone will have eaten their bottom lip, Andromeda thought.

Andromeda and Tonks managed to arrange for Remus' remains to be taken to Grimmauld place after the memorial service (neither women decided to attend, for Tonks still wasn't emotionally stable in the least) and from there, Andromeda decided to have Remus buried next to Ted. It was only a suitable place.

Tonks, now wearing Andromeda' large black cloak with the hood down (it looked like a huge afghan draped over her shoulders), carried Teddy, and walked side-by-side with her mother towards the Entrance Hall, where Arthur Weasley would be bringing his new flying Cadillac. As the women walked by, many people gasped and stared, for many still thought Tonks had died alongside Remus.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, she survived, now go talk about something else!" Andromeda kept shouting as she caught more and more people staring and whispering. She was like her daughter's bodyguard now, keeping her sensitive self safe from the outside.

Before walking outside (it was almost 10 AM now), Tonks happened to bump into Harry, Ron, and Hermione, Ron's arm around Hermione's shoulder. All three looked equally surprised to see her. But unlike the adults, none of them said a word. Ron stepped forward, held out a hand, and used it to caress Teddy's face. Tonks looked at Ron and took him in a forceful embrace that surprised both of them. Once she let go, Ron retreated and looked worriedly at Hermione. Harry looked at Andromeda and then at his feet.

"I'm sorry."

"We know you were close to him too, and many of the others as well," said Andromeda. "Don't worry about us. You've been through a lot and deserve to not worry about anyone but yourself for once."

Harry nodded solemnly and quickly moved on with his two friends in tow.

Andromeda turned to Tonks, who looked down at her son, who seemed to begin to fall asleep in her arms.

"He may be able to change his hair like you, and he's got your eyes," Andromeda began. "But there's no doubt he's got his father's mouth and chin."

"That's not going to be enough," Tonks whispered. "I'd kill, just KILL to—"

"—sh, let's not talk about this now, okay? It's incredibly too soon," Andromeda said back. Tonks nodded and looked from Teddy to the sky above her. It was beginning to cloud over. No doubt it would rain before they reached London. "How where the bloody hell is Arthur? If it rains…"

"Mummy?" asked Tonks, her voice still quiet.

"Yes, Nymphadora?"

Tonks didn't even cringe at the name this time. "Will you sleep with me tonight?"

"Beg pardon?"

"I don't want to be in bed alone tonight. It'll feel…well, it'll feel too big." Tonks looked her mother in the eye for the first time that morning.

"But what about every month when he went off to the Shack to transform? You never went with him—"

"—but I never slept those nights. I always sat downstairs sucking down coffees at the kitchen table, staring at the clock on the wall until he came home in the morning. That way I'd always be right there to nurse back to…to…to…"

"Again with the talking, Nymphadora! I think it'd be best if we just stayed silent until we got to Grimmauld Place."

"It won't be weird for you..going there after all that happened with your family?"

"I want to go there," Andromeda answered. "I actually have someone waiting for me there that I want to talk to, and I think we both need to speak to him."

"Who?"

"You'll see. Now, come on, here comes Arthur," Andromeda said, watching Arthur pull up with his new flying car, a rusty-brown Cadillac. George climbed in without any strength and sat next to his father in the front. Ginny climbed into the back, and Andromeda sat beside her. Tonks climbed in with her baby last and shut the door. Arthur started the car and took off into the sky.

For the whole ride, the car was as silent as a hearse. And appropriately so.