Remus Lupin: Family Man

"Lycanthropy is an endless corridor, and most of the doors are locked," Remus said, his shoulders slumped as he stared at the floor.

"And who's shutting that door, Remus?" asked Tonks, imploring him to see things from a different perspective, just this once.

They were sat in the living room of their new home on a Sunday afternoon. It wasn't much of a home, but it was theirs, and that was what mattered.

"Don't talk about it as if you understand," Remus replied. The hand she had been holding his with drew back, recoiling at his bitterness as if it hurt. "I'm sorry," he continued, pressing his eyes closed. "It's just hard to have hope anymore. I've been evicted too many times, coming home to find my things on the street. I've been thrown out of offices in the middle of the day. There's only so much of that I can take," he explained, fighting back tears.

The hurt expression on Tonk's face did not fade. "Do I not give you hope?" she asked softly.

Remus looked up at her, shocked that she would ask such a question, but when he saw the genuine hardness in her eyes, his face soften. He leant in to place a desperate kiss in her lips, trying to tell her of the long, cold, lonely years he'd had before she'd came along with a happiness he'd begun to think was just a dream.

"What I meant, Remus, was that..." Tonks sighed before continuing. "When you thought there was no hope for me and you, when you were blind to what was going on between us, who kept the key to that door locked?"

"Me, I know, I did it on purpose," he said, turning to look away from her. For some reason, she'd chosen that day to question him, and he didn't understand what she wanted to know, or why. she knew his affliction was, in his opinion, the very worst part of him. He didn't want to talk about it. Why was she making him?

"Why?" she asked, searching his eyes for the answer.

"Because I wanted to keep you safe. I'm not safe to be around. To be with. You deserve a chance at life, and people like me… we don't get chances very often," he told her.

"That's not your decision to make for me," Tonks said, her voice soft but her expression firm. "And anyway, you aren't dangerous in the slightest."

Tonks smiled, and Remus couldn't help but smile back.

"But I need to tell you something," she continued, and Remus turned his head towards her at a tilt, curious. "I'm pregnant."

She smiled as she said it, but her smile faded as she saw the shock settle on his face. Remus' cheeks drained of all colour as he sat, the room beginning to spin around him. He stood slowly, as if making a decision, and without warning, he ran.

He didn't know where he was going, and he didn't really understand why, but he knew he had to go somewhere. He had to get away. Guilt washed over him the moment the front door shut behind him, but he would not turn back. Didn't she see what they'd just condemned another life to? And a life not yet even begun…

Remus went back to his old house for a few days, but it was not in a fit state anymore. It had been empty for too long, since the Order had reformed and he'd lived at Grimmauld Place. And so within a week, he was on his way back to the Noble House of Black. He didn't remember Grimmauld Place as ever being so dreary and quiet. He didn't remember all the tokens left around the house by Sirius. The coffee cup, the toothbrush - the ultimate aftermath of the war, death, was all around this old terrace.

This was the state he was in when Harry found him. He'd been in and out of the house on Order work, but called it home when he had time to stick around. He didn't know what he'd expected Harry to say, but what came his way left him ashamed.

He'd been a fool.

Even if the unborn child was like him, it would be safer by his side than in the hands of a cold Healer who didn't know or understand. That evening, he went to bed feeling sick to his stomach, and couldn't sleep.

The following morning, he found himself stood in the front garden of the house he'd shared with Tonks, staring at the door. Tentatively, he stepped forward, swallowing his fear, and knocked at the door. When she answered, her usual bubblegum pink hair was a dark black. She was angry, and upset, and it was his fault.

"I'm sorry," he said, feeling utterly pathetic. She cocked an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to elaborate. "I… I don't know what to say. I love you, and I shouldn't have left. I'm sorry."

"Am I supposed to let you back in now?" she asked.

"I don't know. I don't think I deserve it, but… I wanted you to know that I see it now. I made a mistake."

Remus stared at her like a man defeated, and her face began to soften. She knew him. She understood him - more than he thought she did.

"Come inside," she told him, and he let out a sigh of relief as he obliged. "We need to talk."

The day outside was dreary, but that didn't affect the scene inside St Mungo's. A baby, minutes old, lay in the arms of a young woman, glowing with pride and love. A slightly dishevelled man was sat beside her, his arm around them both as he grinned down at the little boy. That was how Andromeda Tonks found them when she arrived to welcome the newborn.

Looking down at that little boy, she could see that the thin down on his head was a light shade of turquoise, as if to announce to the world that he was her daughter's son.

"Mum," Tonks said with a wide smile by way of a greeting. "We've decided. We're calling him Edward Lupin. Teddy."

Words: 1040

A/N: I know this might seem like a strange story to tell when honouring Remus at his best, but for me this shows all the characteristics we love him for: his courage and morality, his loyalty, and his absolute conviction towards doing the right thing. He might have made a mistake, but he had the best interests of others at the centre of that decision. Anyway, I hope you liked it!