Disclaimer: Characters contained within do not belong to me.

Author's Notes: There are unspoken spoilers in this story, so if you have not read the final installment of Harry Potter, please consider yourself warned.

This is my first HP fic in a very long time, and it feels good to play in the world again. Thank you for stopping by to read, and sharing in the bittersweet tragedy of two beloved characters.

The Greatest Magic

by Kristen Elizabeth

Now is the moment of magic, and here's a blessing: we already possess all the gifts we need: ears to hear music, eyes to behold lights, hands to build true peace on earth and to hold each other tight in love. – Victoria Safford

"It doesn't seem fair, does it?"

"What's not fair, love?"

Nymphadora Tonks looked down at the bundle in her arms. The little boy was only a few hours old, but already his tuft of hair had changed colors. He had fat, rosy cheeks and sweet, curving lips. He was, in a word, perfect.

"The rest of the world is so miserable," she continued, her voice wistful. "But I've never been happier."

Her husband, Remus Lupin, pressed a kiss against her temple. "You're allowed to be. No one would begrudge you this moment."

"You're happy, too…aren't you?" When he didn't reply, Tonks angled her head in order to see him better. "You really need to say 'yes' right now," she informed him smartly. "I did just spend twelve hours in agony because of you."

"Ah, so this is my fault," Lupin murmured into her hair. "You had nothing to do with it, at all."

She gave him a tired, somewhat loopy smile. "Maybe a little."

"I'm fairly certain I put up at least a modicum of resistance that night in St. James Park."

"Are you so sure that was the night?" Tonks chuckled and rested her cheek on his shoulder, looking down at the baby again. Their little boy was wide awake, watching his parents. "He's so beautiful, Remus," she whispered.

"Then…he takes after you."

"I don't know." She touched the baby's nose with the tip of her pinkie. He cooed and grasped her finger with his whole hand. "When he grows up, I expect I'll see you in his face." Tonks sounded delighted at the prospect.

With careful movements, Lupin stood up from the bed, guiding his wife back against a stack of pillows. She frowned at the loss of his warm presence around them.

"What's wrong?" she asked when he paced to the far window. "You're not going to run away again, are you? Like you did when I told you we were going to have him? Because if you do, Remus, I'll…"

He stopped her threat with a shake of his head. "No, Dora. I just…" Drawing in a deep breath, he started again. "I've never known love like this. It's not what I felt for James or Sirius. And it's not like what I feel for you. It's just…surprised me, is all."

"You're scared, aren't you?" When he opened his mouth to protest, Tonks went on. "I am, too. Have been from the moment I first felt him move."

Lupin frowned. "You didn't tell me that."

"Because it's normal, love. All parents are supposed to be scared by this."

"Yes, but do all parents bring children into the world in the middle of a war?"

Tonks held out her hand, beckoning him back to the bed. He walked to her; it was cold and lonely on the other side of the room. "Probably not. But do you really have any regrets now that he's here?"

The baby chose that moment to yawn, stretching his little mouth as wide as it would go. His eyelids drooped, but he flared his fist in protest, like he didn't want to go to sleep.

Like he didn't want to miss a single moment with his parents.

"No," Lupin said firmly. "I have no regrets. Teddy is…the greatest magic I've ever performed."

"Now you're taking credit for him, I see," Tonks teased.

Suddenly excited and exhilarated, her husband gave her a long, deep kiss. "I want to tell Harry," he announced a second later. "You think he'll want to be a godfather…even after the way we left things between us?"

"I think Harry Potter knows better than to hold any sort of a grudge. Especially nowadays." She put her hand on his scarred cheek. "He's with Bill and Fleur, you know. Go tonight," she urged him. "We could both use some rest," she said, looking at the now-sleeping child. Glancing back up at her husband, she added, "And you seem like you might never sleep again."

He grinned…and it was such a strange expression to see on the face she loved so much. He was happy. Really, truly, amazingly happy. Tonks' breath caught in her throat; there was a warm surge of pressure in the center of her chest. Her heart, overflowing.

"I won't be long," Lupin promised. He gave her another kiss, shorter, sweeter, but no less passionate. "I adore you, Dora."

"I esteem you, Remus," she whispered. It was a familiar exchange, their private little play on words that they'd created while lying under the stars, possibly on the night their beloved child was conceived.

Teddy woke when his father Apparated out of the room. His hair, light and gingery moments earlier, fell back to the black it had been when he emerged into the world; his face scrunched up and he began to cry.

"Shh," she soothed. "He'll be back soon." The words had no effect, and Teddy's cries grew louder.

With the hesitancy of a brand-new mother...and being painfully aware of her tendency towards clumsiness…Tonks lifted him to her shoulder. "It's all right," she told her little boy. "I'm here. You're not alone." She rubbed gentle circles on his small back. "You'll never be alone." A sudden tear that she couldn't explain slid down her cheek and fell onto the baby's soft head, marking him for life.

"I swear it."

Years later, while on holiday at the beach with his godfather and the entire extended Weasley clan, Teddy Lupin swam out too far, and got caught in a rather nasty riptide. The current dragged him away from the shore, and the struggle to get back left him terrifically weak.

Too exhausted to use any sort of magic to save himself, Teddy slipped beneath the dark blue waves.

His lungs burned for oxygen, and in the split second before they stopped working, he heard a voice he hadn't heard in a very long time.

"You're not alone, Teddy."

He felt a small, soft hand on his back, and a larger, rougher one grasping his own, pulling him up through the water until his head broke the surface. When he opened his eyes, he saw a flash of pink and a hint of graying brown, a big, laughing grin and a smaller, more reserved smile.

Teddy came to on the beach, surrounded by people, most of them with flaming red hair. His godfather was pale, and looked more scared than Teddy had ever seen him before, even on the night James and Albus had been born. Harry grabbed him up in a huge hug, and the boy wondered if he'd ever let go.

When he was asked by the adults to recount what he could remember of his near-drowning, Teddy left out the part about the voice and the hands, even though he had no doubt that he would be believed.

They were his magic.

Fin