5 Minutes

"He's incredible…" Tonks breathed with a small smile.

Her husband, Remus sat in bed next to her marveling at the wonder that was their newborn son. It had been a home birth. Saint Mungos was not an option what with their son being half werewolf and spies for Voldemort increasing in numbers everywhere. Andromeda had been nice enough to help with the delivery of her grandson. She had beamed with glee the whole time, truly proud of her daughter and son in law for having the guts to follow through with this.

Now she had left the room to phone Arthur Weasley and get him to forge the birth certificate of a 'legal' conception between a werewolf and a witch.

It was only Remus, Tonks and Edward Lupin. Named for Tonks' father. The middle name was pending.

"He is. He really is," agreed Remus quietly.

Tonks cradled their son in her arms, eyes filled with admiration. Her mouth hitched up in an amused smile.

"Should I check again for a tail or…"

"Oh, give it a rest…" Remus murmured, his own lips quirking up in a small smile.

"Are you sure? Because I can check again."

"No. It's quite alright. I'm perfectly satisfied with the first inspection done by your mother."

Tonks laughed quietly, pleased with herself. She was going to milk this thing with Remus being worried about their child being a werewolf for a long time to come.

He was so small in her arms. So fragile and breakable. Part of her shook with anxiety at the thought of dropping him or even holding him too tight. Such a responsibility was in her arms. Such a great responsibility. A human being who she would have to keep alive and mold into a decent person. She would be out of the fight now. Part of her resented that, but a little bit of that floated away as Tonks continued to gaze at the small person in her arms.

She looked at Remus out of the corner of her eye. He was close but at a safe distance, as though an inch further would cause the baby to 'catch' his curse. Still, she could sense a longing in his eyes. A need to hold his son, but a fear as well. She did what she had always done when her husband was scared to make a move.

Gave him a push.

When he wouldn't admit his feelings and she spoke her own.

When he denied her and she exposed him.

When he was cautious and she proposed.

When they were faced with a horrifying decision and she had told him:

'I'll do this with or without you.'

Even though she'd known he would come back all along.

Now she would give him the push to hold his son.

"Here, you take him," she said shifting to face Remus.

Remus shrunk back slightly and raised his hands.

"Oh, maybe-erm-maybe I should wait. Just, you know, the full moon was a week ago and I don't want to-"

"Catch!" she said.

Tonks motioned as though she were tossing Teddy causing Remus to fling is arms out in paternal instinct. When he noticed that their son was still safely planted in his mother's arms and slowly being transferred to his, he froze.

"Oh, you didn't think I'd throw a five minute year old newborn at you, did I?" snorted Tonks as she gently set Edward in his arms.

Remus held the baby awkwardly, staring at it with his tawny eyes wide. They flickered from the baby to Tonks then back to the baby then back to Tonks. With a kind smile, Tonks mimed the motion of holding the baby to her chest, encouraging Remus to do the same. Slowly, as though diffusing an explosive, Remus pulled their son to his chest. Edward's hand broke free of the swaddling, his tiny fingers clenching and unclenching slowly. His small mouth opened and he yawned making a cooing noise. Tonks' eyes shifted to Remus whose panicked expression suddenly changed.

His constant state of apprehension faded and he appeared years younger. Many years younger. It almost took her breath away, this was an entirely different Remus she was seeing. His bright eyes turned into a loving expression she'd seen only once when they had said 'I do.' His smile, though still small and kind as it always was, was something more at the moment. A sort of cautious bliss exuded from him. Tonks felt tears well up in her eyes and quickly wiped them away. Tonks couldn't wait until she could see Edward's eyes and find out whose they were. She hoped they were Remus'.

"Hello, Edward," Remus whispered.

"I wanna nickname him Ted. Or Teddy after my dad," insisted Tonks, suddenly.

Tonks expected Remus to protest and say the name would lose its nobility or would sound too childish, but he did nothing of the sort. He slowly nodded.

"Of course…of course…anything. He looks like a Teddy," Remus murmured, utterly absorbed in the tiny human in his arms.

Never in his wildest dreams had this day come into his mind. The day he would be in bed with a beautiful wife and healthy, newborn son. Remus had prepared himself for a life of solitude. A life filled with acquaintances and a few good friends. He'd never prepared for this. Not for a family. All these pieces, beautiful perfect pieces were falling into place and creating a new, beautiful vision of a picture. Something that he felt deep in his bones. He'd had many nightmares about the child killing Tonks in childbirth or coming out stillborn-affected by the moon in some way. He'd even had a nightmare that Teddy came out a tiny werewolf.

Instead, in his arms he held a healthy boy. One that Andromeda had immediately confirmed:

'No tail. No animal ears. No fangs. Just a healthy baby boy,' she had smiled, cleaning him off.

There would probably be complications. Teddy would be affected by the full moon in some way. He may not even become a wizard. Either way, Teddy was not a werewolf. Remus fully believed Tonks and the letter from Sybill Trelawney predicting a healthy son, and scathing letter from McGonagall telling Remus not to be 'a cowardly git' and to put his 'brilliant but evidently senseless brain to use' and figure out that the 'practicality' of a werewolf procreating a werewolf son was an 'absurdly mental assumption' that he should cast aside. She had informed him that he should 'return to his lovely wife' and thank his stars that she hadn't 'kicked him out for good after being such a sod.' It was definitely one of Minerva's more crude letters to Remus. She had even signed it:

'The True Officiant On People Who Turn Into Animals,

Not Remus John Lupin,

Professor Minerva McGonagall'

"What's his middle name going to be? Lyall? After your father?" suggested Tonks.

Remus shrugged, still mesmerized by his son.

"No! Edward Remus Lupin," Tonks concluded.

Remus' eyes snapped up to her, all signs of fatherhood vanished and in their place trepidation and panic.

"No. It's bad enough you insist on him taking my last name, but having him also associated with my first is truly irrational. I can't have that," insisted Remus.

Tonks cocked a brow at him, a knowing look on her face.

"Remus, don't be ridiculous," she sighed.

"I'm being serious, Tonks. He's in enough trouble if people figure out that his father is Remus Lupin by his last name. Give him my first name and people will know for sure."

"I'm not seeing an issue here."

"The issue is, we don't need everyone knowing his father is a werewolf. You're practically screaming it if you give him the name Remus."

Tonks rolled her eyes.

"It's a middle name, Remus. It only gets used when we're mad at him for something. Besides, I think people will be excited to know who his father is. Especially after all this is over and they reveal how you infiltrated the ring of Death Eater werewolves and protected Harry Potter."

"Tonks, I could lift a fiery car off of a child hugging a cuddly kitten to its chest and some people would still see me as a monster. I-"

"You left me, remember? I distinctly remember-"

Remus groaned.

"That one is never going to get old…though I suppose I deserve it…" Remus remarked quietly. "Alright. Edward Remus Lupin it is. Only because you asked for it."

Tonks pecked him on the cheek and extended her arms for their son.

"My turn," she smiled.

With a grin Remus gently handed over Teddy. His eyes narrowed as he spotted hair on Teddy's head. Hairs he hadn't seen before. Was he…turning into a werewolf?

"Dora…Dora, look at his head…"

Her eyes slowly drifted up to see little brown hairs forming on his scalp. They weren't abnormal though. They were like any baby with hair.

"He had hair when he was born though… Little light brown ones… These are dark…" she muttered.

For a moment, their breath caught in their chest. They honestly felt sick. Then the hairs turned crimson red, then pink, then yellow and finally settled on a violently electric blue. Tonks and Remus let out a sigh of relief. Remus laughed quietly.

"He's a metamorphamagus. Just like his mum," he chuckled with relief.

Slowly he rolled on his back, panting, trying to catch his breathe. A smile broke out on his face and his laughing became louder. Tonks smiled herself.

"Did he give you a bit of a scare? Did the baby scare the big, bad Marauder Werewolf Moony?" snickered Tonks.

"Yes, he scared the shite out of Moony as a matter of fact," Remus laughed, sighing.

The door of their bedroom opened to reveal Andromeda, she peeked her head in.

"Sorry to interrupt, you two, but I need Edward's middle name," she requested.

Before Tonks could answer, Remus stated proudly:

"Edward Remus Lupin."