Chapter Eighteen

"Umbridge is coming," Snape said casually, the witch's blunderings through his security spells setting off alarms in his office. The woman seriously thought that he would set up a sophisticated series of spells and charms to keep intruders out, and then not know when those spells and charms had been tampered with by nosy witches. "I'm going to put my hand on your shoulder."

"Wish the old bat would mind her own business," Tonks complained when Snape rested his hand on her shoulder as respectfully as he could manage, given he was well aware all Lupin's wrath would come down on him if he felt his fiancée was being disrespected.

"You know it's in everyone's best interest for you to keep your relationship quiet until you're pregnant. If she discovered you're married before that, she can still have it annulled." Tonks made a face at that. It was exactly what Lupin had told her; in fact, it had been his suggested that Tonks take a position at Hogwarts – ostensibly as an Auror to guard the castle, but in reality to be a personal bodyguard for Umbridge – so he wouldn't be tempted around her until his new potion kicked in after a cycle. A non-Ministry approved wedding – which Tonks and Lupin's would have to be, since in this climate, a union between a werewolf and a human, and a Black to boot, would never be approved of – could still be overturned for non-consummation, and the best way to prove consummation was with a pregnancy. The plan was to marry quietly and keep their marriage quiet until she could announce her pregnancy. And while she got the necessity of the plan, she still hated it. She hated being separated from Remus, she hated having to pay lip-service to Dolores Umbridge and she hated having to pretend that she was involved in an allegedly-secret burgeoning romance with Snape to throw Umbridge off the scent.

"Nymphodora, Severus, so good to see you two together," Umbridge trilled when she saw her favourite Auror and favourite professor together, his hand casually on her shoulder. From all she had heard, Tonks was something of a black sheep, taking after her mother Andromeda, only more so. But under her and Severus's influence, she was wearing demure twin-sets and had her medium-brown hair pulled back conservatively. Umbridge approved.

That and she was damn good at her job. Umbridge could totally see a future where she was settled in her position as Headmistress and Tonks and Snape were publicly together, her two favourite employees. "You're such a good influence on her, Severus," Umbridge cooed, not noticing the way Snape dug his fingers into Tonks's shoulder as a silent warning to her to bite her tongue. "And I heard such thinks about you, dear. Maybe all you needed was an older man to guide you."

That was too much for Tonks to take. "Really?" she asked coolly. "You weren't saying that about Remus Lupin."

Umbridge looked a little flustered at this outburst, then reminded herself that, after all, Tonks was only twenty-three and still had a little maturing to do. "That was different, dear," she said. "He's an animal."

"Bat!" Tonks yelled as soon as Umbridge had left the room, shaking off Snape's hand violently. "Vicious old bat! She's just jealous!"

"Calm down," Snape said mildly. "Upsetting yourself won't achieve anything and I'll get the blame if you go back to Grimmauld Place a ball of seething resentment."

"Sorry," she said. "I just miss him. And I hate that old bat."

"I noticed," he said mildly.

"It's so lovely, isn't it?" Umbridge asked McGonagall as Christmas drew near. "The way Severus and Nymphodora are spending Christmas together."

"I believe they're both going away for Christmas, that doesn't mean they're spending it together," McGonagall pointed out. She knew, of course, that the reason Tonks was taking Christmas away from Hogwarts was to get married, and Snape would also be spending it Grimmauld Place to let Umbridge think that they were spending it together. She would have liked to be there for the ceremony, but anyone who could get away from Umbridge and Filch these holidays had already done so. Well, hopefully she would get to witness it when Umbridge found out that Tonks and Lupin were very much in love. Tonks wasn't the type to let go of all the slighting insults she had inwardly swallowed for the sake of projecting an image that Umbridge approved of.

"Is it OK? I tried to make it feel like our place. Least until we can get a place of our own."

"Love, its fine, it could be a dirt floor in a barn and I wouldn't care," he admitted huskily. "Come here, wife."

Giggling delightedly, she threw herself into his arms. He hoisted her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist. He kissed her deeply, demandingly, ravishing her mouth with his tongue, a promise of what he would do to her all over. He brought one hand up to the neckline of her shirt and yanked it down, tearing it cleanly down the middle. "I thought I told you not to wear a bra," he growled.

"And explain that to my mother how?" she asked. Andromeda was already scandalised that her daughter and new son-in-law had stayed for only one course of Molly's extensive wedding meal before excusing themselves with no attempt at denying their intention to consummate their marriage. She got that there could be no lavish wedding, but really, did the two of them have to behave like horny teenagers?

"Your mother," Lupin whispered huskily in her ear, "is no longer your next of kin. I am."

"What, am I supposed to obey you now?" she asked coquettishly.

"Nowhere but in the bedroom, love. Besides, as I recall, you quite liked it rough." And with that, he threw her into the bed and climbed on top of her. He kissed her face and neck, moving down her chest, tearing at the more robust material of her bra with little more effort than it had required to take care of her shirt.

"Remus," she moaned wantonly, writhing underneath him as he sucked on her breasts and licked her nipples. She arched her back involuntarily as he bit her, his teeth digging slightly into her breast, creating an intense, pleasurable kind of pain.

He grabbed her other breast roughly, squeezing, kneading, running his thumb over her nipple as his tongue worked her other nipple, hardening them both. He was insanely horny and she wasn't objecting to a little rough treatment. "I like your tits much better now," he said huskily, burying his face between her breasts, moving his hands behind her back and then down under her panties and underwear, squeezing her buttocks possessively.

She wriggled underneath him and brought her own hands under his shirt. "Remus, Remus... oh God... the door." Obligingly, Remus threw an Imperturbable Charm against the door and continued undressing his wife until she was only in her underwear. He ran a finger across her womanhood through the material until he could feel her desire seeping through. She frantically pulled at his clothes until he was as naked as she was, his y-fronts doing nothing to disguise his powerful erection. She slid her hands inside his y-fronts, down his backside, squeezing his buttocks so he involuntarily gyrated his groin against hers, his erection rubbing against her thigh. She pulled the material down in a powerful enough yank to get them to his knees, and he kicked them off from there.

"You're far too overdressed, love," he murmured huskily, and yanked her panties off her in the same way he had disposed of her shirt and bra, because pulling them down her legs mean unlocking her legs from around his waist. Now completely naked, he grabbed her bare hips for leverage and, knowing from the moistness of her panties just how ready she was for him, plunged his massive manhood deep inside her. "Love!" he screamed as his penis was full enveloped by her womanhood. "Ah..." He started pounding her furiously, slamming his erection in and out of her, withdrawing fully then penetrating fully again with unrestrained animal lust, at the same time his fingers working frantically between her legs to bring her to the same frantic, violent orgasm that he knew he was going to experience.

"Remus!" she screamed his name as she clawed at his back, rocking her hips in time to his rhythm. Maybe it was that their relationship now had a degree of legitimacy, maybe it was the baby she so desperately wanted, but she felt crazed with desire as she hurtled towards an explosive orgasm. "Remus! I want your baby, give me your baby, ahhh..." She went rigid as she climaxed, too lost in her orgasm even to feel the warmth of his seed spilling into her.

For several minutes they lay locked together before it occurred to Lupin that maybe it might be uncomfortable for her, and he reluctantly moved off her. "How was that first a first attempt?" he asked with a grin.

"Pretty damn good," she said. He reached for her breast and played with it for a few minutes before sliding his hand down her front, resting between her legs for a few seconds before starting to stroke her with slow deliberation. "Remus!" she groaned, spreading her legs wide despite scarcely believing that he was up for it so quickly. "Even you can't be ready again yet." But as he reached with his free hand to one of hers and guided it between his own legs to feel his manhood, springing to life if not yet fully erect, she remembered how quickly he could be ready to go again.

"I haven't been with anyone in six years," he responded.

Her eyes went wide at this. "You're serious?" she asked. "There's been no-one since me?" He nodded slightly. He had tried, but no-one had come close to making him feel the same way so it had become more satisfying to masturbate to his fantasies. She bit her lip. "I wish I hadn't been with Charlie now."

He found himself not caring. Besides, if sex with Charlie had left her feeling as empty as any of his aborted attempts had, then it didn't even count. Flipping his wife onto her stomach so he could take her again, and again, and again...

After their immediate lust had been satisfied, she curled into his arms. "I don't want to go back to Hogwarts," she said. "I want to stay with you. I want our own place that's just ours where we can come and go as we please and not have to pretend we hardly know each other."

He stroked her hair. "You know I want that, too. But if the Ministry finds out about us before you're pregnant, they'll overrule our marriage. You know they will. Umbridge hates me for no better reason than I'm a better wizard and a better DADA teacher than her, she'd love to wreck my marriage out of pure spite. Not to mention what she thinks is your own good."

"She thinks I'd be great with Snape," Tonks complained.

Lupin laughed at that. "I'm not surprised. From what I hear, Severus is the only teacher who can disguise his loathing for her. Well, apart from the fact Filch loves her. But if she thinks you're involved with him, and she approves, than that can only be a good thing. It keeps her busy trying to set you up and away from the scent of us."

"I know. But I hate the way he touches me."

Lupin stiffened at that. It was in his nature as a werewolf to hate so much as the idea of another man touching 'his' girl. He got the practicality of having Umbridge think she and Snape were together, but that didn't mean he had to like it. "Has he been inappropriate with you?" he asked.

She shook her head against his chest. "No... I don't think he likes it anymore than I do. But I don't like it, Remus. I want this to be over – well, as over as it can be," she amended, knowing that there would always be people who would look at her like she was a freak for demeaning herself with a werewolf. But they had friends who approved and once she was pregnant, there wasn't anything the Ministry could do about it.

"Me, too, love. Me, too."

"My dear, you look radiant," Umbridge gushed in a syrupy voice that put Tonks immediately on edge. "Severus taking good care of you?"

"Excellent care," Tonks said through gritted teeth. And to be fair, he could be decent company when he wasn't being snarky. He had actually intervened a few times when he'd overheard Draco bad-mouthing her. And Umbridge, idiot that she was, often let her Auror duties slide to spend time with Snape, who was content to let her while away the hours in his office with a book, so long as she didn't interrupt him. It was kind of funny, really. Umbridge, with that contradictory puritanical streak and unhealthy fascination in other people's mating habits that was typical of a judgemental old biddy with a bit of power like her – she had often asked Tonks what it had been like with Lupin, ostensibly to tut-tut about what an animal he was but really to learn about someone else's sex life – was no doubt convinced that they were spending the time having wild sex, when it reality she read quietly while he did his thing.

"Good, good," Umbridge said. "You're mother must approve, after your last foray with a man."

Her voice was dripping with mean-spirited judgement, and Tonks resisted the urge to smack her. "You mean Charlie Weasley?" she asked. "Mum was really fond of him. She always wanted a son, so I think having the six of them as in-laws would have been the next best thing." She enjoyed the way Umbridge's smile faltered at that point. The only Weasley she liked was Percy. And since do-good Percy was the one who had dobbed her and Lupin into Dumbledore when even Charlie had balked at it, and was the only one either not a part of the Order or wanting to be part of it, he was definitely her least favourite Weasley.

"Whatever you say, dear," Umbridge said, thinking that she still needed some growing up to do. Hopefully Snape would be able to set her in the right direction.

Tonks sat to the right on Umbridge, with Snape to her right. She was zoning out of Umbridge's incessant chatter about her newest draconian law that she'd had passed, thinking about her next weekend off. She'd told Umbridge that her mother was sick and she needed to spend any weekends that she could be spared with her; Lupin would meet her there for a couple of snatched days together.

She looked forward to them with every fibre of her being, but she also hated the need for them. She wanted to live with him openly and not have only the occasional weekend to look forward to where the time was consumed filled a physical hunger and lacking the ability to slow down and enjoy one another on deeper than a sexual level.

"You alright?" Snape asked in his usual lazy drawl. Tonks seemed particularly restless tonight. She hadn't taken her separation from Lupin well to begin with, and as the weeks slipped by, she became increasingly moody and restless, taking most of it out on him because she couldn't give Umbridge a piece of her mind like she wanted to.

"Fine," she said shortly. She stabbed at her food with her fork, not feeling hungry. She never felt hungry around Umbridge; the woman was a sure-fire appetite killer.

Snape eyed her more carefully. She never ate much in the Great Hall at mealtimes, preferring to take her meals in her room afterwards, but tonight she looked downright sick. "Nymphodora –" he said, putting his hand tentatively on her arm. She lurched forward, and instinctively he pulled her down with him onto the floor, where she proceeded to throw up violently. It wasn't the prettiest of scenes, but it was better than having her throw up on the table, herself, him, or worse, Umbridge.

Everyone stopped eating and the hall went dead quiet except for the sound of Tonks retching. "You done?" he asked casually once she had emptied the contents of her stomach onto the floor, as if he were asking her if she were done getting ready for a party rather than done humiliating herself in front of almost the entire staff and student population of Hogwarts. She nodded weakly. "I'll take to her Madam Pomfrey, then." He slid his arms under hers and hoisted her up none-too-gracefully. She buckled under the attempt to stand, even with his arms around her, strong if ungraceful, and he knew there was no way she could walk, even supported, all the way into the infirmary. "Sorry about this," he said, swinging her into his arms with the same ungraceful strength. He turned to Umbridge. "I'll take her to see Pomfrey," he said.

"I'm sorry," she said weakly. She rested her head against Snape's chest and wished desperately that she was in her husband's arms.

"That's alright, dear," Umbridge said graciously, liking the way 'her' Auror looked so frail in Snape's arms. "Don't you worry about anything."

So Snape took her up to the infirmary, where Madam Pomfrey asked her a series of questions that made Tonks increasingly uncomfortable before bustling off to check something. "How are you feeling?" Snape asked dryly when they were alone.

"I want to go home," she whimpered. "I want to be with Remus."

"I know you do," he said in something that passed for sympathy. He waved a cleaning spell over her that didn't make her feel much better. She missed the way Lupin would bathe with her, running a cloth the length of her body, making it as much a tactile experience as a cleansing one.

"Sorry," she said, when she realised she had pulled away from him quiet violently. "I appreciate you being with me. I just miss him so much."

Pomfrey came back at that point, looking very disapproving. "You're not married, are you?" she asked. Umbridge had made it clear how delighted she was with the time Tonks and Snape were spending alone together – though from what Pomfrey could remember, she hadn't been able to stand him when she had been his student – but there had been no confirmations of a relationship, let alone a marriage.

"I don't see why that has anything to do with it," she replied.

"Your mother would be highly disappointed in you. I thought she raised you better than that."

"Better than what?"

"You're pregnant," Pomfrey said, the disappointed at what she thought was Tonks's illegitimate pregnancy obvious in her voice.

Tonks started to feel very lightheaded. Snape didn't need to read her mind to what she was thinking that the exhilaration was flooding her mind and making it difficult to think clearly. He snaked an arm around her back to support her. "Are you sure?" she asked breathlessly.

"I've checked three times. I would hardly drop a bombshell like this on you if I wasn't sure," Madam Pomfrey said indignantly, as if Tonks was insulting her professionalism. She clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "Even Dumbledore didn't like having unmarried parents on the staff," she said, making it clear that though Tonks was one of her favourites, Umbridge wouldn't tolerate such behaviour from her.

"She's been married since Christmas," Snape assured Pomfrey. "I was there." He turned to Tonks. "I'm going to take you back to your room and then contact your parents, OK?" She nodded weakly. He contemplated forcing her to walk, then decided against it and lifted her back into his arms and carried her back to her room.

"I want to go home," she insisted when he tried to put her to bed. "I don't want to stay around that old bat one more minute."

"That 'old bat' will throw you out into the dead of night when she realises that it's not me you're married to," Snape countered. "And then Remus will go after me, Umbridge and whoever else he feels is responsible if something happens to you or your baby. Let me contact your parents. They'll contact Remus, and he'll be here as soon as is humanly possible. Calm down now. Please calm down; you won't do you or your baby any good stressing and pining. He'll be here soon. Look, I will personally take you to your parents on the weekend if he hasn't come to get you before then, OK?" Snape promised wildly, anything to stop her from crying and fretting. He was glad it was Lupin who would be dealing with her if this was Tonks being hormonal.

He waited for her to fall asleep before leaving her room and heading to his own to contact Andromeda and Ted. He knew Umbridge was watching the fires, but it didn't really matter, because all it would sound like to Umbridge was an expectant father informing his in-laws of the news. They would contact Remus separately, and she would be none the wiser until he arrived to take his wife home.

He wasn't the least bit surprised to see Umbridge outside the hall, pretending to have been taking a walk when she had actually been waiting to interrogate him – only she didn't call it that, she called it a sharing of news between colleagues and friends. "I hear congratulations are in order," she cooed.

Snape merely grunted. "I have to contact her parents," he said.

"Of course, of course," Umbridge said. "I'll leave you to it." And she did just that, returning to her office to eavesdrop on the conversation.

She was disappointed, of course. Ted and Andromeda knew perfectly well that it was dangerous to discuss anything important using a Hogwarts fire. Snape had a banal conversation with them with them promising to 'send someone to get her' as soon as possible.

Madam Pomfrey had been sworn to secrecy about Tonks's pregnancy, which naturally meant that everyone knew – and that everyone but Umbridge knew Snape wasn't the father. So the next night at dinner, everyone had turned out to the Great Hall and was unusually silent, wanting to see what would happen. Umbridge, as usual oblivious to the most obvious things around her, thought their silence was a mark of respect for her authority.

"Your in-laws must be so pleased," Umbridge said to Snape.

"I'm not married," Snape delighted in saying, although his delight was disguised by his deceptively lazy drawl. "And I don't have any siblings to marry so I don't have any in-laws."

Umbridge was immediately and obviously flustered. "But I thought – " she began.

She was interrupted by the doors of the Great Hall opening, Hagrid pounding through them. Behind him, looking like a dwarf in comparison was Remus Lupin. Umbridge's eyes narrowed when she saw him. She despised Lupin for both being a half-breed and for being a more popular DADA teacher then her – though of course she would never concede that he was a better teacher than her. "What?" she asked icily, momentarily forgetting about Snape and the fact that he wasn't the one married to Tonks, "are you doing here? I thought you were fired."

"Resigned," he corrected pleasantly. "And I'm here to collect my wife."

"You're – wife?" Umbridge asked. The hall was dead silent, everyone taking in her every flustered word. "I don't recall ever approving your marriage."

"You know what your problem is, Delores?" Lupin asked in that same pleasant voice. "You always underestimate the intelligence of those you're trying to outlaw. We weren't dumb enough to give you an excuse to deny our marriage."

Umbridge would have taken great pleasure in informing Lupin that the Ministry could still deny a non-approved marriage... until she realised that even the most fanatic of Ministry members would be reluctant to deny a marriage where a child had been conceived. For a few seconds she stood there, opening and closing her mouth, searching for the words that would cut him to pieces. The entire hall listened eagerly on. Lupin himself stared at her, silently daring her to challenge his marriage and his right to be a husband and father to a human – and a Black, no less.

The silence was broken by a crashing noise at the top of the stairs. It was Tonks, her boots hitting the stairs hard, the trunk clanking down with her, suspended slightly by magic, but low enough to hit the stairs as she went. "Remind me again how you ever passed Stealth and Tracking, love?" he called affectionately.

She grinned at him. "You love it when I'm noisy," she retorted. She made it to the bottom of the stairs, crossed the distance between her and Lupin quickly and threw herself into his arms. He kissed her passionately and spun her around in circles. Without her concentration holding it up, her trunk fell to the floor with a loud bang.

There was cheering from everyone in the hall but the Slytherin table; even some of the teachers looked like they wanted to join in the applause. After a full minute passed, Lupin reluctantly pulled away from her. "I'm going to take my wife home," he addressed Umbridge, his eyes sparkling maliciously at the knowledge that he had well and truly outmanoeuvred her this time. "I don't like her being out in this weather in her condition. Oh, and Draco," he said sweetly, turning to the Slytherin table. "Do be a good little cousin and pass on a message to your mother for me. That half of the Black inheritance your parents couldn't wrest from Andromeda? Will trickle down to my wife... and then onto my children." He wrapped his arm possessively around Tonks's waist and began leading her out the castle, re-enchanting her trunk so it began to follow them again.

A few stops and they paused. Tonks spun around to face her former employer who was red in the face with anger and humiliation. "Oh, and Umbridge? I totally quit, you old bat."