Because I am too obsessed with AUs.
...
To clarify, it is 2008.
Meaning Lily Luna is not yet born.
And as I said, some pairings changed. So enjoy.
Dean tilted Harry's head back, pinching the man's nose and pressing his mouth to Harry's and breathing into the dark haired man's mouth deeply. He paused only to press- hard- on Harry's chest in a frantic repetition.
"Fuck, come on-" Dean muttered, repeating the process over and over and over.
Finally, Harry coughed and Dean backed up as Harry rolled onto his side, vomiting up a large amount of water. Tonks dragged herself to Harry, throwing her arms around him as he sat up.
"Thank Merlin, Harry-" She said, clutching him tightly. Harry leaned against her, wrapping an arm loosely around her.
"I think they've given up for now, must think we're all dead." Dean said, surveying the cliff on the opposite side of the river. As Tonks released Harry, Harry lay back, clutching his now-bruised chest, taking slow and deep breaths.
"We can't stay here." Tonks said. "If they come back, they'll see us."
"Right, I'll be right back." Dean said, walking off.
"Dean!" She called after him, making to stand but the pain in her leg kept her from actually managing it.
He returned after what felt like hours, but according to Harry's watch was only a few minutes. "There's a cave over there." He said. "We can hide, figure out what we're doing, try to think of a way to contact someone."
Dean pulled Tonks to her feet, and Seamus helped Harry up, and the four managed to make their way to the cave that Dean had found. They sat together, a small distance from the entrance. Tonks was muttering to herself, trying to repeat the incantation Remus had told her produced the flames- they wouldn't be warmer than they were right now, but at least they'd have light.
"Tonks?" Dean asked.
She looked up at Dean. "I'm trying, but I'm bloody useless at anything that's not a duel." She said. "And Alastor never even thought to try and force me to use wandless magic, he never had to use it-"
"Alastor Moody didn't know wandless magic?" Seamus asked, sounding a little more than surprised.
She shook her head. "No, he had that stupid walking stick. I disarmed him of his wand once, and still got my arse kicked." She said.
"We'll stay here until morning, and then try to get an idea of where we are. When it's light, we'll be able to see more." Tonks said, startling Harry from his own thoughts.
"And when it's light, they'll be able to see us walking around." Seamus said.
Tonks sighed heavily. "Fuck!" She cried, dropping her head into her hands. "I'm sorry, I have absolutely no fucking idea what to do now."
"We'll figure it out." Harry said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "After all, we have the Head Auror with us."
Tonks' head snapped up. "That's it."
"What?" Harry asked.
"I'm the Head Auror."
"Yes, you are." Dean said, frowning slightly. "I figured you knew."
"No, I mean. Tomorrow morning, I can morph into someone else- anybody else- and without my robes, they won't have the slightest idea who I am." She said. "I always wear Muggle clothes underneath my robes, I know Harry does as well. If they can't see our robes, they might not realise who we are at first. They're looking for Aurors, not Muggles."
"But that leaves the issue of Harry being Harry. Us three can't change our appearances without Polyjuice or a wand." Seamus said.
"You won't have to. I'll go, try to see if there's any houses or towns nearby, and then come back for you once I find something." She said.
"And if they spot you? You can't run with that leg injury." Dean commented, gesturing to her leg.
"If I don't come back after an hour, assume I'm dead, then." She said.
"Oh, shit." Harry suddenly said, noticing something was definitely missing from his left hand. "Assume I'm dead, Tonks? Remus and Ginny- they must have their rings-"
"Yes, like I said earlier-" Tonks said and then her eyes widened as Harry raised his hand. "Harry, where's your ring?"
"It must have fallen off when we fell, I've had it fall off before- oh, shit, Ginny must be panicking."
"It's alright." Tonks said. "She'll be alright when we get home-" She broke off when they heard noises outside the cave. The noises subsided and Tonks sighed. "We should keep watch. I'll take first watch, you three rest." She rose slowly, heading towards the cave entrance.
"I'll keep watch with you." Harry said, pushing himself to his feet and following her. They sat on a rock just inside the entrance of the cave, watching the river. Harry had to admit that if he was to be stuck anywhere, running from Death Eaters again, he was glad it was with Tonks(if he couldn't have Hermione, anyway). After the war, Harry had gone to stay with the Lupins for a while to simply give the Weasleys a little bit of space to grieve the loss of Fred, and he and Tonks had become extremely close, and became even closer when she was thrown into the position of Head Auror six months later and was in charge of training the new recruits(which included Harry).
"By the way-"
"If you're going to say I should have let you fall, I will smack you." Harry warned.
"No, I wasn't going to say that." Tonks said, smirking. "No, I wanted to say that I promise we're going to get you home in time."
"In time- oh." Harry said, and then nodded. "We're going to name her Lily."
Tonks smiled. "Ginny told me. I think it's beautiful." She said quietly. "Remus and I wanted a daughter, but..." She shrugged.
"You two were trying? I didn't realise-"
"Well, we don't generally publicly announce when we have sex, Harry."
Harry felt his cheeks burn. "Right, no, of course not. Although, it would have been nice to have another Lupin close to my kids in age." Harry remarked.
"Give the cloak to James, I'll convince Remus to give the map to Lyall, and they can teach Al all of the secrets later."
"Speaking of Al-" Harry began. "Do you think it was a terrible name?"
"You're asking me about terrible names? You do remember my name, right?"
"That's why I'm asking. If anyone could spot a terrible name, it'd be you, Nymphadora."
"Git." She said. "No, I think it was nice that you chose to honour Snape. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, just Ron being Ron, I suppose. Said it was a terrible name-"
"You do remember that he named his son Hugo Ronald, right?" She asked. "I wouldn't let him bother you. Besides, why should his opinions really matter?"
"I mean, it is nice to hear opinions, isn't it?"
"Sometimes." She said. "But sometimes not. I mean, look at Remus and I. I actually really don't like chocolate-"
"You don't?''
She shook her head. "But I don't tell Remus to stop eating it simply because I dislike it, do I?"
"Didn't you threaten to ban it from the house last month?"
"That was... different. It seems to help him after the full moon, and after he works with the third years and their Boggarts. I don't understand it, I personally just thought it was dementors, but it helps his mood. So why should my opinion change his actions? Just like Ron's opinion shouldn't have you second guessing your child's name."
"Huh." Harry said after a moment.
"Plus, Ron's a git."
Harry snorted. He never understood what had happened between Tonks and Ron, but over the years, she seemed to develop a coldness towards him- starting when he quit the Auror department. From what Harry understood, there had been a heated argument between the two, but he never felt the need to pry further. Until now.
"Why don't you like him?" Harry asked.
She shrugged. "He's just- I don't know, I just think he's a shit friend, Harry."
Ginny had gone to sleep in their spare bedroom, and Remus had gone to bed shortly after. There wasn't any news from the Ministry, and he knew he had been foolish to hope they'd be found within a day.
He woke up only a few hours later, to find that ten year old Teddy and four year old Lyall had crawled into bed with him. They didn't know the details, but knew there was something wrong- after all, their Mum was never late getting home from work when she promised she'd be home.
He wrapped his arms tighter around his sons, watching as Teddy's hair shifted colours in his sleep- something, he had been told, had happened with Dora's as well until she was nearly fifteen. He ran a hand over his second son's dark hair, hair that never changed. He knew in the morning, the younger would be a little standoffish towards him. He could never pinpoint what it was, but for some strange reason, Lyall had always seemingly preferred Tonks to Remus. Teddy, on the other hand, simply didn't care which parent was around- he'd happily spend time around both or just one.
Remus was still relieved that his ring was warm, but concerned that the warm hadn't returned to Ginny's. He was hopeful that both Harry and Tonks would return home, safe and alive.
But he knew that the longer they were gone, the chances would continue shrinking.