A/N I know, it's been months and months, and I'm so sorry. I am very much hoping that updates will be more regular in the future since a few things have altered in RL. Reviews are gratefully received, if you can forgive the wait enough to leave one!

As always, a huge thank you to my beta, LoveHGSS, for making this readable.

Remus walked down the path to the pretty cottage on the coast with a determined look in his eyes. He was more grateful than he could ever say to Hermione for finding the legislation which would allow him to have a role in the baby's life, if it was indeed his baby. It was with the idea of trying to find out if it was his that he had reluctantly dragged himself from his bed, and Hermione, that morning. It was later than he had planned on leaving, but he discovered that Hermione could be very persuasive when it came to keeping him in bed a little longer, and he wasn't very hard to persuade.

Despite Hermione's ability to distract him, it wasn't much after eleven that he approached Shell Cottage, hoping very much that its occupant was at home as he had no desire at all to have this conversation with a full complement of Weasleys as witnesses.

He knocked on the bright blue door and tried not to laugh at the look of shock on Bill's face as he opened the door.

"Remus?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to speak to you, can I come in?"

Bill nodded slowly, stepping back to let Remus in. He gestured to a seat at the table before dropping into one opposite.

"What can I do for you Remus?"

"Dora is pregnant. She says the baby is mine, but it seems more likely it would be yours, all things considered. I want to know what's going on before I risk everything on making sure that I can see the baby, since Dora is insisting she won't let me unless I go back to her, which I won't. I'm not putting myself through Hell and risking my relationship with Hermione for someone else's child."

Bill smiled a sad half smile.

"It's yours."

"How can you be so sure?" Remus asked.

"An after effect of a curse I was hit with in the battle. I can't have kids." He sighed, and then looked at Remus, his blue eyes open and honest. "It was a big part of why my relationship with Fleur fell apart. The man she married wasn't the man she fell in love with, then not even a year later the last of her dreams were shattered. She wanted the handsome husband with a good job, the house, kids, and the picture perfect life. She was left with a scarred, infertile part-werewolf. The house, the income, none of it mattered without the other parts. Things were pretty rough, really.

"Tonks and I got to talking when we were out with a group who had been at Hogwarts together. She was telling me that she was beginning to have second thoughts, that she wasn't as sure as she had been about life with a werewolf. I swear I was trying to help, to give her a bit of insight. I started to tell her that Fleur had similar feelings, but she began to compare me to you. She was saying that all my wolf habits wouldn't bother her, that they were wild enough to make it exciting but that sometimes she didn't know you from the wolf and it scared her. I tried to explain that it didn't work like that, but suddenly it felt like she was accepting all the parts of me that Fleur hated. I didn't mean for it to become a big deal, but every time Fleur and I fought it was Tonks that made me feel better about myself."

Bill paused, his gaze dropping to the table for a moment before he looked back at the older man and continued his explanation, the pain clearer now in his eyes. "After Fleur told me she wasn't coming home from her Christmas visit to her parents things became easier, I guess, and Tonks and I ended up in a relationship. I told her she had to choose, that I couldn't keep betraying you. I suppose I thought she'd choose you, not me, but when she ended things with you I thought I had a chance at a life with a woman who accepted me as I was. She told me last week she was pregnant, but when I said it was yours and explained, she went mad. She said I should raise it as mine anyway, but I can't keep a man from his child. She walked out, said I was useless and a wreck. I'm sorry Remus, I really am."

Remus looked at the other man sadly. He had expected to be fed more manipulation and lies, to be angry at him, but all he felt was pity for the state Bill had been left in by two women who had torn him apart. He chuckled wryly, causing Bill to frown.

"Sorry," Remus said. "I know it isn't funny really, but look at us. Two werewolves, at least in part, both left broken-hearted by the same woman, for the same reason. Both believing that she was capable of loving us for who we are, not forcing us to be something else and both brought back to earth with a painful bump. I won't lie, Bill, I've hated you the last couple of months, but it seems a little pointless now."

Bill nodded, and then offered his hand across the table. Remus shook it warmly, glad to have cleared the air.

"What are you going to do? Take it from someone who knows, moping gets you nowhere."

Bill laughed. "I'm going to go back to curse-breaking. I've talked it over with Mum and Dad, told them the whole story for the first time. I was too ashamed to admit I couldn't have kids so I never told them what was really happening with Fleur. Now they know, Mum shouted at me for an hour for not telling her, then another hour for the way I behaved, then cried and told me to be happy. It seems I'm most happy in baking heat acquiring goods for Gringotts, so I went to the Goblins and I start with a team in Peru next week; my portkey leaves tomorrow morning."

Remus nodded, smiling. "Good luck, Bill. I hope it goes well."

Bill walked him to the door. "Good luck to you too. I hope everything works out, with the baby and everything." They shook hands once more as Remus headed back out of the cottage. "Oh, and, Remus? I know this a touch hypocritical coming from me, but Hermione is like a sister to us, hurt her and you answer to the Weasleys, understood?"

Remus nodded. "I've already had the threats from Ron and Harry, but I have no intention of hurting her."

Bill grinned at the older man. He returned it as he twisted on the spot and Apparated away, knowing that he could face anything Dora threw at him now he was sure that the baby was his.