AN – Thanks as always to LoveHGSS for the beta work. Super star! Next chapter shall go up in one week's time.

Yes.

The single syllable hung in the air, filling the room as though it were tangible, as if any of the three occupants could reach out and touch it. It seemed to tint the air, turned the soft browns of the room to grey. It drained every drop of joy from the atmosphere. Such a small, familiar word to change everything.

Hermione turned to look at Remus, the silent tears flowing down her cheeks mirrored by the ones on his. She wanted to hate him in that moment, to scream at him for not choosing her but she knew she couldn't. She couldn't blame him for choosing his own flesh and blood, an innocent child, over a relationship barely a week old. Deep in her heart she knew that if somehow the situation were reversed she would make the same choice, but it hurt anyway. She had hoped and dreamed of a future for them, but she knew that if Tonks made him choose that was all over.

"Please, Tonks, don't do this," Hermione begged. "What difference does it make to you if we're together or not?"

"You don't get it at all, do you?" Tonks replied. "I wanted a husband, kids, a nice house. Then I fell for a monster." She shot a look of pure hatred at Remus before she continued. "I thought I could overlook it, that it would be ok. I told myself all the stuff that people like you insist on, that werewolves are people too. But I would never be the woman with the perfect family if my husband and possibly my child were part wolf. So I moved to Bill, but he's not even man enough to get me pregnant. When it turned out it was Remus's baby, I decided that I could make a go of the perfect image with him, better that than alone. But then he'd gone and started something with you, an ugly bushy-haired girl young enough to be his daughter and he won't try and fix things between us because you managed to find some stupid law that gives him rights to his half-breed brat. So, the way I see it, now he has two choices: either he chooses the child and gets rid of you, or he chooses you and I get rid of the child; but I'm not having you two playing happy families when I can't."

Hermione and Remus stared at her, both trying to link the cold, hard woman in front of them who was holding their happiness hostage with the life of a child, and the laughing care-free girl they'd met at the start of the second Voldemort War. For a moment all Hermione could see was the Tonks changing the shape of her nose to entertain Ginny and herself, and she wondered if maybe Tonks had been hit with some sort of curse to make her so different in a few short years. She couldn't believe that she had defended Tonks to the Weasleys just a few hours ago, that she had said almost the same words to explain that Tonks wasn't a bitch. She couldn't believe that she'd been so wrong, or that anyone would threaten the life of their own child just to get their own way.

"Dora," Remus said, "Dora, please. This isn't you, why would you do this?"

"Not me? How very wrong you are. The Sorting Hat decided I was a Hufflepuff, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm a Black. Blacks are Slytherin and will do anything to get their own way. I know you won't come back to me and I can't alter that, but at least I can stop you from being with her instead." She sneered. "Oh, and don't go thinking that you can pretend to split up then just start over when the baby is born. I intend to let you have full custody, on the provision that you are not, and never will be in a relationship with her."

Remus stood and stared in disbelief at the woman he had loved and thought he'd known. He knew war was hard, that it affected people differently but he had never imagined that it would change his Dora like this. He couldn't help but wonder if part of it was his fault, if could've done something more to help her, to support her.

Remus was pulled from his doubt as Hermione moved. She stepped between him and Tonks and brought her soft hand up to gently cradle his face. She reached up and pressed her lips to his, kissing him with all the passion she had for him, with all the emotion she hadn't processed enough to understand, let alone share. He put his hands on her slim waist and pulled her close, matching the feeling she put into the kiss, each knowing without either of them having to say so, that it was a kiss goodbye.

Eventually she drew away slightly, only to bury her face in his chest as her arms held him tight, the silent tears she had been crying giving way to pain-filled sobs. He held her to him, his hands stroking her hair as he tried to find the words to comfort her. There was nothing he could say to make things better, because no words could change the fact that he had a choice and he hadn't chosen her. He knew she wouldn't blame him, but he also knew that his comfort would be hollow and false right now.

After a minute or two, Hermione stepped back from his embrace. She raised her sad brown eyes to his own amber orbs and attempted a smile. Without another word she turned on the spot and disappeared from his view, and, it seemed, his life.

He raised cold eyes to the mother of his child, growling at the smirk on her face. Her expression changed at the sound, the look of triumph fading to one of fear.

"Get out of my sight," Remus said, his voice devoid of any emotion. "Owl me any appointments you have with the Healer so I can come with you, and I will pay for any maternity clothes you buy. Other than that, I will get everything I will need to raise my child, alone. You won't speak to me or approach me unless it relates directly to the baby, and you're not to mention a single thing to Hermione either, am I quite clear?"

Tonks took a step backwards, her experience as an Auror telling her that Remus' calm demeanour was far more dangerous than any amount of shouting would be. She nodded her agreement and turned to leave.

"Nymphadora."

She turned back to him at the sound of her name, knowing it would be beyond stupid to protest at the use of her full title.

"I will never forget this, and I will never forgive you. What's more, I will ensure that everyone knows why I'm not with Hermione any more. You may have achieved your aim of splitting us up, but it will be a hollow, empty victory when people know what you have done."

Tonks looked at him for a moment, her face pale, before turning once more and Apparating away.

Remus waited until she was gone before he dropped onto the sofa. He pulled a pale blue cardigan Hermione had left earlier off the back and buried his face in the soft material, inhaling her sweet scent, laced with a hint of spice. He dropped his head back against the sofa and stared unseeingly at the ceiling, his hands clenched tightly in the fabric.

He had thought he had a chance at peace, at happiness with Hermione. He had let himself believe, even with the chaotic nature of their week, that they could be something special. He wanted to go to sleep in her arms and wake up there. He wanted to kiss her and see her blush when he called her beautiful. Maybe, someday, he could've married her, watch her grow round with their children, could have grown old with her.

But now he was alone once again.