All That Is Meant To Be: Part One

Remus was packing up his things for the summer vacation. Harry's first year at Hogwarts had been wonderfully ordinary. All his students passed well, Harry had a great time and Hermione was most definitely a friend. He took the utmost pleasure in watching them grow closer until it was like they'd known each other their whole lives. He paused to look out his window, the summertime grounds were the perfect picture of peace and serenity. What he wouldn't give to able to walk up to Hermione, hug her, and say thank you. He couldn't imagine life getting any better than this. Suddenly there was a knock at his door and he was surprised to see Tonks standing in the doorway. 'Nymphadora!"

"Remus…" Tonks said warningly.

"Sorry Tonks, couldn't resist," Remus grinned. "What brings you here?"

"I need to see the Defence professor," Tonks bounced into the room. "Is he busy?"

"I think he could fit you in," Remus tossed some papers into his case and leaned on his desk. "What can I do for you?"

"It's about my Auror training," Tonks admitted. "It's a lot more advanced than I realised. I was wondering if you'd mind helping me study this summer."

"Hmmm," Remus studied the woman. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't been wishing for a chance to test the waters with Tonks but now actually confronted with an opportunity, he wasn't so sure of himself. And yet he couldn't stop him from saying, "Okay but I have one condition."

"What's that?"

Remus gathered his courage into a tight ball in his chest, "Go out with me sometime."

Tonks gasped quietly, her eyes widening. To Remus's joy, relief, and so many other emotions, she blushed and smiled shyly. "Okay, we can have drinks this weekend."

Remus smirked then hissed, "Really? Okay I'm certain we can come to an agreement. How does two dinners sound then?"

Tonks giggled, "Really Mr. Lupin, you are pushing your luck. I'll agree to two drinks and three dinners."

Remus sighed, "Fine you drive a hard bargain; dinner once every week for the next two months and drinks to be chosen at our leisure. Agreed?"

"I can't say I'm happy with the arrangement," Tonks put on a good show of annoyance. "But alright, you've a got a deal." They shook on it and it was the sweetest summer of Remus's life, Tonks's vibrancy was so invigorating and inviting, it was hard not to adore her. For years he enjoyed their relationship until Tonks completed her Auror training and he found himself contemplating marriage. She hadn't wanted to take that step while her life was so hectic but now everything was settled, things were getting more serious and he wondered whether he should tell his girlfriend about the time change. He felt he ought to be honest with her about the whole thing like somehow knowing that they could've been together had altered his mindset about their relationship.

"I don't know Remus," Lily braced her elbows against her knees. It was a late August night, Harry had gone to bed, and her and all the marauders were grouped in the living room to discuss Remus's dilemma. "Ever since you two got together, I've been thinking about too."

"You should tell her mate, she deserves the truth," Sirius stated.

"What if she leaves me?" Remus looked devastated at the mere thought.

"Better to break-up with a clear conscience then remain together with a guilty one," Lily rubbed her eyes.

"Does it really make a difference?" James asked. "It's not like Remus had any guarantees. He didn't trick Tonks into anything, he just took a chance that there could be something between them."

"And if I were Tonks, I'd want Remus to tell me that," Lily argued. They were silent for a long moment until Lily said, "Sirius could you get me a glass of water?"

"Sure Lil," Sirius moved off towards the kitchen.

The second he was out of earshot Lily said lowly and quickly, "There is the slight matter of Hermione. If she remembers then we'd have a lot of explaining to do as is. Telling Tonks can only make things simpler."

"There is -" James said quite loudly before a look from Remus and Lily made him lower his voice. "There is no guarantee that Hermione will remember, we keep holding out hope but we just don't know."

"Here you go Lily," Sirius returned and Lily gratefully accepted her glass, taking a healthy draught from it.

"Thanks Sirius," Lily wiped her mouth. "Remus I think it boils down to whether or not you will able to live peacefully with Tonks keeping the secret. Can you marry her, have Teddy and maybe more children this time, and not have the secret be a burden to you?"

Remus thought it over carefully. He said finally, "I need to talk to Dora."

Two days later, Remus owled Tonks to come over to his flat He kept his message brief, letting her know that they needed to a have serious discussion so when Tonks arrived her eyes were filled with questions and her first words were, "Is everything alright Remus?"

"Fine," Remus assured her. "I just need to discuss something very important." They sat down at the table, Tonks seated across from Remus so he could look her in the face. "Tonks I've been doing a lot of thinking about us and I feel its time I told you something that I have never told anyone."

"What is it?"

"It's about my part in bringing Voldemort down," Remus swallowed.

Clearly whatever Tonks had been expecting, that wasn't it. Her brow furrowed and she leaned in, "Okay…"

"You know the public story but that isn't quite like how it happened. We didn't just randomly figure out Pettigrew was a spy and used him to trap Voldemort. We were told by…Hermione."

"Hermione?!" Tonks repeated. "You mean Harry's best friend?"

"Yes," and with that he launched into the entire story. Everything from when she arrived to the day she left, although he did not linger on the details of her father's death or their's, while Tonks sat in contemplative silence, just listening to the tale.

When he was finished she asked, "We died?"

"Yes but because the second war has been averted, it won't happen this time," Remus explained. "Hermione gave us more than enough information to make sure that we could bring down Voldemort but in order to do that we also found out a lot about our lives and the futures we would've had or did have depending on how you look at."

"So this means you knew about us?" It wasn't an accusation per se but it definitely felt like one and Remus hastened to defend himself.

"Not exactly, like I said before Hermione told us that there were no guarantees but what was meant to happen, would happen. Did I wait for you? Yes Dora, I waited because I wanted to believe that I was meant to have a loving, amazing wife and a beautiful child with blue hair. But that was the risk I took, I would have never forced you into being with me, if you didn't want to be."

"Why are you telling me this Remus?" Tonks tilted her head.

"Because I couldn't live with myself or with you if I had to keep this secret any longer," Remus licked his drying lips. "And I want to Dora, I want to live with you, be with you for the rest of my life." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the tell-tale black velvet box, "If you still want me that is…"

Tonks's eyes watered, "Blue hair huh?"

"Yeah blue hair, gets it from his mom but he loves chocolate so I must be in there somewhere," Remus laughed softly.

"Well that settles it," Tonks slapped a hand against the table as she stood, Remus following. "Yes, Remus Lupin I will marry you."

"Really?" Remus lit up.

"As cliché as it is, I guess we were meant to be," Tonks nodded and he could've shouted for the whole world to hear.

He picked her clean off the ground and kissed her with all joy and happiness he had. "By the way," he broke away to say, "it isn't cliché if we know it for a fact."

"Poor Hermione though, not being able to remember any of it," Tonks frowned.

"If you want to feel bad for someone, feel for Sirius. They were in love and he remembers it and he's still waiting," Remus clutched his girl a bit tighter just for the thought.

"No guarantees…" Tonks repeated softly.

A/N: Hey guys, if you haven't guessed I'm a Remus/Tonks shipper and more than anyone – aside from Sirius and Hermione – I wanted to make sure that he had a proper happy ending. More importantly this chapter will help us jump to Sirius and Hermione's time so STAY TUNED AND ENJOY R&R PLZ!