This chapter is for all my lovely reviewers who literally made me smile upon reading them and for reminding me why I pull long nights to complete these sad chapters time and again (:

Chapter 35: Seeing

Moody limped towards the exit of the Atrium of Ministry of Magic. He looked older than in the last memory. His magical eye, now in place, swirled into the back of his head as he glared around while he made his way to the fireplace nosily. His walking stick wasn't at all making his arrival subtle to anyone in his way. Sirius watched on with bemusement as various wizards and witches scrambled out of his way.

Mad-Eye had always walked grumpily, as if the world owed him; as if everyone did him wrong. And Sirius always thought that amusing or that this old retired Auror was being ridiculous. But now, Sirius knew, and the world did owe him. Alastor Moody had gone through what shouldn't be morally right to make a person go through; and he survived.

Sirius glimpsed the stand selling the daily prophet and read the year, 1980. That would be 5 years since Alastor's daughter death. Sirius could see him glaring around, his magical eye constantly busy; always vigilant and on his guard. Then Moody froze; stopping cold in his hasty steps.

At first, Sirius didn't know what stopped him. Then a piercing cry caught his attention as well as Moody's.

"No! I want ice cream!"

Sirius turned just as Moody did.

Sitting at the waiting bench at the front desk, was Andromeda and Ted. Andromeda wore an exasperated expression while Ted looked bemused. Both of them had their eyes on their daughter; who was sporting black hair. Sirius almost laughed as he saw Nymphadora stomp on the marble floor angrily. He always did love the feisty nature of his baby cousin; but Andromeda didn't share the sentiments.

"Don't be a naughty girl!" Andromeda warned in that stern voice that Sirius knew so well.

"Nooooo!" Nymphadora screeched as she began to bawl.

"Lyra…" Sirius almost stumbled as Moody stomped towards them, going right through Sirius in the process.

"Hey, she's not!" Sirius, loosing himself in the moment, called out instinctively to stop Moody, whatever he was doing. But of course no one heard him. Sighing, Sirius ran to catch up with Mad-Eye's brisk steps despite his wooden leg. Sirius sincerely prayed Andromeda or Ted already know him and wouldn't hex this old Auror for swooping in and picking up Nymphadora or something.

However, Moody did no such thing. He halted behind Nymphadora, looming over her small frame. Almost as if she sensed his presence, Nymphadora spun around and stared up at him; her tears stopping. Instead, her eyes widened in excitement and curiosity and she took in Moody's eye and scarred face.

Sirius anxiously watched Andromeda's puzzled expression as Moody watched her daughter unblinkingly.

"Um, sir?" Ted spoke first, "I'm sorry if my girl's making a racket. She's in that phase,"

Moody looked up and Ted backed a little as he saw Moody's eye. Mad-Eye ignored his reaction and turned his attention back to Tonks.

"Hello," Tonks spoke, his large almond shape eyes taking in everything queer about Moody; which was terribly a lot.

Swallowing, Moody seemed to hesitate before he replied in a serious tone, "Why are you crying?" His voice was scratchy and had a rough quality to it but it wasn't the harsh tone he used to others a lot. Sirius gauged Moody's expression and noted a slight flicker of fear as if the girl would run for the hills upon hearing his voice.

Instead, Nymphadora puffed her chest out and said indignantly, "they won't take me out for ice cream!" She stomped again, as if to emphasise her point.

The look in his remaining eye softening, Moody said, "how about…if you don't get your ice cream straight away, you can wear pink hair for the rest of the day?"

Like clockwork, Nymphadora's eye lit up and her hair turned pink, to Moody's confusion, "can I?"

"You already are doing it darling," Andromeda stepped forth, patting her pink head. She looked and extended a hand for Moody, "Thank you for that. Andromeda Tonks,"

Moody looked up abruptly at that name. Sirius had no doubt Bellatrix told him all about her sisters and that Moody didn't miss the resemblance between them. Mad-Eye glanced down at her hand with his magical eye before nodding stiffly, "Alastor Moody,"

"How did you know she liked pink?" Andromeda withdrew her hand awkwardly with a raised eyebrow but changed the subject instead; perhaps to not appear rude.

Sirius watched Moody's expressionless face as he replied, "I didn't," Without another word, Moody stomped off, this time grudgingly and the click that his wooden leg and walking stick made with the marble floor seems to amplify his grouchy presence.

"Mummy, he's so nice!" Nymphadora squealed. Sirius snorted; Mad-Eye Moody, nice…

"Darling, you said that about Sirius too, after he deemed pink as an acceptable colour for hair," Andromeda replied, rolling her eyes as Ted laughed.

Remus watched in horror as the houses were set ablaze before his eyes. Some of the werewolves were armed with lighted torches, others had knives but the rest simply used their brute strength.

Screams from little children and women were heard as chaos ensued.

Remus, initially, had a close watch on Tonks. She was constantly dragged about by the two werewolves, who were always with her. If not probed or dragged, she didn't seem eager to be going anywhere. Once or twice, Remus had attempted to catch up and go closer but things always caught up to him. Either the guard would spot him and glare at him to back away till he does or Bronson would be beside him, talking endlessly.

Running to the edge of the town, Remus hurriedly sent his patronus on its way. As it vanished into the night, Remus turned and jumped, startled, as he came face to face with Bronson.

"What're you doing?" Bronson demanded.

Remus kept his lips sealed and studied Bronson instead. He began considering his options; confounding the boy, stunning him and make a run for it… Then Remus spotted the blood on the front of his shirt.

"What did you do?" Remus frowned. Bronson glanced down at the blood and averted Remus' eye, "what did you do?" Remus repeated, more forcibly and louder now. If this boy hurt someone and left that person to die… Remus didn't know what came over him as he whipped out his wand on impulse and grabbed Bronson by his arm, "answer me!" He had no idea why he cared what Bronson did but Remus did care. He just can't stand the thought of Greyback destroying the mind another young werewolf who had potential to do better than to kill.

"I helped a girl alright?" Bronson growled in a low tone, glancing at the wand anxiously.

Remus frowned, but this time, puzzled, "why?"

"The same reason you sent that…message out!" Bronson shot back hotly, "You were calling the authorities, aren't you? The… Aurors," He looked at Remus accusingly.

"No," Remus replied truthfully but Bronson snorted.

"And I'm not a werewolf," Bronson snarled.

"I didn't call the Aurors," Remus repeated before walking past Bronson and to the chaos. He intended to help as many people as possible while he could; this mission was over and Remus had no intention to stay. At the moment, the only thing running through his mind was to help these people and get Nymphadora out.

"You liar," Bronson jogged to keep up.

Remus shot two well aimed stunners at the back of the two werewolves, who were hunched over a screaming girl. They fell with a thump, motionless. When Remus turned to Bronson, he had his jaw hanging open.

"You-you killed them," Bronson gaped.

"No I didn't," Remus said, "And I'm not a liar," Grabbing Bronson by the front of his bloodied shirt, he yanked Bronson down to the floor, sending a leg locker to a werewolf who was in pursuit of a screaming child.

Bronson shrugged out of his hold, "Who are you?"

Suddenly, the cracks of apparition filled the vicinity. Remus glanced about to see Kingsley, Hestia and Sturgis rushing towards him.

"Remus!" Bill called and gestured towards the small thatched house; from within, they could hear screams.

Remus nodded and turned to Bronson, clasping his shoulder, "do good to this world Bronson. Not everyone is bad, the world is not how this camp made it to be," With that, Remus rushed off, flinging away collapsed debris hurriedly as Bill dashed into the house.

"Shacklebolt!" Remus grabbed Kingsley around his arm as the Auror passed, "she's here,"

Kingsley frowned, confused as first before the look in Remus' eye confirmed his speculation. With a nod, Kingsley brought down two more werewolves and head in the other direction.

As Remus turned his attention back to the burning house, he felt a sharp hit on the back of his head. He was sent sprawling onto the dirt with a smirking werewolf over him; a large brick in his hands. As he drew back his hand, as if to drop the brick on Remus, Remus hurriedly rolled out of the way, hearing a dull thump as the brick hit the floor.

"Stupefy!" Remus hastily flicked a stunner his way, making a mad dash towards the centre of the chaos. He hoisted a little girl into his arms just as a werewolf dove towards her, a knife in hand.

"Lupin," He snarled.

"Heiser?" Remus frowned. He hardly recognised the teenager, whom he shared a tent with. His torso and face was covered in blood; especially his mouth. He looked to be in frenzy.

"You betrayed us!" Heiser growled before he was abruptly taken down from behind by a stray spell. Remus stood there, stumped as Heiser shook violently in the dirt, fighting death. Finally breaking out his shock, Remus knelt in the dirt, placing the girl down beside him. He flipped the boy over and ripping off the rags to gain better access to his wounds. Multiple bruises and gashes littered his torso. Remus started at his rib, where a broken rib could be seen.

"Heiser, stay awake alright?" Remus moved his wand to the wound at the back of Heiser's neck but when he looked into Heiser's eyes, they were already cold and empty. Remus froze, lowering his wand to his lap. Numbly, he picked up the girl and walked towards the brink of the chaos where Hestia was hunched over a wounded man. He had seen death, but the sting it brought never fades and Remus was sure it never will. As he placed the girl beside Hestia, Remus looked into his tear stained face.

"Is-is that man dead?" She asked, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. Her eyes were still fixated on Heiser's unmoving body.

"He went to a better place," Remus thought the voice didn't sound at all like his; calm, so unlike what he is actually feeling.

"That's what mummy said when nana died," the girl replied and turned to sob into Hestia's robe.

Finding nothing else he can say to comfort the girl, Remus stood and walked aimlessly back into the fray.

His heart almost leaped out of his chest as an explosion shook the ground. Remus looked and saw werewolves and townspeople alike, soaring through the air and landing several feet away; their bodies burned and charred.

"No!" An almost inhuman cry filled the air, "stop!"

His legs began moving towards the source of commotion, breaking into a run; desperate to her find her. He needed her, to ground him, to make him feel real, like a person; even if it is just to watch her. Most importantly, Remus knew she needed him more, now.

The scene was startling. Kingsley and Elphias were both frantically dodging stray curses and firing them at the same time. In between them, stood Nymphadora. How someone could appear preciously fragile and strong at the same time, Remus didn't know. But he saw her; her tears, her pain and her indignant rage. All of that transferred into the tip of her wand, firing spells, curses, hexes in every direction. Remus parried away one as it threatened to decapitate him. The aftershock shot up his arm. Wincing, Remus ducked down as another came his way.

"You're hurting everyone else!" Kingsley roared as he shot a spell to parry away one coming towards him.

She froze. Her wand arm fell to her side. Her fingers clenched her wand so tightly, her hand trembled.

"Elphias!" Kingsley shouted. Remus turned as Greyback tackled the wizard to the ground, bringing the tussle to a physical level. Instinctively, Remus brought up his wand but couldn't be sure to hit Greyback instead of Elphias. Instead, he yanked Greyback off with brute force. He only had time to glimpse Greyback drawing back a fist before starburst exploded in his vision and Remus fell back, keeping a firm hold on Greyback.

They both fell to the floor.

The rest of the time went in a blur for Remus. His head was ringing and his knuckles hurt from punching Greyback in the jaw. Suddenly, Greyback pressed a knee on his chest, pinning him.

"You don't have the skills and the strength nor the experience, cub," Greyback growled.

Remus glimpsed a burst of light hitting Greyback from the side and the Alpha collapsed to the ground, groaning.

"Remus," Kingsley appeared in his blurry vision and yanked Remus to his feet, "are you alright?"

"Nymphadora," Remus croaked, doubling over his aching middle from taking a blow from Greyback. She was standing in the middle of the chaos, just as they left her. She was staring at him, "Nymphadora,"

Her eyes were a startling light brown colour; a colour Remus had never seen her wear, but it was familiar. Remus just couldn't place it. At the sound of her name, her blank eyes melt away into realisation. He had never seen such vulnerability in her before. Without realising it, he took a step and then another and another, closer to her; against Kingsley murmur of warnings.

She looked at him unblinkingly, her face devoid of any emotions, save her eyes. It made Remus wonder if she missed him as much as he did her. Nonetheless, he took her in his arms gently, feeling the relief seep into his bones. It soothed the aching fatigue he tried to battle with sleep instantly. It took her a heart stopping moment before Remus felt her arms snaked around his neck.

She felt different against him. Her waist was much too skinnier to be healthy. Her hipbone stuck out prominently against his hands. Her arms clung onto him, firm for her petite frame. She smelt of blood and dirt but felt of home.

"Remus…" She whispered.

He smiled, the words drying up on the tip of his tongue. Nothing seemed adequate enough to measure up. Instead, he gently shifted to kiss her forehead but she had other things in mind. Her arms remained tightly locked around his neck with her head resting on his shoulder. Still grinning, Remus pecked her damp black hair gently.

"I missed you," He whispered. She murmured incoherently into his shoulder.

"Remus," Kingsley placed a hand on his arm, "you have to go. Take her,"

Remus tilted his head to face the Auror, nodding solemnly.

"The Aurors will be here soon," Kingsley said and went to help inform the rest.

Still smiling, Remus placed his hands on her hips gently, "come on sweetheart, we gotta go. Are you hurt?" He touched her ear; coated with dried blood.

He gently pried her hold on him loose, kissing her hand gently. Remus smiled at her as he held her hand, keeping her close for apparition.

"No," She mumbled, "No," She said, her voice clearer and louder this time, objecting with fervor.

"Nymphadora, the Aurors are coming-"

"I can't leave him here," Tonks forced the words out through gritted teeth, "I can't."

Remus frowned, puzzled, "Who?"

"Mad-Eye," She choked out before making a dash for the woods.

Remus instantly gave chase, "Sweetheart, wait! Where is he exactly?" He caught up to her eventually with her faltering and half stumbling run. He grabbed her gently around the shoulders, stopping her cold, "tell me where you're hurt, and then we can go find him. There is no one else back at camp to hurt him,"

"I'm fine," She murmured.

Remus leaned forward, replying in a gentle voice, "Don't lie to me. All this blood-"

"Not my blood," Tonks cut him off hurriedly before shrugging out of his hold and continuing on her way.

He frowned, "Nymphadora! We'll apparate," Remus extended a hand. She eyed it hesitantly and Remus' heart broke. She had never doubted him, never. And now she did. Remus could only pile his added hatred for Greyback to the already long list. Eventually she took it and they disappeared with a soft pop.

The camp was deathly quiet. Once they arrived, Remus immediately felt the absence of her hand in his. Looking across the camp, she was already trudging towards the house, stumbling along the way. Remus quietly followed. Something wasn't right about Nymphadora but he just couldn't place it.

Instead, he quietly followed her. He drew his wand, fully intending to blast the door open on her behalf but Tonks merely twisted the handle and the door opened. She vanished inside without hesitation and Remus followed.

It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness before what he saw made the blood drain from his face.

"Oh Merlin…"

Tonks was kneeling beside Mad-Eye. Only, the retired Auror was lying on the floor on his side. His wooden leg was missing and he seemed to be sleeping. Remus would have thought so if not for the large puddle of dried blood around him. As Remus approached, he glimpsed a gaping slit in his neck, where Remus presumed he had bled out.

He dropped to his knees, pulling Nymphadora into his arms, burying her face into his chest. Remus palmed the back of her head, encircling her waist with his other arm. His heart felt torn. His lover had just lost the father figure in her life and he didn't know; she was hurting, dying inside and he wasn't aware.

"Nymphadora, oh I am so sorry…" Remus pressed a kiss to the top of her head, feeling her tremble.

Finally, sobs racked through her body and Remus held her tighter, steadying her, being her support. Every rasping breath she took in was filled with the unfathomable pain of a terrible loss she went through, every sob of pain she felt ripped its way through Remus's middle. At that time, they both took a moment; holding onto each other, as they grieve the passing of a greatest Auror in history.

Sirius leaped out of his seat as he heard the front door open. He scooped the vials of memories into the rucksack and shoved it into the cupboard. Just as he closed it, the kitchen door opened and the person Sirius least expected to turn up was seen; Snape.

"Snape," Sirius crossed his arms, "can I help you?"

Snape's eyes dart around the kitchen before he fixed his stare on Sirius, "I am merely here to inform you the Dark Lord knows of the werewolf rebellion as well as the Order's noble rescue mission of Nymphadora," Snape muttered curtly.

"What mission?" Sirius narrowed his eyes.

Snorting, Snape raised an eyebrow, "you don't know?" He pursed his lips as Sirius glared, "to think, Lupin didn't inform you; his closest friend. He wants to keep you away from the Aurors, no doubt-"

"What are you talking about?" Sirius seethed, making his way around the table to stand right in front of Snape, "tell me now,"

Snape stared blankly at Sirius for a moment before he turned on his heels and stalked away.

"Hey! Tell me!" Sirius growled just before Snape slammed the front door shut. He rubbed his face, frustrated before crying out in rage.

"Sirius!"

He froze, visibly surprised. He was so angry there; he didn't hear the door open again.

"Sirius!" Remus called again and Sirius flew into action; whipping out his wand as he dashed out into the hallway.

Maneuvering through the doorway was Remus carrying Nymphadora on his back.

"Nymphie!" An exclamation of relief escaped Sirius as he ran to pry her off of Remus. She looked filthy with mud and blood. Her red and swollen eyes were in a daze, "Merlin, what happened to you! You're freezing,"

He hoisted her into his arms as gently as he could manage, allowing her head to loll onto his shoulder before he took off up the stairs. Sirius could hear Remus rushing up after him. Amidst the relief and surprise, no one seemed to bother about the screeching portrait of Walburga Black.

Sirius slipped into the room which Tonks' occupied in her stay at Grimmauld Place. It was still in a haphazard mess; Sirius didn't have the heart to touch anything. He'd even forbidden Kreacher to go into her room.

Gently, Sirius deposited her on the bed and sat by her side. Finally, he properly looked into her eyes and saw the same dazed expression.

"Cuz, what's the matter?" Sirius probed, nudging her arm. She hardly glanced his way, "Hey, Nymphie," He shifted so that he leant over her, his hands cupping her cheek, "you're scaring me,"

"Sirius," Remus mumbled, placing a hand on his shoulder. Sirius paused and glanced at Remus to see him gesturing out of the room. Nodding, Sirius followed Remus out of the room, glancing back at Nymphadora. She still lay there, unmoving.

The moment Remus closed the door, Sirius lunged forward. He hastily grabbed a fistful of the front of Remus' shirt and pressed him back against the wall harshly, "You were rescuing her. Why didn't you tell me when you had news?"

Remus frowned, puzzled, "There wasn't time-"

"No time?" Sirius scoffed, "you had all the time in the bloody world to inform the whole Order but not me?"

Remus sighed, "Sirius, we had a close call with the Aurors-"

"I don't care about that! We're talking about my baby cousin! I want to be there for her-"

Remus exploded, "And if you're in Azkaban, what good would you do for Harry or Nymphadora? Whatever life you had in there can't be better than the one here,"

Sirius was silent for a moment, glaring at one of his closest friend in his life, "this, this is not living. This is not how a person should live; to not be able to be there for the ones I love,"

Remus closed his eyes for a moment, leaning his head back against the wooden wall, "Mad-Eye is dead. I don't know what happened with Nymphadora; what she saw…" Sirius' rage vanished as he realised that Remus was shaking, "I could only guess at what Greyback had her do, or watch. She wouldn't talk about it. I saw his body, Sirius. He bled to death, probably with Nymphadora holed up in that hut with him to watch him die."

"It destroyed her," Sirius muttered, releasing Remus as realization hit him.

"I can't get through to her," Remus ran his hand through his hair, "maybe you can talk to her,"

Sirius rolled his eyes, "she loves you, mate. What makes you think-"

"You matter, to her,"

Sirius walked into the room, closing the door behind him quietly.

Nymphadora was still where they left her, staring up at the ceiling blankly. He threaded quietly across the cold wooden floor before he sat down by her side on the bed. He took in what he saw of her; the bruise on the side of her face, the blood which coated in her hair and on her face, the mud which covered majority of her robe and face. There were numerous cuts as well. A small cut on her hand, then, caught his eye.

Gently, he took her hand and weighed it in his own with a small smile. Pursing his lips, Sirius spoke, "Do you remember when you just a small kid, how you would like it when I just sat here with you and told you stories about my adventures? With Remus, James and…Peter, then. You would always wait up for me, to hear them. You were always so jealous that I always had the most exciting and heart-stopping adventures,"

Sirius looked down as he ran his fingertips over the back of her hand gently; to distract himself. Swallowing back the tears, Sirius continued, "but it's different now. You're the one with heart-stopping adventures; the most dangerous missions that make me shudder to think about. And now I'm the one who have to sit back and wait for you," He looked at her.

"And I will, Nymphie. You'll always be my baby cousin and I'll always wait for you," He blinked away the tears, swallowing, "I'll wait to listen, whenever you're ready to tell me," Sirius smiled, turning away as he felt the first tear fall into his lap. His heart ached for her, seeing her like this; so young and yet so broken.

She squeezed his hand briefly and Sirius turned to see her crying quietly. Her grey eyes, which were once dazed and unfocused, were now looking at him.

"Sirius," She sniffed, her hand clenching his firmly, "H-he died. Everyone died. I saw,"

To be continued…

A/N: I got this up in time! Touching chapter here; for me to write. The first part of Moody's memory was kind of a closure for me; in terms of Moody's past. The cycle is complete with Moody meeting Nymphadora, finally. And from there, I guess it is implied why Moody took Nymphadora as his apprentice when he heard of her. A little bit about Nymphadora's unhinged side. It was difficult to decide how she would react and I settled on…however you interpreted this; I thought this to be the in-character reaction for her. (: JK Rowling did cover a little on Tonks' grief in Book 7 but that was a little brief and almost nothing for me to work on; so here's my version.

This is really long, so I'll stop here!

Thank you so much to the reviewers of last chapter, Nymphadora-Remus4ever, tt crews, LoopyLuna13, Lupinesence, NymphaTonksLupin, Ellen Potter, Tonks23, paardenlaura, Neveraskquestions, Professor Pang, HammersNStrings, Furionknight and Sarah1996. I particularly love reading your reactions to the Bellatrix and Mad-Eye stuff (: It was fun! And like how I think you guys read this story again sometimes, I do read all your reviews, and more than once ^^