Chapter Three
A/N: Thanks to my great reviewers, myhorserockyrocks, meow and dream-on-sunday.
The next three months had passed extremely slowly for Dora, as Remus had not returned after their argument. In the current climate, the woman was, of course, worried for her husband, but Dora knew that Remus was an extremely skilled wizard and, if he had been selected to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, he could surely hold his own against most things life could throw at him.
In truth, there had been little to do but sit in the Tonks household. Dora had moved back there a couple of weeks after the argument, as she strongly disliked the feeling of staying in her marital home with no husband there beside her. Utterly everything had changed for the young woman; her family life, the War, even her own hair colour, which had faded from its usual bright bubblegum pink to a dull, lifeless shade of brown, one she hadn't had since Sirius' death and her subsequent rejection by Remus. No, nothing had stayed the same. But the Tonks family wasn't the only one that had been shaken by recent news.
On another boring day some three weeks previously, Dora had received a letter from an extremely unexpected source. Nevertheless, she had gone to the Burrow, as the letter had requested, to meet another expectant mother in the family. Angelina Johnson.
Now, Angelina and Nymphadora had been in school together, albeit not for long and in different houses, yet the elder woman still felt quite sympathetic to the younger. Angelina herself was due in three months, which both she and her boyfriend, Fred Weasley, were thrilled about. To a certain extent, at least.
The girl had been extremely worried when she found out and so had turned to the only person she knew in even a slightly comparable situation. Though delighted, both Angelina and Fred had to admit that a warzone was not the best place to bring up a child, especially when it's parents were as young and close to the Battle as they were.
The uncertainty of the situation was something familiar to Nymphadora, who had not had a single day without worrying about that matter herself, and was certain that, on top of his other fears, Remus was sitting in the same boat, though beside a different shore.
The woman's deep thoughts were interrupted when a soft knock sounded at the door. Dora promptly rose from her position on the small plush sofa, making her way to the living room door. Suddenly, as her hand reached for the door handle, she paused. How could she know who was behind the front door? Of course, it was probably only Andromeda, returned from the house of the friend she was visiting, but her daughter couldn't be sure of that without looking out of the window, something which she had been forbidden by the Order of the Phoenix from doing.
Instead, she approached the door, which was solidly paneled with wood, with no glass window to see through, regretfully so for the young woman. She had been trained by the Aurors, for pity's sake, how could she be so afraid of a knock at the door?
Sucking in a deep breath, Dora picked up her wand from its resting place on the table beside the door, clenching her hand so tightly around it that she could feel the patterns digging into her hand. She felt far safer with the strip of wood at her fingertips and so laid a single hand on the door, the other still gripping her wand.
"Alohamora." she whispered, watching in anxiety and fear as the door unlocked and was pushed open by the caller. As they were revealed, Dora gave a small yelp and pitched forwards out of the doorway.
Right into Remus' arms.
"Oh my God, I thought you were never coming back." Dora cried, her face buried in his shoulder as she clutched his close to her. Remus said nothing, merely holding his arms around his wife and patting her back in a comforting manner.
"So did I, for a while."
"What happened?" Dora asked him, pulling back so that she could see his face, running her fingers through his hair as if still slightly disbelieving that he was real.
"Harry persuaded me to come back. He called me a coward-"
"No! Harry?!" she exclaimed, her hair suddenly turning a little green, with hint of red at the tip, giving her hair a startling resemblance to a tinsel decked Christmas tree. She smiled at this. It was a sign that she was truly alright again.
"And he was right. I had been a coward, I had been foolish. I am meant to be a Gryffindor, for goodness' sake. I've faced Death Eaters and moonlit curses for years on end, but two babies appear on the scene and I am absolutely scared witless. In all honesty, I still am." Remus admitted, albeit a little sheepishly.
"Don't worry, Remus. So am I." This flippant comment caught the man's undivided attention, as he whipped his head round to face the woman.
"You are?"
"Oh, yes. Absolutely terrified. I have been from the start as well, I mean… these are two innocent children that I'm carrying inside me, Remus. What if I do something wrong, and hurt them? The Death Eaters are after us, if they hurt me, what will happen to them? I think like that all the time. I'm just as scared as you are. But it's alright that we're scared about this, you know."
"Is it?" Remus questioned, looking at his wife as if she was a little deranged.
"Yes, Remus John Lupin, it is. And do you know why?"
"I have absolutely no idea." the man answered, deciding honesty to be the best route to take.
"Because we're both terrified, but as long as we're terrified together, we'll be alright."
A/N: Fluff overdose at the end, I know! Please review, and I'll try to update quicker.