Thank you, for all your kind reviews! This chapter was inspired by the ridiculous heat I was working in this week.
Luckily I work at a Garden Centre, so I could hose myself down as well as the plants.

"Why did we decide to fix this place in the middle of summer?"

"Good luck getting me outside in the winter, Remus."

"Touche."

- - - oOoOoOo - - -

It all started when they both simultaneously, but individually, realised they would need to move out of Andromeda's house.

"I don't think we should encroach upon your mother anymore," Remus put forth one evening.

"I can't stand living with my mum anymore," Tonks burst out, "I miss being independent."

There was a pause as each realised what the other had said; "Oh, ok," they agreed.

The next problem was wondering where they were going to live. Tonks hivered and hovered about the idea of moving back into an apartment in London, like she had before when she worked for the Order.

"Honestly, London is too expensive right now. Plus an apartment with the amount of space we would need for the three of us, is way out of the question," Tonks surmised

"Dora, if you want to live independently, doesn't living with myself and Teddy negate that?"

"Remus, hun, I would be living with you, under our roof, instead of living with mum, and under her roof."

"Ah."

They decided it would be best to live away from cities for a while, somewhere in the country. Plenty of open spaces for Teddy to run rampant in, and not attract curious muggles with his multicolour antics. Plus, if they managed to find the perfect spot, Remus would have an entire forest to roam during the full moon, albeit on Wolfsbane.

Slughorn had been gracious enough to offer Remus a pre-prepared Wolfsbane potion for his first month back at teaching, and had been brewing it since. He had a slight suspicion it was more to do with potential bragging rights for being the provider of said potion to the first werewolf ever to receive an Order of Merlin. Remus wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, however, and graciously thanked him, offering to procure any ingredients he may need from his Dark Arts research trips.

It wasn't until Remus was teaching a class of third years, and talking about how often he had had to clear out his old cottage of Shrouds, that he realised he already had a place. Admittedly, it was crumbling down, and certainly not habitable currently, but with a bit of work, and a large-scale outdoor magic permit, it could be their new home.

- - - oOoOoOo - - -

Friday, 18th December, 1998

Tonks side-along apparated with Remus to an uninhabited meadow, coated in frost, just outside of Upper Flagley, Yorkshire.

"Remus, please tell me you didn't live in here when it has half of the roof missing," Tonks sighed. Her husband deigned not to comment, clearing his throat instead as he walked forward to inspect the place.

It was in an even worse state than he had left it.

Windows had been broken in his time living here, but now there were entire panes missing, the wooden frames had splintered, and the upstairs windows were rusting all over the thatch work. Or, what was left of it. Cracks in the brick-work, and all the plants had died; the ivy had curled back and been burnt by the sun. He turned his head to look into the forest beside them that stretched for miles. It was still densely packed and incredibly shady, no wonder muggles never ventured here. This expanse of wilderness had as many dark rumours as the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts. One of them happened to be him; the wolf was rather loud.

"This is gonna take a lot of work, and a lot of time. Remus," Tonks walked over to him and held him by his arms, "I go back to work in two weeks, and you go back to Hogwarts. We won't have enough time between us until-"

"The summer," Remus answered, a small smile blooming over his face. He placed a hand to her waist to pull her in, and brushed her violet fringe behind her ear. "It can be our family project, we'll rebuild on the old to create a better new. Kind of like us really."

Tonks snorted and buried her face into Remus winter cloak as a sharp cold gust blew across them.

"It's cold here," she mumbled, and she could feel the vibrations of his rib cage when he chuckled.

"That's because it's winter, June Bug."

"Hmm," Tonks tugged on his cloak to gain his attention, he looked down to see her grinning at him, "I like it here."

Remus proceeded to smother her with a kiss. She warmed up pretty quickly after that when he didn't just stop there.

- - - oOoOoOo - - -

Thursday, 8th July, 1999

"You know this would go a lot faster with you helping me."

"Yeah, but I could also just continue to lie here," Tonks said smugly, "it's a wonderful hot sunny day. Come lie here with me."

Remus looked over to where his wife was lounging on the roof in the sun, patting the space next to her. He dropped his tools and carefully navigated his way over to avoid any loose thatch work.

Now that it was the holidays, Remus had moved his essentials back into Andromeda's house and Tonks had a weeks leave from the Auror office.

"You should have seen the Auror applications, Remus, it is going to be a hectic year."

With their joint time off they could both work on the house, which is how they found themselves re-thatching the roof. Believe it or not, magic didn't actually help a great deal.

Tonks had her eyes closed or she would have seen Remus placing a foot either side of her and kneeling down. However, she did hear him place a hand on either side of head, the pressure causing the straw thatch to crinkle. She opened her eyes to see him staring down at her, eyebrow raised and a slight smile adorning his face. He slowly leaned to her face, and Tonks, incredibly smug now, closed her eyes again and raised her head to meet him.

"I know what you're doing," Tonks heard whispered in her ear, "and I'm not falling for it."

Tonks slumped back against the roof, terribly put out, while Remus leaned back up to sit on his calves. He stared down at the love of his life and started to laugh. Said love of his life took offense and immediately tackled his abdomen with her fingers. The tickling assault caused him to laugh even harder, rolling over onto his back just as Tonks pounced. Ten minutes later neither were moving as they both dozed in the sunshine, up until the sun went down and they had to fetch Teddy. They didn't mention how little work they got done to Andromeda that evening.

- - - oOoOoOo - - -

Wednesday, 21st July, 1999

Finally came the day when the house was completed. The windows had been fixed and new panes put in, the roof had been re-thatched and neatened. The chimney was once again functional and the fireplace registered with the Ministry. Tonks had elbowed Remus in the ribs when she found out he had linked it to the Floo Network illegally.

"That's a criminal offence and incredibly shady you know, I should arrest you," Tonks said, in her best professional tone.

"Go on then, hand cuff me," Remus teased. He was lucky she didn't have any charmed restraints on her at the time.

Remus had spent a good half a day encouraging plant life back up the sides of the house and around the front door. Tonks decided to go down the Muggle route and bought a massive pot. She then proceeded to plant the most vibrantly pink Lupin Remus had ever seen.

"Get it? Pink Lupin?" Tonks had looked so pleased with herself that he couldn't bare to tease her about the pun.

Refurbishing inside had become a bit tricky when they discovered multiple Bogarts, a family of bats, several sentient curses, and the resident Shroud Remus said came back every year or so. Once the infestations were taken care of the dust was banished, quite literally, and the surfaces were cleansed. Either it was fixed or tossed out. Some of the items they unearthed Remus hadn't seen in years. Tonks collected everything he seemed hesitant about throwing away and put it in his 'keepsake box'. The floors were swept, the kitchen stone was mopped, and windows opened to let in the summer breeze.

At last, they stood in what would be the living room and looked around at the clear and shining surfaces. Everything was how it was when Remus last saw it, if maybe a little cleaner and no longer breaking. The only things missing were the books and various trinkets he used to keep on the shelves lining the walls. The cupboards and the draws were now empty too, waiting to be filled with their new belongings. He was concerned some of the crockery had actually gained sentience in his absence and had therefore thrown all of it away. Now, it was ready for them to move in, and fill it with all of the things they had together, and raise their family.

He looked down at Tonks to smile gently at her, but found her grinning up at him already. A very wide grin.

She gripped his upper arm tightly, "we've gotta break this place in and have sex all over this house."

"How is that your instant reaction?"

A Shroud is a little beasty I made up - an amorphous shadow that dwells in corners and brings extreme paranoia and nightmares to all inhabitants of the house. Nasty little buggers.

Art for this chapter can be found at my tumblr british-sarasm-artwork using the remadora tag.