A formal warning: This story will contain abuse, non-con/rape, death, dark themes, it will not contain graphic descriptions of such.
*****And I don't own HP, or the excerpts from the book/movie you see below*****
Also, good news, guys!
I am starting a sequel for this! So, it will follow whoever survives! Yay!
I promised a sequel last time and didn't deliver. I also didn't deliver an ending. I will deliver BOTH!
Remus almost wished she hadn't woken up.
Almost.
The side effects of the antidote seemed much worse when she was awake. The fever was high, her chills were terrible, the pain potion wore off after three hours. They hadn't realised how bad her pain would be, and she was suffering terribly.
They were right about Sirius. Less than ten minutes after Kingsley had sent the patronus, Sirius and the kids returned. They immediately came upstairs, all visiting with Tonks for a while before the trio went to get some sleep. Sirius stayed with them a while longer before going to bed himself. Kingsley went to bed as well, and Remus was sure everyone would finally sleep properly. Except for him.
The next few days were the same, and Leo promised to see if he could find a pain potion that she could take more often, but he knew that any pain potions that were able to be taken more frequently were a lower dose and unable to be mixed with things like fever reducer- she'd have to take those separately.
Remus figured that wouldn't be the end of the world. If she had to take an extra potion, at least she'd be pain-free. Hopefully.
Remus wondered if the pain was this bad because he kept helping her sit up, lay down, walk to the washroom, walk back to bed. What if all the moving around was making it worse?
Leo said it was possible, but it was a little unavoidable. She didn't want to stay laying down the entire time, she couldn't sleep sitting up, and she couldn't avoid walking back and forth to the washroom.
He charmed his watch to wake him whenever she'd need another potion, but he realised it wasn't necessary. Between Teddy's crying, and her being in terrible pain, he didn't sleep much at night. He didn't mind, he just really wished he could help her.
He tried a warm cloth, but it didn't seem to help her at all. She got a few hours of sleep but was restless, and woke him up a few times. At one point, he jumped awake because she had cried out in pain, possibly caused by shifting too suddenly. After a few seconds, she remained quiet and he dozed off again.
A while later, he was startled awake again by her hitting him in the side.
"God, sorry, I was just- fuck." Tonks hissed, and Remus sat up, turning on the lamp. "I just wanted to get comfortable."
Remus sat up, turning on the lamp next to the bed. "What can I do?" He asked, as she tried to untangle the blanket from around her, wincing when she moved. He grabbed the blanket, pulling it from around her. He checked his watch. "You can have another potion now, you know."
"I love that you time it so closely." She muttered, laying on her back. Remus stood, walking over to the dresser and grabbing a new vial. He uncorked it for her, helping her sit up just enough to drink the potion.
He walked back over to his side of the bed, crawling into bed and straightening the blanket before turning off the light. She sighed quietly, shifting closer to him and laying her head on his shoulder. He tightened his arm around her gently, resting his cheek on her hair.
"I love you." Remus said, pressing a kiss to her hair.
"I love you too."
"You'll still marry me, right?"
"As long as you'll still have me." Tonks said. "Your poor, broken fiancee who needs help getting to the loo."
"As long as you can handle a poor, old werewolf who has a good habit of making an arse out of himself."
"Well, I've known that for a long time, love." Tonks said. She was quiet for a moment, and when she spoke again, Remus could tell she was starting to doze off. "Should we discuss godparents for Teddy?"
"Right now? Love, you're dozing off. We can discuss it when you're a little more awake."
"I'm not dozing off..." She said. "I'm just... I'm... thinking..."
Remus laughed quietly. "Well, I'm thinking you're falling asleep."
"No..."
A few seconds later, he realised she was asleep. Now he just hoped Teddy wouldn't cry for a while and would allow them both some much needed sleep. He was laying there awake, when he realised that full moon was in two days.
He had known, obviously, because he could feel it. However, he had spent so much time focusing on Tonks and Teddy, that he simply didn't pay much attention to it. It was alright, he figured. He could trust Kingsley to stay with her on the night of the full moon.
The next morning, he found out that wouldn't be the case. Kingsley was called away on a short mission. He was reluctant to go, but eventually agreed. He sent a patronus later, saying he was safe but wouldn't be back until he lost the Death Eater tailing him.
So Remus asked Sirius to stay behind, but made the mistake of asking in front of Tonks. She hated him being alone if he didn't have Wolfsbane. However, he hated the idea of her being alone. With how bad her pain got, and how sick she got for a while after taking the antidote, he didn't want her alone- and he knew that full moon happened to fall on a night when Leo was working the late night shift.
"I don't know what to do, Sirius." Remus admitted, while they were sitting together in the living room with Teddy while Tonks slept. "If Kingsley can't get home, Leo can't be here... she doesn't want you staying here. She's going to be alone."
"She can't be alone, though."
"Funny, I'm aware of that."
Sirius was quiet for a minute. "What if I go back and forth?"
"You'd have to be human to get in and out of the basement, too risky."
"Why don't we just knock you out for the night?"
Remus chuckled. "I believe she wants you with me so I don't get injured."
It was quiet for another moment before the idea struck Remus, just as Sirius suggested it. "Why don't we ask Hermione?"
Remus wondered why he hadn't thought of it before, considering Tonks had voiced her interest in asking Hermione to be Teddy's godmother, and Harry to be his godfather. Tonks let Remus ask Harry, as long as she would be able to ask Hermione. Remus figured that was a fair request, but knew she hadn't asked Hermione yet.
Harry had agreed, and Remus was sure Hermione would as well.
He also realised why Tonks wanted godparents for Teddy. Her parents hadn't survived the last war, and with her recent brush with death, he wondered if she was doubting their chances of survival.
"I appreciate this, Hermione." Remus said, leading Hermione upstairs. Hermione had agreed to help Tonks over night immediately after Remus had asked, and he hadn't stopped thanking her.
With Kingsley still gone, and Sirius having to go with Remus due to the lack of Wolfsbane, Remus needed someone trustworthy to help Tonks.
And he had asked her.
"It's not much, I promise." Remus said, opening the bedroom door. "There are two potions, one she gets every four hours- at a minimum- and one every twelve- you'll only need to make sure she takes that one once."
They approached the bed, and Hermione was a little startled by how ill Tonks appeared. She almost looked worse than when Hermione had seen her the other day.
"This is the pain potion." Remus said, holding up one vial. "It's mixed with a fever reducer. It's nearly four, so she'll get one now. And then another at eight, midnight, four. If I'm not back by eight, she gets another. The blue one is the antidote. That's the one she'll take at midnight. I tried to match them up as best as I could so she can sleep between the potion doses and Teddy's crying."
Tonks wasn't saying anything, she was simply watching them. Hermione felt a pang of sadness when she noticed how distant Tonks' gaze seemed.
"Teddy doesn't cry as much as he did at first. He usually cries if he's hungry or needs to be changed, but not much else." Remus continued. "I don't think you'll need to worry about the third vial, that's a paste for healing the wound itself. It's only once a day, I'll be back for that."
Hermione nodded.
"Dora, you don't mind if Hermione stays with you tonight, do you?" Remus asked, and Tonks' eyes snapped up as if she had almost forgotten they were there, and she shook her head. "If you get tired, you can sleep on my side of the bed, or you can read. The lamp won't wake Dora once she falls asleep. And she has had a few nightmares. If she has one, she gets a little physical. Hold her shoulders down, it'll stop her from hurting herself. I find calling her by her first name tends to wake up."
"I dislike you." Tonks said quietly, and Hermione smiled a little. That was the Tonks she knew.
Hermione was reading Remus' copy of The Hunchback of Notredame, but she kept glancing down at Tonks everytime the sleeping witch moved or exhaled.
Remus had assured her that the worst thing to happen would be Tonks being in pain for the last half hour before the allowed dose of pain potion could be given, but Hermione was on edge.
She felt there were details missing from Remus' version of what had happened, but still, the short version made her feel ill. Even seeing the aftermath of the attack made her feel ill.
When they had left that day, Tonks had been cheerful and extremely pregnant(and, at times, extremely emotional) but she had been the closest thing to the Tonks Hermione had met at Grimmauld Place.
And when they returned, it had been to a blood soaked kitchen floor and Kingsley holding Tonks in a pool of her own blood while Remus held the baby.
Even if Bellatrix had assumed Teddy was Rodolphus' child, why had she allowed Kingsley to grab him? Why hadn't she simply killed Tonks and then taken the baby before the lack of oxygen hurt the baby?
It wasn't that Hermione wanted Tonks dead, she just wondered why Bellatrix had done it the way she had.
Tonks' face seemed a little flushed, so Hermione pressed her hand to her forehead. She pulled away immediately, shocked by how warm it was. Had the fever reducer not worked? Was this the reduced fever?
Hermione glanced at the watch Remus left on his nightstand. Only a few minutes before Hermione would be able to give Tonks another potion. She just hoped they were working and that Tonks wasn't in pain.
However, if she was still asleep, that had to be a good sign, right?
"No."
Tonks' voice made Hermione jump, and she glanced at her again. Tonks was still fast asleep, but frowning, her breathing a little more erratic.
Tonks rolled onto her side, facing away from Hermione. "He's not yours." She murmured. "Not your heir."
Hermione wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, this seemed like pretty basic nonsensical mutterings of someone asleep. On the other, it seemed a little...
"He's not your son."
Hermione frowned slightly. "Tonks?"
"Get off."
"Tonks?"
"Get off of me."
Hermione could feel her heart beating faster. It seemed a little too coherent for this to be nonsense. "Tonks?" Hermione tried again.
"Rodolphus- stop- he's not-"
"Tonks." Hermione repeated, louder. She set the book aside, a little unsure on whether or not she should actually hold the woman down.
"-your son." Tonks muttered, turning onto her back again. She was still frowning, her hair shifting a shade of red at the ends. "Get off of me..."
Hermione moved just as Tonks did, pressing down on Tonks' shoulders as the witch tried to kick some invisible assailant.
"Tonks, wake up!" Hermione snapped, as Tonks cried out, her head turning to the side sharply. "Nymphadora!" Hermione shook Tonks' shoulders as she yelled her name, and Tonks' eyes snapped open.
Hermione released Tonks' shoulders finally. "I'm sorry." Hermione said. "But you- you had a nightmare."
Tonks didn't say anything for a long moment. Hermione wondered if she would. "It always feels so real." Tonks whispered hoarsely. "I can still feel it."
Hermione wasn't sure what to say, but was saved the effort when Teddy began to cry. Hermione slid from the bed, walking around it, just as Tonks pushed herself into a sitting position, hissing in pain.
Hermione scooped up Teddy, turning and handing him to Tonks. "I know it's bad, Tonks. And of course you can still feel it, you're not healed yet." She said gently. "Maybe when you're healed, the nightmares will fade as the scar does."
Tonks was staring down at Teddy in her arms. "I- I think we just upset him. And, uh- did i say anything?" She asked. "Remus says I sometimes do."
Hermione walked back around to the other side of the bed, sitting gently. "You did." She said. "You told someone to get off of you, and that- that someone wasn't someone else's son. And you mentioned rodolphus. Oh, god. When you said you could still- you weren't talking about the day Teddy was born. You were talking about July."
Tonks was still looking down at Teddy.
"Wait, how do you know about that?" Tonks asked, looking at Hermione and frowning.
"I overheard Remus and Sirius talking, and they told me." Hermione said. "They didn't want me coming to the wrong conclusions-"
"They told you?" Tonks asked, and Hermione wondered if Tonks was angry about it.
"Tonks, I won't tell anyone. You know that." Hermione said. "I can't begin to understand what happened those days you were gone. I never will. Maybe that's why Remus trusted me tonight. Because you can trust me. Tonks, it's nothing to be ashamed about. Having nightmares- it happens. And you get to rest here, knowing that Teddy is Remus' child, and knowing Rodolphus can't come near you again because Sirius handled that. If it wasn't Sirius that night, it would have been Kingsley or Remus at the first possible opportunity. And you must know it's going to be alright in the end, right?"
Tonks was quiet, and Hermione wondered if she had crossed some boundary. "You better survive this war." Tonks finally said, looking at Hermione. "Because you'd be one Hell of a mother."
Hermione smiled slightly, turning to look at the watch. She reached for a vial of pain potion, handing it to Tonks. Tonks uncorked it and drank it as Hermione stood, walking around the bed to take Teddy and place him in his crib again.
Hermione watched Tonks succumb to the potion, her eyes drifting closed. "Hermione?" Tonks whispered.
"Yes?"
"Will you be his godmother?" Tonks asked, and Hermione realised Tonks was asleep the second she stopped talking.
Well, that gave Hermione a few hours to think about the idea.