Remus fiddled with the collar on his shirt. He bent it down, examined himself in the mirror, and then stuck it up to repeat the whole process again. With a sigh, Tonks crossed the room in a few steps and batted his hands away. She folded over the collar and smoothed it out.
"There." She stepped back, allowing himself to get a proper look in the mirror. "It looks fine."
Remus frowned at his reflection but didn't say anything. Tonks perched on the edge, tugging her shoes. She was pretty sure her feet were starting to swell, but it was hard to tell. There were some symptoms of pregnancy where she couldn't tell for sure if she was experiencing them or making them up in her head.
"I don't know why you've insisted on wearing a collar shirt anyway," she said. "It's dinner with my parents, not some kind of business dinner."
Remus hummed but didn't otherwise answer. Tonks looked back over at him. He'd turned from the mirror to face her, but there was still a frown on his face. Tonks sighed.
"It's in the past, Remus. My parents aren't going to be angry with you."
It was a pointless argument to make. If their roles had been reversed, she'd also have been nervous to have dinner with Remus' family, but she also meant it. Whatever Andromeda and Ted might have felt immediately after learning of Remus' attempted escape, they weren't going to lord it over his head at the dinner.
Watching him standing there all nervous made her smile. There had been difficult moments since he'd gone to Grimmauld Place, but she had forgiven him. She'd found it hard not to when she'd seen how much he regretted it.
She placed a hand against his chest and kissed him. She felt him relax into the kiss, and when they pulled away, he'd managed a smile.
"Everything will be fine," she said, patting his chest one last time before pulling away. "Promise."
Remus' worries about the dinner did turn out to be for nothing. Neither Andromeda nor Ted mentioned Remus' escape attempt as they sat down for dinner. What they did have was terrible news that Tonks couldn't have anticipated.
She sensed something was off from the moment they arrived. Remus' hand had tightened around hers, sure that it was because of him, but Tonks had smiled at him. She knew that wasn't what it was. Andromeda would have been shooting Remus daggers if he was the cause of her sour mood. Instead, she fluttered around the kitchen as she finished levitating the food to the table, her mind all over the places just like herself.
Still, they made small talk for several minutes, trying to ignore the way the atmosphere got more and more tense. Finally, Tonks couldn't take it anymore. She sat down her cutlery, fixing her parents with a stern gaze.
"What's going on? Why are the two of you behaving so strangely?"
Remus took a sharp breath beside her, and Tonks found his hand underneath the table, giving it a squeeze.
Andromeda and Ted shared a look. Andromeda's face was the carefully impassive look that Tonks knew well from her childhood…whenever Andromeda's own childhood came up. Ted took his wife's hand, loosening it from the death grip it had around her knife. She gave him a slight nod, giving him permission to go ahead.
"We've been receiving some letters," he said, his voice shaking. "From your mother's sister Bellatrix."
Tonks' hand tightened around Remus'. "What kind of letters?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.
"Threatening ones," Andromeda said. Her voice was also wobbly, and it strangled Tonks' heart. She'd never heard her mother so on edge. "It's nothing to worry about, Nymphadora. We're safe here. There are protections around the house that Bellatrix couldn't hope to crack."
"But if she's determined—"
Andromeda cut her off with a scoff. "I doubt she's actually that determined. Yes, she does consider our family an embarrassment, but it doesn't seem to have actually done much harm to her reputation with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. With war breaking out, I'm sure she has far bigger commitments than tracking us down."
Logically, Tonks knew that would be true. From everything she and the Order had been able to discern, Bellatrix was high up in the Death Eater ranks. Voldemort wouldn't consider them important targets, and he wouldn't spare one of his most loyal and fervent supporters so that she could fulfill a personal vendetta either.
It didn't make her feel much better.
She locked eyes with her mother, pleading. "Be careful."
Andromeda offered her a tight-lipped smile. "Of course, dear. Don't forget that I know Bellatrix, and I know how to protect myself. As long as we show a proper amount of caution, everything will be fine."
Tonks sure hoped that was true.