A basket overflowing with chocolate eggs sat atop the Tonkses' kitchen table. Ted, pale and newly home, took a large one from the top with a trembling hand and handed it to his wife. Remus followed suit and gave one to Tonks.
"Mum always gets the first egg," Tonks said, waiting for her mother to unwrap the foil. "When I was a kid I'd eat or hide as many eggs as I could and I'd get sick." She rolled her eyes a little and flashed a fond smile at her parents.
"A necessary rule," said Andromeda, a small smile gracing her face. Ted took another egg with a shaking hand and unwrapped it for himself.
"I get the second."
Ted's voice was weak. He fumbled with the foil but was able to savor the chocolate. Tonks tried to reach out to help, but Remus stopped her. Ted was healing slowly and needed to recover his strength. He'd been put on a temporary leave from St. Mungo's, following the attack in March, and had only been released early that Easter morning; it would be weeks, possibly months, until he regained his abilities.
"How is work, Dora?"
Tonks shrugged at her father's question and took an egg from the basket. "Kingsley's on desk duty too. His wand arm's still shaky so his magic isn't precise. He's just as bored as I am, but at least he's got open investigations. He's letting me help so I don't drown in paperwork."
"Better to be safe than sorry," Andromeda said, with a haughty, upturned nose. Tonks parted her lips, her brow coming together, and Remus squeezed her thigh gently, to prevent her from erupting.
Ted cleared his throat and turned to Remus. "How is the bookshop?"
"Good—" A feathered bundle appeared in Remus's line of sight. Tonks followed his gaze and got up to get the newspaper from the owl, her hair and face paling instantly upon seeing the headline.
"What is it, Nymphadora?" Andromeda asked, meeting Ted's worried gaze.
"A group of werewolves escaped from the Ministry camp," Tonks replied shakily. "They found three and executed them on the spot . . . the others are still at large and the Werewolf Capture Unit won't stop until they're dead." Remus swallowed the lump in his throat, leaving a heavy knot in his stomach.
"Last night wasn't a full moon," Ted said, pushing limp hair away from his eyes. "They couldn't have posed a danger to anyone, at least no more than the average witch or wizard."
"Not in the eyes of the Ministry," said Remus, his tone grim and bitter. "We're always dangerous."
"You're not dangerous," Tonks grumbled. "Neither are the others, unless they had wands and were casting curses." Remus put his chin in his hand and turned his head away, feeling Andromeda's eyes on him.
Another owl flew into the window, hooting and ruffling its feathers impatiently. Tonks was absorbed in the newspaper, and Ted was too tired to get up. Remus recognized Daisy, his screech owl, and allowed her entry. She zoomed into the kitchen and perched next to Tonks, nipping at her affectionately. Remus took the letter from her, which was addressed to him.
R,
If you haven't seen the news yet, you'll want to lay low. Quit your job as soon as possible and stay at headquarters until further notice. If you must go out, disguise yourself and go with your wife.
A.M.
Remus's heart sank further. Alastor's direction wasn't unexpected, but now he'd be like Sirius, cooped up in the old house without a job.
"Let me see that." Tonks snatched the note out of Remus's hand and tossed the newspaper aside. Peering up at him, she said, "This is rubbish. There's no need for you to hide."
"All of us are 'laying low' these days, sweetheart." Ted's gentle, weak comment offered little comfort for Remus, but Tonks seemed to soften. "I can't work, you're on desk duty, and now Remus will be out of a job. It's not the time to be taking risks."
"Because you and mum took a risk at the 'right time'?" Tonks made gestures with her fingers to emphasize her point, though she fell into her chair with a thump.
"These are different situations, Nymphadora," Andromeda groaned into her hands.
"We're not even in open war—"
"We don't need to be," said Remus, rubbing his eyes with his palms. "The war was simmering when I started school. By the time I was 20, we were losing people every week. It feels like the year before we were done . . . we had no idea how bad it would be. What happened to your father . . . it was like that, but most people didn't survive."
Tonks turned to her parents, dismayed. "Is that true?"
Ted nodded. "Anti-Muggleborn sentiments were always strong when I was at school with your mother, but only a few of oldest pureblood families, like your mother's, were willing to take extreme measures."
"Not everyone agreed," Andromeda clarified. "My parents and younger sister weren't openly violent. The few who were . . . they got more supporters over the years. We shielded you from the worst of it. If you'd become an Auror in those days . . ."
"I know." Tonks grew quiet and took a small egg from the Easter basket. "The DMLE lost half its workers by '81, most of them Aurors."
"It didn't matter for those like me," Remus mused aloud. "Young, single, careless . . . many of us had lost most of our families." He twiddled his thumbs, thinking of the never-ending funerals of the late 70s. The older Potters, the Evanses, the McKinnons, the Boneses, his own mother's—and then there were those like Sirius, whose family rejected him.
"I've got my parents," Tonks murmured, looking between Andromeda and Ted; she reached out and squeezed Remus's hand and added, "I've got you." Warmth flooded his chest as he nodded and interlaced his fingers with hers.
"If you want to keep it that way," Andromeda said, interrupting their moment, "then you will do what Alastor suggests. You will stay on desk duty, Nymphadora, and Remus will give up his job and stay at Grimmauld Place with Sirius."
Tonks grimaced at Remus. He tried giving her a reassuring smile, but couldn't feel his muscles moving in the right way. "If we have no choice . . ." Her lips formed a thin line. "We'll do it. I don't want to lose any of you."
The Easter basket remained untouched for the rest of the day.
An ornate, handheld mirror sat on Tonks's bedside, calling her name. Her eyes were drooping after a long day at the office, but Remus couldn't let her sleep just yet.
"Tonks," he said softly, nudging her. "You've got to talk to your mum, remember?"
"You do it."
"She prefers talking to you."
"Fucking hell," Tonks groaned, sitting up and taking the mirror off her nightstand. "Yes, mum?"
"Nymphadora, where were you?"
"In bed with my husband. What is it?"
"You didn't check in today."
Remus held his tongue. He could have checked in for Tonks, letting Andromeda know she was safe at home, but experience taught him that his mother-in-law wasn't satisfied until she saw her daughter's face and heard her voice.
"I got home an hour ago. We finally got the last of the escaped werewolves in custody, so Remus can come out of hiding," said Tonks, yawning. "He made me eat dinner and then I showered. Now I'm in bed."
"You could have spoken during dinner."
"Mum, I'm fine. I'm still fine."
"You're my only child," Andromeda said defensively. "Is it so much to ask that you reassure me that you're safe?"
"It is when it's every bloody day!"
"Tonks," Remus murmured, "please."
Sighing, Tonks looked back at her mother. "I'm okay. I've got the day off tomorrow. Remus managed to get a television to work so we're celebrating by going out to dinner and watching Monty Python." Remus saw Andromeda's face pinch in his periphery.
"Can you change your dinner plans? Your father goes back to the hospital tomorrow and I thought he'd like to see you."
Tonks looked to Remus, who nodded. "We'll be there," she said glumly. "Too bad Sirius can't go."
"I'll send some food home with you," Andromeda offered, her tone brightening. "For Sirius."
"You should include enough for Kingsley. He's here more often than not." Andromeda agreed, and after wishing Tonks a good night, the mirror was set back on the nightstand. "It's been over two months," muttered Tonks, pulling the covers over her body, "you've been stuck in this house for ages. Thank Merlin we finished the investigation. How did you not lose your mind?"
Remus pressed his lips together. Before that afternoon, when the escaped werewolves were still on the run, any werewolf that was found out and about, even if vouched for by guardians, would be subject to temporary detainment and interrogation. More than one innocent werewolf had been half-starved in a holding cell during the hunt for renegade lycanthropes; he was better off in hiding. While the discovered werewolves were sentenced to execution for the next morning, per that evening's Prophet, it meant Remus was free. Kingsley warned him to only go out with Tonks, as an added precaution, but he wouldn't be targeted by the Ministry any more than usual.
"It was manageable," he said heavily. "At least I wasn't alone."
Tonks hummed and tugged on his shirt, bringing him closer to her. Remus stayed awake while she snuggled into his side, drifting off to sleep. When her breathing evened and her hair was midnight blue, a sign she was well and truly out, he extricated himself from bed and went down to the library to read. None of the dusty tomes appealed to him. The parlor was occupied by Sirius and Kingsley, whose faces were glued together. Wrinkling his nose at them, Remus found his way to the kitchen, but the door was charmed shut.
"Stupid elf—" Remus grabbed his wand and cast "Alohomora" on the door, but it didn't budge. Growing frustrated, he cast another, stronger Unlocking Charm, but it didn't do anything. He considered calling for Kreacher, but the wrinkly house elf never listened to him.
"Lupin, what are you doing?" Kingsley's deep voice cut through the profanities said under Remus's breath.
"I was going to make a cup of tea, but it seems Kreacher has other ideas."
"Kreacher!" Sirius's voice boomed. A little pop announced the elf's presence.
"Yes, master?" Kreacher croaked, bowing so deep his nose touched the ground.
"Open the kitchen door!"
Kreacher snapped his little fingers and the door swung open, revealing a red-faced, greasy-haired potions master on the other side.
"Severus—" Remus began, moving aside in the already cramped space between the kitchen stairs and the ground floor corridor.
"What are you doing here, Snape?" Sirius growled, shoving past Remus to get in Severus's face.
"Harry Potter claimed you were in danger," Severus replied, huffing and glaring daggers at Kreacher, who snuffled disdainfully and wiped his nose on Kingsley's robes. "It appears all is well with you, but I cannot say the same for him."
Sirius paled and reached out for Severus's lapels, but Kingsley stopped him. "Harry—what did he say? Why did he say I was in danger? Where is he?" he demanded.
Severus's inky black eyes glittered in the hazy lamplight. "I have reason to believe he will try to go to the Department of Mysteries, as foolish as that may be—"
"Severus, enough," Kingsley said harshly. "If Harry is in danger, we need to go now."
"Potter has reason to believe the Dark Lord is at the Ministry," said Severus, looking only at Kingsley. "He is being lured there with Black's supposed kidnapping. I do not think him stupid enough to go, but he has proven me wrong before."
Kingsley's fist clenched at his side. His other hand held Sirius back, and a thumping from the stairs showed Tonks was awake.
"What's happening?" she called. "I heard voices."
"Harry's at the Ministry," Sirius said, quaking behind Kingsley's strength and not taking his eyes off Severus, "Voldemort's there too—we need to go—"
"I will inform Minerva. Only she is privy to Albus's location," Severus said silkily, turning around to take the stairs back down to the kitchen. Remus followed, hearing footsteps behind him, and Severus gave no other information before he disappeared into the fire.
Tonks shouted she'd be right back, while Remus started casting Patronus after Patronus, alerting the Order that they were needed at the Ministry. Sirius gathered his robes from the back of a chair. He was halfway to the Floo when Kingsley stopped him, grabbing him by the shoulder.
"No, Sirius."
"What the fuck, Kings—"
"You're the bait," Kingsley said, holding Sirius at an arm's length. "If you're found, they'll use you. Harry can't lose you."
"He's my godson," Sirius snapped, his wand out and releasing sparks. "You can't stop me."
Kingsley's wand came out in a flash, aimed now at Sirius. "You're not going."
Sirius stepped closer, a dark look crossing his face. "As if you can stop me, Shacklebolt."
"You'll get yourself killed. You're out of practice, Black."
"We're losing time—" More sparks emerged from Sirius's wand. Remus had never seen the two argue or fight, and it was unsettling, seeing them at odds.
"Sirius," Remus said calmly, getting between the two men, "Kingsley's right—you've got to stay here." Sirius's grey eyes shone with fury.
"If you're going, I'm going—" Sirius took a few steps toward the Floo, but then his wand flew out of his hand. A stream of colorful words left his lips, and then a set of thick, black ropes emerged from Kingsley's wand, tying Sirius to a kitchen chair.
"No." Kingsley's tone was cold and calm as he tucked Sirius's wand into his pocket; Remus stepped back, intimidated by the new side to the Auror he'd never witnessed. "You will stay here. Harry will never forgive you if you lose your life. Neither will I."
Tonks's clunky boots stomped down the stairs. "Oi, I took a double dose of Invigoration Potion, tired as fuck but—"
When Remus noticed Tonks, she was wearing her robes inside out, breathing heavily and watching the scene unfold. Her jaw became slack as Sirius thrashed against the ropes, falling to the side as his body hit the floor. He was bound to the chair, his face reddening while he struggled to use wandless, wordless magic to get himself out.
"Let's go," Kingsley ordered Remus and Tonks. "Black won't be able to leave." Tonks's hair was white as snow; her eyes were wide and searched Remus's face.
"We'll go," Remus said, seeing his silenced friend break the back of the chair against the stone floor, still bound by the ropes Kingsley tied him in. "We can't waste any time."
Kingsley gestured to the Floo. Tonks went first, followed by a guilty Remus, and then Kingsley came through, the three of them not bothering to shake off the soot as they ran across the Atrium to get to the lifts. Remus nearly got sick as the lift rattled quickly, opening its doors up to the familiar, cool floor of the Department of Mysteries. Kingsley took the lead and they followed, hearing voices from the Entrance Hall of the strange department.
The main door was ajar. They pushed it open to find flashes of light and smoke emerging from several doors, all arranged in a semi-circle. Kingsley, Remus, and Tonks rushed up to the dais in the center of the entrance chamber, each of them turning to face a different direction.
"Split up!" Kingsley shouted above the noise and smoke. "Find the kids and get them to safety first!"
Remus nodded and watched Tonks run into a room that held hushed whispers. Kingsley took the next open door, which opened to louder voices and a perturbing, squelching sound. Bracing himself for the worst, Remus took off to a room that glittered.
As soon as he made it across the threshold, he ducked, finding a red, burning streak of magic coming his way. Glass was everywhere; pearlescent, shimmering grains of sand floated, covering broken hourglasses with their dusty sheen. A shrieking cackle made the hairs on the back of Remus's head stand tall and still.
"TRAITOR! MUDBLOOD LOVING TRAITOR!"
Bellatrix Lestrange dealt a curse across the room at Andromeda, who shielded Ted from dying painfully. Remus gasped, aghast his in-laws were in battle already, or there at all. Andromeda was ruffled, her hair messy like her sister's, and a cut was open on her face, leaking blood down her chin and neck. Ted was dueling Antonin Dolohov, holding his own, but Bellatrix found a weak spot.
"Furnunculus!" Remus shouted, stopping her from inflicting more damage on Ted or Andromeda. Bellatrix noticed him and grinned wickedly.
"FILTHY BEAST!" Bellatrix shot a curse at him, singeing his robes. He whizzed around an iridescent globe and aimed his wand at his assailant.
"Locomotor mortis!"
Bellatrix only cackled, flourishing her wand as she cast "CRUCIO!" with glee.
"Langlock!" Remus's jinx only slurred Bellatrix's speech, but it was enough that the Torture Curse didn't strike him.
Bellatrix squealed, almost laughing, and sent flaming ropes at him, shouting, "STAINS ON MY FAMILY!"
Remus dodged the curse, hearing hourglasses shatter behind him. Bellatrix twisted around, sending the same curse toward Ted. A hex sizzled by Remus's ear in the second he looked away, burning a hole into the wall, and he ducked under a table to send a Stinging Hex at Dolohov's ankles. He cried out and stumbled, giving Ted time to get back on his feet.
"TED!" Andromeda cried, helping him avoid another brush with death.
"Impedimenta!" Remus cast at Dolohov, but he missed, and a tower of glass fell between Andromeda and Dolohov.
"'Dromeda—Protego!" Ted cast a Shield Charm on his wife, and then a purple, scorching ribbon of magic shot out from where Dolohov crouched, aimed at Remus.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Bellatrix screeched, pointing her crooked wand at Andromeda. Ted leapt; Remus's eyes widened. As the purple ribbon from Dolohov drew close, Remus had to dart to the floor.
"TED, NO!" Andromeda screamed.
Remus narrowly escaped Dolohov's curse, only to see the light leave from Ted Tonks's eyes as he jumped in front of a wailing Andromeda, shielding her from certain death.