Friday night, 30 August, 1991

It took longer than anticipated for Remus to finish. Tonks held his forearms as he moaned breathily, with his body trembling above hers just slightly. It felt wet underneath her, and as Remus pulled out of her body, she heard the awkward sound of slickness and moving flesh.

"Are you all right?" Remus said, catching his breath as he collapsed next to Tonks on the bed.

"I think so?" Tonks replied, unsure if she should get up or stay in the puddle of bodily fluids.

"Do you mind if I turn on the light?"

It was darker in the room, and though Tonks knew Remus had already seen her naked, she felt apprehensive now that they had slept together.

"Erm," Tonks mumbled, "can I get my bathrobe first?"

"I'll get it for you."

Remus rolled out of bed, went around the corner, and retrieved the fluffy yellow bathrobe Tonks had purchased earlier that week. Gingerly, Tonks stepped out of the bed, her legs feeling sore, and got into the warm robe.

Even in the dimness, Tonks could see what she had left behind on the white sheets: a pinkish stain was spread out under where she'd been, and when Remus turned on the lights, she could feel her body flushing, mortified by what her new husband would think.

" Evanesco ," Remus murmured, pointing his wand at the mess. It disappeared, and then he cast a Drying Charm on the sheets, turning them back to their crisp, unmarred whiteness.

"I'm sorry," Tonks whispered. "I didn't mean to—"

"It's no trouble at all," said Remus. He wrapped a towel around his waist and cast another charm on the bed; its sheets and duvet smoothed themselves out neatly. He stepped around the bed, watching Tonks closely, and took one of her hands. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Mm-hm."

Remus kissed her forehead. "Why don't we get dressed? Then—do you like hot chocolate?"

Tonks nodded, and despite her discomfort, smiled.

"I'll make some for us," he said, smiling back at her. "Come join me in the kitchen when you're ready."

It was a good proposition, thought Tonks, and she dashed off to the bedroom she'd claimed, where her clothes were.

As she got dressed, Tonks felt a dull ache between her legs and soreness radiating around her thighs and hips. She hadn't realized she would feel that way, but from what she'd been told, she would get used to the feeling as she continued having sex with her husband.

Her husband.

Tonks had to stop while putting her clothes on to realize that she was very married. They had said their vows and consummated their union. There was no going back now.

And her husband, who she'd lost her virginity to, happened to be a werewolf.

She had just slept with a werewolf!

Yet the man she married, werewolf or not, had been good to her. She had heard enough horror stories from friends to know that not all men were so gentle or kind in bed. He had assured her, listened to her, and made her feel things she didn't know she could feel. She hoped he had enjoyed himself—it seemed that he had—and that she hadn't turned out to be rubbish in bed.

When she was dressed, she remembered to go to the loo, as her mother told her to do. There was more to clean up from between Tonks's legs, which included scents that were baffling to her, but she was a married woman now and she would grow accustomed to it all.

Tonks heard her husband puttering about in the kitchen and smelled the sweet scent of chocolate in the air.

Maybe life as Mrs. Lupin would turn out well after all.

Remus had to control his jubilation after having sex with his stunning young bride. He felt awash in the glow of intimacy and pleasure; he had to stifle his eagerness to join Tonks in bed again as soon as possible. He was somewhat convinced he was dreaming, even as he burned one of his fingers on the stove while heating up milk for the hot chocolate.

He simply couldn't believe his luck. Of all the young women in Britain, he'd been chosen by a breathtaking, bright, and vibrant Metamorphmagus. As he poured out their hot chocolate into mugs, he knew he would do whatever it took to make her happy and give her a joyful life with him. He hoped for friendship from his wife, but didn't dare hope for more, even if his heart was already getting carried away with the dream of having a marriage like the Potters' or the Blacks'.

What he wouldn't give to have a woman look at him the way Lily looked at James, or a woman who was as affectionate as Amelia was with Sirius. Remus would count himself extraordinarily lucky if Tonks liked his company at all, unlike Peter, whose wife Laura avoided him unless the two of them were with their son.

"Hello," said Tonks, suddenly appearing in the doorway to the kitchen. She was wearing Muggle clothes: a Weird Sisters t-shirt, a pair of denim shorts, and mismatched socks adorned her body.

"Hello," Remus said, his anxiety growing over his fate with her. "Still feeling okay?"

Tonks nodded at him and sat down at the table for two in his kitchen. Remus brought her hot chocolate topped with whipped cream, and he waited with bated breath as she took her first sip. She wasn't looking at him, but instead her eyes were roaming around the kitchen; a satisfied hum came up from her lips when she drank the rich hot chocolate he'd made for her.

"Do you have an owl?" Tonks asked abruptly.

"I do," Remus replied, "although she's probably out hunting. I don't keep her in a cage, and I haven't seen her since this morning. I usually call her in the morning if I've got a letter for her and she comes to see me."

"What's her name?"

Remus cleared his throat awkwardly. "Sprinkles."

"Sprinkles?" Tonks giggled into her mug. "Really?"

"One of my goddaughters insisted on the name," Remus replied, rolling his eyes. "I couldn't tell her no."

Tonks smiled at him. "You've got more than one goddaughter?"

Remus nodded. "Two goddaughters, Daisy Potter and Cassie Black. Daisy's nine and Cassie's almost three."

"My second cousin, I think?" Tonks said, scrunching her brow together. "Or maybe second cousin once removed?"

"Something like that." It baffled Remus that in all the years he'd known Sirius, he'd never mentioned having a Metamorphmagus in his family. Curious, he asked, "Are your mother and Sirius close?"

Tonks shook her head. "Mum got disowned before I was born. Sirius must've been a kid. Then he ran away but Mum didn't hear about it for a while. I know he's got a lot of daughters—we get a Christmas letter from them—but I don't think they talk a lot. Will he be very surprised that we're married?"

"I think so," Remus said, rubbing at the scruff on his chin. "It means we're really family now."

Tonks hm ed at his pronouncement and returned to her mug.

"So what do we do now?" she asked. "Now that we're married, I mean."

Remus sat back in his chair and set his mug down. If it were up to him, they'd spend the weekend between the bed and the kitchen.

"It's up to you, but I thought we could get to know each other better for now," Remus replied. "I've got the weekend off. I've got nowhere to be but here."

Tonks ran her finger along the edge of the table. "Does that mean you want to have a lot of sex?"

Remus choked on his own breath. Was she some kind of Legilimens?

"Only—" Remus coughed and blinked at his wife of twelve hours. "If—if you—"

"Well, we've got to make a baby, don't we?" Tonks shifted around in her chair. "We should do it a lot if that's what we need to do."

Remus's heart sank. Perhaps Tonks would only be with him until they conceived a son; if he was lucky, like Sirius, he might never have a son, or it would take several tries to have one. He would gladly raise a gaggle of daughters if it meant he could be with Tonks again and again. Every daughter would be a treasure: he would trade in all his belongings for tiny, play teacups, frilly dresses, and mountains of toy unicorns. There was nothing more he wanted than a family to care for and a wife who might love him.

"Are you okay, Remus?" asked Tonks, as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Her lips parted and her eyes crinkled unhappily. "You got quiet."

"I'm fine," Remus said, looking away.

"You looked sort of . . . sad?"

Remus forced a smile on his face. "I'm fine, really."

"Are you sure?"

"I am, it's that . . . ," Remus said, thinking hard, "I also don't want you to be hurting after we're together. I don't want to hurt you."

"I'm not worried about it."

They sat in silence. Remus tried to think of a way to ask Tonks how she really felt, but there was no way to do it without embarrassing himself.

"Speaking of kids," said Tonks, "do you have any names you like?"

Remus extended his legs and frowned. "To be honest, I haven't given it much thought," he replied. "I didn't think I'd get this far."

"Why not?"

A soft breath flowed from Remus's nostrils. Tonks sat with her hands wrapped around her mug, with her legs swinging below her, and her pink hair tucked back behind her ears. She was the picture of innocence, and although she pretended to be brave, Remus felt he needed to have this conversation with her.

"Why did you choose me?" Remus asked, instead of telling her the obvious.

Tonks parted her lips just barely, forming a slight pout. "Because you were the best one in the catalogue?"

"It's kind of you to say so," said Remus, lifting his chin up at her, "but why do you think it took so long for me to be chosen?"

Comprehension seemed to dawn in Tonks's dark, twinkling eyes. "Is it because you're a werewolf?"

Remus nodded. "I expected to spend my life alone."

"Oh." Tonks stopped swinging her legs and set her mug down. "But now you won't be. Is that why you said it was a miracle that I chose you?"

"It is."

Tonks took a long sip of her hot chocolate, which left whipped cream above her upper lip. She ran her finger across her lip and then licked it away, leaving Remus with a flurry of conflicting feelings.

"I'm happy I picked you," Tonks said quietly. "I think I'm going to like being with you."

Remus let out a shaky breath and stretched his arm out on the table. He extended his hand to Tonks, and when she took it, he felt another wave of joy bubbling up in his chest. There was another feeling too, one he hadn't known in ages: hope.

"Thank you for choosing me." Remus squeezed Tonks's hand lightly and added, "By the way, I just thought of a name."

Tonks snapped her neck up. "You did?"

"Hope," he replied. "After my mother, if you don't mind."

A sweet smile graced Tonks's face at his suggestion.

How had he gotten so lucky?

Sunday, 1 September, 1991

It was Sunday night when Remus remembered that reality awaited him the following day. Tonks had received a letter from the Ministry, stating that with her marriage, she was eligible to begin her Auror training on Tuesday. She was ecstatic over the news, and Remus was happy for her, seeing that his new wife had a bright future ahead of her.

Remus continued to be happily mystified that of all the witches who could've chosen him, Tonks was not only uncommonly pretty, but clever, plucky, and eager. They'd had sex four times in three days, which included Remus being able to pleasure her multiple times before he got his own release. He was quickly learning her body, and though their pace continued to be slow and gentle, he didn't mind. Tonks was becoming more comfortable with each time they were intimate, and Remus wouldn't trade her well-being for anything.

He had enjoyed himself so thoroughly that morning that he'd almost forgotten that it was the first of September, and James's son Harry would be off to Hogwarts for the first time. He felt guilty, knowing he was off from work and still chose not to be at King's Cross, like Sirius, but when Tonks ran her fingers along his morning erection, all other thoughts were set aside.

It was past dinner and Tonks was rearranging the wardrobes in Remus's bedroom. It only took two nights for her to decide that she wanted to sleep in Remus's bed and share his space; he had no objections and was further delighted when she asked to change the curtains back to his room-darkening ones. He had to stifle a laugh every time she pointed out decorations she didn't like—they were exclusively the ones Lily brought in—while all of Amelia's decorations were welcomed.

Remus was watching Tonks put her things away, helping where he could, when he realized how unwilling he was to return to work the next day.

All he wanted to do was spend the day in bed with the colorful young witch who breathed new life into his previous monotony.

"How early do you have to go to work?" she asked, after determining that the wardrobe needed another magical expansion, which Remus gladly cast upon it.

"Now that it's back to usual hours," he said, thinking aloud, "six? Seven, perhaps?"

"That early? Don't the shops open at nine?"

Remus chuckled darkly to himself. "Knowing my friends, they'll have run out of inventory on all our bestsellers. I'll be working early for weeks to catch up on it."

Tonks turned around and frowned at him. "Why are you the one that has to do it?"

"It may change soon," he said, eyeing a slim-fitting dress in Tonks's collection, "once we have a child, I should think."

"What does having a kid have to do with you working less?" Tonks tilted her head at him, puzzled. "It's not like kids mean you can't work?"

"That's true, but . . . for a long time, I've been the only one without a family. It's easier for me to work the extra hours so the others can be home with their wives and children."

Tonks's mouth curled down into a scowl. "That's not fair."

Remus shrugged. "It will be different, I hope, when we have our own child."

"Does that mean that until we have a baby, you have to work crazy hours?" Tonks closed the wardrobe, gazing up at him with a hint of fire in her dark eyes.

"I'm really not sure," Remus replied uneasily. "I can talk to the lads, see if we can rearrange the schedule if that's what you want?"

"It depends," Tonks said, as she sat on the bed, which had no decorative pillows anymore. "How late do you have to work?"

Remus did a few quick calculations in his head and said, "If I stay on schedule, I should be home by six or seven."

"Twelve hour days?"

"Only for a few weeks . . . until we've got enough stock to get us back to where we usually are for inventory. It'll be more when we get to the holidays."

"More," Tonks repeated flatly. "What about your friends? How long do they work?"

Remus sighed, certain that his wife would be unhappy with his response. "Peter complains if he's there longer than nine hours and doesn't work weekends unless he's got to. Sirius and James will put in nine to ten hours when we're busy, but they stick to seven or eight, sometimes less when it's off-season. They've got many children, you see—"

"Why is that your problem?" Tonks stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. "Does that mean you always work weekends?"

"Usually, yes—"

"Even now that you're married?"

"I don't—" Remus rubbed his hands over his face. "Why are you so upset?"

"I'm upset because it's not fair, what they're doing to you—"

"They're not doing anything to me, Tonks," Remus said, defeated. "I want the business to succeed so I help as much as I can. I chose this, I still choose this. You don't know how rare it is that I even have a job, let alone a good one."

"Okay, but—" Tonks's eyes darted from side to side. "Now that you're married, can't you decide to work less?"

"Is that what you want me to do?"

Tonks's hands came together. She tapped her fingernails against each other, keeping her gaze on the floor, and shook her head.

"It's your life," she mumbled. "If work comes first, that's okay."

Remus felt something was off in the way she spoke, but he couldn't figure out why it bothered her so much that he worked more hours than his friends. It was only fair to help his friends as they'd helped him.

"They've done a lot for me over the years," Remus said, attempting to defend himself. "I told you, they became Animagi for me and kept me company at the full moon for years. They gave me a job and I invested in the business. James's wife, Lily, brews the Wolfsbane Potion for me. I pay for ingredients but she doesn't charge a Knut for the brewing. They've all been helping me for a long time. This is the least I can do to repay them."

"Okay," Tonks mumbled. She looked at the clock and sighed. "It's getting late. I don't want to keep you up if you've got work early."

Remus couldn't argue with her; in seven hours' he'd be back at the shop. To add to the unsettledness of the evening, he just managed to give Tonks a chaste kiss before she tucked herself into their bed, and then drifted off to an uneasy sleep.

Tuesday, 3 September, 1991

A round-faced woman with short, honey blonde hair and long scarlet robes was the first to greet Tonks when she arrived at the Auror Office.

"You must be Nymphadora!" said the woman. "Nymphadora Lupin, right?"

"Er, yes, but I go by my maiden name now," Tonks replied. "It's Tonks."

The round-faced woman scribbled something on a piece of parchment, folded it into an airplane, and sent it off with a flick of her wand.

"I'm going to have the Records Office pop by later," she said, "in case you want your name to be Lupin, Lupin-Tonks, Tonks-Lupin, what have you. They always change the names automatically but lots of witches like to keep part of their old names."

"Thank you," Tonks said, awed by the Auror. "Who are you?"

"Alice Longbottom," she replied. "I'd have been Longbottom-Fawley if someone had told me I could keep my name, but I'm just Longbottom now. Please call me Alice, and follow me!"

Tonks followed Alice through the office, where wanted posters papered the walls, parchment airplanes zoomed over their heads, and wizards clad in scarlet robes barked things at each other.

"I'll be one of your trainers," said Alice, as she peeked over her shoulder, "you're the first witch trainee we've had in ages!"

Tonks was led into a conference room, where two older wizards sat. One of them had hair like a lion's mane and the other had an electric eye; the second man was a legend for taking down an uprising of pureblood wizards in the 60s. Mad-Eye Moody was on Chocolate Frog cards for his role in defeating the movement. Tonks had admired him since she was a little girl.

No sooner than she tried to take a seat, it vanished from beneath her and she fell flat on her arse in front of everyone.

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" shouted Moody, startling Tonks.

"Oi, come off it, Mad-Eye," said Alice. "I've got a good feeling about her."

A chair materialized in front of Tonks. She touched it several times before she sat on it, nervous that it would disappear again.

"Lupin, Nymphadora—" said the lion-maned man, raising a brow at Tonks.

"Is that what you want, Tonks?" asked Alice. "Records isn't here yet, but we can fix our files."

Tonks hadn't discussed it with Remus, but only a few days before, when they were married, he told her that she didn't have to take his name. Lupin wasn't a bad surname, but she preferred Tonks.

"How about Lupin-Tonks?" Tonks suggested. "That way I can still go by Tonks."

Alice tapped her wand on the files and Tonks saw her name change across them.

"Lupin-Tonks, Nymphadora," the lion-maned man said, with a huff. "Hufflepuff, wand made of cedar and unicorn hair, all prerequisite N.E.W.T.s earned, soon to be nineteen years old . . . married to a . . . werewolf?"

Three pairs of eyes settled on Tonks.

"He was in the catalogue?" Tonks said, unsure. "He's really nice. It's only been five days, so it's new, but—"

"Alice, could you send a message to the Records Office to ask for details on this . . . man?" said the man whose name Tonks still hadn't learned. "Unusual, very unusual."

Alice dashed off and left Tonks alone in the room with her Auror hero, the one who'd vanished her chair, and the stern-faced one.

"Rufus Scrimgeour," said Mad-Eye, tilting his chin up at the other man. "Head Auror."

"You're Alastor Moody," Tonks said. "I always wanted to meet you. I put your Chocolate Frog card in a frame when I was seven. I think I might still have it."

Moody gave her a smile—what she thought was a smile—and then the conference room door swung open. Alice had returned with two wizards in pale blue robes. They brought in stacks of paperwork and immediately began a conversation with the others.

"—a werewolf? That's not right—"

"—he was in the catalogue, available for years—"

"—why do we even let werewolves go in there—"

"—you know they've got no chance—"

"—this one did—"

"—but this one's odd, see, he's got a job—"

"—massive conflict of interest—"

"—and a house!"

"—it's not illegal, you know—"

"—still a danger to society—"

"—it should be annulled—"

"—we could ask if it was consummated, that would make it easier—"

"—if she's up the duff already—"

"Excuse me?" Tonks felt small under everyone's scrutiny. "What's going on?"

Before the others got to speak, Mad-Eye opened his mouth. "They're trying to decide if you can be an Auror if you're married to a werewolf. Usually those associations disqualify you, but it's clear you didn't know the man."

"And it was perfectly legal for you to marry him," added Alice, glaring at the Records Office workers. "Any wizard in the catalogue is approved by the Ministry as available for marriage. They have to review all files once a year. Your husband wasn't the only werewolf, and there are men in there with far more questionable backgrounds."

"Calm down, Longbottom," said one of the Records Office workers. "It's not your call." He then turned to Scrimgeour.

"I'm not the one training her," Scrimgeour said, shrugging. "Alastor, it's your decision."

Tonks held her breath as Mad-Eye set his eyes on her. The electric blue eye whirred around in its socket, while the normal eye narrowed.

"C'mon, Mad-Eye," muttered Alice. "Please."

"What made you marry him, lass?" asked Mad-Eye. The whole room plunged into silence.

"He was the best one," Tonks replied, looking only at Moody. "Good job, a house, no previous marriages or kids. I took a chance. He's been very kind to me and he's dedicated to his work."

Mad-Eye gazed at her for a few more seconds. Tonks's stomach churned under his gaze; had she gone through all that work, married from the catalogue, only to be turned down from her dream for marrying a werewolf?

"Proceed as planned," Mad-Eye declared. "Lupin-Tonks can stay."

Tonks released a huge sigh of relief. Just as she felt the seat underneath her give way, she stood up, flicked her wand at Mad-Eye's coffee, and vanished it in retaliation.

She would prove to all of them that she was worth keeping.