QL, round 6, Arrows, Beater 1 (reserve).

Theme/Pairing: Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks (Positive/Romantic)

Optional Prompts: Colour Teal, Object Blanket

Hogwarts Challenges:

Assignment 10, Culinary Arts, Task 6, Bread knives (baking)

Word Count: 1296

Beta(s): IkuniHattori, Butterflies765

Remus carefully laid his three-month-old son down into his crib after finally getting him to sleep. He stroked the small puffs of teal hair and placed the homemade blanket over him to keep him warm. With a smile, he simply watched the gentle rise and fall of little Teddy's chest. It was extremely comforting to watch him breathe. It simply showed him that his son was healthy.

After a few minutes, Remus stepped out of the room and instantly smelt a whiff of something unexpected. It filled his nostrils instantly and guided him towards the kitchen.

That's where he found the most beautiful woman ever; his wife, Dora - or as most people called her, Tonks. There she was, flour in her pink hair, a bit of butter on her thumb, and a wooden spoon in her hand. Her lips were pursed as she stirred… something. He wasn't entirely sure what she was making. By the looks of how aggressively she was stirring, he presumed it would be cookies.

His stomach growled as more delicious scents reached his nose. "What do we have here?"

Pink hair flew to the side as she spun around, a large mixing bowl in one hand, and a spoon in the other. This was a woman who didn't mind getting messy. "Is he still asleep?"

Remus' smile was one of accomplishment. It was always difficult placing Teddy into his cot without waking him up, it was as though he sensed he was about to be left alone. "He didn't even stir."

"Brilliant! Let's hope he stays asleep throughout the whole night," Tonks replied before adding in some chocolate chips and furrowing her eyebrows mildly. "Or at least until this cake is finished."

Blinking, he looked down at the mixture and knew instantly that it did not have enough wet ingredients in it. "What recipe are you using?"

Tonks' cheeky smile told him everything he needed to know; she wasn't using a recipe, which wasn't quite unusual. Sometimes her food experiments came out really well, other times, however… Well, they didn't discuss those unfortunate 'attempts'.

"Maybe add a bit of milk?" he suggested, knowing that that was what his mother used to do when she wanted to make the dough more cake-like. Though, he was intrigued to see what that mixture would turn into. Perhaps it would be like a thick cake-cookie. If it was soft, that could be delicious. Although it might turn out like a hard cake; that would be nice with custard.

He was suddenly wrenched away from his musings when he saw her pour far too much milk into the mixing bowl and slowly work it in. And it seemed to be successful when she grinned at him proudly before she poured it into the waiting tray. It flowed freely down and laid thickly at the bottom.

As she placed it into the pre-heated oven, she sighed. "It doesn't feel real."

"What doesn't?" he asked, knowing that she wasn't talking about the cake. Things these days felt different, they felt wrong. They have for two months now. And it was only a matter of time before they returned to this conversation; it was always when Teddy was sleeping.

"We shouldn't be here, should we? Living, breathing, and—"

Remus stepped forward and pulled her into his arms, cutting her off. "We both belong here. We should be here to raise Teddy. We need to be here. To watch when he tries to copy your hair colour and gets it wrong—"

"He always ends up with teal!" Dora exclaimed, a small smile on her face.

"We deserve to see him grow up and go to Hogwarts. We've both dedicated a lot of our lives taking down the Dark Wizard and his followers. And that has been accomplished! Who can say we don't belong here?" He almost believed his own words.

Tonks let out a deep sigh and shook her head. "Nature," she replied shortly before moving away from him, a hand running over her face and her hair slowly darkening to black. "We died, Remus. We fell!"

Remus set his eyes to the floor. He didn't have a response to that, not this time, not again.

"It is not right for somebody to go back in time and save us… and not…" She shook her head and looked at him dead in the eyes. "What about that Creevey boy? He wasn't even of age! Or Fred? Lavender? Or all the others that fell just like us?"

She shook her head violently and leant against the kitchen counter. Remus could see the conflict on her face; both of them wanted to be here, but should they?

"Meddling with time causes consequences! And what would stop a Death Eater from going back in time and saving Bellatrix? Or Voldemort?"

Tonks moved towards him and he couldn't help but look up at her. "We shouldn't be here, Remus. It's not right. We need to put time back to normal. If not for those that weren't brought back, but for our son; what sort of role models are we?"

Remus couldn't stop his head from bobbing up and down in agreement. He hadn't felt the same since the 2nd of May. Something about how his blood flowed around didn't feel right. It felt forced.

Both of them knew they couldn't stay here. They had to rectify things. However, they both would find reasons to stay and enjoy another day or night with each other and with their son. It was only a matter of time before they both agreed that they needed to do the right thing and set the timeline right.

They hadn't been told who had gone back in time to save them, they hadn't been told what other changes were made, but what they did know was that history was changed. They knew that they weren't supposed to be here.

Teddy was an orphan. At least, he was supposed to be. And as much as it broke his heart to admit it, that was how it should be now.

Glancing at his wife, he decided that he couldn't do this anymore and walked off. He didn't even bother to tip-toe as he entered his son's room and looked down at the baby sleeping peacefully. Dropping his hand down, he pulled the discarded blanket up to cover Teddy fully. The three-month-old liked to kick it off regularly.

"Remus," whispered Tonks from the doorway. She must have followed him.

"If we are going to put things right, I want to spend every second I have left with Teddy," he told her, not even looking up. "I bought him that blanket. I wanted a handmade one but didn't even consider attempting to make it myself. I haven't made him anything; he's going to grow up without us and with only store-bought possessions."

He felt a hand on his back and her body heat radiating towards him as she got closer. "Then let's spend tonight making him something he can have to remember us."

Remus looked at her for a few seconds before looking down at the sleeping baby. A smile made its way to his face when he saw the plain cream blanket once again had been kicked to the bottom of the cot. Leaning down, he gripped hold of the soft hand-stitched blanket and turned to his wife. "Do you think you could manage a portrait charm?"

Dora smiled with tears in her eyes. While he knew she wanted to do the right thing, he was also painfully aware that she hated the thought of leaving their child an orphan. They were both heartbroken. "Of course. Let me go and turn the cooker off."

Remus took the extra minute alone to scan his eyes over every centimetre of Teddy's face.

The two of them worked together, using their united skills, to create a family portrait of the three of them: Remus with his sandy hair and three scars, Tonks with her pink hair and a duck nose, and their little Teddy, with his dazzling teal hair and his blue eyes.

It was perfect.

And they really hoped it would be enough.

Remus waited in silence, watching his son's breaths, while Tonks sent for her mother. This would be his last few moments with his little Teddy, with his only child. Unable to stop himself, he leant down and picked the sleeping boy up into his arms and held him close.

Taking a deep breath, he took in every scent to memorise it. To memorise him.

Finally, he was joined by his wife, who joined the embrace and had tears falling down her pale cheeks.

He didn't want to do this, he didn't want to say goodbye. Not again. Not ever. But they had lived too long and it wasn't right.

Tomorrow, things would be rectified, brought back to their natural order. But tonight… Tonight wasn't for logic and reason. Tonight was for family.

QL information order:

Seeker: Oliver Penelope

Captain: Penelope Hermione

Keeper: Hermione Cedric

Chaser 1: Cedric Cho

Chaser 2: Cho Voldemort

Chaser 3: Voldemort Nymphadora Tonks

Beater 1: Nymphadora Tonks Remus Lupin

Beater 2: Remus Lupin Lily Evans