The Right Thing

"Remus," she said tentatively.

This was the first time she had ever spoken to him since this had begun one week ago, whatever "this" was. "Affair" wasn't quite the right word, nor was "relationship," and "fling" implied that they were having some amount fun. Somehow Remus just didn't know the word for when your dead lover's cousin disguises herself as him to manipulate you into sleeping with her. Remus turned his head slightly, but didn't look at her. He hated to look at her, especially after she had changed back into herself. "What?" he asked.

"I, er, there's something I have to tell you." She untangled herself from the sheets and came to sit next to him on the edge of the bed. Sirius's bed. God, what was wrong with him?

She seemed to be waiting for Remus to be curious, to want to know what she had to say and so with a heavy sigh, Remus said again, "What?"

"It's just, well, great news really, I think anyway." She swung her feet back and forth so they kicked out into the air and thudded back against the mattress. Remus rolled his eyes. "We're going to have a baby!"

"What?!" Remus roared, turning to look at her.

"We're going to have a baby!" she repeated in the same ecstatic voice, as if she simply could not contain the words.

"No," Remus said, and stood. All too aware of her eyes on him, he knelt down and picked up her robes, which had ten minutes earlier been discarded onto the floor, and pushed them at her. "No."

"What do you mean 'no'?" she asked, sounding hurt and worried. "I'm pregnant."

His hands shaking too much to dress properly, Remus went to the closet and pulled on a well-worn bathrobe. He turned to look at her again and seeing that she hadn't moved since he'd thrust her clothes at her exclaimed, "Merlin's beard, would you cover up!"

She blushed and without turning away started to put dress herself. Remus turned towards the wall and leaned his head against it. "How did this happen?" he asked, trying to sound calm.

"The usual way, I expect," said Tonks, irritated. This obviously wasn't going as well as she'd imagined.

"But we've only been...for a few days. So soon?" he asked.

"There are charms that tell you right away," she said. "I was so happy when it was positive. I thought you would be too."

Remus chose to ignore this last statement and said, "But whenever we - you've always been - well, not yourself." Remus turned to look at her. She was fully clothed and once more seated on the edge of the bed. He sat down beside her.

"Yeah, well, I can change the outside, but not the in," she said, looking away from him.

"But even so," said Remus, "anatomically speaking..."

"Don't ask me!" she said, her cheeks becoming pink. "It's magic, isn't it?"

Remus found this a bit farfetched. To think that Tonks, who had had the ability to change anything physical about herself since she had been born, would not know how things had gone from point A to point B was quite unbelievable. Not to mention that she had become pregnant so quickly and known to use a pregnancy detecting charm so early. "So then, for the record," Remus said, determined not to sound too accusatory or skeptical, "you didn't, er, reroute things on purpose?"

"Of course not," she said, but Remus found that her deep blush and refusal to meet his eye gave away much more than she could hide with a denial.

"Fine," he said, becoming curt and business like. "We'll go and get it taken care of."

"What do you mean?"

"We'll go to Muggle London and have it done away with like the Muggles do."

Tonks gasped.

"Don't look so shocked," Remus said. "What did you think I would suggest?"

"I - well - " Tonks struggled to find words and Remus knew exactly what she'd expected. "Certainly not that you'd want to kill our baby!"

"It isn't a baby yet," he said. "It's just a bunch of cells. Muggles do it all the time."

"Well, we're not Muggles!" she argued. "Wizards don't just 'get it taken care of.' That's disgusting."

"Wizards usually use charms to keep this sort of thing from happening in the first place, but seeing as I didn't think you had any girl bits at the time, I didn't bother."

They sat in heavy silence for a few moments, refusing to look at one another, until finally Remus said, "Please. Please, Nymphadora, please let's not do this. The child might be sick; it wouldn't be fair."

"It might not be sick," she said.

"And that's a risk you're willing to take, is it?" he said, disgust in his voice. "It just goes to show how very little you understand of my condition. If you knew what it was like, really like, if you had any idea - " Remus was breathing heavily now. "It isn't just turning into a nice doggy once a month! If the child is like me it won't just be a cute puppy at the full moon! This is a terrible disease for a child to have and it leads to nothing but a lifetime of hardship, discrimination, and loneliness."

"I don't care!" Tonks exclaimed, looking at him. "I don't care! I love you and I'll love our baby whether it's a werewolf or not."

"The fact that you do not care, as you have said before, speaks volumes of your ignorance and immature self absorption," Remus said.

Tonks's nostrils flared. "And Sirius, I suppose he cared? He really understood all this?"

Remus inhaled sharply. This was the first time she had spoken Sirius's name in front of him since directly after the fight in the Department of Mysteries. Remus knew this was supposed to be a dig at him and everything Tonks had guessed about his relationship with her cousin. For a moment he wanted to say that she didn't know what she thought she knew, but considering what they'd been doing the past week while she was disguised, he knew that would be silly and so he decided to simply tell the truth.

"Yes, he did. More than you can ever know."

Finally at her breaking point, Tonks began to cry. Remus was silent for a few minutes and then decided to try just once more, even though he knew her mind was made up and that she would never go to a Muggle clinic. "Please, please, let's get it taken care of. No one else knows and no one ever has to. It'll be easy. Please."

Tonks didn't speak for a moment and then after wiping her nose on her sleeve she said, "My parents know."

Remus's heart sank.

"My parents know. I told them. They want us 'round for dinner tonight."

* * *

Somehow, Remus knew it would look worse if he did not go to the Tonks's for dinner, and so at half past seven he flooed from the kitchen of Grimmauld Place to the sitting room of Ted and Andromeda Tonks.

Dinner was a stuffy and somewhat awkward affair, though when they had reached the end of the meal and nothing had yet been said about the pregnancy, Remus began to wonder whether she had really told them at all. He began to feel relieved, hopeful that there might still be a chance to do away with the problem in secret, but then when Ted stood and said, "Nymphadora, why do you come help me tidy up in the kitchen? We can let Remus and mum get to know each other," Remus knew that he had gotten ahead of himself.

"So, Remus Lupin," Andromeda said, after her husband and daughter had left the room.

"Mrs. Tonks," he replied.

"Call me Andromeda."

Remus nodded. "Andromeda."

"Let's discuss a plan, shall we?"

"Plan?"

"Yes, a plan! We need to get you two married as soon as possible of course. We certainly can't have this look like," she sniffed and flicked a speck of dust from one of the sleeves of her robes, "you know."

Remus shook his head slowly. "There has to be another way."

Andromeda laughed. "My dear sir, 'another way'? This is how it's been done for centuries. If you get a young lady into trouble, you do the right thing. There is no other way."

The "right thing," Remus thought. That was easy for a normal man, one who wasn't sick, but he knew that there couldn't be anything "right" about this child, whether born a bastard or not.

"Andromeda, do you know about my problem? About my lycanthropy?"

She nodded gravely. "I do, sir."

"And you still want me to marry your daughter?"

Andromeda laughed again. "Lupin, do not misunderstand me. My husband may be Muggle born, but I know what it means to be a werewolf. Most certainly I do not want you to marry my Dora, but unfortunately you two have made your bed and now you must sleep in it - as husband and wife." She paused for a second, as if unsure whether or not she should continue, and then said, "And if you are not quite sure you want to do this, let me make things easier for you. If my daughter isn't Nymphadora Lupin by the day after tomorrow, I will personally go down to the Ministry of Magic and tell them that the known werewolf Remus John Lupin forced himself upon my daughter, Alastor Moody's most prized young Auror, Nymphadora Tonks, impregnating her with what will be, in all likelihood, a monster, and that I want the criminal shipped off to Azkaban for the next century."

"And if I tell the truth?" said Remus defiantly.

"Who do you think they'll believe? Not only are my daughter and I both fully human, but our family is very well connected. You would not stand a chance."

Remus swallowed. He knew Andromeda was right and he wondered fleetingly if Nymphadora had planned it this way.

"But look on the bright side," Andromeda said. "You should count yourself lucky to have her. I don't know what she sees in you, but you can be sure no other woman will ever see it."

* * *

There had been many times over the past year when Remus had wished that he had died alongside Sirius and that they were now both in Hades together, happy, and once again whole; however Remus had never wished this more than on his wedding day. It was a depressing and small affair. Arthur Weasley, as a ministry official, officiated over the ceremony and the only guests were Dora's parents and Mrs. Weasley, who, after hearing that Arthur had been asked to oversee the proceedings, could not have been beaten away from the simple ceremony (which she sobbed through uncontrollably) with a beater's bat.

After the service they were all invited to the Burrow for dinner and though Remus said he'd really rather get home, his wife and Arthur's both insisted on a celebration.

While Dora gushed about the ceremony to Ginny and Fleur, Remus stood alone in the Weasley sitting room, watching the fire dancing in the fireplace and waiting for dinner to be served so he and Dora could leave and make an early night of it.

"Congratulations Remus!" said Bill Weasley, who, having just returned from work, came and joined him in the sitting room.

Remus turned away from the fire and, giving him a weak smile, said, "Thank you, Bill."

"Gosh, that's some ring she's flashing 'round over there," said Bill gesturing towards Dora, who was now showing off her wedding band to all in the kitchen who would look. Ginny seemed quite impressed, while Fleur looked almost envious. "Where'd you come by it?"

Remus gave a quick bitter laugh. "Oh, I didn't buy that ring. I've hardly a penny to my name. That's Dora's Muggle grandmother's. Ted insisted. I can't say that I mind. If he hadn't volunteered it, she wouldn't have a ring at all."

Remus realized this hadn't exactly sounded wonderful, but Bill smiled understandingly and said, "Lot's of newly weds face some financial trouble, you know. Things'll look better in time, especially after the war."

Remus was about to say that neither the number of years he and Dora remained married nor the end of the war would change his lycanthropy and thus neither of these things would make the slightest difference to his financial situation; however he reconsidered and decided that he ought not bother Bill, who was quite close to his own wedding, with his problems, and said merely, "I suppose."

"Dinner!" called Mrs. Weasley.

Remus followed Bill to the dining room where a bustling Mrs.Weasley pushed him into a seat next to Dora.

"First a toast," said Mr. Weasley. "To the happy couple, Remus and Nymphadora Lupin!"

The rest of the table, which was made up of Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Fleur, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione (the Tonks's had gone home after the ceremony, as if there only to make certain it commenced) echoed the toast.

"So, where are you two gonna live?" Ron asked, shoving a fork full of potatoes in his mouth.

"Remus is going to move into my flat in London with me," said Dora, beaming at him. "He's finally going to move out of Grimmauld place now that Moody says he's got to put all those anti-Snape wards up."

"It's about time," said Mrs. Weasley. "I'm personally astounded that you stayed in that place for so long. It was one thing for Sirius, the poor man couldn't leave, but I hated it when we had to stay there from time to time. Why you chose to live there, I'll never understand."

Remus didn't especially feel like defending his choice, but said all the same, "It was free and considering all last year I was working with the other werewolves most of the time, it didn't make sense to try and make rent on a new place."

Mrs. Weasley shrugged smiled. "Well, you won't have to worry about that any more, will you?"

Remus tried to muster a smile in return, but found it quite difficult.

* * *

Remus had packed his meager belongings earlier that day and sent them to Dora's flat by Floo. He had never seen the place before and when he walked in he was appalled. The place was miniscule. The room he and Dora had apparated into was a cramped sitting room, kitchen, dining room, and bedroom all in one. In one corner was a sofa bed that looked as thought it had never been properly made, and next to that was a table scattered with papers, books, and dirty dishes that seemed to double as both a work desk and a place to dine. On the floor by the table was a wireless radio and in the corner to the right hand side of the front door, divided from the rest of the room by a high and narrow counter, was a cramped kitchenette. Across from the kitchenette there was a door that Remus assumed led to the washroom.

He had lived in some very small flats in his day (smaller than this one, to be fair), but he had never shared one with another person, and Remus couldn't guess how they were supposed to find room for a baby in nine months.

"Cozy, isn't it?" asked Dora.

Remus shrugged noncommittally.

"Your things are in the kitchen," Tonks said. Remus followed her behind the counter dividing up the room and saw the one suitcase and cardboard box he had sent over earlier, lying next to what might have been the smallest fireplace he had ever seen.

"Can you actually fit in that?" he asked.

"Sure," Dora said. "I use it all the time. All I have to do is shrink a bit. Once I make myself about the size of a midget, I'm fine."

"Hm, well, I suppose I'll be Apparating everywhere from now on."

Dora laughed as if that was supposed to be a joke, but Remus ignored her, and picking up his things, looked around for an out-of-the-way place to store them.

"I guess those can go under the table," she said and bounced on the balls of her feet.

Remus did as he was told with the box, but grabbed a thread bear pair of pajamas from the suitcase before stowing it beneath the table as well. "I'll, just, er," he gestured towards the washroom. When he emerged ready for bed a few minutes later, he was annoyed, but not quite surprised when Dora launched herself at him and attached her mouth to his like a wet vacuum. Having been prepared for this, Remus wasted no time in pushing her off.

"What?" she asked, looking highly offended.

"Dora, you didn't actually expect me to..."

"Well, we are married!"

"That's not the point," he said, not sure how to explain any better than he already had.

"It won't hurt the baby. I checked, we can still do it for months and months."

"No," he said, rubbing his neck with his right hand. "That's not it either."

"Oh...I know what it is." Dora sounded disappointed as she screwed up her face with concentration and began to grow her short pink hair long and change the color to black. Before Remus could stop her, she had transformed completely into her imperfect imitation of Sirius. "Is this better?" she asked.

Remus shook his head. "We're not going to do that anymore."

"What, this isn't what you want?" she asked. "What about this?" suddenly she was Bill Weasley. "Or this?" Kingsley. "Or how about this?" Snape. "THIS?" Harry.

Remus looked away, disgusted.

"But never this," she said, herself once more.

Without replying, Remus conjured a cot at the foot of the pull-out sofa.

"You're not even going to sleep next to me?" she asked.

Remus didn't say anything for a moment, and then mumbled, "Turn out the lights when you go to bed, would you?"