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What in God’s name are you doing, Tonks? This is a bad, bad idea.

She ignored the voice pounding in her mind as she sped past Ginny, waving her hand behind her. She heard her call out, but she didn’t look back. Because all she could focus on was Aberforth, running faster a fraction of a second in front of her. All she needed to focus on was getting to Remus. If she was shaking, she could barely feel it. The castle was rumbling from underneath her, jets of light spurting from every direction.

There was a loud explosion from ahead and she ducked instinctively, her wand clutched firmly in her fingers. Out of the corner of her eye, Tonks saw Aberforth again, backed up against the wall as dust echoed through the corridor.

You have to find him. You need to find him.

Debris fell from the roof of the castle, and she could see where the explosion came from. There was a large hole in the corner of the wall, taken out by the Death Eater she knew to be Mulciber. He glared at her, before smirking and running off in the direction of the group of students who had previously run past her. Seeing the coast was clear, she ran up to Aberforth, coughing, and skidded to a halt in front of him.

“Why didn’t Mulciber attack?” Aberforth said, his voice thick though the dust.

She shook her head. She had an idea, but she wasn’t going to tell him. She coughed, staring around at the destroyed castle.

“Where – where was he?” Her voice was more cracked than she expected. “Where is he?”

There was another explosion, and red and green spurts of light burst from all directions. There was a scream, closer, and Aberforth grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the line of fire and against the wall next to him. She barely noticed how close it was. She felt the dirt and grime cover her face, her breathing heavy. She turned her head and stared at Aberforth, waiting for an answer.

Aberforth spluttered and pointed down the staircase. “Entrance Hall.”

She barely heard him say ‘hall’, because she had already begun speeding across the corridor and down the staircase, dodging the students, professors and others who were scattered on the staircase, aiming spells at the Death Eaters scattered around the bottom floor.

He’s okay, he’s okay. He has to be okay.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw George Weasley firing spells at Yaxley, while Charlie and Bill were both dueling Rodolphus Lestrange, moving quickly and dodging Lestrange’s badly aimed spells. Avada Kedavra erupted from Yaxley and George just barely missed the Killing Curse. Charlie yelled at Bill to go help George while he continued to duel Lestrange.

Tonks sped past them, barely seeing Bill join George, and looked around wildly for Remus. Her mind raced through the alternative situations that he might be in, panic building up inside her. She heard movement behind her and she spun around, her wand raised as Bill backed up into her.

“Have you seen Remus?” She yelled over the noise.

Bill pointed to his right, over to the other side of the hall and before she had time to look, she shot a Stunning Spell at a hooded Death Eater who had entered the ring. He ducked, aiming his wand at her. A jet of green light burst from the tip and she ducked, flat against the floor. Charlie ran past her, grabbing her hand and hoisting her up as he shot a Disarming Spell at Yaxley.

Moving quickly, duelers surrounding her, she saw Remus dueling Dolohov over the other side of the room. A gasp or a groan of relief escaped her mouth and she began running towards him, ducking from the shots of light.

“Stupefy!” She yelled, aiming her wand at Dolohov. He was taken aback, spinning around and ducking from the spell she aimed at him.

Remus turned and saw her. Shock spread on his features as he caught her eye. Within seconds, he had quickly resumed his stance as Dolohov gained his composure and began dueling him again.

“What are you doing here?” He yelled, more out of shock than anger.

She dodged a spell Yaxley aimed at her. “I couldn’t sit at home and wait!”

For a split second, she thought she saw a flicker of a smile appear on his face. “I didn’t really expect you to!” He called to her, ducking.

“Little Nymphadora! Tell me, what do you think your mother will say when I kill you?”

Tonks turned quickly and saw Bellatrix standing in the middle of the Hall, her head tilted as she mockingly waved her wand in Tonks’s direction.

Breathing heavily, she smirked. She was going to play too. “Tell me Bellatrix, what’s Voldemort going to say when you’re killed by a blood traitor like me?”

A snarl appeared on Bellatrix’s face.

“I was wondering why the other Death Eaters didn’t touch me. Been telling them you’re the one to finish me off, have you?” Tonks asked, her wand aimed at Bellatrix’s chest.

Bellatrix laughed. Cocking her head again, she saw Remus dueling Dolohov and grinned manically. “Poor werewolf. He’s going to meet his end soon.”

Tonks instinctively swiped her wand and attempted to Disarm Bellatrix, but the witch was too quick for her; with an almost lazy movement of her wand, Bellatrix deflected her jinx.

“Sloppy, sloppy. How’s married life treating you?” Bellatrix grinned, shooting a jet of red light at her.

She shot one back, ducking. “Quite well actually. Motherhood is treating me well also.”

Bellatrix was momentarily shocked, and Tonks laughed as she shot a Stunning Spell at her. Gaining back her speed, Bellatrix dodged the spell.

“What, didn’t you get the notice? Shame. You’re a great-auntie now. He look’s just like Remus,” She said, grinning at the livid look on Bellatrix’s face.

Bellatrix seemed to be over having a talk, because she furiously swiped her wand, aiming to kill. Tonks had to use all her speed and skill to fight her; despite Bellatrix’s homicidal nature, no one could deny she was a talented witch.

Her wandwork was sloppier than usual, and subconsciously she knew it was because of fear and worry. For both Remus and Teddy, and everyone surrounding her. As she flung herself on the ground, barely missing the Unforgivable Curse Bellatrix shot at her, she got a glimpse of Remus five metres away from her, still dueling Dolohov.

“Worried about your husband are you, Dora?” Bellatrix shrieked, shooting a spell at Remus, who just barely missed it.

Fury welled up in Tonks’s body and she flew up from the floor, yelling and aiming her wand back at Bellatrix. She backed up, dodging the spells and hurtled across the room. She knocked into Remus behind her, and with his spare hand he grasped hers briefly while they both faced their opponents.

A yell erupted from behind her and she spun around, not caring that she was still facing Bellatrix. Dolohov shot Remus straight in the chest and she saw him fall, limp, onto the crumbled ground.

A cry she barely heard, but felt, escaped her lips and she scrambled over to him, clutching his robes as she stared into his empty, lifeless face. Tears stung at her eyes, blinding her vision and pain she had never felt before burst into her heart, making her entire body, inside and out, ache. A sob escaped Tonks’s lips and she grasped the front of his robes, shaking him slightly, knowing, deep down, that it wouldn’t make a bit of difference.

A cackle behind her crashed her down into reality. She stood up unsteadily and turned around, staring at Bellatrix numbly.

“Poor Dora,” Bellatrix drawled, an expression of mock pity on her face.

Tonks launched herself at Bellatrix, her wand swiping and shooting jets of multicoloured light. Bellatrix’s smile halted, and with equal aggression, she returned fire.

Every part of her body hurt. And her mind was frozen on the sight of Remus. The lump in her throat was swelling and she knew she only had to kill Bellatrix.

Only had –

‘AVADA KEDAVRA!’

She barely paused for a moment when the green light hit her squarely in the chest and she collapsed onto the floor.

And then there was nothing.

But she was crying.

“No, no, no …” She knew that she was curled up on the floor and she knew what had happened but she also knew that this was …

She opened her eyes and looked up.

Remus knelt in front of her, his hands pressing on her forearms. The sight of him made her lose control. She sobbed and clutched his robes, bringing him closer to her as she cried into his chest. She heard him making soothing noises as he held her, his lips against her hair.

“I’m sorry … I’m sorry …” she whispered, standing up, her voice shaky and thick.

He shook his head. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “We left him. Oh God, we left him…”

Fresh tears flowed down her cheeks and his arms curled around her waist as he held her close. She wanted nothing more than to hold her baby boy in her arms and tell him that it would be okay, that he would be okay. The thought broke her heart.

“He’ll be okay,” he murmured into her hair. “He’ll be okay.”

After what felt like hours, she finally looked up, and he loosened his grip on her. She glanced around.

“Where are we?”

It came out more like child-like wonder. They were standing in a misty street, she now noticed. Everything was white, glow-like even. It was empty. Her eyes found the sign on the building in front of them.

“Is that…”

“The one and only Leaky Cauldron,” came a voice from behind them.

They both turned around to see James Potter, Lily Potter and Sirius Black move towards them, smiles on their peaceful faces.

Remus grinned. “Typical.”

James stopped in front of them and reached for Remus’s arm, before pulling him into a hug. When they broke apart, Lily hugged him, laughing, and finally Sirius.

Sirius moved towards Tonks after releasing Remus and pulled her into his arms. Everything seemed faint and dizzy as they broke away and she was faced with the four of them.

“This is Dora, my wife,” Remus said, drawing Tonks towards him. She hadn’t seen him so happy before. The sight made her laugh.

James grinned at her, holding out his hand. “We'd better hurry up, or we’ll be late.”

“For what?” Tonks asked.

Lily smiled. “The party.”

“It’s finished. Voldemort’s gone,” James said, beaming.

Remus smiled. “He did it.”

Lily nodded, tears welling in her eyes. “He did.”

Tonks smiled, clutching Remus closer to her. James nodded to them, the smile on his face not vanishing as he and Lily lead the way up the stairs to the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron.

“Dora!”

Tonks released her grip on Remus in shock and turned around, only to be engulfed in a particularly large hug. Realising who it was in a split second, she laughed, squeezing him as tears formed in the corner of her eyes. She buried her face into his neck, holding him.

“You did good, kid. That son of yours is a looker,” Ted laughed, releasing his daughter and turning to grasp Remus’s hand. He beamed at them both.

“Dad…” Tonks began, smiling, wiping her cheek.

Ted shook his head. “We’ll have plenty of time for that later. Now, we celebrate.”

He winked at Tonks before gesturing towards the open door of the Leaky Cauldron, which James, Lily and Sirius had disappeared through minutes before.

“He’s safe,” Remus whispered softly into Tonks hair as they walked up the stairs after Ted.

She nodded, closing her eyes. Their Teddy was safe.

And she knew that everything would be alright.

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