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When the wailing from the other room began, Tonks sobbed. “I can’t do this alone,” she chanted over and over, hugging herself around the middle as she tried to force herself to get out of bed and see to her son.
“Zat eez why you are not alone,” Fleur’s soft voice floated into the room. The wails had stopped and through her tears, Tonks could see that the other woman had Teddy in her arms. “‘E needed a change. I can walk ‘im eef you like.”
Teddy preferred to fall asleep by someone walking with him, sometimes for an hour before he would go down — Remus had done it in the past. Tonks didn’t have the energy. She didn’t have the energy for much of anything except crying.
Remus had taken the curse that killed him for her. He could still be here if she hadn’t been there. It haunted Tonks constantly. Had she made enough of a difference at the battle to be worth Remus leaving them? She couldn’t believe it was possible.
Remembering that she hadn’t answered Fleur, Tonks said, “Yes, please. Thank you for taking care of him, of us.”
“Anything to ‘elp,” Fleur said.
Bill appeared behind her. “Can I get you anything, Tonks?” he asked. He was always so attentive, so like Remus had been.
Tonks was crying again before she could say anything. Bill moved across the room, able to see clearly in the dark just like Remus had been able to do, and was soon next to her, his arms wrapped around her, pulling her to his chest.
His scent was different, but Tonks could smell the distinctive wolf scent on him. She liked to think she had become attuned to it as she fell for Remus. Bill didn’t change, he didn’t have lycanthropy like Remus did, but the wolf had still claimed him. It was part of how their families had become so close in the first place.
Pack.
He had been lonely for a pack for so long. There was Harry, of course, and Sirius briefly, but Dumbledore had made it impossible for Remus to really be with them. Then he had helped Bill heal after his injuries, helped him cope with his new circumstances, and reassured the young man that he wasn’t really a werewolf. Still, Remus’s wolf — Moony — had claimed Bill as pack, and Fleur by extension. Tonks had married him, and then, finally, Teddy had joined them.
Remus had his pack at long last and he wasn’t here to enjoy it, would never be with them again. She was crying harder as though thoughts cycled through her mind.
Bill didn’t try to shush her, another difference from Remus. He just held her tight while she cried herself out. When she went limp with exhaustion, she found that a second pair of arms had joined Bill’s, Fleur’s body flush against her back. Teddy must have gone back to sleep.
“I’m so sorry you both have to put up with—”
“Hush,” Bill said. “After everything you and Remus did for us. We’re here for you and Teddy. We’ll always be here, whatever you need.”
Tonks barked a slightly hysterical laugh. She knew what she needed right now and it wasn’t the kind of comfort they were offering her. Remus had always laughed that when she was most emotional a good shag could fix everything for her. Honestly, she wasn’t sure she could stand to shag anyone, but she could go for a kiss. If she weren’t pressed tight between the most perfect couple she knew, a couple she would never in a million years want to ruin, she would go for it.
“What do you need, cheri?” Fleur asked, and Tonks could almost swear she heard a suggestion of something more in the way she phrased the words.
When Tonks didn’t answer, unable to come up with anything that wasn’t indecent, Fleur’s body moved away from her, only to be replaced by her hands gently massaging Tonks’ back. Bill was still holding her, though not as tightly, stroking her hair with one hand. Fleur hit a particularly sore spot on Tonks’ shoulder and a low moan escaped her.
“Careful, love,” Bill spoke in a low, gravelly voice that Tonks knew exactly how to interpret. “We might get ideas about the kinds of things you need.”
Tonks’ breath caught. “What if those things are what I need?” she asked tremulously before rushing on, “But… maybe not all that… not yet.”
“We are not ‘ere to rush you,” Fleur said. “Let us take care of you. Zere weel be plenty of time for more later… eef you are interested.”
“More? With you? Both of you?” Tonks asked, trying to wrap her head around it. She had heard of triads, of course. And she wasn’t opposed, not at all. But she hadn’t realized Bill and Fleur would be open to such a thing.
“We aren’t trying to pressure you, Tonks. We never want to do that. But Fleur and I both feel drawn to you. We felt the pull to both of you, but now… we want to take care of you, help you, and see you smile again.”
“We want to make you smile again,” Fleur said, her words whispering across Tonks’ skin and making her shiver. “But only eef you want it.”
“I’m not in my right head right now,” Tonks said reluctantly, “So I can’t make any promises, but I think… for Teddy and I… you’re pack, you’re our home.”
“And you and Teddy are ours,” Bill rumbled, the words coming from deep in his chest. Tonks felt a magical pull at his words, a bond of some sort forming between the three of them. “We’ll wait for you as long as you need.”
*********
Tonks didn’t often think back to that horrible night — the one that had turned out to have a grain of hope after all — but when she thought of it, she couldn’t help but be grateful. She still missed Remus fiercely. She still had moments when she was down. But her life, her future and Teddy’s were bright now, a year out from the Battle.
She watched Teddy toddling toward the sea, Bill and Fleur “racing” him into the waves while she finished packing the picnic hamper. They were a proper family now, married and everything, better than she could have imagined back then.
Sometimes, Tonks swore she could feel Remus there with them, a gust of wind or a whiff of chocolate, letting her know that this was what he would have wanted for them, too. The magical connection that had begun between herself, Bill, and Fleur that night had left Tonks with no questions about where she and Teddy belonged. And every day since got better and better.
Her son was growing up in a loving family, with two siblings on the way. She looked at her beautiful wife’s curves and then down at her own growing belly. Bill was a busy and attentive husband. She and Fleur kept him on his toes, though he swore he was never letting them both be pregnant at the same time again.
As she headed out the door with their picnic all packed, Tonks called out, “Wait for me!” and started running lightly toward her family. She was laughing and out of breath by the time she got to them, Bill catching her and swinging her around while Fleur played with Teddy and watched, smiling.
“We weel always wait for you, cheri.”