Dumbledore's death threw everything into chaos. The war was on, for real, more so then it ever had been.
The sacrifices of the first wizarding war loomed constantly in Remus' mind as he and Tonks made their way through the crowd at the funeral. They'd come back to Hogwarts for the great wizard's funeral, as many wizards had. Remus looked up at the castle, the only place he'd ever really called home. He'd come to say good bye to one of the few people in his life who had ever simply accepted him as he was. One of the few others stood at his side, holding his hand, somehow just knowing what he was thinking.
They'd left after a few hours, slowly walking through the school grounds, with no real plans in mind to end up anywhere in particular. Being early summer in Scotland, the weather was still cool and Tonks shivered.
Remus immediately noticed and shrugged off his own robes to put over hers. Ruefully, he noted hers were not nearly as threadbare as his, but she said nothing and accepted the extra robes. Her bright colored hair looked out of place bobbing above the threadbare brown robes, but she didn't notice that either.
"What do you think will happen next?" she asked quietly, leaning into his side, as they walked along.
"Hard to Ministry's fallen, Dumbledore is gone, I'm guessing most of the Order is going underground for the time being." Remus spoke carefully, he wouldn't put it past Voldemort to have ears everywhere, even on Hogwarts grounds.
"Should we?"
He hesitated. It would keep her as safe as possible, which was always his goal. "I don't know. There's still so much we could do here. On the other hand," he sighed. "We could run if we wanted."
Tonks sighed. "We could start over somewhere, America or Australia, wizarding communities are everywhere." She looked up at him. "But you and I both know we're not going anywhere til this is over."
Remus nodded, he knew that was true. "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." It was a muggle quote he'd long been fond of.
"Yes." Tonks was quiet, the weight of Dumbledore's death and the ever approaching war weighing heavily in the air between them.
They walked in a silence a while longer. The sun was beginning to set behind the castle, casting long shadows. "Should we go?" he asked.
"Go where?"
"It'll be dark soon."
Tonks, at first didn't get what he was saying as it wouldnt actually be dark for hours, but quickly realized what Remus meant. "It's not a full moon tonight."
"I know that. I just don't want to be out in the dark any longer then needed." he'd never admit it but being out at night, even without a full moon, made him nervous.
"Remus Lupin, are you afraid of the dark?" Tonks wanted to laugh but didn't, she'd never do that to Remus, as she pulled out her wand. "Lumos." she said, "Now we have a torch." she grinned at him.
He smiled back, his clever witch didn't fault or mock him, just tried to make things better for him without questioning. It was one of the things that made him love her so much. He found himself, for not the first time, being overwhelming grateful that somehow this wonderful woman had found her way into his life and into his heart.
The words tumbled out before Remus even fully realized what he was saying. "We should get married." he shocked himself and Tonks by suddenly annoucing.
Until that moment, he hadn't known it was possible to stun Tonks into silence. She just stood there, blinking at him. "I mean, we don't have to. Bloody Merlin, I messed that up." he groaned. That had never been in his secret scenerios.
Tonks snorted, and tried to hide her amusement. It wasn't the most romantic of proposals, but it was entirely Remus.
"Should we start over?" he asked.
"Only if you intend to properly ask me." she answered. "I can't very well say yes if you don't."
Just the two of them, with the shadows of Hogwarts behind them, and an uncertain future before them, but Remus had never been happier then the moment he carefully got on one knee to ask the woman he loved to marry him. "Nymphadora Tonks, would you do me the honor of giving me your hand in marriage?"
"I would." As if she'd answer any other way, she thought to herself.
Remus began patting his pants and jumper in a panic. "I had a ring, I really do." he said, panicked.
"You mean this one?" she pulled it out of the robes pocket, a bit smugly. "I'm wearing your robes."
"Well, that didn't go as planned." he said, sheepishly.
"Does anything ever? Now, give me my ring the right way." she told him, "so you can get off the ground."
He smiled at her as he carefully placed the ring on her finger, she helped pull him up from the ground, and they kissed.
"So when did you find it?" Remus asked after a while. He should have known that she'd figure it out sooner then later.
"That obvious?" she'd tried to hide her knowledge of the ring.
"Yes." he didn't let it slide.
"I didn't know for sure you'd gotten a ring until I was wearing your robes. But, um, I did overhear an interesting conversation a while back." she admitted.
"Best laid plans." he grumbled.
"They were. And since when does anything go as planned?"
"I didn't plan this."
"But it was perfect." she told him.
"You got your too poor, too old, exprofessor werewolf, you finally happy?" he asked her, half joking.
"Yes. Are you? You got your purple hair Metamorphmagus Auror."
"I've never been happier, Dora."