Prompt 29. spider web - Aug rt challenge
Rating: K+Genre: Genfic/Romance Word Count: 2600
Summary: "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." –Sir Walter Scott
A/N: A very happy, and slightly belated birthday to someone who likes fire, but not on counted candles! ;)

Web Weaving

Remus slouched in a wing chair and watched a spider spinning its web in a corner of the dusty window. He slugged back another shot of Firewhisky and flung his glass against the stone fireplace.

He stood, frowning as he waited for the tilting room to steady. He gave a wide berth to shattered rainbow of glass surrounding the hearth on his way to the toilet. In the mirror, he contemplated his bloodshot eyes and haggard, dishevelled appearance. "Harry might've been right," he mumbled. "Looks like I have been in Sirius' shoes."

He jerked at a sharp "Bang" that echoed through the flat, reaching for his wand.

"Remus John Lupin, if you're in here, I'm going to kick your arse for making me worry…. What the hell?"

He grimaced and put his wand away. He splashed water on his face and ran a hand through his hair before opening the door to face his wife.

She stood in the hall, waiting, hands on her hips. "Nice mess you've made of the place. What are you doing here, anyway?"

"You knew I'd gone to see Harry," he answered. "It took me days to shake the Death Eaters off my trail before going to Grimmauld."

Fear flickered in her eyes as she took in his bedraggled appearance. "Is someone hurt?"

"No," he answered, pushing past her. "They're faring remarkably well, considering Death Eaters targeted them as soon as they left the wedding."

Tonks studied him, silently watching him vanish broken glass and empty bottles around the small flat. "Are you going to Grimmauld, then?"

"No. And I won't be joining you at your parents' home, either," he ground out.

She crossed her arms across her chest. "I gathered as much when I unpacked and none of your things were there."

"I meant for Harry include me in their plans," he said. "I felt I owed that to James and Dumbledore. I thought perhaps I could be of some use to him. Protection, experience…"

"More use to Harry than to your wife and child?"

"Duty calls. You know that. I could help them." His eyes met hers before darting away. "You'd be better off without me. The child as well. You're safer at your parents' and I refuse to bring the consequences of my affliction to their door."

"Then I'm moving back here, too."

"That's not an acceptable risk," he said. "The Ministry knows this address."

"So we'll get a different flat."

Remus scowled. "You don't understand. I'm trying to do what's best for you."

"So stop arguing and draw up some plans that make sense," she snapped.

He met her glare. "James couldn't protect his family by going into hiding with them. If I leave--"

"You think I'm less of a target if you leave? With a blood-traitor mother and a Muggle-born father? Bellatrix is hunting for me, and our marriage is the least of her reasons."

Remus' lips formed a thin, stubborn line.

"Damn it, Remus, James' plan failed because he trusted the wrong person. Too many people knew they were in hiding. When it comes right down to it, You-Know-Who doesn't give up till his quarry is dead. If we're on his list, there's only one way to get our names crossed off."

Even the spider seemed to cease spinning at that.

"For heaven's sake! If Peter Pettigrew could do it—not to mention Barty, Jr., who escaped Azkaban besides—then I don't see why we can't."

"I can't just leave Harry and the Order, "Remus said, his voice cold. "Frankly, I'm surprised you'd suggest it."

"That is not what I'm suggesting," Tonks snapped. "Is that some sort of 'hey look at me' Gryffindor thing? Having to lead the fight on the front lines, in full view? Sometimes it's better to dig down and do damage behind the scenes. Undermine the opposing force in other ways."

She paced across the small room, where she paused at the window to watch the spider spin. "I want a plan, Remus. We won't stop helping Harry or the Order, but we can do that in other ways—maybe more effectively—if we're disguised. If the enemy thinks we're dead, so much the better."

Remus followed her gaze. The spider changed direction and started a new thread.

Months of careful planning followed. They moved in with Tonks' parents after all. Remus could hardly fault her for wanting to protect her parents; especially with rumours of Bellatrix's personal vendetta circulating. Besides that, they needed the money from letting her flat.

Ted stumbled onto their plans one early winter afternoon, and they were forced to include him; which turned out to be a stroke of luck in their favour. In March, they successfully pulled off his carefully constructed "death," allowing him the freedom to begin the next phase. Andromeda played the part of the grieving widow, Tonks pretended to spend all her time decorating the nursery and preparing for motherhood, and Remus devoted many hours to the Potterwatch broadcast.

Ted relocated to an obscure Muggle village where he procured a house and settled into a job at a small factory nearby, overseeing the production of feather dusters. To avoid detection by the Ministry, he did not put up any magical wards, relying instead on Muggle methods. He installed a Muggle home security system with motion detectors and purchased a watch-Kneazle to help keep an eye on things.

Then, he waited.

The night the Order was summoned to Hogwarts, Tonks took a steadying breath as she stumbled past Aberforth on her way to find Remus. She slipped into the shadows and flicked her wand over her clothes, changing the colours to non-descript greys that camouflaged her presence. She morphed her skin and hair to match. Darting through the halls, she shot spells at two marching suits of armour, letting them clatter to the floor.

She located Remus easily enough, and a well-aimed Stunner dropped Dolohov to the ground, cutting curse dying on his lips. She reached for Remus' hand and tugged. Together; back-to-back, side-by-side, they fought their way back into the castle. They raced to the corridor where she'd left the armour.

"The number of times we used this spell to skive off History of Magic…" Remus murmured, waving his wand in a complicated pattern over the crumpled metal forms. Tonks Disillusioned him while he finished adding charms, then used the same spell on herself.

"Perfect," she breathed, watching the husks soften and take on a distinct outward resemblance to themselves before rising jerkily to march down the corridor.

She covered her mouth to stifle a gasp at the sound of approaching footsteps and a chillingly familiar cackle.

"Look! It's my darling niece and her pet werewolf," Bellatrix cooed as she came into sight, wand drawn.

Remus used a voice throwing charm. "Back for more?" his puppet self addressed Dolohov, who had sidled up behind Bellatrix.

Tonks sent a spell at her replica, making the arm jerk.

Bellatrix's wand blurred as she reacted, screaming, "Avada Kedavra!"

Dolohov shot a killing curse at nearly the same moment, and Remus allowed the husks to topple to the ground. The two Death Eaters crowed triumphantly and continued down the hall, not sparing so much as a backwards glance at the bodies on the floor.

Remus caught Tonks' wrist before she could hex her retreating aunt in the back. "You'll give us away," he warned in a whisper. He looked critically at the bodies on the floor. "They'll be convincing enough," he said.

Tonks shuddered and knelt to close the eyelids and smooth the wooden expressions.

Staying close to the walls, they only risked firing spells when they were sure the flashes of spell-fire wouldn't cause undue notice. They kept moving to avoid drawing attention to any particular location. Remus saw Harry pounding toward the Whomping Willow with Ron and Hermione on his heels, and stunned two Death Eaters who'd paused to point their wands at the racing teens.

Tonks' hand found his again several minutes later at the sudden lull and silence following Voldemort's announcement. "What do we do?" she whispered. "He's given Harry an hour…"

"We do what we can," he replied grimly, tugging a body from where it was partially

concealed under a bush. "And we hope Dumbledore's shrewd ideas were as shrewd as usual."

Remaining Disillusioned, they healed minor injuries and tried to make people comfortable before others came to carry them off to the Great Hall. Death Eaters they found were put under Auror-strength binding curses. Tonks gathered up the wands, binding them like kindling, when she heard the unmistakeable thump of a body dropping to the ground. She leapt to her feet, wands scattering. She used a revealing spell to locate Remus' still form and rushed to his side, cancelling the Disillusion spell.

"Remus? Remus!" She dropped her head to his chest to listen for a heartbeat, even as her fingers closed on his wrist to check for a pulse. Tears streamed unchecked and her hands shook as she tried every healing and revival spell she knew. "Rennevate! Rennervate damn it!" She sealed her lips over his, puffing air into his lungs to make his chest rise and fall. She lost track of the minutes she breathed for him, pausing to thump his ribs hysterically.

"Breathe!"

She jerked back with shock and relief when his body suddenly arched and he sucked in a gasp of air. "What the hell was that?" she sobbed, putting her hand on his chest to reassure herself his heart really had started beating again.

"Harry…" He pushed himself up off the ground, rubbing his forehead where he'd scuffed it against a tree when he fell. "Harry called me somehow…some sort of out-of-body experience…. I talked to him; he saw our bodies in the Great Hall. I…didn't tell him the truth… I thought…You-Know-Who, Legilimency…" Tonks could hear the guilt in his voice. "He…god, Tonks, he apologised, like it was his fault…." Remus drew a deep, steadying breath and drew his wand. "Let's go. He's heading into the forest."

Remus knew the forest like the back of his hand and unhesitatingly led her along a nearly invisible path. They slowed when they heard voices and crept as close as they dared. Remus knelt behind a tree and winced when his knee hit something sharp. Reaching to move the offending stone, he discovered the ring he'd noticed Dumbledore wearing more than a year earlier. He frowned and tucked it in a pocket of his robes.

"Nooo…" Tonks' anguished whisper directed his gaze to the clearing. Harry's body lay unmoving on the ground. Narcissa's voice carried to their hiding place, proclaiming his death.

Remus slumped and pulled Tonks close, using her for support even as he held her steady. He couldn't watch as Voldemort toyed with Harry's body.

In his mind, he pictured his own baby son, tortured and slaughtered for sport at the hands of Death Eaters who surely would come hunting for him. Numb with shock and grief, he spun, Apparating them to the garden that still showed the scars of having a giant and motorbike crash land amongst the rhododendrons.

"We'll have to take your mum with us," Remus said. "We should have a little time to make it look like there was an accident here, so the Death Eaters won't hunt for her and Teddy."

Tonks nodded and summoned the doll and mannequin they'd hidden in the garden shed months ago. They let themselves into the house, ducking into the library without being seen. Tonks could hear her mum's voice in the nursery and gave a quiet sigh of relief. She averted her eyes from the bodies Remus transfigured and arranged on the floor; Teddy tucked in the crook of Andromeda's arm.

"We'll set fire to the house when we leave," Tonks said.

Remus found Tonks' mother in the kitchen, warming a bottle. "Andromeda, it's time to go. Hogwarts has fallen. You-Know-Who has taken control, and they'll be hunting for you and Teddy."

"Mum! I need you to do your pack spell!" Tonks called from the nursery down the hall. "We've got to get out of here, all of us!"

Andromeda stood in the centre of the room, confusion and apprehension etching across her features. "But…" She gestured to the wireless, "On the news, they said You-Know-Who is dead; that Harry Potter defeated him in a duel."

"That's not possible," Remus shook his head. "Harry was hit with the Killing Curse. Narcissa pronounced him dead. We saw his body."

There was a quiet rap at the door. "Mrs. Tonks? Mrs. Tonks, it's Kingsley Shacklebolt. I need to speak with you."

Tonks and Remus shared a worried glance.

"Ask a security question and find out what he wants Mum, but be careful. We'll cover you in case he's not alone."

Andromeda approached the door, resting her long fingers against it. "Kingsley? Who attended my grandson's birth?"

"Madam Pomfrey."

Kingsley stepped through the doorway as she opened it. She glanced behind him, checking for lurking Death Eaters in the shrubbery.

"Mrs. Tonks," Kingsley said sombrely. "I'm terribly sorry to tell you that your daughter, Nymphadora Tonks Lupin, was killed in the line of duty tonight, as was her husband, Remus John Lupin."

Andromeda dropped her face into her hands.

Kingsley continued, "Bellatrix LeStrange was reportedly running from the corridor where their bodies were found. There was no sign of injury. We do not believe they suffered. Bellatrix was later killed in a duel by Molly Weasley."

There was a long pause. Andromeda's voice trembled as she answered. "What was the final outcome?"

"Harry defeated Voldemort," Kingsley answered, shaking his head in apparent wonder. "In the Great Hall. Voldemort thought he'd won. Hagrid came in, carrying Harry's body. There was an uproar; the battle began again, and somehow Harry's body disappeared. Then there was Harry—alive!—leaping out to face Voldemort. I couldn't hear everything that was said, but I saw Voldemort shoot a Killing Curse at Harry, and Harry used a simple second-year disarming spell. The spells connected and the Killing Curse rebounded on Voldemort."

He bowed his head then. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of this mixed news. My deepest sympathies are with you. Tonks and Remus were two of the finest people I've known, and they will both be sorely missed.

"If there is anything I can do, please do not hesitate to contact me." He turned to the door and let himself out into the night.

Remus and Tonks stared at one another. "Can it be true?" she whispered.

"Seems as though faking deaths was a popular pastime this evening," he answered, a moment before Tonks threw herself into his arms.

He held her as tightly as he could. They were alive. Harry was alive. Voldemort and Bellatrix were dead. Remus felt more joy than he had since Teddy's birth. He kissed his wife and tasted their mingled tears. Nothing had ever tasted sweeter.

When Remus lifted his son from the cot to hold him by the window, he looked out to see a Catherine Wheel spin in a circle of lights. As Fireworks exploded in the sky, he saw Andromeda's owl wing its way to deliver the good news to Ted.

Gossamer threads hanging in the corner of the pane distracted his attention. He thought about swiping away the web, but didn't. "We've got a lot of cleaning up to do," Remus told Teddy, "But for tonight, this family is going to celebrate our freedom."