All characters belong to JK Rowling

Remus Lupin's Last Stand

The battle for Hogwarts was in full flow.

Remus Lupin ducked behind some rubble as the Death Eater in front of him – Dolohov by name – sent a curse at him. The green jet of light narrowly missed his head and impacted against the wall behind. Remus aimed his wand over his makeshift barricade and sent three stunning charms blindly in the Death Eater's general direction. They all missed of course but they made Dolohov duck behind a pillar, which was exactly what Remus wanted.

Remus stood up and advanced on the dark wizard, sending stunning and binding charms at him. He saw movement up ahead and swore to himself as another Death Eater arrived. Suddenly a bright red streak of magic hit the new Death Eater in the chest, sending him flying backwards into a suit of armour. He was knocked unconscious and the suit of armour wrapped its arms around him, holding him in place.

Remus turned his head to look behind him. He smiled as he saw his wife – Nymphadora Tonks, Tonks to her friends, Dora to her husband – as she climbed over the rubble and unconscious wizards to get to him. His smile quickly turned to a frown as he saw the look of anger on her face.

"Where do you think you're going?" she shouted at him, partly from her rage, partly because the noise of battle made it impossible to hear anything quieter.

"I'm going after Dolohov!" Remus shouted back. He turned to where Dolohov had been hiding but the Death Eater had taken the opportunity to run back down the corridor.

"Fine but we'll get him together!" Dora yelled as she ran ahead of Remus.

Remus opened his mouth to protest but he closed it again, knowing that there was nothing he could say to make her change her mind – she had definitely inherited her mother's stubbornness. Shaking his head and grinning, he followed.

…

The corridor ended in a lobby area. Remus saw that there was a large fight taking place here, with a dozen Death Eaters at one end of the hall and half a dozen student wizards and teachers at the other end. The Hogwarts wizards were taking cover behind a few large sections of roof that had fallen in. Remus vaguely noticed that there was a large stained glass window on one of the walls but he paid it no heed. It was still intact and therefore was not being used as an entry point.

"Over here, Remus!" a voice shouted from one of the chunks of fallen masonry. It was Dora, beckoning to him. Remus ran to her, firing from his wand at the Death Eaters as he went. The distance seemed like miles but before he knew it he was dropping down next to her, adding his spells to her own.

"Keep it up boys!" one of the teachers shouted from another piece of cover. "We're fighting for Hogwarts remember!"

"We're fighting for Harry as well!" one of the boys shouted back. Remus vaguely remembered that the voice belonged to a student named Justin Finch-Fletchley. It seemed a lifetime ago since he had been a professor at the school, and he couldn't help but feel some pride at the fact that his students were fighting with everything they had. He ducked his head involuntarily as a stray curse hit the stained glass window, shattering it completely.

After what seemed like an eternity the storm of spells gradually lessened, until Remus finally realised that no one was firing back at them. He risked raising his head above cover.

There was no one there. The Death Eaters had gone.

"We've done it!" Justin shouted, "They've run away!"

"Careful," Remus said in a cautionary tone, "They may still be out there."

Dora slowly stood and surveyed the area as she had been trained to do. She turned to Remus. "It's true. The room's empty."

The students and professors cheered. Remus just sighed with relief. He only hoped that Harry was doing his job as well.

Dora turned to Remus and grinned. "Harry must be nearly done by now. Looks like we've won. Say, after this is over..."

She never finished the sentence.

Remus looked on in horror as a green wave of magical energy slammed into her back. She collapsed in front of him, her face contorted in agony. He caught her in his arms.

"Dora! Dora!" he screamed but there was nothing he could do.

"Remus," Dora managed to say, "Take care of Teddy." She smiled slightly as her eyes drifted closed and her breathing slowed and stopped.

"NO!" Remus screamed as he held his wife's body in his arms. The Hogwarts wizards were looking on, aghast at what had just happened. As he held his wife he felt a familiar tingling on his skin. Slowly, almost painfully, Remus turned his head to look out of the ruined window. The clouds were starting to clear and the first rays of moonlight were appearing.

Remus looked back at Dora's face. She looked almost peaceful, as if she was asleep. Remus slowly laid her body on the ground.

"Get out of here," he said to the others there.

"Sir?" Justin asked, not sure what Remus was saying.

"I said go. I'll take care of them. Just get out!" Remus bellowed at them. Exchanging bewildered looks with each other, the students and teachers made their way out of the room, ducking from cover to cover as spells shot at them. Once they had all left Remus looked back out of the window. The moon was now clearly visible and Remus could feel the change start to take place within him.

For the first time in his life he welcomed it.

As the pain wracked his body he kept his focus on the Death Eaters and how they had killed his wife in front of his eyes. He felt his conscious mind start to leave him and the animal instinct take over. The last coherent thought he had was for revenge.

…

The Death Eaters, including Dolohov, slowly came out from where they had been hiding. Dolohov was laughing. He had finally managed to kill one of the accursed Order of the Phoenix. He would have preferred it to be Remus Lupin, or even that brat Harry Potter, but a victory was still a victory. The other dark wizards also started laughing.

They stopped when a shape leapt on top of the rubble. It was man shaped, that was certain, but it's form was one that struck fear into one or two of them.

A werewolf.

The werewolf threw back its head and howled a cry of pain and anger. The Death Eaters were stunned into silence for a few moments. The werewolf lowered its head and roared at them.

"Lupin!" Dolohov hissed. He turned to the others. "Don't just stand there! Get him!" he shouted at them. They fumbled for their wands and drew them, just as Lupin pounced.

…

Remus had no clear thought except for the instinct to kill. He tore and bit and clawed and maimed and for once there was no one to stop him. The Death Eaters screamed in pain and the sound was music to his canine ears. More by instinct than conscious effort he managed to duck and dodge as they tried to hit him with badly aimed curses.

Finally a jet of light hit him in his shoulder. He snarled in pain and slashed at the wizard who had cast it. The wizard flew back to the ground and didn't get up again. Another hit him in his back, and another in his leg. He turned and saw a Death Eater standing a short distance away. His wolf mind recognised his attacker.

Dolohov.

Remus took one painful step forward, then another, then leapt, fully intending to tear his enemy's throat out.

Dolohov raised his wand again and cast another curse. This one hit Remus squarely in the chest. He crashed into Dolohov and knocked him off his feet. The Death Eater managed to free himself and looked down at the werewolf, a sneer on his face. He stepped over Remus and strode off down the corridor.

…

Remus dimly felt his body returning to normal. There was no pain, but he knew he was dying. His vision started to fade.

Harry, it's up to you now, he thought. As the darkness claimed him he had just enough time for one final breath.

"Teddy..." he whispered, and died.

A/N A bit darker than my other stories.

I know the official line is that Bellatrix Lestrange kills Tonks but I don't think it's explicitly stated in the books. It may be in the film but I haven't seen it yet. Anyway I hope you liked it.