"Once upon a time... there was a nymph."
Remus paused. He always waited for the question that would inevitably follow. His son was never tired of hearing the more he could about 'the nymp'; and then, smile proudly. Remus, then, made a pause, like he did every night, and waited.
"How was her, Dad?"
A quick and sad smile spread on Lupin's face, and he went on.
"She was very, very beautifull. Full of life, impetuous and strong. No dark power could defeat her. She was all colors and optmism. And you could see it, just by looking into her eyes. They were as black as the night and sparkled as if they contained tiny stars."
The boy smiled, too. That was his mum.
"So, dad? What happened to her?"
"One day, she fell in love. But not wit a simple man... no, he was less than a man... he was a werewolf." Remus sighed. The part that came now was the one he liked least in the whole story. So much time lost... Who knew how different things might have been if he hadn't insisted being noble. "In those times, werewolves were treated even worse than they're today. They couldn't work many jobs or even step into certain places reserved for humans. Our werewolf, for example, had nothing in the world apart from his friends and a handful of old books. When the nymph told him she loved him, he didn't believe her. First he thought it to be a joke... since she was a master in fooling everyone, with that agile mind of hers." The boy smiled. "But then... the old werewolf looked into those eyes..."
"... black as the night with tiny stars..." his son interrupted, his own eyes now closed. His smile, with its familiar dimples, was so like that of his mother that Remus's heart almost exploded with love.
"Black as night with tiny stars, yes..." Remus sighed again, and went on. "He looked inside them and saw. It was true. She did love him. And he loved her back. So much that the thing he wanted most was for her to be happy. Because of this, he made the most noble of the sacrifices: knowing how werewolves are dangerous, how poor he was, and that he could never give the nymph the life she deserved, he renounced that love."
"The werewolf as a fool."
"Yes, he really was." Remus agreed and stopped again. He wasn't there anymore; his mind had travelled back in time. His now dreamy eyes were fixed on the wall, as if he were looking through it. A frown appeared on his forehead, as he felt the old, usual pain oppressing his chest, the darkness threatening to blur his vision. Then, a little hand emerged from the blankets, finding his fingers and bringing him back to the present.
"So, Dad?"
"Well, at first, the nymph believed that, this time, it was he who was fooling her. She knew that he loved her, too, loved her very much. But then, he ran away. Months passed and he sent her no news. He was now living with other werewolves and he always had the perfect excuse: he was fighting against the Dark Wizards. But he knew, inside his heart, that everything he did was to save the nymph - from himself and from a very miserable future." Remus frowned a little, and then, want on. "Then, one day, many months later, the two finally met again. Neither of them, nymph nor werewolf, was the same. He was sad and even more torn. And with her, the changes had been even more shocking. All the colours had become gray. The tiny stars had simply switched off. She could withstand the dark power, but was being defeated by something much stronger... the power of love."
"The old werewolf couldn't bear watching her dying inside because of him, but he still insisted he was too poor... too dangerous. And when the nymph insisted that it wasn't important, he couldn't believe her. Even sad and colourless, she was still stubborn and strong, and argued for a long time. And all the werewolf's friends insisted, too, that he was being blind. Until the day one of these friends... died. It was a very big shock for everyone... and made the werewolf realize that life is short and fragile. He really was being blind and foolish for denying the love he felt. That very night he kneeled before the nymph. She made him stand and they cried, and embraced, and kissed. In that very moment all her colour came back."
"... and the tiny stars turned on." The boy smiled, victorious. Remus smiled him back.
And he didn't want them to switch off again. About that time, the good wizards decided that all the werewolfs who had helped their side in the fight against the dark powers would be forgiven. They could even work amongst the humans. Our friend was relieved: one of his problems was already resolved. Yet he was still very dangerous... and nothing would change that. The nymph was brave and, after a lot of discussion, they decided that it was a risk worth taking. They agreed that the werewolf should always hide during the full moon, and the nymph loved him so much that, even being terrible at potions, she learned to prepare one that eased his suffering during transformations..."
"She was the best, wasn't she, dad?"
"Ah yes, she was, dear." Remus swallowed hard. "The fight against evil wasn't over yet but, from the day they decided to be together, it was as if they were living in a magic bubble, where every day was spring. Then, one day, something else was born from this love. They were going to have baby."
"Me!"
This time, Remus' smile was the most real of the whole night.
"It was the happiest day of their lives. They soon started prepare their home to raise the child and they tried to be together whenever they could. They were offered, even, some "holidays" from the war, but they didn't want to abandon their friends. Nine months later, their little son was born. He was a very handsome boy, with big, black eyes, light brown hair and pink cheeks. The nymph named him Brian... to honour their old friend who had died (1). Outside their magic bubble, the war raged on. There were many victories and many defeats to both sides. Then, one night - a short time before the dark side fell - the nymph took part in a big battle. It was the full moon and the werewolf had to stay at home. When the dawn came, it was not his nymph waiting for him, but one of their friends. He brought very bad news. One of the dark wizards had attacked the nymph and she had disappeared during the battle. They searched and searched... but no one ever found her. The werewolf didn't believe she was dead..."
"... because no dark power could defeat the nymph!"
"Exactly. But he was very, very sad. During those first months, the only thing keeping him alive was their little son. And every night before falling asleep, alone in his room, the werewolf prayed to all the gods that she was still alive. And every day he woke up full of hope that this could be the day that this could be the day that would bring his nymph home."
Lupin caressed his son's little head, trying to smooth the rebellious hair. Finally, he stood up.
"And how does the story end, Dad?"
"Tomorrow, dear... Tomorrow."
"You always say that! Always leave the end for later, but never finish," protested the boy. Remus bent to tidy the blankets and kiss the small, pale forehead.
"It's time you were asleep, Brian."
"Tomorrow..."
"Tomorrow."
Without knowing what else to say, he walked to the door and stared up at the charmed stars embedded in the ceiling, glowing softly in the darkened room. Tomorrow... he hoped once more that, tomorrow, he'd find the happy ending for which he had searched for almost two years: the paragraph that would end the fairytale.
the end
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first, a big "thank you" to laura elliot (wild magelet) for beta.
plus:
(1) my first choice for naming the boy was, of course, Sirius. But it don't make much sense to me, being "Sirius" the "dog star" and all. So... Brian is one of the Dumbledore's many middle names and he is, in a certain poit of view, very important to Remus and Tonks' story. Besides, i wanted a extremely simple name to a Tonks son, since she knows in the hardest of the ways how it feels to have a... complex name ;D
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A note to fange: I'm sorry, but i couldn't reply your message. Fanfiction dot net doen'st allow people sending e-mail adresses on any form, so i couldn't get yours. And, obviously, i couldn't, send my reply. And i didn't find a way to contact you. So, if someday you come back and read this fic again, yes, you can do what you asked me for ;)
And, if it's possible, leave me some contact so we can talk in particular.
Thanks!