J.K. Rowling owns her characters...I do not.


He sat with her, and he smiled.

Tonks knew, he was sure of it. He had seen the tear stains on her pillow, the way she observed him like he was about to shatter.

Truth is he was one crack away from falling to pieces. Right now, all that was holding him together was her.

When she could go home, she invited him to accompany her. He agreed, not willing to see what would happen if he was alone for a night. She took his hand, and they side-alonged. She stumbled, and he caught her.

He always caught her.

"Tea?" Nodding silently, he sat on the couch and waiting quietly, looking around and wringing his hands. She returned with the tea cups, remarkably steady for a generally clumsy girl just out of the hospital.

"I wonder if they half-cured my clumsiness while I was in there..." She smiled weakly, attempting to make a joke. He stared at his tea, afraid to lift the cup and see how much his hands were shaking. He looked up at her and smiled weakly, not knowing what else to do. She looked at him, and noticed the stubble on his face, the bags under his eyes. What he needed was sleep.

"Remus, why don't you and try to sleep." She was prepared for the shook on his face, and then the compliance as he realized that she knew exactly what he needed. He nodded and got up, making his way toward the bedroom.

Tonks dumped the tea in the sink.

She knew he wasn't going to cry in front of her, but if he didn't cry in front of her, he wouldn't cry at all. She needed to find a happy medium where he would let his guard down, and when he thought she was asleep seemed like a good one.

She hadn't bothered to take her clothes off, and Remus had only removed his shirt, they just curled into bed. She lay there and waited, rubbing circles on his arm slowly, not saying anything. When she thought he was asleep, she spoke up. "Remus, I know your asleep, but it might help your subconscious to hear this. I know you're trying to act as if everything is okay, like you've mourned and your done, but I know everything isn't okay. I see it every time you smile and it doesn't reach your eyes. It hasn't reached your eyes since I woke up in the hospital." She laid back on the pillow and traced the scars on his back, "Even werewolves are allowed to cry, Remus."

Those were the words that undid him.

He had been awake, but had wanted to let her sleep, Remus supposed she had the same intentions. When she said those words, his eyes opened, and the tears began streaming down his face onto the pillow. He finally let the tears fall, for Sirius, for James, for Lily, for himself.

Sometimes a man needs to break before he can be repaired.