Title: Unfinished Business
Author: Hazelmist

Ship: Remus Lupin/Dorcas Meadows

Summary: "Perhaps, you didn't hear me correctly," Remus said between clenched teeth."I asked you to leave."A smirk twisted her lips as she leaned in to meet his challenging eyes."Make me,"she dared.

A/N: This was written pre-DH before I fell in love with Tonks/Lupin all over again and she suddenly acquired her pet name. I do like this ficlet. If I ever get a chance I hope to include these characters in a prequel.

The door sprung open and collided with the wall behind it. A flustered young man stormed into the flat, still clinging to the fiery anger of a painful argument that was as fresh in his mind as the red blood that trekked down his jaw. He threw off his cloak, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Every time. This happens every time!" Remus Lupin was so angry that he wasn't able to form coherent sentences. "She thinks she's so sodding perfect! Merlin forbid someone should dare to gainsay her."

Cabinets slammed and the smashing and banging of pots and pans reached a crescendo. Over the din, Remus could be heard muttering something about "the haughtiness of that bloody woman" as he finally located the elusive tea kettle. His voice trembled and shook almost as violently as his hands when they attempted to fill the kettle. Finally, he gave up on the tea kettle and threw it back into the sink with a resounding crash. It failed to drown out the sound of his boiling blood, raging in his ears, or the soft, echoing voice that was still whispering incessantly in his mind.

With a well placed kick, the nearest chair crumbled. One of the chair's legs was cracked and splintered, but his flimsy shoe had finally gone and done what it had been threatening to do for weeks. It had ripped at the seams and now his foot was bruised and possibly infested with wood.

"Damn it!" Remus cursed as he limped over to the sagging second hand sofa. "Damn you Meadows!" he swore as he removed what was left of his shoe and his torn sock. His prediction was correct. He was going to have a nasty bruise there.

Bruises and cuts were familiar to him. If someone were to stab him, he probably wouldn't notice the pain. Because blood and bodily wounds, he could handle. Dorcas Meadows though, was an entirely different story.

Remus propped his feet up on the couch, closing his eyes. They'd had another fight. Lately, that was all they seemed to be doing. But this one had been particularly violent. Dorcas had been acting strange in the past weeks, but what she had done tonight was simply unacceptable. A sharp, tingling pain in his mouth reminded him of the injury that she had mercilessly inflicted upon him. Wincing, he touched the dried blood on his jaw, wondering where the hell she learned how to punch like that. He had no idea what he'd done to deserve this kind of contumely.

The woman infuriated him. She was the only person that had ever been able to get beneath his skin and cause him to lose his temper. Remus was known for his level head and his ability to remain calm and collected in any situation, but as soon as Dory walked into that room, everything changed. He became someone else with her. It was both despicable and alluring. He hated her for it, but at the same time it was why he loved her so much. She had ignited a passion within him and burnt down the fortress he'd spent so many long years building and strengthening. It was too late to back out now. He should've realized what he was getting into when she accidentally knocked him unconscious with an icy snowball on their first date.

Speaking of headaches, he could feel another one coming on. After punching his jaw, she'd thrown him out her house with a blast from her wand. He'd landed on the pavement fifty feet away and his body was having a delayed reaction. His head sank into the soft cushion, ignoring the feel of the spring poking into his arm. He was immune to pain. If only the same could be true for Dorcas Meadows.

"That woman's going to be the death of me," he mused before drifting off to sleep.

It seemed like only a few seconds had passed when his eyes opened again. However, the room was significantly darker now. He glanced at his watch and was surprised to find that six hours had passed and that it was nearly one o'clock in the morning. There was still plenty of time to catch a few more hours of sleep. Stretching, he tossed the blanket off – which he couldn't recall dragging out from the closet – and shuffled toward the bedroom.

There was a small fire lit in the kitchen, despite the fact that it was almost May. The flames danced, casting a warm glow upon everything its light managed to touch. Including the face of the petite blonde seated at the table with a Chudley Canon coffee mug clutched between her hands and the Evening Prophet spread out before her.

"Hey," Dorcas greeted him with a careless wave, not bothering to look up from the paper.

"Hi," Remus yawned and continued back to the bedroom.

Suddenly, he stopped and backtracked. Pushing his sandy hair out of his face, he realized that his eyes weren't deceiving him. It was in fact Dorcas Meadows who was gracing him with her almighty presence at this ungodly hour of the night.

He blinked a few times, unsure of how to react. He should've blasted her out of the flat like she had done to him, but he didn't.

"What are you doing here Dory?" he asked with as much emotion as he could muster at this wee hour of the morning, which was very little.

"I don't know. I guess I was bored." Dory shrugged and took a sip from the steaming mug.

Remus dragged a hand through his hair. He was too tired to argue, but there was a good chance that this was going to end badly.

"Dory," he groaned. "If you want to talk to me, come back when I'm fully awake."

Dory's back visibly stiffened, but she refused to raise her eyes from the paper or to respond. Remus could feel the prickling heat rising in his neck as he leaned on the table, bringing his face as close to hers as he dared.

"Perhaps, you didn't hear me correctly," he said between clenched teeth. "I asked you to leave."

A smirk twisted her soft rose colored lips as she calmly replaced the coffee mug and leaned in to meet his challenging eyes.

"Make me," she dared.

Remus opened his mouth but no words came out. There was a determination in her stormy grey eyes that he knew he couldn't compete with. Suddenly, Remus was exhausted. They'd been fighting for too long. He didn't have the strength to get into another one of their infamous arguments that he always walked away from in defeat.

Heaving a sigh, he lowered his eyes and hung his head.

"I don't want to fight with you," he whispered.

"You don't have to," she responded, softly. He felt her arms wrap around his neck and her face bury in his shaggy hair. But Remus wanted nothing of it.

"Dory."

She shushed him with a kiss. Her lips trailed over the blood and the wound that she herself had inflicted upon him. Remus inhaled sharply, as the wounds reopened and the arguments flooded his mind.

"Dory, stop!" He pushed her away so violently that the Chudley Cannon mug was knocked off the quivering table and smashed on the floor. Scalding hot coffee soaked his barefoot and he shut his eyes tightly. She always did like her coffee intolerably hot.

"This has to stop."

"What do you mean?" Dory asked in a tiny voice, so unlike her own.

Remus opened his eyes, but avoided looking at her. With every ounce of strength he had left, he pulled himself to his feet and turned his back on her.

"I can't do this anymore," he told her simply.

"Don't say that," she said.

But Remus had already made up his mind. She was getting worse with time. Or perhaps it was merely that he had lost the ability to tolerate her impossible behavior. It was all downhill from here. He walked into the bedroom, closing the door softly behind him.

"Remus."

She was there when he turned around, sitting on his bed.

"Dory – how did you – never mind. Get out." He held the door open, waiting for her to leave. He needed her to leave quickly, before he changed his mind again.

"I will," she promised. "But first, I wanted to say goodbye."

"You just did," Remus pointed out harshly. "Now I think it's time for you-"

"Shut up!" she snapped. "Just shut up and let me finish."

Remus did shut up, but only because he saw that she was trembling from head to toe with an emotion that he wasn't familiar with. She lifted her head, and he saw the grey storm clouds had finally burst and the rain was pouring down her porcelain cheeks. Her fists clenched and he could see her body bracing itself against the ragged sobs that her quivering voice could barely suppress.

He had never seen her cry before.

All those fights, all those years, all that darkness and sorrow and passion and yet there hadn't been a single tear. The storm clouds had swirled in her eyes becoming dark and threatening. He wondered now, why he had thought that it would always remain a drought. Maybe, just maybe, she wasn't as invincible or as heartless as he had once wrongly suspected.

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

"It's a little late for that, don't you think?" he asked her, chillingly. He realized that this was one fight that he might actually win. But the feeling that swelled in his chest was not one of triumph or satisfaction. Instead he felt pity and sympathy for the girl that had finally broken, and love. He still loved her. After all the hell she'd put him through, he still loved her at the end.

"I came over here to apologize," she explained, tearfully. "I'm sorry," she repeated, swallowing a sob. "I guess this is goodbye," she mumbled.

"What?" Remus asked softly, taking a step toward her.

Dory raised her eyes to his and threw herself into his arms. She kissed him hard and Remus responded against his better judgment. He had lost again, but it didn't matter anymore. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and dragged him onto the bed with her. They helped each other with their clothes and Remus was glad that they'd finally reached an agreement on something.

Afterward, they lay together talking softly until sleep teased at his heavy eyelids. Remus suppressed a yawn and tried desperately to stay awake. Dorcas kept turning in his arms so she could look at him. When Remus asked her why she seemed so anxious, Dory's eyes filled with tears.

"Don't cry," he whispered.

"I'm not crying," she insisted. "I can't believe I punched you though."

Remus chuckled, and Dory grabbed his wand off the bedside table and healed it with a flick of her wrist. The foot too was taken care of.

"Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?" he teased.

"Maybe because I love you," Dory murmured, against his lips. She'd never told him that before. "I love you, Remus. Don't ever forget that."

"I lov-"

"Shhhh, I know. Now shut up and kiss me," she ordered.

He kissed her one last time. Exhaustion caught up to him. The last thing he remembered before drifting off was his watch beeping three times and Dory's serene face, smiling above him.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Remus bolted upright. Indistinctively he reached for Dory, but his hands closed over the ripped rug instead. Remus blinked, realizing that he wasn't in the bedroom with Dory. He had been sleeping on the couch, but apparently he'd rolled off again. He rubbed his eyes, trying to remember how he'd gotten to the couch. They'd gotten into a fight. Dory had punched him and blasted him out of the apartment. He'd broken a chair, fallen asleep on the couch and then… The rest of the details were foggy. Remus squinted at his watch. It was nearly one o'clock in the morning.

Tap! Tap! TAP!

Remus stood and hurried over to the window. He heaved it open, bringing in a gust of wind and an angry bird carrying a piece of parchment. Remus wondered what kind of sane person would send him mail at this ungodly hour. As soon as Remus finished untying the letter from the owl's leg, it flew back out the window, just barely missing a tree.

Remus shut the window and unfolded the parchment.

Remus,

I don't know how to tell you this.

But Dory's dead.

Voldemort murdered her.

Lily

The parchment was stained with tears and the ink had bled through. Words had been crossed out, and Lily's handwriting was unsteady and unusually messy. Remus read and reread the letter over and over again.

Dory.

His Dory.

Dead?

No.

She was just here!

Remus ran into the bedroom, praying that he would find her lounging amongst the rumpled bed sheets. But the bed was empty. Remus felt his heart speed up as his throat constricted, making it difficult for him to breathe. Wildly, he desperately ran back into the kitchen area. But she wasn't there either. The Evening Prophet was spread out on the table but there was no fire and her chair was vacant.

"No," Remus whispered, shaking his head in disbelief. "She was here. She came to apologize. She came back to say…" he trailed off, his eyes suddenly finding the newspaper on the table. A flashing headline caught his eye.

Dorcas Meadows Brutally Murdered in Her Home

And below that was a picture of…

Dory.

Remus choked on a sob and crumbled. He collapsed, falling to his knees. She was gone and there was nothing he could do to bring her back. He'd finally gotten what he had wished for. She was gone from his life. There would be no more fights. There would be no more broken chairs, or smashed mugs.

Remus froze.

The shattered Chudley Cannon mug was still there. The hot coffee was now seeping through his robes. Frantically, he pulled his legs out from under him and saw that his foot wasn't bruised. The chair was still fixed, and his jaw. He reached up, trying to find the dried blood, but she'd healed it perfectly.

"I don't understand," Remus whispered, holding the orange painted shards of the mug in his hands. It didn't make any sense.

Had her apology and confession happened or had it all been a dream? Was he so twisted with grief that he was delusional?

Dorcas Meadows was a riddle, even in death.

A week later as Remus stood with Lily Potter in front of the marble tombstone of their best friend, Remus suddenly turned to her with a question in his eyes.

"Lily, do you believe in miracles?" he asked, hesitantly.

Lily thought the question over carefully before finally smiling. It was the first genuine smile he had seen on her face in days.

"I believe in love, Remus. And love, is a miracle in itself," she took his hand and squeezed it, and they turned as one to look down at the fresh dirt that they were standing on.

"She loved you Remus, you know that don't you?" Lily asked, softly.

Remus nodded, giving her a feeble smile. When she asked him to join her and James for supper, he turned her down.

"You'll be alright then?" she asked, letting go of his hand and moving to join her husband and Sirius who were standing at the gate.

"I think so," Remus answered, honestly.

And he would be, because Dory wasn't really gone. Not really. As Lily had said, love could conquer anything.

It could even defeat death.

"I love you, Remus. Don't ever forget that."

"I won't," Remus promised, kneeling to kiss the tombstone. And then he turned and walked away.