Crying Will Get You Nowhere.
Remus Lupin, Harry Potter, Andromeda Tonks, Arthur and Molly Weasley and Severus Snape mourn Nymphadora Tonks's death together, the full moon after the Battle of Hogwarts and at The Burrow the day before the full moon. One-shot, RL/NT and HP/NT.
Remus was howling with mirth, loneliness and grief.
He threw himself forward, and, with a loud thump, landed on the bed. His and Tonks's bed. Now his bed. His alone.
He sobbed loudly, and jumped up, starting to throw things across the room as Severus let himself into the house. He couldn't hear anything until he was in the kitchen, intent on making a brew of tea – Earl Grey, his and Remus's favourite – for the poor man, when he heard a crash from upstairs.
That man is grieving too much, Severus thought quietly to himself, as a loud BANG followed the crash. Then a series of muffled, but ear-splitting screams could be heard as the man upstairs collapsed to his knees. Severus sighed, and heaved himself out of his chair, taking his and Remus's tea upstairs with him.
Remus looked up as Severus came into the room, carrying two cups of tea – Earl Grey, my favourite, Remus thought, despite his currently fragile emotional state – and ceased his screaming almost at once. Severus set the mugs down on the bedside table, and walked forwards, getting to his knees in-front of Remus.
The werewolf looked confused for a second, before Severus engulfed him in a sorrowful but comforting hug.
Remus froze.
Severus felt Remus stiffen underneath him, and drew back enough to be able to look into his eyes, which were red and puffy. He looks like he's done a lot of crying and not enough resting, Severus thought as he took in the mussed up hair, bloody fingers and black bags under his eyes. He smirked, and Remus smiled – almost shyly – too.
"Sorry about the mess," he said huskily, indicating to the broken glass from pictures and smashed wood – obviously he had decided to break the desk chair, too. Severus smirked more broadly, and said quietly, "Here, let me."
Remus, Snape, Molly, Arthur, Harry and Andromeda sat at the table in the kitchen of The Burrow, glasses of wine in their hands.
"I loved her too, Remus," Harry said quietly, and everyone's heads snapped around to look at him, astonished. He looked up at Remus, and smiled. "I even replayed you words back to her, though had to change them just a tiny bit. Completely missed out the 'I'm poor' bit – I'm rich. But I told her I was too young for her, and had a 'price-tag' of about, oh, I dunno, ten-thousand Galleons on my head, and she sort of ditched me afterward." He smiled more broadly. "It was only a quick fling," he added hastily, as Remus gave Harry a scandalised stare. A look of comprehension dawned on Remus's face.
"Yeah, Dora told me about that," Remus said quietly. Harry wasn't paying attention, though…
Tonks moaned lowly against Harry's mouth, and whimpered in protest as he pulled back from her, extracting his lips from hers.
He stammered, "I- Tonks, this- us… we just can't be together…"
Tonks pouted. "You're no fun at all," she teased, and Harry laughed lightly. He tugged at the neck of his robes.
"But it is true," he said, the plea for her to understand shining brightly in his emerald green eyes. "We can't be together. I'm way too young for you, and I would being laying a burden on you rather than being a blessing to you… I have a ten-thousand Galleon price-tag on my head!" he protested as Tonks looked away, sorrow and hurt etched into her face. "Honestly, I think you'd be better off with Remus. He really suits you. You two just… click. You match. You're always equalling each other, never beating one another, and… I dunno, I just think he'd be better for you, Tonks."
"That's exactly what he said when he found out I was with you," Tonks said quietly, pushing Harry away slightly. Tears started to cascade freely down her cheeks, and she wiped them away angrily…
"HARRY!"
Someone was slapping him on the face. Could it be… No. She's dead, remember? I have got to stop myself from remembering the times I had with Tonks…
He opened his eyes, and realised he was lying on the floor. He groaned, and saw Molly bending over him.
"Are you alright, dear?" she asked, and Harry said, "Yeah, I'm fine, fine…" He wasn't, though.
Remus lay in bed at six o'clock in the morning, tears streaming down his face as he remembered one of his most intimate encounters with Tonks…
Remus could barely hear Tonks's quickened breath over his wildly beating heart as he slid within her, his lips trailing down her smooth neck, to her breasts. Tonks moaned lowly, and somehow managed to pull their warm bodies closer together on his forwards move, her legs wrapping around his waist, her feet resting on his arse.
He grunted, and started thrusting into her harder and more roughly – yet still passionately – as she cried out to the world, gasping his name over and over again.
His fingers trailed over the soft expanse of skin as his lips found hers again and kissed them roughly yet passionately, soft but still ferocious as she writhed in bliss and climax. He smiled softly at her as she found his eyes and smiled, too, still gasping his name.
He felt himself reaching climax, reminding them both of the hot, raunchy sex they were sharing with one another. He felt himself open his mouth in a passionate cry of love and bliss, crying her name like a prayer to the world.
In that one moment of love, passion, bliss and sex, they felt like they were the only people in the world…
He jerked awake, having drifted off in the abyss of sleep, and glanced at his clock. It was now seven-thirty. He could hear bustles coming from downstairs, and he groaned.
How can he stand being up so early? Remus thought to himself. Maddening, that is…
Steps on the stairs… Remus pulled his pillow over his head to muffle the sounds…
"Oh, fuck. Why now?"
Remus jerked upright, and saw Severus standing in the doorway, covered from head to toe in tea. Remus blinked, then roared with laughter for the first time in a month. Severus scowled.
"It's not funny!"
"No, it's not funny… It's hilarious!" Remus giggled, and he lay back, laughing until his voice was hoarse.
Severus could hear the wolf howling, the man screaming, and resisted the urge to run and leave him alone. They wouldn't want that. She would haunt him for that. He would kill him for that.
Severus swallowed, and sighed in relief as the howls and screams stopped. He could hear small noises coming from the cellar, and realised that Remus's wolf-like lips were forming whimpers. Severus got up out of his chair, and lifted the charms on the door so that he could get inside. What he saw when he closed the door and lit up his wand, however, made him chuckle.
The wolf was curled up on the bed, small whimpers coming from the back of his throat. His fur was soft-looking and brown, but had the faintest streaks of grey in them. His nose was black and wet, his paw lay over his muzzle as if to say, Mind the teeth, and his amber eyes looked out at him pleadingly.
Sit with me…
Severus obliged to the wolf's wish, and sat down on the bed, reaching out and stroking his fur. He had been right; it was soft. He suddenly wondered if Tonks had had this chance to be with Remus in wolf form.
The answer for Sirius was obvious: of course. As a Marauder, him, James and Pettigrew had always sneaked out at night to run wild with Remus in the forest after they started to leave the shack.
I'm not so sure about Tonks, he thought. Remus would have most definitely – if not probably – backed her out of it, and Severus knew why: he didn't want to see her get hurt at his hand – or, to put it more accurately, his paw. He had loved her that much…
The wolf whimpered again, and Severus impulsively hugged the wolf, whispering words of comfort to him.
"Shh, it's alright… she's here, and so is Sirius… they're both here… they're still here."
The wolf cried and howled a little, and Severus drew back, smirking slightly.
"Crying will get you nowhere, Remus. Know that."
The End!