Discl.: Yup, it's official now. I got the rights of Harry Potter for my birthday this year. Along with all Walt Disney rights, and I also own My Chemical Romance and Inu Yasha… DUH!!!
The Day After Full Moon
It was late afternoon when Remus Lupin awoke.
He felt especially miserable, it was the day following the full moon after all. He lay on his bed, eyes still closed, because he could not bring himself to open them yet.
He inhaled deeply, delighted to smell the scent his wife had left on her side of the bed. Still not opening his eyes, he turned to the side and concluded that Nymphadora must have left the window open, because of the soft, warm late-summer-breeze blowing about his body.
He knew Tonks was not laying beside him, he would have felt her presence or heard her breathing. Finally urging himself, he opened his eyes to the warm sunlight, and chanced a glance at the clock on Tonks' bedside table.
05:11 pm.
Time to get up.
Remus slowly sat up in bed, stretching on his way to the bathroom, and showered. He felt sore after transformations, but the hot water managed to wash away the tiredness and the ache in his muscles to an extend.
After finishing his shower, he dressed - not bothering to take a look at himself in the mirror and find out how many more grey hairs he had received - and exited the small bedroom. He crossed the hallway, peering into the room oppisite from the bedroom.
The walls of this room were painted in different weird colours, and there were pictures of a family hanging on them, between posters of quidditch and muggle soccer teams. The floor was covered with dark blue carpet and countless colourful items. There were balls in every colour and size, stuffed animals - surprisingly in their natural colours – and tons of building blocks.
But apart from that, the room was empty.
Remus went back into the hallway and took the stairs to the ground floor. He went straight for the kitchen, helping himself to a cup of his favourite tea and a bar of chocolate.
He settled down in the small living room, appreciating the silence. It was then when he suddenly wondered where his wife and son had gone. He wanted to open the chocolate - lost in his thoughts - and felt something unfamiliar on the surface of the wrapping. Looking down, he noticed a bright pink piece of paper (presumably charmed) sticking onto the wrapping.
Smiling, he read the note in Tonks' handwriting.
"Wotcher Remus! Slept well? We're out in the park, Teddy wanted to learn how to ride a bike. Be back at 6 pm (at least). Lots of love, Tonks and Teddy )"
She had actually drawn a smilie onto the note.
Remus grinned, then his face formed a look of worry. Not that he didn't trust Tonks, but he really did hope they would not come back with broken limbs.
He was not especially a fussing and over-worried father, but of course he would be worried about his son.
He checked the clock on the wall, noting that he still had twenty minutes left until 6pm. Deciding that Tonks and Teddy would probably be starving when they returned, he re-entered the kitchen and began to make dinner.
He had just finished setting the kitchen table - the living room was too small to contain a table additional to the sofa - and taken a seat in said living room again, when he heard the front door of their small house open.
A second later a small, 5 year old boy (today with about five centimeter long, dark blue hair) sped into the room and launched himself onto Remus' lap.
He looked up at the older man and grinned. The cheeky marauder-grin he had inherited from his father.
"Hi Daddy! You know what?" he said in his high childrens' voice.
"What?" asked Remus, grabbing Teddy under his arms and positioning him safer from falling off Remus' knees.
"I can ride the bike!" Teddy exclaimed enthusiastically.
"That's wonderful! You have to show me tomorrow." Remus told his son, smiling. "Weren't you afraid to fall off the bike?"
Teddy's grin widened. "No! And I didn't fall off it!"
"Not even once?" Remus asked astounded. He quickly checked the boy for obvious injuries, tickling him in the process. Teddy laughed and wriggled about on Remus' lap. Remus couldn't help laughing, too.
Then a thought struck him. "Where's your mum?" he asked, suddenly suspicious. "You didn't Apparate and leave her behind, did you?"
He fixed Teddy with a daring look. The brown eyed boy shook his head.
"Daddy, I can't even Apparate!" he told Remus as though the latter were especially forgetful today.
Remus smirked. Then he heard the front door close. Slow, heavy footsteps made their way into the living room and Remus turned in his seat to look at his wife.
He immediately set Teddy down on the rug and strode over to Tonks a look of utter worry on his face present again.
"It's nothing, really. I'm fine." Tonks muttered, but apparently she didn't even convince herself.
Remus took her hand and led her to the sofa, gently pushing her down onto the cushions and kneeling before her.
He cupped her face in one hand - Teddy had taken place beside his mother - in order to have a better look at her bruised cheek.
Tonks' pink hair was ruffled, her face bruised in several places, her patched jeans had a huge hole in one knee, her t-shirt was almost unbelievingly crinkled and her arms and hands were dark and dusty.
"What happened?" Remus asked, eyebrows drawn together so they were looking like one. He took her hands in his and gasped. Her palms were covered in blood.
"Dora, what happened? Have you been attacked?" Remus repeated. Tonks only blushed but kept her mouth shut. Remus looked at his son for an explanation. Teddy only shrugged and dangled his feet.
Tonks took a deep breath and met his gaze. "I fell."
Remus' lips twitched but he managed to contain a serious expression. He drew his wand and waved it silently above her palms, then the back of her hands and her cheeks. The wounds disappeared instantly, though the red spots around them remained.
Remus sat down next to her on the sofa, Teddy on his other side, and slid his arm around her shoulder, drawing her close and smoothing down her hair down with his other hand.
"I had held the back of Teddy's bike when he started off and when he got to fast for me to run, I had to let go. My eyes were on him of course, 'cause I feared he would fall and then I tripped on a branch and crashed into the bushes to the left and rolled down a slope..." Tonks finally explained and trailed off.
And he'd been worried for Teddy's health...
Comments as always appreciated.