A/N – Greetings! This story was written for the Summer Holidays fanfic contest at a very wonderful site called Third Floor Corridor (check my profile for the link). I tried my best on this one, and I hope that it turned out alright. I was inspired by a lot of things, but I will give credits for two things in particular at the end, just so no-one can accuse me of plagiarism. I didn't really follow Hedwig's suggestion of sandcastles (sorry!), but it did give me the inspiration to write this story. Thank you!

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Wish of the heart

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"Tonks, are you ready?" Remus yelled up the stairs, hoping she would be able to hear him.

"YES!" she screamed back, obviously having the same doubts about their communication. Remus heard some stumbling, and ducked when he saw a huge suitcase flying his way.

"Oh, sorry!" Tonks said, grinning at him from the stairs. Remus rolled his eyes, and took a better look at the suitcase.

"You know, we aren't leaving for four months. It's only two days," he said, smiling at her.

Now it was Tonks turn to roll with her eyes, which she did rather theatrically. "Of course I know that! You just never know what kind of weather we might bump into, silly." She had finally come down the stairs, slower than normal due to her pregnancy. As they stood in front of each other, Remus couldn't help but fall in love with her all over again. He leaned forward and gave her a small kiss on her forehead. "I love you," he said.

"Love you, too," she said. "Now, let's go! Where's the Portkey? Ah, there, never mind, I see it!" She started to walk to a small table next to the door, and almost automatically Remus reached out to grab her arm. Just in time, as it appeared that she almost tripped over the gigantic suitcase.

"Thanks!" she said happily, before stepping over the suitcase.

Remus just smiled in return. Couldn't have his wife falling while she was seven months pregnant, and just before their small Summer holiday. The War was still raging, but he had practically begged Albus for a short holiday to the beach. Albus had understood, of course, and offered them a two-days holiday to Egypt.

"Where's your suitcase?" Tonks asked. He merely grabbed the small bag he had packed, and grinned at her.

"Oh, don't give me that look," she said, punching his shoulder. "Now could you be a gentleman and hold mine as well?"

Remus sighed deeply, and grabbed her suitcase. He then hold the Portkey with the hand which also held his bag, and said, "Ready!"

"Egypt, here we come!"


"I LOVE it! Thank you, Albus!" Tonks said happily, letting herself fall on their bed. Remus stood still in the door opening, staring at the very large and spacious room. He walked to one of the windows, and looked at the beach and ocean. He smiled. "Indeed, thank you, Albus."

The bed squeaked when Tonks started to bounce carefully on it, and she made a soft sound of approval. "Oh, Remus, look! Oh, wow, the bathroom is huge – a bath! I want to take a bath, right now! Have you seen the…"

Tonks' voice disappeared into a room next to the bathroom, and Remus turned to the ocean again. The colour of the blue was magnificent, and he tried to burn it into his memory. This colour was one he should never forget. He saw a couple of people lying and walking on the beach, but it wasn't crowded. Albus was amazing. The sky was also a striking blue, but his attention was drawn to the ocean again.

"…Reeeeeeemus?" a voice suddenly said next to him.

He stiffened momentarily, until he saw a flashing pink next to him. "Tonks, please don't scare me like that," he said softly, turning to face her. She looked at him, concerned, and stroke his left cheek. "I'm sorry, Remus."

He closed his eyes. Flashing pink with magnificent blue. He smiled, and opened his eyes again. "Now, what kind of wonders does this room contain?" Tonks face brightened immediately, and she grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the bathroom.

"Well, first of all there's the bathroom…"


Remus stood on the beach, wearing red swimming trunks and a faded black T-shirt. He wiggled with his toes, amazed at the temperature of the sand. He grinned, thinking that he would certainly be able to get used to this warmth. He threw his towel over his left shoulder, stepped out of his shoes, and started walking towards a spot more close to his beloved blue.

While walking, he noticed a group of small children playing in the sand. Some were digging, some were looking for shells, while others were building a sandcastle. He smiled at a small boy with dark hair who glanced at him, but the busy boy was only able to gave a quick wave before returning to his task of carrying water.

Remus carefully spread out his towel when he arrived at a spot he deemed was good enough, and he looked back to see where Tonks was. At first he didn't see anything, but then he suddenly saw something pink coming his way. He sat down, facing the sea, and waited.

"Remus! Well, what do you think?" Tonks said, appearing in front of him, showing off her new bikini. Which turned out to be very…

"…colourful," Remus stammered. Tonks grinned at him, and he started to laugh. "I like it, it suits you."

"Thank you, thank you," Tonks replied, bowing. "Let's go swimming!" She turned around, but then suddenly whirled back again. "Well, let's get your shirt off!"

Remus looked at her.

"What? Oh, come on. Please, Remus?"

He laughed nervously, seeing Tonks' determined look in her eyes.

"Remus John Lupin, you are going to take that shirt off right now and show everyone your amazingly good-looking body."

Remus sighed, knowing it was a lost battle. He took off his shirt, but held it in his hands, and looked around, trying to see the reaction of people, but no-one even looked at him. He turned around when he felt that his shirt was pulled out of his hands, and he smiled uncomfortably at Tonks.

"That's it, that's the body I wanted to see!" she laughed, but then became serious. "I mean it, Remus, there's no reason to cover yourself. And even if they would look at you – who cares? You'll never see them again."

Remus smiled at her. "You're amazing."

"I know," she whispered back, causing Remus to throw his head back and laugh.

"Maybe I should relax a bit - we're on holiday, after all."

"That's the spirit! Last one in the water is a Flobberworm!"


"Tonks, I am going out of the water! I mean it!"

"Awwww, you're no fun."

"I've been in the water with you for four hours, and now I've had enough. I am going out of the water right now!"

With a determined stride, Remus walked to his towel, and laid down upon it. The sun was glaring less, and he sighed in content. This was the perfect temperature, he thought. The warmth almost embraced him, and dried him, and soothed him, and he was so tired...

"AAAAAH!" Remus shot up, after something ice-cold hit his chest.

"Sorry, so sorry! I just wanted to get you some water!"

Remus looked up, and saw a Tonks that had obviously tripped over a small, green bucket. He started laughing, and pulled Tonks to lie next to him.

"It's ok," he whispered in her ear, rubbing her very large stomach.

"Pfffff," she said, "it's not ok. I had to wait ten minutes in the line, and then I trip over that stupid, small bucket." She stretched, before placing her head on Remus' cold chest. "Mmmm, no wonder you fell asleep here."

Remus just put an arm around her, and closed his eyes again.


Remus looked up from his book when he heard knocking on their door. He wanted to stand up, but an enthusiastic Tonks was already opening it.

"Food!" she said, and carried the tray full of plates into their room. Remus laughed at the amount of plates he saw. "Did you say you were hungry?"

"No, I said that we were here with five people," she said, beaming. Remus shook his head, but then noticed the chocolate mousse. "Chocolate mousse!" he said, almost running towards the plate that was beckoning him.

"Yes, I told them that I wanted a dessert with chocolate," Tonks said with a mouthful of pasta.

Remus looked up at her. "You… I… I…"

Tonks laughed, spraying small bits of pasta through the room. "Just kiss me and eat the chocolate!"


Remus looked out of the window, staring at the ocean. It was night, but even this dark-blue was beautiful, reflecting the stars. When he heard a slight snoring, he looked over his shoulder.

Tonks laid on the bed, with only a sheet draped around her. Her pregnant stomach was clearly visible, and her long, pink hair was spread out over her pillow. She looked incredibly peaceful in the soft light of the stars and the light of another hotel.

Remus smiled. This was truly a holiday. He didn't even look back at the ocean when he crawled in bed next to his love. He looked at her, until his eyes closed themselves.


"Are you coming? I want to make a sandcastle, just like those boys did yesterday!" Tonks said enthusiastically. "No, I want to make a bigger one!" She had been waiting in the doorway for Remus, already only wearing a bikini and a towel.

"Yup, I'll be right there," he replied, throwing his towel over his shoulder, and walking to the bathroom to drink a little bit of water.

"Remus? Reeeemus? Remus!"

"Yes, I'm coming!" He walked back quickly, but then noticed that Tonks was gone. He frowned in confusion, and the shapes started to change. He blinked a couple of times, and noticed that someone was shaking his shoulder.

"Come on, wake up, Remus!"

Remus opened his eyes, and saw a dark night looming behind Tonks' face.

"Hey, love," she whispered. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to wake you. You were smiling."

Remus just shook his head, implying that it was alright. "I had the most wonderful dream," he whispered. "We were in Egypt, and the ocean was so blue, and we swam for four hours, and you ordered chocolate mousse for me."

Tonks smiled sadly at him. "Now I feel even more guilty, thanks!" She grinned, and ruffled his hair.

Remus snorted, and closed his eyes again. His blue was still there.

"Could you change your hair to pink for me?" he asked, opening his eyes.

"Pink? Remus, you know that they'll notice us when I do that," she said, looking at him in concern.

"Please - for only a couple of seconds? Flashing pink?"

Tonks sighed, and changed her hair. He looked at it in amazement, and kissed her. When he pulled back, her hair had already changed back to the dark brown it had been for months. Magnificent blue and flashing pink. Maybe his dream would one day come true.

"Ready for the final battle?"

The End

A/N – "I'm sorry, I didn't want to wake you. You were smiling." is roughly taken from James Herriot's Vets might fly. A brilliant book, but that part stole my breath away. And if you're wondering why this story's called Wish of the heart, I will quote a song from Cinderella: "A dream is a wish your heart makes."