Hatstand
Remus' POV on Dora when he visits Harry, Ron and Hermione in DH
Disclaimer: If HP was mine Fred wouldn't have died, sadly, he is as JKR is the Game maker.
There it was; that old troll-leg hatstand that she had tripped over all those many times. I suspected now that she had tripped over it a few too many times when I was around, and she always fell towards me wether I was in front of her, beside her or behind her. I mean, I always knew Dora was a bit vertically challenged, but that troll-leg always had a funny affect on her when I was around.
I know this because after I said 'no' she didn't trip over it so often. But as soon as she stopped I missed it. That's always the way it is, you never know what you love until it's gone. Whenever I was sitting at the table in Gimmauld Place I never realised I was waiting for the sound, but whenever I heard the leg thump over and could hear Dora's distinctive but muffled curses quickly drowned out by Sirius' mother, my heart always leapt.
It was even in front of this cursed stand that I said 'yes' for the first time. It was supposed to be a one-off thing, everyone else in the Order had something to do and it was just Dora and I left. Even when she wasn't wearing her hair in that shade of pink that was like a beacon she dazzled me and I said yes to a quiet dinner of just the two of us without quite realising the full implication of the invitation, even if I did I think I still would have said 'yes' even though I would like to think otherwise.
One thing I distinctly remember is the time she cornered me here as I was taking my potion before full moon and asked me whether she could sit with me through it that night. We had been out together a couple of times by that point and I was just getting deeper, I knew that I shouldn't be making the hole so big that I eventually couldn't climb out, but I still said she could. I foolishly thought that her seeing me in this weak, vulnerable and ugly state would scare her off, but of course it worked the complete opposite. It took her a while to shake off the initial shock everyone has at seeing me in this form, but soon she was sitting with me and talking to the monster that was me.
She told me that even like this she still loved me, she said that it represented a big part of who I was, and even if I forgot my potion one evening she would still try and be there to protect me from myself.
After that there was absolutely no going back. She was in too deep and so was I; there was no point in denying it any longer. From then on we were what some people call a 'couple', and slowly thing evolved to where they are now. I feel intensely guilty for putting Dora and our unborn child through the discrimination I have had to deal with all my life, but I cannot feel sorry for the joy I have given her, and I am glad that she has been there for me, she has helped my long process of healing. All from this one troll-legged hatstand.
Perhaps I could take it with me.
I hope you like it, I enjoyed writing it, if you did, please, feel absolutly free to reveiw, it makes my day.