Author's Note: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

Hogwarts: Social Media, Task 3. Write about an injustice.

Warnings: Child abandonment; blood at the start of the fic.

Stacked with: Summer Bingo; Shipping War; MC4A; Hogwarts

Individual Challenge(s): Rainbow Focus; Gryffindor MC; Hufflepuff MC; Creature People; Seeds; Tissue Warning; Golden Times; Old Shoes; Themes and Things A (Family); Themes and Things B (Prejudice); Tiny Terror; True Colours; Rian-Russo Inversion; Real Family; Short Jog; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux

Word count:

Shipping War

Ship (Team): Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks (Technicolour Moon)

List (Prompt): Summer Micro 1 (Adoption)

Summer Bingo entry information:

Space Address: 3E

Prompt: Moon

Tonight Won't Hurt

Oliver Wood was quite distraught when he arrived with the little girl in his arms.

"Sorry, professor," he mumbled. "I didn't know where else to go…"

"You can just call me Remus, I haven't taught you in years," he said. "Come inside; let's lay her down on the couch… Let me get some blankets for her."

Remus himself was light-headed. The full moon had left him sore and achy, and his vision blurred every now and then. He was so tired that his limbs felt heavy as he moved around and spread towels and blankets across the couch. Oliver lay down the little girl gently on top of it all.

"Her name is Abigail," he said. "She's my cousin."

"What happened to her?" Remus asked, kneeling at the child's bedside. She had brown hair that someone had braided down some time ago, though now it reined messy and unruly. Otherwise, she was an absolutely adorable button-nosed, freckled-faced child. The fact that she was currently soaked in blood and scraped and bruised aside, of course.

"I had no idea she was bitten," Oliver said. "I showed up for breakfast at my aunt's today, same as any other week, and they said she was missing. I mean, I got suspicious when I saw the claw marks around their house and then there were… well, all the other things you told us about werewolves when you were teaching, it was pretty obvious that she'd transformed in the house and they'd just decided to—to let her go…"

"Okay," Remus sighed. "And you found her..?"

"In the woods," Oliver said. "They live near a rather big forest."

"Where?"

"Northumberland," he responded.

"Okay. That's part of Fenrir Greyback's territory, I'm afraid, but the good news is that the blood's not her own," Remus said. "It's animal—probably rabbit, a fawn would be just about the biggest thing she would have been able to hunt down…"

"So she's really got it, then?" Oliver asked, scratching the back of his head. "She's really a..?"

"A werewolf, yes," Remus nodded. Her pajama bottoms had been ripped, and Remus saw what he could only assume to be Abigail's bite. Oliver shuddered at the sight.

"Sorry, professor," Oliver said.

"No, don't worry," Remus said softly. "Her pulse is still strong; she'll wake up eventually."

"I can't believe they'd just let her run off into the woods and die there," Oliver said, shaking his head. "She's just a kid, sir."

"I can't believe she had the luck of having you around," Remus said. He offered Oliver a smile. "You did a good thing, Oliver."

"I'm sorry to have just come to you, I didn't know where else to go," Oliver said. "St. Mungo's doesn't feel quite safe at the moment."

"No, it is not," Remus sighed. "Do your aunt and uncle know that you went to find her?"

Oliver shrugged.

"How do you think the rest of your family would react?"

He shook his head. Remus nodded.

"Remus?"

He turned away from the little girl and there was Dora, wearing sweatpants and an old t-shirt that didn't quite fit over her belly bump. She wore one of his cardigans, and her lavender hair was braided back.

"Dora—" he started, not sure how to explain the scene that his poor wife had woken up to.

Dora just knelt next to him and took the little girl's pulse.

"Strong pulse," Dora said. "Little kid's a fighter. I'll go get her a clean shirt, it'd be best if she didn't wake up soaked in blood. You, random man bringing bloodied children to my home, are you going to explain this over a cup of tea?"

Remus smiled in appreciation.

"I mean, if it's no trouble…" Oliver said.

"Of course not, Oliver," Remus said. He turned back to Dora. "Good morning."

"Good morning," she said, leaning in to kiss him. "Not the only one to have had an exciting night, are you?"

"You have no idea how right you are," Remus said.

Dora looked back to the little girl in understanding.

"How old is she?" Remus asked. They'd finished breakfast and had pushed their plates and cutlery away. They looked at the little girl curled up on the couch. She was clean now, and they'd changed her into an old Weird Sisters t-shirt and a pair of shorts. She was curling up with a throw pillow now, and her sleep looked more peaceful than it had hours ago.

"She's six," Oliver said.

"That's young," Dora said.

Remus chewed his lip. He'd been younger. But unlike Miss Abigail Wood, he'd been kept close.

"I don't know what happened," Oliver said. "Like I said, I can go back to my aunt and uncle if you want, but I don't really think they'll…"

"There's no way she's going back to them," Dora said.

"Hell no," Oliver said fiercely. "No, of course not. I just meant I could maybe find out more about what happened to her. Does it matter much? Who bit her and all that?"

Remus sighed. "Only to the extent that a pack might try to claim her, one day."

"She wouldn't have to join, though," Dora said, the crease between her eyebrows deepening.

"No, of course not," Remus said. "But if she were in a position where she had nowhere to go, that would be something to consider."

"But she's not in that position," Dora said, carefully, evaluating him.

Remus met her eyes and chewed his lip.

"Even if it's just temporary, you're right that she can't go back to where she came from," Remus said, reaching out to take her hand across the table. "I… I don't think we can send her to a werewolf colony either, and Oliver with your Quidditch schedule and your family so close, you can't really keep her around…"

"We have the spare bedroom," Dora shrugged.

Remus let go a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, and exhaled thankfulness.

"Oli?"

They spun back towards the little girl. Oliver bounced to his feet and was sitting next to her in seconds.

"Hey Abi," he said, scooping her up. "Hey… it's my favourite little cousin."

"My favourite big cousin," she mumbled, rubbing at her eyes. She looked around her.

Remus went to kneel in front of her. He held out his hand.

"Good morning, Abigail," he said. "My name's Remus. Oliver's a friend."

"Hi," Abigail said shyly, taking his hand. Then she stopped and her eyes focused on his left shoulder, a spot she'd have no reason to be looking at if it weren't for Remus' own bite.

He looked at her and nodded. Little ones were always quicker on their feet. They slid into their instincts more smoothly.

"Oliver brought you to stay with us for a bit," Remus said.

"Mama said go away," Abigail said quietly.

"Did she?" Remus said. "Well, you're here now, Abigail. This is a nice place for you to stay."

Abigail looked around, confused, and then she frowned. "My stomach hurts."

"Yes, it'll do that," Remus said. "That's why you get to pick whatever you want for breakfast."

"Whatever?" Abigail asked.

"Whatever," Remus promised.

"Even cake?" Abigail asked.

"Cake is an excellent choice," Remus nodded. He gave her a high-five for that.

"Goodness, are all werewolves massive sweet tooths?" Dora asked in the back with a smile. Abigail seemed to notice her for the first time. "Hi, Abigail. My name's Tonks. I'm the one in charge of getting you cake; what's your favourite flavour?"

"Double chocolate," Abigail said.

"Double chocolate? Oh, you and I will get along very well," Remus promised her.

Dora, who was not one to do things half-heartedly, got a full cake dotted with chocolate rosettes and three different icings. It seemed to hit the spot for Abigail who licked the chocolate off her plate. Still, Remus made sure to give her plenty of water and half an aspirin, for the headaches that would follow, too.

"This was a good decision," Dora told Abigail.

"How'd you make your hair purple?" Abigail asked.

"Magic," Dora answered. "Do you like purple?"

Abigail nodded.

"You don't just like purple, Abi," Oliver chimed in. "It's your favourite colour."

"Your favourite colour," Dora said. "Well that's handy. What kind of purple is your favourite?"

"Purple like grapes," Abigail said.

"Oh, did you mean purple like this?" Dora said. And with that her hair changed, and Abigail dropped her fork. She turned to Oliver, jaw dropped. Remus laughed.

"Oli, I like your friends," Abigail said.

"I'm glad you do," Oliver said. "Do you like them enough to spend the day here while I go to work?"

"I have to," Abigail said. "Mama said to go away. She said I was a monster."

"We're not monsters," Remus said quietly, reaching out across the table to put a hand on her wrist. "But if your mother sent you away, then it may be best for you to stay here for a bit."

"Until she remembers she loves me?" Abigail asked.

The three of them looked at each other.

"Do you want more cake, Abigail?" Remus asked.

"Yes," she nodded, which seemed to boost her spirits.

Remus had warned Dora that he wouldn't be able to last the day, no matter how momentous the occasion. And so while Oliver had excused himself to go explain to his Coach why he wouldn't be at practise today, Dora was alone with the little girl.

"What's it say on the t-shirt?" Abigail asked Dora, sometime around lunch.

"It's a Weird Sisters t-shirt," Dora said."Do you know them?"

Abigail shook her head.

"What?" Dora said, feigning shock. "You haven't heard the best music in the world?"

Abigail frowned, tentative for a moment. Then she shook her head 'no.'

"Well," Dora said, drawing her wand and shooting a quick spell at the radio. "Let me change your life…"

The songs came in the order that they wanted, and she started dancing in front of Abigail.

"Do you want to dance with me?" Dora asked, holding her hand out. Abigail nodded and smiled her first big smile of the day, which was how Dora saw that her two front teeth were missing.

"Come on, then," Dora said. Abigail took Dora's hand and laughed when she spun her around.

They were colouring at the kitchen table.

Remus took a chance and drew the outline of a wolf.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked Abigail.

She glanced over and nodded. "A wolf."

"You're right," he said. He let her return to her drawing while he sketched out the outline of a werewolf.

"Have you seen something like this before?" he asked.

A flash of fear shone across Abigail's eyes. "Monster."

"Not always," Remus said. "They're called werewolves. You and I are werewolves."

Abigail shook her head.

"Nope."

"I don't know about that," Remus said. "I'm pretty sure we are. Every time there's a full moon, which means that the moon in the sky looks like…" he traced a quick circle "...this; you and I look like that. It's the shape that we have."

Abigail frowned at this and turned to Remus.

"That's why you don't remember what happened last night, after your mother told you to go away," Remus said gently. "It's why you feel a little funny today. I know I feel very strange. It's how it goes."

Abigail didn't look convinced by this.

"I saw one like this," she said pointing to his sketch. "It bit me."

"One bit me too," Remus said. "That's how we became like this."

She pointed to his shoulder and he nodded.

Abigail chewed her lip.

"Is that why Mama doesn't want me anymore?" Abigail said.

"I think so," Remus said. "I'm very sorry about that. But it is why you and I are a little like family."

"I can stay here?" Abigail asked.

"We would like you to," Remus said. "If you're okay with it."

"Can we have cake for breakfast always?" Abigail asked.

"Only on the days after the full moon, when we have to do this," he said, pointing to his sketch of the werewolf. "As a fair warning, there will be some vegetables."

"I don't do vegetables," Abigail informed him.

"Dora doesn't either," Remus smiled. "We'll think of a way to make it work."

Dora had put her Auror robes on for the occasion. She'd even turned her hair a respectable shade of auburn to truly radiate seriousness, as she met Oliver at Mathilda and Jeremiah Wood's estate in Northumberland.

"Stick close to me," Dora told Oliver. "Don't address them, no matter what they say."

"I could strangle them," Oliver said, jaw clenched.

"I know, so could I," Dora said. And it was true. Even thinking back to how ignorant she'd been before meeting Remus, she couldn't seriously believe that one day she would have done something so… so… One of her hands dropped over the baby—they were trying out the name Teddy for it, and Dora quite liked it. She couldn't imagine doing something like this to Teddy in a thousand years and didn't know how someone could have turned against Abi either.

"It's awful, they're awful," Dora summarized. "But we're not here to settle the score between them and Abigail. We're here to get her favourite clothes, a couple of toys, and whatever she needs for the night, okay?"

"Okay," Oliver said. "And how are you planning on doing that, again?"

"Please," Dora huffed. "The Auror Department's being run by absolute maniacs at the moment. Bursting into peoples' homes for random searches is more than believable."

Oliver left after dinner but promised to come visit Abigail tomorrow after his work. She looked okay with it, and they tried to make bedtime feel like a sleepover to make it decisively less scary. They pushed the crib they'd built in the spare room against the wall and Remus summoned a cot for Abigail to sleep in. They piled on pillows and blankets for her, including a purple blanket Dora had brought back from her successful afternoon outing.

"Tonight won't hurt?" Abigail checked when Remus tucked her in.

"No," he said. "Tonight won't hurt."

"And it won't hurt you?" she asked.

"Not at all," he promised. "Tonight we get to rest. Sleep well, okay?"

"Sleep well," she echoed. Remus turned on the nightlight Dora had also brought back, and left it in the corner for her.

He closed the door and, after listening in for a second, left her to be.

He looked for Dora, and realised she was sitting on the balcony. He prepared two cups of tea before joining her.

"Thank you," she said, taking the cup he offered. He kissed the top of her head before sitting down next to her. They looked down over Muggle London.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Thank you so much for everything today," he said. "You… you're incredible. It's not that I forget that, but you swept in right away to help and keep this little girl safe, without a second of hesitation, and you were so good with her…"

"That shouldn't mean anything," Dora said quietly. "That should just be a given. She's six."

Remus didn't disagree with her, but they both knew better than the hopeful optimism she was presenting.

"This is what you were afraid of, for Teddy," Dora said, looking up to him again.

Remus turned back to look to her.

"The way that two parents just left their child in the woods, on her own, to fend for herself," Dora said. "That kind of… of cold, terminal hatred."

"That and more," Remus said quietly. Then he reached out and took her hand. "But one reason that I'm not so afraid for Teddy anymore is that I know he'll have us in his corner, always."

"Well, now Abi has that too," Dora said. She raised her teacup. "Cheers."

He smiled back to her.

"Cheers," he said.