32. Teases, Talks, and Owl Treats

Sirius was free.

He had survived the Second Battle of the Department of Mysteries, and Fudge had finally been forced to accept that Lord Voldemort had returned and that Sirius had played no part in it. Consequently, Fudge was no longer going to hold the position of Minister of Magic, which would go to Rufus Scrimgeour instead.

Sirius had been severely injured in the battle, and some had suggested he go to St. Mungo's; however, Dumbledore had opted to take him to the Hogwarts hospital wing instead, where it was safer. Sirius had been warded off in a private sector of the wing, and he had returned back to Grimmauld Place last night.

And, to celebrate his freedom, Remus had taken him on a long walk through the chilly streets of London, in which Remus could almost feel like he was a normal man, an ordinary wizard, and they could talk without having to hide, for Sirius was a free man.

The prophecy had smashed, but it was better than ending up in the hands of the Death Eaters. Harry was still emotionally shaken, having fallen for a trap that he had constantly been told not to fall for. Everyone in the Order, as well as Harry and his friends, had survived the battle, and they were now recovering from their injuries.

Remus had spent the last two days at Sirius's side, helping Madam Pomfrey where necessary, and explaining the gist of the ordeal to terrified students in the hallways. Umbridge had been ousted from Hogwarts, though she was still in the hospital wing as well. Remus had also chatted with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the other students who were recovering in the hospital wing.

"Can we go out somewhere?" asked Sirius.

Now that they were both back at Grimmauld Place, Sirius had not stopped asking if he could go outside.

"It's only your second day of freedom," Remus reminded him. "And I don't have to make your decisions for you."

"Will you come with me?" Sirius pleaded.

"Are you scared of being alone?" Remus teased lightly.

"No! Of course not! I just want company, that's all," Sirius defended.

"Well, why don't you ask someone else to go somewhere with you? I have… something to do."

"Oh, really?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. "What exactly do you have planned?"

"I thought I'd visit Tonks," he replied truthfully. "She's in St. Mungo's. I stayed with you for so long in the hospital wing, I need to check on her too."

"Fair enough." Sirius made his trademark pouty face. "I'll ask Bill if he's free, then."

"Sounds good," Remus said, donning his cloak and neatening his hair. "He'll probably be free, anyway."

"Have fun," Sirius called, a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"Thank you," Remus responded, rolling his eyes.

The trip to St. Mungo's took him quite a while, but he found that he really wasn't worried about Tonks. Moody had been keeping them informed, anyway, and she had regained consciousness for about four minutes yesterday before slipping back into sleep. She had been on Dreamless Sleep Potion the entire time.

He finally arrived, entering the building, where there was an unusually long line at the desk where the grumpy welcomewitch sat.

"Can we see Willy Higgs?" asked an old woman timidly, while her husband nodded frantically by her side.

"Third floor," replied the welcomewitch lazily. "Next!"

The next family toddled up in line, a young woman with a child. "Dragon Pox, is it?" asked the welcomewitch. The woman nodded. "Second floor. Next!"

The number of people in front of him slowly diminished in this manner, and finally, he came face to face with the welcomewitch.

"Good morning, I'm here to see Nymphadora Tonks," he stated politely.

"Fourth floor," she informed him in a bored voice. "Next!'

Remus nodded and ascended the flights of stairs until he reached the fourth floor.

He saw Moody in the hallway, talking to one of the Healers.

"Lupin," he acknowledged gruffly. "You're here to see Tonks, aren't you?"

"Yes," Remus answered. "Which room?"

"That one," Moody grunted, pointing to a closed door down the hall. "She's awake. Or at least, she was five minutes ago. Real tough one, she is."

"I know," he replied, smiling. "How are you feeling?"

"It'll take more than that to kill me, lad," Moody growled. "I'm fine."

"Glad to hear it," responded Remus. "I'll… see you later."

"I'm going to be here for the rest of the day," Moody informed him. "If you need anything."

"Thank you," Remus said, and he headed to the room down the hall.

Cautiously, he opened the door as quietly as possible and walked into the room lightly. Tonks looked asleep, peaceful and beautiful as always. He crossed over to where she lay and knelt down beside her, taking her hand in his.

"Remus," she whispered, though her eyes remained closed.

"Tonks," he greeted. "How are you?"

"Okay," she mumbled. "Everything hurts like mad, honestly."

"Would you prefer if I left?" he asked tentatively.

"No," she muttered. "I like your company."

His heart fluttered at the comment, but he forced himself to remain calm. "Would you like to know what happened?"

"Yes."

"Okay," he began, stroking her palm tenderly. "You were hit with a Cruciatus Curse, which was why you fainted. But you managed to shoot a Stunning Spell right at Bellatrix, and the impact of that was huge. She was thrown back and crashed against the stairs, and one of the other Death Eaters stepped on her accidentally, and when Sirius shot another Stunning Spell at her, she collapsed completely. And from there, we managed to round off the rest of the Death Eaters. Of course, then Voldemort himself came… sorry," he added, as she winced, "and Dumbledore came too. And the two of them duelled for a while. The prophecy was smashed, and Fudge saw Vol… Fudge saw him fleeing. So he's been forced to accept that he's back, and Sirius is free."

"Really?" she asked, surprised, her eyes still closed. "I'm happy for him."

He smiled, brushing a lock of hair out of her face. "Yeah. So am I."

"We still need to talk," she murmured. "We didn't get to on Monday. You can now, if you'd like."

"Of course not," he assured her. "We're going to put that on hold until you're completely fine."

"I am fine," she insisted softly. "The Healers are just fussy."

Remus smiled again. "For good reason. Do you want anything, is there anything I can get you?"

"Don't leave," she pleaded. "You're warm. And you feel nice."

He pressed his cheek to her chest, listening to her heartbeat and thinking that she couldn't possibly be more adorable.

They stayed there for a few minutes, taking in the warmth of each other.

Finally, Remus withdrew his face from her chest and hesitated, before asking her a question he had been meaning to ask. "Would it be okay if I went into your flat for a minute?"

"Of course," she replied, and his insides melted. "Mad-Eye can lend you a key, just ask him."

"Thank you," he whispered, and he kissed her forehead softly. "I'll come by later. Feel better."

"I love you."

He paused for a moment, before whispering, "I love you too."

He could swear he saw her smile as he ruffled her hair softly and left the room, closing the door behind him quietly.

"Alastor," he called, unsure of how exactly to phrase his question.

"What?" Moody growled, limping towards him.

"Er, I'm planning to go to Tonks's flat, she said you'd have the key?" he asked as evenly as he could.

Moody raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

"There's… something I need to do there," Remus said evasively.

"Here," Moody grunted, tossing Remus a brass key. "Take good care of her."

He cursed himself mentally as a blush overcame his cheeks. "Thanks. Er, which floor is Bruce Claris on, by the way?"

"First," grunted Moody.

"Thank you." Remus descended the flights of stairs, reaching the first floor at last.

"Can I help you?" trilled the Trainee Healer, Dana Hughes, as he arrived.

"Yeah, do you know where I could find Healer Claris?" asked Remus kindly.

"He's in the middle of something right now. Is there anything you need? I can be of assistance," she tittered.

"I'm sure that would be lovely, but this is a personal matter," he replied, trying hard not to smirk.

"Oh," said the lady, who looked very upset that she couldn't help him. "I'll let him know you came."

"I can wait, it's fine," he assured her.

"Okay, I'll tell him to meet you when he's done," she decided.

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome."

Remus leaned against the wall, watching people who were going in and out, bustling around, chattering, lively and full of energy. He waited patiently for about twenty minutes before a Healer in lime-green robes came towards him.

"Good afternoon, I'm Bruce Claris," the man said with a smile. "Dana told me you wanted to speak?"

"Good afternoon, Healer Claris," Remus greeted politely, "I'm Remus Lupin. I'm a… friend of Nymphadora Tonks, I think you know her?"

"Nice to meet you, Remus," Claris acknowledged. "Yes, I know Tonks pretty well. I take it you know what happened to her owl? Adrian?"

"I do," Remus said. "How is Adrian doing?"

"He's recovering very well," Claris declared. "In fact, he's ready to go home."

"Nymphadora's actually in St. Mungo's herself right now," Remus informed him. "Is there any way I could take him home for her?"

Claris smiled. "I think that should work. Are you two… related?"

"Somewhat," Remus replied, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Why?"

"I mean, you called her Nymphadora."

He smirked. "Let's just say she lets me get away with it."

Claris gave a knowing smile. "I see. Would you like to see Adrian?"

Remus nodded. "Thanks."

Claris led him to a secluded wing in the back of the ward, in which there was a small bed, on top of which was her owl, Adrian. His left leg was bandaged, and he looked a little skinny, but he looked otherwise normal.

"Here he is," Claris announced. "He should be able to fly, but I wouldn't have him delivering messages for a few days. Just to be safe."

"Okay," Remus agreed. "By the way, Bruce, I'd like to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"Yes," Remus said. "Nymphadora told me about how you offered to help Adrian. Thank you so much. He means a lot to her, and he wouldn't have survived without you."

Claris nodded. "It's my duty. Besides, it was an honor to take care of Adrian. He's been a really good patient."

Adrian hooted from beside them.

"It really means a lot to her," Remus told him. "She'd be here to thank you herself, but…"

"No worries," Claris assured him, smiling. "I understand."

Remus hesitated, wondering whether or not he should broach the subject. Finally, he decided to. "I also heard about your wife and daughter."

Claris's face grew somber. "Oh."

Remus traced a scar on his forehead subconsciously. "I was bitten by Fenrir Greyback when I was four. Since then, I've been afflicted with lycanthropy."

Claris paled. "I'm really sorry." He met his gaze solidly with no indication of fear or disgust.

Remus nodded. "Naturally, I hate him as much as I'm sure you do. My life has been made infinitely harder because of it. But I've learned a lot from it, the most important being that… that it's possible to live a happy life even with problems like these. I'm really sorry about Irene and Alisa. If there's anything we can do to help you, at any point in time, just contact us. I'm sure Tonks will be happy to help as well."

"Thank you," Claris said, smiling. "It means a lot to me. And if you ever need something for your lycanthropy, I'll be there for you."

Remus smiled as well. "Thank you."

"People need to get used to the fact that werewolves are still people," said Claris, shaking his head sadly. "And they go through ten times the struggles any normal person would."

"That's true," agreed Remus. "Unfortunately, people aren't going to change any time soon."

"One day they will," Claris said. "Now that… You-Know-Who, and all that…"

"We'll have to be ready when it comes," Remus sighed. "You know, Tonks has already made a vow to kill Greyback."

Claris chuckled. "For you?"

"For both of us."

Claris grinned. "Thank you. Thank Tonks, too, when you see her next." He scooped Adrian up onto his forearm and ushered him into a cage. "And here's her owl. You can take him home."

Remus blushed. He hadn't realized until now that he had given Claris the impression that he lived with Tonks. He accepted the cage and held it gingerly in his left hand, shaking Claris's hand firmly with his right. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," Claris replied. "Take care."

Remus nodded and headed down to the ground floor, exiting the hospital. He then apparated to right outside Tonks's flat, using the key Moody gave him to enter.

The room was bright and welcoming, though he shivered at the memory of what had happened the last time he had been here. He was still in shock that Tonks trusted him enough to let him come here on his own.

Adrian hooted at the sight of home.

"You'll be back here soon," Remus assured him, temporarily letting him free from the cage. He soared around the room, chirping happily. "We're going to Grimmauld for a few days. When Nymphadora gets back from St. Mungo's, then you're going to come right back here."

Why was he even talking to the owl? Oh, well.

Remus gathered a sack of Eeylops Premium Owl Treats from a cupboard, and plopped it on the counter. He removed his cloak and draped it over the cage, ushering Adrian back inside. After he had secured the cage, he quickly conjured a vase of lilies on the counter for Tonks, whenever she'd see them.

"Come on," he muttered. "Let's go home."

Sirius had not yet returned to Grimmauld Place when Remus entered with Adrian. As soon he reached his room, he opened the cage, allowing Adrian to fly around happily.

"Do you miss her?" he asked, amused, as the owl landed on his shoulder and nipped at him affectionately. "So do I. But she'll be fine before we know it. She's strong."

Most owls were able to sense his lycanthropy, which meant that they tended to fear him. Adrian, however, did nothing of the sort; on the contrary, he was nuzzling against Remus's face while perched on his shoulder. Remus didn't know whether this was because Adrian himself didn't mind it, or because his owner didn't. The other owl that Tonks had used to write to him after his transformation had been friendly as well.

Whatever it was, Remus was grateful for a companion who he could spill his heart out to, a companion who wouldn't tease him at every opportunity as Sirius did, a companion who was a constant reminder of the woman he wanted. And even if only for a few days, he was quite glad to have Adrian.

About half an hour later, Sirius burst into the house. "Moony?" he called.

"My room," Remus called back.

Sirius came galloping up. "How was St. Mungo's?"

"Fine," Remus replied. "I met Tonks, I talked to Mad-Eye, and…"

"What's that?" Sirius asked, pointing to Adrian.

"If you had just let me finish," grumbled Remus. "This is her owl, Adrian. He was in St. Mungo's because he was attacked by a bunch of Muggles, that's why she met with Claris. I brought him over because he was discharged. I also talked to Claris for a while. Then I stopped by Tonks's flat, picked up this," he gestured to the sack of owl treats, "and came home."

"You stopped by her flat?" Sirius asked, his eyebrows raised. "Which means you know how to get in and where it is, which means you've been there before, which means… wow, this is getting serious!"

"Shut up, Sirius. I don't even want to know the implications of what you just said."

"Keep telling yourself that," Sirius replied, grinning. "Was Tonks awake? What did she say?"

"Yeah, she was awake. Nothing much, honestly. I told her what happened in the battle, and then some other stuff happened. Stuff which I am not about to disclose, especially not to you."

Sirius pouted again, which Remus pointedly ignored.

"What did Bill say?" Remus asked, changing the topic.

"Oh, Molly's going to be hosting a party at some point in the next few weeks, apparently. The entire Order will be invited, though if Snivellus shows up, I will hex him to the moon, and all of her children- well, except for Percy- will be there, as will Harry and Hermione. And she's been fussing over it nonstop, only it's supposed to be a surprise." He waggled his eyebrows. "If anyone asks, I didn't tell you."

"Please, Sirius, you know I'd never rat you out." The metaphor was all too reminding of Peter. "So we have to go to this party?"

"Of course. You know Molly, there's no way you're missing out on this one. It seems grand, anyway."

"Hmm. Did he say anything else?"

"Yeah, he's planning to propose to Fleur sometime soon."

"Really?"

Sirius nodded. "Only this is supposed to be a secret too. He told me I could tell you, but if Molly hears…" He mimed drawing his finger across his neck.

"My lips are sealed. That's pretty much it?"

"Yep. See, I didn't hide anything from you!"

"I didn't hide anything from you either, Sirius, I just chose not to go into detail. I gave you a general idea."

Sirius snorted. "Anyway, expect an invitation from Molly sometime this week. It's going to be fancy."

Remus groaned. He and fancy had never quite gotten along.


A/N: A sort of prelude to the next chapter, which is another of my favorites! It's pretty long, too. Get ready for a fluff overboard at the Burrow, and stay tuned for chapter 33!

Thank you SO much to Minie, KZ55, G. E. Gabriels, Guest, James Birdsong, TillyQ, LoquaciousLupin, Shraddha Arora, maraudersfanfictions, HeadIntheCloudsForever, Fanfictionlover0987654321, Turannoktonnos, Guest, XMisfitLeaderX, SnapeFan777, darija305, Guest, cafei-au-lei, Jan, LilLillies, tiger-lilyfrilly, ThePinkTea, and HJP ROX, you guys are AMAZING! Thank you so much for your reviews! I love hearing what you have to say! :) :) :)