Author's note: Thank you, fanfiction gods, for the prompt "Only One Bed" because this was a fun time. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the canon, world, and characters portrayed below and you can tell I'm not J.K. Rowling because #transrights

Hogwarts: Ravenclaw, Assignment #7, Mythology Task 2: Write about having about a one-night stand.

Content Warnings: Sexual content, innuendos

Extremely Close But Incredibly Far

7:46 PM

They froze at the intersection, wondering which way to go. Blood was pounding in Remus's ears but he could still hear the Death Eater's footsteps behind them—catching up quickly. Between her twisted ankle and Remus's full moon fatigue, they weren't going to be able to run much longer, and Mould-on-the-Wold was so peppered with wizards and their respective anti-Apparition spells and wards that it was hard to find a place from which they could Apparate away without splinching. He was starting to think that they wouldn't have a choice but to make a stand and duel their pursuers, not that he liked being outnumbered…

"Do you trust me?" Tonks said at his side. He turned towards her and she cast the spell as soon as he'd finished saying: "Yes."

If he hadn't had a Disguising Spell cast on him before he would have been confused at the sudden tingling in his face. Before him, Dora's features changed too—she turned her hair into a very boring and unremarkable chestnut, her eyes became rounder as their grey lightened to a soft blue, and her cheeks got thinner as her face lengthened. She dropped down a few inches so that she was a little shorter than he was—and as he processed these changes, she grabbed his hands and pulled him into a building to their right. A bell chimed as they entered and she cursed at the noise it made. Remus pulled her away from the door as the Death Eaters pursuing them darted past the building. He tried not to breathe out too hard.

"Hullo," a new voice chimed in, nearly scaring Remus out of his skin. That's when he realized where, exactly, they were. A hotel lobby with dated decor, a sad little fan doing its best, a sunken sofa, and a desk behind which a woman smiled politely.

"Wotcher?" Dora asked in a fairly convincing Northern Irish accent, strolling to the desk casually. "My husband and I were wondering if you had any rooms left for the night. We missed our bus, see."

"Oh, of course! They're so unreliable around here, some people say our station's cursed..." the woman said, swiveling around to open a cabinet full of keys. She frowned. "That's… odd. Let me go check in the back."

She slipped away.

"What are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"Listen, we're not going to find a place from which to Apparate with those absolute buffoons chasing us," she said. "I rather we not be on the streets tonight, especially not with the… package."

Remus put his hands in his pockets and felt for the small stone he'd unceremoniously stuffed in there as they'd high-tailed their way out of Antonin Dolohov's house—not that it was simply a stone. No, it was a soothsaying stone they'd been tracking ever since Mundungus has reported that it was off the streets. The Order was afraid that Voldemort would use it to anticipate their moves and, more importantly, Harry's whereabouts and had vowed to locate it and snatch it back. It had taken them all summer to find it. He and Dora's heist would have been successful if, as it turned out, Amycus Carrow hadn't been able to host his Death Eater friends for their weekly Wizarding Chess tournament. Of course, it had had to be this Thursday that they'd all turned up at Dolohov's. Although, Remus supposed that hadn't stopped their heist form being successful since he currently had the stone in his pocket. But he and Tonks still had to survive the night, or else that would sour the victory.

"I agree," Remus said. "But…"

"I'm sorry for charming you," Dora said quietly. "I just had to change the brief."

"The brief?"

"Yeah," she said. "You know, the brief, the thing they were looking for. Pale man with brown eyes traveling with a tall woman with pink hair. I made you blond, by the way. It doesn't suit you I'm afraid."

Before Remus could answer that, the receptionist reemerged with a key in hand. When she asked how they'd like to pay Remus turned a few of the sickles rattling around in his pocket into Muggle bank notes, sorry that he didn't have any of the real thing to offer her.

"It'll be upstairs, down the hall and first room on your right," she said pleasantly. "We serve breakfast from 6:00 to 9:00 in the bedroom downstairs."

"Thank you so much," Tonks said. She took Remus by the hand and tugged him towards the staircase the receptionist had indicated before he could fully process the way she'd intertwined his fingers with him. He caught Dora when she tripped on the stairs up.

"You alright love?" the receptionist asked, worried.

"Yes!" she called. "Yes, don't mind me, I'm extremely clumsy!"

"Well, good thing you've got a husband who's such a catch," the receptionist said with a wink.

Dora dignified that with a laugh as Remus blushed and shepherded her up the stairs quickly. The floorboards creaked under his worn shoes and her clunky boots as they followed the directions to their room. Remus unlocked it and held the door for Dora as she slipped in. Before he'd even shut the door and locked it behind them, she was already scanning the room for any signs of magic; whispering detection spells and checking the closet. It was when she lay down on the floor to check under the bed that… well, that Remus realized that there was only one bed.

Dora had told the receptionist that they were married… Oh no.

He banished the thought and made himself useful; as Dora checked the room he started casting defensive and protective spells to keep them safe.

"They're heading back to Dolohov's," Tonks reported shortly after. She was standing by the window, peeking out the curtains. Thankfully, her features had returned to their normal abnormal shapes and colours. He could feel the charm on his face wearing off too. "They reconvened and had some sort of fight, but are heading back now. I don't think it's safe to go back out there yet, but it seems we're good to hunker down here for the night."

"Good," Remus said. "I'll send Sirius a Patronus, just so the Order doesn't worry."

"Good idea," Dora said. "I suppose this gets us out of the meeting too. Thank Merlin. Mad-Eye was going to go over proper wand handling and storage techniques. Again."

"I suppose one Order member too many lost a buttock cheek to poor wand placement this week," Remus said, which made her laugh. But then when she stepped away from the window he saw her wince as she put weight on her ankle.

"Sit down, let me have a look at that," Remus said. She hesitated but then she sat down on the rickety chair in the corner. Remus unzipped his jacket and pushed his sleeves up to his elbows before kneeling in front of her and gently taking her ankle. She winced.

"Sorry," he said. She shrugged and chewed on her lip as he tried to remove her clunky boot as gently as possible and rolled up the cuff of her jeans. She didn't look quite as colourful and chaotic as usual today, since she'd known that they'd be going undercover. She looked quite normal, actually, in her leather jacket and low-hanging jeans and black t-shirt. Her toenails, however, were painted lime green and turquoise.

He wasn't much for healing magic, but he'd rolled his own ankle enough times while readjusting to his body after the full moon to be of some use. He propped her foot against his legs as he knelt before her and cast spells for cooling and compression. He fetched the rubbish bin for the bathroom so he could upturn it and give her something to rest her ankle on.

"Thank you," she said.

"It's nothing," Remus said.

"No, I've gotten first aid in the field before," she grinned. "Believe me, that was very good. And gentle."

She shrugged off the jacket before Remus could read the pins on the lapel, and reached into her back pocket for a well-loved pack of cards.

"I saw a vending machine downstairs," she said. "Do you want to grab some snacks and play a few games?"

"That sounds nice," Remus said.

11:12

And it was nice. For a while. They argued viciously over who got to eat the crisps and accused each other of cheating mercilessly and ridiculously. Remus' stomach was in stitches most of the night as they made up new house rules that made their version of the game unplayable. But then, his exhausted body started to betray him and Tonks, who had worked overnight last night, yawned too. It was rather inevitable that they were going to need to get some sleep. In this hotel room. With the one bed in it.

"You should take the bed," Remus said as casually as possible the next time she yawned. She frowned as she shuffled the cards.

"What?" she asked.

"You seem tired," Remus said apologetically. "I used to work nights, it really does a number on your sleep."

"You did?" Dora asked.

"I've worked a lot of odd jobs," Remus said. The bar had been one of his better jobs, frankly, even if it was loud and crowded and smelled terrible—like sweat, cheap beer, and urine on a bad night. There'd been a lot of bad nights, but the regulars had tipped well.

"I'm used to it," Tonks said, rubbing her eyes. "Rookies always work nights, and I've been the rookie forever. I can't wait for them to hire somebody else."

Remus doubted she'd get her wish anytime soon; if Fudge were to hire more Aurors, it might be construed as a sign that something was amiss in the Wizarding World—which was the absolute last message Fudge wanted to send. Still, he didn't say it.

"Well, your ankle then…" Remus said.

"My ankle's perfectly fine after your bit of charm work. Besides, you look like you could use some rest yourself," Tonks said. She hesitated. "Is it because… the moon's a waxing gibbous and all…"

"Yes," Remus said, surprised that she knew her astronomy. Most people didn't. "Did Sirius tell you?"

"No, I just… I'd noticed that you were especially tired at Order meetings sometimes and did the math," she said. She ran a hand through her pink hair. "Sorry, is that strange or invasive..?"

"No, no," Remus said. "I'm simply not used to people noticing. That's all."

"Well tell Mad-Eye he trained me well—he might actually believe it from you," she said. Remus smiled, but she wiped the grin off his face so quickly only seconds after. "Anyways, that's why you should take the bed."

"I…" Remus said. He shook his head. "Absolutely not, Nymphadora."

"Tonks."

"Dora," Remus said, trying out the nickname he'd been thinking of her with when… well, when he thought about her. Which was a perfectly normal amount of times per day, of course. She paused when he said it as if contemplating a new food and weighing its texture, taste, and weight in her mouth.

"Dora's fine," she agreed. "But don't go telling Sirius and the others that they can get away with it too."

"I won't," Remus promised, not sure how to feel about being singled out, but definitely feeling… things. "As long as you take the bed."

"Fine," she said. "But you're coming with me."

Remus' eyes widened.

"Oh, come on," she said. "It's a big bed and we're both adults. No sense in either of us getting a shite night of sleep."

Remus had no answer to that because, well, she was right in her practicality. Damn her. There was nothing Remus could say that wouldn't make the situation weird and awkward and uncomfortable, now.

"Alright," he said even if the words were nearly painful. He was now acutely aware that he didn't have any sort of toothpaste or dental hygiene supplies with him. How had nobody invented a tooth-brushing spell yet? "If you're sure…"

"I'm always sure," Tonks said, shrugging. She pushed herself up from the bed and tossed her last three cards onto the discard pile on the comforter. "I'm going to go splash some water on my face and go to bed before you change your mind and go back to being difficult."

"I am not being difficult," Remus said.

"You're being a little difficult," she said. She eased herself back on her feet and winced when she put pressure back on her foot.

"Here, let me help you," Remus said. She opened her mouth to stubbornly refuse, but Remus interrupted. "Who's being difficult now?"

She made a face to show exactly how funny she thought he was being, but extended her arm to slip it over his shoulders so he could help her limp to the bathroom.

"I'm leaving you outside, though," she said.

"I—" Remus blushed and she laughed. He should have relaxed when she made it clear it was a joke but he couldn't. Sweet Merlin, he couldn't.

"Maybe you were being shy, not difficult," she said.

"That sounds like me," he admitted. She smiled before stepping into the bathroom, leaning heavily on the wall. Remus didn't like her odds of keeping her balance on one foot, given her overall track record and physics as he'd seen it, but he went to go stand by the window to keep an eye on the street to give her space. He was scanning the streets for signs of movement or activity and was deliberating whether to be thankful that the Death Eaters had given up on chasing them, or cursing them for being such fools so that he couldn't make up an excuse about them setting up watches for the night. That's when he heard the shower turn on. Oh, Merlin.

12:02

The spell she'd used to dry off had only half-worked, leaving her magenta hair damp and messy, but Remus, of course, emerged from the bathroom perfectly dry. The clothes he was wearing even seemed to have been magically refreshed. She should have paid more attention to her mother when she'd offered to show her all those housekeeping spells. Impersonating the milkman had seemed much more interesting at the time, unfortunately, and she supposed it did make for a better story in the long run. But it was an inconvenience at the moment.

"Does your ankle need another cooling spell for the night?" Remus asked politely.

"No, I think it's okay," Tonks said. She was still wrapping her head around the fact that he was calling her Dora. Her mind, and the pit of that stomach for that matter, were doing a very elaborate but idiotic series of jumps and flips as she wondered if that meant he thought of her sometimes.

Remus nodded and hesitated before taking off the dark green cardigan he was wearing, the one with grey stripes at the wrists and hem that was especially well-loved. He was wearing a simple white t-shirt underneath.

"It's a little hot," he said. "I read an article recently that some protective charms, when used in tandem, can trap heat in a room as well."

"Really?" she asked. "Where did you read that?"

"The Journal of Defensive Magic Studies," Remus said, folding the cardigan and laying it at the foot of the bed, on the side she wasn't lying on. The gesture was soft and careful and gentle and, wow she had no reason to be looking at it so profoundly.

Get it together, Tonks.

"Sirius quite likes it, it reminds him of his charm-breaking days, so he has it delivered to my old home and in my name," Remus said. "Sometimes I read them before delivering them to Grimmauld Square."

"I see," Tonks said. "Maybe I can find copies through the Auror Department."

"Possibly," Remus said politely. He was standing by the side of the bed, looking nervous.

"Are you going to be difficult again?" she asked him. He looked like a deer in the headlights, which was somewhat funny. She was making it even funnier than it was in her head, so she could laugh at him instead of thinking about their strange arrangement herself. Because technically, she was also in the headlights.

"I am never the difficult one," Remus said. He pulled the sheets back and sat down in bed carefully. She watched him take off his watch, a bronze one whose leather wristband was engraved with constellations, and gently put it on his side table. He reached into his pocket for the stone they'd stolen and put it on the nightstand table, whispering protective charms around it just in case. Then he fluffed his pillows and swung his legs up into bed, pulling the sheets over himself loosely to leave most of them on her side of the bed. She watched him wince when he lay down and then turn so he was sleeping on his left shoulder, facing her.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I can only sleep on my side. It's an old injury, it never healed quite right."

"That's alright," she said, even if her heart was beating in her throat because of how close he was. "I don't mind."

Remus swallowed hard.

"Okay," he said. Somehow, he smelled clean like laundry soap and tea leaves and chamomile. She'd ask him how, but that would just seem weird—even if they were in the same bed and it was, arguably, not her fault that the smell of him was all over the place and so good that her nose was seeking it out.

This is not what "getting it together" means, damn it.

"I'll get the light," she said, hoping that that would help. At least then there wouldn't be amber-flecked brown eyes to deal with.

That's not it either, champ.

She reached for her wand and gave it a wave, dimming the lights. She blindly put it back on the side table, nearly rolling off the bed while she reached in the darkness, and then settled back with her head on her pillow. She took a deep breath, to try and settle down to sleep, but her heart kept racing.

12:18

He should have been more thoughtful and called the other side of the bed, that way she didn't have to deal with him facing her all night long. That was strange, undoubtedly strange, but his shoulder was flaring up as it usually did when the full moon was on the horizon. Still, she'd seemed serious that she didn't mind… it was a little hard for Remus to believe, frankly. But it was also hard for Remus to believe that an Auror would accept a mission with a werewolf, and it was also hard for Remus to believe that she wouldn't mind being in the same room as him—let alone the same bed. So this, if anything, fit the strange pattern of Nymphadora Tonks. Or Dora; she'd seemed alright with him calling her Dora, even if that was a strange compromise she hadn't seemed willing to make with anybody else. What did that mean?

He heard her breathing and saw her shape in the dark rise and fall as she slept. Usually he fell asleep to the sound of Padfoot's breathing, if nothing else, and the rhythm was much different and much softer. Tonks' breathing was peaceful and even. It felt strange, to have someone who wasn't his best friend disguised as a dog so close and taking up space in the same bed. Remus had had partners before, obviously, but he'd only felt comfortable getting this close with other werewolves. And the problem with other werewolves was that it never lasted, because the drive to secrecy—the fear of being near anybody who might get found out as a monster and could drag you down with them—was always stronger than anything Remus could offer. And, stronger yet, was the offer Greyback could make— acceptance, community, shamelessness, freedom… Remus could never offer that either. That was where Maria had gone, and Philip, and Jacqueline… well, presumably. He hadn't heard of them since. Valentine had left the country altogether when his family had started getting suspicious. Remus couldn't seem to offer anything worth keeping and, honestly, he couldn't blame any of them. There were impossible choices that needed to be made for impossible reasons.

But Tonks didn't seem to factor into his list of things that were and weren't possible. Dora didn't, that was.

12:48

She shifted so she faced away from Remus, away from the soft warmth that came from his breathing, but then she turned back because she missed it. Then she decided that was stupid and flipped onto her back to look at the ceiling—since that was the universal position of lovesick teenagers having emotional crises and she was, apparently, regressing.

Sweet fucking Merlin, what was the matter with her?

1:13

Remus slipped out of bed to go to the bathroom and splash cold water on his face to see if that would help him sleep, walking carefully in the dark so that he wouldn't wake her up and disturb her sleep. Why couldn't he sleep?

1:34

She relaxed when he'd come back to bed and the other side of the mattress had dipped again. He hadn't been gone long, but she'd missed the warmth of him even if that was silly. The man was like a furnace, what could she say? She didn't mind though, her feet were always cold at night.

Shut the fuck up, she told whichever part of her goddamn mind had made that connection. This is a one-time, emergency situation. Don't get carried away.

A one-time situation. That was how she dealt in feelings anyways, she should be used to it. She didn't tend to waste her time with second dates if the first one hadn't gone on well, and she tended not to bother with dates at all if a one-time, one-night situation would scratch whatever itch had made her go out to the pub in the first place. The only person she'd actually kissed twice was Charlie Weasley—once when he'd been wondering if he actually fancied girls (no), and once when he'd been wondering if he fancied anybody at all (also no). This way was more convenient, really, when you never looked the same twice in a row, when you were an Auror with a disgusting schedule and several confidential and highly-secretive portfolios to manage. She didn't mind, but it left her very ill-equipped for situations… well, situations like these.

Kingsley had given her a shit-eating grin when Mad-Eye had assigned both her and Remus to the Dolohov Heist. This was partially because Kingsley was more prone to being a shit than most people assumed, but it was also because he'd clocked Tonks from miles away, weeks ago. Since, he'd teased her relentlessly about how much she looked at Remus during Order meetings or how she always turned up to Grimmauld Place early to lounge around with him and Sirius, or stayed late. I'm an Auror, it's my job to notice these things, he'd joked. I'm an Auror too, it's my job to put people in their place, she'd snapped back, annoyed. But she knew Kingsley was right. As much as she'd tried to compartmentalize her own nonsense during their mission, she hadn't anticipated having to do it for a whole night.

Merlin, she should not have gotten into bed with this man. What chance did she have of being a reasonable and proper grown-up now?

2:00

Remus was keenly aware that he was going to pay for his lack of sleep when the full moon came and went, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't get himself to fall asleep. At least he wasn't all bunched up and tightly-wound as he'd been at the start of the night. He was quite comfortable with Dora, actually, and he'd sunk into his pillows and into the mattress quite well. Of course, when her hand grazed his arm under the sheet, he shot up like an arrow and she subsequently shot up too, reaching for her wand wildly. This led to her crashing out of bed.

"Tonks are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" she said, pushing herself back up.

"Your ankle—"

"It's fine," she said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I'm so sorry, I think I just finally nodded off and my hand slipped…"

"You were just falling asleep?" Remus asked. He reached for the lamp at his bedside table and flicked it on. The lightbulb wasn't very powerful, but he saw that she'd turned the same pink as her hair, which was adorably disheveled and full of static from the pillowcase. "You haven't been sleeping?"

"I—no," she admitted, settling back onto the mattress. "I don't know what's gotten into me."

"It's alright," he said. "I haven't either."

"You haven't?" she asked, mouth dropping into a rather adorable 'o.' Remus was using that word far too much, but it was true.

"No," he said. "I don't know what's gotten into me either."

"Well, there's no point in us both lying awake in the dark," she said, huffing as she pulled the sheets back over herself. Remus settled back down too. "Do you want to play I Spy?"

Remus laughed.

"I think we'll run out of things to spy rather quickly," Remus said.

"Fine," Dora said. "What about 20 questions?"

"You'll have to show me how to play," Remus said.

"Didn't you play in school?" she asked.

"I went to Hogwarts in prehistoric times, remember?"

It was her turn to laugh.

2:45

Of course, Remus was incredibly intelligent and good at riddles—so his questions were always good, his speculations were always right, and she never managed to guess his properly. So, they gave up on the game and just started asking easier questions to one another.

"Where did you live when you were little?"

"All over the place. You?"

"A town called Twyford. Where were you born?"

"Cardiff."

"Do you speak Welsh?"

"It's my turn to ask a question."

"Go on, then," she said.

"Where do you actually live now?"

"London. Do you speak Welsh?"

"Yes."

"Can you say something in Welsh?"

"Yes."

"That was English."

"You asked me if I could, you didn't tell me I should—my turn again."

"Smart ass."

Remus grinned and that grin made her stomach flip because it was playful and rare and just for her.

3:12

He couldn't remember the last time he'd talked this long to someone new, someone who hadn't already proved that they were safe and good and not going anywhere. Maybe when he'd been teaching at Hogwarts? Remus wasn't sure and he wasn't keen on thinking it through now. It was much better to just lay in bed, his head propped on his arm as he faced Dora and listened to her tell him about how she'd earned the biggest detention of her Hogwarts career.

It was nowhere even close to the story he had lined up for her, and he was excited to tell her about The Time They Made The Staircases Freeze before an exam Peter had been scared shitless of failing. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so excited to tell someone a story, even if it was about a long-gone, long-forgotten, long-hurting past.

What mattered was that he was sure that he could get some laughter out of her and that he badly wanted to.

3:42

She was starting to fall asleep and she could tell Remus was too, even if his head was still propped up on his arm and he was making a valiant effort to keep his whiskey brown eyes from fluttering. The even bigger tell was how much more easily the questions and answers were coming, how freely they flowed back and forth.

"What's your favourite part of being an Auror?" Remus asked.

"I can make the world a little bit safer, even if there's no real justice for the things dark wizards do," she said. "What would you do if you could do anything in the world?"

"I would teach again," Remus said. "How did you pick the grey colour for your eyes?"

"That's their natural colour," she said.

"Oh," Remus said, seemingly surprised. "I… I couldn't help but think that they were tailored."

"Why?" she asked.

"Nevermind, it's your turn to ask a question."

"That's my question. Why?"

"Because they're extraordinary," Remus said, which made her stomach churn and her cheeks blush. She rested her head on her pillow, then.

"It's your turn again," she said, because she didn't know how to answer something so sweet and so kind.

"Is your ankle really feeling better or are you lying to get me off your case?"

"Both," she said with a smile.

"I knew it. Do you—"

"My question," she reminded him. "What happened to your shoulder? For the injury that never quite healed?"

"I broke my arm during a full moon, when I was just out of Hogwarts, and it didn't have time to heal quite right before the next," Remus said.

"I'm sorry," Dora said.

"It's alright," Remus said. "It's the least of my problems."

"Still it's not fair," Dora said. "Someone should have found a way to heal that kind of injury, someone should have cared enough to think of a potion or something."

"Fair?" Remus asked. He seemed troubled by the word, and thought for a moment, looking at her. "You truly don't mind that I'm a werewolf, do you?"

"No," she said.

"Outside of the game," Remus insisted. "This is a real question."

"They were all real questions," Dora said, sitting up. "And no, I really don't. It doesn't change much, does it?"

"It changes plenty."

"Not for me," she shrugged. "Not unless it's things I need to know to… to be better to you, I suppose."

Remus didn't answer, he just looked up at her from where he lay. Those brown eyes of his were processing something but they were also, undeniably, looking at her. In her eyes. Extraordinary, he'd said. Merlin, it was late. Merlin, she barely had her wits about her. Merlin, she liked being told she had extraordinary eyes.

"Whose turn is it?" Remus asked softly.

"I don't know," she said. "I lost track. I don't really want to play anymore."

"What do you want to do?" he asked.

That answer came easily too. She leaned down and kissed him, gently at first but then he put a hand between her shoulder blades just as gently and Dora lost what little composure she'd still been clinging on to—if it could even be called that. She swung her leg over Remus to straddle his hips and both of his hands found their way to her hair, which was just long enough to give him something to hold onto as he pulled her closer.

It didn't take much effort on his end, Dora was more than happy to press herself against him as completely as she could to finally close that annoyingly polite gap they'd maintained for most of the night. No more of that, apparently. She made a sound she couldn't describe when Remus's hands both trailed down her side and settled on her hips. He removed them immediately and turned his head aside so he could say, "sorry."

"No," she said. "Put them right back so you can take off my shirt or so help me."

"What if I decide to be difficult again?" Remus said.

"You're never the difficult one," she reminded him before bending down again to kiss him senseless—not caring how messy her hair was or how bad her breath probably was or anything else.

And indeed, he wasn't.

8:15

Remus woke up first—warm, content, mellow, and missing not most but all of his clothes. Right. Right, right, right.

He'd fallen asleep facing Dora's side of the bed because of his bad shoulder of course, but she'd tucked herself against him and she was still sleeping. And having a very serious dream, apparently, based on the furrow between her eyes and above her button nose.

Extraordinary. He'd told her she had extraordinary eyes. Merlin, what had he done that for? It wasn't wrong—on the contrary, it was very true. But he had no business saying things like that to her; to someone much more successful, much more healthy, much more lively, and much younger too. But he had, and that was the least of it, really.

He had to work extra hard to get himself worked up as those thoughts crossed his head. The rest of him was much too comfortable laying next to her and had gotten a wonderful few hours of sleep, even if he knew… well, that he had no business, really. It was as simple as that.

He forced himself to quietly pull his arm out from under her and sit up in bed. When he was convinced that he hadn't woken her up, he collected his clothes and went to freshen up.

9:35

When she woke up and blinked the sleep out of her eyes, Remus was sitting on the chair by the window reading a book. Where had he been carrying that book while they'd been running from Death Eaters? She had no idea, but she also wasn't surprised. There was enough light streaming through the curtains for him to read by and for the grey in his hair and the amber in his eyes to turn silver and gold.

She sat up and stretched her arms over her head, not caring about how well or how little the sheets stayed put. He looked up towards her. His eyes were soft and bright before he averted his eyes and looked down again.

"Good morning," he said. "I'm afraid you missed breakfast, but I went downstairs and got us coffee."

The smell finally hit her and she looked to her side table to see a cup there, waiting for her.

"Brilliant," she said. "Thank you."

She reached for the cup and curled up in bed with it, blowing over the hot liquid. He must have cast a spell on the mug to keep the coffee fresh and warm because it was delicious. He must also have noticed that she took her coffee with just a splash of milk but an ungodly amount of sugar at an Order meeting. Remus looked up at her again, chewing his lip.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked.

"I did," he said. "I really did. And you?"

"I was out for the count," she said. He picked up his own cup, which had been resting on the windowsill, and took a drink at the same time she did. She wanted to ask him to come sit in bed with her while they drank, but that felt a little too forward given the… well, the nervous energy Remus was radiating. She'd had the time of her life last night, and not just after they'd taken their clothes off. The questions, the games, the conversations… it had all been so easy and intimate that she felt like she might have dreamed it. Dut suddenly she was afraid that he hadn't.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I should be asking you that," Remus said.

"I think I made it quite clear that I was enjoying myself," she said. Her toes curled under the sheets just thinking about it. "And I took a fair amount of initiative."

"You did," he said. He smiled for a moment, but then hid it in his mug as he took another sip. Hmm. So he didn't regret it. He was trying to.

He cleared his throat.

"You're wonderful," Remus said. "I… You're wonderful in about a hundred different ways."

"And flexible," she said. He blushed but carried on.

"But it would probably be best if last night were a… a singularity," he said.

A singularity. Like a one-time situation. That was usually fine by her; she was usually the one who made that suggestion, actually. Except this didn't feel right. Not with this sweet man who'd gotten her coffee while she slept and sat by the sunlight to drink his own cup with a good book in hand. No, this morning felt different than the other mornings she'd had.

"I'm not sure about that," she said.

Remus seemed taken aback, like he hadn't imagined a scenario where she'd disagree with him.

"What?" he asked.

"Listen, I'm the queen of one night stands," she said. "I can get into it if you want, but just trust me that I am. And this wasn't one."

"It wasn't?" Remus asked.

"Nope," she said, popping her 'p.' "One-night stands or 'singularities' as you say it aren't meant to be important. That's why they don't stick. But the way you talked to me and the way I talked to you and the hours we spent staring at the ceiling instead of sleeping and the way you kissed me… those were important."

Remus was quiet for a bit.

"And so you think it'll stick?" Remus hazarded.

"I think so and I hope so," she said. She took another sip of her coffee but didn't take her eyes off of him. He didn't look away from her either, until something seemed to click in his head and he turned away. She chewed on her lip too, then, realizing that this was going to be more complicated for him and, by consequence, complicate her life too. But she also knew that that didn't really matter, because she was right.

"We'll see," he said.

"We will," she said. She put her mug down. "Until then, I'll get some clothes on so that we can start finding a way out of here and get that stone to Dumbledore."

"Okay," Remus said, looking down at his book shyly as she slid out of bed. She smiled, and pulled her t-shirt on before gathering the rest of her clothes and wandering over to the bathroom.

Who was being difficult now?

WC: 6367