It Couldn't Hurt

By Twixxa

Dedication: As stupid as this may sound, I dedicate this to my cat, Nutmeg. She can always tell when I'm stressed (and I was while writing this) and she always made my day. Geek!

Disclaimer: Honestly, do you really think I'm J.K. Rowling and have all the rights to anything HP-related? Well, if you do, you're an idiot. But just to clarify: I am not J.K. Rowling and all these wonderful and beloved characters belong to her.

Author's Notes: This is the result of a ficathon, which means that someone (Bohemian Storm) submitted this story idea and I had to write it. Vice versa for a story idea I had (Which, by the way, Storm wrote beautifully!). I also want to apologize in advance for the OOC-ness that will occur in probably all of the characters (Keep an eye out for Tonks!). Reviews are welcome, of course!

"Ron! Ron, come here," Hermione whispered from the door at the end of the hallway.

Ron turned around before he reached the staircase. "Yeah?"

"Your mum wants us to do something for her." Hermione held up a bucket of water and a mop. Ron walked across the hallway, Hermione stepped back, and they entered the room.

"Oh." It was Sirius's room.

It was amazing how different the room looked. The room was slightly larger than a closet, but with only a small wardrobe and a bed, it looked enormous. A thin layer of dust covered everything. The dim sunlight of morning filtered in the window, making the dust dance through the sunbeams. It was eerily beautiful and gave the room a fantastical look to it.

"What are we cleaning for?" Ron asked, noticing a pile of rags on the bed.

"Well, Remus has become a bit, er, protective of this room and your mum hasn't been able to clean it so far this summer. She told us to clean it now or it's never going to get done." Hermione picked up the mop and set it in the bucket.

"Protective?" Ron asked, frowning. "That doesn't sound like Remus."

"No, it doesn't," Hermione said quietly. "But, Remus has taken Sirius's... Sirius's death very hard, understandably." She pulled out the mop and began to clean underneath the bed. Ron took the rags and dropped them in the bucket. As he squeezed them out to wipe down the window, he heard Hermione crying. She hid her face behind her hair and as she stood back up, she wiped her eyes on the back of her hand.

Ron took a step towards Hermione and awkwardly put his hand on her shoulder. "Hermione, are you, er, okay?"

"Yes, of course, I'm fine," Hermione said in a strangled, high voice. "Ron, hurry up and –" She turned toward the door, which was half closed. "Remus is coming up the stairs!" She then grabbed the bucket of water and the mop, quietly put them in the wardrobe and climbed in herself. Ron threw the rags in as well and climbed in after Hermione. Quietly as possible, they situated themselves in the small, cramped wardrobe. Ron had somehow been squished to the back with his right leg flat on the bottom and the other bent to the right. Hermione was sitting on his right leg with her own legs folded underneath her. The mop was shoved under Ron and was sticking out across the interior of the wardrobe with the bucket of water leaning against his left leg. Hermione put her finger against her lips and peered out the crack between the doors as they heard Remus enter the bedroom.

Remus walked into Sirius's room and let out a sigh of relief. He felt safe. He always did here. The room was so empty, but Remus never felt lonely.

Outside, he felt trapped; suffocated, almost. Everyone's eyes were always toward him. People were worried about him – he knew why, but he found himself not caring. People fuss over him constantly. He knows he should be grateful. How many years did he live in solitude with no one to worry or care about him?

But the more people fussed over him, the more spiteful he became.

That's when he goes to Sirius. He finds solace sitting in the middle of his room with his eyes closed. It is then when he remembers.

He remembers dark hair, and, smiling, grey eyes, and a handsome smile. Remus has spent hours in this room just sitting and remembering. And when he finally leaves these memories, people whisper behind his back. They throw odd glances and worried eyes. They worry about him, but he's fine. He knows that.

Remus began to pace around the room. Finally, he stopped in front of the window. Full moon was tonight. He wasn't feeling well at all. Whenever it was the full moon, he remembered. Years ago at the Shrieking Shack with James, Peter, and Sirius.

"Damn!" Remus swore out loud. Tears began to fall down his face. This was something he wasn't used to yet. He always bottled up his emotions until he reached the breaking point and this was no exception. And as he stood there in front of the window, he put his hands over his face and cried.

Then there was a knock on the door and Tonks stepped in.

"Damn!"

Tonks spun around from where she stood at the top of the stairs. Remus's voice came from behind the closed door of Sirius's old room at the end of the hallway. She frowned and slowly walked up to the door. Reluctantly, Tonks knocked, opened the door and walked in.

"Remus?"

Remus stood at the far end of the small room, facing the window. With his head bowed, his hands were covering his face. His head jerked up, but he still didn't turn around.

"Are you alright?"

Remus didn't answer. Tonks saw him quickly wipe his face with the palm of his hand as she walked further into the room. Remus turned around and she saw his tear-streaked face and bloodshot eyes.

"Remus, what's wrong?" She knew the answer, but she was in shock to see Remus in such condition.

Remus shook his head, his eyes fixed on a spot across the room on the floor. "I'm fine, don't worry." He looked up at Tonks and said sincerely, "Thank you."

There was a moment with Tonks and Remus standing there, looking at each other. Tonks swallowed hard and shuffled her feet. "Remus, I'm worried about you."

Remus sighed. Not out of exasperation or anger, but frustration. He turned back to the window. "I know," he said softly.

"I – we, never see you anymore," Tonks muttered awkwardly. "You're barely eating. You stay up here every day and night."

Remus didn't reply. Tonks' stomach twisted into a knot and she swallowed.

"I miss you."

She briefly closed her eyes as nausea took over her and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, Remus had turned back around and was looking her. He seemed a little exasperated. Tonks knew what was coming. You just don't understand. She doesn't know how many times she's been told that.

"Tonks, you don't understand –"

"No, I don't," Tonks replied sharply, stepping up to him "But, if I do understand correctly, you have a life to live. Outside of this room. Sirius is dead, Remus."

"Yes," Remus hissed. "I know that."

"And I do understand –"

"How?" Remus interrupted, his voice rising. "How on earth could you possibly understand what I've been going through?"

Tonks straightened up and glared at Remus. "Please, don't interrupt me." She cleared her throat. "And I do understand how hard that is, even if your circumstances are... different than mine. But he is dead. You have to face that sometime."

"I have faced facts, Tonks," Remus said. "Of course, I know Sirius is dead. This is what I've been dealing with all summer."

"By locking yourself up in Sirius' room for hours at a time?" Tonks shouted. "How is that dealing with it, Remus? What have you gained? You know, Harry needs you –"

"Tonks," Remus warned. "Don't bring Harry into this."

"Harry needs you." Tonks kept going on as if he hadn't said anything. "Harry needs you now more than ever. You are the only link to Sirius. He's got Molly for a mother, but Harry needs a father. He's lost his godfather, Remus, you're the only one left."

Remus stared at Tonks, as if he didn't know what to make of her, then turned around to face the window again. Frustrated, he ran his fingers over his face and into his hair. "Tonks," he said, turning back around. "Don't you think I've realized all this? I know there's nothing I can do about Sirius, but I'm dealing with it in my own way."

"Yes, you may have realized," Tonks said. "But I don't think you've admitted it! That's your problem-"

"I have admitted it. More than you can know," Remus said sharply.

Tonks' mouth quickly formed into a thin line. "Don't interrupt me." She continued. "As much as you may protest, you can't admit that Sirius is gone. Or the fact that you have a problem. I may not understand what you're going through, but I know. And I know that Sirius would not want you to lock yourself up in his room, living off memories!"

Remus's eyes blazed. He looked frustrated beyond belief and kept pacing across the room. Finally, he stopped in front of Tonks, staring at her unbelievingly. "You're impossible." Then he walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

It was a few minutes before Tonks left. When Tonks's footsteps couldn't be heard outside, Hermione slowly opened the doors to the wardrobe. She didn't move. Instead, she turned her head to Ron, and asked in a hushed voice, "Have they ever had a fight?"

Ron shook his head.

"I don't think I've ever seen Remus that angry. I wonder –"

"Er, Hermione?" Ron interrupted awkwardly. "I've lost all feeling in my leg."

"Oh!" Hermione quickly untangled herself and stepped out. She took out the mop, bucket, and, rags, grabbed Ron's hand and helped him out of the cramped wardrobe. Ron groaned as he stretched out his long limbs. He then paused and looked down at his arm where Hermione was still holding him. Hermione noticed too. They looked at their hands, then each other, and quickly stepped away.

Hermione then turned, looking around the room, shaking her head. "And when Tonks was talking about Remus's certain circumstances -" She let out a small gasp.

"What is it?" Ron asked.

"Then that explains why –" Hermione muttered under her breath. "Oh no!" Suddenly, her eyes were filled with tears and she flung her arms around Ron's neck.

"Hermione! What's the matter?" Ron asked, jumping slightly from her outburst. But Hermione didn't answer, she just continued to cry silently into Ron's shoulder. Ron awkwardly patted her head. She didn't seem to want to move, however, and Ron slowly rested his arms on her waist. He found it amazing how comfortable he felt with his arms around Hermione. She slowly began to stop crying, and to Ron's delight, she didn't move her arms.

Tonks quietly crept down the hallway and into the empty living room. The full moon shone into the dark room, making eerie shadows across the chairs and tables. She briefly thought how Remus was doing. Walking over to the fireplace, she started a fire, then took a seat in the closest chair.

It was two o'clock in the morning and Tonks couldn't sleep. Her head was so full of the afternoon's events; she couldn't keep them straight. It took a few minutes for the room to warm up from its evening chill, and Tonks's head slowly began to droop. Her eyes fluttered closed and her hands fell into her lap.

Tonks was asleep for about five minutes before Hermione walked in. She walked past Tonks asleep in the chair and jumped when she noticed her.

"Oh!" she exclaimed a little too loudly.

Tonks woke up with a start and hit her hand on the table next to her chair. "Ow! Oh, hello, Hermione."

"I'm sorry for waking you up," she apologized.

"No problem," Tonks said, massaging her hand. "Couldn't sleep either, huh?"

"Well, you seemed to be sleeping just fine," Hermione said with a smile.

"Finally," Tonks said. "Have a seat, Hermione."

Hermione took a seat in the chair across the small table next to Tonks. She thought about Tonks and Remus and what she had seen this afternoon. Tonks looked at Hermione, who was playing with the pant leg of her pajamas and looking down at the floor.

"Are you okay?"

Hermione jumped slightly. "What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

Tonks raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

Hermione nodded.

"Okay..." Tonks leaned her head against the chair.

"Tonks... did Remus love Sirius?"

Tonks jerked her head up in surprise. "What do you mean?"

Hermione blushed for being so blunt. "Did Remus and Sirius love each other?"

Tonks took a moment to answer, still looking at Hermione with curious eyes. "Yes, they did."

Hermione nodded and looked down at her lap, tears pricking her eyes. "I thought so."

"How?" Tonks asked innocently.

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, Remus took Sirius's death really badly. Well, of course they've been friends for years, but... there was something else there."

Tonks nodded. "I understand. Yes, they did love each other. Very much, in fact."

"And that's why Remus is acting this way. Hiding up in Sirius's room and never eating..."

"Yes," she answered.

I've never seen Remus act like this," Hermione said softly. "It just breaks my heart."

Tonks didn't reply and there was a long silence with only the fire crackling.

"Have you ever been in love, Tonks?" Hermione asked, then realized that maybe she was being too personal. "I'm sorry."

"No, no, don't worry," Tonks said, smiling. "And yes, I was. Not anymore though."

"Why not, if you don't mind me asking?" Hermione asked.

"Well, he didn't love me," Tonks said, a certain sadness in her voice.

"I'm sorry."

Tonks shrugged. Then she smiled and looked at Hermione. "And what about you?"

Hermione blushed. "I am."

Tonks grinned. "Ah."

"What does mean?" Hermione laughed. "Ah."

"It means exactly what I said," Tonks teased. "Ah."

Hermione looked at Tonks and felt so guilty. She wanted to tell her about what she had seen today, but Tonks would never forgive her. She wanted to help her somehow. Indirectly. Then she had an idea. "Tonks, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," she said.

"Well, this person that I, er, like," Hermione winced at how petty this all sounded. "Well, I don't really think he knows, nor likes me back."

Tonks raised an eyebrow. "Does he like someone else?"

Hermione shrugged. "Not that I know of."

"Well, why don't you just confront him?" Tonks said. "Just ask him about it. It surely couldn't hurt things –" She paused, frowning to herself.

Hermione congratulated her self inwardly. That was exactly what she had wanted Tonks to say. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that... Well, something similar like that happened earlier. I confronted Remus about his problems with Sirius's death. And it did hurt things."

"I'm so sorry," Hermione said truthfully. "What happened?"

"We kind of got into a little spat," Tonks said.

"What do you mean?" Hermione frowned, pretending she didn't understand.

"Remus made it very clear he didn't want my help."

"Are you guys okay now?" Hermione asked.

Tonks shook her head.

"Do you think it had something to do with the full moon?" Hermione offered. "Maybe he wasn't feeling well and was just being irritable."

"Yeah, it's that time of the month," Tonks giggled.

Hermione laughed. "But you can't say it's not an option. I think you should talk to him again."

Tonks nodded. "We'll see." She stood up and stretched. "Well, I think I'm finally able to go to bed. 'Night, Hermione."

"Good night, Tonks," Hermione said. "It was nice talking with you. I hope that everything works out for you."

Tonks smiled sadly. "So do I." She turned around and walked out the door.

Once Hermione was sure that Tonks had gone to bed, she stood up and poked out the fire. She walked over to the window and looked out at the full moon. Ever since she had met Remus, she could never look at the full moon the same way. Instead of being beautiful and haunting, the moon was full of fear and pain. Every month Remus had to endure that transformation. She couldn't even begin to imagine –

A soft noise broke Hermione from her thoughts. A distant sound, but it was in the house. She heard it again. It was scuffling on wood. Hermione thought the noise was coming from upstairs and then she realized. Remus was up there and the sound of what she was hearing was claws on wood.

Panic seized Hermione and she could barely move. Then, suddenly, she rushed out the hallway and up the stairs. She stopped as she reached the second hallway, however. The sound wasn't there anymore. When she heard it again, she realized it wasn't as bad as it had sounded in the empty room downstairs. Hermione had jumped to conclusions and imagined Remus rampaging throughout the house, destroying everything in his path. But instead, as she could see from where she was standing, Remus was only curled up in a ball on Sirius's bed, his paw twitching and scratching against the wall.

Hermione slowly walked up to the room. The door was wide open and the moonlight coming through the window, poured out into the hallway. She had never seen Remus in his werewolf form when he took his Wolfsbane Potion. She could see scars on his muzzle, head, and body. There was a particular one behind his ear, that Hermione remembered seeing underneath his hair, behind his ear while in human form. Even as werewolves and wolves go, Remus was awfully thin, making him look very sickly.

Hermione took a step back from the door, hoping not to disturb Remus. She crossed the hallway to Ron's bedroom, quietly knocked on the door and walked in. Ron had flung himself across the bed, the covers falling onto the floor. His wrists and ankles stuck out of his too small pajamas and his mouth was hanging open. Hermione walked over to his bed and looked over him, staring at him intently. Sure enough, several seconds later, he jerked awake.

"Whatzit? Who's there?" Ron mumbled, looking around the room, obviously not noticing Hermione standing over him. "I just wanna get some sleep..."

"Ron," Hermione whispered loudly. "I want to show you something."

Ron blinked sleepily at Hermione, but slowly followed her out into the hallway. She pointed into Sirius's room. "Look in there."

Ron poked his head in, then quickly pulled it back out into the hallway. "I guess he's safe then?"

"Of course," Hermione said. "He took his potion. Have you seen him like that before?"

Ron shook his head and turned back to look at him. "He looks..."

"Lonely?" Hermione stood next to him, surveying Remus once more. Ron nodded.

"Too bad he doesn't have Padfoot, Prongs, or Wormtail to join him," Ron commented sleepily.

"Well, I don't agree with that at all. That was too dangerous, playing around with a werewolf," Hermione frowned. "It's a miracle that none of them weren't bitten."

Ron shrugged, then looked at Hermione. "Are you okay? Have you ever stayed up this late with nothing to study?"

Hermione smiled. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm fine. Don't worry." She turned around. "I had a talk with Tonks. I think she might try and fix things between her and Remus."

Ron nodded. "That's good. How did you get that out of her?"

Hermione shrugged, although quite proud of herself. "I just talked with her until it came out."

"I had never seen them fighting like that," Ron said. "They've had arguments, but that was pretty bad."

"Yeah," Hermione agreed. She walked into the room and sat on the bed next to the werewolf. Remus stirred a little. "Look at all the scars..."

Ron stepped forward a little apprehensively. "Wow. There are a lot on his face that I remember from when he's in human form."

"Yes, there are." Hermione looked up at Ron. "I can't even wrap my mind around how Remus has dealt with this for most of his life."

Ron nodded. He paused for a moment, then said, "I think I'm going to go back to bed now, Hermione." He began to walk to the door.

"Alright," Hermione said. "Good night, Ron."

"'Night, Hermione," Ron said. He turned around. "Are you going to bed?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, I think I'll stay up for a bit longer."

"Okay," Ron said. "'Night then." And he walked out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

Hermione stood up from where she was sitting next to Remus. He lifted one eyelid and looked at Hermione with a lazy, yellow eye. "Good night, Remus," Hermione murmured and he closed his eye again.

On her way to the door, she changed her mind. Hermione turned back around and sat back on the bed next to Remus. She slowly laid her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

Then the door opened again and Ron slowly walked in.

Hermione opened her eyes and smiled. She didn't need to say anything as Ron walked over to the bed and sat down next to her. She didn't need to say anything as she took his hand in hers. She didn't need to say anything when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She didn't want to say anything when she rested her head against his shoulder and, listening to his calm breathing, slowly fell into a deep sleep.

Tonks quickly got dressed and walked upstairs the next morning, hoping to avoid Molly. She didn't feel like eating breakfast today.

"Oh, Tonks, dear," she heard Molly call from the end of the hallway. "I've got breakfast ready in the kitchen. I was just going upstairs to check on Remus."

"Don't bother, Molly," Tonks said politely as possible. "I was going upstairs and I'll just do it on my way up."

Molly hesitated, then agreed and bustled back downstairs into the kitchen. As Tonks walked upstairs, she knew Molly would go upstairs in a few minutes anyway. Now that Sirius wasn't here to do it, she felt it was her duty to check up on Remus the morning after the full moon. Dawn was just minutes away and Tonks wondered how on earth she was able to function that early. Tonks walked down the hallway to Sirius's room and noticed that the door was slightly ajar. She crept up to the door and peeked in. What she saw, however, made her step back a minute and pause. Ron and Hermione were sitting on the bed with their backs against the wall, fast asleep. Her right hand and his left were intertwined and Ron's arm was around Hermione's waist, while she had laid her head against his shoulder. Remus was fast asleep still in his werewolf form, curled in a little ball on the bed next to them.

Sure enough, from downstairs, Tonks could hear Molly coming up the stairs. Tonks quickly walked inside Sirius's room and closed the door.

"Ahem," Tonks cleared her throat.

Hermione and Ron jumped a mile in the air. Hermione quickly got off the bed and stood up. They both blushed furiously and started blabbering.

"We, er, just... fell asleep. We came in here to, er, see Remus..."

"We were just... er, sitting and it got kinda late, you know, and we just fell asleep."

Tonks grinned. "Yeah, yeah. Just thought I'd let you know that Molly is coming up the stairs." She looked at the expression of shock and horror on both their faces. "You're with me."

As Molly opened the door, however, the sun was finally filtering through the window and Remus began to transform back. The fur was disappearing and his body was straightening out. His claws lengthened out to form fingers and hands. Remus's body also lengthened out to form a more human shape. His head was forming back to its regular shape; his muzzle shrunk into his face to form a nose, his eyes grew smaller, and his teeth shrunk to their normal size. All throughout, he was whining from the pain, and once he fully transformed back into a human, Remus was lying on all fours on the bed, panting heavily.

Tonks quickly took his arm and helped him sit up on the bed.

Hermione nervously swayed back and forth. "I thought the potion stopped the pain."

Remus took a shaky breath and looked up at Hermione miserably. "It helps."

"Well," Molly said. "Breakfast is ready downstairs." She looked at Ron and Hermione suspiciously. "And what are you two doing here? Shoo, go downstairs to eat."

"Molly, they're with me," Tonks said, smiling. "You go and eat yourself. They wanted to see Remus. I'll send them down in a minute."

Molly gave everyone another suspicious glance, frowned and said, "Oh, alright. Just hurry up or your food will get cold!"

"Don't worry, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said politely. "We'll be down as soon as possible."

Molly threw another glance around the room and walked out, shutting the door behind her. Remus began to chuckle weakly underneath his breath and Tonks threw a glance at Ron and Hermione. "So?" she asked.

Hermione and Ron looked at each other innocently. "What?"

Remus lifted his head painfully and looked Hermione in the eye. "You know, even though I've transformed, I'm still aware of my surroundings, thanks to the potion." He then smiled at Ron, who squirmed unpleasantly.

Tonks laughed. "Don't worry, guys, I won't report back to Molly. Just be glad I came up here when I did."

Hermione nodded and started to walk to the door. "Well, um, I better be getting down to breakfast."

Ron jumped up from where he was sitting on the bed. "Yeah, I think I will too." He nodded to Remus and Tonks. "Bye then."

Hermione paused before opening the door. "I hope you feel better, Remus."

Remus nodded and smiled weakly as Hermione and Ron left the room. Tonks turned to Remus. "We need to talk about yesterday."

Remus painfully stretched out along the bed. "Yes, we do. But not right now. I'm too tired to even think at this point."

"Alright," Tonks said, standing up. "I'll bring up some breakfast-"

Remus grabbed her hand and looked up at her. "No, please stay with me. It won't take long."

Tonks smiled and sat back down on the bed. She nodded in agreement and took his thin hand in hers. So Tonks sat, watching Remus's slow and painful breathing, as he eventually fell into a deep sleep.