Disclaimer: Not my werewolf, not my metamorphmagus, not my Weasley, not my hippogriff. Darn.

More Than Words Can Say

Chapter Eight

Confessions of a Middle-Aged Werewolf

Remus Lupin, werewolf in love, went to find Nymphadora Tonks, Metamorphmagus hopefully in love.

He looked on the second floor. He searched the third floor. He scoured the fourth floor. He tore apart the attic in search of her. When he had all but given up hope, her remembered the third-and-a-half floor. Buckbeak's room was housed on that floor. Dora could be hiding out with the hippogriff, and if she wasn't, he could.

When he walked into the room, she whirled around. She was doing a very curious thing. Half of her face was hers, but the other half was his. It was what he figured a child of theirs would look like.

Wait, a child? Why was she thinking about what a child of theirs would look like? Was she really in love with him? And if so, why was she looking in a mirror and crying?

"Remus!" She started to morph her face back into her own, but was stopped by Remus saying gently, "Don't. I like it."

"You didn't need to see it..." she trailed off, looking unsure. She turned around again.

He stepped over Buckbeak's dinner's entrails, stopping next to Dora. "I would like to see it again, in a few years, on a younger body."

She looked at him in confusion, and then turned away. "No, you don't. You can't stand to be near me. Your body was reacting last night; you don't like me that way. That's why you left. You only want to be friends. I'm too clumsy and stupid for someone like you to hang around for your whole life. You'll never love me, we'll never have kids..."

"The kids are completely circumstantial," he interjected. "You can't blame just me if you can't manage to pop them out."

She gave him a watery smile. "Is that the best you can do? I was under the impression you were trying to cheer me up, not tell me I'm not fertile."

"That's not what I meant!" he said defensively. "You know that!"

"So?" she retorted, sticking her tongue out.

He chuckled. "Add immature to your list of reasons I wouldn't want you. Then re-label the whole list."

"Re-label it what?"

"Reasons Why Remus Loves Me And Wants To Grow Up With Me, Since I Can't Manage It On My Own."

She laughed then, tears forgotten. He joined in. Then Buckbeak suddenly started to make strange noises.

"WTF, mate?" asked Dora.

Remus laughed harder. "He's just laughing with us. Or at us. You can't be sure. But he's a smart cookie."

Buckbeak glared at Remus, still 'laughing'. "Not a cookie," amended Remus. "He's a genius hippogriff."

They sat around for a while, talking about the future. Remus wanted to wait until after the war, but Dora wanted to get married right away. She finally agreed to the compromise he proposed: He would marry her during the war in a private ceremony, but then after the war they would make it generally known. The next issue was kids.

"We don't know if they'll be werewolves, Dora. They probably will be. No kids," he said firmly.

She argued, saying, "We don't know. They probably won't be. If they are, what difference does it make?"

"It makes all the difference in the world! I had to grow up shunned, and if any kids of mine are shunned their entire lives, I don't want it to be because of something I could have prevented!"

"So you would deny my future kids the right to be born."

He sighed loudly. "Dora, I love you more than words can say, but this is just too much. Why do we have to argue about kids now? Yes, I want kids. No, I don't want them to werewolves. Yes, I would rather adopt to be safe. But I will rethink my position on this if you will as well, and we'll talk about it when it's closer to becoming an issue."

She nodded her agreement. "So the wedding."

"We can't have a wedding until I propose, and since I'm...how did Ginny put it? Oh yeah, an 'old-fashioned man who isn't as old as he pretends to be', I plan on waiting some time to get to know you a bit better before I commit my life to you." He grinned at her. "It could be a long time..."

"You wouldn't dare make me wait. I have experience with accidents, you know. I can arrange for an accident to happen to you." As she stalked towards him, trying not to laugh, she tripped and landed on Buckbeak. Remus howled with laughter.

"I'd like to see you try to organize an accident for me when you're so busy tripping over yourself!" he managed to get out. This mad laughter turned their focus to other topics, such as old accidents caused to Severus Snape and the other Slytherins while Remus was at school.

A good amount of time later, Arthur Weasley came in the room. "Remus, Dora, lasagna will be ready in twenty minutes. Kreacher added the meatballs to his shrine of Things My Mistress Loved. Apparently they were among her favorite recipes. What do you want for desert?"

Remus and Dora had just stopped laughing about another of the Marauder's pranks on Professor Steflunk. The dinner announcement was so unexpected they each said the first thing that came into their heads.

"Chalkboard," said Remus.

"Three dimensional words," said Dora.

"I remember that prank!" said Arthur. "You told me about it while I was in St. Mungo's, Remus. Professor Steflunk's notes were parading around the room for months, if I remember correctly."

The three of them dissolved in laughter. Suddenly Arthur stopped. "Desert! Molly'll flay me alive if I forget my job. What do you two want for desert?"

Dora grinned mischievously. "If I remember correctly, Remus wants a chalkboard and I want three dimensional words. But I would settle for peach blueberry pie, if she has any left."

Remus nodded agreement.

After dinner, nobody understood why Arthur, Remus, and Tonks fell on the floor laughing when Remus's pie was under a chalkboard and Dora's was shaped into letters spelling 'WORDS'. Molly smiled lightly at them.

A/N: This was going to be the end, but I think I may add a few chapters in the future. If I get bored and think of anything. Such as their wedding. But for now, I'm just twiddling my thumbs, waiting for Half-Blood Prince to prove me wrong! I know it will. But isn't that the fun of fanfics? Getting proved wrong and not caring. Canon's better anyway.

Hope you all enjoyed it! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, please review if you haven't, and if you ever get bored check out my other stories!