Changing Forms

Chapter 2 -

The Lull of St. Mungo's

It had been 10 hours since Nymphadora Tonk's sustained serious injury in the Department of Mystery at the Ministry of Magic Headquarters. She was in a potion-induced sleep. There were members of the Order of the Phoenix moving from room to room at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Some of the Order had been injured in the struggle, and also some of Harry's friends.

There was only one person in Nymphadora's room. Remus Lupin. He sat as close to Nymphadora's bed as possible, both hands clasped together, resting on the bed. He hadn't moved much since Nymphadora had taken her sleeping potion. He wanted to stay there and wait for her to wake up.

No doubt they gave her a sleeping potion to help ease the pain of Sirius's passing, Remus thought as he watched her gently breath. Remus himself was having a hard time cope with the loss of his dear friend Sirius. But he knew that being of relation to Sirius, not knowing him for most of your life, then suddenly meeting him and bonding only to have him ripped away from you so soon must be heartbreaking. Sirius was a great person. His heart ached at the thought of himself being the only left of the foursome he knew back in school. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. Well, Wormtail was around still, of course. But the Pettigrew Remus knew had died long ago. He had died the day he betrayed Lily and James, and the day Remus found out it was Peter instead of Sirius.

And Remus also thought on poor Harry. Losing his parents was bearable, yet sad, because he didn't have many memories of his parents. It's easy to lose something you can't remember. But Harry had something so close to a parent. Harry wanted so badly for Sirius to get his name cleared and to move in with him. To experience something that was as close to his father and mother as he possibly could. It was unfortunate.

Nymphadora tossed in her sleep, mumbling and uttering things.

"Sirius—" she said, "no… not Sirius." Remus's eyebrows furrowed as he felt the sting of tears coming on. "My fault…." She sobbed in her sleep. Remus knew the sleeping potion must have been wearing off. Remus took Nymphadora's nearest hand in his, and stroked it with the other. Her breathing slowed. "Remus…" she said calmed, low, almost inaudible. But Remus heard it.

What? He thought. Maybe I was just hearing things. Remus in fact, wished that he wasn't hearing things. But the more he thought about her saying his name, the more he believed she actually said it. His heart fluttered a bit, but then slowed. Maybe she just said the name of the person in her dream—there in the Department of Mysteries. Nothing romantic about it… nothing personal.

Tonks' eyes rolled as she flinched, waking herself up suddenly. She looked confused at what she saw around her, but remembered what had happened. She was in St. Mungo's. The nurse had given her a sleeping potion when she could no longer control her crying. The pain, too, was a factor in the sleeping potion. She looked to her right and saw Lupin. Her stomach filled with ice as she felt her pale face go slightly pink, regaining some of her natural color.

"Remus…" she said, weakly. Her entire body still hurt. She knew it would take a while for the injuries to heal. She noticed Remus was still holding her hand. She breathed in.

"How are you doing, Nymphadora?" Remus asked. Tonks was shocked at him using her first name, which he did not very often. But she knew why he was using her first name. She knew the seriousness of the matter. She knew that Sirius had died, and she thought she was to blame. Her cousin, who she barely knew, ripped from her life—all of their lives.

"It's easy when you're asleep." She said simply, feeling that crying prickle inside her chest. She looked up at Remus's beautiful blue eyes, which looked tired. Nymphadora found that she couldn't keep herself calm by looking at them. There was so much truth to him, so much honesty. She knew that if she could just get herself there, he'd be a wonderful supporter. She sat up, and looked at their joined hands.

Nymphadora felt the tears well up in her eyes as she stared down at her weaved, pink blanket. "I know it's not as hard as it is for you, having known him for so long." She said after a moment. "I know it must seem silly that I'm so distraught over this." She looked back up at Remus's penetrating eyes. He had sorrow in his eyes too. She struggled to stop the tears from welling, and refused to blink as she formed a pool in each eye. But, she failed, and each tear fell silently.

Remus stood up and sat on Nymphadora's bed. Nymphadora breathed in a sharp breath, and began to sob. Remus did something Nymphadora had wished he'd do—he took her in his arms and embraced her, letting her tears fall onto his shoulder, as his fell as well.

"Remus," she said, sobbingly, her voice muffled in his arm, "why do I feel this?"

Remus closed his eyes, and stroked Nymphadora's hair. "Because you loved him. Just as I did." Remus leaned back and looked at Nymphadora's face—her beautiful face, Remus thought—and wiped away the tears.