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It had been the scent of her hair, that night in August. Finally they were having one of those rare, warm evenings during the last burst of summer, and this had no doubt kept her awake. She did so love the warm weather, savoring every scent, every moment. Remus was kept awake by Luna, as she refused to leave his mind. A tension had come between them as of late, a tension of stolen glances and fumbling with tea cups, long stares and avoiding the subject of her upcoming last year at Hogwarts. It was a tension that should have rightly showed itself months ago, with all the time they spent together, and yet…they were so very comfortable.
She had passed him in the hall, in the muffled darkness. Remus would later ponder what would have happened, had her long hair not brushed his shoulder. He'd shut his eyes…strawberries. His arm stopped her from going any further. Luna had spent a good few seconds staring at his shoulder, biting her lip. She looked up at his face. Silently sharing the same fear. He reached the point of no return in a simple motion, reaching out to tangle one hand in her long uneven hair…
Luna surprised him, neither for the first nor the last time. Leaning forward, she took a deep trembling breath, eyes wide and quite vulnerable, before she stood on her toes and kissed him lightly on the lips. Remus' eyes slid shut, every nerve leaping at the first touch of those soft rosebud lips.
He needed her. His hands grasped her waist as she looked up at him again, swallowing, a quivering smile on her face, a time of confidence, "I…."
"I know," He murmured, before kissing her again, her soft murmur only stirring him further. She kissed him back and he knew the wolf's instincts were kicking in when he found himself momentarily jealous, wondering when she'd learned such. But that thought was off into oblivion, when her slim, warm arms were around his neck…
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"You know," Tonks said one evening some days later, as she sat on Bill Weasley's lap, looking pointedly at Remus across the kitchen, "I think all the controversy in your private life is just to make up for the fact that you are an abso-friggen-lutely boring chap."
Remus looked down, chuckling and shaking his head, while Bill outright laughed. The tension of five minutes ago was officially broken. The kind of tension that lingered after Hestia Jones shouted at an individual for one of any number of reasons, taking up the helm of Molly Weasley as worrier and den mother. Tonight that person had been Remus, and the reason had been Luna Lovegood.
"I'm serious," Tonks went on, grinning and reaching up behind her to play with Bill's hair, "First, of course, there's the whole werewolf thing. Then there was Sirius, which weirded plenty of people out but you know, none of them matter," She yawned, "And now it's the seventeen year old Loony,"
"Don't call her that," Remus said pointedly, to which Tonks just grinned, raising an eyebrow. Remus winced, reaching up to rub his forehead, and Bill laughed again. Tonks had been calling Luna Loony since June, but as a fond term. The girl finally liked her nickname.
"Blimey," Bill smiled, "Protective, aren't we?"
"I rest my case!" Tonks leaned forward, resting her elbows on the splintery dining table, her chin on her hands, as Bill tapped his fingers on her shoulders, "Remus, Remus, Remus, mild-mannered Remus, closeted wolf and lover of ex-convicts and former students!"
"I believe I got enough just now from Hestia, thank you I Nymphadora /I ," Remus' mouth twitched just a bit, even as he knew she somewhat had a point. He was boring. But the most fascinating people seemed to be drawn to that.
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He'd been swimming in that sea of hair, the next morning. Nearly white silk falling in waves across the pillow, drifting in strands across a smooth, equally pale throat. Her palms were open to the morning sunshine, thin, unmarred skin criss-crossed with faint blue veins. To one pristine wrist he pressed his lips, his damsel waking up under a flutter of eyelids. Luna turned her head, a smile slowly drifting over her face as she reached for him, bare white arms stretched out into oblivion, drawing him back into her embrace.
Remus rested his head in the smooth corner of her shoulder and neck, whilst her fingers threaded fondly through his hair and she hummed some tune. Bookends. Remus smiled against her, pressing a kiss to her neck and listening to the soft, feathery sigh the action produced. He lifted his head, looking down at her for a moment. He found that which brought back what had supposedly been lost. That which made things clean again. She was Lady of The Moon, Artemis Captured, and High Lunatic Duchess of Snorkacks. She was all that was beautiful left in the world.
"Thank you," Her dreamy, drifting voice floated up to him, making his heart flip a bit. He was fourteen for a moment.
"For?" Remus raised an eyebrow. Luna reached up and traced it with a slender finger, a closed-lipped, subtle smile on her face,
"For you," She said simply, lifting her chin just enough for their lips to meet for a moment. Remus shut his eyes softly, affection stirring afresh for the girl in his arms…or rather, the girl who had him in hers. Such a way she had about her, even when he was the experienced one, the world weary one, the teacher. Still, Luna was the one holding all of the cards, utterly disarming with one long, hazy stare and matching sigh. Remus reached up, brushing a long strand of pale hair out of her face.
"Likewise," He replied softly, tracing a path along her smooth, pale face with one calloused finger. His gaze drowned in her pale eyes for a moment, "Are you…?" She smiled again as his forehead creased with worry, mirroring his actions and tracing the worry lines,
"I am fine," She assured him, taking in a breath and letting her arms fall back upon the pillow, on top of her splayed tresses, "Hardly an unpleasant moment to recall,"
It was slowly beginning to dawn on Remus, as dawn itself became utterly evident, in the golden light falling on the pair of them through the windows, tangled in well-worn, comfortable sheets. Sunlight filtered through the drapes like threads of light, strings on an instrument. He'd succumbed to her, the virgin Moon Goddess. There was some sort of irony there. Was she his patron saint? The Lady Luna? He did not know if there was some cosmic connection or not, but he did know that the night before she'd been entirely desirable, as she was before and was still. Only…something had fallen into place finally, and now here she was, contentedly in his bed after a gentle, yet dizzying lovemaking. 'Thank you for you'. For their return to their respective times of innocence, before pain and loss had entered their consciousness. Still, reality was a not-so distant thing. She was so very young. She was younger than Harry. She was…his kindred. His Lady Luna. Time it was and what a time it was it was...
Suddenly Remus was quite sure the same thoughts were running through her mind. Her eyes were squinting a bit; her heart-shaped lips a pensive line under her teeth. Remus rested his forehead against hers, very aware of her soft, warm form beneath his own. Odd, that one who so resembled ice would be so perpetually warm…
"Luna," He whispered, "If this…" The words had to be forced from his mouth, "If this is not what you want…with all that comes with it, I mean…"
"Oh but it is," Luna stopped him, in the voice that escaped her only when she let Remus see her human side, "It is a thousand times," She assured him, "I only regret that others might not think it proper. But I do not heed such drivel," Her smile returned.
Remus shut his eyes tightly, feeling the old wolf within him stirring, even as his logical side was grasping for a foothold, "It's not only that," He reminded her in a harsh whisper, "I'm a werewolf forever, you know. It will not change. I'm older than you, I've seen things I'd never want you to…"
"Remus," She said his first name softly, in a voice so much older than her lithe, unmarred body, "I know all of this," She reminded him of countless late-night conversations over cocoa and biscuits, "And besides," A rare, wry smirk crossed her features, "Wizards live a long time." Can you imagine us years from this moment?
Slowly, he allowed himself to grin, "You're right of course, Miss. Lovegood," He murmured, playing with a bit of her hair, as the wolf was slowly allowed his victory, and desire was once again swelling within Remus. He leaned down, a breath from her lips, "You're an extraordinary person, Luna…"
"I know," She murmured in reply, in her dreamy voice, before Remus has his mouth on hers, pressing her back against the pillows, tangling his hands in all of that hair. He needed her again, and now without the fear he'd had last night. Luna needed to be needed, or her life was not complete, he knew this now more clearly than he had before. Even now, as his want became evident, she let out a pleased sigh against him, wrapping her arms around him anew, encouraging him on as his lips left her own and traveled down her throat. His hands wandered down her stomach and lower, earning him a sigh and his name whispered in that alien-girl's voice…
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"What are you going to do when she goes back to school next week?" Tonks asked, and Remus shook his head, staring into his tea.
"I suppose Harry and I will be having plenty of chess games," He smirked. Funny, that one of his best friends was an eighteen-year-old kid who was in almost exactly the same sort of situation Remus was in. Living in that drafty house, with hardly any work, friends all pairing off and family mostly gone or killed…
"Yeah," Tonks nodded, a bit more serious now, "Honestly…how do you think you'll manage? No more midnight conversations over hot chocolate?" Remus' eyebrow rose, "I'm an insomniac too, you know."
Remus sighed, "I…really don't know what I'll do without her," He admitted, fiddling with the tea bag string, "Count off the days until Winter Holiday, I suppose…"
"You're really smitten, aren't you mate?" Bill noted softly. Remus nodded, slowly.
"I…I'm quite sure that I am in love with her, actually," His quiet confession echoed through the ancient kitchen for a moment, before Tonks smiled again.
"Well then, good for you," She said earnestly, Bill nodding firmly behind her. Remus looked up, a small smile working it's way onto his face. He was keeper of the captured Artemis, and his comrades approved.
"Thank you…"
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Author Notes: Mweeheehee. I love my reviews so very much. I'm a Tonks/Remus shipper too. Actually, I'm a Remus shipper in general. Anyone who makes my boy happy is a good person, hehehe.
There shall be one or two more pieces to this. And I am now pondering other story ideas as well...ack, I'm on a spree again!
