Rising
By Dimgwrthien
Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the Harry Potter series or affiliates. Please do not sue.
Author's Notes: I'm so glad to have reviews on this! I'm glad some people are enjoying this.
Severus moved his wheelchair from the cauldron later on, turning to face Remus. His movements with the wheelchair still seemed rather jerky as though he was still trying to get used to it.
"It's finished," he muttered. Remus walked towards him, glancing into the cauldron. Certainly, the potion could not have smelled worse than before. Severus motioned to the cauldron once more, looking irritated, so Remus pulled out a goblet from a cabinet.
Once he scooped some of the potion into the goblet, he felt the smell worsen as though he had uncovered something new. It smelled bitter and rather like blood with herbs and raw eggs. Forcing himself to choke it down, Remus gagged halfway through and had to remove the goblet from his lips.
"Is it possible to make it worse tasting?" he asked, coughing.
Severus gave him a long stare. "Hurry and drink it. You'll need another goblet of it afterwards."
Remus had been in the middle of taking more un and choked again at the words. "Another one tonight? I thought the potion was only a goblet for seven days!"
"The amount needs to be raised," Severus replied, seeming to take joy in Remus' tedious task of drinking the potion. Remus was tempted to force Severus into drinking some to see how much he enjoyed it. "Your system had gotten used to it, so more is needed for the same effects. If you had taken this during the gap between the last usage, you would be drinking about six goblets of that a night."
Remus managed to get the last dregs out and made a face. He saw Ginny watching their argument with an expression nearing interest. Once he passed the goblet back, Severus refilled it, baring his teeth in a mocking smile as he passed it back.
"Is it that bad?" Ginny asked, leaning back in the chair, eyes wide as she saw Remus force himself through a mouthful even though his throat tried t repel the drink.
He nodded and gave Severus a small glare. Severus shrugged, eyebrows raised and looking triumphant. "It's for your health, isn't it?"
"The only reason you're making it is for yourself," Ginny growled at him, glaring openly. Remus felt very proud of her for a moment.
"Like I said, it helps his health, too," Severus answered, exchanging the same face with Ginny. "It benefits us both. Don't argue."
Remus finally got through the second goblet and placed it down, feeling rather light headed. "There," he whispered, unable to force his throat to let him use a higher voice. "Done."
"I'm not going to tell you how I'm proud of you and pet you on the head, I hope you know," Severus muttered. Remus bit his lip to stop from arguing and forced himself to be kind.
"Thank you, Severus," he managed. "I'm glad you're making the potion for me again. I'm wondering where your kind heart comes from, dear friend." Remus could not stop himself from lapsing into a sarcastic tone that made Ginny grin and giggle.
Severus glared, almost ready to strangle Remus before he realized he could not reach that far. "Lupin, don't play smart with me. I know what you're really thinking -"
"Care to enlighten us?" he asked rudely.
"You want to rip out my throat, just like twenty years ago!" Severus answered, raising himself on his arms and dropping down only after a long glare.
"I never tried to in the first place," Remus whispered, feeling the full shock of what the dark-haired man said to him. The memories of that night still haunted his dreams and increased his fear of an accidental bite or attack. "I never had a say in that prank -"
"You're the one calling it a prank," Severus growled. "You're admitting you're guilty."
"I would never do such a thing." Remus stared at the ground, seeing small patterns on the flooring and refusing to look at Severus. His expression was easy enough to picture: bared teeth, a wild look in his eyes, fingers clenched in his hands to form angry fists. "I promise you, I had nothing to do with it." He did not want to discuss the matter in front of Ginny, who stared at the ground as he did, trying to exclude herself from the conversation.
The night soon came and they all slept once more, no longer plagued by their dislike.
In the morning, Remus woke to find an owl pecking at his window, trying to shatter it. It seemed rather angry. Remus groaned and got up from the make-shift bed, feeling his back creak once more. In the beak of the owl was a letter, not a newspaper, however.
Grabbing it, Remus found the owl flew off quickly without so much as a sound. Once he managed to clear his sight enough to see the address on the letter, he saw a handwriting he did not recognize.
Mr. Lupin,
I have been told that you are in close contact with Ms. Nymphadora Tonks.
Even after that paragraph, Remus felt his heart flip over and fall into the pit of his stomach. Why would anyone be wondering?
She has been found.
Again, Remus felt his heart flip over, but this time it seemed to stop in the impossible moment of ecstasy and joy. She was alive….
The Ministry had confused her, due to an unusual Metamorphagus ability -
Remus almost growled. Unusual? The person sending the letter had to be the unusual one.
- that caused authorities to believe her to be a known Death Eater. She is located at Azkaban Prison and is awaiting your pickup.
Remus found no signature on the letter. After turning it over once, he smiled to himself. She was alive. It took him less than a minute to scrawl out a note and set it beside Ginny before running out the door without so much as a cloak. The cold air whipped at him and snow managed to fall into his eyes as he crunched over the white blanket, but nothing seemed to matter.
He Apparated to the Ministry of Magic entrance, a red telephone booth in the heart of London. No one seemed to notice him, but he felt too excited to bother waiting out a long train ride to get there. Once punching in the code into the phone, he heard the female voice over him an answered her questions without thought.
Nymphadora was back.
The front hall of the Ministry looked busy as usual and Remus did not bother to pin the badge he received to his robes. It stay in his clenched hand, wetting with sweat as he glanced around for someone, anyone.
A slender wizard stood beside him a moment, later, looking him in the eye. He had dark brown hair and looked a bit younger than Remus himself. With dark shadows lining his eyes, Remus could tell the man had been working extra hard with overtimes after the wall. Certainly, the Ministry had to suffer as badly as everyone else after all of the deaths.
He smiled a weak and tired smile. "Mr. Lupin? Come with me, I have to lead you to the Azkaban pickup. Merlin, no one has visited there for the longest time. I thought I was out of the job. Luckily, I got guard duty." His chest swelled and Remus knew for sure that he was a new recruit. "It's been hard, yes, but it's a good job." He glanced around guiltily. "Sorry, I need to bring you there. Forgot for a moment." His smile returned as he led the way.
The halls were filled with wizards, many of whom looked as though they did not want to be there. All had the same dark shadows under their eyes as the young wizard threading his way through them with Remus. Remus ducked from the dirty looks some people gave him. Obviously, the Greyback craze had not yet died down.
Once Remus caught up with the man, he heard him continue to talk. "I'm Julian Kentin, by the way. Right up here, now -" He managed to get between several men and Remus ducked past their arms, trying to figure out how the man could get through so many people in the crowds. "Just through these doors. I have to bring you in."
Julian pried open the door, entering the room and smiling at several people behind the desk. "Julian Kentin," he said to them before they asked. "I'm escorting Mr. Lupin to Ms. Tonks."
One of the woman, who was overweight with a long black braid, nodded him through, turning back to a book that she continued to write in.
Remus glanced around the room. Only one person remained in the room: a woman with short, brown hair and a pale, heart-shaped face. She glanced up one she heard the door swing close and a small smile took over her miserable face. Remus paused and ran over to her, ducking down on the floor low enough that she could reach out and hug him.
"Remus?" she asked weakly, pushing him away to an arm's length. "Oh, God, Remus…"
He noticed the hollow look in her eyes and the way her cheekbones seemed more prominent that he would have liked ever seeing her. "Nymphadora -"
Tonks took his closer again, hugging him tighter than ever. She smelled of dirt and something that seemed like icy winter that Remus knew came from being under the dementor's care for so long.
"What happened to you?" Remus asked, burying his face into his shoulder. He felt her shoulder shake as though with tears.
"During - during the battle," she whispered. "I panicked when one of the Death Eaters came onto me and I transformed into - into Bella." Shuddering, Tonks continued, "It was so that none of them would attack me as myself. I couldn't change back in the end, and the Aurors thought I was really her and took me to Azkaban with the rest of them. Sirius was right; there isn't a worse place in the world."
"I'm glad to have you back," Remus answered, standing up and offering her a hand that she took. Her cloak looked rather ragged and torn along the edges, so Remus took off his own and placed it around her shoulders. It was not in any better shape, but at least it had been patched repeatedly. She moved into its warmth.
"Need to sign here," the black haired woman muttered at the counter, passing the book over to Remus. He quickly signed his name. "You too," she added, pointing at Tonks, who signed under Remus' name. "Juls, dear, you too, you know it."
Julian, who Remus did not notice before, bounced over and sighed his name in a loopy signature. Once he nodded to Remus, the two of them took it as a sign to leave and Remus opened the door for Tonks.
"Let's head out." Remus glanced around the hallway, seeing how many people were in their way before grabbing her hand. "It's crowded. Always like this?"
"Yes," she answered, following Remus quickly. At the doors, he paused and she pulled the cloak tighter around her shoulders.
"Do you want it back?" Tonks asked, motioning to the cloak. Remus shook his head and opened his hand, showing the badge he left in there before tossing it into a rubbish bin.
"Let's hurry and Apparate. It's too cold out to remain there." Once he opened the doors and stepped out, though, Tonks rested a hand on his shoulders.
"I haven't seen you in so long," she whispered, leaning close into Remus so that he could feel her warm breath on him and see every last strand of brown hair. She closed her eyes, looking almost in pain for a moment, before her hair returned to a bright pink color that lit up the room.
He kissed her.
Once they broke apart, Tonks slipped a hand into his hand and both Apparated out of the snow to the house. Before they entered, however, Remus frowned at the door.
"Ginny and - and Severus are with us," he told her, still staring at the door and ignoring the bitter cold ripping at his skin. He shivered once and gave her a small smile. "Better than Azkaban, though, right?"
Tonks gave him as small of a smile and a slight nod. Her hand moved in his, switching position to grip between his fingers. He opened the door.
Severus, still in his wheelchair, was watching over a limp form on the couch. Once he heard the door, however, he turned and caught Remus' eye.
"I was right," he muttered, moving away from the couch. Ginny's eyes were closed and her chest barely moved with breaths.
"What happened to her?" Remus asked, dropping down in front of her, tilting Ginny's head in his hands. Her eyes fluttered for a moment.
"She started complaining about how she couldn't get any magic to work," Severus answered, sounding bored. "Then, he fell unconscious. I know it's from Wolfsbane overdose. It's poisonous to average humans." He smirked as though enjoying his insults before catching Tonks' eye.
Remus felt for a pulse and found a faint one around her throat. Drawing back, he informed the others, "She's alive. I think she'll be fine soon. I mean, the potion itself isn't as bad as just Wolfsbane leaves, right?"
Severus jerked his head, looking angry. "Still -"
"She'll be fine," Remus answered. "Now, I'm going to try and fix up more room to sleep. That is," he said to Tonks, "if you're willing to stay."
She nodded. "By the sounds of it, my house was destroyed, too." Her smile looked rather grim. "I think the Death Eaters started taking joy in firing up houses."
She followed Remus as he moved into the hallway and frowned. "I have no clue where else to set up a bed," he muttered, rubbing his chin. It felt scratchy and he remembered that he would need to shave sometime soon. "Maybe I could set another one up in the extra room. It won't take long to clear out."
"What happened to Harry?" Tonks asked quietly.
Remus froze and remained silent for a moment as he entered the room, moving books around and setting up a bed that he quickly Transfigured. "He died," he whispered without turning to face her. He heard her gas clearly, however. "Burned. Died in the Hospital Wing. It - it was my fault -"
"Don't say that," she hissed and Remus knew she was glaring at him. "Remus, it's couldn't have been your fault unless you burned him yourself -"
"I was taking him for a walk." Remus' voice started breaking so he lowered it to stop from the change being noticeable. Showing weakness was a hard to him as it was for Severus. "He hit a wall and bled. God, Tonks, the blood -" His hands shook as he cleared his throat.
"It's alright," she added in hastily. "You don't have to say anything else."
"The entire Potter family is dead," Remus whispered, swallowing hard to keep the hard block in his throat from breaking his voice more. "James and Harry, now. Both of them were wonderful people -"
"I know, Remus," Tonks answered softly, resting a hand on his shoulder. He jumped slightly at the touch. "It doesn't help to mourn, though. We can just remember them in peace. Do you need any help with that?"
Remus shook his head and quickly finished before turning towards her. Tonks had already moved away and closed the door.
"I haven't seen you in so long," she whispered, moving close to him so that they neared the bed. Remus watched her carefully but did not pull away when she circled her hands around his thin waist. Her head moved into his chest, fitting into the hollow beneath his collarbones and she smiled.
Remus fell backwards onto the bed, Tonks on top of him, kissing every part of him that she could reach. The time he had always denied her seemed to crash around his head as he saw the desperate wanting in her eyes as she neared his lips, finally kissing them slowly, almost hungrily. He returned it happily as he felt her tongue in his mouth, moving quickly.
In years, he had not felt that good.
"God, Remus," she whispered through kisses, moving her hands upwards to wrap themselves around his wrists and hold him down. He felt keenly aware that his sex drive would be heightened somewhat - part of the wolvish qualities he spent a night explaining to Molly about only a year before. However, he never mentioned that one.
"I love you," was the only answer he could give her. White teeth bit at his lips and she smiled, mouth changing the kisses unnaturally quick. She started shrugging off her shirt, struggling with her shoulders as they continued. Once it fell off in a pile at the edge of the bed, her bra soon following it, her hand drifted higher on Remus' pulling his hand up to her chest.
"Marry me." Her voice sounded almost choked as they kissed, starting to sit up. Once she said the words, however, Remus sat up completely, staring at her, forgetting everything.
"M-marry you? Oh, Nymphadora -"
"Tonks," she corrected, giving him a long kiss on the cheek, rubbing her nose on his skin, breathing heavily. "Please, Remus -"
Arguing never worked with her, he reasoned. And it was something both of them had wanted for the long time. The answer came from memory and joy of the moment.
"Yes."
Tonks giggled, leaning back into him, wrapping her arms around his neck this time, smiling widely. "Nothing beats winning a war and then marrying the best man ever." She planted a kiss on his lips, letting it only last seconds. He climbed off his lap after, sliding slowly and still staring him in the eye, laughter in her face.
They exited the room once Remus smoothed down his hair and tucked his shirt back into place and Tonks placed her shirt on again, blushing slightly. Severus still remained in the room, reading a book he pulled from one of the messy shelves. He glanced up once they entered the room and watched them carefully.
"Don't think I have no clue as to what you did," he snarled quietly. Remus felt his face burn but Tonks managed to give Severus an innocent look.
"What?" she asked, glancing at Remus. "We were fixing up the bed. It wouldn't stay up and kept falling on us."
The excuse was rather well-done, Remus had to admit, and tried to hide his smile. "Very painful," he added. Tonks nodded.
Severus continued to give them a dirty look and snapped the book closed, placing it on the table. "I'm not deaf."
"It was an old bed," Tonks urged, sighing. "Your mind is deep in the gutter. What did you think we were doing?" She grinned at Remus and pinched his cheek playfully. "I'll be back in bed. I haven't slept in days." Remus could certainly agree with that and let her go off.
Severus lifted the book once more but continued to stare at Remus. "What were you doing?"
"That's none of your business," Remus replied lightly, glancing at Ginny and sitting down on the chair across from her. Her eyes still remained closed and it started to frighten him. "Is she going to be alright?"
"While you two had fun, I made another potion that should help." Severus continued reading the book. Remus smiled at him.
It seemed impossible that only the year before, he had rejected her for so many reasons. They were married. Both knew they loved each other, but it had only ever been a matter of the situation - dangers, age, wealth. He remembered the problems between them and glanced miserably around the room. Nothing had changed, really. He knew he still remained a danger to him. He wasn't any younger, of course. However, Tonks seemed aged. Not physically, of course, but the woman seemed emotionally older. Remus had never considered her ungrounded or immature, but rather the sort of woman who would enjoy the company of the younger males. Maybe the war really did take a real toll on them all, no matter what.
Finally, Remus gave up and stood, earning himself a dark look from Severus. Snow blanked out the windows, turning them a frosty white. "Are you hungry?"
Severus gave him a disgusted look and said nothing. Remus shrugged and entered the kitchen, glancing through the ice box. Once he pulled out several items, he went on to make several sandwiches and set them on plates. At least it was something to do with his hands. He kept glancing around the door toward Ginny, who still did not move.
Ginny was depressed enough to try to kill herself with Wolfsbane…. Severus had already managed enough tears to cry on Remus' shoulder due to his inability to move, though he seemed to have forgotten the night already. Maybe he didn't want to remember. That seemed enough like Severus to not bother Remus to any degree. The scars marring his back continued to bother Remus, however. The man had never said a word about them. Tonks looked too much like Sirius after Azkaban. In all truth, she began to look like her Aunt Bellatrix without morphing into her. The gaunt face, hollowed eyes, everything. It began to grow on her too much for comfort.
And Remus knew that, he, himself, carried the scars of the past years. Voldemort affected everything. Everyone Remus had loved in his childhood died at Voldemort's hands, including the traitor, Pettigrew, during the battle.
Then there was Harry. No one had ever carried such a burden on their shoulders as he did. He married Ginny, in a way, much like Tonks had Remus. He never lived to make it real, though. To the dead child, he was still very much alone in the world. Remus wondered if he had ever realized how many people loved him. It was not the ones who cared about how position, but the ones like Albus, who died later in the war, the one who guided Harry from the beginning. Lily and James, who died first, who protected him from death. Cedric Diggory, who died too, helping Harry to win something that he knew Harry took pride in. Sirius, deceased when Harry was barely more than a child, had cared for Harry the way Remus had never seen love. And now Ginny, who lay dying, who wanted to bring him joy from the first day.
Remus quickly wiped newly forming tears from his eyes and walked into the last room he had been in, dropping a plate of sandwiches on the table and not saying a word as he left into the newly made bedroom.
Tonks slept sprawled on the bed, legs outstretched in every direction, arms curled under her head. Her pink hair stood out against the white blankets very clearly. All of the blankets had been piled on top of her and she continued to shrug down into them even while sleeping.
Peeling off his shoes and cloak that he had still not taken off, Remus climbed into the bed, shrugging under the covers as deep as she was. Once he wrapped an arm around her, she moved slightly and turned her head toward him. "Remus?" she murmured, moving closer to him until her breasts touched his chest. Her face showed a small smile until she fell asleep again.
He wished he could have fallen asleep there and never wake again to the nightmare of the world.
For the curious, yes, I did use the same floor plan for Remus' house as I did in Miasma. It felt rather fun. I love that floor plan.