"Remus," Tonks said with a blatant note of surprise.
There he was, standing in the doorway of her hospital room. Yes, there he was, looking as quiet and mysterious and sad as he always did. She had never seen him any other way.
He stepped over the threshold and sat down in the chair next to her hospital bed.
She wanted to smile. The man she loved had come to visit her.
But she knew if she smiled he'd think she wasn't taking it seriously.
She needed him to think she was. He thought her so young and juvenile. Perhaps that's why he never did give her a chance.
"Remus," she said slowly, "You've – You've come to visit me."
He was gazing at her as if with consideration.
She wondered what exactly he was considering.
"And why wouldn't I come?" he asked quietly. "You were almost killed."
She felt a need to defend herself. No, she hadn't almost died. It was only a minor injury from a very minor spell. It certainly wasn't anything to get worked up about.
Yet Remus Lupin always did. He liked to criticize others injuries and never his own.
"I'm all right," she snapped, slightly annoyed. "If I wasn't I wouldn't have the strength to argue with you, now would I?"
"All right, Tonks, no need to be defensive," Remus remarked. "You must take your encounters with Death Eaters more seriously, whether you'll admit it or not."
Her eyebrows rose.
"So now I'm a bad Auror?"
"I didn't say that, Tonks."
"You're implying it!"
Remus sighed out of exasperation. He never took his eyes off of the woman in front of him.
"I'm not implying that at all…we're in a War, Tonks. You weren't old enough to truly remember the first and so…"
"…So I can't handle the second, is that what you're saying?"
Again he sighed.
"I was worried about you," he said, color rising up to his cheeks.
Her anger melted away right then and there, and a matching shade of red was also on both of her cheeks. She smiled slightly at him as she wondered if this was a step forward in their relationship.
"You were worried about me?" she repeated.
"Yes."
He sounded so timid about it.
Her smile widened.
"Remus – thank you," she said elatedly. She forced the blush from her cheeks. "I'm all right…it was only that last jinx from Lestrange that got me."
And still he continued to gaze at her as if she were so startling.
She blushed deeper.
"I'm glad you're well, Tonks," he said after a slight pause.
Her bright (today lilac-colored) eyes sparkled and she couldn't shake the feeling that this was a step forward, somehow. As she looked into his eyes she could just see it…he cared about her.
Remus Lupin cared about her more than he'd ever let on.
And as she thought of this, lying there on that St. Mungo's bed, Remus sitting beside her, she couldn't keep the smile from her face.
- Fin -
A/N: Thanks for reading. Reviews are nice. ;)