AU! EWE. Tonks dies because I'm evil.

THC, Slytherin, Muggle Studies (stand-in)

Standard

Theme: Travel

Prompt: (genre) romance

WC: 2195

In the backseat of the car, Teddy's cries turned into ear-splitting wails that made Remus want to howl along with him. He dropped his head onto the steering wheel and accidentally hit the horn, the loud honk startling them both for a minute before Teddy's wails increased to an indescribable pitch, and Remus whimpered, tears welling up in his eyes as his sensitive ears twitched in pain.

"Please shut up," he whispered, clutching onto his ears with both hands, but Teddy didn't listen. After all, he was barely a year old and would rather scream his head off than listen to his father.

Remus cursed the terrible weather for not allowing him to Apparate with Teddy to St Mungo's Hospital—he cursed the Ministry even more for not making safer methods for travelling with babies.

What was he supposed to do? There was public transport available, but he had assumed that hauling a wailing baby all the way up to London in a beat-up car that had seen better days—or years—would be the easier option. How was he supposed to handle all this without Tonks?

A small sob escaped his lips, and he muffled it behind his hand. Even though he wasn't in love with her anymore, he still missed Tonks. She had died in the final battle at Hogwarts, but he had somehow made it through, alive. He still thought it should have been the other way around; Tonks was the mother, and Teddy obviously needed her comfort more than he needed Remus.

Teddy's screams increased, and Remus's temper flared. He clenched his hands and took deep breaths to calm himself, reminding himself he couldn't just scream at his baby when he hadn't done anything wrong… except fall sick during the worst snowstorm of the century. His car just had to stall before he could even make it past their house, didn't it? Andromeda wasn't even around to help, having died a few months ago.

Remus was on the end of his tether. He didn't know what to do or whom to turn to in his time of dire need.

He was about to start physically yanking his hair out when there was a loud knock on his window. Startled that he hadn't even heard the person coming, Remus carefully lowered the glass window, reaching for his wand just in case.

To his surprise, Hermione stood outside, her arms wrapped around her chest. She was dressed in more sweaters and jackets than he thought was humanly possible, and a thick black beanie covered her brown curls and ears. Her face was pink with the cold, and her nose was red.

Remus immediately swung his door open and got out. He wrapped his arms around her to give her some semblance of warmth and exclaimed, "Hermione! What are you doing here?"

When she sneezed, her arms tightened around him. She reached her mittened hand up to breathe through it, and Remus noticed a purple Mokeskin pouch hanging off her wrist. She mumbled against her hand, "Harry said you were taking Teddy to St Mungo's today. Since Harry couldn't take the day off to come with you, I thought you might need a set of extra hands with Teddy."

Remus's heart soared. On any other occasion, he would have bristled with indignation at her presumption that he needed any help with his own son, but Teddy's continuous screaming had made him desperate for any form of help.

"You're a lifesaver," he whispered, gazing at her adoringly. Oh, he could just kiss her right now!

Hermione's eyes crinkled at the corners as she smiled up at him, and warmth spread throughout his body at the sight. He reached behind her and opened the rear door. Hermione crouched before sliding into the backseat beside Teddy.

"Hey, Eddy, my little Teddy," she cooed, unbuckling him from the contraption. Teddy was still crying, but when he heard Hermione's soft voice, the volume of his wails lowered just a little. Hermione gently picked him up and began rocking him from side to side. "It's okay, Aunt Hermione's here… I've got you..."

Remus breathed a sigh of relief and said in a low tone, "I'll go look for a mechanic."

Hermione looked up at Remus and frowned. "What's wrong with the car?"

"I don't know—I'm not a mechanic," he grumbled crossly.

Hermione shot him an amused smile before she said, "Alright, I can stay here. Go."

Remus quickly made his escape, feeling only a twinge of guilt at leaving her alone with his crying baby.

"Oh, thank Merlin," Remus whispered, relief washing over him as his car finally started. Having finished his work, the mechanic gave him a quick thumbs-up and a business card before driving off in his own car.

Remus glanced at the rearview mirror to check on Hermione, who was still gently rocking Teddy from side to side to stop him from screaming his throat raw. She was almost succeeding, too—at least she had done far more than Remus himself had.

"Are you coming with us?" Remus asked, trying not to sound too hopeful but failing. He could really use her help.

"Do you want me to come with you?" she asked, meeting his gaze in the mirror. Remus's heart soared.

"Yes, please," he said quickly, which made her smile. She gestured at him to hand her Teddy's bottle and he turned around in his seat to give it to her.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go then," she said, tucking Teddy's head against her chest as she held the bottle to his mouth. She looked the epitome of innocence: her beanie barely held back her curls, and a gentle smile played on her lips while Teddy clutched onto her with both hands.

Remus knew he was in deep trouble. He shouldn't be developing feelings for his former student, but he was, and he couldn't do anything about it.

He drove out of the town, trying to ignore the thumping of his heart and his sweaty hands. He kept on glancing at Hermione in the rearview mirror every few moments, and his stomach clenched at the heartwarming sight of her snuggling Teddy to her chest. His heart longed for her to hold him like that too.

When Teddy continued to cry into her bosom, his face red and snot running down towards his mouth, Hermione muttered, "It's time for the big guns."

Remus frowned, wondering what she meant by the Muggle phrase.

Hermione began rifling through her Mokeskin pouch single-handedly. Amazed by her tenacity, Remus almost swerved into a pole. He grimaced and swerved back just in time, forcing himself to look at the road instead of openly staring at the brunette witch.

There weren't many cars on the long, icy roads, so Remus allowed himself to glance at Hermione once more. He squinted in confusion when he realised she was pulling out a strangely shaped toy from her pouch.

"What is that?" Remus exclaimed, bewildered. The toy was grey and seemed to have been made of something soft. It had a dark tufted ball of hair sticking out from behind, but for the life of him, Remus couldn't understand what it was supposed to be.

Hermione's face reddened to the point she resembled an adorable little tomato. She mumbled something that even Remus's werewolf senses didn't pick up on. He frowned and said, "I didn't hear you."

"I made a stuffed wolf for Teddy," she muttered a bit more loudly.

Remus pursed his lips to stop himself from laughing out loud. His lips still twitched violently and his shoulders trembled, and she reached over and smacked his shoulder. "Remus, don't laugh at me!"

Remus couldn't stop himself from throwing his head back and guffawing heartily. He clutched onto the steering wheel with one hand and smacked his thigh with the other. He teased through gasping breaths, "I've never seen an uglier wolf in my life! I thought you just shrunk Kreacher and were going to let Teddy eat him."

The moment her lower lip jutted out in a sad pout, Remus's insides shrivelled up and his heart began screaming at him for putting that hurt look on her face. She had made a toy for his son, and here he was, cackling at her attempts. Instantly, he stopped laughing. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to—"

Hermione's eyes widened before she shook her head. "Oh, no, it's fine. This was my first attempt at making a stuffed toy, so it was bound to be terrible."

"It's not terrible—You made this for Teddy, so it's perfect," he argued, wholeheartedly believing it to be true. "I'm an arse for laughing at you. Please forgive me."

Hermione smiled at him, and all was right with the world.

She placed Teddy back in his car seat, buckled him up, and then leaned forward. Remus suddenly found her head right beside his, and he stiffened at the sweet, sweet scent wafting off her. He knew it wasn't a perfume as she had never worn any, especially when she was visiting them.

"Could you please rub your face on the toy?" Hermione asked him, her breath caressing his ear and making him twitch at her close proximity. She was like an innocent little lamb, completely unaware of the feelings she was arousing in him.

Her words suddenly caught up to him. "What?"

"Rub your face on the toy. I have a theory," she explained and held the toy up to his face.

Remus was bewildered by her request, but he nodded and let her rub the wolf over the side of his face and down his neck. It really was as soft as it looked; it was filled with cotton fibres and something else Remus couldn't name.

His breath hitched when her fingers grazed his collarbone, and he was filled with the overwhelming urge to yank her over the seat and onto his lap. Fortunately for her, she pulled away after a few seconds, freeing him from the torture of feeling her forbidden warmth so close to him.

"Thanks, Remus!" Hermione said happily, turning to Teddy. She pulled out her wand, cast a spell on the stuffed toy, and then handed it to his still-crying son.

The moment Teddy's hands touched the wolf, his tears stopped.

Bewildered by what had happened, Remus's head snapped up to gawk at the scene. He found Hermione gently running her fingers through the tuft of brown hair on Teddy's head while his son suckled on the wolf's ear—or what Remus believed was the ear. A few seconds later, Teddy's eyes fluttered shut and his grip on the wolf went lax.

Hermione placed the wolf on Teddy's stomach before covering him with a blanket. She looked up towards Remus, meeting his gaze in the mirror. She said softly, "I thought he might need your scent to calm down. I read that it helps babies when they're teething or when they have stomach aches. The book said that weighted items like soft toys and blankets make babies feel safer in strange environments."

Remus's throat constricted as he was overcome with emotion. She had read up and researched about babies just for them. She had made his son a stuffed toy to help him feel better. She had done that all on her own for them.

And so, the wolf fell in love with the lamb.

Remus suddenly pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the car. He turned around in his seat, grabbed Hermione's hands and began dragging her over to him. She got stuck in between the front seats and started laughing. She wriggled around in an attempt to escape and asked, "Remus, what are you trying to do?"

"I want to hug you," he said quickly. He wasn't lying—he really did want to hug her—but he was omitting something important: he desperately wanted to kiss her.

Hermione laughed and managed to wedge herself through. She landed halfway on Remus's lap and he helped her up before pulling her closer. It was a tight squeeze; her legs were awkwardly arranged under her, and Remus almost elbowed her in the ribs while twisting her sideways onto his lap.

Finally, she stretched her legs out onto the passenger seat and grimaced at the loud creaking of her bones. Remus grinned and pulled her closer to his chest. He dropped his chin onto her head and murmured, "Thank you, Hermione. You have no idea how grateful I am to you… I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help."

Hermione tilted her head up and her soft lips accidentally brushed against his jaw. His heart pounded in his ears at the muted, petal-pink blush staining her cheeks. Ducking her head, she mumbled, "Sorry."

Remus tightened his grip on her hip. He had two choices here: he could either let go of her and pretend nothing of consequence had happened… or he could do what his heart—and brain—were demanding.

He chose the second option.

He gently tilted her head up and whispered, "Thank you for everything you do for us, Hermione."

And then, he kissed her.