Author's note: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

Hogwarts: Assignment #6, Religious Education Task #3, Write a fic about a small child (5 years or younger)

Warnings: NA

Tiny Healer

Between Andromeda, Harry, and Sirius there was usually someone who "just happened" to desperately want to bring Teddy somewhere or do something with him on the day after the full moon.

Remus had been around long enough to know that this was no coincidence at all, but he also knew that resistance was futile and accepted the help quietly and thankfully. This June, however, through a series of unlikely events, none of Teddy's usual guardians were available.

"I'll take the day off from work," Dora promised, looping her arms around his waist a week before the full moon and snuggling into him.

"No, don't worry," Remus said. "It's summer—I'm not at school, I'm the one responsible to watch Teddy…"

"And don't you think I miss him?" Dora teased. "Quit hogging the five-year-old."

Remus had been married long enough to know not to fight his wife when she made decisions like these. That was, after all, why she was his wife in the first place.

Wolfsbane Potion was still difficult to secure during the summers, namely because one of its ingredients had been nearly eradicated during the last Wizarding War. The return to full-blown transformations after a school year of harmless metamorphoses and sleepy days as a wolf was even more painful and difficult every time it happened. When it was done, he dragged himself back home and gulped down as much water as he possibly good, threw up twice, took his pain relief potion once his stomach had settled down, pulled on fresh and soft clothes, wiped the blood off his face, and crawled into bed.

Dora was sitting up, waiting for him as per usual while still giving him space to compose himself. She took a second to look him over—checking for any injuries, making sure that his bad shoulder hadn't dislocated itself again—before kissing his head and letting him sleep, swinging her legs out of bed to start her day.

Remus fell asleep nearly as soon as his head hit the pillow. He woke up desperately thirsty a few hours later but the closed curtains and quiet flat gave him no indication of how much time had passed—nor did he care. He managed to sit up straight, drain the glass of water he'd left on his bedside table, and then crashed again.

When he woke up again, it was because of a shift in the mattress. At first, he wondered if this was Dora coming back to bed at the end of the day, seeing as she worked in the morning and all. Then he realised that the shift was much too small…

He cracked his eyes open just in time to see a tiny shadow crawling across the sheets and sitting up on his wife's pillow. Then, Teddy reached out and put a hand on Remus' forehead, as if he was checking for a fever. Really, he was probably just mimicking something he'd seen grown-ups do a thousand times…

"Hey Teddy," Remus managed to say. His voice was cracked and parched after hours of quiet and sleep.

"Daddy you okay?" Teddy asked quietly.

"I am," Remus promised him. "Just tired. Where's Mum?"

"She's making dinner," Teddy said. "It's gonna be dino nuggets and macaroni."

"Lucky you," Remus said. Two favourites in one day; Dora really hadn't been kidding when she'd said that she'd pull out all the stops during her day off.

"Mama said you'd be sleeping still but I can share," Teddy offered.

"That's very kind, but no thank you," Remus said.

"You gotta be sick if you don't want dino nuggets," Teddy said, worried again. Remus couldn't help but smile. "Do you want medicine?"

"I don't think that it will help, but thank you," Remus said. "I'm just tired."

"Like sleepy?"

"Yes, like sleepy," Remus said. He reached out and ran a hand up and down Teddy's arm. "Daddy's just tired and sleepy sometimes, okay? It's just something that happens."

"Okay," Teddy said. "Me too?"

"No," Remus said. He couldn't help but crack a smile as he said it. And that smile somehow made up for how spontaneous and unprepared for this conversation Remus was.

He had never been sure how he would one day explain to his son what and who he was. He'd known he'd want to do it before the rest of the world put ideas in his head, yes. He'd known that he wanted it to come from him. But there was no real rule for where and how and why one should explain this to their child. What was too young? Remus had been younger than Teddy was when he'd been bitten, after all. And what was the right way to do it? How many details were too many details, and what was not enough?

Remus should have known that his clever and caring little boy would bring this up and make this conversation happen naturally.

"You and I are a little different," Remus explained. "Daddy has something in his body that makes him a little different."

"Yeah, you can't make your hair blue," Teddy reminded him. That was a great point of confusion for Teddy.

"Among other things, yes," Remus smiled. "But mainly it means I get sick sometimes. Once a month, do you remember what that is?"

"A bunch of days."

"Very good," Remus said.

"That's sad," Teddy said.

"No," Remus said. "No, it's okay. I'm always going to get better and feel better and be okay."

"Always?" Teddy asked.

"Always," Remus said. "I feel better because you're here already. You're the world's best Healer."

"Okay," Teddy said. Then he lay down in bed next to Remus and snuggled into him. "Okay, well then I'll stay."

"Oh, Teddy, don't worry, that's not what I meant…" Remus said. "You should go back and see if Mum's done making dinner for you."

"Nah, it's okay," Teddy said. "You and I can have dino nuggets later."

Remus smiled at that and pulled Teddy closer. The little boy's hands knotted themselves in his sweater and pretty soon, Teddy fell asleep against him too. He was a very suggestible napper, especially when cuddles were involved—one of his many wonderful qualities.

He didn't quite doze off again after that, which was why Dora found him awake when she came in eventually.

"Sorry," she said quietly, creeping closer, her face mostly obscured by shadows. "I told him that you were probably sleeping, but he must have worried…"

"That's okay," Remus said quietly. Dora leaned forwards and, holding her hair back, kissed his forehead before sitting on the edge of their bed. She rested one of her hands on his hip, her thumb running in circles.

"I told him," Remus said. "A little bit. I hope that's okay. I know we talked about how maybe you should be there, but… it just happened."

"That's okay," Dora said quietly. "And?"

"And what?"

"What did he say? How did he react?"

"Just like his mother once did," Remus said. He reached out and put a hand on top of Dora's. "Which, with every passing day, I am more and more thankful for."

Shipping Wars

Ship (Team): Nymphadora Tonks/Remus Lupin (Technicolour Moon)

List (Prompt): Fall Micro 2 (Shadow)

Stacked with: MC4A; Shipping Wars; Hogwarts; Fall Bingo; Hangman

Individual Challenge(s): Small Fry; Gryffindor MC; Hufflepuff MC; Summer Vacation; Seeds; Times to Come; Old Shoes; Themes & Things A (Family); Themes & Things B (Innocence); Themes & Things C (Pillow); Tiny Terror; True Colours; Rian-Russo Inversion; Short Joy; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux

Word Count: 1184

Fall Bingo

Space address (prompt): 4B (Gratitude)