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 #5, Muggle Studies Task #7 Write about something being repeated

Warnings: Accident that permanently alters physical ability

As Long As I Have You

Remus did all the things. He rushed to St. Mungo's, held his wife's hand as the Healers examined her and as she caught her breath, and held her tight as they walked out of the hospital. He wrapped her up in a blanket and sat her down on the couch when they got home, propping her feet up on the coffee table and offering a million options for beverages he could brew or food he could make. He made sure to slow down and enunciate his words more than he maybe would have the day before, to make sure she could follow along. Even if she said she didn't need anything, he brewed a cup of the tea she'd been chain-drinking and cooked up an ooey-gooey, cheesy rarebit. She'd grown partial to his favourite Welsh comfort dish when they'd married, and her

When he brought it to her she ate, but she hadn't moved much and there was something hazy and distant in her eyes.

"Dora," he said.

Then he realised that he was sitting on her left side. He was going to have to be mindful of that from now on. He made a mental note to himself, somewhat frustrated with the realization that he was going to forget a million times as they got used to this.

He put a hand on her thigh and repeated her name. She turned to face him.

"You still look like Miranda," he said.

"Amanda?" she frowned.

"Miranda," he said. "Your Auror personae."

Dora had a few set personalities and physiques that she used and reused for Auror work. One of the first things they'd done together as Order of the Phoenix colleagues was design the curly-haired blonde who often worked security missions.

Auror-wise, Dora had a few things going. Anna was a retired persona, but her big smile and sharp cheekbones had gotten her into qutie a few dragon egg trafficking rings. Madeleine's plain features, brown eyes, and simple brown plaits were inocuous enough to easily dissolve in a crowd. Edith was an older woman who was frequently underestimated by duellers. Sadie was a charmer with a stunning smile and aesthetically-pleasing features, made endearing by a well-placed beauty mark. Tabitha, who was in Remus' opinion the most like his wife, was discreet enough to trust but edgy and boisterous enough to fit into a tavern and get herself into dark corners and unsavory businesses. Dora rinsed and repeated these personalities as needed, depending on what assignments the Auror Department threw at her.

But at the moment, Dora was Miranda. A witch with curly black hair and a frankly (and purposefully) unremarkable face, but instead of quietly tracking former Death Eaters or unicorn poaches like Madeleine did, Miranda often attended illicit Bowtruckle-fighting matches or auctions for dark magical items in order to gather intelligence. She had a reputation, in these circles. A reputation that no longer existed after today's accident and the resulting blast, they would have to remember, but a reputation that had served the Auror Department well for over ten years now.

"Yeah," Dora said mechanically.

Remus hesitated to push the issue.

"I thought… I thought that the department didn't like you using the personas outside of work," he said.

Dora only seemed to catch half of that. Remus squeezed his hand and repeated himself more slowly, running his thumb in circles against her hand in a way he hoped was soothing. He had seen how wide and confused Dora's eyes had been when she'd woken up at St. Mungo's, with only half the ammount of sound she would usually get filtering through and registering.

"They… don't," Dora said.

More than that, Dora usually couldn't wait to escape her work personas. For one thing, they were redundant to her, since she repeated them so often—Dora liked variety, experimentation, audacity, creativity... For another, the personas were all, well, boring according to her standards. There were no constellation-making freckles, fun and unnatural colours, unusual nose structures, piercing and tattoo do-overs…

Dora took a deep breath.

"It's ridiculous," Dora said. At that her eyes teared up.

"Hey," Remus said. His spare hand cupped her cheek. "That doesn't matter. Whatever it is, remember: you're ridiculous, but you're mine. Mine."

He wasn't sure if she heard him properly that time, but her lip quivered in a sad smile.

"If I shapeshift now and turn back into myself…" Dora said. "If I… if I change my body… and my hearing still doesn't come back…"

Her hand drifted to her left ear, the one the Healers hadn't been able to save.

"...if I change and it doesn't come back, then I know that it's really gone," Dora said.

"Dora," Remus sighed, his heart dropping.

"Ridiculous," she repeated, rubbing a hand against her eyes as if she was frustrated with her own tears—which Remus knew was likely the case. "I know."

"Not ridiculous," he promised. He leaned forwards and kissed her before leaning back. "Not at all. But you are going to be okay. Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people can do so much, Dora. It's going to be an adjustment, but you will manage."

Dora took a deep, shaky breath.

"I know. Mad-Eye lost part of his hearing too. I'm just… I'm afraid of what that adjustment will be," she said.

"I would be scared too," he said. That she didn't seem to catch. It was going to take him practise to adjust his communication style, but this wasn't anything impossible. Maybe they could learn sign language. Maybe she would pick up on reading lips as time went on. Maybe. For now, he picked shorter and more to-the-point words. "Me too."

She exhaled, long and hard.

"But you can do this," Remus said. "The important thing… the important thing is that you lost your hearing today. Not your job, not your family, not your life."

He squeezed her hands and this time found himself breathing in deeply to steady himself. Every now and then, now that they were so far removed from the war and its unpredictability and the ephemeral and dangerous life he had always known, he forgot how stressful being married to an Auror could be.

"We can make anything work," Remus said. "As long as I have you."

Dora reached out and ran a hand through his greying hair and trailed her fingers down to his cheek and down to his chest.

"As long as I have you," she repeated.

She took a deep breath and then cracked a more Dora-like grin.

"At least it will be a cool story," Dora said. "If nothing else…"

"Sure," Remus smiled.

She offered him another smile and then closed her eyes, breathed in deeply, and Miranda's face disappeared to reveal the features of Dora as he knew her best.

She looked around for a second, assessing the situation. He held her hands tightly as she nodded along.

"I'm going to be okay," she said.

Stacked with:

Individual Challenge(s): Rainbow Focus; More than England; Gryffindor MC; Hufflepuff MC; Brush; Seeds; Times to Come; Old Shoes; Themes & Things A (Life); Themes & Things B (Loss); Themes & Things C (Blanket); Themes & Things D (Couch); Themes & Things E (Table); Themes & Things F (Resilience); Ethnic & Present; True Colours; Rian-Russo Inversion; Disabled; In a Flash; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux

Word Count: 1155

Shipping Wars

Ship (Team): Nymphadora Tonks/Remus Lupin

List (Prompt): Winter Micro 2 (Identity Porn)