Author's note: I honestly can't really believe that I'm about to send out chapter 20 of this drabble series into the world; so thanks to all of you for reading! I don't know how many more chapters are coming after this one, since everything is anachronistic and I usually just write what I'm thinking about, but let me know if there are any prompts, genres, or scenarios you'd like to see in the reviews!

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 #8, Geology Task #5 Write about someone being saved from something.

Warnings: Terminal/chronic illness

Inevitable Limits

Dora was already in bed when he crept into their bedroom after spending quite a bit of time in the bathroom. He had been trying to rub the ache out of his knee and applying healing balms to the substantial amount of cuts and scrapes and bruises on his skin that refused to heal of their own accord. He'd had little luck, but at least the sleeping drought should help him fall asleep tonight.

He was still a black and blue mess when he eased himself down into bed, pulling the covers over himself. The weight of the rainbow-striped blanket Molly had knitted for them to celebrate their five year anniversary was comfortably heavy on Remus. Well, almost. The joints in his fingers were nearly too stiff to grip the sheets and blanket properly and his grip on them failed just before he could pull them up to his neck.

"When are you going to talk to a Healer?" Dora said quietly.

They were in the dark but Remus was sure that his wife would catch the hitch in his voice if he tried not to tell her the truth. As it turned out, being married to an Auror meant being married to someone who had specialized training in detecting untruthfulness. Still, he tried to play it off.

"Why would I…"

"Remus," she said in that tone of hers that never failed to snap him out of his nonsense. Except this wasn't nonsense. He genuinely just did not know how to have this conversation with her. He could barely order the thoughts sensically in his own head.

When he didn't answer, she sighed.

"The full moon was a week ago," she said. "You're still limping. You're still in pain. It's like you're not recovering. And it's worse than it was last month and that was worse than the month before…"

She trailed off as if giving him a chance to chime in and answer, but Remus simply didn't.

"Look, I'm not trying to say that I'm right, but I'm right. I know I am," Dora said. "I don't understand why you're putting yourself through this."

It was no use lying to her.

"If I go to St. Mungo's, Teddy will find out," Remus said evenly. "He will worry about me, he will want to be involved, and he will worry even more when I inevitably say no. And I knew he would tell you too. I wanted to save you the… the trouble and the worrying."

"I'm your wife," Dora said. "I'm meant to know these things. I'm meant to fret over you."

"I do not want you to have to worry more than strictly necessary," Remus said. "Being married to a werewolf can't possibly be any good for the nerves. I wanted to spare you from what I could until… until I was sure something was wrong. I already give you so much to worry about."

She sat up in bed. He saw her silhouette cross its arms and reached for his wand on the bedside table. He waved his wand and the two lamps on their light tables turned on. Dora looked down at him, her lips set in a terribly strict and crooked line. She always wore her hair short when she slept, she hated waking up with hair in her mouth, and tonight she'd opted for a pale grey shade that seemed just about silver.

"You silly man. You're not saving me from anything. Not knowing what is happening to you is more concerning than anything the Healers could tell us," she said. "You… your body has been through a lifetime of unwilling and painful transformations that you often made more painful than necessary to avoid hurting others."

Remus didn't answer. She was saying the truth.

"I worry about what that means," Dora finally said.

Remus worried too. He looked away from her and at the ceiling, trying to muster the words he needed before turning back to her and saying them.

"I think my body's failing me," Remus said quietly. "I think… I think it's had enough. I don't even think it's transforming properly, even when I take the Wolfsbane potion. It's like… it's like my bones and my muscles never go all the way back, one way or the other. They're always just a bit shy of what they ought to be, just a bit more painful than they should be."

Dora didn't answer right away.

"You need to go see a Healer," she said.

"What will they do?" Remus asked. "Other than help manage the pain?"

"Don't say that as if that's all that's left to do," Dora said. Her voice choked at the words and Remus' heart seized in his chest. This. This was what he had wanted to avoid.

Then again, if they were right… well, this would be something of an inevitability.

He swallowed.

"Dora…" he started. "What if… what if it is?"

She frowned at him, pale. Her mouth dropped down into the shape of a speechless 'o' before she snapped herself out of it.

"Don't say that," she scoffed.

"But what if it is?" Remus insisted. "I'm old, Dora. By werewolf standards, if not quite wizard standards. The only werewolf I've ever known who got older than I am now was Fenrir Greyback and he never resisted his transformations or denied himself anything. I may have found a limit..."

Dora's eyes fluttered shut. Remus reached out to take her hand. He wanted to squeeze harder than he could.

"I know we haven't had to talk about the possibility of losing each other in years," Remus said.

"Twenty-three years," Dora said quietly.

"Right," Remus said. "Twenty-three years… we've been lucky, that all has been well."

"It's been more than well," Dora said. "It's been beautiful. And it will keep being like that."

"It will," Remus said. "But we should… we should talk about it again."

"Does it have to be right now?" Dora said.

"No," Remus said. "No, it doesn't. Come here."

Dora hesitated. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't," Remus said, his heart breaking at the thought that he was the one hurting her. "Come here."

Dora reached for the wand on her bedside table and turned off their lamps before laying down in bed, laying with her head against his chest. Remus adjusted his arm around her shoulders. He was well aware that they both remained wide awake.

Remus was painfully aware that they were both wide awake, breathing together and breathing each other in, a half hour later.

"I'll go see a Healer on Monday," Remus promised.

"Thank you," Dora whispered. She shifted to bury his face into the sweater he'd worn to bed. The minty, fresh smells of the healing balms were wafting through the fabric and into the room.

"I should have sent you there earlier. Saved you from your own piss poor self-preservation skills."

"A few days won't change anything," Remus said. "But whatever it is they say, whatever is wrong with me, just know that you saved me from most likely going through this same pain but alone and without a lifetime of happiness at your side."

"You're not dead yet," she muttered into his chest. "Don't get nostalgic on me, old man."

He couldn't help but laugh and kissed her hair.

"I mean to say that you've already saved me, Nymphadora," he said quietly. She didn't even protest at his use of her name. She just snuggled into him more.

Stacked with: Hogwarts; Shipping War; Spring Bingo; Link Maker; Chimera Creator

Word Count: 1251

Spring Bingo

Space (Prompt): 2C (Rainbow)

Shipping Wars

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

List (Prompt): Spring Big List (Blanket)