Author's note: Have some fluff, my friends. I need fluff very badly right now, so have some fluff.

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the canon, world, and characters portrayed below and you can tell I'm not J.K. Rowling because #transrights

Content Warnings: NA

Just To Check In

"You're home!" Dora said, catching herself and lowering her voice to a whisper just as her eyes widened at the sight of him.

"I am, I am," Remus said, shrugging his book bag out of the way to wrap his arms around her. "I know I wasn't supposed to have this weekend off, but I negotiated with Slughorn."

It hadn't been so much a negotiation as lots of pleading that had ended with Slughorn replacing Remus as a chaperone on this week's trip to Hogsmeade and Remus keeping him company and helping with grading for… well, the rest of term, but so be it. It was worth it.

Dora held on for a long time, and when she let go Remus held her an arm's length away and looked her over. She was wrapped in the black robe she always wore around the flat, and her hair was its usual shade and length of bubblegum pink. He scanned her face for signs of fatigue, but the only one he caught was cheeto dust on her fingers. She wiped them on her robe.

"You two sounded like you had a bad week," Remus said, worried. She had written significantly less and they hadn't been able to coordinate a call via the fireplace in his office; Remus's anxiety had been prickling his skin and humming in his veins all week. "I wanted to see you in person. Just to check in."

She smiled.

"So?" Remus asked. "Don't lie to me. Was it truly the worst week?"

"It was slightly bonkers, what with me and every other Auror in the damned world caught up in the trials," she said. "We need more friends who aren't involved in the Order of the Phoenix, by the way, to diversify our babysitter portfolio and availability. But yes, we survived."

"Well I know you survived," Remus said. He kissed the bridge of her nose. "I thought our bar was slightly higher. Mine is for you, at least."

"This week it was not," Dora said. "If Teddy's teacher says something about how he's eaten cold hot dogs and apple sauce for lunch five days this week, you can tell her to fuck off but nicer, which is what I did."

"Noted," Remus said with a smile. "Was he alright, spending so much time at the Ministry day care?"

"I think so," she said. "He was really snuggly after dinner tonight, so he might have felt slightly left out, but he seemed to be in good shape. He had lots of fun and made a friend I should organize a play date with."

"Good," Remus said. He pushed her hair out of her face. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help."

"You were working," Dora said.

"I know, but still," Remus said. "I don't like knowing that he needs something and not being there."

"My parents worked absolutely insane hours when they were both Healers," Dora said. "I was never lonely as a kid; I always knew they loved me."

"See, I was lonely as a child and I… I was always sure for my mother, but not my father," Remus said. "I don't want that for Teddy."

He felt almost silly admitting it, since he and his son's situations were so different, but if Dora had taught him anything it was that the silliest fears deserved to be spoken out loud and dealt with, before they became unmanageable. You should know this, if you're a so-called expert at Boggarts, she had once teased him.

"That's fair," Dora said slowly. "But I really don't think you need to worry about that. Come have a look."

Remus shrugged off the bookbag in which he'd packed some essentials and the last essays in his grading pile before following Dora into their flat, catching her hand in his as they walked and bringing it to his lips for a kiss.

Dora cracked the door with the kind of stealth and delicacy she'd acquired since making a baby that then needed to be kept quiet, and motioned for him to peek into Teddy's room. The enchanted lantern on his dresser that acted as a nightlight shined a thin sheen of light across the room, along with the glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling. Because his son had been asleep for more than three minutes, Teddy's blankets had obviously already been kicked off the bed revealing the six-year-old bundled up in…

"That's yours, in case you don't recognize it in the dark," Dora whispered helpfully.

Oh, Remus had. This particular brown cardigan was a piece of work; it had been patched and re-patched almost more than any other piece of clothing he owned (though mending the pockets were a lost cause), and the sleeves had been pulled and distorted by nights of anxious tugging. It was much too ratty to wear in the classroom, or even around the castle where students might come to find him asking for help or chocolate or whatever else they always found him for-but Remus hadn't wanted to get rid of it. It had, after all, been through a lot. Besides, his wife always stole it so it would be impossible to get his hands on even if Remus did want to pack it or toss it. And so, apparently, did his son—considering that Teddy was currently wrapped in his cardigan and a pair of bright yellow socks.

"He used to wear it when Victoire came over to play, that way they could play teacher, but that's been his sleeping outfit for… oh, a couple of weeks now," Dora added, her voice just as low. She was a few inches taller than he was today, so she wrapped her arms around his waist and propped her chin on his shoulder.

"Our son does not wear long-sleeved clothes to bed, nor does he ever put on anything with a tag on it," Remus said.

"You're the only exception," Dora said, kissing his ear.

And that made Remus smile even harder.

"He looks almost better in my clothes than you," Remus said, leaning back into Dora's chest and smiling at Teddy.

"Is that a challenge?"

"It can be," Remus said with a grin. He spun around and let her arms drop around his waist, looping his arms around her neck. "You know, I worried about you too, you know."

"Let me show you how fine I am, then," she said leaning in for a kiss. Remus smiled against her lips, carefully easing Teddy's door shut before pulling her closer.

Oh yeah. They were all fine. Better together, but fine.

WC: 1100