April 1996:

Her head was pounding and she felt her sight go blurry every few seconds. Tonks wasn't usually scared, but now she was, well, preoccupied that she'd faint any second. Being as clumsy as she was was usually enough of an obstacle. Tonks pressed her index and middle finger at her aching temple, trying to focus.

Her other hand found her wand in her pocket. She tapped it against the dark wooden door, the rattling of chains sounding from behind it. Her hand was shaking a little as she pushed it open.

Just make it to the kitchen, Tonks, she told herself, it's just a little blood.

Truth was that this was more than just a little blood. Her face was covered with scratches, her knees and elbows were bleeding and she tasted blood as she licked her lips.

It was little short of a miracle that she didn't end up tripping over the troll leg to give Walburga Black and her other portraity fellows a reason to shriek.

Entire body shaking by now and feeling a bit giddy already, Tonks finally reached the kitchen door. Let Remus be there, she prayed. He'd know how to patch her up.

As soon as she stepped inside the kitchen, she heard this familiar warm, husky voice of his sounding from the kitchen table. "Hello, Tonks - my god, what happened to you!?"

She heard chair legs scratching over the stoney floor and his silhouette hurried over to her, gently but firmly taking her by the arm and stirring her over to a chair.

"Auror mission," Tonks finally managed to croak, "wasn' vigilant enough an' a blasted death eater got at me."

"Hold on for a second, I'll get some ointment. Unless you'd like me to get Madam Pomfrey - or take you to hospital? Maybe -"

"No, please you just do it."

"Alright." And with that he hurried off.

Tonks tried not to faint in the mean time. She must've lost quite a bit of blood at her way to headquarters. Maybe it would've been more reasonable to see a healer in St Mungo's. But Tonks had never been very reasonable.

"Here, drink this." Remus's voice was back, sounding not far from her. He handed her a flask and, without hesitating, she downed it.

"Ugh, what's that?" she croaked.

"Blood refreshing potion. You needed some as far as I could tell. Little better now? Here, drink some water, then you'll feel less giddy."

Tonks took the glass of water from his hand, not even asking how on earth he'd conjured it so quick nor how he knew she was feeling giddy. "Better, thanks," she breathed.

"Good. Now, let's get you patched up."

She was lucky to only wear her boots, a shirt and shorts. Otherwise this would've been a great deal more painful.

Tonks watched Remus as he cleaned her wounds, applied various healing ointments on them that stopped both the bleeding and the pain, leaving small rosy scars. He was incredibly gentle with her knees and her elbows, one hand always steadying the limb in question, the other carefully healing the wound covering it. His touch sent pleasant shivers down her spine.

After finishing her open wounds, he got to the cuts and marks on her face. Remus gently held her chin while healing every single cut. Tonks flinched at one on her temple. Remus noticed. Tenderly, he brushed the scratch with his lips. Tonks felt the pain fade away.

Remus's hand found hers. He took them and lifted them up to his lips. Just now Tonks noticed that her knuckles were bruised as well.

Remus looked her in the eyes. "Kiss it better?"

It was the smallest hint of a nod she gave him. There was a twinkle in his eyes as he brushed the tender skin of her knuckles with his lips. He took his time to kiss every single one.

Then, he pulled away, glancing at the scars on her knees. Remus drew out his wand, pointing it at one of the scars. Whispering words Tonks didn't understand, he trailed the tip of his wand along the rosy lining. It lit up golden and Tonks felt a warm sensation. Then, the scar disappeared. He did the same with the other scars on her knees, then her elbows, making all of the disappear.

Remus put aside his wand once he'd finished and went back to holding her chin. Tonks held back a gasp as his fingertips trailed along the small scars on her face. She felt the warmth again, knowing they were glowing golden now as well.

This was a kind of magic she'd never experienced before. This was his magic.

"How...?" she whispered.

"It's an ancient spell I've learnt during the first war. I've never... really made use of it though," he said, "it's not just the spell that carries the magic. It doesn't always work because... it takes some kind of caring and love to perform it on someone else."

"It doesn't work on everyone?" she asked.

Remus nodded slowly, smiling up at her. "It worked for you."

"I'm glad," she murmured.

They just looked at each other for a bit. Tonks realized, as she looked into his brown eyes with the golden speckles that had the same colour as her lit up scars just moments ago, that there was so much more to Remus Lupin. She didn't know half of him. Not nearly. What was it, he was hiding deep inside his golden lined soul? Would she ever find out?

"Why don't you use the spell on your scars?"

Remus suddenly looked a little sad but instantly smiled to not show it. "It doesn't work on a werewolf's scars."

Tonks looked at him. She didn't want to believe that. "What if... Remus, what if you just don't love yourself enough to make it work? You said it needs caring and love to work the spell? What if..."

She never got to finish that sentence. Remus smiled at her gently and said, "there was a cut on your lip, wasn't there?"

His fingers were at her chin again his lips met hers. This kiss was gentler than all his others. Tonks wasn't even sure if it was a real kiss. But it felt like one to her.

She'd never been kissed by such an utter gentleman...

A/N: I'm glad I finally got to finish the five-shot! The last chap worked out better than I had imagined.Excuse grammar and spelling mistakes please, I'm not a native speaker. However, I hope you enjoyed. Reviews are very much appreciated. 3