A/N: Figured I should also update at least until the first chapter for the meantime as to set the possible general atmosphere of the story. Will update the later chapters in the next few weeks! Reviews are very much welcome. Enjoy!
"Shit." Remus hears Sirius groan from his bed in St. Mungo's. He opens his eyes, which adjusts to the sterile white setting of the hospital and lands his eyes on Sirius who is trying to sit up on his bed. Remus lets out a loud yawn as he adjusts his position on the chair. Sirius smirks at his best friend.
"You alright, Moony?" he asks. Remus raises an eyebrow.
"I should be the one asking you that." Remus points out as he sits forward, clasping his hands together and resting his elbows on his knees. "How are you feeling?"
Sirius shrugs. "I've had better days," he says. "But this is better than twelve years in Azkaban, I tell you."
Remus chuckles, shaking his head. "You shouldn't have fought last night, it was too soon for you."
"Oh, come on, Moony," Sirius starts. "I know I disobeyed orders, but look at me, I'm alright. Harry's alright...he is, right?" Remus nods. "Right. You're okay, and…" Sirius' face becomes somber. "Is my cousin alright?"
Remus massages his temples with his fingers as he sighs. "Had a pretty bad fall, but she'll be alright."
Sirius smirks at his best friend. Remus raises an eyebrow at him. "What?"
"Oh nothing." Sirius sings. Remus purses his lips together and narrows his eyes at Sirius. "Oh, come off at it, Moony. I know you'd rather be with her in the other ward than with me."
"Am I not allowed to visit my best friend whom I haven't seen in more than a decade?" Remus asks innocently. Sirius snorts and laughs, and Remus rolls his eyes.
"I saw how you never took your eyes off of my cousin, Remus, especially earlier in the battle," Sirius starts. "And I know above everything and everyone else, you're worried about how she's doing after that bad fall with Bellatrix."
"She tried to kill you, you know." Remus points out.
Sirius growls. "Yeah, I heard her, my favorite cousin. But she also tried to kill Nymphie."
Remus smirks. "Nymphie?" he asks, amused. "She'll hex you if she hears you say that."
Sirius laughs, then winks. "I'll take my chances. Now go on, visit my little minx cousin in her ward. I know you're dying to see her, and you're just using me, your fellow Marauder and best friend for decades, as a distraction."
Remus rolls his eyes and stands up. "Stop sulking, Padfoot. Rest up, so you can head back home." He pats his best friend on his back.
"Merlin knows my mother would be thrilled to have her eldest blood-traitor son back home." Sirius mutters as he winks at Remus who snorts and walks out of Sirius' ward.
Remus stuffs his hands inside his trousers and walks slowly to where her ward is. He feels giddiness welling up in his stomach, and he flinches as the wave of excitement has hit him hard. He doesn't know why he's so excited to see her once again. She's hurt, you prat, you shouldn't be this happy, he thinks to himself. He huffs and stops himself in front of her ward, smacking himself mentally for feeling like a sixteen-year-old schoolboy who is having a crush on a schoolgirl.
He leans against the wall and massages his temples with his fingers. What is he feeling? What is this feeling? Surely, this isn't a crush. Perhaps this is just the mere excitement of seeing a close and dear friend, a friend whose beautiful heart-shaped face lights his eyes up; a friend whose natural stormy-grey eyes can change into a reflection of his own blue eyes when she looks at him in Order meetings; a friend whose smile and laughter can light up so brightly that he was sure Dementors would not dare to come near them when she smiles and laughs at, and with, him.
He groans, shaking his head in frustration, when he hears a familiar cry from inside the ward. He pushes himself off the wall and opens the door, only to find his Nymphadora lying on the bed, shoulders shaking as her bandaged head is thrown further back, limp mousey brown hair disheveled, a mirror on her lap-
Wait a second...his Nymphadora?
"Nymphadora." he calls softly. He walks beside her bed and she looks up at him, her eyes red and filled with tears. He strokes her tear-stained cheeks softly as she sniffles.
"Wotcher, Remus." she greets weakly, wiping her eyes furiously with her free arm, with the other one bandaged and slung. Remus smiles at her and sits down on the edge of the bed, beside her.
"What's wrong?" he asks. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"
Nymphadora shakes her head furiously as she huffs. "I can't morph! And everytime I do, my head hurts, and I hate it." Tears start to fall once again and Remus wipes them with his thumb. "I'm a mess, Remus, I don't know why you haven't left my ward yet."
Remus chuckles and moves himself closer to her. "You're not a mess, Nymphadora-"
"Don't call me that," she says, an amused smirk playing on her lips. "It's Tonks, Remus, Tonks."
Remus shakes his head and laughs. "Tonks," he starts, and Nymphadora-er, Tonks-smiles at him. "You are not a mess, and you should be resting instead of trying to morph. Why ever are you trying to morph, anyway?"
Tonks picks a handful of her brown hair in her free hand. "I hate my hair." she mutters, unable to meet Remus' eyes. He smiles and takes her hand in his, her gaze following Remus' hand as he guides his hand back on her lap.
"Now your hair doesn't look that bad." he tells her. She scoffs and looks away from him. "Is that your natural hair color?" She nods, then looks up at him.
"It's ugly, I hate it." she mutters in a small voice. Remus laughs softly, and she furrows her eyebrows at him. "What? You don't need to laugh at it, Remus, I get it."
"Tonks, I'm not laughing because it's ugly," he tells her, and he continues, hesitating. "Quite the contrary, actually. You still look beautiful."
What did he just...His eyes are locked on hers, and he observes as the sparkle of mirth that is usually present in her eyes slowly come back. Her lips break into a smile.
"You really mean it?" she asks, smiling that smile that makes Remus warm inside.
He smiles back and nods. "Of course." he says. She leans back to her bed and grins at him as she returns the mirror on the small table beside her bed. "Now please lie back and rest. You need to recover."
"Is Sirius okay?" she asks.
"Alive and kicking as his usual self, as if nothing happened." he chuckles. She giggles, making him smile all the more.
"He shouldn't have come, though, he could've died." she says, frowning, a crease forming in between her two eyebrows.
"You could have died," Remus tells her softly. "Bellatrix wanted you down."
Tonks scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Yeah well, dear Auntie Bella wanted to see how her little half-blood niece would look like dead, probably."
Remus winces. "Harry stunned her after she tried to kill Sirius." he continues.
Tonks shrugs. "Family conflict, I guess." She laughs bitterly, then proceeds to assess Remus sitting in front of her. "What about you? Are you hurt anywhere?"
Remus shakes his head. "A few scratches, but I guess I'm good."
Before Tonks can say anything, they both hear a grumbling stomach, and Tonks closes her mouth and smiles sheepishly at Remus, who looks at her with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile. Remus then laughs, eventually infecting Tonks with her own bubble of laughter.
Remus pulls out a chocolate bar from inside his tattered and patched-up robes and peels it, handing it to Tonks who looks at him sheepishly. "But that's your chocolate. You love chocolates!" she tells him, and pouts.
Remus chuckles and takes a bite, handing it once more to Tonks who reluctantly accepts it. She takes a small bite and her eyes light up. "Those are good." she says, nodding.
"Honeydukes." He winks at her, making her laugh. She takes another bite before handing the chocolate back to Remus who also takes another bite.
"I'll repay you one day with a whole bag of chocolate from Honeydukes." she tells him, giggling.
"That's not necessary, Nympha-" She glares at him. "Tonks. It's not necessary."
"But I want to! Just you wait, Remus Lupin." she says, playfully, smiling at him.
