Strangeways, Here We Come

Too dangerous…

The upcoming full moon was making his old bones ache, so he trudged up the stairs slower than usual. He entered Buckbeak's room quietly and bowed, trying not to wince as his joints cracked, and then sat down on the bed (which was being used as a scratching post for the Hippogriff's talons).

Sirius was ensconced somewhere in the house, bonding with a bottle of Firewhiskey – a more common occurrence now that Number Twelve had emptied out again after Christmas – and so the task of feeding the animal had fallen to Lupin. He didn't mind, and at least he didn't have to provide the dead rodents himself – one of Padfoot's favourite sights these days was rat corpses, for obvious reasons.

Reaching into the bucket he held, he pulled one out by its tail and threw it; Buckbeak skilfully caught it in midair and began gnawing on it. He finished it quickly and raised his head, asking for another. Remus was happy to oblige, and they began a game of tossing and nabbing the rats. He enjoyed watching the Hippogriff, seeing how agilely a creature like that could move, despite being large and what some would perhaps call awkward (not that they would say such a thing to its face, of course!). He idly wondered if he was graceful as a beast…

Lost in his musings, he barely noticed Tonks had arrived until she tripped through the door and landed on her knees. Buckbeak stared at her in surprise but seemed to interpret her action as one of the utmost respect, and dropped to his knees in return.

"Wotcher, Beaky," she laughed, reaching out to caress his feathery head. "And Wotcher to you too, Remus. You two don't mind some company, do you?"

She rose to her feet but did so stiffly, and Remus instantly looked at her in concern. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she waved off, stumbling towards the bed and plopping down beside him. "Just had a bit of an accident at work, but it's not a big deal."

"What?" His head shot up in alarm, and he faltered in the process of throwing another rat. The Hippogriff shot him an annoyed look with his orange eyes but Remus paid no heed, instead focusing on the young woman and studying her intently for any injuries. "What happened?"

She looked away sheepishly. "We were executing a search warrant when I tripped and fell right through a Disillusioned door, and down a few steps. Horribly embarrassing, but it turns out I found the evidence we needed."

A part of him wanted to crack a smile at the job well done, but the majority of him was more concerned about her wellbeing. "Are you sure you're all right? How badly were you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Remus!" she exclaimed, clasping his hands in hers and squeezing tightly. "I'm only a bit sore. There was a bit of a sprain, but I healed it – I'm well-trained, remember?"

He knew that, of course – and he wouldn't dare insult her skills, but he still worried. He couldn't help it. "I just want you safe, that's all."

She shot a wry grin his way. "I appreciate the thought, and same goes to you, but we're in the middle of a war! I doubt there's such a thing as safe."

Buckbeak nodded sagely at that before letting out an annoyed squawk, reminding Remus to continue with his feeding. He did so as Tonks went on with a laugh, "Besides, if you want me safe, I'm afraid the bigger problem is my clumsiness, no? I'm destined for bumps and bruises – unless you plan on following me everywhere and vanishing every possible thing I could run into or trip on. Actually, that sounds like a nice idea…"

While she spoke, Remus watched the Hippogriff tear at another dead rodent. Her joking tone was lost on him as he became distracted, engrossed in the way the talons ripped it apart. In a flash his mind had replaced the talons with claws and the fur with human flesh…

The man quickly shook his head to erase the image. Clumsiness wasn't his main concern – Tonks was used to the occasional scrapes. She was resilient, like him. No, he was worried about the more treacherous dangers that lurked in the world… Again, like him.

He swallowed and tried to alleviate the sombre mood that seemed to have settled over him. "Perhaps you may have already guessed this, but I happen to be rather fond of you," he informed her dryly. "And part and parcel of that is feeling an annoyingly chivalric need to protect you."

Tonks lay her head on his shoulder and looked up at him adoringly. "That's incredibly sweet, actually – even though I don't really need it."

"Still," he insisted, "I should do my part in making things safer for you – for starters, preventing you from romping around with a werewolf on full moons…"

She straightened and stared at him. "Remus, that's ridiculous! You'd never hurt me!"

Lupin concentrated on tossing another rodent so he wouldn't have to see the look on her face. "I wouldn't hurt you now, but you and I both know that things are different when I transform. I'm dangerous!"

"You and I both know that Wolfsbane makes you completely safe! Honestly, Buckbeak is probably more dangerous than you are on the potion!" she cried out in exasperation, and the Hippogriff seemed rather smug at her comment.

"I didn't mean to upset you, Nymphadora," he tried to calm her, but to no avail.

"Upset me?" She shook her head in disappointment as she rose to her feet. "Then you shouldn't have mentioned any of this! I'm a fully-trained Auror, perfectly capable of handling a werewolf – and while you're on Wolfsbane you're nothing more than a mild-mannered professor who gets a bit furry, and I can certainly handle one of those, no matter how stubborn they're being!"

With that declaration, she strode out of the room. Buckbeak watched her go, and then shot Remus a pointed look.

"I know, I buggered that up rather splendidly," he sighed, staring down at the bucket of rats between his feet. "I only want her to be safe…"

And yet the man knew that no matter his objections, come the next full moon she would be right beside him. He didn't know whether to be thankful or terrified – especially considering that a part of him wanted her there.

If I get some reviews, I promise I'll lean more towards the thankful rather than the terrified end of the spectrum! Er, unless they're scary, of course. ;)

Toodles,
- ish -