DAMNATION
Remus rushed forward and gathered Tonks in his arms, kissing her fiercely before he even realized what he was doing. Tonks made a startled noise, but was quickly returning the embrace, her hands reaching up to cup Lupin�s face. Her touch on his skin was electric and it shocked Remus back into awareness. He quickly pulled away, falling back several steps as he gawked at her. Tonks met his eyes with a mixture of hurt and confusion.
�What are you playing at, Remus?�
�I..� He honestly had no explanation for what he�d done and he raked a hand through his hair. �I�m sorry, Tonks. I�m just not myself.�
�What�s happened to you?� Tonks asked, closing the distance and reaching up to gently grasp his upper arm.
Lupin pulled away, and moved towards the bed, falling onto it in a tired heap. �Please, Dora. Please don�t.�
Tonks bristled at being called �Dora� but the exhaustion evident in Remus� tone coupled with the fact that he had never called her that allowed her to look past the offense. She moved to sit on the edge of the bed, reaching for his hand and pulling it into her lap as her fingers closed around his.
�If you don�t want to talk, Remus, that�s fine�but you will listen to me.�
Remus turned his head to look at her, his eyebrows quirked with amusement at her demanding tone, but the humor quickly died as he saw the tears in her eyes.
�When I heard what happened to you, I was so frightened.� Tonks began, only a slight quiver in her voice. �I was horrified by what Snape said they�d done to you. I was thankful you were still alive, but�it�s because of me this happened to you.�
The dam on Tonks� emotions finally broke and she covered her face with her hands as she sobbed. Remus pushed himself up on the bed and enveloped her in his arms, tucking her small body against his chest as he tried to calm her.
�Shhh�Tonks, don�t cry. What happened to me was not your fault.�
�It was.� She protested with a wet sniffle. �I shouldn�t have let you go out alone. We aren�t supposed to go anywhere alone! It was stupid. I was so stupid!�
�Dora, listen to me.� Remus pushed her back until she met his eyes, then picked up the edge of his sheet and dried her tears as he continued. �If anyone wasn�t thinking right, it was me. I shouldn�t have let my grief over Sirius cloud my judgment. I was the one who shouldn�t have ventured out alone. Besides, if you had been with me��
Remus couldn�t force himself to finish the thought aloud. Visions of Voldemort�s dagger cutting through an unknown girl�s flesh was quickly replaced with images of Tonks meeting the same fate. He shook his head, forcing the nightmarish vision from his mind and pulled her back into a fierce hug, burying his face against her neck.
�If anything were to happen to you�� He whispered. Tonks felt her stomach do an odd little flip at hearing his soft words, and melted against his body, holding him the same way he held her. They stayed like that for a long while, simply drawing comfort from one another.
Remus could feel his eyes growing heavy and he sighed deeply as he released Tonks and lay back against his pillow. He was already half asleep when he felt the sheet being tucked in around him, and a hand pushed his hair out of his eyes as Tonks leaned down and kissed his forehead.
�Get some rest, Remus. I�ll bring you something to eat when you wake up.� Her whispered words hung in the air long after she had closed the door behind her, and Remus fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
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