HP: Told You So
Title: Told You So
Author: MrsTater
Rating: PG
Format & Word Count: Fic, 1843 words
Summary: When a battle of the sexes goes to the Quidditch field, bride-to-be Tonks refuses to surrender, even though Remus thinks she might be a bit too clumsy...
Author's Note: Written for the February 2006 Remus/Tonks ficathon at rt_challenge, for the prompt crash.
Told You So
"Tonks," Remus said urgently, drawing his fiancee away from the group gathered in the Weasleys' yard, "are you certain you want to do this?"
"Make those sexist gits eat their words?" Tonks glowered sidelong at the offending wizards - Charlie, Fred, George, Ron, and Harry - but then grinned brightly at Remus. "You bet I do."
Remus' eyes rolled upward, and he spoke deliberately. "Are you certain you should do this?"
Tonks' hands flew to her hips. "Why shouldn't I?"
"Robards won't be keen to learn one of his Aurors injured herself on an off day."
So rarely did Remus reveal less than total confidence in Tonks' abilities that it a moment for her to register his implication. Her heart felt heavy and as if it had sunk into her stomach. "Oh. I see." Tonks slowly crossed her arms over her chest. "You think I'm too clumsy to play Quidditch."
"No!" Remus' outburst obviously startled even him, because he glanced around and reddened when he noticed all the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione had stopped preparing for the impromptu Quidditch match to stare at the squabbling couple. However, the colour drained from his face as he turned back to Tonks, shaking his head emphatically. In a lower, but no less intense tone, he said, "That's not what I meant."
"It's exactly what you meant," Tonks spat, ignoring his wince. "Why? You've seen me fly - carrying Harry's trunk, too."
"You're a very capable flier," Remus admitted. He moved forward and reached to hold Tonks' arms, but she stepped back, maintaining her rigid defensive posture. His shoulders sagged as his hands hung helplessly at his sides, and he sighed heavily. "It's just…Charlie nearly played professionally, and Harry's very likely a better Seeker than Viktor Krum-"
"Viktor was quite impresed with Harry's flying in the Triwizard Tournament," Hermione cut in as she, Ginny, and Fleur whisked past, en route to the boys.
"You see?" Remus said, gesturing after her. "And the twins are brutal Beaters, Tonks, I've seen them."
Realising he was genuinely concerned for her safety, Tonks cooled a little. "You're sweet Remus," she said, "even if you are a bit sexist."
"Sexist!" His jaw dropped. "I'm not the least bit-"
"Teasing." Tonks pecked his cheek, then patted it. "It's only a game of backyard Quidditch, four on four. You've got nothing to worry about. Besides, one of the boys is already going to have to play for the girls, since Hermione won't play. Unless you're volunteering to be the fourth-"
"Bloody hell!" bellowed Ron from across the yard.
"I take it Ron drew the short straw," Remus said, finally looking slightly amused.
"See?" Tonks said. "What're two could-be professionals to two Gryffindor players, the Beauxbatons Triwizard champion, and an Auror?"
Her smile faltered when Remus' brow again furrowed with scepticism, but another outburst diverted them.
"Ickle Ronniekins!" Fred flung his arms around his younger brother and pressed what were undoubtedly slobbery kisses on his cheek. Meanwhile, George conjured a ribbon for Ron's hair. "We always knew you were really our sister!"
Harry, pulling a face, said, "Sorry, mate, looks like Ginny's the only pretty girl in the family." He laughed as Ron held up his fist.
"Excluding seesters-in-law," said Fleur with a toss of her long, silvery-blonde ponytail.
"Ron, go change into your old dress robes!" Ginny quipped.
Everyone but Ron roared with laughter. "Ginny! I'm on your ruddy team!" Flushed and rather miffed-looking, he turned and motioned to Tonks. "C'mon! Let's decide positions."
As Tonks sprang forward to join her team, Remus caught her arm. "I'm sorry if I've been a prat about this. Only please, do be careful."
She leaned forward to kiss him, but pulled back just shy of his lips, struck with a sudden thought. "Remus, what if we have a kid someday who wants to play Quidditch? Will you be like this?"
He smirked, and Tonks suspected he found it nearly impossible that they should ever produce an athlete. But he merely said, "Only if he or she inherits your equilibrium."
"Tonks!" Ron shouted. "Are you playing or not?"
"Stop flirting with her, Professor Lupin!" Ginny demanded as she rushed over and grasped one of Tonks' arms.
Close at Ginny's heels, Fleur said, "You are deestracting Tonks from a very eemportant battle of ze sexes!"
"Keep flirting, Remus!" Fred shouted.
"Yeah!" George added. "It's to the advantage of your fellow wizards!"
As her team-mates dragged her away, Tonks glanced over her shoulder at Remus. "You'd better pull for my team. And the first thing I say to you after we slaughter the boys will be a good retort for that clever equilibrium remark!"
As it turned out, the next thing Tonks said to Remus was, "Where-?"
She was lying down, though not on the ground where she ought to be lying if she'd fallen off her broom in a Quidditch match. Or had she played Quidditch? She couldn't remember anything but the sensation of zooming through the air after a Quaffle she'd never caught - definitely a dream-like feeling. Had it been a dream? Because she was lying on a bed. Her eyelids felt leaden as she slowly opened them on a blurry face.
"St. Mungo's," Remus said softly, seated at her bedside. He peered at her with blood-shot eyes, and his face was etched with worry.
Tonks moaned. Her upper body ached with a pain comparable to what she'd felt after Bellatrix hexed her at the Department of Mysteries. "Hurts," she said hoarsely. "Why?"
"You broke your left collarbone and right wrist and dislocated your shoulder," Remus said. "Do you remember how it happened?"
Tonks nodded vaguely, realising that the Quidditch game had not been a dream, and she must have been injured about the time she reached out to catch the Quaffle. "Weren't joking…" she rasped "…'bout Fred…Good Beater."
"Erm…"
At the sound of the male voice that did not belong to Remus, Tonks turned her head and saw the entire Weasley clan, along with Harry and Hermione, were gathered just beyond her partitioned area of the Artifact Accidents floor.
The speaker had been Fred, and he added, "It wasn't me."
"Sorry," Tonks said, trying to shake off the pain potion-induced grogginess. "George, then. Good Beater."
With a furtive glance at his twin, George said, "Wasn't me, either."
"Then, who-?"
Remus lightly stroked Tonks' bandaged hand. "You crashed into a tree."
"Clotheslined on a branch!" Ron exclaimed. "It was wicked!"
"Ron!" Hermione and Molly cried, and Tonks' eyes snapped open in time to see the Weasley matriarch swat her lanky son on the back of his head.
Tonks gaped, eyes darting franticly to Remus in the hope that he would reveal the Weasley boys to be joking. A tree? she mouthed. Remus nodded. She closed her eyes. Merlin - after the way she'd carried on to Remus about being a good flier, not being too clumsy for Quidditch, she injured herself with her typical ineptitude.
"How can you be so eensensiteeve?" Fleur said tearily, clinging to Bill's robes. "Eet was 'orrible, seeing poor Tonks strike ze branch and fall to ze ground like...like a leetle rag doll! And you saw how terrified Professor Lupin was! He went so white, Tonks, and he screamed your name…"
Remus' cheeks went pink, and Tonks recalled how anxious he'd been before the Quidditch game; it made her ill to imagine how frightened he must have been to see her fly full-speed into a tree.
"But he kept his head and cast a levitation charm to break your fall," Bill said cheerfully, squeezing his wife's shoulder.
Charlie added, "I've been telling Mum for years that tree was a Quidditch hazard."
"I nearly flew into it once," Harry said. "That branch-"
"Oh Harry!" cried Molly, "I never knew! I would've let the boys charm that tree…" Her distressed words trailed away as she brushed past her family to Tonks' beside. "I'm so sorry! I never should have let those boys talk you into playing Quidditch so close to your wedding!" She sighed, but then put on a bright face and patted Tonks' knee. "But don't worry, dear, you'll mend quickly. The Healers are good with bones. Get some rest, I'll bring supper to your flat tomorrow, since you're…" Her eyes trailed up and down Tonks bandaged shoulders and arm bound in a sling. "…indisposed."
Tonks tried to tell her it was unnecessary, but couldn't find the energy before Molly had herded the whole family out of the ward.
When they were gone, Tonks sank back deeply into her pillows. She gazed up at Remus' anxious face, but when their eyes met, feelings of foolishness overwhelmed her, and she quickly looked away.
"You going to say it?" she mumbled.
"Say what?"
"You told me so. I'm too clumsy to play Quidditch."
"I never said you were too clumsy to play Quidditch."
Tonks couldn't help but smile at his gallantry. "Do you wish you had, so you could say you told me so?"
Darting her eyes at him, she saw a faint grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Maybe…just a little."
"If I could move either of my hands," Tonks said, "I'd punch you for that."
Remus' laughter drove away the lingering shreds of mortification. "You'll be able to punch me soon, and I'm sure I'll do something in the meantime to merit it." But he quickly reined in his mirth. "I am joking, by the way. I'm terribly sorry you're hurt, and I'd never rub it in your face. Is there anything I can do?"
At first Tonks couldn't think of anything, but then Remus' remark from earlier came to mind. "Would you Owl Robards? Obviously I can't hold a quill…" She glanced ruefully down at her useless and painful arms. "He'll need to know I won't be in tomorrow or…"
"The rest of the week, according to the Healers."
She winced at the consequences she had to face now on top of her pain.
"Certainly I'll owl him," said Remus, moving as though to carry out the task immediately.
"Wait," said Tonks, and he eased back into his chair. The fingers of her semi-good hand picked at her blankets. "Don't tell him I crashed into a tree."
Remus reached out to smooth her hair. "I'll tell him you did a Wronski Feint and beat Harry to the Snitch."
"Modify memories." Tonks' eyelids drooped, and her speech became slurred as the potions overpowered her once more. "Make 'em all think that's what happened."
"All right," said Remus, the hint of a chuckle in his voice.
"An' I'll sleep."
"Yes, you do that. I'll be here when you wake."
He drew the bedclothes up over her, and his lips brushed across her forehead. As his warm fingers closed around hers, the last thing Tonks thought was how lucky she was to have found a man who could see her through an incident like this and not say, "I told you so."
Author: MrsTater
Rating: PG
Format & Word Count: Fic, 1843 words
Summary: When a battle of the sexes goes to the Quidditch field, bride-to-be Tonks refuses to surrender, even though Remus thinks she might be a bit too clumsy...
Author's Note: Written for the February 2006 Remus/Tonks ficathon at rt_challenge, for the prompt crash.
Told You So
"Tonks," Remus said urgently, drawing his fiancee away from the group gathered in the Weasleys' yard, "are you certain you want to do this?"
"Make those sexist gits eat their words?" Tonks glowered sidelong at the offending wizards - Charlie, Fred, George, Ron, and Harry - but then grinned brightly at Remus. "You bet I do."
Remus' eyes rolled upward, and he spoke deliberately. "Are you certain you should do this?"
Tonks' hands flew to her hips. "Why shouldn't I?"
"Robards won't be keen to learn one of his Aurors injured herself on an off day."
So rarely did Remus reveal less than total confidence in Tonks' abilities that it a moment for her to register his implication. Her heart felt heavy and as if it had sunk into her stomach. "Oh. I see." Tonks slowly crossed her arms over her chest. "You think I'm too clumsy to play Quidditch."
"No!" Remus' outburst obviously startled even him, because he glanced around and reddened when he noticed all the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione had stopped preparing for the impromptu Quidditch match to stare at the squabbling couple. However, the colour drained from his face as he turned back to Tonks, shaking his head emphatically. In a lower, but no less intense tone, he said, "That's not what I meant."
"It's exactly what you meant," Tonks spat, ignoring his wince. "Why? You've seen me fly - carrying Harry's trunk, too."
"You're a very capable flier," Remus admitted. He moved forward and reached to hold Tonks' arms, but she stepped back, maintaining her rigid defensive posture. His shoulders sagged as his hands hung helplessly at his sides, and he sighed heavily. "It's just…Charlie nearly played professionally, and Harry's very likely a better Seeker than Viktor Krum-"
"Viktor was quite impresed with Harry's flying in the Triwizard Tournament," Hermione cut in as she, Ginny, and Fleur whisked past, en route to the boys.
"You see?" Remus said, gesturing after her. "And the twins are brutal Beaters, Tonks, I've seen them."
Realising he was genuinely concerned for her safety, Tonks cooled a little. "You're sweet Remus," she said, "even if you are a bit sexist."
"Sexist!" His jaw dropped. "I'm not the least bit-"
"Teasing." Tonks pecked his cheek, then patted it. "It's only a game of backyard Quidditch, four on four. You've got nothing to worry about. Besides, one of the boys is already going to have to play for the girls, since Hermione won't play. Unless you're volunteering to be the fourth-"
"Bloody hell!" bellowed Ron from across the yard.
"I take it Ron drew the short straw," Remus said, finally looking slightly amused.
"See?" Tonks said. "What're two could-be professionals to two Gryffindor players, the Beauxbatons Triwizard champion, and an Auror?"
Her smile faltered when Remus' brow again furrowed with scepticism, but another outburst diverted them.
"Ickle Ronniekins!" Fred flung his arms around his younger brother and pressed what were undoubtedly slobbery kisses on his cheek. Meanwhile, George conjured a ribbon for Ron's hair. "We always knew you were really our sister!"
Harry, pulling a face, said, "Sorry, mate, looks like Ginny's the only pretty girl in the family." He laughed as Ron held up his fist.
"Excluding seesters-in-law," said Fleur with a toss of her long, silvery-blonde ponytail.
"Ron, go change into your old dress robes!" Ginny quipped.
Everyone but Ron roared with laughter. "Ginny! I'm on your ruddy team!" Flushed and rather miffed-looking, he turned and motioned to Tonks. "C'mon! Let's decide positions."
As Tonks sprang forward to join her team, Remus caught her arm. "I'm sorry if I've been a prat about this. Only please, do be careful."
She leaned forward to kiss him, but pulled back just shy of his lips, struck with a sudden thought. "Remus, what if we have a kid someday who wants to play Quidditch? Will you be like this?"
He smirked, and Tonks suspected he found it nearly impossible that they should ever produce an athlete. But he merely said, "Only if he or she inherits your equilibrium."
"Tonks!" Ron shouted. "Are you playing or not?"
"Stop flirting with her, Professor Lupin!" Ginny demanded as she rushed over and grasped one of Tonks' arms.
Close at Ginny's heels, Fleur said, "You are deestracting Tonks from a very eemportant battle of ze sexes!"
"Keep flirting, Remus!" Fred shouted.
"Yeah!" George added. "It's to the advantage of your fellow wizards!"
As her team-mates dragged her away, Tonks glanced over her shoulder at Remus. "You'd better pull for my team. And the first thing I say to you after we slaughter the boys will be a good retort for that clever equilibrium remark!"
As it turned out, the next thing Tonks said to Remus was, "Where-?"
She was lying down, though not on the ground where she ought to be lying if she'd fallen off her broom in a Quidditch match. Or had she played Quidditch? She couldn't remember anything but the sensation of zooming through the air after a Quaffle she'd never caught - definitely a dream-like feeling. Had it been a dream? Because she was lying on a bed. Her eyelids felt leaden as she slowly opened them on a blurry face.
"St. Mungo's," Remus said softly, seated at her bedside. He peered at her with blood-shot eyes, and his face was etched with worry.
Tonks moaned. Her upper body ached with a pain comparable to what she'd felt after Bellatrix hexed her at the Department of Mysteries. "Hurts," she said hoarsely. "Why?"
"You broke your left collarbone and right wrist and dislocated your shoulder," Remus said. "Do you remember how it happened?"
Tonks nodded vaguely, realising that the Quidditch game had not been a dream, and she must have been injured about the time she reached out to catch the Quaffle. "Weren't joking…" she rasped "…'bout Fred…Good Beater."
"Erm…"
At the sound of the male voice that did not belong to Remus, Tonks turned her head and saw the entire Weasley clan, along with Harry and Hermione, were gathered just beyond her partitioned area of the Artifact Accidents floor.
The speaker had been Fred, and he added, "It wasn't me."
"Sorry," Tonks said, trying to shake off the pain potion-induced grogginess. "George, then. Good Beater."
With a furtive glance at his twin, George said, "Wasn't me, either."
"Then, who-?"
Remus lightly stroked Tonks' bandaged hand. "You crashed into a tree."
"Clotheslined on a branch!" Ron exclaimed. "It was wicked!"
"Ron!" Hermione and Molly cried, and Tonks' eyes snapped open in time to see the Weasley matriarch swat her lanky son on the back of his head.
Tonks gaped, eyes darting franticly to Remus in the hope that he would reveal the Weasley boys to be joking. A tree? she mouthed. Remus nodded. She closed her eyes. Merlin - after the way she'd carried on to Remus about being a good flier, not being too clumsy for Quidditch, she injured herself with her typical ineptitude.
"How can you be so eensensiteeve?" Fleur said tearily, clinging to Bill's robes. "Eet was 'orrible, seeing poor Tonks strike ze branch and fall to ze ground like...like a leetle rag doll! And you saw how terrified Professor Lupin was! He went so white, Tonks, and he screamed your name…"
Remus' cheeks went pink, and Tonks recalled how anxious he'd been before the Quidditch game; it made her ill to imagine how frightened he must have been to see her fly full-speed into a tree.
"But he kept his head and cast a levitation charm to break your fall," Bill said cheerfully, squeezing his wife's shoulder.
Charlie added, "I've been telling Mum for years that tree was a Quidditch hazard."
"I nearly flew into it once," Harry said. "That branch-"
"Oh Harry!" cried Molly, "I never knew! I would've let the boys charm that tree…" Her distressed words trailed away as she brushed past her family to Tonks' beside. "I'm so sorry! I never should have let those boys talk you into playing Quidditch so close to your wedding!" She sighed, but then put on a bright face and patted Tonks' knee. "But don't worry, dear, you'll mend quickly. The Healers are good with bones. Get some rest, I'll bring supper to your flat tomorrow, since you're…" Her eyes trailed up and down Tonks bandaged shoulders and arm bound in a sling. "…indisposed."
Tonks tried to tell her it was unnecessary, but couldn't find the energy before Molly had herded the whole family out of the ward.
When they were gone, Tonks sank back deeply into her pillows. She gazed up at Remus' anxious face, but when their eyes met, feelings of foolishness overwhelmed her, and she quickly looked away.
"You going to say it?" she mumbled.
"Say what?"
"You told me so. I'm too clumsy to play Quidditch."
"I never said you were too clumsy to play Quidditch."
Tonks couldn't help but smile at his gallantry. "Do you wish you had, so you could say you told me so?"
Darting her eyes at him, she saw a faint grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Maybe…just a little."
"If I could move either of my hands," Tonks said, "I'd punch you for that."
Remus' laughter drove away the lingering shreds of mortification. "You'll be able to punch me soon, and I'm sure I'll do something in the meantime to merit it." But he quickly reined in his mirth. "I am joking, by the way. I'm terribly sorry you're hurt, and I'd never rub it in your face. Is there anything I can do?"
At first Tonks couldn't think of anything, but then Remus' remark from earlier came to mind. "Would you Owl Robards? Obviously I can't hold a quill…" She glanced ruefully down at her useless and painful arms. "He'll need to know I won't be in tomorrow or…"
"The rest of the week, according to the Healers."
She winced at the consequences she had to face now on top of her pain.
"Certainly I'll owl him," said Remus, moving as though to carry out the task immediately.
"Wait," said Tonks, and he eased back into his chair. The fingers of her semi-good hand picked at her blankets. "Don't tell him I crashed into a tree."
Remus reached out to smooth her hair. "I'll tell him you did a Wronski Feint and beat Harry to the Snitch."
"Modify memories." Tonks' eyelids drooped, and her speech became slurred as the potions overpowered her once more. "Make 'em all think that's what happened."
"All right," said Remus, the hint of a chuckle in his voice.
"An' I'll sleep."
"Yes, you do that. I'll be here when you wake."
He drew the bedclothes up over her, and his lips brushed across her forehead. As his warm fingers closed around hers, the last thing Tonks thought was how lucky she was to have found a man who could see her through an incident like this and not say, "I told you so."