[Remus/Tonks drabble] In the Wee Hours
So, I've been having one of those months where I have work up to the eyeballs (mostly for good reasons this time, for which I'm thankful, but it's still not great being this busy), and I can't keep up with online life or make progress on my current fic projects at all. And then something snaps, and I just have to write something -- except that what comes out is some kind of sappy hurt/comfort piece. ;) Well, here it is... (I'm hoping the work circus will calm down in another week or two, because there is a Kaleidoscope chapter-in-progress I'd really like to finish. And there's lots of stuff accumulating around LJ that I'd like to read!)
In the Wee Hours (316 words | PG | set maybe in early DH?)
In the Wee Hours
She didn’t realize, at first, that he was even having a nightmare.
He lay curled on his side, facing away from her, silent and still-no thrashing limbs twisting in the bedcovers, no haunted mutters or hoarse shouts.
But when she made to snuggle up against him, she found that he was rigid. Shaking.
She pushed up on one elbow, leaning across. In the light of the bloated, waxing moon, his eyebrows furrowed sharply, and his mouth pressed out a tight, desperate line. Only his hands, drawn up under his chin, moved at all. They clenched, convulsing, finding nothing to clutch at and yet grasping again.
“Remus,” she said, firmly. “Wake up. You’re dreaming.”
He breathed once, then, raggedly, but the hands went on clenching.
She fitted herself against the curve of his back, folding her knees behind his, sliding her hand up over his shoulder and along his arm, working her own fingers inside one of those empty clutching fists. “Come on, wake up. It’s all right.”
His fingers locked around hers. A heartbeat later, his other hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling their joined hands up against his chest. He drew another ragged breath, and shivered once, but after that the shaking stopped altogether.
“That’s better,” she said, squeezing his fingers, leaning in to brush her lips along his jaw. “I’ve got you.”
Still without waking, he mumbled something she couldn’t quite hear. Then he shivered again, and rolled over, hooking an arm over her waist and up along her back, pulling her close. He nuzzled her collarbone before breathing one more shuddering sigh and melting against her, burying his face against the skin between her neck and her shoulder.
He mumbled again, but this time she caught it.
“Dora.”
She ran her fingers softly through his hair until, sinking into the warmth of his body pressed against hers, she drifted off to sleep.
~ fin ~
.
In the Wee Hours (316 words | PG | set maybe in early DH?)
In the Wee Hours
She didn’t realize, at first, that he was even having a nightmare.
He lay curled on his side, facing away from her, silent and still-no thrashing limbs twisting in the bedcovers, no haunted mutters or hoarse shouts.
But when she made to snuggle up against him, she found that he was rigid. Shaking.
She pushed up on one elbow, leaning across. In the light of the bloated, waxing moon, his eyebrows furrowed sharply, and his mouth pressed out a tight, desperate line. Only his hands, drawn up under his chin, moved at all. They clenched, convulsing, finding nothing to clutch at and yet grasping again.
“Remus,” she said, firmly. “Wake up. You’re dreaming.”
He breathed once, then, raggedly, but the hands went on clenching.
She fitted herself against the curve of his back, folding her knees behind his, sliding her hand up over his shoulder and along his arm, working her own fingers inside one of those empty clutching fists. “Come on, wake up. It’s all right.”
His fingers locked around hers. A heartbeat later, his other hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling their joined hands up against his chest. He drew another ragged breath, and shivered once, but after that the shaking stopped altogether.
“That’s better,” she said, squeezing his fingers, leaning in to brush her lips along his jaw. “I’ve got you.”
Still without waking, he mumbled something she couldn’t quite hear. Then he shivered again, and rolled over, hooking an arm over her waist and up along her back, pulling her close. He nuzzled her collarbone before breathing one more shuddering sigh and melting against her, burying his face against the skin between her neck and her shoulder.
He mumbled again, but this time she caught it.
“Dora.”
She ran her fingers softly through his hair until, sinking into the warmth of his body pressed against hers, she drifted off to sleep.
~ fin ~
.