Winter Dreams
Title: Winter Dreams
Author: evrdream33
Rating & Warnings: PG
Prompt: Hogwarts Express
Off with my overcoat, off with my glove
I need no overcoat, I'm burning with love!
My heart's on fire, the flame grows higher
So I will weather the storm!
What do I care how much it may storm?
Oh, I've got my love to keep me warm
- "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm," Irving Berlin
Word Count: 1945
Summary: Remus and Tonks take their son to King’s Cross to return to Hogwarts from the winter holiday break, but all is not what it seems.
Author’s Notes: When I originally signed up for this challenge I was really in the holiday spirit, so I had wanted to write something really warm and fuzzy. I had two versions of this story, and I actually ended up choosing the one that ended with less cheer, so my apologies. I hope you enjoy anyway. Also, I wasn't quite sure which category I should stick this in, so I've tagged it as a drama for now. Feel free to suggest otherwise. Hope everyone has a happy new year!
Winter Dreams
A black car pulled up in front of a cobblestone cottage. Remus could barely see the car through the thickness of the falling snow.
“Dora! The car’s here!” he shouted up the staircase. The sound of a crash answered him. He winced.
“Coming!” she called down
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“Perfectly fine! We’ll be down in a minute!”
“Mum’s trying to pack my trunk!” shouted another voice. “She’s using householdy spells!”
Remus winced again. “Are you sure you don’t need help?”
“No! We’re almost done! Just hold on to your hippogriffs won’t you!”
Remus smiled and shook his head. He waved out the window to let the cab driver know they had seen him arrived and they would be out in a minute, but he doubted the driver actually see him through the snow.
A clambering racket made him turn around to see a trunk floating clumsily down the stairs, Tonks right behind it with her wand stretched out, and a young boy hopping down the stairs after her.
“We’re going to have to carry it out you know,” Remus said to her.
“Yes, yes, I know. Just get his coat will you. Make sure he’s covered up. I don’t fancy him getting sick right when he gets back to school.”
Remus went to the closet to get the boy’s heavy winter cloak. “You’re starting to sound like Molly,” he commented.
“Say that again and I’ll hex you Remus Lupin,” she said as she grabbed her own purple cloak, knocking down several other items off their hangers in the process.
Remus chuckled and helped his son into the warm wool garment. “You’re mother didn’t cause too much trouble helping you pack did she?” he whispered to the boy as he wrapped a Weasley scarf around his neck.
The boy pursed his lips and looked at his father with wide eyes. “Maybe a little,” he said quietly. Remus stifled a laugh and settled a wool cap onto his son’s head.
“Let’s go or we’ll be late,” hurried Tonks. “Go on out first,” she said to her son, “You’re father and I will be right behind you, and don’t forget to put on your mittens.”
“Just like Molly,” Remus said under his breath.
Tonks whipped around, her wand already out pointing at her husband with a look that said all too clearly that she had heard.
Remus raised both his hands up in silent surrender. Tonks’ face, unable to keep up the act, relaxed. She smiled at him. “Let’s do this shall we?”
Each of them grabbed a handle at either side of the trunk and hauled it out the door. The wind whipped the cold snow into their faces as they stepped outside.
“What did you put in here?” Remus gasped. “It feels twice as heavy as it did last time.”
“Hermione gave him that damned Hogwarts, A History book, remember?” Tonks grunted.
“The book’s not that heavy.”
They quickly swung the trunk into the back of the car and hurried to join their son in the warm car.
“King’s Cross please,” Remus told the driver.
It was a tense ride. The roads were slick and the thick snow fall obscured the driver’s view. Before they were even out of the neighborhood, the car began sliding off the road. Remus reached for his wand, but Tonks was faster, whispering the spell before he had even drawn it. The car stopped right before it went off the road.
“Sorry about that,” said the driver nervously. “The roads aren’t all that great today to be honest.”
“Quite understandable,” said Remus calmly. “They should be better once we get into the city.”
“Uh, yeah,” said the driver with an unmistakable hint of doubt.
Remus looked over at Tonks who nodded. He could see her lips move silently uttering another spell. Remus sat back and sighed quietly. He was glad that it was only household spells that were her weak point.
The rest of the ride went smoothly to the driver’s surprise, but they still arrived at King’s Cross at nearly a quarter to eleven. Remus rushed out of the car to get a trolley for the trunk while Tonks paid the driver. Once the driver was paid and the trunk on the trolley, the three Lupins dashed over to the barrier between platforms nine and ten and were through before the muggles could notice the family had run through the solid wall.
Beyond the barrier the scarlet engine stood waiting, steam billowing from its top whistling to signal that it would be departing soon. The platform was crowded with families saying a final goodbye to their children.
They hurried down the platform looking for an empty seat. When they finally found one, Remus helped his son tuck his trunk away in the compartment.
“Oh, I’m going to miss you so much,” Tonks said as she embraced her son. “Don’t forget to write.”
“I won’t,” he said and turned to his father, his eyes glistening. Remus smiled and bent down to hug him.
“Aren’t you excited to be going back?” Remus asked.
The boy nodded. “I am … but I’ll miss you and mum,” he said quickly rubbing at his eyes.
Remus looked at him sternly. “You’re a Gryffindor remember. Gryffindor’s face challenges with bravery and strength.”
His son nodded again. He pulled his hands away from his face and grinned at his dad.
The train whistled a last warning. “You better get on,” Remus told him.
Remus wrapped his arms around Tonks as they both waved at the train until it was out of sight.
“Funny thing for you to say,” Tonks said as the train disappeared.
“What is?” asked Remus.
“Gryffindor’s face challenges with bravery and strength,” she repeated.
Remus cringed. “I never said I was perfect,” he mumbled. “He doesn’t need to know that just yet.”
Tonks glared at him. Remus laughed and kissed the tip of her nose. “We should get going.” He reached for her hand and turned on the spot, apparating in front of the walkway that led to their home.
Tonks shivered and waved the snow away from her face. “You couldn’t have apparated closer to the door?”
Remus looked at her amused. “It’s ten steps to the door love.” He frowned as he watched her rub her bare hands together. “Where are your gloves?”
“I must have forgotten them.”
Remus took off his own glove and took her bare hand into his. “You remember to bundle up our son, but you don’t even remember yourself?”
“You will be quiet Mr. Brave and Strong.”
Remus squeezed her hand tighter, trying to drive the cold from it. As they walked up the walkway, Remus thought he heard a sniff from his side. He looked over to see Tonks wiping her eyes with her free hand.
“You’re crying?” he asked her.
“Of course I’m crying,” she sniffed.
“You didn’t cry last time he left.”
“I didn’t know how it would feel last time. He went off to school just like the other kids. I didn’t think that I’d miss him so much.”
“Dora …”
She smiled at him. “I’ll be fine. Hufflepuffs can be brave and strong too you know.”
“Sometimes stronger,” he said earnestly.
Tonks was about to reply to his comment, but slipped on a patch of ice before she could get the words out. Remus clung onto her hand hoping to steady her, but there was no stopping the fall, and de went down with her.
Remus found himself lying on top of his wife, his hand still clutching hers. For a moment, he was alarmed, thinking she was sobbing in pain, but before he could inquire to which part of her was broken, he realized she was laughing.
“I guess you’re alright then,” Remus said relieved.
“A few bruises,” she said once she had caught her breath. “Nothing I’m not used to.”
“Thank Merlin.”
She reached out to put her hand his face. Remus braced himself for the icy coldness to reach his skin, but her touch was surprisingly warm.
“I’ll always be fine as long as you hold on to me.”
“Remus?”
Remus opened his eyes, his vision blurred with drowsiness. When it began to clear, he could see Molly Weasley standing over him.
“You know we left Percy’s room clear for you dear. You don’t have to sleep down here.”
Remus glanced around the room trying to figure out where he was. It was frightening to think that he had slept up in so many different places over the past two years that he often had to think about where his was when he woke up. His eyes fell onto the Christmas tree in the middle of the room. Or rather, his eyes fell onto the gold painted gnome in a tutu and wings that was struggling to free itself from the top of the tree.
Molly followed his gaze. “Oh those boys!” she huffed. “I told them to take that thing out before they went to bed. I told them the stunning spell would wear off and if I woke up in the morning to an even bigger mess because of that gnome running a muck in my house, that they would be the ones to repair all the damage, and if they think that I …”
Remus glanced at his wristwatch as he sat up. He wondered how Molly could have the energy to make such fuss at four in the morning. As he watched her re-stun the gnome and take it down to be disposed of, he started to remember that the Weasleys had insisted on having him over for Christmas after Dumbledore had insisted he take time off from his mission with the werewolves despite Remus’ protests that it might raise suspicions.
He had fallen asleep on the Weasley’s couch sometime during the night’s festivities as the fire had died and Celestina Warbuck sang on repeat in the old wooden wireless. Molly and Arthur had gone to bed long before, and all of the children had been apparently too afraid to wake him, so he had stayed there dreaming under the knitted throw someone had thought to cover him with.
“Remus,” said Molly as she returned from throwing the gnome tree topper out, “It’s warmer upstairs, but if you want to stay down here, I can get the fire started back up. It gets pretty cold without it.”
“No, no, that’s quite alright Molly,” he said hoarsely. “I know you went through some trouble of rearranging the boys. I’ll go up in a minute.”
“Well, just knock on our door if you need anything.”
“Thank you Molly,” he said gratefully, “but really, don’t worry about me.”
Molly opened her mouth as if to say something, but sighed instead. “Well, good night Remus. Or I guess I it should be 'good morning' now,” she said and walked back up the stairs.
Remus sat on the couch rubbing his face for a few moments, trying to wipe the vividness of his dream away. He didn’t want to think about it. Any of it. Even his own subconscious couldn’t dissuade him from his mindset.
Oh, my poor heart, where has it gone?
It's left me for a spell...
“Be quiet Celestina,” Remus said under his breath.
He got up off the couch and turned off the wireless. After folding the throw and placing it back on the couch, he took the stairs up to the second landing where Percy’s empty room had been set up for him. He crawled into the bed. Molly had said it would be warmer upstairs, but Remus still shivered under the covers.
Author: evrdream33
Rating & Warnings: PG
Prompt: Hogwarts Express
Off with my overcoat, off with my glove
I need no overcoat, I'm burning with love!
My heart's on fire, the flame grows higher
So I will weather the storm!
What do I care how much it may storm?
Oh, I've got my love to keep me warm
- "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm," Irving Berlin
Word Count: 1945
Summary: Remus and Tonks take their son to King’s Cross to return to Hogwarts from the winter holiday break, but all is not what it seems.
Author’s Notes: When I originally signed up for this challenge I was really in the holiday spirit, so I had wanted to write something really warm and fuzzy. I had two versions of this story, and I actually ended up choosing the one that ended with less cheer, so my apologies. I hope you enjoy anyway. Also, I wasn't quite sure which category I should stick this in, so I've tagged it as a drama for now. Feel free to suggest otherwise. Hope everyone has a happy new year!
Winter Dreams
A black car pulled up in front of a cobblestone cottage. Remus could barely see the car through the thickness of the falling snow.
“Dora! The car’s here!” he shouted up the staircase. The sound of a crash answered him. He winced.
“Coming!” she called down
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“Perfectly fine! We’ll be down in a minute!”
“Mum’s trying to pack my trunk!” shouted another voice. “She’s using householdy spells!”
Remus winced again. “Are you sure you don’t need help?”
“No! We’re almost done! Just hold on to your hippogriffs won’t you!”
Remus smiled and shook his head. He waved out the window to let the cab driver know they had seen him arrived and they would be out in a minute, but he doubted the driver actually see him through the snow.
A clambering racket made him turn around to see a trunk floating clumsily down the stairs, Tonks right behind it with her wand stretched out, and a young boy hopping down the stairs after her.
“We’re going to have to carry it out you know,” Remus said to her.
“Yes, yes, I know. Just get his coat will you. Make sure he’s covered up. I don’t fancy him getting sick right when he gets back to school.”
Remus went to the closet to get the boy’s heavy winter cloak. “You’re starting to sound like Molly,” he commented.
“Say that again and I’ll hex you Remus Lupin,” she said as she grabbed her own purple cloak, knocking down several other items off their hangers in the process.
Remus chuckled and helped his son into the warm wool garment. “You’re mother didn’t cause too much trouble helping you pack did she?” he whispered to the boy as he wrapped a Weasley scarf around his neck.
The boy pursed his lips and looked at his father with wide eyes. “Maybe a little,” he said quietly. Remus stifled a laugh and settled a wool cap onto his son’s head.
“Let’s go or we’ll be late,” hurried Tonks. “Go on out first,” she said to her son, “You’re father and I will be right behind you, and don’t forget to put on your mittens.”
“Just like Molly,” Remus said under his breath.
Tonks whipped around, her wand already out pointing at her husband with a look that said all too clearly that she had heard.
Remus raised both his hands up in silent surrender. Tonks’ face, unable to keep up the act, relaxed. She smiled at him. “Let’s do this shall we?”
Each of them grabbed a handle at either side of the trunk and hauled it out the door. The wind whipped the cold snow into their faces as they stepped outside.
“What did you put in here?” Remus gasped. “It feels twice as heavy as it did last time.”
“Hermione gave him that damned Hogwarts, A History book, remember?” Tonks grunted.
“The book’s not that heavy.”
They quickly swung the trunk into the back of the car and hurried to join their son in the warm car.
“King’s Cross please,” Remus told the driver.
It was a tense ride. The roads were slick and the thick snow fall obscured the driver’s view. Before they were even out of the neighborhood, the car began sliding off the road. Remus reached for his wand, but Tonks was faster, whispering the spell before he had even drawn it. The car stopped right before it went off the road.
“Sorry about that,” said the driver nervously. “The roads aren’t all that great today to be honest.”
“Quite understandable,” said Remus calmly. “They should be better once we get into the city.”
“Uh, yeah,” said the driver with an unmistakable hint of doubt.
Remus looked over at Tonks who nodded. He could see her lips move silently uttering another spell. Remus sat back and sighed quietly. He was glad that it was only household spells that were her weak point.
The rest of the ride went smoothly to the driver’s surprise, but they still arrived at King’s Cross at nearly a quarter to eleven. Remus rushed out of the car to get a trolley for the trunk while Tonks paid the driver. Once the driver was paid and the trunk on the trolley, the three Lupins dashed over to the barrier between platforms nine and ten and were through before the muggles could notice the family had run through the solid wall.
Beyond the barrier the scarlet engine stood waiting, steam billowing from its top whistling to signal that it would be departing soon. The platform was crowded with families saying a final goodbye to their children.
They hurried down the platform looking for an empty seat. When they finally found one, Remus helped his son tuck his trunk away in the compartment.
“Oh, I’m going to miss you so much,” Tonks said as she embraced her son. “Don’t forget to write.”
“I won’t,” he said and turned to his father, his eyes glistening. Remus smiled and bent down to hug him.
“Aren’t you excited to be going back?” Remus asked.
The boy nodded. “I am … but I’ll miss you and mum,” he said quickly rubbing at his eyes.
Remus looked at him sternly. “You’re a Gryffindor remember. Gryffindor’s face challenges with bravery and strength.”
His son nodded again. He pulled his hands away from his face and grinned at his dad.
The train whistled a last warning. “You better get on,” Remus told him.
Remus wrapped his arms around Tonks as they both waved at the train until it was out of sight.
“Funny thing for you to say,” Tonks said as the train disappeared.
“What is?” asked Remus.
“Gryffindor’s face challenges with bravery and strength,” she repeated.
Remus cringed. “I never said I was perfect,” he mumbled. “He doesn’t need to know that just yet.”
Tonks glared at him. Remus laughed and kissed the tip of her nose. “We should get going.” He reached for her hand and turned on the spot, apparating in front of the walkway that led to their home.
Tonks shivered and waved the snow away from her face. “You couldn’t have apparated closer to the door?”
Remus looked at her amused. “It’s ten steps to the door love.” He frowned as he watched her rub her bare hands together. “Where are your gloves?”
“I must have forgotten them.”
Remus took off his own glove and took her bare hand into his. “You remember to bundle up our son, but you don’t even remember yourself?”
“You will be quiet Mr. Brave and Strong.”
Remus squeezed her hand tighter, trying to drive the cold from it. As they walked up the walkway, Remus thought he heard a sniff from his side. He looked over to see Tonks wiping her eyes with her free hand.
“You’re crying?” he asked her.
“Of course I’m crying,” she sniffed.
“You didn’t cry last time he left.”
“I didn’t know how it would feel last time. He went off to school just like the other kids. I didn’t think that I’d miss him so much.”
“Dora …”
She smiled at him. “I’ll be fine. Hufflepuffs can be brave and strong too you know.”
“Sometimes stronger,” he said earnestly.
Tonks was about to reply to his comment, but slipped on a patch of ice before she could get the words out. Remus clung onto her hand hoping to steady her, but there was no stopping the fall, and de went down with her.
Remus found himself lying on top of his wife, his hand still clutching hers. For a moment, he was alarmed, thinking she was sobbing in pain, but before he could inquire to which part of her was broken, he realized she was laughing.
“I guess you’re alright then,” Remus said relieved.
“A few bruises,” she said once she had caught her breath. “Nothing I’m not used to.”
“Thank Merlin.”
She reached out to put her hand his face. Remus braced himself for the icy coldness to reach his skin, but her touch was surprisingly warm.
“I’ll always be fine as long as you hold on to me.”
“Remus?”
Remus opened his eyes, his vision blurred with drowsiness. When it began to clear, he could see Molly Weasley standing over him.
“You know we left Percy’s room clear for you dear. You don’t have to sleep down here.”
Remus glanced around the room trying to figure out where he was. It was frightening to think that he had slept up in so many different places over the past two years that he often had to think about where his was when he woke up. His eyes fell onto the Christmas tree in the middle of the room. Or rather, his eyes fell onto the gold painted gnome in a tutu and wings that was struggling to free itself from the top of the tree.
Molly followed his gaze. “Oh those boys!” she huffed. “I told them to take that thing out before they went to bed. I told them the stunning spell would wear off and if I woke up in the morning to an even bigger mess because of that gnome running a muck in my house, that they would be the ones to repair all the damage, and if they think that I …”
Remus glanced at his wristwatch as he sat up. He wondered how Molly could have the energy to make such fuss at four in the morning. As he watched her re-stun the gnome and take it down to be disposed of, he started to remember that the Weasleys had insisted on having him over for Christmas after Dumbledore had insisted he take time off from his mission with the werewolves despite Remus’ protests that it might raise suspicions.
He had fallen asleep on the Weasley’s couch sometime during the night’s festivities as the fire had died and Celestina Warbuck sang on repeat in the old wooden wireless. Molly and Arthur had gone to bed long before, and all of the children had been apparently too afraid to wake him, so he had stayed there dreaming under the knitted throw someone had thought to cover him with.
“Remus,” said Molly as she returned from throwing the gnome tree topper out, “It’s warmer upstairs, but if you want to stay down here, I can get the fire started back up. It gets pretty cold without it.”
“No, no, that’s quite alright Molly,” he said hoarsely. “I know you went through some trouble of rearranging the boys. I’ll go up in a minute.”
“Well, just knock on our door if you need anything.”
“Thank you Molly,” he said gratefully, “but really, don’t worry about me.”
Molly opened her mouth as if to say something, but sighed instead. “Well, good night Remus. Or I guess I it should be 'good morning' now,” she said and walked back up the stairs.
Remus sat on the couch rubbing his face for a few moments, trying to wipe the vividness of his dream away. He didn’t want to think about it. Any of it. Even his own subconscious couldn’t dissuade him from his mindset.
Oh, my poor heart, where has it gone?
It's left me for a spell...
“Be quiet Celestina,” Remus said under his breath.
He got up off the couch and turned off the wireless. After folding the throw and placing it back on the couch, he took the stairs up to the second landing where Percy’s empty room had been set up for him. He crawled into the bed. Molly had said it would be warmer upstairs, but Remus still shivered under the covers.