Prompt #3
Title: Shut Out
Author: MrsTater
Format/Word Count: fic, 828
Rating: G
Prompt: #3
Summary: "You're the best dad in the world."
Shut Out
"Ask Dad," Remus hears his wife say as he approaches their daughter's bedroom, where Tonks is tucking her in.
He's barely set foot in the doorway when Alba vaults out of bed and attaches herself to him. "Can she, Dad, please?"
"Can who do what?" Remus prises the little girl off his legs and crouches - with cracking joints - in front of her.
"Janie!" Alba looks at him as though he should know this. "I want her to spend the weekend. Can she?"
"What does Mum say?" Remus' gazes over Alba's head to his wife, who perches on the edge of the pink and purple bed, watching the father-daughter interaction with a dreamy look on her face.
"To ask you." Alba redirects his attention to her by tugging on his jumper. "Oh, please, Dad? With chocolate frogs on top?" Her dark eyes shine in that starry way that makes denying her unconscionable.
"How can I refuse chocolate frogs?"
Alba's face falls. "I haven't actually got any."
As Remus does his best to keep a straight face, he sees Tonks pressing a heart-shaped pillow to her face to smother laughter.
"I eat entirely too much chocolate as it is," he says, "so it's just as well. Mum and I will owl Mrs. Douglas as soon as you go to sleep."
Alba hugs him so tightly he's sure she's crushed his spleen or some other vital organ; in her enthusiasm, she bounces on his toes and throws him off-balance so that he sprawls backward on the rug. She peers over his knees, biting her lip in a sheepish expression, leaving no doubt in his mind that this is Tonks' child.
"Is this the thanks I get, little nymph," he says, righting himself, "for giving you permission to have a sleep-over?"
A snaggle-toothed grin cracks across Alba's face, and she pecks his cheek. "Thanks, Dad. I'll go to sleep in two seconds!"
"Only two?" Alba squeals as Remus stands and scoops her up in his arms, then plops her unceremoniously on her bed.
"Maybe three," she says. "I'm very excited." She burrows under the covers as Remus draws them over her, but pops back up to his neck fiercely. "I told Janie you'd make your special hot chocolate and tell us stories about Harry Potter. The ones with you in them."
Tonks slips her arm around his waist as Remus puts out the light. "I'll try to remember my most exciting adventures," he promises.
"You're the best dad in the world." Alba gives him a sloppy kiss he can't bear to wipe off. It makes him feel more heroic than the Order of Merlin hanging over the fireplace mantel.
He sits at the breakfast table, clutching a letter in one hand, whilst Tonks grips his other. Of all the unpleasant tasks Remus has faced in his lifetime, including that long-ago mission to live underground with the werewolves, this is the worst.
"Did Janie's Mum owl?" Alba shouts from the corridor. As her sock-clad feet hit the tile floor of the kitchen, she slips and falls in a heap.
Tonks squeezes Remus' hand as he rises. He helps Alba to her feet, and the hope in her eyes - just like Christmas morning - is like a knife in his heart. "Mrs. Douglas invited you to spend the weekend at their house."
Alba's forehead wrinkles. "But I've been to Janie's house before. I want Janie to see our house."
"Janie's mum wants her to stay home." Tonks, standing behind Remus now, rests a hand on his shoulder.
"Why?" Alba asks.
Remus glances up at his wife, then back at his daughter. He can't meet her eyes as he says, "I'm sorry, little nymph."
With wisdom beyond her five years, Alba asks, "Is it full moon?"
"No," he says, hating that she knows this because of him.
"Then why can't Janie come?"
Remus does not know what to say.
"I suppose," says Tonks, "that to Janie's mum and dad, it doesn't matter how big the moon is."
"Maybe," says Remus hoarsely, "maybe if I go away they will allow Janie-"
"No!" cry Tonks and Alba together.
"I wanted you to tell your stories," says Alba, eyes brimming. She swipes at the tears, frowning deeply, and balls her small hands into fits at her sides. "I hate Janie's mum and dad."
Tonks' fingers tighten on his shoulder, and he knows she hates them right now, too.
"Do not say that, Alba," says Remus. "Do not ever say that."
Alba bursts into tears and throws herself into his arms. He is relieved to his core that she didn't say she hates him, that for now he is still her hero. But her wrenching sobs speak louder than what she does not say.
Remus Lupin's children may not transform at full moon, but they have not escaped his curse. They know the pain he has always felt deepest - the pain of being shut out from the world.
Author: MrsTater
Format/Word Count: fic, 828
Rating: G
Prompt: #3
Summary: "You're the best dad in the world."
Shut Out
"Ask Dad," Remus hears his wife say as he approaches their daughter's bedroom, where Tonks is tucking her in.
He's barely set foot in the doorway when Alba vaults out of bed and attaches herself to him. "Can she, Dad, please?"
"Can who do what?" Remus prises the little girl off his legs and crouches - with cracking joints - in front of her.
"Janie!" Alba looks at him as though he should know this. "I want her to spend the weekend. Can she?"
"What does Mum say?" Remus' gazes over Alba's head to his wife, who perches on the edge of the pink and purple bed, watching the father-daughter interaction with a dreamy look on her face.
"To ask you." Alba redirects his attention to her by tugging on his jumper. "Oh, please, Dad? With chocolate frogs on top?" Her dark eyes shine in that starry way that makes denying her unconscionable.
"How can I refuse chocolate frogs?"
Alba's face falls. "I haven't actually got any."
As Remus does his best to keep a straight face, he sees Tonks pressing a heart-shaped pillow to her face to smother laughter.
"I eat entirely too much chocolate as it is," he says, "so it's just as well. Mum and I will owl Mrs. Douglas as soon as you go to sleep."
Alba hugs him so tightly he's sure she's crushed his spleen or some other vital organ; in her enthusiasm, she bounces on his toes and throws him off-balance so that he sprawls backward on the rug. She peers over his knees, biting her lip in a sheepish expression, leaving no doubt in his mind that this is Tonks' child.
"Is this the thanks I get, little nymph," he says, righting himself, "for giving you permission to have a sleep-over?"
A snaggle-toothed grin cracks across Alba's face, and she pecks his cheek. "Thanks, Dad. I'll go to sleep in two seconds!"
"Only two?" Alba squeals as Remus stands and scoops her up in his arms, then plops her unceremoniously on her bed.
"Maybe three," she says. "I'm very excited." She burrows under the covers as Remus draws them over her, but pops back up to his neck fiercely. "I told Janie you'd make your special hot chocolate and tell us stories about Harry Potter. The ones with you in them."
Tonks slips her arm around his waist as Remus puts out the light. "I'll try to remember my most exciting adventures," he promises.
"You're the best dad in the world." Alba gives him a sloppy kiss he can't bear to wipe off. It makes him feel more heroic than the Order of Merlin hanging over the fireplace mantel.
He sits at the breakfast table, clutching a letter in one hand, whilst Tonks grips his other. Of all the unpleasant tasks Remus has faced in his lifetime, including that long-ago mission to live underground with the werewolves, this is the worst.
"Did Janie's Mum owl?" Alba shouts from the corridor. As her sock-clad feet hit the tile floor of the kitchen, she slips and falls in a heap.
Tonks squeezes Remus' hand as he rises. He helps Alba to her feet, and the hope in her eyes - just like Christmas morning - is like a knife in his heart. "Mrs. Douglas invited you to spend the weekend at their house."
Alba's forehead wrinkles. "But I've been to Janie's house before. I want Janie to see our house."
"Janie's mum wants her to stay home." Tonks, standing behind Remus now, rests a hand on his shoulder.
"Why?" Alba asks.
Remus glances up at his wife, then back at his daughter. He can't meet her eyes as he says, "I'm sorry, little nymph."
With wisdom beyond her five years, Alba asks, "Is it full moon?"
"No," he says, hating that she knows this because of him.
"Then why can't Janie come?"
Remus does not know what to say.
"I suppose," says Tonks, "that to Janie's mum and dad, it doesn't matter how big the moon is."
"Maybe," says Remus hoarsely, "maybe if I go away they will allow Janie-"
"No!" cry Tonks and Alba together.
"I wanted you to tell your stories," says Alba, eyes brimming. She swipes at the tears, frowning deeply, and balls her small hands into fits at her sides. "I hate Janie's mum and dad."
Tonks' fingers tighten on his shoulder, and he knows she hates them right now, too.
"Do not say that, Alba," says Remus. "Do not ever say that."
Alba bursts into tears and throws herself into his arms. He is relieved to his core that she didn't say she hates him, that for now he is still her hero. But her wrenching sobs speak louder than what she does not say.
Remus Lupin's children may not transform at full moon, but they have not escaped his curse. They know the pain he has always felt deepest - the pain of being shut out from the world.