Clearing the Table (prompt 28)
Title: Clearing the Table
Author: shimotsuki
Format & Word Count: Fic, 979 words
Rating: G
Prompt: #28, "I want so much to open your eyes / 'Cause I need you to look into mine" - Snow Patrol, Open Your Eyes
Author's note: Sequel to Absolutely, Positively... (prompt 25). This plot bunny was eshesh's fault (thanks!).
Summary: Remus explains what it was that Tonks finally made him understand...now, will Andromeda understand?
Clearing the Table
Dinner was quite pleasant. Andromeda was careful to be nothing less than gracious toward her daughter's guest. Actually, Lupin proved to be a most interesting conversationalist. He had things to say about a whole range of topics, often with a touch of dry humour, and he was even better at asking the rest of them questions to keep the discussion going.
Eventually, however, they all seemed to have finished eating, and there was a lull in the conversation. Andromeda smiled at her husband. "Ted, why don't you three go and sit in the drawing room while I clear away these things?"
"May I give you a hand?" Lupin offered.
Andromeda studied him for a moment. "Thank you, Remus, that would be nice."
"Oh, I'll help too," said Nymphadora immediately.
But Andromeda squeezed her daughter's hand and shook her head, smiling. "I think two of us are enough, love. Go and keep your dad company."
Nymphadora hesitated, and Andromeda saw her eyes dart to meet Lupin's. He gave her a slight smile and a tiny nod. Apparently reassured, Nymphadora followed Ted out of the room.
Andromeda drew her wand and began stacking the plates to levitate them into the kitchen. Without a wasted motion, Lupin rounded up the glasses and silverware and sent them after the plates. He filled the sink with hot water and soap, supervising as the dishes washed and rinsed themselves. Andromeda caught the clean dishes one by one with a quick Drying Charm and sent them back to their places in the cupboards and drawers.
They worked in silence for a few minutes, but then Lupin turned to face her. The last few plates, left to themselves, hovered patiently in the soapy water.
"I imagine that the news of our engagement must have come as something of a shock," he said quietly. "I want to assure you that Nymphadora's safety and well-being are my highest priority."
Andromeda's eyes darkened, and her mouth tightened into a thin line. "If you really believed that, you would keep your distance and leave Nymphadora alone."
She expected his reaction to be angry, or defensive, or hurt. She didn't expect him to nod slowly and meet her gaze with a sober, forthright expression.
"I used to think that as well," he said. "All last year."
Andromeda stared, not bothering to hide her surprise. "What changed your mind?"
"Two things." He gave a wry half-smile. "One was relentless pressure from some dear friends of mine - do you know Molly and Arthur Weasley?"
"I do," she replied. "We were all at school together."
"Well," said Lupin, blushing slightly, "they worked out that Nymphadora and I had feelings for each other, even though I was trying to stay away." He sighed. "They argued with me all year, insisting that the precautions I always take at the full moon would be adequate to keep Nymphadora safe even if we were...together. I refused to listen at first, but eventually I came to see that they were right."
"How did Molly and Arthur know all this about you two?" Andromeda's eyes widened. "They're not - surely they're not in the Order!"
Lupin's mouth quirked into a small grin, and he seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "I don't think Dumbledore would have wanted me to answer that question."
Andromeda shook her head, utterly amazed. Prewie and Arthur? In a secret society, fighting You-Know-Who? Talking a werewolf into courting my daughter! She would have to have a word with Molly Prewett Weasley.
"Whatever precautions you take, though," she persisted, "the risk is not zero."
Lupin looked very tired then, but his gaze didn't falter. "You're right. It's never zero." He sighed again. "So, even with the Weasleys making their case, I wouldn't have changed my mind, if not for the second reason."
"And what was that?"
Lupin looked away for the first time. Suddenly, the lines in his thin face seemed more deeply etched. "Nymphadora was so terribly unhappy." He looked up again, his eyes filled with echoes of remembered pain.
Andromeda drew a sharp breath as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. "You're telling me that's what was upsetting her all last year? She was pining after you?"
He smiled, a sad, rueful smile. "Well, she was missing Sirius too, of course, and there's always Voldemort to worry about. But a lot of it was my fault, I'm afraid. I couldn't -" His voice broke, and he went on in a hoarse whisper. "I couldn't go on making her so miserable." He swallowed. "Not when Molly and Arthur had made me see that the risk was actually very small."
Andromeda gave him a searching look. "You must have been unhappy too, last year."
"Oh, yes." His eyes were haunted again. "But I was prepared for it. I'd always planned to be alone, to avoid relationships; I expected that decision to hurt sometimes. The trouble was, Nymphadora never asked for that kind of pain." He smiled, looking inward. "She really let me have it, finally - she said that I was welcome to deny myself anything I liked, but it wasn't fair to deny her the right to make her own choice." Now his eyes held a quiet happiness, tinged with awe. "She was right."
Lupin started the plates washing themselves again. Andromeda watched his precise wandwork, and remembered his intelligent, thought-provoking conversation at dinner. She considered how it must feel to live your whole life expecting to be lonely. Then she thought about Nymphadora's lime-green hair, and the look of joy on her daughter's face that evening every time she caught Lupin's eye.
She dried the last plate and sent it to its place in the cupboard. "Thank you for helping with the washing up, Remus." She put a hand on his arm. "Let's go find the rest of the family."
Author: shimotsuki
Format & Word Count: Fic, 979 words
Rating: G
Prompt: #28, "I want so much to open your eyes / 'Cause I need you to look into mine" - Snow Patrol, Open Your Eyes
Author's note: Sequel to Absolutely, Positively... (prompt 25). This plot bunny was eshesh's fault (thanks!).
Summary: Remus explains what it was that Tonks finally made him understand...now, will Andromeda understand?
Clearing the Table
Dinner was quite pleasant. Andromeda was careful to be nothing less than gracious toward her daughter's guest. Actually, Lupin proved to be a most interesting conversationalist. He had things to say about a whole range of topics, often with a touch of dry humour, and he was even better at asking the rest of them questions to keep the discussion going.
Eventually, however, they all seemed to have finished eating, and there was a lull in the conversation. Andromeda smiled at her husband. "Ted, why don't you three go and sit in the drawing room while I clear away these things?"
"May I give you a hand?" Lupin offered.
Andromeda studied him for a moment. "Thank you, Remus, that would be nice."
"Oh, I'll help too," said Nymphadora immediately.
But Andromeda squeezed her daughter's hand and shook her head, smiling. "I think two of us are enough, love. Go and keep your dad company."
Nymphadora hesitated, and Andromeda saw her eyes dart to meet Lupin's. He gave her a slight smile and a tiny nod. Apparently reassured, Nymphadora followed Ted out of the room.
Andromeda drew her wand and began stacking the plates to levitate them into the kitchen. Without a wasted motion, Lupin rounded up the glasses and silverware and sent them after the plates. He filled the sink with hot water and soap, supervising as the dishes washed and rinsed themselves. Andromeda caught the clean dishes one by one with a quick Drying Charm and sent them back to their places in the cupboards and drawers.
They worked in silence for a few minutes, but then Lupin turned to face her. The last few plates, left to themselves, hovered patiently in the soapy water.
"I imagine that the news of our engagement must have come as something of a shock," he said quietly. "I want to assure you that Nymphadora's safety and well-being are my highest priority."
Andromeda's eyes darkened, and her mouth tightened into a thin line. "If you really believed that, you would keep your distance and leave Nymphadora alone."
She expected his reaction to be angry, or defensive, or hurt. She didn't expect him to nod slowly and meet her gaze with a sober, forthright expression.
"I used to think that as well," he said. "All last year."
Andromeda stared, not bothering to hide her surprise. "What changed your mind?"
"Two things." He gave a wry half-smile. "One was relentless pressure from some dear friends of mine - do you know Molly and Arthur Weasley?"
"I do," she replied. "We were all at school together."
"Well," said Lupin, blushing slightly, "they worked out that Nymphadora and I had feelings for each other, even though I was trying to stay away." He sighed. "They argued with me all year, insisting that the precautions I always take at the full moon would be adequate to keep Nymphadora safe even if we were...together. I refused to listen at first, but eventually I came to see that they were right."
"How did Molly and Arthur know all this about you two?" Andromeda's eyes widened. "They're not - surely they're not in the Order!"
Lupin's mouth quirked into a small grin, and he seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "I don't think Dumbledore would have wanted me to answer that question."
Andromeda shook her head, utterly amazed. Prewie and Arthur? In a secret society, fighting You-Know-Who? Talking a werewolf into courting my daughter! She would have to have a word with Molly Prewett Weasley.
"Whatever precautions you take, though," she persisted, "the risk is not zero."
Lupin looked very tired then, but his gaze didn't falter. "You're right. It's never zero." He sighed again. "So, even with the Weasleys making their case, I wouldn't have changed my mind, if not for the second reason."
"And what was that?"
Lupin looked away for the first time. Suddenly, the lines in his thin face seemed more deeply etched. "Nymphadora was so terribly unhappy." He looked up again, his eyes filled with echoes of remembered pain.
Andromeda drew a sharp breath as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. "You're telling me that's what was upsetting her all last year? She was pining after you?"
He smiled, a sad, rueful smile. "Well, she was missing Sirius too, of course, and there's always Voldemort to worry about. But a lot of it was my fault, I'm afraid. I couldn't -" His voice broke, and he went on in a hoarse whisper. "I couldn't go on making her so miserable." He swallowed. "Not when Molly and Arthur had made me see that the risk was actually very small."
Andromeda gave him a searching look. "You must have been unhappy too, last year."
"Oh, yes." His eyes were haunted again. "But I was prepared for it. I'd always planned to be alone, to avoid relationships; I expected that decision to hurt sometimes. The trouble was, Nymphadora never asked for that kind of pain." He smiled, looking inward. "She really let me have it, finally - she said that I was welcome to deny myself anything I liked, but it wasn't fair to deny her the right to make her own choice." Now his eyes held a quiet happiness, tinged with awe. "She was right."
Lupin started the plates washing themselves again. Andromeda watched his precise wandwork, and remembered his intelligent, thought-provoking conversation at dinner. She considered how it must feel to live your whole life expecting to be lonely. Then she thought about Nymphadora's lime-green hair, and the look of joy on her daughter's face that evening every time she caught Lupin's eye.
She dried the last plate and sent it to its place in the cupboard. "Thank you for helping with the washing up, Remus." She put a hand on his arm. "Let's go find the rest of the family."