#elia writes

You stood outside Remus’s dorm with a bag of full moon aftercare supplies weighing on your arm. The other Marauders would be at classes, giving you till the afternoon to take care of your boyfriend, who skipped a few days after every transformation to avoid questions about the inevitable fresh wounds.

You knocked softly. “Hey, Remmie,” you called. “It’s (Y/N), can I come in, please, honey?”

The door creaked open and a disheveled, sleep-deprived, and slightly injured Remus opened the door. You followed him over to his bed and sat down beside him.

“Can you show me the scratches, love?” you asked gently.

He nodded and removed his shirt, wincing a bit from the effort. You frowned as you examined the cuts; they were red-rimmed and deeper than usual.

“Have you put anything on them, baby?”

Remus shook his head, looking down guiltily. “‘M sorry,” he mumbled.

“No, no, honey, don’t be sorry.” You cupped his chin gently in your hand and kissed his jaw lightly. “Jus’ don’t want them to get infected is all. It’s all right, though, we’ll treat ‘em now, sound good?”

He nodded and let you get to work, watching your crinkled, focused brow as you rubbed healing salve over the cuts and wrapped them up in gauze that was just tight enough.

“Feels better already, huh?”

He nodded again.

“Chocolate?”

He smiled, the first one you’d seen today, and you grinned back, reaching into your bag to pull out a candy bar. You broke it in half and he accepted his piece eagerly.

“Last night harder than usual?” you ventured, wanting him to open up to you but loathe to push to hard.

“Yeah,” he replied. “I don’t know why, it just…” He shook his head. “I think what’s different is I have you now. And I’m just so, so scared of hurting you, in any way, shape, or form.” He looked at you, and you saw the tears welling up in his eyes. “And I’m terrified of scaring you away.”

“Oh, Remus…” You brought him into your arms and he buried his face in your neck, muffling the sobs that had started to break free. “Sweetheart, you could never scare me away. You’re my Remmie, my perfect, perfect boy, who’s always there to cheer me up or let me cry when I’m sad. Could never be scared of you, darling. Never ever.”

Remus only sobbed again, holding tightly to you as you stroked his hair. You stayed like that until his whimpers quieted and his grip loosened, placing a kiss on his head and rubbing his back gently.

“All right, honey. Need some sleep, all right? Can see your dark circles from a mile away, my love; let’s take a nap.”

Remus nodded, pulling away to swipe at his tears before collapsing beside you under the covers. He was asleep in minutes, clearly exhausted from the night before, and you held him close as you drifted off to sleep yourself.

You clung to Remus’s arm, hiding behind him as he talked and laughed with his friends. You didn’t know James and Sirius very well, and you had no idea what the boys were talking about, but you liked being close to Remus so you just smiled and nodded as if you understood.

“All right, here’s a good one,” said Sirius, who was reciting a few of his favorite jokes. “What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?”

“I don’t know, what?” you asked, remembering the proper etiquette for joke-telling.

The boys burst out laughing, and you frowned.

“I don’t get it,” you said, pouting.

“That’s all right, darling.” Remus kissed your head. “Do you know what a rhetorical question is?”

You shook your head shamefully.

“It’s a question that’s not meant to be answered. The joke is that he’s asking a question as if it has an answer, but because the joke is crossed with a rhetorical question there is no answer. D’ya get it now, pup?”

Your mouth opened in a small round “O” shape before breaking into a giggly grin. “Yeah, that’s funny!”

James and Sirius snickered a bit and you hid further behind Remus.

“Hey, stop that,” Remus snapped. “She can’t help it if she doesn’t understand everything, don’t make her feel bad ‘bout it.”

The other two boys gave each other a look, but sighed and apologized to you anyway.

“It’s all right,” you said timidly.

“D’ya wanna go back to my dorm, bunny?” Remus asked, lips close to your ear so only you could hear him.

You nodded and he threaded his fingers through yours. He let James and Sirius know where he was going before taking you through the Gryffindor common room, hands clasped all the way.

“‘M sorry about them, sweetheart,” he said softly into your hair.

“You don’t need to be,” you told him, wrapping your arms round his waist. “I know I’m not bright, you don’t need to defend me.”

“Yes, I do,” he replied firmly. “You’re my girlfriend and I don’t want anyone saying a bad word about you. You may not be smart but you’re so many other things, you’re my amazing sweet girl.”

You smiled and buried your head in his chest. “Love you, Remmie.”