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Title: Sweet Dreams
Author: ReallyGinny
Fandom: Harry Potter
Rating: PG for mild language
Pairings: Lupin/Tonks
Disclaimer: I do not own these brilliant characters; I just like to take them out and play with them occasionally.
Summary: Remus begins to see Tonks in a new light when she catches a cold that causes an unusual set of symptoms.
Bunny: #9
Feedback: Feedback is encouraged and very much appreciated!

Sweet Dreams

Remus Lupin stood at the front window of the house at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. It was nearly time for the Order meeting to start, but he couldn't bear to walk down to the kitchen until it was absolutely necessary. Being in the lower levels of buildings always made him feel too confined and cut off. He couldn't remember how long he had had this aversion to enclosed spaces, if it had preceded his condition or was a direct result of it, but he preferred to have access to a window even when the view it afforded him was of deepening gloom and a cold, driving rain beginning to change over to sleet. As the sleet ticked against the glass, Remus heard soft footfalls approaching and he tensed unconsciously until he recognized Molly Weasley's voice.

"Why don't you go on to the kitchen and have something to eat?" Molly suggested, coming to stand beside him. "When Tonks and Moody make it back, we'll start the meeting." She shivered slightly as she glanced out the window. "I don't envy them. Patrol duty in weather like this, and Tonks wasn't feeling well when they left this morning, bless her."

Before Remus had a chance to inquire about Tonks and her health, they heard the telltale popping sound of an Apparition and the soft squeak of the front door opening slowly. Alastor entered the hall by degrees, edging his way in while eyeing them suspiciously, his wand held defensively in front of his body.

"For heaven's sake, Alastor, it's just us," Molly said with a sigh. She craned her head to try to see beyond where Moody was blocking the doorway. "Where's Tonks?"

"She's waiting for her hair to change back, give her a moment," he said, a note of amusement entering his voice.

"Don't tease the poor girl. And take off those muddy boots before you track up the whole house."

"Yes, mother," he grumbled, toeing off a pair of sodden boots and padding down the corridor towards the stairs to the kitchen.

"Why don't you go on as well, Remus?" Molly said. "It's lovely and warm down there - much cozier than this drafty old hall - and I've made a nice stew."

He nodded. He had he put it off for as long as could. It was time to join the other Order members who were already gathered...and he did love Molly's stew.

As Remus turned to make his way down the corridor, he heard a sudden commotion in the entrance. Tonks had just entered and he could tell at a glance she was ill - shivering in her soaked coat, the hood cinched tightly around her pale and drawn face. She stumbled into the umbrella stand and sent it tumbling. She was moving very slowly as she tried to right it again and Molly rushed to help her.

"Never mind about that," Molly chided. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel dreadful," she said, sniffling and searching in her coat pockets. "Moody wasn't helping matters any and he...uhhh...uhhhCHFSSHH!"

She had located a handkerchief just in time to catch a forceful sneeze that bent her in half at the waist.

"Bless you, love," Molly said as Tonks blew her nose. "And are you still...?" She made a vague gesture towards her own hair, and despite the inherently polite nature that made him uneasy about eavesdropping, Remus stopped to listen to their exchange.

"See for yourself," Tonks said, half-lowering her hood, but she raised it again and whirled quickly to muffle two sneezes in the crook of her arm. "HhhKNGXT.....KNGXT!"

Tonks was standing with her back to him, so he wasn't sure what was prompting Molly's increasingly shocked expression but at last she shook her head and said decidedly, "You need to go lie down in one of the bedrooms." She began to steer Tonks toward the staircase. "I'll bring you a nice cup of tea later, shall I?"

Later that evening, Remus knocked lightly on the first-floor bedroom door but could hear nothing stirring in the room. He cracked the door slightly and peered in. From the looks of it, Tonks had shed her muddy shoes and sodden coat on her way towards the bed where she was now sprawled ungracefully, lying sideways on top of the covers, her hair, a particularly vibrant shade of magenta, nearly covering her face.

Remus moved towards the bed as quietly as possible, setting the cup on the nearby table with a barely audible clink. He tried to gently pull the covers up around her sleeping form. Her mouth was hanging open, and aloud, rasping snore caused her to start up suddenly. She looked around blearily and blinked in confusion when she spotted him standing by the bed.

"Remus?" she said, thickly, her voice heavy and congested. "What are you doing here?" She raised herself up on her elbows and then scooted backwards until she was sitting against the headboard.

"Forgive the intrusion," he began, but Tonks stopped him with a frantic wave of her hand in front of her face. Her eyes fluttered shut and she cupped her hands around her mouth and nose and pitched forward with a forceful sneeze.

"HetSCHOO!"

Simultaneously with the sneeze, her hair rearranged itself into violet-colored waves.

"Bless you," he said, surprised both at the force of the sneeze from such a petite girl and the instantaneous change of her hair.

She kept one hand curled around her face and held up the other to silence him. With the next sneeze, her hair turned pink and spiky, and with the third, which she tried to control by pinching her nose tightly, her hair grew long again, still pink but now tipped slightly with purple.

His eyes grew wider with each transformation, and when she had composed herself again, Tonks regarded him balefully.

"Is it my imagination, or does your nose look different, too?" Remus finally asked.

"I'm sure it does," she said. "It's this blasted cold. Every time I sneeze, something happens and I can't control it."

"How very curious."

"That's one word for it," she said. "Bloody annoying also comes to mind." Tonks turned her head, muffling another sneeze into her shoulder, her long hair obscuring her face momentarily. "CHFFSH!"

When she turned back, try as he might, Remus couldn't keep the astonishment from his face.

"What?"she asked, sniffling. "Why are you looking at me like that?" She reached up and her fingers traced the contours of her nose, now large and hooked and dominating her small face. "Damnit! It's Snape's nose, isn't it?"

He nodded. "I thought it looked familiar."

"It could be worse, I suppose. I could have his hair..."

"Erm...well..."

Her hands went to the lank, black strands. "That's it. I have to sneeze. Right now."

"You can't just...uh...change it back yourself?"

"Too much effort," she sighed. "Watch..." She squeezed her eyes shut, visibly concentrating and the only noticeable change after a few minutes was a single purple stripe in the midst of the black.

He could feel laughter beginning to bubble up but tried to squelch it as best he could. He didn't want the poor girl to think he was laughing at her.

"Do you have your wand handy?" Tonks asked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your wand," she repeated.

He slid his wand from his waistband and stood holding it uncertainly. "What do you want me to do?" he asked. He couldn't think of a spell off the top of his head that would cause anyone to sneeze.

"Shine the light into my eyes - sometimes that makes me sneeze."

He illuminated the tip of his wand and she stared intently at the soft light, her forehead creased in concentration. Her nose wrinkled slightly and she brought a hand to her face as her breath began to hitch slightly. With a sudden, sharp intake of breath she folded forward with a harsh sneeze.

"Eh..ehTSCHOO!"

"Ugh," she moaned without raising her head. "That one hurt."

He sat on the edge of the bed, passing her a clean handkerchief.

"Thanks," she mumbled thickly, accepting the handkerchief and giving her nose a loud blow. When she finally straightened, her appearance was more what he was accustomed to, even if she did look a little off-colour; her light brown hair straggling against her face, scrubbing at her nose which, although red and sore, was its normal shape and size again.

Suddenly it was all too much for Remus and he said, "Will you excuse me?" over his shoulder as he leapt from the bed and made his way hurriedly from the room.

He closed the bedroom door softly and leaned his back against it, giving himself over to the helpless laughter that he had been struggling to control. His sides ached from laughing and yet he couldn't stop. He was bent double, clutching at his midsection, tears beginning to stream down his face, trying to laugh as quietly as possible.

As he finally regained control and straightened, wiping his eyes, he realized he hadn't laughed like that in months - possibly years - and it felt marvelous. As he put his hand to the latch to open the door, he was startled when Tonks threw it open with such force it banged back against the wall. She was standing in the doorway, her arms crossed, glaring at him.

"You were laughing at me, weren't you!" she said accusingly. "You absolute prat."

"No, I..." he began, but she had caught him out. "I'm sorry. I wasn't really laughing at you, it was just..." and he gestured to his nose, trying to indicate what had struck him as so humorous without bursting into laughter again.

"Remus, I'm not trying to be rude, but was there something you wanted or were you just here for the show?"

It was a good question. Why exactly was he here? Why had he intercepted Molly earlier when she was delivering a cup of tea and insisted on bringing it himself? He wasn't entirely sure himself, but he said the first thing that popped into his mind.

"We missed you at the meeting...and I was concerned about you."

She sniffled and regarded him for a moment. "Well, that's very kind," she said finally. "But Alastor loves to tease me and I just wasn't in the mood for more. And I didn't want to spread my germs to everyone."

She walked slowly back to the bed, tossed the covers back and flopped down ungracefully. "I know I should go back home soon," she said, closing her eyes. "But I can't bear to go out in that weather again."

"No, it's turned into a nasty storm," he agreed. "You should stay until you're feeling better."

He was spending the night himself. Having guests to fuss over would keep Molly occupied and he realized with a slight sense of guilt that he now had an excuse to visit Tonks again. He couldn't quite understand why that prospect made him feel so joyful but he wasn't going to contemplate it now.

Tonks's eyes had drifted shut and her breathing was becoming deep and even. If she wasn't already asleep she was very close. Remus pulled the blanket up to her chin and tucked it in around her. She turned over on her side, snuggling comfortably into the pillow. He had never known anyone like her - graceless, brash, outspoken - but also charming and funny and very sweet. She was one of a kind. When he was around her, he stopped worrying; the ice-cold fear left him momentarily and he felt almost like himself again.

He rested his hand lightly on her hair. "I hope you feel better soon, Nym..., I mean, uhm, Tonks," he corrected himself.

She opened her eyes, smiling sleepily up at him. "I like the way you say my name," she mumbled.

"Sweet dreams then, Nymphadora."

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