Reunited
Chapter 14 - Reunited
It wasn’t until Dora got orders from Dumbledore that she returned to the castle, to patrol the corridors as he would be away. Bill, Remus, and McGonagall were also on duty, but Dora was unaware that Remus would be here too. Remus was glad to finally leave the werewolf camp, for good hopefully, but he was torn. Part of him wanted to see Dora, but at the same time he hoped to avoid her completely. Unfortunately, there was a commotion outside the seventh floor corridor, and they all rushed there at once. It was pitch black, and no spell worked to bring light into the corridor. Remus could make out the voices of Ron, Ginny, and Neville. They had witnessed Draco and a few death eaters running towards the astronomy tower. They lost no time in making their way there, groping in the dark.
There was a full blown battle going on, jinxes and hexes were flying everywhere, and a killing curse had just missed Remus. Neville and Remus both tried to make their way up to the astronomy tower, but were both thrown backwards. Before he knew it, the Death Eaters began to retreat. Remus didn’t have the chance to pursue them as both Neville and Bill were injured. They made their way to the hospital wing, this was the first time he saw Dora properly in months. She looked much thinner, and pale. There were dark shadows under her eyes, but the worst part was her hair. It was no longer a crazy colour, but limp and mouse-coloured. Remus hated seeing her like this, he knew how much Dora loved morphing her hair. He was grateful she seemed to be avoiding his eye, Remus hoped to leave the castle without any contact with Dora.
Unfortunately, things hardly go as planned, or hoped. The news of Dumbledore made Remus lose it, he collapsed into his chair, and buried his face in his hands. He didn’t care that his former students were watching, the pain was too much to bear. Dumbledore was his mentor, their leader, the only one willing to take a chance on him. How on earth did they have even the slightest chance of winning this war without him. It wasn’t until Arthur, Molly, and Fleur arrived that Remus forced himself out of the chair he was sitting in, he noticed Dora had gotten up too. Remus hardly registered what Fleur and Molly had been arguing about until he heard Dora’s voice.
‘You see!’ said Dora, ‘She still wants to marry him, even though he’s been bitten! She doesn’t care!’
'It's different’, said Remus, not looking at her. ‘Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely-’
‘But I don’t care either, I don’t care!’ Dora interrupted him, seizing the front of Remus’ robes and shaking them. ‘I’ve told you a million times…’
‘And I've told you a million times,’ continued Remus, still refusing to meet her eyes, ‘that I am too old for you, too poor...too dangerous…’
It was both Arthur and Molly who spoke now, they both told Remus what they had told him a million times too. Even McGonagall chimed in saying Dumbledore would have been happier knowing that there was a little more love in the world. Dora finally let go of Remus’ robes when Hagrid arrived at the hospital wing, his eyes swollen, and his voice hoarse. McGonagall mentioned something about meeting the other heads of houses, along with Hagrid at Dumbledore’s office; she had asked Harry to come along too. Madam Pomfrey had suggested the rest of the students return to their houses. Dora volunteered to send them back to their common rooms, she bade Arthur, Molly, and Fleur goodnight before leaving the hospital wing, she refused to acknowledge Remus.
The air was sombre as the group walked in silence towards the Ravenclaw common room first to see Luna off. Dora noticed Hermione and Ginny give each other furtive looks, as if wondering if they should say something. They had been fast friends the summer before, but maybe the fact that Ron was with them too made things a little more awkward. As if on cue, Ron lengthened his strides so that he was a good few feet ahead of the three witches. It wasn’t until they reached the portrait hole that Hermione finally spoke, Ron had already said goodnight to Dora and entered the common room.
‘Um, Tonks? Are you sure you’re alright? You could spend the night here, I’m sure the room of requirement could come up with something for you.’ said Hermione, sounding a little nervous.
‘Yeah, we could spend the night with you, it’ll be just like old times at headquarters,’ said Ginny, the excitement obvious in her voice.
‘I’m fine, girls, don’t worry about me,’ answered Dora with a smile, ‘I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself. It’ll take more than that big bad werewolf to blow me down,’ said Dora with a smile. She appreciated their concern nonetheless.
At this, both Ginny and Hermione giggled, although they tried to stifle it. Dora gave them each a hug before turning to leave.
‘’'Big bad werewolf’’, said a voice, ‘I thought I was a warm, fuzzy sweetheart’ continued Remus sounding amused.
‘Piss off Lupin.’ said Dora walking past him without looking at him.
‘Dora, wait. Please,’ Remus caught her hand, ‘can we talk?’
Dora stopped, but she pulled her hand out of his grip. There were cuts on his calloused hands, and they were crusted with dried blood.
‘There’s nothing to talk about Remus,’ said Dora, still not looking at him, ‘I shouldn’t have put you on the spot earlier, I’m sorry. Let’s just forget about it,’
‘I love you Dora! And I want to be with you, if you’ll still have me,’ Remus blurted out, ‘I’m sorry it took me so long to realise, I’ve been an utter fool for pushing you away, you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me.’
‘You don’t have to feel sorry for me Remus, I’m fine, it’s been over a year, there are more important things than me and you to worry about,’ Dora’s eyes filled with tears, he was finally saying the things she longed to hear.
Part of her wanted to run into his arms, but she thought the better of it, with Dumbledore gone, there was no time for distractions. She knew Mad-Eye and Kingsley would be relying on her more, and she must not let them down.
‘Goodbye Remus’.
‘Dora please, I know I hurt you, and I’m so, so sorry...I never should have hurt you, all you did was love me, and all I did was break your heart. Please let me make this up to you Dora, I don’t have much, but I will love you with every fibre of my being, and I will try my level best to make you happy. Give me a chance Dora please…’, he was almost pleading with her this time
‘I don’t know Remus,’ said Dora, choking back tears. ‘I missed you so much this past year, and I had no clue how you were the entire time, I didn’t even know if you were…’ she trailed off, Dora couldn’t bear to say it.
‘It hurt so much when you left, and I know you had your mission, but you could have at least tried to fight for us, to fight for me...I thought I meant more to you than that… and after everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve talked about, you just turned your back on me,’
‘Goodbye Remus, you were right, this was for the better, especially now with Dumbledore gone,’ she turned on her heel and started to walk away.