metamorphical | (no subject)

(no subject)

Continued from here

"I'll remember."

It is a nice thought, but Tonks doesn't know how this sort of magic works. So she won't blame him if he thinks it a weird dream and forgets. But her? She hopes to remember too. And hopes that what she's learned will help her understand. Whatever the outcome.

"Obviously. How could you forget me?" She asks cheekily, grinning as she grabs the bedknob and his hand. The former is pocketed and the latter is squeezed gently. She motions her head toward the door then, signaling that they should get going.

Before they do though, Tonks disappears for just a minute, grabbing a napkin and pen (some Muggle inventions do have a one up on Wizarding techniques), and scribbles something down on it. She pockets that as well, something to give a little later, and pops back beside Remus with a smile.

"I've had a really good time. Thank you."

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Remus!now had sat up at the voices and now stared at her choice of destination, to show him them!then. He watched wide-eyed, like a wolf, but for the first time, like a wolf cub. Without seeming to notice, he was gripping her hand, like an anchor to reality; this wasn't a dream. He recognised 12 Grimmauld, he recognised Tonks herself. He could not recognise the man he would become. Signifiers, yes: the scars most obviously, the camouflaging dress sense (originally necessitated by being whatever hand-me-downs McGonagall could provide him, but continued in order to be the polar opposite to the wolf) sure. But that calmness, that centredness, that maturity, what he was saying…

But it was him.

Tonks was a genius. She had taken him far away from here. If only by showing him how far he'd go.

And that, by context: yes, he would get to be with Sirius again.

Now!Remus blinked, blinked again, discovered the tears in his eyes he was failing to blink away, turned to Tonks, found himself capable of part of a smile.

"If it leads here," he said softly, "then I can go back. I can get through it. …If you promise to visit me again on the way."

[OOC: He could even help her for a scene! <3 [

She looks over then, a smile slowly tugging a corner of her mouth in return, and tugs gently on the fingers still in her own. “I certainly promise I’ll try.” How that would work, Tonks has no idea, but suspects – now more than ever -- that magic has a way of surprising even its most seasoned of users.

Turning back to the other versions of themselves, she grins a little as she watches them. “I mean, it was right this moment that I decided you’d be fairly hard pressed to get rid of me at any rate. Can’t disappoint my past self, can I?” Tonks asks with lifted eyebrows.

They don’t linger in Grimmauld for long, the bed instead whisking them away for another small adventure. It’s Hogsmeade mid-spring, with the sun shining and people bustling about in the village. A good number of those people are, admittedly, students from Hogwarts, all laughing and moving about the area in that loud way that teenagers tend to be.

Tonks looks confused, but entertained at the current choice. And as she doesn’t see any version of Remus immediately, she assumes that it’s a small break. A reprieve from the harsher parts of their lives and an opportunity again to just be, similar to the beginning of their travels. “Wanna have a go?” She grins again, motioning with her head toward the hustle and bustle.

Her companion doesn’t fully get a choice in the matter, since she’s scrambling up and tugging him off the bed to have a nice bit of a walk. “C’mon then. I’ll show you my favourite spot back when I was younger.”

[Oh we’re getting there! :D]

The magic was transportation. Inside and out. Suddenly the gravity well inside him had calmed. It wasn't unbearable to exist. There was distance, as if he'd lived with it a long time and survived.

Thank God thank you thank you thank you thank you

Able again to breathe, Remus takes a moment, closed eyes to the sky, to feel the sun. It feels like it's been years—and in a way it has. Then he turns to the other, still brighter light: Tonks's eyes. If he can't quite smile, his expression is… less not that. And he returns the grip of her hand with relief, following her off the bed and wherever she'll lead.

As they walk, Tonks vacillates between idle talk and companionable silence, keeping their air between them light enough to continue to be able to breathe.

The students running amok don't pay the older duo much mind, running past them with bravado talk of going up to the old shack and knocking on the door. Tonks chortles softly, remembering when she and her friends did the same, but glances over briefly at Remus. The shack takes on an even more different connotation now.

What Tonks does not notice is that the students running past would be at least vaguely familiar if she paid attention. Instead, she steers them toward a less well-beaten path, away from the village as well as the Shrieking Shack.

Up ahead is a little grove covered by treed and their newly blooming leaves, bright green, and little buds of flowers in various colors. "I liked the colours--" Tonks starts to explain, but stops mid-thought. Someone is already up ahead in that little area, a student by the look of things.

And by the visibly bright pink hair, it's a student that she knows all too well.

Tonks pauses, obviously having not expected to see her younger self there. The younger Tonks has her wand out and is practicing a spell, but then acts in a frustrated manner when it doesn't come to fruition.

"I was trying to teach myself the Patronus charm." The older one recalls. "I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. That I wasn't like..them."

Edited (...hit the post too soon! Also happy new year!) 2023-01-01 04:30 (UTC)

[OOC: I do that AAAAALL the time. Happy New Year!!!]

Seeing the younger Tonks puts a feeling in Remus's chest he's not sure he's felt before. A bursting swirl of… many good things at once. Relief that he's not going to run into himself (or the others)… delight at her at any age… recognition of his favourite magick and wishing he could help her, but he'd rather stay with this Tonks so no good, but it's still fun to watch.

"I'm sure you'll get it," he said, then instantly abashed. That was for her to tell him. Just hard not to fall into tutoring mode, especially for that charm.

"It takes me a while," she admits with a small and wry smile. "Half of my frustration is that I know I've had a good life..happy memories..but I just worry, you know?"

The teenager that they're watching takes a breath and starts talking to herself, though it's too quiet to hear. Tonks shakes her head a bit and looks over.

"As much as I love my weirdness, it's still lonely. And scary sometimes."

Remus nodded. "Whenever things were good was when I got the most terrified of losing them. Sirius—" Starts to stop himself, then stops himself stopping himself. Timelines overlapping; but with her, the correction was made; Sirius remained who he thought he'd been, the ally and friend. "—he'd try to get me to 'enjoy them while they lasted', and I agreed in theory, but tell that to how it feels."

To the latter, he couldn't help saying, "Someone in the muggle world said, 'The only 'normal' people are the ones you don't know'. I don't know how to define 'weird' in anyone compared to anyone else. I know what you mean about how scary and lonely. I don't mean to underrate that. But for whatever it's worth, I like yours so much more than most." Without stopping to overthink: "Maybe anyone's."

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