It's Life (HP - Remus and Tonks)

[Papetite]

Disclaimer: These are not my characters. They all belong to the fabulous J.K. Rowling. I just happen to be manipulating them for this story

First Fic, please be nice ☺️

Not a ton of sneezing but more will come if it's liked! 

"It's Life"
Regardless of the fact that it was a chilly January morning, the sun streaked into the room through the crack between the curtains, and managed to shine right into Remus' eyes. He groaned upon being awaken much earlier than he had preferred but at least he didn't have anything that he needed to get up for. 
Very slowly, Remus rolled over and gently stretched out his limbs. There were some cracks and pops as his newly reformed joints clicked back into place. There was a lot of soreness but to his great surprise and happiness, very little searing pain. He was also pleased to realize that he didn't have any open wounds and just a couple scratches lining his forearms. Though he had been furious with his pregnant wife the day before for going out and buying Wolfsbane during the bloody war, he was relieved that the position had done its magic. 

Though he wouldn't say it to his pregnant wife for fear of being smacked, he hated being locked up in a room for five days each month as he healed from his injuries. He knew that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but it still worried him to leave her alone. Of course she would be by his side during the recovery, but he hated that it was her nursing him when she was the one that should be getting the care.

Though he would still be out of commission for a few days while he recovered, at least he would be able to lie on the couch in the den or at least cuddle up with his wife in bed. He would take the small victories and obviously any time he could have with her. 

Though he had been going on less and less missions for the order and spent way more time  with the love of his life, he still tried to get every moment he could with her. He was certain that the good would conquer, but  he didn't know if both of them would see the victory. 

 
Coming back to reality, Remus shook his head a little, willing the bad thoughts to leave his mind. They were fine, they were going to be fine, and they were going to start a family together. Life was going to get back to normal soon enough. 
As he continued to assess his body for any damages that he may have overlooked, he heard a small raspy cough echoing from the living room. 

That was beyond odd. Remus couldn't remember the last time he heard his wife cough. In fact, he was willing to bet money that it hadn't been since they cleaned Grimwald place or when she was in St. Mungos following the battle at the ministry. Though he was practical and knew that everyone coughed once in a while, he couldn't help but worry that something was indeed wrong.

As he began to sit up, the old bed with the metal spring mattress squeaked much louder than was necessary. Thank Merlin they had bought the new bed for their room when Tonks had gotten pregnant. He didn't think he would ever be able to get any sleep with her constant rolling to find a new position or getting up every hour to go to the bathroom. Of course, he would never have blamed her, but buying the new bed and putting this one in the guest room had been a great decision. 

As he sat on the edge of the bed waiting to stand. He heard a very soft knock on the door. 
He cleared his throat and said "come in."
Slowly the door opened to reveal his wife. Though she was only six month pregnant, she was getting huge. Of course anyone that was only 105 pounds and 5'4 would be huge too at six months, but Tonks looked as though she was already in her nine month, or pregnant with twins. 

As he looked but at her face, he noticed she looked much different than normal. 
The glow that had been highlighting her face throughout the pregnancy was gone and instead she was sporting a pale complexion. Her gorgeous brown eyes were blood shot, and her normally exuberantly colored hair was its natural dark brown color and tied up into a loose pony tail. 

Though she always remained beautiful in his eyes, Remus could tell that there was something wrong with his bride. She looked awful and down right miserable.

"Good morning my love. Did you sleep okay last night? You're looking a little peaky this morning."

Tonks shook her head in response. "I didn't sleep barely at all. I missed your warmth. And little nudger  here was having a party." She rubbed her protruding stomach.

"Daddy wasn't there to calm him down" she whispered.

Remus looked at his wife. It made sense why she looked so bad. She was trying to develop a baby in her abdomen and she couldn't even get the sleep she needed in order to get her energy up.

"Well, since we don't have anything today how about this. Why don't I get up and come out to the living room. We can just relax on the couch and turn the tele on. Would that be okay?" I know it's not much, but I'm not feeling up to much yet, and I would like a change of scenery from the this room. And a change in what I'm sitting on for that matter. You can take a nap if you'd like. Well just stay lazy all day."

Tonks gave him a small smile. "Yeah, that sounds good." 

He smiled back, "Okay, let me just wash up real quick and then I'll be out."

She nodded and quietly left the room to give him his space. She knew he wouldn't want her to see him move for the first time after the transformation.

Gingerly, he stood up. His body once again ached and nearly every bone cracked as he started to shuffle toward the bathroom, but it could've been worse. A lot worse. 

He knew he would need to apologize to her. She only trying to help and in reality, her going out of her way to get the Wolfsbane meant that he would be able to sit with her. 

He felt bad for yelling at her, but she had stepped over a line. 

But it had turned out to be a good thing. 

He was so conflicted. 

After he gingerly took his clothes off, he stepped into the warm steam filled shower and let the warm water run all over his body. 

The lack of stinging that normally occurred when water entered fresh wounds was the most pleasant feeling he could remember. 

After washing his hair and body and staying under the spray for another 10 minutes, Remus reluctantly shut the water off. He wrapped himself in a dark blue towel and went to the sink to brush his teeth. Morning breath after a transformation put a whole new meaning to the words "dog breath."

Upon finishing, Remus grabbed a comfy sweater and muggle pants that Harry had referred to as "sweatpants." They were so comfy that Remus had taken a liking to wearing them around the house.

Feeling fresh and relatively normal, he left the bedroom and walked slowly out to the den. 
There, sitting on the couch was his wife. She was curled up into the far corner of the couch and was wearing one of his old sweaters that, even pregnant, was three sizes too big, and her own pair of sweatpants. She was nursing a steaming cup of tea and seemed to be paying very little attention to whatever movie she had put in. Remus took a seat at the other end of the couch which made Tonks jumps. 

"Hey, easy there it's just me. Are you okay?" It wasn't like her to be jumpy or not notice him.

She nodded and went back to sipping her drink.

"Nym?"
She looked up and turned her head toward him.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you, and I'm am sorry for what I said. You didn't deserve that. You were only trying to help, and honestly, this is the best I have felt after a full moon in a very long time, and I have you to thank for that. So thank you."

She gave him a small smile and said "Of course Rem. I will ask next time though before I go get more"

He smiled and nodded to her. "Can you please come here so I can cuddle with my wife."

Once again she gave just a tiny smile and set her tea down on the coffee table in front of her. She scooted over on the couch and curled into his side and rested her head on his shoulder while he wrapped his left arm her back and slowly rubbed her left shoulder.

"What's with you this morning? Your so quite and seem to have no energy.

She yawned. "Nothing, just tired. I really missed you last night."

"I know, I missed you too my love. At least now we get the whole day together. You can take as many naps as you'd like."

She nodded. "I'll most definitely be taking advantage of that opportunity." She curled up more into his side and relaxed her head on his shoulder.

Feeling her breathing start to even out, Remus grabbed the remote and switched the TV to a muggle game show . Though it wasn't exactly interesting, it was a nice distraction from the war raging on outside. 

As he watched the man attempt to win an excessive amount of pounds, he noticed Tonks begin to squirm a little. Thinking that she was probably just dreaming, he hugged her tighter and continued to rub her arm. 

But she didn't stop. A few seconds later she sat up and turned head away from him. 
He was about to ask her what was wrong when she gasped. 

Choo, Choo, Eshoo, Eshoo, hnxgt, heechew, hnxgt, huh... Huhhh...  HEASCHOO
"Bless you loves." 

Though normally one might be a little surprised and worried after hearing that many sneezes come out of such a little women, Remus wasn't concerned at all. From their time together, he quickly learned that Tonks never just sneezed. She always had a strong, rapid, fit that lasted no less than six sneezes. In fact one time she had sneezed thirteen times before she stopped. She was fine, and didn't sneeze very often, but she made up for that with each fit that overcame her.

"Thanks" Tonks said as she grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. 
"Come back" Remus said as she sat back down on the couch.

"Hhh... H-hang on. I ... Hhhh... D-don't th..hhh...ink I'm done yet." She sputtered all while her eyes fluttered and her breathing grew quick and raspy.

Hhh...hhhhhh... HEASHOO, choo, choo, choo, hnxgt, hnxgt, heshoo.
"Bless you" Remus said frowning. It wasn't like her to have two fits back to back like that. He could only remember one other time that had occurred. It was last Christmas when they had been put on a mission together and she was sick.

"Thanks" she said feeling absolutely drained. 

After blowing her nose for a second time she curled back into her husband and again laid her head down on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and held her close.

As her breathing once again evened out, Remus closed his own eyes and began to drift off to sleep. 

It wasn't much later that he felt the pressure lift from his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see his wife turned away from him. Though he didn't hear anything he saw her shoulders and head bob with another 7, this time silent, sneezes.

"Bless you" he said and startled her.

"Thanks, sorry, I was trying not to wake you up."
"It's okay, I wasn't really sleeping. And please don't hold your sneezes in like that. You know it will only give you a headache.
She nodded and a few small coughs escaped her.

"Nym?" He asked "Are you okay?" 

She just nodded, coughed a few more times, and then laid her head back on his shoulder.

"Nymphadora" he said in a slightly harsh tone.

"Do not call me that." 

"Sorry. Your coming down with something aren't you."

In following with the pattern of the day, she just nodded her head against his shoulder.

"How long have you been feeling bad? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry, it's just a cold. It started to make its appearance last night, but I didn't want to worry you. I didn't want you out of bed if you couldn't handle it."

"Well, I'm out of bed and now I can take care of my sick wife. Remember, you are pregnant and we need to get you feeling better so that our little one can keep growing and staying healthy." He sighed as he placed his hand on her stomach. "I would go brew you some pepper up, but you can't take it because of the baby." 
She nodded and shivered a little bit.

"Nym?"
"Huh?" 

"Why don't you go lay down in bed for a bit. In an hour or so I'll wake you up and make you some soup and tea."

"No" she respond.

"Why not"

"Because I want to stay with you and I don't want to go to bed" she said with another small shiver.

"Okay, well would you at least lay down out hear for a bit."

She nodded, and laid down with her head down so that it was resting on Remus' lap. She curled around her pregnant stomach as much as possible.

Seeing her laying there, he could see all the signs that he noticed earlier but hadn't thought anything about it. Her skin was slightly pale, her nose and cheeks were slightly red and her hair was its normal color, not the usual bubble gum pink that she usually sported and enjoyed. Seeing that she was cold, Remus quickly grabbed the afghan off the back of the coach and dropped it over his wife.

"Thanks" she barely whispered as she again closed her eyes. 

Within second her breathing evened out again and extremely soft congested snores began. 
Remus was extremely happy that his wife was finally getting the rest she needed. 

Though one may have thought it freaky and a little strange, especially considering their age difference, Remus loved watching his wife sleep. She just looked so peaceful and so carefree. The worry lines that she had developed throughout the war and first part of their relationship disappeared. She looked as she did the first time he met her, when he had fallen in love with her. 
Though he never would've admitted it while he was alive, Sirius had been right. He had fallen in love with his cousin. Even though Sirius hadn't been able to be there for their wedding, or even to see their relationship grow, he knew that Sirius would be happy for him. So would James really. They had always wanted him to date during their time at Hogwarts, but Remus had been adamant that his condition just didn't go along with dating. As the boys had told him, he would never know until he tried. Funnily enough, when he had tried for the first time, his girl had excepted him and married him. He knew his friends had been right, but he didn't want to give them that satisfaction; even though they were both gone. 

He missed them both terribly, but he knew the best thing that he could do for them was to fight so that Harry and his unborn baby could live in peace.

As Remus' finished thinking of the casualties, he refocused on the sleeping figure that was occupying his lap. As carefully as he could so as to not awake her, he quickly untied her hair from the ponytail and let it hang around her face. He played with her hair and rubbed different parts of her head hoping that he would be able to help relive the headache that he knew she had. 

He then rubbed her back with slow, deep big circles. He even managed to work a knot out of her back. 

She really must have been feeling tired and sick. Normally, any movement or pressure would've woken her up, but today, his gentle probing a seemed to put her into a deeper and deeper sleep. 

He put his hand on her stomach and started whispering to his unborn child.

"Hi little one." 

Though he was sure it was just a coincidence, he could feel the baby nudge his hand. 

"Hey, try to be calm in their today. Your mommy isn't feeling very well and it would be nice if you let her get some more sleep before practicing your broom maneuvers again." 

He continued to gently rub her stomach for another fourth-five minutes before speaking again.

"I can't wait to meet you. I'm sure your going to be amazing. Try to take after your mother though if you can. She's better than me and you would be loved by so many."

"S'not true" came his wife's sleep heavy voice.

"You are amazing and you have many people that love and care for you. This baby will be loved no matter what."

He smiled down at his wife who still had not opened her eyes. 

"Your right, I'm sorry. But you have to admit, it would be fun to see what color he prefers to make his hair."

She nodded and continued to rest against his leg.

"Are you feeling any better?"
She shook her head against his knee. "No, not really."

"Huh... Itchoo, Itchoo, iitcchhh, iitcchhh, Itchoo,  huh... Echshoo, Eshoo, ESCHoo.

"Ugh" she groaned reaching for the tissue box. 

"Bless you."

"Thanks, sorry about that."

"There is no reason to apologize. Your sick and sneezing is going to help you get stuff out of your system. Sounds like this might be turning out to be a nasty cold. Can I get you anything?"

"No I'm fine. I just wish that I would sneeze once or twice like a normal person."

"I don't. Your little fits are adorable and so uniquely you." 

"Yeah, you say that, but you always sneeze twice. You don't understand how unnatural it feels to completely give into your body for 10 second and be under its mercy. And there's nothing I can do to stop it."

Remus stared at his wife. He had never realized how she felt about sneezing. Of course she was pregnant and having four fits in the past two hours probably didn't help the situation either.

"Your right, I don't understand, and I probably never will. But I will always be there to make sure your okay when your done."

Tonks rolled over, finally opening her eyes to look at her husband. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go off on you like that. It's just.... Ugh, the fits have been always something I've been self conscious about. I never wanted you to see me have one at all much less one every twenty minutes when I'm sick. I hate it when people just start staring at me when it happens in public. I can't control it. And when I try to make it more quiet it either hurts my chest or I get a head ache. It isn't fair. What if I'm hurting the baby during the fits because I don't breath much or he gets constricted by my abdominal muscles. I don't know what to do." 

By the end of her rant she was crying. 
Remus was dumb-struck. Tonks never got like this. She rarely ever cried or showed hints of self doubt. He realized that these incredibly unusual feeling must be from her raging hormones coupled with the fact that she was probably feeling fairly awful at this point. 

"Nym. Please look at me"

She opened her tear filled eyes and looked at her husband.

"First of all, I don't mind it when you sneeze. It's a completely normal bodily function that everyone does. In some ways your almost lucky. Yes, you sneeze a lot at one time, but then you don't sneeze for a while because it's all out of your system. Someone like me or Harry on the other hand, well, we sneeze fairly little at one time, but we do it a lot more often. I don't mind when you sneeze in front of me. I know that you are self conscious about it, and I will respect, but please know that I will never, ever judge you for your sneezing. Though I'm sure you think I'm mental, I think your fits are adorable. And though you probably won't believe me, it's better for you to sneeze more when your sick because your helping your body rid itself of the virus and anything that making your senses go crazy. People might stare, but that's because it's unusual, not bad. And you my dear are very unusual creature already, it's a very good thing. The fact that you are never afraid to be yourself is one of the things I love most about you. And I promise you, you are not hurting the baby. You might startle it a little when you first begin, but think of it this way, the baby is learning that you sneeze in fits, and nudger will be accustomed to it when it's born. So please love, do not stress over this. Getting stressed is what will hurt the baby." 

She nodded in response. She knew he was right. 
Remus brushed the tears of her cheeks and bent down to kiss her forehead. He noticed the heat that was radiating off of it for the first time. 
"Love, why don't we get you to bed. Your burning up and I know you could use some good uninterrupted rest... in your own bed."

Tonks hesitated for a second. 

"Will you come lay with me for a little bit please?"

"Sure love."

Satisfied, Tonks slowly sat up. The pressure change in her nose led to another quick fit.

"Choo, Eshoo, hitchew, ESCHoo, choo. Choo.

"Bless you dear"

"Thanks"

Tonks got to her feet a little shakily and waited beside the arm of the couch for her husband. It took him a couple minutes to stand up, but he eventually managed and put his arm around his wife as the two shuffled back to the bedroom. 
When the two got in the room, Remus went to his side of the bed and got underneath the covers while Tonks went into the bathroom.
Upon relieving herself from the pressure that the baby was putting on her bladder, she blew her nose and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had looked better, but she had also looked way worse, and decided not to change her appearance as she just didn't want to exert the extra energy at the moment. 

She left the bathroom and climbed into the covers of the bed that was already occupied by her husband. He was reading a book but had his left arm stretch out to his side, an invitation for her to curl up with him. She scooted as close as her pregnant belly would allow and ended up resting her head on his chest. 

"Are you comfy?" He asked 

In response, she nodded and yawned. 

"Okay"

Remus put the book down on his bed side table.
"If you need anything just wake me up. I have a feeling a nap is in my future as well. Oh, and I have some tissues here if you need any."

Tonks let out a small grunt of understanding and was out within seconds. 

 

 

 

Let me know what y'all think! I plan to continue! 

 

 

 

 

[Artemis]

Super adorable 

[HPG]

Oh my gosh, you got Tonks sneezing so incredibly perfectly - I'm in awe!