Lilac Seasons (The Land of Dreams Remix) [Harry Potter; Remus/Tonks, Remus/Sirius]

[gratefulundead.livejournal.com]

Title: Lilac Seasons (The Land of Dreams Remix)
Author: minnow_53
Summary: Remus and Tonks have been referred for relationship counselling by Tonks’s mother.
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Harry Potter
Genre: AU
Title, Author and URL of original story: No Blinding Light by justholdstill.
Notes: Many thanks to westwardlee and astra_argentea for reading through.


Lilac Seasons (The Land of Dreams Remix)

‘Good afternoon. I’m Jane Smith.’ The counsellor gave her warmest, most caring smile, shook hands all round and slid into the seat opposite her two o’clock appointment.

They were a rather unusual couple she thought. The woman was at least fifteen years younger than her partner, her hair a garish fuchsia. It did her no favours, hardening her still-childish features and draining the colour from her skin. She looked unnaturally pale, like a Goth who’d mistaken pink dye for black.

The man, on the other hand, could only be described as shabby. If she’d seen him sitting outside a bank with a sign saying Homeless and a cap beside him on the pavement, she wouldn’t have batted an eyelid. In fact, she might have tossed a pound coin into the cap and walked away feeling sorry for him. According to her notes he was in his mid-thirties, but he could have been ten years older.

‘Well,’ the counsellor said, taking a breath to launch into her preliminary spiel. ‘You’ll have had our letter and leaflet. Relationship counselling isn’t a last-ditch event these days. We usually aim to get couples back on the rails, so to speak, if something isn’t going quite right.’

‘We aren’t off the rails. We’re fine. My mother arranged this,’ the woman said sulkily. The counsellor got the impression that if she could, she’d swing her legs and kick her chair and the desk, like a schoolchild.

‘And why would she have done that?’ the counsellor asked.

The woman glanced across at her partner. ‘She’s pissed off because Remus hasn’t got a job.’

The man said nothing. The counsellor noted the nicotine stains on his fingers. It was astounding how many unemployed people, even in this day and age, still managed to scrape together enough money for cigarettes. She asked, ‘Have you got a job, Miss – well, may I call you Dora?’

‘Yes, please do. I’m with the police. Trainee detective.’

The counsellor was surprised as well as impressed. ‘Goodness! That’s challenging.’

‘It is. But it’s really interesting. ’

The counsellor switched her attention to the man. ‘Now, let’s hear from you, Mr Lupin. Remus. What is your usual profession?’

The man shrugged. ‘I used to be a teacher.’

Again, the counsellor was surprised. ‘But surely... I mean, we’re always hearing that there’s a big shortage of teachers.’

‘I have a health condition,’ he said flatly.

The counsellor squinted at the letter from the girl’s mother, which was right at the top of the newly-created Tonks-Lupin file. ‘My daughter’s partner stays in bed all day, while my daughter works twelve-hour shifts.’ Presumably that was because of the health condition. ‘May I ask what it is?’

‘I really don’t see –’ Dora protested, but Remus said, ‘I’m anaemic. I get tired very easily.’

He avoided the counsellor’s eyes, and she pressed on, in spite of the obvious lie. ‘Right. So, any other problems? Besides health ones?’

‘There are no problems at all,’ Dora said. ‘We’re happy together. My mother just doesn’t understand us! She’s always been rich. She’s always lived in a big house. She doesn’t believe you can be every bit as happy in a rented flat. I wish she’d come and see for herself, because our flat’s amazing! We even have a lilac bush in the back garden.’

‘Technically, we don’t ‘have’ anything in the garden,’ Remus pointed out, drawing the quotation marks in the air.

Dora’s voice shook a bit. ‘All right. We’re not exactly allowed in the garden, it belongs to the basement tenants, but we get the benefit, don’t we? In spring, when the window’s open, you can smell the lilac from our bedroom. You can’t say that isn’t romantic! But it’s no use trying to explain anything to my mother. All I can tell you is that we shouldn’t be here, really we shouldn’t.’

‘Perhaps we should,’ Remus said. ‘We are here, aren’t we? And you said you’d never do anything like this, and your mother should mind her own business, but we’re still sitting in front of Ms Smith’s desk.’

‘Mum wants to break us up.’

‘She wants you to be happy.’

The counsellor looked down at the mother’s letter again. ‘I do hope my daughter will avail herself of this opportunity...’ She folded it and put it away in the file. ‘How long have you been together?’ she asked.

Dora started counting on her fingers. ‘It must be about, well, seven months. We haven’t been living together all that time. Only for a few weeks.’ She pulled nervously at a strand of her short hair. ‘It took me long enough to persuade him just to go out with me! I want to be with him as much as I possibly can. I mean, I don’t mind if he’s sometimes still in bed when I get home. He’s not well. He can’t help it. I just want to be there for him.’

‘You are there for me.’ Remus took her hand for a moment. ‘And hey, I’m not that bad! I don’t sleep all the time. We have fun, don’t we? Sometimes. We go to the cinema. And I took you to the theatre on your birthday.’

Dora made a rueful face. ‘But I’m the one who falls asleep at the cinema! Remember? You told me I was the only person in the world who could sleep through an action film.’

‘You wear yourself out at work.’

‘I do! I enjoy it, though.’

The counsellor tactfully allowed for a moment’s silence before asking the next question. She was a professional, after all, and she did this every day, but she was fully aware that some topics might make her clients a bit uncomfortable. ‘So. As you’re living together... I hope you won’t mind my asking, but how is your sex life? Everything all right there?’

Dora, unexpectedly for such a young woman, went bright scarlet, almost the colour of her hair, and looked at the floor, fidgeting with the strap on her bag.

‘It’s okay,’ she said.

‘Dora.’ Remus’s voice held a warning. ‘It’s not really.’

‘Well, it’s okay enough, right? You get it up, you get it in me. Maybe I help a bit sometimes. What more d’you want?’ She glared at the counsellor.

Remus moved his chair closer to the counsellor’s desk, and leaned across. She could suddenly understand what Dora saw in him: his good bones, his fine, warm hazel eyes, his neatly-clipped nails. He looked like a beggar but he smelled clean and pleasant, of soap and aftershave with a hint of musk.

‘The thing is,’ he said, ‘and don’t interrupt me, Dora. The thing is, we should never have got together. It’s my fault. I’m older than Dora, and I should have known better.’

‘But we love each other,’ Dora said, helpless, her eyes overly bright. ‘I learned to cook for him,’ she told the counsellor. ‘I shop for us, when I get home in the evening. Or sometimes we go to the supermarket together. I make wonderful apple pie, don’t I, Remus? With custard. Custard from a tin, obviously, not home-made.’

‘I love your enthusiasm,’ Remus said, smiling. ‘And your cooking, of course. You do make the best breakfasts I’ve ever eaten. But I’m not sure that’s enough. I have to tell you, Ms Smith, that I’m bisexual. For many years, I assumed I was gay, until Dora came along, and, well, obviously I’m not. Not completely. But I spent all my adult life in love with another man.’

It briefly crossed the counsellor’s mind that maybe his health problem might be HIV. But of course it wasn’t, she reprimanded herself, worried that she might be verging on homophobia. After all, the gay community was fully aware of the risks; far more than the straight one.

‘He was in love with my mother’s cousin,’ Dora explained, her lips twitching. She laughed. ‘I mean, it’s actually quite funny. And you know, Remus, that’s one reason Mum’s so pissed off.’

She looked lovely when she laughed, the counsellor thought. She looked like a young woman embarking on an exciting career, a woman with a bright future: a woman who should be with a healthy man her own age, not with Remus Lupin and his mysterious, ominous malady.

‘I can’t blame Dora’s mother for worrying,’ Remus said. He leaned forward again. ‘Dora’s second cousin Sirius was at school with me. One of those dismal boarding schools that look wonderful on your CV and are hell to live through. We...we helped each other survive. And when we left, he went to university and I went straight into teacher training. But we kept in touch. And a few years later, we both started working in London, so we got together again, and the magic was still there.’ He stopped abruptly, as if he’d said too much, and looked round at Dora.

‘It’s all right. Tell away,’ she said lightly, but the counsellor could see her compressing her mouth, and not to hold back laughter this time. ‘D’you know, Remus and I met through Sirius? Sirius used to babysit for me.’

‘Yeah, and he’d bring his boyfriend along. Me, that is.’ Remus laughed briefly in his turn. ‘We had some good times, didn’t we?’ He turned back to the counsellor. ‘Dora’d be about, what? About eight. And we used to allow her to stay up and watch TV until her parents got home, but we always managed to get her to bed just before we heard their key in the door. They thought Sirius and I were fantastic babysitters. Dora’s dad used to slip us an extra tenner each.’

‘Do your parents know about Remus’s previous relationship?’ the counsellor asked Dora.

‘Goodness, they do now! You should hear my Dad ranting about it. Or maybe not. You know, neither of them want me to marry Remus, but I’m going to, and nobody’s going to stop me.’

‘Marry?’ the counsellor said and Dora said, ‘Yes, marry. You know. Make it all legal. So they can’t come along and break us up. We got engaged, didn’t we, Remus? We couldn’t afford a ring, but we’re still engaged.’

‘We are,’ Remus said. ‘We went out to the local Italian, and I proposed. Over the lasagne. I bet you’ve never heard of anyone accepting a proposal with their mouth full of pasta. Only Dora would do that! It was quite an experience. I never expected I’d ever ask a girl to marry me.’ He turned to Dora and smiled, a private smile. The counsellor tactfully averted her eyes.

‘There was a storm that evening,’ Dora said. ‘It blew down most of the lilac blossom, but I didn’t get too upset, because there were early roses too. Remus sneaked down to the garden at midnight, in the rain, and stole a rose for me. A pink rose.’

‘To match your dressing-gown.’

‘Which you were wearing!’ Dora said indignantly.

‘Well. Congratulations to you both,’ the counsellor said, but felt compelled to add, ‘What about Sirius?’

Remus looked down at the floor and didn’t reply. Dora hesitated for a moment, then said, ‘He’s dead, actually. He died just over a year ago. Which may be why Mum and Dad are suddenly up in arms about me and Remus, what with the anniversary and so on.’

The counsellor couldn’t help thinking of HIV again, though she resolutely tried not to. No doubt it would be easy enough to trace Sirius through the records and find out what he died of, if one had the heart to do it. And perhaps she should steer the conversation towards safe sex. She’d do that next time; if there was a next time.

She sighed. ‘Well, we’ve made a reasonable start. There do seem to be a few problems, and Remus feels counselling mightn’t be a bad idea. I can offer you a regular slot on Mondays, if you want it. But it’s up to you.’

‘May I talk to you alone for a minute?’ Dora asked. ‘You don’t mind, do you, Remus?’

‘We’re not really supposed to do one to one,’ the counsellor objected.

‘Okay, I’ll say it in front of him. Look. I know what you must think of us.’

‘I don’t judge clients,’ the counsellor said.

‘But you can’t help but judge us! Remus is much older, he’s unemployed, he spent years and years in love with another man. Okay, I’m the one who’s got to live with that. I can manage. And no, our sex life isn’t the greatest in the world. But it’s getting better. And maybe other things in our lives aren’t so great at the moment. But that’s not important. Look, can you see?’

She stood up and smoothed her skirt over her stomach, and the counsellor saw the almost imperceptible swelling. ‘It’s going to be legitimate. It’s going to have a loving mother and father. And who cares what’s happened before? Our baby’s the only thing that matters now.’

The counsellor took a deep breath, as she’d been trained to do, and once again gave her best, most professional smile. ‘You’re certainly being responsible, Dora. I can’t fault you in that. But I would advise you to take the opportunity to come back here and discuss your relationship further. Having a baby is a life-changing experience, and not always for the better.’

‘This baby will be amazing,’ Dora said, tucking her hand into Remus’s arm.

‘I’m sure,’ the counsellor said. She didn’t want to contemplate Dora’s pregnancy and its implications; in fact, she could feel the sweat breaking out on her forehead. ‘Well. Good luck to you both! And please make an appointment at Reception for next week, if you think it will help.’

She already knew they wouldn’t. After the door had closed behind them, she waited a few minutes then stood at the window to watch them leave. They held hands as they went down the front stairs together: Remus really was very thin, almost transparent in the sunlight, the counsellor thought. When they’d crossed the road, Dora gazed up at him and gave that lovely, transformative smile again, then stopped, reaching out for something. The counsellor noticed for the first time that there was a white lilac bush, still in bloom, growing against the area railings of the house opposite. Remus plucked a sprig and handed it to Dora with a mock bow, before they walked off down the street and disappeared into the city.

End

Comments

[antihysteric.livejournal.com]

I really liked this! It's fascinating to see their relationship from the point of view of an outsider; and I love that the tone is mostly matter-of-fact because the counselor is relatively uninvested, but that some of the melancholy and (this makes no sense, I think; bear with me) what I've always thought of as the smallness of their relationship bleeds through. (Their relationship always seemed like it was barely enough for either of them, I think is what I mean, and you've captured that sort of sadness/lack while capturing some sweetness, too.) Anyway, I'm done rambling now, promise. Lovely work. :)

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for such an insightful comment! :) I really appreciate it, and I'm delighted the fic worked for you.

[sophinisba]

This was really neat for seeing their relationship from the outside, and I love Tonks' openness and honesty about what's not working and why she still thinks they should try to stay together.

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for reading and commenting! :) I'm really glad you liked Tonks in this.

[noracharles]

This was beautiful. I really enjoyed a muggle perspective on Remus and Tonks. What a sad fic, but the sparks of comedy were much appreciated and made it not as much of a downer - I liked the idea of Tonks as a muggle cop, LOL. I liked the slow reveal of how the odds are so against them, not only do we know they are going to die, Remus is very ill, Andromeda is trying to sabotage their relationship, Remus loved Sirius for years and is still grieving for him, and he used to babysit Tonks... LOL, so inappropriate.

I really liked your OC. She came alive for me, and I had a lot of sympathy for her and her struggle to remain professional. I liked how hard she was on herself for associating homosexuality and HIV.

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for a really lovely comment! :) I'm absolutely delighted you enjoyed the fic, and pleased that my OC came across well for you: I had a great time writing her.

I liked the idea of Tonks as a muggle cop

I always feel that would suit her better than being an Auror, which may be unfair. :D But it's always such fun to adapt wizarding jobs to the muggle world.

[paulamcg.livejournal.com]

This is so wonderful, outstanding. I just have to hurry to say something before rereading, although I might manage to compose a more thoughtful comment later.

Remus and Tonks are here incredibly real. This piece has got something of the irresistible charm of AUs like In No Man’s Land (http://minnow-53.livejournal.com/125969.html)... Perhaps because we see the characters through a Muggle’s eyes, the illusion that they are really alive in our world (or the feeling that the story can help me learn to understand our lives better) becomes stronger. At the same time they are convincingly the same characters we’ve met in canon, and I have to admit that – despite my urge to forget all about post-OotP canon – the Remus/Tonks romance as you show it here appeals to me.

I’m thrilled to actually see how they look like. Your decsciptions are exquisite (particularly when Remus leans closer to Jane). And to hear them. Your dialogue skills are amazing: the brief lines sound just completely natural, and on the other hand, you let your characters say memorable, unique things – so that they show us vivid scenes of their interaction at other moments. Now I’ve had a look at the original piece, and I can see how you’ve made a most of some special details in it, so that they acquire further glow. Something like the dressing-gown, I mean. (When it becomes more between Remus and Tonks) The conversation flows so beautifully (despite – and in evocative contrast with – the initial awkwardness) that while we are entertained and/or startled by some surprise twists, we also encounter see such tenderness, bravery and humour that the relationship ends up looking less bleak, after all.

Thank you so much for working on and sharing this!

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Firstly, thank you (about a million times over!) for a truly amazing comment! I'm actually quite overwhelmed by it. *big hugs* *and smiles* :)

I owe this Tonks to the original author, who draws her really beautifully: in fact, part of my problem was transmuting a lovely, poetic piece into a grounded story without bruising its wings, so speak. I felt the relationship would probably have been very much as it was in the original, but with some rather harsh realism breaking through, as in real life. :(

So I had a wonderful time writing this, bringing Remus and Tonks together and taking the original to a logical next step. The dressing-gown especially stuck in my mind, so I'm so glad it worked for you in the remix.

[paulamcg.livejournal.com]

This piece truly is wonderful in more ways than I could first realise. It’s getting more amazing when I reread it and read the discussion. In fact, I first even failed to notice you marked it AU. And in fact, I also love the interpretation that this Remus is possibly HIV positive.

And this can only reinforce my recent, unexpected urge to enjoy the best of (Remus) fanfic based on post-OotP canon, too – including R/T.

[topaz-eyes.livejournal.com]

This is a lovely outsider's look at Remus' and Tonks' relationship. Jane's Muggle observations about Remus really hammers home his situation. Tonks is lovely, too, her youth and optimism shine.

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! :) My Tonks owes an awful lot to the original author, who rounded her so beautifully, and it was quite a revelation to see her so clearly as a real person.

[woldy]

Oh gosh, this is painful to read because Remus is so up front about his concerns and Tonks is so determinedly bubbly in the face of it. She seems so young... You've done a great job with this, especially by showing us the dynamics of Remus & Tonks' relationship (and Tonks' relationship with her family, interestingly, where the Black snobbyness seems very evident) through new and observant eyes.

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you very much! :) I'm especially interested by what you say about Tonks's relationship with her family. It's true, though, isn't it, that even the pleasant Andromeda would probably feel that she could force the issue through her contacts and so on. Yes, I like that. You've really given me something to ponder here.

[justholdstill.livejournal.com]

You know, I first read this last week and adored it; I'm appalled to see I didn't leave a comment then, so here I am. :) This is a lovely and understatedly powerful fic that strikes a fine balance between being quite tense at some points and comical at others - I'm loving how defensive poor Dora is, how agreeable Remus is, how the two of them are seen through the eyes of the counsellor. I also loved that twist of storytelling, by the way, as they almost certainly need a counsellor, but probably wouldn't have sought one without the meddling of Dora's mum. :) I imagine that the counsellor sees couples all the time without having any meaningful frame of reference for their relationships - how can she possibly know that these two are embroiled in a war, that Remus is a werewolf, and what all of that means for them? I loved how you teased all these small details out of my original fic - the lilacs, especially, Remus' nicotine-stained fingers, the dressing gown, the Italian restaurant! - and gave them a life of their own. I love how your interpretation of my story fills in some of the gaps the original left like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, and improves upon it, I must say. :) No Blinding Light was a weird piece to write, for me, as I was trying to come to terms with this incredibly oddball relationship that Ms. Rowling had thrown at us; where my piece was moody and uncomfortable, yours is realistic, yet peaceful, and manages a kind of resolution that mine couldn't. I was especially fond of how the little references I made here and there to Remus and Sirius' past relationship were brought out into the open and addressed so smoothly - it's touching, and I just want to cheer Dora on for being so levelheaded about it. I loved, loved, loved the emotional kick of Dora revealing her belly at the end - the birth of Teddy wasn't something I had anticipated at the time of writing my fic, as I don't think Deathly Hallows had come out yet, but it fits in sort of perfectly - how hopeful she is, how determined, how content against all odds, and how much more poignant and bittersweet the scene is when one knows how it all turns out. *weeps*
The writing is subtle and beautiful - every word needed, the character voices were spot on, and I thought there were some standout lines.

She already knew they wouldn’t. After the door had closed behind them, she waited a few minutes then stood at the window to watch them leave. They held hands as they went down the front stairs together: Remus really was very thin, almost transparent in the sunlight, the counsellor thought. When they’d crossed the road, Dora gazed up at him and gave that lovely, transformative smile again, then stopped, reaching out for something. The counsellor noticed for the first time that there was a white lilac bush, still in bloom, growing against the area railings of the house opposite. Remus plucked a sprig and handed it to Dora with a mock bow, before they walked off down the street and disappeared into the city.

She could suddenly understand what Dora saw in him: his good bones, his fine, warm hazel eyes, his neatly-clipped nails. He looked like a beggar but he smelled clean and pleasant, of soap and aftershave with a hint of musk.

And, well, I could quote the whole thing, actually, I just think it works, and I know remix isn't really for the original authors but I'm just so enamoured of this that I can't help but feel a little bit lucky. :) Brava, minnow_53, and sorry I didn't reply sooner.

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Oh, gosh, that's a comment and a half, which I really don't deserve! And I was worried that you might have thought I'd wrecked your story, which was so delicate and beautifully poised! So thank you very much. :)

Firstly, I want to say that your fics are incredibly inspiring, and your Tonks feels exactly the way JKR should be writing her. I was worried about treading on your lovely prose -- the lilacs are almost a metaphor for the original, as well as a guiding theme.

No Blinding Light was a weird piece to write, for me, as I was trying to come to terms with this incredibly oddball relationship that Ms. Rowling had thrown at us

The irony is that it's one of the few pieces I've ever read that makes sense of Remus/Tonks. You've captured everything: Tonks being so young and so in love, Remus being indulgent yet detached, and Remus's history with Sirius. I didn't actually add anything to the wonderful dynamic you had going already. In fact, in the past I've written Tonks-bashing fics, but No Blinding Light and The London Underground really brought her fully to life for me. In some ways, you've completely changed my view of the relationship.

I know remix isn't really for the original authors

But we all want to do our best by them, all the same! Thank you for a lovely story to work on, and for all the images and feelings it evoked as I was writing the remix. :)

[magnetic-pole.livejournal.com]

Ah, Minnow, I love this! Although I have to say it's a bit of a painful read--you don't often find authors who really try to work through what might have been wrong with that relationship (there are so many possibilities, even discounting a possible previous relationship with Sirius and a sexuality crisis on Remus' and/or Tonks' part). I need to go back and read the fic you remixed, but I thought using the Muggle therapist was a brilliant stroke, because it takes the relationship out of a context where no one seemed troubled by it and forces us to think, alongside the POV character, about where and why this couple might be having problems. Which they obviously are. You really captured the two different worldviews so well, and the tension between them came across beautifully for me here:

I wish she’d come and see for herself, because our flat’s amazing! We even have a lilac bush in the back garden.’

‘Technically, we don’t ‘have’ anything in the garden,’ Remus pointed out, drawing the quotation marks in the air.

Ouch! As always, a lovely, thoughtful fic. Brava! Maggie

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for reading and commenting! :) *big hugs*

The original set out the dynamic of the relationship in a really intriguing way, with the ongoing R/T and the complete acknowledgement of past R/S, but without any recriminations or judgement. I probably moved it too far away by taking a beautifully unpartisan piece and pouring a lot of cold water on it! But I think the two fics actually complement each other quite well. And I did have a good time with my OC...

And I'm so glad you liked that snippet of dialogue. It came along quite late in, but seemed perfect for Remus at that moment.

[lyras.livejournal.com]

As so often with your stories, I started reading this one and couldn't stop! I love that it can be read multiple ways: both as a non-magical AU in which Remus very probably is HIV positive, and as a take on canon in all its miserable glory.

I like the respect that you give to both characters here. Tonks is young and hopeful (possibly a little naive, but never pathetic), and Remus is...well, Remus is lovely - it's great to see the outsider viewpoint again, which we haven't really had since Harry in PoA.

The last line is gorgeous. For me, you've captured this wistful pairing perfectly here.

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for reading and commenting! :)

As I've said above, the dynamics of the pairing, or the trio really, were set out in the original fic. It was great to write Remus again: I seem to have been focusing very much on women recently, so I was pleased he was there!

I'm so glad you liked the last line. Just for once, I didn't have to struggle with an ending or compromise, so I was happy about that. :D somehow.

[mindabbles.livejournal.com]

As others have said, doing this from the therapist's POV was perfect. The way she (you) described both their physical appearances and interactions was wonderful. It was painful to read the doggedly cheerful Dora and the resigned/haggard Remus, and that matched very much my impressions of the books. I do love that you added in some tender moments, because even although we never see them in canon, I can't imagine they didn't exist. And the way you described Sirius--the gigantic elephant in the room--was just right. Well done!

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for reading and commenting! :)

Sirius--the gigantic elephant in the room

That's brilliant! I've done a double take on this, because of course, it would have made a great remix subtitle for the fic. You've summed up exactly what I wanted to get across.

It's great you liked the therapist's POV. I wanted to show the gamut of the relationship, from bad to good, and this seemed the right way to go.

[fera_festiva]

I've been meaning to come and comment on this ever since I saw your post yesterday, but life gets in the way - you know how it is. In any case, I've had to read this over a few times to get my thoughts in order, because your storytelling is so wonderfully subtle. I really love the picture you've painted here - of a relationship that's sort of unstable and delicately balanced (and threatening to collapse, of course). I love the way Tonks is both defensive and defiant when she talks about their relationship - the flat and their sex life in particular. And the little touches - Remus saying "and don’t interrupt me, Dora" speaks volumes about both of them and the dynamic between them.

Overall, then - brilliant, and as always I am in awe of your ability to tell a story so well. :)

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear, I feel bad now! But I really do appreciate your reading (and rereading) and commenting. :) The original is very poetic and lovely, and I feel I took the premise in a rather harsh direction. So I'm especially happy that you found it subtle, because I did also want to bring across the relationship via the story rather than all-of-a-piece. I'm not sure that's coherent... But thank you very, very much! *hugs*

[fera_festiva]

*hugs you back* I have no idea why you feel bad, unless you mean because of the way you cruelly forced me to come and read your fic, in which case, STFU. ♥ As always you've done a stellar job here, making R and T both sympathetic and a little pitiable. Human, in other words. You're such an awesome writer, I wish I had your talent. ♥ ♥ ♥

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

I always feel bad about linking things on my journal. And I have to say that the R/T derives from the original story: since doing the remix, I'm probably never going to be able to bash Tonks again. :/

I wish I had your talent.

Oh, but you've got your own talent! Which is totally awesome, plus it includes drawing and crafts and so on. ♥

[fera_festiva]

Perhaps we should just agree that we are both awesome. (But you are more awesome. :D)

Anyway, I know what you mean - I wrote a fic, months ago, and never posted it, but it was sympathetic to Tonks in a way I hadn't anticipated, and subsequently I find it difficult to bash/criticise her. Weird.

♥

[brighty18.livejournal.com]

Oh, this was very well done. Oddly, since I work in a law firm and deal with domestic issues/counseling/family services every day, I rather felt for the counsellor.

And her view of them was really wonderful. There was a nice arc there - one that exists often in real life with clients. They initially seem rather negative until you can see the true loveliness there. For example, Remus went from being shabby and looking like he was homeless to " bones, his fine, warm hazel eyes, his neatly-clipped nails. He looked like a beggar but he smelled clean and pleasant, of soap and aftershave with a hint of musk" and then to being "almost transparent." And Dora rather did the same, for at the end she was quite lovely.

All in all I felt quite sorry for Tonks. She does love him so. And he so tried to lover her - and does in his own way. You made that all abundantly clear.

Lovely!

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for a lovely comment! :) I felt for my counsellor as well: she was trying to do quite a difficult job there.

There was a nice arc there - one that exists often in real life with clients.

And I'm really pleased that you thought it felt authentic. I haven't any experience of counselling, but I have taught adult literacy and numeracy, and that often follows the same sort of pattern.

Anyway, I'm delighted you enjoyed the story. :)

[paranoidangel]

This is quite sweet. And it's interesting to see Remus and Tonks from an outsider's point of view.

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! :) The combination of the original fic and the outside view of R/T I tried here really made me see the couple in a new light: especially the much-maligned Tonks.

[inksheddings.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, I felt so uncomfortable reading this! I mean that in a good way, by the way. I mean, it is not exactly a comfortable relationship, is it? You made me feel badly for Tonks, for Remus, for that little bump of a baby who has no clue.

What gets me is that both Remus and Tonks are trying, in their own ways, and yet if they'd lived through the series I have very serious doubts as to how happy a couple they would make. It's so hard to say, seeing as they came together during stressful times, etc.

Oh my!

I really like this story, that I felt for them while feeling so uncomfortable. And the counselor, I don't envy her.

Great job!

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for reading and commenting! :)

I'm sorry the fic made you feel uncomfortable! But as you say, that reflects the relationship, though I must say justholdstill did a wonderful job of making it believable. Of course, the remix has rather deconstructed this, unfortunately!

I'm toying with the idea of doing a series of short AUs charting scenes in Remus and Tonks's lives after they've survived the war. I think it would be interesting to see how they end up. :/ I shouldn't imagine they'd be together for very long...