Work Text:
“Ow”
The word echoed around the quiet common room, the crackling of the fireplace and rustling of the couch being the only other sounds. You whispered a quiet ‘sorry’ and continued to press the ice pack onto Remus’s jaw.
“Could you-?” You asked and let go of the pack as Remus held it and reached out to grab the salve you’d ‘borrowed’ from the infirmary. Opening the container you pulled out a generous amount and began applying it on the other cuts and bruises on his face.
Remus sat quietly, wincing every few minutes as his jaw undoubtedly throbbed. After you were done you shifted in your seat on the couch to look at him. “What were you thinking?” you asked, finally after a few minutes of silently scrutinizing him.
“That’s the thing...I wasn’t” Remus admitted, ducking his head guiltily before wincing as the change in position sent another spike of pain up his jaw. You blinked in surprise at his response before sighing in exasperation.
“Really Remus? I mean I would have expected this from Sirius or James, but you? You’re supposed to be the smart one” you said, chuckling weakly. Remus shrugged. “Blame it on Mulciber. He’s in a worse state anyway ''And you have detention for a week.” You chided.
“Besides, mind telling me what Mulciber did that made you-the most level headed of people- get into a literal Muggle brawl at 11 in the night?”
Remus didn’t respond, instead tried to tilt his head so he wouldn’t have to look at you, but gave up when his jaw protested. “Remus….?” you tried again and this time he relented, sighing softly. He mumbled something and you arched an eyebrow. “Love, I don’t have superhuman hearing, you know. You’re going to have to speak up”
Remus made a non-committal sound before finally looking you in the eyes, “Mulciber and his band of friends had a little too much firewhisky tonight” You nodded, coaxing him to continue.
“I was taking my usual rounds when they saw me. And then they began going off, insulting Gryffindor and making fun of Sirius calling him a blood traitor and what-not and then they-” he stopped, sucking in a breath, clearly not wanting to continue.
“And then what?” you asked again, looking into his eyes to try and drag the answer from those coffee-brown depths. Remus wetted his lips and sighed. “They began saying some shit about you” You froze. “Me?” you asked carefully.
Remus nodded, deliberately not looking you in the eyes. “And so you punched Mulciber?” you asked and Remus winced. “I was already pissed about what they said about Sirius and then the stuff about you sort of, pushed me over the edge” he looked at you pleadingly, silently asking you not to ask for more details.
But you refused to listen. “So you swung first?” you asked and Remus winced. “Like I said, not my finest moment” “And then Mulciber and his friends ganged up on you? It was four on one?” you demanded, trying not to let the anger seep into your voice.
“No-Mulciber swung at me. His friends just cheered him on. By the time Professor Slughorn arrived ‘cause of the commotion, we’d already been fighting for about ten minutes” You swore, reaching out to take the ice pack from his hand to examine the bruise on his jaw.
As far as you could see his jaw was the only place which had a major injury, he seemed fine otherwise for the exception of his knuckles which were an angry red.
“Why not simply duel it out?” you asked and Remus shrugged in embarrassment. “I wasn’t exactly thinking my actions through. And Mulciber was drunk. I doubt he even remembered that he had a wand.”
You scoffed and gently pressed the ice pack against his jaw again, letting your eyes roam over the sharp edges of his face unabashedly. In the dim light of the common room his skin looked ghostly pale, his lashes casting shadows against his cheeks.
“So...to summarize, you got into a brawl to defend my honour?” you asked, trying to keep the amusement from your voice. “An honourable reason I agree, but was it really worth losing feeling in your jaw?”
Remus huffed. “I do have a feeling in my jaw- it feels like it's on fire everytime I move my head” “Poor baby” you teased, giggling at the offended look on his face. “You can’t be mean to me right now, I’m hurt” Remus protested, his words considerably muffled because moving his jaw hurt.
“Sirius and James are never going to let me hear the end of this” he complained and you chuckled. “I think you should be more worried about the fact that they might go after Mulciber when they find out” “Let them” Remus answered, an exasperated look crossing his features.
You clicked your tongue and brought your free hand to gesture to his jaw. “You should go see Madame Pomfrey about this tomorrow” “Okay” You blinked in surprise at the fact that he’d agreed and grinned teasingly.
“What? No complaints about how she’d ask questions about it?” you asked and Remus shrugged weakly. “She knows me well enough not to bother.” You frowned at the slight self-deprecation in the sentence, knowing he didn’t just mean all the antics him and Marauders got up to.
Keeping one hand on the ice pack, you let your other hand brush over the scars littering his face, touching each one reverently. “I think these improve your appearance. Makes you look mysterious and roguish” you said softly as Remus chuckled. “I’m serious. I was always confused about the scars when I first met you. You didn’t seem the type to go around getting into brawls” You bit your lip to hide your grin. “But I suppose I was wrong”
Remus mewled in protest. “Please let it go already. You wouldn’t make Sirius feel so bad about it” “Well, that’s because it's Sirius . And also I don’t care about him as much as I care about you. Well I do care about him, but I care about you more ” you said shrugging.
Remus huffed and you were sure he would have pouted if he could have. The absurdity of that thought made you burst into laughter, trying your best to be as quiet as possible. Remus sighed in ‘sadness’.
“I am in actual pain and you’re laughing. How supportive of you” he complained and you let out a wheeze before managing to get the giggles to stop. “Would you like me to kiss it better then?” you asked offhandedly and Remus arched an eyebrow.
“If you think that’ll help” Remus answered, eyes twinkling with humour. You sucked in a breath, your eyes involuntarily flicking to his lips. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” you answer, lowering your voice to a whisper.
You leaned forward and brushed your lips against Remus's in the ghost of a kiss, pulling away before he could deepen it. "Y/n!!" Remus whined in protest, stretching out your name.
You shook your head firmly. "You're hurt" "Exactly, which is why you should kiss me" Remus reasoned and you chuckled. "No kissing right now. I'm up for cuddles though." Remus grinned and quickly shot up in his seat before wincing and sitting back down with a resounding 'ow'.
You laughed and cleared away the medical supplies before taking the ice pack from him and applying some of the healing salve on his jaw. "That should help" you told him softly before laying down on the couch, exhaustion washing over you.
Remus nudged your arm to get you to move so the two of you could lay down together in a tangle of limbs and arms earning laughs from both of you. Finally somehow you ended up with you as the little spoon with Remus’s arm thrown over your waist, cuddling you closer to him.
“We do need to go up to the dormitories at some point you know” you said, watching the fire crackle slowly and hear Remus hum sleepily in agreement. “We should” But neither of you made any effort to move which earned another round of silent giggles from you.
You closed your eyes, taking in the smell of Remus’s citrusy shampoo and smiled contentedly, glad for this moment of peace in the chaos of Hogwarts. “I like this” you said, and felt more than heard Remus’s chuckle. “You looking after me after I get in a brawl?” he asked and you scoffed.
“No, I mean this . You and me. No chaos, no annoying Slytherins. Just us”
“I like that too” Remus mumbled into your shoulder sending shivers down your spine.
“Hmm”
You were woken next morning to a grinning Sirius and an amused James hovering over the couch and yelped, nearly tumbling off it. “James! Sirius!” you complained as you felt Remus shift and sleepily mumble a ‘whasgoinon’ before going back to sleep.
“You’re lucky we had early morning Quidditch. If anyone else found you two like this you’d never hear the end of it” Sirius said helpfully and you scoffed. “How considerate of you” you mumbled before slumping back again.
You heard footsteps as Sirius and James made to leave but just before they left you heard James call out, “But you’re never hearing the end of this from us!”
“Screw you James!”