Who: Tonks and Hannah
What: Hannah's a bit ill and Tonks provides remedies of a more mental sort
When: Backdated to...Wednesdayish, I think
Where: Hospital wing
Rating: PG
Status: Complete!



Tonks couldn't help her mothering nature. Whenever she saw one of the students in need, she simply had to reach out. However, it was a bit different when it came to Hannah Abbott. Tonks had clicked very well with the younger Hufflepuff, and thus, didn't like knowing she was hurting. And flu bug aside? Tonks realized Hannah's illness probably wasn't all physically related. After all, Tonks could remember how sick she had felt when her heart was breaking over Remus those few years ago. And though Tonks hadn't been able to get the specifics from even her own cousin, she knew Hannah and Teddy weren't exactly on good terms just then. It was for these reasons, Tonks had jumped at the chance to visit Hannah in the Hospital Wing. Sure, she fully intended to show Hannah how to charm her tissues softer but she was also hoping to talk to Hannah face-to-face.



Poking her head in, Tonks waved wildly, a huge grin plastered on her face. "I had to dodge Madam Pomfrey, you know, but I assured it was all on health related business." She brandished tissues through the doorway. "May I come in, love?"

Hannah was not, by anyone's standards, a well young woman. She really couldn't use the time away from her studies, but she'd obviously needed it. Her nose was red from the stuffiness and from the scratchy tissues, her head was stuffed up, and she constantly felt feverish. But she'd be the first one to admit that a lot of that had to do with the cold shoulder she'd received from Teddy and the crying she'd been doing off and on all week. But the fact that he'd at least cared enough to wish her well and offer advice had perked her up, even if only a bit, and she was sitting up and looking almost well when the pretty young teacher popped her head in.

"Of course you can," she told her, motioning to the chair by her bed. "Would've told you I was just fine with rough, horrible tissues otherwise." Hannah smiled, though the slightly nauseated feeling in her stomach told her not to. "Don't get too close, though," she warned. "No one'll want you getting sick, too."

"I'll take a potion when I leave." Tonks paid no heed to Hannah's words as she swooped in, bent at the waist, and brushed Hannah's forehead with a kiss. "Oy, love, let's get you well." She presented her package and began digging through to show Hannah what was in it. "We have every sick girl's dream in here. Biscuits, lotions to keep your hands clean, magazines, and, oh, of course, charmed tissues! I wrote the directions right here..." She pointed to the brightly colored numbered list of instructions. "Just follow those to a T and you'll be able to charm them yourself. Though I did give you enough to last six months, I reckon." She grinned again and leaned onto Hannah's bed, propping her head in her hands. "Ask Remus. I'm terribly annoying when he's sick." Or suffering the effects of a full moon, but Tonks left that part out.

Gosh, that was weird. It was one thing to know your professors were seeing each other, but another entirely to hear it from them. At least Tonks and Professor Lupin were young and good looking. The budding relationship between their librarian and caretaker made Hannah's stomach do another rather unpleasant flip. And again caused her to wonder about her teachers' private lives. It was something she'd always found fascinating, even in primary school when she'd discovered the teachers didn't live at the school building.

Hannah gave a little grin as the items were displayed one by one. "Hopefully that'll be enough to last me a while," she said, plucking one of the tissues and admiring her handiwork. They really were the softest tissues she'd ever felt. "Besides, that's not annoying. Mum..." She paused, took a breath, and continued. "Mum used to do all that. She'd even call out of work and stay home and hover over us. Of course, with five of us, it was pretty easy for at least a couple of us to get sick at once. She always said her students would never come before her own kids." It was getting easier to talk about her mother, and she found it easier still with the open and eager young professor.

Tonks counted her blessings every day to still have both parents and if in her twenties she didn't think she could handle their absence, she couldn't imagine how a girl Hannah's age coped. Still, she felt lucky to have Hannah talk about her slain mum to her. Tonks liked feeling she was making a difference even if some days she thought she should just fold it all up. "Sounds like a brilliant mum. Mine's like that." She giggled and though it was just the pair of them, whispered, "Don't tell her I actually appreciate it now and again." She straightened up after tapping Hannah's hand. "So what else is new besides this horrid flu bug that had the nerve to find its way to you?"

At that, Hannah clammed up a bit. It was one thing to spill her thoughts and feelings to Ernie. But she hadn't even really told Megan or Hermione what was going on. She certainly couldn't fill a teacher in on the horrors of her love life. So she just gave a little smile and nodded to her Charms book, sitting in a pile of homework near her bed. "Megan brought my assignments by. That's all I've really had time for, other than a little bit of writing in my journal. Everything else is sleep or Madam Pomfrey goes a little ballistic."

"She has your interests at heart." Tonks' eyes twinkled. "I remember one year I had the worst stomach virus and she just wouldn't let me out of her sight." She tossed some red hair over her shoulder, blushing a bit. "And she caught me snogging a bloke. It was...yeahhhhh." It was a fine line to walk, that between teacher and friend, but Hannah was nearly out of Hogwarts and Tonks could see them being friendly beyond class. Besides, Hannah wasn't exactly her student. "Don't tell Remus! I was different back then!"

Hannah giggled, though it was small and half-hearted. On top of not feeling well, it simply reminded her that she wasn't currently snogging anyone. And she'd just started to get pretty good at it, too. "I'm sure he probably broke a rule once or twice," she teased with a smile. "I've always had the suspicion he's not as good and innocent as he seems." Talking like that made it easy to forget that Tonks was a teacher. Or that she was dating one of Hannah's teachers, one she actually did have to count as a teacher. They were just two girls gossiping, and she liked that. It was nice knowing Tonks wasn't much older than she was and she didn't want to believe that they all would get stodgy once they left school.

Stodgy? Now that was one thing Tonks wouldn't allow herself to become. She could be completely serious and adult-like at times, but that didn't mean she had to give up her fun-loving attitude, did it? She certainly didn't think so! "Oy, Remus? He sure did! Again, no telling on me, you hear?" Tonks burst out laughing. "Ah, when you leave, you can tell him I told you and watch his ear tips turn pink. I do so love his pink ears."

Giggling harder, Hannah grabbed one of the charmed tissues to cover her nose as she laughed. Just in case. She might consider Tonks a friend, but certain bodily functions were still better kept to herself. "You make it sound like you work to embarrass him just for that!" Which was sort of a horrible thought. Poor bloke.

"Aw, but I kiss it and make it better! That's the real excuse, you see." Tonks was so grateful Hannah wasn't in her class. She'd crossed too many lines as was, but, Helga, it was hard to stay separated sometimes. It was both a blessing and curse. She could identify with the students, yes, but sometimes it was difficult to separate from them. Still, she had been able to remain partial several times and step up so maybe she wasn't completely hopeless.

If Hannah knew what Tonks was thinking, she'd have assured the professor that she was anything but hopeless. She was a favourite among many of the students, whether she knew it or not. Even ones like Hannah who didn't have her had grown to care about her. "Then I'm sure he doesn't mind," she said with a sniffle that was only partially due to her cold. "Though somehow I think when my dad used to tell me boys were only after 'one thing', he didn't mean ones like him."

At that, Tonks' cheeks actually colored. Yes, she was loving talking to Hannah, but the idea of discussing, well, boys and sex, didn't exactly sit comfortably. "No, I don't think so," she agreed and smiled in spite of her worries about the turn of conversation. "You've done well though. Would do your dad proud, yeah?"

"I don't know," Hannah replied with a slight shrug. "I wonder, sometimes. He doesn't understand much of anything I do here, you know?" Well, of course Tonks wouldn't know. Her mum was a pureblood with a rather famous story, and if memory served, that story involved a muggleborn dad. Her father might understand what Hannah was thinking, but she herself wouldn't. "I could tell him I was taking over the Ministry and he'd probably just say how nice that was and go back to fawning over my brothers."

Tonks' head cocked thoughtfully. "Oh, love, I'm sure he wants to understand. My dad always says his parents tried, but...it's hard to wrap your head around, I imagine. I mean if someone told me I was an alien when I turned 30 or something, it would be difficult for my parents, you know?" She took Hannah's hand in her own and held tightly, germs be damned. "Doesn't mean he doesn't adore you."

With watery eyes, Hannah glanced up at the older witch and smiled. "I know he loves me," she admitted. "I'm the baby, though, and I think it was hard on the whole family, me leaving and all. And when I came back, well... It was as all he had, I guess. Which was also hard on him." Glancing down, she tore the tissue into tiny shreds without even realising she was doing so.

Without hesitation, Tonks joined Hannah on the bed, wrapping the girl into warm arms. "You are strong, baby girl, you know that? But it's not a child's place to worry over her parents, either. Sure, you can check in and help out, but they want you to grow up and leave the nest. Proves they did a right good job and all."

Maybe she shouldn't have. Maybe it was depending too much on someone else. She'd been hurt enough, and she didn't want to risk it anymore. But it'd been a bit since Hannah had been held, and even longer since she'd been held in such a motherly way. Taking a deep breath, she leaned into the offered embrace, resting her forehead on Tonks' shoulder. "I'm not really a child anymore, though. Not where it counts. Sometimes... Occasionally I feel like one. But I'm not. Not really." She wasn't even making any sense anymore.

Tonks chuckled softly. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm not sure we ever truly feel like adults. And so long as we know when it's time to be a child and when to be an adult? I think that's perfectly alright." She stroked Hannah's silky blond hair. "You're going to be fine, you know." She didn't mean the cold, but in life.

"Oh, gosh, look at me," Hannah replied, pulling away with a tearful smile. Between all the sobbing she'd been doing and her illness, she was a watery-eyed, stuffy-nosed mess. "Sobbing all over you like some big baby. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so...well, girly." She gave a tiny smirk. "It's hardly like me at all. Next thing you know I'll be wearing pink. Can't have that." She held up the sleeve of one arm of her blue wool nightgown and sighed.

"Hey! What's wrong with pink?" Tonks pretended to be miffed as she allowed her hair to shine a bright pink.

At the sudden change, Hannah looked startled at first. She'd seen the professor with several different looks, but had never actually gotten to see her change them. "You know," she said with a grin, "I think you could just turn your skin alien green and probably convince your parents that it was completely normal."

"No, see, I think they gave up on having a normal daughter the day after I was born!" Tonks changed her hair back to her usual vibrant red, giggling at Hannah's surprised eyes. "Everyone always looks like that when they see me change the first time."

"I knew you could do it, I've just never actually seen it done. That's really brilliant." In more ways than one. The morphing was such a switch for Hannah that it got her mind elsewhere. Which was something she'd desperately been needing the last few days. Releasing a sigh, she reached for another tissue, touching the soft paper gently. "Thanks. I mean, for the tissues and all."

Tonks knew Hannah had needed some cheering up and was glad to see her looking slightly happier than she had when Tonks first walked in. "Anything, love. Anything."