the_debt_of_time

"I think everyone was a bit busy, yeah?" Tonks cut her off and gave her a sad, crooked smile.
"I should have learnt how to brew the potion. Now Remus is suffering." Hermione wiped her eyes.
She had looked into the potion, of course, but with tracking down her parents—only to find the Obliviation
irreversible—she had been too distracted to brew anything, let alone brew a potion that could prove lethal
if improperly done.
"That is not your fault," Tonks insisted, her tired eyes dark.
She and Hermione had been up for hours, listening as the wolf in the basement below howled and
threw himself roughly against the metal bars of the cage that kept him locked inside. Even Padfoot had not
been able to keep him calm all night.
Teddy had caught a small cold, causing Remus to worry and stress, which apparently made the
wolf inside of him as anxious as ever. Sirius had wanted to take him somewhere to spend the full moon
outdoors where he could run off his energy, but there was not any place secure enough, and there was no way
of knowing if Moony would try to make his way back to Tonks and Teddy, hurting anyone in his path on
the way.
During the night, every time he let out a loud growl followed by a painful yelp, Tonks and Hermione
jumped and closed their eyes tightly.
"You think he's up yet?" Hermione wondered, looking as the light from the morning sun streamed
in through the cracks in the curtains.
"Almost," Tonks said with a sigh of relief. "I thought I'd give him an hour after the last of the
howling stops. Give him a chance to recover his modesty before I go down. It's nice of you to come and help."
"Remus has always been there for me when I've gotten hurt." Hermione shrugged, remembering
how she had woken up after the battle in the Department of Mysteries at the end of fifth year, and it had
been Remus by her bedside, offering to take care of her while still quietly grieving over the death of Sirius.
"All right, let's head down."
As the two witches made their way into the basement of Grimmauld Place, Hermione was instantly
met with the smell of blood and sweat. She frowned as Tonks walked ahead to make sure Remus was at
least clothed.
Padfoot was asleep in the corner, looking worse for wear, having spent the entirety of the night
trying to keep the werewolf in check.
Hesitantly stepping forward, Hermione eyed the cage at the end of the room where Tonks, wand at
the ready, inclined her head to her. Remus had instructed them to be on guard. He stated that, even after