A Remus/Tonks drabble written for Cuba. Prompt was: a light in the darkness. Since I'm feeling ridiculously poetic these days, every end of paragraphs rhyme.

It's been ages since I wrote Remus/Tonks, but I hope you like it anyway.

Enjoy - review.

a light in the darkness

He stumbles in the dark tunnel, more alone than he used to be; the pain is unbearable. His pack is gone, and though the wolf doesn’t remember why, it still feels the loneliness.

He has his habits; tea, chocolate, a good book, a walk outside (when he feels fit for it) – nothing ever comes to disrupt his routine. He lives like an old man now, almost like a hermit, and everyday his soul aches with what-ifs and what-could-have-beens.

Sometimes he takes out the old photographs and allows himself to reminisce until late at night. Sometimes he laughs; sometimes he doesn’t, but he rarely cries. It’s been so long now, even his tears are rusty.

He is positive that the best moments of his life are behind him. He lives a quiet life in black and white, so different than his previous one, and he pretends he doesn’t mind, that the sky isn’t cloudy, that if he closes his eyes he can see James, Lily and Peter, and that he should be grateful to be alive (when he’s not, he hates himself). He can no longer have faith in anyone, not after this betrayal, this friend he thought most trusty.

He lives in darkness until that day when his old friend knocks on the door of his life again; and maybe, just maybe, every cloud has a silver lining, even Remus Lupin’s. His own silver lining is so colourful that she’s more like a blinding rainbow. She almost makes him believe that there can be a fairy tale where the knight in shining armour is a werewolf; he almost believes her when she says love always wins.

He is no longer alone in the tunnel; the pain is less excruciating, and his tread is more confident. He takes her hand and follows her as she shines a light in the darkness.