Remus Lupin x reader- Set during the order of the Phoenix
Sleep
The war weighed on everyone, but she seemed to carry it the most. Remus noticed the dark circles under her eyes, the way her shoulders slumped, the quiet sighs she didn’t think anyone could hear. She was always working running messages, tending to the wounded, making sure everyone had what they needed. It was admirable, but it worried him.
“Have you slept at all?” he asked softly one evening, his voice barely carrying over the dim candlelight of Grimmauld Place’s kitchen.
She huffed a quiet laugh, rubbing at her temples. “Sleep is a luxury these days.”
Remus frowned. He wanted to argue, to tell her she needed to rest, that pushing herself like this wouldn’t help anyone in the long run. But he knew what it was like to feel the weight of responsibility, to think that if you let yourself stop for even a moment, everything might fall apart.
So instead of lecturing her, he simply stayed.
Over the weeks, that became their unspoken routine. After meetings, when the rest of the Order drifted off to stolen moments of sleep or hushed conversations, they remained behind. Sometimes they talked. Other times, they sat in silence, sharing the kind of quiet that didn’t need to be filled.
Tonight was no different.
Remus sat beside her on the worn couch in the drawing room, his book resting forgotten in his lap. She had started reading, too, but her head was dipping lower, her blinks growing longer. He watched, amused and concerned, as she fought the losing battle against exhaustion.
“Just rest,” he murmured, barely above a whisper. “I’m here.”
She hesitated for only a moment before leaning into him, her head coming to rest against his shoulder.
Remus froze. His breath hitched. He had spent years hiding the way he felt about her burying it beneath duty and self-restraint. But now, with the warmth of her against him, the soft rise and fall of her breathing evening out, he let himself savor it, just for a moment.
He shifted slightly, adjusting so she could be more comfortable, and before he knew it, the exhaustion caught up to him, too. His eyes fluttered shut, and he drifted into a rare, peaceful sleep.
Neither of them noticed when Sirius found them like that.
Standing in the doorway, his usual smirk softened into something almost fond. He didn’t say anything, didn’t make a joke about it though he certainly would later. Instead, he grabbed a blanket from a nearby chair and draped it over them.
“About time,” he muttered, shaking his head before slipping out of the room, leaving them to the quiet safety of sleep.