shimotsuki | Entries tagged with kaleidoscope

Happy New Year! May 2017 bring good things.

I celebrated today by finishing up a Remus/Tonks ficlet for this year's Twelfth Night Tales at

rt_morelove: just a fluffy short piece, but it was fun to get back into the swing of fic-writing, even if just a little bit. (And in case anyone out there still wants to join the event, it's open until Jan 6; info is here and sign-ups are here.)

Only a Heartbeat Away (2010 words | PG | DH)
It’s the night before the second full moon after Remus married Tonks, and they are still navigating uncertain terrain.

Finally, here's a New Year's "card" I made for an event at the good old

pulped_fictions comm back in 2010, because it popped into my head today and I wanted to be sure I could find it again. ;)

( Happy New Year! )
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Well. When I first started plotting the HBP section of Kaleidoscope, I did not think it would take six whole chapters to get rid of Remus. ;) But as it turns out, from mousy hair to Remus's history with Greyback to tea and sympathy to Patronus changes, there were a few things that needed to be pulled into the story.

But here we finally are. I've now filled in all the gaps up to Out of Sight, which was written quite a long time ago -- and therefore will need some editing and rewriting! That's the next project...

Taking Leave (4950 words | PG/mild profanity | HBP)
Remus is cutting all his ties, steeling himself to leave the Order behind and join up with Greyback's pack. Tonks knows he has to leave, but that doesn't mean she is willing to give up.

( Tonks had actually sat down with a blank piece of parchment... )
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I can't believe it has taken me since December to finish this chapter of Kaleidoscope. Actually, part of the problem is that the iceberg has calved yet again -- I posted an earlier draft of half of the first scene at

rt_morelove in January under the title Taking Leave, but (because Remus just won't get on with it and leave, darn him ;) ) that title now belongs to the next chapter. At this point there are three whole chapters that were originally going to be "the one where Remus leaves" but have turned into something else...Next time. Really.

The short final scene also has a precursor—Invitation, at

day_by_drabble in summer 2011. And of course Molly's dinner invitation itself is taken from HBP, chapter 5.

But the nice thing about finally posting this today is that I can dedicate it to

sspring92, to wish her a happy birthday, and to thank her for being one of my first LJ friends and a long-time reader! ♥

And Yet So Far (4840 words | PG/mild profanity | HBP)
What with missing Sirius, spending every day driving off dementors from Hogsmeade, and helping Remus get ready for an Order mission straight out of his worst nightmares, Tonks isn’t feeling very pink. Which may explain why it’s so hard to keep herself together as Remus lets her further in and pushes her further away, all at the same time.

( 'To Sirius,' said Tonks, raising her glass of firewhisky. )
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Happy holidays to anyone who is celebrating anything! :)

The "Twelfth Night Tales" event at

rt_morelove is open for posting until January 6 -- it's not too late to sign up (here!) if anyone else wants to join, and there have already been a good dozen fic posts, if anyone is looking for some new R/T to read over the holidays. (It would be lovely to have some art, too -- hint, hint to any artists? ;) )

I took advantage of the opportunity to pull together a new chapter for the HBP part of Kaleidoscope. As always, this is intended as a stand-alone story, but for people keeping track at home, it takes place right after If Battle Lines are Drawn and a couple of weeks before Out of Sight, and there’s a minor reference to the events of Colours Under the Moon. (One more chapter is planned between this one and Out of Sight -- I've started it, but I'm not sure if I'll manage to finish it for Twelfth Night Tales or not.)

A Moth to a Flame (3950 words | PG/mild profanity | July of HBP)

In the weeks between losing Sirius and leaving for his mission with Greyback’s pack, Remus fights to hold on to his friendship with Tonks. But the hardest part of all is trying not to want more.

( Tonks Apparated straight into the Burrow’s back garden. )

Right! So, I'm supposed to be finishing the last three HBP installments of the Kaleidoscope series so I can get on with revising Part II. But along the way, this DH plotbunny intervened.

This story needs a few notes, too, I'm afraid. It's not 100% new, because it incorporates a drabble and a ficlet which weren't originally going to be part of the series (until I realized, recently, that this point in time really does need to be included): Restless and Taking Care. But there are also two completely new scenes, and the older pieces underwent a fair amount of revision in order to knit this all together into one coherent (*cough*) hurt/comfort story. (The two new scenes are long enough to qualify this post for my h/c bingo card -- for "unwanted transformation," which I suppose is a bit of a freebie in the R/T fandom, heh.)

One more note: people who have been following all of Kaleidoscope might notice that there's a good bit of thematic overlap between this story and Moving Forward, which currently precedes it in the timeline. But when I eventually revise Part III (that'll be a while yet!), I'm planning major changes to Moving Forward, which will make this story necessary for representing those themes.

That was a lot of preamble. Without additional ado:

Any Road Runs Two Ways

Remus would do anything to keep the full moon from being a burden on Tonks. But there is such a thing as going too far.

( Remus woke early, when the dawn sky was heavy pewter overhead. )
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The Stocking Filler Exchange at

rt_morelove was great fun! Participants posted something like two dozen fics, ficlets, and drabbles, and a couple of art posts as well. There's a masterlist going up soon at the comm — stay tuned.

Here's what I managed to post for the event. First, two fluffy ficlets, one set early in OotP and one set mid-DH (because I firmly believe there was time for some fluff in DH!).

Fitting In (830 words | OotP | PG)
Tonks gets a dinner invitation from Sirius — and a little surprise along the way.
Fuzzy Socks (950 words | DH | PG-13 / snogging with intent)
Tonks takes up knitting again. Remus is rendered speechless.

The other post is a first take on the third chapter in the HBP sequence for the Kaleidoscope series. Writing this has actually given me some thoughts on how I want to revise the second chapter and write a different final scene for this third one once I reach the editing/revising phase, but for the moment, here it is. :)

If Battle Lines Are Drawn (3400 words | HBP | PG / mild profanity)
At the first full meeting of the Order of the Phoenix after the fight at the Ministry, Molly keeps noticing things that are...different.

I'm still reading at the comm myself (sorry for being slow!), but anyone who's been missing Remus/Tonks should be sure to check it out.
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This busy fall has not been conducive to fic-writing, sadly. But the long Thanksgiving weekend finally gave me a chance to finish the Kaleidoscope chapter I started at the end of the summer. This one takes place near the beginning of HBP, right after Now Wait for the Tide to Turn.

This chapter actually involved an interesting coincidence of timing. Reading over the Christmas Eve scene in HBP, where Remus tells Harry that he had not known for many years that Greyback was the werewolf who bit him, made me wonder just how Remus found out about that -- so this was going to be the chapter with the Greyback revelation. And then, just when I had barely begun drafting an outline for this, the Pottermore bio came out, chock-full of details about Lyall Lupin and Greyback and just what it was that happened to Remus when he was bitten. So, although Kaleidoscope-verse will not be taking into account any of the new Pottermore details of Remus and Tonks's relationship from OotP through DH -- because this is my version of how that all happened -- I did decide to make Remus's childhood compatible with the Pottermore backstory.

(Also: Bonus points to anyone who figures out what the chapter title is supposed to mean, and double bonus points for anyone who figures out a better way to achieve that, heh.)

Colours Under the Moon (3090 words | PG/mild profanity)
The more Tonks learns about Remus's mission to infiltrate Greyback's pack, the more reasons she has to worry.

( Tonks dumped her satchel on the floor of her little bedroom and hung her Auror robes carefully in the wardrobe. )
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After all those revised chapters, finally, here's an entirely NEW chapter for Kaleidoscope! This is the first chapter of Part II, Mirrors, which covers the HBP year, but in terms of the story timeline this installment actually begins the morning after Blindsided. In other words, Remus has just gone into full-on noble-prat mode. ;)

I need to write about three more chapters for Mirrors, but I'm not sure now long that will take, because it's looking like work will be really busy for the next few months. Still, I'd like to try to get at least one more written before the end of the year -- so, fingers crossed.

Now Wait for the Tide to Turn (5205 words | PG-13/profanity)
Remus resolves to wait for as long as it takes until Tonks stops imagining herself in love with him. Tonks refuses to give up until Remus lets himself have the love he deserves. The irresistible force meets the immovable object, for the first of a million times.

( Tap. Tap. Tap. )
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I actually finished posting the revised chapters of the first part of Kaleidoscope at FF.N a couple of weeks ago, but what with Pottermore and Fire and Hemlock and the R/T drabble/drawble meme, I hadn't managed to get the revisions archived here on LJ as well. They're posted now, backdated to keep them near the rest of the chapters (and to avoid spamming my poor patient f-list, heh).

I've also been trying to pound out some new chapters for Kaleidoscope -- specifically, the first couple of chapters of the HBP part. These are hard chapters to write, though, what with that "million times," and Greyback-related backstory, and all! I'm hoping to get at least one of them done before the end of August, for the R/T meme, but it's been rather slow going. So, I thought I'd harness the power of potential public embarrassment to make sure I finish something soon, by posting a teaser. ;)

( Fic teaser: Right after the first of a million times )

And here are the links for the last two chapters of Colours:

Kaleidoscope (I): Colours
11. Catching Hold (2490 words | PG) [LJ version here] [also on FF.N]
Tonks is afraid that Remus will disappear again, the way he did the first time he lost his best friends. But then he shows her something he's never shown anyone else, and she realises that there may be a way to hold on, after all.

What has changed: Minor stylistic revisions. Also, a few edits in the final scene to tighten up the themes of the chapter a little—and set the stage for some of the undercurrents I’m going to need for the beginning of the HBP sequence.

12. Blindsided (5590 words | PG) [LJ version here] [also on FF.N]
Remus makes a terrifying discovery, but he really should have seen it coming. For her part, Tonks discovers just how much Remus intends to deny himself—and her.

What has changed: A few details have been edited to better fit with the canon timeline. There is now a little more about the kiss, because after all, it's the only one they’ll get for a long time. More ‘too old’ and ‘too poor,’ to go along with ‘too dangerous.’ And more about how much Remus needs Tonks as a friend, despite new complications.

Chapter 12 of Colours (the first "book" of Kaleidoscope) has been revised and is now up at FanFiction.net. With this chapter, Colours is complete.

Kaleidoscope (I): Colours
12. Blindsided (5590 words | PG)
[also on FF.N] [original LJ version]

Remus makes a terrifying discovery, but he really should have seen it coming. For her part, Tonks discovers just how much Remus intends to deny himself—and her.

What has changed: A few details have been edited to better fit with the canon timeline. There is now a little more about the kiss, because after all, it's the only one they’ll get for a long time. More ‘too old’ and ‘too poor,’ to go along with ‘too dangerous.’ And more about how much Remus needs Tonks as a friend, despite new complications.

( It was getting to be too dark to write. )
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Chapter 11 of Colours (the first "book" of Kaleidoscope) has been revised and is now up at FanFiction.net.

Kaleidoscope (I): Colours
11. Catching Hold (2490 words | PG)
[also on FF.N] [original LJ version at

metamorfic_moon]

Tonks is afraid that Remus will disappear again, the way he did the first time he lost his best friends. But then he shows her something he's never shown anyone else, and she realises that there may be a way to hold on, after all.

What has changed: Minor stylistic revisions. Also, a few edits in the final scene to tighten up the themes of the chapter a little—and set the stage for some of the undercurrents I’m going to need for the beginning of the HBP sequence.

( Tonks very narrowly avoided tripping over the troll’s foot umbrella stand... )
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Chapter 10 of Colours (the first "book" of Kaleidoscope) has been revised and is now up at FanFiction.net.

This is the only chapter from the first part of Kaleidoscope that got more of a rewrite than just a revision. I stewed over this for a few weeks, and have made things a little tougher on poor Remus, but I sort of like the way it all came out. :)

Kaleidoscope (I): Colours
10. Gather Up the Fragments that Remain (3880 words | PG)
[also on FF.N]

After the Department of Mysteries, after Bellatrix, after the Veil, Remus tries to get things done, and tries not to think about what he has lost. Especially when the news he has to deliver to Tonks might cost him her friendship as well.

What has changed: This chapter starts with a scene that is merely a minor revision of the original single-scene ficlet “Gather Up the Fragments” from day_by_drabble. It also incorporates the first two St. Mungo’s scenes from an early metamorfic_moon story, “Clarity”. But there are three entirely new scenes, and the final St. Mungo’s scene has been completely rewritten as well. I wanted to give a better sense of Remus’s shattered mental state, and also make his behavio(u)r fit with an idea I developed in writing later chapters for this series—that he never really lets himself grieve for Sirius until the dam breaks after Dumbledore’s death a year later.

( “Remus?” )
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Chapter 9 of Colours (the first "book" of Kaleidoscope) has been revised and is now up at FanFiction.net.

Kaleidoscope (I): Colours
9. If a Seed be Sown (3460 words | PG)
[also on FF.N] [original LJ version: Friends, at

metamorfic_moon]

Tonks has almost given up hope that Remus will ever see her as more than a friend, until Sirius steps in to do what he can for his friends. But no one expects the evening to end the way it does.

What has changed: New title (formerly “Friends”). Some exposition-y paragraphs have been removed, since the information isn’t needed if this chapter is read in its place in the series sequence. Some of the details of the developing relationship between Remus and Tonks have been slightly altered to bring things into line with the (more recently written) preceding chapters, especially Words Unspoken. A little more emphasis has been put on how Sirius is going to react if he hears that Harry is in trouble. And the ending of the chapter has been elaborated a little.

( Tonks tapped her wand along the front door of number twelve, Grimmauld Place... )
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Chapter 8 of Colours (the first "book" of Kaleidoscope) has been revised and is now up at FanFiction.net.

Kaleidoscope (I): Colours
8. Unforeseen Attachments (3690 words | PG)
[also on FF.N] [old LJ version at

metamorfic_moon]

The Weasley twins apply their formidable research and development skills to the problem of Walburga Black’s portrait, but things go wrong rather quickly. At least Tonks is there to save the day — only, now Remus is starting to notice just how many of her evenings she spends at Grimmauld Place.

What has changed: Minor revisions; mostly stylistic, but a few details have been added to make a bigger point of the fact that Sirius is getting more depressed and less stable as the year goes on.

( Remus flicked his wand, the motion smooth and practised. )
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Chapter 7 of Colours (the first "book" of Kaleidoscope) is now up at FanFiction.net. This was the very last installment I wrote before I started revising Colours, so the changes are minimal, and I've just gone in and cleaned up the original post a little rather than reposting.

Kaleidoscope (I): Colours
7. Words Unspoken (3240 words | PG-13/mild profanity and very mild innuendo)
[also on FF.N] [LJ version here]

Tonks is having a hard time balancing her daily life with all the secrets she must keep for the Order. Remus gives her some advice — but in doing so, he only makes the whole situation that much more complicated.

What has changed: Stylistic revisions only.

Chapter 6 of Colours (the first "book" of Kaleidoscope) has been revised and is now up at FanFiction.net.

Kaleidoscope (I): Colours
6. The Things We Remember (4705 words | PG)
[also on FF.N] [old LJ version at

metamorfic_moon]

Sometimes, the hardest thing about Christmas is not the giving, but the receiving. Still, a carefully chosen Muggle gift just might be magical enough to set a little piece of the past right again.

What has changed: Minor revisions. Mostly, I trimmed the treacliest bits. There’s a new ending—I never did like the original one (this story was an Advent piece at Meta, so of course, I was running up against the deadline!). And now there’s also a little more of a theme to what it was Tonks wanted to give Remus, to balance the theme in Remus's gift to Tonks.

( Remus found Sirius right where he’d left him two hours before... )
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Chapter 5 of Colours (the first "book" of Kaleidoscope) has been revised and is now up at FanFiction.net.

Kaleidoscope (I): Colours
5. Moon by Moon (2800 words | PG)
[also on FF.N] [old LJ version at

metamorfic_moon]

Last month, Sirius carefully explained to Tonks that Remus needs privacy after the full moon. But now somehow, something has started to change.

What has changed: I’ve moved the timeline up one month, to start in September rather than October, because it makes more sense for “Stripes” to have taken place in August. Also, a few new details have been added; in particular, the third scene has been expanded to take into account the fact that at some point, Remus and Sirius would have had to face Hallowe’en.

( September )
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Chapter 4 of Colours (the first "book" of Kaleidoscope) has been revised and is now up at FanFiction.net.

Kaleidoscope (I): Colours
4. Stripes (2710 words | PG)
[also on FF.N] [old LJ version]

Sirius discovers that Tonks is unaware of something rather important about Remus, so he takes matters into his own hands.

What has changed: This chapter needed to be brought in line with a plot point that has emerged in chapters 2 and 3 (which were written much later): Remus not being able to make himself tell Tonks about his furry little problem. There are small changes in the first and last scenes, and major changes in the third (the breakfast conversation), in order to make this aspect of the story more consistent.

( Sirius sat slouched in a corner of the kitchen... )
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Chapters 2 and 3 of Colours (the first "book" of Kaleidoscope) are now up at FanFiction.net. These chapters are some of the most recent I'd written, so not a lot got revised here -- in fact, there were so few changes that I just went in and made them on the original fic posts instead of reposting for the LJ version. The next two or three chapters coming up do have some revised scenes, and I've finally finished the first draft of a major rewrite with about 50% new material for the Remus-visits-Tonks-in-St. Mungo's sequence in chapter 10. But, boring this week. ;)

Kaleidoscope (I): Colours
2. The Lie of the Land (1605 words | PG)
[also on FF.N] [LJ version here]

Remus learns a few things about the newest Order member when he recruits her for a spot of pranking. It does occur to him to wonder what she might have learned, in turn.

What has changed: Stylistic revisions only.

3. Marauding for the Cause (3920 words | PG)
[also on FF.N] [LJ version here]

An Order mission featuring Death Eaters, a banshee lamp, and high expectations all around.

What has changed: Stylistic revisions only.

I've started posting the revision of Colours, the first "book" of Kaleidoscope, at FanFiction.net; the first chapter is up now. Each week as a chapter goes up, I'll be archiving the revision on LJ, too. This is not in any way a plea for comments from my f-list ;) -- believe me, just about anyone who sees this will have already read these chapters in their original version (or two), and the revisions for most chapters are fairly minor (chapter 10 being a significant exception, but we'll get there in a few weeks). It's just that I want to keep the updated versions here as well, since LJ is my home base for writing projects.

Kaleidoscope (I): Colours
1. Angles of Perception (3505 words | PG)
[also on FF.N] [old LJ version]

Tonks used to think that her life as an Auror was busy enough. Little did she know that one curry lunch with Kingsley Shacklebolt would get her involved with an underground organisation, her fugitive cousin, and a quiet man who, she suspects, might be a lot more interesting than he looks.

What has changed: Minor revisions. The title is new (formerly "Initiation"), and a few details have been added to acknowledge that Mad-Eye hasn't been out of that trunk for very long.

( Auror Headquarters was never exactly quiet. )
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