Hello everyone! :D Well this is my 2nd fanfic on FFnet, I've already got a Fremione story & this one is a RemusxHermione FF. I've always loved this pairing because they just seem so right for each other. Setting aside the age difference I always felt they had a connection. After all Hermione was the first person apart from the Marauders & Dumbledore who accepted Remus for who he was & didn't fear or judge him. I'll always be onboard this Beauty & Beast ship. Since they weren't possible in J.K.R's world I'd like to dedicate this fanfic to this pairing. I read this adorable Remione fanfic 'Nessun Dorma' by a wonderful author called Soap on Mugglenet & was inspired by her writing. I'm not a professional author so please pardon any errors in my writing. Enjoy the story & comments & suggestions are always welcome.
So anyways this story chronicles scenarios between Remus, Hermione & Teddy after the war is over. Tonks is dead by the way, I do like the character but sorry I can't help but be a little selfish on Hermione's behalf here. Haha! I'm trying to keep the story short but I don't know if it'll be longer. :) Rated 'M' for certain scenes in the future & story will be definitely be fluffy because this duo are too cute.
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters in the Potterverse. All credit goes to J.K Rowling.
Chapter 1: The Carnival
"Mioni! Mioni!" Teddy squealed happily his chubby arms around Hermione's neck as his large amber eyes took in the sights & sounds of the bustling carnival. It was the toddler's first time at a Muggle carnival & he was genuinely curious taking in everything he could see, hear & smell with great delight. Since Teddy still hadn't managed to master camouflaging his hair colour due to his young age his tuft of thick hair now purple was hidden under a large well placed white beanie.
Though he was highly interested in everything going on in his surroundings Teddy never let go of the woman he was holding onto. He looked up at her smiling face framed by curly brown hair & touched her cheek with a plump fist. Hermione gazed down on at him & planted a kiss on his cheek. "I love you." she whispered to him & though the toddler didn't understand her words he chuckled happily seeing Hermione's smile & laid his head on her shoulder contentedly. "Oh look there is your Daddy!" Teddy perked up at the sound of the word 'Daddy' & twisted around to see his Dad walking towards them holding an enormous cotton candy. "Daddy! Daddy! Mioni!" Teddy glanced from his father to Hermione trying to grab the huge fluffy pink object in his father's hand.
"No cotton candy for you Mister." Hermione tapped Teddy's nose & the baby gave her a reproachful look with his amber eyes & huffed irritably. "Are you sure we can't give him some?" Remus chuckled as Teddy fixed his reproachful gaze at him after Hermione when Remus kept the cotton candy safely out of the reach of his fat fingers. "Do you want him to sleep tonight or not?" Hermione laughed as Remus nodded thoughtfully. "I didn't know that you knew about Muggle carnival food." She added looking at the cotton candy with a small smile. "Actually I don't. I just bought it for you since you said it was one of your favourites." Remus handed the cotton candy to a surprised Hermione.
"Oh my gosh Remus... you remembered. Thank you!" she grinned & took a small bite of the fluffy pink ball savouring the sweetness filling her entire mouth. Teddy noticing the cotton candy was in the vicinity lunged for it & got a handful of it before Hermione or Remus could stop him. "Teddy!" Hermione sighed exasperatedly as the baby successfully ate the cotton candy in his hand managing to smear the cotton candy all over his arms & face. Remus took Teddy from her arms still laughing at Hermione's mock annoyed expression & Teddy's smug satisfied smile. "Come let's go sit down so that I can wipe the mess of this naughty baby." Hermione admonished Teddy as Remus sat down with him on his lap while Hermione sat beside them rummaging through the baby bag for wet wipes.
"We're really troubling you a lot aren't we?" Remus smiled apologetically at Hermione who was clucking her tongue as she gently wiped in between Teddy's fingers to remove the sticky residue of cotton candy from them. "Not at all but just pretend to be mad for at least five minutes." Her large brown eyes twinkled & Remus laughed silently. "He knows you know." Remus said after a few minutes of comfortable silence while Hermione completed her cleaning routine.
"Know what?" she asked absentmindedly ruffling Teddy's hair & placing the beanie back in place. "That you could never be mad at him. Your eyes are too expressive for you to lie convincingly." He earned a smile from Hermione at that statement. Remus watched her fuss over Teddy his heart feeling rather full. Ever since Tonks had died in the final battle leaving behind a broken Remus & Teddy who was barely a few months old things had spiralled downwards for Remus. Battling with his grief at losing his wife, fear of raising a baby boy with his own lycanthropy & his unstable financial situation Remus had been at the edge of his tether. When Hermione came over to care for Teddy & also for him whenever Remus had suffered from the physical & emotional torture of the full moon he had been grateful for her help.
Refusing to accept any money for her help Hermione had told him that she would already be happy if he could find a stable job one day so that he would be able to cater to his son's needs. Now that he finally could find employment thanks to changes in certain wizarding laws that coincidentally had Hermione helming the move for change Remus found that life was slowly but surely improving. To thank Hermione for all her support & encouragement Remus had brought her to one of her favourite places a Muggle carnival. "Let's try the ring toss next!" Hermione told him taking Teddy back into her arms. Remus agreed readily. As long as she was happy he would be glad to accompany her wherever she was going.
"What? Are you telling me that you're not good at this? How can that be? You're a powerful intelligent werewolf who happens to be an expert at Defence Against Dark Arts." Hermione's mouth hung open in disbelief when Remus didn't even manage to get one ring onto the plastic bottle. His scarred handsome face broke into a rare grin & Hermione couldn't help but return his smile. She rarely saw Remus smile but when he did Hermione found it to be the most beautiful smile she saw on someone.
"Hermione you of all people must know that being a werewolf doesn't exactly entitle you to super powers." He laughed in his usual calm manner. "It's just getting a bleeding ring around a plastic bottle." Hermione scoffed & Remus smiled again at her indignation. Teddy watched them inquisitively. The baby had fallen in love with a large yellow shark soft toy & refused to leave the ring toss booth unless he had it in his arms. "Let me show you how it's done." Remus saw her large eyes flash with determination, a look that Remus recognised & quite frankly liked because it meant that she was getting something done by hook or by crook.
Teddy clapped & squealed with raucous laughter when all the five rings landed neatly around the plastic bottle & Hermione picked the yellow shark for him without missing a beat. She smiled lovingly at Teddy as the baby cuddled the shark to him making happy noises. "He's going to be such a heartbreaker when he grows up." She told Remus who in turn was smiling down at her. "You're spoiling him. What am I to do if one day you decide to leave us?" Remus asked only half joking. Hermione was a beautiful young witch who also happened to be intelligent, kind, loving & loyal. It was only a matter of time before she met a young handsome bloke and fell in love & end up getting married to him. Once that happened Remus knew that he couldn't afford to be selfish nor would he & Teddy be able to see her often.
Something inside him constricted though Remus couldn't put a finger on what is was exactly. "I won't leave you both. Ever." Hermione smiled up at him though her large eyes were serious. They stared at each other for a few moments letting the words uttered float in the air the silence only punctuated by Teddy's giggles. "Let's try the fortune telling booth." Hermione looked away & Remus could swear he saw a little tinge of pink on her cheeks.
Ignoring the odd feeling clashing around his stomach at her words Remus followed Hermione & Teddy to the booth that was draped in deep purple silk with puffs of strange smelling smoke emitting from it. A small bespectacled lady with enormous glasses looking remarkably like Professor Trelawney sat in the middle of the booth while a model of the solar system floated above her head held together by threads of silver. "Welcome children. Please... sit down!" she said in an airy voice & Hermione had to bit back a laugh. Oh yeah this woman was indeed Professor Trelawney's clone. "Now whose fortune needs to be read?" the psychic blinked at Remus & Hermione.
"Him." Hermione gave Remus a nudge & he glared at her as she giggled when the psychic stared at him unblinkingly for almost five minutes. "You're wise beyond your age, your eyes speak of experiences that cannot be said aloud. I sense that you have had a life of pain. Love lost will soon be found in a different form. You just have to..." she flourished her hands. "Look beside you. Happiness is close by." she ended her reading & gave Remus a small bow. He stared at her & then back at Hermione who wasn't smiling anymore but looked rather thoughtful.
"Now you darling." She held out a scrawny hand in Hermione's direction & the latter shuffled uncomfortably. "Your heart desires the forbidden yet you resist it. Hesitance & doubts ruin love. Open your heart my dear. You may be surprised at the results. This love is felt both ways." Remus saw Hermione's eyes widen & she glanced down at her feet. A stab of jealousy flitted through Remus. Love? Hermione loved someone? Judging from the psychic's prediction & her reaction it seemed to be true.
Holding back the burning curiosity & uncalled for jealousy flickering inside him Remus watched Hermione out of the corner of his eye. "Sometimes it take a crisis to make people realize the true value of each other." The psychic finished with a serene smile seemingly unbothered by the uncomfortable silence between the two people seated in front of her. Teddy gave a loud belch snapping Remus & Hermione out of their thoughts. Pulling out some bills Hermione paid the psychic & hurriedly walked out of the tent.
Remus followed suit & the pair walked in silence past booths not paying attention to their surroundings. "Mioni! Gah!" Teddy jumped excitedly & Hermione and Remus found themselves at the Ferris Wheel. "Do you want to ride it Teddy?" Hermione stroked the baby's flushed plump cheeks. He gave another excited squeal. "Let's go." Remus said gently leading Hermione towards the line for the ride.
"No sir that's too much. You just need to pay for yourself & your wife. Your baby rides for free." The man at the counter returned a few bills back to Remus when the trio had reached the front of the queue. Hermione & Remus exchanged quick glances & Remus was about to open his mouth to correct him when they were ushered into a carriage by a harried looking woman. She shut the door behind them & locked it loudly. Since Teddy wanted to explore Hermione loosened her grasp on him & watched him as he crawled up to the window & stared out at the scenery happily as the Ferris Wheel started moving. "Mioni! Cloh.." he pointed at the cloud shaped like a cotton candy to Hermione & received a laugh in return. "That's right. It's a cloud shaped like a cotton candy." She planted a kiss on his cheek & the toddler crawled back into her arms with a happy sigh.
Remus sat back & watched Hermione and Teddy bonding over clouds & cotton candy the strange feeling bubbling up inside his stomach once again. The woman in front of him was important to Teddy. "She's important to you as well." His conscience smirked. "Hermione?" he begun tentatively. "Hmm.." she turned to him a dreamy expression on her pretty face. "About that psychic.. Are you okay? You seemed a little shaken back there." He tried to keep his voice neutral.
"It's just that.. I didn't expect it to be accurate." She hugged Teddy closer to herself keeping the baby warm in the chilly night breeze flitting through the small window at the top of the carriage. Remus blinked at her. Was she admitting that she loved someone? "So you.." he tried to articulate the question in a way that she wouldn't think of him as too inquisitive. "I think I do Remus." She smiled back at him & he felt his heart sink. "Who is it?" he asked rather sharply & Hermione's brows rose. "Sorry." He muttered breaking eye contact & gazing out of the window stiffly.
"Why are you so curious Remus?" Hermione didn't sound angry but rather curious. Remus turned to her & he saw her big brown eyes wide & a dozen emotions flitting through them. "You're a very good friend of mine. You mean a lot to Teddy & myself. We just want to see you happy." Remus saw the emotions behind those eyes flicker & Hermione turned away sadly. "Oh." She said adjusting Teddy's beanie that had become askew.
"Thank you for your concern Remus but I think the psychic was wrong. It isn't felt both ways. It's probably just my imagination & hope that will never come true." She said after a pregnant pause. Though he knew it was horrible of him Remus felt relieved. So the stupid guy she liked didn't like her back.
"That's his loss." Remus said softly & Hermione looked at him with a strange unfathomable look in her eyes. "Perhaps." She gave him a sad smile. The couple didn't speak after that until the ride was over & by then Teddy was fast asleep. "He's had a long day. Shall we go home?" she stroked Teddy's back gently. Remus nodded & after finding a secluded spot the trio disapparated back to his cottage.