Hermione Granger woke up feeling wide eyed and bushy tailed. It had only been a week since Harry had defeated Voldemort, but everyone had begun to rebuild their lives, bit by bit, gaining the happiness, innocence and joy they lost during the war. She smiled. She could smell bacon and heard cheerful whistling waft up the stairs. It appears that one of the boys was up early for a change.
Ron? Nah, too lazy.
Harry? Preoccupied with Ginny.
That leaves...Remus. Hermione allowed a small smile to grace her dainty features. He had been a recurring factor in her thoughts recently, not that she minded much. She got out of bed and stumbled downstairs looking awake, but rumpled.
"Good Morning Re-re-Remus." Hermione yawned, running a hand through her already rumpled hair. There was something significant about today, but she just couldn't place. She shrugged off the strange feeling and helped herself to coffee. Remus looked up from the frying pan and gaped at Hermione. She saw his eyes widen and quickly looked aroung the kitchen, her wand out. "What are you staring at?" she asked, concerned for his mental welfare.
"Oh, nothing. It's just...you like hell. Birthday girls should not be looking like this." he said quietly, observing her reaction.
Hermione quickly conjured a mirror and studied her appearance. With a sigh she shrugged and stole Remus' bacon. Remus made a grab for the bacon and missed. Hermion laughed and then froze. Did he say birthday girl?
"What do you mean, birthday girl? My birthday's not for another...oh." she looked at the calendar and groaned. She had completely forgotten about it. "I don't want any fuss. I don't care for birthdays that much." she stated firmly.
Remus laughed. "Hermione, love. Just because you forgot your birthday, doesn't mean that we did." He watched her beautiful brown eyes widen and her mouth form a dainty 'oh'. He chuckled. "Here you go, happy eighteenth birthday." he whispered, taking a step towards her, and handing over a small box. Before he could stop himself, he leant forwards and kissed her on the lips quickly. "Just a birthday kiss, instead of birthday bashes." he said hurriedly. Hermione nodded dumbly, in too much of a daze to take in what he was saying. Finally snapping out of her reverie she opened the box with shaking fingers. She gasped as she saw an ornate gold locket in it.
"Oh my... Remus. It's beautiful. Thank you so much!" she said looking up at him, her eyes shining brightly. He took the necklace from her and proceeded to clasp it sround her neck.
"This locket will open to a password of your choice, and will play whatever memories you decide to place in it." he explained. She nodded happily.
"Thank you Remus. I know what to use as a password." she said beaming. Picking up the locket, she whispered a word to it and placed a memory into it. Remus smiled and watched the memory play.
It was Christmas break during their fifth year. Everyone was staying at Grimmauld Place. The Weasley Clan had gathered everyone outside and started a huge snowball fight. They all looked happy, and were having fun. The memory soon focussed in on Hermione chasing a laughing Remus for covering her in a mountain of snow. The memory ended as Hermione jumped onto Remus' back and shoved him headfirst into the snow.
Hermione smiled. "That was probably my favourite Christmas. You, the Weasleys, Harry and Sirius. Everyone was there, all together and happy. I think that was the last time that ever happened." she sighed. "I'm going to go upstairs and explore for a bit. There are so many rooms that haven't been visited in years." she walked out of the kitchen and ascended the stairs quietly, so as to not disturb her housemates.
There was a mellow tune playing from a room that she had never seen before. Curiosity got the better of her, and she ventured into the candlelit room. There was one table with a purple jewellery box on it. The music seemed to be coming from the jewellery box itself. Hermione moved as though she was in a trance. She opened the box and gasped as she was covered in blue grey sand. The melody continued to play, making Hermione drowsy. She came to her senses and slammed the box shut, accidentally dropping it on the floor. Remus poked his head around the door to see if hermion was okay and gasped. Hermione was surrounded by a storm of blue grey sand. When the sand cleared, Hermione had disappeared! He bolted out of the room and rushed around the huge house, waking up all of it's occupants.