Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Harry Potter. They belong to J.K. Rowling, the mastermind behind this awesome trilogy.
A/N Ok, this is my first stab at a Remus/Hermione fan fic. Actually, it's my first stab at any fan fic. Hope you guys like. Review, good or bad (but try not to make it too bad). Enjoy!
Hermione breathed in the outside fresh air and welcomed it to her lungs. Her, Harry and Ron had just been inside Greenhouse three along with the other seventh year Gryffindor and Hufflepuffs.
"Finally, it feels like we've been in there for at least a week!" Ron said while stretching and yawning loudly. His spectacular red hair was speckled with flecks of soil and his flat nose had smudged dirt on it. Despite all the dirt, his freckles still showed through.
Harry laughed and also welcomed the bright sun and the fresh air. His untidy black hair was also showing signs of having soil; not that anyone could really notice, his hair was much too dark. His bright green eyes, hidden by his wire-rimmed glasses, scanned the beautiful landscape that was Hogwarts ground.
"Oh, come on Ronald, it wasn't that bad." Hermione said. Her mass of bushy brown hair was messier than usual and her face showed smudge marks of soil all over.
"Speak for yourself! The Devil's Snare didn't try to strangle your arm off." He retorted, pulling up his sleeve and showing her the bruised ring that was forming just above his wrist.
"It's no one's fault but your own if you didn't listen to Professor Sprout." She huffed.
Ron opened his mouth to reply but Harry cut in.
"C'mon guys, let's go get cleaned up. We still have Transfiguration."
"Oh no," moaned Ron, "I didn't even finish my essay for McGonagall."
The three Gryffindors trudged back up from the castle along with Ron's complaints of not finishing his Transfiguration homework.
"McGonagall will give me a detention for sure!" Ron exclaimed as they passed the Great Hall.
"Cheer up Ron, at least it's not Umbridge." Harry said, holding up his right hand that still had the scar etched in it, "I must not tell lies" which Umbridge had made him do in their fifth year.
"Yeah, but still…" Ron trailed off. "Hey Hermione…"
"No way!" She said, answering his unasked question. There was no way she was going to let Ron copy her again. This time, he'd just have to sit through McGonagall's detention.
Ron sighed heavily.
They reached the portrait of the fat lady and gave the password ("Fidelus"). Harry and Ron were already through the wall when Hermione sensed something. She turned and expected to see someone or something but nothing was there. She just must be tired, that's all. But then the sense that someone or something was there arose again. She took a few steps backward and looked to the empty corridor on her right.
"Oh, don't mind me. I'll just hang open all day!" The fat lady said as Hermione began running down the corridor she had just surveyed.
She slowed down to a walking pace. She stopped at a door she had never noticed before.
That's odd. She'd never seen this particular door before. And she, Harry and Ron knew the school better than anyone, except perhaps for the Mauraders. She laughed at this thought as she opened the door. She stepped inside and was standing in an empty classroom. This just must be one of the many unused classrooms. Yes, that was it. No need to investigate further or stay here any longer. Hermione turned to go through the door she had just come through but faced a problem. It was no longer there. Nothing but undisturbed wall stood there.
"What!" She said aloud.
She turned to the other side of the room and saw the door. This room must be like the staircases; they liked to change. She reached the door and pulled it open and was greeted with a shocking scene. There, standing right in front of her, were several Slytherins. Two Hermione recognized but she had to have been mistaken. One of them had greasy, oil black hair that hung down to his hooked nose. It was none other than Severus Snape. But this Snape had differed from the one Harry, Ron and her had grown to loathe. This Snape couldn't be older than seventeen or so, around Hermione's age. The woman standing next to the teenage Snape, Hermione remembered from the fight in the Department of Mysteries, Bellatrix Lestrange. Her hair was very dark and silky. Her matching eyes still glittered with life, having not been exposed to Azkaban for a number of years. She too, looked not much older than Hermione. The other 2 Slytherins, Hermione did not know. At first, they didn't even notice Hermione stumble throught the door.
"I hope we crush those damn Gryffindors in the Quidditch match Saturday." Said the Slytherin Hermione did not know. He was a bit hefty and had dark brown hair in a butch haircut. He looked menacing.
"Me too. Can you believe how Potter always gloats every time he catches that bloody snitch?" Snape said coldly.
"I know, what a git. Him and that mudblood Evans, always prancing around thinking they're Mr. And Mrs. Hogwarts." Sneered Lestrange, clearly disgusted.
"Hey! Who the bloody hell are you?" The other Slytherin said, finally taking notice of Hermione. He was tall, very tall and lanky with dirty blond hair combed to the side very neatly.
"I…uh…" Began Hermione as she reached behind her back to turn the doorknob for the door she had just come through but only grabbing wall. She stopped and turned slightly to see nothing but stonewall. The door was disappeared like before.
"She's a Gryffindor!" Lestrange exclaimed, pointing her index finger, fresh with black nail polish, at her Gryffindor lion on her robes.
"What should we do with her?" The bulky boy said, cracking his knuckles threateningly.
"I don't know," Lestrange said casually, "how about a Body Bind Curse and then we can lock her in a broom closet." The Slytherins all laughed.
"How about you leave her alone before I jinx you into the next century?" Came a menacing voice from their right.
Everyone turned to see who had made the threat. He was tall and strikingly handsome. His dark brown eyes were full of life and his dark hair swung carelessly in front of them. He was in a Gryffindor uniform and had his wand out. Hermione gasped with horror and happiness as she realized it was…
"Sirius," Lestrange said, stepping away from Hermione, "my dear dear cousin. Still hanging with Mudblood and traitors I see?" She said, stepping to face Sirius as he stepped closer.
"And you Lestrange. Still hanging with grease balls and monkeys are you?" Sirius retorted. The 2 unknown Slytherins gave an evil look.
"Potter!" Snape said through clenched teeth, his stare matched his icy tone. Hermione had only seen Snape fix only one other person with that stare: Harry.
"Snevillus." James said just as icily.
It struck Hermione how James looked exactly like Harry. He had the same untidy black hair, the same wire-rimmed glasses but hazel eyes. He was standing right beside Sirius. There were 3 other people with the pair that Hermione was sure she knew but didn't have time to confirm her suspicions.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Someone yelled and in an instant, the 2 unknown Slytherins were hovering in the air. Just as suddenly, they crashed on top of one another onto the hard stone floor.
Lestrange yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!" She missed.
"Expelliarmus!" Another voice called out immediately after Lestrange attempted her curse. Her wand flew out of her hand.
"Levicorpus!"In an instant, Snape was hanging upside down as if an invisible hand was holding his ankle in mid-air.
Sirius, James and the others started laughing. Lestrange shot them all a murderous look. In another second, Snape dropped on top of her. More laughter arose from the other end. The Slytherins all struggled to get untangled and then ran off, cursing the rescuers.
"And don't let me see you coming near any Gryffindors again!" Bellowed Sirius after them. He laughed again with James and the others. The whole group came closer to Hermione, who was still shocked and had not left her spot. Her brown eyes were huge in disbelief.
"Are you ok?" Came a sweet female voice. It belonged to a beautiful woman with long deep red hair. Her eyes were green, like Harry's. Here stood Harry Potter's mother, Lily Evans. Hermione inhaled sharply, her eyes still wide.
Lily stepped closer to Hermione, her brown creased with concern.
"Hey, is she ok?" James asked, stepping behind Lily, the same look on his face.
"Maybe they hit her with some sort of stunning charm or something." Came a voice from behind James. The owner stepped aside James and Hermione had to stop herself from fainting. There, standing right in front of her was her third year Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin. He certainly looked different. There were no flecks of premature gray in his sandy brown hair. His blue penetrating eyes were not full of loneliness and hurt but of life and excitement. True, he did have some light scars on his face but his face was still young and very handsome. He bent close to her and pushed some stray hair from her eyes and pushed it behind her ear. Immediately, he began to blush crimson and stepped back. Hermione was still shocked and was taking short intakes of breath.
"S-Should we take her to Madam Pomfrey?" Squeaked a voice. A small, rather pudgy boy appeared out of nowhere. He had watery black eyes and a pointed nose. He looked exactly like a rat. No doubt, it was Peter Pettigrew.
"Good idea Wormtail." James said, reaching his hand out to grab her shoulder.
"Dumbledore!" Hermione said suddenly, startling them all and causing them to jump.
"Sure, we'll take you to Dumbledore." Lily said, recovering from the startle and placing a gentle hand on Hermione's shoulder.
"Th-Thank you." Hermione said breathlessly as she allowed Lily to steer her to Dumbledore's office.
They walked in silence to Dumbledore's office. The silence was only broken when Lily gave the password ("Chocolate frogs") and the stone gargoyle leapt aside. The four Marauders, Lily and Hermione stepped on to the moving staircase. They reached the door, which had a huge griffin knocker. Before Lily could even knock on it, however, a voice from the other side said, "Enter."
Lily pushed open the door, her hand still on Hermione's shoulder. The Marauders filed in silently behind them. Dumbledore's office wasn't much different from what Hermione remembered. Fawkes the Phoenix was nestled comfortable on his perch, the spindle legged tables with various silver humming objects on them, the multiple portraits of past headmasters and headmistress (it broke Hermione's heart to see an empty portrait that would be occupied by Dumbledore many years later) and the frayed, patched old black sorting hat was on it's usual shelf. The only thing that was missing was the glass case, which held the fantastic sword that was once Godric Gryffindor's, which Harry had pulled out of the sorting hat in their second year.
Dumbledore looked up and his eyes were still the twinkling blue, his half-moon spectacles slided on his crooked nose, which was not as crooked as Hermione was used to. His hair was still white, of course, and his beard still amazingly long. He was seated at his desk, an eagle quill in his hand. He had obviously been writing something before they interrupted.
"Yes Miss Evans?" He said, kindly, the twinkle never leaving his eyes.
"Uh, Headmaster, um, we found this girl here by the fourth floor corridor about to be attacked by a pack of Slytherins and-"
"Headmaster I need help." Hermione said desperately, cutting Lily off mid-sentence.
"And what sort of help do you need dear?" Dumbledore asked quietly, surveying Hermione with his eyes, as if trying to read through her.
"I…" She trailed off. She didn't know where to begin. What if he didn't believe her? What if he thought she had escaped from St. Mungo's or something? What if she was stuck here forever?
"Yes, dear?" Dumbledore pressed gently, the twinkle still in his eyes.
Hermione took a deep breath and started from the beginning from when she, Harry and Ron had been walking back from Herbology. Occasionally someone (mostly James or Sirius) would make to interrupt but Dumbledore held his hand up silently to quietthem and then nod to Hermione to signal her to continue.
"And I don't know how it happened but I looked to get back through the door that I had just come through but it was gone." She finished. Somehow, talking about it and seeing Dumbledore calmed her down a little.
"I see Miss Granger. And you say you've never seen that door before?" He asked, his hands folded in front of his face.
"No sir." She said. Did he believe her? Did he think she was lying?
"Well, it is a very astonishing story." He said simply.
"But you do believe me, don't you?" She asked immediately, not knowing if she wanted to know the answer.
He smiled, "Of course Miss Granger. I may be old in years but I know how to spot a lie or a deceiver." She breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time since she had gotten here, she felt calm and relaxed.
"Hang on! You believe her Professor?" Sirius asked.
Hermione turned around and saw the Mauraders and Lily, standing, their mouths slightly open.
"Of course Mr. Black." Dumbledore replied simply as if explaining two and two make four.
"But-" He started to argue but Lily cut him off.
"If Dumbledore believes her, then I think that should be good enough for the rest of us." She said sharply, looking at them all, her mouth thinning. She bore a striking resemblance to Professor McGonagall just then.
"Lily's right. If Dumbledore believes her, then she can be trusted." Remus said from out of nowhere. Hermione gave him a soft look full of thankfulness that made his cheeks blush crimson again.
"Thank you Miss Evans, Mr. Lupin," Dumbledore said, bowing his head slightly. "Now, I don't think I have to tell you five to not repeat anything you've heard. It could put Miss Granger or yourselves in unnecessary danger."
He got up from behind his desk as they all nodded in agreement.
"Excellent," He said smiling, "Now I'm going to expect you five to watch out for Miss Granger here and help her out until we figure out how to gether back to where she belongs." At this last sentence, Hermione swore she saw Remus' head drop slightly. No, it must just be her imagination. That's all. They all nodded again and Dumbledore dismissed them.
"I'll try to sort this out Miss Granger." Dumbledore said softly, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Thank you Headmaster." She said, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She hugged him. She felt a strong emotional urge to do so. She was so thankful that he was here, he would sort it out. She no longer felt afraid or worried; everything was going to be ok.
"Quiet alright." He said softly, startled by this outburst of emotion. "Now get along and just try to stay calm." He smiled and she let go and nodded. She was the last one to descend the moving staircase from Dumbledore's office. She stepped down and was greeted by the five of them. She was all of a sudden nervous again.
"C'mon, we'll take you to Gryffindor Tower." Lily said, smiling. She grabbed Hermione's hand.
"Ok." She replied, smiling. The two girls jogged down the corridor, leaving the four boys behind.
"Hey wait up!" Sirius bellowed after them.
"Yea, Lily, what' the hurry!" James shouted at the two girls back.
Lily chose to ignore them.
"It's going to be exciting having another girl to talk to for a change." She exclaimed, her smile reaching her astonishing green eyes that Hermione knew all too well.
"Yea, I know what you mean. I've never had a girlfriend before." Hermione said, with as much enthusiasm as Lily had. The two girls giggled while the boys struggled to keep up. They dropped behind, however, because Peter had run out of breath.
They finally reached the portrait of the fat lady and crawled through the hole after Lily had given the password ("Niffler"). The common room looked the same. The crackling fire, the soft cushion seats and sofa, and the tables which Harry, Ron andher had sat doing homework and discussing Voldemort.
"Here, take a seat." Lily instructed, leading Hermione to the exact same table where she, Ron and Harry had always sat. It had been their favoritetable because it was out of earshot of everyone else and it was right by the window so they could look out onto the grounds, look at the lighted windows of Hagrid's cabin or wait for Hedwig to return with a response to an eager letter they had sent. Lily sat opposite Hermione. The boys finally emerged about 15 minutes later when Lily and Hermione were discussing classes. Hermione was shocked to find out that Lily was obsessed with homework and classes as much as she was.
"What do you think of Divination?" Lily asked as the boys filed over.
"Don't get me started." Hermione said through gritted teeth and rolled eyes.
Lily laughed, "Me too!"
The two girls collapsed in fits of giggles.
"Well well well, look who's finally decided to join us?" Lily said as James sat right next to her and welcomed her with a kiss.
"Ha ha. Since when do girls run that fast anyway?" Sirius said, taking the seat next to Hermione while Remus and Peter took seats at the end of the table so that they were facing the window.
"Are you saying Mr. Sirius Black, heartbreaker and prankster of Hogwarts, can't outrun two girls?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.
Everyone, including Sirius, laughed. "We haven't been properly introduced milady," Sirius said, turning to Hermione and holding her hand and planting a kiss on it. Hermione blushed lightly, she wasn't used to getting this sort of attention from boys, except for maybe Viktor Krum. "I am Sirius Black. But you can call me-"
"Padfoot?" Hermione asked before Sirius could finish. Everyone, even Lily, stared at Hermione. Their eyes, yet again, wide with shock.
"How did you-" Sirius began.
"I'm from the future, remember?" Hermione reminded him.
"That's right." James said stupidly.
Hermione laughed softly, "And you are James…or do you prefer Prongs?"
"Either's fine with me." He said, lazily, stroking Lily's long red hair and looking at her lovingly.
James and Lily were so sweet together. It brought a rip in Hermione's heart knowing what they'll be going through in a just a few more years.
"And you are Peter…or Wormtail." Hermione said, eyeing the pudgy boy. It was hard to hate the traitor. Hermione wondered what could make Peter turn against his best friends like he did.
"T-That's right." He said softly, not looking at her in the eye. She could tell he was shy.
"And last but certainly not least is Professor R. J. Lupin AKA Moony." She said, looking at his handsome face. He stared back, his blue eyes wide.
"Sorry, but did you say 'Professor?" Sirius asked, dumbfounded.
"Huh?" Hermione said. She had been too distracted by Lupin to pay attention. Apparently, Lupin had also been distracted.
"You said 'Professor Lupin.' Is Moony here a teacher of yours?" Sirius asked.
"Oh-oh yeah. He taught in my third year." Hermione said, smiling at him. He smiled back, his blue eyes twinkling like Dumbledore's.
"What subject did Moony here teach?" James asked.
"Defense Against The Dark Arts." Hermione replied simply, "He was easily the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we ever had. All the students loved his classes."
"Wow, me a teacher." Remus said breathlessly. He returned his gaze to Hermione not wanting to ever look away.
"Knew you had it in you Moony." Sirius said, clapping him on the back.
"So, what else can you tell us about the future?" James asked, leaning forward, excitement blazing in his eyes.
"Now James, I don't think that it is wise for her to tell us anymore. Who knows what danger it could cause?" Lily said, eyeing her boyfriend with a stern stare.
Lily did have a point. But there was no harm in telling them the little things, was there? No, of course not, what harm would it do for them to know about their son?
"Lily's right, but I guess I could tell you some things." Hermione said slowly.
"Yea, like?" James prompted.
"Like, you and Lily are married and have a son named Harry." Hermione said, unable to hide her wide smile at James and Lily's shocked faces, open mouths and wide eyes.
"You're, you're kidding." James said.
Hermione shook her head, "Nope."
James turned to Lily who had turned to face him at the same time."Hmm…Lily Potter, hey that has a nice ring to it." James said thoughtfully.
"Oh shut up James." Lily said playfully, hitting his arm softly. He grabbed her arm before she could yank it away and pulled her closer to him. Everyone laughed.
"Yea, well we all knew that those two would get hitched." Sirius said, looking at James and Lily.
"Jealous?" James asked, Lily nuzzled close on his shoulder.
Everyone laughed again. They talked until a little past midnight. Hermione had told them all about her adventures with Ron and Harry, how Snape was the Potions Master and how Harry had pulled Gryffindor into the House Cup year after year.
"Wow, my son, fighting a huge basilisk, fighting off hundreds dementors at once and leading Gryffindor to victory in the House Cup. Of course, it's now wonder, he is my son." James said fondly.
"And mine." Lily reminded him, kissing his cheek.
"Yep." Hermione said. Of course she had left out minor details like how Sirius was an accused mass murderer, Peter was a rat not only literally and James and Lily were both dead.
"And Professor Lupin, here taught Harry the Patronus Charm in private lessons." Hermione added, feeling his eyes on her. When she turned, however, he quickly diverted them. She laughed to herself.
"Whoa, way to go Moony. Thanks for saving my son." James said, clapping Remus on his shoulder.
"No problem." He said.
Everyone laughed again. The laughter was cut in, however, by Peter's loud snoring.
"Bloody hell Wormtail," Sirius said, clearly annoyed, "Can't even stay awake for a few hours." He rolled his eyes.
"No wonder he fell asleep. Look at the time!" Lily said, looking at her watch, "We've been talking for nearly 4 hours!"
"Bloody hell, where did the time go?" Sirius asked through a yawn.
"Well, I think we should all get to bed. We do have classes tomorrow." Lily said, standing up with James who yawned and stretched loudly.
"Well, until tomorrow milady." Sirius said, bowing and kissing Hermione on the hand once again.
Hermione giggled lightly and noticed Lupin stare determinedly out the window. It must be hard for poor Lupin, always having to see James and Sirius with girls while he stayed alone. Her heart went out to the young werewolf.
"Night everyone." Hermione said as Sirius, James and Lily headed off to bed. Sirius and James had Peter floating carelessly through the air towards their dormitories.
Hermione got up and noticed she was not the only one left in the common room. Professor Lupin was still there apparently lost in thought, staring absent mindly out of the window.
"Professor Lupin?" Herminoe said softly, touching his shoulder. He jumped which made Hermione jump back.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He said, as if he were hurt that she had been scared.
"No, I'm sorry. You just startled me all of a sudden. Were you thinking about anything in particular?" She asked, stepping closer to him.
"No, not anything in particular." He said, looking at her then out at the window.
She too looked at the window. A half moon stared transfixed back at both of them. Now Hermione knew what he must have been thinking about. It must be really hard for him. Hermione felt a strong urge of affection and emotion over the poor teen sitting in front of her.
"You know, I can't believe I get to be a teacher in the future." He said, all of a sudden, turning his head away from the window and staring at Hermione.
She merely smiled and nodded.
"So, so everyone liked me?" He asked, as if this were impossible.
"Of course everyone liked you. You were a great teacher. Why wouldn't anyone not like you?" She said with a kind smile on her face.
He smiled too, blushing a little, but then frowned slightly and looked back out the window. Hermione took the empty seat that was Peter's so that she was sitting right next to him. "There was one student who thought you were hiding something though." Hermione said, following Lupin's gaze out towards the moon again.
"Huh?" Lupin said, jerking out of his thoughts to stare at Hermione, who was still staring at the window.
"Oh yea," she said casually, "This student claimed to have discovered some sort of secret of yours." She said, turning back to Lupin whose face had gone very white and his blue eyes wide with worry.
"W-What?"
"Yep. But don't worry, I kept your secret." She said, winking. The concern and worry left his face immediately and was replaced with blushing and what looked like, embarrassment.
"So-so you know what I am?" He asked uncertainly, looking down at the table.
"Yea, you're a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and a damn good one too."
"I mean-" He started to say right after her, looking up from the table.
"I know what you mean Professor Lupin. But it's not who you are, it's just a…little problem you have to deal with once a month is all." She said simply, "It doesn't really matter to me though. I don't see why you should be embarrassed."
At this, Lupin looked back down at the table. Hermione grabbed his face gently and guided it so she was now face-to-face with him. "It doesn't matter." She said, her eyes locking with his.
"Thanks." He said softly, not breaking away from her.
She smiled and just noticed how far apart her and Lupin's faces were. The little space there was was steadily closing as he inclined his head closer to hers and vice versa. Their lips met in a soft kiss. They pulled away simultaneously; their faces still inches apart.
"Hey Hermione?" He asked softly.
"Yea?"
"You can call me Remus you know." He said, smiling.
She smiled back, a little embarrassed. "Ok, Prof-I mean Remus." She said, smiling.
He smiled back and their lips met once more for a simple and soft kiss.
"I better be getting upstairs, I still need to take a shower. I'm sure I look like I've just come up from underground." She said, gesturing towards her dirty appearance.
"No you don't." He said, wiping a smudge of dirt from her cheek with his thumb.
"That's very sweet of you but still." She said, smiling and touching his hand with hers.
They got up, hand in hand, and Remus walked Hermione towards the girls' staircase that led to their dormitory.
"Night, Remus." Hermione said as she pecked him softly on the lips and headed up the staircase and disappeared from view.
"Night Hermione." He said, softly to himself before going up the boy's staircase.
A/N So what did you think of it Chapter 1? I'm writing Chapter 2 right now. Please review and if you haven't seen POA, go SEE IT NOW! David Thewlis was awesome as Lupin!