Author's Note: Hey everyone! So this is the reason why I hadn't updated Shared Destinies in so long! I was a pinch hitter in a RLHG fest so I had to put everything aside and bust this out. The funny thing is that the prompt was a marriage law fic. People are going to start think that's all I do! But I think this is something different. Let me know what you think! And now, back to working on Shared Destinies!
Hermione reminded herself frequently that it was a miracle that the wolf in front of her could even sit still. That alone was reason enough to be proud of herself, but it wasn't enough. Not for her.
She sighed and shifted her weight to her other foot. The wolf followed her movement from the other side of the silver bars and gave her a rueful look.
"Yes, I know I could be doing something else right now," she said sulkily. "No need to give me that look."
The wolf rolled his eyes and lowered his belly to the ground, getting comfortable before closing his eyes.
"Oh sure, take a bloody nap," Hermione snapped. The wolf opened his eyes, but didn't move otherwise. "That's just great."
The wolf, of course, did not reply.
"Standing there and staring at him isn't going to make the moon set any sooner."
Hermione turned to her lab partner with a guilty look. Severus Snape hadn't changed one bit in the seven years since she'd graduated from Hogwarts, still tall, gaunt and greasy looking. After he resigned as a teacher, he began working as an Unspeakable at the Ministry of Magic with her. His sense of fashion never wavered from his starchy black robes and now in the bright light of the lab, he looked completely out of place. His skin and well, general appearance, seemed to demand dank dungeons and shadows.
"Well there's not much else to do," Hermione replied. "I've done all I can for him tonight."
"Now take it a step further and do as the man asked and not stare at him."
True. He had asked her repeatedly to not watch him when he was in wolf form during the full moon, but she couldn't seem to help herself. With every new batch of potions that she and Snape came up with, she wanted to see if there was a change from month to month. She watched and took note of everything. From his general mood to whether his size was affected. It was science, she told herself. She needed the data, whether it made him uncomfortable or not.
A high-pitched ringing sound pierced the general calm of the laboratory. Snape waved his wand at the alarm at the back of the lab and joined her next to the cage that had been attached to the lab specifically for their experimentations. Three sides were solid stone, while the part facing the lab was made of silver bars to keep the werewolf inside from escaping in the event that one of their experiments went awry. They were fortunate in that only once had they needed the protection the cage afforded them. Since then, they tested their potions even more meticulously so that they were sure that it would not adversely affect their test subject, Remus Lupin.
"Sixty seconds until the moon sets, Lupin," Snape said calmly.
The wolf stood up and stretched. A sense of pride made Hermione smile. A werewolf, even under the affects of Wolfsbane, would be going mad at this point in the moon's cycle. Through their testing of new werewolf potions, they'd managed to make the transformation into a wolf, under the full moon, far less stressful and painful.
But there was still some pain during the actual transformation. Hermione gritted her teeth when the wolf began to howl. She watched carefully, but it appeared their latest potion was no different than the last month's version. The wolf twitched and screamed before going rigid. The scream melted into a whine as the fur retracted back into the skin. The snout cracked and reformed back into a human nose. The large teeth shrank. Where a wolf had stood, there was now the collapsed form of a naked man.
Hermione grabbed a beaker from a shelf next to the cage and unlocked the gate. Behind her, she could hear Snape making the preparations for the next phase of the morning. Remus was unconscious when she gently rolled him onto his back and sat him up, supporting his head with her arm as she poured the potion into his mouth. Quickly setting the beaker aside, she massaged his throat to help the potion go down easier. Settling him back on the floor, she reached for her wand.
Wordlessly, Hermione levitated him out of the cage and to a twin bed set up in the middle of the lab and pulled a sheet over his lower half, quite used to his nudity by now. Aware of Remus' aversion to needles, Snape took the necessary sample of his blood while the man slept. Blood sample labeled and set aside for analysis, they set up the heart monitor and Hermione jotted down his heart rate and waited to see if any abnormalities would surface.
Remus's eyes shot open and his heart rate escalated for a few moments before calming once more. Hermione smiled in satisfaction. So there was a change from last month. The last batch had an adverse reaction with the heart, making it useless as it would likely cause cardiac arrest with extended use.
"The coriander seems to counteract the laburnum better than the digitalis purpurea," she said to Snape.
"We'll keep an eye on it, but it appears so," Snape replied.
Before their very eyes, Remus regained his color. Before long, he sat up straight.
"And how are we feeling this month?" she asked in a chipper voice.
"Better than last month," Remus said. "I feel almost normal."
"Perhaps if the coriander is added before the aconite in the Wolfbane, it would have an effect on the pain level," Snape said to Hermione.
"It would have to be timed perfectly or else it would ruin the entire potion," she replied with a frown, writing down a note to look into the lifespan of coriander and its effect with aconite.
"You check him over while I run tests on the blood sample," Snape ordered. "I want to see how his blood reacted to our latest efforts."
With a swirl of his heavy robes, he retreated to his side of the lab, ignoring them completely. Hermione, used to this treatment after working with the man for three years, set aside her clipboard.
"Okay, look right into my eyes for a moment please," she said calmly. Remus did as ordered and she silently cast a diagnostic to check his mental facility through his tawny eyes. Everything appeared to be in order, though it was quite early yet.
Next she checked his physical signs, writing down any changes from last month. The lines about his face had faded somewhat. He wasn't as pale and he'd gained a bit of weight.
"It looks like the Lupus Abeo potion is working better," Hermione said.
"It certainly feels like it," Remus replied warmly. "I haven't felt like this…ever. I almost feel normal."
"I have a feeling we're close, Remus," she said confidently. "With the leaps and bounds we're making, we have to be close."
"Even if we aren't, I'm quite happy with this," he said.
And wasn't that sad? She thought as she fetched his clothes. His life had been so bad up until then that he was happy even though he still had to transform every month. True, they'd taken away nearly all of the other symptoms; the restlessness in the few days before the full moon, the days of incapacitation after, and the general deterioration of physical health. They'd helped many people already, but she wouldn't be satisfied herself until they had a cure for lycanthropy.
When he'd finished putting on his clothes, he clasped her hand warmly.
"Thank you so much, Hermione," he said with a smile. "I don't know how I can ever thank you for what you've done for me."
"It's us who should be thanking you," she replied. "If you hadn't volunteered, we wouldn't be anywhere near where we are."
His smiled widened and he squeezed her hand before taking his leave without a word to Snape, knowing that he'd only get yelled at for interrupting the Potions Master. In any case, they'd be seeing him the next day as it was. Hermione sat on her stool and watched Remus leave, walking upright and confident, something she'd rarely seen on him before he'd come to them.
"Mooning over him won't get your research done," Snape said snidely.
She jumped and looked at her colleague. With a frown, she realized she'd been staring at the empty doorway. She knew that Snape would only get snarkier if she denied she'd been 'mooning' over Remus so she calmly took a deep breath.
"Actually I was thinking about how different he is," she said. "He's healthy and happy, which is so different from when he volunteered to help us test our potions."
"How sweet," Snape replied in a bored tone, measuring a few drops of blood onto a slide for the microscope.
"No, really," she said in irritation. "It's not just him. It's everyone else we've helped. There are so many people who've been living their lives with this curse, thinking that they'd never get better. Aren't you happy for them at all?"
"I'm happy for myself," he replied.
She rolled her eyes. Of course. He was happy for the prestige he was receiving and the money he earned. Both he and Hermione were something of celebrities in the magical science world for their research on lycanthropy and their steps toward a cure.
When she'd approached him with her idea to find a cure after the war, he'd stoutly refused. Standing on the front porch of his dilapidated little house, he'd looked down his ugly nose at her and snarled.
"I will not spend the rest of my life helping those who do not ask me themselves for help!" he hissed. "No, Miss Granger, I intend to enjoy my retirement and only do as I damn well please until the day I die."
And then he'd slammed the door in her face. She'd tried to start the study by herself, but her age worked against her and the Ministry refused to take her seriously. She'd just about given up all hope when she'd gotten the knock on the front door of her Muggle flat. She could never be sure whether it was an inner sense of what is right, or whether he simply got bored with being retired, but Snape came to her and accepted her offer. Of course, he made it seem like the whole idea was his. She didn't care. With a war hero and Potions Master at her side, she received the grant to begin work on finding the cure to lycanthropy.
Three years and millions of galleons (both spent and earned) later, she was known for something other than being the great Know-It-All and Harry Potter's best friend.
Hermione and Snape were well aware that they would not be where they were without Remus. With any study, one needs test subjects. Unfortunately, they'd had no volunteers. But when Remus had heard Hermione talking to Ginny about their grand idea, he'd seemed interested and had offered himself. Hermione was fairly certain he regretted it at first, especially when, on their third full moon together, he nearly died from an allergic reaction to something they'd put in the potion. But now… Now he was almost normal.
And that was an amazing thing. That made all the sleepless nights, the burned eyebrows, and loneliness worth it.
"This needs to sit for twenty-four hours without any more interaction," Snape said, stepping away from his lap station. "We're done for today."
She nodded and together they left their lab before parting ways in the atrium. Wizards and witches were just beginning to arrive for work, appearing in the fireplaces and apparition points with bleary eyes. Just as tired but for completely different reasons, Hermione approached an empty fireplace and went home to sleep the day away.
*
"Apparently the Ministry's trying to bring back the Werewolf Registration Act again," Harry said, fiddling with the peas on his plate.
In the crowded kitchen of the Burrow, seated around the long dining table, talk had turned to the latest workings of the Ministry. Hermione frowned.
"What? Why?" she asked.
"Zealots like Umbrage are still in office," Harry replied.
"And the rest of the Ministry is just going to let them discriminate like that?" Hermione demanded.
"Hermione, there are a lot of people afraid of werewolves," Remus said from next to her.
"They're still people! This is outrageous!"
"It hasn't been passed yet," Harry said calmly. "I'm not sure it's even going to. There might just be enough people who are against it that it'll go away again."
"But there are more who would like the lot of us rounded up and tagged," Remus replied quietly.
"Well I won't stand for it," Hermione said stoutly.
Conversation might have continued down that path had the back door not banged open and Ron Weasley, with his arm around a beautiful blonde witch, stumbled inside with his hair in disarray and his clothes rumpled. The blonde giggled and Ron grinned. His eyes were bloodshot and the skin on his nose and cheeks was streaked with broken blood vessels. He moved to the table and the distinct paunch around his middle was obvious to everyone.
"Hello, Weasley family!" Ron said cordially. "And Harry, Hermione, and Remus of course."
"So glad you could fit us into your busy schedule, Ronald," Mrs. Weasley said icily.
"Not a problem," Ron replied, seating himself between Bill and George, pulling the blond onto his lap. "No games or practice today."
And that's when the night became awkward. Eyes darted from Ron, who either talked loudly about his latest Quidditch win or could be found inspecting the blonde's tonsils with his tongue, to Hermione, who tried to keep her face blank.
But she couldn't help but watch Ron. She could not define her own emotions. Anger was certainly there, but so was sadness with a hint of jealousy. Had she not become a magical scientist with her heart and soul in her work, it might have been her with Ron now. But she followed her dream to become someone of importance for her work, and he followed his to become a professional Quidditch player.
They'd tried, certainly. It seemed almost expected after all their years as friends. And it had been happy and fun for a while. But then she'd gotten her grant to start her work and she was barely home. When she was, he was off somewhere with the team. At first, their arguments had been about their lack of time together. And then the words became nastier.
He called her frigid, boring, and not worth the effort. At those words, she had no reply and therefore packed her things and moved out. Since then, they'd been extremely distant and just barely managed to be civil to each other. She tried only because she loved the rest of the Weasley family.
As the years passed, he fell into further dissipation. She was pretty sure that alcohol was a problem. He needed someone to take care of him and she was pretty sure his blonde of the week was not going to be that person. His family had tried to help at first, but only Mrs. Weasley seemed to be trying to help now.
"So, Hermione," Ginny said when another uncomfortable lull overtook the table. Hermione looked away from the scratches in the top of the table that she was tracing with her fingers and turned her attention to her friend. "I was thinking that burgundy would be too dark a color for the bridesmaid's dresses. It's an afternoon wedding, after all."
"True," Hermione replied with a smirk. "What color did you think of now?"
"Hey!"
"Oh come on, Gin, you've changed the color scheme four times in the last month," Harry said, wrapping his arm around Ginny's shoulders.
"Well, it might help if you gave your opinion," Ginny grumbled. "Fiancé's do more than just show up, you know."
"Not according to your mother."
Ginny shot a look at Mrs. Weasley, who merely shrugged, before turning back to Hermione. "I was thinking violet. It would look smashing on both you and Luna."
Hermione grinned. "I love it, Gin."
"Great, the final fitting is this Saturday. They'll change the color then as well."
"Final fitting?" Ron said, his bleary eyes going wide. "When's the wedding?"
"Next weekend," Harry said, looking at Ron in bafflement. "You didn't forget, did you?"
"I thought it was months away!"
"No, Ron," Ginny said. "May twenty-seventh."
"Fuck me," Ron said in astonishment. "I totally forgot."
"And you wonder why I didn't ask you to be the best man," Harry said darkly.
"Oh, and Longbottom's so great, is he?" Ron said snidely. "Going to have your bachelor party in a greenhouse?"
"At least I can count on him to show up sober," Harry shot back. "I can't even count on you to show up at all. It's a miracle you're even here now."
"What is this?" Ron demanded. "Attacking me in front of my family?"
"He's right, Ron," Bill said, his voice low. "We weren't expecting you to even be here."
Ron seemed too startled to respond at first. And then his focus turned to Hermione. Internally steeling herself for whatever he might say in his drunken state, she pursed her lips. "Is that why Hermione's here?" Ron asked. "Not too busy to be here when you think I won't show up?"
Hermione didn't answer. She didn't need to.
"This is stupid," Ron spat. "You welcome her, the fucking frigid ice queen, and treat your own family like an unwanted guest!"
Hermione sucked in her breath, ready to retort, but Harry was quicker.
"How dare you talk about Hermione like that!" he shouted.
"Harry-" she began but he cut her off.
"You left her! You chose this life! Don't blame Hermione because you're selfish!"
The room went still. Ron looked to every member of his family, his bloodshot eyes pleading for someone to come to his aide. Hermione had had enough. She pushed herself to her feet and all eyes trained on her.
"I… I should be going," she said. She mentally cursed herself when her voice came out suffocated. "I have work early in the morning."
"Of course you do," Ron muttered.
The urge to scream at him, to throw something at his head, to slap him, was overwhelming but she did none of those things. Instead, she calmly moved around the table. Someone behind her stood as well but she didn't look back.
"Good evening," she said. "Thank you for the lovely meal, Mrs. Weasley."
She didn't wait for an answer. She shoved her way out the back door and marched past the wards around the yard. But before she could Apparate, someone captured her elbow.
"I just want to go home!" she cried, uncaring of whoever had come out to check on her. Her humiliation was beyond complete.
"I know that, but you tend to splinch yourself when you Apparate when you're upset."
The low, calming voice of Remus Lupin washed over her and she immediately relaxed. Of anyone who could have come after her, he would have been her first choice.
"You're right, I know you're right," she conceded. "I just want to leave."
"Let me get you home in one piece," he said softly. Not voicing a reply, she simply nodded. The pressure on her elbow increased.
The wrenching feeling of being sucked down a tube overwhelmed her. She really hated the feeling of Apparition, but it was convenient and quick and soon enough she was standing outside the door to her flat next to Remus, who still held her elbow.
"Thank you," she said. "That was very gentlemanly of you."
He smiled, his newly-unlined face going slightly pink. "Not a problem. You go inside and have a cup of tea. I'll see you in the morning for my tests."
She nodded and kissed him on the cheek. He seemed about to say something else, his mouth pursing slightly as if words were about to come out, but he stopped. Instead he just smiled further and disappeared with a sharp crack.
She let herself into her new chic apartment and then leaned back on the closed door. She was a mess. Part of her was still in love with a man who obviously loathed her, and the other part was hopelessly attracted to a man who would never want her.
No, no she wouldn't let her mind wander that path. It was too depressing. Calmly, she reminded herself that she was not interested in Remus Lupin. He was a dear friend and coworker. She was a serious magical scientist who loved her work and didn't want to complicate it with any man.
Even one as sweet and caring as Remus….
No. Decisively, she pushed herself from her door and made herself a cup of strong tea. She'd curl up with a mystery novel and refuse to think of men.
*
Hermione was alone in the lab when Remus arrived for his daily tests. It had been a few days since the encounter with Ron at the Burrow and she could finally look him in the eye without wanting to cringe in embarrassment.
While the lab was always a more relaxed place when Snape wasn't there, his absence was beginning to worry Hermione. Not only was the man habitually on time, it was very unlike him to miss Remus's testing. Trying not to let her concern show, she continued to check Remus's vitals for any appearance of changes to his system.
"From what I can see, our latest potion only helped with the transformation on the pain level," she said, watching the pattern of his heartbeat on a special monitor that not only showed the beat of his heart in a sound wave, but brought up an image of the full heart itself. "It doesn't appear to be helping your body any more. There aren't any signs of stronger internal organs. You're sure you haven't forgotten a day in there somewhere?"
"I'm positive, Hermione," Remus replied patiently.
Hermione frowned and scanned her notes once more. The previous potion had both helped with the transformation and battled against the curse's attacks on the body which caused it to age prematurely. But that had been the one that had an adverse reaction to the heart and therefore was useless. The newest potion only seemed to help the transformation go easier. There were no signs of it in his system at all. Already the curse was starting to eat at his body again. She could see signs of fatigue and the muscle development that he'd been working on was slowing.
"You haven't changed your work-out regime at all?" she asked.
"No," Remus said firmly. "Now that I can actually do it without hurting myself, I work out every day."
Hermione could tell, but she'd only embarrass him if she mentioned that she rather enjoyed his newly toned body. Remus Lupin happened to be a health nut. During their first week together on this project, he told her how he had been strict with his diet because he didn't want to be weak every day of his life. He couldn't work out, per se, because it only made him tired. But he ate well and took good care of himself which is the only reason his body hadn't aged further.
Now they were fighting the signs of age and reversing them. Unfortunately, it seemed their latest potion was a failure.
"Okay, here's what we have to do," she said. "This last potion was obviously a failure, but it was the first of its kind so I'm not going to get angry. At least, not while you're here. Combining the regenerative potion and the transformation potion didn't work. For now I'm going to put you back on the old regenerative potion because I'm not happy with the changes in your muscles. Stop taking the new one. I'm scrapping that potion."
"Why?"
"Because the old potion appears to provide a better result. Instead of working on the next level of regeneration, I'm going to talk to Snape and see about turning our focus on the full cure. We have a decent start, but we've been too focused on seeing if we could just make an all-in-one pain relief and healing potion."
"I don't mind taking several different things, Hermione," he said with a smile.
"I know you don't," she replied petulantly. "And I know that no one else minds either, but…"
"You just wanted to make it easier for us."
She nodded. Still smiling, he took her hand and squeezed it. She felt a blush rise in her cheeks and turned away, tugging her hand back. Moving to the cupboard where she stored the potions, she pulled down a week's supply.
"Take this every night," she said, handing him the bottle.
"I know the drill," he replied wryly.
"So humor me," she said smiling. "Come in day after tomorrow and-"
The door to the lab banged open and Hermione jumped. Both she and Remus looked over to the open doorway to see Snape charging in. His face was mottled with rage and his hands were bunched into fists as though he were waiting for the right person to punch in the face. Hermione and Remus stayed silent as Snape came to a stop before them, his anger radiating off him in waves. "We work in an environment of imbeciles," Snape growled through clenched teeth.
Hermione cleared her throat and almost squeaked when those furious black eyes trained on her. Fighting the urge to run as fast as her legs would take her, she asked, "Erm, what happened?"
"The new Werewolf Registration Act has passed," he snapped. Remus went rigid. "But there's a twist. Out of fear of the public outcry over the word 'registration', they've turned it into a Marriage Act. All werewolves working within the Ministry must be wed to a person not afflicted to lycanthropy to show their domesticity."
"What?" Hermione cried. "But that makes no sense! Why would they do that?"
"Because this way they can have werewolves on record without actually using the term 'registration'," Snape snarled. "'Registration' can mean anyone would be next. With this marriage law only for werewolves, the general population will raise fewer objections as werewolves in society are rare, and even rarer are ones that work inside the Ministry itself."
"But what's this rubbish about domesticity?" Hermione demanded. "What on earth does that even mean?"
Snape opened his mouth to reply, but it was Remus who answered her. "It has to do with the animal side of our condition. It only appears around the full moon, but many seem to think that it's always present. I'd wager the domesticity part is to show that a werewolf can live happily with another person and live a normal life."
"That's utter shite!" Hermione said, stomping her foot. "They're using that as an excuse!"
"Correct," Snape said.
"Why are you so angry, Severus?" Remus asked mildly. "You've never seemed to care about werewolves in the past."
"I couldn't care less if the lot of you were rounded up and put in a pen," Snape barked. Hermione gasped. "You could vanish and I wouldn't blink an eye. But what this law means to my research is that it will be put aside unless your sorry arse can wed within the month!"
"I'm not a Ministry employee," Remus replied. Hermione was amazed at his level of tolerance.
"You are paid by the Ministry," Snape said. "That makes you a Ministry employee. According to the law department, you must stop immediately. You are not permitted to come back until you can have proof of your marriage. Luckily it doesn't limit who you're allowed to be wed to. So find someone and make it quick."
Remus just stared at him. Hermione didn't know what to say. She hated Snape at the moment for how he had spoken to Remus, but he was right about their research. Remus was their only test subject. And even if he didn't come back, they were still bound by the limitations of this preposterous law. Their other test subjects were also unmarried. Remus had once told them it was because no one wanted a werewolf as a spouse.
"If you want to get better," Snape said, his voice barely above a hiss, "If you want a cure, you will get married. Otherwise, tell me now and I'll go back into retirement."
"I…" Remus looked completely lost.
It was then, as Hermione's eyes shifted from Remus, who looked like he was about to be sick, to Snape, who looked ready to kill, that an idea struck her. Sure, it was not the best answer, but…
"Remus," Hermione said hesitantly. His tawny eyes caught hers and her heart broke a little. He was so obviously crushed. "Remus, I have an idea. You probably won't like it, but it doesn't have to be forever and I just want to help, but…"
"For God's sake, spit it out Granger!" Snape roared.
"I could marry you!" It came out panicked. She'd hoped for confident, but Snape had scared her into speaking prematurely. Remus, however, still stared at her dumbly. His eyes, which she had always found beautiful, were blank. Face was pale and his mouth was slightly open.
But Snape, apparently, was not patient enough to wait for the shock to wear off. He reached out and shook Remus's shoulder and said, "Answer her!"
"It doesn't have to be permanent," Hermione said quickly. "It would just be for convenience right now. This way you can keep your job here and we can continue our research."
"But," Remus started. Snape sighed explosively and crossed his arms, glaring at the werewolf with pure anger. "But I don't want to get in the way of your life, Hermione. This isn't fair to you."
"Remus, you wouldn't be in my way," she said. "I don't date, or anything so… wait. If you're seeing someone, then that's a different matter."
Suppressing the urge to repeatedly smash her face into the nearest flat surface and say 'Stupid!' with every blow, she twisted her fingers together and waited for his response.
"No, no I'm not seeing anyone," he said. Hermione sighed in relief. "But this is so…"
"I know, but we can't really afford the time that could be lost," Hermione said. "I know this isn't fair, to anyone. But if you're agreeable, we can do this and then continue with the research. It wouldn't really change anything…"
He scrubbed one hand through his hair, which had only recently begun to go back to its natural light brown. The grey had started to vanish. If he was taken off of their potions… He'd revert completely to how he used to look.
"I'm sorry Hermione," he said finally without looking her in the eye. "I just can't. It's not fair to you. What if you do meet someone? You're young, and I refuse to ruin your life this way."
Without another word, he left the lab, leaving Hermione and Snape staring after him. The silence only lasted for ten seconds before Snape rounded on her. "Go and fix this," he growled. "Go and fix this, now, or else everything I've worked for ends."
At her wits end, she stood to her full height (still seven inches shorter that him) and firmed her jaw.
"Why don't you marry him, then?" she demanded. Snape face melted from anger to shock. "I'll go talk to him, I'll try to change his mind but if you continue to speak to me like that, I'll walk from this project. Which, by the way, was my idea in the first place. And I can promise you that if I leave, you'll never get another partner to work for you as hard as I have."
Whether or not he was going to reply, Hermione would never know. She stormed from the room before he had a chance.
Remus had already made his way through the Department of Mysteries and was standing by the lifts, waiting for one to arrive.
"Remus!" she called. His shoulders stiffened before he turned to face her.
"Hermione, don't," Remus said, shaking his head.
"Remus, please," she said, coming to a halt before him. "It doesn't have to be me. It can be anyone, but we need you. You're the hope for so many people! I would happily marry you to keep that hope alive."
"You have no idea what you're saying," he said, turning away from her. "Marriage isn't something to take lightly."
"It wouldn't be a real marriage!" she cried, losing her composure. "It would be on paper!"
"You wouldn't be able to have a chance at a real marriage until this law is repealed, which may never happen! Or until your research is concluded and we don't know how long that will be!"
"For Merlin's sake, Remus," Hermione said with a small smile. "You're turning me down because you want me to have a real relationship someday?"
He shrugged, still turned away from her. She reached for his hand and pulled him around so that she could look him in the eye. He was taller than Snape, so she had to drop her head back. Still smiling, she said, "I don't date. I don't do relationships. If I had the hope of one day finding the perfect man and starting a family with a white picket fence and a dog, I wouldn't offer myself this way. I'm too selfish." He looked like he was about to interrupt but she shook her head, silencing him. "I am, I admit it. But I don't want that. Do you?"
He closed his eyes for a moment before replying heavily, "No, not really."
"Then let's just do it," she said. "If, in the future, either of us finds someone who evokes the dreams of white picket fences, we'll jump that hurdle when we get there. But I don't think it's ever going to happen for me, so don't say no for my sake."
He smiled, but it was a smile of regret. Her heart sank. He was going to say no. They were going to have to stop their research. Her job, her work, was gone.
Remus sighed heavily. "I'll do it," he said finally.
She blinked. "You… what?"
"I'll marry you," he said. She stared at him in surprise for several heartbeats. The smile that began to pull at his mouth was part amusement, and part sadness.
"I… okay. Good. Well. Let's, uh, get to it."
Remus nodded, and while she was elated, part of her couldn't help but focus on the sad smile plastered to his mouth.
*
She knew that Remus didn't look at it as a real marriage, and even though she'd had feelings for him for a long time, this could not be considered anything other than a business arrangement, even for her. Once the documents had been signed and the gold rings had appeared on their fingers, they were given news that neither of them had considered.
"We'll need your new address as soon as poss-"
"New address?" Hermione interrupted. "What do you mean?"
"The two of you must live together, Mrs. Lupin," the official said. Hermione ignored her new name and shot a look at Remus, who again looked like he was about to be sick.
"We were not told that," she said tightly.
"Well how else would married couples live?" the official said with a giggle. The woman was plainly too old for giggling, with her white helmet of curls and the deeps lines spreading from around her blue eyes. "According to the law, you're to reside under one roof, though either may move into the other's current home. You're also to appear before a counselor every four months so that we can oversee you're… uhm…"
"Domesticity," Hermione snarled.
"Yes, exactly," the official said with giant grin. "Congratulations! Now you're free to leave. I have another appointment in a few minutes…"
The damage done, they left. Outside the office, Snape left to go back to the lab. Hermione told him they'd be there in a few moments and with one look between her and Remus, he gave her a nasty smirk and disappeared down the corridor with his robes trailing behind. Swallowing her unease, she turned to her new husband.
"Ah… well…" Hermione winced. She couldn't think of a single thing to say.
"Well," Remus said. With a deep breath, he looked her with a forced smile and said, "Your place or mine?"
*
It was decided that between their two flats, hers was the better choice. It was slightly bigger and had a much better kitchen. Unfortunately, there was only one bedroom and one bathroom.
"If it weren't a Muggle building, I'd say we could just make another room," Hermione said apologetically.
"No, we can't do that," Remus replied, looking around her living room. For reasons she couldn't understand, she was nervous. It was like she was waiting for him to announce his displeasure with her home.
Of course he never would. Even if Remus loathed every bit of it, he would never say anything. He wasn't that kind of person. But a small part of her desperately hoped that he liked it, because she felt that her décor was almost a part of herself.
Her little living room held a burgundy sofa and two matching chairs settled around a vintage coffee table she picked up from a little shop that sold antiques. She had a fireplace with two bookshelves on each side made of wood that matched the floors. It was the hardwood floors that really sold her on the flat. They were mahogany and so shiny that she could slide across the floor in her socks if the mood moved her. And it did fairly regularly.
She made a mental note to curb her passion for floor-sliding when Remus was home.
But he seemed to like her place, which was a relief. After some debate, they decided that he'd camp out in the living room on a transfigured bed that they'd just vanish during the day. She felt horrible that he was forced to sleep in the living room of all places, but they couldn't exactly share the bedroom. It was bad enough that there was only one bathroom.
"Um, no offence Hermione," Remus said slowly while she showed him the little restroom. She turned to him curiously. "I'm not going to fit in that shower."
She looked from her little shower stall to his broad shoulders. He was right. While the stall was comfortable for a woman of Hermione's petite (alright, short) frame, Remus was quite a large man.
"Perhaps we could move things around and make it larger?" she said. "As long as we keep the magic on a minimum, I don't think it will hurt the balance of the building too much."
Without making the actual room bigger, they managed to switch things around so that there were two sinks and a wider shower. It was more cramped, but they'd manage.
"Where does that second door lead?" Remus asked, pointing to the door next to the sink.
"Oh, my closet," Hermione replied. "The bathroom attaches to the master bedroom that way. I added the door because I didn't want to have to walk all the way across the flat to the bathroom."
"Ah," he replied, looking slightly uncomfortable.
"Well," she said loudly. "I think we'll be set! If we have any problems, let's just be straightforward with each other. You certainly won't hurt my feelings."
"The same goes for me," Remus said. "If I'm in the way, just let me know."
And that was the beginning of their new living arrangement. That night went by with no problems and when time for bed came, they managed not to bump into each other in the bathroom. He didn't leave anything behind or on the counters. He was quite neat. Hermione made sure not to leave her toothbrush lying out like she usually did after she was done getting ready for bed. For some reason the very thought was embarrassing.
Merlin, she was silly. But she still put the toothbrush in her drawer.
*
When Hermione woke up, she didn't even open her eyes as she shoved her blankets off and got up from her bed. On autopilot, she shuffled to her closet and through the door into the bathroom. Not turning on the light, she moved over to the toilet and made to sit down.
Due to her lack of love for the mornings, her brain had not quite kicked into gear yet. It was because of this that she forgot that the bathroom had been changed around. She ended up falling on her bum with a loud yelp in her new shower, which was placed where the toilet used to be.
Before she could figure out what had happened, there was urgent knocking at the bathroom door.
"Hermione?" someone called. Who was in her flat? "Are you alright?"
Recognizing the voice, the previous day suddenly flooded back into her startled mind. She was married. She was married to Remus Lupin, who she'd had a slight crush on for longer than she cared to admit. On top of that, he was living with her and currently outside her bathroom door while she was sprawled in the shower with her pants and knickers around her ankles.
"I'm fine!" she called back, scrambling to pull her pants up. "I'm perfectly fine! Don't worry!"
"Alright," he called back, not sounding convinced.
Her face burning in humiliation, she put herself together and managed to find her toilet. While she was going through her morning routine, a wonderful aroma was getting stronger. It was coming from the kitchen. Teeth brushed (and toothbrush stashed once again), she left the bathroom and entered the kitchen, only to come to a complete halt when she saw the kitchen table.
There was food…everywhere. Heaps of eggs, bacon, and toast. A fresh pot of coffee settled next to a plate of fruit. Hermione almost whimpered. Remus was at the counter fixing a cup of coffee for himself. He was still in his pajamas. Hermione almost blushed when she saw his bare feet.
"You made food," she stated, trying to keep her voice natural.
Remus turned away from the counter and grinned. His hair wasn't even combed yet. "Most important meal of the day. I didn't know what you liked, so today you're getting a bit of everything."
"Did you go out already this morning?" she asked, sitting at the table.
"Most of this I brought from my flat," he replied, seating himself across from her. "I have the place cleaned out and ready to be rented out. I thought it would be smart to just bring my food. Do you mind?"
"Absolutely not," she said, staring at the plate of toast. She loved toast. And he made perfectly toasted toast.
She ate breakfast for the first time in five years because she didn't want to hurt his feelings by saying that she usually waited until midday to eat. She found that she got hungry sooner if she ate in the mornings, but he went to so much trouble and the toast was really just too perfect to pass up.
She insisted on cleaning the kitchen because he had cooked, and after a half-hearted debate he finally relented. In remarkably good spirits considering that it was still morning, she practically skipped to her bedroom. On her way through the living room she found that the bed had been transfigured back into a couch and that all of his things were already put away. She hummed to herself as she got dressed and slipped on her shoes.
She only needed to comb her hair and pull it back and she would be ready to go. She opened the door to the bathroom, completely forgetting that Remus had said that he was going to take a shower.
Luckily, he wasn't completely starkers. Only half-starkers. He had a towel about his waist and a toothbrush in his mouth. His hair was sticking in all directions from where he'd obviously rubbed a towel over it. His startled eyes caught hers and for several heartbeats, they only stared at each other.
She told herself later that it was just a reflex. All women glanced at a man's naked chest if it was openly on display, no matter who the man was. Of course, her glance was more of a look, but that was splitting hairs.
He looked like something out of one of those magazines that she secretly got a subscription to. One of the ones that had a 'Naked Man of the Month' pull-out that had the model's favorite book and quote in the corner. He was finely muscled, obviously someone who put a lot of work into his body. He looked like one of those swimmers in the Olympics, though he was admittedly hairier. His chest and sternum had a fine covering, though not enough for someone to think about shaving words into it as a prank while he was asleep. Scattered down his arms and chest were faded scars that he'd picked up from his long life under the werewolf curse. And she couldn't help but follow the line of hair all the way down to where it disappeared into the towel.
"Um, Hermione?" he said. Her eyes shot back to his and her cheeks blushed bright red. "Did you need something?"
"Hairbrush," she squeaked. Reaching blindly for the drawer where she kept her hair products, she grabbed her brush and fled, wishing that a hole would appear in the floor so that she could vanish forever.