So, forgive me Potterheads, I am going to post this one up too. I just wanted to add it to my many projects. Don't think that I will leave my other work to abandonment. I like to work when my creativity strikes. This is after the war, but not Epilogue compliant. I will update this as I go just as everything else I do! Enjoy and don't forget to tell me what you think!
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Hermione Granger knew it was probably best to avoid the bookstore on her break and grab a real bit of substance for herself. However, Hermione was not always logical about her health, and she really needed a book on centaur migration patterns. Her new job wasn't as easy as she had hoped, but the primary source of her enjoyment and knew she was changing lives.
She walked into the store, eying her list and made her as her feet moved on their own accord. "Welcome," a friendly male voice called out.
The witch waved without looking up; she was used to people pawing over her, Harry and Ron. In fact, they made a point to not meet in public so that the press would leave them be. "Let's see. Tribal migration, yes, right here." She murmured to herself as she pulled a book out.
"Granger, you are working on your break?" A familiar voice called out, and Hermione grinned over at her best friend.
"Harry, what are you doing in a bookstore?" she inquired as he approached.
He rubbed the back of his neck and pointed to their third friend. "Ron has a bit of a fancy for the waitress who comes here on her lunch break."
Hermione gave Ron a sheepish wave, and the redhead blushed before clearing his throat. "Well, er, it, she likes books I suppose." Ron stuttered, and Hermione waved him off.
"We agreed it wasn't going to work, let's leave it at that and stay friends. Remember?" Hermione asked, and the young wizards both nodded.
"Always too reasonable for your own good, Hermione."
The shopkeep approached, and Hermione tilted her head as her brow furrowed. "Hello, is there something I can help you with?" he asked them, and Harry gulped.
"Merlin, you look familiar," Harry murmured, and Hermione took a step towards the stranger.
His soft sandy hair shifted over the scars that covered the man's face, and his emerald eyes declared apparently he was confused. "Remus?" Hermione asked, her voice shook.
The stranger recoiled from the two people advancing toward him. "Kurt!" a gentle voice called out, and Ron shuffled over to see the waitress from the Leaky Cauldron bouncing over to them.
"Hello Matilda," he said to her and turned back to Harry and Hermione. "If you need anything let me know." He told them and walked back toward the front of the store with the waitress.
"Blimey, did you see that guy? He looks like Remus, doesn't he?" Ron asked as he closed the distance between him and his two friends.
Hermione physically shook herself from her thoughts. "He is too young to be, Remus, Ronald. We are just projecting. The poor man probably thought we were ogling him like a film star."
It was true. The young wizard who had an uncanny similarity to Remus John Lupin was possibly in his twenties. His hair did not have grey meddled into it, and his eyes were still bright. A small tug at Hermione's heart made her mourn her late friend and former professor.
"We are just looking for those we lost. Just the other day I could have sworn I saw Sirius, but when the man turned fully toward me, he looked nothing like him. It is common from what Gin says to see them." Harry murmured, and Ron folded his arms over his chest.
"Well, that fake Remus is flirting with my future girlfriend." Ron snapped, and Harry chuckled.
"You best go interrupt with questions on books she likes to read, or you have lost her forever to her supplier for her addiction, Ronald." Hermione snickered, and the redhead nearly tripped on his feet as he hurried toward the counter.
Harry exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. "Just for a moment, Hermione. I could have sworn it was him." He muttered, and Hermione patted his shoulder.
"Me too, Harry. It makes my heart hurt too," she whispered, and he gave her a nod.
He reached for the book next to the empty spot on the shelf. "Here, mum says you need some trash in your written diet too." He teased, and Hermione groaned.
"I am not going to read a romance between a werewolf and witch."
"Molly says it's excellent trash," Harry insisted and set it on top of the book she clutched. "You need to get over it too, Hermione. You cannot claim that I overcome my grief if you don't."
Hermione groaned and rolled her eyes. "I hate that I told you about that."
He grinned brightly as they made their way to the counter. "It's alright; Ginny laughed so hard she rolled on the floor."
The witch rolled her eyes but smiled despite herself. "It is silly, but so very typical of me I suppose." She admitted, and he smirked.
Ron had Matilda in an engaging conversation about some sort of charm as the shopkeep was wiping the counter and dusting behind it. Harry went to help his mate out try and chop up some ballocks to ask the witch out, leaving Hermione to pay for her books. Her heart tightened at seeing the serene smile on the young look alike.
"Did you find everything you needed, Miss Granger?" he asked her and she twisted internally.
"Do- how- my apologies, do I know you?" she questioned, and he snorted.
He leaned back on his heels. "Well, you are in here four days a week to buy a book or two. You rarely look up from what you are reading or what small edible item you grabbed on your break. I will blame distraction and not my forgettable station." He murmured and Hermione blushed brightly.
"I am so sorry, Mr…." she trailed off and tilted her head.
"Kurtis Lyall," He murmured, and she placed her books down to shake his hand.
"Hermione G-" she started, and he chuckled.
"I know who you are, Miss Granger. You are in here more than most are," he told her, and her cheeks darkened further.
She realized she had not stopped shaking his hand like a moronic girl and pulled away. "Well, I read plenty," she grumbled and cleared her throat.
"Nose in a book, I would never have guessed," he teased, and Hermione bristled.
"Well, how long have you worked here?"
"Long enough," he said evasively and tilted his head. "This is new," he voiced, lifting the romance novel.
Hermione gulped and fixed her suit jacket. "Well, Harry insisted I put a little rubbish in my literary diet."
The man laughed, and her blood ran cold… did she imagine that they even laughed similarly?
"A bit of rubbish isn't a horrible thing." Kurt murmured, and Harry managed to wander back over to them, noting his friend struggling.
"What, did you forget your purse back at the office?" He questioned and shot him a glare.
"Harry, this is Kurtis Lyall. Mr. Lyall, this is Harry Potter," Hermione declared, and the men shook hands.
"Sorry we gave you the creeps earlier, mate, you look like a friend of ours," Harry said gently, and Kurt frowned.
"Isn't that quite a ponderance? I wish I could help you with your query." Kurt muttered and rubbed the back of his neck with a guilty smile. "I do have quite the average face underneath my scars."
Hermione choked on a sound that was between a snort and gag. "Is that a joke?" she asked, and Harry gave her a pointed stare.
"Kurt, did your aunt get back to you about your potential posting?" The waitress inquired as she skipped over to the counter. "I have been dying to hear."
"Aunt Minerva did indeed get back to me. She told me there is an opening and she will review my N.E.W.T.S before promising me the position."
Ron discreetly waved the piece of parchment at Harry with a grin before tucking it away and joining them. "Aunt Minerva? Like McGonagall? I didn't realize she had a nephew round our age." Ron declared, and Kurt shrugged.
"My Great Uncle Elphinstone wedded her, so, by marriage, I most certainly am a nephew once removed of course." Kurt finished, and Ron leaned over Hermione to look closer at the uncomfortable man.
Hermione rolled her neck and stomped on Ron's foot to prevent him from leering further at the shopkeep. "Ron, please act sociable," she breathed harshly, and Ron groaned.
"It is just a whirl of a thing, you know? He looks like the spitting image of Moony."
The waitress hemmed. "Well, I am going to grab a bite, my break is almost over. I will see you at closing time, Kurt!" she announced and left the shop with a bell tinkling behind her exit.
Hermione gasped and checked her wristwatch. "Oh, my, I am running late! I have ten minutes." She said as she placed a few galleons on the counter. "That should cover it, goodbye," she declared scooping her new purchases up.
"See you at dinner!" Harry called out after the woman.
She waved them off, and Ron shook his head. "A batty witch, that one," Ron grumbled and turned back to the shopkeep. "Tell your aunt we said hello." The redhead declared and waved.
"It was nice to meet you, Kurt, I am sure we will see you again." The Potter murmured and followed his friend out of Flourish and Blotts.
As it goes...
Hermione returned to Flourish and Blotts after the weekend with a pair of croissants in her hand and a travel mug of tea. Kurt was stacking some volumes on the shelf by the textbooks and waved at her with a friendly smile. Hermione gave him a small nod, holding up the pastries.
"I brought you something to show how apologetic I am for not remembering you, Kurt." She murmured, and the young wizard gave her a sheepish smile.
"You didn't need to," he replied, setting down his final book and greeting her.
She set his down on the counter and shook her head. "I did. I am not usually so horrible at noting those around me."
"Unless you are focused what I have observed." He defended her actions, and she smirked.
"It is chocolate filled," she confessed, and he tilted his head.
His fingers caressed the wrapping delicately before his eyes traced her face. "Well, I do love chocolate."
Her cheeks filled with color and his lips tightened. "I am sorry, it is a reflex. Remus was quite the chocolate fiend. It was his second most addiction."
The shopkeep gave her a wolfish smile. "Were you his first?"
Her cheeks now evolved to red buds of mortification. "I think not. He was married before the war ended." She ran a finger over the lip of her cup. "Books. Books were his first most."
Kurt let out a sound of acknowledgment. "You were close then?" he asked, realizing what the tense she spoke.
She tilted her head and exhaled as she glanced at him. "We shared the same affliction. He was the most intelligent man I knew."
Kurt reached out gingerly and placed his hand over hers on the counter. "I truly am sorry for your loss. The heart seeks out kindness when it is most broken."
Her eyes grew glossy, and she bobbed her head. "I am sorry for being a bumbling dunderhead. You have a likeness I have never seen." She pulled her hand away and smiled. "Let's not warble over times long gone. I need to be able to walk in here and not be twitchy so let us start a separate friendship and restart."
Kurt chuckled and nodded as he pulled out his croissant, sitting down on his stool. "Fair enough, Miss Granger."
"Hermione, please- call me Hermione?" she questioned, and he bobbed his head.
"Alright, Hermione. Other than reading an astronomical amount of books. What do you do?" He responded, and she shifted in front of the counter as she pulled out hers.
"I work in the Magical Creatures Division at the Ministry. My most recent work has been with centaurs, but I was working in the House Elf quadrant until my boss said I was too stubborn. I worked there for three months before passing my first bill, and he said it made many elves cry." Hermione finished, and the shopkeep belted out a stream of laughter.
"I find it hard pressed to discover you made them cry."
"They didn't want to take personal days…" Hermione grumbled and sipped her mug. "I required them to have four personal days a year, not to be waved. I also established a system for them to report wrongdoing of a master should there be abuse."
That made Kurt roll with laughter, and he shook his head. "Oh, my, Hermione. You are quite stubborn."
He picked at his pastry as she sighed. "Well, I try. Now I am working on helping the centaur avoid wizard contact if they so wish to do. Tracking migration and territory lines so that we can come to an understanding. Many want to contain them, but I believe in allowing them to self-contain. My true wish is to work my way into sentient beings. I have a desire to fix some of the damage done to werewolves." She finished and nibbled her croissant.
Kurt frowned and leaned his body forward. "Well, they are monsters." He growled, his eyes glinted.
Hermione sneered and shook her head. "I have it under evidence that a monster is someone who chooses to do wrong no matter the condition. Voldemort was a half-blood, but he was more of a monster than a werewolf with a guilty heart."
Kurt glared and pursed his lips. "Hermione, you don't understand them. Have you known them personally?"
Now she was agitated beyond belief. "I happen to have known a great man who happened to be a werewolf! There was nothing wrong with who he was, and he was by far the greatest man to have graced us while teaching at Hogwarts." She spat and pressed her hands deep against her hips.
The shopkeep dropped his agitated expression and tilted his head. "He taught at Hogwarts?"
"Yes, and a darn good professor. He taught us more about Defense Against the Dark Arts than any other teacher did." She finished with a sharp nod.
"You really didn't care he was a werewolf? You were a little girl. A muggle-born from what I have read about you. You had to have been scared when you found out. His secret couldn't have been kept for very long." The wizard pulled apart his croissant.
"Another professor taught us a lesson on werewolves while he was out one full moon. I was quite aware of his ailment after, but I did not reveal it for many months and not publicly. I knew what it was like to be looked down on for what I was. I was thirteen…" Hermione murmured before taking another bite of her pasty.
They were quiet a moment, and she chewed her lip, tasting the chocolate on them. "Kurt, you have to understand. Werewolves are us; they did not choose the life they had to adapt to living. Some, revel in their primal side and embraced the darkness. Others were shunned and ran to the stronger of their kind for safety. A few, like Remus, fought to be seen as a man. They did not believe they deserved kindness, but still strove to be the best human being they could be."
He gave her a small nod and exhaled. "Hermione, you are one of the most interesting bookish witches I know." He told her, and she gave him a tiny smile.
"I just have a firm belief that we can accept and understand beings that are like us. I understood Remus beyond just tolerance."
"Some of us have a long road to get there." Kurt huffed and nodded.
She ran a hand over her arm and showed him her gruesome scar. "This is what happens when tolerance fails us as a species. This is a battle scar of hate and now my badge of inspiration. If someone hated me this much, then I know I must work tenfold harder to inspire acceptance and freedom."
Kurt cringed and frowned as his fingers trailed her skin. "I cannot verbally explain how remorseful I am that you had to suffer through that."
The bell chimed and brought them from their moment. "Nephew, Miss Granger. You have met?" Minerva McGonagall sounded, and Hermione gasped.
"Headmistress, it is nice to see you," She murmured and pulled away from the counter.
The older witch smiled warmly and caressed her shoulder. "It is very nice to see you, Hermione. You must come by for tea and chat with an old Headmistress about your work soon."
Hermione gasped and checked her watch. "Seems I have a habit of running later than usual these days!" She gathered her cup and trash from the counter. "I will see you soon, Kurtis. Goodbye, Headmistress!" The young witch hurried from the shop; embarrassment crept on her cheeks before she left.
The wizard frowned down at the crumbs on his wrapper. "Aunt Minerva, do you have something you would like to tell me?" he questioned, and the witch approached.
"Yes, I got you a position at Hogwarts," She declared with a smile, but his brow furrowed.
"As the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor?" he responded and met her gaze.
"Yes, Kurtis," she said with a simple nod.
Kurt frowned and ran his fingers over the place were Hermione's mug had been. "You never told me how I lost my memory."
"You never asked, nephew." She remarked, and he huffed, glaring at her.
"Why is that witch in belief that I am her late friend?"
McGonagall's face hardened, and her lips thinned. "Because, you were before you ended up at Hogwarts this summer."
"Why don't I remember how I got here then?" he growled, and she sighed heavily.
"I don't know, but I have been trying to find out." She responded and set down his letter. "Kurtis, you cannot talk with her again. It will only make it harder on her. She had to mourn many people in her life, including your older self."
His face contorted and his face frowned. "Why will it make it harder?"
"Because you don't remember who he was," Minerva responded a bit tersely, and the young wizard cringed.
He set his hand down on the counter. "She brought me a chocolate croissant." He said flatly, and the Headmistress rose an eyebrow. "I happen to love chocolate, especially in baked goods."
"I am only trying to protect you and them, Kurtis. This is your life now, whether you chose it or not, it matters not. We need to find out why you left your time to come here before we can jump into the lake."
He sighed and nodded. "Alright, Aunt Minerva. I will yield. When do I leave for Hogwarts?"
"Tonight. So we can prepare you for the full moon."
Kurt exhaled and nodded glancing out the shop window. "I will let my superior know of the sudden change."
"Good, I will see you tonight." She said with a tense nod and headed toward the door. "I am sorry. She did look like she was happy to be talking with you."
"Me too…" he murmured and rubbed his face. "I will miss her dashing into the bookstore."
The animagus left the werewolf alone to his thoughts. It was better this way he figured. No messy goodbyes. After all, he was a werewolf who didn't know who he was any longer.