This story is written for Black Rose Blue's 100K Pairing Stories Challenge on the HPFC forum. My pair is Hermione/Remus, and the story starts during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. So far, I think it will be canon—compliant except for the Deathly Hallows epilogue.

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, settings, or events created by the wonderful J.K. Rowling. I only own my head, and how I use her ideas.

Hermione barely heard the beginning of the spell meant to end her life, but she shrieked and rolled away as Harry launched himself at the Death Eater responsible. Once she was under a desk and safe for the moment, she stopped and tried to take stock of the situation. But just as she started to calm down, Harry and Neville took off running after the Death Eater, and she had no time to rest as she scrambled up and sprinted after them.

Hermione was only a few steps behind Harry and Neville when she saw, as if in slow motion, a curse hit the cabinet of Time Turners. The cabinet exploded, and glass flew everywhere. Just as quickly as it had broken, the glass flew back and the whole cabinet repaired itself, locking into a phoenix-like cycle of breaking and repair. However, as it broke the first time, a single tiny shard of glass from the largest Time Turner flew out and pierced Hermione's chest. It was so small that she didn't even feel it in the heat of the moment, but the noise of the cabinet breaking spurred her into action, leaving the shard embedded near her heart. Once it had pierced her, the shard didn't repair itself with the rest of the cabinet, but remained in her. Oblivious to the tiny shard, Hermione ran the last few steps towards Harry, reaching him just in time to prevent another Death Eater's spell from finding its mark. Quickly Summoning Harry's wand, she turned to leave, delayed only momentarily by the grotesque de-aging of the nearby Death Eater. As she ran out of the room with Harry and Neville, two more Death Eaters caught up to them. Hermione desperately tried to close the door before they got in, but she failed and she, Harry, and Neville were thrown backwards from the force of the Death Eaters' spells. As soon as Hermione struggled up again from under a pile of overturned books, she rejoined the fray, Silencing a Death Eater as he called for backup. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harry Petrify a Death Eater. She was turning to congratulate him when suddenly, there was a flash of purple light, and then everything went black.

Just before dusk, the evening after the last OWL exam, Remus was being escorted by Madam Pomfrey to the Whomping Willow in preparation for the full moon. He had arrived at the hospital wing promptly at seven, as usual, and the nurse was now leading him down towards the entrance hall. He trudged along behind her, wishing it wasn't time for this again, dreading the pain of his dreaded transformations but slightly cheered by the knowledge that James, Sirius, and Peter were waiting just out of sight for Madam Pomfrey to leave, and would soon sneak out to join him in their Animagus forms to help him bear his curse.

Remus and Madam Pomfrey reached the bottom of the stairs and started to cross the shadow filled entrance hall. As they walked, the fading sunlight streaming through the front doors playing across the hall, Remus felt as if something was not right. Then, with his already heightened senses, he saw a girl lying in the shadows. He stopped short, and then ran towards her, with the nurse following as soon as she realized what he had seen.

Remus knelt down next to the girl, frowning curiously at the Gryffindor badge pinned to her uniform. The girl looked as if she had been in a fight, and seemed to be unconscious, but otherwise unharmed.

"I don't recognize her. She's definitely not in my class. Do you know her?" Remus asked Madam Pomfrey, why had just caught up to him.

"No, but she seems to be a student, and clearly she needs help," the efficient nurse responded brusquely. "She needs to be brought to the hospital wing and looked after . . . ," the nurse muttered distractedly, starting diagnostic spells even as she spoke. Remus broke in, "Madam Pomfrey . . . Madam Pomfrey!" he raised his voice, trying to catch her attention. "Hm—what, dear?" she responded, turning to face him again. "Oh yes, you need to go—"

"I can go by myself," Remus interjected hurriedly. When Madam Pomfrey frowned, he quickly continued, "Really, I can, I've been going to the same place once a month for five years. I can freeze the tree by myself, it's not hard. It's almost dark, I need to be in the shack soon, and that girl really needs your help." And it was true—she looked like she needed medical attention badly, or at least needed be brought back to consciousness. As he looked down at her, though he didn't know her, Remus felt an odd desire for the mystery girl to be all right.

Madam Pomfrey hesitated for a moment, then as Remus opened him mouth to plead with her again, she sighed. "Fine, you can go. I need to bring her up to look after her. But go straight there, and don't dawdle. It's late as it is."

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," Remus beamed. He was free, and the girl would be safe in the care of the competent nurse. He got up and ran for the doors, slowing but not stopping to look back at the girl one last time. Then he shook himself, sprinted out across the lawn, slipped into the passage, ran to the shack, and waited for his next night of moonlit lupine adventure to begin.

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