Nope, still don't own anything in this except for the plot!
NOTE: the italicized words are their thoughts, and I think it's kind of self explanatory as to who is thinking what. There's a certain part though that goes back and forth between their thoughts, I hope it's not too hard to follow!
As they stepped off of the train and gathered their belongings, the rain poured and the wind howled. "Now honestly," Hermione began, "is it a rule that it must always be a miserable day when we get here?"
"I think that they do it to scare the little ones," Ron said. " I mean, what's scarier then bad weather, a trip across a lake with Merlin knows what in it, greetings from Hagrid and Fang, seeing the castle for the first time… Ouch!" Harry's hand smacked him across the head. "What was that for?"
"I think her question was supposed to be rhetorical, you twit."
"Oh, right."
Hermione sighed. Another whole year left, what was she going to do with these two? They grabbed their stuff and headed towards a carriage.
"Hey Hermione, what do you think you're doing?" Draco held out his arm as she passed him. "You have to ride with me and the prefects, remember?" She stared at him blankly, and then her memory came back to her. She waved good-bye to Harry and Ron, promising to meet them in the Hall. "Geez," Draco mumbled under his breath, "to supposedly be the smartest witch in the school, you are a complete idiot today." She rolled her eyes at him and followed him to a large carriage where the prefects, and surprisingly, Professor Lupin, were waiting.
"Umm… hello everyone." She cast a glance around to all of the attentive faces. Taking the only empty seat (which was between Remus and Draco), she continued. " We've already covered the plan for what needs to be done when we arrive at the castle, and we already told you when our next meeting is. Does anyone have any questions?" She scanned ever face. "No? Well, there's really nothing more I can think to tell you. Draco?" she asked, turning towards him. "Can you think of anything?" He shook his head, and looked distractedly out the window, as were some of the prefects.
She decided that everyone must miss their friends that they'd been away from for so long. She knew that she did. She voiced this opinion, and got affirmative replies in return. They hadn't started on their way to the school yet, so as her first official act as Head Girl on Hogwarts grounds, she did away with the traditional prefect/Head Boy/Head Girl carriage ride, freeing everyone to go back to ride with their friends. Relief seemed to sweep through the carriage as everyone promised to check in with her before the night was over. As everyone filed out, Hermione found herself lost in thought. This was her very last year at Hogwarts. What would she do once she graduated? Where would she go? She knew she wanted to go to a University, but which? And with who? She didn't realize that the carriage had started moving until someone cleared their throat.
"Ughhmm…" Professor Lupin purposely coughed. Hermione looked up, slightly bewildered. "Ah, you are alive after all. If you haven't already noticed Miss Granger, we've started moving. I fear you will have to suffer this ride with me instead of the rest of the mob," at this he waited to see what her reaction would be. She laughed, but remained seated next to him. He had expected that she would move to sit in the aisle across from him since they had the entire carriage to themselves, but he couldn't say he was disappointed that she remained. In fact, she seemed to relax as she snuggled down into the seat.
"I'm sorry Professor," she sighed, "I must not have been paying attention."
"It's quite alright Miss Granger. But can I ask, what was it that you were thinking so hard about?"
"Oh, nothing important. Just my future," sarcasm dripped from her mouth. "Honestly, Professor, I don't know what I'm going to do!"
"Really? I would have thought a bright young witch like yourself would have figured all of that out by their 3rd year."
"Well I had, but I've changed my mind so many times that I, I just don't know anymore. And I'm running out of time to figure it out!" He noted the seriousness in her eye, and laughed inside. He knew that she had no reason to worry, but she obviously didn't. On the outside he remained as solemn as ever.
"Hermione, you will be fine. You're perfectly capable of doing anything you want to. And plus, you have an entire year to decide!" She nodded her head in acknowledgement. Then it hit her that he'd used her first name. A faint blush crept into her cheeks, but to herself she blamed it on the stress of the subject matter and hoped that he hadn't noticed.
However, he had noticed. She's blushing. Why would she be blushing? Did I embarrass her? These thoughts ran through his mind and he intently watched her as she fidgeted with a button on her school robe. School, oh right! "Oh by the way," he began. "We're having a new program at school this year. Obviously the Head of the House is in charge of each house as a whole. But the Heads were getting rather swamped by trying to keep up with every person in their house's grades, social lives, etc. So this year, we are going to try something new." At this he paused. He seemed to have her attention; her eyes were glued to his face. He continued, "They're called H.A.'s, or Hogwarts Advisors if you'd rather spit out those syllables. Each student has already been assigned a H.A. Now, the students go to their H.A.'s with their problems with grades, or with fellow students... anything in the world. Every teacher in the school is a HA for a handful of students, and…"
"Ooooh Professor, do you know who mine is? And why was I not informed of this situation?"
He laughed at her rapid mood swing between excitement about the new program to defensive of her position as Head Girl. "Well, to answer your second question. You were not told because Albus wanted it to remain a secret, from ALL students, including Head Boy, Head Girl, and prefects. And to answer your first question, your H.A. is none other then Severus Snape."
"What? Are you serious, he hates me!" Panic flashed across her face.
He chuckled lightly. "No I'm not serious. It's actually me." He was a witty man and he simply couldn't help it. Mischief shone in his eyes, and his laughter grew as she joined in.
"Really? Oh this is wonderful!" She threw her arms around him for a quick hug... a hug that lasted just a bit longer then she had intended it to. Drat, she thought. Why did I do that? And why is my heart racing now? She continued on as if nothing of the sort had crossed her mind.
"Yes, Miss Granger, I think so, too. I'll have you know I had to fight long and hard for you! Everyone wanted to have a hand in helping you sort out your plans for after graduation." he said playfully.
Her eyes danced with joy. She forgot her shyness and leaned back on his arm that was propped on the seat behind her. Reclining against the arm of one of the many males in her life wasn't completely foreign, but she'd never sat like this with him. But with the warm, yellow glow of the sun shining through the small window of the enclosed carriage, it felt natural in the moment. "Professor," she said slowly. "This means we'll be spending a lot of time together. And if we are to spend a lot of time together, I must insist that you call me Hermione, not 'Miss Granger.' Even through all the time we've been around each other in the past years, you've yet to purposely call me by my first name. After all of the late nights we would all spend at Grimmauld Place in the den, outside, in the library, in the kitchen even. Playing games, and cards, and telling stories, and remembering past adventures, the little bit of formality remained…." She said this half seriously, and half jokingly.
He considered her proposal, and nodded in approval. He never ceased to be amazed at her maturity.
" I completely agree with you, Hermione. But, I think this should go both ways. I will no longer respond to you calling me "Professor Lupin" or "Professor" unless we are in class. Anytime outside of class when we're together, I expect you to call me Remus." His arm was going to sleep under Hermione's head, but he dared not move it. He was too comfortable, and she had unconsciously snuggled closer to him.
"Really? That is to say, do you really want me to?"
"Really and truly."
They sat there for a couple of minutes in silence, each lost in their own train of thought.
He smells so good.
She smells so good.
He's so comfortable.
This is so comfortable.
Wait, what am I doing, this is Professor Remus Lupin…..!
Wait, this is a student, Hermione Granger…!
Who cares, I'm just sitter here and I'm cold, yeah that's it.
We're just sitting here like old friends. She probably has sat like this a million times with Ron and Harry.
I can't have feelings for this man.
I can't have feelings for this young woman...
But I think I do.
But I think I might.
When they arrived at the front doors of Hogwarts, they both stood up and stretched, smiling at each other. Remus stepped out of the carriage first, and then naturally offered his hand to help Hermione down. A little taken aback, she took his hand and allowed him to help her down. They found their things, and stood a moment with each other as students and teachers seemed to swarm in every direction. Hermione saw Harry and Ron about 50 feet away and could tell they were looking for her. She turned back to Remus and smiled. She hadn't had any before, but maybe this was just schoolgirl crush. But even as she attempted to convince herself of that fact, she din't believe it.
"Alright Hermione, I suppose I will talk to you later. Come by my office tomorrow sometime when you're free and we can go over your schedule and remember, not a word about H.A.'s to anyone until after it's officially announced. Deal?" I want to go over more than that with you, he thought. NO REMUS, stop that. She trusts you to be her friend and her mentor, so get a hold of yourself. You're an old man in her eyes for Merlin's sake! Not to mention a…. were-wolf… He came back to reality at the sound of her voice, a new sadness in his eyes.
"Alright, I will come by and I promise to keep my mouth shut. Bye-bye,"she paused, "Remus." He brightened at the sound of his name on her lips.
"Goodbye Hermione." He winked at her, and she gave him a smile that sent shivers down his spine. He firmly told himself that he would not let these feelings continue. He would put a stop to it, he just didn't know how right now, but he would figure it out. She had turned to join Harry and Ron, and after he made sure that the three of them had made their way into the castle safely, he turned his attention to helping the first years avoid getting trampled by the older students.
R&R, Ch. 3 hopefully will be out this weekend!
