Worry

The next few weeks went past slowly. Remus was still trying to see Hermione 'by accident' as much as he could but found she was rarely there anymore. He wandered to the library at nights but there was no sign of her there, or in the courtyard, or anywhere near the dungeons where he sometimes found her pouring over equipment for future potions. The only times he managed to see her was during meal times in the great hall but as he was confined to the staff table he was unable to speak to her. The times he caught her eye and smiled she would quickly drop her gaze and look further into the many books surrounding her.

He couldn't help but worry she didn't like him anymore. He was clearly not her favourite teacher anymore and the idea that another teacher was getting to see her enthusiasm and brightness shine through in their classroom made him hurt.

At times he thought of speaking to one of her friends about whether she was okay but they were all busy with exam preparations so Hermione seeming stressed wouldn't of stuck out to any of them.

The emptiness he felt each night sitting in his office made him notice how much he enjoyed and looked forward to their chats. Just seeing her beautiful face looking up at him made his day.

He had to do something!

Words of Wisdom

Hermione sat cross legged on a seat in the Gryffindor common room with Crookshanks by her side purring quietly. The constant babble of noise in the room made her hate the fact she was hiding. She couldn't face him. Whenever she saw him or caught his eye all she could think about was the many thoughts that filled her mind and dreams at night. Now she was reduced to working in people filled environments where the noise levels were close to driving her insane. The library was a brilliant place to work on class homework but since Remus was obviously an avid reader as he spent so much time there she couldn't bear to go in.

Sitting back and sighing for what seemed the hundredth time that night she dropped her pen onto her work and gave in.

'That'll do for one night I think,' she thought to herself. "It's not as if I can do much more with all the noise!" she said clearly to the room. The loud noise remained unaltered and she was about to stand up to go to the dormitory for an early sleep when Ginny Weasley came and pushed her shoulders back down towards the seat and sat a comfy cushion opposite her.

"So, I thought I'd come talk to you since you were just about to leave," Ginny said smiling. She had the double personality of her brothers Fred and George and noticed things easily to do with her friends. "Why are you here?" she asked bluntly.

Hermione knew this conversation was going to appear. Ginny wasn't stupid and could see the change in study patterns that Hermione had recently had. "To get an education so i can get a job Ginny, just the same as you."

"Pft. Now you can answer me sarcastically if you want but I'm going to get the truth out of you whichever way you want to play," Ginny replied bluntly. "C'mon. Why are you in the common room so much lately?"

This was her only chance. The feelings she had been having bubbling up inside of her were about to explode and Ginny was trustworthy enough to show them to.

"Grrr. Ginny I can't help it," she moaned. "It's him! I can't stop thinking about him!" Hermione had told Ginny about her crush on Remus when she was staying at the burrow for a while in the summer. However last time she had shared her feelings they were only little ones about how she thought he was the hottest teacher in school and yet remained the smartest at the same time. Lowering her voice slightly she walked Ginny through the dreams she had been having (missing out the details obviously) and told her how she felt it wasn't just a crush anymore.

"I literally want him Ginny. I was almost tempted to take up Defence Against the Dark Arts again just so i could see him. But at the same time I'm too embarrassed to talk to him because I'm sure he must he fed up of me by now. I'm always there where he is. He probably thinks I'm stalking him!"

Exasperated but glad she could finally let out her feelings Hermione put her hands to her face and moaned. "What am I going to do?"

Ginny was silent for a few minutes the nodded. "Tell him."

Hermione stared at her confused. "Did you hear me, I can't stop thinking about him, and y-you want me to go out there and tell him all of this? He'll think I'm mad!"

"so?" Ginny replied confidently. "At least you would have told him. And if he shoots you down just tell him you took one of Fred and Georges trick sweets and it's sent you insane for a few minutes." Ginny was clearly proud of this idea and smiled triumphantly.

Staring back at her, Hermione remained silent until finally shaking her head. "I haven't spoken to him in so long. What if he doesn't really care about me anymore? I can hardly still be his favourite student since i don't take his subject."

"He asked me about you the other day," Ginny stated. The look on Hermione's face meant she had said the right thing. "Yeah he just asked me how you are doing with study and if you're stuck on anything he's happy to help."

Hermione looked shocked but delighted by this new bit of news. Hope was suddenly filling her and she smiled. "I think I should speak to him," she said happily. Standing up confidently Hermione smiled at Ginny's baffled face. "I'll see you later on." Smiling she almost skipped to the portrait and left the common room.

Ginny stayed motionless before laughing to herself. "I didn't mean to go now!" she called, knowing that Hermione was far gone now. 'maybe I shouldn't have told the little lie about him asking me about her' she thought to herself before getting up and joining her brothers in a game of Fire Poppers.

In Unison

Heart pounding in her chest Hermione stormed down the stairs. She had to tell him. It had been building up inside her for too long now.

Sitting at his desk he stared at the empty scene in front of him. He had no work to do, no papers to mark, nothing but a long empty night in front of him. NO! This was going to change. He could at least talk to her, at least tell her what he's been thinking. She doesn't have to do anything about it. They can easily remain good friends. As long as she knows something!

She was almost running now, avoiding pupils who were hanging around the corridors, side stepping around teachers so she wouldn't have to stop and chat. If only she possessed an invisibility cloak like harry this would be so much simpler.

He reached for the doorknob and turned. Exiting his office he walked in deep thought down the corridor. He was just at the end of the corridor and about to turn round the corner when a smaller object came round the corner at the same time and bumped straight into him. He was almost knocked to the ground before reaching out to grab the person and steady himself.

She had walked into someone and almost stumbled over but he had grabbed her and kept her upright. "S-Sorry I didn't see you," she mumbled before attempting to continue down the corridor. She was almost at his office.

"Hermione?"

Looking up she stared right into Remus Lupins' confused face.

"I was just coming to find you," they both said in unison. "Oh."