It wasn't long before school started again meaning that Remus would get back to being their teacher in Defense against Dark Arts and that the Order would soon arrive to discuss a "few" things at Grimmauld Place.
Hermione sighed at the mere thought of calling Remus professor once again. She knew something was getting alive inside of her but couldn't quite put the finger on it. Still she felt it weird and awkward to be respectful in much greater ways to Remus as during the summer.
Remus , he was what had changed. He towards her or maybe she was just hallucinating after so much chess playing with the werewolf. She had always understood him to be a gentleman, but never expected him to be such a darling.
Her cheeks turned bright pink faster than lightning hitting the ground as Remus entered the room with a book in his hand, not realizing she was there.
She just sat there bright faced and eyes wide and round as watermelons, staring at Remus. It wasn't helping that her mind had other things to point out about her, erhmm, professor.
Remus tore apart his gaze from the book he was quietly reading while sitting in the arm chair Sirius hold so dear. He realized Hermione sat there, eyes glazed, staring in his direction.
"Mione, are you fine? You seem a little lost in your own head" he said with a small smile. As Hermione heard his choice of words, name to be more precise, she instantly looked him in the eyes and turned pinkish all over her face. She felt how the embarrasment crept up on her cheeks to linger there as long as Remus looked at her, she quickly lowered her gaze to the floor beneath them.
That made Remus chuckle and he decided to keep looking at her for some odd reason.
"Oh! No, I was just thinking, do we have to call you professor now once again, do we?" she tried to pull up an excuse for staring so avidly at him.
"Yes, you do" he smiled "But no need for it in my office, thought" he continued as he stood up and winked at her before he left the living room.
Leaving a really confused Hermione, staring at the spot he had just been. She wondered what he might have meant with that wink...
Lather that day, Sirius and Remus sat down on the back porch talking while looking at the boys playing quidditch. They saw clearly that it was quidditch, but any muggle who had stared out their window and looked at the yard would have seen two boys playing football.
"So, excited to start a new year as teacher, Moony?" Sirius asked his best friend.
"Actually, yeah, at least after the mini holidays we had here Padfoot" he laughed. Sirius stood up and went towards the boys to play with them and shouted over his shoulder.
"Oi ! Moony , be sure to come back next summer then" and gave his friend a playful wink before sprinting off towards the boys.
Remus just laughed at the sight before him: two young boys actually teaching Sirius to play football. It was a hilarious scene: Sirius tripping over his own legs as he tried to balance and coordinate to shoot as Ron was standing quite sick looking as the goalkeeper. Harry noticed this too and burst out into laughter, it was nearly as if Ron had seen a giant spider coming towards him in full speed.
Hermione sat down beside Remus and laughed wholeheartedly at the scene n front of her eyes.
"Hey there 'Mione" Remus chuckled, holding back the laughter.
"Hi" she said and blushed slightly as Remus had used her nickname instead of her whole name, he never did that..
"So , you finished that book already?" He asked her.
"No, but I'm pretty close to the end , though. Want to give it a go, Remus?" she asked him, wondering if he wanted to read it later on, then she would have an excuse to go to his office during term, she thought to herself.
"Yeah of course, but don't worry. I can read it later on, during the term" he said politely with a small smile.
Sirius just ran up to both of them in his form of Padfoot just to jump on them and get them all dirty and muddy.
"Fine puppy, Nice puppy" Hermione said while patting Padfoot's head. Sirius just barked in response, making Remus, Harry and Ron to nearly roll on the grass with laughter streaming out their mouths.
Noticing their mocking laugh, Sirius went back to his human form and decided to wrestle the boys and the man on the grass, who certainly looked surprised as the black-haired man just launched at them.
"Just wait and see who gets hurt first of all of you" Hermione shouted and then snickered at the scene: they were all like seven year old kids playing. That was until Sirius let out a whine-like sound and roll onto his back while grabbing his arm. Remus stopped inmediately as if he'd been paralyzed.
"Hey, that arm's broken dude" a muggle shouted from an open window nearby.
They all rushed to the hospital, as a muggle neighbour had seen them and noticed that Sirius arm was broken. Sirius whining all they way to the hospital and then proceeded to grind his teeth as the doctor fixed the broken arm. He had to wear the arm steadily for three months and had to get back for check ups.
Over dinner, Sirius was in all bad mood claiming that he couldn't do anything as his arm was wounded and not cured properly.
"Please Sirius, you can do what you want , you know how to use your wand with the other hand, you managed that in our first year as Marauders" said Remus with a grin, making all three teenagers stare at the wizard who just chuckled and said that he was muggle bounded to be like that for three months and expected some help.
After dinner Harry, Ron and Sirius went to talk in the living room as Hermione did the dishes and Remus helped her. As she left a pan to dry on the counter, Remus left some glasses too and their hands touched making both blush intensively. Looking up they found themselves lost in the other one's gaze. Those amber eyes, Hermione felt she could sink into them any minute soon.
"Hmm, I, erhm, got to go take the wolfsbane potion" Remus said and hurried out of the room, leaving a surprised and daydreaming Hermione on her own. That meant it was time for her to go to bed and for Sirius to be Padfoot again even if he had a broken arm...