Auther's Note: Hey everyone, I am SO sorry for the late update! My life got pretty stressful for a little bit there. But I'm still writing, I promise Here's the newest addition to You Were Always There, and thank you so much for being patient with me! I love you all and always welcome feedback. 3
-Sophia White
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The DADA teacher's heightened wolf-nose was indeed picking up on the result of Hermione's self-fulfillment. He immediately felt heat rising to his flushed cheeks as he tried extremely hard to focus on anything but that. He finished preparing a sandwich for the girl he couldn't get his perverted old mind off of and used his wand to help quicken the speed of his clean up. Since Hermione had moved in she had influenced the men to not use magic while cooking, claiming it was "the Muggle-version of potion making." Remus found this rather humorous but obliged to the young girl's attempt to keep a part of her Muggle heritage. Remus shook his head trying to rid all thought of the young woman from his mind.
"This is not the time to think of her,"he chastised himself.
After his speedy clean up, he climbed the stairs to his room where he took a shower and dressed in dark brown lounge pants and left his torso bare. He shaved in the bathroom and then proceeded to brush his teeth. After this, he stared at himself in the mirror, taking note of every scar stretched across his face and chest. He lingered when his eyes met themselves in the reflection. He almost laughed at the ridiculous thought of Hermione Granger, brightest witch of her age (and Merlin, was her age young), turning lustful eyes upon him. The werewolf turned his head to look out of the window on the far side of the bathroom. Because he took such a long shower, the sky had already begun to darken and the moon was rising steadily. He stared at his worst enemy and biggest fear. The object that tore his body and soul into two; that cause him to become the furthest thing from himself- a murderous beast. He briefly wondered if his transformations would be worst, or would need more supervision with Hermione in the house. At this thought, he crinkled his eyebrows and pushed from the sink, still staring at the faint moon. A low growl rippled from his chest at the thought of anyone, including himself, hurting her. He tampered the wolf inside him down though and chuckled, trying to throw himself off this strange possessive thought that had taken hold of him. He decided to join his two housemates in the kitchen after adding a thin white shirt to his attire.
"Good evening, you two," he beamed as he entered the kitchen. The sight before him was slightly off-putting, though. Sirius was shirtless and wearing a pair of tight pants, propped up against the fridge in front of Hermione who was sitting atop the counters. Sirius had been leaning closer to Hermione and speaking in a lower tone, a flirtatious look etched in his face, and Hermione's head was thrown back in a laugh. "Oh- hi, Remus," Hermione gasped, and Remus caught a strange look in Hermione's eyes, even though they never reached any higher than his neck.
"Good evening, Moony!" his best mate, Padfoot, turned from the beautiful young witch before him and winked to his friend.
"And what, dare I ask, are you two discussing?" Remus asked in a light tone, cracking open a butterbeer he pulled from the fridge.
"Oh, just how the two of us are going to sweep Miss Granger of her two deliciously long legs and have our way with her tonight," Sirius clapped his friend on the shoulder as he crossed the room to him. Remus immediately choked on his swig of beverage and began coughing, "Wh-what?" he sputtered. Hermione began to laugh uncontrollably, actually falling off the counters, barely landing on her feet before her knees hit and she fell back against the counters. Sirius chuckled and turned to leave the room, all the while Remus jumped forward to help Hermione up.
"Are you alright?" He asked, still holding one of her hands in his and his other wrapped around her waist. Hermione blushed, "Yes, thank you. What Sirius means is he wants us all going dancing at the club tonight. But I'm not feeling up to it," she called after the younger man.
"Well why not?" Remus asked her.
"Eh, I was wanting to stay in. I wanna get started on my school reading," she smiled, subconsciously twirling a piece of hair around her finger.
"Always studying," Remus laughed, making Hermione blush harder. Sirius soon came back down the stairs and asked Remus to join him in a game of wizard's chess.
The game lasted around an hour and a half, putting the time now almost half-past eight. Sirius mentioned going out to the bar and Remus politely declined. The younger man disappeared up the stairs and Moony dipped his head into a nearby copy of the Daily Prophet. Soon afterwards Sirius re-appeared, dressed in dark form-fitting jeans and a button-down crimson silk shirt. Following closely behind was Hermione, dressed in a pair of jean shorts and plain black tank top. She smiled at Remus, "Are you not joining us?"
"I'm alright," he replied, not slightly annoyed with his friend, "being around groups of people this close to the full moon makes me agitated."
"Are you sure you don't want company?" Hermione offered, taking a second-thought look back at Sirius. "I'm quite sure. You two have fun," he gave a reassuring smile then turned back to his newspaper.
Hermione hesitated before taking the arm Sirius presented for her and following him out the door. The animagus stuck out his thumb and soon they saw the Knight Bus making its way hurriedly down the street. The bar was a little awkward. After repeatedly shutting down Sirius's "joking" advances he decided to peruse the crowd. Left to her own devices, Hermione felt attacked by the multiple drinks the bartenders offered her on behalf of some gentleman around the bar counter. The witch, always polite, drank them timidly. The downside was that after accepting the drink the men would come over to talk. After accumulating four men around her, being too polite to wave them off, Sirius made his way back to her with a young blonde girl only barely older than Hermione. Being a very blunt individual, he had no problem telling the men to shove off, instantly becoming the mildly drunk girl's savior.
Thank you, Sssiriuss," Hermione slurred, taking the man's offered hand to help her to her feet.
The other girl didn't seem to mind, in her own drunken state. Sirius apparated the three of them to stand- stumble really, in front of 12 Grimmauld Place. Hermione led the way, taking out her wand and wave it so the two buildings would shift and move to make the door of their house appear. She stumbled toward the door and opened it for them all. She dismissed herself for bed and climbed the stairs, turning to the left and disappeared into her room. Once there she plopped down on the bed and closed her eyes. She sighed a few minutes later when she found she was not drifting off to sleep.
'Maybe it's because I'm not comfy,' she decided, climbing off her bed and pulling out a white tank top and pair of thin red cloth shorts. She changed out of the tank and shorts she wore to the bar, letting her bra go with the garments to her clothes hamper. She pulled back the large comforter on her bed and climbed beneath the sheets. She sunk a little lower into her soft bed and pillow and almost felt herself melt into a dream world. But before she reached that kind of peace she heard the sounds of Sirius and his lady friend having "fun". She tossed and turned but could not sleep through the ruckus a few rooms down. Sighing in resignation she climbed from her bed, and slipped on a red night-robe, leaving it open. She decided to seek out the Arithmancy book in the library since she hasn't taken the time to continue reading it yet. She made her way down the stairs and toward that large door she became acquainted with her first day there. After the two left Remus tried to sleep, unsuccessfully. He ended up getting out of bed and made a snack, afterwards retiring to the library. He had bought a copy of 'Advanced Defenses Against the Dark Arts', the textbook he would be teaching over, while they were in Diagon Alley and he was hoping to get through it before the term started. He dug his head as far into the book as physically possible, but around page 163, or eleven pm, Remus sensed someone had entered the room. He looked over the top of his book and froze when he saw Hermione. Her hair was a mess, and her clothes hung lop-sided on her body, her robe sliding off one shoulder. She didn't seem to notice him at first, rubbing her eyes, not expecting the light to be on.
"Oh- hi Remus," she smiled lazily, removing her hand from her face and sauntering toward the couch he sat on.
"Evening, 'Mione," he sat up, pulling his feet under him in a criss-cross style and placing the book in his lap.
Hermione flopped down on the couch and her head lulled to the side. Her eyes fluttered to look up at the werewolf and the lazily smile returned, a blush not far behind.
"Hi Remus," she giggled, hiccupping, causing her to giggle again.
"Her-hermione, are you drunk?" he lifted her chin to direct her attention to his eyes.
Her expression became alarmed, "yes, is that bad?"
"N-no, I guess not. I mean, you're a grown woman," he tried to reassure her.
Her face seemed to relax, but then a dark haze seemed to move into her honey colored eyes.
"Yes I am, Remus," she whispered.
"Hermione-" he began, trying to defuse the tension he was beginning to feel due to the close proximity of his young, magical friend.
"Remus," she cut him off," I'm tired."
Hermione leaned forward and kissed Remus on his jaw, not quite reaching the cheek she had aimed for, then moved the book in his lap to lay on his chest. Remus stretched his legs out to one side and allowed the witch to lay next to him, leaning on his chest. He sighed and gently moved hair from her gentle face, smiling and kissing the top of her head. He swung his arm around her protectively, while holding his book in his lap to continue reading.