I'm sorry if I appear to be running away with this Remione stuff, the other characters will get stories, be patient kids. Also I genuinely am sorry for the case gag. Also you do not know how hard it was not to put 'a vagina' in a certain sentence. Kudos if you know which one, haha x

deep in the dark you surrender your heart but your know

but you know that you can't fight the moonlight.

Chapter 4

~ Four Minutes Late

Stepping off of the train Lupin looked around, trying to find Hermione but she was gone. She had bolted off of that train like an exited child, she was a child. Atleast to him she was. He shook all his thoughts of that day from his head and pulled out the rolled up parchment from his pocket.

'Dumbledore will allow us the Room of Requirement'

Lupin had not heard anything more and Hermione had not mentioned any changes to the plan in their brief meeting on the train, so he assumed the venue was still the same. Glancing at his watch it read five fifteen. He had another two and a half hours until he would start making his way to the Room of Requirement. Pondering how to kill time he hauled his case off of the platform. In his case he had packed Harry's present - Davinch Croft's latest book '100 Spells Every Quidditch Player Should Know', he had had good fun reading the first few pages in Flourish and Blotts. It had everything from bludger enchantments to spells that caused every member of the opposing team to sprout elephants trunks. James would of loved it, he would write something about James in Harry's card, he thought, though at the time he didn't know quite what. In the end he had settled for 'I saw this and thought of your father, use it wisely' there was nothing about the snitch in the book however, Lupin decided Harry probably didn't need any spells or enchantments to catch the golden snitch, he was the best seeker Hogwarts had seen in years and Lupin took great pleasure in reading the week's quidditch results in the back pages of the Daily Prophet, as Gryffindor rarely came out as the losing team, thanks to Harry - in his case Lupin had also packed two changes of clothes, just in case. There was a full moon tomorrow and if by some chance he ended up staying overnight -ie, if he had a little too much firewhisky tonight- he would be needing a spare few garments to replace the ones he would rip to shreds during tomorrow's transformation.

Stepping inside the castle he looked up at the enchanted sky, he shared with Harry the feeling of acceptance when he walked throught those doors, although he himself was not forced to share an abode with an abominable excuse for an aunt and uncle and a pig of a cousin, he still felt more at home at Hogwarts than he ever had anywhere else.

The school was quiet, he liked it that way. It wasn't that he hated the children or anything, far from it, when he was teaching he had found the youths that inhabited the school to be wonderfully open minded and interesting, there was just something about the school being all but empty that he liked. It meant he could have as many conversations with the paintings he passed, it meant he could fully take in the renovations that had been put in since he was last here. The staircase on the second floor that had been eroding slightly in previous years had been replaced and was now fresh new stone. The window in the Defence Against The Dark Arts classroom that he had accidentally smashed when teaching the students about boggarts had been repaired. He wondered who was teaching the subject these days. A small part of him hoped the post had gone to Snape, it was no secret how much he wanted it, and had wanted it for years. It was at that moment he was greeted by the familiar face that had at that moment had inhabited his thoughts.

"Well well," sneered Snape, "if it isn't Lupin, come to see the birthday boy have we?"

"Funny you should say that Severus I actually came here strictly for the sole purpose of seeing your pretty face."

Snape narrowed his eyes and pulled his signature sucking-on-a-lemon face.

"Witty as ever, I see Lupin, let's just hope your wit saves you almost murdering another couple of students this year," Snape gave a slight tip of the head to the window nearby. Lupin recoiled at this memory. He had felt so guilty after resigning, guilty about almost harming Harry and Ron, almost harming Hermione. It was this thought that had made him faulter when reading Hermione's invitation for the first time and question whether or not it would be right, returning to the school after coming so close to harming three of it's students.

Was he doing the right thing? Maybe he should of stayed away. After all, with his transformation due tomorrow night who knows what capers he could get into.

A flicker of regret flashed across Snape's black eyes as if he instantly realised what he had said. The pity in his eyes did not stay for long, as he strutted off with a swish of his cape after saying

"Tell Potter I said happy birthday."

This conversation whirled around in his head as he made his way to his old chamber, he had decided he would see if it had been inhabited by a new teacher before searching for a place to relax elsewhere. He was pleasantly surprised when he reached the familiar large stone door that had once held the name plate 'R J Lupin' to find it had been replaced with... nothing. His name still sat proudly on the door.

I wonder

He said inwardly as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small jagged edge key. Inserting it into the keyhole and turning the door made the clicking sound he remembered and swung open.

Many of the other teachers had enchanted their doors to only let them in or had password-protected portraits, like the Fat Lady that guarded the Gryffindor common room. Lupin however, had enchanted his key so that it only worked in the hands of a werewolf. Since there was no other werewolf occupying the castle that he knew of, he was sure his chambers were well insulated.

Stepping inside he was greeted by the familiar scent of the Flitterbloom that grew on the ledge outside of his window. It was not a strong scent, simply a light mixture of vanilla and lemongrass. It wasn't a terrible smell, neither was it the most pleasant, but it was home.

No sooner had Lupin made himself a cup of tea and sunk into the soft brown armchair that sat proudly infront of the window there came a sharp knock on the door. Three knocks to be precised. Sighing heavily Lupin set his tea down on the coffee table and cast the door open with a flick of his wand, too comfortable to get up and open it by hand.

"Ahem,"

The cough that the person standing in his doorway emitted matched the tone of said person's knock. Sharp and quick.

"Remus Lupin?" the voice asked the back of Lupin's chair.

"Who's asking?" Lupin replied boredly, still not interested enough to turn and face the voice.

"Mike Gosling, the new Defending The Dark Arts teacher," the man's arrogance for Lupin's subject angered him enough to turn and face him. Now stood inside the room Lupin was met with a rather short man, or a tall dwarf, he wasn't sure, no taller than Lupin's fridge. He was bald and spoke with a slight American accent. New Jersey, if Lupin's geograpy was correct. He very much reminded him of a muggle actor Lupin had seen on the television back in London. This instantly caused him to take a disliking to him as Lupin had found this actor to be cocky and annoying. Something told him this man had more in common with the actor than just the accent.

"You're the werewolf right? The one that went on a rampage some two years ago?"

"I am he. I'm sorry how did you-"

"I make it my business to know these things," the man that called himself Mike strolled into Lupin's kitchen and ran his forefinger along the counter, discovering the counter had no dust whatsoever (Lupin hated dust, it irritated the werewolf in him so he had cast a self cleaning enchantment back when he stayed here, he had forgotten about it until now) he stuck out his lip and pulled a somewhat approving expression.

"Dumbledore tells me ya here for some dude's party? Must be a swat, spending the summer in school! What is he, twelve? First year? Orphan?"

"His name is Harry, and he's a very good friend of mine, so if you would like to keep the three hairs on your head in tact I don't recommend going round insulting him. He's got a lot of people that care about him in this castle," he looked at his watch, "I actually should be getting there about now so if you don't mind..." it was nowhere near time to go yet but this man was getting on his nerves.

"Sure sure, I'm going I just wanted to..." he opened the fridge, Lupin could only assume he was searching for beers. He chuckled to himself. He would never find anything. The fridge, as well as the key, was enchanted so as to only reveal it's possesions to a werewolf.

What could he say, he liked his food.

Grunting disappointedly the man shut the fridge door and turned on his heels.

"...introduce myself I guess," he finished his sentence.

"Well thanks, but I have no intention of getting myself involved with teaching, or teachers for that matter, at this school again."

"That's understandable," Mike made the same expression as when he discovered there to be no dust on the counter, an expression of approval but something else underneath. "I mean don't get me wrong there's been plenty a time I'd like to throttle a kid but ultimately it ain't gonna get you nowhere in the teachin' ranks, if ya know what I mean." he stepped outside and disappeared before Lupin had time to call after him

"I didn't try to hurt them intentionally, I'd never do that!"

But the man had gone.

Sinking back down into his armchair Lupin took a sip of his tea, which was now colder than he'd of liked. He had to pity Snape, losing out to that loser. He wondered if that was why he had been so snappy with him earlier, before dismissing it as simply normal Snape behaviour. He sunk deeper into his armchair and tilted his head back. Closing his eyes he felt himself drift off into unconsciousness. It had been a long day, filled with two too many run ins that he would rather of avoided. One he had not minded though. His run in with Hermione on the train had surprisingly enough been the highlight of his day so far. He wasn't sure whether she reminded him of Hogwarts and everything he loved about the school, or if she simply just reminded him of himself. He hoped she had not picked up on the fact he seemed to be mesmerized by her appearance. She had looked really pretty though. He replayed their meeting over in his head and thought of things he could of said. Why didn't he comment on her appearance? Why didn't he say she looked extremely pretty? Or even that she looked well! He smiled to himself, realising these were the kind of things you said to people in dreams. Not reality. No matter how pretty she was or how much he wanted to get to know her again, he could not. Although he did not think of her as a child, she was, and he was the figure of authority. He had to remember that. That did not however, stop him from imagining what it would be like if he had not been her teacher. If they had simply met for the first time on the train today. But then we would have a very different story.

Lupin was awoken from his nap by a large brown owl crashing into the window. As the owl slipped down the window pane and flew away Lupin rubbed his eyes and checked his watch. Ten to seven. Grabbing the envelope Ron's unruly bird had delivered him he shoved it in his pocket and hurried to the bathroom. A comb through his hair and a sprig of cologne and he was on his way to the Room of Requirement, Harry's present in one hand and using the other to tear open the letter he had been delivered.

Dear Professor Lupin

Thank you so much for agreeing to come to Harry's party, everyone bar one person has rsvp'd saying they are coming. It should be a great night! See you at eight in the Room of Requirement!

Hermione Granger x

He quickened his pace. His watch said 7.54, he wasn't going to make it. He had to all but run to get there before Harry arrived. Thankfully Ginny and Luna were running late and Harry didn't arrive (unwillingly) until 8.07, three minutes after Lupin arrived.

The party was going great, everyone was talking and drinking and having fun, Lupin had made it his duty to stand by the buffet table and 'look cool'. So far he had spoken to Neville, Fred Weasley and had an interesting conversation with Luna about Gillyweed. He was now involved in a lengthy discussion with Hagrid about Hungarian Horntails, he had yet to speak to Hermione. He had yet to see Hermione. He hoped she hadn't realised he was late. Maybe she was late? Who was he kidding this was Hermione Granger. She'd never been late to anything. It was then she appeared, as if by magic. She was dressed in a gorgeous little red dress, not unlike something the girls in the muggle world were wearing, although she looked far better in it than they did. Hagrid had spotted her aswell and pulled her into a gigantic bear hug, forcing her to be almost face to face with Lupin, causing him to notice her sparkling brown eyes and long black eyelashes. She really was beautiful, he hoped she knew that. He imagined the boys must of been lining up for her. Yet none of them quite seemed good enough for her. It wasn't long before Hagrid disappeared to join the crowd that had gathered to watch Harry and Ron make fools of themselves. Allbeit very funny fools.

"I see he hasn't changed one bit," Lupin said absent mindedly, watching Hagrid as he now attempted to join in with the game of limbo they appeared to be playing.

"Hagrid and alcohol do not go well together," Hermione replied. Lupin turned to face her as an adorable grin crossed her face.

"What about you?" He said quickly, not wanting to stare at her without speaking for too long for fear of her noticing. She turned and met his gaze.

"What do you mean Professor?" she asked. Lupin usually basked in the sense of leadership he felt when he was called Professor, however Hermione was different. He would much rather she felt comfortable calling him by his name.

"Please," he said calmly, "call me Remus, I'm not your teacher anymore, therefore I feel no guilt in allowing you to call me by my name. Just don't tell the other kids." He grinned. Hermione laughed to the extent she let out a snort which Remus thought was adorable. He could tell she was embarassed so didn't draw attention to it.

"I mean what about you and alcohol," he went on, "you seem to be, what's the phrase, putting them away" he nodded at the glass in her hand. He guessed it was some sort of wine, elderflower probably, vile tasting stuff, when he was young adults at weddings and other family gatherings used to hand him a glass and say 'you're a big boy now Remus, do you want to try some grown up drink?' and he would always say no. They would give it to him anyway, too drunk to acknowledge his response. He'd always water it down because he just could not stand it. "Yet you don't seem to be any less dignified than your usual self. Now something tells me this is because one of two reasons," he took and step closer towards her so that they were merely inches apart. "Either by some miraculous turn of events you Miss Granger, have become immune to the effects of alcohol, or..."

Hermione looked shamefully at the ground. "Or I've been watering down my wine because I absolutely cannot bloody stand the vile taste of it." She widened her eyes as she realised what she had just said to him. His mouth curled into a smirk. She was brilliant.

"Professor I'm so sorry I didn't mean to-"

He cut her off before she could get any further. He explained to her he was here not as a teacher, but as a friend. As her friend. And that she could relax around him, to back up his words he took an unopened bottle of butterbeer off the table, opened it with his teeth - one of the perks of being a werewolf - and handed it to her. Telling her no one would think any less of her for drinking it, least of all him. He took the glass of wine out of her hands, taking a sip to confirm his theory that it was indeed, elderflower. Yuck. He poured the remainder of the wine into a nearby plant pot. The plant died.

"And what did I say about calling me Professor?"

She listened to him and took a large sip, letting out a cute little hiccup. She set her bottle down as she asked him the very question he had hoped she would not.

"What was bothering you earlier, on the train?" She asked. "It seemed like you had something on your mind."

YES! His brain screamed. YES IT WAS YOU! I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT HOW BEAUTIFUL YOU SEEM TO HAVE GOTTEN IN TWO YEARS AND HOW MUCH I WISH I WAS NOT YOUR EX TEACHER AND WHAT IS MY BRAIN DOING I DON'T KNOW YOU'RE SO PRETTY AFJDKSAJFKLDSJFKL.

"I just had a bad headache," Lupin replied calmly. He fobbed her off with some story about his transformation before realising she was Hermione. She would realise there had not been a full moon in the last few days. Surprisingly she didn't pick up on it.

"Oh right," she said quickly. "Of course, how was it?"

No one had ever asked him how his transformation was. He wasn't entirely sure how to respond. Mainly because he didn't know how it was. It just kind of... happened.

"Oh you know ...it was... fine," he stammered. Was it fine? Had he killed anyone? He had no idea. He hoped not.

Instead of worrying about what he had or had not done he joked about killing a few muggles. Below the belt he knew, but still, he thought he was funny.

Hermione did too, although she hit him gently on the arm in a I-can't-believe-you-said-that manner. Her touch made him quiver slightly. She took another sip of her butterbeer. He should of known how quickly the drink would affect her, he offered her some food but she declined. Not wanting to seem weak, he guessed. She seemed to effect him both physically and emotionally. He was not know for his habit of handing students alcoholic beverages. He had never even shook a student's hand. It was strictly teaching with him, all relationships had strict guidelines. His closest experience of a friendship with a student had been teaching Harry the patronus charm. Harry was a fantastic wizard and a wonderful friend, but Hermione had something else. Something he did not see in Harry, as much as he loved Harry like a son, he would never be able to replace Sirius, he would always be second best to him. There was something about Hermione that caused him to let his guard down and become a child again. This intregued him. Much of his childhood away from Sirius and James was spent in agony as he transformed to and from a werewolf, for some reason he felt he could really talk to Hermione. She would not judge him, she would not think badly of him, she would just... listen.

She took another sip, she had almost finished the bottle he had given her not two minutes ago.

Not wanting her to drink alone he grabbed one himself.

He had lost count of the things he had done that day which he probably shouldn't. But this was definitely one of them.