Disclaimer: Characters still don't belong to me.
A.N.: So not a whole lot happening in this chapter, but our two favorite characters get some needed time together, so savor it. Thank you so much for your reviews, I'm heading over right now to reply to them. You guys are awesome.
Chapter 4
Hermione yawned as she woke up the next morning and threw her slippers on, not even bothering to put her dressing gown on. Ariel had followed them back last night, and they had given her a spare room at Grimmauld place. She had been insistent that they stick together while they planned out what they were going to do. Her and Remus had decided that there wouldn't be any way around it, and that they would have to bring her into Grimmauld. Dealing with other members of the Order would be difficult. When Hermione had voiced her concerns out loud, Ariel had just laughed and said they probably wouldn't notice her, since she slept all day. Hermione hadn't slept very well once they got back and now she was up way to early for how late she stayed up.
She ran a hand through her mess of curls and crept down the stairs to find Remus sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper.
"Morning," Hermione greeted as she made her way into the kitchen. Remus's hair looked a little more disheveled that usual. For some reason it made her want to run her fingers through it and straighten it out.
Remus looked up from his paper to be greeted by the figure of Hermione. He stiffened a little as he watched her walk around the kitchen in her camisole and low riding pajama bottoms. He swallowed rather harshly when he saw that she wasn't wearing a bra, and forced his eyes back down to his paper.
"Morning," he greeted, in what he hoped wasn't a strained voice.
"Eggs? Sausage?" Hermione asked as she pulled a few pans down.
"Sounds good." Remus said, his eyes involuntarily following her form around the kitchen as she made their breakfast. She was so lovely, so beautiful, and incredibly intelligent, something he'd always found attractive. But she was twenty years his junior, with a long, full life ahead of her. She didn't need an old, broken werewolf lusting after her.
Hermione felt his eyes on her as she made breakfast for the both of them. She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks, and a twist in her belly. It made her feel, beautiful, empowered, to know that he was looking at her. She liked it. She liked him.
Hermione sat his breakfast down in front of him with a smile, and Remus couldn't help but smile back as she sat down next to him. It seemed so domestic, so natural. Hermione took the page of the paper he was finished with and went about eating her breakfast. He couldn't help but keep glancing at her, his mind entertaining fantasies it should not be entertaining about a witch twenty years his junior.
Hermione tried to concentrate on the paper in front of her, but she kept feeling Remus's eyes on her. She could admit to herself that she was attracted to Remus Lupin. There was no use denying it. He was rather handsome in that shabby bookish way of his. Plus he was incredibly intelligent, and he listened to her ideas and theories, without brushing them or her off as a bossy know-it-all. He seemed to share her thirst for knowledge that she hadn't been able to share with Harry or Ron.
The thought of Ron confused her. She thought she was in love with him, but now that seemed like a shallow conjecture. She knew she was attracted to Remus, but she wasn't sure how those feelings made her feel about her feelings for Ron. She sighed softly to herself, and ran her teeth over her bottom lip. She was making herself dizzy wondering about how certain feelings for someone made her feel for someone else. Was it natural to be attracted to someone she'd spent the last few days with? They'd researched side by side, and when they were at Ariel's they'd held hands. Just for comfort? Or was it something more?
Hermione didn't doubt that he was attracted to her, but she wasn't the kind of witch to just have a once off, and go on from there. That wasn't the way she did things. Hermione had a feeling that if she ever let Remus know she returned his attraction, he wouldn't be very receptive. He didn't seem like the kind of person that thought he deserved happiness. A stray thought crossed Hermione's brain. Wasn't he dating Tonks?
Hermione's stomach seemed to drop very near her feet. Maybe she should just ask him about it? She took a deep breath and continued to try and concentrate while eating, but the feel of Remus's eyes on her was making her skin feel hot, and she could feel her cheeks turn a little pink under his scrutiny. She wished now that she'd at least tried to tame the halo of curls around her head before she'd stumbled down from her room.
Remus's eyes snapped back to his paper as Hermione's chair scraped across the floor as she rose from her seat. He was scandalized by the thoughts that had been going through his brain, fantasies concerning the kitchen table that he knew were wrong to be having about a woman twenty years his junior. He knew Hermione would be repulsed if she knew what he'd been thinking about doing with her on the table she'd just finished eating breakfast on.
"Are you done?" Hermione asked.
Remus snapped his head up at her and gave her a quick nod. She leaned over and grabbed the plate before he could hand it to her, causing her to come quite close to him. He felt his whole body stiffen as he took in the faint smell of her strawberry shampoo. She smelled exquisite.
Hermione's eyes widened as she in turn took in Remus's scent. It was an earthy smell that gave her a small tug on her nether regions. She quickly turned and charmed the dishes to wash themselves. "I'm going to take a shower Professor," Hermione mumbled, falling back on his title in her nervousness.
Remus barely had time to make appropriate noises before she rushed out of the room.
Hermione rushed through her shower, and tamed her curls down to what she hoped was an appropriate amount of bushiness. She could smell the strawberry scent of her favorite shampoo as she rifled through her clothes to find her favorite pair of jeans. They were comfortable, and hugged her curves just so. She grabbed a shirt that was comfy and also fit quite well. If she reached over her head, it would show off a few inches of her stomach.
Wait.
Was she dressing to impress Professor Lupin?
Hermione realized quite readily, that yes, she was. Hermione groaned and sat down on her bed heavily. She admitted to herself that she was attracted to Remus. He'd become Remus to her the past few days that they had been hunched over books together, looking up information on Ariel's vampire family, and anything they could get about the veil. She was attracted to him, and she wanted him to be attracted to her.
Hermione had the urge to suddenly tear off the clothes she had adorned for Remus, and find the baggiest, unappealing clothes she could find and put them on instead. But she knew that would be childish.
Besides, Hermione thought as she got up and stood in front of the mirror. She did look quite good.
Remus stared at the book in front of him, trying to stop himself from glancing at the library door every few seconds, wondering where Hermione had run off to. He'd barely been able to scrape out a response when she'd run out of the room at breakfast. He wondered idly if it was because of his staring, but she didn't seem to notice while she was eating.
He knew that as soon as this project was over, he would have to get as far away from Miss Hermione Granger as he possibly could. This fascination he had with her would have to stop. She was twenty years his junior and she had a bright future ahead of her. The last thing she needed was her werewolf ex-professor mooning after her.
The door to the library opened and he looked up to see Hermione with her wand in one hand and a book in the other. She flashed him a smile before going to peruse the books.
Remus felt his whole body go still as he took her in. She was wearing her Muggle clothes and he no longer had any doubts in his mind that Hermione had the body of a woman. Jeans hugged her hips and her bum, her shirt hugged her flat stomach and breasts and the halo of curls around her head had been tamed somewhat. He wanted nothing more than to walk up behind her and press his groin into her supple arse. Remus took several deep breaths to try and get his body under control and made sure the book he was holding was firmly in his lap.
Hermione smiled to herself as she felt his eyes on her again. She wished she had time to explore this thing that was developing between them, but she knew that she had to keep her mind on her research. She sat down in the chair across from Remus and started telling him what she thought they should start on for their rescue mission.
They constructed a map of everything they knew about the Ministry, going on their memory alone. Hermione wished they could consult someone else, but she wasn't sure who they could trust with their secret that wouldn't think them completely mad. Moody maybe? As an Auror he would have been in the Ministry a lot. Maybe Tonks? She shuddered a little to herself and vowed to use her only as a last resort. She knew she was just being a tad jealous, but if there was something between the two, she certainly didn't want to subject herself to having to watch.
Remus sketched a drawing on a large piece of parchment, Hermione giving her input and correcting small mistakes that she could see. When they finally finished Hermione felt her stomach rumble and knew that it was well past lunchtime.
Hermione filled a tray with sandwiches and a warm pot of tea. She knew they would need the caffeine to keep them going through the rest of the day. She was sure that he got about as much sleep as she did, which wasn't very much.
She levitated the whole tray and returned with it to the library. In the corner there was a small couch with a table in front of it, and she sat the tray down on it.
"You read my mind," Remus said, as he stood up with a stretch. Hermione for a few brief moments, got to look at his body, and found that she liked what she saw. His shoulders weren't to broad, but big enough to envelop her in his hold. He was taller than her by several inches, and she could see a few lines around his hazel eyes that she knew were there prematurely because of his lycanthropy. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and smooth away every wrinkle in his skin, kiss her way up his neck before finding out for herself if he lips were really as kissable as they looked.
Remus stopped his stretch to realize that Hermione was openly staring at him, her mouth slightly open. She flushed pink and pointed to the sandwiches. "I wasn't sure what you liked, so I made a few of everything."
Remus smiled as he noticed that the tray was stacked rather high for just the two of them. "I think I'll find something I like there." He sat down next to her on the couch and poured them both a cup of tea, finding himself soothed by the warmth. Even though he knew that he couldn't have anything even resembling a romantic relationship with her, he enjoyed these moments with her. She was a highly intelligent young woman, vastly read on many subjects and he found he rather liked debating with her. She had an astute memory and was always ready to learn something new.
Hermione took a bit of her sandwich and watched as Remus tucked into his. "Can I ask you a personal question Professor?"
Remus swallowed his bite of his sandwich and looked at her, his brow furrowed in confusion. "I guess so."
"Are you and Tonks together?"
Remus was sure his surprise showed on his face. Whatever he thought she'd ask, this was not it. He wasn't quite sure how to answer it. He took a sip of his tea. "Why do you ask?"
Hermione blushed profusely and stammered out, "Sorry, sorry! I was just curious. I didn't mean to pry. Forget I asked." She mentally berated herself for being so nosy. They had developed a report and she didn't want to ruin it by meddling in his private business.
Remus stared at her as she blushed, and noted to himself how beautiful she was when she was all flushed. She must just be curious, what with Nymphadora's vehement declaration in front of everyone at Hogwarts. Hermione must be wondering what he was doing here and not with Tonks.
"I'm afraid that I never felt for Tonks what she obviously felt for me. The reasons I gave that night at Hogwarts were still valid, but I didn't want to embarrass her in front of everyone there." Tonks had still pursued him even though he had told her gently, but firmly, that he simply did not feel that way for her. He wished that he did. He felt that he would always be alone.
Hermione nodded at his explanation. There wouldn't be any reason to stay with someone with whom he couldn't return their feelings. "That's understandable, and incredibly kind of you." She gave him a shaky smile.
Remus thought he could ask a question of his own, that he told himself was merely curiosity, and not the need to know her romantic inclinations. "Why are you here instead of at the Burrow?"
Hermione's brow furrowed. "Oh you mean with Ron?"
Remus nodded. "Surely the boy returns your affections, even though he can be quite…"
"Daft sometimes?" She asked with a small chuckle. She stared at her tea for a long moment. "I thought that Ron and I were inevitable. It just seemed natural, that maybe when this is all over that we would give it a go. Lately though, I find myself wondering if I really do feel for him the way I thought I did. If maybe what I was feeling was just a crush that expanded into what I thought I should feel, what everyone knew was going to happen."
"But how do you feel about it?"
Hermione sighed to herself. It felt weird voicing aloud the concerns that she'd kept in her head, but had been increasing in frequency over the past few days. If she was so in love with Ron, then why was she so attracted to Remus?
"We don't have anything in common. We bicker and fight all the time, and I don't know if what I want for my life is what he wants me to do. I care for him, but lately I've been thinking that it's more as a friend than as a…"
"Lover?" Remus supplied.
Hermione nodded as she blushed at the word coming from his lips. Just sitting this close to Remus had all her senses on high alert and she was hoping that by sitting next to him on the couch, their thighs would brush each others.
Remus wasn't surprised that she wasn't sure in her affections for Ron. He didn't seem the type of boy to hold her interests for very long. He was a boy of seventeen and he was interested in the type of things a boy his age would be interested in, and it didn't stun him that Hermione seemed to want someone with more depth. He pushed down his own small sliver of hope and gave Hermione a small smile. She really was quite beautiful when she blushed.