Hermione woke up to the funny sensation of her nose being tickled. She opened her eyes and saw that she was not in her room, and the thing she had her head on was definitely not her pillow. She lifted her head slowly and looked down, almost jumping out of her skin when she saw that her head rest had been Lupin's chest and the tickling feeling was from his chest hair.
Memories of the previous night flooded her brain and she cringed. She'd been a total harlot. What had possessed her to act that way? She pulled the comforter up to her chest and looked around. His clothes were all over the place from where he'd pulled them off. Her knickers were in the middle of the floor, her bra somehow making it to a door handle. Pins from her hair were scattered everywhere.
She glanced back down at the man next to her. Her husband. She looked at the ring on her finger. She waited for regret, depression, anger, or something else equally unpleasant. But all she felt was slight…ease. As though something heavy had been lifted from her shoulders.
He looked peaceful in his sleep. The frown lines disappeared. He had one hand by his head while the other was resting palm-up on the comforter, which was riding low on his waist.
He was thin, yes, but his muscles, having no fat whatsoever covering them, stood out in his abdomen and chest. Scars criss-crossed his entire upper body, even his neck. Now she knew why he kept it covered.
Blond stubble had broken out on his face, though she wouldn't have seen it if the light from the window hadn't hit it.
Absently she reached out and traced a few scars on his stomach. They looked like they came form some sort of animal. She ghosted her hands over them, then walked her fingertips up to her chest. He didn't have a pelt of chest hair, but he had enough for her to immediately think 'manly'.
Her eyes scanned down to his covered lap. She remembered what he had felt like, but she never did get to see what he looked like. Her eyes darted to his face once to make sure he was asleep and then they went back to his crotch. Did she dare?
She took a deep breath and reached for the blanket. Slowly, so as not to wake him, she lifted it up to take a peek.
"You know," he said mildly. She squeaked and dropped the blanket. "That's rude."
She blushed crimson and refused to look at him
"Sorry," she mumbled.
She heard him chuckle and he sat up. Both were silent for a moment, not looking at each other. He scrubbed a hand through his hair and she twirled one of her curls around her finger.
"Should I-"
"Let's not-"
They both stopped at the same time and smiled sheepishly.
"Go ahead," she said, staring at the comforter and picking at one of the threads.
"Um," he mumbled, looking around helplessly. "Last night…ah…Look. Last night I wasn't myself. The twins drugged us with God only knows what. I don't want you to think that I'm…well…always like that."
She looked up in surprise. She had been the total hussy, not him.
"You don't have to sound to apologetic," she said.
"I don't?" he inquired.
"I was the one who…Well I was practically begging you…Actually. I think I did beg you."
She blushed bright red and covered her face with her hands. His deep laughter made her reach out blindly and punch him in the arm without looking up.
"I don't want you to be embarrassed, Hermione," he said while pulling her hands from her face. She still couldn't meet his eyes. "We weren't ourselves last night. It wasn't our fault. The next time I see the twins, I'll kill them. It'll be fine."
She laughed reluctantly and looked into his eyes. Oddly enough, the lines in his face weren't as deep, even though he was awake.
"Well," she said. "Whatever they gave us did make the whole process a lot less awkward."
"Of course it did," he said, leaning back onto his hands. The muscles in his abdomen stuck out even more. She forced herself to focus on his face. "We weren't thinking. It's hard to be awkward when you're not thinking."
"So, will it be uncomfortable next time?" she asked. At his inquisitive look, she elaborated. "When we have to do this again. Will we be embarrassed?"
"We'll have the potion," he said airily. "We'll just be adults about it and not think on it too much. We'll get used to it."
Hermione nodded and looked down at her hand, which was still picking at the comforter. Were they never going to do it again? Were they only going to use the potion from now on? But it had been so…nice. Better than nice, really. The things she had felt, that he had made her feel…she felt hot just thinking about it.
Her hands wandered over the comforter but she went rigid when she saw a spot of scarlet red on the blanket. The spot where she'd lost her virginity.
Oh please don't let Lupin see it! She thought wildly. They were already awkward as it was.
"Hermione," Lupin said, sounding stricken. "Did you happen to take…I mean to say were you able to…ah."
She looked over at him and bit back a grin at the pink spots on his cheeks.
"I took a contraceptive potion yesterday," she said, trying to sound matter-of-fact. "It lasts twenty-four hours."
His relief was palpable. "Thank God you're on top of things," he said, flopping onto his back.
"I should probably get going before people start to wonder where I am," she murmured. She grabbed the comforter, hiding the blood-stain and wrapped it around her. She wasn't sure she could parade around naked in front of Lupin just yet. Or ever, for that matter.
She reached for her knickers and froze.
"Um, Lupin?" she said. He lifted his head inquiringly. "I, ah, don't have any clothes to wear to the dorm. Just my dress and that might get me a few odd looks…"
"Right," he said, sitting up and scratching behind his ear. "Hold on for a bit."
He stood up on the bed, pulling the sheet with him and tugging it around himself like a toga. She bit back her sudden giggle and looked away. He was built so well, Hermione thought, with his long arms and broad shoulders. He disappeared into the closet and she heard him shuffling things around inside.
She grabbed her bra from the door handle and pulled it on while he was busy. Her fingers fumbled and she cursed in her head. She never had problems with her bra! Nerves were getting the best of her. She got it latched and just pulled the blanket around her once more just as Lupin reappeared.
"These will probably be too big for you," he said, holding out a pair of jeans and a battered t-shirt with the hand that wasn't holding his toga-sheet around him. "But they're too small for me now, so you can have them."
"Thank you," she said meekly. He turned back to the closet, vanishing once more, and she dressed quickly.
The jeans were much too long, though fit quite well around the middle. She rolled the legs up so that she didn't trip on them and pulled the shirt over her head. It was too large for her, by quite a bit, but it was incredibly soft and it smelled like him; like woods with a hint of mint.
He reappeared, fully dressed, and there was a moment of awkwardness again. Both were silent, looking around for something to say, until Hermione finally broke the tension.
"I need to be getting along," she said. "I'll see you soon?"
He nodded, meeting her eyes briefly and leading her to the door.
"We'll figure out a time for next week for us to…right." He looked so embarrassed and flustered that it warmed Hermione's heart for some reason. She reached up to the tip of her toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek before leaving, refusing to look at his face.
There were no students in the halls as she made her way to Gryffindor tower, as it was still rather early. The Fat Lady gave her a shrewd look as she swung forward, but she didn't ask where Hermione had been.
Hermione barely walked into Gryffindor common room before someone grabbed her hand and hurried up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.
"Ginny," Hermione gasped, tripping over her feet. "What are you doing?"
"Shush!" Ginny commanded, leading Hermione to her dorm room. She looked around to make sure no one was inside before pulling Hermione after her and closing the door. She plopped onto her bed and gave Hermione an expectant look.
"What?" Hermione asked self-consciously.
"Well?" Ginny prodded. Hermione looked at her blankly. "How was it?"
"How was what?"
"Oh don't be dumb!" Ginny exploded. "How was the sex?"
"Ginny!" Hermione shrieked, covering her mouth.
"You can tell me!" Ginny said earnestly. "I won't say anything to anyone."
"I'm not going to tell you!" Hermione said, feeling her face heat up. "It's private!"
Ginny looked like a wounded puppy. "But…come on!" she said. "You must be bursting to tell someone about it!"
"I assure you I'm not," Hermione said vehemently. She would prefer not to tell anyone about last night ever.
"It must have been interesting," Ginny pressed.
"Why's that?"
"Because the twins ended up telling us what they gave you," Ginny said with a grin. Hermione's blush deepened.
"What did they say?" she asked curiously. Ginny patted the bed next to her and the two girls ended up facing each other on the bed.
"It was a really potent aphrodisiac," Ginny explained. "They didn't want to tell us, but Dumbledore made them. He was so angry!"
"Dumbledore?" Hermione asked. "Really?"
"Oh yes," Ginny said with a nod. "I've never seen anything like it. He told them that they had no right to force anyone to do anything and that if you got hurt, it would be their fault."
"Why would I get hurt?" Hermione asked in confusion.
"No one would tell me anything, but from what I overheard, the drugs might have made Lupin really rough, bringing out the animal side of his condition."
"Oh," Hermione squeaked. Ginny looked stricken.
"Did he hurt you?" she asked quietly.
"No!" Hermione said quickly. "No, he didn't hurt me! We just…got a little…"
"Go on," Ginny said, leaning forward.
"We lost our heads a bit," Hermione said. She found that she did want to talk about it a little. It was a life-changing night, and Ginny was more than a good listener.
"How do you mean?" Ginny asked.
"Well," Hermione said uncertainly. Ginny just smiled, silently saying that Hermione could tell her anything. Hermione took a deep breath and went on. "We weren't really thinking. We didn't even make it into his rooms before we were kissing like mad."
"Is he a good kisser?" Ginny asked, looking intrigued. Hermione nodded fervently.
"He makes Viktor look like a novice, and Viktor was no novice," Hermione replied before blushing again.
"Go on!" Ginny grinned.
And so Hermione told her. She talked about how her dress was basically ripped off, how she had in turn forced Lupin out of his clothes, how their apparel ended up strewn all over the place.
"He was very…commanding," Hermione conceded.
"That doesn't surprise me. Probably part of the whole wolf-thing."
Hermione went on to tell her how she wasn't even shy. She'd been too out of her mind to be shy. When she got to the part where Lupin used his mouth on her though, she faltered. Should she go on? Wasn't in an invasion of Lupin's privacy?
"What's wrong?" Ginny asked when Hermione went silent.
"It's just, I don't feel right telling you about what we did after that," Hermione said, looking away. "I feel like it's giving away his privacy."
"Oh please," Ginny said, waving her hand. "Girls talk about this all the time. You've just been with two boys too long."
"But it's Lupin," Hermione said. "He's a teacher."
"Who would I tell?" Ginny said. "I just want to know what it was like!"
"Okay," Hermione said, thinking that men talked about this kind of thing all the time. "When we finally made it to the bedroom-"
Ginny snorted.
"-he ah, well he…that is to say that erm…."
"Did he go down on you?"
"Did he what?"
"You know, use his mouth."
Hermione's eyes widened a little but she nodded. Ginny gave her an evil grin.
"Isn't it fun?"
"What?!" Hermione gasped. "You've done it and never told me?"
"I did quite a bit with Michael, if you must know," Ginny said primly.
The girls ended up spending the next three hours holed up in Ginny's dorm room discussing Ginny's sexual experiences, Hermione's wedding night, and any tips that Ginny might have for her. Hermione hadn't asked for these tips, knowing that it wasn't as if she was ever going to use them, but Ginny gave them anyway. Hermione figured Ginny just liked knowing something that she didn't for once, and let her young friend have her moment. After all, it was very informative.
Remus woke Monday morning feeling oddly lonely. It was like part of him was missing. He tried to shrug it off as he got dressed, but it was persistent. Like an itch he couldn't reach. Realistically, he knew it was the bond and that the reason he felt out of sorts was because Hermione wasn't there and hadn't been anywhere near him for two days, but that didn't help the feeling abate.
At breakfast it got worse. It was nagging at him. He glanced at the Gryffindor table but Hermione she wasn't there. He looked up and down the two sides of the table four times before giving up. Where was she? Harry and Ron weren't there either.
A sudden wave of distress hit him. It had nothing to do with him, they weren't his feelings, and yet he felt them anyway. Uneasiness, confusion, and hurt all rolled into one. He stared at his half-finished plate of food without seeing it. What was going on?
Hermione.
Something was wrong with Hermione. He could feel it. He stood up abruptly and left the head table. Where could she be? He stalked past the Slytherin table and out into the Entrance Hall. Luck was with him. She was on the stairs. The nagging feeling seemed to infinitesimally go down but the distress was still there. He looked around her and saw Harry and Ron, who looked ready to kill. There at the bottom of the stairs, was Draco Malfoy.
Even if Remus couldn't hear what was being said, he knew taunting when he saw it. Remus weaved through the students standing in the Entrance Hall and approached the blond boy, picking up on the last bit of what he was saying.
"- think you can get away with it that easily, you're wrong," Malfoy sneered.
"What is going on, here?' Remus demanded.
Malfoy turned and regarded him, eyes going from Remus's feet all the way to his face. Crabbe and Goyle sniggered.
"Why, congratulations on your marriage, Professor!" Malfoy said with false cheer. Around him, students stopped and looked around, staring at him.
The blood drained from Remus's face as he stared at the boy before him. He couldn't speak, as he was caught by surprise.
"What?" someone asked from somewhere behind Remus. A student.
Oh, please God no.
"Oh, didn't you know?" Malfoy asked cheerfully to however it was.
"Malfoy-" Remus said warningly.
"Professor Lupin got married," Malfoy continued, ignoring Remus completely.
The entire Entrance Hall was watching now. Remus couldn't move. His life was in the hands of this boy. His reputation, his job, everything was at the mercy of a spoiled little brat who loved to create havoc. Remus could feel his own fear mixed with someone else's. He looked up at Hermione and saw pure terror. Harry pulled his wand out and aimed it at Malfoy, but it was too late.
"Yes, the Professor here married Granger," Malfoy said gleefully.
"What?"
"He's kidding, right?"
"That's not possible!"
Student's voices rang through the hall and Remus closed his eyes for a moment before glaring at Malfoy.
"Isn't that right, Professor?" Malfoy taunted.
Remus opened his mouth to deny it, to say it wasn't true, but the words stuck in his throat. He grabbed his neck with one hand, wondering why the words wouldn't come.
"Oh, didn't you know?" Malfoy drawled. "You can't lie about being married. It's part of the Fidelity Charm. Congratulations again, Professor."
He turned and walked into the Great Hall, leaving Remus standing there staring at him in horror. The hall around him broke out into whispers as people stared at him and Hermione.
There was a blur in the corner of his vision as Harry bounded down the stairs and grabbed Remus's forearm.
"Come on," he said urgently.
Remus let him tug him up the stairs. Ron steered Hermione around by the shoulders and propelled her down the hall next to Remus.
What were they going to do? No doubt word that he had married a student was spreading like wildfire by now. How was he supposed to teach? All his students would look at him differently. No one would take him seriously. What would he do if he didn't teach? No one would hire him. It was public knowledge that he was a werewolf. Now they were going to think he was a pedophile as well. Brilliant.
Harry stopped before the gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office. Remus allowed himself to be pulled up the revolving stairs and into Dumbledore's room.
"Well hello," Dumbledore said curiously. He saw the look on Remus's face and his eyes flew to Hermione, who looked about ready to faint. "What happened?"
Harry pushed Remus into a chair. He couldn't speak. Harry spoke for him as Ron put Hermione in the chair next to his. He looked at her helplessly and she regarded HIM with bright eyes, as though she were holding back tears.
Dumbledore sat in his chair on the opposite side of the desk as Harry finished.
"This is a problem," he said quietly.
"I tried to deny it," Remus choked out. "I didn't know that the Fidelity Charm prohibited that."
"I was going to Silence Malfoy," Harry said apologetically. "But I wasn't fast enough."
"What do we do?" Hermione whispered. Dumbledore looked at her kindly.
"Right now," he said. "We'll have to move your things to Remus's rooms. There is an old rule about married students not staying in house dormitories that we must stand to. Right now, we'll be watched for any rule-breaking."
"Won't we have to leave?" Remus asked.
"No," Dumbledore said firmly. "Not after what young Mr. Malfoy said today. Obviously, Voldemort thinks he can still get a hold of Hermione. No, you will be staying here."
"But I can't teach."
"Yes you can," Dumbledore replied. Remus stared at him.
"I married my student," he said slowly. "I know that's not allowed."
"She will be your student no longer," Dumbledore said. Hermione's head snapped up.
"What?" she rasped.
"You will still be a student of Hogwarts, my dear, but I think you are sufficiently trained in the realm of magical defense," Dumbledore said. "You do not need to take Defense Against the Dark Arts. So, from now on, you won't. Now you cannot be considered his student."
Hermione obviously wasn't happy about having to give up one of her classes, but said nothing.
"What do we tell people?" Remus asked.
"You will say nothing," Dumbledore said firmly. "You do not need to explain it. In your silence, rumors and conjectures will be flying everywhere, but do not say anything. If anyone asks if you are really married, the Fidelity Charm will not allow you to lie so just say 'yes' and nothing further."
Remus nodded to show he understood. So, he still had a job but his reputation was smashed to smithereens. It could be worse, he thought. He could have been kicked out of the school with no income and nowhere to go.
"You both are going to be under the microscope for some time," Dumbledore said sorrowfully. "This is an already difficult situation that just got exponentially worse. You'll have to be strong. I suggest that Hermione pack up her things and move them to her knew room."
"We'll help," Harry said. Hermione gave him a thankful smile.
They were dismissed and when they reached the bottom of the revolving stairs, he looked at her, feeling completely numb.
"I'll go get my things," she said, her voice uncommonly high.
"Tonight I'll help you unpack," he said tonelessly. She shrugged.
"What's the password?"
"Open," he replied. She gave him a funny look. "It's easy to remember."
Humor lit her eyes and she turned to head to the Gryffindor dormitory, but she halted. Instead she approached him and hugged him around the middle.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"It's not your fault Draco Malfoy is an arse," he replied, patting her back. She smiled up at him and walked away. Ron followed, not sparing Remus a glance. Harry smiled reassuringly before following his friends.
He checked his watch and saw that he only had ten minutes before his first class. He had the second years first. Hopefully, none of them will have heard yet.
The second years, it turned out, had heard the news. None of them said anything, but they looked at him with pure interest. They, at least, weren't so interested as to not pay attention. They were respectful, listening to his lecture on small Dark Magic hex defenses and taking notes.
Remus wasn't worried about the second years. Remus was worried about his second class – the sixth years.
He didn't let any emotion show on his face as they filed in. All of them sent him furtive glances. The Gryffindors looked curious, the Ravenclaws looked unconvinced, the Slytherins looked gleeful, and the Hufflepuffs looked confused.
They shuffled to their seats, whispering behind their hands and smirking at him. He felt uneasy, as though this was the calm before the storm. The problem with that theory was that there was nothing calm about him or the class at the moment.
He had a plan, he didn't like it, but he was pretty sure it would work. He'd be putting himself in the spotlight, but better him than his marriage.
The second bell rang, signaling the beginning of the lesson and the room got quiet. Everyone's eyes were focused on him, waiting to see what he'd do.
"As sixth years," he said, beginning to pace before them. "You'll be learning about more than defensive spells against other witches and wizards. You'll need to know how to defend yourself against dark creatures as well. We started that your third year, but those weren't high-level dark creatures. You could get rid of them with simple spells and maneuvers. Now we'll be working on higher-level things."
They hung onto his every word and Remus could see that most of the Ravenclaws had already picked up on where he was going.
"Professor Snape brought up werewolves your third year when he subbed my classes," Remus said. "You weren't quite advanced at the time to work on defense, only recognition. Now, we'll segue into defense against werewolves during the full moon.
"First, I'm open to answering any questions you have about being a werewolf, as long as it's not ridiculous."
The room filled with laughter and almost everyone raised their hands. He swallowed, took a deep breath, and pointed to a Ravenclaw girl with shrewd eyes.
"Do you have energy loss before the full moon?" she asked curiously.
"No," he said, relieved that it was a question pertaining to his lecture. "Quite the opposite. There's an energy fluctuation in the few days leading up to the full moon. We get restless and nothing really holds our attention."
"I've never noticed you looking inattentive," said a Hufflepuff boy with a round face.
"I've learned to hide it," he said with a smile. "The energy loss is after the full moon," he continued. "Immediately after the change, we can barely move because we're so lethargic."
Remus's heightened sense of hearing caught a faint whisper at the back of the class, coming from the Slytherins.
"Just like after sex," whispering the nasal, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy. "We'll have to ask Granger if his symptoms after fucking are the same as after the full moon."
"I'm sorry to hear of your lack of energy after your sexual pursuits, Mr. Malfoy," Remus said loudly. "I'd have that checked if I were you. But in the meantime, please keep that topic of conversation for outside my classroom."
The Gryffindors snickered and Malfoy's pale cheeks tinged pink. He gave Remus a malevolent glare.
"Moving on," Remus said cheerfully. "Any other questions?"
The lesson continued on. Faced with the opportunity to ask a real werewolf questions about his life, everyone seemed to forget about the rumor. That is, until Harry and Ron arrived toward the end of the lesson. Remus nodded to them while answering someone's question about how long the change took.
"Usually only about thirty seconds," he said as Harry and Ron sat in their habitual seats in the front. "It feels longer, to be honest, but I find if I keep telling myself it's almost over, then it goes by quicker. Not quick enough for my taste, mind you, but it's better with the Wolfsbane."
"Aren't you going to punish Potter and Weasley for being late?" Pansy Parkinson demanded.
Remus regarded her for a long moment, long enough to make her look uncomfortable, before answering. "No," he replied. "Because I know where they were and why they were late."
"Where's Hermione?" Neville asked Ron curiously. Ron, not being suave in the least, glanced at Remus for the first time in days with a helpless look. Remus didn't say anything, he couldn't. Dumbledore said to say as little as possible.
"She's doing something else," Harry said dismissively.
All eyes then focused on Remus. Someone's quill rolled of a desk and clattered to the floor and it sounded much louder than normal in the silence. Everyone was wondering the same thing – did it have something to do with Lupin? Did this mad rumor have any merit?
A shaking hand rose from the group of Hufflepuffs. He regarded the pale, uncertain face of Hannah Abbot and sighed.
Here we go.
"Yes, Hannah?" he sighed.
"Did you really marry Hermione Granger?"
"Of course he did," someone snapped. "He's wearing a ring."
All eyes slicked to his left hand, which he didn't bother to try to hide. That would have been a little obvious.
"That doesn't mean anything," someone else said.
"Yes it does!"
"Why don't we just let him tell us?"
The silence was acute. Everyone seemed to lean forward in their seat, waiting for his answer. He considered waving it aside, putting off the inevitable for a little while, but dismissed the idea.
"Yes," he said simply, doing as Dumbledore told him.
The room erupted into gasps and murmurs.
"Why?" someone asked.
"That's between me and Hermione," Remus said, a hint of warning in his tone. "Now, can we focus on Defense, please?"
Keeping their attention after that was a bit difficult. Everyone seemed to be whispering and watching him. Eyes kept darting to his ring to try and get a better look at it. He checked his watch. Two minutes until lunch.
He finally just stopped talking. No one was listening anyway. He'd skip lunch in the Great Hall. Now that his marriage had been confirmed, he was sure he'd never have a moment's peace walking through the hallways or eating meals.
When the bell rang, many people seemed to fly at the doors, eager to be the first ones out with the news: Professor Lupin confirmed that he married Hermione Granger.
Remus rubbed the spot between his eyebrows and stared at his shoes.
"We shouldn't have even come in," Harry said. "If the three of us had been missing the whole time, no one would have thought about it."
"It's better this way," Remus replied, looking up. The room was deserted with the exception of him, Harry, and Ron.
"She's up in your rooms," Ron said. Remus looked at him.
The boy didn't look angry anymore, only a little sad. It broke Remus's heart. Everyone knew that Ron had liked Hermione as more than a friend. Even Hermione knew. And the worst part was that she liked him back.
A terrible thought occurred to him. Had she been thinking of Ron when they'd…? It didn't matter. It wasn't any of his business. If she wanted to think of other men when they had sex, it was her prerogative.
"She doesn't want to unpack without you there," Harry said. "She doesn't want to put something where it doesn't belong."
Remus smiled. How very Hermione. She didn't want to do something to irritate him. He'd help her out that night, for at the moment he didn't want to deal with anyone.
"Go on to lunch," Remus said, waving them out.