A/N: Still don't own HP.

Chapter Five – Hogsmead Visits and Truth

"Hurry up! I'm craving Honeydukes!" Sirius jogged ahead of them, slipping briefly in the snow. The other three Marauders jogged to catch up, leaving Lily and Hermione by themselves.

"I can't go…I didn't get a permission slip signed…" Hermione mumbled and Lily froze and looked at her.

"I didn't even think about that!" She said before whistling for the guys to stop. They ignored her, being too busy pushing each other around in the snow and having snowball fights.

"No, no you go on ahead and go, I'm feeling rather tired so I'll just hang back here and study some before going to bed early…You guys go on ahead and have fun, okay?" Lily looked at Hermione doubtfully.

"I'll stay with you, we'll just let the boys have some fun. We can make it a girl's day in the dorm, how's that sound?"

"Lily, really. I'll be fine! Besides, James has his heart set on you two going to lunch together…Go on," Hermione pushed Lily toward the guys, who were still unaware that the girls hadn't joined them yet. Lily sighed and nodded before jogging to meet up with the boys. Hermione sighed and went back into the castle.

(Remus)

"Hey babe…where's Hermione?" James asked as he hugged his girlfriend.

"She didn't have a signed permission slip, so she can't join us…"

"Who cares? We have the map and James's invisibility cloak! Go get her and we'll sneak her out!" Sirius said, turning to look back at the doors to see if Hermione was still there watching them, she wasn't. Remus looked as well and frowned.

"No, she said she is feeling pretty tired…I think she might be getting sick…She said for us to go ahead and have fun…" Lily sighed and hugged James tightly. James and Sirius looked between each other and sighed. The three began to walk towards Hogsmeade, leaving Remus to stand by himself.

"You coming, Moony?" Sirius called over his shoulder.

"No, I don't think so…I'm gonna go check on Hermione," Remus yelled back before taking off back to the castle. The three Marauders and Lily watched the young man go back inside before they all sighed and resumed heading to Hogsmeade.

(Hermione)

Hermione couldn't contain the second sigh from escaping her body. This would have been the first time to visit Hogsmeade with the Marauders and it upset her deeply that she couldn't go. She began to walk around the castle aimlessly, she was lost in thought and not really seeing where she was going when she bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't…" she began and she stepped back and looked at who she had bumped into.

"Paying attention? Typical Gryffindor, walking around like you own the place…" her eyes widened when she met the eyes of Lucius Malfoy with Severus Snape behind him. They hadn't changed much from their seventeen-eighteen year old selves to their future selves. Both men glared at her before smirking.

"You're the smart one of that group of bumbling Gryffindors, aren't you? You should really find new friends…" Snape drawled out and Hermione had to keep herself from rolling her eyes.

"I'm quite content with the friends I currently have…" she started as she stepped away from them. Lucius grabbed a hold of her wrist painfully and pulled her back to him.

"Then you need to be introduced to more people," he said with a smirk. He eyed her petite body for a moment before smiling. "I'm Lucius Malfoy."

"Jean, it's a pleasure…now if you'll please release my wrist…" Hermione said, using her middle name instead of her first. Lucius smiled more and Hermione felt her stomach give a nausteating lurch.

"Now, now Jean…we only just met. You can't be desiring to leave already…I want to learn more about you…" Lucius leaned his head towards Hermione, who had to bite her tongue to keep from spitting in his face.

"I believe my girlfriend asked you to let her go, Malfoy…" Hermione turned sharply and saw Remus walking up behind her, his wand in his hand.

"Remus, please…" she started but he ignored her and stopped beside her, wrapping his arm protectively around her shoulders.

"Your girlfriend…Oh Jean, dear, you most definitely need to meet more people. You deserve so much better than…him…" Lucius tightened his hold on Hermione's wrist. She gave a huff and whipped her wand out and pointed it at him, which startled him.

"I am quite happy with the friends I have and I don't deserve Remus as a boyfriend; he's far too handsome and gentle for someone like me to have. I am honored to be able to call him my boyfriend. Now, if you'll please let me go, I'd like to go have lunch with Remus…" Lucius stared at the two for a moment and smirked. He let her go and the four backed away from each other.

"Come on, Remus, let's go get some lunch…" Hermione and Remus turned and began to walk away from the two Slytherins.

"Stupefy!" Lucious called out and Hermione spun to block it just as quickly. Her body was too used to being surprised and fighting for her life that she hadn't even thought about what she was doing. She fired a spell nonverbally a split second after blocking and it nailed Lucius in the chest, sending him back into the wall behind him. Remus and Severus stared at her in shock at her speed and the use of nonverbal magic.

"Sectumsempra!" Severus fired his own spell at Hermione, who quickly blocked that one as well while pushing Remus behind her. The two began to duel in the hallway and Remus was about to step in when foot steps came around the corner.

"What on Earth is going on over here? You two knock it off right now!" McGonagall yelled and sent a spell that seperated Hermione and Snape.

"She attacked Lucius, Professor!" Snape quickly said, flashing a smirk at Hermione.

"He attacked her first, Professor," Remus quickly defended.

"Detention for all of you Tuesday night with me and 20 points a piece from both houses…I expected better of you, Mr. Lupin, Miss Granger..." McGonagall gave the two a disappointed look and Hermione looked at the floor.

"Please, Professor, Remus had nothing to do with it. Please don't give him detention, he was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time," Hermione said with a hard elbow to Remus's ribs when he opened his mouth to argue with her.

"Very well…You four better go get food and I want you all to go straight to your rooms afterwards," McGonagall said with a stern look on her face and she watched as the four students left for the Great Hall.

"I didn't know you could perform nonverbal magic, Hermione. That's pretty difficult to do…" Remus held Hermione close to him as they entered the Great Hall. Hermione smiled at him and sat beside him.

"I've worked really hard to be able to do so…As you know, I was battling against Vold—" Hermione began but saw Remus stiffen at the name. She rolled her eyes and quickly changed it, "You-Know-Who and it pays to be able to do almost every spell nonverbally. When your used to being ambushed, speed at blocking and dueling really helps too…"

"Ah, right…I was very impressed with your speed as well. As were Snape and Malfoy, as you could tell…" Remus gave her a quick kiss and smiled at her, "proves to them that they shouldn't mess with my girl."

She smiled brightly at him and the two enjoyed their lunch in comfortable silence. The couple went to Hermione's room and spent the rest of the afternoon curled up in front of her fire. Hermione had her head rested on Remus's chest and the two read from the same book, relaxing into the each other's bodies and the couch. Hermione found herself more focused on the warm body she was leaning on instead of the book and began sneaking glances at Remus's face. She met his eyes almost every time she looked up at him and she smiled seductively. She kissed him softly and removed his hands from the book and dropped it to the floor with a thunk.

Remus smiled against her lips and kissed her back hungrily, moving one of his hands to her hip as the other tangled in her hair. Hermione leaned back and Remus followed until she was laying flat on the couch and Remus was on top of her, their kiss never breaking. They pulled apart desperate for air and Remus grinned wolfishly at her. He eyed her swollen lips, flushed face, and hooded eyes and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before kissing her jaw and making his way down her neck.

"You are so beautiful, Love…" Remus whispered in Hermione's ear and she shivered from the husky sound of his voice. He growled at the shiver and kissed her roughly. His hands ran down her arms and grazed over her breasts causing her to moan. Her hands tugged at his shirt, untucking it from his pants and her hands found their way under the fabric to touch his stomach and back.

The portrait opened suddenly and the two sprang apart, Remus falling to the floor and Hermione quickly fixing her clothes and sitting on the opposite end of the couch, picking up a book and quickly making it look like she was reading it and using it to hide her flushed face.

Sirius stood stock still at the entrance before cracking up at the disheveled and blushing couple. James, Peter, and Lily walked in and joined in.

"Whoops! Didn't mean to interrupt, you two…" Sirius quickly walked over to them and sat on the floor near the fire.

"We just wanted to bring you some sweets from Honeydukes…But it appears that you were getting a different kind of sweets, huh Moony?" James said between laughs as he sat on the floor in front of Lily, who sat in her armchair and Peter sat between Sirius and James. Remus glared at his friends and attempted to fix his shirt and hair.

"Hermione, how's the book?" Lily asked as she tried to contain her laughter.

"She wouldn't know! She's reading it upside down!" Peter pointed out and the group started cracking up all over again. Hermione felt her face redden more as she realized Peter was right. She slammed the book shut and set it back on the table beside her, facing the grinning faces of her friends and gave a glare. Remus cleared his throat and moved back on to the couch beside Hermione, wrapping his arm around her.

"So…what did you two do while we were gone?" Sirius asked with a wink and Hermione gave a cough.

"We fought with Malfoy and Snape…" Remus said, hoping that the topic would change the topic.

"What? Really?" James sat up excitedly.

"Well, Hermione did…" Remus quickly told his friends what had happened with occasional looks at the brunette beside him.

"You got detention? With those slim balls?"

"Of course she did, Sirius! Dueling in the halls is against school rules…" Lily admonished and Sirius sighed.

"Those two started it though!"

"It doesn't matter who started it, Sirius, I still fought them…" Hermione mumbled as she bit into a piece of chocolate Remus had handed her.

"When do you have detention?"

"Tuesday night…" Hermione replied with a sigh.

(The Next Week)

Hermione had suffered through detention with Lucius and Severus, both of which had tried to make it as horrible as possible without angering McGonagall and while Hermione didn't let it show, their attempts had worked. She had been in a foul mood for the remaining of the week and buried herself in her studies instead of the Marauders pranks. The group made their way to the dungeon for Potions, the four Marauders making jokes the entire way. Hermione just smiled at them, not really feeling in a joking mood.

They had almost made it to the door when James spotted Snape. James being himself couldn't give up the opportunity to tease and mock the Slytherin, who returned the mockeries. Hermione and Lily tried to get James to stop before it got out of hand, but no such luck.

"What I don't understand is what two intelligent young ladies are doing hanging out with these brainless oafs. It must be frustrating for you two to have to deal with the childish manners and speech. If you two, Lily and Jean, would like to join a real, intellectual conversation, you should really hang out with me," Snape said as he reached for Hermione's arm. She did nothing to stop him; she didn't flinch or pull away. She just stared at him, thinking of a way to say what needed to be said to end this conversation without troubles and without angering her future professor.

Snape's hand was stopped short by Remus who had a snarl on his face as he stepped closer to Severus, "don't you DARE touch her." Severus stared at Remus for a moment before looking at Hermione incredulously. He snickered and looked around, noticing they were completely alone in the hallway. "You're telling me…that you two…I don't believe it!" Snape pulled his hand free from Remus's grasp and shoved past him to Hermione.

"How is it possible that you love this mangy werewolf? I suppose it fits that a filthy mudblood and a half breed beast…" Snape began but Sirius and James both tackled him. Lily dove to Snape's rescue, quickly and angrily shoving him down the hall, yelling at him to leave them. Snape did as Lily said, grinning at the look of shock and fear on Remus's face at the fact that he had revealed his secret. The four Marauders and Lily stared at Hermione, who backed away from Remus a couple steps and then froze. She was looking at his face, the look of fear and pain crossing it almost killed her. She so desperately wanted to run back to him, comfort him, smother him in kisses and tell him that she'd never leave him. Something in her heart told her he needed to get his fear vocalized, that he needed to get his insecurities out to her. If she stopped him, those insecurities and doubts could linger and she couldn't stand the thought of seeing that fear, those insecurities, in his eyes any longer than she already had.

She remained unmoving as Remus's face scrunched in pain; he looked like she had just punched him in the stomach. The Marauders all looked at Hermione, waiting and hoping that she'd tell him she didn't care…all were getting scared at the dull look Hermione had on her face. It was taking so much strength from her not to cry with Remus, to show how much she cared for him. Standing still was killing her and with every beat of her heart, she began to feel more depressed and lost, but she didn't budge.

"Hermione…I wanted to tell you…I swear…" Remus finally spoke as tears formed in his eyes. He took a slow, small step towards the curly haired brunette, his pain and fear showing strongly on his face as he took another step. James held tightly to Lily who began to cry quietly for the two in front of her. Sirius hid his face in his hands for a moment. He had hoped his friend had finally found a woman who accepted him…who would accept all of him, even the furry problem, and love him. Sirius had never seen Remus so happy and his newfound happiness seemed to even make his transformations a little less painful the past few months. Sirius removed his hands and saw that Remus had taken another step so that he was just barely out of arm's reach of Hermione. The look on his face upset the other Marauders as it showed that he was beginning to crumble, thinking the girl before him that he had come to love with all his heart now hated him.

"Hermione, please…say something…anything…I'll understand if you hate me. I'm a monster, why wouldn't you hate me…?" Remus froze as Hermione stepped towards him and he feared for a moment that she would walk past him and never speak to him again.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, I truly am…Please…" Remus wasn't too sure what he was asking of her but he felt that if he didn't keep begging, she'd walk away from him without a word. He'd rather being yelled at, spit on, anything but her ignoring him. Hermione kept her face and eyes devoid of any emotions as she looked into his heart broken eyes. She couldn't keep this up for much longer, her heart couldn't take the pain he was in and she began to feel cruel for making him wait this long to hear how she felt.

'She's going to leave me…hate me for lying to her, for keeping this a secret…I'm a monster…I don't know what I'll do if she leaves me.' Remus thought to himself as tears ran down his cheeks. Hermione was close enough now that he could feel her breath on him. He closed his eyes as his nose picked up the smell of Hermione's scent that he loved vanilla, mixed with the smell of spearmint toothpaste and parchment. He found it strange that the smell of her toothpaste mixed with her other scents would be so intoxicating…and arousing…

Tears leaked from his eyes as he reopened them, "please Hermione…I can't take your silence anymore…I…I love you. Please say something," Remus's tear-filled eyes searched hers and he caught a glimpse of surprise at his admission of his feelings in her eyes. It gave him a small ray of hope that was quickly dashed when she raised her hand. He prepared for a slap; he figured he had it coming for lying to her, for hiding such a big thing from her. The other four all held their breath and watched. Sirius had been trying to come up with something to say to help his best friend out, but nothing would come out. They were all surprised when Hermione gently wiped some of his tears away before placing her hand on his cheek. She ran her thumb over the corner of his lips and her eyes faltered to them briefly. She looked back up at his eyes and smiled a loving smile that Remus knew he would never forget. She didn't say anything yet, just held his gaze and smiled. He felt exhilaration building in his body and he leaned his face into her hand, placing a soft kiss on her thumb.

"Remus…I don't care that you're a werewolf. To be honest, I was starting to put the pieces together this past month…how you were always gone at the full moon, how you were sore and cranky the days prior and after…I just wanted to hear it from you. You are not a monster, Remus John Lupin, far from it. You may turn into a werewolf every full moon, but that does not define who you are. You are a smart, devilishly handsome, and kind young man that I love with all my heart…" Hermione looked at Remus and waited for her words to sink in. It didn't take long for within a moment he let out a cheer and pressed his lips to hers in a searing kiss that seemed to light both their bodies on fire.

Sirius let out a cheer as well and ran to hug the kissing couple; he was quickly followed by James, Lily, and Peter. Lily squealed with delight and pulled Hermione to her in a bone crushing hug. Lily couldn't contain her tears and she held tightly to Hermione and then Remus, announcing how happy she was that they were together. The Marauders all held tightly to Hermione and Remus, their relief flooding out of them in cheers and tears.

"We better hurry, Potions will start soon…" Peter interrupted after glancing at the time. Remus pulled Hermione to him and held her tightly to him, placing kisses on her forehead, cheeks, and lips.

"Screw Potions, Peter, I'm going to take my girlfriend on a real date in Hogsmeade!" Remus hollered as he ran down the hall with a laughing Hermione.

"We can't just skip class Remus!" The other Marauders heard Hermione saying as the two disappeared down the corridor.

"I bet they're not gonna make it to that date…" Sirius said with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows. Lily laughed and punched him on the arm, "come on, let's get to class…" she said as she pulled James to her and they shared a quick kiss before entering the classroom.

Hermione and Remus ran to her room, "quick get changed, we're going to dinner!" Remus said before mumbling the password and guiding her in to her room. Their lips crashed into each other again and they began to back up to the bed, pulling off the other's clothes in the process. Hermione muttered a charm so that the door couldn't be opened by someone else and Remus quickly followed it with a silencing charm. Remus lifted Hermione easily on to the bed and stared down at her.

"You are so beautiful, Hermione…this seems to be happening really fast, doesn't it? We can stop if you…" Remus began but was interrupted by Hermione's lips.

"Yes, it is fast…but I love you," Hermione said between kisses. Remus lost all resolve there and began to kiss her back.

"I love you too, Hermione." He said before removing the last of their clothes. Hermione muttered a quick contraceptive charm with a smirk.

It was way past dark when Remus and Hermione finished their love making, both exhausted and sweaty from several rounds. Remus was watching as Hermione's eyes begin to droop and he smiled, "we never did get dinner…" he said, making Hermione laugh. He grabbed her left hand in his, mumbled his love for her, and went to kiss it and pull her from the bed so that they could eat, but a bright golden light stopped him. They both stared curiously as the light formed a small vine that wrapped around their hands, more specifically their ring fingers. When the light vanished, a small but still noticeable band remained on their ring fingers, like it was a tattoo of some sort.

They both stared at their fingers and then each other. Hermione was about to say something but the sound of their stomachs growling interrupted her.

"Let's go eat…remind me to look up what just happened in the library, Love." She said to Remus as they both got out of bed and got dressed. He chuckled.

"Of course, Love."