Further results of the Valentine's Day curse. The beginning is a little bit boring, just information on the curse, but the end gets kind of fun. Thanks to all you wonderful reviewers. The last part's done, I'm posting it tomorrow.
At breakfast the next morning an owl came for Hermione. She was a bit surprised, because owl mail had been suspended for the next few days, but she opened it anyway. 'Miss Granger, please come to my office before classes begin today. Thank You, Professor Dumbledore.' Hermione could feel the muscles in her face tense in worry.
"What's that?" asked Harry, as he munched on a pumpkin muffin.
"A note from Professor Dumbledore. He wants to see me," her voice quavered slightly, barely enough for Harry to notice.
"I'm sure it's okay Herm. He just wants to apologize for what happened yesterday, since it happened at school and everything," Ron was trying very hard to be reassuring.
"Yeah," said Hermione, attempting to hide her anxiety. "I'll bet that's it. Anyway, I think I'm going to go now. I want to go up and get my things, I won't have time to go between breakfast and class if I have to talk to Dumbledore." She hastily stuffed the note in her pocket, and tidied her place at the table. She left the Great Hall, but didn't go to Gryffindor. Instead, she stood in a shadowed corner just out side the door many of the teachers used to exit the hall from breakfast.
She waited only five minutes, ducking behind a plant when she spied Professor Snape coming, before Remus walked out the door. She fell in step beside him. "Professor Dumbledore wants to see me."
"He told me. I'm supposed to go up too."
"What does he want?"
"I'm not sure. I'm fairly certain though, that if he was going to sack me, he would have done it last night."
Hermione gritted her teeth. "So you think this will be okay?"
"There's only one way to find out," they were at the door to the Headmaster's office by now. "Chocolate Frog. After you."
They climbed the stairs, and reached the office door together. Remus knocked, and Professor Dumbledore let them in. "Remus, Miss Granger, please come in." Professor Dumbledore gestured to the two seats facing his desk, and poured three cups of tea, handing a cup to each.
"I'm sure you know why I've called you here. I assume you've heard the many rumors floating around about the two of you yesterday." They both nodded, and he began again. "Is it fair for me to assume that the more conservative of those are true?" He didn't feel the need to embarrass them by enumerating their sins, but he wished to weed from what was true some of the more outrageous rumors that he'd heard, such as that the two were running away together, or had set up house-keeping in Remus' chambers.
"Remus, forgive me while I repeat what you've already heard, but I want to explain to Hermione just what happened yesterday. It was a curse, called Athena's Dust. As you might have realized, it's main purposes are humiliation and embarrassment. If both halves of a couple are effected, then they are attracted to each other, and if some one is effected and their significant other is not, then they will be attracted to some with whom they are compatible. These couples then proceed to display varying degrees of affection in public.
"Now Remus, this next part you probably don't know, as it's a little known fact about the curse. The couple only gets as, er, intimate, as the two have already been, or, if they aren't a couple, as intimate as each would be predisposed to be, on something like a first date. This was a safe guard put into the curse so that it would cause less damage and hurt, so that it could be used strictly for humiliation purposes." Hermione could feel herself growing red as he continued.
"This is the area where things become complicated for the two of you, and for me, as the one who decides if you stay at this school. First of all Hermione, it's very lucky for Remus that you are seventeen, that's the only way I've kept the school governors from lynching Remus. I've managed to avoid that for the moment, and I hope too, because I hold both of you in highest esteem, and I hope for both of you to remain here.
"Now, I'm going to ask something, and I'd appreciate an honest answer. I'm not planning to hold it against you, but I do need the truth. Do you two have a relationship? Other than student-teacher, that is."
Remus looked ashamed as he nodded his head. "Yes, Professor."
"And Hermione, do you consent to this?"
"Remus hasn't forced me to do anything Professor." She eeked out the response, discussing her sex life with Professor Dumbledore was not something she had ever wanted to do.
"I respect both of you. I'm going to continue to tell the board that I know nothing, and I still refuse to fire anyone for something they did under a curse. Now, they may decide to interview the two of you. I think you both know what you need to tell them. I wish you both good luck in dealing with your peers. Thank you for meeting me today." Dumbledore's eyes did not lose their familiar twinkle throughout the conversation. Hermione and Remus took this as their cue to go, and they each shook the older man's hand, then exited.
Remus and Hermione were both happy to have Dumbledore on their side, but other than assuring them both places at Hogwarts, his opinion was probably not going to help them much. They walked quickly to the classroom, because it was Friday, and class was to start in fifteen minutes. Remus silently arranged his notes, as Hermione looked over the chapter the first years were to be covering. The minutes until the students arrived ticked by more quickly than either would have wished, and before long students began trickling in.
No one walked up to greet Hermione, or to ask Remus a question, as they usually did. Students found their seats, pulled out their books, and sat silently. They looked slightly embarrassed just sitting there, like they had found out a secret they didn't want to know about. The bell rang and still no one moved. "Good morning," Remus spoke pleasantly, and still no one spoke. Remus leaned across his desk to where Hermione was sitting, "So, is it just me, or do you feel like they're expecting us to go at right on top of my desk?"
"Nope, definitely not just you, and while that's not- Never mind," she stood up and focused her attention on the students. "Hey! Professor Lupin just spoke to you. Now, I realize you've probably heard several things about the two of us in the last day, that's no reason to ignore him. I promise, he's not going to jump me right in front of you. It was a curse. C-U-R-S-E, I know at least some of you have heard of those, I've heard Professor Lupin tell you about them. Now, quit sitting there like your parents just caught you looking at a dirty magazine and pay attention." She sat back in her seat, aware that she was now blushing slightly, not used to speaking out quite like that.
It worked though. It certainly got everyone's attention, and if they didn't believe Hermione, they were at least afraid enough of her to do what she said. (This was probably aided by the fact that she'd reduced a poisonous spider to shreds in a lesson the week before.) "Good morning Professor Lupin. Good morning Hermione," came the familiar chorus of many young voices.
Remus continued on with the planned lesson, after flashing a grateful smile at Hermione. Apparently that first class must have gotten the message to all the others, because the rest of the day went by peacefully. When everyone from the last class had left, at the end of the day, Hermione turned jokingly to Remus. "Now, about the whole desk scenario..."
* * *
It was several days later before the seventh year's first defense class after the curse. Hermione walked into the classroom with Ron and Harry on either side of her. They were being very protective, and it very much annoyed her, but she told herself they meant well, and tried hard not to slug either of them. As they entered the room she waved hello to Remus, just as she always did, and went to her seat. She figured it seemed less incriminating if she acted just like normal.
The bell rang, and everyone quieted. Remus noticed how much different this class was from his Friday classes. Instead of looking embarrassed, these older students seemed slightly suspicious, and also seemed to be enjoying the bit of uncertainty he projected, standing in front of them. "Good afternoon everyone. I hope that the past few days have been less stressful for you than they have for me. Please open your books to page 212. Today we'll be hearing about the-" The students were still staring at him, peculiar looks on their faces, and he'd noticed a few intermittently turning to look at Hermione.
"Okay everybody, listen up. Quit looking at me like that. It's very disconcerting to have twenty people looking at you like they know your darkest secret, and are just waiting for you to slip up and say something embarrassing. Everyone was effected by that curse. It wasn't just me. So, I won't make all of you stand up and elaborate on how you spent Thursday morning, if you refrain from oogling. If you want, I can have each and everyone of you stand up here and explain how you spent Thursday, but I don't really want to know, and I don't think you want to tell, so please stop." Remus ignored the remarks from a few immature gits in the back of the classroom who said that they'd like to hear how Hermione spent Thursday, and began his lesson.
"Today I'm going to lecture about the Lessidellia Massacre. Voldemort and his minions wiped out an entire block of a predominantly wizarding village. Instead of going after the actual people he was after, Voldemort killed many innocents. Every UK auror on duty at the time was dispatched to the scene." Remus continued his lecture, and thought less and less about just what the students might be thinking as the period wore on.
This state of ignorant bliss didn't last long enough, however. The lecture ran short, and Remus gave the class the final ten minutes of the period to do with as they pleased. Hermione made her way up to his desk to clarify a point of the massacre, and to go over lesson plans for the following Friday. Despite the innocence of this act, catcalls swept through the room. Remus had had enough.
"Okay everyone. I was trying to treat you as equals, but apparently some of you don't deserve it. To be perfectly honest, I was also trying to prevent myself the embarrassment of discussing this, but apparently you won't allow me the privilege. I'm going to be very blunt, so this is your chance to point and laugh, and after this, please refrain from any mention of Thursday in this classroom.
"This past Thursday, a curse, those spells that dark wizards cast, wrecked havoc at Hogwarts. Not one person remained uneffected. While under this curse, I slept with a student. As many of you may have figured out, it is against Hogwarts regulations for a faculty member to have a sexual relationship with a student. Because it was the result of a curse, not free will, I am not being fired, or in anyway punished. This student and I-" He looked at Hermione, who nodded almost imperceptibly. "Hermione, and I, did not have any kind of inappropriate relationship before last Thursday, and I've done nothing inappropriate since then. I have a great deal of respect for Miss Granger, and I haven't done anything of my own free will to hurt her. Now, can the matter be done with? I'd hate to have to eat anyone on the next full moon."
Harry was amazed that Remus could lie so well. He was usually a very honest person, but was now standing in front of twenty people, denying his very real relationship with Hermione. He knew Remus wouldn't ever have admitted to the relationship, but he'd figured that he would just side step the subject, not address it out loud. Before Harry had long to ponder the issue, the bell rang.
Most of the students cleared out quickly, rather eager to get away from Remus, who was embarrassing most of them with his bluntness. Harry and Hermione stuck around though, Ron had left with everyone else, because he needed to send off a quick note to his mum now that mail was allowed again. As he collected his books, Harry made sure the door had closed tightly behind hi classmates, before quietly questioning Remus. "How could you lie to everyone like that?"
Remus looked at him, a slightly mischievous smile on his face, "I didn't lie. I never said that Herm and I didn't have a relationship, I just said that it wasn't inappropriate. I love her, she loves me. There's nothing inappropriate about that." Harry just shook his head as he walked with Hermione, who was grinning, out the door.
