Disclaimer: Sigh...here we go again. Nope. It's not mine.
AN: Woot! Another update! I loved the response I had from the last chapter and I didn't want to leave you guys in suspence. As always I thank all those who reviewed! Reviews made feel better! lol. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter! Reviews are medicine! :P.
When Professor Lupin opened the wardrobe nothing could have prepared her for the form the Boggart took.
To her absolute horror and to Lupin's wide eyed shock the dead body of Cedric Diggory toppled out of the wardrobe.
Hermione sunk to the ground as the phrase "kill the spare" echoed around the office. She stared transfixed with terror at Cedric's motionless body. It was like her nightmare had left the realm of her mind and was suddenly happening in the real world. Her entire body shook and tears streamed from her eyes as she heard Harry calling Cedric's name in anguish.
"Hermione!" She barely heard Lupin calling to her for pick up her wand. Her whole being was caught up in the sick show that was in front of her.
"Cedric." She whispered. "I'm so sorry."
"Hermione, it's not real! Concentrate!" Lupin yelled to her.
"It's all my fault." She murmured. "I could have saved him… it's all my fault…"
Then, abruptly, Cedric sat up and his dead eyes locked with her tear drenched ones.
"Why won't you help me?" He asked. "Why don't you do something? Are you really just going to let me die?" The body demanded angrily.
"No…" She gasped. "I'm trying. Please, Cedric believe me, I'm trying."
"If you were really trying, Granger, then your dream would have changed. You're just going to let me die aren't you? You're not strong enough."
"I won't let you die. I won't let you die. I won't let you die." She repeated over and over again.
"Save me." He begged in a desperate voice, so different to the harsh demanding one. "Please, Granger. I don't want to die. Save me-"
Suddenly, without warning, Lupin threw himself in front of Hermione and Cedric's body disappeared and was replaced by a glowing white orb.
"Riddikulus!"Shouted Professor Lupin and the orb was transformed into a floating happy face before he banished it to the wardrobe.
Panting heavily, Lupin to around to see Hermione, knees brought up to her chest and head buried, sobbing her heart out.
"Miss. Granger…what on earth…?" He said completely lost for words.
He silently made his way over to her, knelt beside her and put an arm around her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
"All my fault. I can't save him. What am I supposed to do?" Was all Lupin could make out of what she was mumbling into her knees as she rocked back and forth.
"Hermione." Lupin said kindly. "I need to you take a deep breath all right? We need to get you calmed down."
Her hands knotted into her hair as she took deep erratic breaths.
"Try to even them out, my dear." Lupin said soothingly as he gently removed her hands from her frazzled hair. "Good." He said as her breathing gradually returned to normal. "That's better. Now, we need to get you up. I'm going to lead you over to the chair at my desk, okay?"
Hermione lifted her head and nodded.
Lupin carefully held her arms as she stood up with wobbly legs and watchfully guided her over to his desk where her gave her his own, more comfortable, chair to sit in.
"First things first." He told her and Hermione waited, terrified, for the barrage of questions he was sure to ask. "What do you take in your tea?"
Momentarily shocked out of her frame of mind she asked, "What?" In a rough, croaky voice.
"Tea helps to calm people, Hermione. I had some ready to make, just in case your Boggart scared you more then anticipated. Granted the form it took was…" He shivered slightly. "But never mind that now. What do you take in it?"
"Umm…milk…and honey if you have it."
"Of course."
Hermione watched as Lupin conjured two tea cups and stood up to move to a small wood stove to his left.
"I don't know about you, but I've always preferred making tea the Muggle way. It takes longer but the result will never match what you get when you use magic." He explained to her as he busied himself with the kettle.
Moments later, Lupin set down a steaming cup of tea in front of her. Wrapping her hands around the cup, she inhaled the scent, feeling herself relaxing almost instantaneously.
"Thank-you." She said quietly.
"You're welcome, Hermione."
They sipped their tea in silence for a few minutes before Lupin had no choice but to break it.
"You know I must ask you about the form your Boggart took."
She nodded.
"Cedric Diggory, am I correct?"
"Yes." She whispered.
Lupin looked at her warily, hoping she wouldn't burst into tears again. "Why is your greatest fear his death?"
"I…I can't say."
"What do you mean you can't?" He asked.
"I'm not allowed." She told him. "It's forbidden to tell others."
"Hermione, I really must insist. Whatever this is, it has obviously caused you a great amount of distress. You kept on saying that it's your fault. That you can't save him? Save him from what?"
She remained silent.
Lupin sighed. "Hermione. This isn't just an isolated case with you. I've noticed your exhaustion in my class. I can tell that you aren't sleeping. Trust me, I know the signs. The Boggart form mentioned something about dreams. Are you having nightmares about this?"
Hermione was at a loss. A huge part of her wanted to tell Lupin everything. She wanted someone to confide in. A human. Not a bunch of stuck up Centaurs.
"You need someone to talk to." Her heart told her. "You can trust, Professor Lupin. He can help you."
"Remember what the book said?" Her brain demanded. "Death Seers aren't allowed to tell anyone of their dreams. Terrible things could happen. Stop being so needy. You have to do this on your own!"
Hermione shook her head to clear her thoughts. Her logical brain made sense but she couldn't find herself to agree with it. Her heart was right. She needed help.
"Besides" Her heart added. "You told the centaurs and I don't see an apocalypse on the way."
"I…I've been having these nightmares." Hermione finally said.
"That involve Mr. Diggory dying in some way?"
"Not just dying. He's going to be murdered."
Lupin was confused. "What do you mean, he's going to be murdered? How can you possibly know that?"
Hermione sighed. "How much do you know about the different types of Seers?"
"A fair amount. I took Divination while at Hogwarts. " Lupin admitted.
"Have you ever heard of Death Seers?"
"Yes. In fact my Professor at the time claimed she knew one. Why?"
"Because, I'm a Death Seer." She said in a hushed voice.
Lupin looked at her incredulously. "Miss. Granger, I highly doubt-"
"It's true, Professor!" She said louder, now. "The Centaurs told me."
"The…Centaurs? You've- you've been talking to the centaurs?"
Hermione nodded. "Quite a bit, unfortunately." She sighed again. "I'll need to start from the beginning."
Lupin nodded. "Very well."
So for the next half hour, Hermione told him everything. It felt wonderful for her to be finally telling someone all that she had been going though. She only hoped that Lupin wouldn't think her mad and she prayed that he would help her.
When she finished her tale, Lupin looked convinced but remained silent.
"I just…I don't know what to do." She said almost too quietly for Lupin to hear.
Professor Lupin glanced at her. "You've been through much, Hermione. To have this burden on your own for so long…I'm very sorry."
"Me too." She told him with a small smile.
Silence once again filled the office.
"I'm not going to let him die." Hermione suddenly said, in a firm voice. "I won't let Cedric die and I won't let Harry die. I'm going to save them."
Lupin looked at her sadly. "From what I remember, Hermione. That's not going to be possible."
"I don't care!" She said heatedly jumping to her feet. "I'm so sick of everyone telling me it's impossible! The future is not set in stone! Sure, it's possible that my vision," she said the word in disgust, "could come true. But it's also possible to stop it. I don't give a damn about what the Fates want or what the Centaurs want! I only care about what Cedric and Harry want and I'm pretty sure neither of them want to be murdered in some God-forsaken, bloody graveyard!" She yelled.
Professor Lupin stared at her, obviously caught off guard by her vehemence. "Well…" He said slowly. "If anyone can defy the Fates, Hermione, it would be you. And if you let me…I'll help however I can."
She breathed a sigh of relief as she sunk back into his chair. "Thank-you."
He smiled at her over the rim of his tea cup. "Not at all, Miss. Granger. I shall do some research for you. Find out everything I can about Death Seers. I'm sure you have enough work to be getting on with as it is, without another topic to add."
"That would be very helpful, sir. But…umm…what about the marks for my Boggart spell? I know it seems petty to think about it…but I don't want to fail it."
"Do you think you can face the Boggart again?"
Hermione shivered. "Maybe 50 odd years or so." She mumbled.
He smiled at her. "We'll come up with another way for you to make up your marks then. I, personally, don't feel comfortable letting you try again."
"Thanks again, sir. This means the world to me."
"Again, you're most welcome, Hermione."
"Er…sir? You realize that you can't say anything to anyone right? I mean, me telling you was probably a bad idea. It would be for the best if no one else found out."
"I'll keep my silence, Hermione. I'm quite good at keeping secrets." He told her.
More silence, then;
"Erm…can I ask…?" She started to say.
"About my Boggart form?"
"Yes." She answered, blushing slightly.
"No need to be embarrassed, Hermione. Curiosity is only natural." He said with a twinkling smile. "My Boggart is the Moon."
She looked at him, brows furrowed. "Why are you afraid of the Moon? I've never heard of anything dangerous happening to a person because of it. Well, that is excluding Werewolves-" Hermione stopped dead and scrutinized the Professor more than she ever had. She took in his shabby appearance, his premature grey hair and his scaring on his face. "Oh my God. Sir…are you…I mean…" Lupin nodded. "Seriously?" She asked.
He smile sadly at her. "Yes. I'm afraid I am. I shall understand if you no longer want my help, Miss. Granger."
"What? Why would I not want your help?" She demanded.
He looked at her as if he were pondering her sanity. "Because of what I am."
Hermione snorted. "I don't care about that, sir. Besides the full moon was two days ago. You're perfectly safe. Also I imagine that Professor Dumbledore has arranged something to help ensure everyone's safety."
Lupin was staring at Hermione as if he'd never seen her before.
"What?" She asked a little uncomfortable under his gaze.
"You are a truly remarkable witch, Miss. Granger. You have no idea how rare it is for me to have someone find out about my condition and not hate me for it."
Hermione shrugged, embarrassed. "I just know that you're a good person, Professor. That's all that should matter." She glanced at her watch and gasped. "I'm late!" She cried, jumping to her feet.
Lupin chuckled. "Don't worry. I'll write you a note. What class are you late for?"
"Transfiguration." She informed him.
"Ah, I'm sure Professor McGonagall won't mind as long as you bring this." He said as he handed Hermione the note.
"Thanks, sir."
"And thank-you Hermione." Lupin said warmly as he walked her to the door. "I shall contact you when I've gather information on Death Seers."
"That would great, sir."
"Enjoy, your day, Miss. Granger." He told her. "And don't let this get you down. We'll figure something out."
She nodded. "Bye, Professor." She called as she walked away.
Hermione began to quicken her pace as she grew more and more late for class. Despite this fact she felt happier than she had in a long while. She finally had someone to talk to. Professor Lupin was like a gift from Merlin himself.
She broke out into a slight run after looking at her watch again and groaning at the time. Soon she was rounding the corner to the Transfiguration corridor when,
"OMFP!" She crashed into someone and fell to the floor, books scattering everywhere. "Ouch." She moaned. "Bloody hell…"
"You know we really have to stop meeting like this."
She looked up into the face of Cedric peering down, amusedly at her.
Hermione uttered a small gasp at seeing him alive again. True it had only been a stupid Boggart but the affects of it were still poignant.
She could only stare at him as he gathered he books and offered a hand to help her up.
"Kneazle got your tongue, Granger?" He asked with a smirk as he pulled her to her feet.
Without uttering a word, Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tight.
"Er…what's with the sudden affection, Hermione? Not that I'm complaining…" He said as he held her with his free arm.
"Nothing. I'm just happy to see my favourite Hufflepuff."
He chuckled into her hair. "Well, it just so happens that I'm fairly ecstatic to see my favourite Gryffindor. Especially since I was sent by her Transfiguration professor to track her down.
Hermione gasped and let go of him. "Merlin's beard! I'm even more late then before now!"
"Why were you late in the first place?" He asked as they neared the classroom.
"I had a meeting with Professor Lupin. He wrote me a note so I should be okay."
He chuckled. "Good. I'd hate to see that perfect record of yours to be forever tarnished.
She gave him a mock glare but ending up laughing.
"Thanks." She said taking her books from him.
"Have fun in class, Granger." He said as began walk away.
"Cedric!" She called.
"Yeah, Granger?" He asked, turning to face her.
She took a deep breath and plucked up her courage. "Meet me in the Library after dinner tonight?"
He smiled at her. "I'll be there."
Hermione seemed to float into Transfiguration as she handed her note to a tight lipped, McGonagall.
Oh yes, she was going to save him all right. He deserves to be saved. He deserves to live, to be happy. And maybe…just maybe…he could be happy with her.
AN: Yay, she finally as someone, besides a Centaur, to turn to. Lupin is one of my favourite characters so I'm happy to give him an important roll. I do realize that Hermione isn't supposed to know about Lupin being a Werewolf until later on, but, hey, this is an AU fan fiction, that means I get to play around a bit :). Hope you all liked what you read! Peace!