Recap chap 6

Hermione reluctantly freed Remus. He looked uncomfortable but a smile ghosted his lips.

Her cheeks tinged a bit now remembering her satisfaction at having Lupin's hand on her head. It was soft and light just as it had been on her waist moments ago. Someone cleared their throat nearby, reminding them both that they weren't alone. Two scarlet faces turned towards Harry's amused one. "Dinner." The five got to their feet, now joined by Neville and Luna. They headed down to the Great Hall together.

Chap 7

Remus was nearly bouncing on his toes walking beside Hermione. She was uncommonly aware of how close their hands were where they swung at their sides. Entering the Great Hall, however, put a damper on his spirits. He glanced at the ceiling and was aware of how soon the moon would rise filling his body with the familiar searing pain. The meal passed as quickly and quietly as was normal. Looking up to the staff table he saw Professor McGonagall nod at him which he returned. "I'll see you all…after." He said glumly getting to his feet.

"Wait, Remus. I'll walk you out." Hermione rushed to him. "Are you going to the Shrieking Shack?" She was rummaging in her backpack.

"Yes. It's the only safe place." He stopped walking when they reached the door. "Hermione, I don't want you to come out there with me."

"Oh." She looked taken aback.

"It's not you. I just-it's not exactly safe. I don't want you to get hurt." He was watching his shoes, taking notice a new spot where the sole was separating from the rest. His parents had never had much money especially since his father lost his Ministry job once they found out about Remus' condition. He felt guilty when he asked for new things like shoes. He waited until they absolutely fell apart before asking for another pair. He would have to try another sticking charm in the next few days.

"Remus." She waited until he looked up and met her eyes. "Here." She handed him a small vial of potion. "I've been told it tastes awful. Make you sure you swallow it all."

"What is it?"

"Wolfsbane potion. It'll allow you to keep your mind when you transform. It doesn't help with the pain though. I'm sorry but no one's invented a potion for that yet." She looked at him closely. "It's very important you don't tell anyone about this. It's-I'm tampering with the timeline but you shouldn't have to suffer when it's unnecessary. Drink it quickly. It needs time to enter your bloodstream before the transformation begins." He sniffed it and coughed. "I told you it's terrible, but it's worth it."

"Says who?" He looked unsure.

"You." He licked his lips then downed it in one. After swallowing, he coughed again. "Sorry."

"Thank you, Hermione." His nose flared as he scented the evening air. "I have to go. It's not far off now." She nodded and offered a small smile. Just as he was opening the door, she grabbed his wrist, stopping him. "Hermione?" He glanced at the sky. Again, she nodded but gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Biting her lip she turned and ran back up the stairs. He touched his cheek where her lips had been only seconds before and smiled all the way to the Whomping Willow. The familiar tree sobered him and urged him to make haste into the tunnel. It would be very soon now.

Hermione watched from an upper level window as Remus hurried off. She had considered offering to join him in her animagus form but knew he would refuse her company. Besides considering she was a finch he might try to eat her as a snack. Her lips still tingled after touching Remus' cheek. It was softer than she would have imagined. She was a little shocked at herself for that second kiss. The first had been purely platonic, seeking to comfort a hurting friend. But the second was impulsive and had nothing to do with friendship. He probably hadn't noticed the difference anyway, so what was she worried about. She waited until he disappeared underneath the tree before going back to the common room.

Her friends were all sitting near the fireplace, lounging around. No one seemed to take notice of Luna in Gryffindor common room anymore. At first people were surprised and a couple were upset that a Ravenclaw was there. But after the first few weeks of term when they realized it wasn't going to change they got used to seeing her. Neville even told her the password though she never used it. He often visited her in Ravenclaw tower, too. But, he could never get in alone. He always had trouble with the riddle. They were sitting snuggly in an oversized arm chair. Harry and Ginny were on the floor again, leaning against the couch where Ron sat. There was a pretty blonde sitting next to him. She was a sixth year named Bianca, and she appeared surprised to find herself there holding hands with Ron. Hermione had known for a while that Ron was interested in the somewhat quiet girl. They had been sneaking through the halls one night after Hermione left the library. She had promised not to say anything about catching them snogging. But she was glad that he had finally stopped hiding their relationship.

Approaching the group, Hermione felt a bit sad that she was the only one without a partner. There was nothing to be done about it though; she simply wasn't interested in any of the guys in their class. And she didn't fancy herself with a younger boy. She sat on the floor near Neville and Luna and one of them patted her shoulder. "He'll be okay, Hermione, don't worry." Neville gave her another pat. She smiled at him and nodded her head. Her thoughts drifted off to Remus again. Strangely this time it wasn't to the young man alone in the Shrieking Shack. She thought of the older man, still alone, probably locked in the Weasley's cellar.

"Hermione!" Ron shook her shoulder roughly. She came out of her daze and gave him a dirty look. "Sorry, we called your name like five times, though." He shrugged his shoulders. "We're off to bed." He gestured beside him to Harry. The rest seemed to have already wandered off.

"Oh, alright. Me too." She headed up to her dorm room and pulled the curtains shut before anyone could talk to her.

Morning arrived and she hauled herself down to breakfast joining her already present friends. "Is he in the Hospital Wing?"

"Yep." Harry seemed to have a rough night too. After eating they went to visit Remus before classes. He was lying in bed with the covers pulled up to his chin. He was awake though. "Hey Mate, how are you?" They circled his bed pulling up chairs.

"Good. Tired though." He yawned. Pulling himself up in the bed he saw Madam Pomphrey coming. "Uh-oh, here she comes." He it said quietly. "She keeps asking me questions about last night." He looked at Hermione pointedly.

"Oh no." She groaned as the healer stopped beside them.

"Children, may I have a word?" She paused to make sure she had everyone's attention. She mostly focused on Hermione, however. "It has come to my attention that someone may have slipped Mr. Lupin a certain potion last night. And while I will say that it was very irresponsible and dangerous, it was also very kind." All of their heads snapped up to make sure they were hearing her correctly. "I will not condone this behavior, messing with the time line and brewing potions that are far beyond you, but I will also not report you. I must caution you, Miss Granger, to be very careful about this sort of thing in the future." She raised her eyebrows still narrowing in on Hermione who nodded her head that she understood. "Very well. Now, if you please, Mr. Lupin had a long night and he needs his rest."

"When will you let him out?" Harry questioned.

"I think he'll be ready by dinnertime." She turned on her heal and walked away.

"How did she know?" Ron asked.

"I've never not injured myself before." Remus' voice betrayed his surprise and relief when he woke to promise of no new scars. "It was amazing though, I remember everything." He opened his mouth to continue but Madam Pomphrey interrupted him by clearing her throat and glancing at the door. "Sorry guys, I guess you had better go."

"Yeah, we can't let Hermione be late for class; she'll never let us hear the end of it."

"Oh shut up, Ron." She grumbled at their smiles. They all rose but before she could Remus placed a very light hand on her knee where she sat beside him. "Yes?"

"Could you stay a second?" He mumbled, turning a bit pink.

"Of course." The others nodded their heads and left, Harry wearing a big smile. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes. I just wanted to thank you. I've never felt that at peace on a full moon. Knowing that I wasn't going to escape and hurt anybody is the best gift anyone could possibly give me." He bit his lip. "I'll never be able to repay you-"

"You're welcome, Remus. You don't have to repay me. That's what friends do for each other." She softly patted his hand where it rested on her knee. They just sat looking at each other for a nearly a minute before Remus cleared his throat and looked down at their hands.

"Hermione, do you think, that maybe, assuming I'm still here this weekend, would you like to, um. What I mean to say, is-"

"Remus." She interrupted him. "Do you want to go to Hogsmeade together?" Nervousness now creeping in where only seconds before had been confidence. What If he wasn't thinking of Hogsmeade at all? Maybe he was going to ask if I'd make him more Wolfsbane for next month.

"Yes." She barely heard him. "If you do, that is." He was still gazing at their hands which lay comfortably on her knee.

"I'd love to." She smiled broadly when he at last looked up at her with wide eyes. A slow smile gradually lit his face. And once again he started to say something when a throat clearing could be heard. They both sighed. "Alright, I had better go." She leaned forward and placed another kiss on his cheek. God, he smells good. Like grass and something else that was vaguely familiar but she couldn't place. "See you at dinner." He nodded a hand on the cheek she had kissed.

Classes passed fairly quickly and she was looking forward to dinner. "Hey, Hermione." Harry ran to catch her before she could go up the dorm stairs. "I just wanted to make sure-. I mean, it's not like he's-" He sighed heavily. "Hermione, he's going home, right?" Her stomach sunk like a rock as she realized where he was leading this, but she only nodded her head. "It's great, what you two have. But, love, he's a different man now. Not to mention nearly 20 years older." She bit her lip still not responding. "I just don't want you to get hurt." He sighed giving her a short hug and started to turn.

"But what if-what if he's worth it?" She gulped not believing she was talking to Harry about this. He looked at her, surprised. "Well?" She asked when he didn't answer.

"Then I'd say that's completely your decision to make. But try not to hurt him, either."

"I know." She whispered.

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A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you like it. The updates might slow down a bit because that's the end of what I already had written. I'm a good ways into chapter 8 though. Hopefully, I'll get it up in 3-4 days. Anyway, please leave me a review. I'm not kidding when I say they makes me giddy.

Amrawo: Thanks!

Lepusia: Thanks! I've always heard my brothers and their friends talk about stuff like that happening and how they covered for each other so the girls wouldn't notice.

Bored2death: hmmm…? I don't know, not a bad idea. But I'm rubbish at stuff like that, I'd really have to think on it for a while. Thanks for reading. But beware, Remus/Hermione fics are addictive. I didn't use to back them either but hey after reading a few good fics, now I'm writing them. lol

Twinsie: Me too!!!

Lady Zymurgy: Thanks!

Megan Consoer: Thanks! And yup that's the plan.

Ms.Vamp: Thanks! I plan on having some more interaction between Lupin/Hermione. Oh! For future reference to keep myself from getting too confused I generally refer to old Remus as Lupin and young as Remus because I don't like calling him old. Hehe

Felena 1971: I've let Albus RIP but I'll have to add Fred to that list as well. I love him, just can't seem to let go. I wouldn't mind a visit to that island. We'll have to schedule a trip sometime.

Ichigo: Thanks! I considered going more into detail about Tonks but I figured Lupin is too private a person for that. Of course he remembers, wouldn't be as much fun if he didn't. He's already realized that his younger self has arrived by Hermione's reaction to him in the fire.

Black-Rose23: Thanks!

MMirazBA: I'd say Lupin was reminded with full force when he returned to Hogwarts to teach in Hermione's 3rd year. But of course none of it had happened yet for her. Well, that was the full moon chapter, hope it wasn't too disappointing.

Forgetful Love: Thanks! Honestly, did you expect me to answer those questions? Because, I am sooooo not gonna. But I will say that at least one of those is a serious possibility. That's all you get! Wow, 10/10! Awesome!