Anything recognizable is the property of J.K. Rowling. I do not make any claim to ownership, nor do I make any money from this.

Please do not read if you are not of legal age in your country. There are adult scenes, however short and to the point.


Titillando

The potion ingredients were delivered that morning and Hermione wanted to get started right away. It could be stored safely until the next full moon and she wanted to have enough time in case something went wrong. Everything went perfectly and she bottled the potion after dinner, retiring to the library for some light reading. Remus joined her after putting away dinner and insinuated himself onto the couch, laying his head in her lap.

Hermione didn't realize that she was running her fingers up and down the flat planes of the older man's chest until he let out a little sound. "Did you just purr?"

"Maybe." He cracked an eye slightly and hugged her arm to him tightly.

When she flexed her fingers on his side he jumped and stopped her hand. "Oh ho, so you're ticklish too?" Hermione grinned wickedly.

"No!" Remus tried to roll off the couch and escape but the brunette's evil fingers found his ribs again and he couldn't help but laugh heartily.

Hermione giggled too, seeing such a free expression in the normally worn out man. Hearing the laughter from down the hall, Harry and Ginny stopped snogging long enough to peek through the door at the strange sight of their former professor being tickled soundly. The young couple returned to their room and gave their friends privacy.

Lupin wriggled and pushed his head back in the younger woman's lap trying to get away. Hermione let out a gasp and removed her tormenting fingers. Given the break, the blond turned the tables and reached for the younger woman's sides.

"Remus, wait." She had her hands pressed over her thigh but he could still see the blood staining her jeans.

"I'm so sorry. What did I do?" The former professor ran his hands through his hair making it stand on end.

"Hush, it isn't the first time it's pulled open. I'll be back in a bit." Putting weight on her injured leg made it throb and at the first sign of pain Lupin was at her side, scooping her off her feet and starting for the stairs.

"I can manage by myself." The brunette Gryffindor objected.

"Of course you can, but allow me to help." He asked so sweetly that she wrapped her arm around his shoulder and leaned against him all the way to her room.

Once she was deposited on her bed and he turned to leave she found she didn't want him to. "Wait, Remus." He looked so worried that he had hurt her. "Could you get the salve from your room for me?"

He nodded and was gone in an instant. By the time he returned, warming the jar in his hands, Hermione had wriggled out of her jeans and was pointing her wand at her thigh. Lupin was fascinated by the way her creamy skin pulled together, reaching across the gap to join once more, leaving only a red slash across her leg. Wordlessly he handed her the jar and she spread the salve across the old wound.

"It's not the worst one." She said almost absentmindedly.

"May I see?"

Hermione was surprised by the request but it was only fair as she had seen his scars and a lot worse. She reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled, leaving her only clad in her plain white undergarments. Truly, she felt naked before the man who followed the puckered line across her belly and the one running vertically between her breasts. Warm fingers slid across the lattice of small scars that he followed around to her back. She knew it looked bad, but had healed relatively well.

"What did they do to you?" Lupin couldn't raise his voice above a whisper.

The young woman gestured towards her back. "Whip. Muggle, so it healed and never comes open."

She rubbed the one on her sternum. "Belatrix." And then the one on her stomach and thigh. "Slicing hex from Dolohov."

Then the worst by far was when she turned her right hand over to display her forearm. 'Mudblood' was spelled out in angry red letters.

Remus understood why she always wore long sleeves now, even when sleeping or in the sweltering heat of summer. He sank to his knees between her legs and kissed each letter etched across her skin. He could feel the raised skin under his lips and he wanted to erase the memories. One tear slipped down his cheek and landed on the inside of her wrist. Hermione slipped off the bed and wrapped her arms around the older man.

They sat for a long time until his knees began to ache and he shifted painfully. "Let's get you up from this floor. It must be murder on your knees."

When they stood both of his knees popped like a shotgun. "If they weren't already dead, I would kill them myself."

"I think you did take down Dolohov. But I've made my peace with it." She shrugged picking up the salve again. "Why don't I put some in your back? It seems to do you a lot of good."

Hermione tried to find a comfortable position next to the lycanthrope but the scar on her thigh still ached and tingled if she pulled the skin too tight. So once Remus had settled on his stomach, his shirt removed, she threw a leg over his hips and straddled him. If he was surprised at the action, he didn't mention anything so she dipped her fingers into the jar and smoothed it over his skin.

As the salve was absorbed, Hermione used her position to massage more firmly than she had in the past and she was rewarded by his groans of enjoyment. At one point he even requested she push down harder just inside his shoulder blades. When she did, she felt a loud pop go through the joints and he relaxed even further. By the time she was done she wondered if he was going to melt and form a puddle on her bed.

Sighing, she laid down across his broad back and rested her cheek between his shoulder blades. His skin was warm and she absentmindedly placed a little kiss on his back. "What's up?" He was slightly muffled against her pillow.

"Thinking." She finally answered after a moment of silence.

"Has anyone told you that you think too much?"

"Quite often actually."

He could feel her chuckle above him. "So what are you thinking about?"

"How easily I could fall for you, Remus."

The honesty of her answer rather startled him as he had been thinking the same thing, but he wasn't ready to say it out loud so bluntly. "Good, 'cause you make a great blanket." He wiggled into the bed playfully.

"Typical man, already stealing my bed."

"Hardly. You're using me as a mattress."

"I suppose I am." Hermione stretched up and brushed her lips over the nape of his neck.

The effect was instantaneous. Goosebumps sprung up across his neck and arms and he growled appreciatively. "Careful witch."

The brunette breathed softly over his skin and continued to trace patterns with her lips. "Do you like that Moony?"

Remus startled slightly. He hadn't been aware that the young woman could distinguish between his personalities. When he was in school, it had been just a nickname, but as an adult it had come to mean his wolfish, more primal side. Tonks had always avoided him when Moony was particularly strong, but Hermione seemed to actively try to encourage the beast. He honestly wasn't sure what he thought about that.

Hermione noticed that the man she was teasing seemed to be lost in thought and stopped nibbling on his ear. "Remus?"

When the older man shifted to look back at her, the brunette rolled to the side and watched his face. "Sorry, miles away."

"When I called you Moony?" Her expression was closed, but not guarded. She was clearly so afraid of making a mistake.

"I'm not used to him being accepted openly."

"I understand." Hermione slipped one small hand into his and blinked sleepily.

"You go ahead and sleep, I'm going to take a shower." The werewolf gently extricated himself from the younger Gryffindor's bed and headed for his room.

She was deeply asleep when he emerged from the bathroom and as much as he wanted to crawl into bed with her, he didn't want to disturb her. Remus laid down in his cold bed and stared at the ceiling. On one hand, he had never intended to think of Hermione in any other way than platonically, but she had insinuated herself into his mind and refused to be pushed away.