A Year to Remember

By Ange de Socrates

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, nor do I own the much-anticipated Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, of which J.K. Rowling has just announced the completion. I'd be much obliged if I could own a copy of it, though, if not one of that characters... (cough, Snape, cough)

WARNING: This chapter is most definitely R-rated. Do not read if sexual innuendo is offensive to you.

Chapter Seven – Good Old-Fashioned Lover Girl


AFTER THE SORTING FEAST, Draco and Hermione were escorted to their rooms by the headmaster himself.

"This is where you two will be staying for the year," he explained as they arrived at the end of what seemed like the hundredth corridor. "There is a common area that branches off into two separate bedrooms and lavatories. I'm sure you won't have any trouble figuring out whose room is whose. Oh, and there are two passages that lead to your respective house common rooms." Dumbledore looked up at the painting, which seemed to be of the French countryside. Cows were grazing in the distance, and several mooed lazily at the three of them. "Nil illegitimus carborundum."

The painting dissolved, and the new Head Boy and Girl stepped into their room.

"I trust you two will act like the respectable young adults that I know you to be," Dumbledore added, giving Draco a pointed look. The young Malfoy glared at the headmaster's retreating back before the portrait replaced itself.

"Old coot," he muttered.

"Be nice, Draco." Hermione stepped further into their new living quarters. The common area was decorated in hues of blue, supposedly since green and red would clash if combined. A large fireplace stood on one side of the room with several plump chairs and a couch surrounding it. Two desks were positioned at opposite ends of that half of the room, and a small kitchenette covered the other half.

Hermione went up the large staircase on the left side of the room, and Draco went up the right. She found two doors at the top. One was large and marble with a lion on it and a torch next to it, and the other was an ebony door with a gold knocker. She chose to enter this one first, as it looked less foreboding than the other.

Inside, a king-sized gold-framed bed stood against the left wall with sheets of burgundy silk. A fireplace loomed opposite with spare logs stacked next to it. An ebony armoire stood on the far 

side of the room, and to the right of the door was a vanity with a full-length mirror. Hermione blinked in awe at the sheer size of her new home.

"Merlin's whiskers," she breathed, stepping fully into the room and shut the door behind her.

"Good evening," a voice boomed from behind her.

Hermione squeaked and turned. "Good heavens!"

The marble lion that had been on the other door had popped into this one and was staring right at her. "Sorry to frighten you. I just need you to set a password for your room."

"Oh." Hermione thought a moment, staring into the fireplace. "Toasted werewolf," she finally decided.

The lion gave her an amused look. "Odd. But that will do for now." He disappeared through the door, and Hermione heard him snap into place on the other side.

"Where is the bathroom?" Hermione wondered aloud. She walked across the room and found another door to the left of the fireplace. "Must be this one."

She was correct in her assumption. An enormous marble bathroom stretched out before her, complete with a pool-sized bath, a shower with a bench, and a mirror completely covering one wall. Hermione leaned against the wall, a silly grin plastered on her face. The bathroom was bigger than her sleeping quarters!

Feeling as if she would faint from excitement, Hermione went back into her bedroom and found her suitcase on her bed and her trunk at the foot of it. She quickly unpacked with a flick of her wand and then walked back out to the common area. Draco had already sprawled himself across the couch and was eating a bag of crisps.

"What took you so long?" he mumbled, crumbs flying everywhere.

Hermione gave him a disgusted look. "I was unpacking." She looked at her watch. "I'll be back. I'm going to go say goodnight to my friends."

Draco grunted in response. The Head Girl rolled her eyes and went back upstairs to the dodgy-looking door. The lion winked at her and opened the door, nodding its head toward the torch. Hermione picked it up and entered the dark passage before her, jumping as the heavy door scraped shut.

"Creepy," she said aloud, her voice reverberating off the stone walls. She took a step forward cautiously, holding the light out before her. She took out her wand, just in case, and continued down the passage for what seemed like ages until she reached another door.

Hermione emerged behind the curtains in the Gryffindor common room. She set her torch in the holder beside the door and peeked out. Sure enough, there were Harry, Ginny, and Ron, with Lavender, of course, playing wizard chess.

"Hi, guys," she said cheerfully.

"Hey, Hermione!" Ginny bubbled. "Harry's getting his arse kicked."

"Am not!" Harry said indignantly. "Here, Gin, take over for a minute."

Harry stood and walked Hermione over to a quiet corner. "Do you remember at King's Cross, when Ron and I said we hadn't told you everything?"

"Yes," Hermione recalled, raising an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, we...we knew that Draco would be Head Boy," Harry admitted.

Hermione shrugged. "And?"

Harry frowned. "That's it. Aren't you..."

"Upset?" Hermione laughed. "Why would I be, Harry?"

"Well, we should have told you, but we didn't want to worry you."

"It's fine, Harry, honestly. You shouldn't be worried over silly trifles like that."

"Good." Harry hugged her and kissed her forehead. "It does seem kind of stupid, doesn't it?"

"Just a bit."

Harry looked her over. "You've changed, Hermione."

The witch frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. You seem...happier, I guess."

Hermione smiled brightly. "I have a lot of things to be grateful for."

A few minutes later, Hermione bade her friends goodnight and went back down the passage. There was no sign of Draco in the common area. Probably had a heart attack after all the junk he's eaten today. She was about to open her door when the lion spoke to her.

"You have a visitor in there," he told her. "Your toasted werewolf, I believe."

Hermione beamed and quickly opened the door. "Remus!" she squealed, kicking the door shut behind her.

The figure in the room was tackled to the bed with an "oomph!"

"I've missed you so much!" she gushed, punctuating each word with a kiss.

"It's been, what, three hours?" Remus laughed, holding her tightly against his chest.

"I don't care. I got spoiled over the summer."

Remus smiled and kissed her thoroughly. "So did I. I can't stay, but I just wanted to make sure you'd gotten yourself settled. And that you hadn't torn Malfoy to shreds yet."

Hermione giggled. "Not quite. He's working on being polite. Although, he could work on eating with his mouth shut..."

Remus raised an eyebrow and chose not to inquire. "Sleep well, love." He kissed her once more.

"Goodnight," Hermione called as he left. As soon as the door clicked shut, she started giggling hysterically into her pillow. So this is what love does to you, she thought jubilantly. Wait a minute...love? She sat straight up. "Love?"

The thought had never occurred to her. She and Remus had always called each other "love," but had never actually said I love you. She knew her feelings for him were strong, but...

"I'm in love," she whispered happily. "I'm in love! I'm in love!" She laughed boisterously and danced around the room. She continued her dance into the bathroom, singing the same phrase over and over as she washed her face and brushed her teeth. "Love, love, love," she sang. "Love, love, love. Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love..." She giggled. "There's nothing you can do that can't be done. Nothing you can sing that can't be sung. There's nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the game. It's easy..." At this point, Hermione jumped onto her bed.

"All you need is love! All you need is love! All you need is love, love, love is all you need."

She bounced down onto the bed and crawled under the sheets, giggling. "I love him," she said again, turning out her light and reveling in the foreign, yet pleasant, feeling. "Goodnight, Remus."


"Hey Hermione, Ron and I are going to run over to Fortescue's. You want to come along?"

"No thanks, I'll just stay here." Hermione was sitting at a table in the Leaky Cauldron. It was the summer before her sixth year. She and her friends had finished shopping for their supplies, and Hermione was looking through her books, as usual. Harry and Ron left for the ice cream shop, and Hermione was left in the quiet pub. When they didn't return after an hour, she went up 

to her room to take a shower. The Floo network had been a lot dirtier than usual. She stripped off her clothes and opened the shower, only to find him waiting for her.

Hermione screamed with all her might, but Lucius Malfoy slammed her against the wall, knocking the wind out of her.

"Do you really think I didn't put silencing charms on the room?" he said with a sadistic smirk.

Hermione tried desperately to catch her breath and fight off her attacker. "What do you want?"

"To teach you a lesson!" Lucius pushed her on the floor. Hermione began crying and whimpering.

"Get off me!" she shrieked.

"Shut up, you filthy Mudblood bitch!" Lucius slapped her face, and she cried out in pain. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping he would just leave. She heard him pulling down his trousers. He started to position himself over her, but a sudden knock on the bathroom door stopped him. He yanked his pants back up and kicked Hermione in the ribs.

"Next time you won't be so lucky, you Mudblood whore." With that, Lucius Disapparated, and Hermione crawled to the wall and wrapped a towel around her sore, shaking body. A few seconds later, Harry and Ron busted the door open and found the weeping girl.

"Hermione, are you okay? What happened?"

"Hermione!"

Hermione jerked awake and punched the air in front of her, surprised to find herself make contact with human flesh. She pounced on the light and switched it on, only to see Remus clutching his face at the foot of the bed.

"Blimey, Hermione, what was that for?"

"God, I'm so sorry!" Hermione rushed to Remus and summoned a wet washcloth from the bathroom, placing it on his nose. "I just thought you were someone else...I was having a terrible nightmare."

Remus frowned. "About what?"

Hermione realized a tear was running down her cheek, and she hurriedly wiped it away. "Nothing. It was silly."

"It's not silly, Hermione." Remus pulled her into a hug. "Look, today was stressful, and I'm sure that a lot of memories came back that you hoped wouldn't return." Hermione nodded into his shoulder and sniffled. "But I'm here now. Bloody nose and all."

Hermione laughed and pulled away. "I'm really sorry about that." She pinched the bridge of his nose and pulled out her wand, murmuring a charm to make the blood clot faster.

Say it.

Hermione felt a strange feeling in her stomach. It was like terror and joy all at once. She looked up at Remus, and the feeling became more intense at the warm look he was giving her.

Now.

"Remus," she began, tears building up in her eyes.

"Yes?"

This is your time.

She smiled, and his heart fell to pieces. Beautiful, beautiful pieces. "I love you."

The silence that followed was almost painful. Remus was in shock. A creature like him deserved no love.

"Oh, Hermione, I love you, too," he whispered, pulling her against him. How could such a wonderful thing, something so full of strength and goodness, love him? A single tear dropped from his eye into her hair, and she let it all flow out. They lay holding each other until both gave in to the sleep that pulled insistently at the corners of their eyes.


REMUS WOKE UP that morning around five. He blinked sleepily and realized there was an arm around his waist.

Shit. He gently removed the limb and climbed silently out of bed, creeping to the door and out to the common area, keeping a keen eye out for Draco. Seeing that the coast was clear, he went downstairs to his own rooms and took a quick shower. As he toweled his hair dry, he contemplated love.

Love. I'm in love. Why?

"Why?" He paused, dripping all over the carpet. "Because she's amazing, that's why!" He snorted and finished drying off. "She's beautiful, and strong, and brave, and kind, and she can see some good in this old werewolf!"

No one's been able to do that since Sirius.

Remus looked angrily in the mirror. It was all his fault that Sirius had been hit. If he hadn't let him block that curse...

"Gah! I'm in love! No more thoughts of darkness." After all, he couldn't be angry and in love at the same time. Men simply aren't capable of multitasking.


HERMIONE AWOKE TO the sound of her wind-up alarm clock buzzing. She caught it just before it hit the floor and groaned. The first thing she realized was that she had a horrible ache at the bottom of her back. The second thing she realized was that she was alone.

"He probably woke up earlier and left to get ready," her logical side said aloud.

He probably decided I'm an ugly beast and left me because he made a mistake, thought the irrational, untrusting side of her that appears only when a woman is in love.

"Shut up, Hermione." She walked into the bathroom and took a warm shower. "He doesn't think you're an ugly beast. I mean, look at these abs!" She poked her flat stomach several times as if to prove her point.

Sex.

The word fell heavily into her mind, and the weight of it nearly made Hermione collapse.

"No..."

Why would he want to have sex with me? Oh, right...He's a GUY!

"Damn, damn, damn, damn."

Does he want to have sex with me? Am I sexually appealing to him? Do I want to have sex with him? What if he thinks I'm repulsive? What if he thinks I'm a prude? What if he thinks I'm a slut?

It wasn't as if Hermione had any issues with sex before marriage – she was of the opinion that it strengthened a relationship and had a knack for exposing hidden truths. However, she'd never cared as much for any man as she did for Remus, and things that had once seemed so deceptively simple were suddenly incredibly complicated.

"Love stinks," Hermione sighed. "Too much thinking involved."

If Harry and Ron had heard their brainy friend say such a thing, they would have been dead on the spot. Luckily, that was the only time Hermione would ever utter those words in her life.

As soon as she was dressed, Hermione walked out to the common area's kitchenette, not really feeling like walking down to the Great Hall to retrieve her breakfast. Moments after she had finished poaching her eggs and frying her chips, music blasted loudly from the room opposite hers.

The music stopped, and Draco shuffled down the stairs in only his boxers. He opened the fridge, pulled out some orange juice and a banana, and started for the stairs again.

"Bohemian Rhapsody?"

"Bite me, Mudblood."

Hermione shook her head, grinning, as the sleepy, messy-haired boy retreated to his room.

Twenty minutes later, Draco was back downstairs looking much more alert than before.

"How did you do it?" Hermione inquired, finishing her butty as she read the Daily Prophet.

"Recorded it on my wand. It's my alarm."

"I see." Hermione was secretly impressed, but refused to admit it.


AFTER BREAKFAST, Hermione walked down to the Great Hall and picked up her schedule. She joined Harry and Ron to compare, and she glanced at the High Table. Remus sat with an odd expression on his face as he poked at his potatoes. She frowned and pondered what was wrong.

"Earth to Hermione," Ron teased, waving the parchment in front of her face. "I said, what do you have after lunch?"

Hermione blinked and shook her head. "I don't know. Let me check..."

"Miss Granger," came a voice from behind her.

Hermione turned and mentally groaned at the sight of the smirking face. "Yes, Professor Snape?"

"Might I have a word with you?"

"Certainly." She turned to her friends. "I'll see you in class." She followed Snape out of the Great Hall and to his office, where she was directed to take a seat.

"Professor Dumbledore has informed me that it might be best if you had a small store of Dreamless Sleep potion," Snape started. "So I shall oblige. However, if I find that you are selling the potion or otherwise abusing your privilege, you will be punished to the full extent of my powers. Is this clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. I will provide you with the potion after dinner on the sixteenth. Be here at seven."

"Yes, sir," Hermione repeated.

"You are dismissed."

Hermione nodded and went to leave.

"Oh, Miss Granger?"

She turned to face her professor.

"I am...truly sorry," he said, straining at the kindness of the words coming out of his cold mouth. "If it had been up to me, Lucius Malfoy would have been dead twenty-some years ago."

Hermione nodded and fled. How long would it take for people to stop telling her they were sorry? And why of all people would Snape apologize? Remus had mentioned that he was a different person than the one she saw in class – but how could Snape suddenly forget that he was conversing with the bookworm that caused him so much anguish?


THE FIRST DAY of classes had Hermione exhausted. She had finished her own work and had badgered her two best friends into doing theirs as well, and now she was lounging on her bed in comfortable pajamas in front of the fire. There was a knock at the door, and Hermione hesitantly went to open it.

"Hey," she said awkwardly.

"Hey." Remus peeked in. "Can I..."

"Oh, sure!" Hermione opened the door all the way and let Remus in. "How do you keep sneaking in here?"

Remus shrugged. "I have my methods." Truthfully, it wasn't such a big secret as he made it out to be – professors were given a master password each year.

They sat down on the bed together, and Remus put his arm around her shoulder.

So he doesn't regret it! Hermione thought happily. She snuggled closer to him.

"How was your day?" Remus asked softly, lighting a fire in the fireplace with his wand.

"Not bad. Stressful." Hermione yawned. "How about yours?"

"Pretty good. They're just how I remember them."

"Rambunctious and uncooperative?"

"Intelligent and responsive," Remus said, grinning.

Hermione giggled. "I see."

They fell back onto the bed together and stared into each other's eyes. Hermione was the first to laugh.

"You're getting lovey-dovey on me," she teased.

Remus chuckled. "I know. I told you already, I'm just a hopeless romantic."

Hermione snuggled against his collarbone and shut her eyes. "So tired," she whispered.

"Me, too," Remus whispered back.

Maybe I can just shut my eyes for a few minutes, Remus thought. Just a few...

Hermione woke up around three that morning and found Remus still next to her. She smiled, yawned, and went back to sleep.


HERMIONE'S BIRTHDAY was only two weeks into the first term. Ginny bought her a cosmetics kit, Hagrid sent her Belgian chocolates, and her parents gave her several new blouses and skirts, along with a slinky black dress from her mum that would have made her old, prudish self blush. Harry and Ron had enchanted balloons to follow her around all day (at least, until Snape had popped them in Potions), but didn't give her their big present until dinner.

"Open it!" Ron said eagerly as Harry handed her an envelope. Hermione raised an eyebrow as she ripped open the top. She pulled out the enclosed paper, read it, and began to tear up.

"You guys," she threw her arms around her best friends, "Are amazing!"

"What did they get you?" Neville finally asked, near bursting with curiosity.

Hermione laughed jubilantly. "A trip to Italy!"

"We've kind of neglected you lately, with the war and all," Harry admitted. "And we know how much you've wanted to go."

"Happy birthday, Hermione!" Ron concluded, giving Hermione another hug.

"Thank you!" Hermione laughed. "Thank you so much!"


HERMIONE'S FAVORITE PRESENT came from a certain werewolf that evening as they sat in her room in front of the fire. Remus handed her a small box, and for one fearful moment, Hermione was afraid he was going to propose.

"Open it," Remus echoed Ron, a big grin on his face.

Hermione nervously unwrapped the box and opened it slowly. "Oh, Remus!"

Inside the box was a beautiful locket on a gold chain. The young witch picked it up gingerly and fingered the patterns etched into it.

"It's gorgeous!" Hermione breathed, grinning from ear to ear.

"Ah, but you haven't seen the best part of it." Remus nodded his head, and Hermione gave him a puzzled look as she opened the locket. On one side of it, "Innamorata" was engraved in flowing script, and on the other side was a picture of Remus and Hermione when they had gone to Phantom of the Opera.

Hermione began to cry. "Remus, I..."

Remus wrapped his arms around her. "I'd hoped you would like it," he whispered into her hair.

"I love it! And I love you, too." She reached up and placed a soft kiss on his lips, which turned into another kiss, which turned into a deeper, more passionate kiss.

Remus' eyes fluttered at the intensity of the kiss. Something was happening - something magical. Something...

"Hermione," he muttered, breaking away. "I don't want to..."

"I thought we already had this conversation," Hermione protested. "I'll tell you if I'm uncomfortable!"

"But I just don't..."

Hermione huffed indignantly. "I'm so tired of people treating me like I'm going to break! Let me make my own choices, Remus Lupin. I don't make any for you." Hermione stormed off into her bathroom and slammed the door.

Remus slumped onto the bed. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. She was right, after all. It was her life, her choice. If she wanted him to stop, all she had to do was say the word. And Hermione Granger was incredibly good at opening her mouth and speaking her opinion.

With his especially fine-tuned senses (it was nearly his "time of the month"), Remus could hear small sobs coming from the bathroom. He walked over and knocked gently on the door, hoping she would let him apologize.

"Go away," came the muffled reply, followed by another sob.

Apparently not. Remus shook his head and took his leave, knowing that it was best to give the witch her space. He had really blown it, and he knew it.

Meanwhile, Hermione sat inside the empty bathtub, crying bitter tears. Everyone thought she was a fragile doll because of what Lucius Malfoy had done to her. She was still the same Hermione! Just a stronger, wiser one.

"This is stupid," Hermione thought aloud. "There's no need to cry about it. Yelling, yes, but not crying."

Bath. The thought calmed her riled spirits. Hermione stepped out of the tub and turned on the tap. Within seconds, the tub was filled with warm water and fluffy lavender bubbles.

The young witch quickly stripped and lowered herself into the tub. She sighed happily and settled in. However, the peace was almost instantly broken by the sound of a knock on the door.

Hermione narrowed her eyes and jumped out of the bath, water and bubbles sloshing everywhere. She wrapped a burgundy towel around herself and threw open the door.

"I thought I told you to piss o-- Oh, Professor!"

Snape stood on the other side of the door, looking very upset indeed. "I have no need to empty my bladder, Miss Granger. But thank you anyway."

Hermione flushed the same color of the towel that separated her female parts from Snape's black eyes. "I'm very sorry, Professor Snape. I thought you were...someone else."

Snape smirked. "I wonder who."

Hermione frowned. "I don't make it a point to disclose the details of my love life to anyone, Professor. I'm sure it would bore you to tears."

"Quit playing stupid, girl," Snape growled. "I know your secret. You and that wolf boy have been playing Romeo and Juliet."

For one of the few times in her life, Hermione was speechless. She stood, mouth open, trying to think of a decent rebuttal, but nothing came.

"Anyway, you forgot to retrieve your potion this evening, so I, in a moment of complete idiocy, thought something might have happened to you. Silly me; it's obvious you were only having a lover's spat." Snape cleared his throat. "The potion is on your bed." He turned to go.

"Professor!" Snape paused and looked back. Hermione had tears in her eyes. "You won't..."

Snape gave an amused snort. "No, Miss Granger," he said slowly. "I may find the information useful at another time. No need to waste a flu potion on the common cold." He turned around abruptly and shut the door quickly behind him.

Hermione stood shocked in the doorway, unsure of whether to be grateful or worried. She decided on grateful for the time being and went back to her bath.


REMUS SAT BROODING in his favorite easy chair by the fire. He swirled his glass of whiskey on the rocks, feeling rather sorry for himself. No, not sorry - he was actually feeling quite stupid. Hermione had told him over the summer that she would tell him if she was uncomfortable. He should have trusted her to know for herself.

He sighed. To think, he could be holding his witch close, breathing in her scent as they dozed together. Instead, he was drinking himself silly, alone and miserable.

"All by myself," he sang softly. "Don't want to be all by myself - anymore." He snorted. Then he chuckled. And then he laughed. Hard. The stupidity of the situation had finally caught up with him. It was actually quite hilarious. Here sat a thirty-something werewolf, ready to drink himself into a coma, verbally bitch-slapped by his girlfriend, and singing to himself. Pathetic.

There was a sudden knock on the door, and Remus was forced to calm himself. He carried his glass to the door and peeked out.

"Severus," he greeted.

"Lupin," Snape returned curtly. He glanced down at the glass, now nearly empty. "Nursing your wounds with liquor? I should have known."

"Did you have a legitimate reason for coming here, or were you just looking for a fight? Because if it's the latter, I'd prefer to continue my nursing," Remus muttered, rubbing his temple with his free hand.

"Oh, I have a reason," Snape drawled. "I just felt you should know that your girlfriend is incredibly distraught. You should apologize. Girls like that."

Remus' eyes flashed. "Pardon me?"

"Could I make it any clearer? Granger's bawling her eyes out because of you."

It was only when the glass shattered that Remus realized how tightly he had been gripping it. "Who are you to give relationship advice, Snape? And what were you doing to gain knowledge of her current state of mind?" he growled. "Keep your nose out of this!"

Snape smirked. "Normally, I wouldn't care. However, as she is my student, I see a certain need to make sure that her social life doesn't interfere with her academics. I'll leave you to your imbibing, wolf." He pivoted gracefully and stalked down the hall.

Remus glared after the Potion Master's retreating form, hands shaking. Disagreeable as the man was, he did have a point. It was his fault Hermione was so upset, and therefore he should be the 

one to console her. He slipped out of his room, resolving to clean up the glass shards later. There was more important business at hand.


HERMIONE WAS BEGINNING to feel better when another knock resounded on her bathroom door.

"Hermione?"

The girl in question gathered up her courage. "Yes?"

"Can I come in?"

She pursed her lips. "Just a minute." She stepped out of the bathtub and wrapped a towel around herself. "Come in."

Remus anxiously opened the door, came in, and shut it softly. "Hi."

Hermione pouted. "Hi."

"Look, I'm really sorry. I've been thinking about what happened, and it was a real lapse in judgment on my part. I should have trusted you."

The witch heard his earnest plea and considered it. "Yes. You should have."

Remus awaited his sentence quietly and humbly.

Hermione studied him closely. "I'll let it pass this time." She couldn't help but grin as his face lit up. He went to hug her, but recoiled at her gasp.

"Remus! What happened?"

The werewolf followed her gaze to his bloody hand. "Gods!" He hissed, the pain suddenly hitting him head-on. "I was holding a tumbler a bit tightly, and it broke. I was in such a hurry to get here that I just..."

Hermione took his hand and wrapped a damp washcloth around it. "There," she soothed. "That'll help. Just wait here." She left the bathroom and returned moments later with hydrogen peroxide and a bandage. She uncapped the vitriolic liquid and held his hand over the sink. "This is going to hurt," she warned.

Remus only nodded.

She quickly poured the liquid over his wounds, and he moaned in pain, squeezing his eyes shut. Hermione thought quickly and brought her lips to his until she had finished cleansing the gash. Remus kept his eyes shut and moaned still, but there was no pain left – only pleasure.

Hermione broke away long enough to cap up the peroxide and wrap the wound in gauze before returning to her love's lips. Her eyes fluttered in pleasure as she wrapped a leg around his waist and pulled him closer.

This time Remus decided not to open his trap and piss Hermione off. He continued to hold her to his chest and trace her mouth with his tongue. Eventually, when the blood finally made a full circuit round his brain, he deduced that a bed would definitely be more comfortable than a cold bathroom floor, and so guided the beautiful witch into the bedroom.

Gently draping Hermione across the bed, he rubbed a thumb against her jaw and at the same time removed his own shirt. Hermione flicked her wand at the door, locking it and warding it heavily. She realized as she went to tug off her shirt that she had none, and that only a towel separated her flesh from that of Remus, and decided to let him undress a bit more before she went starkers. She inhaled deeply as his mouth hit a sensitive spot on her collarbone and squirmed under his touch.

"Pants," she breathed, "Off. Now."

Remus felt no inclination to argue and proceeded to shimmy out of his trousers, leaving only his navy blue boxers and her scarlet towel between their bare bodies.

"Virgin?" he managed to ask, growing harder against her body.

"Are you kidding?" she replied, moaning. "If that war was going to kill me, I wasn't about to die a virgin."

"Good point." He left the matter alone, not caring to open up any other floodgates. Each of them had a past, but what mattered most was their future together.

Remus brought one arm behind her back and pulled her closer to his body and used the other to pull the towel away from her body.

Hermione hissed as the cold air hit her exposed skin. She snuggled closer against Remus' warm body and brought her hands to the band of his boxers, kissing him lightly as she slowly slid them off. Meanwhile, Remus looked adoringly at the body of the woman before him, taking all of her in and enjoying every curve, every inch of the soft, warm flesh. He kicked off the constraining garment as Hermione slipped it down. Finally – there was nothing keeping them from being together in the most intimate way.

Remus grew light-headed as Hermione squirmed anxiously beneath him. It had been so long – so long since a woman had wanted his touch. So long since he had felt it...

The woman beneath him was nearly panting with want. She lustfully brought her hips up, arching her back as her lips melded to Remus' own. She knew what she wanted, and she wanted it now.

At last, Remus had control of the werewolf, and it was time. He parted Hermione's thighs with a knee, lowered himself down on her, and thrust in passionately.


IT IS A WONDERFUL thing to love and be loved. This was exactly what Hermione Granger felt as she awoke on that beautiful, bright morning after consummating her love with one Remus Lupin, who lay with his stomach against her back, one arm under her shoulders and the other arm draped protectively over her side.

Hermione smiled and yawned, relishing the soreness of her back and other regions far below. Gently prying herself free from her lover's hold, she crawled out of bed and pattered sleepily and contentedly into her bathroom, shutting her door quietly.

"What a night," she mumbled cheerfully. She bent her head over the sink, splashed some water on her face, looked up into the mirror, and froze.

"Get off me!"

"Shut up, you filthy Mudblood bitch!"

Hermione trembled, a shiver running up her spine. A cold, harsh, sneering face with an aristocratic nose stared at her from behind.

"Miss me, Mudblood?"

Hermione wheeled around to face the demon, but found herself very alone in the room. She cautiously turned back to the mirror and stared at her reflection, choking back the sob that was threatening to emerge.

She shook herself, knees threatening to buckle. "I probably just need to eat," she told herself authoritatively. "Yes, that's it. A bit of-"

A blinding pain overtook her – Hermione saw only white. Her head felt like it would split in two. Clamping her jaw shut to keep from screaming, Hermione fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Cold laughs and high-pitched screams resounded in her head, and she couldn't tell if she was the one screaming. Suddenly the white was replaced by darkness. Two grey eyes stared menacingly at her, and then a face became visible.

"I'm coming for you, Hermione," Lucius Malfoy taunted, laughing maniacally.

Hermione dropped limply, the screams still echoing as the face faded into the darkness.


A/N: Is it bad that I got turned on by my own sex scene? My goodness… fans self What a much-needed relief for our two protagonists.

I'm now halfway through editing the story! I have a hunch I'll be done by the time the weekend is over. Again, thanks to all of my lovely returning readers as well as my new audience! Hope you're enjoying the show. :-)