Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter or Warner Bros. franchise, nor will I ever claim to. J.K. Rowling owns all of these characters, I just choose to ignore what she did with them.

AN: I told you earlier this morning that I would have this chapter up and here it is as promised. I've got to thank my wonderful beta, Jessica because otherwise you would all be waiting. This chapter furthers the plot and gets us setup for the core of the fic. After this chapter, we will be seeing the progression of their haphazard romance and more on the plan Hermione decides to carry out. Review because it makes me happy and I'll be more likely to update. Believe me, the next chapter is what you really want.


The week Remus used for mourning came and passed. It did help him, if only slightly to try to get over the resentment he felt for his muggle father. Instead, he masked that pain with another, loss. Loss was more familiar and more potent than any sort of anger he harbored. At first he tried to understand how someone could have so much fear in them that they would practically disown their son, but he assumed that fear was not something that was inherit in his mind on a regular basis. Sure, there was fear that he might kill someone on the full moon night. He was not about to throw away all of the friendships he had made because of something like that. His mother didn't deserve to have it all end like this, but she would not have approved of rocking the boat either. It was probably best to remember her as she was, when he was a young child and she held him close the night before the full moon.

Remus returned to classes, against his best friends wishes. They all seemed it strange that he was so eager to return to work, but it was tiresome to be alone. He had read through the book Hermione had given him, which proved more of a tedious task than he had first imagined. The book was dull and uninspired, but the subject was unlike anything he had heard of before. Apparently, a Patronus could do all sorts of things. From all of the times he had tried to conjure one himself though, he got little more than a wisp of white air. He endeavored to ask Hermione for help on this subject later on.

Sirius rolled his eyes two nights ago, when Remus was feeling up to being seen in the common room. He thought it was ridiculous that Remus would spend all of his 'extra' time reading a book that looked duller than the required reading for McGonagall's class. Sirius got a real laugh when Remus told him it was for the hell of it. Still, he hadn't mentioned to them exactly who had given it to him. Perhaps James would have understood that one, but then again maybe not.

It was the night before he would be officially returning to classes, that Remus found himself gaping openly at his DADA teacher at supper. He liked that she wasn't ridiculously pretty. That is to say, that sure she was good-looking, but not someone who would be in Playwizard. She was attractive, and she had fine curves. He could tell from where he was sitting that she had them under those robes of hers. The truth about it was that she was an older, mysterious, and extremely intelligent woman. She wasn't much older to be sure and hell, maybe he was the cradle-robber in this romance, but she had that mature feeling to her that was right up his alley. Intelligence just oozed from her and if she had been stupid, Sirius would have been all over her. It was like all these traits fell into place for him and matched with that sort of mysteriousness and that exhilaration of being keen on someone he definitely shouldn't be, just added to his interest. He was truthful when he had told Lily that he was happy to be returning to classes, some minutes after he had pried his eyes away from his vessel of attraction.

A few minutes later, the other marauders cleared out with their respective girls and Remus found himself going up to his common room, to catch an early night's sleep. He dug his hands into his pockets and felt a piece of paper come into reach. Interested, he pulled it into view and he rubbed at his forehead, overwhelmed with his forgetfulness. The picture was thankfully in good condition, with only a dog-eared corner to show for it. There was a happy future: Remus, Hermione, and mystery man smiling up at him. She did look a bit younger than Remus, almost unchanged from what he saw in the Great Hall this evening.

How had he forgotten to return this to Hermione the last few times he had seen her? Guilt lit in him like a warm matchstick and he pocketed the picture quickly. Would she be cross knowing that he had had it all along, or would she be thankful it hadn't been found by anyone else? He had to return the book, and ask her for help in conjuring a Patronus as well. Should he just do this all at once, or drag each meeting out of class to the greatest amount of time possible? Of course, he decided on the latter. It was juvenile of Remus to want to hold on to the photograph for a little longer, but he would have time to return it. Then again, it was wrong to keep it. She was probably worried sick about the only thing that could remind her of where she came from. No, he should definitely return it and the book. He could ask for tutoring sessions on the Patronus charm at some later date, when he was sure she was no longer cross. It was upsetting that when he finally addressed his surroundings he was practically nose-to-wood with Hermione's door. He really needed to stop and reconsider being so keen on her. The marauders would start calling him a 'little lost pup' if they could see him now. Hesitantly, he knocked and there was no answer. He was really getting that love bug, if he couldn't even think rationally enough to remember she was probably still sitting at the teacher's table.

Remus took a deep breath and stepped away from the door and started off toward his original destination. That upper bunk in the Gryffindor tower was looking more and more appealing by the second. Sirius and James wouldn't be there and possibly even Peter would be absent. Without those three to cause a ruckus, he could probably sleep. Remus forgot entirely what he had been thinking, because Hermione was rounding the corner, her face obscured in a large tome. He wondered if she had Quidditch arms from carrying books like that all the time. She did not speak, but rather she stopped in from of him. A second later she placed her first finger to hold her place and closed the book. She let it dangle at her side and then she regarded Remus with a smile.

"You and the boys seem to spend a very large of amount of time around the Prefect's bath, Mr. Lupin." She said in an amiable tone.

"Yes, it is one of our favorite haunts." Remus said simply, afraid of mussing up a more complex sentence structure. Why couldn't he be all smooth and confident like Sirius and James when they were dating?

She looked down at her book and then back up at him. Apparently she had hoped for something a tad more conversational, than an affirmative answer. "Well, I will not keep you, it seems you were just heading out?"

Remus mentally smacked himself and looked straight into her brown eyes. If he was lucky enough to have her in the future, then there was no need to be afraid now. She probably knew loads more than he did about himself. That's what lovers did, right? They knew way more than you ever thought you'd reveal about yourself? Lovers? Now, that was an interesting term. He really liked that term.

"Sorry Herm-, Professor Granger. I, er- was actually looking for you." He dug his hands in his pockets, matter-of-factly and admired the curiosity that spread across her face.

"Oh, well Mr. Lupin, how may I assist you?" Hermione replied courteously, shifting her tome into the crux of her arm, never removing her first finger from the place in her book.

Remus' mind rolled. He should have never thought of the term 'lover' in the first place. Now, here he was thinking completely uninnocent answers to that question. Maybe, he did not need any more guidance from Prongs and Padfoot in this situation. "I, uh, wanted to return this book to you and your, er- photograph." Remus offered the photograph and the book out for inspection. Hermione looked mildly shocked, and upon placing the photo in the book, she took Remus by the hand and led him to her room. She carefully closed the door behind them and looked at him like he had grown a second head. It felt extremely intimate to be in Hermione's room, which she apparently cared less about at the moment.

"Remus, tell me where you found this. Did someone give it to you? Please tell me you didn't show anyone." He blinked and looked again at the photo in her hands and then back up to her worried expression.

"We found it the other evening. We meant to return it to you the next morning, but then, well, I got a bit of bad news and forgot to return it to you." Remus confessed, shuffling a bit on his feet.

Hermione sat on her bedside and pulled out the chair from her writing desk. She laid the book she had been holding open beside her. "Who were you with?" Remus sat in the chair that was offered him.

"I was just with Sirius and James. Worm- Pete came along after we had already finished talking about it." Remus blurted out, feeling pinned by Hermione's unrelenting worry.

"You haven't shown anyone?" Hermione asked, the balloon that was her worry started to deflate a bit.

"Not a soul. Don't really see why that mat-oh…" Remus felt suddenly much more worried for Hermione.

Here he was, so enamored by her. He never thought how this may look if it were found. Hermione lofted an eyebrow. The look didn't really look at home on her face. It reminded him oddly of James. "There are so many reasons why it is vital this is never found. Imagine if this falls into the hands of someone who takes up with Voldemort. We don't need them to start thinking about how much I know, or about how they could alter the future to their liking. It is best to not have to explain to students, faculty, the Order, and Death Eater's alike why Remus Lupin, who is only eighteen, is aged in this photograph next to the DADA teacher who looks the same as she does now." Hermione explained concisely.

Remus was stunned. Here, he had thought that it was because of how they looked together. He didn't want to add to her concerns.

"Besides that, I miss my future greatly sometimes. I was bereft that it had gone missing." Hermione put her hand on his shoulder, as an encouraging gesture. "Look, I apologize to be unloading on you like this." Remus wondered if he was flushed. She was very close. "Thank you for returning this photo to me, and for having the good sense to keep it hidden. If I hadn't warned James and Sirius about this same thing, I'm unsure of where I would be right now." She released his shoulder and looked around. "I wish they would give me a receiving room, like the other professors. Maybe they hadn't thought I would get to know anyone all that well." She stood and glanced at the photograph, before pocketing it. A look of relief washed over her face.

"I'm sorry to put you through all that worry. I didn't know it meant so much to you." Remus offered carefully, feeling slightly disheartened.

"Ah, well! I understand; one person's trash is another's treasure." Hermione said simply.

Remus felt winded. "I don't think that it was trash at all. When I first found it, I-"He felt suddenly quite conscious of his words. "I couldn't stop staring at it. It is a pretty bright future for something like me." She looked slightly amused at that.

"A picture with me and-" Hermione started, but Remus cut her off.

"Any future is bright for me. Something with you in it is absolutely brilliant." Hermione looked suddenly uncomfortable.

"That is kind of you to say, Remus. I imagine you meant to return this book as well?" Hermione tried to change the subject. Remus felt his heart sink. She didn't want to talk about their future. That was fine. Maybe, she didn't want to let out any spoilers.

"Yeah, Hermione. Thanks for that. I wanted to ask you if you'd be willing to teach me the spell? I can't seem to get a hang of it." She led him to her door, started to shake his hand, and then she awkwardly hugged him. Remus was on fire, he was certain. She released him a split second later and looked up at him.

"I'm sorry. You just don't know how thankful I am to have someone here I know. I mean, I know everyone, but out of this lot I only really ever talked to you and Dumbledore." Hermione said apologetically. "Of course, I'll help you learn how to do the Patronus charm. Just come to my office tomorrow evening and we'll hammer out the details." She regained her business-like attitude in that moment and she opened the door to the hall. He was gone and out of sight a moment later. She let go of a sigh she didn't know she had been holding. She never thought he would get the wrong impression. Did he think that they were married or something in the future? She felt guilty instantly, but her peculiar situation pinned her to the spot. If she exposed the relationship that they didn't have, why was there any reason to trust her? Worried now more than ever, she decided that if the nature of Remus' relationship to her came up again, she would concoct a truth. She felt so lonely in this room, even as looked at the picture once more and put it in her side-table drawer.

Hermione rubbed her eyes in anguish. She missed Harry the most and although she would never admit it openly, she missed Draco as well. Remus' face, although much younger, was one of those few that she still felt accustomed to. It didn't hurt that he was attractive and helpful, as well. Besides Dumbledore and McGonagall, she felt a little lost with all of these people even when she knew so much about them. That was why she had hugged him. It was reckless and completely unethical to do so. There went her professionalism and she was really mucking up her mantra of getting involved as little as possible. Still, it felt good to talk to someone outside of class. When she had decided to take on this ridiculous quest, she hadn't thought on about how hard it would be to be so disconnected. She inwardly groaned. It was a blighter for imagining it was easy. She had always had Ron and Harry at her side, now she was quite lonely.

Hermione crossed the sparse room with a grimace. There was no hint of life in this little apartment of hers, and she vowed to at least put some flowers in her glass bookend. As she had done every night since she spoke to Dumbledore, she pulled out a list from her side table drawer and took the seat that Remus had previously vacated. Leaning over her desk and removing her quill and inkwell, she started to read over the names on her list again.

Possible Salvation

-Fred Weasley

-Remus Lupin

-Nymphadora Tonks

Possible Intervention

-The Malfoys

-The Longbottoms

Unchangeable Future

-The Potters

-The Blacks

-Albus Dumbledore

-Severus Snape

As she looked over her list once more, she was tired already. It was frustrating to her to have the names of lives on a piece of parchment and try to think of them as simply a puzzle piece. The truth was that this was rather a liberal list and it was bound to get shorter as it went on. She decided to tackle the things she couldn't change first. It felt like she was playing a devil's advocate, making sure the tragedies played out and that all the wrong things went just so. She decided that the Potters were pretty much set on their own path. She would go for the Blacks next. It was important to locate and 'tip off' Regulus Black. It was best to never meet him in person, because she was not certain where or when he would decide to betray Voldemort. Out of careful consideration, she would first check the Azkaban records and see if he happened to be in prison at this moment in time. If not, she would have to locate him and send him an anonymous owl. She hoped he was in prison, because it would make her next plan in action that much easier.

Severus and Albus were also seemingly always able to decide their own fates and they would be binding their fates to one another, sometime in the not so distant future. That left her other, much more difficult tasks. The Longbottoms were more difficult to navigate a plan for. She could of course, walk right over to the Order and ask them to believe her. Then she would just tell them not to take the mission, which she was certain would be just so very easy. It was probably as simple as getting a three-headed dog to fall asleep. The Malfoys were also difficult. She looked over her notes scribbled elegantly on a separate piece of paper. Her last bullet point was circled. Narcissa Malfoy nee Black was definitely the most likely to be susceptible to something as ridiculous as an anonymous tip. The idea was that something as strange as an anonymous tip on a marriage she is not even in yet, may be completely discarded. Perhaps, the note would be filed in the back of her mind, for use someday. The worst that could happen would be to have the same events as before. In truth, she was unsure to send the post at all.

The final list lay splayed out in front of her. The 'Potential Salvation' was a list of possible saved casualties, but it was just that; possible. She felt less assured of her original plans every time she looked over this list. She could try to save Fred, but even if they were alive right now or not, she was certain Molly would not take kindly to some anonymous letter. Someone to deliver it to him personally at a later date may allow him to avoid or at least prepare for his own death. It would be the same for Remus.

Tonks was the problem here. Bellatrix Lestrange was her murderer and if the events surrounding her death were a duel of some sort or an accident, it was best to her future to let Tonks go. Tonks, although she was not very personal with the lady, she did not seem like the type to be able to kill her aunt. Then again, she was a trained auror. Bellatrix had to be stopped some way, if not by Tonks then she must always be on that course. Molly Weasley had to always be on track to kill Bellatrix, or Bellatrix would continue on. She would carry out Voldemort's order even when he was gone and her insanity made her hard to stop. The lady definitely needed to be stopped as soon as possible. Tonks may have to be sacrificed for the greater good. It made her sick to think that way, yet she knew that some had to be lost. She would try everything to preserve all of Lupins' happiness that could be had.

Hermione rubbed her face tiredly after making her notes, unknowingly spreading black ink on her cheek. This was possibly the hardest part about accepting a task like this. She knew there were some who always had to die. There would be little forgiveness for someone who had the choice of saving a loved one and they were not saved. What if she was too thick to see the wrinkle in time?