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Remus awoke in the late afternoon feeling far more relaxed and refreshed than he had expected. His bruises and cuts were mostly healed thanks to Poppy's usual diligence and he wasn't nearly as fatigued and sore as he usually felt after a transformation.
As he sat up, he spotted a large, thick chocolate bar on his bedside table and immediately devoured it, wondering how his favorite treat had gotten there. For he knew Poppy hadn't left it, she had always chastised him for his penchant for junk food and would never leave him such a decadent treat.
He also noticed with some surprise, that he had on warm socks, another oddity. He had always hated the hospital wing for he felt it was the coldest part of the castle, even worse than the dungeons, his bare feet usually freezing whenever he woke up here. But today they were covered and warm, how strange, he thought.
He pulled his thin blanket aside and noticed then that the worn socks on his feet were his own and suddenly realized with a pang that they were the ones he had given Hermione.
It all suddenly clicked into place. His favorite chocolate, the warm socks.
Hermione had obviously come to see him this morning while he was asleep.
He was so moved by the thought of her coming to see him, after everything he had done to her. Why she would care and coddle him was beyond him. He didn't deserve such kindness.
Seeing him awake, Poppy began poking and prodding him, running more diagnostic spells and administering several healing potions, before clearing him to leave. He quickly dressed and left the hospital wing, hating to stay there any longer than was strictly necessary. He was headed towards his rooms when suddenly he decided to take a detour and head towards his classroom instead. He knew Hermione would soon be finishing up the last class of the day and he wanted to peek in and see how she was fairing.
As he neared the class, he saw the door was ajar and he could hear wild cheering and shouting, the students sounded ecstatic. He peered in to see Hermione walking quickly around the classroom, observing pairs of students battle against each other using a variety of hexes and protective spells. The air was positively on fire with spells bursting and colliding with each other and ricocheting off the walls. And yet she walked through this battlefield calmly, her curly hair wild and her face flushed. She walked with such confidence as she helped students sharpen their wand movements, strengthen their stances and correct their pronunciation.
She looked strong and fierce.
She looked, in a word, amazing.
"The key to good defense is to know your opponent. Try and anticipate their next move, and remember to keep your wits about you. Don't let one hex cause you to lose your confidence. Focus is key," she spoke above the din.
She looked so confident, as if she were born to lead and teach. The students also seemed to be responding to her teaching style, with many students throwing excellent hexes and many more deflecting and protecting themselves with ease. They looked proud of themselves, as well they should, they were learning from a legend.
As she finished helping a young female Slytherin with a complicated deflection spell, she turned to see Remus peeking in and watching her, his face full of delight at what he was witnessing. She froze for a moment and gave him a small nod before helping another student recover from a full-body bind.
A few minutes later, class was finishing up and students began filing out, talking excitedly about all the complicated hexes they landed and thanking Hermione for the wonderful lesson. Remus waited until the classroom was empty and then walked in to see Hermione packing up her books and notes. She knew who was there without having to look up.
"Glad to see you're up and about so soon, Professor. You must be feeling better," she said a bit aloof, not wanting to betray her happiness at seeing him.
"Yes, I seemed to have bounced back more quickly than usual. I was heading back to rest but I wanted to stop by and see how your day went. Obviously it went quite well. I knew you'd be a natural," he said smiling at her.
He wanted so desperately to have their usual, easy banter and revel in the closeness they had once shared.
She dropped her guard for just a second and offered him a reluctant smile and said, "I don't know about being a natural, but I certainly did enjoy today."
She saw him smile warmly at the comment and knew she had to recover her poker face if she was going to make it through this conversation without embarrassing herself.
Putting her professoional demeanor back in place, she continued, "The classes all went well, and I feel like the students responded well to me. Thank you for this chance, I'd love to cover for you again next month if the arrangement suits you, Sir," she said, once again maintaining her distance, which saddened Remus beyond words.
"I would be delighted if you would continue filling-in for me when I'm unable to teach. Thank you for doing this, I really am in your debt," he said.
"I am happy to have been of help. You've always gone out of your way to help me, it's the least I can do," her eyes downcast as she headed towards the door.
As she reached the door he said, "Thank you for the chocolate and the socks this morning. I didn't deserve such kindness from you but you offered it all the same. I appreciate you and your thoughtfulness, always."
At this she stopped and turned to face him, looking him full in the eyes. She smiled sadly in response and said, "Get some rest, Professor Lupin."
And with that, she was gone.
XXXXXXX
Weeks passed quickly as Fall settled in and the trees put on their full-color display. October came and Hermione found herself frequently sitting by the lake to do her homework and to read, relishing the last bits of warmer weather knowing a long, cold winter would soon arrive. Keeping busy with school work and tutoring had proven a good strategy for the Head Girl. She was often too busy to even think about Remus and what had happened on her birthday. She seemed to stay in constant motion, like a shark, moving from one project or paper to the next. But when she did stop, slow down even a little, she was hit with a longing like none she had ever known before. She still loved him and it hurt, physically hurt, to be without him.
Remus, too, was trying his best to put on a brave front. As the semester progressed, Hermione maintained her distance and Remus respected her wishes. She was either too angry or too embarrassed to try and be friends again with him, so he left her alone, figuring it was for the best. But he underestimated just how much he would miss her. Her sweet smiles, her laughter, her friendhship had been like warm rays of sunshine on a bitterly cold day, for she had given him warmth and light where previously there had been little. He did his best to ignore the loss, focusing on his classes, his Gryffindors, his colleagues and tried to fill his days as best he could. He thought if he could just stay busy with life, then eventually his heart would fall into step with his brain and soon he would put this behind him. But at night, when all his work was done and there were no distractions, he succumbed to the sweet sadness and allowed himself to miss her. He missed their midnight teas, their talks, their closeness. He hadn't been close to many people in his life and precious few over the past handful of years. Her friendship had been such a blessing, such a healing balm on his shattered soul. And now that it was gone, he felt truly alone.
As the middle of October approached, the castle soon became abuzz with excited students distracted by the upcoming Halloween ball. As Head Boy and Girl, Hermione and Draco were busy helping Professors McGonagall, Snape and a thoroughly pissed off Clemens with planning and decorating. Clemens had missed a full two weeks of class while she tried every potion and serum know in the wizarding world to try and regrow her lustrous hair. So far, however, it had only regrown an inch. Needless to say, the History professor had never been in a fouler mood, much to Hermione's dismay. At least the Head Girl wasn't the only one who was not looking forward to this ball.
Because of a busy work schedule, Harry wouldn't be able to accompany Ginny to the ball. Although disappointed by his absence, Ginny agreed to go with Draco as friends, and this had pleased the youngest Weasley immensely. Every seventh-year seemed to have a date except for Hermione, which hadn't escaped her friends' attention. So two weeks before the ball, Draco and Ginny decided to launch their plan.
At dinner that night, Draco casually excused himself from Ginny and Hermione and headed towards the Head Table, walking straight for McGonagall.
"Excuse me, Headmistress, I apologize for interrupting your dinner, but I had a question regarding the Ball?", asked Draco, as most everyone at the Head Table turned to look at the Head Boy.
"Of course, Mr. Malfoy, it's no trouble at all. How may I help you?", asked McGonagall.
"I was just curious, are students allowed to invite outside guests as their dates? I ask because Harry Potter is good friends with a young auror named Davis Clarke. Davis would very much like to accompany Hermione Granger to the Ball. However, he wanted me to check and see that this was allowed before he asked her formally," said Draco, the very picture of innocence.
He knew very well that students could invite outsiders, but he had to plant a seed of worry in Remus. He noticed with delight out of the corner of his eye, that Remus had stopped eating and was watching the Head Boy now with rapt attention.
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy, that is allowed. You may tell your friend Mr. Clarke that we look forward to having him. I'm sure he's a very special young man if he is taking our Miss Granger," said the headmistress with a smile.
"Thank you, Professor," said Draco with a bow and a smile as he left a stunned Remus and returned to the Gryffindors.
Remus was indeed taken aback by Draco's question. Well, she had moved on. He should have felt good about this but instead he felt absolutely wrecked. He had seen this Davis Clarke fellow at Hermione's birthday party and he had noticed the interest the young man had shown in her. Of course Hermione would be going with him. He was a young, handsome, brave auror. What wasn't to like?
"Well, that's nice that Miss Granger will have a date to the ball. For a moment there I was quite worried," said Severus in his usual dry tone.
"Indeed," said Remus. "Good for her. I'm sure she'll have a wonderful time," he said with forced cheer.
"Oh, come off it, Remus. You've been moping around this damn castle for weeks and so has she. It's obvious something happened between the two of you, so have out with it," said Severus, in quiet tones.
Remus only stared at him with his mouth opened. "I have no idea what you're talking about," Remus practically hissed. "Nothing has or ever will happen between Miss Granger and myself," he said angrily.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean you don't want something to happen, now does it?", said an astute Severus.
Flustered and angry that Severus could so plainly see the very thing he was trying to hide, Remus dropped his voice low and said, "That's, that's just...that's preposterous! I'm old enough to be her father! How dare you accuse me of lusting after her! I do have some decency, Severus."
Severus leaned close to his irate friend and said, in a low whisper, "You have been in love with that young woman since the war ended. It's written all over you. Her friendship has made you happier than I've ever seen you, and if you recall, I've known you for twenty-five years. So do please spare me the righteous indignation. You can deny it till you're blue in the face, but you and I both know that's not going to do you a damn bit of good. I've seen the way you two look at each other. Why are you running from this?"
Remus hated when Severus was right.
"I'm not running," Remus said softly. "I'm just giving her a chance at a normal life. It's what she deserves. It doesn't matter now anyway, does it? She's got herself a nice boyfriend her own age. It'll be good for her," he said utterly defeated.
"Fine, have it your way, Lupin. Let me know how that works out for you," said Severus as he pushed away his unfinished dinner and swept from the hall.
All the fight suddenly drained from Remus and he felt weak and tired and longed to sleep for a month straight.
At the Gryffindor table, Draco had returned and gave Ginny a discrete wink as he sat down. This was Ginny's cue to handle her side of things.
"So, 'Mione, I was thinking. I was talking to Harry this weekend and he mentioned that his friend Davis was quite taken with you and fancied asking you out for a date sometime," said Ginny.
"No, thank you," said Hermione. "I'm not really ready yet to start dating, plus he was kind of a bore."
"You know Harry said that Davis was actually really nervous that night and was just trying to impress you. Harry said he's actually a top-notch guy, maybe worth a date," Ginny lied.
"I don't know, maybe a date sometime could be okay," said Hermione. If she was going to try and get over Remus then going out on a date with Davis was a probably good start.
"Excellent, what do you say you invite him to the Halloween Ball and get to know him a bit better? Draco and I will be there, so you won't be on your own with him and I bet he'd swoon seeing you all dolled up," said Ginny as she gave Hermione a nudge and an exaggerated wink.
"Oh, alright," said Hermione. Agreeing with Ginny was easier than arguing.
She owled Davis the next morning and was surprised to receive his positive response just an hour later. Well, now she had a date to the ball, at least she wouldn't have to sit alone all night, which was more than Remus could say.
XXXXXXXX
Halloween morning finally arrived and the entire student body couldn't wait for the ball. After lunch was finished, Hermione and Draco spent the afternoon transforming the Great Hall into a warm, romantic venue. They removed the usual long, oak tables and replaced them with smaller, more intimate round ones with a large dance floor in the center of room. The hall was then decked out in grey, gold and white decor. Crystal chandeliers floated throughout, lit with the glow of a thousand candles. Countless yards of luscious gold fabric draped elegantly along the wooden walls and gave the hall the feeling of warmth and comfort. White roses, gardenias and lilies graced the center of each table. Vines of fragrant jasmine wrapped around the doorways and chairs and ice sculptures of dancing witches and wizards stood thought the hall. After hours of hard work, the Hall was finally ready. It looked breathtaking.
Hermione and Draco both headed back to their suite to get ready. Ginny and Davis would be meeting them at 6:00 in the Great Hall so they only had two hours to prepare. Draco was of course showered, dressed and waiting in his dress robes after twenty minutes but Hermione took the full two hours and only emerged from her room with five minutes to spare.
"It's about damn time, Granger! What have you been doing up there?", asked an irritated Draco from his seat as he heard her descend her steps with the click-click of her heels. But when he turned and caught sight of her, he immediately realized what she had been doing for two hours.
Hermione looked absolutely stunning. Her hair was done up in an elegant French twist, her make-up was simple yet impeccably done. But it was her dress that made him do a double-take. The previous weekend spent in Hogsmeade, Hermione had found the perfect dress. Black silk organza, that swept to the floor in graceful waves, like the undulating sea at night. It hugged her every curve, it truly looked like it had been made for her. With a somewhat deep front slit, showing off a tasteful amount of cleavage and a backless tie at the neckline, it was certainly not a dress for the faint of heart. Certainly not a dress she would've worn a year ago. But as soon as she tried it on, she knew it was the one. She felt confident and beautiful in it.
"Hermione," said a momentarily stunned Draco, "you look amazing."
"Thank you," she said smiling. "I feel amazing. You look quite dashing as well."
Smiling at his good friend, Draco offered her his arm and said, "Well, we can't keep them waiting all night. Shall we?"
She gratefully took his arm and headed happily off towards the Great Hall, blissfully unaware that her life would be forever changed before the night was through.
