Remus could not look Sol in the eyes. He truly believed that she would no longer be able to bear the sight of him, let alone love him. She would finally see him for the monster that most did.
The reaction that he got was the last thing that he had expected.
Sol ran her hand gently and lovingly through his hair as best she could. It was a small but meaningful gesture that was enough for Remus to let down his strongest defences, and break down there on the bed where he just let himself sob.
Taking hold of his upper arm she tried to pull him onto the bed with her. It was a clumsy attempt, but it was enough to give him the hint, and gathering himself up he climbed on the bed to lie next to her.
Sol wasted no time to pull him as best as she could towards him, cradling his head against her chest, as best as she could considering the position she lay in, much like a mother would to her child. Remus continued to sob, but this time in relief as the gesture was enough to reassure him that there was still hope for them.
Sol just whispered words of endearment into his ear and waited for him to calm down. When he did finally stop sobbing, she gently tilted his head up until his eyes met hers.
"Remus," she began, and once she was certain that she had his complete attention she continued, "I don't care that you are a wolf," A mischievous smile lit up her eyes as she added, "I happen to like wolves." Unable to speak, Remus took hold of her in an embrace; they remained that way for the rest of the night.
It had been a few days since the incident in the hospital wing, and things had gone back to normal, with the exception of Lily, Sol and Hermione knowing of Remus' curse, and accepting it. It was a turn of events that Remus still had trouble believing. It was not that he feared that Sol or Lily would betray him but rather, that he could not comprehend how Merlin could have blessed him with such friends and such a powerful love.
Another change that had taken place was the transformation of the relationship between Hermione and Sirius. One would think that, after the incident in the forest, Sirius would have opened up to her – and one would be right, although, not in the way that she would have liked.
The group were currently sitting in Transfiguration class together, where Sirius never missed an opportunity to break to tease Hermione mercilessly.
"Can anyone tell me how to transfigure ourselves into household items?" Professor McGonagall asked.
Sirius and Hermione were the two that immediately raised their hands, but it was clear that by the restless way in which Sirius was moving around in his seat that he wanted to be picked urgently.
"Yes, Mr. Black?"
Sirius, however, merely looked smug, saying: "I don't know, but I am sure that Know-It- All Granger does." His voice sounded particularly gloating, There were oohhs and aahhs around the class room with a few gasps, but from his friends he got nothing but disapproving glares.
"Mr. Black!" It was McGonagall who spoke up. "If you have nothing useful to say in my classes you will please refrain for saying anything at all." She picked Lucius to answer the question instead.
Sirius took a quick glance over at Hermione and could see that the girl looked flustered, and if he dared think it, she even looked like she would break into tears, but none came. Lily, who was sitting beside her, whispered something to her, which seemed to calm her down and even make her giggle slightly. McGonagall (merely) shot them a disapproving glance, but did not say anything.
The following day matters did not improve. At the end of the day the Marauders, along with Lily and Sol, sat in the Great Hall doing their homework. Sol sat across from Lily and next to Remus, who in turn sat across from James. Sirius had sat himself next to James. This was at least how Hermione found them all as she returned from the library with her usual mountain of books, and sat next to Remus and across from Sirius. However, before she was even able to sit, the unthinkable happened.
"Good evening, Hermione."
At hearing this she froze. Looking around, she spotted the source. There Sirius, across from her, had actually said something to her. The shock was that his tone was not unkind, rather it was polite.
"Good evening, Sirius," she replied, but it soon became clear that as soon as the kindness had come it was gone again.
"Obviously you do not have a bad hair day today."
Yet even as she felt slightly hurt by the comment, she could not help but realize that there was something hidden in his gaze – something that she could not place. However, being Hermione, she was not about to let that comment go without some kind of rebuttal.
"And you clearly are!" she shot back, but she was not quite convinced that she had managed to sound convincing, or that she had been able to keep the hurt out of her voice.
Not getting another comment from Sirius, she merely set to work on her own homework.
In true Marauder fashion, Sirius waited until she was completely relaxed before he threw his next attack. Leaning over to James, he began helping him with his homework. It was a piece that Professor McGonagall had asked them to write, on how to make a house disappear.
Hermione really did not want, nor did she intend, to eavesdrop, but when thinking how loudly Sirius was speaking, it seemed almost impossible not to. The thing that shocked her, and put her immediately on her guard, was what Sirius was saying. Everything that Sirius was telling James was wrong, but the most infuriating part was that James was listening to what Sirius was saying. It was the breaking point for Hermione: she was unable to merely sit here and listen to all of this rubbish that was coming from Sirius. The man was an intellectual for Christ's sake.
"Honestly, Sirius! How can you help James with his homework if you yourself do not understand it?" she burst out.
Sirius merely looked up at her. "Well, you are not too dim." The voice he said it in was kind, but all that she could think about was the fact that he was mocking her. The whole attack seemed almost to have been orchestrated by both Sirius and James, and it was more than Hermione was able to handle.
Without even so much as a glare towards Sirius, Hermione got up, grabbed her books and left seeking the refuge of the library.
Little did she know that it would not take long for James to understand what Sirius was doing, and when he did realize he wasted no time with thumping his friend over the head with a glare.
"What?" Sirius cried, looking at James in shock. James merely looked at where Hermione had left and back to Sirius. Sirius just shook his head and returned to his work.
In the library, Hermione was unable to tear her thoughts away from the two compliments that Sirius had given her. She could not figure the bloke out and it left her thoroughly confused. Did these sly compliments mean something? Was there something there that she could not see? These were all issues that would continue to trouble her for the times to come.