"Hermione, are you well?" Remus asked, coming forward to embrace his wife. He had just got home from Ollivanders and his robes were quite dusty.
"I'm fine" Hermione said, setting the tea kettle down. "I'm making a mild medicinal tea. Something for the mood, you know."
"Is something the matter?" Remus asked again, concern creasing his forehead.
"It's just primrose, its good for the monthly blues."
"Oh" Remus relaxed. "Did Madam Pomfrey give that you?" he asked, setting down his bag and reaching for a cup to get water.
"No, it was Snape."
"Oh," Remus said. "It's very fine out, would you like to go into the backyard and run through some drills with me? A refresher course on some basic defense?"
"That would be lovely" Hermione said, pouring a cup of prim rose tea for herself.
"I'm sorry you are feeling blue" he said, coming up beside her and rubbing her shoulders gently. "If you ever need to talk, I am here. You are my wife after all."
Hermione eyed his battered robes, thinking that she would need to get him some new ones before winter set in, that is if they had money.
Perhaps Christmas.
"Yes. Thank you. But it might just be the lack of inactivity. Ever since the Order meeting, I have had nothing to do! With the death of Minister, I have no outside activities to attend."
"Ollivander kept me as inconspicuous as possible" he told her, "I was in the back all day, shelving wands."
"He means well" she said.
"Yes, he does. I suppose now we will get a taste of what Sirius went through a few years ago. Utter boredom"
"Until I start working with Snape"
"Has he asked you to begin yet?"
Hermione tossed the hair out of her eyes as she blew on her tea. "Not yet"
"Ah. Well I bought this home for you." He laid a bar of chocolate on the table. Hermione looked at it with mixed feelings.
"You know, women, and ...cycles. Chocolate seems to help" he offered, blushing slightly.
Hermione gave her thanks and put it in her pocket.
"I will just finish this tea" she told him, "Then we can go outside"
"Ready?" Remus asked, putting his wand up and out. Hermione nodded tersely, taking a step back.
"I will try to take it easy on you, you haven't been training for a few days" Remus called out
"Constant vigilance!" Hermione shouted with a grin, feeling some of the tension from the day leave her.
"Expilarmus!" Remus said.
"Protego!" Hermione murmured, dodging Remus's wand shot.
"Silverius!" she whispered, pointing her wand at Remus, as shots of silvery strands reached out to grab at his ankles. He side stepped them quickly.
"Excellent Hermione!" he beamed, "I take it that was from the Auror Academy?"
"Yes" Hermione said, smiling for the first time that day.
"Well done" he said, clearly proud of his wife.
"Expilarmus!" Hermione was thrown on her back as her wand was taken from her.
"Sirius!" Remus snapped, "That was uncalled for! She wasn't even prepared."
"Precisely" Sirius said,stepping out from behind a tree and meeting Hermione's eye. "A little realistic training. You were being too soft on her Remus"
Remus walked over to Hermione and pulled her up.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes. Sirius, honestly!"
"Jut being realistic love" he said. Remus growled.
"It's alright Remus! Really" Hermione said brushing the dirt off her jeans. "To prove it, I shall take on both of you."
"I'm ready" Sirius said, taking a defense stance. Remus looked uncertain.
"I don't know about this" he said.
"Remus, you heard the girl, she can take care of herself. She's going to be an Auror after all."
"Yell the safety word Amos if you get too tired" Remus told Hermione.
"Ready?" Sirius said. Before Hermione could answer, the first spell hit the tree she was standing next to.
She tried to disarm Sirius but he was too quick for her. As for Remus, he was being a gentleman and trying terribly hard to not hurt her. He did shield her defense spells however.
From time to time, he gave her a weak smile, but she could see that he was glancing at Sirius with something that was akin to concern and annoyance.
Breathing hard, Hermione tried to think of something creative to cast at Sirius when he pushed her into a corner of the yard with his defense.
"Sirius, that's enough!" Remus called out, holding out his wand but yet yards away from the pair.
Hermione gritted her teeth as she fought for control.
"She is getting the experience that she needs, Remus" Sirius said calmly.
"Confundus!"
Sirius side stepped it and then cast a non-verbal spell.
Hermione attempted to shield herself but then realized it was futile because Sirius has used the Imperius Curse on her!
Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to get the voice that was Sirius's out of her head.
"Tell him!" it urged. "Tell him about today"
"No" Hermione said aloud.
"Tell him" the voice persisted. It became a loud pounding in her head. Hermione crouched low to the ground and put her hands over her ears.
"Tell him! Tell him! Tell him!" the voice said, going round and round. Just as Hermione began to feel the last vestiges of her will leave her...it stopped.
Sirius had been thrown several feet away. He laid still on his back, quite unconscious. His wand was just out of his grasp.
"Acio wand"
Hermione slowly got up, her head aching from the curse.
"Hermione, are you alright?" Remus said, running up to her.
"Yes...I'm.."
"Get away from her you Mongrel!"came Snape's voice.
"I'm not going to hurt her" Remus said, with a growl in his throat.
"You weren't going to help her either."
"Hermione are you alright?" Remus asked again.
"I'm..." she began again, but then Snape stepped in front of her when Remus would have moved closer to her.
"I said, stay away from her dog" Snape said, annunciating each word. "Did I not make myself clear?"
"For Merlin's sake Severus, I'm only trying to help her" Remus said, a flush of heat rising to his voice. Hermione looked helplessly between them.
"Indeed. You helped her become cornered by Black? And then Imperiused? Tell me, does it give you a thrill to see your wife in mental captivity?"
"He didn't Imperius her! Did he, Hermione?"
"I'm fine" she said at last. "It was an Imperius, but Sirius knows that is my weakest point. We do it in training all the time." She was trying to make light of the situation because it seemed that if she had told all, that Sirius had ruthlessly invaded her mind for petty reasons, then it would become a fight between the two wizards.
And besides, some words were better left unsaid.
"If I ever see that you are simply standing idle while another hurts your wife, Lupin, we shall have words and I won't be using the softer coward's curse of Imperius" Snape snarled. "I came by to deliver your monthly potion, Dog. There is enough to last you three months"
He turned around in a billow of black robes, casting Sirius's wand in the shrubbery.
"Remember my words Lupin" he called out without turning around.
Hermione shuffled uneasily beside Remus. Glancing at Sirius's prone body, she sighed.
"That went well"