K, I'm sorry guys will someone check this and review me if it came out right this time? I don't know what the heck's going on with my editing lately. I'm just making everything worse when I try and put it into a final chapter document.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter walked into their first true DA meeting Saturday, arriving late to see a very irate Hermione glance over at them. She pointed to Sirius to pair up with Remus and waved Peter to one of the fourth years without a partner. "We're going over expelliarmus," she said sharply as James walked up.

"Learned that ages ago, fourth year," James told her.

"Well I learned it in my second, performed it in practice during my third and used it many times in duels since then," she said, shortly.

"You're mad because we weren't on time," James said.

"You're the leader here, James... not me. I thought that was the deal. I'd help as long as you led the group," she told him.

"It won't happen again, then. We really were doing something important," James said.

"Should I ask what?" she asked. James shook his head. She nodded. "I want to see you duel for real, one on one," she said. "That is the most important thing."

"Aren't I supposed to be testing you?" he asked.

"I'm surprised you haven't challenged me before. As my handler, you should know my strength and weaknesses."

"Weaknesses: self-doubt, short temper, and emotional. Strengths: Potions, hex-work, cleverness, and the knowing of all things to do with Remus Lupin," James said, cheekily.

"We'll duel later. For now, pretend you actually know what you're doing and help someone," Hermione told him.

She walked over to Edgar, watching as her performed an expelliarmus that sent his girlfriend flying followed by an artful cushioning charm.

"I think you don't need to practice this," she said, with a small smile.

"I'm all right," Edgar said, softly as he parried a stunner from his girlfriend Addie Miller.

"You did brilliantly in Hogsmeade I hear," she said.

"Couldn't do nothing," he told her.

"Very Gryffindor of you," she said. He snorted, sending a strike spell which he aimed to hit just over Addie's shoulder. She ducked with a huff, before sending a hex his way. He slid back a few steps behind a shield, but found it was just a brute force, which was why his shield didn't hold up very well.

"You Gryffindors... you think everyone with a bit of courage was put in the wrong house," he laughed, lowering his wand and turning to him.

"So you're saying the hat didn't say anything about Gryffindor with you... didn't hesitate at all?" she asked with a sly grin.

"I'm surprised Ravenclaw didn't suit you better, perfect OWLs," he told her.

"They teach us well in-"

"Australia?" Edgar asked as Addie started walking over. No point in staying dueling distance away when he wasn't dueling her anymore

"How did you know about my OWLs scores?" she asked.

"Ed's mum works on the board," Addie said. "Wait you looked at her OWL's? Should I be jealous here?"

"Ten," Edgar told Addie, leaving the second question as it was a non-issue for them. "What I'm wondering, is why you score so high on your OWLs and then show up to this school and don't take it by storm. You should, reasonably, be the top student in at least four subjects, but you fall short. You even took exams for classes that you aren't even taking this year."

"Ed, her marks aren't low by any means!" Addie said, surprised at her boyfriend's bluntness.

Hermione smiled though, watching Edgar closely. "You sure the hat didn't stop on Ravenclaw either? You're smarter than you look," she said.

"That isn't an answer to my question," Edgar said.

"Technically, you asked no direct question so it requires no direct answer," Hermione replied.

"Why?" he asked.

"Perhaps I've just found more important things to do than try to be the best at everything. Maybe I've decided that there are people and things that are more important than me. Why should I barge in here in your last quarter, lock myself up in the library, make myself miserable, and make everyone who had topped their subjects miserable by replacing them?" she asked.

Addie stared, obviously not missing that she hadn't refuted being able to top the classes that Edgar implied she could. She was so confident, so calm. It was intimidating. She held her back straight and held her head high, but was so mature, so laid back. It was strange for someone their age. Addie had heard of her genius in Potions, rivaling that of Severus Snape, but to think she could do that well in all her studies... That had to be impossible!

"Let us continue this discussion later, perhaps?" Hermione asked, as her eye caught Peter, who was doing quite horribly over there on his own. The fourth year was getting him with expelliarmus again and again, leaving him quite worse for the wear.

"Of course," Edgar nodded. She walked off and he nodded to Addie who went back to where she'd been standing.

"What was that about," Amelia Bones asked her brother over her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it 'Melia," he told her. She shrugged, sending off a curse.

James and Hermione stood in the center of the room and the others in the group gathered around in a large circle watching with excitement. They were about to see the top two duelists in the school go at it. Edgar had been beaten by Hermione a few minutes before and James had defeated Sirius before that. Hermione had offered loudly to beat Remus in front of everyone, but he'd declined, shaking his head at her lack of modesty. He didn't much feel like facing up against a witch he'd trained after twenty more years experience. That would be crazy.

"Seconds?" Edgar asked.

"I'll take Sirius," James said, backing towards his friend. Sirius stepped up beside him, shaking his hand confidently.

"Right, then I'll have Remus," Hermione said.

"No good," James shook his head.

"Remus is our best mate," Sirius shrugged.

"Are you serious?" Remus asked.

"You going to break the code, Moony?" James asked, with a shocked tone.

"You idiots have a code?" Lily asked.

Remus however, was backing away. Apparently they did and fighting against them would be breaking it. "You two hurt her and I'll hex you into next week," Remus told them as he went back to where he'd been standing a few moments before.

"You think they can hurt me?" she sent him a betrayed look. "If that's the case I don't want you as my second anyway!" Hermione said, with resolve. She cast a glance over the group. She grinned. "I choose Lily Evans."

"She'd never!" James exclaimed, but Lily was by Hermione's side in a moment.

"You played dirty taking Remus away from her," Lily said, coolly. James glared.

"I think Lily has more practice fighting with you than anyone else here James or in the world," Amelia said from the back. Laughter rippled through the group, echoing in the large room.

"You afraid of being embarrassed by your girl, Jamesy?" Dan Jones goaded. A few more comments were tossed around, during which James glowered at his uncooperative girlfriend.

"I could have chosen Edgar, but honestly where's the fun in that? He could take Sirius down in a few seconds flat," Hermione said. Sirius' eyes narrowed.

"Still don't know why you didn't want in on this, Remus," Edgar said from across the way. He was the duel referee. He meant fighting earlier so he might be one of the two standing.

"I'd rather avoid crossing wands with my girlfriend, thanks mate," Remus said. A round of chuckles went through the group.

"You two aren't scared of two little girls, are you?" Lily asked James, smartly.

"Of course I'm not!" James exclaimed.

"Perhaps you should be," she said, her expression turning to steel.

Hermione walked forward from Lily's side, meeting James face to face at the center of the dueling ground, well more forehead to chin, but she tilted her head up so she could meet his eyes. They turned slowly and took the appropriate amount of steps away from each other before turning back to face each other again, taking their stances.

"Ready? On three then," Edgar said. Both Gryffindors stared each other down, willing the other to have a break in concentration, a tell, anything to gain the upper hand. "One." Hermione evened out her breathing, Remus' voice twenty years from now filling her ears as she stared into James' eyes. 'Never forget to breathe in a duel. The duelist that forgets to breathe is always the first to go down.' "Two." She then relaxed into her stance, this time Harry's own words coming to her. 'Relax. Yes it's a duel and yes, you're probably the one with the least experience and the least amount of talent, but as long as you trust yourself and keep control, you can beat any odds.' "Three." Hermione's step forward sent a powerful hex from her wand. No words were spoken as Hermione and James both went from offensive to defensive when their spells slipped past each other heading straight for their targets.

Finally a spell hit Hermione, but when James turned to gloat, she was back on her feet. As he was turning, since she would never hit someone without a death eater mask in the back with a spell, she sent a strike spell, straight for his stomach. It connected and he went flying back. She immobilized him with another artful bit of wand work. Then she sent a challenging look to Sirius.

He was much easier to get past. After a few spells, most unspoken, Sirius joined his friend on the ground in a leg-locker hex. She walked over to them. "Hm... guess a few years really does make a difference. Who'd have thought," she smirked at them.

"Give me one year and I will take you down," Sirius grumbled. Lily came up behind Hermione, and clapped her on the back. "Now what to do with them?" Hermione performed the counter-hexes and both stood, looking very sullen while the others just laughed and joked about how lightly they'd taken Hermione.

"Head Boy oh head boy, it may be just a glitch. Oh wait it's not. He lost to a witch!" a voice shrieked from the back of the room.

"What the hell! How did Peeves get in here?" James shouted, furiously as Peeves swooped out.

"I might have let him in. Perhaps I am becoming a bit overconfident," Hermione said. "I may have helped with the rhyme ahead of time too."

"What the hell would you do that for?" Sirius growled.

"I'm kidding! Only kidding. I don't know how that stupid poltergeist got in here!" Hermione chuckled, slipping her wand away and holding up her hands as a sign of surrender. She backed towards Remus, a bit worried the two would actually get angry about this.

"Down boys. Why would Hermione call him into a private meeting. He's Peeves. He could tell the whole bloody school," Lily said reasonably.

"Right well... the rest of you lot should clear out. You should have something to study or something," James said testily. With mutters and smirks, the bulk of their little order rushed out. Hermione felt a pair of arms around her shoulders and was pulled back into a warm chest. She glanced over her shoulder at Remus, kissing him on the cheek.

"God, honestly. I'm going to throw up. Lily and James are bad enough, but with you two..." Sirius shivered, walking across the room.

"You're only sore because she kicked you butt," Lily said, sitting down on a chair at the table in the corner.

"Shove off Evans," Sirius gritted out.

"Honestly. I don't know what you're so mad about. The only thing I've been doing for the past three years is duel, and before that I had had plenty of help from you, learning to do it," Hermione said.

"I thought you hardly even spoke to-" Remus whispered into her ear, but she cut him off with a soft "shh."

"James, you shouldn't be upset either. You would have probably beat me if you hadn't turned to brag and lost concentration. Your form's good and your strategy was strong against mine. Besides, I would never have gotten far without Harry. He was a brilliant duelist," she told him. "That parts true at least," she muttered, to Remus, who snorted softly, trying not to laugh.

"Fine, well... I suppose you do have an advantage," James said.

"Which is unfair," Sirius muttered. Peter smiled, sitting down beside Lily.

Hermione took Remus' hand, playing with his fingers, her blood still full of the adrenaline from the duel. She wanted to get out, to run or jump around or do something. "You know. I think this whole thing was a good idea," she said, cheerily.

"Told you didn't we?" Peter said.

"I suppose I should listen to you lot more often, shouldn't I?" she said. "Have they gotten that stuff off of the walls yet?"

"I'm pretty sure they did, but somehow they reappeared a few days ago." Sirius said, with a confident smirk.

"You'll drive Filch mad!" she exclaimed, but laughed all the same. It was rather funny after all. Filch always seemed to deserve what he got somehow. She gripped Remus' hand tightly in hers, sending him a look that she knew he'd understand, or she hoped he'd understand at least.

"Come on. I'm hungry," Remus muttered.

"The great hall isn't serving and it's almost curfew!" Lily reminded them, sharply.

"Oh leave them be, Lils," James said, rolling his eyes as Remus pulled Hermione out by the hand.

Hermione clutched his arm as he pulled her through the halls towards the kitchen, but they never really made it there. He opened the door to a broom cupboard and pulled her into it with him. She felt laughter bubble within her as he slammed the door closed. She backed to the wall, grinning.

Remus turned, eyes shining that predatory gold color, drawing her in. He walked towards her, and she let him get very close, but when his face was inches from hers, she lifted her hand and held it to his chest, stopping him. He let out a frustrated growl, but she simply took out her wand, leaning past his face, and reaching around him with her wand.

"Unless you want to be interrupted," she whispered, her lips touching against his ear. He growled, but allowed her to perform a few charms, before taking her wand from her hand and tossing it behind him.

He pushed her up against the wall. She sucked in a sharp breath as he nuzzled her neck, before placing a kiss over her jugular. She could hear his heartbeat in her ears, could feel the blood rushing through his veins as she placed a hand on the side of his neck. Her heartbeat sped up, considerably and she felt a tightening in her lower belly. She grabbed his hair and forced him from her neck so she could kiss him passionately.

She moaned as his tongue slipped into her mouth and used her own to fight his for dominance. She moaned into his mouth as he pressed against her harder, his leg pressing against her intimately. She could hardly stand it and he knew it. He could smell it. She knew that much because she could smell him as well and it was driving her nuts. His hand slid under her shirt, touching the soft skin of her lower back. She moaned, then she stiffened.

Her hand around his back slid away and she placed it on his shoulder. He broke the kiss, sensing her unease immediately. He pressed his forehead to hers, breathing heavily. She could feel his heartbeat against her chest and could feel a very prominent sign of his arousal against her hip.

His eyes bore into hers, piercing through her. She gasped for breath, sliding her forehead from his and dropping it to his shoulder, tears stinging her eyes. "I..." she whispered.

Suddenly he seemed to understand. The hand beneath her shirt slowly moved up her back, halting when he felt a bit of raised skin near the bottom of her scar. She winced, wrapping both her arms around his neck, pulling herself as close to him as possible, needing his arms, needing his reassurance. His hand slid her shirt up further as it followed the length of the scar, noting that there were more scars along her back, this merely the nastiest.

Tears were burning in her eyes now sliding their way over her eyelids and down her face. Suddenly Remus brushed his lips against her neck softly. She felt a shiver go through her and let out a soft sob. He kissed her again and then again, making his way up her neck. He kissed the sensitive spot behind her ear before taking his free hand and placing it at the base of her neck, trying to coax her off his shoulder. She sniffled, allowing him to guide her. She tried to keep her head bent, but Remus placed his hand on the side of her face, tilting her chin upwards with his thumb. She tried to swallow another sob as she took in the gentleness of his eyes. She tried to pull away, but his warm body still pressed her into that cold wall.

He kissed her gently, keeping his eyes locked on hers. She whimpered quietly, deepening the kiss and closing her eyes. Remus let her push him back until his back met the wall and let her be in control, her small hands fisting his robes as she gripped onto him, like a lifeline, kissing him with such fire. He returned the kiss softly, slowly, even as she tried to press him. He held her in a tight embrace, brushing her hair aside with his other hand as it tickled his face, his fingers lingering on her cheek.

She slid his robes off of his arms, running her hands up his arms to tangle in his hair once more. She placed her hand on the waistband of his pants, pulling at his jumper impatiently. She became insistent, but he took her hands in his, kissing the knuckles of each before wrapping his arms around her waist once more, returning the passion of her kiss, even as she slowed, something becoming hesitant about her, something unsure.

The very smell of her was driving him nuts, but he went slow. He wanted to wait. He had to wait. She wasn't ready to open up to him fully, even if she thought that was what she wanted. She'd been through too much. "Remus," she spoke when he drew back, looking down at her. "I really do... I really do love you," she whispered, gripping the end of his jumper in her right fist.

"I know, love," he murmured.

"No," she said, eyes filling with tears once more. "You don't. I love you... just as you are right now. I love you Remus Lupin," she whispered, biting her trembling lower lip as she stared down at his chest, unable to meet his eyes again. She was terrified, terrified of rejection, terrified of losing him. Remus relaxed his arms around her and she stepped back, wrapping her arms around herself against the cold.

"Hermione," Remus whispered, staring at her as she trembled. She turned away sharply.

"I'm sorry," she barely breathed. He shook his head.

"No," he said, firmly. He walked to her, taking her shoulders and turning her around, pulling her to him and holding her tightly. The words were stuck in his throat, but she understood. They hadn't been together for very long, but he could feel it. Whether or not it was helped by the magic between them or now, he didn't care but he felt it and surely she understood. He felt sadness sink into the pit of his stomach and he opened his mouth, but still couldn't find the words. He ducked his head, pressing a small kiss to her neck and stroking her long hair soothingly.

"I'm not going anywhere. Stop thinking that I am. I won't leave you again," he whispered. Now that he knew those scars were there. Now that he knew they marred her so badly, he could almost feel them through her thin robes. They practically burned his hands because he knew how much they hurt her.

"Can we go back to the tower?" she asked, softly. He took her hand in his, kissing it, before turning to the door. She held out her hand and her wand shot to it. She took down her own wards, wanting for one of first times in her life to pull away from him. She couldn't do it though. She couldn't blatantly hurt him just because she was hurting. She couldn't hurt someone else she loved even if it did hurt her, the fact that he had pushed her away, the fact that he didn't return her feelings. It hurt... so much.

When they reached the tower, she kissed him briefly once, before hurrying up the stairs. She climbed into her bed, trying to stem the flow of tears, but knowing it couldn't be helped. She felt her bed weighed down slightly then a hand was placed on her arm. Her sobs became heavier and her heart ached. She didn't know why, but it suddenly felt as if it were all right but at the same time everything was so wrong, it all hurt so much. Lily laid down behind her and wrapped an arm around her. Hermione gripped the arm tightly, needing her friend now, needing Lily, not Harry, not Ginny, not Ron, but Lily Evans, her friend... her best friend.

A scream tore through her mind, deep and heartwrenching followed by words, painful words. "Hermione, please love. please. You have to let go. I can't do this any longer. It... it hurts love, please," Hermione felt another wave of fresh, painful tears.

"Don't cry love. Live for me. Severus, you'll look after her won't you? You'll look after my girl?" Her heart tore open as if it were still that night, as if that night had never ended, because for Hermione it hadn't in some ways. That pain would never stop, never go away. "Please Severus. Please just do it."

"Drink this." Severus had pressed a vial to his lips. She had tried to push it from his hands, to get that death vial away from him, but Severus had grabbed her in a tight grip, both her wrists even as she fought him. Remus had finished the potion then waved a hand to her. The seizing had stopped. The screams of pain had ended. She had run to him the moment it was down with a sob. She remembered how his body had trembled with the after effects of that potion. Remus had held her though, had held her and said goodbye. The five coherent minutes they'd had left had not been enough. Oh how she'd screamed, and cried, and even hit him, but he didn't open those beautiful gold eyes again.

She'd been fighting for something that wasn't there. He wasn't there. He wasn't hers. She'd gone through so much to get him back, all the battles, the capture, the torture and now it was apparent that she'd been a fool. She had to give him time, space, but she just needed him so much. After a while, her sobs ceased, but Lily neither left her, nor asked why she was distressed. Lily just held on, knowing instinctively that Hermione was hurting and didn't want to be alone, not now... not again.

I know you were glad that Hermione was starting to feel better about her life and she is, but you have to understand that she went through a lot and it's not all over quite left. How can you have Harry Potter without more darkness? They're trying to kill a dark lord and that's what they'll have to try to do.

Please Review. Thanks for staying with me.