Chapter 25 What Happens in Hogsmeade

With his friends and Hermione by his side, Remus was sad that the year was quickly drawing to a close. Soon exam review would begin in earnest, and he was not sure what would happen to Hermione after the year was over. It was a topic they avoided, but he felt sure that she was contemplating it as well. He could no longer bring himself to ask about any progress she was having in returning home. He could almost convince himself that there was nothing for her to return to at all. Why should she leave him? What must time move on so harshly? Remus was ever mindful that he had but one year left at Hogwarts, and he did not know what would befall him after graduation. What was there for a young, intelligent werewolf? He dealt with these issues like any other: by ignoring them when he could and be spending as much time as possible with the Marauders and Hermione.

*****Remus/Hermione*****

The time passed so quickly for Remus and Hermione that exams were already nearly upon them. Hermione spent an increasing amount of time studying, and he followed suit. He could not imagine that either of them could make themselves more ready for exams than they already were, and it was not even as if either of them were sitting for OWLs or NEWTS. Still, it was quite a struggle to convince Hermione to join him in Hogsmeade with exams little more than a week away.

"I'll fall completely behind in my revising schedule," Hermione protested.

"And who could you possibly be falling behind? You've revised all of it at least twice by now. I know Alice is among the best of your year, and I still see her with Frank every day. She was even in the Gryffindor common room yesterday evening."

"You know that we spend lots of time together. We spent half of the week in the library together. And Alice is afraid that she and Frank will fall apart when they can't see each other next year," she finished quietly, remembering a recent conversation with her roommate. Neither Hermione nor Remus acknowledged their own "distance" situation.

That little exchange perhaps encouraged Hermione to throw herself more into the Hogsmeade spirit. Anything was better than thinking of such unpleasant thoughts. They visited bookstores, novelty stores, and of course Honeydukes. Perhaps the conversation affected Remus's behavior as well, though Hermione was not going to complain. Remus was unusually daring that day, holding her hand as they walked and giving her kisses even in public. In one very memorable instance, Hermione found herself in a rather heated moment in a darker alley before the two of them were startled by a sudden noise. Hermione was not sure if she had ever hated anything so much as that clearly nosy cat than had interrupted her nice snog. Even in her indignation, she blushed at her actions. Hermione Granger was not the type that used the word "snog" very often, much less the girl in an alley, no matter how relatively innocent the act.

They sat in the Hogs' Head, an unusual place for a young couple to go, but Remus nearly laughed, thinking to himself that they were quite likely the most unusual of all young couple. A werewolf and a girl out of her time. Remus had told Hermione about the place, and she had wanted to see it for herself, so they sat in the dingy little pub that no one else near their age visited. It was generally a place for a less savory crowd or at least a very usual one. Remus had on more than one occasion seen other werewolves present, though always alone. There was a certain smell about them or a sense that Remus had, and a fear that he would become the same- cold and alone. A few years ago the boys discovered that the owner was none other than Aberforth Dumbledore, apparently estranged brother of the esteemed headmaster himself. Mostly the boys had visited here because questions about age and legality of drink of choice were generally not mentioned in the Hog's Head. There was nothing more exciting to a group of fourteen year olds than sneaking out to have anything stronger than butterbeer. Sharing a firewhisky was the height of fun and rebellion. The other three boys much preferred the Three Broomsticks once they were old enough for Sirius to be able to sweet-talk Rosmertta into ignoring a few months lacking in age, but Remus still enjoyed the Hog's Head's unusual charm.

The pair amiably sipped on a couple of butterbeers talking aimlessly about their day. They were to meet up with other soon, the other Marauders at least, to spend some time together before heading back to the castle. What sounded like an explosion broke the pair out of their comfortable conversation.

"What was that?" Hermione asked, though she knew that it sounded like a powerful reductor curse. It could have been an accident if they both didn't already hear more crashes and screams. The few other occupants of the bar seemed split between running out the door and hiding under a table.

"Let's go," Remus said, ignoring Hermione's prior question. He slipped his hand into hers as they both headed for the door. Upon some silent agreement, they headed for the Three Broomsticks, where they were shortly supposed to meet their other friends.

Hermione felt her heart racing as it had not since first seeing dementors. Even after three years with Harry, she never expected anything that might be dangerous. Remus slowed down and pulled her to a stop just before coming in sight of the Three Broomsticks. Shouts and curses were clearly audible at this distance.

"Go back to the Hog's Head, please," Remus suddenly requested, gripping her hand more tightly. He actually began running with her in that direction. Her feet managed to follow him across those few short blocks without conscious thought regarding plan or direction, a blank mind very uncharacteristic of Hermione Granger.

They ran past Frank dueling with some masked Death Eater, with Frank looking very much like an auror already. Remus might have screamed to him that he would be right back, but Hermione was not sure. A little voice in her head told her that she was better than this numbness, but she couldn't prompt herself to any more action than not dropping Remus's hand and keeping her feet moving. As they passed back through the door of the Hog's Head, past the old man with wand drawn at the door, Hermione noticed Alice leading younger children to another shop across the street. Though only a fourth year herself, Alice was shooting off spells that Hermione wasn't even sure if she recognized. Hermione immediately evaluated that her head was far too full with knowledge that did not include much combative magic.

Remus did not stop until they were in some dusty backroom, when Hermione grabbed his arm tighter, "What about Alice and the others? James and Lily?"

Remus tried to smile, "They'll be fine, right? Harry and everything. But you've got to stay here," he said, eerily calm for the drastic situation.

"And what's to stop me from leaving as soon as you leave and doing what I can out there?" Hermione challenged. She let herself forget her complete uselessness in this situation.

"I'll tell Aberforth not to let you out," he threatened, seeming a bit flustered now.

Hermione remained silent but attempted to pull away from his now tight grip.

"No, you can't come. Please don't," he begged, panic rising in his face. "I- I love you. I have for a while. I wanted to tell you today," he rushed his speech, "I don't know how this can work, but I've never wanted something so much in my life. Please stay, and don't get hurt."

Hermione reeled at this declaration, but tried to keep everything in perspective with the growing noise outside. "Okay," she said shakily, "I love you too," she said, needing to say it back to him even in this dangerous moment, or perhaps particularly so. She bit her lip and then smiled and laughed, "I think I have since I was thirteen actually, but I really know you now."

"I'll be back," he said, smiling widely despite the seriousness of the situation. He bounded out of the door and towards the noise of the streets. Hermione sat down on a dusty crate, not even bothered by the mess, simply wondering what her place was in all of this. She was still coming to terms with her helplessness despite book knowledge surpassing any of her age. It was amazing that Alice had any idea of what to do. She was determined to ask several of the upper years' students for help after this incident. It couldn't go too badly though, with all the people she knew in the future. Right?

As she sat in contemplation, until a few minutes after Remus left and a noise startled her, making her grasp harder on her wand and turn around wildly.

"Her- Miss Granger, it's time to go."

A/N: Please, please, please review, especially if you haven't before. I'm so excited about this part, and I hope everyone enjoys everything I write. In unrelated news, I am officially a college graduate! Also, I'm getting married tomorrow, so it's a busy time.

Review please! I hope to finish this before the next big phase of my life, getting married and moving cities, job searching and everything. I'm not sure if it will be done that fast though. I haven't really had much time to write or keep up with my favorite subscriptions. I just wiped my favorites section a while ago when I felt I was too obsessed. I hope no one was hurt by any of that, but sometimes everything is too much. I do think there is another story in store eventually, but I might want to write it completely before posting.