REQUEST: Lilmissxx requested a chapter where Hermione saves Remus before Hogwarts

Episode 35

Savior

Summary: In which Hermione saves Remus pre-Hogwarts

The Muggle world held a great many mysteries for those born in the Wizarding world. Very few wizards and witches took pleasure in discovering new facts about the Muggle world, but those that did took it to the extreme. Remus Lupin happened to be one of these few, despite his young age of nine.

He loved to read about the new inventions, and even the old ones, Muggles came out with. How they managed to survive just as well as wizards without magic always intrigued him. His mother said he should have been born a squib sometimes, if only because he spent so much time begging to visit the Muggle world rather than finding something of interest in their own community.

Just last week, Remus finally managed to break his mother's stubborn mindset to stay in the Wizarding world, and now he found himself studying the Muggle world up close and personal. So many great things existed here, Remus could hardly believe this wasn't a dream. The things these people came up with, even if they were at times late compared to wizards and witches, it still amazed him they could think up such inventions to aid them in their magic-less society.

Unfortunately, Remus didn't know everything about the Muggle world. As he took a step on the paved road, a loud honk caught his attention. He turned sharply to see something big and retangular, it looked to be pure metal, heading straight towards him at a dangerous speed. He gulped nervously, unsure what this creature was but sure he definitely didn't want to be hit by it, and looked both ways for escape.

Though neither side was blocked, he couldn't make his legs move. The sound of screams echoed in his ears as the metal object, his enhanced senses now told him it wasn't alive, raced at him at full speed. The window rolled down and a Muggle stuck his head out, his eyes wide with worry.

"Move kid!" he shouted. "My brakes don't work so well!"

"Brakes?" Remus gulped. He closed his eyes, awaiting the impact. He didn't wait long, but what he felt most definitely wasn't the hard collision he'd expected.

Opening his eyes, Remus half expected to find himself hovering above his body, the higher powers not too far off to ask him if he wished to stay behind as a ghost or move on to the afterlife. Instead, he saw the most beautiful girl his nine-year-old eyes had ever laid upon.

A crown of bushy brown curls fell around her in some sort of frizzy halo, but she didn't seem to mind the thickness of her hair. Brown eyes set in a tanned, cute face stared at him worriedly. The girl moved away and helped him to stand, smiling apologetically when Remus winced at the pain he felt in the back of his head. No doubt from colliding so hard with the sidewalk.

"W-what happened?" he asked almost groggily, not once taking his eyes off the girl. Several people milled around, not sure if they should approach the children or wait for a parent to come.

"You were almost hit by a car," she explained. "You wouldn't move out of the road, I'm guessing you were too shocked to make your legs move."

Remus swallowed and nodded. "That sounds about right," he admitted sheepishly. "Thanks...For saving me."

"No problem," the girl said. She smiled sweetly and held out her hand, which Remus immediately shook. "I'm Hermione Granger. And you?"

"Remus Lupin," Remus replied. Just as he was about to say something more, a loud scream interrupted. The crowd parted as a woman ran to him at full speed, worry and anger mixing in her brown eyes.

"Remus Jonathan Lupin!" she shouted. "You had me worried sick! What happened? Oh, never mind that now, we're going home right now! I don't trust this place if you almost have an accident of such unbelievable proportions in just minutes after our arrival! Let's go."

She didn't even seem to see Hermione as she dragged Remus away. He turned to smile apologetically at the girl and shrugged, to show he could do nothing to stop his mother. Hermione waved away his concern, understanding the magnitude a worried mother could have. As they disappeared from view, she sighed sadly and picked up the books she'd dropped when landing on the hard cement. She'd almost had a friend too!

232323

Two Years Later

Remus could hardly believe he was actually starting Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. One of the, if not the, best schools for the magically-inclined. Though he couldn't make friends as a werewolf, he at least planned to earn a good education and learn extensive control over his magical talents.

He sighed as he pushed his trolley towards the scarlet engine that had just arrived, pausing momentarily when he saw his shoe untied. Call him anal retentive, but Remus liked having everything in order. His shoelace would no doubt trip him now that he'd noticed its misplacement, and so he leaned over to tie the offending shoe.

Just then, someone entered the platform at full tilt, and only stopped when they bumped into him. Remus fell hard on the ground, a loud oomph escaping him from the impact. He sighed, mildly irritated, and thanked Merlin being a werewolf meant fast healing. Otherwise, he knew he'd be in immense pain right now.

"I'm terribly sorry!" a young, female voice said worriedly. A hand entered his vision, and Remus politely accepted the help in standing up. "I've never ran through a brick wall before, you must understand, so I didn't expect to trip over...You look familiar."

Remus blinked, startled by the sudden subject change. He looked at the girl speaking, noting she looked about his age though slightly shorter. Her bushy hair and brown eyes reminded him of someone too, but he couldn't place where he'd seen that appearance before.

"You look familiar too," he admitted. "It's alright by the way. You must be a Muggle-born, am I right?"

"If a Muggle-born is a child of two non-magical people, then yes, yes I am." The girl smiled brightly and held out her hand. "I'm Hermione Granger, and you?"

"G-Granger?" Remus' eyes widened. Now he remembered! She was the girl who pushed him out of the street. Hermione shuffled her feet nervously, wondering what about her last name was so shocking.

"Yes, i-is something wrong?"

Remus shook his head and smiled. "Remus Lupin," he introduced, noticing her eyes light up in recognition, "I never did really thank you enough for saving my life all those years ago."

Hermione smiled and blushed lightly, making her twice as cute as before. "It really was no problem. What kind of person would I be to let you just get hit? You could've died!"

Remus nodded his agreement. "The Muggle world had so many things I didn't realize I didn't know about at the time."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, cocking her head to the side. "You were born in this world?"

Remus nodded again. "Yeah, this is my world I guess you could say. So, um, welcome?"

Hermione laughed lightly and grabbed her trolley as Remus grabbed his. "Thank you very much," she said, stopping to give a mock-curtsey. "This place is amazing. I don't know why you'd want to come to my boring old world."

"Are you kidding me!?" Remus exclaimed. "There's so much in the Muggle world! Televisions, telephones, cars!"

"But look at all that's in the Wizarding world," Hermione interjected quickly. "Dragons, ghosts, measuring tapes that move on their own!"

The debate continued as the two first years walked onto the train. Something told them this year wouldn't be so bad.

END