Chapter 24: Thursday, February 21, 1980

"Communication is merely an exchange of information, but connection is an exchange of our humanity."

-Sean Stephenson

Hermione puffed out a sigh as Remus' arm tightened around her waist. They were lounging on her sofa, Remus' back to the arm, one foot planted on the floor and one leg running the length of the sofa. Hermione laid between his legs, her back pressed into his chest, his chin resting on top of her head.

"Are you okay?" Remus asked.

Hermione laid the book she was holding open on her chest down, keeping her finger between the pages to mark their place as she twisted a bit, craning her neck to look up at him. "Are you ever going to stop asking me if I'm okay every time I make a sound?"

Remus bit back a smile, wrinkling up his nose, "If you keep making sounds that make you sound as if you aren't okay, then no."

Hermione huffed out a laugh, stretching up to peck the underside of his chin, "I'm fine. I just think this book is a little…"

"Nebulous?" Remus offered.

Hermione nodded, "That's much nicer than what I was going to say."

Remus laughed and the sound shook his chest, making Hermione smile as it rumbled through her back.

"You would think that someone would have done some decent research on Werewolves at some point," Hermione complained. "I just don't understand it. You're a normal wizard ninety-nine percent of the time. Why dedicate books and books to the one percent of the time that you aren't, if the books are just going to vilify that percent and scare people for no reason! And then when we find a book that looks promising, it's full of all this nonsense!"

"I'm not a normal wizard, Hermione." Remus said, "It's not like the one day a month is the only day I have symptoms."

"Well, maybe you should write a book talking about that then! Because everything I've read is only the one day a month! They only talk about the transformations and the blood lust and the scary parts!"

"That's because that's the time I'm more likely to kill someone."

Hermione snorted, "I don't buy that for a second," she said. "I've seen you when Sirius dips into your chocolate stash, I'm fairly certain you're far more dangerous then."

"I understand that you're joking," he began. "But Hermione, I'm a Werewolf. That one day a month is the only thing that anyone cares to know about me or about lycanthropy in general."

"Well, not me!" Hermione sat up and turned around so she could face him, setting the book on the cushion behind her. "Tell me about the other ninety-nine percent. How does it affect you the rest of the month?"

Remus sat up from his relaxed position, crossing his legs in a pretzel shape in front of him, his knees touching Hermione's, "What do you want to know?"

"All of it," she said. "I've done a fair bit of research while at Hogwarts, but the books are… clinical. Some of them are even completely prejudiced! What's it like on a normal day, right now. The moon is still over a week away-

"Nine days."

"Nine days," Hermione agreed.

Remus sighed, scrubbing his face with his hands. "I don't really know what you want me to say, Hermione. I've been a Werewolf as long as I can remember, I don't know what it was like before."

Hermione pulled her brows together in thought, tapping lightly in her chin as she tried to think of something to ask. "Okay, how about… Senses. I've come to learn that Werewolves have heightened senses, especially of smell and sound. Is that true for you?"

Remus seemed to consider the question for a moment before nodding, "I reckon so. I can smell things a lot of people can't."

"Like..?"

"You… You want me to sniff at you?" he asked, his face flushing a bit in embarrassment.

Hermione nodded, "Yes."

Remus gave her an exasperated look, to which she arched an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. He sighed again and then leaned in a bit to take a long, deep breath through his nose, his nostrils fluttering as he closed his eyes.

"You didn't wash your hair today. I can smell the coconut of the product you use and the floral of your shampoo, but it's faint. It's always stronger on the days you wash your hair. Your body soap is lavender and…" Remus took another deep breath in through his nose, "Vanilla. But you have a natural scent too, it's hard to explain. Everyone does, no matter how hard they try to cover it up with perfume or scented wash."

"What does mine smell like?"Hermione asked, thoroughly intrigued.

"Like rain," Remus whispered. "And ink. And… sweet. I can't explain it."

Hermione's eyes roamed his face, watching his closed eyelids twitch as he took in another deep breath, his tongue darting out to wet his lips before sinking his teeth into the swell of his bottom lip. She brought a hand up to his face and watched as he flinched at her fingertips grazing over the scars that ran across his cheeks and nose, running the lengths of them with feather light touches.

"Are these from the transformations?" she asked, whispering the question.

"Not exactly," he mumbled.

"What does that mean?"

His hand reached up to cover hers, pulling it away from his face. He held it in his lap as he opened his eyes again, looking at her with an expression she couldn't quite place. "Moony, the wolf, he erm… He's got a lot of energy, aggression. When I'm particularly stressed or worried before the moon, it affects him just as much. If I can't get that energy out, Moony takes it out on himself, which in turn…"

"Takes it out on you," Hermione said, bobbing her head in understanding. "You refer to your lycanthropy as if it's a totally separate entity."

"Because it is."

Hermione pulled her brows together and stared at him, confused. "What do you mean, it is?"

Remus sighed, "I don't… It's hard to explain."

"Try."

"I've never really told anyone this before," Remus whispered, worrying his bottom lip again. "The others guessed at it, I suppose. I-I've never said it out loud..Erm..I don't know why... I just feel like I can tell you, but erm… Moony is in my head."

"In your head?" Hermione asked, repeating the words slowly. "What does that mean?"

"It's not just the full moon that he's present, I mean. It's erm… uh, I… I can talk to him? I know how it sounds. It makes me sound completely nutters but-

"I don't think it makes you sound anything, Remus. I wouldn't ask the questions if I didn't want the answers. What do you mean you can talk to him? You can actually speak with him? Hold a conversation?"

Remus pressed his lips into a thin line and nodded, "Yeah, sort of. I doubt it would sound like actual words to anyone else… But it's like, he talks to me, right? He's opinionated about things and I get… Erm… I get these feelings from him. He gets annoyed with me easily."

Hermione chuckled, "Does he? Why's that?"

Hermione watched with interest as his eyes shifted between mossy green and gold, the colors swirling around his irises, fighting for control.

"He thinks I should handle things differently," Remus said.

Hermione chuckled, "I'm sure he does. You said you have excess energy leading up to the full moon, how do you usually burn it off?"

"I go on runs," Remus said, shifting his eyes away from her to look down and pick at a thread coming loose from his jumper. "Amongst other things."

Hermione smirked at that, an article about Werewolves and their behaviours leading up to the full moon surfacing in her memory. She could remember reading that they benefited from strenuous physical activity in the days leading up to the full moon, cardio heavy exercise, like running, helped to increase lung capacity and overall physical stamina. The end of the same article mentioned the increase of libido, and the benefits that a sexually healthy Werewolf could experience. She had an idea of what the "other things" might entail, but decided to leave it up to her imagination to unpack later.

"So I was right about the metabolism being a wolf thing? That's why you can eat so much and not gain any weight?" Hermione asked.

Remus nodded, "Yeah, I suppose you were."

The conversation came to a lull and Hermione studied his face as he looked down to his lap. Her hand was still in his, his thumb rubbing circles into the delicate skin on the back of her hand. She knew he was uncomfortable with physical affection for the most part, but ever since their date two days ago, it seemed as if he had gone out of his way to show that he was trying to be more comfortable with the idea of it.

"You know," Hermione whispered, "It really doesn't bother me that you're a Werewolf."

"So you've said."

"I just want to make sure you know it," Hermione explained. "I ask the questions, because I want to understand, Remus. If I overstep my boundary, please tell me. But I want to know you, every bit of you. That includes Moony, too."

Remus chuckled, which surprised Hermione. She expected him to tell her why she should run away screaming, why he was a danger to her, why he didn't trust himself to be around her, but she definitely hadn't expected him to laugh and roll his eyes.

"What?" she asked, sitting back a bit and withdrawing her hand from his to fold her arms over her chest.

"Moony liked that very much, is all." Remus said, "And you aren't overstepping anything by asking. Like you said, the books aren't very helpful."

"The only things that books like these help," Hermione said, reaching behind her to pick up the book and shake it at him. "Is to spread fear about a severely misunderstood condition."

Remus stared at her intensely for a beat, a strange look in his eyes. Just as she opened her mouth to ask why his demeanor had changed so abruptly, he leaned forward, surprising her by taking her lips with his own. There's that Gryffindor courage, she thought, smiling into the kiss. She shifted her weight forward, coming up to her knees to move closer to him while keeping their lips sealed together. Soon, she felt his hands on her waist, his fingers gripping her and pulling her toward him. She straddled him, her legs wrapping around his waist as she sat in his folded lap.

Remus pulled away from her briefly to allow them to catch a breath, and just as the cool air hit her lungs, his mouth was covering hers again, this time pressing his tongue along the seam of her lips. Hermione felt a rush of heat creep into her chest and up her neck at the assertiveness, happily obliging by parting her lips to allow his tongue to slink into her mouth and roam across the ridges of her teeth.

His arms banded tighter around her and she could feel his shoulders tighten beneath her palms. Hermione sighed when one of Remus' hands moved up her back to sink into her curls, cradling her head. She arched into him, pressing her chest flush against his and twisting her fingers into the hair on the nape of his neck.

They continued on, absorbed in one another. Hermione's senses felt flooded with Remus; his taste, his smell, the warmth of his body against her. She couldn't stop the low moan that pulled from her throat when he pulled away, only to press his lips against her neck.

"Oh shit!" Sirius' voice came from behind Remus, laughter dancing in his tone.

Hermione pulled away from Remus, chuckling a bit as he rolled his eyes and let out a very irritated groan.

"Go away, Sirius!" Remus growled, pulling the throw pillow that was lodged behind his back and the arm of the sofa out from under him, only to chuck it behind him and hit Sirius in the chest.

Hermione covered her face with her hands, laughing into her palms as Remus continued to grumble about Sirius 'always ruining everything'. Sirius scoffed and stepped forward, ruffling Remus' hair.

"Okay lovebirds, Lily sent me over to get you, or have you forgotten we have an Order meeting to get to?" Sirius said, extending a hand out to Hermione to help pull her from Remus' lap.

"We don't leave for the meeting until-

"Half six," Sirius said, interrupting Hermione. "And it's nearly that time. But I can see you two have apparently spent so long snogging you've forgotten to check the time."

"Shut. Up. Sirius." Remus said, swatting at him.

"Oi! Don't hit me! I'm not the one who forgot there was a meeting today and got wrapped up kissing a very pretty girl."

"For once," Remus grumbled.

Hermione and Sirius both barked a laugh and Hermione grabbed Remus' hand, heaving him up off the sofa and wrapping her arms around his waist in a tight hug. It took a moment before she felt his arms snake around her, his chin resting on the top of her head.

"We'll continue this later," she whispered, too low for Sirius to hear.

Remus simply nodded, stooping down a bit to press his lips into her hair. When they broke away from one another, Sirius was leaning against the sofa, his hip thrown to the side and arms crossed over his chest with a smirk on his lips.

"I told you he fancied you," Sirius teased.

Hermione rolled his eyes, "Yes. You were right, happy?"

"Very happy, Kitten. Now, we have a meeting to get to, if you don't mind."

Hermione, Remus, and Sirius hit the apparition point just outside of Meadow's cottage at the same time. As they walked through the living room and into the dining room, Hermione nearly smacked into the back of Sirius as he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Sirius what are you…?" Hermione trailed off as she peeked around him to see what had caused the sudden stop.

Standing at the front of the room, talking with Dumbldore and Moody was a couple that looked familiar. A man with light brown hair and bright blue eyes stood with his arm around the waist of a witch with wavy, dark hair and a pointed chin. When her eyes landed on Hermione, she nearly gasped. They were the exact grey/blue shade of Sirius', and she had the same high cheekbones and curved lips as Draco.

"An-Andie?" Sirius stammered.

A wide, bright smile spread over the witch's face and she stepped out of the grasp of the man, moving quickly toward Sirius. Sirius instantly enveloped the witch in a hug and Hermione could see the tears gathering in the woman's eyes.

"I always knew you would be the one to defy them," she said, stepping back to hold Sirius' face with both hands. "Hello, cousin."

"What are you doing here?!" Sirius asked, his voice sounding thick with emotion as he wrapped her into another tight hug. He peeled away from her, and stepped back, his hands on his shoulders as he looked her over, before nodding to the man she had been standing with. "Is this… Is this Edward?"

"Ted," the man said, stepping forward with an outstretched hand. "Ted Tonks."

Hermione's heart surged into her throat as she instantly looked to Remus. She realized he must have noticed the change in her demeanor because he took a half step away from her and turned a bit to look at her, an eyebrow arched in confusion. Hermione shook her head, hoping it would be enough to deter him from asking any further questions.

How could she tell him that these were the parents of a woman he would become engaged to? She was irritated that she could even remember that much! So many details that had been washed away, that she couldn't remember or feelings she couldn't place, but the name Tonks instantly sparked a sadness for Remus within her. A fleeting memory slammed into the front of her mind of a seventeen year old Hermione on the sofa at Grimmauld Place, holding the hand of a much older Werewolf, offering him comfort after the person he thought he'd spend the rest of his life with, had left.

Instinctively, she reached to his hand, threading her fingers through his and smiling to herself when he didn't pull away from her. In fact, he stepped closer to her, pulling her into the room where James and Lily already sat amongst the other Order members, chatting away with Frank and Alice.

"There you are!" Lily said, "Thought you'd forgotten!"

"We erm… lost track of time…" Remus said, trailing off as his cheeks tinged pink.

Lily's smile turned to a mischievous smirk as she patted the chair beside her, reaching out to Hermione's sleeve and pulling her into it. "Is that so?" Lily asked.

"We were reading," Hermione said, not looking her friend directly in the eye.

"Uh huh," Lily laughed, "Reading."

"Now that we're all here," Dumbledore said, clapping his hands together to get the attention of the room, "I would like to introduce to you two more in need of our help. Mr. and Mrs. Tonks, if you would like to give the details of what happened to your shop?"

Ted nodded and began regaling the information.

Apparently, Edward and Andromeda Tonks, who preferred to go by Ted and Andie, were the owners of a small shop in Diagon Alley that sold magical plants and saplings. A large quantity of their plants were hybrids that had been grown personally by Andie and all had some sort of protective element. Whether they were carnivorous and would bite intruders if you left them in a pot by the door or would give off a foul odour to deter intruders altogether, she and Ted had come up with an ingenious way for at-risk witches and wizards to protect themselves.

With Andie being cast away from the Black family over a decade ago, she knew that they would eventually have targets on their backs. Ted was a muggleborn and a very proud one, at that. It wasn't long before the Death Eaters targeted them and burned their shop to the ground, taking all of their beloved plants and the flat they lived in above the shop, with it.

Hermione was heartbroken for them. She had known, of course, that Andromeda Black had been exiled from her family for marrying a muggleborn man. She had not known, however, that they had been targeted once before. That they had lost everything because of their blood status; one a muggleborn and one a blood traitor. Hermione felt sick for them, and the breath caught in her chest when she remembered hearing Ted's name amongst the dead on Potterwatch while on the run with Harry and Ron.

This man, this family, would never stop fighting. Not only would he die because of his blood, but Nymphadora Tonks would grow up to be an Auror, fighting her entire life to put away the ones who had harmed them. Hermione had never thought to ask why Tonks had become an Auror, it just always seemed to make sense, given her personality. But now, she felt like she had a deeper understanding of a woman she once considered a friend.

The meeting lasted longer than normal, Hermione jotting down notes here and there and asking a few questions about the Death Eaters who were involved in the torching of the shop. She wanted every detail, trying to take in as much as she could to try and get a better understanding as to who was rising quickly in the Death Eater's ranks at this point in time. Unfortunately, they all wore masks, and they weren't able to physically identify one from the next except in terms of height and general build.

Occasionally, Hermione would feel Remus shift in the seat next to her. He seemed uncomfortable, not asking as many questions as the others, simply sitting back and taking in all the information. She could tell by the crease in his brow, he was concerned for them, for Sirius. She wondered if Sirius would try to rebuild whatever relationship had been there before, had he been close with Andie before they were both shunned from their family?

As the meeting came to a close as a few small assignments were given to Marlene, Frank, and Kingsley, Hermione found herself breathing a sigh of relief. With every passing day, she knew it was only a matter of time before the tentative dance that Voldemort and his Death Eaters were doing became tumultuous. A matter of time before many of their own were massacred in the name of purity, and with a sinking stomach at the end of the meeting as Moody doled out assignments, she wondered when one of these meetings would be the last time she saw one of the people she had been meeting weekly with for almost five months.

.

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a/n: Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! I had my surgery for my wisdom teeth on tuesday, it went okay. I'm still in a fair amount of pain and my face is swollen but I'm doing alright. I wanted to pop in and get this uploaded for you before I go back to sleep haha

I hope you liked it! Please leave a review and let me know!

xo

mimi