12. THE VENOM OF THE SNAKE

The next day at lunchtime Remus was in the DADA classroom grading the essays of the seventh grade gryffindors in order to give them back at class time.

He took his quill and after dipping the tip with a some red ink, he marked a passing grade on a scroll signed by "Harry Potter".

A light smile was drawn on his tired face caused by a memory of his time as a student.

He took a sip from his coffee cup and sank into his armchair. He ran his fingers through the dark circles under his eyes: he couldn't sleep a wink all night.

The last time he saw her was the day before and the circumstances were not favorable at all. Now he wondered if she might be upset at him for being rude to her.

'Why can't I stop thinking about you,' he whispered. Suddenly he looked up and saw in front of him a boy with blond hair and white skin who looked at him coldly with those grey eyes that girls liked so much.

The young wizard shook his head and said:

'People like you are pitiful.'

Remus Lupin hardened his countenance and sentenced with a thick voice:

'20 points off Slytherin for insulting a professor.'

'I'm not insulting you,' continued Draco without a hint of fear, defiant, 'I'm telling the truth. You are trying to seduce a child!'

Draco Malfoy spat out the words with poison and Remus felt his body temperature rise from the rage that was invading him. He stood up from his desk and faced the blond man.

'Hermione is not a child,' he said harshly, barely reasoning his own words.

Malfoy bursted a cold, victorious laugh; the lycanthrope had taken the bait.

'I do care,' he said seriously, 'I know my status and it's time you know yours. You're too old to be doing such things.'

Remus clenched his fists, holding back the urge to punch Malfoy in the face. The slytherin smiled mischievously at Lupin's expression.

'I have the seriousness and maturity that you lack, Malfoy,' Remus said pretending to be calm and returning to his place.

Malfoy frowned and moved a little closer to the desk. Lupin looked at him expectantly.

'You're just a bloody werewolf. Hermione is just blinded and you are taking advantage of the situation.'

'Be careful what you say, Mr. Malfoy,' threatened the professor.

'What if not?" challenged the blonde 'you can't do anything to me.'

Remus stood up again and looked at Draco dangerously.

'You are wrong Mr. Malfoy... It's your word against mine, and believe me, the headmaster will know who to trust. I haven't done anything bad, if you think you can use it against me.'

'Are you sure? What about trying to woo one of your students...?'

'There's no rule that says a teacher can't fall in love with a student if she's of age... and there's also no rule that forbids courting outside of school. Believe me Mr. Malfoy, I've read the rules many times.'

'Just think of how shocked every parent will be when they find out that a lycanthrope is trying to get a hold of a little girl,' he said with a sneer, 'and if the matter comes to the attention of the Ministry... imagine what could happen! The little respect you earned for your help in the last battle against Voldemort wouldn't be that helpful,' he added.

Remus laughed sarcastically at this last comment.

'Draco Malfoy talking to me about being respectable,' he said, referring to the current disrepute of the Malfoy family. 'Are you trying to intimidate me, Mr Malfoy?'

'No,' said Draco 'I'm warning you that it's not in your best interest to have me as an enemy; my family's name may be tarnished but we're not yet as discredited as the werewolves are.'

Remus was trying not to let Malfoy know how upset he was.

'Hermione is mine and no one, especially a dirty wolf with no future like you, is going to take her away from me.'

' Well, don't be too sure about that,' Remus said loud enough for him to hear.

'Are you challenging me?

'On the contrary Mr. Malfoy, I value Hermione for what she is and I don't think she's any kind of trophy. She is free to decide, and if you earn her affection, I'll accept it...'

'I'm dying to see you squirm with anger when you see us kissing and holding each other all over the castle,' Draco said with malice, 'and even worse, when you hear her saying words of love dedicated to me.'

Remus frowned once more and sat down again. Then, masking his anger, he smiled hypocritically at Malfoy.

'Now if you have nothing else to say to me Mr. Malfoy, I'd appreciate it if you... ' but Remus couldn't finish as a rather agitated Hermione came through the door, very disheveled from the effort of running in.

'Remus, I need to ask you something about... Oh, hello Draco.'

The two men in the room exchanged a defiant look before turning to the girl.

' In this case I think I'm going to have to ask you to leave, Mr. Malfoy.' said Remus, looking at him mockingly. Malfoy had no other option and than to leave without saying a word.

Hermione looked confusedly at Draco as he left the classroom. Something wasn't right.

'Did anything happen?' she asked interestedly.

'No, nothing happened,' he lied, 'what was it that you wanted to ask me?'

Hermione took a deep breath before talking:

'My classmates are asking me if we're finally going to have to hand in next Thursday the four scrolls long essay about the curses we've been studying for the past month?

'Yes, I'm afraid so... and maybe you'll have an exam; but don't tell anyone; that's only for you to know,' he said winking. He couldn't help sharing that last piece of information.

'If it's supposed to be a surprise test, then why are you telling me?' said Hermione suspiciously.

'Well... because...' Remus hesitated for a moment and his cheeks turned a little red 'just in case you wanted to study before' "what a cheap excuse" he thought to himself. Hermione raised an eyebrow.

'Oh... well... Thank you.'

Hermione slowly turned around and headed for the door.

'Hermione, wait' he called as he got out of his chair. She turned and looked at him expectantly; she was still annoyed about the previous evening.

'What?'

'I wanted to apologize for being rude to you yesterday" he said embarrased, 'I'm sorry.'

Hermione shrugged, still resentful of what had happened.

'Sure' it was the only thing she said before she left.

Remus pursed his lips and sat back in the chair, sighing. All this was happening because he was so foolish... as if she were to blame... as if he had any right to be jealous of her... he ran both hands over her face in desperation... Everything was coming at him; everything was happening so fast... he no longer knew what to do, it seemed that everything he was doing was wrong. He sighed again and continued to grade the essays.

A/N: First of all, sorry that it took me so long to update. I guess that from now on, I'm on my own regarding the Beta-Reader issue.

So, if any of you (preferably an English-native speaker) is willing to help me to check one or two chapters and correct grammar and writing issues that I might have missed, please contact me. Any kind of help is more than welcome. I always give credit to the ones who help me, so you can be sure that your contribution will be recognized :)