AN: Good morning everyone and happy Wednesday. Hey guys sorry it's been almost a month since I last posted, my husband decided about a month ago that now is the perfect time to start remodeling our kitchen (I wasn't expecting him to start until the new year) so things have been a little crazy. This chapter is to those of you who have been reviewing and have been patiently waiting for me to come back and to those of you who are just finding this story now. Anyways today is October 14, 2020 and this is the third chapter today. Anything you recognize is JK Rowling's and anything you don't is mine.
Hermione POV
I sat silently as Remus paced back and forth in front of me. This was not what I had expected when I got ready this morning. I leaned back against the wall and blew a curl out of my eye. Aberforth was sweeping absently at the floor but was mostly watching Remus as he paced.
"That bloody rat." Remus growled, rubbing his yellow eyes. "I should have killed him when I had the chance."
"No, it's good you didn't." Tonks said, her hair turning from pink to blue. She was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed. "If you had then you wouldn't be able to get my cousin off the hook. Besides if you had and got caught you wouldn't be able to protect your... er... her."
Remus didn't spare Tonks a glance. I had been slowly, haltingly, telling her about what had happened in the past year. Remus had given me the okay. It felt weird to talk about everything that was happening in our lives. Strange. There were only so many people I could talk to about this stuff. Once I had finished telling her she had thanked me. Profusely.
"What I don't understand is -" I started but got cut off when the door to the Hog's Head suddenly slammed open. Harry came storming in, his wand at his side. Ron was next to him, a thunderous look on his face. Luna followed with Padfoot trotting next to her. The moment he saw Remus he ran full out and all but jumped on him. Ginny and Neville came in their hands entwined. My eyes almost bugged, when the devil had that happened? Fred and George came up the rear looking surprisingly menacing, their eyes flicking around the room.
"I see you got everyone." I said dryly.
"I would rather you be safe than dead." Harry snapped, looking annoyed. "You know as well as I do that I can't take care of you by myself and stay alive what with the Tri-Wizard Tournament and all!"
"Stop talking!" Remus yelled his eyes becoming more yellow by the second. "Everyone sit down. Now."
Everyone sat down at various tables around the room. Ron sat next to Harry which made me so happy I could cry. Padfoot plopped down at Luna's feet and put his head next to her shoes. She pulled out her foot and absently stroked it against Padfoot's back. Tonks made her way past the tables and I frowned as her hand trailed against Harry's back. Harry shivered slightly but made no other indication that anything had happened. Ron gave him a look but didn't say anything.
"Okay, as you all know, or at least I think you all know, Hermione and I are Mates." Remus said, running a hand through his hair. Everyone was nodding and Ron made a motion for him to continue. "Hermione and I are both in great danger from dark forces since we have a Pristine Mating. The last thing we need is for the Death Eaters who are still out of Azkaban to find out what she is. We don't know what the Death Eaters, or any dark wizard for that matter, would want us for but they would want Hermione more than me."
"We all know this Remus, move on." Harry snapped, his eyes flashing red.
"Shut up!" Neville hissed, kicking Harry's chair. "You may have heard this all before but I haven't. I would like to be able to protect my girlfriend's best friend."
"Exactly." Ron said, agreeing. "You may have heard this all before, Harry, but - wait did you just call my baby sister your girlfriend?"
"Erm..." Neville made an odd sound.
"You all can deal with that drama later." Tonks said her hair turning fire engine red. "What you all need to know is that I have dealt with a couple who was a Pristine Mating."
"You have?!"
"STOP INTERRUPTING HER YOU IMBECILES!" Everyone froze and turned to look at Aberforth who stood at the bar. "Let her speak so I can open my shop again. Hogwarts days are one of my best days to be open. Now let the woman speak."
"Thank you," Tonks said, flicking a purple strand of hair out of her eyes. "I don't know everything about Pristine Mating but I do know some things. My department at the ministry hid a couple but they were found and murdered last year, right before the start of term actually." My eyes bugged at that. Right before Remus and I met the other mated couple died? Did Remus know that? "From everything I have found from working with them and these two is that no two pristine mating is the same. Yours is showing differently than theirs did."
"Was there an age difference? Did they try to stay apart?" Remus asked, crossing his arms.
"No, they were a year apart and got together immediately. The pull was too strong." Tonks said, frowning in thought.
"Well there's your difference. We aren't together... yet." Remus said, twitching slightly. I knew exactly what he was talking about. A warm flush rushed over me and a shiver raced down my spine.
"No you aren't and whatever it is you're thinking about Remus is the reason she's glowing brighter than a Christmas tree." Tonks said covering her eyes.
It took me a moment to process what she had said. When it finally clicked I looked down at myself. My skin was glowing like I was almost on fire. I pressed a finger against my arm and it was hot to the touch, almost painful. Bloody hell... I turned to look in a mirror on the wall and I was shocked to see that my hair was moving as if a gentle breeze was blowing through it.
"And that is why we asked you all here. I need you to help me protect My Mate since I can no longer go into Hogwarts whenever I need to get to her." Remus said softly. "I have been drawing too much attention to us and known Death Eater children have taken notice."
"Malfoy!" Ron hissed, slamming his hand against the table.
"And others." Remus said with a nod. "But what we need to figure out is how to hide Hermione in plain sight."
"Easier said than done." I muttered as the mirror in front of me started to shake and then shattered into a million pieces. It fell to the floor tinkling like music. Bloody hell...
AN: Please review guys! It means so much to me guys and it helps me get out chapters faster!
