"Is there a reason the door was locked?" Remus glanced over her shoulder into the library, growing more concerned when Hermione didn't step back away from the door. He took in her appearance with a quick glance, nothing entirely off at first sight but there was still a warning tingling at the back of his head. Something was off about this whole thing and he most importantly wanted to make sure she was alright. Ever since the four had come back from Hogwarts, the eldest witch had seemed more distant than he remembered her to be. That could just be part of growing up, and she was never rude, but he had learned a long time ago to trust those feelings.
And then there was the way Snape had been watching her, coupled with the fact he was here at all. He had enough news about Doholov to be important, sure, but it wasn't like him to stick around even at Molly's insistence. It was doubtful he realized just how often he was watching her, or at least that anyone had noticed, but it put a bad taste in Remus' mouth. The girl's flushed expression made him even more concerned, but how did someone just come out and ask that sort of thing?
Hermione was putting all of her effort into keeping her voice calm, hoping the thickness would be mistaken for sleepiness with her excuse. Her throat was tight with the way Remus kept glancing in, even knowing a disillusionment spell would hold. "I uh.. I must have turned it on the way in without realizing. Molly's desserts are always good but heavy, and I guess I dozed off in here for a minute." She leaned against the door, ignoring the pounding in her ears to study the man in front of her.
"Is something wrong?" His eyes snapped back to her, studying her face a minute before he answered. "I was going to ask you the same thing." Ah, there it was. Sighing she took a step back and motioned him in, certain that he wasn't going to just take an 'I'm fine' and leave it at that. She could see him scanning the room more than once, going to stand in front of the fireplace to keep warm and try to gain her thoughts. "...I've been avoiding Ron if you must know, but it's nothing that I can't handle."
Her answer caught Remus off guard and he looked back to her fully then, not having expected that admission. The hair on the back of his neck was still standing up as if he was being watched, and there was a scent in the air that he felt he should be able to put his finger on, but with it being just after a full moon his senses weren't as sharp as they usually were. "Ron? I thought… If you're having trouble at school, Hermione, you know you can talk to one of us." He wanted to leave the conversation open ended, just in case.
Sure the boy had a little puppy love look in his eye, but he knew Arthur and Molly's kids. They were good ones, and it wasn't as if there hadn't been talk of the two ending up together when he taught at the school. But if they were going through some issues, he could at the very least listen the same way he would for Harry. "If there was trouble, I know I could. There isn't." Her answer was simple enough, but the stiffening of her spine said otherwise. "Are you sure? If you're not free to say right now-"
"What do you mean not free to say? What are you implying?" Hermione crossed her arms, trying to bite back the defensiveness in her tone as he watched her somberly from the sofa. She also tried not to think of the position she'd been in on just moments before right there, before they were rudely interrupted. "I'm implying that I don't think you locked the door to keep Ron out. I'm implying that if you don't feel comfortable around someone else… Snape maybe..." He didn't blink as he watched her face for a reaction, and she knew she couldn't give him one, but in that instant she saw red.
Was he seriously trying to suggest that Severus would follow her up here against her will? And what, try to force her? The fact that they even thought he was capable of that sort of thing disgusted her. "Professor Snape," she replied automatically, in the same clipped tone she used with Ron and Harry when they were being disrespectful, "has never given me one reason to be uncomfortable in that way. This whole conversation though is starting to feel pretty weird." She saw the hurt flash across his eyes and maybe later she would feel guilty about it, but right now she was far too furious at what he was insinuating.
Immediately Remus lifted his hands up and shook his head. "Then I'm sorry. Look I didn't come up here to badger you, you've just been… different this week, and all I wanted to do was make sure nothing was wrong. You lot are family to me just as much as Harry is, and I just wanted to make sure that you were okay." He watched her expression shutter and dropped his hands, getting up to head back for the door.
"I obliviated my parents." She answered quietly from behind him, making him freeze in his tracks. "This summer. I sent them away where no one can find them. They've been on my mind a lot." His heart sunk down to his stomach and he cursed, coming back to hug her but she stepped away and he stopped to respect that. Considering how the conversation had turned he didn't want her to think he was making any sort of advances. "Just please don't say anything. I don't want anyone else to find out." With a quiet promise he took his leave, going back downstairs to mull over the severity of that kind of action.
It was the first time Hermione had admitted it outloud to anyone. Severus had seen it in her mind when she couldn't find the words, and she was grateful that he didn't say a word after finiting the charm, letting her fall into a solid chest to simply mourn them.