First of
all I want to thank you all for reviewing this!
I know I
should have done that a long time ago, so please be nice and don't throw things
at me, the ungrateful author! *hides under her desk*
I have to
say that we're near the end of this story (actually this is the last part) and
I thank you all for staying with Remus and Hermione and helping them through
their hard time!
Sleeping
Beauty, Chapter 8
"Precious
Gifts"
by
Foxfeather
See part
one for disclaimers and be warned: R-rating ahead!
Hesitantly,
Hermione knocked at Lupin's door. To enter that room again, to enter the
memories again made her shiver inside. What if he was asleep again? What if…
The door
opened and Lupin froze at the sight of her.
"Hermione!
You shouldn't have come here!" His face twisted.
"I have
found out who it was. And why."
Lupin
hesitated, than slowly opened the door further to let her step inside.
Carefully he moved out of the way, giving her no chance to touch him, how
accidentally ever.
Hermione
stopped after a few steps. The room looked exactly like she remembered it. A
cosy fire in the fireplace, books piled everywhere, one lying upside down on
the table by the chair… _that_ chair… She felt her heart beat faster.
Lupin
closed the door behind her and nervously walked over to _that_ chair, sat down
and motioned her to take the other one. Hermione nodded at him and sat down on
the edge of the seat, glad about the table between them. She noticed that Lupin
avoided her gaze. Silence stretched between them.
"So…"
"So…"
Both spoke
at the same time.
"I have…"
"You said
you found out…"
They
laughed. Lupin put one hand on his mouth and gestured to her with the other to
go on.
Hermione
cleared her throat, not sure of her voice and explained what Ron had told her
only minutes before.
Lupin
didn't react afterwards. He simply sat there, apparently lost in thought.
"Remus?"
He looked
up and met her eyes the first time since that incident at dinner. Hermione's
eyes widened. His pupils were wide and his gaze was so full of pain that she
had to clench her fists not to run over to him and hug him.
"What… Are
you all right?"
"I love
you." Whispered words. Almost to low to understand.
Hermione
just stared at him. He continued to look at her.
When she
did not react he went on.
"I saw you
sitting in the library this afternoon. And I had the feeling I had just been
overrun by a bulldozer. I nearly fled the room then. I spent the whole
afternoon thinking. I tried to picture other… girls… in that situation… and
asked myself if I would have reacted the same way… but I always saw you. I
can't deny it any longer; I've fallen for you, Hermione. Hard. And it tears me
apart."
Hermione
felt as if her heart would burst out of her chest. He loved her! She didn't
know if she should cry or laugh. This situation was so absurd and at the same
time it was the most wonderful day in her life.
She felt a
tear sliding down her cheek.
Remus
continued to watch her. The fire collapsed with a rustling sound and the light
in the room changed. Love came, saw and stayed.
It was
Hermione who broke the silence. "What do we do now?"
His voice
croaked. "I don't know. But we have to tell Dumbledore. Best we go now."
Neither of
them stood up. They simply stared at each other.
Minutes
later the fire had died down to glowing embers in the dark, obscuring their
features and making their eyes gleam.
"He will
have to expel you", Hermione whispered.
"No, he
won't."
"I can't
live without you!"
Remus made
a sobbing sound. "You can… after he erased our memories."
Hermione's
eyes widened. "You don't mean that!"
"Hermione,
please, believe me, I don't want to do
this, I want to be with you, but it is impossible! And it hurts so much… too
much… to see you and not touch you, kiss you…"
"Kiss
you…", she echoed.
"Please,
let's get this over with…"
Slowly he
stood up and reached out his hand to help her up, but with a quick movement
pulled it back and shook his head.
With
petrified faces they left the room, careful not to touch the other and went up
to Dumbledore's office.
When they
entered the room, Hermione had regained enough composure to tell the headmaster
what she had found out.
Dumbledore
again was sitting behind his desk, teacup in his hands and papers piling in
impossible angles on the shelves of the office. And, again, Hermione and Remus
were sitting on the edges of their seats.
After
Hermione's report Dumbledore set down his cup, took off his pointed hat and
ruffled his hair with both hands.
"The
Weasley twins. I think they have gone too far this time. This will have
consequences."
"No!" Hermione
shook her head. "Please, they didn't mean it to become… this…" She waved her
hand between herself and Remus. "They couldn't know. And besides, if you would
expel them our relationship would come out!"
"True.
You're right, Hermione, as always. I will have to think about that."
Dumbledore
stood up and began to pace. After some turns he stopped and looked at them.
"There's
more. Tell me."
Remus
straightened, then stood up to face the headmaster. Hermione rose, too and took
a deep breath.
"We're in
love." Remus' voice seemed to echo through the room and Fawkes lifted his head
to look at them with knowing eyes. Dumbledore raised one eyebrow.
"We know
that it's not right, but… Please, help us." Remus swallowed and threw Hermione
a quick look. "Erase our memories."
Dumbledore
looked at them, standing side by side, but not daring to touch each other,
determination and pain mirroring in their eyes.
Slowly he
moved past them to get his wand and a book from one of the shelves.
When he
turned around he found Hermione in Remus' arms. He had buried his face in her
hair and her face was wet with tears. Dumbledore closed his eyes for some
seconds then cleared his throat.
"Uhm, I
will have to prepare some things for this charm. It's quite difficult…"
Remus
looked up. His eyes were red with tears, too. "But, that charm isn't that di…"
Dumbledore
interrupted him. "It _is_ difficult. Come back here tomorrow morning. Right
before breakfast. Nobody will notice your absence, Hermione."
Both Remus
and Hermione stared at him. With a smile he shooed them out of the room.
"And be
discreet!" he called after them as they stumbled down the spiral staircase.
They spoke
no word on their way back to Remus' room. With shaking hands Lupin opened the
door and locked it behind them. Hermione drew her wand and spoke an
'ignore-me'-spell over the door, so nobody would even think about knocking
while Remus sealed the room with a silence-charm.
Then they
stood there and stared at each other.
"I… what do
you want to…_do_ you want to…" He blushed. "I'm sorry, I should have asked you
first, if…"
Hermione
smiled. "Shh. Yes. I want to… touch you… kiss you…"
Remus
needed no more invitation. He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms, kissing
her softly. Hermione felt like heaven. She buried her hands in his hair and
pressed her body against his.
When they
came up for air he touched her forehead with his. "I love you, Hermione."
"I love
you, too."
With a
fluent motion he lifted her off her feet. She gave a startled shriek and
giggled as he carried her over to the bed. He set her down and then knelt
before her to take off her shoes. She moved to help him, but he shook his head.
"Let me. You had your chance last time, now it's my turn." He gave her a
mischievous smile and continued on his task. Her robes and underwear soon
followed her shoes and socks.
"I never
had the chance to look at you", he whispered then and softly out-lined her body
with his hands. Hermione shuddered under his touch. "Please…"
She tugged
at his robes and he quickly undressed, his eyes never leaving hers. She grabbed
his arms and pulled him down to her. Both gave a soft cry when their bodies
met. He started to explore her body with what seemed like a flood of kisses.
When he reached her centre, coherent thoughts had left her mind. This was more
than heaven. This was love.
Dawn found
them wrapped in each other's arms. Both had known that this had been their only
chance and they had used it as far as they could. Hermione had never thought
that she could act so freely and had astounded herself and Remus with her
actions. He had made her every wish come true and also some others she didn't
even know existed.
"It's
dawning."
"Shh,
Hermione, don't say it…"
"I wish I
still had that time-turner…"
Remus
chuckled. "Yeah, that would be… nice."
"I'm so
glad I found you. Have I told you that I love you?"
He shifted
a bit to be able to look into her eyes. "Yes, but please, say it once more."
"I love
you, Remus Lupin."
"And I love
you, Hermione Granger."
She traced
the scars on his skin with his fingers and grinned when the touch made him
shiver.
"Hermione?"
"Yes?"
"It's
dawning."
"Shh,
Remus, don't say it…"
They
grinned, but now the grin had a bad aftertaste.
"We have to
get ready…"
"Yeah… join
me in the shower?"
Remus
groaned. "You are going to kill me, girl!"
"Never!"
She climbed
over him, stood up and stretched. Remus closed his eyes. "Don't do that!"
Laughing,
she grabbed the comforter and pulled it away. With a regretful look she noticed
his erection. "You never tire, don't you?"
He blushed.
Smiling she
grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. "Come on, the cold shower is
waiting."
Remus
wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled her into a hungry kiss.
"I really
wish we had that time-turner now". He whispered against her mouth.
She softly
touched his face, then pulled him along in direction of the bathroom.
Halfway
collected they left his room, still protected by the 'ignore-me'-spell. Some
early birds were already on their way to the Great Hall, but nobody cast them a
second look.
When they
entered Dumbledore's office a strange tingling sensation washed over them.
"Good
morning!", a cheerful voice greeted them from inside. "I take it you had a good
night?"
Dumbledore
grinned at them and gestured to them to sit down. Hermione and Remus exchanged
a look. Something had changed.
Dumbledore
sat down in his chair with Fawkes sitting on his left arm and stroked the
phoenix' feathers. "I have talked with the Weasley twins and Harry and Ginny
about that incident two days ago. They were truly sorry for what happened.
Harry and Ginny decided to forgive them. Without you, Hermione, they both would
have had a lot more to suffer, but now everything has sorted itself out, hasn't
it? Nevertheless I had to give the twins detention for this… prank. They aren't
allowed to go to Hogsmeade for the rest of the term and have to assist
Professor Snape whenever he decides he could need some help. That's for brewing
potions without knowing all their consequences!" He chuckled. "And they have to
write a formal apology to Harry and Ginny and revise it until everybody is
contented with it."
He became
more serious. "But that doesn't help you."
Remus
sighed. "When will you work that memory charm on us?"
Dumbledore
grinned again. "You already have been hexed. Didn't you feel it?"
Hermione
stared at him. "It didn't work! I still remember what happened!" She blushed.
Dumbledore's
grin grew wider. "Yes, yes, I used another kind of spell. Look at Remus. What
do you feel?"
Hermione
turned around to look at her lover. "I feel… I feel… love, but it's different…
What have you done?"
"It is a
very old spell, only rarely used and nearly forgotten. It wraps ones feelings
for another person in some kind of web. You still feel the emotion, but it
doesn't overwhelm you. You will be able to act completely normal. No need to
fear the sight of the other, no need to hide and hurt. Isn't it perfect?"
Remus
stared at Hermione. "It's like sharing a secret, not some terrible fate. I…
thank you, headmaster!" He took Hermione's hand and looked at it as if he had
never seen it before. "I can touch you!"
"Of course
you will be able to turn the spell off after Hermione's graduated, but perhaps
your feelings have changed until then. If your love vanishes, the spell will
wear off automatically. And it affects only the feelings you have for each
other. So you can fall in love with another person, be warned! This doesn't
bind you to each other."
Hermione
jumped up and threw her arms around Dumbledore's neck. "Thank you!" She kissed
him on the cheek.
Dumbledore
gave a pleased and almost embarrassed sounding "harrumph" and cast an amused
look of horror at Remus when he stood up as well and reached out his hand.
"Don't
worry, I will not kiss you", the werewolf grinned and pressed Dumbledore's hand
with both of his.
"Come on
then, breakfast is waiting."
The END!!!
Yes, folks,
that's it. No sequel, sorry.
I hope you
enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Please
review or e-mail me directly at alwest@cityweb.de
Good
writing to you and may you always find good stories to read,
Yours
truly,
Foxfeather