Remus/Hermione - 17 year old Remus knows he can't risk falling in love; but when he does, is he just going to throw it all away and let Severus move in on the girl he likes?
Chapter 2
By Lil Blu Firefly
I wish I had a different star, I wish I had a different set of words. – Neptune, Inme
Remus Lupin found himself walking down the corridor to Dumbledore's office, for the second time that week. Hands shoved in his pockets he was going over what had happened the previous day; or rather what had not happened. It was still bothering him that Hermione had backed out at the last minute, and even more so why he had let himself get so carried away in the first place. The only time he ever went for girls tended to be under the watchful eye of the Marauders, and even then it was usually under the influence of spirits. He had never made a move on a girl he really liked.
Realising that he had reached the door of Dumbledore's office, he took a breath and knocked loudly, entering on request.
"Ah, Mr Lupin, I was wondering when I might expect you back."
Remus looked up confidently at the headmaster, who was watching him patiently; sure of exactly what he needed to do.
"I'm sorry sir, but I was wondering if it was at all possible for someone else to tutor Herm…Miss Granger. You said that you knew of somebody other than me, who could do the job," he said quickly. Dumbledore showed no trace of surprise at this statement, but simply surveyed Remus over his glasses.
"Hmm…Are you quite sure of your decision? It is not affecting your own studies I hope" Dumbledore, asked. Remus felt himself falter for a moment.
"Yes Sir I'm sure." The headmaster sighed lightly, and studied his interlocked fingers.
"Very well then, I shall arrange for a different tutor," Dumbledore answered, his face remaining expressionless. "However I fear that he may not be so well suited to our guest," he added, more to himself, than to Remus.
After being dismissed, Remus left and heaved a sigh of relief, and walked down to the Griffindor common room with purpose, convincing himself that he had done the right thing.
* * *
When he finally reached the common room, he found James, Sirius and Peter all sitting in a corner, whispering conspiratorially. Seeing him, James beckoned across with a dangerous glint, Remus knew all too well, in his eye.
"Hey," Remus said, unenthusiastically. James glanced around the room, winked at two girls on the other side of the room, and lowered his voice.
"This Friday, we got a good 'un planned. Me, Padfoot, Wormtail," he added. Remus didn't like the sound of it, but, as James well knew, his wolfish instinct fed his interest into what they had planned.
"Not that you'd care anyway," James said slyly, "Arithmancy, wasn't it?" and with a practised wave, he immersed himself back in the conversation, leaving Remus to fight a self battle over whether or not to let on about cancelling his lessons. Unfortunately, maybe, the more reckless side won, and he threw himself onto the couch with a sigh, while Sirius eyed him suspiciously.
"Decided to join us have you?" he asked, glaring. Remus ignored him and appealed to James.
"I cancelled. I ain't taking Arithmancy. It sucks." He said, throwing his legs up onto the table. James raised his eyebrows, but continued with what he was saying.
"Ok then, we'll use Moony instead now he's here." Peter threw him a look of distaste.
"This Friday. It's Hogsmead the day after; I doubt poor little Snivellus will be able to go. He'll smell so bad by then, they'll be locking him in his room." James said laughing. Remus glanced up, unsure what to make of this.
James pulled out a dark blue bottle out of his pocket and slammed it onto the table.
"Where'd you get that?" Sirius asked. James shrugged.
"Nicked it from the store cupboard," he said casually.
Sirius whistled. "I'll bet Filch is having a ball."
"Anyway, What'dya say Moony? This Friday, after dinner." James said, stretching his arms across the back of the sofa and grinning wryly at Remus. "Just be there to back us up. We'll be ready with a couple of hexes…" Both he and Remus knew that he'd say yes. He always did, so long as he wasn't going to be too involved. Remus nodded and James lowered his voice once more. "Just don't mention any of this to Lily ok? She's got her principals and all that – I don't think she'll be too impressed."
* * *
Hermione finished brushing her teeth and unwrapped the towel she'd put her wet hair up in earlier. It was almost dry, so she left it how it was. Instead, she decided to get her books out and study for a while until Remus turned up for her tutoring, but halfway there, there was a knock at the door. Figuring that Remus must have chosen to skip dinner, she straightened her shirt and went to answer it. When she finally opened the door, however, it wasn't Remus standing there, but a thin boy with messy, limp black hair and a scowl on his face.
"Sorry? Am I expecting you?" she asked, a little put out. The boy eyed her suspiciously and walked past her and into the room, setting the books he was carrying onto the table without speaking. Hermione spun around.
"No need to be rude!" she said smartly. The boy simply glared at her.
"I didn't choose to help you," he said bitterly. "Apparently I was the 'last option'."
Hermione stood wide-eyed and confused by this comment. She studied him a moment. "What about Prof…the other person who was supposed to be tutoring me?" she altered hastily, unsure of whether this boy had been aware that Remus was teaching her.
The boy didn't even bother to shrug, so Hermione took his silence to mean that Remus wouldn't be coming.
"So…I don't mean to be rude but who exactly are you?" Hermione said, walking over to the sofa. She had meant to sit next to him, but after glancing at his greasy hair, she chose a seat opposite.
"Severus," he growled, opening one of the books hastily. Hermione's mouth dropped open, and it took her a while before she realised that she was staring. Now that she was positioned in front of him, she could see the resemblance almost immediately. The only difference was his size. This boy was considerably thinner, and more pallid than the potions master she knew and had fewer crease lines across his forehead. However, he still bore the same pointed nose and lank, oily hair.
"Right, well I'm Hermione," she said conversationally.
"I know."
Hermione glanced at the book he had open in front of him. It was obviously quite old and equally obviously from the restricted section of the library. The boy's face seemed to open up considerably as he became further absorbed into the book. Eventually, he dug a hand into his pocket and pulled out a small see-through box with what looked like woodlice inside. He then placed them on the table and began muttering incantations under his breath.
Hermione, slightly perturbed by this and convinced that his wand was pointed straight at her, stood up abruptly and sat on the same side of the sofa he was (and as far away as possible) on the pretext of reading the text book. She pulled it closer, and upon realising that he wasn't going to stop her, put it on her lap.
"Um…Which one of these are you using?" she asked, furrowing her brow.
She looked up to see Snape's face creased up in concentration, apparently oblivious to everything else in the room.
"Sanguis!" He shouted, pointing his wand directly at the table. Hermione let out a squeal of horror as the woodlouse in front of them suddenly burst open and sprayed blood across the table. Snape, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed by this and allowed himself a small smile in accomplishment.
"That was cruel!" Hermione said distastefully. For the first time since he'd walked into the room, Snape turned round and looked at her.
"It's a complex spell. It needs practice." He said by way of explanation. It took Hermione a moment or so, to realise that Severus was staring at her.
"Try it." He said simply. He was looking at her oddly through a mass of straggly black hair, and Hermione was shocked to see that there wasn't a trace of anger or sarcasm on his face.
"I'm not using one of those," she said, nodding towards the woodlice. "How would you like it if I burst you open like that right now?" she asked loudly. Severus glared at her; the look of suspicion and hatred crept back onto face as if she had actually threatened him.
"Suit yourself." He replied, eyes wild. He took another woodlouse from the jar and performed the same spell on it once more. The creature burst open in a spray of crimson, which covered the carpet.
"Stop that!" Hermione reached across and grabbed his wand arm. She lowered her voice. "Please don't." He looked shocked for a moment, and did as he was told, until eventually a scowl stretched across his features.
"You won't learn anything unless you put it into practice." He muttered, sitting back down in a jerky motion. Hermione sighed loudly and pointed to the book.
"You can do these?" she asked interested.
"So what if I can?" he challenged, not looking. Hermione mulled over what to say, choosing her words carefully. "You must be pretty good at Defence then," she observed. This time, he did shrug. "Apparently not." He said, but didn't elaborate.
"So, Snape," she began, about to change the subject, but realised her mistake.
Severus's head snapped up, his eyes full of suspicion. "How did you know that?…You're a Seer!" he accused, standing up and pointing a bony finger at her. "I knew there was a reason Dumbledore was keeping you out of the way!"
Hermione remained deadly calm, but raised her eyebrows at the last comment. The headmaster had obviously not told him any more than was necessary, unlike Remus. Slowly she looked up at him and nodded towards the table.
"It says it on the front of your book." Sure enough, the words Severus Snape were printed in scrawled handwriting across the top of the book cover. Severus glared at this temporarily, before sinking into his chair. If Hermione hadn't known better of her potions master, she would have said that he was sulking. Hermione considered what to say.
"How can you not be good at Defence, if you can perform spells like this," she gestured to the books. "These are beyond NEWT level!"
Severus was apparently having a self-struggle over his answer, and eventually gave in."
"The professor's afraid." He spat the words out. "He says I have an 'unhealthy' obsession with the Dark Arts." He added darkly, slumping into his chair. Although this was the same Snape, that Hermione would come to hate in 'later' years, she couldn't help but feel sorry for Severus. She knew that she wouldn't like it if she had no friends to fall back on and teachers who discouraged her studying.
"If it makes you feel any better," she said, "Everyone at my school thinks I'm a swot."
Severus stared at her, but eventually raised his eyebrows.
"Are you?" he asked, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. She sighed.
"I just want to do well. I'm only going to take my NEWTs once, and I don't want to mess them up." Severus watched her through a mop of jet-black hair, deep in thought.
"When I received an 'O' in my Defence OWL, my Professor hated me." He growled, more as a statement, than in answer to Hermione's comment.
The word 'misunderstood' hung ironically in the silence that stretched between them, until they both resumed studying.
* * *
"Don't be thick Wormtail," James muttered, "we know exactly where Snape'll be." He waved the Marauder's map in front of Peter's face as if to make it doubly clear what he meant.
"Shouldn't we maybe wait a while – make sure it's clear?" Remus asked, putting on a casual voice. Sirius shot him a look, as if he thought Remus might be trying to back out.
"If you don't want to do it Moony, we can always put Wormtail in your place," he growled. "At least Peter doesn't complain."
"Are you two quite finished?" James asked patiently, as he climbed through the portrait hole. "Because, if you hadn't noticed, we're going now."
Sirius threw Remus a finally look of warning before he stepped out after James.
Outside in the corridor, James reached into his pocket and pulled out a sheet of parchment, tapping it with his wand.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." The parchment opened to reveal several black spots across it's front.
"He's on the third floor," James mumbled. "He's not moving yet."
Remus stood wide-eyed, finally figuring out whom Dumbledore had been talking about. The third floor was where the room of requirement sat. That meant that Snape had been giving Hermione lessons, instead of him.
"Oh great," Remus muttered, putting his head in his hands.
"What's up with you now?" Sirius hissed. Remus glanced up, not realising he had spoken out loud.
"Nothing…It's just I think that Filch hangs around the third floor on a Friday," he made up quickly, "Something to do with one of the store rooms."
James bent over the map once more.
"Nope. Filch is on the ground floor mate. It's all clear." He took the invisibility cloak from Peter.
"Ok, here's what we do. You two," he gestured to Remus and Sirius. "Go under the cloak when we get nearer, then we split up. Wormtail, you hide behind one of the statues out of the way and keep watch – we can't have the map open all the time."
The four boys traipsed up a set of stairs and down the corridor, headed towards the black dot marked Snape.
* * *
Hermione glanced at the clock and realised that it was almost nearing 9 o'clock; the time that all students had to be off the corridors. Severus had obviously noticed too, because he had started collecting his books together and shoving his quill into the pocket of his robes.
"I'll be back next Friday." He muttered jerkily, standing up to leave. Hermione stood up too and followed him to the door.
"I'll show you out then," she replied out of politeness. Despite the fact that he was too self-absorbed and defensive, she decided that Severus simply needed someone to talk to and not just put him down all the time; which she figured must happen a lot, considering how unpopular he seemed – even as an adult.
Carefully, she shut the door on Snape's receding back.
* * * *