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Author's Note: Moon Phase is a series of installments written in response to the Challenge topics presented on the Live Journal community 30minutefics. The first installment begins with Challenge #26, and then jumps to Challenge #45 where it will continue in sequential order. Each installment (chapter) will be updated as the owners of 30minutefics present the new challenge every Sunday.
Second Installment Challenge #45 – 10 years after...Title – Wondering
Rating – G
Pairing – Remus/Hermione
Completed time – 29 minutes, no editing
Installment summary – Remus Lupin considers the changes in Hermione Granger.
It was difficult to believe at times. Ten years had passed in a blink of an eye. Within that decade there had been such upheaval in his life. Remus supposed he should be used to it by now, but the chaos of those years seemed particularly disheartening. A war, the redemption of a friend and then his death, the knowledge that someone innocent had lost years in a man-made hell, and someone guilty went free. Children grew up too quickly and adults aged too soon. The triumph of Voldemort's defeat sometimes seemed lost in the fall-out of the aftermath.
Still, the last two years had been relatively peaceful for him, at least as peaceful as they could be for an outcast in society. He sometimes suffered from bouts of depression, even as he reprimanded himself for the uselessness of his melancholy. But lonliness weighed heavily on his shoulders, and he wondered if he could bear this continued inner isolation and still keep his sanity.
One bright ray of hope continued to assail him, even though he tried to ruthlessly squelch its existence. Remus turned away from his place at the window and stared at the single leaf of parchment resting on his desk. It was a message, an invitation and a profound wish. He had not expected to find Hermione Granger such pleasant company after all this time. Always bright, strong-minded and very brave, he had admired her resilience in the face of circumstances that would have made wiser, more mature adults turn and run. She had never bowed before the prejudices of an anachronistic society, gaining respect from her wizard peers by the sheer tenacity of her nature. Brilliance got you to the starting gate. Endurance took you across the finish line and Hermione possessed a wealth of both.
It had startled him to some degree, seeing her again, a self-assured young woman, the last vestiges of childhood vanished. In his mind's eye, she had retained the appearance of a teenager, never aging in the years that passed since he last saw her. So it had taken him a few seconds to recognize the young woman who smiled at him with dazzling warmth and called him by his first name. The wild hair had been wrestled into a braid and she was a little taller than he remembered. Physically, there was little difference, but she carried herself with a greater confidence and her brown eyes measured him with a look that let him know this was no longer a child, but a woman. And an interesting one at that.
They agreed to meet for dinner, and the time flew as they talked about everything and nothing. He wasn't surprised to learn of her work with the Ministry. While she didn't speak of it, he knew she was highly regarded. The hard years of the war had not diminished her exuberance for life, and he felt both glad for her and wearied that he had not held up so well as she.
She was pretty, in her way, and Remus knew he saw her with eyes that had always admired the child and was now fascinated with the woman. The date, if one chose to call it that, was soon over and he walked her home. There had been something in the air between them when he said goodnight.
"Wishful thinking, old boy," he murmured to himself as he left her at the door of her flat, but the sense that she saw him differently as well remained and he pondered it through the days that led up to the short reunion at Hogwarts. She seemed shy with him that second meeting, and he hoped he did not embarrass her with any undo attention. But she made a point to sit next to him, though she said little.
Another date, another dinner and an embrace at her door. Hermione Granger with her extraordinary intelligence also had a form that seemed to fit perfectly within the circle of his arms. She smelled of cold, winter air and chamomile, and he wondered what she would do if he, a man far too old and beaten down by life were to kiss her. He didn't, but as he once again left her to return home, he still wondered.
The parchment lay on the desk, beckoning him to finish. Remus ran the tip of one finger over the dry ink and considered what else to say. Maybe it would be best to leave it as it was and owl it to her.
His scrawl was neat and straight on the paper, casual but polite, never hinting at the deepening of his emotions or interest.
"Hermione, would you be interested in a midnight ride?"
Completed 29 minutes – no editing