A/N: At last, you finally get a happy chapter out of me, LOL. I hope I handled Dumbledore okay. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Last time I checked, I haven't reached my thirties, I don't have three kids, and I don't wear makeup. I own nothing!

Dumbledore's Drift

For the next two weeks, Hermione managed not to do anything stupid around Remus. This, of course, was probably helped along by the fact that Harry glared at her practically every time she even so much as looked at Remus. Remus withdrew himself into the mood he had when he'd started the year, sad and brooding. Although he hid it quite well, Hermione was still very much on his mind.

Today was Hogsmeade day. Harry, Ginny, Ron, Luna, and Hermione all sat down at one table in the Three Broomsticks, sipping their butterbeers and talking. Hermione stared at the empty table where she and "James" had sat three weeks earlier. She was still feeling quite heartbroken about the whole ordeal. She snapped out of her reverie when Remus walked in and sat at that very table. He looked quite broken up about something. A waiter brought him what she assumed to be butterbeer. He caught her starting at him, and she quickly turned away.

Harry soon noticed that Lupin was sitting a few tables away, so he went over to try to cheer up his friend. When he sat down, he was quite alarmed to find that Lupin wasn't drinking butterbeer, but firewhiskey. "Lupin...is everything all right? Is there anything I can do?"

Lupin gave a pained smile. "Thanks, but I'm afraid not, Harry." Harry watched as he drank more of his firewhiskey and turned to look at Hermione. Neville was standing there, asking Hermione out to the Christmas dance like Harry had requested. He'd figured her sadness was due to the fact that James broke up with her, so he was hoping to get her mind off him, and Lupin too. They could both hear what Neville was saying, and the nervous edge to his voice.

Hermione smiled apologetically at him. "Sorry, but I hadn't really planned on going. Thanks anyway, Neville." Hermione met Remus's eyes, then turned her head from him, blinking back tears.

Lupin was staring at the table top, gripping his firewhiskey quite hard, and appeared to be lost in thought. Harry wasn't sure what to say as it slowly dawned on him what Lupin was so upset about. It almost didn't make sense, though. "Hey Lupin, do you have any idea whatever happened to James?" he asked.

"Who?" Lupin asked, his eyes blank. "Oh, him. I don't really know," he said lamely. The question appeared to make him more upset.

Harry tried again. He wondered if it'd be inappropriate to ask this next question, but Lupin was his friend, after all. It should be okay. "You like Hermione, don't you?"

Lupin glared at Harry over his firewhiskey. The memory of Harry's boldness three weeks ago was forcibly brought to mind, which irritated him. It also didn't help that his drink made him slightly drunk. "You just can't stop playing cupid, can you?" he growled.

Harry's eyes widened. He hadn't seen Lupin so angry since the night he'd searched for Peter Pettigrew, and he'd been chewed out for risking himself since the supposed criminal, Sirius Black, was on the loose. "I'm - I'm really sorry Lupin. If there's anything I can do, I'll be around." Harry stood up and hurried back to his own table. He sat down next to Hermione, who appeared rather dejected. Harry realized that things were beginning to build into serious problems. He no longer felt mad at her, he just wished there was something he could do to make things go back to the way it was before they started liking each other.

"Lupin's really broken up about something," whispered Harry to everyone at the table. "He's drinking firewhiskey. I'm really worried, we should do something about him."

Luna had her own two cents to add. "Yes, the potential return of the nargle race is quite disturbing."

Hermione glared at Luna. Did she EVER take ANYTHING seriously! "HONESTLY, Luna, I don't think he even KNOWS that nargles EXIST! Because they DON'T!" she hissed.

"No, he does. That's what he's worried about," Luna stated firmly, before staring off into space again. Ron remembered that Luna had previously said something about nargles being extinct when Lupin had returned. What could Luna possibly be hinting at?

Hermione rolled her eyes and walked out with a huff. She could feel Lupin's eyes on her back, but she didn't care. She just wanted OUT. She found herself walking to the Shrieking Shack. She sat down, her back to a tree, and stared at the Shack. Soon Remus would have to shut himself up in there again. Full moon would rise in about a week. "I wonder why Dumbledore hasn't done the Homorphus Charm on him," she mused aloud.

She could hear the crunching of footsteps on leaves. She looked up, reddening when she saw it was Remus. He looked surprised to see her. "Sorry, I didn't know you were here," he muttered, turning to go.

"Wait," called Hermione. "I never apologized for what happened a couple weeks ago. I embarrassed you in front of the whole class, and I'm really sorry."

"I think we've had enough apologies between us, Hermione," he said, smiling resignedly. "Let's call it even."

She smiled at him, feeling nervous. They were out here all by themselves. She wasn't sure what to say. "I'll be going now," stated Remus, his voice cracking slightly. He walked back to Hogwarts, a defeated drag in his step. If he didn't recover from this soon, he'd surely have to resign. His depression was beginning to interfere with his teaching.

Remus sat at his desk, his face in his hands. He felt tears welling up in his eyes as he contemplated going to Dumbledore. It would be embarrassing, to be sure, but he owed it to Dumbledore be honest with him, especially after all Dumbledore had done for him.

He heard a knock at his door. He didn't want visitors, but he didn't want to be rude. "Come in," he said weakly. He looked up from his hands, and he saw Dumbledore sitting in front of his desk. His heart sank. He wouldn't even have to resign, he was surely going to be sacked now.

"Hello, Remus," greeted Dumbledore. "I can see you have much on your mind."

Remus just stared at Dumbledore. In addition to his sick feeling in his stomach, the firewhiskey still hadn't quite worn off, and he couldn't bring himself to say anything. (Just say it) he thought. (Tell me I'm sacked, and let me leave)

"You're probably wondering why I'm here." More silence. "I can see in your eyes that you mean to resign, and your reasons for it. I've watched you closely for the past month, and I think I know why you're considering this."

Remus sighed. Of course Dumbledore would know, nothing escaped him. He felt embarrassed; Dumbledore must think he was ridiculous. "Yes, I mean to resign," Remus confirmed.

"Remus, I would not accept your resignation, not if you sent me a hundred Stunning Spells."

Remus stared at him, his thoughts incoherent. Why in the world would Dumbledore be so insistent on keeping him? Especially with his unprofessional behavior?

"You are the best DADA I've ever had the pleasure of hiring. And the feelings you're having right now, although quite serious, I believe can be worked out." Dumbledore gave him a scrutinizing look. Remus wondered if he was practicing Occlumency. He hardly cared.

"She's eighteen, Remus, and old enough to make her own decisions. Of course, I can't sanction a teacher to have any sort of unprofessional relationship with one of his students." An odd sort of twinkle came into Dumbledore's eyes. "However, there have been some young rascals running around that I haven't been able to recognize. Goodbye, Remus." He left the room, his eyes twinkling merrily while he hummed a tune. Hermione was hardly the girl he'd expected or hoped that Remus would hook up with. However, he felt that since Remus was a werewolf, and he'd suffered many long years of misery and hardship, he deserved any girl he liked. He wasn't worried about what would happen, he knew them both quite well. Both had proven to be quite mature and responsible in the war.

Remus stared blankly at the space where Dumbledore had been. He'd caught Dumbledore's drift, but he just couldn't believe it. Possibilities cropped up in his mind. He felt his heart lighten. He wasn't sacked, he wasn't going to resign, and now Dumbledore had basically hinted he would look the other way if he drank Aging potion again. (But I can't really ask her out, can I?) he thought. (She'd surely reject me. Resda rejected me because I'm a werewolf. Although that doesn't seem to turn off Hermione, she probably wouldn't want things to get serious. After all, I'm almost twice her age!) His heart clenched. He didn't think he'd be able to stand it if she rejected him. Sure, she seemed to have a crush on him, but she wouldn't actually want a relationship, would she?

His thoughts were again interrupted by another knock on the door. "Come in," Remus said cheerfully. When he saw that it was Harry, he positively beamed at him. "I'm so sorry for my earlier behavior today, I was drunk," he apologized. Well, that wasn't the whole reason, but he wasn't about to tell that to Harry, was he?

Harry was dumbfounded at Lupin's dramatic change in mood. He'd passed Dumbledore on his way to Lupin. (I wonder if he cast a Cheering Charm on him or something) "I understand. I was just going to check up on you to make sure you were okay."

"I'm quite fine now. I just worked everything out with Dumbledore. Nothing to worry about, now."

Harry observed Lupin begin to rub his hands together, looking gleeful. (He's gone crazy) Harry thought. (Or maybe the firewhiskey hasn't worn off yet) "I'm glad things turned out well for you. I'll be going now," said Harry.

After Harry left, Remus chuckled to himself about Harry's bewildered expression. Oh, if he only knew. Remus pondered how he'd approach Hermione, if at all. (I'll just have to play it by ear) he decided.

Replies to Reviewers:

sporty12gd4u: I'm glad you found that amusing! I did too, that's why I worked it in.

BrennaM: Yes, I did make Harry a bit mean, I intended it to be tough love, but maybe I overdid it. It needed to happen though. Hermione needs to move to the point where she isn't overly concerned about Lupin getting sacked, and so I tried to move her there by making Harry take over. Don't worry, being a Harry/Hermione shipper, I can't make them mad at each other for long, can I:)

LupinLover99: I read your story. Very fluffy:) Thanks for sending me three reviews! Oh, the "Return to Innocence" site! It's HP/LOTR music video HEAVEN! The Remus/Lily video is my favorite, because of the subject matter and it's very well done. There's many other great ones too, with Remus and others! Check the Updates section, there's even more there, with one more Remus one entitled "Fallen". This isn't the direct link, but there's links at the top that are pretty self-explanatory. www. geocities .com/ hp lotr musicvids/ lordoftherings2 .html (without the spaces, there's supposed to be an underscore between HP and LOTR, but it didn't show up) It doesn't always load, but keep trying and it will. It's a free site, so that's why it gets down so much. Another good site is harry loves hermione .com (without the spaces) if you're a Harry/Hermione shipper like me. It has some good music videos too.

Lucidshard: You have me on author alert? Thanks! The role reversal thing happened rather unconsciously while I was writing, but when I looked it over I could see that it was important that I had that happen. I'm glad you found the class scene amusing! Before I wrote this, humor was the main genre I liked to write, and that will show more and more, especially at the end when I run out of steam. Thanks for reviewing!

Rane2920072: Yes, it's quite fun to write them, thanks! After Harry/Hermione, I love this pair. My week is going great, hope yours does too! All these lovely reviews are really brightening my day!

Aljinon: I'm glad you could relate to my character's feelings. :) Thanks for reviewing!

Moony's-Mate: Thanks for your kind words:) Yes, maybe I overdid the whole "tough love" thing with Harry.

Preview of next chapter: Hermione stepped up, feeling nervous. She'd never gotten to face the boggart in third year. (It should be nothing after Voldemort) she tried to reassure herself. Harry, Ron, and Lupin stared curiously, wondering what Hermione's worst fear was. She imagined a paper with nine marked out of ten on it. A niggling thing in the back of her mind told her this wasn't true, but she desperately ignored it.

Unfortunately for her, the boggart didn't ignore it.