A/N: Hopefully this chapter isn't too cheesy or anything. LOL :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Dumbledore's Decision

Hermione woke up early on Christmas Day. She jumped out of bed and rushed to the common room. She found her presents there. Harry and Ron both got her books she'd never read. The last present she opened, was labelled, "From James." (Good thing I got him a present!) she thought, relieved, as she recalled the note organizer she'd sent him. Not very romantic, to be sure, but she was tired of seeing him with all those loose, jumbled papers. When she saw what he'd sent her, she blushed hard. He'd given her chocolate and roses. She'd never received those things from a guy before. Even though it wasn't very original, she was very touched. It must have cost him a fortune, and Remus, she knew, didn't have much money. (He shouldn't have done this. Wow, he must really like me)

Harry and Ron had opened their presents by then, and noticed Hermione's expression. Harry walked over and looked into the box she held, noting its contents. "James gave that to you, didn't he," surmised Harry.

"Yes, he did," she acknowledged, blushing harder. "Be warned, Harry, next time I see Remus, and other people are around, I'm going to have to be mean to him. Otherwise I'll start blushing like an idiot, and everyone will know something's going on."

Fortunately, she didn't see Remus that day, until James picked her up for the dance. She reddened as he approached. "I liked your gift," she thanked him shyly. "I'm sorry mine wasn't very romantic."

"No, Hermione, it's fine, I love it. It'll come in handy," he insisted, grinning sheepishly. They held each other's hands and entered the Great Hall. They chose seats next to Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Luna. Harry, despite his disapproval of Hermione and Lupin's relationship, couldn't help but think it was cool to have Lupin as one of them. He also felt excited to see him so happy. It was great to have him back as his old self again.

Hermione and James danced with each other exclusively the whole night. Between recovering from his injuries and tomorrow's full moon, however, Hermione could tell he was drained. (If all goes well, this could be the last full moon he'll have to endure) thought Hermione hopefully. She thought about going for a walk, but somehow she thought James wouldn't find it very romantic right now. "James, you look tired. I think you should go to bed," suggested Hermione.

"I hate to ruin your night by ending it this early," said James.

"It's fine, James. You need to rest up for tomorrow night," insisted Hermione. "You'll need your wits about you with Malfoy around."

"You win, Hermione," conceded James. "I really enjoyed myself. I hope to do this again."

"Of course we will. There's Spring Dance at Easter and then the end of the year dance," said Hermione. "Goodnight, James."

"Goodnight, Hermione."

Three weeks later found Hermione desperately trying to figure out the password to Dumbledore's office. "Chocolate Frogs. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Sugar Quill. Oh, I don't know! Weasley gumdrops!" Hermione watched in relief as the gargoyles let her through at the last one. She pounded up the steps and knocked on Dumbledore's door.

"Come in," Dumbledore called. He smiled when he saw Hermione. "I was wondering when I was going to see you."

"Professor," she started. "I was wondering - could you watch me perform the Homorphus Charm to see if I'm good enough at it to try it on someone?"

"I'm all eyes, Hermione," answered Dumbledore.

Hermione spent twenty minutes showing it to him, with some periodic explanations. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as she finished. "With that kind of work, you deserve double NEWTS," praised Dumbledore. Hermione beamed with pleasure at his high praise.

"Professor - do you really think - I could possibly do it on someone - and that it won't be too risky?"

"You're a very dedicated student, Hermione. I assume you'd like to do this on Professor Lupin?" he asked, his eyes keen.

"Yes," she said, trying not to blush. It was probably obvious to Dumbledore how much she liked Remus.

"I would be very surprised if it didn't work, Hermione," said Dumbledore. "You can see his heart, and he is very close to you. Even in that state, he might recognize you. That is the key to success, isn't it? I will meet you at your dormitory at curfew on the night of the full moon, and escort you to his office, where I will have some chains for him. When you're done, you can have Professor Lupin escort you back."

"But, Professor, what if it fails?" Hermione couldn't help but ask.

"I'll know, Hermione. It won't fail," he assured her. "If you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to. Goodbye, Hermione."

"Thank you, Dumbledore. Goodbye!" She scrambled down the stairs, alternating between excitement and nervousness. What if she was successful? But what if the worst happened? Cheerful and horrible scenarios sent her stomach churning. Not paying the least attention where she went, she found herself smacking right into Remus. "Sorry," she apologized automatically, before realizing who it was. "Hello, Professor," she said, realizing that people were nearby. She gave him a nervous smile, her hands fingering her robes. (If I keep this up, I'm going to be a WRECK on full moon!)

"Hello, Hermione," greeted Remus, his eyes questioning. He could see something was the matter. "I need to talk to you about an assignment, please step into my classroom."

As soon as they closed the door, Remus asked, "What's wrong, Hermione?"

"I can't tell you right now," she said, her stomach sick. Dumbledore had told her not to tell him anything. It could ruin the Charm.

"Hermione, please tell me. I hate to see you upset."

"You'll know within a week," she promised. "Dumbledore's behind it. That's all I can say. I'm really sorry, I want to tell you, but I can't, he made me promise."

"Is it a good surprise?" he asked.

"I sure hope so," Hermione worried. "I need to go now. I have some studying to do." She turned and left, leaving Remus pondering on what could possibly be going on.

For the next several days leading up to the full moon, Hermione lost sleep, had mood swings, and got her first nine out of ten on a test. She answered questions wrongly that teachers asked her. She abandoned all books except for the Homorphus Charm book, watched Quidditch and went for walks. When James hung out with her, Hermione got a sick feeling in her stomach, and he couldn't prod out of her what was the matter, which frustrated him. Harry and Ron were beside themselves.

"Hermione! I can't believe it! You weren't able to answer the teacher's question! You have to tell us what's the matter," demanded Harry.

"Hermione, please do," begged Ron. "You're driving us nuts."

"Actually, Ron, Hermione is taking step one to driving the nargles from the world forever," Luna said seriously. "Don't distract her, it's the most important thing right now."

Hermione started at her, poised between feeling grateful and overly amused. Nargles? She seemed to be mentioning those alot lately.

The day of the full moon, Hermione entered DADA class with a horrid splitting headache. (Oh, what if I do it wrong?) Hermione moaned. The thought had been driving her insane for the past week. She could see Remus looking at her, not even attempting to hide the concern on his face. Class started. She began to shake with nerves, and didn't answer any of Remus's questions correctly. Everyone gave her confused looks. Where was know-it-all Hermione today?

Finally Ron turned to her and said, "Where is Hermione, and what have you done to her?" He was convinced that someone must have kidnapped her and drank polyjuice potion or something. In the seven years he'd known her, she very, very rarely answered a question wrong, and now she couldn't get anything right.

Hermione felt like she was going to be sick. She could just hear people saying tomorrow : "Where is Remus, and what have you done to him! Foolish girl! Of course you can't do the Homorphus Charm! Who do you think you are, Dumbledore or something! Now he's dead! Off to Azkaban with you!" (Dumbledore said I could do it. But Dumbledore has been wrong before) "I - I think I need to go to the hospital wing," she gasped. She felt like she was going to pass out.

Without a word, Remus grabbed her and dragged her to Madam Pomfrey. Before he got there, however, they ran into Dumbledore. "Hermione," he addressed her. "Have you ever heard that self proclaimed prophecies always come true?"

"I'm sorry, Professor. It's just that I can't get these horrible images out of my head," she sobbed openly.

"Hermione," said Dumbledore gently. "It is that very fact that makes you the most likely person to succeed. He will be able to see you. The one thing you need to do right now is try to relax. I know of a certain set of twins who have agreed to help you prepare. They'll meet you when class has ended. I feel this situation calls for certain, shall we say, rule stretching." His eyes twinkled.

Remus gripped Hermione's hand tightly through the whole exchange. He wished more than ever to be let in on their secret.

"Thank you, Dumbledore. I - I won't let you down."

Dumbledore patted her shoulder. "I'll see you at curfew, Hermione." He left them standing together in the empty hallway.

"Do you still need to be taken to Madam Pomfrey?" questioned Remus.

"No. I think I'll be all right now. We can go back." She slowly calmed down as she returned to the classroom. For the rest of the class, she sat silently, staring at her desk. Remus decided to leave her alone. Dumbledore seemed to have whatever it was under control, and he knew he would soon find out their secret.

True to Dumbledore's word, when she exited the class, the Weasley twins were waiting for her, chewing gumdrops. People stared as their hair turned wild, random colors. "We've come," said Fred.

"At Dumbledore's request," added George proudly.

"Follow us," said Fred.

"To the room of requirement," explained George.

"We'll show you."

"Many interesting things."

Hermione grinned weakly. Normally she felt disapproving, but today was different. Any distraction was more than welcome. At the room of requirement, they have Hermione try all their new products. Hermione was too worried about what each new product was going to do to her to even think much about anything else.

She ate a skimpy supper, and before she knew it, the dreaded curfew was upon her. She stood outside the portrait hole, twisting her hands violently, her hands shaking, the blood rushing through her veins.

Dumbledore approached, and smiled encouragingly. "It's time, Hermione."

Replies to Reviewers:

Rane2920072: Thanks for reviewing! I hope your weekend is going well also. :)

BrennaM: Hope you liked what happened. :) Thanks so much for reviewing!

Aljinon: On reflection, I think you're right. Remus wouldn't be quite the same if he wasn't a werewolf. It was fun writing the Homorphus Charm in this story, but if I do another one, I'm not going to do it again. Thanks for reviewing!

Preview of next chapter: Now for the critical part. Moony needed to recognize her in order to change back to human. "Venis mens statim!" she gasped, poking her wand into his forehead. It was a very difficult task to concentrate on what she was asking and avoid being bitten in this position. Now was the time; if he recognized her, it would work. If not, then who knew what would happen.