Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, events and/or places that are recognized as being written and created by J.K. Rowling. J.K. Rowling owns all the characters and places from the Harry Potter books including the ones used in this story.
A/N: THANK YOU, THANK YOU times a million to all you lovely reviewers!!! Just so no one gets confused about this chapter, (because after I re-read it, I found it a little confusing), it takes place on the same day as the previous one but later on. Enjoy!!! Kisses to everyone! :D
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Remus Lupin thanked his creator everyday, since his arrival at Number 12 Grimmauld place, that he was given large hands. Large hands, with long fingers, that were perfect to cover up his equally long and large nose, whenever he was forced to step foot into the bedroom of Sirius Black.
The large Hippogriff in the corner only contributed to, possibly a third of the odor Remus's nose was flooded with. Rotting ferret corpses, dirty clothes, wet dog and the odd smell of burning plastic mixed together in the air, causing everyone but Sirius to drop unconscious at the first whiff.
Whether Sirius didn't notice the smell, smelled worse things in the past, or wished to show off his masculinity by pretending he wasn't dying slowly in this room, Remus couldn't tell; and frankly, didn't want to know.
"Sirius," Remus said, uncovering his nostrils slightly to avoid nasally sounds. "Why are we up here?"
Sirius closed his bedroom door, and moved to sit on the bed. "Too many people around," he said.
"Everyone else left the kitchen before us," Remus said, dropping his hand completely away from his nose. He wavered slightly, but refused to allow the smells to take him victim.
"But somebody could have walked back in any second," Sirius rationalized. "I didn't want anything to hear us."
Remus motioned to the Hippogriff, who nipped back defiantly. "What did you want to talk about?" he asked, joining Sirius on the bed.
"Did you see what she did?" Sirius whispered loudly.
"Who?"
"Ginny!"
"Oh."
"Yeah." Sirius crossed his legs, uncrossed them, stood, sat back down, and crossed his legs. "She tried to kiss me."
Remus wanted to laugh. That was the only reaction he thought appropriate; laughing hysterically. He knew Ginny's actions disturbed Sirius. The one time stalker of the halls of Hogwarts, who pried on random young ladies, being unnerved by one of them prying on him now, was laughable.
"She doesn't know what she is doing Sirius," Remus said, examining the dirt that had crept underneath his usually pristine fingernails. "It was your entire fault that she tried to kiss you, you know."
Sirius snapped his head towards Remus; his long black hair whipping both of them in the eyes. "How is it my fault?"
Remus squinted and rubbed his stinging eyeballs. "You called her beautiful, to begin with."
"No I didn't," Sirius huffed, flicking his hand in the air, as if he was swatting the whole idea away.
"And I quote," Remus cleared his throat. "We can't have such a beautiful girl slaving over filthy dishes all day," he said, trying to copy Sirius's husky voice, but sounding more like he was suffering from indigestion.
"Oh," Sirius whispered, shrugging. "Stupid Molly," he whispered louder.
Remus stared straight ahead. He didn't want to respond to that comment. He knew what it meant.
"The fact that you are getting mad because the mother of the thirteen year old girl, that you were about to kiss, interrupted said escapade, is making me lose faith in all that is good. I might as well become a Death Eater."
"I didn't want to kiss her," Sirius muttered. Remus raised his eyebrows at him.
Remus feels slightly ashamed to admit that he knows what Sirius is going through. Sirius has had a tough life; but the time he has had to spend most recently, locked up in a place he hates more than anything with constant reminders of the family that abandoned him, has probably been the toughest. Remus knows that Sirius is bored, and feeling useless. He just wishes that Sirius would find a more legal hobby.
Remus also feels slightly ashamed, to feel more than slightly jealous.
"Padfoot," Remus said, hoping that using the loving nickname would soften the blow. "I know that you're having fun, but-"
"Lighten up, Moony," Sirius said, in a lighthearted voice. "I wasn't going to let her snog me. Moments, seconds before Molly walked in, I was just about to step away from her, and say something clever that would make her not kiss me, but not hate me too."
Remus smiled, and stood up. "And what clever statement would that have been?"
Sirius bit his lip and chuckled.
"Don't answer that," Remus said, laughing. He walked to the door, and opened it. He breathed in the dusty, damp air from the hallway, a relief from Sirius's room.
"Where are you going?" Sirius shouted at him.
"I have work to finish," Remus said, over his shoulder; "work, that at the moment, is more fascinating than this conversation."
Remus closed the door on Sirius's howling laughter, and made his way down the stairs.
He felt young again as he padded quietly down the staircase; like he was back at Hogwarts, and he left a giddy, scheming Sirius up in the common room to go and bury himself in the library.
Stopping for a moment in the kitchen, Remus shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. A small, shiny grey hair attached itself to Remus's ring finger. He looked at it; shifted it under the light from the ceiling, so that the many particles of it sparkled like a strand of silver. Turning his hand to the side, he let the hair fall gracefully onto the floor.
He most defiantly wasn't that young again. He made a mental note to make Sirius stop his childish game immediately; and to also not allow himself to secretly wish Hermione was saying that he was hot.
Not that I was thinking that, Remus thought to himself, shocked at the sudden revelation. He swallowed, and softly pushed open the door to the dining room.
Looking forward to having some quiet time to finish his paper work, Remus scanned the table to confirm that he was alone.
Sitting perfectly in the middle of the table, (his chosen seat), was Hermione. She was bent over a long spread of parchment, an encyclopedia sized book propped up next to it. Her hands were tangled in her hair, pulling the roots straight, and her face was screwed up in a disapproving scowl.
Remus laughed to himself and had the sudden urge to give her every answer to any question in the history of questions.
"Is everything all right, Hermione?"
Hermione's head shot up, and her hands dropped from her head; causing her face to become half hidden behind the veil of curls. She moved the hair over more, hiding her cheeks, which had turned slightly redder.
"I didn't see you there, Professor," Hermione said, smiling. "Actually, I'm not all right. This essay is extremely harder than I believed."
Remus pulled out the chair next to Hermione, his eyes briefly falling on his work across the table. "What subject is it for?" he asked, turning Hermione's text book slightly so that he could read the cover. "Arithmancy," Remus stated, answering his own inquiry.
Hermione nodded, and pushed her hair behind her ears. "I'm usually very good at it," she said, surprisingly without a trace of smugness. "But, this one section is just not working out."
Remus leaned over Hermione and read over the section her fingers were tapping over. "Hmm," Remus murmured. He twitched, feeling Hermione's hot breath on the base of his neck. Shifting, Remus looked behind at Hermione, whose eyes were wide with the thought of failure.
Grabbing Hermione's book, Remus happily flipped through the pages. "Let's see if we can't figure that out," he said, placing the book back down in between them. Hermione slid her chair closer to him, and once again hid her cheeks behind her hair.
Remus read a sentence, barley, before the dining room door flew open, banging into the wall.
He didn't have to look up to know who came in.
"Finishing work, huh Moony?"
Remus furrowed his forehead, but laughed when his eyes met Sirius's. "Hermione needs some help with her paper," he said, simply.
"Oh," Sirius exclaimed, he swiftly sat down next to Hermione and pulled the book closer to himself. "There's probably something wrong with this book," he shouted, moving the book around, examining it; "if it's telling you that your brilliant, correct answer is wrong!"
Hermione giggled slightly, and pulled the book away from Sirius. "My answer is wrong," she said, her voice light and flirty.
Remus's forehead formed a wrinkle again.
"Now, how is that possible?" Sirius purred, making Hermione giggle a little louder; her finger impulsively pulled at a strand of her hair, wanting to twist it around, but she forcefully pulled her hand away and sat on it.
Remus's forehead furrowed even more; if that's possible.
Sirius's glittering eyes flashed to Remus and back to Hermione instantaneously. Remus knew that Sirius was trying hard to ignore his scolding stare.
"Let's see if I can't help you to figure this out," Sirius said, pulling the book back.
"Sirius," Remus spoke up, ripping the book away from him. "You never took even a half of a class of Arithmancy."
Hermione looked at Remus, and her face dropped to a look of scathing annoyance. "Sorry, Sirius," Hermione said, turning to Sirius and making her face look like she felt truly sorry that he couldn't help.
Hermione straightened the book out between herself and Remus. Remus looked over her head at Sirius, who rolled his eyes at his best mate.
"Fine," Sirius shouted, with mock hurt."I'll let you two intelligent ones come up with your own intelligent answers."
Remus shook his head, and Hermione beamed, as her eyes sunk back into the book.
"Remus!"
Remus, Hermione, and Sirius turned their attention immediately to the dining room door. The blank wall was the only thing their eyes were greeted with. If it weren't for Hermione and Sirius also reacting to the call of his name, Remus would have believed that he was going prematurely insane.
A small hand, suddenly, rose up from the floor, and smacked onto the table top. It was followed by its sibling and then a violet covered head rose to meet them.
Sirius roared with laughter, and shook his head. Tonks stood up, and rubbed the top of her thigh. "That actually hurt," she snapped at Sirius.
"Did you need something, Tonks?" Remus asked.
"No," Tonks said, flopping into a chair across from Remus. "I was bored."
"And you shouted my name, because…?"
"I was bored," Tonks repeated, nodding her head.
"That is not a good enough answer, Tonks," Remus stated, his eyes shifting and meeting Hermione's for a moment.
"I was bored," Tonks started, slowly. "And I thought to myself, who isn't boring? Who would enlighten me with lively conversation? Who would I not mind spending copious amounts of time with? And of course, Remus Lupin was the only name that popped into my head; you know, because you're so interesting and fun." Tonks smiled, crookedly.
"Are you sure you're really thinking of Moony?" Sirius asked, sarcastically.
Remus sighed, and turned the page of Hermione's book. "Here, Hermione. This is the formula I believe you should use for that problem," he said, pointing out a line in the text.
Hermione looked at the formula and then her essay; her eyes lit her face up. "Of course," she squealed.
"Is he ignoring me?" Tonks looked at Sirius, who shrugged in response.
"You understand why you should use it?" Remus asked Hermione, his face also displaying a wide smile.
"Yes," Hermione said, locking eyes with him. "It's so simple! I can't believe I didn't realize that."
The door of the dining room once again moved and let in the ginger-haired Ginny Weasley; who sat down in a chair next to Tonks, shooting quizzical looks at Hermione, and avoiding Sirius.
"Don't worry about it, Hermione," Remus stated, placing a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "That was a very hard problem."
Hermione giggled nervously.
"He's ignoring me," Tonks said to Ginny, jabbing her thumb in the direction of Remus.
"Thank you, Professor," Hermione whispered. She shifted in her seat, and straightened out her parchment. "Do you, um, will you look over, um,"
"Of course, Hermione," Remus said, picking up Hermione's essay. His pupils began to move back and forth, following every loop and curve of Hermione's perfect hand writing.
He found, however, that the people in the background, appearing blurred due to lack of focus, distracted his mind from Hermione's essay.
Remus could just make out Tonks, leaning back in her chair with her arms folded across her chest, and fixing him with a livid, confused stare.
Over Hermione's head he noticed, Sirius. His head was pointed towards the ceiling, but eyes were peering across at Ginny; a twisted smile playing across his lips.
Hermione herself was shaking her head, and glaring across the table.
Ginny had grabbed Hermione's quill, and had used it to draw something on her hand, that she then began to slather with wet kisses. Turning her hand to show Hermione what she drew, Remus noticed that the face looked suspiciously like a wolf.
Tonks grabbed Ginny's hand to see what was on it, and officially broke what was left of Remus's concentration with her loud, boisterous laughter.
"I'm bored," Tonks whined, through her giggles. Her eyes met Remus's right before her head fell dramatically to the table.
"I have the cure, my dear cousin." Sirius rose from his seat and disappeared from Remus's view.
"Hermione," Remus said, gently to the young girl next to him who looked like she was ready to murder the younger girl across from her. Hermione tipped her head up to him, and this time didn't attempt to hide her red cheeks. Remus swallowed. "This essay is brilliant. I would defiantly give it the highest mark, if I was your teacher."
Hermione's smile shone through her eyes, and she started to say something. Her words and voice were lost underneath the now pounding stream of music that was thumping out of two worn speakers in the back of the room.
"Sirius," Remus shouted, his hands hovering over his ears. "What are you doing?"
"Tonks was bored," Sirius shouted. He started dancing around the speakers, motioning for Tonks to come join him.
A giddy, high pitched sound emitted from Tonks's mouth, and she jumped out of her seat and danced around the table towards Sirius.
She stopped at Remus and grabbed his hand. "Come on," Tonks beckoned, trying to pull him up.
Remus sat there, not giving an inch, and trying to stop himself from smiling. "I don't think so," he shouted over the music.
"Nymmm-phaaa-dooor-aaaa," Sirius called, shaking his hips with every syllable. Tonks frowned at Remus, but skipped over to her cousin.
Remus turned back around to the table, and saw Ginny flash a wicked grin at Hermione before she also fled the table.
"Ginny," Hermione attempted, but barley a note could be heard.
Ginny strutted over to Sirius, who saw her and held his hand out to dance with her. Remus started to think of ways to stop everything, when Arthur Weasley came bounding from the kitchen and grabbed Ginny, spinning her around across the floor.
"I'm so excited that I get to dance with my favorite young red-headed lady," Arthur shouted towards everyone in the room. He looked down at Ginny and laughed, as he held her close to his stomach swinging her back and forth.
Ginny shot her father a dirty look, and looked over at Sirius, before she was once again spun across the room.
Remus laughed and pulled Hermione a little closer to him. "Aren't you going to dance too?" he asked, happy to be able to say this in his normal voice.
Hermione shook her head, and looked at Remus like his skin just turned blue. "I really have to finish this," she said, turning back around in her chair.
"Hermione, you're very smart; it would be perfectly ok to just relax a little bit. Have some fun."
"You still think I'm smart?" Hermione asked. She blinked about a dozen times.
Remus laughed. "Of course! Why wouldn't I?"
"Because…because of what Ginny said; this morning." She looked away from him, locking her eyes on her essay. Her hands shot up, and she rubbed her ears.
Remus looked behind him at the small dance party that had seemed to grow into including Fred and George who were tangoing together. When he turned back to Hermione, he noticed her packing everything up, also throwing annoying stares to the group behind her.
"Hermione, it's ok if you think…that," Remus said, not wanting to actually utter the phrase 'Sirius is hot'.
Hermione looked into his eyes, and pulled her chair back. "I don't," she said, her stare not leaving his. "Not anymore."
