"Forever and Always"

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. I would like to thank you for all the reviews and the input on whether she should stay or go. I'm taking tally so you can still send me your opinion if you want! Your opinion is greatly appreciated::smiley:

Chapter 4: taking Sirius' advice

That first weekend, Remus made a crazy decision. He was going to take Sirius' advice for the first time in both their lives. He really did like Hermione. He loved the way her brown curls bounced when he called her name. He loved the way she smelled in the morning. He knew it sounded crazy but it was such a nice fragrance! Like running through a field of daisies and Downy, a muggle detergent he had heard of. And most of all, she was like him. She was quiet and studious and a little too bookish for her own good. Just like him, and he took pleasure in this sort of companionship.

So, he spent week one of the two weeks before Halloween talking to her and having conversations that helped him figure out what she liked. He now knew that she loved the color blue, her favorite book was, "Hogwarts A History", Halloween held special meaning for her and she thought rights for house elves were important.

Then, for the second week, he brought her flowers he had charmed to be blue and read "Hogwarts A History so he could talk with her about it. Then, in Arithmancy that Wednesday, which was the only class they had together without the other marauders, he approached her.

"Hermione?" he asked her, his stomach squirming at the way her nose wrinkled as she thought.

"Yes, Remus?" she looked up and her eyes were bright and happy as she smiled at him.

He smiled back. "Um, you know there's a Halloween ball this weekend?"

"Yes…."

"Well, are you going with anyone?"

"Not yet, no."

"Well, um…." He couldn't go through with it! He didn't deserve her! Ah, but he loved her so and she was so pretty, sitting there looking at him. He charged on. "Would you like to go with me?"

"I would be delighted to, Remus!" her smiled got bigger.

So did his. "That's great! Um, see you then!"

"Well, I'll see you before then…." She giggled.

"Right…right…" he chuckled. He couldn't believe he'd done it! He mentally patted himself on the back and could not wait to see the look on Sirius' face when he heard!

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Later in the dormitory

"No way!" screamed Sirius.

"Yes way!" Remus screamed back, mocking his friend.

"So, Padfoot's advice worked, eh?" Prongs interjected.

"Always does!" Sirius said, putting his hands on his hips. "Ya never should've doubted me!"

"I never doubt you Sirius!" came a small voice.

"Shut up Peter." Said James. Suddenly a look came on his face as though he'd gotten a great idea. He looked at Sirius. "Is this a celebration, Padfoot?"

Sirius got the same look on his face. "I would say is, old Prongsie boy!"

"Don't call me that." James replied as he crawled under his bed and came back with a slightly dusty shoebox.

"What's in there?" Remus asked.

"Firewhiskey!" Sirius said, clapping his hands together eagerly.

"Are you sure we should be-" Remus began, but Sirius cut him off as he elbowed him in the ribs and got up to be closer to the alcohol.

"Oh come on, don't get all prefect on us now!" he said as James popped the top off the bottle.

"You first, Padfoot!" he said, handing the bottle to his friend.

Sirius grabbed the bottle eagerly and said, "Drum roll please!" James rapped on his bed frame. Sirius brought the bottle slowly to his lips and tipped it back. James stopped his drum roll. Every eye was on Sirius as he took a rather large swig. As he stopped and put the bottle down, everyone looked to see his reaction.

"Best stuff I ever tasted!" he finally said. James and Peter laughed but Remus wasn't so sure.

He shined up his prefect badge a bit. "Guys, do you really think…"

"Come on Moony, have a taste!" Sirius crawled to Remus and without warning, shoved the bottle to his lips and tipped it back.

Out of instinct, Remus' lips closed around the bottle's opening. He choked as smoky, acidy liquid poured down his throat.

He swallowed and coughed a little, the guys looked at him expectedly. "That was…okay." He said. They cheered. The liquid didn't taste that great but Remus kind of liked the feeling it gave him so he took another swig.

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Eight o'clock in the morning. Remus had gone to bed only two hours ago and now it was time to get up. The sun poured in the window and Remus rolled over in bed, groaning in protest. His head ached like it never had before. His stomach felt queasy and he kept having the urge to throw up. He shut his eyes tight and tried not to. He didn't remember how many swigs of the Firewhiskey he'd had, he'd lost count. He barely remembered what they'd done last night.

Getting control of his stomach, he sat up. He saw James kneeling by Sirius' bed. He looked up as Remus got out of bed.

"Moony, I think Sirius has alcohol poisoning."

A/N: all I can say is: Review! Review! Review!