A/N: I have a beta reader, Le Grimoire! Thanks for volunteering, and the review. :) Thoughts are different now, there's no parenthesis, it's apostrophe marks. Also, stars didn't work to makethe break between Remus and Harry (they disappeared), so I made a line instead.Enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Embarrassing Problems

Remus groaned and rolled over on the floor. It was morning, and he was beginning to regret forgetting to bring a mattress into the room. He felt very sore. Tonight he would be sure to bring one.

His eyes opened as the events of yesterday began to sink in. He had broken the law. He was a criminal on the run from the Ministry. An outlaw. Never in his life did he think it would end up like this. If he were caught, he would be sent to Azkaban, just like Sirius. Except in his case, he would not be falsely accused. There would be no acquittal for Remus Lupin. 'Abandoning Hermione would have been worse, wouldn't it?' he thought rationally.

He sat up, peeking at Hermione on her bed. Still no change. She appeared to be rather sweaty, though. Was she hot, or was she sweating from anxiety, or from some medical condition he did not know about?

'Regardless, I'm going to need to give her a bath,' he realized. His face turned bright red. How was he going to do that, without embarrassing the both of them? Helping her go to the bathroom was comparatively easy. All he needed to do was use his wand, and a towel to hide anything he should not see.

For the first time in his life, he wished he were a girl. It would make things so much easier. For a split second, he considered just not giving her one, but that would not be good for her health. There was not point in delaying; no one else could do it for him. 'I'll have to look in the library for a spell I could use,' he decided, thanking his lucky stars he carried the magic gene. Using magic could save him much embarrassment today.

"Good morning, Hermione," he said aloud. "I'll be back soon with breakfast." He walked out of the room, grabbed a few books from the library, and was about to leave, when a book caught his eye: A Pensieve for Your Thoughts.

'I didn't know we had that here,' he thought.

He hurried downstairs and made pancakes. He filled two mugs of water and levitated them up the stairs. Absently, he fed Hermione and read the book to himself, his embarrassment growing. He glanced at her. 'I wish there was some way I could at least see if she's conscious, and ask her permission,' he thought. 'Even if I don't see her, well, it's still uncomfortable.'

His thoughts wandered for a moment. Could he try to do Legilimens and force himself into her mind? 'But I'm not very good at Legilimens, he realized, 'The only thing I know is how to use a Pensieve.' He frowned, an idea beginning to form. He did not know if it would work, or if it was even possible.

There was only one way to find out. He got up, retrieved A Pensieve for Your Thoughts from his library, and scanned the pages. Soon he found what he was looking for. Beginning to feel excited, he set the book down and sprinted to the Order of Phoenix meeting room, grabbed the Pensieve that was kept there, and returned.

He stopped, beginning to feel apprehensive. What if she never had been conscious? What if everything he had risked was in vain? Grimly, he set the instrument down and picked up his wand. Soon he would know. "Hermione, I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm going to do an experiment that will help you communicate with me. I need your full cooperation. You need to relax completely, and open up your mind to me. I want you to think of your first memory after you saw the green light. Concentrate on that, and only that. I'm going to attempt to place it in the Pensieve."

Hermione made no indication that she had heard him. He pointed his wand at her forehead, muttering the appropriate spell. A silvery wisp of something began leaking out. He eased it over and dropped it into the Pensieve. His heart beating fast, he plunged his head into the liquid.

Everything was dark, an oppressive dark. For a moment, his heart sank. Hermione was indeed unconscious, and possibly brain dead. What was he thinking when he rescued her? He was no doctor. He didn't know what he was doing. He was about to pull his head out of the Pensieve when he started hearing voices.

"— such a shame. She was Harry Potter's friend, you know." It was a woman speaking, an old woman, by the sound of it.

"Really?" a younger sounding woman said. "That's terrible that he's had to suffer another loss. Yet another person's life destroyed by You-Know-Who."

"She's not dead yet," the older woman whispered. "She's a case just like young Rupert's. Quite tragic, really. It's only a matter of time."

"Oh," the young woman said. "That's horrible."

Remus heard the sound of the door closing. He lifted his head above the Pensieve, tears forming in his eyes. What a horrible thing for Hermione to hear. 'But this means— she can hear me! She followed my instructions, didn't she? This spell requires cooperation, and she gave it.' Remus stood still for a moment, not knowing what to say. "I'm sorry you had to hear that, Hermione," he whispered. "On the other hand, though, this is quite exciting. We can communicate now! I'll ask you a question, and you can give me a memory that would best illustrate your answer." He used his wand to replace the memory in her head.

He stood there a minute, shifting awkwardly. This was not going to be pleasant. "I need your permission to do something, Hermione. I promise I'll do my best to get it done in the least embarrassing way possible. I need to give you a shower, and I wanted to know if you know of any spell that might help get that done without, well, me having to do it myself. I don't want to subject you to that." If Remus' face got any redder, his face would have turned into a tomato. "Think of a good memory that will illustrate your answer, like you did before, and I'll look into it. Here I go." He pointed his wand at her forehead, and muttered the spell again. When the process was complete, he dipped his head into the Pensieve like before.

He found himself standing in Professor Flitwick's classroom. Hermione, Harry, and Ron sat in a group together near the front. Remus's eyes brightened at the sight of a happy, healthy, Hermione. She sat there, intently listening to the Charms professor, completely oblivious to Remus's presence.

Remus's eyes searched the classroom, wondering why Hermione sent him this particular memory. He started listening to what Flitwick was saying.

"Now I'd like to teach you the Lustral Charm. It is useful for enchanting things such as brooms, towels, and sponges to clean objects. There's two versions of the Charm, one for washing, one for drying. The incantation for washing is 'Pono Sal.' Repeat after me: Pono Sal."

"Pono Sal," the class repeated.

"The one for drying is 'Careo Sal.' Repeat after me: Careo Sal."

"Careo Sal."

"Who would like to volunteer for a demonstration?" asked Flitwick.

Remus was not surprised to see Hermione's hand shoot immediately into the air. He smiled sadly. She used to be so vibrant, now she could not even open her eyes. The memory faded to black, and Remus removed his head from the Pensieve.

He thought about what he had just seen. Evidently, Hermione thought he could use the Lustral Charms to get the job done. He grinned to himself. Sirius had used those charms for a prank on the Slytherin common room during their school years. It had been quite funny, and one of the few things that Sirius had gotten away with.

A plan formed in his mind. He could do it without being excessively embarrassing. But still, was Hermione really okay with this? "Hermione, are you sure you want me to do this?" He went through the process of obtaining a representative memory from her, and entered it.

Hermione frantically searched her memory that would be a good representative of what she wanted to say. It was not often that people asked her if she was sure about something. Usually, when she hung out with people like Ron and Harry, she was trying to hold them back, and they were insistently urging her forward. She picked one of the first ones that entered into her mind. She realized, too late, that it might give the wrong impression, if he took its meaning wrong. However, Remus gave her no time to choose another one.

Remus found himself in the Hogwarts Library. Hermione sat at a table, reading, as usual. He saw a boy looking at her nervously from a nearby bookcase. He looked to be about seventeen. He gingerly approached her, and, after a moment, tapped her on the shoulder.

Hermione looked up. "Hello, Viktor Krum," she said with a smile.

"Hello, Hermy-on. Call me Viktor," he said.

"How are you doing?" asked Hermione conversationally.

"Great! Listen, I wanted to ask you something," he started. "Would you go out to the ball with me?"

Hermione's eyes brightened. "Yes, that sounds great!"

"Really?" said Viktor. "No one else has asked you?"

"No one else has," she confirmed. "I'll go with you!" She beamed at him.

The memory faded. Remus stood up with a smile. So the famous Quidditch player had asked her out during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. She had never told him. Of course, she never had a reason to. It was none of his business.

So what was she telling him through the memory? Evidently, the tone was positive so she was probably saying yes. 'She really trusts me,' he realized. 'Or maybe it's just because she has no choice but to trust me.' His face darkened as he thought about her "doctor." Hermione was conscious. Or wasn't the doctor competent enough to know whether she was or not? Who knew? It did not matter now, he had a task to do, and the sooner he got done with it, the better.

"I'll go and get things ready," he said, and left the room.

Harry sat in Divination class. Usually Firenze taught, but Professor Trelawney was substituting today, her sixth year class joining them. It was just his luck. He hardly needed to listen to her predict his so- called imminent death again. Ron slumped next to him, looking bored out of his wits. Today they were reviewing crystal gazing. Try as he might, all Harry could see was his own reflection. 'This whole class is one big sham,' he thought, 'Firenze just teaches it more pleasantly.'

It entered his mind how Hermione walked out of this class in third year, never to return. 'I must not think about her. Dumbledore warned me not to. Otherwise, Voldemort might possess me again. I have to do something.' He leaned over to Ron. "This class is so boring," he said in an undertone.

"No kidding," Ron whispered back. Dumbledore had told him to keep Harry busy, so he had a feeling he knew why Harry kept saying random, obvious things like this to him. "I still wonder why Dumbledore keeps this as a required class."

"I sure would like to know, too," said Harry. They both quickly stopped talking when Trelawney strode their way.

"What do you see, Harry?" she asked.

'Why don't I say the Grim and get it over with,' he thought irritably, 'She's sure to predict my death.' "Fog," he said lazily. It was true; the glass ball looked pretty foggy.

"Let me have a look," she ordered. Harry's heart sank. Thinking about her impending dark prediction made him think about Hermione. His scar began to burn. 'Oh no! I must do something, anything!' "Lovely weather, isn't it?" he blurted.

"Bloody brilliant, it is," agreed Ron, catching on and glancing out the window. "I love rainstorms."

Trelawney gazed intently into the ball. Suddenly her eyes widened and she stepped back, clutching her chest with a gasp. 'Here goes the drama queen,' thought Harry. 'Tell us, Trelawney, who's dying?' "You have the Grim!" she announced. "A friend will betray you, and another good friend of yours will die."

Ginny's eyes darkened. She had read the blurb about Remus and Hermione in the Daily Prophet. Undoubtedly, Trelawney had read that, and somehow knew that Harry had not. What a fake.

Harry's scar began burning intensely. He felt his temper flare. Did Trelawney think he was made of steel? How insensitive was that statement, after Hermione... Harry stood up, fists clenched. Maybe he would pull a Hermione and storm out of Divination class. Hermione... Hermione... Hermione... Several crystal balls magically shattered as Harry's emotions went out of control. Ron, recognizing that Voldemort was about to take over, kicked Harry hard in attempt to bring him out of his daze, but it was no use.

Harry collapsed on the floor, laughing maniacally, pounding his fists. "Potter misses his friend! Potter wants Trelawney to stop making predictions that ruin his life!"

Ron's eyes widened. Was Voldemort about to mention the Prophecy? He dived down on top of Harry, wrestling him still and clapping a hand over his mouth. "I'll take him to Madam Pomfrey," he volunteered.

"Go right ahead, Ron," she said. Ron dragged Harry out of class, heading for Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore would know what to do better than Madam Pomfrey.

Replies to Reviewers:

Radingsouls4u: Thanks a million for reviewing!

MoonyNZ: Yes, I thought she probably would, LOL! Great, you thought it was good! Thank for your review. :)

CharmedLeoLvr: Yes, I've heard so many stories about how sick and disabled people have been able to make miraculous recoveries, and they mainly credit the love and support of family and friends. I thought it could definitely apply here. :) Not to give away anything, of course. ;) Thank you for reviewing!

BlackPaintedWhite: LOL Yes, I thought it was funny too from the beginning, you know, because when people think of vegetables they usually think of the kind you eat. Kind of a weird title for a romance fanfiction. Really? I thought comas were when you're brain dead temporarily or permanently. Well, anyway, I'm not a medical expert, as I've said in my first author's note, LOL, I'm sure you're right. Chapters five through twelve are being revised, and I'm not sure how many chapters will come after that. Maybe there will be about twenty total, I think, no promises though. I definitely plan to continue writing. Thanks for reviewing!

Rane2920072: Thanks so much for reviewing twice! Yes, hopefully this week won't be as crazy as the last week and a half have been. :) You have a great week too!

LupinLover99: Yay! Another review, thanks so much!

Preview of next chapter: Harry nodded silently, his throat tightening. "Are her parents having a funeral?" he inquired.

"They would like to, but what happened yesterday, of course, makes that difficult," commented Dumbledore. "Most unfortunate, don't you think?"

Harry's eyes widened. "What? What happened yesterday? What's unfortunate?"