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Impossible Goes Both Ways

Remus Lupin wearily rubbed his eyes as he entered the kitchen. It was time to make breakfast. It was also a week after the last full moon. Harry had just come to give Hermione her regular blood transfusion. He expected she would come downstairs after her shower.

He felt a bit worried. Even with the blood tranfusion, she was extremely weak. She had refused Ginny's help, though. 'She's so stubbornly independent,' mused Remus as he prepared to cook.

He reflected on the past week. When he felt awake enough, he helped Hermione learn her Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense spells. She learned quickly, something he greatly admired. Whatever Michael had done to her sure had not affected her intelligence and love of learning. If Hermione ever returned to school, she would be able to seamlessly join the other students in their classes, except for Potions. Remus was awful at Potions, and, seeing as they didn't have any of the proper ingredients, they couldn't hold that class, so they merely studied the theory.

Remus began making pancakes, his thoughts wandering to Hermione. It pained him to have her so near, yet so far all the time. Her mere presence constantly reminded him of the life he could never have, and soon would lose. All because a doctor did not value life as much as he should, and Remus had disagreed, ruining his own. Yet, if he hadn't, he would have had to live with the knowledge that he could have tried to save Hermione for the rest of his life, and that would be almost as bad as being imprisoned in Azkaban.

'I must stop thinking about such things. I still have time. I must cherish the time I have left,' he berated himself. He quickly finished up the pancakes, and was about to head upstairs when he heard yelling. Someone was shouting just outside the front door of Number 12, Grimmauld Place. 'That's impossible,' thought Remus. 'Only the Ministry would be able to figure out how to undo the Fidelius Charm, and they don't even know where this is, and Dumbledore wouldn't have told.'

Remus tiptoed to the front door to investigate. As he drew closer, the voices became clearer.

"REMUS J. LUPIN! YOU MUST SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY! COME OUT HERE WITH HERMIONE JANE GRANGER'S BODY OR WE'LL BREAK DOWN THE DOOR! BY THE ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC, YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!"

Remus froze and paled, horrified. He had hoped this day would never come, and, though he knew it would, he had hoped it would not have been this soon. And Hermione. He was going to lose Hermione forever. 'I'm in love with her,' he realized. It was not just a passing infatuation. He was in love. Only love could make him hurt as badly as he did now. He had been lonely all his life because of his condition, and now when he had finally found someone, he was going to lose her.

He deliberated his options. He could surrender, as they wished, and be thrown straight in Azkaban; or he could try to escape, and get sent to Azkaban later. 'Later is always better,' thought Remus desperately. He ran up the stairs as fast as he could, their voices following him.

"WE'LL GIVE YOU FIVE MINUTES, LUPIN! THEN WE'RE TAKING THE PLACE BY STORM!"

Five minutes. Five minutes was all he had to pack, and make some sort of plan. He burst into Hermione's room, gasping for breath. Hermione's hair was dripping wet, as she had just gotten out of the shower.

"What's wrong?" demanded Hermione. "You look like you've just faced a dementor or something!"

She was close. If they did not get out of there quickly, he would be facing a lot of dementors in Azkaban.

"Ministry," he gasped. "The Ministry is here, to collect me. Just outside the door."

"We've got to escape! Do you have any ideas of where we could go?" She turned and started magicking essentials into a few bags. "How long do we have?"

"Less than five minutes," said Remus dazedly. For his part, he packed a few things too.

"Wonderful," said Hermione sarcastically. "Don't worry, Remus, I'm sure we'll find a way through this." She blinked away tears. "I couldn't let anything happen to you."

Remus wrapped his arms around her tightly. "We need to think fast. Where can we go? Not Hogwarts, certainly. Or your home, or the Weasley's."

"Let's go to the country!" suggested Hermione. "It'll take quite of bit of time for them to find us that way."

"Have any particular place in mind?" asked Remus.

"Let me think…" She wracked her brain for a good place, but nothing immediately came to mind.

"I've thought of a temporary place. It's remote, I don't think they'll look there."

"Just do it," urged Hermione anxiously. Their time was almost out.

Remus picked up the towel Hermione had been using to dry her hair. "Portus," he said tensely, thinking of the forest he had woken up in one morning after a transformation, when he had broken out of his restraints. No man's land was the way to go. They grasped their bags and picked up the towel. They simultaneously felt hooks behind their navels, pulling them irresistibly forward. Onward and onward they were towed, in a rush of wind.

About a minute later, they felt solid ground materialize beneath their feet. The world gradually stopped whirling, and they got a good look at their surroundings in the forest. He had, indeed, portkeyed them successfully to the place he had imagined.

"What do we do now?" wondered Hermione.

"I'm going to put a Disfigurement Charm on myself, so no one will recognize me," declared Remus. He muttered a spell, and his hair turned black, his eyes changed into a deeper blue, his scars faded, and he shrunk a bit. "There. How do I look?"

"Great, your guise is convincing," said Hermione. They stood silent a moment. "Let's start walking, and get a feel for how populated the area is,"she suggested sensibly. Remus nodded, and they wandered forward, keeping a sharp eye for signs of life. Before long, Hermione needed to lean on Remus for support as she shuffled along. Harry's blood was slowly leaving her system, weakening her. Remus held her up with one arm, his werewolf senses on high alert.

They had been walking through the woods for several minutes when suddenly they happened upon a clearing. A blond woman was heaving a pole up, grunting in frustration. It appeared to be some sort of farm. "Oh, why did Pat decide to go to the tour today?" she groaned loudly. The fence, they could see, was broken.

"Excuse me," said Remus politely.

The woman shrieked, dropping the pole. She turned towards them, clutching her chest. "I wasn't expecting visitors." Her voice was tinted with an Australian accent.

"We took a wrong turn," explained Remus lamely. "Can you direct us to the nearest town?"

"It's not for miles, down the highway," she gasped, raising an eyebrow. A wrong turn? How interesting! 'Sounds like an excuse my horse, Remmer would make, if he could talk!' "Are you trying to get to the hospital?" she asked. The man's companion didn't look very well. 'Come to think of it, he doesn't look well, either.'

"No, we're just looking for a place to stay," Remus responded.

The woman appeared to be deep in thought, her hands on her hips and her eyes squinted funnily. After a few awkward minutes, she spoke.

"We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Linda Paeton," she said, extending her hand.

Remus thought fast. "Remus Groonger," he offered. "This is Hermione Groonger. I'm her guardian."

'Groonger? Honestly!' Hermione thought exasperatedly, before weakly offering a greeting to the woman.

"Nice to meet you," she said.

Linda wondered if Hermione was disabled, but she thought it would not be polite to ask. "Yes, it's a pleasure! Remus, while you're here, do you think you can help me with this fence?"

"That won't be a problem," stated Remus. "Here, Linda, why don't you help Hermione. She's partially paralyzed. I'll get it for you."

Linda took Hermione and helped her sit down on the grass, and held her up when she realized that the girl could not sit up on her own. Meanwhile, Remus had slipped out his wand and fixed the fence with a few flicks. When Linda turned back to him, he pretended to put the finishing touches on it.

"So fast! That's brilliant!" exclaimed Linda. "I sure could use you around here! You wouldn't believe how much work horses can be."

Remus was about to open his mouth to say he was about to go on his way, when he considered what Linda had said. 'I sure could use you around here.' He had been offered a job! The only person to ever offer him a job before was Albus Dumbledore. Of course, Linda was a Muggle and did not know about his condition, but still. He could definitely use a job at the moment. "Are you hiring?" he questioned.

"Yes!" said Linda eagerly. "Have you ever worked with horses before?"

"Never been around them, sorry," said Remus, beginning to have doubts. Prey animals were generally afraid of him, especially because he was a werewolf.

"No problem, I'm sure you could learn easily enough. It could benefit Hermione too, do you know that horses are good for rehabilitation?"

"Is that so?" inquired Remus, intrigued. Maybe things could work out after all.

"Yes, of course. Here, let me show you around the farm, and maybe we could discuss what kind of work I could give you."

"All right," said Remus, picking up Hermione, who was now too weak to stand on her own.

"Don't you have a wheelchair?" asked Linda curiously.

"Can't afford one," said Remus, not having any idea what she was talking about. He was telling the truth, though. He didn't have a cent of Muggle money on him.

Linda showed him all around her large property, and Remus magicked some repairs when she wasn't looking. They discussed the kind of work Remus might be able to do. Remus nervously tried to excuse away why he would not be able to work around the full moon. Then Linda came up with a proposal.

"You know, we could use help on my horsemanship tour this year. If you don't mind living in a trailer and moving around a lot, that's something you could do. But you have to reach level one of horsemanship to do that. It's easy, I can teach you right now, if you'd like."

Remus asked her about dates and locations, and he was quite relieved to find that none of them landed on the full moon. The whole thing was beginning to sound more possible, even ideal. If they constantly moved, it would be less likely that they would be caught. Besides, hanging out with Muggle horses would be an unlikely place for the Ministry of Magic to even think of to look. "All right, I accept the position," declared Remus, smiling broadly. A real job!

"Great! Here, I'll get my horse, Chinook, and I'll give you some quick lessons. We're going on tour tomorrow. Pat drove in advance, and I'll be following him in the truck. You and Hermione can ride along in back."

Linda got Chinook out and taught Remus things like grooming, leading, and general handling. To his surprise, the horse did not react negatively to him at all. He wondered why, it was quite strange. He did not have to wait long to find out. Linda gave him a long lecture on horse psychology and how to get horses to cooperate with human "predators." The horse must not have seen him as threatening, then, because she was used to the concept of trusting her natural enemy. Remus wondered idly to himself if all horses were like that, or just Linda's.

After some persuasion, Remus convinced Linda to let them sleep in her trailer that night. In return, he would do some repairs. When Linda was helping Hermione into the trailer, Remus ran around with his wand and flicked things into shape. He hoped he would not have to use Muggle machinery. He had never used it in his life.

Linda, upon returning to find him, gaped at what she saw. "Wow, you work fast! It's like magic." She grinned. "I bet the girls just run to you," she teased.

Remus laughed. "Actually, I've never had a girlfriend."

"Well, I've got Pat. We've been married a few years now," offered Linda. "We run our business here with horse training and make pretty good money. What about you, what have you done before? Construction, probably, right?"

"I did one of those government jobs you can't talk to people about," Remus explained, referring to the Order of Phoenix. It wasn't exactly a job, but it was close enough.

"How interesting," commented Linda. 'That explains a lot,' she concluded. 'Except for how he ended up caring for Hermione. Usually guardians are married, I think.'

"Is Hermione a relative of yours?" she asked.

"No relation, just a friend. Now, if you don't mind, I'm getting a bit tired, and I'd like to get to sleep," said Remus, hoping she wouldn't pry further.

"Go right ahead, you've done a good job today." Linda nodded, smiling. "I'll be in the house if you need me for anything."

"Thank you," said Remus as he hurried towards the trailer. The Ministry of Magic seemed so far removed from this place. He felt hopeful that he could elude them for many years. But what if he could? What about Hermione? He could hardly expect her to stick around all that time. She had her own life to lead, one that did not involve running from the law. She undoubtedly would want to return to Harry, especially since he could temporarily lift the effects of the Avada Kevadra for her. It would be something they would have to discuss soon. Perhaps something could be worked out. In the meantime, Remus would enjoy his time here.

Replies to Reviewers:

SpikesDreamer: Yes, I do plan on writing another one. Glad you're going to stick around, thanks. Yes, someone has been pumping those rumors out, we shall see who soon. ;) Thanks for reviewing!

Lunatik27: Wow, this is your favorite way for them to get together? Cool, thanks! We'll find out if he does in chapter 16. Great to hear from you!

MoonyNZ: Yeah, I don't to make you be late for work. :) Thanks for taking the time to review, though!

JinxTwix: Sorry, I don't speak that form of sign language. :) Thanks for dropping a note.

Rane2920072: LOL! Oh, the fluff in the last chapter wasn't enough? Hmmm...I'll have to work on that. ;) Hey, I like cheers. I haven't seen anyone else use that on his site. So it IS original. :) Thanks for your review!

JTBJAB: Don't I wish I could bring Sirius back. :) But no, SOMEONE killed him off. (glares pointedly at JKR) Neville will play a different role that you'll see in chapter 19. Thanks so much for reviewing!

Morena-Forever: Yes, fanfiction is a nice distraction from real life. :) Helps clear my mind of the craziness of the day. Thank you for reviewing!

LupinLover99: Yeah, I read that in another fanfiction and liked it so much that I included that idea in mine. :) It is cute! Neville plays a different role that you'll see later on. Don't worry, it's not rash. :) Thank you, as always!

Amber Hermione: Sure, I'll check it out, maybe tonight. I'll tell her, LOL, although I have laid off a bit on the e-mails lately. I'm glad it came across that I've gotten into their minds effectively. That's what I do when I write, I try to imagine where their feelings would be (or need to be) logically then make a decision on what's going to happen. Thanks so much for your review, I really liked how you were specific.

Preview of next chapter: Then Remus spoke. "You know, Hermione, I know we just arrived here, but I think we need to think about our — I mean your — future. I like it well enough, passing for a Muggle, but you have a life to lead back at Hogwarts with your friends, and at home with your family. I was thinking about secretly dropping you off at a Ministry post. They would send you back to your parents. Or you could stick it out with me for a while longer, if you wanted. I think it would take a long time to find me, especially if Dumbledore helped. But don't think that I'm trying to get rid of you!" he smiled.