The rest of the Christmas break passed in a flurry of activity. Hermione met with Dumbledore nearly everyday. The boys, much to their frustration, were not allowed in these meetings. When they asked Hermione pointed questions, she always said the same thing. "You'll find out soon enough."

Between her meetings with Dumbledore and studying for the upcoming N.E.W.T.'s, Hermione kept herself very busy. She was often up and out of Gryffindor tower before the boys woke up and more days than not they had to hunt her down.

"We are still on break," said Sirius sitting down in front of her one morning. They had found Hermione in the library, as they usually did first thing in the morning.

"And the N.E.W.T.'s are still coming in less than five months," she replied, setting down her book. "I'm not bugging you guys to study, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to."

James took a seat next to Sirius. "It's not as if you don't already know all of this."

"I don't," said Hermione. "There's still so much to learn. By the way," she said glancing around. "Where's Remus."

"Full moon last night," said James. "He's in the hospital wing, resting."

Hermione frowned and flipped to her calendar. She checked the day and sure enough, the night before was circled. "Wow, I can't believe I let the time get away from me." She looked up at James and Sirius. "Did you all do anything last night?"

James and Sirius grinned at each other. "That, my dear, is a Marauder's secret," said Sirius.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Has he seemed off to you guys lately?"

"He's always a bit worn out a few days before the full moon," said James.

"No, that's not what I mean. It's just that he seems to be avoiding me."

Sirius shrugged. "I hadn't noticed anything."

"I guess he has been a bit moody lately," said James at the same time.

"I didn't think he was the moody type," commented Hermione.

"He's usually not," said James.

"Maybe you guys should talk to him," said Hermione. "You're his best friends."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," said Sirius.

"Oh God, boys are all the same," said Hermione in disgust. "You tell them to talk and they brush you off. Forget it, both of you. I'll find out what's wrong with him by myself." She gathered her books and shoved them into her bag, before leaving the library.

She went straight to the hospital wing and saw Remus lying on one of the hospital beds. She went to his bedside and set her bag down.

"Hi," he said smiling slightly and sitting up in bed. "I didn't expect any visitors this morning."

"I thought you might be lonely," she returned. "I forgot last night was the full moon," she confessed.

"Wish I could have," he replied.

"I bet," she laughed.

"It's not so bad, really."

"I suppose one could get used to almost anything if they had to."

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, then spoke at the same time.

"Hermione," began Remus.

"Remus, I..." said Hermione.

They both laughed. "You go," said Hermione.

"No, go ahead," said Remus.

"Well, I was just wondering... That is... Are you doing ok?"

"Yes," said Remus in surprise. "Why?"

"You've just been awfully quiet lately. I thought maybe you were upset with me or something," she finished lamely. "It's stupid, forget it."

"No, it's not stupid," said Remus quickly. "I have been kind of distracted lately, but it's not you."

"Oh, well good," said Hermione. "Because you know, you could come and talk to me if anything was bothering you."

Remus smiled. "I know. Thanks."

They sat in silence again, before Hermione said. "So what was it you were going to say?"

"Oh... I... I forget."

"Oh, ok," said Hermione quietly. She looked around the empty hospital wing. "I guess I should go. You should rest."

"Ok," said Remus, feeling disappointed. "See you at dinner."

"Yeah," said Hermione, picking up her bag and swinging it over her shoulder. "See you at dinner."

She was walking toward the door, when Remus's called out for her. "Hermione." She turned. "Would you let me teach you how to fly?"

"Ok," she said before thinking.

He smiled widely. "Great. Tomorrow?"

"Ok," she said again. She turned again and left the hospital wing, her heart banging in her chest, but oddly enough it wasn't because she had just agreed to get on a broom tomorrow.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Remus and Hermione were standing on the Quidditch Pitch the next day. Hermione kept crossing and uncrossing her arms nervously, something that didn't escape Remus's notice.

"Don't be nervous," he laughed.

"I can't help it," she moaned. "I can't believe I agreed to let you teach me how to fly. What was I thinking?"

"That you trusted me."

She sighed. "I trust you, I just don't trust that broom."

"Well I'll be in control of the broom."

"I guess," she said uncertainly.

"Come on," he said reaching out and taking her hand. "I won't let anything happen to you."

She let him help her on the broom and settled himself in front of her. "I'll be in front first so you can get used to the feel of the broom, then we'll switch."

"Ok," she said. She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and rested her forehead between his shoulder blades. "I'm ready," she said, but her voice was strained.

Remus smiled widely and kicked off the ground. They soared high over the Quidditch Pitch. Hermione grasped his waist tighter. "You ok back there?"

"Mm Hm," said Hermione.

"Are your eyes open?"

She laughed. "Yes, they're open."

"Do you feel ok?"

"Yes, but you're not going to do anything crazy are you."

"Like what," asked Remus mischievously.

"Like that wonki faint thingy."

Remus burst out laughing and let the broom drop a few feet. Hermione gave a little scream and held Remus tighter. "Remus," she shrieked.

"What did you just say?"

"Oh I never say it right," said Hermione. "You know that drop thingy."

"I've never heard of that," said Remus as he circled the broom around the three hoops.

"It's a Quidditch move. I guess no one's ever done it in this time."

"We could try it if you want," Remus offered jokingly.

"No," Hermione laughed. "No, that's ok."

They flew for a little while longer in silence. Occasionally, Remus purposely made a move that caused Hermione to grip him tighter, but mostly he flew steadily. "So," said Remus after a while. "Are you ready to switch places?"

"Not really," said Hermione, but Remus was already landing them.

"Ok," he said. "Now you're in front and I'll be right behind you."

Hermione settled on the broom and felt Remus come up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and waited. Before she could lose her nerve, she kicked off the ground and they soared through the air.

"Ok," said Remus. "Try leveling the broom out and just hover."

Hermione pulled the broom handle up, but instead of maintaining their altitude, they rose several feet.

"No," said Remus placing one hand over hers. "More like this." He applied pressure to her hand and they evened out. "There you go."

"I think that's you," said Hermione.

"You're doing fine. Just relax."

Hermione took a deep breath and settled herself against Remus's chest. Remus leaned forward and brushed her hair to the side, his fingers grazing her neck. Hermione held her breath when he poked his head over her shoulder. They had never been in such close contact with each other and for a while Hermione forgot they were even in the air.

"If you want to go forward," said Remus in her ear. "You have to just lean into the broom." He moved forward pressing her into the broom and they began coasting down the field. "Then when you want to turn," he leaned to the left and applied pressure to her hand and waist to do the same. Their bodies were molded together. It was if they were flying as one. They were so close she could feel his heart beating. It was going as fast as hers.

"See you're doing it," he said softly. After about a half hour of flying around the field, he asked if she was ready to land.

"Yes," she said quickly. She felt like she hadn't had a proper breath since they took off.

"You did really well," said Remus. Once they had landed, they had decided to walk around the lake.

"You're lying," laughed Hermione. "I'm crap on a broom and you know it."

"You just lack confidence," said Remus. "To be honest, I find that really surprising."

"Why?" asked Hermione.

Remus shrugged. "You never seem to doubt yourself. Why would something as simple as flying throw you so much?"

"It doesn't throw me," she said defensively. "I just don't like it."

Remus laughed. "You don't like it. I can't believe I'm hearing this from the girl who wants to take on you-know-who. Who would have guessed anything frightened you?"

Hermione bit her bottom lip, looking rather confused. "You don't think things frighten me?" she asked slowly.

"You don't act like it," said Remus, and suddenly there was an edge to his voice.

Hermione didn't understand the sudden change in his mood. "What's the matter with you? You haven't been yourself since we got back to school. Are you upset with me?"

"No," said Remus immediately. "That'd be pretty stupid of me, wouldn't it? Who would be mad at the girl willing to risk her life to save the world?"

"Stop it," said Hermione angrily. "Why are you acting like this? Do you honestly believe I have a choice in this? Would you have me let them die again?"

"No, but you've already stopped that. Why can't you just leave it there?"

"Because I can't," yelled Hermione.

"I don't understand why," he shouted back."

Hermione crossed her arms and frowned. "That's right, you don't understand."

Remus sighed, letting his shoulders drop. "I'm sorry," he said, wondering why he had picked a fight with her. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"Forget it," said Hermione, resuming her walk around the lake.

"No wait," said Remus, trotting to catch up. "I mean it. I'm really sorry."

She kept walking. "I said forget it."

Remus reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her around to face him. He was surprised to see tears threatening to fall from her eyes. He stared down at her unable to speak. She took a deep breath and one tear fell slowly down her cheek. Without thinking he reached out and wiped it away. She leaned into his hand and closed her eyes. Remus could only stare at her. She was so beautiful, standing there so close to him. He wanted to kiss her so desperately, but he just stood there, staring.

After a few seconds, Hermione opened her eyes and stepped away from him. She turned her face, feeling embarrassed.

"Wait a minute," said Remus. He was determined not to let the moment pass. He pulled Hermione back to him and gave her a soft kiss. He pulled back and looked at her uncertainly.

After a few seconds, she gave him a small smile. "I was wondering if you were ever going to do that," she said, before reaching up and pulling him toward her for another kiss.

"Come with me," said Hermione softly, once they had separated. She took Remus by the hand and pulled him away from the lake. They walked hand in hand to the castle.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"I want to show you something," she said simply. She led him to the seventh floor. "Stay there," she commanded him.

"Hermione," he began.

"Wait," she said. "I'm not sure if this is going to work."

"What?"

She walked past the wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy three times. Remus gasped as a large door with a brass handle appeared.

Hermione pulled the door open, feeling a rush of excitement and they walked in. Hermione clapped her hands together gleefully. Remus stared around the room, feeling a bit unsure.

"It worked," she said happily. "I wasn't sure if it would."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," laughed Remus. "Where are we? I've never been in this room before."

"We call this the Room of Requirements," she said happily. She moved around the room touching and picking up things. There was the table full of Sneakoscopes, the large foe glass, minus the crack, was against the wall and the floor was littered with large cushions.

Remus watched her for a minute. Her eyes were closed and she seemed lost in a memory. He wandered over to one of the book shelves lining the walls and examined the titles. "These are all defense books," commented Remus.

"Mm Hm," she hummed.

"Hermione, why did you bring me here?" he asked.

Hermione crossed the room and took his hand. She pulled him into the middle of the room and sat cross-legged on the floor. "Sit," she commanded and he did.

"Tell me about this place," he asked.

"This is the only piece of home I have. I tried coming once before, but it didn't work."

"Why?"

"This place isn't always here. It only appears when you have a real need for it."

"You needed a room full of defensive books and dark detectors?"

"I needed you to see it. This is how I'm going to make you understand why I'm doing what I'm doing."

"How?"

"It was in this room that the war began to feel real to me. In our fifth year, just after Voldemort came back, the Ministry began to take a more active role in the school. The Minister of Magic placed a teacher in the Defense Against the Dark Arts position who was little more than a puppet. She wouldn't teach us any defensive moves." Hermione laughed. "Our textbook was so awful. It was all about how to fight without using magic."

"I decided," she continued, "that we really needed to learn how to properly defend ourselves and I convinced Harry to lead a group of us to train. We had to meet secretly because there was a ban against forming any kind of group or organization without Ministry approval."

"My God," said Remus in shock. "Were things really as bad as that?"

"Yes," said Hermione. "The summer before we had lost a student and Harry had nearly been killed. Then the Ministry came and prevented us from learning the very thing that would save our lives. It was a really awful year. The last two years have been...," she searched for the word. "Hard," she finished simply.

"So you learned defense here?"

"No," she smiled. "I started to understand the need for defense here. The D.A. became a sort of mini Order. As students, we weren't allowed in the Order of the Phoenix, and except for Harry, Ron, Ginny, George, Fred, and I, no one knew about the Order."

"Who are all those people," asked Remus curiously. "You've talked about Harry and Ron before, but who were the others? And what does D.A. stand for?"

"Ginny, Fred and George are all Weasley's. They were Ron's brothers and sister. And D.A. stands for Dumbledore's Army. Anyway, the summer after fifth year, members of the D.A. began being attacked. Hermione frowned deeply, and there was a hitch in her voice as she continued. "They killed three members before Dumbledore figured out the connection." She paused, feeling the tightening in her chest and throat, but willed it away.

"I'm so sorry," said Remus, squeezing her shoulder gently.

She took a deep breath. "Dumbledore figured that Voldemort just wanted to get us while we were still young and relatively inexperienced. He knew none of us could be swayed to join his side. He knew we would all rather die. But what he didn't count on was that it would only make us more determined to resist him any way we could."

"What happened to the rest of you?"

"We were all sent back to school early for our protection."

Remus sighed. "I didn't know," he said apologetically. "I didn't realize what your life was like."

"There's no reason you should have. But it's ok really. Even though we were in the middle of a war, there was still happiness. It wasn't always scary and serious. Ron and I did our best to make Harry remember that there were still good things in our lives. I still live like that. I concentrate on the good things in my life, not the bad."

"I think I understand why you're doing this now, but I still don't like it."

"I do know how you feel. I used to ask myself all the time why it always had to be Harry who had to stick his neck out. To this day I still don't understand why, but I accept it."

Remus shook his head, but smiled. "You're one of the most amazing people I've ever met." Hermione blushed deeply as Remus leaned forward and kissed her again. "I've wanted to do that since that day at Hogsmeade."

Hermione smiled shyly. "Why didn't you?"

Remus shrugged. "I wasn't sure if you liked me at all."

"I did. I do." She laughed nervously. "I've never felt this way before."

"Me neither," admitted Remus. "So what now?" he asked.

She stood and he joined her. "You could walk me back to Gryffindor Tower."

He took her hand. "I could do that," he said leading her to the door. Hermione glanced around the room one last time before leaving.

They were still holding hands when they entered Gryffindor Tower. James and Sirius were playing a game of Exploding Snap in front of the fire place. They both looked up when Hermione and Remus came in. Sirius stared from their joined hands up to Hermione and she could see a flicker of something in his eyes. She released Remus's hand guiltily. "I'm going to get ready for dinner," she said quickly and ran up to her dorm room.

Remus watched her go with a smile, before joining Sirius and James.

"So," began James slowly. Remus couldn't seem to wipe the grin from his face. "Spill it, Moony," insisted James.

"She said she liked me."

James laughed. "You sound like a girl," he teased.

"I don't care," said Remus. "She's the most amazing person I've ever met and she likes me."

"Did you kiss her," asked Sirius quietly.

"Yes," admitted Remus.

James glanced between his two friends uneasily. "That's great," he said uncomfortably. "So the two of you are dating then."

"I don't know," said Remus, suddenly uncertain.

"What do you mean you don't know?" asked James. "She said she liked you and you kissed her, what's left?"

"Maybe she doesn't want to date me," said Remus with a frown.

"Why wouldn't she?" asked Sirius.

Remus shrugged. "She might not."

"Look," said Sirius. "Take it from me. She likes you. You like her. You're dating."

"But what do I do now?" asked Remus. "I've never dated before."

"Take her someplace you can be alone," suggested James.

"Someplace alone," he repeated nervously. "I guess I could do that."

James laughed and stood up. "Come with me. I'll show you a place I take Lily sometimes."

Remus stood and followed James. "Coming Sirius?"

"No, I'm fine. You two go."

"Ok," said James and he and Remus left.

As soon as they had left, Sirius turned his attention to the girl's staircase and watched for Hermione. She didn't keep him waiting long. Within five minutes, she bounded downstairs.

"Hey Sirius," she said. "Where'd everyone go?"

"Out," said Sirius standing up. "Hermione I want to talk to you," he said coming around the couch.

Hermione took a few steps away from him. "Now? Don't you think we ought to get to dinner?"

"No, I have to talk to you now." He followed her as she reached the door and grabbed her hand. "This can't wait."

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A/N: Aren't I evil for leaving it there. I'll try not to make you all suffer too much and post as soon as I can. In the meantime, thanks for all the reviews.