"Hermione I want to talk to you," Sirius 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." She tried to pull away, but he held her tightly. "Hermione."

"Fine," she relented. "Let's talk."

"I'm not someone who usually beats around the bush," began Sirius.

"I know you're not, neither am I."

"Then why didn't we ever talk about what happened that night?" he asked, coming straight to the point. She knew what night he was referring to without having to ask.

She looked away uncomfortably. "I don't know."

"I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable," he said quietly. "I just wanted to know where you and I stand."

"You and I," repeated Hermione.

"Yeah, now that you and Remus are... whatever."

"Oh," breathed Hermione. "Look, I don't know what Remus and I are yet, but I do know that I don't want to hurt him."

"Neither do I," said Sirius quickly.

"Well good, then I guess you'll agree that it's best we never talk about what happened that night. I was upset and so were you and we got carried away."

"That's not exactly how I remember it," said Sirius softly.

Hermione paled. "Sirius I... This just isn't a good idea. I like you a lot, but as a friend, I know anything else between us would be a complete disaster. We're too different. I'm into books and school and studying and you're..." she blushed not knowing how to finish the sentence. "It's not that I don't care about you."

Sirius's expression changed in an instant. It went from serious to almost mocking. "Relax Hermione," he said with a hint of a smirk. "You don't have to fall all over yourself to turn me down. I wasn't offering anything. I'm thrilled for you and Moony. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't going to be awkward or anything."

"Oh," said Hermione, mildly surprised.

"Remus really likes you," said Sirius. "And he's one of my best friends. I think you're right. We just got a little carried away. It's nothing he ever has to know about."

"Good," said Hermione, visibly relieved. Without another word, she turned and left the common room. Once outside, she practically ran through the halls looking for someplace to be alone. She went into an empty classroom and shut the door behind her.

She sank to the floor and closed her eyes. She had never wanted her mother more than she did now. So many confusing thoughts were swimming in her head and she wished she had someone to talk to, someone who would know the right thing to say to make her feel better.

She had hurt Sirius. Regardless of what he had said, she knew better. Harry was a much better actor at hiding his real feelings and she had practiced long and hard at figuring out the truth of them for herself.

She hadn't realized that the kiss she had shared with Sirius might have meant something more to him than just a simple kiss. If she had known, maybe things would have been different. But it was too late now. She was feeling things for Remus that she had never felt for anyone else. The problem was that there was something about Sirius's eyes, so bright and alive, that electrified her.

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

Two days later the rest of the students returned to school and their group of four became a group of six again. Once Lily returned to Hogwarts, Hermione had a new ally and the boys no longer had an excuse to put off studying. Not that they didn't try. James and Sirius still offered up many excuses as to why they didn't have to study but they were sorely outnumbered.

A couple of weeks into the new term, the seventh years crowded around one of the larger tables in the library with about a dozen books between them.

For the first time in her life, however, Hermione's mind wasn't completely on her studies. And they hadn't been for the last two weeks.

After that day in the room of requirements she and Remus had been practically inseparable. The feelings they had for each other were a relatively new experience for each of them and neither could get enough of the other. They talked late into the night, took walks after dinner, and basically just enjoyed getting to know each other in this new light.

Hermione kept glancing over at Remus, occasionally meeting his gaze. After about the fourth time this happened, she started laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked James glancing up from his transfiguration book.

"Nothing," replied Hermione. She put on a straight face and pulled her Potions notes closer. Taking a deep breath, she tried reading again. She was about halfway down the page when Remus reached over her to grab a book on her other side. As he did, he dropped a small piece of parchment onto her notes. Hermione grabbed it quickly and opened it. It read: Meet me by the restricted section in two minutes.

He immediately stood and left the table. Everyone was so intent on their own studying that no one paid any attention. Hermione fidgeted for about a minute before standing herself and making her way over to the restricted section. She found him leaning against the back wall.

"Can I help you?" she said as seriously as she could.

"Well, seeing as how we're not getting any work done..." he trailed off with a big grin on his face.

She smiled and went to him, giving him a long kiss. "I've never made out on the restricted section before," she said slyly running her hands down his arms.

He laughed softly and pulled her closer. "What sections have you made out in then?"

"Ahem."

Remus and Hermione jumped apart. Standing with her arms crossed; at the end of the long row of bookcases was the librarian. She was frowning severely.

Hermione quickly grabbed a random book from the shelf. "Here's that book I was looking for," she said a bit too loudly. "Come on Remus." She grabbed his hand and pulled him along, carefully side-stepping the librarian who was still standing and frowning down on them.

They practically ran back to their table where they collapsed into their chairs in a fit of muffled giggles.

"What?" demanded James, tossing his quill on the table.

"Forget it," said Remus. He sat up in his chair and pulled a book toward himself, though the broad grin never left his face.

Hermione took a deep breath and settled herself back in her chair. She looked at the book she had pulled from the restricted section. It was titled Experimental Potions.

She opened it curiously and thumbed through the pages. She couldn't help but smile at some of the potions in the book. A lot of them were pretty common in her time.

She was about to put the book down when she realized something. She reopened the book and quickly flipped through to the W's. She looked twice, but couldn't find the Wolfsbane Potion anywhere. She closed the book slowly, her mind racing.

The hard thing, she thought, wasn't going to be making the potion; she could remember the steps well enough. The hard thing was going to be getting her hands on all the ingredients she would need. She grabbed a fresh roll of parchment and began scribbling furiously.

When she had finished writing her list, her heart sank. There were at least six things she knew were going to be near impossible to get her hands on. She glanced up at James and Sirius and smiled. At least she knew who she could turn to for help.

The next morning as they were heading out to Quidditch practice, Hermione caught up with James and Sirius. "Hey guys, wait up," she called.

James and Sirius stopped and turned around. "What is it, Hermione," James asked. "We're going to be late for practice."

"Sorry," said Hermione. "This will just take a second." She dug in her pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment. "I was wondering if there's any way the two of you knew where I could get my hands on this stuff." She handed the parchment to Sirius and waited.

Sirius read it wide-eyed. "What do you need all of this for?"

"I can't say," said Hermione. "Not yet anyway."

"Does it have something to do with the Order?" asked James excitedly.

"No," said Hermione quickly. "It's a personal project."

"What kind of personal project?" asked Sirius.

"The personal kind," replied Hermione firmly.

"You mean you're really not going to tell us," said Sirius in a teasing voice.

"Come on you two, can you get the stuff for me or not?"

James glanced at the list again. "I don't know. Some of this stuff is really expensive."

Hermione frowned deeply. "I was afraid of that." Her shoulders slumped. "This is impossible. Let's just forget the whole thing. You better get to practice." She turned and started to leave them.

"Hermione, wait," called Sirius. She turned back to face him. "I'll see what I can do," he said quickly. "I can't promise anything..." he trailed off.

Hermione grinned and gave him a big hug. "Thanks Sirius. I knew I could count on you."

"No problem," he mumbled, feeling the tips of his ears getting warm.

"Oh and one more thing, could you guys keep this between the three of us. I don't want Remus knowing anything about this. Thanks," she trilled and ran off.

James stared at Sirius.

"What?" asked Sirius in irritation.

James continued to stare.

"What James?" repeated Sirius.

James shrugged his shoulders and continued to the Quidditch field. Sirius had to walk quickly to keep up. He waited, knowing his best friend wouldn't keep his opinion quiet for too long.

"You know," began James and Sirius grinned that he knew him so well. "Remus and Hermione are getting really close."

"Yeah," said Sirius carefully.

"You know you're my best friend Padfoot," stated James.

Sirius frowned, wondering where James was going with this conversation.

James took a deep breath. "I think you should leave Hermione alone. Remus really cares about her and in the end she'd just be another girl to you."

"I don't know what you're implying," said Sirius stiffly. "But I'm not doing anything to Hermione. I am well aware of how Remus feels about her. And," he added sulkily, "How she feels about him."

"I see the way you look at her," said James simply. "And there's the small matter of you kissing her just a couple of weeks ago."

Sirius sighed. "Look, she and I have already talked about this."

"And," prompted James.

"And, not that it's any of your business, we agreed to never talk about it. So I would really appreciate it if you didn't bring it up again."

"Hey," objected James. "I'm just trying..."

"I know what you're trying to do," snapped Sirius. He took a deep breath. "You're right," he agreed with a lighter tone. "She is just another girl. And it's not as if this kind of thing happens to Moony everyday," he finished a little arrogantly.

James let the comment pass. "So you're saying you don't have any feelings for her?"

"Geez Prongs, you're the one who said leave her alone. I am. Why are you pushing? She is just one of many girls I've kissed. I'm happy for her and Remus, but the truth is I could care less who she's with." Sirius put on a burst of speed as they reached the Quidditch Pitch and went straight the locker rooms.

James followed him at a slower pace, knowing Sirius had never told a bigger lie in his life.

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

Sooner than Hermione could have hoped, Sirius was able to come through with the things she needed. She could barely contain her excitement.

"So are you going to tell me what you're going to do with all this stuff now?" asked Sirius. They were sitting alone in the empty common room, late at night.

Hermione bit her bottom lip. "Ok," she said slowly. "But you have to swear you won't tell anyone."

Sirius grinned. "I promise." He leaned forward, waiting.

"There's a potion that could help Remus."

Sirius looked at her quizzically. "From the future?" he asked.

"Yes, it's called Wolfsbane."

"Will it stop him from transforming?" asked Sirius excitedly.

"No," said Hermione sadly. "But it will allow him to keep his mind when he does transform."

"Really," said Sirius clearly impressed. "You mean he won't be dangerous?"

"No," she said. "He won't."

Sirius sank back in his chair. "That's amazing."

She smiled widely. "I know."

"Wow," said Sirius, the news still clearly setting in. "Do you know what this will mean for his future?"

"I know."

"When will the potion be ready?"

"In time for the next full moon," she replied.

"So when are you going to tell Remus," he asked.

She shrugged. "I wanted to make sure I could do it first. I guess once the potion is ready I'll have to tell him."

"Is it dangerous?"

"The Potion? No, not if I do it right."

"And if you don't," asked Sirius cautiously.

Hermione didn't answer.

Sirius whistled lowly.

"I won't do it wrong," Hermione assured Sirius. "I wouldn't give him anything that would hurt him."

"I know you wouldn't," said Sirius quickly. "Do you need some help?"

Hermione didn't really need any help, but Sirius looked so eager she couldn't say no. "Sure," she said graciously. "I was planning to start tomorrow after dinner."

"Where are you doing it?"

"There's this room in the castle," she said smiling. "Meet me on the seventh floor."

"I'll be there."

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

The next evening both Sirius and Hermione were in the room of requirements, but only Hermione was working. Sirius was wandering around the room that now resembled the potions dungeons.

"This is really amazing," he said. "I can't believe we're on the seventh floor."

Hermione was bent over the boiling cauldron, carefully stirring its contents. "Sirius, could you hand me that bottle of lacewings?"

"Oh yeah," he said, remembering that he was supposed to be helping her. He grabbed the bottle and brought it to her. "Here you go."

She took it and measured a small amount into her hand, before dropping it into the cauldron. "All right," she murmured to herself. "Now wait fifteen minutes before removing the potion from the fire and adding the next ingredient."

She moved away from the cauldron, wiping her sweaty brow with the back of her hand.

"How is it that you can remember how to make this potion?" asked Sirius. "It seems pretty complicated to me."

"I have a kind of photographic memory," said Hermione almost apologetically.

"So you just remember every potion you've ever made?" asked Sirius incredulously.

"Actually," replied Hermione. "I've never made this potion before."

Sirius looked stricken. "Then how can you be so sure..."

"I know what I'm doing," Hermione said, cutting him off. "I memorized this potion back in my third year. When I found out that Professor Lupin, I mean Remus, was a werewolf, I read absolutely everything I could get my hands on about it."

"Why?"

"Because at the time it seemed necessary, I didn't know who knew what he was. And he was spending a lot of time with Harry. I wanted to understand him."

"So you didn't trust him?"

"I didn't say that," said Hermione defensively. "You have to understand. No, never mind, I couldn't make you understand even if I wanted to."

"You could try."

Hermione shook her head. "It would take too long to explain the whole story to you. Let's just say circumstances forced me to make sure that the people around Harry were trustworthy. Knowing that Remus was keeping such a big secret made me worry so I did everything I could to learn about his condition. Thankfully, in the end it worked out ok."

"And now you know how to make this potion."

"That's right," she said happily. "And now I can be with him when he transforms."

Sirius looked at her sharply. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"Sure, why not? As long as he takes the Wolfsbane Potion in the days before the full moon, he'll keep his mind and it'll be ok for me to be with him, like you, James, and Peter."

"Yeah but what if he doesn't want you to be?"

"Why wouldn't he?"

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "He just might not."

Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but gasped when she realized fifteen minutes had passed. "Oh my gosh, I almost let it boil too long." She hurried over to the cauldron and pulled it off the fire. She added the final ingredient and stirred its contents again. She smiled broadly. "I think it's ready."

Sirius walked over and glanced at the Potion. "That doesn't look to appetizing."

"It's not," said Hermione crinkling her nose at the smell as she ladled some of the potion into a bottle. "At least I'm sure it's not."

"So now we have to tell Remus about this," said Sirius. "And get him to drink it."

"He will," said Hermione confidently. "But we can't tell anyone about this. This potion isn't supposed to exist for years. I don't think Dumbledore would be too pleased if he knew what I had done."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You mean you didn't ask him permission to do this?" Hermione shook her head and Sirius grinned. "Well I'm really impressed. I didn't know you had it in you to be a rebel."

"I'm not a rebel," she protested. "But I would do anything for Remus. I wasn't going to take the chance that Professor Dumbledore would say no."

"Better to ask forgiveness than permission."

"Something like that. Come on, let's get out of here."

"What about the rest of the potion?" asked Sirius.

"Don't worry," she reassured him. "It'll be here when we need it."

"So," began Sirius. "When are you going to tell him?"

"Tomorrow night," said Hermione with a satisfied smile. She didn't know how she'd be able to wait.

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

Hermione and Remus sat quietly on the edge of his bed, facing forward. Hermione had asked Sirius to make sure James and Peter didn't disturb them when she gave Remus the Wolfsbane potion. She had just told him about the potion and was waiting for his response.

Remus rolled the bottle in his hands, examining it as if he didn't really believe it was there.

"So," Hermione prompted after several moments of silence. "What are you thinking?"

"I don't know what to think," said Remus softly. "This is all too amazing for words."

Hermione smiled and watched his profile. "Are you happy?" she asked hopefully.

He looked at her and their eyes locked. "This is the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me. I'm sorry I don't have the words to tell you how I feel."

"You don't have to say anything," she assured him. "I was happy to do it. I just wish I could do more." She leaned over and pressed her lips to his cheek, lingering for a few seconds. "You have to start taking it now. The full moon is two days away."

He uncorked the bottle slowly and tipped the contents into his mouth. His face contorted in a grimace. "Ugh, that's awful."

She laughed softly. "I know."

"Can't I add some sugar to it or something?" he asked.

"No," she said smiling. "That would make it pretty useless."

"Too bad," he said wrinkling his nose. "So this stuff will really keep me from," he blushed. "Well you know."

"Yeah it will. That means I can be with you when you transform."

Remus looked to her sharply, but she seemed not to notice. "I know you boys think it's a grand adventure sneaking around the grounds of the castle and Hogsmeade and now I can go with you."

"Um... Hermione," said Remus, trying to interrupt.

"To tell you the truth," continued Hermione, not hearing him. "I've missed having little midnight excursions myself," she grinned. "I mean I used to give Ron and Harry a hard time, but the truth is I kind of miss it."

"Hermione," Remus began again.

"I'm so excited," she said smiling. She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. "I better go. It'll never do to be caught up here alone with you." She jumped off the bed and practically skipped to the door before Remus could say another word.

He didn't know how long he sat there before the boys came upstairs. "Hope we're not interrupting anything," said James as they burst through the closed door.

Remus rolled his eyes. "She left already," he answered.

"She give it to you?" asked Sirius.

Remus held up the half drunk bottle. "Yep."

Sirius grinned.

"What's that?" asked Peter curiously.

Remus frowned and got up and quickly stuffed the bottle at the bottom of his trunk. "Nothing," he said roughly.

Peter glanced from him to Sirius then to James, who were both smiling. "They know," he said pointedly. "Why can't I?"

"It's nothing, Peter," said Sirius in irritation.

"Well obviously it is. The three of you know and you won't tell me. What's going on? Ever since I got back from break you all have been acting very weird."

All three boys glanced at each other and then as if in a single movement turned to their trunks to pull out their pajamas.

"What's going on?" whined Peter. "Have I done something wrong?"

"No," said James in annoyance. "Don't be so damn insecure."

"It's not insecure when your three best mates can't look at you all of a sudden." Peter surveyed each of them, but none of them looked his way.

"It's her, isn't it? She's turned you all against me somehow."

Remus tensed and turned slowly to Peter. "Who do you mean?" he asked between clenched teeth.

Peter started at the look of anger in his normally calm friends eyes, but was too angry to keep his mouth closed. "You know who, your little girlfriend."

Remus took a step toward Peter. "Remus," said James sharply. He shook his head slightly, before turning back to his chest. Remus eyes Peter, before reluctantly turning back to his own.

Peter watched the backs of his three friends, not understanding their sudden change of behavior over the last couple of weeks. His hurt at their treatment turned to anger and he stormed from the room shouting, "I wish the mudblood had stayed where she belongs," before slamming the door.

James, Sirius, and Remus looked at each other. "That wasn't fair guys," spoke up James. "Peter hasn't done anything."

"Yet," spat Sirius.

"That's right," insisted James. "We shouldn't treat him this way. It's not right."

"James," began Remus. "He's responsible for your death. He's lucky we talk to him at all."

"I'm not dead, Remus," replied James.

"Not yet," repeated Sirius.

"We're punishing him from something he hasn't even done yet," he argued. "It's not right. And I bet Hermione would agree with me."

"Don't be so sure," said Sirius.

"No, Sirius, James's is right. Hermione wouldn't approve," said Remus.

"He just called your girlfriend a mudblood," protested Sirius. "How can you defend him?"

"He was angry," reasoned Remus.

"Yeah well so am I," said Sirius. "I can't forget what she told us. And I don't know how either of you can."

"I'm not saying we shouldn't be careful," said James. "But we should at least try to make an effort."

"What? To pretend like Peter's not responsible for the deaths of all those people? I can't do that."

"You have to try, Sirius," said Remus. "Or it may just end up being a self fulfilling prophecy. If we turn on him, he'll walk straight into You-Know- Who's arms. If we stay his friends, maybe we can save him."

Outside of the seventh year dorms, Peter stood with his ear pressed against the door and his mouth hanging open.

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

A/N: Wow, that was a hard one to write. I hope you all liked it. Now, I am heading for a much needed vacation. I hope to update again very soon. I have it all plotted out it's just a matter of writing it down. Thanks again to all my reviewers.