Hermione stood stock still staring at the scene unfolding in front of her in shock. James had thrown himself between Remus and Sirius and was pushing Remus back. Sirius seemed kind of dazed and was rubbing his jaw.

The last person Hermione expected to see this night was Remus. Her first reaction was pure joy. He was here. Everything was going to be all right. In those first seconds she couldn't even remember why she had been angry. Then Remus hit Sirius and all the uncertainty and anger she had been feeling all night came back to her with the force of that thrown punch.

"Remus!" she shouted angrily. Hermione moved quickly to Sirius and knelt next to him. She looked up at Remus, who was being held forcibly by James, and gave him a scathing look. "What is your problem?"

"My problem," returned Remus angrily. "What the hell are you doing here in those," he gestured at her attire. "Clothes," he spat.

"Sleeping," was the first word to come out of her mouth. It sounded ridiculous even as she was saying it. The whole situation seemed ridiculous to her.

Everyone was silent for several seconds. Finally, Hermione turned her attention back to Sirius. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice filled with concern.

"I'll live," he muttered, still massaging his jaw.

"I want to know what you're doing here," interrupted Remus. "The last I checked, you were staying with the Potters, not him," he finished jerking his head toward Sirius.

Hermione stood to her full height and advanced on Remus and James. "Let him go James," she commanded with such force that James immediately took two steps back. "You," she said pushing one finger into Remus's chest, "are in no position to ask me any questions. And the last time I checked, you were supposed to be staying at your parents."

Remus didn't answer her. His heart felt so constricted. Every time he looked at her, all he could see were Sirius's oversized shirt and sweatpants on her tiny frame.

"Well, don't you have anything to say?" she asked, not sounding as if he could give any answer that would satisfy her.

"I don't know anymore," he returned quietly. He looked defeated and suddenly all of the fight drained out of her.

She couldn't stop the first tear and she angrily wiped it away, ashamed at her lack of control. She hadn't wanted him to see her cry. He reached out and touched her shoulder. It wasn't much, but it felt like everything to both of them. She had wished for him all night and now he was here. She was reminded daily of everything she had lost and she knew she couldn't take anymore.

"I think," began James seriously, "that the two of you need to sit down and talk to each other."

Remus looked at Hermione hopefully. She nodded once. "I'll just get dressed," she said softly. "Maybe we can take a walk."

He looked past her down to where Sirius was still sitting on the floor. "I'll wait for you outside," he said trying to unclench his jaw.

"I won't be long," she said before returning to Sirius's bedroom and closing the door behind her. Remus left the apartment leaving James and Sirius alone.

"He had a good reason," said James before Sirius could speak.

"For hitting me?" asked Sirius incredulously.

"No," said James quickly, "for lying."

"Didn't we always know he would," returned Sirius. "It's Remus we're talking about here."

James approached Sirius and helped him to his feet. "This thing with Hermione has to stop tonight. You see that now, don't you?"

"I can't," returned Sirius. "I don't want to let her go."

"Bloody hell, Sirius," James shouted. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Would you lower your voice," hissed Sirius.

"She is not yours to let go," returned James, though he did lower his voice. He threw his hands up in frustration. "I can see that everything I say goes in one ear and out the other. I'm through," he said firmly. "You do whatever you want, but just remember one thing. It's not only your heart you're gambling with. We've all been friends for a very long time. We've already lost Peter. I won't choose between you and Remus. I can't. It isn't fair." With a frustrated grunt, James disapparated.

Sirius stared at his bedroom door willing Hermione to emerge. She did only a few minutes later.

"You're not really going to go down there," he asked.

"Of course I am," she responded. "I have to know what's going on."

Sirius crossed the room, eliminating the space between them. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard, trying to pour everything into this one moment.

Hermione held him back, if only to keep her balance. She was in shock. Sirius was kissing her and she knew it was wrong, but at the same time she couldn't help traveling back to their first kiss and remembering how thrilling it had been.

"Stay," he said when he pulled his mouth away from hers, though he kept her securely in his embrace. "Don't leave me." She ached at the tone of his voice.

"Sirius," she returned breathlessly. "Don't do this. It's not fair."

"I'd love you forever," he promised.

"So would he," she replied and he could see that she was crying.

"Would he?" challenged Sirius. "I'm here. I've been here. You said it yourself."

Hermione took his face in her hands and kissed him gently. "I do love you," she said softly. "But I have to go. He's waiting for me. He needs me."

"I need you," said Sirius, tightening his grip on her.

She shook her head and smiled. "No, you don't. Remember, I knew you both. I know things about you that you don't know of yourselves yet. You're both going to be great wizards. But he's my match."

Sirius's hold on her loosened and his arms went slack by his side. "I really can't win," he said to himself. "James was right. I am an idiot."

"No," said Hermione. "It's my fault. I suspected you had feelings for me. I should have been more careful."

Sirius didn't respond. He was still looking at her, but it was as if she wasn't there anymore. Hermione quietly stepped around him and went to the front door. "I'm sorry if I hurt you," she said with some difficulty before slipping outside and closing the door behind her.

Hermione took her first proper breath since Sirius kissed her once she was alone. She was leaning against his front door. She felt like she had left a little piece of her inside with him. "I can't think about him," she mumbled to herself. "Not now. Remus, I have to see Remus." She pushed herself off the door and hurried down the hallway and down the stairs to where Remus was waiting for her.

"Hi," she said, trying to smile.

"Hi," he returned. They stared at each other for a few minutes. "Shall we walk?" he asked and he held his hand out to her.

She took it with a smile and entwined her fingers through his. It was well after one in the morning at the streets were mostly deserted, though the occasional car full of drunken muggles and hopefully one sober one passed them.

"I missed you," he said.

She nodded. "I missed you too." Then she took a deep breath and launched ahead. "Where have you been? And don't you dare say your parents because I know you weren't there."

He didn't bother to deny it. "You're right. I wasn't there."

"Well," she prodded.

"I did get a job," he said with a sigh. "But it's nothing you'd be proud of."

Hermione stared at him wondering what kind of work could be so bad. Then her heart constricted. "You're not doing anything illegal, are you?" she choked out.

"Of course not," said Remus quickly. He sighed in exasperation. "I'm working for muggles, in two of their food stores."

Hermione laughed in relief, but it was the wrong thing to do. Remus dropped her hand angrily. "I did it for you," he said sharply. "Do you think I wanted to work for muggles?"

"What's so bad about muggles?" asked Hermione defensively. "My mum and dad are muggles."

"Nothing's wrong with Muggles," said Remus quickly. "But I'm a wizard. I should be working for wizards."

"Why aren't you?" asked Hermione carefully.

"I couldn't find a bloody job," returned Remus.

"But it's only been a few weeks since we've been out of school. You can't have looked everywhere."

"I needed a job right away."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I wanted to prove to you that I could provide," said Remus, clearly embarrassed.

"Provide for what?"

"For us," said Remus obviously. "For our family."

"What?" breathed Hermione, finally beginning to understand him.

"Did you know I was going to ask you to live with me, that weekend we went away?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Why didn't you?"

He looked at her pointedly. "You left me."

Hermione hung her head. "This again? Are you ever going to forgive me for that?"

Remus sighed in frustration. "I think we're getting off the topic."

"What is the topic?" asked Hermione.

"I don't even know anymore."

Hermione chewed on her bottom lip. "For the first time I don't know what to say to you? I don't understand why you thought you had to lie to me or why you felt it was necessary to hit Sirius?"

"What is it with you and Sirius?" asked Remus through clenched teeth. "Why do you always run to him?"

"Remus, we're friends."

Remus laughed. "If he had his way, the two of you would be much more than friends."

Hermione couldn't deny it. "He has a crush on me," she said carefully, knowing she was understating the situation.

"He's in love with you," corrected Remus.

She took a deep breath. "Yeah well, I'm in love with you. So why don't we just forget about Sirius and decide what's next for the two of us."

"God this is hard," said Remus. "It shouldn't be this hard."

"Remus, being in a relationship is work," Hermione laughed. "We're not always going to get along and sometimes we're going to fight, but there's no one I would rather work this hard for. And all you have to decide is if you feel the same way about me. Because if you don't..."

Remus advanced on her and silenced her with a long kiss. Hermione kissed him back and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him as close to her as possible. Remus ended the kiss and trailed his hands over her shoulders and down her arms. She shivered at his touch. "I missed this," he whispered.

"I don't want to be apart ever again," whimpered Hermione. "Promise me."

Remus gave her a funny look, as if he were seeing her for the first time. Then, he got down on one knee and looked up at Hermione who had covered her mouth with both her hands. "Wait, you don't have to do this, not if you don't want to."

He laughed and shook his head. "You really don't get how much I love you. How could you think I wouldn't want to do this?" He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "I don't have a ring or much of anything really, but I do love you and I promise I'll do whatever it takes to keep you happy and comfortable."

"Oh Remus," breathed Hermione. "I love you."

"Hermione," he said smiling, because he knew what her response would be. "Will you marry me?"

She nodded emphatically. "Yes, I will."

He jumped up and embraced her tightly, then tipped her head back and kissed her. She melted into the kiss. It was so different than Sirius. It was warm and gentle, but still full of passion and love. The two kisses she had shared with Sirius had left her feeling almost like she had been burnt; they were so hot and demanding.

"I love you," he murmured against her lips.

"I love you," she said back, pushing all thoughts of Sirius from her mind. He didn't belong there, not during this moment. "Take me home."

He looked at her questioningly. "Home?"

She nodded. "Take me home."

He hesitated before whispering his address in her ear. "Meet me there."

Hermione was surprised by her surroundings when she apparated. She wondered for a second if she had apparated to the wrong place. Remus arrived a few seconds after her.

"It's not much," he admitted.

She couldn't help but agree. "I think together we can do better." She shook her head with a small laugh. "Why did you think you had to hide this from me?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, now. It seemed important at the time that I prove I could earn a living."

"You are one of the most brilliant wizards I've ever met. I know the kind of prejudices you face, but you will find something."

"You know if you become my wife..."

"When I'm your wife," corrected Hermione with a smile.

He smiled back. "When you become my wife," he amended. "You'll face the same prejudices I do."

"I don't care. I've certainly been called a mudblood often enough."

"It'll be worse," warned Remus.

"It doesn't matter," she said with a shrug. He opened his mouth to speak, but she placed her hand over his mouth. "It doesn't matter," she repeated. She replaced her hand with her mouth and they got lost in each other.

Remus pulled her over to the couch, never breaking the kiss. His lips slowly moved to that soft spot on her collarbone that he loved.

"Remus," murmured Hermione.

"Hmm," he responded.

"You know you don't have to worry about Sirius," she said delicately. She couldn't move on with her life with Remus until this was cleared up between them.

He pulled away from her. "He's in love with you."

She nodded. "I know. It's my fault."

"Why?" asked Remus cautiously. "What did you do?"

"I depend on him too much," she admitted. "I'm use to having boy's as best friends. I just feel comfortable talking to him."

"You can talk to me."

"You're my boyfriend."

"Fiancé," he corrected.

"Fiancé," she amended. "And I do talk to you, but I talk to him too."

"You could talk to James," said Remus.

She shook her head. "It's too hard to talk to him."

Remus crossed his arms and sat back on his couch. "I don't want you alone with Sirius anymore."

Hermione hesitated. She couldn't throw Sirius off, but at the same time she could understand why Remus asked it of her. "I can't stop being his friend and neither should you."

"He's no friend of mine," said Remus stubbornly.

"Nothing happened," she lied. She knew she'd never be able to explain what was between them. She didn't really know herself. "But if it's important to you, we can take a break."

"I don't want to force you to choose," said Remus backing off a bit. "I don't want to be one of those people."

"You're not," assured Hermione. "Besides, there's no choice. I love you. I want to spend my life with you." She yawned.

"Tired?" he asked with a smile.

She nodded. "Exhausted. You have no idea what kind of a day this has been."

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't be. It all turned out okay." She cuddled closer to him on the couch. "I can't believe we're going to get married."

"Believe it," Remus said firmly. He wrapped his arms around her waist and settled her against his chest. "I'll get you a ring as soon as I can."

"I don't need a ring," said Hermione. "I'd rather find a place to live."

"Move in together?" asked Remus. "Before we're married?"

She laughed. "I didn't know you were so old fashioned."

"I'm not," he insisted.

"I love the Potter's, really I do, but I want a place of my own. I want somewhere to call home."

"I'll give you that," he promised.

"But not here," she said firmly surveying his room. "I can't believe you live here."

"It's not so bad."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. "This place is a dump," she insisted. "You're not staying here anymore."

"Hermione," he began.

"No," she said cutting him off. "I won't be able to sleep knowing you're here. You should go home."

"I work near here and I work for muggles so it's not like I can apparate to work."

"That's another thing," said Hermione. "You don't work for muggles anymore. You can find something better. We'll go to Dumbledore."

"No," said Remus sharply. "I'm not going to anyone. I can get a job by myself."

Hermione turned to face him. "There's nothing wrong with getting help," she insisted. "Do you honestly think I would have had an easy time finding a job with no past? I'm grateful for all that Dumbledore's done for me."

"Let's not argue about this," begged Remus.

"Okay," agreed Hermione reluctantly. "What should we talk about then?"

"Do we have to talk," he whispered in her ear.

She smiled shyly. "No." He leaned in and kissed her gently at first and then with more passion. He pushed her back on the couch until she was completely under him. They couldn't stop touching each other.

"I've missed you," he whispered. "I dreamed of this."

She moaned in response. "Don't ever leave again."

"I won't," he promised, before he got lost in her mouth again.

"Oh Remus," she sighed longingly.

"Do you want me to stop?" he asked quietly.

She paused, knowing what he was asking. They looked into each other's eyes. "No," she whispered back. "Don't stop." She put her hand on the back of his neck and pulled his mouth to hers again. "Don't ever stop."

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Hermione couldn't stop smiling the next morning. Remus called out of work sick and took her to breakfast. She had sent an owl to Hogwarts letting Dumbledore know that she wouldn't be in to work today and a second owl to the Potter's letting them know that she would be bringing Remus to the house for dinner.

She felt different somehow, older. Remus had been all tenderness and love. It didn't matter where they had been or how the day had started. All that mattered was that she was with him.

"You keep smiling," said Remus. They were sitting in a booth, both on the same side and his arm was draped lazily around her shoulder.

She blushed. They had been as intimate with each other as two people could be and somehow she suddenly felt shy around him.

He kissed the top of her head. "I can't stop smiling either," he said softly.

When they finished breakfast, they went for a walk and spent the day talking and catching each other up on the last two weeks of their lives. Before they were ready to be with other people, it was time to head to Godric's Hollow. Hermione was sure everybody would know everything as soon as they saw her and just that thought caused her to blush.

Lily had come over to the Potter's for dinner as well. She pulled Hermione aside immediately and maneuvered them to an empty part of the house.

Hermione could see the excitement all over her face. "What?" she asked eagerly.

She held out her hand. "James asked me to marry him," she practically squealed.

"Oh my God," squealed Hermione back. She took Lily's hand and admired the diamond on her finger. "Wow! Oh Lily, it's beautiful."

"I can't believe it," she said breathlessly. "James and I are going to be married. I'm so happy."

Hermione laughed. "I can see that. I'm so happy for both of you." She gave her a huge hug.

"You can't say anything," said Lily suddenly. "I promised James he could make the announcement at dinner, but I had to tell someone."

"I won't say anything," said Hermione. "I promise."

As soon as they returned to the living room, Hermione pulled Remus out of the room and whispered urgently. "James asked Lily to marry him."

"What?" exclaimed Remus.

"Shh," she shushed him quickly. "Lily made me promise not to say anything."

"Then why are you telling me?" asked Remus with a smile.

"Because I thought we should let them have this night. A girl only gets engaged once."

"You don't want to tell them about our engagement," said Remus.

"Not tonight," said Hermione. "Let's let them have tonight. Besides, I kind of like the fact that we're the only ones who know about this. It's romantic."

"We'll do whatever you want," agreed Remus. He'd give her anything she asked.

"Thank you," she said kissing him.

"Hey," said James. "No snogging in the living room. Time for dinner you two."

Remus walked past James to the dining room, but Hermione hung back. "How's Sirius?" she asked in a low voice.

James hesitated.

"Tell me," insisted Hermione.

"I went by this morning," said James slowly. "He wasn't there. He left a note."

"He left," said Hermione before James could finish.

James nodded. "He said he didn't know when he'd be back."

"Did he say where he was going?" she asked softly.

James shook his head. "He'll be okay," he said placing a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "He just needs time."

Hermione nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"Come on," said James. "Let's go to dinner."

He escorted her to the dining room where she sat next to Remus and James sat next to Lily. They were about ten minutes into dinner when James suddenly stood. He cleared his throat. "I have an announcement to make."

Hermione looked over at Lily and smiled.

"I just wanted to say that ever since the first day I saw Lily I knew she was special." He looked down at Lily and smiled and she beamed up at him. "I loved her at first sight, unfortunately it took her seven years to get use to the idea."

Everybody laughed gently.

"Anyway," said James. "Today I asked Lily to marry me and she said yes." He looked around expectantly. Everyone was grinning up at him. It wasn't exactly the response he expected. His shoulders slumped. "Something tells me you already know."

Everybody laughed again. "Son," began his father. "It was hard to miss Lily's beaming smile and the beautiful ring on her finger."

"We're very happy for you both," said his mother standing up and giving him a hug and then Lily.

Remus and Hermione stood up and congratulated their friends.

"I think this calls for a toast," said Mr. Potter. He went to the kitchen and returned with a bottle of champagne. He passed around glasses and they all raised them to Lily and James.

Hermione couldn't stop smiling.

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A/N: More Lily and James in the next chapter, I promise. This one didn't quite come out like I planned. I hope you all liked it.