All In a Days Work

Disclaimer: Don't own it and I never, ever will!!!

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Hermione woke on Sunday at seven and gathered her things. She used the floo network to get to the Burrow, having a few weeks before she could legally get her Apparating license. She arrived just a few minutes before eight and sighed.

"Hey, Hermione," Ron said, cheerfully, "Heard you get to stay with Lu- Remus…"

"Yeah," Hermione said, monotonously.

"You don't sound nearly as enthusiastic as you should!" Ron exclaimed, "He was the coolest teacher, EVER! I wish I had learned how to brew the Wolfsbane Potion…"

At the moment, Hermione would have gladly changed lives with Ron. She didn't want to leave her home… there was still so much to do! Her number one priority right now should be her parents' funeral… it pained her to think of them, so she took a deep breath to clear her mind.

"So, Ron, when are you getting your own place?" she asked.

"Whenever Harry can find one…" he said, "I wanted to live at 12 Grimmauld Place, but Harry won't have anything to do with it."

"Well, duh! It's probably very painful for Harry to even be near that house… honestly, Ron! You can be so daft sometimes," she said, rolling her eyes.

At that moment there was a loud "pop", and Remus appeared before their eyes. Hermione cast Ron a quick smile, picked up her suitcases, and walked over to Remus. A smile flickered across his face before he wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulders and disapparated.

Hermione opened her eyes a moment later to see that she was in a rather dingy looking living room. She noticed that there was a faded sofa and plush chair in front of a dusty, unused hearth. There were water spots on the ceiling, and spots on the walls showing where there had once been pictures. The coffee table was cracked and desperately needed to be sanded and finished. She clicked her tongue at the poorly tended room.

Remus watched her scrutinize the room before she shook her head, clicking her tongue like a mother. He smiled as she wandered about the room, and then peered through the doorways, still shaking her head. She looked up the stairs, and then looked back at him, raising her eyebrows. He nodded and she fairly sprinted up the stairs.

She came back down a moment later, smiling. "The house is great!" she exclaimed, "But it looks as though… you're not a big clean freak are you?"

He chuckled. "I only came here for the full moon… other than that, I stayed at Grimmauld Place with- Sirius."

"Oh… sorry," she said, looking at the floor, which was also covered in dust.

"Don't be," he replied, "The kitchen is through there. You'll see that it looks a bit better than the rest of the house."

She walked into the kitchen and nearly gasped. It was incredible! There was an island in the middle, a double sink, a pantry, several glass cupboards above the countertop, wooden ones below, a large refrigerator, and a china hutch. The floor was pale blue tile, and the counters were white marble. The refrigerator was also white, and the walls were just a shade darker than the tiles. Obviously, whoever owned this house previously was either a Muggle, or liked doing things the Muggle way.

She walked back into the living room, positively beaming. "Remus, the kitchen is amazing! It's almost exactly how my mum and I were planning on doing ours before… she- died…"

An awkward silence ensued and continued for about three minutes before Remus finally cleared his throat.

"Um- feel free to roam about the house during your stay here, you have free reign. I have to go to work in the mornings and do not usually return until the afternoon- sometimes in the evening- so you'll be alone most of the time, I'm afraid," he said.

"You're working?" she asked, curiously.

"Yes," he said, raising his eyebrows, "I have a job at the ministry as an Auror and a trainer for Aurors."

"Really? But I thought…" she was going to mention the legislation that stated werewolves could not work in the wizarding community.

"Do you think Arthur would let that stand? He got rid of the rule as soon as he was elected as Minister and made me an honorary Auror…" Remus said, a note of pride in his voice, "Of course, a few still think it was favoritism, but he ignores them."

"Oh… I'm glad. That rule was stupid," Hermione said.

He smiled slightly. "The cauldron is in the pantry as well. If you need anything like food or more ingredients, don't hesitate to ask. Now, I have to go to work. I'll stop by on my lunch break. See ya!"

Hermione blinked a couple times before she turned and walked into the kitchen. It had never occurred to her that wizards got a lunch break, but she figured it was sensible enough. She pulled out her wand and was about ready to clean up, when she thought better of it. I think I'll do this the old-fashioned way! With a little elbow grease…

She found a sponge, a bucket, and some soap, rolled up her sleeves, and got to work.

By 10:30 she had the entire kitchen clean and sparkling. She stood back, admiring her work, before she picked up her wand and walked into the living room. This is going to take something better than elbow grease… she thought as she muttered several incantations. Immediately, several charmed brooms, vacuum cleaners, and sponges set about scrubbing the room. She said another incantation and pointed her wand at the ceiling and the water spots disappeared. She cleaned out the fireplace and looked at the furniture. With a wave of her wand, the dingy, sunken sofa and chair were replaced with plump, burgundy furniture and the coffee table was like new. She replaced the old gray-tan rug with a soft, new red Persian. She smiled at her handiwork and left the charmed cleaning articles to finish their jobs, walking back into the kitchen and starting on the Potion.

Remus apparated at about noon and thought that he had gotten the wrong house. He walked cautiously into what he thought was his kitchen to see Hermione stirring a cauldron with an entirely too serious look on her face. He knocked lightly on the doorway, announcing his presence. She turned to him for a moment and nodded before turning her attention back to the Potion. Is that it? he thought, Just a nod? No hello? No- what the hell am I thinking? She's doing just what you wanted her to do, Remus! She's making your stupid Potion… it's not like she's your wife.

A moment later Hermione lowered the flame and set all of the ingredients back in the pantry. She cleaned up any mess- as small or nonexistent as it may be- and looked up at him, smiling. She walked up to him.

"It has to simmer for exactly 24 hours, now," she said, "So I have some time to- relax."

"It doesn't look like you've done any relaxing at all," Remus said, "Have you been doing nothing all day except clean and brew that potion?"

Hermione nodded. "My mother always used to tell me that for every minute of time I wasted by sitting idle, it took a minute off of my life. Plus… this house has a lot of potential. It's actually very beautiful… but it'll be even more beautiful once it's fixed up a bit."

"So, are you going to clean every room of the house?" he asked.

"Well, I hope so… except your room. You can clean your room," she said.

"Yes, Mother…" he mocked, making her laugh.

"So… what shall we do for lunch? I checked, and there's not a scrap of food anywhere in this house," Hermione said.

"I suppose- we could always go out…" Remus said, studying the wall rather intensely. Why am I acting like a Hogwarts fourth year asking a girl on a date???

"That'd be nice," Hermione said, following his example and staring at the wall, "Until I can go shopping I think that's the only option. Unless- you know- we'd rather starve… which I can do without."

Remus smiled. "Good. There's a nice place in town… we'll need to apparate, though."

"But… oh! It's a wizarding town, then?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yes, and very well hidden."

"Well, then," Hermione held out her arm for him to take, "Shall we?"

Remus hooked his arm through hers and apparated them into the town, directly outside of the restaurant. They walked in and found a small table near the window. They sat down and two menus levitated to them. Hermione smiled. How charming… They ordered their food and the menus left. They sat in silence until the food arrived, and Hermione sparked a conversation about other changes that Arthur had made.

"Well," Remus said, swallowing, "He's working on that law you proposed that House Elves should be paid. It's actually doing quite well. And he has gotten rid of all constrictions on werewolves and other half breed creatures… except of course the ones for safety- I do still have to be restrained when I transform."

"That's great!" she exclaimed, "Arthur really is a much better Minister than Fudge."

"You know, he told me that you were the first to propose that the laws constraining half breed creatures be restricted from- well, everything," Remus said, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, well… yes, I might've brought something up at a meeting or two… but I wouldn't say that I proposed anything," she said, playing with her food, "Arthur is much too modest."

Remus smiled. "Mm-hmm…"

When their lunch was over, Remus apparated her back to the house, and then he himself went back to work. Hermione had no idea why, but for the rest of the day, her stomach kept doing these strange little flips whenever she thought about Remus. She dismissed it as indigestion and continued her work on the interior of the house. When she had finished with the two bedrooms, the bathroom, the den, the dining room, and the library (which, to her immense pleasure, was stacked with ceiling to floor, wall to wall, bookshelves filled with any book imaginable) she practically threw herself onto the sofa. She started a fire in the clean hearth and closed her eyes, planning on just "resting" them for a bit.

She woke an hour or so later to someone shaking her arm lightly. She opened her eyes and looked up into the smiling face of Remus. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, yawning. She returned his smile and stood up.

"Come on," she said, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him behind her, "I want to know what you think."

"What I think about what?" he asked.

"Well, I got bored… and I sort of- cleaned the house up a bit," she said, "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," he said, "This place has needed a good cleaning for a long time."

"Well, I kind of did a bit more than just clean," she said, grinning.

She pulled him into the dining room, and his eyes widened. The hard wood floors were so clean that if he looked down, he could see his reflection gleaming back from the waxed panels. The table had been returned to it's original mahogany beauty, as had the chairs, and chandelier, broken and grimy before, was sparkling crystal and white gold once again. The walls had been bleached and were a bright clean white, and the ceiling, on which his mother had painted a serene, celestial scene, had also been returned to it's former glory. He looked down at her in shock.

"It was simple enough for the most part… I just used a restoration spell. But I waxed the floors and bleached the walls myself. Sometimes I find magic isn't thorough enough," she said.

Next she showed him the first of the two bedrooms. It had been Remus' mother's room, and he was nearly brought to tears when he saw it. The canopy bed in the middle, which had been moth-eaten, molded, and a dirty, dingy brown, had been restored to the pure white it had once been. The cherry wood dresser, vanity, and bedside table had also been restored. As had the elegant Victorian, full body mirror. The entire room had been scrubbed, the rugs had been restored to their original pale blue and green leafy pattern, and the oil lamps, too, had been cleaned. The walls had been cleaned so that they were once again the bright, brilliant white with pale blue sponge pattern.

Seeing his expression, her face fell. "You don't like it…" she said, miserable. She had no idea why this made her feel so horrible, but it did.

"No, no, no!" he said quickly, "It's perfect… it's just that this was my mother's room, so it makes me very nostalgic. I'd like to see the rest of the house, please."

The next bedroom was much the same, except it was decorated in pale pink. Hermione had taken the liberty of changing the color in that room, considering it was to be hers when she stayed, to which Remus had no objections. The bathroom had a white tile floor, white porcelain sink and toilet, a large marble bath, a glass shower, and a wall mirror. Hermione had also found that there were several candles in the towel pantry, which she had set up around the room. His den, or study as some prefer to call it, had been returned to much the same as the living room, except that there was a large oak desk, and several filing cabinets. There wasn't much work to be done in the library, except to alphabetize the shelves (which she did by magic of course) and cleaning the deep, burgundy carpet. She had cleaned the halls spotless, casting restoration spells on all of the paintings and many other pieces of art. They stood in the hallway and Remus was speechless.

"So… what do you think?" she asked, timidly.

"It's- amazing!" he said, "I haven't seen this house look this good since my mother was alive…"

Hermione blushed, feeling much too please at his praise than she should. "All in a days work," she said, chuckling nervously.

"Hermione- I say this with every ounce of sincerity in my body- will you marry me?" he said, his eyes twinkling. (A/N: HE IS JOKING!)

Hermione took a step back, completely floored by this, not realizing he was only joking. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going, however, and tripped over her own feet. She stumbled backward, her eyes widening as she teetered on the top stair. She lost her balance, falling back, and in a blur of speed Remus grabbed her hand and pulled her to him, laughing softly.

"Good Gods! You could have broken your neck!" he exclaimed, all amusement gone from his eyes.

He was breathing heavily and Hermione focused on that, and not the fact that she had almost tumbled down 29 stairs. He's still holding me… she thought, wondering why. She realized she didn't really care. She felt safe, and warm right there in his arms. She sighed, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her cheek on his hard chest.

He could feel the steady rise and fall of her breasts as she breathed. This is wrong… why am I not letting her go? What the hell am I doing? he thought, but thought was lost when she wrapped her arms around him. Why do I feel like I'm never going to let her go? He looked down at her, watching her close her eyes and sigh again. God damn it all to hell!! She has no idea what the hell she is doing to me!

"Hermione…" his voice sounded forced, even to him.

"Yes?" she breathed, the airy sound of her voice making him shudder.

"We can't do this…" he said, having no idea what he was talking about.

"Do what?" she asked, opening her eyes and looking up at him.

"This," he said, detaching himself from her- as hard as it was for him to do.

"Hug?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"That was a bit more than a hug…" he said, giving her a "Dumbledore" look.

"Okay… so we can't 'embrace intimately'?" she asked.

"We can't do anything," he replied, "It's wrong. You're a- I'm- it's-"

"What? I'm not a student anymore Remus. I'm nearly eighteen, and I'm old enough to decide what I do, and do not, want to do, and with whom I will do it," she said.

"I know… but it's still- we just can't," he said, "I'm sure you have a boyfriend?" Hermione shook her head. "Well… then- what about Harry or Ron? Surely one of them would suit your tastes better. At least somebody around your own age."

Hermione let loose a short, harsh laugh. "The boys my age are all… well, they're a little immature. And Harry and Ron are like my brothers. Sure, Ron and I had a thing for a while, but it was just too weird. Truth-be-told I've been quite taken with you since third year when you came to teach… And my fancy grew each year that we remained in contact with you and every time I saw you at Grimmauld Place."

Remus was silenced by that last remark. Since her third year? Oh Christ!

"I like you, Remus… whether you want me to or not. And I have an entire week to get you to see it my way, so…" she raised an eyebrow. A silent challenge.

Remus grinned. Trust me… I don't think it'll take much... How long have I liked her? Since about- her fourth or was it fifth year?

Hermione smiled sweetly and stepped up to him again. "I really should be getting to bed- I'm absolutely exhausted. Good night, Remus." She placed a delicate hand on his cheek and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him gingerly on the cheek.

She was drawing away when his hand caught her wrist and he pulled her back to him in a quick but fierce and passionate kiss. He licked her lips lightly before he let her go. He stared down at her with his intense tawny eyes. She saw confusion, fear, and- something else in them. Hunger? A shiver ran down her spine. I shouldn't have antagonized him… He raked a hand through his hair, closing his eyes, and sighed.

"What the hell are you doing to me?" he muttered to no one in particular. He opened his eyes and looked at her regretfully. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. You should- go to bed now…"

She nodded in agreement and walked into her room. She closed the door behind her and then leaned against it, sinking to the floor. What did I just get myself into? she thought, I can't face him again… not after what I told him! She groaned.

"All in a days work right?" she scolded herself.

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There… that long enough? I liked writing this chapter, so I hope you enjoy reading it! I also hope you enjoy REVIEWING it… lol. See you next time!