Disclaimer: Not mine all Ms Rowlings!

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed all my other one-shots, it always makes my day to get a review. Big hugs to you all. Now this thing here is a HG/RL but ignoring the sixth book as I'd wrote a while ago after I'd been listening to a rather thought provoking song. I must warn you all that I haven't checked properly all my grammar and spelling (which is just plain lazy, I know) and I didn't send it to my beta because I didn't want to bother her with an insignificant piece of fan fic. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy.

Nothing Else Matters

Hermione was sat in the kitchen of her house, silent tears streaming down her face. It had been nearly a week since she'd graduated from Hogwarts. Nearly a week since Harry had killed Voldemort. Nearly a week since she'd bared her heart to him. Nearly a week since he'd given her false hope.

Why had he been so cruel? Why did he have to make her feel something? Why did it have to be him she loved? These questions had been going over in her head all since he'd rejected her. He'd just kissed her and expected her to forget it, to forget him? She couldn't, the pain had been unbearable when he told her it would never happen.

She looked around the kitchen, looking for something to keep herself occupied and thankful that her parents were at work. She didn't want them to see their daughter like this. She roughly wiped her face with the sleeve of her cardigan but more tears slipped down her cheeks. Her blurry eyes fell on the dishes in the sink. She went to clean them using magic but decided against it, maybe doing it the Muggle way would take her mind off him for a little while.

Hermione watched the sink fill up with water and bubbles as she felt her flow of tears slowly stop. She hated being like this, hated the fact that someone could reduce her to this. As she washed the dishes, she felt the therapy of wiping each plate clean wash over her. Her tears finally stopped and a plan to keep herself busy until she made herself forget about him had formed.

Feeling like she could now get through the rest of the day with no more tears, she flicked her wand of the dishes which caused them all to disappear and appear in their rightful places in the cupboards. As she put her wand away, the doorbell rang. Strange, she wasn't expecting anyone and it was a strict rule of her parents that visitors had to phone before they arrived at the house. The minute she opened the door, she wished she hadn't.

"Go away," she tried to sound tough but her voice broke and her lip wobbled. Just as she tried to slam the door shut, he stepped forward so she couldn't.

"I have to talk to you, I couldn't leave you like that," Remus Lupin spoke softly as he kept a firm hand on the front door, "Please, let me in." Not having the energy to fight, she pointed to the door on her left; the living room.

"Please, just say your peace and go," she instructed him as she followed him into the living room. He shuffled slightly while running his left hand nervously through his greying hair. He looked how she felt.

"I'm sorry for being so harsh, I never meant for it to come out the way it did. But you have to understand, Hermione, it would never work," Remus told her gently. She felt tears stinging her eyes as anger flood through her.

"So that's it? You've come here to rub salt further into the wound?" she growled dangerously at him. "You made it perfectly clear last time I saw you, I didn't need reminding!"

"Hermione, I-"

"Just stop making excuses and go!" she snapped as she turned to open the living room door for him to leave.

He hesitated a little before saying, "I can't, you have to know why."

"I already know why, just please leave me alone," she sniffed before looking down at the floor; it was too painful to look him in the eye.

"No you don't," he whispered as he stepped towards her. Her head snapped up to meet his gaze.

"Remus, you couldn't have put it any plainer that you don't love. But why do you keep insisting on making a fool out of me?" she demanded of him as she desperately tried to keep her voice steady. He looked stunned at her words.

"I never meant to make you feel like a fool," he told her so quietly that she wasn't sure if he'd said anything at all.

"Then why did you kiss me?" she asked as she let go of the door and moved towards him.

"Because I love you," he told her honestly, "It's not going to work because I'm a werewolf. Because I'm much older than you. Because I have nothing to give you, Hermione." Tears were now forming in Remus' eyes. He would love nothing more than to be with her, but he couldn't allow it. He would ruin her life.

She moved so close to him that he could smell her body lotion, her perfume, the shampoo she'd used; all the scents that made Hermione. He was close enough to touch but she knew if she run her finger along his jaw line or straightened the collar of his shirt he would run away now.

"All I want from you, Remus, is your love. I knew you were a werewolf yet I still love you. My father is fourteen years older than my mother. Your excuses aren't valid in my eyes, but if they hold up to you, then leave now," she instructed as she tried to stifle the sobs that threatened to rack her body.

Remus sighed while trying to control his own tears; he had to be strong, for her sake. He took one last look at her before moving past her and out of the living room. She waited for the front door to close before finally breakdown. She wrapped her arms around herself while standing in the middle of the room sobbing her heart out.

"I can't do it," Remus spoke from behind her. She spun round to see him standing in the doorway. "I'm too selfish to walk out. I love you so much it hurts."

Before another word could be said, Hermione was in his arms and holding on for dear life. She'd been hoping for this and in those brief few moments she'd thought he'd gone, she thought she'd die from heartache.

"Promise me one thing," he instructed as he pulled her away and held her at arms length, "Don't ever let me hold you back, you must leave me before that happens." She shook her head.

"I have no intentions of every leaving you, no matter what!"