Disclaimer: all of the HP goodness belongs to JKR and the lyrics belong to Sting/Police.
Okay, so I am quickly running out of time for this fic…I wanted to have this chapter up yesterday, but it just did not want to cooperate.
As it is, I am not that pleased with this, but it is what it is.
And I think that I am shooting for all the Remus/Hermione clichés I can…not on purpose, really, it's just turning out that way…so just bear with it.
Just so you know, I think it took me longer to find a damn song to go with this chapter than it did to write this…and look what I came up with…pitiful, really. I just couldn't come up with anything better…if you can, I will gladly change it.
Anyway, enjoy!
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Young teacher, the subjectOf schoolgirl fantasy
She wants him so badly
Knows what she wants to be.
-Don't Stand So Close to Me by Sting/Police
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Chapter Four
Knows what she wants to be….
"Lemon drop, Remus?" Albus Dumbledore asked as Remus sat in the chair in front of his desk.
"No, thank you. You are going to rot your teeth out one day, you do know that," Remus replied, his gray eyes sparkling.
"You are missing out, my boy. Besides, I have a very good friend whose muggle wife is a dentist," Albus said. "It is amazing what muggles manage to do without magic."
"Right," Remus chuckled at the child-like wonder in the old man's voice.
Albus looked past Remus thoughtfully for a few moments before he drew himself back to the moment.
"How are you doing, Remus?"
Remus looked at the Headmaster in confusion for a moment causing Albus to elaborate.
"The full moon was just two days ago, was it not?"
A look of comprehension passed over Remus' features quickly before the younger man cleared his throat and replied.
"Ah, yes, the full moon was two days ago, and I am fine," Remus answered.
"Good to hear, good to hear," Albus said vaguely before fixing Remus with a curious look. "Severus is no longer brewing the Wolfsbane Potion for you, is that correct?"
"Yes, that is correct," Remus replied without expanding. He wasn't sure what exactly the Headmaster was alluding to and he was certainly not going to make it easy for the old man.
"Miss Granger is now brewing your monthly supply, as I understand it."
"Ah, yes, Miss Granger is now brewing the potion for me."
"And how is that working out?" Albus asked.
"It is working out fine," Remus answered. Without waiting for Albus to ask another question, he added, "What is it that you really want to know, Albus?"
The twinkle in the old man's eyes seemed to increase as he let out a chuckle.
"Ah, I guess that I am not as subtle as I used to be. Blame it on old age. I was merely going to mention that you and Miss Granger seem to be spending more time than usual together and I am slightly curious as to why that might be."
I should have seen that coming, Remus thought. That man and his damn twinkle notice entirely too much, nothing is sacred in this castle.
Thinking fast, Remus came up with a legitimate excuse. He just hoped that the Headmaster would buy it.
"I have asked Hermione to help me with some class-related things when she expressed interest in becoming a professor following graduation," Remus said as earnestly as he could.
Are omission and exaggeration really considered lying?
I have asked her to help me with marking papers a few times, and she did mention a few weeks ago that she wanted to be a professor, so those parts are true…
"Miss Granger would like to become a professor when she leaves Hogwarts?" Albus asked in wonder.
"Yes. She told me that she has been thinking about it for a while and only recently decided that was what she truly wanted to do with her life."
"Interesting," Albus looked thoughtful again. "Why don't we make this official? Miss Granger will be your assistant and she can help you with your first and second year classes."
Remus tried not to appear surprised at this turn of events.
"I will speak to Minerva about slimming down Miss Granger's course load. You will submit weekly progress reports and she will receive credit for this, of course," Albus said, obviously pleased with himself for coming up with the idea.
Remus continued to watch the Headmaster as the old man rattled off a list of things that Remus would need to instruct and coach Hermione on. He found it amusing that not only did the Headmaster buy his excuse, but now the old coot wanted to make it official.
He only hoped that Hermione actually wanted to do this. It would mean more work for her, and, of course, more time spent with him.
Perhaps this isn't the best idea, Remus thought. Too late now, I guess. Albus seems to be set on having Hermione become my official 'assistant'.
Remus was drawn from his thoughts as the Headmaster ended their talk and escorted Remus to the door. Remus had no idea what Albus had been saying for the past few minutes and he sincerely hoped that, whatever it was, it wasn't important.
As he made his way back to his office to prepare for his first class of the day, Remus let his mind drift.
Being near her constantly will be wonderful and torturous…
Let's just hope that you can control yourself long enough to get through the first and second year classes. Don't want to scare the children by acting on your desires for your assistant, do you? Remus silently asked the wolf as he let his thoughts drift back to the full moon that just passed.
They spent the afternoon, on the eve of the full moon, together sharing wonderful conversation and eating a delicious dinner. Neither one of them wanted the moon to rise and break the ease they felt in each others company.
But the moon appeared too soon for either of them and, as wolves, they could feel the sexual tension more strongly than they did as humans. Or maybe as wolves they were incapable of denying that the desire and tension was there.
The wolves felt restless but contented themselves with lying in front of the fire, cuddled up to one another.
In the morning, the tension filled the air as Hermione and Remus awoke next to one another, naked once again. They each resisted the urge to let their eyes travel over the other's body as they laid there trying to shake the ill feeling that followed the full moon.
Hermione remembered to shed her clothes before transforming the night before, so she dressed quickly and bid farewell to Remus before he even sat up.
It was certainly awkward, but he knew that by the evening, Hermione would visit and they would act as if they had not seen each other in all their glory only hours before. It was their unspoken agreement to not speak of 'the mornings after'.
Sure enough, Hermione stopped by his office after dinner and everything was back to normal.
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"Where have you been hiding lately, Miss Head Girl?" Ginny asked from her perch on the large bed.
The two girls had been chatting about Ginny's hush-hush relationship with Draco while Hermione got ready for classes, but, apparently, Ginny wanted to change the subject.
"Er, I haven't been hiding anywhere," Hermione answered, ducking her head as she tried not to blush.
"Right, so where have you been when you are not in the Gryffindor common room, the library, the Great Hall, the Quidditch pitch, or here?" Ginny pressed.
"I, um, have been helping Professor Lupin with his marking and such, and I have started brewing the Wolfsbane Potion so that Snape won't have to anymore," Hermione answered honestly.
"Why are you helping Professor Lupin so much? Did he ask you to be his assistant or something?"
Hermione's brain quickly worked to find an excuse before she realized that Ginny unknowingly handed her one.
"Actually, he did. We are still in the process of working out the details, but I am his new assistant," Hermione lied through her teeth.
I hope that Remus is okay with that…I will have to talk to him today after class, see if we can actually work something like that out.
"That's neat. Maybe I will ask Professor Lupin if I can do something like that next year," Ginny said.
Hermione tried to ignore the spark of jealousy that she felt, but something must have shown on her face because Ginny cocked her head to the side and looked at Hermione curiously.
"Does someone have a crush on the DADA professor?"
"Oh, grow up, you silly little school girl," Hermione laughed and threw her brush at Ginny.
Ginny's question was too close to the truth and Hermione wanted nothing more than to play it off as nothing. She didn't know if she was succeeding, so she figured that it was time to leave.
"Come on Gin, we have to leave now if we want to have any breakfast before the food is all gone."
The two girls made their way out the door, through the corridors, and down the many moving staircases.
As they waited for a particularly slow moving staircase to return, Ginny turned to Hermione.
"Where were you the other night? I stopped by just before curfew and your room was empty."
Hermione froze for a second.
"Didn't we just go through this?"
"Yes, but this was really late, so you should have been back by then. I was just curious, is all; you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Hermione felt like she had to say something. If she refused, it would just arouse suspicion and she certainly did not need that.
"What night was this?" Hermione asked.
"Two nights ago."
Hermione had been with Remus most evenings until near curfew, but two nights ago was the full moon. Hopefully Ginny wouldn't realize that – it would only lead to more questions.
"I was working with Professor Lupin until late, then I dashed over to the library to do some research for a potions assignment. I didn't get back until an hour or two after curfew," Hermione lied.
This lying thing is becoming annoying…one lie is never enough; you always have to follow it with another and another…
"Oh," was all Ginny said.
The pair remained silent as they continued their journey once the staircase returned.
They were just around the corner from the Great Hall when Ginny stopped abruptly. Hermione walked a few steps alone before she noticed that Ginny was not beside her. She turned to find her friend's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Two nights ago was the full moon, 'Mione," Ginny said quietly. "You couldn't have been working with Professor Lupin."
Hermione glanced about nervously, making sure that no one else was listening.
"You are right; it was the full moon two nights ago. But I was working with Remus up until the moon came out, then I stayed with him for a while working on papers and whatnot."
Ginny watched Hermione as she spoke. She wasn't entirely convinced that Hermione was telling her the truth, but she knew that badgering her about it would certainly not help.
No, she would just have to accept that answer for now.
The girls walked into the Great Hall and took the open seats at the Gryffindor table. Hermione sat in between Ron and Neville while Ginny sat next to Harry, directly across from Hermione.
Ginny continued to watch Hermione while they ate their breakfast…she knew something was up, she just didn't know what.
Ginny thought about it while she pretended to listen to her brother and Harry talk about Quidditch. Hermione had been acting differently for two months – she didn't spend much time with them anymore, she was always tired, pale, she barely ate, she was losing weight and spending a lot of time with Professor Lupin…
Ginny tried to figure out exactly when it was that Hermione changed…it was about two months ago, the day after she had to go out to the forest to collect fresh ingredients for a potions project.
Ginny remembered that night because she was supposed to meet Draco at the Room of Requirements, but when Hermione told her about going to the forest alone near midnight, she was going to blow Draco off and help her friend.
Hermione declined Ginny's offer to join her, and Ginny had a feeling that she should really not let Hermione go alone. She was going to tell the boys to help Hermione but they were nowhere to be found, so Ginny reluctantly let Hermione leave on her own.
What was it about that night that caused Hermione to act so differently now?
Ginny's gaze focused back on Hermione just in time to see her glance up at the Head Table. Ginny followed her gaze and saw Professor Lupin sitting there with a shy smile on his face as he looked down at his plate.
Professor Lupin…wait a second…the night Hermione went to the forest alone was during the full moon, Ginny now remembered that she heard Professor Lupin talking to the Headmaster about it in the corridor after classes that day.
Oh Merlin.
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"Before you leave, I have your essays to hand back," Professor Lupin said as he picked up the pile of essays. "I am pleased to say that you all did extremely well."
Remus quickly passed out the marked essays so that the students could leave their last class of the day. He held Hermione's essay until almost last.
Hermione glanced at her essay, expecting to see only a grade and some congratulatory comment. She was surprised to find a short note written at the bottom of the parchment, requesting her to meet Remus in his office after class.
"Are you coming, Hermione?" Harry asked as he and Ron stood waiting for her.
Hermione nodded as she hastily shoved the essay in her bag, packed up her supplies, hoisted her bag onto her shoulder, and followed her friends out of the classroom.
Harry and Ron were discussing the upcoming Hogsmeade trip. Apparently, Harry wanted to ask Ginny to go with him, but she has been unreceptive to his advances lately. Hermione knew why, but she was sworn to secrecy, so was not going to tell him. Ron asked Luna to be his 'date' last week and she said yes, of course.
Neither of them asked Hermione who she might be going with, or if she was going at all.
Hermione wasn't too bothered over it; in fact, she used it to her advantage and slipped off to return to the DADA classroom and Remus' office without either of the boys noticing.
Hermione entered the empty classroom and made her way to the door to Remus' office. It was shut, so she knocked softly three times and waited for Remus to let her in.
Remus opened the door and smiled at Hermione.
"I see that you noticed my note," he said as he ushered her in to the room.
"Yes, it took me only a few minutes to shake off my bodyguards," Hermione replied with a smile.
"Ah, yes, Ron and Harry are quite protective of you," Remus said, a hint of jealousy laced his voice that he hoped Hermione wouldn't notice.
She didn't.
"But they don't know what to do with me anymore," Hermione said. "It's really hard to tolerate their over-protectiveness and their constant need to know where I am all the time. I've lashed out at them quite a bit lately."
Remus considered what Hermione said for a moment before speaking.
"Have you told them yet?"
It sounded like a vague question, but Hermione knew exactly what he was asking.
"No, I haven't. I just can't bring myself too," Hermione shook her head shamefully. "And part of me is angry that they haven't noticed that anything's different. They are my best friends; they should be the first to notice!"
Hermione was starting to get upset, so Remus pulled her into a hug.
He reveled in holding her close, breathing in the soft scent of her hair, her essence. He had to mentally shake himself to focus on what they were talking about.
"You must remember that they are boys, Mione. They don't notice things that others might," Remus explained. "And you have been pushing them away for two months, so they probably wouldn't notice the small signs when you don't spend nearly as much time with them."
Hermione knew that Remus was right. Ron and Harry couldn't possibly notice things that she wouldn't let them see.
She didn't want to let him go, though, so she pretended to sniffle some more and snuggled deeper into his embrace.
After a few more minutes, Remus ran his hand over her hair before tilting her chin up with his fingers.
"Are you okay now?" Remus asked softly.
Hermione stared into his gray eyes and smiled sadly, knowing that they would have to break the contact between their bodies.
"Yes, I'm okay."
Hermione went to step back reluctantly, but she stopped when Remus ran two fingers down the side of her face. The action was so tender that Hermione sighed and leant into it.
Gray eyes locked with brown as the two of them became mesmerized by each other. Their eyes remained locked as each body seemed to unconsciously lean in towards the other.
Their lips were just about to touch when a knock sounded on the door. Remus and Hermione sprang apart and stared at the door.
Remus smiled nervously at Hermione and pointed toward the chair in front of his desk before he turned and went to answer the door.
Whoever this is, it bloody well better be important!
I was so close to kissing Hermione…damn.
Expecting a student with a question about their homework, Remus had to mask his surprise when he opened the door to face…
"Albus, what brings you down here this evening?"
Remus stepped back to allow the Headmaster into the room.
"Evening, Remus. I just came down to congratulate Miss Granger on her new official position," Albus said, his blue eyes sparkling wildly as he glanced to where Hermione was sitting in front of Remus' desk. "I figured that you two would be down here hard at work planning lessons and going over everything."
Oh shit. After Hermione got upset over Harry and Ron, I forgot all about telling her the news.
It's no wonder that I was distracted…I just nearly kissed a student, but not just any student…no, a student who happens to be the Head Girl and my new assistant. I am so going to get fired.
Hermione was doing a fine job of not showing her confusion or surprise…even though she did not have the slightest inclination as to what the hell the Headmaster was talking about.
She just smiled up at him as he spoke. She didn't dare glance at Remus, for fear of what she might find hidden in his eyes. She nearly kissed the man, who happened to be her professor, not more than two minutes ago, and now the bloody Headmaster was here spouting nonsense.
"Congratulations, Miss Granger!" Albus said cheerfully. "I was pleased to hear that you had an interest in teaching, and I know that you will do wonderfully as Remus' assistant."
Hermione had to make a conscious effort not to fall out of her chair at what she thought she heard the Headmaster say. She merely nodded her thanks with her smile still plastered on her face. She sincerely hoped that her surprise did not show on her face.
This is just too surreal…a lie I told to my best girl friend not more than 8 hours ago just became the truth…this is just too weird.
"Professor McGonagall will meet with you before class tomorrow morning to discuss the changes to your schedule and to answer any questions that you may have," Albus said pleasantly. "I won't keep you two from your work any longer. Have a wonderful evening."
Remus walked the Headmaster to the door and shut it after the old man left. He stood facing the door for a minute before he turned back to look at Hermione.
She was looking thoroughly confused…something he never saw before and he found it oddly appealing.
"I'm sorry about that, Mione," Remus said as he walked over to his desk.
He took a seat behind his desk and continued to watch Hermione.
"What was that all about?" Hermione asked. Her voice was barely above a whisper, as if she was asking herself more than him.
"I had a meeting with the Headmaster this morning. He mentioned noticing us spending more time together than was normal and he seemed to want to know why," Remus explained. "I told him the first thing I could think of…"
"Which was that I was helping you with marking papers and such?"
"Yes. I told him that you expressed an interest in teaching and that I offered to let you help me so that you could see what it was like. He loved the idea and wanted to make it 'official', hence the whole assistant thing and having to change your schedule."
Remus paused a minute before continuing, his voice getting softer and more quiet as he went on. "If you don't want to go through with it, you don't have to. I understand if you don't want to switch around your schedule to help me."
Hermione looked at him for a moment, wondering why he would think that she wouldn't want to do this.
"Of course I want to do this, Remus! It would be a great experience," she said earnestly, adding more shyly, "and I would get to spend more time with you. And I should tell you that I told the same exact thing to Ginny this morning that you told the Headmaster, so maybe this is meant to be."
Remus smiled despite himself.
Albus had no idea what he was encouraging by making this assistant thing official…or maybe he did.
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"Congratulations, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall said, her thin lips curved up in a smile.
Hermione smiled back at her second-favorite professor.
"I had no idea that you were interested in becoming a professor, dear. I would have suggested something like this sooner had I known."
Hermione inwardly winced at the tone in her professor's voice. She would have told Professor McGonagall if she had realized it was what she really wanted before she told Remus.
Nothing she could do about it now, though.
"I rearranged your schedule so that you have free periods during Professor Lupin's first- and second-year classes. All I had to do was eliminate Muggle Studies, History of Magic, and Care of Magical Creatures since you already had one free period. Your other classes will remain the same."
Hermione listened carefully as Professor McGonagall explained the details of how her performance would be evaluated, the credits she would receive, and how to deal with any problems that she encountered. She was surprised that she didn't feel too bothered about losing a few of her classes.
The more she listened, the more she was looking forward to this assistant-ship. Not only would she be allowed to spend copious amounts of time with Remus, but she would be learning something new and useful and she always loved a challenge.
"Professor Lupin will go over with you what he expects you to learn before you conduct your first lesson on your own. He will also determine how much time you will spend every evening marking papers and planning lessons. I believe you have a meeting with him tonight, is that correct."
Hermione nodded.
"If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to come to me, Miss Granger. I know you will do a wonderful job at this," Professor McGonagall said proudly. "Now you better hurry down to the Great Hall if you wish to have breakfast before your first class."
"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said as she gathered her bag and left her professor's office.
So I am officially Professor Lupin's teacher's assistant…this is definitely going to be interesting, and very fun.
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So, what did you think?
Not only is Hermione a werewolf, now she is going to be Remus' teachers assistant…it is totally cliché, but I just couldn't help it…
I am going to work on the next chapter tomorrow…if I'm productive, or just lucky, I will have it posted sometime in the evening.