Chapter 4: Carrying on an Affair
Remus and Hermione continued to meet three nights weekly to build their case for abolishing the Wolfsbane Brewing Act.
The only difference now, after Remus had so viciously taken her on his couch and then seduced and swept her into bed, was that these legal strategy sessions were now punctuated by breaks of intense snogging (and sometimes shagging). Once, when Remus took her right over her desk, Hermione screamed and squealed so loudly, she feared someone might hear! Back in her flat and occasionally his, however, she could shout as much as she liked while Remus fucked her over and over and over again.
She and her colleague were always careful to use protection, of course. Even so, Hermione sometimes felt the urge to scold herself. Here she was, a 44-year-old divorced mother of two, carrying on with a man nearly two decades her senior like she was a schoolgirl!
It wasn't the age gap between her and Remus that bothered her, not at all. Hermione had always been mature, ever since she was a little girl, and had gravitated in attraction towards older men in the past. Viktor Krum, her first kiss when she was barely 14, was but one example. How she had eventually married Ron – a man who still sometimes carried himself like one big kid - was somewhat beyond her, looking back now. But she and Ron had loved each other, once, and now seemed plodding steadily along on a path back towards friendship.
No, what really bothered Hermione now was the fact that she was leaping into a romantic relationship with a man so soon after her divorce. She had never thought herself so impulsive in her sexual desires, even if the evidence pointed in that direction. Yet she couldn't help it. She had always been attracted to Remus because he was educated, and a gentleman besides. He challenged her. Hermione had always had a thing for well-read men, her ex-husband and the father of her children being one slight exception. Still, Ron had possessed more of an instinctive, scrappy ingenuity that came from jostling to make himself seen and heard amidst five brothers and a very strong-willed little sister.
The knee-jerk need to compare her new romance with that of her failed marriage brought up for Hermione another problem: the fact that her seeing someone new was being kept secret from the family.
Even if Ron knew his wife had possessed feelings for their once-Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, he had no idea Hermione was now romantically involved with the man. No one else in the Weasley clan did either, and that had been at Remus's insistence. Hermione appreciated his wish that they be discreet: after all, to what extent Remus was considered 'extended family,' as he and Teddy had always been, was what made her and Remus's shagging so dicey. The degrees of separation, real of perceived, in this family – one that cast a wide net in just blood relatives alone – made Hermione terrified in what the brood she had married into would say when and if they found out.
The judgment of one family member in particular left Hermione nearly petrified should she and Remus ever be caught in a compromising position.
Teddy had been like a nephew to her ever since he was a baby. The boy had taken to referring to all the Weasley children and their partners as 'Uncle Ron,' or 'Aunt Hermione,' or 'Aunt Ginny.' The only exception to this rule was Harry, which was as it should be, between a godfather and godson.
Shagging had been easy while Teddy and Victoire had been on their honeymoon. But since their return, Hermione had been eager to follow Remus's lead in conducting their relationship in private, for the boy's sake more than the rest of the family's or even their own.
Hermione got so careful, in fact, that complacency quickly evolved. So that it was the moment that she stopped anticipating getting caught that it finally happened.
She and Remus were on his couch one night, heatedly kissing following several hours of intense case prepping at her Ministry office, that a sudden POP! made them snap apart a tick too late, Hermione yelping in surprise as Teddy Apparated without fanfare or warning into the room.
The young man, nearly 26 now and a happy newlywed, pulled up short, spluttering, at the sight of his father wrapped in the arms of his surrogate aunt.
Remus attempted and failed at clearing his throat. "Ted, my boy! You didn't tell me you were coming!" Hermione bit her lip, heart clenching against her ribs as she watched the boy she had loved as a nephew twist his face into disbelief and rage. The betrayal seemed to radiate off of him. "I…. I DON'T BLOODY BELIEVE IT!"
"Teddy…" she cooed, but he put up a sharp hand, eyes flashing in a way that actually frightened her.
"Don't!" And Teddy stalked out the door of his father's flat. Remus made to go after his son, but Hermione laid a gentle hand on her lover's arm.
"Let me." She bravely followed Harry's godson out into the small yard, where the boy was nearly at the front gate. He stopped, resting a hand against the latch and shaking, but he made no moves to exit the property.
Teddy had grown so tall, his back muscles now rigid and stiff and it was hard for Hermione not to cry as she thought of the little tyke she and Ginny used to mother in Grimmauld Place, before she and Ron had gotten their first flat.
"Teddy…" If it were possible, Teddy tightened up even worse at the sound of his surrogate aunt's voice.
"How long has it been going on, then?" he demanded. "Back before you and Uncle Ron broke it off, that it?" The thought of it made Hermione squirm – of all the Weasley uncles, Ron was probably Teddy's favorite after Harry, and he fiercely loved and supported her own children.
"Of course not!" she gawped. "I would never do that… to Rose and Hugo…"
"Ruddy better well not have," Teddy scoffed coolly. Tentatively, she lay a hand on his shoulder, encouraged when he didn't brush her off.
"Your father and I were going to tell you when the time was right, and we intended to tell you and Victoire first," Hermione stressed, hoping against hope that he believed her. "We've been working together on this big case and things have… progressed since after the wedding."
"Yeah. Vicky saw you and me dad dancing together, you know. Even asked me if something was up between the two of you. Told her it was rubbish, course, but now…"
Hermione sighed. "Sweetheart…"
"Are you trying to replace me mum, then? Good and well had Dad replace Uncle Ron for you…"
Hermione gaped, appalled and more than a little affronted at the insinuation. "I would never do that to Tonks!" she hissed like an angry goose. "Never! Your mother…" And she choked up remembering the fierce Auror who had died in the Battle of Hogwarts.
"Appearances can mean everything, Aunt 'Mione, no matter what you did or didn't want," Teddy cut her off coolly. Sighing, he ran a tired hand through his teal, Metamorphosis hair. "Gotta get home. Vicky's waiting on supper." Stepping just past the gate, he Disapparated with a CRACK!
"Teddy, come back!" Hermione called, to no avail. Morosely, she trudged inside to find Remus standing in the kitchen, looking defeated. Despairing.
"I knew… I knew this wasn't…" He didn't finish the thought.
Hermione made her best attempt at a shrug, trying to act nonchalant about it. "Now he knows. The hardest part's over."
"Until we need to tell the rest of your family, if my boy hasn't gotten to them first!" Remus now looked a little panicked. "If he hasn't told Victoire already, he'll go straight to Harry and Ginny first…"
"I'm sure they'll understand…" Hermione stepped into him, rubbing her hands soothingly along his strong biceps.
"I think we should break it off."
The sudden declaration washed over Hermione with the force of a slap, and she staggered back, as if reeling from such a blow. "What?"
"I was right in being wary: I knew this would be too good to be true. Tonks was, and before that…" Once again, he didn't finish the thought, despite Hermione's curiosity now being piqued. Was Remus implying that there had been someone before Tonks…?
She froze, gasping as Remus suddenly bent and kissed her quickly, almost as if in apology. Then he put his wand to his temple, and drew out a silvery strand. A memory. Wordlessly, almost in a trance, Hermione fished a vial from her beaded bag and allowed her lover to deposit the memory in.
"Do you have a Pensieve?" he asked her, then answered his own question. "No, surely not, they're still quite rare…"
"Harry has one, in his study! Dumbledore left it to him."
Remus nodded, though warily. "Ask him if you can use it to view a memory, then. Just be sure not to tell Harry what it is about."
Hermione nodded weakly. "I promise," she got out in a small voice.
She dared to kiss him quickly one last time before turning on the spot and Disapparating, quickly so as to hide her tears.
It was late when Hermione materialized in Godric's Hollow. Still, only a few knocks on the door summoned Harry to his front stoop. Her former brother-in-law let her in without a second thought.
"Hermione?" Harry clearly noticed the red rimming to her eyes. "What's wrong? Have you been crying? …."
"Harry, is your Pensieve still in your office?" Hermione asked anxiously, without preamble.
Harry blinked for a moment or two before nodding, stuttering, "Ye… Yeah. Course you can use it. Come this way…" And he led her up the stairs and back into his rear home office. The Pensieve slowly rolled out from its sequestering in a closet once Harry pulled aside the lacquer doors.
"I'll leave you to view it in peace, yeah?" Harry smiled at her gently before stepping out into the hall and pulling the door to.
Hermione smiled wetly, gratefully. Trust Harry to know what she needed, no questions asked. Uncorking the vial Remus had given her, she dumped the contents into the Pensieve. The picture of the memory remained unclear even as it swirled and settled into place, making Hermione all the more inquisitive. What did Remus want to show her?
Taking a deep breath, Hermione dipped forward and plunged her head into the bowl.