Disclaimer: Get it through your thick heads already. I. Don't. Own. Anything.

Author's Note: I actually have nothing to say. I can sense your shock; I know it's creepy.

Chapter Two

The next morning, Hermione was walking through the castle, her pajamas ripped and her leg bleeding. The halls were empty; everyone else was in class, so Hermione walked alone, her limbs numb from sleeping all night on the hard and cold ground. Silently, she walked the halls and climbed the stairs until she was finally standing outside of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Slowly, she opened the door and walked in. She saw Remus standing in the middle of the class, his back to her. There was a collective gasp when the class saw her; she was covered in dirt and blood with her clothes in tatters.

When Remus noticed that no one was paying any attention to his lesson, he turned about, asking, "What's so import—" But then he saw Hermione.

"Remus, help, please," she whispered before crumpling to the ground.

Remus Lupin was at her side an instant. He inspected the wound quickly before realizing, "Merlin, it's a werewolf bite." Though he was tired from the night before, he gently picked her up, ordering, "Tommy, go find Harry Potter and Ron Weasley and tell them to come to the hospital wing. They should be in Potions with Professor Snape. Hurry."

A second-year blonde got up quickly and ran out the door, presumably to find the two older students. To the rest of the class, Remus commanded, "Matthews, you're in charge, I'm going to take her to the infirmary. Points will be deducted if anyone so much as moves from their seats. If I do not return in time, dismiss yourself." With that the man was gone, running throughout the school to get to the hospital wing.

"Back so soon, Remus? Didn't that—oh, Merlin," Madam Pomfrey said at seeing Remus rush in carrying the girl in his arms.

"Poppy, she's been bitten."

"Well, come on, come on. Put her in a bed and I'll see what I can do," she ordered. Remus did as she said and then watched as she started healing Hermione's wound. She shook her head, looking sad. "I'm sorry to say that she's been infected. The bite is old, possibly from last night and from a fully transformed werewolf, she's got a bump on her head as well, she must have been knocked out when it happened. Where did you find her?"

"She came to my class, I didn't notice at first, but then when the class wasn't listening…She asked for help before passing out. I didn't know what to do. All I saw was her blood. Oh Merlin, Hermione, why did this have to happen?"

"Why didn't she just come here? Have you informed Dumbledore?"

"No, I already told you, I was too worried about Hermione," Remus snapped.

"Remus, calm down. Apart from her becoming a werewolf, I believe that Miss Granger will make a full recovery. We need to inform Dumbledore. Why don't you fetch him while examine Miss Granger?" Madam asked.

Remus tried to remain calm as he answered; "I'm not leaving her, at least not until Harry and Ron get here."

"All right. Let me see, there are no proof of a struggle and her clothes are covered in grass stains, so I'm guessing that she was tackled to the ground. I'm also assuming that she didn't have her wand."

"Hermione…" Remus sighed.

Madam Pomfrey asked, "Remus, are you close with Miss Granger?"

"She's apart of the Golden Trio, Poppy, which also includes a boy who is practically my nephew. I happen to think of her as a friend. Is there a problem with that?"

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "You just seem very attached to her, I was curious. I'm going to need your help now. I want you to hold her mouth open, while I feed her this potion."

Remus stepped towards the head of the bed, gently opening Hermione's mouth. As soon as the entire vile of a sick looking potion was gone, Hermione began coughing. Remus let go of her and took a step back, waiting until she had stopped before asking, "How do you feel, Hermione?"

"Like hell. What happened? Ron blow up the cauldron in Potions again? Was I in the line of fire?" Hermione replied with a faint smile.

Remus was anything but laughing though, and then there was the sudden sound of running and shouting. Ron and Harry burst in at top speed, instantly running for Hermione's bed, Ron right at Harry's heels. Harry, however, stopped when he was a foot within reach of the bed, causing Ron to run into him and make Harry topple over the bed to the ground on the other side.

Harry was up in a second, saying, "I'm all right, no need for anyone to worry."

Hermione laughed at this and said, "Hello, Harry, Ron. Why'd you just get here?"

"We just ran here all the way from the dungeon's, Professor Lupin sent some little kid to get us. Ran out right in the middle of one of his boring speeches, for which I thank you," Ron answered. "So why are you here?"

"You mean you weren't with me when I got hurt?"

"No, Ron and I haven't seen you since last night, when you said you were going for a walk. We were really starting to get worried," Harry replied.

Hermione was silent, finally she said, "I remember now, I can't believe I was so stupid." It was evident from her voice that she was near tears.

Remus wrapped an arm around her while Harry and Ron took their seats on either side of her. "Hermione, what happened?" Harry asked.

"I'll just be getting Professor Dumbledore then," Madam Pomfrey stated as she moved to put her supplies away.

"No need, Poppy, I am right here," a voice said from the door. Professor Dumbledore said, "I ran into Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter on the way to my office. They briefly explained to me that Miss Granger was in the hospital wing before running off, so I decided to see for myself what was wrong."

"I'm a werewolf," Hermione answered slowly.

"What?" Ron demanded. "Professor Lupin, you didn't—"

"Of course I didn't," Remus retorted. "I was in my office all night. This morning Hermione wandered into my room asking for help before passing out. I saw it was a werewolf bit and rushed her here after making sure that the class was in order and you two was fetched." Looking more kindly at Hermione, he asked, "Hermione, what were you thinking? Going for a walk during a full moon without your wand?"

"I just wanted some fresh air, I forgot that tonight was the full moon," Hermione answered quietly.

"You forgot? Hermione, I don't like you understand the severity of this, you're a werewolf. Your entire life is gone now, all because of one mistake," Remus stated.

"I'm not perfect, Remus, I'm just going to have to adapt."

"Hermione Granger, this isn't just a cut off hand, this is a serious condition. You're not going to be able to find work, you're going to be mock and hated, everyone is going to shun you," Remus argued passionately.

Dumbledore laid a hand on Remus's shoulder, kindly, he said, "Remus, there is no need for you to be angry. Hermione does understand the situation, but she has an advantage that you didn't have while you were in school."

"And what is that?" Ron asked.

"She has you and me, all of us. Remus, you will help her with her transformations and daily life, and you two will help her through school, while I will protect her from anyone wishing her injustice or harm. Do you understand?"

The group nodded gravely, and Hermione followed with a sneezing fit. Finally, she stopped it by plugging her nose, and asking, "Harry, would you please back up a bit?"

Harry looked at her strangely, but after receiving a nod from Remus, did as she said. Once he was about five feet away from the bed, Hermione was able to let go of her nose and talk normally. Ron, being Ron, saw this and stated, "Wow, Harry, Hermione's allergic to you."

Remus laughed softly at the sheer stupidity of that response, before stating, "Actually, I think Hermione's sense of smell has just begun developing. Harry, were you with Ginny this morning?"

"Err…maybe."

"You have Ginny's perfume on you, and to a new werewolf, something as flowery as that can have some presence."

Ron was starting to turn red. "Harry, why is my sister's perfume on you?"

"Ah…Hermione, you know I love you like a sister and I would love to stay here with you while you find out all your new abilities, but I think Ron is going to kill me in the next minute, so I think it wise that I start running. I'll be back later to check on you. Goodbye," Harry said as he began to back towards the door, until he finally he ran out.

Ron patted Hermione's head and ran after the black-haired boy, saying, "Bye, Mione. I'll be back once Harry's in a grave."

"Ron, Harry already has enough people trying to put him in a grave," Hermione called after him, then she added, "And I'm not a dog."

Remus shook his head and smiled. "Don't worry, I don't think Ron will do any serious damage, most likely he'll just chase Harry around for a while before giving up. I'm sorry to say that I must be going too, I left the class unattended, and I don't want them doing anything too stupid."

Hermione looked up at the older man, doing her best to look sad and pathetic to gain more time with him. Dumbledore saw this and chuckled, "Remus, why don't you stay here with Miss Granger while I teach your class? I'm sure she has plenty of questions that I would not be able to answer."

"Are you sure, Professor? I don't wish to force you into anything."

"I will be fine, Remus. If you remember, I was once a teacher at Hogwarts myself, and Miss Granger is one of my favourite students. I want her to have the best of help, which in this case, is you," Dumbledore replied, the twinkle in his blue eyes bright.

Remus noticed that he was still firmly latched onto Hermione and let go gradually, saying, "Yes, thank you, Professor. I think it would be best if I stayed here, becoming a beast can be a bit overwhelming."

Dumbledore nodded and left, leaving the pair to themselves. Sitting at the foot of the bed, Remus asked, "So, do you have any questions?"

"Is it going to hurt horribly?"

"Yes, especially the first time, after a while, you learn to block out most of the pain. I suppose I'm going to have to tell Severus to make a double batch of the Wolfsbane Potion now. When do you want to talk to your family?"

Hermione didn't say anything, when she did, it was, "I don't want to talk to them, to have to see the look in their faces when they realize that their daughter is a monster."

"Hermione, you are going to have to tell your parents. I'm sure they'll understand, I'll go with you and explain everything."

The girl just continued to shake her head though. "No, I'll write them a letter saying everything, I'm very good at writing and that way it will seem more set in stone. They'll have something to look at when they wonder why I'm so thin and tired. It makes more sense."

"Hermione, use your head. Do you really think that you're parents want to learn something as important as this from a letter?"

"Do you really think they want to learn about this at all? Like you said, I'm supposed to be the brightest witch of my age, but apparently, I'm too stupid to know not to go for a walk alone and defenseless during the full moon. Either it's a letter or nothing."

"Okay, a letter it is then. You know you're going to have to get registered, of course. We can do that when you're starting to feel more comfortable, but I don't really see any reason to broadcast it all over the school. No reason to attract any more attention than necessary. Of course, we'll inform all your teachers and close friends, but that I think that should be all."

"Please make sure that Professor Snape doesn't say anything," Hermione begged.

"Hermione, I am sure that—"

"Remus, in our third year he gave us an assignment on werewolves, hoping that we would finally notice what you were, sure some of the students weren't as observant as me, but what if Snape lets it slip to one of the Slytherins. Please, make sure he doesn't say anything," she repeated.

Remus agreed, "I'll try my best, I'm not guaranteeing anything though."

"Thank you."

"No problem, Hermione. I'm thinking that for your first transformation, you should be with me. It will be awkward and painful for you, and to tell the truth, I could use the company," Remus sighed.

"You really miss them, don't you?"

"Of course, they were my best mates. All they went through for me, I think they were the only ones who truly understood and cared about me. And look at them now, two are dead and one I want to kill myself. It's ironic that the weakest two are the ones still living while the two that really loved and appreciated life are dead."

"It's just like they say, Remus, the good die young while we are left to ponder our mistakes."

Remus nodded solemnly, then looking down, he continued, "Listen, Hermione, about yesterday. It's not as though I'm not attracted to you, it's just there would be so many complications…"

"Like what?" Hermione questioned bluntly, feeling unusually confident.

"First of all, I'm too dangerous…"

"Remus, I'm a werewolf, just like you. I would be dangerous too."

"I'm too poor…" he continued.

"Which is what I'll be after I get out of school," Hermione commented.

"I'm too old, you're eighteen and I'm thirty-seven, thirty-eight in March. That's twenty years, Hermione. What would we have in common?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Would you like a list?"

"Actually, yes, I would."

"All right, I'm very good at lists. Number one, we both share this condition, meaning we'll have an understanding of what the other is going through. Second, we basically have the same friends. Three, there's always Harry Potter, and that topic alone should give us enough conversations for three years. Fourth, we have the same personality, modest and quiet, but stubborn at the same time. Number five; we're both working to destroy Voldemort. Sixth, we both know what it's like to loose someone close."

"You've really thought this out, haven't you?"

She smiled cheekily. "Yeah, of course, hearing Ginny fawn over Harry didn't help. I think I can actually go up to one hundred and two."

Remus wagged his head back and forth, though there was a slight light in his features. "Hermione, how about the fact that you're my student?"

"Ah, number fifty-seven, it wouldn't be a strained relationship since we're so close to one another. And reason seventy-four, we both went to the same school so we'll likely share the same experiences. It would be just like I was going out with someone my age."

"But you wouldn't."

"Plenty of people had have perfectly fine relationships with people older than them," she stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hermione, what happens when you get bored with me? Say we get married, a thirty year-old is not going to be happy staying with one person who is fifty."

"Maybe Parvati or Lavender wouldn't be happy, but I would. I would be happy just knowing that someone loved me, knowing that someone would be waiting for me when I got home. I would be more than happy with that."

"Hermione, you deserve someone young and handsome. Someone that has something to offer you."

"Who says anyone would offer me anything?" she asked. "Remus, I'm not doing this because I've given up on my love life, you knew that I fancied you yesterday when I was perfectly healthy, and I'm in no way a seer, so I could not have predicted this. I thought we were close, I thought this might work, but apparently, you either don't like me at all, or you're too afraid to admit it. So why don't you leave for now before I make an even bigger fool of myself?"

Remus didn't budge. "Hermione, you still—"

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm sure I'll be able to work out my new senses by myself. Goodbye, Remus John Lupin," she said, her tone final.

He nodded and stood up. As he walked out of the hospital wing, he whispered, "Goodbye, Hermione Jane Granger."