I could feel my anger increase as I sat there. What type of man takes a woman as beautiful as Hermione out to dinner and then doesn't take care of her and treat her how she deserves?

I slowly rise from my seat. "Here let me help with that".

She looks at me as I approach her and then she smiles.

"You just can't let me take care of you can you?" She says with amusement in her voice.

"I look down and in to her eyes and say "You do so much for me already. Without you, I wouldn't have the wolfsbane potion and I wouldn't have such a wonderful friend. I remember when you yelled at me about how I was taking care of Teddy…".

She blushes crimson and laughs. "I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have been so harsh with you particularly because you were still dealing with your wife's death. I really regret doing that to you now. I should have been more understanding".

"Hermione, listen to me. You did nothing wrong". I gently clasped her hand.

"You were the only one who cared enough for Teddy's welfare to tell me the truth. I wasn't being a good father to him. My grief was all encompassing and had distanced myself from almost everyone by that time, but you wouldn't let me even when I was horrible I was to you or when you were dealing with other things. I remember you came in and you stood in front of me with your hands on your hips and yelled at me about my responsibilities to my son, that I was his protector and caretaker and I needed to be there for him. I can't thank you enough for that".

I bring her hand up to my mouth with a smirk and I notice the bruises on her knuckles. And suddenly I'm filled with an overwhelming sense of protectiveness for her. I would rend them limb from limb, I would rip their heart out and eat it raw. No one was going to hurt her while I was around.

"Hermione? What happened? Who did this to you?" I say with anger filling my voice.

I can see her flinch at me and feel her hand shaking in mine.

I gently bring my hand up to her face and I see her look at my hand warily.

"Hermione" I say as I try to control my voice. "I'm not angry at you and you know I would never hurt you right?".

She nods and I let my hand cup her face. There are tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong sweetheart?"

"Well, its just… I think I may have overreacted a bit and I'm feeling slightly embarrassed".

She blushes while looking down at her feet.

I use my fingers to push her face up so I can look in her eyes. "Hermione, I'm sure its not nearly as bad as your making it out to be.

She looks up at me with an eyebrow raised "Perhaps… your right" she sighs and then closes her eyes.

"Come, tell old Remus what happened?"

She looks up at me annoyed and says "You're not old Remus."

I laugh loudly at her as my heart soars. She doesn't think I'm old. She gently pulls away as she takes a seat and motions for me to take one as well. I sit immediately.

She smiles at me and then sighs. "Okay, I was set up on a date by Ginny…

Ginny set her up on a date and then probably was the one that picked out that dress. That explained why Hermione was wearing it because it certainly didn't seem like something Hermione would pick out for herself. How could she do this to me when she told me earlier to finally tell Hermione how I felt?

"Well I went to the bar to wait and I got myself a drink and a man at the bar started chatting with me. He seemed nice and he was flirting with me…"

I can just see how that scene played out. Hermione walks in to a bar on a Saturday night and every man in the room is taken aback because they never realized until that moment that a woman at beautiful as her existed. I can feel my blood boil as I think about a strange man approaching her and possessing courage I didn't have since he was able to talk with her.

"Then my date showed up. It was Benjy Williams, the seeker from Puddlemere United…"

Ginny was going to get a piece of my mind. Ugh, she sets up Hermione with one of the nicest looking blokes in quidditch. But I had to remember that I had to keep my anger in check because I didn't want to scare Hermione away and my anger wasn't directed at her but her friend.

"I thought you didn't like quidditch?" I ask her softly.

She laughs and smiles at me. "I don't, but Ginny went through all that trouble and I didn't want to hurt her feelings so I went".

Ah, so your date shows up and I remember you saying that you left before you even got a chance to look at a menu.

Yes well. I went to pay my bill and the man I had been talking to apparently paid it. When I told him that wasn't necessary he mentioned something about me saving the wizarding world but then…"

She blushes and looks away.

Now I was intrigued, what could he had said to her to make her speechless.

"Well, what did he say Hermione?".

"He said that 'imagining me pressed up against the wall with my dress pushed up to my hips while my legs were wrapped around his waist as he fucked me was going to fill his fantasies tonight' so I punched him in the face and then my date got mad because I made a scene"

She is blushing crimson and avoiding my gaze.

I laugh in response and say "That's my girl!"

There is that feistiness that I love about her. I does sober me a bit that she punched a man for saying exactly what I was thinking of doing to her. Well maybe she just punched him because he said it aloud and quite frankly that was very rude to do to a strange woman in public.

"What's so wrong with me Remus?"

"What do you mean? I ask her confused.

"Why can't I attract a man and keep him? Why do all my dates go horribly wrong?"

She looks up at me with eyes that are soft and scared. How could she think that anything was wrong with her. I would give anything just to have her, even for a moment.

"There's nothing wrong with you Hermione. Trust me, if I was a younger man I'd show you how gorgeous you are. Would you have punched me, if I was the man at the bar who said those things to you?"

Did I just say that to her? What the hell has gotten into me tonight.

Before I can do anything her lips are on mine and before I can respond she pulls away and turns her face from mine.

"I'm sorry… I"

I use my hand to turn her face toward mine and then I kiss her back.

She wraps her arms around my neck and I feel her tongue touching the seam of my lips asking for entrance and I can do nothing but oblige her. As I open my mouth our tongues immediately duel for dominance and then I feel her pull away.

"You're not old Remus and yes, if you had said that to me in public I would have punched you and then I would have taken us to my bedroom and had my way with you"