Tie Your Heart at Night to Mine, Love
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
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Hermione drifted into consciousness without opening her eyes. It was still bright outside, though no longer morning, if the maroon color behind her eyelids was any indicator. Yet their body temperature – and Hermione planned to tease Remus mercilessly about how much more "inappropriate" their current position was – had fallen considerably. She snuggled closer to him in a bold, yet perfectly reasonable, attempt to steal his warmth from under his robe.
A chill ran through her body, and Hermione's eyes snapped open. Remus was freezing, his cardigan soaked underneath her. She pushed herself to her knees with the seat cushions as leverage and looked down at his face, which was now yellower than a piece of parchment, his forehead and upper lip coated with a sheen of sweat.
"Remus?" she called, placing the back of her hand to his cheek, "Remus, wake up!"
Remus' eyelids battled him as he tried to lift them. His eyes felt raw as his pupils adjusted to the clarity, but he didn't blink – Hermione was hovering over his body, her knees flanking his hips and her hand on his face. He swallowed, dry-mouthed. He knew it was not a dream – he would never allow himself to have such farfetched dreams – and he could feel the wolf reveling in the feeling, his instincts pushing to take over, but nausea hit him like a punch. He shivered, drawing his elbows closer to his body. It was only then that his brain managed to process Hermione's expression – yes, her knees were at his sides and yes, she was poised inches above him, but her eyebrows were pinched and her eyes unsure. Moreover, the hand the wolf believed had been caressing his face was, in fact, taking his temperature. Remus' stomach clenched, this time not from nausea – if it was implausible as a dream, why wouldn't it be so as reality?
He propped himself up on the arm of the sofa, and Hermione moved to sit at his feet, twisting her hands together in her lap, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he should've made her leave sooner.
"This doesn't look like nothing, Remus—What…" Hermione's voice quavered, and she hated herself for it, "What day are we on?"
The corner of his mouth twitched upward, but it didn't hold, "It's not like you to ask questions you already know the answer to."
"It's wrong, something's wrong. You're supposed to feel weak not freeze and break out in a cold sweat!"
He didn't comment. With any luck, she wouldn't find out.
Hermione grabbed her purse from where it lay abandoned on the ground and reached deep inside of it, pulling out a robe and a bath towel. She transfigured a blanket out of the former and shrank the latter to the size of a hand towel. She wrapped the blanket around Remus and stood to wipe his face. Flames roared in the fireplace behind her, and Remus couldn't tell whether she had cast it with wandless magic because his vision clouded with light-headedness. Along with the blurred edges came a stronger wave of nausea. Hermione conjured a bucket just in time - he doubled over it as she held the towel to his forehead, her free hand rubbing his back over his soaked, clingy clothes.
Through the breathlessness, the shivers, the stomach contractions, the raw throat, and the bile, the heaving ceased.
Hermione walked over to the adjoining kitchen to fetch Remus a glass of water. She took the towel with her and dampened it at the sink. He had emptied the bucket by the time she returned.
Hermione handed him the glass and pressed the wet cloth against his temples, his cheek, and all the way down to his neck. He stole a glance at her face as she took care of him – her hair was pulled back on a loose unruly bun, her almond eyes soft and caring. He could get used to this – except for the fact that he shouldn't.
"I'm sorry, you didn't have to," Remus said.
"I don't mind," she answered, her eyes focused on the task at hand, "What I do mind is not knowing what's going on."
Remus sighed, so much for hoping she wouldn't press the matter, "I've been trying to find a way to make the wolf weaker."
"And?"
He didn't answer, but his eyes flickered to the mugs lying on the small table between Hermione and the fireplace. Following his gaze, Hermione frowned. She grabbed his used mug from that morning and took a sniff – the smell was familiar. Potion-wise familiar.
"You drank an Aconite infusion. Are you mad?"
It explained the sweating, the cold, the nausea – he had poisoned himself. Hermione dropped to her knees and snatched her purse, abandoning the mug on the carpet. She had kept Harry and Ron from any poisonous food while on the run, but she had packed an Antidote for Common Poisons regardless, she was sure of it.
"It's the Wolfsbane potion's main ingredient." Remus explained, but she could barely focus on his words as she knocked over books, clothes, and other essentials inside her purse, her hands clammy. "It won't sedate the wolf, but it'll slow him down. It'll be hard for it to move around, or so the books say."
"Books from when? The 16th century?" she cried, and whipped her wand, "Accio Antidote!"
She caught the small vial as it flew out of her bag and struggled to uncork it, her hand slippery.
"I've done this before."
Hermione halted. After crying that morning, she believed she must've exhausted her tears' supply. She was wrong. "Why would you do that? Why not just take the Wolfsbane Potion?"
He looked at her. It was not a meaningful look, albeit somewhat sad – it was merely a look as he waited for her brilliant mind to answer her own question.
"Snape," said Hermione looking up to his eyes, her pinched expression dissolving, "Professor Snape made you the potion, but not since… not since Professor Dumbledore's death?"
Remus couldn't help his smile. She was not only the brightest witch of her age, but there was beauty to be found in her logical thinking.
"Why didn't you say something?"
"There were more important things at stake, Hermione."
"And now? You went to Australia to rescue me, but you won't tell us about the wolfsbane–why? Not to inconvenience us? Not to disturb us?"
"Hermione—"
"Is that why you wouldn't come live at Grimmauld Place? So we wouldn't know?"
And sometimes there was fear to be felt regarding that same logical thinking. Her deduction made for a partial truth, but he couldn't admit it – not with their bond being the main reason, "No, I… I had personal reasons not to."
"Oh," she looked away, her chin dipped down.
Remus was seized by a coughing fit, reminding Hermione that the poison was still in his system. She pulled the cork again, this time using her blouse for friction, and it yielded with a pop. She held out the vial. "I'm not leaving until you take it."
"Hermione," he began, his voice hoarse and his breathing shallow as he tried to overcome the fit, "The…wolf—"
"I'll ward the place. I'll set a perimeter and the wolf won't be able to go past it, I promise."
Remus chanced a look through the window – the moon would show in less than an hour. It was not the time to test a stubborn witch's limits. He assented, his fingers touching hers ever-so-briefly as he took the vial from her hand and gulped its contents down.
Hermione rose to her feet, flashed a self-satisfied smile and walked out of the front door. There was not another cottage for miles if any, all she was met with was the small clearing around his house and a tall, lush pine forest.
Once the spells were in place, Hermione apparated just outside Grimmauld Place, drew in a breath, and straightened her body – she had a potion to learn, and friends to tell about her parents.
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A/N: Here's another chapter! With no other characters than our beloved couple :)
I hope you enjoyed!
Jelly slugs to…
My reviewers: Crossy70, Sampdoria, cellorocksmyworld, IrishIris, Martionmanswife, rosesnblueberries, CassieRenee333, bimbumel, Guest, and wayfaring stranger go.
To cellorocksmyworld, uzumaki49, bimbumel, Chantal9, and bethawatt3 for adding the story to their favorites.
And to IWriteToSurvive, Sampdoria, ValkyrieB, uzumaki49, Potter's Wheezes, Chantal9, larisse, bimbumel, katydid7186, bethawatt3, Hikari Kinomoto, Pauza, banana37174, wayfaring stranger go, and caseylu for following the story.
To Guest: Oh, thank you, you're too kind! I hope this chapter didn't disappoint :)
Thank you all! Please review :)