"Hermione?"
"Huh?" she said inelegantly. Remus was looking at her over the top of his book like he was waiting for her to answer. They had been working on a particularly difficult runic translation but for the past few days she couldn't get past the vow that Dumbledore made her take. 'The secrets entrusted to you' he had said. That didn't mean she couldn't keep them from him but that also didn't mean that he had to divulge all his knowledge to her.
"Are you okay? I lost you for a minute there." They had been in the library for hours. This translation was going to be the death of them. She was happy that he at least was taking it seriously since she could seem to stay on topic. Her smile was gentle at his concern. Here he was, a few days out from his Quidditch final and a week from the full moon, and he was worried about her.
"Yeah, just thinking," she told him. He put his book down and looked at her seriously. The more he got to know her, the more he wanted to know - the more he thought she was hiding something but he really didn't care.
To put it simply, he wanted her in all the ways that he never thought he would be able to have someone.
"Knut for your thoughts?" she reached a hand out and touched his leg under the library table, unknowingly sending all kinds of hormones in all kinds of directions.
"Nothing serious. I think I've about had it for today though, what about you?" She still hadn't removed her hand. Hermione couldn't decipher the look on his face. He looked like he was having trouble coming up with something to say.
"Uh, what?" he said with a stupid look. She furrowed her eyebrows and squeezed his knee. Was he okay?
"Runes. I can't look at it anymore. Do you want to go get a snack in the kitchens before we head back up?" She watched him swallow.
"Uh, shit. Yeah, sure. I'll just –" he motioned at all the stuff on the table. "Start down and I'll meet you there in a few minutes." Hermione hadn't stopped looking at him like he had gone insane but did as he asked.
As soon as she was out of sight Remus thunked his head down on the table hard and wiggled around in his chair. He was suddenly very uncomfortable in his uniform.
He was going to need a minute.
oOoOo
"You mean to tell me that at eleven years old, you killed a mountain troll?" Remus asked in astonishment. Hermione was laughing so hard at the memory that there were tear leaking out of her eye.
"No, we knocked it out with its own club. One of my friends used Wingardium Leviosa, it was the only spell we knew at the time, while the other stuck his wand up it's nose." Remus was in total disbelief.
"And you were in a bathroom." She nodded, still laughing. Her heart was heavy but she knew that she would see Harry and Ron again just not in the way that she wanted. "You are incredible."
That made her blush.
"I was hiding," she said quietly, wiping the tears out of her eyes. He just shook his head.
"I just meant in general," he told her, taking a bite of his chocolate cake. They had missed dinner but that didn't mean he wasn't going to have dessert.
Really blush.
"Thank you." He stared at her then in a calculating sort of way and reached over to tuck one of her runaway curls behind her ear, moving to sit closer to her. Something in the air had changed right then.
"You have no idea do you?" he asked, letting his hand linger even after her hair was safely pinned away from her face. His fingers grazed her cheek feather light. She could feel his callouses. When she looked up at him, he was close enough that she could feel him breathing. She gulped when he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"About what?"
"About how you're changing everyone here. We're all better because of you. Peter is a different person entirely." Hermione had goosebumps all over. "It's like you've known us forever."
He had no idea.
"Remus, I have to tell you something." He was looking at her mouth. Hermione felt the change in her heartbeat and knew he heard it because his eyes flicked up to hers. "I know your grandmother isn't sick."
The look on his face broke her heart. He pulled away from her like he burned her.
"I don't know what you mean." His blue eyes turned that indigo color and he became every bit the insecure teenager that he was.
"I uh," Hermione started but the look on his face said that words weren't going to be enough. She reached back out for his hands and slid down the bench closer to him, put their legs together like he does. "One of the best people I ever knew ... from home, he was a werewolf. I know what to look for." Remus was the color of parchment. She used her hand to bring his gaze to hers. "You remind me so much of him. You are both kind, loyal, absolutely brilliant." Hermione huffed out a laugh, "you both are one of the few people who can surprise me. Just because you happen to turn into a werewolf once a month doesn't detract from you or your character. Not one bit. You are here, in this heart and it's beautiful."
Hermione moved her hand from his face and put it to his chest. His heart was pounding so hard so she was concerned that it was going to come out of its ribcage at any moment.
If he didn't love her before, he certainly did now.
"Moony! Are you in here?" Sirius called, slamming the door to the kitchen open. Hermione and Remus jumped apart like they just realized how close they were to each other. The other three Marauders either didn't notice or didn't care about what they just walked into.
"Yeah, Padfoot, over here." Remus didn't stop staring at Hermione but she took a big bite of her pot pie to try and dispel some of the tension. "Oh hey, Hermione," he said, looking between the two of them before plopping himself down between them. James was looking between the two with his arms crossed.
He suddenly realized what he may have just walked in on.
"'Mione, can we ask you something?" Pete asked in a gentle sort of voice. She swallowed her food.
"Sure, Peter." She was surprised she could get any words out. She was still breathing hard from what had just happened with Remus.
"We hate to bring this up," James started, "but when the attack on your family happened, was there a giant green snake above your house?" Hermione's eyes shot over to him. What were they getting at?
"Yes." No, but she needed to know more. James nodded.
"My parents are Aurors," Hermione frowned, she thought they were potioneers. "Well, before they retired but they still work in the office when they're not nearly blowing the house up in their potion lab." Ah. "There have been a ton more attacks lately. Dad sent me a letter today to be on the alert, look after any of my friends that were muggleborn. I just wanted to check in with you and Evans. You need to keep your head on a swivel."
She already knew that but she loved him for it anyways.
"Thanks James. I'll keep it in mind."
"We have your back," Sirius said and in some sort of weird and uncommon display of affection, threw his arms around her suddenly in a fierce hug. Hermione threw a concerned look over his shoulder at Remus who shrugged his shoulders, seeming to have come back to himself slightly.
"It'll be okay Sirius," Hermione told him. He didn't even realize how in control she had it. Or so she thought.
oOoOo
"Miss Granger, have you been going to the Room of Requirement?" Dumbledore asked the day before the Quidditch final. Honestly, she felt that she had more important things to do than be talking to him.
"And if I have?" she asked defiantly, chin in the air, arms across her chest. They hadn't made any Horcrux progress at all.
"I understand your frustration Hermione but we need to be smart about this."
"Sir, MY FRIENDS ARE DEAD!" She didn't know where the emotion was coming from but she had to do something about it. She couldn't just sit by anymore. "I have to do something!" She was desperate.
Dumbledore sighed and walked over to a cupboard. Hermione watched him perform several complicated charms. Even she didn't even know what they were. When he showed her what was in it, she audibly gasped.
"We are making progress, Miss Granger."
Hermione reached out and took Helga Hufflepuff's cup from his hands.
Maybe he wasn't so terrible after all.