A/N - Thank you so much for all the reviews last chapter! I love hearing what everyone thinks of the story. Longer than usual chapter this time, hope you all enjoy it. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 29

Comfort

30 November 1998

Hermione's sobs finally subsided to hitching breaths. She knew she should let go of Remus, but she couldn't, not yet. She also knew she should be horribly embarrassed for how she had reacted when he'd put his arm around her, but she simply couldn't bring herself to care. Likely later, she would be mortified, but for now, she was just…drained.

Remus' teaching robes were open and the cardigan he wore underneath was soft against her cheek. She could hear his heart beating, slow and steady, and she let herself relax further, her breathing finally becoming more even. Remus' arms remained firmly around her. He smelled like old books and the forest and chocolate. Hermione closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.

It was that action that forced her to move away from him. She sat up straighter and pulled back, hiding her face so he couldn't see how deeply red it had turned.

"Are you all right?" he asked. She nodded, unable to speak for fear of blurting out something she would regret later. She could feel him staring at her and she looked down at her lap. From the corner of her eye she saw him reach into his pocket and pull out his wand. He conjured his Patronus.

"Minerva, I've been unavoidably delayed. Please let my second-years know." The Patronus bounded off down the corridor, disappearing seconds later.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said, wiping at her face again and getting to her feet. "I didn't mean to keep you."

"Hermione," he began as he stood, but she shook her head.

"No, go on ahead, I'll be fine," she insisted.

"Hermione, I'm not leaving you like this," he said. She glanced up at him and then looked away.

"Really, Remus, it was nothing."

"It wasn't," he said, putting a hand on her arm. "Anything that makes you that upset isn't 'nothing'." To her horror, her lip began to quiver and she could feel the tears gathering again. She bit her cheek, hard, and pulled in a breath, blinking rapidly to keep the tears from falling.

"I was in Defense," she finally said. "And Professor Higgins decided to have us duel one another." Remus stared at her incredulously.

"Duel one another?" he repeated. Hermione nodded. "Did you get to select your own partners?"

"No," Hermione replied. "It was a random draw and if we won, we continued on to the next round until there were only two of us left." Remus closed his eyes and pulled in a breath through his nose. Hermione could see him visibly trying to calm himself.

"That's…incredibly irresponsible."

"If people reacted…badly, he did let them leave," she said, not knowing why she felt the need to come to the professor's defense.

"But he didn't stop the duels," Remus said. Hermione shook her head. Remus scrubbed a hand down his face. "So, what happened?"

"Malfoy and I were the last two left," Hermione said quietly. Remus inhaled sharply.

"And everything was fine at first, but," she trailed off.

"But," Remus prompted.

"But then he pushed at his sleeve after I'd got him with a stinging hex and I saw," she paused, biting her lip. "I saw the edge of his Dark Mark. The snake." Remus blew out a breath.

"Then what happened?"

"I don't know, I just, I froze or something and it was like, like I was," she shook her head, the tears once again threatening. Remus walked towards her and gripped her upper arms gently.

"Like you were back at the Manor?" he questioned. She closed her eyes, having forgotten that Remus had been at the Malfoy trials and had heard that she, Harry and Ron were captured. She wondered just how much he knew.

"Hermione," Remus paused and Hermione opened her eyes to peek at him. He looked unsure for a moment but seemed to gather his resolve as he asked his next question. "What happened to you at Malfoy Manor?"

Hermione closed her eyes again. So, he didn't know, then. She didn't want to tell him, not this. Not only did she not like thinking about it, she didn't want Remus' pity.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said, keeping her eyes on the floor. She heard Remus draw in a breath and let it out slowly.

"Hermione, did Draco do something to you while you were at the Manor?"

"No," Hermione said immediately, looking up at Remus and shaking her head. "No, he didn't do anything."

"Then why did you react so strongly to seeing his Mark?"

"I don't, I…it wasn't him," she said.

"Did someone else do something to you at the Manor?" Hermione shifted and moved away from him, crossing her arms over her chest. She pulled at her left sleeve.

"I told you that I didn't want to talk about it." She saw Remus' eyes on her arm, she knew he had noticed her pulling at her sleeve and cursed herself in her head.

"I know from the Malfoy trials that Bellatrix was there," Remus continued. Hermione tried to keep her eyes on his, but she shifted her gaze away from him for a moment, then quickly looked back. "Hermione, I am aware of Bellatrix's methods of…questioning." Hermione gave a strangled sort of snort, that sounded more like a sob. Remus continued to stare at her and she lost the battle with her tears. He slowly gathered her to him again and she cried, quietly this time, into his shoulder as he held her.

"It was the Cruciatus, wasn't it?" Remus asked. Hermione nodded into his shoulder. She felt Remus' arms tighten around her. He took in another breath and she got the distinct impression that he was trying to calm himself.

"Was Draco there when you were tortured?" he asked. She nodded again.

"He didn't do anything, his parents didn't either, only Bellatrix, but I couldn't, I couldn't stop seeing him holding the wand and c-cursing me." She shuddered. "I felt like I was back there, at the Manor, and it wasn't until Ginny and, and then the professor said my, my name that I figured out where I was. Everyone was st-staring at me and I just, just ran out of the classroom."

Remus rubbed her back and soothed her again and Hermione sighed heavily. She felt herself relaxing again and pulled in another breath, his scent filling her nose once more. She wanted nothing more than to just stand here all day, letting Remus hold her and tell her it was all right.

"Narcissa was there as well?" he asked after a few minutes. Hermione pulled back and realized that he was standing rigidly, his jaw clenched.

"Yes," she said uncertainly. Hermione could see the muscle working in his jaw. Her eyes narrowed in confusion and when he caught her eye again, she could tell that he was forcing himself to relax.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, for what happened to you," he said.

"I don't want people to feel sorry for me," she said quietly.

"I know," he replied, putting a hand on her arm and giving it a gentle squeeze. His expression was back to normal, his jaw unclenched. Hermione wondered what all that had been about.

"I'm the one that should be sorry," she said instead. "I made you late for your tutoring and I cried all over you and, and everything." She blushed again and he smiled at her.

"This was more important," he said. "And that's what drying charms are for." Hermione managed a small laugh. "Come on, I'll take you to see Madame Pomfrey."

"No," Hermione said. "I don't need the hospital wing, honestly. You just go and do your tutoring. I've got to get to Charms anyway."

"Hermione," he said, his voice serious. "I am taking you to see Poppy, no arguments."

"But I don't need," she protested, but he interrupted her.

"You do," he said. "It's obvious that you haven't dealt with what happened to you at the Manor. Let Poppy help you."

"She can't," Hermione whispered. "I don't think anyone can." He tilted her chin up and Hermione had to force herself not to shiver. Hermione saw the concern in his eyes, which, she noticed weren't just green, but flecked with gold.

"They can," he said. "If you let them." She stared at him for a few moments before she finally nodded.

"I can get there myself, though," she said.

"Minerva can handle my second years for a few more minutes," he said. "I'm coming with you, if for no other reason than to spare you having to answer any questions about what happened. Classes will be over soon." Hermione finally nodded and he put a hand on her back, leading her down the passageway towards the hospital wing.

Remus paced in Minerva's office. How he had managed to keep it together after what Hermione had told him, he wasn't sure. Years of practice at controlling his temper, most likely. He had wanted to hit something, kill Bellatrix all over again and when he had found out that the Malfoys had just stood by and let it all happen, he had been even more enraged. He never would have expected Lucius to do anything and he didn't blame Draco, really. The boy had had too much put on his young shoulders and going up against both his very formidable aunt, as well as his father, wouldn't have been something he could have done. But Narcissa. Andromeda had been telling him how different her sister was, how happy Andromeda was that Narcissa was starting to see past her blood prejudice, that the war had changed her. Narcissa was a mother, she had risked everything to protect her son and yet she let a girl be tortured in her home for no other crime than the circumstances of her birth.

"Remus, sit down," Minerva said. "I understand your anger about this situation, but surely it doesn't warrant this kind of response." Remus glanced up at the older woman. He hadn't told her anything about Hermione's torture at the Manor, that was Hermione's story to tell. He had only explained the dueling tournament Higgins had run and how Hermione had fled in a panic after seeing the Dark Mark. Minerva was right in that he was overreacting to the information he had given her. He forced himself to calm down, leaning back against the wall and taking in a deep breath as they waited for Higgins to arrive. Minerva had asked Remus to stay so he could explain the state Hermione had been in when he'd found her.

There was a knock at the door and Angus Higgins entered the office.

"Minerva," he said cordially. "Remus." Remus nodded once, still not trusting himself to speak.

"Remus has just informed me that he had to take a student from your seventh-year class to the hospital wing." Higgins looked concerned.

"Which student?" he asked.

"Hermione Granger," Remus said tightly. Higgins looked surprised.

"Explain yourself," Minerva snapped.

"It was a simple dueling tournament, Minerva," Higgins replied. "No spells even close to damaging."

"The types of spells you allowed is not the point," Minerva fumed. "Were you not present three weeks ago for the six-month anniversary of the Battle? Were you not aware of the reaction of large number of our students?"

"Of course, I was," Higgins said defensively.

"Then why in the bloody hell did you think dueling would be a good idea?" she retorted. "Especially a tournament where their opponents were chosen for them?"

"I made sure any student that was uncomfortable or upset was excused and none of them received failing marks," he said.

"Did you allow them to sit out of the entire assignment or did you only let them go after they had some kind of reaction to it?" she asked, her voice clipped. Higgins opened his mouth to reply, then shut it again.

"All of these students are of age," he argued. "I'm treating them as such."

"They are children." Higgins got to his feet.

"They fought in a war, for Merlin's sake! They are not children!"

"While that may very well be," Minerva said, her voice now low and dangerous. Remus swallowed and instinctively pressed himself closer to the wall. Anyone who knew Minerva at all knew not to cross her when she used that tone. "That war is now over and while they are inside these walls, they are students, my students, and I will not allow them to be traumatized for a mere assignment." Higgins had the good sense to keep his mouth shut. Minerva sighed.

"You are a good teacher, Angus, but you made a very poor choice."

"I was under the impression that I had some freedom over the curriculum I choose to use in my classes," Higgins said and Remus knew he was just trying to retain some of his pride.

"Of course, you do," Minerva replied, hands on her hips. "However, I will not tolerate something like this happening again. Do I make myself clear?" Higgins stared at her for a moment before he nodded tightly. She sighed again. "They are not Auror trainees, Angus." He flinched, then sighed himself.

"Miss Granger," he said, clearly concerned. "Is she all right? She didn't appear to be injured during her duel. She just ran out in the middle of it."

"Physically yes, but she was extremely upset," Remus said tightly. "It took me quite some time to calm her down and get her to the hospital wing."

"I don't understand," Higgins admitted. "She was fine through all the rest of her duels."

"The Malfoy family was on the other side of the war," Minerva said. "And Miss Granger and Mister Malfoy have a bit of a…history." Higgins eyes had widened in understanding.

"I will remember that," he said.

"Please be sure that you do."

"Will she be all right?" Higgins asked, addressing Remus now.

"She's with Poppy," Remus said. "I believe she will be fine."

"I'll be sure to speak with her in our next class." He turned back to Minerva. "I apologize, Minerva." She stared him down for a few moments, then finally nodded.

"Accepted," she said. Higgins gave Remus a nod and then left Minerva's office.

"Will Hermione be all right?" she asked, turning to Remus. He sighed.

"I hope so."

Hermione made her way back to Gryffindor Tower, glad that classes were still in session for another twenty minutes. She had been excused from the rest of her classes for the day and despite feeling a bit guilty about missing them, she was glad. She wasn't up to facing anyone just now, after the fool she'd made of herself in Defense. She was sure that it would be all over the school by dinner.

And then there was Remus. Hermione turned red again as she thought about him. While she was extremely grateful that Remus had been there to comfort her, Hermione's own behavior had been something else altogether. The way she had clung to him and cried all over him, not to mention making him late for his tutoring. Her heart beat a little faster when she remembered how comforted she had felt and how good he had smelled. Hermione shook her head and forced herself to think about something else.

Madame Pomfrey had given her a Calming Draught and a vial of Dreamless Sleep that Hermione now carried in her pocket. The mediwitch had insisted that Hermione take it that night, as well as the next two. As much as she hated to admit it, Hermione knew that Madame Pomfrey was right. If her dreams had gotten as bad as they had after just seeing Malfoy, she couldn't imagine what they would be like now after she'd dueled with him.

Reaching the Fat Lady's portrait, Hermione gave the password and stepped into the Common Room, glad that it was empty. As much as she loved her first years, she wasn't sure she could deal with them right now. She climbed the stairs to her dorm and dropped her bag at the foot of her bed. Pulling off her robes and her shoes, she lay down, hugged her pillow to her and sighed.

Madame Pomfrey, after giving Hermione the Calming Draught and running a diagnostic scan on her, turned softer and encouraged Hermione to tell her everything that had happened. She already knew about the Mudblood scar, but Hermione went through their capture and her entire ordeal at Bellatrix's hands. The Calming Draught kept Hermione from breaking down again, but when she was finished telling her story, Madame Pomfrey had hugged her anyway. She had insisted Hermione return the next day to talk with her again and after realizing that it had been a bit of a relief to have confided in someone other than her friends or her parents, Hermione agreed.

The longer she lay there, the more she found her thoughts drifting to Remus. He had been right that she would feel better after talking to Madame Pomfrey. He'd said that people could help her if she'd let them. She knew that Harry and Ron had tried, but they had been in such bad places themselves, it hadn't worked all that well. Besides, Hermione was used to being the one that held them together, the one that kept them going, the one that solved their problems, she wasn't sure how to let someone else do that for her.

She had jumped from one thing to another ever since the Battle, from repairing Hogwarts, to searching for her parents, to working on Grimmauld Place. She never slowed down and rarely let herself just relax. Of course, it wasn't in Hermione's nature to just sit around and do nothing, but she had been particularly driven over the summer. Keeping busy kept her from thinking about things she would rather not think about.

Even now, she was constantly worrying about the first-years, making sure that they were doing all right and didn't need anything. She had also thrown herself into her studies, often doing extra work that wasn't required. She told herself that it was just a way to continue to challenge herself, as most of her classes were relatively easy for her. Harry and Ron had been right, she likely would have easily passed her N.E.W.T.S. had she taken them over the summer.

She had mostly ignored her nightmares and just hoped that they would eventually go away. That obviously hadn't worked either.

"Hey," a voice said and Hermione turned over in her bed to see Ginny standing in the doorway.

"Hi, Gin," Hermione said. Ginny crossed the room and sat at the foot of Hermione's bed as Hermione pulled herself up to sit against the headboard.

"You okay?" Ginny asked. Hermione nodded.

"Madame Pomfrey gave me a Calming Draught." Ginny nodded and they both fell silent for a few moments.

"Hermione, what happened?" Ginny finally asked. Hermione looked down at her lap, picking at a loose thread on her coverlet.

"I saw a bit of Malfoy's Dark Mark," Hermione said quietly. She glanced up at Ginny who looked confused. "Remember when I ran into Narcissa Malfoy at Flourish and Blotts?"

"Yes," Ginny said, even more confused by the topic change.

"After that, my nightmares came back," Hermione said. "Well, they hadn't ever really completely gone away, but they got more frequent."

"Hermione, why didn't you tell me?" Ginny asked. Hermione shrugged.

"Anyway, the dreams changed a bit and they sort of featured Mrs. Malfoy," Hermione explained. "She did things in the dream that had never really happened."

"Okay," Ginny said. "So, what does this have to do with today?"

"When we came back to school and I saw Draco, the same thing happened," Hermione said.

"You've been having nightmares since we got back?" Ginny asked, perplexed. Hermione nodded. "I've never heard you."

"Silencing charm," Hermione said with another shrug.

"Hermione," Ginny admonished. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I didn't want to keep my dormmates up every night," Hermione said.

"Every night?!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Well, at first," Hermione said. "They'd tapered off again the last couple of months." Ginny shook her head in exasperation.

"So today," she said. "The Dark Mark?"

"It just…took me back, I guess," Hermione said looking down at her lap again. "Reminded me of my dreams and then, well, I was sort of, back there." Ginny nodded.

"You kept saying 'we found it'."

"Yeah, the sword," Hermione said with a sigh. She put her face in her hands and groaned. "Gods, Gin, how am I going to face everyone?"

"Hermione, almost half the class left because they couldn't handle it. I doubt anyone is going to think any less of you."

"But they didn't have a flashback in the middle of their duels, did they?" Hermione said. "They didn't freak out and think they were somewhere else."

"They also weren't tortured by that bitch," Ginny said, her jaw clenched.

"Yes, well, I'm sure Draco is just having a great laugh over it."

"I don't think so," Ginny said. "You didn't see his face, Hermione. He looked sick." Hermione didn't say anything. She knew Ginny was right. Malfoy had looked just as horrified as she was.

"I heard that Higgins got his arse handed to him by McGonagall," Ginny said with a smirk.

"Who told you that?"

"He was summoned out of his fifth-year class and when he got back, they said he looked a bit worse for wear. And you know McGonagall." Hermione laughed.

"Well, I hope she did," Hermione said. "Duels, honestly."

"Are you going to be all right?" Ginny asked seriously. Hermione smiled at her.

"Madame Pomfrey gave me some Dreamless Sleep. She wants me to take it for the next three nights and go back to see her tomorrow. So yeah, I think I'll be okay." Ginny leaned forward and hugged Hermione tightly.

"Please talk to me if you need to," Ginny said.

"I will," Hermione replied as she pulled away. Ginny looked at her skeptically.

"You've said that before."

"I know, but this time I mean it." Hermione drew in a breath and let it out. "I don't, I don't want anything like that to happen again." Ginny smiled and squeezed her hand.

"Dinner?" she asked.

"I don't know," Hermione said, biting her lip.

"You know it's the best way to kill the gossip." Hermione sighed, but nodded.

"You're right. Let's go." She slipped her shoes and her robes back on and began to follow Ginny from their room. "Ginny?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." Ginny smiled widely.

"That's what sisters are for."

4 December 1998

Hermione sat up in bed with a gasp. She'd had another dream, but this one wasn't at all unpleasant. In fact, she felt her face heat at just how not unpleasant it had been.

She buried her face in her hands as the dream came back to her. Her encounter with Remus in the secret passageway had been much more…intimate than their actual meeting. Her mind had obviously supplied the image of his naked chest from the morning after the full moon when she had put bruise paste on him. The rest of him though, well, that had come completely from her imagination.

She flopped back in her bed, trying and failing to keep the images from her head. She found herself hoping that her imagination was accurate and then shook her head in exasperation. This was Remus. There was no way he would ever look at her in a romantic sense, even if he hadn't just lost his wife. She didn't fancy him anyway. The dream was simply a reaction to the fact that he'd helped her on more than one occasion. He was her friend, nothing more.

She rolled to her side and adjusted her pillow under her head. All the while, a small voice was reminding her that Harry had comforted her in a similar manner plenty of times and she'd never had a sex dream about him.

"Oh, shut it," Hermione snapped. There was a snore from Ginny and Hermione heard her turn over in her bed. Hermione held her breath as the redhead settled back into sleep, then closed her eyes. Just as she was drifting off, Hermione wondered if Professor Slughorn brewed Amortentia again, if she would smell old books, the forest and chocolate.

7 December 1998

Remus left the classroom and began to make his way down the corridor towards the Entrance Hall. Minerva had invited him to stay for dinner, but he had spent most of the day at the school today and just wanted to get home and see Teddy. End-of-term exams were next week and many of the students were understandably stressed. Remus knew this week would be a long one. He was grateful the full moon had been last week.

"Remus," a voice said and Remus turned around to see a smiling Hermione walking towards him. She looked much better than she had a week ago.

"You're looking well," he said with a returning smile.

"I'm feeling much better, thank you."

"That's good to hear." She fell in step beside him.

"I'm glad I ran into you, actually," Hermione said.

"Oh?"

"Yes, I wanted to thank you again for helping me last week."

"You don't have to thank me, Hermione. I'm glad I was there."

"So am I," Hemione said quietly. They both stopped walking.

"How are you doing?" he asked, his voice serious.

"I'm better," Hermione said. "I'm glad Madame Pomfrey insisted on the Dreamless Sleep. I only took it for a few days, but it helped." She paused and bit her lip for a second. "I took your advice." He cocked his head in question. "About letting people help me."

"Ah," Remus replied in understanding.

"I've been talking to Madame Pomfrey and to Ginny." She played with the strap of her bag on her shoulder. "And it's been…good. So, thank you."

"You're very welcome," Remus said with a smile. They continued down the corridor. Hermione glanced at him every few seconds, chewing her lip, but not saying anything. Finally, Remus took pity on her. "Did you want to ask me something?"

"What about you?" she blurted. Remus' brow furrowed in confusion.

"What about me?" he replied.

"Have you taken your own advice?" He stopped, taken aback. "You probably think this is none of my business, but we're friends and I worry about my friends." Remus stood silent for a moment, unsure what to say, but Hermione continued to stare at him. She had put quite a bit of emphasis on the word 'friends'.

"I, erm, Teddy is a great comfort," he finally said.

"That's wonderful, but that's not what I meant," Hermione said. Remus looked at her, reminded again, that despite her school uniform, she was no longer a teenager. She was a woman, one that he did consider a friend.

"Andromeda has been very helpful," he finally said. Hermione studied him for a moment before she nodded.

"Just remember that you do have friends, Remus. Friends that would be happy to help whenever you need it."

"I, that's, it's," Remus shook his head. "Thank you." She smiled.

"You're welcome. Are you staying for dinner?"

"No, I, um, I need to get home to Teddy," he said, still a bit surprised at her earlier declaration.

"I'll walk with you," she said. They made their way towards the Great Hall, Hermione keeping up most of the conversation. When they reached the Great Hall, she turned to him and gave him a hug.

"Have a Happy Christmas if I don't see you before," she said, lingering a bit in his arms.

"Thank you, Hermione. To you as well." She smiled one more time before turning and walking into the Great Hall. Remus watched her retreating back for a few moments before he shook himself and continued to the Entrance Hall. Although he had known it before, today just reminded him that Hermione Granger had definitely grown up.

19 December 1998

"I still can't believe the two of you moved in here without telling us," Hermione said as she sat with Harry, Ron and Ginny at the kitchen table of Grimmauld Place. They were all drinking Butterbeer and nibbling on the biscuits Kreacher had set out for them.

"We wanted it to be a surprise," Harry said with a grin.

"It is that," Ginny replied, the same smile on her own face. Hermione knew she was just happy to be able to have some privacy with Harry for a change.

Harry and Ron had picked them up at King's Cross and told Hermione and Ginny they had something to show them. They had then Apparated to the front step of Grimmauld Place. Hermione had been a bit uncomfortable with Ron taking her side-along, but she didn't want to make a fuss about it.

Both she and Ginny had been a bit confused that Grimmauld Place was the surprise, but when they went inside, they quickly found out why. While Hermione had renovated all the common spaces, she hadn't done anything with the bedrooms or the bathrooms. Harry, with some help from Ron, had managed to redo the entire first and second floors. The bedroom that Ginny and Hermione used to share was now Ron's. Harry had taken the bedroom he and Ron had always stayed in on the second floor and the other bedroom on that floor was now a guest room.

"You can stay whenever you like, Hermione," Harry had said after he'd shown it to her. The rooms were beautiful. Harry had obviously done most of the cleaning the Muggle way as Hermione had. The floors had been refinished and all the rooms repainted. The horrid snake-themed fixtures had been removed from the bathrooms and Hermione nearly squealed at the sight of the large claw-foot tub in the guest bathroom.

"It looks amazing, Harry," Hermione said.

"I've still got the third floor to tackle, but the mess Buckbeak made of the master bedroom is going to take a bit longer to repair." Harry paused. "I'm going to leave the top floor for now." Hermione nodded, knowing that seeing Sirius' room still caused Harry pain.

Now they sat laughing and joking in the kitchen, her earlier awkwardness with Ron having disappeared. Hermione smiled at her three friends. She was so happy that Harry had decided to do this.

"We still go to the Burrow for dinner a few nights a week," Ron said. "Mum would probably go round the twist otherwise."

"Has Kreacher been all right?" Hermione asked quietly. The House Elf had been polite to both her and Ginny when they arrived. Hermione saw that he still wore the locket.

"He's been fine, yeah," Harry said. "I think he's glad to be back here, even if we did brick over the portrait. He does mutter about that from time to time, but he takes much better care of things around here than he used to."

"So, Hermione, when are your parents coming?" Ron asked.

"Wednesday," Hermione said. "They're staying through the New Year."

"Mum says to invite you all to the Burrow for Christmas dinner," Ron said.

"Oh, tell her thank you, but I'm not sure what our plans are," Hermione said. "My parents may just want something small with the three of us." Ron's shoulders slumped slightly. "Maybe Boxing Day instead?" Ron brightened a bit.

"I'll talk to Mum."

"Speaking of, we'd probably better get home or you know Mum's going to go spare," Ginny said. "Are you coming with us, Hermione?"

"Oh, well, I should probably get Crooks back to my house," Hermione said.

"Drop him off and come over after," Ron suggested. "You know Mum's been cooking all day." The thought of going home to her empty house and having to prepare her own dinner versus eating the veritable feast Molly had likely prepared wasn't much of a contest.

"All right," she agreed. She gathered up Crookshanks and managed to get him back into his basket.

"I'll walk you out," Ron said.

"That's all right, I can see myself out," she said.

"It's no problem," he said and followed her up the stairs to the entry. Hermione walked quickly, not wanting to spend too much time alone with him. She still needed to have a talk with him, but at the Burrow surrounded by his family was not the place to do it.

"I'll see you in a bit," Hermione said. Ron gave her a wide smile.

"Looking forward to it." Hermione just nodded and stepped out onto the top step to Disapparate. Ron was still smiling at her when she twisted away.

25 December 1998

Teddy sat amidst a detritus of ribbon, wrapping paper and boxes, chewing on a red ribbon. Whenever Remus or Andromeda laughed at him, he grinned, showing off his four tiny teeth. Teddy periodically tried to shove bits of paper into his mouth, which was quickly confiscated by either his father or his grandmother, but mostly he just crinkled it in his hands or put it in and out of one of the boxes.

"We could have saved quite a bit of money on toys and just bought him boxes and ribbon," Remus commented and Andromeda laughed. Teddy laughed with her, making Remus join in. The pure joy on the boy's face when he laughed never failed to bring a smile to Remus' face.

Teddy managed to get hold of one of the new toys they had bought and stuck it in his mouth. Remus reached over and pushed the baby's hair back from his forehead and Teddy grinned again, taking the toy out of his mouth and banging it on the floor.

"Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba," Teddy babbled, bringing the toy back to his mouth. Remus smiled again, but sadly this time. A conversation he'd had with Dora just after Teddy was born came to mind.

I can't wait for his first Christmas," Dora said as she nursed Teddy. Remus chuckled.

"You realize that's more than eight months away," he said.

"So," Dora replied. "He'll be at such a great age, sitting up on his own, maybe talking a bit or trying to crawl. He'll be fascinated with all the packages and the lights." She smiled down at Teddy and ran a hand over his head. "Do you think the war will be over by then?" Remus reached out and took hold of her hand.

"I hope so."

Remus looked at Teddy now, who reached forward for another ribbon. It was just out of his reach and so he leaned a bit further forward, going up to his hands and knees. He'd been doing this for a few days now and so far, he hadn't moved at all, more often than not falling onto his belly, but he was definitely trying. And last night, when they'd lit all the lights on the tree, Teddy had simply stared, awestruck, for nearly ten minutes.

"You knew everything," Remus said in a whisper, still staring at his son. Teddy chewed on a toy happily, his hair turning the same sandy brown as Remus'. Remus' eyes filled, reaching forward and picking up his son, snuggling him in his arms. Teddy squirmed a bit and offered his toy to Remus, smile on his face. Remus kissed his forehead instead, holding Teddy as tightly as he could without scaring the boy. He looked across the room at Andromeda who had tears running down her cheeks.

"I miss her too," Andromeda said quietly. "I miss both of them." Remus reached out to Andromeda and she grasped his hand, gripping it tightly. Teddy, as if sensing the sadness in the room, rested his head against Remus' chest, giving his grandmother a smile. She smiled back through her tears and the three of them sat in silence, trying to comfort one another as they mourned the two that weren't there.

26 December 1998

Hermione sat in the living room of the Burrow. Her parents were on either side of her, much to Ron's disappointment. Ron had been hovering since they arrived. He had kissed her on the cheek after saying hello to her parents and put a hand at the small of her back to lead her into the living room.

If it hadn't been obvious to Hermione before, it was now. Even her mother had given Hermione a searching look at Ron's behavior. Hermione had been sure to place her parents on either side of her just to avoid more physical contact with Ron. They had to talk, but it certainly wasn't going to happen today with everyone here. The only two Weasleys missing were Bill and Fleur who had gone to France to visit her family today. Even Charlie had come home for the holiday, set to return to the reserve tomorrow.

Every time Ron caught her eye, he would give her a wide smile. Hermione was starting to feel horribly guilty that she hadn't said something to him before now. If she were truthful, she had been making excuses to avoid it. She knew their friendship would never be the same afterward.

"Here, let me show you," Arthur was saying to her father and her dad rose from his seat on the couch to follow the other man. Hermione glanced up and saw Ron getting up from his chair, but Ginny appeared from nowhere and sat down beside her. Hermione could help the sigh of relief that left her.

"Thanks, Gin," she said quietly. Ginny glanced at Ron from the corner of her eye, who now looked extremely put out.

"Sure," she said. "But Hermione, you've got to talk to him."

"I know, I know," Hermione said. Ginny understood Hermione's feelings for her brother were no longer romantic and while she was a bit disappointed, the younger girl completely understood. "I can't do it here though."

"No," Ginny agreed. "Far too many Weasleys around."

"I'll try to figure something out in the next couple of days." Ginny nodded.

"How did things go yesterday?" Hermione asked. Ginny's mouth turned down.

"It was hard at first," she said. "Mum spent most of the morning trying to hide the fact that she was crying. Dad kept disappearing into his shed. George was overly cheerful and drank too much. Finally, Bill started talking about Fred and we spent the rest of the day looking at photographs and telling stories about him. It was difficult, but good too." Hermione nodded, now doubly glad that she hadn't taken Molly up on her offer to Christmas dinner. Not that she didn't want to support the Weasleys but having her parents there wouldn't have allowed them the time they obviously needed to reminisce and grieve as a family. Coming today had been a much better idea.

The two of them kept up the pretense of chatting for the next few minutes until Hermione saw her father come back into the room. Ginny rose as soon as Hermione's dad reached the couch and relinquished her seat to him.

"All right, everyone, let's open gifts," Molly said. She waved her wand and began distributing the gifts around the room, Hermione ending up with a rather sizeable pile in front of her. The Weasleys had all opened their gifts from each other the previous day, of course, but their gifts to Hermione had remained. She felt a bit self-conscious as she began to open the boxes.

Smiling as she opened her traditional Weasley jumper from Molly, Hermione looked down and realized she only had one gift left. It was from Ron and the small size of the box did not bode well. She glanced at Ginny from the corner of her eye, but the redhead just shrugged, having no idea what Ron had gotten Hermione. Hermione took a silent breath and tore off the paper.

She opened the small velvet box and saw a delicate gold necklace lying inside. It had a cat pendant attached, one that was very similar to the one on her bracelet. Although this one had small sapphire chips for the cat's eyes.

"Oh, how pretty," Molly said from the other side of Hermione's mother. She beamed up at her son and the tips of Ron's ears turned red.

"It's very nice, Ron, thank you," Hermione said, unsure how to respond to the gift.

"You're welcome," he said. "I thought it might look nice with the bracelet." He glanced at her wrist.

"There's a bracelet?" Molly asked.

"For my birthday," Hermione managed, her throat tight.

"Oh, where is it?"

"Oh, I'm not, not wearing it right now," Hermione said. "There was a problem with the, erm, the clasp and I didn't want to lose it."

"Oh," Molly said with a strange look, likely wondering why Hermione hadn't just repaired the clasp with magic.

"It's broken?" Ron said, brow furrowed. "Let me take it back to the jeweler. They'll make it right."

"No, that's not necessary, I'll just, erm," she trailed off helplessly.

"It's my fault," her father said. Hermione looked sharply at him. "I knocked it off the countertop in the bathroom while I was washing my hands and it fell into the drain in the sink." Hermione blinked. "I'm sorry, Ron, if you let me know where you purchased it, I'd like to replace it."

"Hermione didn't try to summon it?" Molly asked in confusion.

"She wasn't home," her father said quickly. "I took the pipes apart, but it was gone." He looked at Hermione. "I'm sorry again, Princess."

"It's all right, Dad," Hermione somehow managed. She was shocked both by how quickly her father was thinking on his feet, as well as the fact that he knew anything about what was going on with her and Ron. Her mother must have told him. "It was an accident." She glanced at Ron. "I'm sorry, Ron, I just didn't want to upset you."

"Oh, well, that's, that's all right," Ron said. "The jeweler was in Hogsmeade, though, so, I'm not sure, if you can, well, replace it."

"We'll figure it out," Hermione said quickly. "Harry why don't you open your gift?" When everyone's attention had turned to Harry, Hermione took her dad's hand and gave it a squeeze. He looked down at her and winked. Hermione turned a snort into a cough and turned her attention to Harry. She really, really needed to talk to Ron.