Thursday evening, Hermione was on her way back to her dorm from the library when she saw a familiar figure walking ahead of her in the corridor. Remus spun around when she called his name.
"I'm glad to see you're out of the Hospital Wing," Hermione said brightly as she caught up to him.
"So am I."
Though he looked tired and off color, Remus seemed to be in better spirits than when she'd seen him last.
"I'm sorry I couldn't study with you these past few days," he said.
"Don't worry about it. You've already helped me out a lot. I did really well in that Arithmancy exam we had, and I'm doing much better in our other classes too."
"That's great. Sounds like you don't need me anymore."
"I do need you," Hermione said and immediately flushed at how the words sounded. "I mean, I could still use some help, and you know, it's nice having a study partner. If you don't mind, of course."
"Not at all. I was actually about to do our Ancient Runes homework now if you want to join me."
"I'd love to."
"We could study in the Gryffindor common room," Remus suggested. "Have you been up there yet?"
"Um, only briefly."
Hermione hadn't been in Gryffindor tower since she'd first awakened in this time and fled from this teenage Remus's dormitory.
"Did Dumbledore make you get sorted when you came here?" Remus asked her as they made their way up to the seventh floor. "All the first years have to try on the Sorting Hat when they first arrive at Hogwarts, but I don't know if they do the same for transfers."
Dumbledore had not required Hermione to try on the Sorting Hat after she'd told him she was a Gryffindor, but she described to Remus her experience seven years ago.
"I did get sorted. It was a bit strange having my head evaluated by an old magical hat like that. It told me that I have a ready mind and I would fit in well with Ravenclaw, but in the end it decided I was best suited for Gryffindor. How was it for you? Did you know you would be in Gryffindor?"
"I'd hoped so. I remember I was very nervous about it. My dad was in Gryffindor, and I wanted to be too."
"What about your mum?"
"My mum was a Muggle."
"Was?"
Remus hesitated, then told her, "She passed away last year."
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Hermione said. She'd had no idea. Every day she seemed to learn something new about Remus, who as an adult was extremely private about his personal life.
They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Password?" she asked.
"Lunar eclipse," Remus said.
The portrait swung forward to reveal the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione and Remus set themselves up at a table by the window and pulled out their books.
"Studying again, Jean? Weren't you just in the library?" Sirius said incredulously. Before Hermione could reply, he told Remus, "I never thought I'd meet someone who was as big of a bookworm as you, Moony. You've found your perfect match."
Sirius winked at his friend before leaving them alone again. Hermione thought she saw a touch of color creep into Remus's pallid complexion.
"I've been meaning to ask you," James said at breakfast on Friday, "what is a 'girls' night'? Does that mean you girls will only be dancing with each other? Or will you be dancing with other guys? Because that's not cool."
"A girls' night is about having fun with your friends and dancing with whomever you want," Lily answered.
"So that means you'll be dancing with other guys?"
"That means the only guy I'll be dancing with is you," Lily assured him sweetly, and James grinned.
"Ugh. That is sickening," Marcia said. She pretended to gag, but then smiled at her friends.
All anyone could talk about for the past few days was the dance: who was going with whom, who was wearing what, would there be a live band… Everyone was very much looking forward to Saturday night.
Early Saturday evening, Hermione, Lily, Marcia, and Kirsten were in the Head Girl's dormitory getting ready.
"What's it going to be: Tinker Bell or Little Red Riding Hood?" Lily asked, holding up the two costumes before Kirsten.
"I think I'll be…Tinker Bell. Jean would look much better as Little Red anyway."
"Great," Marcia said. "Now hurry up you two. It's getting late, and we still need to finish our hair and makeup."
Nearly an hour later, the four girls examined themselves in the mirror. Kirsten wore a bright green dress with iridescent wings on her back and a pouch necklace full of glittering pixie dust. Marcia, dressed as Cleopatra, looked stunning in her Egyptian style dress and carefully applied eye makeup. Lily was insouciantly beautiful as a hippie in a tie-dye dress with a feathered headband over her hair and several bangles around her wrists. Hermione wore a red hooded cloak over a simple white dress and carried a small basket in her hands. She thought she looked rather sweet and innocent with her hair in braided pigtails and the light blush painted on her cheeks.
Once the girls were satisfied with their appearance, they headed down to the Great Hall. It was almost eight o'clock, and there was already a line of students waiting in the entrance hall. Each person had to be inspected by Mr. Filch, who was armed with a Secrecy Sensor, and Professor McGonagall before they could be admitted to the dance. The girls waited their turn, admiring everybody else's costumes. There were lots of hags, vampires, and zombies in their midst.
Professor Dumbledore arrived a few minutes after eight. The crowd of students parted for him as he made his way to the doors leading to the Great Hall. Someone dressed as a mummy followed closely behind him.
"There you girls are," the mummy said when he reached Hermione and the others.
Lily looked him up and down. "James?"
"Yeah. Come on. Let's get in there."
"But there's a line," said Kirsten, indicating the people ahead of them.
"Yes, but we're with the Headmaster," James said with a sly wink.
The girls shrugged and followed him and Dumbledore to the door.
"Albus," Professor McGonagall greeted in surprise. "I thought you were already inside."
Dumbledore smiled at her, and the Transfiguration teacher looked at him more closely.
"Very clever, Mr. Lupin," McGonagall said, the corners of her mouth twitching up. "Best costume I've seen yet."
"Thank you, Minerva," said Remus, bowing to her slightly.
They all laughed. Except for his green-gray eyes and straight nose, Remus made a very good imitation of the Headmaster. He sported Dumbledore-esque robes of purple with yellow stars and matching wizard's hat, a wig of long silver hair and beard, half-moon spectacles, and (he revealed to them later) platform shoes which made him a few inches taller.
After being checked by the Secrecy Sensor, the gang headed into the Great Hall. Hermione marveled at the festive decorations: animated jack-o'-lanterns that cackled, bounced, and said "boo!" could be found at the center of each of the round tables along the edges of the room; ominous light and shadows flickered from the floating candles overhead; cobwebs, spiders, and orange and black streamers decorated the walls; and several of the ghosts of Hogwarts floated across the floor, amusing themselves by scaring unsuspecting people. There was a stage set up, but the band hadn't started yet. Instead, music was blaring from unseen speakers, and a throng of people danced on the open floor in the middle of the room.
Hermione and the others decided to get drinks first. They made their way toward the buffet situated at the Head Table where the teachers sat.
"James, please tell me you're wearing something underneath those bandages," Lily said, frowning as she examined her boyfriend's costume.
"You'd have to unwrap me to find out," he answered cheekily.
Lily's face tinged with pink and James grinned.
They reached the Head Table. The teachers sitting there stared at Remus and watched as he moved toward Dumbledore, curious to see his reaction. When Dumbledore set his eyes on Remus, his face went blank for a moment. Then the Headmaster burst out in unrestrained laughter. Everybody around them joined in.
"Excellent, my dear boy!" said Dumbledore, wiping a tear from his eye. "Brilliant!"
Hermione and her friends grabbed their pumpkin juice and butterbeer and sat down at a free table.
"Where's Sirius?" Marcia asked.
"Darla cornered him earlier," James told her. "They're probably still talking. Or arguing. She didn't look too happy."
"And Peter?" Kirsten asked.
"He's not coming. He didn't dress up, anyway."
"Oh, no," Marcia said suddenly.
Hermione followed her gaze. A boy dressed as a circus ringleader was heading straight towards them.
"Marcia, can we talk? Please?"
"I have nothing to say to you, Josh."
"You have to let me explain," pleaded Marcia's ex-boyfriend. "It was all just a misunderstanding—"
"I don't want to hear it."
"But I've missed you," Josh said, attempting to take hold of her hand. "Can't we—"
"No, we can't!" Marcia said, angrily pulling away from him and getting to her feet. "And if you'll excuse me, I've got better things to do than listen to your sniveling."
Marcia tossed her hair in his face and stormed away. Lily, Kirsten, and Hermione followed her, fighting through the mass of students on the dance floor.
"I can't believe he thought he still had a chance with you," Kirsten said. "You've already told him a dozen times you were done with him."
"He was never a good listener," Marcia replied. "But I don't want to talk about him. Let's just dance, alright?"
And so they did. They danced for a few songs until Marcia's anger dissipated and she was laughing again.
"Look, the boys are watching us," Kirsten said with a giggle.
Hermione turned around. Sure enough, Remus and James, now joined by Sirius, were standing at the edge of the dance floor, talking, laughing, and watching them dance to the music. When the song ended, the girls walked over to them.
"Phantom of the Opera?" Marcia asked Sirius.
He wore a black and red cape over a smart black suit, and a white mask partially covered his face. He looked especially handsome tonight, in a debonair and dangerous sort of way.
"Don't know who he is, but he dresses sharp," Sirius replied. "Let me guess what you all are. Marcia's Cleopatra; Kirsten's a fairy thing; Lily's a…?"
"Hippie," Lily provided. She held up two fingers in a peace sign.
"And Jean, you're a little girl out for a picnic."
"I'm Little Red Riding Hood," Hermione told him.
"She's a character from a Muggle fairytale," Remus explained to the puzzled Sirius.
"Never heard of her."
"Well, besides motorcycles and swimsuit models," James said with a grin, "you don't know anything about Muggle things."
"You hardly know more than I do about Muggles," retorted Sirius. "Have you heard of this Little Red girl?"
"Sure I have. She's a little girl who likes picnics and the color red, and skipping…" James fibbed.
"Skipping?"
Everybody besides James and Sirius were either Muggle-born or half-blood and so were familiar with the story of Little Red. They listened to James and Sirius's discussion in amusement.
"Yes, skipping," James maintained. "And lollipops."
Sirius laughed.
"That sounds like the basis for a lame fairy tale."
"It's actually one of my favorites," Kirsten said. "It's kind of scary. There's this girl…"
As Kirsten told them the story, Hermione felt horrified. For some reason, it hadn't occurred to her before now that her costume might make Remus uncomfortable, that the tale her character came from, one that involved a ravenous wolf, might upset him. How could she have been so thoughtless?
Sirius, on the other hand, was tickled by the story, especially the part where Little Red goes, "Grandma, what big teeth you have," and the wolf replies, "The better to eat you with!" He tried to catch his friend's eye, but Remus avoided his gaze.
After Kirsten was done with her narrative, Sirius grinned mischievously at Hermione.
"Well, Jean, you'd better watch out for the big, bad wolf," he said, clapping Remus on the back. James chuckled. Hermione saw Remus go very pale and throw a sharp look at Sirius, but no one else seemed to notice anything.
"Excuse me," someone said, tapping Hermione on the shoulder. She turned around. Zeke, a seventh year Ravenclaw dressed as a disco dancer, asked, "May I have this dance?"
"Oh, I — um —"
"She means yes," Marcia interfered and pushed her towards him.
Hermione and Zeke walked over to the middle of the floor. The live band had finally made their way onto the stage and were playing a popular hit. The crowd cheered and Zeke whooped loudly.
"I love this band!" he proclaimed over the loud, fast music.
He was a nice guy so Hermione didn't mind dancing with him. She saw Lily and James dancing together nearby and Sirius and Marcia with their respective partners not too far from them. Hermione wondered where Remus was. So as not to appear rude to Zeke, she surreptitiously glanced around. Over to her right, she saw Remus dancing with Kirsten. A startling and unpleasant feeling struck her at the sight.
"Let's move closer to the stage," Zeke suggested, and a distracted Hermione complied.
After the next song finished, Hermione and the Ravenclaw parted. Zeke thanked her for the dance and stayed by the stage, cheering on the band, while Hermione headed over to an empty table. The jack-o'-lantern sneered at her as it bobbed around. She ignored it and watched her classmates having fun on the dance floor. The band also seemed to be having a great time. They were very energetic.
"Would you like a drink?"
Hermione started. She had been watching the lead singer bounding about the stage and hadn't noticed Remus slip into the seat next to her.
"Thank you," she said, accepting the bottle of water he offered.
"They're good, aren't they?" he said, referring to the band.
"Yeah. I really like this song."
"Me too. It's good for dancing."
"Mhmm," she agreed, taking a refreshing sip of water.
"Do you want to dance?"
Hermione nearly choked on her drink.
"I'm sorry?" she gasped.
"Would you like to dance with me?" Remus asked, more hesitant this time.
Hermione blinked.
"I'd love to."
She saw a hint of relief in his smile. He stood up and held out his hand for her. She took it, a nervous energy coursing through her upon the contact.
He led her to the dance floor, and Hermione wondered whether she was only imagining that some of the other students were doing double takes as they walked past.
"Why are people giving us funny looks?" she asked.
Remus seemed to have noticed as well.
"I think it's because of my costume," he said. "It must look a bit scandalous for a professor to be dancing with a student."
Hermione frowned. It would be inappropriate for a teacher and student to be dancing together, yet it was exactly what she was about to do. Remus was her professor in her time, so was it wrong to dance with him now?
"I suppose it doesn't help that I'm dressed up like an old man and you look very young," Remus added.
Hermione felt even more uneasy. In her time, she was half his age.
"Maybe I should lose the wig."
She waited for him to take off his wig. She was grateful people stopped staring as soon as he did, realizing he wasn't really the headmaster, and felt more comfortable dancing with him. It was innocent after all, wasn't it?
In the time it took for Remus to dispose of the wig, however, the song they'd both liked had come to an end. The next song the band chose to play was a ballad. Hermione bit her lip. Slow dancing was much more intimate than dancing to an up-tempo number.
"Do you still want to dance?" Remus asked, picking up on her hesitancy. "I understand if you, er, want to wait for a better song."
"This song's just fine," she said, flashing him a nervous smile.
"Great," he said, and he took her hand again.
Hermione blushed as Remus guided her arm to his shoulder then wrapped his around her waist, placing one hand on the small of her back while his other gently clasped with hers in the air beside them. She looked shyly into his sage green eyes, her heart beating faster at their proximity. She had never been this close to him before. Well, except for that time they'd been in bed together…
But just as they began to sway to the music, the song came to a jarring and abrupt halt. Hermione reluctantly broke apart from Remus as everyone in the Great Hall looked toward the stage, confused. Dumbledore was there now, gazing grimly at them all.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the Headmaster said, "unfortunately, tonight's dance must come to an early end."
The crowd expressed their shock and disappointment.
"But it's only half past nine!" someone complained.
Dumbledore held up his hand, and the students immediately went silent.
"Everyone, if you would please head back to your common rooms," he said. "Tonight's festivities are over."
Hermione and Remus joined the throng of murmuring students heading out of the Great Hall and toward the marble staircase.
"I wonder what's happened," Remus said as he walked Hermione to her dorm. "Something very bad, I expect. Dumbledore wouldn't have cut the dance short otherwise."
"I'm sure we'll hear soon enough," Hermione replied. She wasn't as curious about this as she would have been normally; she was too disappointed that she hadn't been able to dance with Remus.
They turned into the corridor that led to the Head Girl's dorm and then stopped in their tracks. There, in front of the portrait of Hogwarts' silhouette, were Lily and James engaged in a kiss.
"Um, I think I should give them a moment," Hermione whispered.
She and Remus quietly backed away around the corner again. They glanced at each other sheepishly.
"Did you have a good time tonight?" Remus asked.
"Yeah, I did." Tentatively, Hermione added, "I just wish you and I had actually gotten to dance before it ended."
"Me too," he said. "Maybe next time."
"Definitely. You owe me a dance."
Remus was about to say something when James came into the corridor, looking very pleased.
"Hey, you two," James said when he spotted them. "It's a beautiful night tonight, isn't it? It's a good, good night."
Remus caught Hermione's eye, and they grinned at James's chirpiness.
"Walk with me, Remus. I've got to tell you…" James started.
Remus hesitated, and James looked between him and Hermione.
"Oh, did I interrupt something? I'm sorry. I'll go. I'll see you in the common room, Moony."
James winked at his friend before leaving him alone with Hermione.
"I guess the coast is clear now," Hermione said, indicating the entrance to her dorm. "Thanks for walking me."
"No problem."
"Goodnight, Remus."
"Goodnight, Jean."
Hermione lingered there for a moment, her gaze lowering to his lips. She wondered what it would be like to kiss Remus…
Immediately, Hermione felt ashamed of her thoughts.
"I'll see you tomorrow," she said, quickly retreating toward her dorm and barely giving Remus the chance to say, "See you."
Hermione needed to get a grip on herself. She couldn't kiss Remus—that would be crazy! She shouldn't even think about kissing him. It would be wrong on so many levels. She couldn't afford to think of him in any other way besides as a friend. But it was getting harder and harder to do that the more time she spent with him…
Hermione sighed. Why did she have to fall for him? Why did she have to fall for someone she couldn't be with, someone who would never be interested in her? And why, why had she been sent back in time, transported directly to the younger version of Remus, making it all the more difficult to ignore her feelings for him? If she had been cursed, if someone out there had wanted to hurt her, they'd found an effective method because despite what she felt, Hermione knew she had to maintain an appropriate distance from Remus.
She found Lily in their bedroom wearing an expression much like the one James had worn.
"I've just had the best kiss," Lily told her breathlessly.
Hermione tried not to feel envious as she listened to her roommate talk about her perfect kiss with James.
A/N: Thanks for all the follows and favs! To those of you who have reviewed, I greatly appreciate your comments. They encourage me to keep posting this story, so thank you all!