Beside him, Professors Slughorn and Flitwick were having a heated discussion about a new policy set forth by the Ministry of Magic, but Remus was too distracted by Hermione to pay them much attention. He watched her as she walked with her friends a ways ahead of him along the path to Hogsmeade and couldn't help but dwell once again on the form the boggart in the broom closet had taken when she'd faced it several days ago. Why had it taken his shape? Why was Hermione afraid of him?

She'd told him her boggart represented her fear of failure and that the boggart-Remus had told her she'd failed everything, just like the boggart-McGonagall had told her she'd failed everything in her third year. Yet, although it made perfect sense for someone like Hermione to fear failure, and he had no reason to doubt her honesty, Remus nonetheless suspected that she hadn't been completely truthful with him regarding the nature of her fear.

But why would she fear him? Was it because he was a werewolf? Was it because of what happened in the Room of Requirement last month, when he'd feared she'd seen the shadow of the wolf upon his face? Had she sensed his struggle with his wolfish instincts and feared he could have lost control and bitten her? If that were the case, though, wouldn't the boggart-Remus have transformed into a werewolf instead of staying human, or wouldn't it have tried to attack her in some way? But that didn't appear to be what was happening at all. The boggart-Remus had actually been in a defensive position, standing back from Hermione, its wand pointed at her warily... Why?

Remus wished he had arrived to the broom closet sooner. As he'd walked up to the door, he'd heard muffled voices coming from inside but couldn't make out what they were saying. Then he'd entered the tiny room and come face to face with himself. It had been peculiar and shocking to say the least. It'd taken him a second to realize he was looking at a boggart, and the way the boggart was glaring at Hermione troubled him. There'd been a mixture of anger, wariness, and distaste in the boggart's expression… Remus couldn't imagine himself ever looking at Hermione that way. What reason did the boggart have to do so?

When he and his colleagues reached High Street, Remus saw Hermione and her friends join the crowd of people visiting Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Today was the shop's grand opening, as announced by the banners and posters that had mysteriously appeared within Hogwarts castle one night last week and which could not be taken down by any physical or magical means, much to Filch's infuriation.

Remus contemplated whether he, as a professor at the school where much of the merchandise in the store was banned, should visit the shop, but then Flitwick made the suggestion, so the pair of them parted from Slughorn, who went off to the Three Broomsticks, and headed toward the joke shop.

The sight that awaited them inside was a shock to Remus's retinas: a wonderfully, dazzlingly colorful, animated, and almost chaotic assortment of goods. He didn't know where to look. He didn't know what to check out first: the Skiving Snackboxes piled up high to the ceiling, the bins full of trick wands that turned into rubber chickens or pairs of briefs, the selection of quills that included the Smart-Answer variety, the display of bottled potions in an array of different colors and with as many different effects, or the eye-catching exhibit of a new flashing, popping, and shrieking product. The Marauder part of himself that had been subdued over the years stirred strongly now and was in paradise in this place. Even his more mature teacher self was impressed by the products his former pupils had created, and he was eager to explore everything.

The shop was jam-packed with customers, though, and it was difficult to navigate through the aisles or get close to the shelves. Remus lost sight of tiny Professor Flitwick among the group of people admiring the display of Patented Daydream Charms and headed off on his own to a less crowded section of the shop. He ended up squeezing into the same aisle as Hermione.

She was browsing the shelves alone, but Remus hesitated to approach her, unsure whether she wanted to be bothered by him. He was about to move elsewhere in case she didn't, but then she glanced around and caught his eye.

"Amazing, isn't it?" she said, stepping beside him. "This shop, all these products. I remember how upset Mrs. Weasley was when Fred and George quit school to open up this business, but they got the last laugh as usual, didn't they?"

"Their success doesn't really surprise me," Remus remarked, though he was surprised by Hermione's initiation of this conversation. She'd hardly spoken a word to him since the boggart incident, but he was glad she didn't shy away from him now. Maybe she truly wasn't afraid of him after all. "Even though they didn't always put forth the effort in their academics, it's always been clear that they're very bright and inventive with their magic."

"And they use their talents to purvey mischief, a bit like you and your friends when you were at school."

"I suppose. But they do it on a much grander and significantly more profitable scale. What's this?" Remus picked up a small glass object with a "Try me!" sticker attached. It looked similar to a Sneakoscope but it began to glow a strikingly bright purple color as it whirred like a spinning top upon his palm.

Hermione grabbed a box of the product, called an Amoroscope, and read aloud the description on the back. "'Ever wonder whether your friend is really your friend or a backstabbing phony? Ever wonder if that girl you fancy has a thing for you as well? Ever wonder if you really are invisible to that guy you're crazy about? If so, then the Amoroscope is for you! The Amoroscope senses the way people truly feel about you and tells you by the color it turns whether the person next to you is friend, enemy, love interest, or indifferent to you. The brighter the Amoroscope glows and the faster it spins, the stronger the person in question feels.'"

They both observed the Amoroscope whirling violently in his hand, Hermione biting her lip as she did so.

"What does purple mean?" Remus asked her.

She looked at the back of the box again, a touch of color creeping into her face. "Um, it says purple means… it means—"

A group of people crowded into the aisle around them just then, and Hermione was forced to step closer to him. Remus automatically shifted away from her. He'd been hyperaware and spatially cautious of her, careful to avoid any unnecessary physical contact between them even during the time it wasn't the full moon, ever since that incident in the Room of Requirement last month. He'd never felt so close to losing control to his wolfish instincts as he'd felt when they'd touched hands and he didn't fancy feeling that way again.

Hermione frowned as she glanced back down at the Amoroscope. "It doesn't matter what it means, does it? It's just a silly toy."

She shoved the box she was holding back onto its shelf, but before the curious Remus could respond, a vaguely familiar voice spoke from behind him, a voice he hadn't heard in a very long time.

"Remus? Is that you?"

Remus turned around to find a tall man with auburn hair and beard squinting at him. He couldn't believe it. "Hugh?"

"Yeah! How have you been? Wow, I haven't seen you in ages! Since Hogwarts, right?" Remus's old schoolmate shook his hand enthusiastically, then turned his gaze upon Hermione. "Who's your friend?"

"This is a student of mine, Hermione Granger. Hermione, Hugh Hawthorne here was a Gryffindor a year ahead of me."

"Nice to meet you." Hermione smiled, but Remus thought it looked rather strained. "I think I'll go and let you two catch up."

"Oh no, I didn't mean to interrupt," Hugh said, looking between the pair of them.

"Not at all. I was actually just about to meet up with some friends of mine." Hermione gave Remus a pointed glance as she said the word 'friends.' Then, without looking in his direction again, she politely excused herself and went on her way. He stared after her, watching her disappear at the end of the aisle, and somehow felt as though he'd done something wrong. He tried to shake off that feeling as he talked to Hugh.

They ended up having drinks together at the Three Broomsticks, reminiscing about old times and catching up on each other's lives since graduation. He was astonished to learn that Hugh was currently romantically involved with a woman named Rosalind despite her being a werewolf, coincidentally a werewolf with which he himself had once been acquainted. He knew she did not have access to Wolfsbane Potion and thought it rather reckless of Hugh not to mind the danger. In fact, his old friend seemed to be one of those people Remus couldn't well understand: the rare type of person drawn to a werewolf, not in spite of their lycanthropy, but because of it. Still, when Hugh suggested they all get together for dinner sometime, he agreed they should keep in touch. It was nice to talk with an old friend — he didn't have many that were still alive.

Remus was on his way out of the Three Broomsticks, ready to return to Hogwarts, when somebody called out his name from the bar. Apparently, today was the day for running into people he hadn't seen in a while because Nymphadora Tonks rushed towards him, positively beaming. "I'm so glad I ran into you here! I was about to go up to the castle to look for you. Have a drink with me, will you? I've got some news to share."

And so Remus returned to the table he'd just vacated to sit with Tonks.

"Notice anything different about me?" she asked.

Her short spiky hair was her favored shade of bubblegum pink, her dark eyes were twinkling as usual… Remus didn't notice anything different about her appearance until Tonks wiggled the fingers on her left hand. A diamond glittered on her ring finger.

"You're engaged? Congratulations!"

Tonks squealed in delight. "Jackson asked me a few nights ago! And I just had to come and tell you because you know how much this means to me after everything that's happened these past couple of years. You're the one who's had to hear all about Jackson since the very beginning. I apologize for all that girl talk you had to endure, by the way, but I had to tell someone!"

Remus smiled. What she said was true. He and Tonks had often been paired together on missions for the Order of the Phoenix, and during their downtime he'd listened courteously to all she had to say about her fellow Auror.

"I'm delighted for you, Tonks. Jackson seems like a good man."

"He's the best."

"Here you are," Madam Rosmerta said, setting down a glass of firewhiskey before Tonks. "Can I get anything else for you, Remus?"

"A butterbeer, please."

Madam Rosmerta nodded and started toward the bar again, but then turned back, snapping her fingers. "Remus — I forgot to tell you earlier — Vivienne came in here asking about you a few days ago. Haven't called her back since your last date, have you?"

"Well, no…" Remus said, surprised to hear that she'd asked about him. It had been a few weeks since they'd had drinks together and he thought she would have forgotten him by now.

Madam Rosmerta tutted at him teasingly.

"Who's Vivienne?" Tonks asked Remus, but it was Madam Rosmerta who answered.

"She's the curvy blonde woman who works at Honeydukes. All the men around her seem to have gone gaga over her." Madam Rosmerta rolled her eyes.

Tonks grinned. "So why haven't you called her back, Remus?"

Both women looked at him expectantly and he wasn't sure how to reply, how to explain to them that even though Vivienne was a gorgeous, vivacious, and intriguing woman with a sharp and wicked sense of humor, he simply wasn't interested in her. He couldn't even explain to himself why he wasn't interested. So instead he told them, not entirely untruthfully, "I've been too busy."

Tonks didn't buy it. "Busy with what exactly? Or should I ask, with whom?"

Remus glanced away from her probing gaze and, by chance, his eyes locked with Hermione's as she entered the pub. He quickly looked away from her.

"He definitely likes you," Ginny said to Hermione as they seated themselves at a table in the Three Broomsticks.

"We hardly even spoke."

"But I can tell. He's my brother, I know him. If he wasn't so busy with the grand opening, he would have been making a move on you."

"He doesn't like me," Hermione repeated stubbornly, mostly because she didn't want to believe it was true.

"Who doesn't like you?" Luna asked as she rejoined them with three glasses of butterbeer.

"George Weasley."

"Oh, but he does," the Ravenclaw said, and the certainty in her protuberant blue eyes startled Hermione.

"What makes you think that?"

Luna gave a lazy shrug. "It's obvious, isn't it?"

Ginny grinned at Hermione. "Told you. I wonder what Ron will say when he finds out. It's too bad he and Harry couldn't make it today. I could have really used some advice for the Quidditch match next week."

As the girls talked, Hermione regularly glanced over at the table Remus and Tonks were sharing. Remus was faced away from Hermione, but she had a clear view of Tonks. The Metamorphmagus spoke animatedly, her eyes alight with humor, and Remus appeared to be laughing.

Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Then she reminded herself that Remus and Tonks had worked together in the Order of the Phoenix and it was natural that they'd become friends. And it was perfectly normal for friends to get together for drinks. And even if Tonks occasionally touched the hand Remus rested on the table, it didn't mean there was anything more than friendship between them.

"…but she'll let me be commentator again if there are no other volunteers."

"I really hope so, Luna. You were a riot last time. Wasn't she, Hermione?"

"Yeah…a riot… Neville and I were in stitches," Hermione said distractedly, watching as Remus and Tonks rose from their table. The pink-haired witch flung her arms around Remus, and with a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach Hermione watched as Tonks kissed him.

Butterbeer sloshed out of her glass as she clumsily lowered her drink onto the table, averting her eyes from the sight of Remus and Tonks. She found Ginny's questioning gaze upon her.

"What's up with you?"

"Do you think they're together?" Hermione blurted out. She couldn't stand the thought, but Remus and Tonks had spent all that time together in the Order. Something could have easily developed between them. And all those overnight missions…

"Who?" Ginny asked.

"Remus and Tonks. I just saw them kiss."

Ginny and Luna looked around at where the pair had been sitting but they'd already gone.

"On the lips?" Ginny asked in mild surprise.

"Yes! Well, maybe it was on the cheek. I couldn't see clearly."

"I don't think they're together," Ginny said, frowning thoughtfully. "Tonks was telling me over the summer about this Auror she was dating. She seemed really into him."

"So you think she's still with this Auror guy? Not with Remus?"

"You know what, Harry mentioned in a letter that he suspected Tonks was secretly dating his mentor Jackson! He said he caught them one time…"

Hermione hoped what Ginny was saying was true. She'd never much considered the possibility that Remus could be romantically involved with somebody else, but she winced inwardly as she thought about it now. Because she realized that although it had only been three months for her, for him it had actually been two decades since their romance in the past had ended, since they'd shared their last night together before she'd returned to the present, and who knew how many women he had been with since then, in all this time they'd been apart...

"…so I'm pretty sure she's with Jackson, not Lupin," Ginny finished. "Why are you so interested, anyway?"

Hermione tried to sound as casual as possible as she said, "I just thought Remus and Tonks would make an odd couple."

Ginny agreed. "He's too old for her, isn't he?"

Hermione bit her lip, her friend's words a little jab to her gut, because she herself was several years younger than Tonks, so the age difference between her and Remus was much more significant, making them an even odder pairing…

Ginny steered the topic of conversation elsewhere but it did little to relieve Hermione. She was self-conscious of the way Luna was still watching her, and she hoped the perspicacious Ravenclaw couldn't see how upset she was by all this.

On their way back to the castle, Hermione only half listened to her friends' chatter. Her mind was on Remus and how he'd moved away from her when she'd been pushed toward him in Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. It was perfectly clear that he wanted to maintain an appropriate distance from her, physically and otherwise. He was as reserved as he'd always been. She'd been a fool to think he'd been beginning to see her as more than just a student. He didn't see her as a friend — his response to Hugh when he'd asked about her proved this: Remus had made sure to point out that she was his student, implying as he did so that they were nothing more. He could never see her as a real friend, much less as a woman, because she was too young for him.

Hermione excused herself from dinner and her friends early that evening, and alone in her dorm, she picked up the magic rose from her bedside table. As she stared at the vibrant red of the delicate petals and felt the soft hum of magic from the stem in her hands, she wished she could be back in the past with the teenage Remus.

Then a sudden, ghastly thought struck her: what if the rose had actually meant for her to stay in the past?

When Dumbledore had explained to her his theory of how the rose's magic had been born and why it had sent her to the past, he'd also told her he believed that the magic would not return her home. He believed the rose did not intend to send her back to her proper time, but she had come back anyway. She'd used the Time-Turner Dumbledore had acquired from the Ministry of Magic and left her life in the past, left the life that had been starting to feel more real to her than her life in the future, left the life in which she and Remus were together and happy. Even though Dumbledore had told her that she always had a choice, she could choose not to use the Time-Turner and to stay in the past with the younger Remus, she'd decided to leave, believing she had to or else the timeline of events would change too much.

But what if she'd chosen wrong? Her stomach twisted. What if she actually belonged in the past? What if the rose hadn't sent her back in time for the reason she'd previously believed — as a means for her to realize the true nature of her feelings for Remus and his for her — but because it was the only way for her and Remus to be together? What if a relationship between them now in the present situation was impossible? She'd known all along that it'd be difficult for Remus to look past the age difference and their student/teacher relationship, but what if he never allowed anything romantic to happen between them because of those reasons? Or worse, what if the Remus she knew now simply didn't have and would never have feelings for her like his younger self had?

Maybe that was why the rose had attempted to help her. It had tried to make it so that she could be happy with the man she loved — but she'd acted against its master plan. She'd foolishly thrown away the incredible opportunity the rose had offered her.

Hermione sank down onto her bed as cold comprehension washed over her, crushing her heart with the force of a tidal wave. She'd wrecked everything by returning to the present time. She'd ruined the magic, ruined her chance at ever being with Remus.