A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites anf follows over the course of this story! Tremendous thank you to lanamarymack for all her help alpha/beta reading these chapters! You can follow me over on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.

Please let me know what you thought about the story!

In the year since Hermione and Remus had begun their relationship together, they had only grown closer to one another. That isn't to say that everything was perfect, of course. They had their fair share of arguments, most often over Remus's low self-esteem (which was rapidly improving thanks to Hermione's continued compliments) or Hermione's perpetual need to be right (which, they were fortunate to agree on most things).

But, most of their days were spent in relative bliss, not that much different than the way that they spent them before. There were lots of quiet nights in the library at Grimmauld Place, snuggling up together on the settee while they read their respective books and a cheerful fire crackled away in the hearth. Only, now there were more kisses involved. (And, if the rest of their housemates were out for the evening...a little bit more). They also ventured out into the world to go on dates, ranging from lazy afternoons exploring museums to dinners in Diagon Alley that stretched into the small hours of the morning.

In short, they were absolutely loving their time together.

It had only taken Hermione one month to move into Remus's room (his had better closet space) at Grimmauld place, abandoning her old room, to the surprise of their housemates. The relationship had grown deeper much quicker than everyone was expecting, based on how long it took them to get together in the first place.

But, it was just part of the natural progression of things. Ron was spending more and more time at his new girlfriend's flat and Harry had moved out of Grimmauld Place for a little cottage in Godric's Hollow in preparation of his marriage to Ginny.

The wedding preparations had been another catalyst in Remus and Hermione's relationship. Remus had never considered marriage (their fake wedding in the novel notwithstanding) because of his werewolf status. How could he possibly condemn someone to a lifetime with him and all the challenges that went along with it? He knew that Hermione wouldn't see it that way. She had made it abundantly clear that while she recognized he was a werewolf, to her he was so much more than just a werewolf. She loved him and his being a werewolf wouldn't change that for her - it was just a part of who he was.

So, it pained him to watch Hermione pour over bridal magazines with Ginny, a bittersweet look on her face as she undoubtedly thought about what she might like for herself someday.

A someday that probably shouldn't include him.

Thinking about it made Remus so mopey and miserable that Sirius immediately figured out something was up. His oldest friend spirited him away to their usual local pub and plied him with whiskeys until Remus finally confessed what had him so distressed. Talking about it out loud made him realize that marriage - with Hermione - was something that he wanted as well.

The next day, he'd set about getting his mother's engagement ring cleaned and repaired. He might be a shabby, poor werewolf - even if this was changing thanks to his steady employment with the Ministry of Magic - but he was able to give her a ring that was as rich in memories as it was in carats.

After, he'd taken her on a weekend away to the coast, under the guise of visiting a rare bookshop that she'd always wanted to see. It was their first trip that they'd taken together, but it was made all the more memorable when he asked her to marry him on the beach, with the sound of the waves lapping away at the sand.

He still couldn't believe that she'd actually said yes.

Molly Weasley had won that bet, being closest to their engagement date, much to Hermione's embarrassment. She thought she'd gotten her friends to give up making bets on their love life. But, she was too happy to be engaged that she ultimately laughed it off. Though she did warn Fred and George about taking any bets of when they would have their first child.

Remus had blanched at the thought of that.

For now, he was content to savor the engagement period while they planned a modest wedding together. They still had time.

As he walked into their shared room, he found Hermione lying in bed, as he so often did. She was a voracious reader after all. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop from smiling at the sight of the engagement ring glinting away in the lamp light on her left hand. He could admit now that it really did look like it was meant to be on her finger.

But then, he noticed the title of the book that she was reading, hiding under that left hand.

"Taming the Alpha? Really, Hermione?" he asked, before sliding under the covers with her. "A werewolf romance novel?"

She snorted at his indignation. While her habit of reading romance novels had been cut down considerably once she was getting romance in her own life, she still found a title that piqued her interest every now and again.

He looked over her shoulder so that he could get a peek at the words on the page, before rolling his eyes at the absolute filth that he found there. "You know that this isn't accurate at all, right? A werewolf would never do that!" he asked, hoping to burst her bubble.

She huffed at him, before turning her attention to him finally. "When will you get it through your head that I don't read these for their accuracy?" she asked, teasing. "Besides, I've had sex with a real life werewolf before. I already know that it isn't accurate."

But then, she began to page through the novel to a particular scene, biting her lower lip to hide a smirk. "Although, it did give me a few ideas..." she said, trailing off. She handed off the book to him. "Do you think you could do that with your tongue?"

He took the book happily, drinking in the words on the page before his eyes nearly popped out of his head. He cleared his throat, his voice suddenly gravelly and deep with desire. "Uh, I am not sure," he said. "But we can certainly try."

Tossing the book over his shoulder to the floor, he ignored Hermione's protests about book abuse, silencing her with a possessive kiss. The feel of her hands on his back, ducking under the edge of his shirt to pull it up, had him grinning against her lips.

Yes, he was certainly happy to try.