I am so so sorry for the long wait. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It's a little corny and not the best I've ever done in some parts, but I think it's still good. I hope you do as well. Enjoy!

Chapter 4 – Defense Against the Dark Arts

The next morning, Hermione woke up feeling as though she hadn't gotten any sleep at all. After a few minutes of just laying there and vaguely wishing the dull pounding in her right leg would go away, she managed to pull herself up to her feet. It seemed there was nothing in her head but the fog from the old crystal balls she detested to this day, as she limped to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day.

After getting dressed, she limped out into the common room where she found Harry, all ready and waiting for her.

"Good morning, Mione," he said cheerfully, getting a glare from her in response, "You okay? You don't so good. You sure you want to go to classes today?"

He had noticed she looked a bit peaky, and her eyes seemed almost glazed over. It took her a second to respond.

"Huh? Oh. Harry, I'm fine. Yes, I'm sure I want to go to classes today. I just didn't get much sleep last night, that's all. And you know how Lupin gets around the full moon. I imagine I get the same way."

Harry just smiled, and said, "Well, if you're sure --"

"Which I am."

"-- then I guess we had better get going, then."

Hermione smiled, which, to Harry, seemed to brighten up her features, and the two made their way down to breakfast.

"Hermione, where have you been?" Ginny Weasley asked when Harry and Hermione sat down opposite her and Ron at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, "Harry said you were sick, but --"

"I was sick," Hermione cut her off.

"For a week and a half?"

"Just drop it, please, Gin," Harry said, "I don't think she wants to talk about it just yet."

Hermione gave Harry a grateful look and felt her eyes being drawn towards the staff table. Scanning it, she saw most of the professors either looking down at their own plates or talking quietly to their neighbors. When she reached Lupin however, she found him looking straight at her. His face was quite expressionless (or at least it seemed to be from the distance she was away from him) and Hermione could only wonder what laid behind his eyes.

"Hermione?" Harry's voice came through her mind and broke her thoughts. She turned to look at him, "Are you all right? You seem a bit off today."

"I'm fine, Harry. I told you I'll probably be feeling a bit off for at least the next week or two," she said, with a quick glance towards Ginny, and Harry could tell, once again, that Hermione didn't want to talk about this right now.

"That long?" Ginny asked, looking from Hermione to Harry and back again, "What's wrong?"

"Look, Gin," Hermione said, not quite meeting her friends eye, and gesticulating nervously, "it's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that, something has happened that has basically changed my life forever. I will tell you, but I think I just need to get used to it first."

Ginny was silent for a minute.

"Okay," she said, "I'm just worried about you. That's all, but if you don't want to talk about it, than I guess I'll stop bugging you."

"All right," Hermione said, nodding, then she turned to Harry, "We had better get going."

"Okay," Harry said, "If you're ready, let's go. Bye Ginny."

"See you later, Gin," Hermione said, grabbing her bag from underneath her seat and standing up.

Despite their leaving about ten minutes before everyone else, half of their DADA class was already assembled when Harry and Hermione arrived, and they had to wait less than a minute for the bell to ring.

"Hello, class," Professor Lupin said, as he came through the door a few minutes later and headed toward the front of the class a minute later, "Sorry, I'm a little late. I had some business to take care of," as he said this, Hermione had the feeling he avoiding her gaze on purpose, "Now, I finished grading your chimaera essays last night, so I guess I'll pass them out, to get that out of the way."

He took the stack of essays out of his old briefcase, and proceeded to hand them out. Hermione noticed that Lupin seemed keen not to make eye contact with her; not even when he handed back her essay (she had Harry hand it in for her). She supposed he didn't want to make it seem too obvious that there was something wrong with her, and that it was (to him) his fault.

Looking down at her essay, she saw a large E written in black ink below her name. She went to put her essay away, but she noticed there was another, smaller, piece of parchment stuck to the back in a fashion similar to that of a muggle Post-It Note. Peeling it off, she saw it was a note:

Hermione,

Please meet me in my office around

8:00 Thursday night for your first dose

of Wolfsbane Potion. You know how

important this is, so don't forget.

We'll talk then.

RJ Lupin

Hermione stared at the note. "We'll talk then." Does that mean he's not mad at her, and wants to help her? Wait, of course he wants to help her. She looked up at him, now lecturing the class on how Chimaera eggs were Class A non-tradable goods, and if you were caught with one, it could mean up to three years in Azkaban (AN: I'm making most of this up), but Hermione was barely listening.

'Of course he's not made at me,' she thought, 'I've known him for four years, and he's said it himself (and it wasn't even to me, but I overheard him talking to Sirius), that I'm one of his favorite students. He wouldn't be mad at me. He just wants to help me. I'm sure of it,' and she sat back and gave Professor Lupin her undivided attention.

After an hour of taking notes on the magical properties of chimaeras, the bell rang, and in the midst of the hustle and bustle of everyone putting away their things, Hermione finally managed to catch Lupin's eye, but she nodded, telling him that she understood the note, and will make sure she shows up at 8:00 Thursday night.

A/N:

Well, what do you think? I don't really care if you flame, I just care if you're honest. TTFN

PS: Just keep in mind that this will be an HHr fic, not a HrRL. If that is the pairing you read this story for, than I suggest you quit now. Happy Belated Thanksgiving!