Disclaimer: All HP belongs to Jo. I can't wait for Deathly Hallows!!!

A/N Thanks for all the positive reviews; they inspired me to post a lot sooner than I normally do.

"What?" Hermione gasped.

Remus smiled ruefully at her. "I've been waiting to kiss you again for the last twenty years, Hermione. That's a long time to wait. And boy was it worth it." He leaned in and kissed her softly again. He gently yanked one of her curls straight and watched it bounce back. He had missed those pretty curls.

"I don't believe you," she said.

"Then you underestimate your kissing, Hermione," Remus said, grinning and smoothing her hair back from her forehead.

"I don't understand," she said desperately. "All this time--"

"All this time," he agreed.

"But-"

"They're going to wonder where we are," he said, helping her to her feet. "I'll explain later, okay?"

"Later?" she said, her voice taking on a hysterical edge. Surely the world must be going mad. "You'll explain later?"

"Well, we could hash the whole situation out in front of Ron and Harry. Would that be better?"

She glared at him. Low blow, Moony.

He sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, Hermione, I didn't mean that. I know you just got back and you've got some questions. Please let's just politely drink some tea, and then I'll tell you everything, alright?"

"I guess it'll have to be." Her eyes flashed hotly at him.

"Don't be a brat, Hermione," he snapped at her. "This is hard for me, too."

"I know, it's just-"

"Hermione, we will talk about it later."

"Hermione are you still okay?" Ron yelled up the stairs. "Did she pass out again?"

"I'm fine, Ronald," she called back. "We're coming right now." She turned to Remus. "Fine. We'll talk about it later. Will you help me up, please?"

Wordlessly he arose and helped her climb to her feet. He tried to guide her out of the door, but she wrenched her arm away and started out of the room without him. He sighed heavily and walked behind her. All things considered, she's got a lot of nerve being mad at me, he thought resentfully. As if I'm the one who's caused this mess.

Remus and Hermione both put on brave fronts during tea. They laughed and joked with Harry and Ron, buzzed about their horcrux victory and made plans to travel to Godric's Hollow in the coming days. Hermione was proud of herself. In fact, she was happy about finding the locket and she was glad to be back with Harry and Ron, too, however confused her feelings were at the moment. She kept her eyes off of Remus, only looking at him when he spoke and determinedly avoiding his eyes when Ron hugged her and kissed her on the forehead. After an hour, Remus rose from the table.

"I'm really, really proud of you all," he said. "You're a credit to the Order and to your parents. I think we'll be able to destroy the Horcrux tomorrow; there are just two more books I want to consult. Can I steal your bookworm away, boys? She'll be a big help."

"You don't need our permission," Ron said, smiling at Hermione. "As long as you have her back by midnight. She turns into a pumpkin then."

"Ha ha," she said. Now she was supposed to leave with him? Perfect! "Are we staying here tonight?"

"I don't really want to," Harry said. "Meet us back at the Burrow when you can, alright? Lupin, let us know as soon as we can destroy this thing."

"Will do," he answered. "Hermione? Do you mind helping me with the books?"

"Of course not," she said in what she hoped was a normal tone. "Where are they?"

"They're in my library at home," he said. "I won't have you out too long."

"Ooo, if Tonks is there naked let me know," Ron said.

"Ron!" Hermione snapped, her face bright red.

"Just teasing, Professor," Ron said, winking at Harry.

"That's quite alright," Remus said, as red as Hermione. "Tonks is working tonight, but I'll be sure to pass the message on to her for you."

Ron laughed merrily and grabbed Hermione, kissing her lightly on the mouth. "You know I only have eyes for you," he whispered to her. "Take good care of her and watch that head, okay?"

"Will do," Remus managed. Watching Ron with Hermione made him feel a little guilty about their earlier kiss, and the mention of Tonks made him feel a lot guilty. Well, no taking it back now, Moony, his inner Sirius said. Besides, she was the one cheating, not you. You didn't even know the fair Nymphadora back then. You're free and clear . That wasn't fair to Hermione, and he knew it. This wasn't an easy situation for anyone.

They didn't speak as they left the house. He silently gripped her hand and apparated them both to his flat. It was almost clinically neat inside. The only personality was an overstuffed bookshelf and a framed picture of Lily, James and Sirius; Hermione recognized it as the same wedding picture Harry had. She stood awkwardly, unsure what do with her hands or where to look. Anywhere but at him, she decided. He seemed to have the same idea, as he stared fixedly at the picture.

"Tea?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"I think I'm about tea-ed out, thank you, Remus," she said, smiling a little.

"Sorry," Remus said, finally looking at her. "I'm a little nervous."

"Well, we've got that in common," she answered. "Can I sit down? Are there actually books for us to read?"

"Of course, and of course not," Remus said, grinning at her and motioning her towards the couch. "I know how to destroy that particular Horcrux, and it will get done first thing tomorrow."

"Good. One more down, four to go."

"Like I said, you three really should be comm-"

"Can we please dispense with the small talk?" Hermione interjected. "I've had a bit of a stressful day, and if you have answers for me I'd really appreciate it."

"You know what happened, Hermione," he said, sitting as far from her on the couch as he could get. "You got a Time Turner, it sent you back in time. Dumbledore sent you back."

"Remus! I didn't set the damn thing, how did it send me there? Even if it was set, it should have sent me to Grimmauld Place, not Hogwarts! And how is it that you've known me for the last four years and never mentioned that we used to be boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Cause that would have been an appropriate conversation to have with my thirteen year old student," he snapped, getting angry in spite of himself.

"God, please just be straight with me," she yelled, rising to her feet. "Do you have any idea what I've been through the last few months? I've got the weight of the world on my shoulders, Remus, going back in time made me responsible for everything! Everything!" She started crying, angry, desperate tears and looked at him pleadingly. "Please, please help me understand.

"You're not responsible for other people's actions, Hermione."

"What about my inaction? I woke up there, and I saw you all and I thought I could change things. And I did nothing!"

"Hermione, do you trust Dumbledore's judgment?" Remus asked.

"Yes, of course I do," she said, wiping at her eyes.

"Then you know in your heart you did the right thing," he said. "Believe me, it took a long time for me to realize that. When I found out who you were, I wanted to rail against you. And then again, when Sirius died, I wanted to - well, the less said the better. But you wouldn't have even known why I was angry."

"God, I am so, so sorry, you have no idea."

"I have a little bit of an idea," he said ruefully. "Look, Hermione, this hasn't been easy for me, either. But Dumbledore told you not to do anything, and he was right. You can't change the past, Hermione. All you can do is learn to live with it."

"I wish it was that easy."

"It'll have to be. You may never forgive yourself. I know I haven't. What if Harry and Ron died, and you were the only one left? Do you know how that feels? When James and Lily died, and Sirius was sent to prison, I nearly died. But you learn to go on. It takes a long, long time, but you move on. And you still have your friends to help you."

"I murdered Harry's parents," Hermione whispered miserably. She sank back onto the couch.

"Voldemort murdered James and Lily. Period. Bellatrix Lestrange murdered Sirius and Snape murdered Dumbledore. It was not your fault."

"I wish I believed that."

"You will. In time."

"Okay," she sighed. "But what about the rest of it? Did you guys all know? Why hasn't Peter moved against me? How did you stay so normal while I was in your class?"

"Well, you were thirteen, Hermione," Remus said. "It wasn't that hard to stay off."

"Fourteen," Hermione corrected him.

"Well, that makes all the difference. I was your professor, Hermione. Period. And you weren't the girl I knew yet."

"What happened when I left, Remus?"

He looked at her for a long time. Her eyes were bright with tears, and he was again reminded of how much he had loved her. "After you left, Dumbledore gave us a couple days and then called us to his office. He said you were on a dangerous, top-secret mission for the French ministry and any knowledge we had of you could potentially be damaging. He offered to wipe our memories of you. Completely voluntary, he said."

Hermione thought about the implications of this, and her heart suddenly hurt at the thought that Lily and the others would have had no memory of their friendship. "But then how did you-"

"I asked him not to. I guess I was being selfish, everyone else agreed. He wiped the whole school's memory of you. We were the only ones he asked, since we were closest to you. I believed what he told us, it explained why you were always lying. But I didn't want to lose you. It was hard; I couldn't talk about you at all because no one remembered you. I think Lily did, sometimes. She told me she dreamed about my future wife, and that she had wild curls and big brown eyes."

Hermione was speechless. He had chosen to remember her.

"I was glad I remembered you," he continued. "You gave me some comfort, especially when everything started unraveling. I thought about going to France to look for you after James died, but Dumbledore said it would only jeopardize your mission. He didn't tell me the truth until I came to teach in your third year. Needless to say, I went a bit insane."

"What did you do?"

"I damn near changed, full moon or not. But Dumbledore was a great man, and he had done the right thing. I knew that. I know that now, too."

"But in class -"

"It was odd, seeing you at first," Remus said. "I guess that's a bit of an understatement, really, but I hadn't seen you in fifteen years, Hermione. And you were just this bossy, bright little witch, leading your friends around. When I saw you with Harry, so many things made sense. You saw through me right away, too. I was really impressed with you, not as my ex-girlfriend but as a talented young witch. I could already tell you and Ron were in love, too. That made it easier for me to distance myself from you."

"We weren't-" she stopped herself. Of course she had loved Ron then. She had always loved him. Then why did you fall in love with Remus, too?

"It's okay, Hermione. When we found out the truth about Sirius, nothing else seemed to matter. I had my friend again. Dumbledore and I told him everything about you, and he gave him back his memories via pensieve. He wasn't mad at you, either, Hermione. Truth be told, he was a bit mortified about flirting with you all those years ago."

Hermione blushed and smiled at the thought of Sirius's propositions towards her. He really had been quite the charmer.

"It was a little harder working with you in the Order, seeing you that year at Grimmauld," Remus said. "You were starting to look more like I remembered. It was bit awkward, frankly, for Sirius, too, I think. And I was starting to fall for Tonks. I didn't want to - I guess a part of me was waiting for you, but she's strong-willed, that one. Then Sirius died, and I had to forgive you all over again. I did, Hermione, and Sirius would have, too."

She started crying again. "I miss them. I know I just saw them today, at least by my time, but I really miss them."

"You'll always miss them. Like I said, it gets a bit easier."

"Do you love her?" she asked suddenly.

"I do," he answered simply, knowing who she meant. "I moved on, Hermione, I had to. I waited for so long... I knew the time was coming soon, but it just felt wrong, waiting for you like that. I'm an old man, Hermione and you're a young girl. And you love Ron."

"You kissed me."

"I'm sorry for that."

"Don't be," she said, sliding close to him. Her emotions were out of control, but all she could think right now was that he had chosen to remember her, that he had held her in his heart for the last twenty years. "Kiss me again."

"Hermione-"

She put her finger to his lips, stilling his protest. "Please, just kiss me."

He did, pulling her close to him and kissing her with that same fire he had earlier in the day. Soon she was under him on the couch, pulling desperately at his clothes and willing herself to forget everything, to just lose herself in his kisses and touch.

"Hermione, we have to stop," he panted, pushing off of her. "This isn't right. You've been through too much to be thinking straight right now."

"Don't you want me?"

"You know the answer to that. But it's wrong, I will not take advantage of you like this."

"I'm a grown woman, Remus," she said. "I can make my own decisions."

"And I make mine," he said firmly. "It isn't right, not like this. This isn't what you want, and I don't know if it's what I want, either. Look, just go to the Burrow tonight. We'll talk more tomorrow, okay?"

"Not okay! You're still treating me like one of your students! I'm not going to force myself on you, Remus, your virtue is safe with me," she said nastily. "Or is your girlfriend on the way? Are you scared to be alone with me now?"

"A little," he admitted. "And you should be, too. Hermione, I really am sorry for what you're going through right now. But neither one of us is in our right mind at the moment. Go to the Burrow, get a good night's sleep and I'll see you in the morning. There's still more to tell, but I think we've said enough for tonight. Please, Hermione."

"Fine, I'll go. Say hi to Tonks for me."

"Her-" he started, but she was gone. He sighed and leaned back on the couch. He had hoped that their kiss would satisfy him once and for all, would give him the closure they both needed so they could move on with their lives. But he realized his feelings were just as strong as they had ever been. There was still much to tell her. Dumbledore had managed to modify the memories of everyone in the school, but he hadn't known about Lucius Malfoy. Remus knew that Malfoy hadn't recognized Hermione as a young girl. She was grown now, though, and it was possible he now knew who she was. Hermione was still in danger from the Death Eater. If Malfoy knew who she was, it was only a matter of time before he got word to Voldemort. He knew the Death Eaters would try to turn Harry and the Order against Hermione. Remus never wanted to tell Harry the truth, but it looked like he was going to have to.