THE VEIL

Chapter 17

28th October 1981 - Reactions

The veil wrapped around her, she felt it wind itself about her. She felt the whispering about her. It pulled her into the grey, yet almost as soon as she was there was suddenly thrust back in the world of colour. She didn't have a chance to breathe. She was caught in a pair of headlights. She heard a horn blaring at her. She felt the world turn. Which way was up? She fell into oblivion.

Sirius screeched to a halt on the highway. He had been on his way to check on Peter, at Dumbledore's request. The truck in front had hit something. He manoeuvred the bike around the truck slowly to see what it was. She lay on the road. Blood was everywhere. Her left arm and right leg at angles which were not natural to a body. She was still in the sweater and jeans she was in only four months before. He was off the bike screaming her name before he stopped his bike. His jeans tore as he skidded on his knees falling in front of her.

"Don't be dead, Princess, don't die on me. Not here. Not now." He begged her and checked her neck for a pulse. It was faint, but it was there. He clung to that small shard of hope. He gathered her broken body into his arms picking her up. He did not care if they saw the magic. He carried her to the bike and took off into the night, before the truck driver could get out of the truck. He could not believe what he saw.

Sirius flew the bike straight through the entrance of St Mungo's the bike skidding to a halt in front of the welcome desk. The witch jumped up and screeched. Sirius paid her no heed; he left the bike and ran forwards with Hermione in his arms, to the healers that rushed out.
"She isn't breathing too well. She was hit by a truck." The healers called a gurney which zoomed out and Sirius placed her on it tenderly. They rushed her off. Sirius tried to follow but a healer held him back.
"I'm sorry sir; we can't allow you to follow. We need you to remove that thing from the entry and then if you can, please, fill in this form." The healer pushed a clipboard with a patient form attached to his chest and hurried away. He felt that shard of hope slip slightly, watching the corridor that Hermione had just disappeared down. "Don't die on me Princess." He whispered.

They allowed him through when they had healed her broken limbs. They advised because of the severity of the accident they could only handle the extreme damage as a lung collapsed and she nearly died as they healed her. She was in a hospital bed in a white hospital gown. The starkness of the white around her seemed to make the bruising on her face and arms more vivid. She was still unconscious. The healers would not revive her unless absolutely necessary. Her body needed time to heal. Her mind needed time to heal.

Sirius sat with her in the private hospital room, until the sun rose. Her wand was on the bedside table with her clothes that had been repaired and washed for her. The only thing that didn't come off was the gold chain necklace with the fairy ruby pendant. Sirius looked at it as he combed her curls softly. He did not think there was a spell on it to stop it being opened. But it would not be removed. An owl had come and a disgruntled orderly delivered it. He read it. Dumbledore still needed him to check on Peter, and report back. He crumpled the paper and stayed with his witch.

Sirius was woken late in the evening, another orderly, another owl. Dumbledore's curly script demanding to know where he was. That one was also crumpled and tossed aside. There was still no change in Hermione. The healers came and checked her vitals, began applying ointment on her limbs and face, the bruising and swelling finally going down. They still were not ready to revive her, advising that time is always best when wounds need to heal. Sirius laughed hollowly and continued to stay with his witch.

The Orderly came around again the next morning, with the Daily Prophet and another letter. The letter however was a howler. Dumbledore's voice rumbled through the room, "Sirius, I cannot have you out of play. You are the only one I have right now to help. Please go and see your friend. I am concerned about him. I am concerned about you."
Sirius sighed heavily. He had pushed too far. He knew he should have replied, but his mind was distracted by the curly brown haired witch still lying unconscious in front of him. He looked at the newspaper the orderly also left. It was the morning of Halloween. 30th October 1981. He threw the paper down. He'd read it when he came back from Dumbledore's bidding. He rubbed his face. He had barely slept since arriving at St Mungo's. He looked over to his witch. Her face looked better the bruising and swelling was gone. He just wanted her to wake up. He stood and combed her curls gently.
"I will be back soon Princess. Wait for me. Please don't go before I get back." He whispered to her. He gently kissed her forehead then her lips. Grey eyes on closed ones. He pulled out a beaded bag from his pocket. He set it on the bedside table with her things and reluctantly walked away.

Hermione came awake slowly. She opened her eyes onto an unfamiliar ceiling; something that she had grown used to doing since falling in the veil. She lowered her gaze to take in her surroundings. She was in a hospital room. She wasn't quite sure if it was a muggle one or if she was in St Mungo's. The answer to that came when a healer came through the door and smiled warmly at her.
"Awake at last! We were starting to think that you may not have wanted to wake at all!" The healer was very bubbly and proceeded to wave several diagnostic charms over her. When she was satisfied she picked up the clipboard that hung on the end of her bed and began adding notes. The Healer pointed at her bed and it allowed her to sit up a little.

"Ok, now I need to ask a couple of questions. Can you tell me your name?"
Hermione breathed in and out slowly; there was a slight discomfort in her chest. "Her- Hermione" Her voice was raspy. The healer sent a glass of water over to her and allowed her to take a small sip.

"Do you know where you are Hermione?" The healer asked.
"St Mungos?" Hermione answered uncertainly. The Healer nodded confirming, she gave her a warm smile, "And what do you remember before waking up?"
Hermione's brow creased as she thought back. Her memories felt scrambled. It didn't help when she jumped times so frequently. She couldn't say that out loud of course. She just bit her lip and shook her head. The Healer nodded sympathetically. She indicated to the bedside table, "Maybe those will help you remember dear. I will go organise some food for you."

Hermione looked over to the bedside table. There were a couple of Daily Prophets as well as her wand and clothes she came in. There was also a beaded bag and a letter with her name on it. She recognised the script. It was from Sirius. She grabbed it first and tore open the letter.

To my beautiful Princess Hermione,

I fear that if you are reading this, you have awoken before I have had the chance to return. Unfortunately I still am required to assist with the Order, despite wanting to just stay by your side.

Your arrival this time has scared the living hell out of me. In case you don't recall what happened, you were hit by a truck. I never want to see that image of you again my love.

I will be with you soon Princess. Don't disappear before I get there.

I love you, for this moment into eternity,

Yours,

Sirius

She was hit by a truck. She rubbed her chest. It felt uncomfortable, yet the rest of her seemed to be healed. She glanced at the top paper as she put the note back on the bedside table. Her eye moved back to it and she reached for the paper.

Dated 2nd November 1981
SIRIUS BLACK ARRESTED FOR MURDER - NO TRIAL GIVEN
Mass murderer Sirius Black was arrested at the scene of the crime for the murder of 13 muggles and wizard Peter Pettigrew…

Hermione couldn't read anymore as she had dropped it. She heard screaming, and only realised it was her when healers rushed in to the room. Her cries of anguish lessened as they forced a calming draught down her throat. The draught swept through her making her sleepy. The last thing she saw before she fell asleep was the picture of Sirius's mug shot, following his arrest.

They monitored her closely, her vitals seemed to have dropped considerably. She wasn't eating and so had to ensure that she was receiving nutrition. They stopped providing the calming draught after two days. When the last of it wore off she cried. She had learned that the Potters were also killed. Best friends of the murderer. She cried each time she heard the word murderer. She knew so much. And could not say a word. She just wanted it to end. The uncomfortable feeling in her chest gave way to a massive hole of pain. Loving people hurt too much. She hurt too much. She just wanted to be numb. She wanted to just drift in the grey. But it would not come. There was no whispering. There was no breeze.

It was dark when she allowed her consciousness to become aware. She wasn't sleeping, she just withdrew from everything. The light from the window was faint from the moon. The beads on the purse glittered in the pale light. Her eyes focused on the bag. She hadn't touched it since she read the letter. She reached up and opened the drawstring of the bag. There were surprisingly a lot of things in the bag. She rifled through it. Most of it seemed to be all the clothes that she had worn through the times she had come and gone. There was also a well-thumbed book on Shakespeare. And to Hermione's shock a very old and worn sketch pad. She pulled it out and opened it carefully. The first page was a picture she remembered that a little boy hid in a purse of galleons, of a fairy and two little boys with beautiful bright wings.

She flicked slowly through the book and saw in the sketches all images of her. Images of each time she returned. Between the pages there were also letters and cards, Hermione recognised as her writing. Some of them were for Regulus but most were addressed to Sirius. She found the page that still had dried blood on it from the night she rescued him from his mother's wrath. There was a photo on the next page of Her James and Remus asleep on the couch. Someone had taken a picture of them when they slept waiting for the James's parents to bring Sirius home. There was a sketch of her in the dress that he altered when they danced at Lily and James's wedding, and a couple of photos were slotted in there as well. She stopped at the page of the sketch of her in her fairy costume holding baby Harry. Another in the same fairy costume, her face fierce, firing a spell, a black dog sketched next to her. The last page was a sketch of her in the bed she was in. She shut the book, tears leaking from her face. She grabbed the letter and slotted it in to the last page, before clutching the book to her chest and cried herself to sleep.

Afternoon light was pouring through the window when she became aware again of the world. A healer had just been in with a tray of food concerned of her refusing to eat. She also noticed that there was a visitor standing in the doorway. Remus stood in the doorway. His wand was out pointed directly at her. She looked away. Clutching the sketchpad to her more tightly waiting, hoping Remus would do what he came to do.

Remus looked at the witch. The witch that knew all about the hell he was living in. Two of his best friends were dead, his best friends wife was dead. The woman he loved was dead. His other best friend arrested and sent to Azkaban Prison for murdering one of his best friends as well as a group of muggles. Sirius had sent an owl the night the Potters were murdered to go to St Mungos. He hadn't gone straight away as he was overcome with grief for losing so many loved ones in so short a time. He could not help but feel that it was Hermione's doing. And so he stood just inside the door to her hospital room with his wand trained on her. He saw as she shut her eyes, accepting the fate. He saw that she was broken. He saw that she was alone, like he was. He remembered Sirius's words, when he saw her fade within his arms.

Hermione keened when the moment for him to end it all well and truly passed. Remus rubbed a hand through his head and looked away. The sight was too much. He was hearing in that cry every single thing that he also felt. He put his hand on the door to just walk away. But he could not bring himself to do it. He sighed heavily and padded over to the chair beside her bed and sat with her as she cried herself to unconsciousness.

He must have dozed off when he came to it was night. He looked over to Hermione; her eyes were wide and staring at him. He looked at the tray on the table. It was untouched. She was punishing herself by starving herself. He was doing the same, except that he at least drank. He sat forwards rubbing his hands in his face and through his hair, before looking at her again.
"The Healers won't let you leave if you don't start eating, Hermione. Starving yourself is not a pleasant way to go." He spoke quietly to the darkness.
"Hermione, I can't do this alone either." His voice cracked as he said the last words. He covered his face again as tears leaked from his own eyes, again. When he raised his face again, Hermione was looking at him with such intensity as if it was the first time she saw him. She reached out a shaking hand to him and he took it both clinging to each other. The only two people who were not dead or imprisoned.

Morning came and the healer came in, surprised for the first time that the tray of food was eaten. She replaced the tray and checked Hermione's vitals again. Making a small notation on the chart she left leaving Remus and Hermione together. He moved the table with the tray towards her and helped himself to a slice of the toast on the tray. Remus realised that she would eat if he ate. She sat up and took the other half of the toast and nibbled on the corner. They shared the breakfast and he helped her get up and walk to the bathroom. She was so weak that she could barely stand.

She growled at him when he offered to remain in the room. Her eye's turned dangerous. He smirked. She still had fight in her. He waited just outside and waited for her to finish. She called out when she needed him. She was struggling to stay upright by the sink. He had a good view of her underwear from the back of the gown, as he moved towards her. He picked her up, shocked at how light she was.
"I can walk." She grumbled at him. Remus snorted and carried her to the bed.
"Hermione, you have malnourished yourself, and from what the healer has said you were also in a serious accident. When they are satisfied that I can take over your care, if I have to carry you to and from the bathroom, I will." He chided her.
She looked down at her hands which now had a habit of twisting themselves painfully. "You know I may not be able to remain in this time though."
Remus shrugged, "Hermione. While you are here I will be here. The only time I will need to go is when I need to go for a walk in the moonlight."

She remained in the hospital for another three days, Remus with her. There were moments when they both cried, the moments still too raw for them. The healers allowed her to be released when both pushed that they needed to attend Lily and James funeral which was the following day. Hermione struggled as she dressed, she fell over as she tried to pull on her jeans and began crying again. Remus came around the curtain and she yelled at him to go away. He just looked at her and said calmly, "Hermione, right now you can't do this yourself, you are stuck with me as your help. As wonderful as you are, I promise you I won't hurt you. Now, give me your hands and I can help you up."
Remus helped her finish dressing with a quiet competency that shocked Hermione into obedience. When she was dressed he handed her wand to her and put all the lose items into the beaded bag, handing that to her.
"They will only let you go if you can walk out. You ready?" Hermione nodded and took his hand. They walked out slowly. As they left through the entryway Hermione grew nervous.
"Remus, where are we going?" She could not hide the panic in her voice.
"My place, If you think you can manage I can apparate you?" Hermione nodded relieved that she wasn't going back to Sirius's old apartment.

They apparated to a small cottage that overlooked meadows and sat near a forest. The cottage was alone in a wilderness. Hermione's stomach rebelled when they appeared and Remus held her as her stomach contents emptied into the garden.
"You know we will need to apparate again tomorrow?" Hermione wiped her mouth and nodded, still pale and tinged green. He guided her down the front path to the front door. A sign on the door read 'Mac Tíre Tearmann'. He flicked his wand to the door so it opened as they approached.
"Welcome to Wolf Sanctuary" He said wryly, as he guided her to a large leather couch covered in cushions and a big crochet blanket. It was a small one bedroom cottage, the main part of the house open and a small bathroom adjoining the bedroom. The place was warm and cosy.

Remus put the kettle on once Hermione was settled on the couch and set about making a light lunch for them with the tea. They ate in silence. Remus watched her. He still had questions, a million questions but he never realised how she was until that night he saw her in the hospital room. He had lost so much and the trust that was broken in his dearest friend hurt more than the deaths of Peter, Lily and James. And he was helping his ex-friend's girlfriend from stopping herself from wasting away for the man.

Hermione felt his eyes on her. She had an inkling on what he may have been thinking. She wasn't ready for an interrogation, so she kept her eyes lowered and focused on trying to eat the sandwich he had made for her without wanting to bring it back up again. He sat with her until she finished it, remembering when she fell out of the fireplace to see Lily. She had complained about mothering. She dropped her sandwich on her plate. Tears leaked out. She couldn't eat anymore. The memory hurt. More tears leaked out.
"Remus. I – I don't have anything black to wear tomorrow." Remus stood and went into the bedroom, he rifled through a few things and came out with a black dress that had clearly been Marly's, hanging it on a hook.
"She always had clothes squirrelled away in places." He explained sadly.
"I haven't quite had the heart to get rid of them." Hermione nodded unable to say anything. Remus floated the lunch plates to the sink and sat and held Hermione. Both clinging to the other through their grief. Night fell and Hermione was asleep against his chest. He shifted and carried her to the bed. He went to pull away, but Hermione had her hand fisted in his shirt, her brow creased dreaming. Reluctantly he lay next to her keeping his distance.

The alarm he had set went off, jolting both of them awake. She made it on her own to the bathroom and showered coming out in a towel. Taking the dress he found for her and went to the bedroom to change. He took a quick shower, coming out of the bathroom. Hermione was on the sofa, pale but dressed. He dressed quickly and made them tea. Neither wanted any food. She stood and he noted that her wand was in her hand. She was using magic to keep herself upright. He stepped forwards and took her waist.
"Hermione, you realise that the magic is only going to make you weaker? Just ask for bloody help." He was angry. Hermione has the grace to look ashamed. She knew exactly what it was doing to her.

Remus apparated them to the church where the funeral was being held. It was the same church that Lily and James were married in. Hermione swayed, pale.
"Don't let go." She whispered. They made their way into the church. Lily's parents were there. They spotted Hermione and Remus and came over giving them both a hug. They insisted that they sit at the front, with them as representatives for both James and Lily. Behind them the church filled around them, the room filled with quiet conversations. Remus and Hermione held hands tightly, both struggling together, supporting each other as friends. The priest bid them to stand and Remus helped Hermione up, she swayed again. He put an arm around her to steady her. The coffins came in, guided by magic. And rested in front of them. Hermione sent a silent prayer thanking they were closed. She could not deal with seeing them dead.

The funeral began very somber. There was not a dry eye in the place. Remus was asked to say the eulogy for both of them and told the story of their blossoming love through high school, their denial to their friends and eventual embarrassing declaration. Several in the church groaned in memory having been present at the time they were in Hogwarts. He told of their wonderful marriage and the birth of Harry, their greatest happiness. His speech was eloquent and paused a few times when emotions from memory threatened. He sat back down and Hermione conjured him a black handkerchief for him.

They were the first after Mr and Mrs Evans, to follow the coffins out to the graveyard behind the church. Remus slipped some chocolate to her. Quietly and politely threatening if she didn't eat it he would make her. She nibbled it and felt the sugar in the chocolate revive her a little. It started to rain as Lily and James were laid to rest side by side. The final rights over them said. Remus conjured a bouquet of lilies and scattered them between both. Hermione looked at the crowd, resting on Dumbledore who watched her over his half-moon glasses.

He intercepted the pair as they left the church grounds to apparate back to the cottage. Hermione needed to rest she couldn't quite focus on her surroundings. "Ah, Remus, lovely eulogy you provided. Miss Granger, are you alright?"
Remus answered for her, "No she isn't, I need to get her home. If you would excuse us, Albus" He stepped away turned, apparating them away. Hermione fainted when they arrived and he carried her through the threshold.

Remus had soup for her when she woke. He again threatened politely he would spank her if she didn't eat it. Hermione had the grace to blush slightly and ate her soup in silence as he sat in an armchair reading his book. She ate most of her soup, and pushed the floating tray away, unable to finish. Remus raised a brow and directed the tray from the room without a word. A book floated to her, she accepted it with a small smile of thanks. She was asleep before she finished the first chapter.

He provided the same threat to her with breakfast the next morning, as he sipped his tea, reading the morning edition of the Daily Prophet. The headlines were about the funeral from yesterday. Remus's eulogy was quoted surprisingly accurate. He glanced up as she ate, "Tomorrow is the first night of the full moon. I will be gone for three nights. Will you be able to manage to eat and drink in that time?"

Hermione looked at him. She knew he didn't have to or need to help her, yet he did. She realised that he needed the company as much as she did. She looked down, her hands twisting tightly within each other. She was being extremely reckless since what had happened a week before. She was still out of her time. There was every possibility she could be whisked away again, but the real fear of where she would end up made her feel sick to the stomach. She would need her strength.
"Yes Remus. I will eat." She looked up through her eyelashes towards him. He nodded.
"Also, I advise that you stay within these walls, even during the daytime." Hermione looked at him, "You will promise to come back in one piece though?"
Remus chuckled at her, "Promise to spank me if I don't?"
"No," She said blushing, "I'll hex your balls off. Because it will mean I will have to go and look for you. And we both know I'm not in the condition to do so"

Remus had the food provided for her. All she had to do was heat it up. She grumbled as he had labelled each container. She did her best but she could not eat all of what he provided for her. Mainly because through the three days he was out running around as a werewolf, she was worried. They both yelled at each other when he came back late in the afternoon on the forth day. He yelled at her for not eating enough. She yelled herself hoarse for not taking care of himself. She had her wand out her shaking hand directed at him.
"Sit Remus I will fix your wounds. Then we will both eat and you will shut up. I was right to be worried." She growled at him, fire in her eyes for the first time since she woke in the hospital bed. He let her heal him. When she was done he marched her back to the couch and called over two bowls of soup. They ate in silence.

They settled into a routine as Hermione slowly got her strength back. Remus's library was quite extensive and Hermione enjoyed reading through the collection of magical texts and muggle novels. After a week, he insisted that she start light exercise and they went out on short walks each morning after breakfast. Hermione gradually told Remus much of what she had told Sirius, regarding her travels. Sirius had told him some, but Hermione answered certain questions. Such as knowing what would inevitably happen to Lily and James, and also what happened to Peter. Though she steered away from those topics, it was too fresh for both of them. She answered his question that she knew Harry in her own time. He and his dad were practically identical. She admitted that she knew the Remus from her time.

"So I was the werewolf you spoke about all those years ago. You spoke to me about me." He chuckled.
Hermione smiled, "Remus, you needed to know you could trust me with your secret. I have known what you were when I was in third year, and kept that secret." She stopped and leaned against a tree. She was getting her strength back slowly and was now cursing that she had made herself feel so utterly weak.
"I have been unbelievably stupid." She said more to herself than to anyone else.
Remus still raised a brow at her, "Being caught in what you are caught in Hermione, you have not been stupid. You are allowed to feel emotions. For how young you truly seem to be you are most certainly wiser than any witch I have met, or wizard for that matter."
Hermione looked up at him, her eyes saddened, "You know that I won't be able to stay. When the veil calls, I cannot escape it."
Remus nodded and took a step towards her. "When that happens I will endure. Just promise me that when we meet again in the future you will finish telling me the whole story."
Hermione smirked, "When I do meet you in the future again, you better promise that you will look after yourself in the meantime. Or I will box your ears."
Remus chuckled. "But you already know me in the future."
Hermione pushed off the tree and began walking back, "Doesn't mean I still won't box your ears" she muttered. Remus's sensitive hearing still heard and he followed her chuckling.

Remus knew she cried herself to sleep most nights. She would pull out the sketch pad and read a letter from the back of it. Hermione knew that Remus cried in the shower, trying to hide his own grief, and take out some of Marly's clothes and smell them. They had made it through the month and Hermione awaited Remus to return from his travels as a wolf. There was a letter on the table she had out, just in case she had disappeared before he came back. She sat by the fire with the crochet blanket around her reading about apparition, when there was a knock on the door that made her jump out of her skin. She grabbed her wand, and moved cautiously to the door. It knocked again. Remus was explicit that she should not open the door while he was out.

"Who- who's there?" she called to the door.
"A friend." Hermione recognised the voice of Albus Dumbledore. Yet she still paused.
"Why are you here? Why are you here on the full moon?" She asked through the door.
"Because my dear, you and I need to have a chat." Albus opened the door, stepping in and closing it with a snap.
"I appreciate your caution Miss Granger. Yet I would have thought the danger has passed?" He looked at her over his half-moon glasses. Hermione stepped away from him, her wand in front of her. For whatever reason, she suddenly did not feel like she could trust him.

"You know that I cannot answer most of your questions sir." She said cautiously.

"I will do a trade, if you can answer three of my questions, I may be able to return you back to your time." Hermione looked at him with wide eyes. Could she go back to her own time so easily? Her eyes narrowed.
"What are your three questions?" there was no point in prancing around a possibility she could if she couldn't answer his questions. She had already vowed not to give full details to anyone, not even Remus, not even Sirius. And both of them did try.

Albus smiled at her "My questions are these, How exactly did you stumble back into time? How do you know Sirius Black in the future? And does Voldemort come back?"
Hermione looked at him and laughed; when she was able to stop she shook her head.
"Thank you for visiting professor, however I believe I must now ask you to leave."

Albus frowned. "I am surprised Miss Granger. Would you not want to return?"
Hermione raised her brow, "You only advised that you may be able to; there was no guarantee you would. And you and I both know that to answer those questions could be disastrous for my own future. No professor, you should not be surprised. I bid you good evening sir."

Albus looked at her long and hard, and then nodded, "Perhaps another time in the future."
Hermione followed him slowly to the door, "Sir if we do have a conversation regarding this, it will only be after I am in my own timeline and not before. Do not insult me by asking again."
Albus chuckled. "I look forward to meeting your future self. You are quite fierce to behold." The door shut behind him and Hermione added extra wards for good measure. She suddenly liked her headmaster less and less; however he gave her the courtesy not to force the information from her. She would have to see if she could start practicing to block that type of magic.

Remus came back two days later, seemingly looking worse than the month before. Hermione shouted at him as she healed him. Remus realised that she hadn't eaten much since the night Dumbledore came and shouted at her. Hermione stopped his shouting short when she said that Dumbledore came to visit while he was out. She explained that the deal he offered and said that she had politely refused.

"What! Why would you refuse Albus's help to get you back home Hermione?" Remus sat on the couch, with a mug of hot chocolate in his hands staring at Hermione in disbelief.
"He never provided the guarantee. Only he may be able to. I highly doubt it. I've already gone through every possibility there is. All I can do is await to be drawn back in. I was not going to jeopardise my timeline for a possibility he might." She glared into her teacup. Remus looked at Hermione; she was hurting that Dumbledore would offer such a thing. A thing even she did not believe. Messing with time was dangerous. You could blink yourself from existence with the wrong word spoken to someone. Hermione had been in time since before she was born. So much could have gone wrong. He sipped his hot chocolate looking away from the witch. She was still such an enigma.

Hermione remained in the cottage with Remus for two more weeks before the whispering finally came to claim her back. They were sitting at the small dining table playing a game of cards, Remus had convinced her to play. He was regretting it as she was kicking his ass. Hermione had begun to feel more and more that the wind would take her any day and kept the beaded bag in easy reach or on her almost all the time. She had the letter on the mantle and made sure that Remus would only open it after she disappeared. She just won another hand, "How is it I had to show you the game, but you are already beating me?" Remus grumped.

Hermione grinned, "The game is a logical one. Once I understood the game, it was easy."

"Remind me never to play poker against you." He grumbled.

Hermione chuckled, shuffling the cards. She had finished dealing when a whisper of a breeze danced across her skin. Remus looked up sharply.
"I wish you could stay." He said quietly. Hermione smiled sadly at him, the veil already around her.

"Look after yourself Remus." Her voice echoed softly. "And, thank you."

Only her scent lingered, he sat back on the chair. She had stayed in 1981 for almost two months. She had stayed long enough to save him, as he saved her. Long enough that Remus now missed her more than anything in the world right now. And he was another who was stuck at taking the long way to see her again.