I realised I haven't included a disclaimer for this story. I am not JK Rowling. All the characters belong to her and I'm just fortunate enough to have the chance to play with them for a while.

An explanation of this story: it is set six years after Deathly Hallows and is slightly AU after The Order of the Phoenix. In the background for my story, Hermione and Remus were very close and eventually fell in love with each other. In order for me to fully understand them, I wrote a series of scenes detailing the progression of their relationship. I really enjoyed writing them and I can't resist including them in my story so they've become memories or flashbacks that Remus has while he exists in the afterlife (which I will explain all about in this chapter). When you see a date e.g. August 1995 written in italics, that is when a flashback begins.

Now, that's enough rambling from me. On with the chapter!

Remus Lupin dreamed. He dreamed of the past. Or was it the future? He couldn't tell; time had little meaning where he was. Perhaps terms such as 'past' and 'future' didn't apply anymore; he didn't know.

But how could he possibly be dreaming of the future? He didn't have a future, he was dead. Somehow, he knew that.

So he must be dreaming of the past. He dreamed- he always dreamed- of a girl. A small, pretty girl with long wild brown hair and brown eyes. She was familiar to him. He felt like he had known her very well, had been very close to her, had… loved her.

Her name came back to him. Hermione. His beautiful Hermione. The wolf within him growled in agreement. The dream of her presented itself to him like a story…

August 1995

In the beginning, Remus Lupin thought of Hermione Granger as little more than an ex-student of his, one whose intelligence he greatly admired and one who, since he had lost his job, he had formed an acquaintance with. Their friendship really started one day during the summer of 1995, when Hermione had not long turned fifteen. It was Remus's first visit to Grimmauld Place, the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, where Hermione, Harry and the Weasley family were spending the summer.

On the night that Voldemort had returned, Remus's quiet evening had been interrupted by Sirius turning up on his doorstep with the grim news that Remus had been waiting for since Pettigrew had escaped: the wizarding world was at war once again. Sirius had stayed with Remus for a few weeks while Dumbledore mobilised the Order of the Phoenix and they eventually decided that Grimmauld Place would be their headquarters.

Due to the important work Remus was doing in the werewolf communities, it was another few weeks before he set foot in Sirius's dingy old home. He had never before visited the place; Sirius's insanely pure-blood parents would have never allowed a werewolf in the house. When Remus finally did get to see Sirius's childhood home, he pitied his friend for ever having to live there and for being related to the vile wizards who had inhabited it.

Remus had delivered his report to Sirius and the Order's lieutenants: Kingsley and Madeye. Shortly Snape arrived to deliver his own report and, knowing he wasn't required to be present for that, Remus asked Sirius if he could see the renowned library of the House of Black.

The library seemed to have escaped the squalor that the rest of the house suffered. It was larger than his own cottage but the floor-to-ceiling bookcases and dark, heavy drapes made the room seem smaller and more intimate. The room received little natural light and was illuminated only by candlesticks fixed to the walls. While the edges of the room were mainly lined by mahogany bookcases, there was also an impressive fireplace surrounded by a Gothic winged back sofa with four matching winged back chairs.

On the sofa was Hermione Granger, curled up with a book on her lap. She was so absorbed in the book that she didn't hear him enter the room. Remus paused, silently watching her in amusement. She had her usual look of deep concentration on her face. She occasionally lifted her hand from the book to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. But her hair was so unruly that it kept springing back to dangle in front of her face. It was endearing. Remus continued to watch her but after a moment he realised that he must look slightly strange, watching her without announcing his presence. Yet he didn't want to disturb her.

He had no choice, however, when he sneezed loudly. Hermione jumped and looked up. When she realised it was him she smiled warmly.

'Professor Lupin!' she said. 'What are you doing here?'

He smiled back at her. 'Please, call me Remus. I'm not your professor anymore. And I was just giving my latest report; I thought while I'm here I would come and have a poke around Sirius's famous library.'

'It's great, isn't it,' Hermione gushed. 'I've never been in a wizarding library before, apart from Hogwarts, of course.'

'Yes, it certainly is grand,' Remus said, gazing around at the bookcases.

'There are so many amazing books here,' Hermione continued, enthusiastically rising from her seat. She quickly browsed the nearest bookcase until she found what she was looking for. 'Look, a biography of Godric Gryffindor written by the first Hogwarts matron; I bet that's fascinating.'

'You might want to be careful, though,' Remus cautioned her. 'Knowing the kind of dark wizards Sirius's parents were, I'm sure there are some nasty books stashed away in here.'

She nodded. 'Did you know the Blacks?'

He shook his head. 'I only knew what Sirius told me. Oh, how he hated them. During the summer between our second and third years Sirius actually asked if I could stay over for a week. As if a werewolf would be welcome in their perfect pure-blood home.' He noticed the sympathy on her face, and blushed.

'Are you still having problems with your condition?' she asked.

Remus hesitated before answering. The conversation was becoming a touch too personal for his liking. He didn't enjoy talking about his condition with anyone. Yet Hermione didn't judge him; she had even kept his secret for him when she didn't have to.

'Yes,' he admitted. 'I haven't been able to find a job since I left Hogwarts and… a couple of months ago I was accosted by a werewolf hate-group.'

Hermione's eyes widened in concern. 'Remus! Are you okay?'

He nodded. 'I'm used to it.'

She accepted his response but she still looked worried. Remus felt himself warmed by the thought that someone cared about him.

Hermione was about to say something else when the door burst open and Harry and Ron stumbled into the room apparently after having shoved and scuffled with each other out in the hallway.

'Hermione, there you are!' exclaimed Ron. 'Oh, hi Remus.'

'Hello again, Remus,' Harry said, smiling slightly.

Ron nudged Harry with his elbow. 'See, Harry? I told you Hermione would be holed up in the library.'

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron but didn't say anything.

'What are you boys up to?' Remus asked.

'We were just about to play Quidditch in the garden with Ginny, Fred and George,' Harry explained.

'Come with us, Hermione,' Ron said eagerly. 'We need an extra player.'

Hermione shook her head. 'No, thanks, I'd rather stay in here.'

'Come on, Hermione, don't be boring. Why do you want to sit in a stuffy library anyway? You do enough of that at Hogwarts.'

Hermione sighed impatiently. 'Ronald, you know I don't like Quidditch.' Her tone and her expression were firm.

'Fine, I'll just ask Sirius,' Ron said. 'Come on, Harry.'

They left the room and could be heard bantering loudly in the hallway about who was going to win their three-a-side Quidditch match.

Remus turned to Hermione and smiled. 'I didn't know you weren't that big a fan of Quidditch. Almost everyone in the wizarding world is.'

'I can't stand it,' Hermione said, pulling a face. 'I actually find it boring. I'd much rather sit in a library.'

'I'd rather sit in a library any day than watch Quidditch as well.'

She nodded, looking pleased to finally have someone agree with her. Not to be deterred from their earlier conversation, she turned back to the bookcases.

'Let me show you some of these marvellous books,' she said.

Remus stood by and watched her delight as she handed him book after book, until they were piled so high in his arms that he could barely see her anymore. He placed the stack of books on a nearby table.

'Hermione, stop,' he said with a laugh. 'I think you've given me enough reading material to keep me going until Christmas.'

She turned to him and smiled. 'You're welcome,' she said brightly.

'You know, if you like wizarding libraries, you'll love the one at the Wizarding University of London,' he told her.

'There's a Wizarding University?'

'Yes, for people who get a minimum of three Outstanding and two Exceeds Expectations grades in their NEWTS,' he explained. 'You should think about applying in your seventh year.'

'And you really think they'd let me in. A Muggle-born?'

'Hermione, you're one of the greatest young witches of the twentieth century,' Remus said. 'Of course they'll let you in.'

Her cheeks flushed and her eyes brightened at his compliment. 'Thank you,' she said quietly.

'You'll love it there,' he promised. 'I'll take you there this summer to have a look around, when I'm not too busy with my work for the Order.'

'You will? That's brilliant, Remus.' She beamed up at him, her brown eyes full of gratitude.

Remus smiled back down at her, feeling the familiar pleasure that only being kind and good to people can bring.

And that was how the friendship between Remus and Hermione began. As she promised, he did take her to visit the Wizarding University. They had a pleasant afternoon strolling around the campus, admiring the buildings, and sitting in a pleasant little café drinking tea and chatting.

Over the course of the summer they spent a lot of time together. They spent many hours discussing books in the library and Remus started inviting Hermione on walks with him. Hermione persuaded Remus to visit Muggle museums with her and they both found themselves enjoying one another's company.

They went from being casual acquaintances to close friends. By the end of the summer, Hermione was spending more time with Remus than she was with Harry or Ron. When the new school term at Hogwarts began, Hermione returned to school and Remus missed her. He wished he was back teaching again so that he could see her.

The dream faded and Remus came back to himself. He was lying on the floor of the dark forest, thankfully alone.

He got up and loped over to the stream where he lapped some cool water. Being dead, drinking wasn't strictly necessary but he did it anyway.

He gazed at his reflection in the water, a large black wolf with orange eyes reflecting back at him. He hated this bestial form he was stuck in.

When he had been alive he had looked like a man. He had been a werewolf, but he had only transformed once a month. When he had died, the wolf part of him seemed to become more dominant and his spirit had taken on his animal form. But, unlike his monthly transformations when he had been alive, here he had retained all of his human faculties. He had become a human spirit trapped inside a wolf.

Obviously he hadn't known what awaited him after death, but he had expected to be reunited with his friends, Sirius, James and Lily.

Instead, he found himself here, in a world that completely consisted of a dense, gloomy forest. He knew because he had wandered and wandered, exploring his surroundings and had never found anything except trees.

The forest wasn't like any he had ever been in when he was alive. This forest was too quiet. There was no sound of the wind rustling the leaves of the trees and there were no sounds of other animals. Even the stream was eerily silent. The forest was also dark; very little light permeated the thick canopy of leaves. It was a sad and lonely place.

The forest, Remus had realised, was a kind of limbo, a place where the souls of werewolves were sent when they died. He came to this conclusion when, on his travels, he had met a few other wolves.

Mostly, they were cruel, vicious creatures and Remus stayed away from them. He would rather be lonely than associate himself with their evil.

Remus spent his time wandering the forest, trying to control the wolf part of him that had become stronger since he had died. He found that the more active his spirit was, the easier it was to subdue the wolf. But every so often, while he was wandering, he became inexplicably weary. This was when he curled up on the floor of the forest and slept, always dreaming of Hermione.

His dreams were always memories of his last two or so years of life. This was the period when his relationship with Hermione had developed from acquaintances, to friends, to lovers. Even when he wasn't dreaming, he was reliving those memories as he wandered the forest. They were all he had…

I hope you enjoyed this. I know that the werewolf afterlife might seem like a strange setting but I can assure you that most of the story takes place in the ordinary wizarding world. By the way, I am sorry if you noticed any mistakes or typos, I don't have a beta. Please review!