Thank goodness ffnet is working now. I've been trying to login all weekend but every time I clicked 'login' an error would appear and I couldn't get any further :(

Thank you for all the reviews and follows I've received for this story :) it makes my day when I get an email in my inbox telling me that someone has reviewed/followed the story.

Usual disclaimers apply.

This chapter isn't that long but it does have a nice plot development :)

Enjoy :)

Remus found himself exploring Hermione's small apartment in her absence. He had swapped wandering a lonely, endless forest for a few quiet cosy rooms that bore the lovely recognisable scent of Hermione. Although he was alone, he infinitely preferred the latter.

Hermione's apartment was surprisingly light and open for such a small place. After she left him standing in her living that morning he began to take in his surroundings. The living room was dominated by a cream suede sofa that he imagined- he didn't actually know because he couldn't feel anything- would be comfortable. It was facing a flat screen television that was currently unplugged. Hermione probably didn't use it very often because she preferred to read above any other activity.

Along one wall of the living were a couple of bookshelves that Hermione had neatly organised all her favourite titles. One bookshelf contained all her Muggle fiction and non-fiction books. He noted that she had many interests ranging from Shakespeare's comedies to biology to history and even some books written completely in French. The other bookshelf contained all her magic-related books. He recognised a few textbooks from her Hogwarts days but her collection had grown exponentially in recent years. She had books on Animagi, books on various types of potions and, he was surprised to learn, quite a few books about werewolves.

Remus perused the bookshelves for a while, wishing that he could pick up a book so he could read it but he eventually moved away towards the patio doors that led to a garden that ran down the side of the apartment. The garden consisted of a relatively small strip of grass. Hermione had put in a flower bed and had planted many different breeds of flowers including daffodils, purple tulips and white, pink and red cosmos. At the far end of the garden was a plum tree that was currently blossoming beautifully.

Next, Remus went to Hermione's bedroom which was decorated in lilac and cream. It was clean, tidy and decidedly feminine. It contained a double bed, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers and a bedside table with a little lamp. On the wall over the bed was a framed photo of an idyllic scene in the Scottish Highlands. Remus felt uncomfortable, like he was intruding in Hermione's private space so he didn't spend long in her bedroom.

Lastly he went to the spare room which was the only cluttered room in the apartment. Hermione mainly seemed to use the room for storage. There were several more bookshelves crammed with books that wouldn't fit onto the shelves in the living room. There was a trunk that he recognised as being the one she took to Hogwarts. There was another chest of drawers, a large suitcase on wheels and a few cardboard boxes, two of which were marked 'Mum and Dad' and the other, 'Remus'. He was surprised and wondered what was inside it.

He glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was just past noon. Hermione would soon be home for her lunch break. He decided to go and wait for her in the living room. He settled onto the sofa and gazed at the photo on the table beside the sofa. It was of Hermione and him, years ago when they had only just admitted their feelings for each other. The happiness in her eyes pained him because he couldn't help comparing it the false happiness that she was experiencing now. It wouldn't last. Remus couldn't stay in the mortal world for long. His presence was unnatural and wrong. And he couldn't bear for Hermione to be heart broken all over again, but this time, it would be even worse because he knew that she hoped that he would be able to stay with her. He wished he had persuaded her to leave the stone in the forest.

For the next half an hour, Remus looked at the photo until his vision blurred. With no one to interact with and nothing to occupy his mind, he began to withdraw into himself. He was as still as a statue and wasn't even aware of his surroundings. Slowly, he began to fade. He was becoming more and more insubstantial by the minute and soon, he would disappear altogether.

The distant sound of a door clicking shut seemed to reawaken him. He was like a stone sculpture coming to life. Uncertainly, he began to move, turning his head towards the source of the noise and when his vision returned he found that Hermione was back and taking her coat and shoes off. He looked down at his hands. They were just beginning to regain their colour. He was startled by what had nearly happened and he looked fearfully at Hermione.

'Are you alright, Remus?' she asked, frowning. 'You look pale.'

He nodded, not trusting his voice right now. He managed to smile at her.

'Look,' she said, pulling a book out of her bag. 'I bought this at Flourish and Blotts. It could be useful.'

She sat down next to him on the sofa and rested the book on her knees. She opened it to the correct page.

'See,' she said. 'It's got a whole section about the Resurrection Stone, surprisingly.'

They read the passage together. She finished before him and glanced at him expectantly.

'This is interesting,' he said, glad that his voice was normal. 'Especially the part about binding a dead soul to the Stone.'

She nodded. 'I want to do some more research on that.'

She got up and headed for the kitchen. 'I won't be a minute, I just need to make my lunch.'

Remus reread the passage about the Resurrection Stone. He skimmed over the list of further references made to it elsewhere in the book. He couldn't read them because he couldn't turn the page. He huffed in frustration. What a pathetic being he was. Not human but not quite ghost either, he was a man trapped between life and death. What sort of existence was that? He was in the world. He could see it, hear it, experience it but he wasn't truly part of it. Nothing could affect him and he could affect nothing. His very presence was unnatural.

And yet... being with Hermione, even in his current state, felt natural. Now that they were together again, he hardly registered their six year separation. Yes, it had happened and it had been the single most agonising, most heart-wrenching experience of their lives but when they had been reunited they had instantly connected. Their relationship was as intimate, as emotional as it had been before he died.

Remus listened to the sounds of Hermione making lunch, the opening and closing of the refrigerator, the clattering of a spoon on the counter and even the sound of her happily humming to herself. He felt uneasy. He worried that very soon his existence here would become impossible. His soul would be ripped from this world, torn away from Hermione. He feared what a loss like that would do to her. He knew it would be a lot worse for her now than it had been six years ago. His death had been sudden but she had had years to accept it, to grieve for him, to move on. His return had restored hope and love into her life. She was finally happy again but if she lost that, it would destroy her.

Remus returned his attention to the book, desperate for answers. Without thinking, he tried to pick it up and his hand slipped straight through it. He withdrew and carefully held his hand a millimetre away from the page. He stared it, concentrating on it intensely while he willed his hand to become solid. After a moment he slowly extended a finger and tried to touch the page. Once again, his hand passed through it as easily as it passed through the air.

Determined, he tried again and again without success. Despite the apparent futility of the exercise, he wasn't going to stop trying. Somehow, if he could re-corporealise himself, even if only for a second, it would prove to him that he was meant to be here. If he could manage a task as small as turning a page it would be an improvement on his current insubstantial condition. It would give him hope that slowly, he might be able to recover.

So he tried once more. Again, his hand slid uselessly through the book. He held his hand a hair's breadth away from the page. Even that was difficult. It didn't take much for his hand to fall right through an object. He held his hand steady, attempting to keep it as close to the book as possible without trying to touch it.

Hermione returned, carrying a plate of delicious-looking tomato, red pepper and pasta salad and a glass of pineapple juice. She settled next him on the sofa. Remus noticed that she was close but had left a small gap between them. He knew that she was avoiding touching him. He sensed that his incorporeality upset her.

'So what do you think?' Hermione asked him, indicating the book still lying open at the passage about the Resurrection Stone. She ate a forkful of pasta.

'There's not much information to go on,' he admitted. He glanced at the book. His hand was still hovering carefully above the page. 'Although I'm surprised the author managed to find this much about it.'

Hermione nodded her agreement. 'I doubt we'd be able to find an 'expert' on the subject. I don't suppose any academic would devote their career to an object that most people think is a myth.' She thought wryly of her old friend Luna Lovegood who had become a wizarding naturalist and spent much of her time physically searching for absurd creatures which surely did not exist. She took a sip of juice and turned to Remus. 'What do you think we should do?'

He was quiet for a moment, allowing himself to think. 'There's nothing we can do other than wait and see what happens.' He wasn't entirely satisfied with that and he didn't think Hermione was either.

She was looking at him with a strange expression on her face. Her hand had stopped halfway to her mouth, a forkful of pasta waiting to be eaten. She glanced down at the book and then up at his face. Her expression became confused. Then she dropped her fork and it fell to her plate with a clatter. She looked at him in excited astonishment.

'Remus...' she whispered in wonder. Her eyes shone with tears but she was suddenly smiling.

He raised an enquiring eyebrow at her, assuming that she'd had a revelation.

'Look,' she whispered, glancing down at the book again.

Remus lowered his gaze and realised that it wasn't the book that had caught her attention. He gasped and stared in shock for a moment. Then he looked up at Hermione and felt himself sharing her joyful smile.

His hand, which had previously been hovering above the page was now resting lightly on it instead of passing through it. His hand was corporeal.