theDarkIsRising

Sorry for the last chapter being confusing. I was trying to backtrack on Hermione's timeline and I double-double backtracked. The events are in this order: she send letters; goes to Ministry for answers; asks Remus to marry her; receives form letter; full moon; marriage! I may try to fix that.

Thanks for all the favs/follows. Please review; I love to hear from readers. As the saying goes, the more the merrier.

The Night Will Go As Follows

5. NOT SURE IF ANYBODY UNDERSTANDS

What would Sirius say if he could see him now? Probably, a slew of insults followed by a smart clap on the back. Moony marrying! Never thought I'd live to see the day. Well, actually, I didn't. Robbing the cradle, though, aren't we? You seem to like them younger and younger these days. I'm sure you two will go over just fine. Sirius would give Remus a hearty wink and maybe pass around some Firewhiskey. Remus would definitely need to find some Firewhiskey as soon as they made it out of the Ministry. He really should have taken a drink before coming in here anyway. His nerves felt frazzled, but he could not deny the relief of not having his wand snapped. The jostling of the other werewolves and their spouses mildly intruded on his thoughts; however, he was firmly anchored to the hand that still held his.

Hermione's face was still tinged pink from the magistrate asking if they wanted to kiss. His heart had thumped double-time to that request; his mind gone blank. Actually, his mind felt quite blank as soon as the marriage vows started. He was glad they exchanged the simple wizarding vows. He liked how uncomplicated they were. Remus remembered discussing such things with Dora. They quibbled over idiotic decisions, like flowers and tablecloths and rings. It seemed like a very long time ago; it all seemed so very trivial. Dora would have kissed him without hesitation, with an abandoned that would have made the magistrate blush instead. But now a much shorter witch held his hand, pulling him once again out of line. His fingers continued to tingle from the binding magic. It felt like a quick jolt of electricity when the spell was cast, sending prickles up his spin. Remus looked over to Hermione, wondering if she too could still feel the magic coursing through her. As he looked down at her determined expression, he noticed Hermione was wearing a red dress, the one from Bill and Fleur's wedding. She looked quite pretty in it, red was her color; he remembered thinking so the first time he saw her in it.

Her brown eyes were wide when he asked her to dance. Remus had watched Ron Weasley swing Hermione across the dance floor. It all looked rather violent as Ron moved about with no regard to rhythm or the other dancers, but Hermione giggled and slapped his arm playfully when he nearly ran into people. One crystal vase filled with lilies was barely saved from him and his path of destruction. Finally, when the music faded into a slower tune, Remus moved from the far corner of the tent and tapped Hermione on the shoulder. She was slightly out of breath and she looked surprised at his arrival.

"Mind if I have this next dance?" he asked her. Ron looked a bit put off. "I mean, if you don't mind."

Ron cracked a slight grin and shrugged. "Sure, no problem, mate. Need a drink anyway." He leaned in conspiratorially. "Watch out though. She's a right awful dancer." He winked and walked off.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him and turned back to Remus. They took their positions and began waltzing. "Thank you. Ron, while I do love him, cannot dance to save his life, despite what he says about me. I think we made a few people quite upset."

"You looked in need of saving," Remus said. He made eye contact with a portly woman who was giving Hermione a scathing look. "I think the Horntons will get over that slight affront. Eventually."

Then Hermione saw the woman and groaned. She turned her face into Remus' lapel, studiously paying attention to his white rose boutonniere. "Fleur did such a wonderful job with this on such short notice." She paused and looked around, before leaning in further to whisper, "Although, it is a bit too purple."

As they turned in time with the music, Remus surveyed the lavish white, gold, and lavender decorations. "True. Luckily, you provide a nice contrast." He grinned.

Hermione bit down on her lower lip and color rose to her cheeks. "Yes, well, this dress – is just something I had. If I'd been told what the wedding colors were in advance, I could have matched, but obviously, that didn't happen."

"I don't think you should worry about it. You look very becoming in red."

The song was ending and he noticed her face had begun to match her dress. "Thank you, Professor Lupin."

He released her hands, shoving his own into his pockets to occupy them. His brown dress robes looked nearly new, as he had borrowed them from Arthur the day before. Remus contemplated asking for another dance, but thought better of it. He had yet to dance with Dora, who had been perusing the buffet and joking with the Weasley twins. He had been putting off such a dance since Dora had two left feet despite her best dancing efforts. He saw Ron making his way over and looked back at Hermione. "Oh, and Ron is a serious waste of your talent. You are a very graceful dancer. I daresay Professor McGonagall taught you well."

She murmured another 'thank you' as Ron came up behind them. Her expression was a bit distant, far off, as if somewhere else. As Ron handed her a drink, Remus could still feel her eyes following him across the room. It was easy to keep an eye on her that night; her red dress stood out amongst the black dress robes and pale, billowy gowns. Remus could see her up until the Patronus came and announced that the Minister of Magic was dead, Then all hell broke loose. He drew his wand, looking for Dora to make sure she was safe. Harry ran to save Ginny, but Remus shoved him away, yelling at him to run. Remus barely saw a streak of red grab Harry and Ron then Apparate out of sight. He let out a breath that he did not realize he had been holding and turned to the nearest Death Eater.

"You wore your red dress," he said. Their line had paused. It looked to be quite as difficult to get out of the Ministry as it had to get in.

"Yes, well, I did want to look nice." She hazarded a smile and nudged him, trying to seem flippant. However, her smile did not quite reach her eyes. "In case there was a wedding."

"Red is your color. I must say, you are persistent, Hermione. I will give you that. Running in here to save the day. Standing up to that rather large bloke back there. But really we must talk about this. I'm sure –" Remus turned from her as a woman in a black skirt suit interrupted them. She was revealed as the couple in front of them moved off to the side. He had not noticed that they had reached another table with another Ministry official.

"Yes, hello, your papers?" the woman asked kindly. She seemed tired and upon closer inspection her shirt was wrinkled. "Remus J. Lupin and…Hermione J. Granger?" The woman looked up quickly, pushing up her glasses. "Hermione?" Her mouth opened at the sight of the two, properly taking in the sight of them.

"Pleasa, Ara, don't announce it across the room. Yes, it's me," hissed Hermione. At first, Remus felt taken a back at her refusal to be acknowledged, then he followed her line of sight and saw a cluster of reporters outside the department's doors. They were accosting werewolves as they were leaving, asking for interviews.

"Whatever you want," shot back Ara in a forced whisper. "You're not a werewolf are you?" Her eyes widened.

"Dear Merlin, look at the paper, what do you think?" Hermione said.

Before the woman could look down, Remus stepped in, "The werewolf would be me."

"Oh, right, that's what I figured. I mean, I've worked with Hermione for quite some time and she has never – you know – seemed like a werewolf." She paused. "Not that I mean werewolves seem one way or another."

"I'd say we all seem the same at certain time of the month," said Remus. He didn't think his smile helped ease the woman's apparent anxiety.

"Yes, so, now that you two have been," her eyes moved between the pair, "married, do you have your employment papers, Mr. Lupin? We need to file those next with the Ministry."

Hermione looked at him expectedly. He anxiously patted himself down as if he would find something, but he knew that he'd find nothing. He fiddled in his pockets, fingering a few holes, as if to find a slip of parchment that might have fallen through. Remus planned to be cut off from the wizarding world today; he had not brought any employment papers nor a wife with him. One had shown up unexpectedly. He sincerely doubted Hermione had brought along a new job for him as well.

"Remus? You did bring them, didn't you?" Hermione asked.

"Actually, would you believe it, I've left them at home," he said, finishing lamely. He looked back to the Ministry official. Hermione had called her, Ara, right? "Miss Ara, I -"

Clearing her throat, Hermione interjected, "This all happened rather quickly. You can understand. We came rushing down here trying to meet the deadline and completely forgot a few things. Someone was being rather stubborn." She shot a hurried scowl at Remus. "It looks like we don't have those papers on us."

"Oh, I see. You really are supposed to have them today. Mr. Diggory clearly said that this all must be taken care of today."

"Come on, Ara," whispered Hermione. "As if you like any of this."

"It's my job. What else am I supposed to do?"

Remus felt Hermione stiffen next to him. Her expression was stricken. Amos Diggory passed a few feet away from them. "Please," she hissed. "I'll do whatever."

Ara glanced sideways, noticed her departmental head and proceeded in an higher-pitched voice. "It seems, Mr. Lupin, that all is in order. As we work to streamline this process, please answer any Ministry owls or any direct summons to the Ministry. We look forward to working with you to make a brighter wizarding future. Just sign here. Both of you."

She thrust the quill at Remus, rather violently, as the feather poked him in the face. "Bought you some time," Ara said softly. "But not very much. We'll file these soon. Get me your papers as soon as possible. Send it express mail. You don't even want to know the consequences." Then her expression melted into one of cheerful neutrality. She looked past the pair and waved them on. "Congratulations. Have a great day."

For the third time that day, Hermione Granger grabbed Remus and proceeded to drag him behind her. The lobby had cleared out slightly as fewer and fewer people and "creatures" came through the double doors. Remus could hear Hermione muttering to herself, "There must be a back way out of here. There just must be."

"Where would this door be?" he asked. "Can't we just go out the front?"

She turned around on him, nearly bowling him over. Hermione pointed over her shoulder at the multiple doors, standing ajar, with multiple reporters standing outside. "Do you really want to go through that? They will have a field day with us. I can only imagine all the clever titles they will come up for us."

Remus groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. This was a very long day. "True. Excellent point. 'Werewolf Robs Harry Potter of Old Flame.'"

"That'd be a mild one," said Hermione darkly. "They'll want to make this whole event as sensational as possible."

"So, what's the plan? I haven't been in this department enough to know the in's and out's. No sane werewolf would have ever voluntarily shown their face in here. Might as well write a letter to the Prophet proclaiming your lycanthropy. Does this connect to your department?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure." Remus knew Hermione hated to admit her utter lack of knowledge on a subject. She let go of his hand to wring hers as her eyes darted around the emptying lobby. They would be spotted soon. Then, she pointed to a plain door off to the side. It did not have a person's name or a sub-department title on it. "Maybe that's something."

He jiggled the door handle for a moment and nothing happened. Hermione withdrew her wand from her cloak and whispered, "Alohomora."

A shrill alarm erupted around them. Remus pressed his hands to his ears briefly as his amplified hearing took a moment to adjust. Soon, he recovered and steered a shocked Hermione, who was trying to silence the siren, toward the front doors. They'd have to forget trying to get out quietly. Several Ministry officials were rising up from their desks and looking in their general direction. "Run," he said into her ear. He grabbed her hand and started through the thinning crowed; people moved away from the sound, plugging their fingers in their ears. Hermione shoved through the group, brandishing her wand when necessary, while her left hand stayed locked in Remus' grasp.

Briefly, the reporters were confounded by the alarm going off, but they soon zeroed in on the couple making their way through the doors. A few licked the tip of their quills in anticipation, while others flipped to a new page of parchment. The other werewolves that had been cornered for interviews looked immensely relieved to be let go. Remus could not say that he felt the same. He didn't want Hermione to have to go through anymore. She had already risked enough coming down here to save him.

As a few closed in, Remus muscled his way around them. "Move. Get out of the way or you will regret it," he said.

"Is that the man or the beast talking? You sound agitated. How are you feeling? Do you wish to comment?"

"How dare you – " started Hermione; her eyes flashed at that Daily Prophet reporter. But Remus cut her off. He pushed the recorders out of his face. "We have no comment. So move along, move out of the way."

"Are you married? Is that why you are here? How does Harry Potter feel about this?"

"None of your business," said Hermione in a shrill voice.

"What aren't you telling us? Are you married? Is it love?"

Flash bulbs went off around them. Several photographers swarmed them, abandoning the meager stream of werewolves and other creatures leaving the department. Remus raised his arm to block his face and keep the flash bulbs from blinding him. He pulled Hermione closer to him, causing her to be flush with his side. He didn't care how it looked or how they would write about it tomorrow. She deserved to be protected. With his arm around her shoulder, Remus kept her face turned away from them and ushered her into an empty lift.

None were able to follow into their elevator as Hermione cast a quick Protego bubble to keep them out. Remus was impressed she had not hexed someone sooner. She gripped her wand so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. She seemed to be having trouble breathing.

"Are you all right? Did something happen? Did they do something to you?" Remus asked. He ducked his head a little to get a better look at her face. As a nervous habit, she smoothed down her hair and took a deep breath.

"Sometimes crowds make me uneasy." She looked up at him. "Sometimes it feels like I'm being suffocated." Hermione took another deep breath, but still gripped her wand. "I nearly hexed them all. I was nearly ready to unleash Fiendfyre, if that meant it would stop."

Remus rubbed her shoulders, moving gently over the cloak fabric. "But you didn't. You kept a level head and maintained your composure. That's what counts. Now, we are going to walk out of this lift, to the Floo Network, and not look back. Okay?"

She nodded. "Okay." Taking another deep breath, she started, "I'm sorry. I'd thought I'd gotten better at handling this. If I'd – "

"You don't need to apologize. You've done nothing wrong. It is on them and their actions. You should never apologize for how you feel."

At his words, the lift stopped and dinged open to the main Ministry floor. Hermione did not immediately get out, but stared at him for a moment, as if considering him for the first time. He quirked an eyebrow at her and motioned toward the door for her to get out before him. She gave him a shaky smile and stepped into a nearly vacant lobby; Hermione made her way toward the nearest fireplace. The green fire cast a peculiar glow on the surrounding black and white tile.

Remus heard the footsteps first, one of the few perks of being a werewolf. "Go, get in," he urged her. "I think they've caught up to us."

He ducked into an open fireplace, being careful to not bump his head on the marble mantle. A tall, lean reporter rounded the corner with a quill and scroll of parchment bumping along behind him. He was moving surprisingly fast, running at nearly a sprint to catch up with them. Hermione reached out for Remus' hand, just as the man reached out for the tail of her cloak.

"Hermione!" yelled Remus. She whirled around as the green flames engulfed her with the reporter still attached to her. Hermione blasted him backwards as the Floo drew them into the network. She grabbed roughly onto Remus and he felt her start to Apparate. They were out of the protection of the Ministry; she could take them wherever she thought of. Slowly, being pulled by the Floo and Hermione's Apparation, they turned out of sight. Remus let his mind go blank, allowing Hermione to be in control. He had barely seen the reporter follow them in the Floo and watched her successfully hex him. They had gotten away. But Remus felt her tense immediately as the figure behind her set foot in the green flames that promised to whisk them all away.

As their feet slammed into solid ground, he remembered how she spoke about their previous hasty retreat from the Ministry after stealing Voldemort's amulet. How they were being chased by Yaxley and he grabbed her just as they were leaving , how Ron was splinched, how she thought she had killed him. Thank Merlin, she was brilliant enough to be caring essence of dittany with her. Hastily, Remus ran a hand over his extremities and found them to be intact. Then he whipped around looking to see where Hermione had landed. They had become disentangled during the last moments of Apparation, which was surprising considering how firmly she had grasped onto him in the Floo Network.

He found her laid flat out on her back. Her hair fanned out wildly around her head, and her red dress rode up her thighs, but she didn't seem to mind or notice either. She seemed enraptured with the clear blue sky above her that was becoming tinged with navy and purple. At the sight of him, Hermione hastily got to her knees, brushing off the bits of grass and dirt that clung to her.

"Are you all right?" asked Remus, as he held out a hand to help her up. "Are you injured? Does everything feel okay?"

Now standing, Hermione took off her cloak and shook it; bits of debris fell off. "I haven't been splinched. Although, I could have landed a bit more gracefully."

"Where are we?" Remus asked, looking around at the trees towering over them. The leaves were turning red and gold; a few fluttered down around them.

"This is the Forest of Dean. We're near Gloucester. It seems to be the only place I can think of when I need to Apparate on the spot." She leaned against a large oak tree. "We came here while hunting Horcruxes. Harry and Ron were practically useless when it came to thinking of safe places to hide. So, we came here a few times."

He peered at her face; she wasn't meeting his gaze. "Are you truly all right, Hermione?"

"I shouldn't have brought us here. I overreacted. When I felt the tug on my cloak, I knew we needed to get away, so I came to the first place that came to mind." She puffed out a breath, ruffling the hair that lay across her face.

"Well, the Ministry of Magic doesn't necessarily hold the best memories for us, does it?"

Hermione shook her head. "I barely made it to work the first week. They had a hard time removing that awful fountain with all the Muggles at the base. I kept expecting to see Death Eaters at every turn. All I could see was Yaxley's face again…" She stared off for a moment before motioning for him to follow her. "There's a lake nearby."

He fell in step with her as they loudly crunched through the brown fallen leaves. The air felt chillier as the sun began to set. Remus could see a glint of water in the distance. Hermione pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders and kept her expression neutral. Remus noticed how pained she looked as she mentioned coming to this forest with Harry and Ron. He had heard a briefly about their Horcrux hunt and could only imagine how difficult it must have been. It was obvious the boys had leaned heavily upon Hermione to get them through. They had both been fighting the war, just in different ways.

The brightest color around them was Hermione's crimson dress. He finally broke the silence. "I'm sure this isn't how you imagined getting married."

"Oh," she said softly. "I never had any sort of dreams about getting married."

"Never? You and Ron never discussed?"

"You may find it hard to believe that a girl couldn't care less about having a wedding. Sure, we talked about it a time or two, but never seriously. It was the war; we were always running. Running to find Horcruxes. Running from snatchers. Getting married was never a top priority." The ground slopped down slightly. A slight breeze ruffled the otherwise still lake water. It lapped languidly at the shore. The waxing moon emerged from behind the tree line. Hermione wrapped her arms around herself. "And you?" she asked, glancing over at Remus. She paused, rethinking her words. "If you don't want to – you don't have to. I don't mean to pry."

Remus felt his mouth go a bit dry. The moon stared back at him. "Silver and pink." He grimaced at the color combination. "That's what she wanted. She wanted our wedding colors to be representative of us. Silver." He pointed to himself. "And she was the pink. I agreed only because she liked the idea so much. She'd show me things from magazines and I agreed. She very much had an ideal wedding in mind."

"Why didn't you ever go through with it?" Hermione asked.

"I think we have something in common. The war kept getting in the way. Somehow we could never set a date; we could never agree on when a good time would be to have it. So, we just never did. We soon forgot about it."

Hermione leaned closer to him, slipping her arm through his, locking them together. She slowly let her head rest against his shoulder. "If you could go back, would you? And change everything?"

Slightly shocked at her questions, Remus said, "That would be complicated. What if one thing kept Harry from winning, kept Voldemort from being defeated –"

Her voice was quiet; luckily, he could make out what she said over the rustling leaves and lapping lake water. "But would you?"

"Yes," Remus said.

"Me, too. I would die to keep them all safe."

"Hermione-"

"Oh, don't 'Hermione' or 'Miss Granger' me. You'd do the very same. It's been two years, but sometimes it feels like nothing." Her voice thickened and she had to clear her throat. "I shouldn't have brought us here." Roughly, she disentangled her arm from his and turned away from the lake. She rubbed her eyes and ran her fingers through her tangled hair. Apparating only made it more unruly.

"I'm sorry," said Remus. "You've already done so much and now this last thing, having to marry me, just to keep the Ministry happy. You didn't have to-"

"Of course, I did." She wiped at the moisture forming at the corners of her eyes. "You're safe now. I've saved you. I couldn't very well lose you, too."

Hermione Granger: his savior in a red dress with wild, untamable hair. "Thank you," he said.