The table sat in stunned silence, Hermione painfully conscious of the empty seat next to her.
"Well, what was that about?" Ron asked.
"Tactful as usual," Hermione thought, though she too was curious. They all stared at Mad-Eye.
His eye was pointed to the ceiling while his fingers drummed the table. "I don't know," he finally answered. "If something had gone wrong we would have known about it. Unless…" and suddenly he stopped talking and rolled his eye back so that it stared around the table. "Order meeting, now. All non-members, out immediately." Harry and Ron opened their mouths in protest, and even Ginny looked belligerent, but Mrs. Weasley had already magically cleared the table, and was ushering them out.
"Fred, George," she said, grabbing both twins by their ears. "Empty your pockets this instant."
The two stared at her. "What mum, you don't trust us?"
"Do it!" She said ignoring their question. Extendable ears, fake wands, a few dung-bombs, and a stolen bun fell from their pockets as Mrs. Weasley finally pushed them out the door.
"Like we don't have extras," they both sneered, apparating to their room.
The door was shut in front of them, but Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny could still hear soft voices from behind it. "Reckon we should listen in?" Ron asked, but even before the four of them could press their ears against the door, they heard the strong voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt call out "silencio!" and everything behind the door went quiet.
"Twins won't have much luck with their extendable ears now," Harry noted, staring at the now impervious door.
Hermione simpered. "Let's not tell them."
Ginny smirked and then asked, "what was Remus doing anyway? What did he finish early?"
"He was with Greyback, wasn't he?" Hermione began slowly climbing the stairs and expecting the rest to follow her. Harry and Ron recognized her tone from times she helped them on homework she expected them to understand. They rolled their eyes at one another, but continued listening. Whatever she had to say was not so obvious to them. "So obviously his task had something to do with the werewolves, and if he finished it," She was at her bedroom door now, whispering so that the other three were forced to lean in close. "Well then that's a major blow against Voldemort, isn't it?"
"And if he hasn't?" Harry asked, eyeing the room next to them, but Hermione had already shut her bedroom door behind her.
………………………………………………….
Remus was staring at himself in the bathroom mirror, breathing deeply, his face wet from where he'd splashed it only seconds before, when he heard her door close. He froze, instantly alert to her movements, sounds, and smells. He could hear as she walked across the room and listened as the springs of her bed groaned beneath her. He heard her pick up a book and almost instantly put it down again, not even bothering to open it, and he listened as she once again padded across the room, this time stopping in front of her bathroom door.
He could hear her breathing.
Slowly, he backed away from the sink, towards his own room, and closed the door lightly behind him. Sliding down it's frame, Remus sighed, and tried desperately to underplay the events that had taken place at dinner. Surely he hadn't been that sharp, surely Moody hadn't realized that much, surely Hermione hadn't…but no. He didn't want to underplay Hermione. Pushing all other thoughts from his mind, Remus focused on the image of her smiling face, inches from his. He groaned. "What have you gotten yourself into moony? She's half your age." But before Remus could convince himself of all the other reasons his feelings were wrong, a knock sounded at his door.
"What?" He asked, aggravated and distracted, not bothering to get up and open it.
"Umm, professor?" He heard Hermione call from behind the door frame. "I was just making sure you were alright. Sorry, I'll come back –" But before she could finish her sentence, Remus had bounded across the room to open the door. He stood panting, leaning on the door knob for support, smiling at Hermione.
"No Hermione, you're – you're quite alright, I promise you. Would you like to come in?" He opened the door wider and motioned into his bedroom. She smiled and walked past him.
His room was dark and empty looking. He hadn't had time to unpack yet, and the two suitcases made the room look as if it had been packed away: only the bare essentials were present. An oaken, four-poster bed sat against the far wall, taking up most of the room's space, while a desk was pressed awkwardly in a corner, it's chair too big to fit beneath it.
"I'm trying for a kind of bohemian, funeral parlor theme." He said, noticing her scrutiny.
Hermione laughed. "I think you're close."
He stared at for a few seconds more, before saying "I'm sorry Hermione, for what happened at dinner. I shouldn't have reacted that way."
She didn't look at him, continuing instead to stare at the desk. "What did happen professor?" She asked tentatively, not wanting to stir his temper any more than it already had been. She risked a glance up at him and bit her lip in nervousness. "Why are you home so early?"
Remus sighed. "Please, don't call me professor Hermione," he said, taking a seat in the oversized arm chair that served as a desk seat.
Hermione waited for his answer, and quickly realized it wasn't coming. She glanced around the room awkwardly, her eyes falling on his bathroom door. "Why were you trying to get into my room earlier pro- Remus?" She asked, her brow furled as she stared at the door.
Remus gaped at her, a little taken aback. "What?"
"Earlier tonight," she continued, shifting her glance to stare a Remus, not accusingly, but with interest. "You were trying to get into my room, that's why the curse went off. Why were you?"
She watched as Remus rubbed his neck nervously and raised his eyes to the ceiling, as if searching for an excuse. She felt a little jolt in her stomach.
"Oh you know Hermione, there was a door in my bathroom and I was interested to see where it went. Obviously I didn't know it was yours." He smiled at her diplomatically. "Though I wasn't aware it was a habit of yours to curse your doorframes."
Hermione grimaced. "I really can't tell you enough how sorry I am for—" but Remus raised a hand to silence her.
"There is absolutely nothing to apologize for. If all nurses were as dedicated and lovely as you were, I'd try to be engorged as often as possible." He flashed her a smile, and she looked embarrassed. "You have lifted the curse, haven't you?"
Hermione gasped. "No, I haven't. I completely forgot with the twins and everything else that happened." She laughed. "It would be a good idea to do, wouldn't it?"
Remus nodded and watched as Hermione padded across his bedroom to the bathroom door. She opened it quickly and stepped inside, out of Remus' vision, and he stood to follow her. "It shouldn't be too hard to lift," she called, as he leaned against his door frame to watch. Hermione quickly muttered something inaudible, and began spraying red sparks from her wand that made it appear almost as if she were welding her door closed. Remus smiled. He recognized the spell and knew immediately that it was, in fact, very difficult. "The brightest witch of her age," he thought.
The bathroom wasn't large, about big enough to hold one person when they were looking in the mirror, and when Hermione turned around she was almost face-to-face with her ex-defense against the dark arts professor. "All done," she said. "Should be safe for you to come and go as you please. Not that you would, obviously, just…" she trailed off awkwardly, sighing heavily and leaning back against the closed door. "Yeah."
"I feel safer already," Remus said, brushing a stray curl from her face.
Hermione was staring at him now, her bottom lip caught between her teeth and her eyes searching. She felt Remus lean forward and straightened her posture against the door. His forearm rested next to her head, his other hand bracing himself next to her hip, while he continued to stare at her. Their foreheads were almost touching, so close to contact, when Hermione whispered quietly. "Professor," she said, her eyes closed and face eager. Remus stopped himself, staring at the girl in front of him, and wondering what the hell he was doing. "Shit," he thought, moving the hand next to Hermione's hip to grasp the door knob, all the while pulling the rest of his body back. Hermione felt the door behind her open as her eyes did the same. Remus' forearm was still braced against the door, holding it ajar, but the rest of him had pulled away completely, as if afraid of any contact with her. She felt her body shiver.
"Goodnight Hermione," He said, not looking at her.
"Goodnight," and she hesitated slightly, "Remus."
He closed the bathroom door behind her, but not without noticing the bewildered expression on her face.
A/N: Who doesn't love sexual tension, really? This one's longer than most of them because I really liked writing it, but it's my last pre-written chapter, so updates might be a little sporadic. That is, unless I get lots and lots of desperate reviewers. raises eyebrows suggestively