A/N: It's been forever. Trust me I know. I'm going to try to do this again. I hope that everyone hasn't abandoned me...
I don't own it.
It took Hermione nearly 10 seconds to regain consciousness enough to breathe again and almost a full minute before she could move. Her hand remained above her head as if Remus were still holding it until she collapsed onto the floor, shaking. She felt the most intense sense of loss. It was like something in her very core had been stolen, something she hadn't even realized was there, but also something that she knew she desperately wanted back. Or just wanted, for that matter. After all, no one had ever made her feel the way that Remus did and no one had ever kissed her the way Remus Lupin had not even 5 minutes before.
Five minutes. That was all the time it had been, but Hermione felt as if she'd been sitting on her bedroom floor with the wall as her only support for days. As soon as she felt Remus pressed against her time had stopped for Hermione. She remembered the look in Remus eyes as it changed from anger to desire. She could feel his breath on her mouth as he moved towards her unbearably slowly. His lips had immediately molded to hers as his body followed suit, pressing so closely against Hermione that it was nearly impossible to tell where she ended and he began. Though the situation hardly called for it, Remus' touch was tender as his tongue traced the outline of Hermione's lips, his hand almost imperceptibly grazing her stomach. The contact made Hermione gasp delightfully and, in the second her mouth opened to take a breath, Remus' tongue found its way inside. Ever so lightly, almost cautiously, his tongue grazed against Hermione's and, for the first time, Hermione acted without thinking. She pulled herself even closer to him, twisted her delicate hands into his hair, and moaned sensually. But her desire was quickly changed into confusion as Remus pulled away from her, and then sadness as she collapsed onto her bedroom floor. It wasn't until she'd had time to replay the event over and over again in her mind that she was able to finally determine the way she felt.
Hermione Granger was decidedly and resolutely pissed off, and this time, things were not going to end so well for Remus.
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Remus stood dazedly in the 3rd story library that he'd apparated to automatically. He'd staggered backwards slightly upon landing and was now leaning against a book shelf with his body facing a blazing fire that, even though Remus was staring into it intently, could not burn away the image of Hermione Granger's face. He could literally still taste her in the air around him, could still feel every place on his body that she'd touched, could remember...
"No," he moaned, pushing himself away from the bookshelf. "No, no, no. How could you have let this happen? How could you? She's only a girl..."
But, of course, Hermione was not only a girl. If her kiss was any indication, Hermione had grown up considerably, but Remus refused to let himself think of that now. His sole concern was ensuring that what had happened in Hermione's bedroom never happened again. He'd known it was coming- of course he had. He'd wanted it since he'd walked in the door of Grimuald Place. Probably before that even. After all, Fenrir had hardly ever spoken kindly about muggle-borns, why hadn't his insults driven Remus to murder before?
"Because of her," Remus said aloud. Because there was something about Hermione Granger that made him want to save her and kill her all at the same time. He wanted to protect her and devour her, shake her and hold her, kiss her and bite- no. He didn't want to do that. Moreover, he didn't want to want to do that. And he didn't want to hurt her either. He could only imagine how she'd reacted to being assaulted and then immediately abandoned by her professor. "I have to say something to her," he thought, but just as he was about to apparate from the room the door opened behind him and blew out the once-blazing fire. Remus was not going anywhere.
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