As the full moon started to wane, Hermione turned away from the cage and moved to the corner of the basement where she had a stack of blankets, a basket of bandages and healing potions and lotions, and then a cup of water. As soon as the whimpers of the wolf slowly turned into Remus' desperate shrieks, Hermione rushed over and unlocked his cage. As injuries went after transformation, Remus was relatively unscathed. Hermione gently wrapped the blanket around Remus and led him to a mattress she had conjured just outside of the cage. Remus was barely awake, but she slipped him a potion before he completely dozed off. With no other wounds to care for, Hermione sat there for a few more minutes, set up his clothes next to the mattress, and then headed upstairs for a brief sleep before she started to make breakfast. She carefully tucked the newspaper under her arm; Hermione made a promise she wouldn't tell Remus until he was fully recovered from this full moon.

That plan was cheerfully destroyed when Harry and Ginny decided to stop by just as she was serving Remus breakfast.

"Hermione! Did you get last night's paper?"

"What are you to going to do?"

"Sirius volunteered that you two could always stay in Grimmauld Place with him. Dumbledore would be the Secret Keeper and everything."

"How many registered werewolves do you think there are in Britain?"

"Yes, I got last night's paper. I have no idea how many werewolves there are in Britain, although I suspect there are many more unregistered ones. Remus and I have not discussed what we are going to do."

"What are you all talking about?"

Hermione wordlessly slid him the paper. " Page three. Halfway down. I read it to you last night. I…I was going to let you read it once I was sure you were feeling better."

Remus quickly flipped open the paper. While he was reading, Hermione, Ginny and Harry cast each other nervous glances.

"Absolutely not. Hermione, you…we'll just get a divorce. File those papers again. Or we could say you went back to live with you parents. Send you to American or somewhere further away."

"And leave you to be executed? No. Nor am I spending my entire life in hiding. Grimmauld Place, America, or otherwise. Besides, the wolf hasn't hurt me yet."

"I've been in a cage every time I've transformed!"

"Not when you saved me from Greyback. You didn't come near me, let alone scratch me. And when I was with you last night you were calmer."

"Hermione, I don't know. Werewolves are never really safe are they?"

"Harry's right. When I used to transform in the Shrieking Shack, before Sirius and James and Peter, I would bite and scratch myself because there was nothing else. But if the wolf had a human, and in such small quarters, you wouldn't stand a change. The wolf was distracted by Greyback before. He was the bigger threat."

"You did what you could." Ginny told her. "You saved his life this far. But maybe it would just be best for you to get a divorce and Remus can just hide you with Sirius."

"Sirius is going crazy living alone. Remus isn't going to want to hide out for the rest of his life as well."

"I would be willing to do that if I meant Hermione would be safe."

"No. I'm not doing it. I'm not letting you end up skulking in that hell-hole for the rest of your life. I trust you. And I trust the wolf. You can't remember what happened. You attack Greyback and then saved me. You didn't ignore me, you didn't walk away, you turned towards me and then saved me!"

Remus sighed. "Hermione, I – "

" – I trust you with my life. Harry, Ginny, you can go back and tell the others that I've made my choice."

Harry grinned. "And I see Remus has gotten a fair bit to say about that. Bossy as ever."

"Harry! You support this?"

"I've know Hermione. If she says she'll be safe, then I trust her judgment."

Ginny looked a bit skeptical, "I think we should talk it over with Dumbledore and the rest of the Order. We can't lose either of you!"

"Dumbledore will know what to do. I'll go call a meeting later tonight."

As soon as Harry and Ginny left, Remus turned furiously to Hermione. "This decision is not final. I'm not going to let you die."

"Nor will I let you die or be holed up in some house. We've been through this same conversation again and again. My opinions aren't going to change. But if you insist, wait and see what Dumbledore says."

"Even if Dumbledore supports…this…idea…I – what if I woke up to find you…to find bits of you…scattered around the cell? Your blood all over the cell, having the taste of your flesh and blood in my mouth for the next few days…knowing that I'll have killed Hermione Granger. Harry Potter's best friend. The smartest witch of her age. Killed by the monster she claimed to have loved."

"I won't be killed. But if I am, it will be a noble cause to die for. Hermione Granger killed defending her husband. Killed supporting her ideas that lycanthropes are no monsters."

"I…that's very Gryffindor of you."

"I suppose it is. Keeping true to that – I'm going to pull out the courage and go face all the fun people I'm going to met today. I'll see you tonight at the meeting."

Hermione grabbed her briefcase and jacket and headed out the door. Remus stopped her before she left, pulling her in for a kiss.

"I'm going to call of the meeting. I'll tell Dumbledore we'll both be there on the full moon. If nothing, it will prove I trust my brilliant and gorgeous wife…"

Hermione blushed. Feeling confident and satisfied, she left. In the back of her mind however, nagging thoughts persisted. Remus wouldn't give up that easily. He never had before. It just wasn't in his nature. Hermione took an early lunch break and addressed three letters: one to Harry, one to Ginny, and one to Sirius. Each one had a request that they watch Remus carefully from now until the full moon. She didn't need to hover over him, just make sure he wasn't filing out divorce papers. Worse, Hermione could imagine far more drastic actions he could take if Remus was that desperate to save her. Thirty days. They only had to make it thirty days.