A/N: Okay, so little side note for this chapter... Yes, I brought back the Time Turner, in an unexpected way. It's for a reason, so don't go bashing just yet ;) it's my story. I'll post chapter eight next week. Please review, they encourage me to continue in this story :) I love you guys! Thanks for being really supportive readers!

Three years earlier…

"I'm sorry I'm late."

Hermione looked up from her present. Remus Lupin was standing outside the kitchen. Even though she had seemed mad at him, she couldn't help but smile as he sat down at the table, sitting across from her. It was Christmas though, and she knew better than to be surprised that he was here.

Mrs. Weasley got up and rushed over to him, her usual motherly presence filling the air. "Remus! So glad you could make it. Here's your present dear," She placed a medium sized package in front of him and he smiled gently at her.

"Molly, you really didn't have to get me anything," he protested, but seemed to enjoy the present nonetheless.

Mrs. Weasley waved a hand at him. "Oh, pish posh, I'm more than happy to. Now, open it while I set out dinner." She left his side and proceeded to the front of the room.

Hermione stifled a giggle as he unwrapped it and revealed a knitted, mahogany sweater with the initials RL sewn in violet. "She always knew how to make things personal." he said, smirking at his gift. Hermione smiled at him.

"Want to see mine?" She held up a similar sweater, navy blue with the initials HG printed in pink. "At least we didn't get the vest," she nodded her head towards Ron who was now sporting a furry brown vest with his initials sewn on the chest. His face was as red as his hair.

Remus smiled, then took his tone down a bit further. "Listen, I'm sorry -"

"I got your letter. Its fine, Remus. But next time, keep a promise before you go and do something rash." She licked her dry lips cautiously, before shifting her gaze towards him again.

Remus smiled, "I promise."

Hermione opened her mouth to reply sharply back at him, but was interrupted as Sirius came in the kitchen. "Merry Christmas, everyone!"

Once again, the happy cheers from the Weasleys were reborn and Mrs. Weasley was edging her way past her children, eager to give Sirius his Christmas present. Hermione bowed her head, ignoring the amused looks from Remus. Sirius sat down in his usual spot at the end of the table, unwrapping his present but couldn't help but notice the tension between Remus and Hermione. It was almost suffocating.

"Where's Harry?" Mr. Weasley called from the other side of the table.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at his ironically black knitted sweater with a silver SB on the front, then looked up at the other man on the complete opposite end. "He'll be here in a minute, Arthur. Just had to get a few things from Diagon Alley."

They all looked a little surprise that Sirius approved of Harry going to the Alley by himself, and just as Mrs. Weasley was about to scold him for being so careless, Harry had walked in with a huge bag of what looked like gifts, representing a scrawny, black haired Santa Clause. The bag looked very heavy as he sat it down in an empty chair with a loud thud.

Hermione knitted her eyebrows together. "Harry, what's all this?"

Harry grinned from ear to ear as everyone tried to figure out what exactly he had done. "Presents! I got them in town today for everyone… here you go, Ron… Mr. and Mrs. Weasley…" and just like that, Harry had begun handing out presents to everyone.

"Lupin…" He handed his ex-professor a rectangular shaped package that looked suspiciously like a book. "Sirius…" Something similar was placed in front of him, only this time it rattled, with something inside it. "And last but certainly, not least… Hermione." Harry smiled at his best friend as he handed her his gift. Hermione smiled graciously, looking around at what everyone else got before opening hers.

Fred and George got a deluxe package of Filibuster's fireworks along with a huge box of Pumpkin Pasties. Mr. Weasley got a Muggle CD player, along with several Muggle CD's, to add to his collection. Mrs. Weasley received Celestina Warbeck's latest album and an extravagant knitting kit so she could begin next year's sweaters.

Ron got an expensive sweets box with every wizard candy imaginable and a mini-Quidditch court the size of a large bowl, with tiny players, tiny balls (all enchanted to play by themselves) and little hoops the size of bubble wands. Ginny got a signed poster of her favorite Quidditch team, the Holyhead Harpies and a broomstick grooming set.

Sirius had gotten a complete set of smoking tobacco, with various flavors like vanilla and peach, some that spelled out words as you smoked them, some that can even let you swap voices with another smoker. It also came complete with a purple and silver hookah.

Remus was a little shocked once he opened his Christmas present. "The Perfect Mate: A Werewolf's Guide to Making His Mark? Harry is this some kind of joke?" He asked incredulously, crossed between anger and embarrassment. He watched as Harry laughed rather loudly at him along with a deep voiced Sirius, both giggling like schoolgirls.

Finally, their excessive laughing had deceased and Harry nodded his head, a smile still displaying on his lips. "I couldn't resist, Lupin. Sorry. Here's your real present…" he handed Lupin another gift and this time, it had been a package of the chocolate he often carried around with him, and the entire Sherlock Holmes collected works, a very popular Muggle detective series that even most wizards knew about. It was one of Remus's favorite books.

Hermione opened her gift last, and savored the moment as the familiar smell of leather hit her nose. Unwrapping all the paper, at last a huge grin had written itself upon her face. It was a special edition of her favorite book, Hogwarts, A History, and a photo album with a note taped to it that read: Open later. She looked up with a questioning look but the smile he had on his face told her not to worry. Along with this was a book cleaner kit, and Cauldron Cakes.

"Harry!" She suddenly exclaimed. Hermione got up from her chair and threw her arms around her best friend. "I love it! Thank you, so much!" She smelled his sweet musky scent, getting lost a little before pulling away and looking at him with complete awe.

Harry pushed a curl from out of her face before returning the look. He touched her briefly on the arm before sitting back down in his chair along with her.

The scene had been shown throughout the kitchen, little "awes" and "that's so sweet," whispering about the room. No one thought anything by it… no one except Remus.

He sat idly in his chair, watching Hermione's face change expression after expression. He wanted to tell her how cute she looked when she was confused and beautiful when she was angry, and gorgeous when she was in complete bliss and happiness… but knew it would be inappropriate. Instead, he kept quiet, trying not to let the jealousy show in his eyes as she hugged Harry tightly, her breasts pressing against his flat chest and hair cascading softly among her shoulders. He tried to hold himself back from pouncing across the table and throwing Harry against the wall, as the young wizard brushed his fingers across Hermione's face, putting a chestnut curl back in its' place. He tried to hide the glowing redness seeping in his veins.

But one person did notice, because as Remus found himself twitching slightly uncomfortably in his chair, and a fist tightly forming into a ball, he heard a small cough next to him, and it shocked him so much, he immediately turned his head at Sirius.

Looking regretfully, yet sympathetically at him, Sirius gestured toward the hand that was ready to give his godson a sucker-punch. "Careful, Remus."

Remus sighed, untwisting his fist and running a sweaty palm through his hair, realizing how ridiculous he was being. "Sorry," he mumbled quietly. But he knew he couldn't stay in the crowded kitchen anymore. Excusing himself from the table, claiming he needed some air, Remus left the others to their Christmas cheer as he climbed up the staircase and headed to his room.

Hermione barely noticed anything, flipping through her fantastic, leather-bounded book. But it was almost as if a part of her had left the room when she looked up to notice that Remus was gone. She looked over at Sirius, hoping he would give an explanation, but he was too engrossed with his tobacco and a funny conversation with Fred and George, that he didn't even pay attention when Mrs. Weasley was trying to get everyone's attention to the carving of the Christmas turkey.

She took this moment as an excuse to go and get Remus, but she knew it was really because she had to know what was on his mind. Ever since Harry had arrived it seemed like he was in some sort of daze, she couldn't work her way through. Grabbing her presents to stuff in her room along the way, Hermione left, heading upstairs first to see if he was in his room.

Laying her gifts down on her bed, Hermione dashed into the hallway and up the stairs to the third floor. There, immediately, she saw that his door was open. "Remus, we're about to start carving the turkey…" She called as she stopped in the door frame. Then, she furrowed her eyebrows together.

Apparently he hadn't heard her because Remus was still sitting at his desk, head in his hands. Hermione felt like she should make her presence noticeable, but she didn't say a word. Instead she stood there and watched him in her study mode.

Remus appeared stressed, and she could only venture a guess as to why. She had completely thrown herself at Harry, right in front of his eyes when she knew perfectly well what his feelings toward her were. But he should know better that her friendship with Harry would never be anything more. And surely he would have enough common sense as to realize this. It was obvious among the Weasleys, it was obvious among the Order… She just couldn't see how his feelings overcame his logic. It never did that to her.

That was a lie. Hermione thought back to the summer night they shared here, his lips pressing against hers. If she did have logic over emotions during that time, it would have never happened.

There was something about Remus's frustrated state that charmed her deeply. He was strongly going through denial, trying his best to keep things at an appropriate level and she couldn't be more pleased to see him try. But it hardened her heart, as if she was torn between the reason of her not being attractive to him, or simply because he didn't want to cause harm to the situation than what has already been damaged. She loved the way he was jealous of another man, she relished his rivalry and animalistic urges towards her.

Rushing her mind back to reality, Hermione focused on the big picture in front of her. She knocked softly against his door.

Remus looked up from his palms, face red, and immediately shot up from his chair. "Hermione! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there…"

"It's alright," she replied, smiling at him. "I just wanted to see if you were okay. I saw you walk out of the kitchen and it seemed as though something was bothering you."

He sighed, "It's fine, I'm over it." He looked uncertain, but Hermione kept her mouth shut. "Did you say something about the turkey?" Remus kindly changed the subject, and she noticed but played along.

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley was just getting ready to carve it. Are you coming?"

Remus nodded. "Of course… Wait!"

Hermione paused as she was getting ready to leave his room and watched as he searched around all over the place, obviously looking for something. What after seemed like hours, he finally retrieved a small looking package from under his bed. Remus blushed slightly and handed it to Hermione. "Merry Christmas! I hope you like it…"

She grinned widely at him. "Oh, Remus! You really didn't have to,"

"I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to." He returned the smile. "Now go on, open it."

She proceeded and unwrapped it delicately. It was a small, black wooden box and carefully, she lifted the lid up. Hermione let a small gasp slip out. "It's… a Time Turner!" She breathed, bewildered. "You remembered! Oh, Remus…" And just as she had done before with Harry, Hermione was now wrapping her arms around his neck and embracing him.

In her third year, Hermione was granted the benefits of having a Time Turner to take multiple classes. Unfortunately, Dumbledore had to take it from her and destroy it, removing it's memory of her and Harry saving Sirius. So the past year and a half her classes had decreased back to normal and Hermione felt completely useless without it. Now what was troubling her was how he got the money for it. She knew Remus wasn't exactly the richest man in the world - actually he was quite poor to be honest.

Her embrace released and she looked at him, then back to the Time Turner. "But, how did you…" she felt embarrassed to finish her sentence, but he seemed to understand what she was saying.

"Well, I can't pretend that it was no trouble getting it. However, with a few galleons from Harry, the last paycheck from Hogwarts that I had saved over, and of course approval from the Ministry and Dumbledore himself, I managed. Believe me, Hermione, it was completely worth it and I don't regret it."

Without thinking, Hermione had pressed her trembling lips to his cheek and whispered in his ear, "Thank you, Remus. I love it."

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