Remus pulled away shell-shocked. On one hand, it was definitely the best kiss he had ever had the pleasure of participating in, but on the other hand he was a werewolf. A werewolf who had very strong feelings for this petite girl standing in front of him, watching curiously. He slowly came back to his senses, as he registered the sniggering of his two best friends in the background, which was accompanied by two thuds and simultaneous yelps of pain. Smiling, he took a hold of Hermione's hand and pulled her away from the Great Hall and out into the snow covered grounds.

"Remus, hold up," Hermione panted, "Where are we going?" Remus paused in his tracks and turned back to look at his date. Stunned by how beautiful Hermione was with her hair flying everywhere, and bright rosy cheeks, he let out a loud laugh. Hermione smiled in confusion.

"Sorry, I was just caught up with how gorgeous you are." Remus grinned.

Hermione blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear coyly. "So what are we doing out here?"

Remus took a deep breath, "Well...we've known each other for a few months, and there's something I need to tell you...It's a secret that only a few people know, but before I tell you, I need to know if I can trust you..." He trailed off looking at her face concernedly. He took a deep breath before continuing, "So, I was thinking that if I tell you a secret, then maybe you could share a secret with me, and that way we're trusting each other?" And then I can finally find out what it is you're hiding from me that James and Sirius already know...he thought to himself.

Hermione's brow furrowed as she thought over Remus' offer. On the one hand it would be so easy to lie to Remus, but on the other, a small part of her wanted to tell him everything; that she was from the future, that she had been head over heels in love with him for over a year, that she knew what would happen to his friends in the future, that she knew how to get rid of Voldemort... She looked into Remus' earnest amber eyes and sighed. There was no way she could do that to him, not when there was some chance of her returning to a future without him... "Remus, I trust you, and I want you to be able to trust me, which is why I'm going to say what I'm going to say first." She rubbed her arm sheepishly before saying, "I know. I know what you are Remus."

Remus drew back slightly in shock. "Wha-what are you saying? You know? How can you know?!"

Hermione sighed, "I know that you're a werewolf. I've known all along, you kept sneaking around, you were severely ill and pale the week leading up to the full moon, it's the classic symptoms that a -uh- good friend of mine used to exhibit. He was a werewolf too, and one of the bravest, and kindest men I've ever known." she explained calmly, stretching her hand out to clasp onto his.

Remus' jaw dropped. "You knew?! And you never mentioned it to me?"

Hermione smiled, "I figured you'd tell me when you were ready, plus, now you know you can trust me, I've kept this quiet for four months so far." Remus nodded numbly, hand clammy in Hermione's.

"Well -uh- I guess we should back in then, and -uh- rejoin the others?" he queried as he heard the cheers of his classmates as the clock neared midnight, signalling the start of the Christmas Break. Hermione nodded, and lead Remus back into the Great Hall.

"Ah, finally, the prodigal wolf returns!" Sirius cheered as Hermione and Remus neared the group. Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius' drunken antics before swiping the cup from the drunken man's hand. "So...what'd you guys talk about?" Sirius whispered.

Hermione pulled away from Sirius' leering laughingly, "Oh nothing much, just discussing his furry little problem, and saying how I don't have an issue with it."

James grinned, and slapped Remus on the back, "Moony you old dog, I told you she wouldn't have a problem with it!" Remus shrugged James' hand off his back and smiled happily. There was nothing for him to worry about, apart from the secret that everyone was clearly hiding from him. But he wasn't going to let that affect him. No Siree. Not Remus J. Lupin. He was going to take a leaf out of Hermione's book and wait for her to tell him instead. Yep. That's what he was going to do. Mhm-Nope, he couldn't do it, that stupid secret was going to eat away at his very being, he had to figure out what it was!

"So, what do you guys want to do now? Go back to the common room? Go out for a quick fly?" Sirius asked, watching people file out of the Great Hall slowly. "I mean, we could go out on an adventure? It's Christmas break after all, so we can't get into trouble right? Come on guys we need to do something fun!" he babbled, looking around the table for more alcohol to drink. "So what do you think guys? Guys?" he yelped as he realised that his friends had already left the Hall. Scrambling up he raced after his friends shouting profanities at them for leaving him.

Meanwhile, in a cold, dark room, somewhere in the countryside, screams of pain reverberated around a stone room. "This is not good enough Wormtail, how do they know about your status?" an eerie voice hissed through the darkness.

Peter Pettigrew law on the stone floor, shivering and crying as the Cruciatus curse was lifted once again. "I-I-I'm not sure My Lord, I overheard her say something about changing the future? The four newcomers seem to know a lot about everyone, and they're very powerful." he whimpered quietly.

Voldemort emerged from the darkness, his pale face eerie in the moonlight. "The future? Then they know what will happen to me. Whether I succeed or not, how to kill that old mudblood lover Dumbledore. Bellatrix! Gather everyone, we must discuss how to get those children!" He commanded, eyes flashing red.

Bellatrix grinned maniacally, before raising her wand to the dark mark branded onto her skin.

Back in Hogwarts, Harry Potter woke up sweaty and afraid.