As the group planned to disperse, Remus walked over to where Sirius was stood by the doorway, once more. Hermione glanced at them briefly, wondering if they were discussing her. Simultaneously, Sirius glanced over at Hermione in reaction to something Remus had said, confirming her suspicion. Startled after catching his eye, Hermione put her head back down to her books as she turned the page with a shaky hand.
"Back to work then, for now please, and I shall begin working on a light lunch, straight away," Molly informed the group. Sighing, Ron placed his empty glass on the coffee table, as Ginny drained the last of her drink from the glass. Waiting for the two of them, Harry rose slowly, "Are you coming, Hermione?" He asked her. Before she could answer, Sirius prodded Remus who, nodding, turned to say, "Actually, I'd just like a word with Hermione first, if that's okay." Harry nodded, glancing at his godfather suspiciously as he stood by the door, avoiding Harry's eyes, "And we may as well take out the glasses, Molly," Remus added. "Oh would you, Remus? Thank you," She smiled kindly, as she ushered the others upstairs.
Not saying a word, Remus began to collect up the glasses as Hermione packed away her notes. Once she had done, she rose awkwardly, and reached over to carry some of the glasses. Balancing them carefully, she carried her notes and the glasses into the kitchen, Remus followed behind her. Conscious of his being, Hermione shivered nervously as she headed over to the sink. "Watch out!" Remus called from behind her. Frowning, Hermione glanced down and realised that in her haste to get away from the awkwardness of the situation, she had almost put her notes into the sink, and had left the glasses on the table.
This seemed to confirm Remus' thoughts and so he placed the glasses he held carefully beside the sink, before walking over to the table and pulling out two chairs. "Hermione..." he began carefully. She sat down, looking across at the wall as she played with her sleeve under the table. "What's wrong?" he asked quizzically, unsure exactly where to begin. He too, was looking away from her, nervously. "N-Nothing..." she replied. Sighing, Remus turned to face her, realising that if he wasn't acting nervous, then she would maybe relax more too. Feeling compelled, Hermione turned to face Remus. "You've been seeming rather...nervous, recently," he continued, pressing the point. He and Sirius had decided against asking her straight out, to save tedious questions if she had in fact, not seen them together, in the unlikely event that that was the case.
As he had expected, Hermione began to calm down slightly, remembering back in her third year how kind Professor Lupin had been, and this urged her to talk to him. "I...last night, I went looking for Crookshanks..." Hermione began. Remus composed his expression and nodded, urging her to go on, "and I saw a shadow going into the kitchen, I thought it belonged to Crookshanks, I swear had I know I wouldn't have gone in there..." she continued, rambling anxiously. Remus, unable to continue his calm composure for much longer, clenched his fist as he bit down on his lip, wondering how much Hermione had actually seen. "It's okay...go on..." Remus prompted again, trying to keep his voice steady. With a small sigh of relief, Hermione continued, "At first, I thought we were being burgled, because the noises were coming from the by the door... " Hermione smiled slightly, as she watched a pink blush rise through Remus' cheeks. Unsure if she needed to go on, Hermione sat in silence, watching as Remus thought about what to say and do next.
"We thought someone must have been there," he began, looking penseive, "because we heard the cat Meow... but we didn't see anyone after that, so we wondered if you had just left the cat wandering around..." he trailed off. As a small chuckle escaped Remus' lips, Hermione glanced at him questioningly, "Wha..." she began, "And of course, we realised it was you straight away. Well, I saw you first, didn't I, when I called you for breakfast. I don't think you realise how on edge you were, the others thought you were getting stressed with all the exams coming up, but of course, Sirius and I knew differently..." Hermione watched, fascinated as a lustful smile lit up Remus' scarred face, at his mention of Sirius. Hating to bring him away from his day dream, Hermione spoke again, "How...how did you know it was me?" Remus blinked, coming back to the present, "Well, has anyone else been jumping whenever one of us turns to talk to them? Who else got extremely nervous and agitated as they reached for some toast at the same time as Sirius...?" Remus finished with a pointed look. "And then, of course, after you'd spilt the drink, I realised I should maybe talk to you about it; I don't want your results being affected because you can't sleep for thinking of us," he smiled kindly. Remus made a small movement as though to put his hand on her shoulder, but he decided against it. Hermione wasn't sure if she was grateful or not, yet.
"So, erm...how long?" Hermione asked him after a short silence, Remus glanced away, calculating, "Well, just two years, recently, although we were kind of together back at school..." Hermione cocked her head, thinking about James' involvement. As if guessing her thoughts, Remus shook his head, "No, James didn't...take part, so to speak," Hermione blushed, startled at the direction the conversation had turned; she hadn't even considered James to be with them too... of course, she knew now that he wasn't, but it surprised her that she hadn't thought of it, nonetheless. "He knew though," Remus continued, not knowing her thoughts, "After attempting to get Sirius a girlfriend for three months with no results, we had to tell him," Remus finished, laughing at the memory, before finishing with a sad, lonely sigh. Frowning, Hermione reached out, her hand no longer shaking, to comfort Remus in some way. He smiled at her, "I'm fine," he answered, once again, guessing her thoughts.
She sat, thinking, for some time, "Does...does anyone here know?" She asked him, before all her words were out of her mouth, he was shaking his head, "Then, I really am sorry for...seeing you," she continued, stopping whatever he was going to say. "Don't worry about it, Sirius did suggest that we go upstairs..." Hermione frowned, not wanting the images to slide through her mind once more, "Sorry," he cut himself off, blushing once more, "I got carried awa..." he stopped again, trying to phrase it so it didn't sound like he was referring to his get together with Sirius. Hermione stifled a laugh, aware of what he was doing. Then, she sighed, rising from her seat, "I'd better go and help tidy up the house," she said, as Remus nodded. "Me too," he said, rising after her, reaching for the last couple of glasses. "Are you sure you're okay now?" He turned back to her, on his way to the sink, "Yes. I'll keep quiet about it too..." She added, wondering how she would avoid the questions of what her and Remus discussed, "I'd appreciate that, for now, but we were thinking it may be time to tell the others...Tonks, at least ought to know. Harry, too, would find the news...interesting," he concluded, turning back to the sink. "Okay," Hermione replied cheerfully, picking up her notes as she headed to the stairs, "Thanks again," she called as she headed up the stairs.