XXXIX

What Lies Ahead

After lunch Hermione was forced back into bed rest. Mrs. Weasley entered the dining room and then quickly ushered her out of the room. Remus followed behind, assuring Mrs. Weasley that he could take Hermione to bed. She still followed them down the hallway to Remus' bedroom. Hermione blushed as the woman even accompanied Hermione to Remus' bed, not caring at all that this was Remus' bedroom, not Hermione's.

"Severus needs to check on you, dear," Mrs. Weasley informed Hermione, crossing her arms and looking down at the girl in bed, "I'll send him up here in a moment, and after that you will cooperate and get some rest." She said these final words with a pointed finger at Hermione and then a stern glance at Remus. Both were blushing and nodding vigorously.

"Lovely," Mrs. Weasley sighed, wiping her hands on her apron and leaving the room. Remus chuckled softly and grinned at Hermione, who was tucked up in bed, her head propped against several pillows the woman had forced on her.

A moment later none other than Severus Snape entered Remus' bedroom, a sour look on his face. "Hello, Professor," Hermione greeted him cheerfully.

He grumbled an unenthusiastic response as he approached the bed, glaring at Remus to move out of the way. Remus stepped aside, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Hermione's feet.

"Any pains?" Snape asked.

"The wound feels sore and stings to the touch," she answered, "but nothing other than that."

Snape nodded. "Any dizziness or loss of vision?"

She shook her head briskly. At the foot of the bed, Remus wore a tight-lipped expression.

Snape nodded once more. "I'll have to change the dressing on the wound now," he murmured, looking decidedly uncomfortable.

"Okay," Hermione chirped. She was getting a strange sort of amusement out of the way Snape squirmed with discomfort. She shifted upright in bed and pulled her jumper off. Remus quirked an eyebrow at her from the foot of the bed. She smiled sweetly at him, laying down once more in only her bra. The gauzy bandage covered the upper left side of her chest.

With a mechanical flick of his wand, Snape banished the bandage. Hermione took the chance to pick her head up and look at the wound. It was horribly grotesque, a mess of blotchy red skin and torn flesh. The center of the wound was the worst; one could clearly see the deep gash of where the blade had dug into her chest.

Snape flicked his wand and a cast two more spells. The first made the wound tickle a little and the second sent a cool sensation washing over the damaged skin.

"That should dull the pain," Snape murmured, flicking his wand and causing another gauzy bandage to appear, wrapping itself over Hermione's wound. "The dressing needs to be changed again in about twelve hours."

He looked like he was about to leave, stepping away from Hermione's bedside. "Wait," she said, stopping him in his tracks while she pulled her jumper back over her head, "I have a question."

"Yes, Miss Granger?" He replied, turning to face her once more.

"I've been informed that you used some sort of dark spell to heal me," she murmured, playing with the edge of the quilt that covered Remus' bed.

"Yes. I did."

"What was it?"

Remus sat up a little, looking at Snape curiously. Hermione simply watched him. He appeared emotionless. "It was harmless dark magic, if that's what you're worried about," he informed her stonily. "I siphoned the poison from the silver out of your body using a blood summoning spell. The reason I had Remus leave the room was because the process of removing the poison is unsightly. You had something of a seizure, and you were in immense pain, despite being unconscious."

"Oh," Hermione exhaled, her gaze floating to Remus, who was staring at Snape anxiously. "Well," she turned back to Snape, "thank you, Professor. I think I owe you my life."

Snape pursed his lips, "it would seem so." Without saying another word, he turned and made his way out of the room.

Hermione shared a confused glance with Remus before she smiled, "my suspicions have been confirmed."

Remus smiled, making his way over to where Hermione laid, "what do you mean by that?" He slipped under the covers and wrapped his arms around her.

"He has a soft spot for me," Hermione replied simply, leaning into Remus' embrace.

"Mmm," Remus hummed in agreement, kissing her temple, "I suppose I'm thankful for his soft spot then."

"Me too," she sighed. Hermione closed her eyes and concentrated on the rise and fall of Remus' chest. She was surprised by how easy it was to fall asleep again, despite feeling like she'd only awakened hours ago.

The next few days were filled with plenty of mandatory resting time for Hermione. Mrs. Weasley checked up on her constantly, always trying to bring her food or check how she was feeling. When Hermione wasn't resting in Remus' bed everyone seemed to be trying to make sure that she was always sitting down and comfortable.

It was infuriating. Hermione was frustrated with being coddled and treated like she would collapse at any moment. Thus, after two days of this, she started demanding that she be allowed to get out of bed and actually do things again.

Surprisingly, Mrs. Weasley agreed that Hermione ought to be able to exert herself again, as long as people accompanied her most of the time. The first time Hermione properly got up and did something was with Remus. They went for a long walk around the borders of the property, spending their time admiring the gardens and talking sullenly about what had happened on the full moon and how they felt about it.

The next day Ginny offered to take Hermione for a walk. She was happy to comply and get a moment alone with Ginny. Hermione told Ginny everything that the girl had missed about her relationship with Remus. Ginny was jumping up and down in excitement when Hermione told her about how Remus had spun her around in the moonlight and told her he loved her.

"So bloody romantic!" Ginny enthused, giggling. Hermione just blushed and smiled. It was nice talking to another girl about these things. It wasn't like she could very freely talk to Harry or Ron about her relationship with Remus.

Ginny then told Hermione about herself and Harry, and how they had been talking about their future together. "Harry's been talking about getting married," Ginny mumbled, staring at the ground with a small grin.

"What?" Hermione gasped, seeing the grin fully overtake Ginny's face.

"It's not- he hasn't proposed or anything," Ginny quickly amended, "he just- we've talked about the future together and he told me that one day he would like to get married."

"Ginny, that's wonderful," Hermione said, wrapping her friend in a hug. She was surprised that Harry had brought up the idea of marriage, but she supposed that at a time like this in his life, he was allowed to think about getting married to the woman he loved. After all, his parents had probably been thinking about marriage when they were at this age as well.

"Have you talked with Remus about the future?" Ginny inquired a moment later, once they were walking again. They were just passing the small pond. Tadpoles scurried away from the edges as the young women passed.

Hermione furrowed her brow, "we've spoken briefly about the future… but only concerning the potion and lycanthropy."

"And your relationship?"

"Uh… not really," Hermione said, the realization hitting her, "should we be talking about that?"

Ginny shrugged, "you're not obligated to. It's just… we're going to be leaving soon. Do you know what happens after Dumbledore says it's safe to leave the Estate?"

Hermione chewed her lip, staring at the ground as she became continuously more and more worried about this. "I had planned on visiting my parents as soon as possible… trying to rebuild my relationship with them. He probably knows that I want to do that, but…" Hermione sighed, turning to look at Ginny, who shared the same contemplative look. "I suppose we ought to talk about it," Hermione concluded.

Ginny nodded in agreement.

Despite saying that she would, Hermione didn't talk about it with Remus. She feared what that conversation would entail, and so that night after dinner when they sat in the library alone, she didn't bring it up. She didn't bring it up the next day either. Hermione Granger had never been one for procrastination before, but here she was, putting off a very important conversation.

Remus was outstandingly patient about everything, and Hermione could tell that he was going to let her start that conversation on her own terms. He was giving her time to heal and accustom herself to life after the war. She continued to take that time, working on rebuilding her health and reassessing her relationships with others at the Estate. The day after her conversation with Ginny, Hermione decided it was time to talk to Draco.

She approached the closed door with tentative steps. When she arrived in front of it she extended a cautious hand and knocked twice.

The door opened several seconds later, revealing a pale and exhausted Draco Malfoy.

"Hi," Hermione breathed.

"Hello," he replied, furrowing his brows as he looked at her.

"May I come in?"

He inspected her for a long moment before nodding, opening the door wider and turning back into the room. Hermione stepped inside the room and looked around. It was one of the standard bedrooms at the Estate, with a dresser and a large queen sized bed in the center of the room. On the far wall, just like in Remus' room, a window faced outside, overlooking the gardens.

The person lying in bed was Hermione's main concern. Narcissa Malfoy lay with her eyes closed and her body still as death. The quilt was drawn up to her chest and her blonde hair was fanned around her neatly. She looked frighteningly like a corpse prepared for a funeral. Hermione resisted the urge to grimace at the sight before her.

Draco took a seat in one of the two chairs at Narcissa's bedside. He nodded towards the other and Hermione sat beside him. "Is she going to be alright?" she asked, swallowing the lump in her throat.

Draco nodded, though his expression was grim. "Severus said she will heal with time. Dolohov used a very dark curse on her. We're lucky Severus knew how to stop the damage."

"She couldn't be taken to St. Mungo's?"

Draco shook his head. "It's still not safe with all the loose Death Eaters. My mother is a target. They know that we changed sides and fought against them in the battle. Dumbledore and Severus both seem to think that they're watching St. Mungo's, waiting for someone like her to check in…"

Hermione tentatively lifted her hand and placed in on Draco's shoulder. He went rigid, obviously uncomfortable with the touch. After a moment, however, his posture relaxed a little and he seemed marginally comforted. "I'm sorry you've had to go through all this."

He shrugged, "I'd actually rather it be us than one of you, as odd as that sounds." Draco appeared to truly realize the strangeness of his words as soon as they left his mouth. He frowned at the floor for a long moment before lifting his head again, "we were on the wrong side for so long and we never realized it. I can hardly even comprehend it."

Hermione nodded slowly, looking back to Narcissa. They descended into silence for a long time. Draco finally broke the silence. "Congratulations on the potion," he said.

Hermione allowed herself a half smile. "Thank you."

"Are you going to start distributing it now?" He inclined his head to glance at her, and she could tell he wanted a distraction from the very still, very pale body in the bed before him.

Hermione sighed, "not yet, as much as I hate to say it. We have to be completely sure that it works with no side effects. That means one more full moon to test it. But after that, I plan on spending all my time publicizing and distributing as much as possible."

"I'd like to help," Draco murmured. His voice was so quiet that Hermione hardly even heard it.

"Really?" she replied, shifting to stare at him.

He nodded, an indulgent smile crossing his face. "I know. It's outrageous. Draco Malfoy engaging in philanthropy?"

"What has the world come to?" she gasped, playing along.

They laughed together, chuckling quietly until Draco spoke again. "In all seriousness," he muttered, "I'd like to help you. I need something to do with my life, and I'd imagine that you're going to need a lot of help."

Hermione nodded, allowing herself a broad smile. "Thank you, Draco. I will need help, though you may not like to hear that Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna have all already agreed to help me."

His mouth contorted into a frown, but after a moment the frown softened. "I suppose I can stand a few Gryffindors. As long as Potter and Weasley don't pick any fights."

"They won't," she assured him, shaking her head and smiling.

He nodded, turning to look at his mother's still form. Silence encroached on them once again. This time Hermione broke through it.

"Draco," she began, hesitating before the words could leave her mouth, "your father…"

"Is dead," he finished, an unnerving hardness in his voice.

Hermione gulped. "Yes."

"And Lupin killed him."

"Yes," she said again.

"If you're going to ask how I feel, don't expect me to ramble on about my sordid feelings and fucked up relationship with my father." His voice was still hard, and his jaw was clenched as he stared at his mother.

"I-I don't," Hermione said, "I just- I wanted to know if you were upset about Remus' part in all of it."

Draco didn't respond at first, just staring off at his mother. At last, his jaw unclenched and some of the hardness in his glare dissipated. "No. Lupin deserved to be the one to kill that bastard after what he did to the two of you."

"Okay," Hermione breathed, still a bit confused at how he felt but at least partially reassured.

"Is that all?" he asked, turning to look at her, one brow arched in the trademark Malfoy way.

She nodded. "Thank you for speaking with me, Draco."

He nodded back at her. Hermione stood from her chair and made her way for the door. Draco didn't say another word as she slipped out of the somber bedroom and into the hall.

"Hermione?"

Hermione picked her head up from the book she'd been pursuing to look at the source of the voice. Harry stood near the fireplace of the library, Ron at his side. They had just finished up a game of Wizard's Chess. "Yes, Harry?" She scooted backwards so she was sitting up on the couch, resting the book in her lap. Remus was on the other end of the couch, her feet having previously been perched on his lap while he buried his nose in another book. In the armchair closest to his side of the couch was Sirius, sipping a glass of ancient scotch. He had just been watching the game of chess and holding a conversation with the boys. Now he watched them with a small smile as they stood, looking to Hermione.

"Do you want to take a walk with us?" Harry offered, ruffling his haphazard hair and nodding towards Ron at his side.

Hermione smiled, "that sounds lovely." It was late in the afternoon and Hermione had hardly risen from the couch in the library all day. Her neck was a little sore from looking down at her book and her eyes were quite overworked. She could do with a walk and some fresh air.

Harry and Ron both smiled. She felt like something important was going on here, and walking with them was the only way to find out what.

She slowly rose from the couch, stepping past Remus and leaning down to place a chaste kiss on his cheek. His hand brushed lightly against the back of her leg as she passed. Harry and Ron followed her out of the library, towards the door that led to the gardens outside. Once they were outside the three fell into stride together.

"Dumbledore came by today," Harry said, as if it was an extremely casual occurrence.

"Really?" Hermione turned to look at him, "When? What did he say? Why didn't he call a meeting?"

Harry shrugged, "it seemed like he was just here to have a word with Snape or something. I only saw him in passing this morning. He wouldn't really tell me anything, but he did say that it's only a few days until everything is cleared up and we can leave."

Hermione swallowed. A few days? That sounded like no time at all. "So that means that they must be capturing the Death Eaters."

"Dad told me that they arrested Bellatrix and her husband yesterday," Ron said, "and the day before they got Dolohov."

Hermione furrowed her brow. So things were really moving along. "Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked, looking from Harry to Ron, on either side of her.

"Sort of," Harry murmured. He walked with his hands in his pockets, appearing quite at ease. "Ron and I have decided something," he added a moment later, "and we figured we should tell you about it now that we're certain."

"What is it?" she prodded.

Harry smiled. Ron did the same. Hermione continued to look between them.

"We've decided to join the Auror program," Ron said. Hermione now recognized that it was a proud smile on his face.

"Aurors?" Hermione replied, her voice sounding faraway.

Harry nodded, "we spoke to Tonks about it a lot and we've decided that it's what we want to do as soon as we get out of here."

"That's… that's wonderful," Hermione said, letting out a breath and smiling at both of them. She'd always expected the boys to want to pursue some sort of career like this, but she was surprised that they were so certain about it. It had obviously taken a lot of consideration; the Auror program was a very big commitment.

"And we want to get a flat together," Ron added.

"We were actually wondering if you want to join us," Harry said, "You know, getting a flat together; just the three of us. Like it's always been."

Hermione sensed a bit of wistfulness behind Harry's words. She found the same wistfulness in Ron's hopeful smile. "You two have obviously been thinking about the future a lot," she murmured, fixing her gaze straight ahead. The sun was setting in the distance, past all the gardens and over the trees.

"Haven't you been thinking about it too?" Ron asked.s

Hermione shrugged. "To be honest I've been putting it off." This conversation was making her realize that she couldn't put it off much longer. Dumbledore said that they would only be here for a few days. Hermione really had to have that conversation with Remus about what came next. Merlin, why had she put it off for so long?

The answer to that was obviously that she was frightened of what that conversation would entail. But really, what did she have to be afraid of? She knew that Remus wanted to be with her, and she knew that she wanted to be with him. Figuring out the future was just a matter of logistics.

"Well what would you like to do?" Harry asked gently, "you want to be with Remus—obviously—and you want to work on the potion, but what else?"

Hermione worried her lip between her teeth. "I think I need to be with my parents first and foremost."

"So no flat?" Ron asked, giving her a sidelong glance.

She took a deep breath, "Not right now. I think the two of you should get a flat together and I fully support the Auror program. I'm extremely happy for both of you. I just… I really need to figure things out."

"You sound anxious," Harry commented, "and you've got that look on your face."

"What look?" she retorted, narrowing her eyes at him.

"That look," he said, pointing at her face, "the look you always get before you go into mad studying mode and spend two days straight in the library."

Harry and Ron both laughed. Hermione just stared ahead and continued walking, resisting the urge to smile. "I've realized that I have a lot to think about, a lot to sort out."

"With Remus?" Harry inquired.

She nodded, "and with myself… but mostly with Remus. We haven't talked about the future."

Harry and Ron nodded. The trio continued walking down the pathway, out of the gardens and towards the perimeter of the Estate.

Ron broke the silence, staring at the ground with a concentrated expression. "I know I wasn't very accepting of your relationship with him at first," he mumbled, "but I was just surprised, you know? Now that I've seen it… I think the two of you are good together."

"Everyone thinks you're good together," Harry interjected.

Hermione smiled, feeling the blush rise on her cheeks. "Thank you. It's good to hear that."

Harry patted her on the shoulder consolingly, "you two just need to talk. It'll be much simpler once you do that."

Hermione chuckled, finding it ironic that she was getting relationship advice from Harry Potter. She could still clearly remember each of his embarrassing interactions with girls at Hogwarts.

"What?" Harry asked, eyeing her expression warily, "did I say something funny?"

Hermione chuckled, shaking her head and putting her left arm around Harry's shoulders, and then her right arm around Ron's. "I was just reminiscing," she murmured.

Neither Harry nor Ron said anything more. The trio continued walking, arms around each other, the sun setting off in the distance.

"Remus?" Hermione called softly, knocking on the ajar door.

"Come in," his voice floated out.

Hermione pressed open the door to his bedroom, finding him inside, standing in front of the small wooden desk in the corner. He appeared to be sorting through the books and papers on his desk. There were several large stacks of books all over the surface. "What are you doing?" she asked as she approached his side and glanced over his shoulder.

"I was just going through my things," he said, "did Harry tell you about Albus' visit this morning?"

Hermione nodded, "We have a few days left until we can leave."

"Exactly," Remus murmured, "I figured that I might as well start getting my things together."

Hermione felt that there was a disconnect between them, some sort of heavy tension in the air. She was anxious for this conversation, and mad that she'd put it off so long. Now it just felt odd. In a few days they had to leave this place and move on to an entirely new phase of their lives.

"What-" Hermione began quietly, repeating herself again a little louder, "what do you think you'd like to do next? After we leave?"

Remus turned away from his desk to face her. His expression was one of careful contemplation. "I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. I had hoped we would figure something out together."

She recognized the worry in his tone and felt the tightness in her chest dissipate some. "Me too. I- I think we ought to talk about it."

He nodded and motioned toward the bed across the room. Hermione followed him to it and they sat side by side on the edge of the bed. Remus shifted so that he was facing her and grasped one of her hands in his, running his forefinger lightly over her knuckles. "What would you like to do next?"

Hermione took a deep breath. "First I'd like to go see my parents. My relationship with them has deteriorated a lot as a result of the war. I really would like to try to make up for it."

"Of course," Remus said without missing a beat, "Do you plan on moving back in?"

"Yes. Not for a long time, but just until I feel that we're in a better place." While Hermione did want to stay with her parents for the purpose of fixing her relationship with them, she also leaned towards that option because she didn't know what else she and Remus would do. While they'd practically been living together for months, they hadn't been living alone together, and she knew that it was still early in their relationship to think that actually moving in together, just the two of them, would be appropriate.

"I think that's a very good idea," he replied, and the words sent a rush of relief through Hermione.

"And what will you do?" she asked, looking down at their clasped hands. His finger still ran small circles over the skin on the back of her hand.

He let out a heavy breath, "to be honest, I don't have many options. I think I'll be living in my cottage for a while. I lack the funds to do anything else." A sullen expression overtook his face. "But eventually I'd like to fix it up a bit and sell it."

Hermione nodded, ignoring the self-deprecation in his words. "That sounds good."

His lips curved up in a small smile. "Will you still have time to see me once you're living with your parents? Perhaps I can take you on a few proper dates."

Hermione couldn't help but grin. "That sounds lovely, and I'll definitely have time for it. I don't want you to play any less of a role in my life, Remus."

He moved forward, lifting his free hand to brush against the curls on the side of her head. "Nor do I," he whispered, leaning closer and pressing a short kiss to her lips.

"We'll see each other as often as possible," she said, "and you can meet my parents properly. As the man I'm dating, not… not as my professor."

He took a deep breath and nodded. "I'd like that." He kissed her again.

"We also have to think about the potion," Hermione said once he'd pulled back, "I want to start mass producing it." Her brows furrowed together as she considered this more, "though I suppose that before any of that can happen we'll need to publicize it. Perhaps an academic paper would be most appropriate. I could write it. Professor Snape is a Potions Master, so his credibility could help in getting it published."

Remus was smirking at her in amusement.

"What?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"You're adorable when you get excited about your work," he quipped.

She rolled her eyes.

"But honestly," Remus continued, "I think that's an excellent plan. Severus will certainly assist in publishing the paper and it will get the word out. I'm all for the mass production and distribution. No werewolf should ever have to go through another unnecessary transformation."

A million thoughts were passing through her head about the potion. They were obviously going to deliver it to as many werewolves as possible, and no one should have to worry about being able to afford it, as was the problem with regular Wolfsbane. "It will be very expensive," she murmured, worrying her lower lip between her teeth, "we should file for a grant from the Ministry or some Potions association. That can be part of the paper."

He nodded. "I'm sure we can raise some money towards it with enough time and effort."

"I agree," Hermione said, this conversation making her feel excited and giddy about all that was going to happen. "It's certainly going to be difficult," she added a moment later. "Public opinion of werewolves is not very good. Many people won't think that it's worth it to produce the potion, but I think if we work hard on educating people…"

"Hermione," Remus said, looking at her with a sudden seriousness, "you're a war hero and a werewolf. Things are going to change because of you. People already love you. Soon they'll understand. With Voldemort and much of his prejudice gone it will be easy to rally more support for our kind."

"You're a war hero too," she said simply, "we'll both change things. Harry and Dumbledore and Snape and all the others with influence will help." As Hermione said these words, she felt her chest grow tight with an onslaught of emotion. She didn't think she'd ever felt more hopeful before. Everything was going to work out. They were going to make the world better. Harry's destroying of Voldemort had only been the first step.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked, his face twisting in concern. He reached his hand up to her face again and brushed at her cheek. His thumb was wet when he pulled it away.

"Nothing's wrong," Hermione said, more tears stinging at her eyes, "I'm just happy. Everything's going to be okay."

His worried expression softened and he leaned closer, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a tight embrace. "Yes. It's all going to be okay. More than okay, actually."

She couldn't help the happy laughter that bubbled up in her chest and jumped out of her throat. Remus laughed as well, though he seemed to only be laughing out of amusement at her own spontaneous joy. They fell over sideways on the bed, still embracing, laughter filling the air between them. Remus lay sprawled out on the bed facing the ceiling, Hermione trapped in his side, her head resting between his shoulder and his chest. Their laughter slowly died away into peaceful quiet. Hermione curled into Remus' side contentedly. He turned his head to bury his nose in her hair, pressing a kiss onto the top of her head.

Hermione sighed and sunk into him. There was a lot to be done in the future, but she was more than ready to face it. She'd never felt more ready for anything in her life.

Author's note: I'm already really emotional about this so I won't ramble on about my feelings just yet. I'm saving that for the epilogue. For now, let me know how you found this final chapter. The epilogue should come soon, but I want it as polished as possible, so it may be a week or so before I post it.