The rest of the holidays flew past and Hermione was sufficiently distracted by Remus and her friends. She didn't think again about her situation or worry about trying to get back. It was relaxing and refreshing and Hermione didn't want it to ever end; the carefree attitude that her friends still had was rubbing off on her. But soon it did end, and Hermione's reality crashed down around her once more. She was quiet and withdrawn, her friends skirting around her because of her mood swings, the full moon was worse than ever and she and Remus weren't really talking. They still spent most of their time together but it was usually just sex; comfort without words.

Hermione was starting to feel that intimacy with him was becoming too hard. Her time with him like this was limited and the more they did it, the more Hermione felt that it was driving a wedge between them. She didn't want that to be the only thing they did together, nor the only thing he remembered about her. She wanted it to mean something but right now, they were just going through the motions and it wasn't satisfying. One night, Hermione escaped to the room of requirement to get some peace, which she had been doing a lot more often than before the Christmas break. She needed to know how much longer she had to pretend that everything was alright. So she decided to pen a letter to Charlus.

Dear Mr Potter,

I'm going crazy here wondering if I'm every going to return home. I need you to tell me something, anything. Have you made any progress?

Regards,

Hermione Granger.

Hermione spelled it to glow red, to indicate its urgency and then sent it to sit on Charlus' desk where he would see it right away. When she didn't get a reply Hermione made her way back to the common room; to Remus.

"Hey beautiful." He said as she approached him, sitting on the arm of his chair as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Hey." Hermione responded trying to sound chipper but failing miserably.

"I missed you today. Where did you disappear off to?" He asked her, whispering into her shoulder as he kissed her there absently.

"Just needed some alone time." Hermione said.

"Well I need some Hermione time. Want to go up to my dorm?" he asked her and Hermione nodded, intertwining their hands and pulling him up out of his seat as she stood. They wondered up slowly, smiling at each other easily. Hermione sometimes hated how easy it was to forget about everything when she was with him.

"So what have you been up to today?" Hermione asked him as they sat down on his bed, the dorm empty of the rest of the marauders.

"Homework mostly. I was helping Peter but Sirius and James distracted him so I just told them to go away so I could actually get something done." He said as he traced her fingers with his own. A shiver ran down Hermione's spine at the light delicate touch.

"Why have you never gone down on me?" Hermione asked after a moment of enjoyed silence.

"What?" Remus asked, having been distracted touching her. Hermione repeated herself and watched as Remus blushed.

"I don't know… You never asked me to." He said awkwardly and Hermione sighed.

"Are people really still uncomfortable talking about sex? I thought the sixties fixed that." She said as she stood up and started to pace in front of her boyfriend. She hated thinking about him like that because it reminded her that what they had wasn't just sex. It was a relationship and one day Hermione was going to end up abandoning him. She felt like if she went back to her original time she would be betraying Remus but if she didn't go back she would be betraying Harry and her family. It gave her a headache even thinking about it.

"That was just the muggles. Wizards are still Neanderthals." Remus said blandly.

"Apparently." Hermione said crossing her arms and looking back at Remus who was following her with his eyes.

"What, I'm a Neanderthal just because I've never eaten you out? That's not very fair." He said.

"I asked Sirius about it the other day and he does it all the time." She said, remembering that very frank discussion with the idiot.

"Why are you using his actions as a guideline? He's Sirius for Christ sake's!" Remus burst out causing Hermione to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Don't get mad at me. I'm just pointing it out." Hermione said.

"No, you're accusing me. And I don't appreciate it." He growled out.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" Hermione challenged, hoping he would fight her about it. She hadn't had a good row since Ron and was itching to blow off some steam. Remus stood up, towering over her and grabbed her around the waist. Hermione looked up at him with wide eyes, not expecting him to grab her so roughly, or at all really.

"I wonder…" he said teasingly and then threw her onto his bed, kneeling down in front of her. His arms wound around her thighs, slowly pushing up her skirt until he was face to face with her core. Hermione was in shock. She hadn't been expecting Remus to react like this, though she thought that if every argument they ever had ended this way, she wasn't going to complain one bit.

"Remus." She whimpered as he inhaled deeply, smelling her. His eyes glowed gold as he removed her panties tossing them behind him carelessly, his attention finely tuned to her pussy.

"Fuck Hermione." He growled and then he attacked her. He licked her from ass to clit in one long swoop and then settled at her little nub, suckling and making her practically swoon at the pleasure that it caused. Hermione could feel the heat rising underneath her skin and fighting to break free. Soon she was trembling and Remus had somehow worked her legs over his shoulders to get closer to her. Her thighs clamped around his head as she felt her climax flowing over her and Remus held her to his face as he licked at her relentlessly.

"Stop, stop, stop. I can't..." Hermione said pulling at his hair to get him to let up.

"Mm." He replied as he pried her thighs from around his head and sat up, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

"I can't believe you just did that." Hermione said, not thinking that her mentioning it would mean he would actually do it. Remus grinned at her.

"I don't know why I never did before. It was fantastic." He admitted and Hermione raised an eyebrow at him.

"You didn't even get off." She said.

"Doesn't mean I don't enjoy seeing you fall apart so completely." he said and Hermione laughed.

They laid about in Remus's bed kissing and touching and talking about nothing.

"What do you want to do when you leave school?" he asked her and Hermione froze.

"I'm not sure." She deflected, not wanting to think about the future she knows where there is so much pain and horror. The fact that she may not even be here to share the future Remus thinks is laid out for them makes her heart ache painfully.

"Oh, come on. Of course you know. I've never known you to not have a plan." He said teasingly as he ran his hands up the thigh that was currently draped over his hip, to rest on her bum to pull her a little closer.

"I don't know Remus, Okay? So just drop it." Hermione said, pushing him away and getting out of bed. She gathered up her clothes as Remus sat up and stared at her like she'd grown another head.

"I don't understand. Why are you snapping at me? I just asked a simple question." he said watching her as she got dressed once more.

"No, you don't understand. Some things aren't that simple. I can't just do whatever I want. There are rules." She said, thinking about what Dumbledore said about how awful things happen to people who mess with time.

"What does that even mean Hermione? Why do you have to be so god damn cryptic all the fucking time?" He nearly yelled at her.

Hermione stormed out of the room without answering her.