Chapter 60: Wednesday, December 24, 1980

"There are some people who live in a dream world and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other."

-Douglas H. Everett


The two weeks leading up to Christmas had passed in a blur. Another ritual where Hermione sliced her palm and begged for more time, another full moon, that rendered Remus nearly catatonic the day before and the day after. Sirius and Hermione had teamed together to help James and Lily get Christmas gifts for everyone, seeing as they still weren't allowed to leave the house. Remus had stayed behind the day they went, it had been so close to the moon and he was feeling like rubbish.

That had worried Hermione, a bit. Remus didn't generally feel great the days leading up to the moon. He was feverish and teetered between ravenous and nauseous, he often suffered blinding headaches and severe pains in his joints. But he always tried to go out, to not let it slow him down. She wondered if it was worse this month from being away from people like him, if perhaps transforming with another pack had some sort of positive influence, causing it to be a little less terrible. She decided that she would try and find a few books on the subject while she was in Diagon Alley with Sirius.

Christmas Eve, the group had decided, would be once again spent with James and Lily at their house. Hermione was thrilled with the prospect of a Christmas where they all got along instead of a night filled with cold shoulders from Remus and threatening glares from Sirius, like she had last year. When she woke that morning, it was to an empty bed. The sheets on the side that Remus normally slept were cold to the touch but she could smell bacon cooking and the faint scent of buttery cinnamon and currant flooded through the crack in the door with it.

Ever since Remus had told her about what had happened in Poland, and she had divulged a secret of her own in turn, he seemed to be back to himself. He was no longer short or standoffish with her, or anyone else for that matter. In fact, she had noticed that his confidence seemed to have increased significantly over the last few months or so, and it had come back, tenfold. Hermione wasn't sure, but she speculated that the boost of confidence had something to do with being around other Werewolves. Whether it was some internal decrease in his cortisol levels that caused him to let go of some of his stress or simply just talking to others infected with lycanthropy and seeing that there was good and bad in all people—not just fully humans, she wasn't sure. Either way, she was glad that he had finally come out of his shell a bit and was reminding her more and more of the sure-stepped Professor Lupin she remembered from her own time.

Hermione was just about to finally pull herself from the comfort of her bed when she heard the door creak open. She rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow, a sleepy smile on her face, "Good morning."

Remus returned the smile, "Morning. Breakfast is about done, if you're hungry."

She hummed, "Smells good. Making Chelsea Buns again?"

He stepped further into the room, leaving the door slightly ajar, "Amongst other things."

"Oh?" Hermione said, an eyebrow arching up. "Like what?"

"Mince pies, Christmas pudding, a few different kinds of biscuits and shortbread for Lily, of course. Oh! And I made these little wafer type things for Harry… I think he'll be able to gnaw at them a bit."

Hermione let out a puff of laughter, shaking her head. "The moon was two days ago! You promised you wouldn't over do it, that you'd get your rest."

"I got plenty of rest, I slept all day yesterday!"

She bit back a smile, "Okay, my lovely baker man. What time did you get up to accomplish all of this?"

"Erm…aw I'm not sure. Half four, maybe?"

"Remus!" Hermione chided, "That hardly constitutes taking it easy this year!"

"If it helps, I didn't do it all the muggle way this time. I used a fair bit of magic to move it along!" He reasoned, "Besides, my mum would be devastated if I didn't bring mince pies tomorrow."

Hermione sat up, stretching her arms above her head and fluffing her hands through her hair. She was certain it was probably an owl's nest already, but it wasn't like Remus hadn't seen her in a much worse state than this before. At least she was clean and not covered in blood or dirt…

"Oh, alright." Hermione conceded, "But only because your mum deserves mince pies."

Remus chuckled and bent at the waist, stooping low and nearly folding himself in half to press his lips against hers, "Up you get, sleepy head. We told Lily we'd be over by noon."

"What time is it?" Hermione asked, horrified that she had slept in so late. She never slept into the midmorning!

"Nearly ten."

"Merlin, why didn't you wake me sooner?"

He shrugged, "Seemed like you needed the rest."

Remus planted another kiss on her lips, and then pecked the tip of her nose, the apples of her cheeks and her brows. Hermione giggled, feeling giddy from the uncharacteristic good night's sleep and the cheerful mood Remus was in. She fisted the fabric of his jumper in her hands and with a sudden yank downward, Remus toppled onto her, laughing as he fell.

"You're trying to get yourself squashed?" He said, laughter still in his voice, "I weigh at least twice as much as you!"

"You're just a bag of bones and skin, Remus Lupin. Don't give me that!"

"Just skin and bone, am I?" He asked, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he smirked, pushing his weight up to his forearms and hovering over her.

Hermione's knees fell apart so Remus' legs could rest between them. She smiled up at him, poking the tip of his nose with her index finger. "Well I'm not sure. It's been quite some time since I've inspected, you see…"

Remus shifted his hips, grinding them against her and leaning down to place a few kisses against her jaw, "Perhaps you need a refresher?"

"Mm," Hermione sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck as he lavished her throat with slow kisses. "Perhaps."

Hermione's arms dropped from around his shoulders, her finger nails scraping down his sides as she pulled the soft jumper up, over his torso. Remus shifted, pulling his lips from their place of worship against her throat and pulled his arms free of it, tossing it onto the floor in a heap.

Hermione had to admit, the weeks spent in the last half a year running with packs of werewolves over miles of open land had done wonders for Remus' build. Not that he wasn't fit to begin with, but now instead of lightly toned muscles that clung to his slender frame, his body had become more pronounced. His shoulders had broadened even more, his chest more defined. The sinewy muscle was more cut than before, resembling the body of someone who exercised frequently.

He wasn't bulky, by any means. Certainly not built as largely as the roguish muggle rugby players she could remember seeing on telly or in the magazines. But he had far more definition than he had had before, and her hands moved over the newly built muscle with fervor. Desperate to memorize every peak and valley of each new outline beneath her palms.

Even through the thick duvet and thin layers of pyjama bottoms and knickers, Hermione could feel the stiffness of his cock when he ground his hips against hers again. His tongue dipped into the hollow of her collar bone before his lips latched onto the spot on her throat just above it, nipping and sucking at it as if it would give him life. Every hair on her body stood on ends as gooseflesh pimpled over her skin, following the trail of his hand down the length of her body and under the blankets.

Remus moved, shifting to the side to pull the covers off of her and shove them down to the end of the bed. His hands rested on her hips as he smirked down at her, eyes roaming over her bare legs, he shoved the t-shirt she wore, his t-shirt, up over her chest and she gripped the ends to pull it over her head. He fell forward, his mouth returning to her skin, searing lovebites down her chest, between her breasts and to her navel.

"Remus," she whined, wriggling her hips under him.

Hermione could feel him smirk against her belly, his hand pressing against it as he murmured the words that emitted a soft pink glow around her middle before dissipating. He sat up on his knees, looking down at her and in one rough motion, he hooked his fingers into the elastic of her knickers and yanked them down her thighs. She pushed at his pyjama bottoms, smiling at the realization that he wasn't wearing pants underneath them. She shifted back on the bed, her legs falling open on either side of his hips, lewdly displaying herself beneath him.

She heard herself whine again, a high pitched, almost petulant sound coming from her throat. But God, it had been too long since she had been with him. A few back to back assignments from the Order had left her alone the better part of two months, and besides some petting that had been the result of a heavy snogging a few nights ago, they had been apart far too long.

She didn't blame him, she hadn't exactly made advances either. With everything that had happened and with his mum being sick, he didn't seem to be interested in anything but a terrible mood and more chocolate than any one person should be able to consume. But that understanding didn't mean she didn't want him. And now, the way he looked at her with fire burning in molten gold eyes and hot breath that fanned over her face as he leaned down to pull her lips to his, she felt ready to burst with need.

And the second his hand fell between them, his fingers stroking her lightly enough to tease, his tongue delving into her mouth to steal the gasps from her throat, she nearly cried from the feel of him.

Remus wasted no time sinking his fingers into her heat, he groaned into her mouth, that low rumbling growl that drove her wild as he pulled away from her lips and whispered in a raspy breath "How do you always feel like silk?"

It was rhetorical, apparently, because his lips crashed over hers again and his fingers crooked up, the heel of his palm putting just the right amount of pressure onto her clit, rubbing against the sensitive nub just enough to make her teeter on the edge as he moved his lips against hers, and then down her jaw and to her ear. The hand that wasn't working her core fell to her left breast, kneading it and plucking at her nipple as his mouth moved down to show attention to the right.

"Please!" Hermione begged, a breathless whimper, "I need… I need you inside me! Please!"

Remus did not stop his attention to her breasts as he withdrew his hand from her soaked heat, his hips shifted between her thighs a bit as the head of his cock brushed against her. She could feel him stroke himself a few times, coating himself in her essence from his hand before he pulled his face away from her chest, his nose nearly touching hers as he stared into her face, pushing forward and sheathing himself inside of her.

Her back bowed, arching off the bed at the feeling of being so full of him again. The delicious stretch as her body adjusted to him made her ache in the most pleasant of ways and soon, Remus finally began to move above her, pulling his hips backward and snapping them forward in a slow, steady pace.

It was almost lazy, the way he thrust his hips against her, rolling them as he pushed forward. His breath was heavy and hot against her chest as he peppered kisses along her collarbone and shoulder. Low growls met breathy moans and keening sighs, tangling in the air with the sound of flesh slapping flesh, creating the symphony that was so uniquely them.

He took his time, and Hermione took hers. She could smell the bacon burning on the hob, but she was too deep in her own pleasure to be arsed to care. The hunger that was evident in Remus' eyes had nothing to do with his stomach, she was sure of that.

He whispered praises in her ear, told her he loved her, that he couldn't live without her. She cried out when he begged her to be his forever, "Yours!" she moaned loudly, "Yours, always yours, Remus! Yes." When his pace stuttered and his hips jerked out of rhythm, after she had tumbled from the edge and dove into the waters of absolute bliss, he growled her name into her ear and collapsed on top of her.

They laid together for several minutes, their bodies still joined and her thighs aching from the effort of remaining wrapped around his waist for so long. Remus' forehead was pressed against the front of her shoulder, his chest shaking as he worked to catch his breath and Hermione ran her fingers through his sweat soaked hair.

"Bacon's burnt," she whispered.

Remus chuckled, "Shortbread too, I can smell it."

Hermione smiled as he pressed a lingering kiss to the juncture where her neck met her collar and then sighed when he pulled away, slipping from his place inside of her and sitting back on his knees. Remus looked up at the wall to the clock and tutted.

"We're gonna be late."

Hermione's eyes went wide, her head turning to look at the time, "We still have an hour!"

A wicked smile stole his face as he got up from the bed and grabbed her hand, pulling her from the mattress, "Maybe. But I'm not done with you yet and I think breakfast in the buff and a shower might lead to some more… activity."

Hermione barked a laugh and followed Remus into the kitchen.


"Well you both look thoroughly fucked!" Sirius greeted at the door when Hermione and Remus arrived at James and Lily's.

"Sirius! Really?!" Lily huffed, clearly irritated with him.

"What?" he asked, feigning innocence.

Hermione rolled her eyes, toeing off her boots and pushing past Sirius into the living room. Laden with baked goods, she entered the kitchen, placing the basket and tins on the counter.

"Remus burned the shortbread," Hermione explained. "So he made another batch. They're still warm!"

Lily smiled, pulling Hermione into a hug. "Happy Christmas. And there was no need to worry about it! Not with all of this!"

"See, what did I say? Showing up an hour and a half late and blaming the burnt shortbread."

"Shut up, Pads." Remus said, giving Sirius a slight shove.

Hermione and Lily spent the better part of the next hour passing around small hors d'oeuvres and getting the table set for supper. Hermione offered to help James and he waved her off, which suited her just fine. She was certainly a miserable cook and wouldn't want to risk mucking up the beautiful dinner James had been working on. Instead, she swooped in and pulled Harry from the small bouncing chair he was in. Lily had charmed it to always bounce and hum little songs at just the right volume to lull Harry into a happy state.

It was hard to believe that it was his very first Christmas, and she made the mental note to not drink much today. She wanted to be able to remember every single detail as it happened so she could write about it and tell him when she returned.

If she returned.

The thought had come and gone frequently over the last few months- ever since Remus had brought up the possibility of finding a way around the Vow. Of course, she had looked into it a bit, but not any extensive research. As much as she wanted to stay, she didn't want to leave Harry behind either. And what would even happen if she stayed? Certainly it would upend the entire future as she knew it. She had picked up a few books over the last year of the theories of time travel, and surprisingly found the most answers in muggle text. Although, she wasn't even sure she could call them answers, not really. More like..open ended questions. According to a particularly interesting text she had gotten at a second hand bookshop, there was the possibility that if she stayed, it meant creating a new timeline for her altogether. She wouldn't have to go back to her own time, because she could rewrite it like it never existed in the first place.

It was all confusing and convoluted and it gave her the distinct feel that she would need an advanced understanding of physics and maybe even science fiction, but nonetheless, it was the closest thing to a solid answer she had seen on the subject thus far. Still, she knew she couldn't chance it- she had to go back to her time. The thought that she could be risking her friends' lives because of her selfish, emotional attachments felt unbearable. They deserved better than that. Harry deserved better than that.

The day faded into night as the sun set and the moon shone in the sky. Harry had apparently had enough excitement after they opened the mounds of gifts the baby had received. It was silly, really, he could barely sit up on his own. Yet, he was gifted tons of playthings. Blocks that changed colour, stuffed dragons that zoomed around the room, a soft snitch that hovered just out of his reach, a few blankets and plush toys that sang tunes. Everything a small child could ever want, and then some. Lily put Harry to bed and Chester, their house cat who had become rather scarce since Lily gave birth, had curled himself up in the crib next to Harry, purring away happily as Harry drifted to sleep.

Sirius brought out his "secret recipe" eggnog, which Hermione definitely knew meant it just had three times the amount of whiskey in it, and poured a glass for everyone. They all settled into the living room, talking amicably and telling jokes. James insisted they all open their gifts now, and everyone agreed. Hermione was beside herself with excitement for Remus, although he of course, had no idea.

According to James, their talk back in October- when Remus expressed interest in wanting to teach- had not been the first time he had voiced this. Apparently, all through their time at school, Remus had unsurprisingly been a mentor of sorts to many students. He often tutored younger students and helped those in his year with their exams. He was a natural teacher, and James, Peter, and Sirius had come up with the perfect gift for him this year. Something to hopefully get him to pursue the career.

After tearing into all of their gifts, and exchanging thanks all around, Hermione buzzed with excitement. It could have been the second glass of eggnog she was on, but she was hoping that Remus would love the gift, all the same.

"One more," James said. He gave the large, rectangular package to Remus, who looked up at him with an arched eyebrow.

"I told you-

"We know," Peter said. "You always tell us not to get you anything."

"And you're surprised every year when we do it anyway. Honestly, Moony, you're supposed to be the smart one! You would think you would know how this is going to go by now." Sirius said.

Remus huffed and rolled his eyes, carefully tearing into the pretty foil paper. He balled the paper up and vanished it, looking at the item in his lap, his eyes growing wide for a moment before narrowing. His lips pursed and his face pinched in confusion as his hands ran over it several times. In his lap, sat a brand new briefcase. It was dark brown with tan trim and a brass handle. The silver buckles had been replaced with brass and the inside enlarged to hold a bit more. It was muggle, after Hermione and Lily were adamant that Remus absolutely would not accept the goblin made dragonhide one that James and Sirius had originally picked out. Getting him to even accept this one may be a bit of a challenge, and something like that would have cost a small fortune and Remus would instantly have denied the gift.

On the top of the case, between the buckles and below the handle, monogrammed in gold letters was "Professor R.J. Lupin".

Remus' fingers skated over the letters with featherlight touch, his mouth slightly open. Finally he looked up and gave a small shake of his head. "I don't… I don't understand."

His eyes roamed the room, looking to every smiling face for an answer. His eyes landed on Hermione and stayed there, clearly waiting for her to explain. However, it was James who cleared his throat to speak.

"You said when we all talked that you wanted to be a Professor. And we think you will be, one day, after everything calms down and the war is over…" He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck briefly before pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "You can do anything you want to do, Moony. And we just wanted to show you our support."

"Get you started a bit!" Peter smiled, "Go on, open it up!"

Remus gave a meaningful look to James, Sirius and Peter before he opened the case. Inside was a new set of quills that Sirius picked out, charmed so they won't easily break or lose their tip. A bottle of ever-replenishing ink, a large scroll of parchment, a sneakoscope, a bottle of firewhiskey, several bars of Honeydukes Finest, and a wrist holster for his wand.

"This is…" Remus swallowed and Hermione could see the brightness in his eyes, his voice having gone thick. "I can't…"

"You can," Lily said. "And you will."

"The sneakoscope is charmed, so it won't go off around you!" Peter said, proudly.

Remus pulled out the leather bands, "And this?"

"A wrist holster, for your wand." James said, "We all got one, actually. It seemed practical, but especially for a professor."

"And the firewhiskey?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow and giving a pointed look to Sirius.

Sirius shrugged, "I can't imagine being surrounded by a bunch of kids and not needing a drink every once in a while. Especially if any of those kids are anything like we were."

Remus chuckled, "You may have a point."

"The ink will never run out," Lily said. "And the quills are charmed to stay sharp and nearly indestructible."

"I can't… I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, Professor." James smiled, "Happy Christmas."

.


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a/n: I'm baaaaaack. Thank you all for your patience as I took a couple weeks to get my shit together! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it seemed like a good one to come back on! Let me know your thoughts in the reviews?

Anyway, updates will be back to their regular schedule of Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday!

See you Tuesday!

xo

Mimi