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Dizzy In The Heat	By : DivineAngel Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Remus/Hermione Views: 16130 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
Chapter
2: Burning From The Inside

The
days went on with not much to do but look forward to the autumn.
Ginny had got herself a summer job in Diagon Alley, so she wasn't
around much, the days were drawing out with Ron and the tension
between them was palpable. It was a Thursday and almost two weeks
into the summer, the heat had subsided a little at last, there were
clouds in the sky and a choppy breeze, it looked like it might even
rain. At Molly's request, the couple were out de-gnoming the garden
for the second time since they'd been back, they were a very
persistent bunch this season. Hermione tried to make conversation
with Ron, but he wasn't very responsive. Part of her felt a little
crushed by it, she wanted to fix things, for them to enjoy the summer
together and be back to how they had been a year ago when it was new
and amazing to be together. But part of her was so annoyed with him,
she thought he was being childish and it only made her less inclined
to continue trying to talk to him.

With
an impatient huff, Hermione tossed the gnome she was holding over the
high hedge and headed towards the house, brushing the dirt off her
hands. She could hear Ron chuntering behind her, she shrugged it off.

'For
goodness sake...' She mumbled to herself as she entered the kitchen.
She went to the window and watched him sluggishly going for a gnome
but letting it get away, his heart clearly not in the task. 'He's so
childish, why am I still doing this?' She continued to mutter under
her breath and thumped the edge of the sink. An apparation pop
outside the open door made her jump and let out a small yell. She
spun around to see a surprised looking Remus standing in the doorway.

'Sorry.
You OK?' He asked, stepping over the threshold.

'Yeah.
You just made me jump.' Hermione said sheepishly, a little
embarrassed. 'Come on in, Remus. Would you like a cup of tea? Or Mrs
Weasley made Lemonade yesterday, there's still some left.' Remus
tentatively entered the kitchen, looking around curiously.

'Lemonade,
thank you Hermione.' He smiled and seemed to relax a bit more.

'I
wasn't expecting to see you today.' Hermione said carefully as she
poured lemonade for them both and finishing the jug, the full moon
was approaching and she was well used to Remus's withdrawal leading
up to this tumultuous time of the month. She sat down at the kitchen
table and he swiftly joined her, taking the glass she offered.

'No,
I... well, I doubt you'll see me again for a week.' He took a sip and
Hermione's eyes were drawn to his rough hands and sad face.

'No,
I know.' She tried to sound sympathetic and caught his tired eyes,
with a nod and small smile he seemed to perk up a bit. They chatted
for a few minutes, sipping their cold, fresh lemonade and Hermione's
mood lightened significantly. She was growing more attached to him
and was unsure how the next few days would be without his company.
Maybe she could get away from the Burrow, visit her parents for a
while, but that would hurt Ron's feelings.

The
conversation turned to the absence of Weasleys from the Burrow and
Hermione suddenly became acutely aware that she was alone with him,
Ron could be heard shouting impatiently in the garden, presumably at
a gnome, but she was otherwise alone. 'Anyway, were you looking for
Mr or Mrs Weasley? They're not here.' A frown crossed his forehead.

'No,
I knew they were out.'

'Remus?'
Hermione began, unsure how to proceed. 'Um, can you tell me what's
going on at all? Anything? My imagination is doing overtime conjuring
images of where Mrs Weasley might be.' Remus gave a little snort of
laughter, to which Hermione's indignant face responded, she didn't
expect him to laugh at her. As if reading her mind, Remus reached out
and rested a hand on hers, still smiling broadly.

'Hermione,
I wasn't laughing at you. It's just that, well, I don't really know
where she's been disappearing to either. I just found it amusing that
neither of us knew. Yet another thing we seem to have in common these
days, eh?' He softened in the face and she had to smile back. A
warmth was spreading through her that was vaguely familiar.

'Stupid,
ugly little oik!' Ron's yell broke the soft silence, Hermione's hand
yanked reflexively back from under Remus's, his own slid slowly
across the table towards himself, a slightly pained expression on his
face. Ron burst in through the open door, stomping his feet and
treading dry dirt behind him, his knees and hands covered in it.
'Oh.' He stopped suddenly on seeing Remus. 'I didn't know you were
here. Sorry, de-gnoming. Little buggers.' He shrugged with a lopsided
grin and plonked himself down next to Hermione, yanked off his boots
and let out a long, heavy breath. Hermione gave Remus an apologetic
smile, to which he responded with a slight flick of his hand and
barely visible shake of his head. 'You here alone? Where's my mum?'
Ron blurted out, much to Hermione's annoyance.

'Um,
yes, and I don't know. But I really should be going.' Hermione felt
suddenly desperate, the last thing she wanted was to spend yet
another evening alone with Ron while they were not speaking. And she
hated the idea of Remus leaving now and being alone for the next few
days while the moon was full.

'No,
no. Stay for dinner. I'm not as good a cook as Mrs Weasley, I'll have
to do almost everything manually, I'm no good with kitchen magic. But
we'd love the company. Wouldn't we Ron?' She said pointedly.

'Oh,
yeah, you should stay. Dad'll probably be home soon.' Ron stood up
and stretched. 'I'm just going to get changed, I feel gross.' He
turned and headed upstairs. Hermione turned to Remus and smiled
hopefully.

'Please
stay.' She hoped she didn't sound desperate and whiny, his smile
reassured her though.

'Yes,
I can stay. Shall I help with dinner?' She nodded and together they
went about preparing food. Remus put the wizarding wireless on and
they quickly took up singing, poorly, to the songs, flicking washing
up bubbles and vegetable peelings at one another and generally
enjoying each other's company. Hermione felt relieved and so
comfortable with him that she was almost transported away, she forgot
about Ron and the heat and everything that had been weighing on her
mind.

'Hello?
Am I missing a party?' Arthur's voice called out over the music as he
arrived home from work. Remus turned the wireless down, dripping
washing up suds on the stone floor and looked embarrassed, Hermione
couldn't help but giggle, he looked like a naughty teenager, caught
being boisterous in his friend's home by their parent. The more she
tried to stifle her giggles, the more he grinned, which seemed to
thoroughly confuse Arthur who went about putting his work things
away, smiling at the strange scene.

'Sorry,
Arthur, I think we got a bit carried away there.'

'Not
at all, Remus, not at all. There isn't enough fun any more.' He gave
a little chuckle as he left the kitchen to change out of his work
robes. As he left, Hermione's giggles gave way to raucous laughter,
she leaned against him to steady herself and felt his wet hand on her
back, holding her up and holding her to him at the same time. He
smelled so fresh, like wild berries and his body was firm to the
touch, muscles hidden under his dishevelled robes, not like Ron's
lanky build. The laughter subsided and she was left looking up into
his gentle face, his eyes alive and more youthful than she'd ever
seen. The moment seemed to last an eternity, but eventually she
prised herself away from him, cleared her throat and turned her
attention back to dinner. Remus went back to washing some plates and
cutlery, a small, satisfied smile playing on his lips.

Soon
enough, Ron and Arthur returned and laid the table while Hermione and
Remus dished up the food. They'd made sure to make enough for Molly
when she got home and Hermione set a plateful aside for her, before
sitting down to eat.

After
dinner, Ron went off into the living room and dragged Hermione with
him. She went reluctantly, but significantly less agitated with him
than she had been that afternoon, leaving Arthur and Remus to tidy
away the dishes. They curled up on the sofa together and talked
quietly, he held her a little tightly and lightly kissed the back of
her head frequently. It was a relief to be like this, Hermione had
wanted a display of this kind, some sign that they could still be a
couple and enjoy being alone together. They talked about Harry and
Ron's mum, speculating on her secretive behaviour. Ron was convinced
she was doing something dangerous for the Order, but Hermione
suspected something more mundane. They talked about Grimmauld Place,
remembered previous school holidays spent there and joked about the
portrait of Sirius's mother.

'Poor
Sirius.' Hermione breathed, she felt Ron tighten up behind her.

'What
do you mean?' He asked, a little sharply.

'Well,
he spent the last year of his life cooped up in that awful house. I
can't imagine much worse than being a prisoner of injustice like
that.' Her voice tightened as she remembered everything. She felt Ron
shrug behind her.

'I
guess.' He muttered. With a huff she sat up and moved away from him.
It frustrated her so much that Ron didn't seem to care about anything
important. The best he managed was getting excited about Voldemort's
quest to kill off Harry. He valued his friends very dearly, a quality
she loved about him, but he just couldn't raise the interest about
anyone he didn't care for on a personal level.

'Do
you need a drink? I'm getting one.' She stood up, looked at him for
his answer, which he gave by the shake of his head, he didn't even
look up at her. Angry yet again, Hermione stormed from the room and
headed for the kitchen. She stopped outside the door, which was
standing ajar, when she heard Arthur's hushed voice.

'I
just wish I could do something. It can be very helpless being a
parent sometimes.'

'Hmm.
I can't pretend to know what you mean, obviously.' Remus said with a
strange tone, Hermione barely recognised. 'But I did get a small dose
of that when I was teaching.'

'You
see them drifting away and you know by the sixth that it means
they're trying to work something out for themselves. And you know
that your interference would be unwelcome. It's paralysing.' Arthur
sounded so low, but Hermione's suspicion that he was talking about
Ron seemed to have been confirmed by him referring to “the
sixth”. She frowned, wondering what it was that he had seen,
she hadn't particularly noticed Ron growing distant from his parents,
or from anyone else for that matter.

'Maybe
it's, you know, Hermione.' Her ears pricked up and she moved closer
to the door, holding her breath.

'Yes.
I did wonder. It's hard not being here much this summer, but they
don't seem to be joined at the hip like they were at Christmas.'
Hermione dropped her head. Had it really been that obvious? 'That
said, they're sharing Ron's room. They think we don't know, but I
haven't heard or seen Hermione go anywhere near her room since they
got here.' She blushed, horribly embarrassed for herself, but also
for the Weasleys and Remus, she was particularly bothered that he had
to hear that. Part of her wanted to retreat and hide. How would she
be able to look any of them in the eye again? But she was glued to
the spot, she had to wait and hear what else they would say.

'Hmm.
Well, it can't be easy for them, leaving Hogwarts. What is Ron
planning to do, anyway?' Remus sounded quiet, pained. Why would he be
so downcast? Hermione's stomach flipped over and she felt
light-headed. Was it the news that she was sleeping with Ron? Had
that disappointed him in some way? She turned away and choked back a
gasp. She needed to see his face, to look into his eyes and see if
she could read them. She shook out her body, took a deep breath and
flung open the door, waltzing in as casually as she could,
interrupting Arthur, who fell silent and smiled a little forcedly at
her.

'Hello.'
He sing-songed and she smiled back as she set about getting a drink.
Remus was staring at the table, he seemed to be slouching more than
usual and she drew her lower lip into her mouth in a horrible wave of
guilt. Arthur stood up and stretched before picking up the two empty
glasses from the table and heading to the pantry, presumably to
refill them with whichever spirit they were indulging in. She watched
Remus's reflection in the window as she ran the tap, he watched
Arthur go, then his eyes turned to her, he was gazing at her back and
Hermione's heart raced, her stomach filled with butterflies. She
turned to face him, breathing hard and searching desperately for
words. But none came. They simply stared at each other for a moment,
eyes searching one another for clues, clues of how to act, what to
say. But Arthur's return broke the eye contact and Hermione was torn
between joining them to be with him, to reassure him if she could,
and retreating from this horribly awkward situation.

With
a kind of remorse, Hermione took her glass of water and left the
kitchen, glancing back over her shoulder as she closed the door she
caught Remus knocking back his Firewhiskey in one go and she felt his
eyes on her back as she turned away and the door closed.

~#~#~#~

AN:
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Dizzy In The Heat