Hermione was in the process of placing batter on the sheets as Teddy stood next to her. He seemed quite pensive as they blotted batter. The witch kept glancing at the boy and scowled as he shifted his posture.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Teddy exhaled and shrugged. "Hermione, you told me that lying was awful."

"Who's lying?"

"You told me you weren't going to leave," Teddy grumbled.

Hermione had a feeling it was going to come up. There was no denying that the boy was acute with his observations. Her spoon dabbed the last of the batter onto the sheet. "I know, I'm sorry if it seems like I haven't been home."

"Is it because of dad and Uncle Sirius?" He asked as his eyes searched her face.

The witch's brow tightened. "No, not truly."

"Then what's wrong?" Teddy huffed.

Hermione chewed her lip and eyed the unmade cookies. What a representation of her life at this moment. "Me, Teddy. I said something and am not quite sure what it all means."

"Did it hurt anyone?" Teddy asked.

The witch shook her head and gazed over at him. "No, it just makes things harder and more frightening."

"But why does that scare you? You told me if it's not going to hurt anyone, it can't be that scary."

Hermione twitched her nose and breathed. "Well, love. Sometimes adults say things that change the rules, and that's scary. It isn't harmful or destructive, but it's frightening to do something," she paused and pinched her expression. "Not normal."

"Not normal?" Teddy asked.

"Yes, because it's not how I was raised," she flicked her wand, and the sheets flew into the oven. When she turned fully to the child, she thinned her lips. "I was lucky. I had a mummy and a daddy. You're lucky because you have an uncle and a daddy to raise you."

"But you're here," Teddy still was evidently unamused by her explanation.

Hermione waved him to the counter, and they sat down on stools. Hermione wasn't positive about why she felt the need to explain herself. The love and devotion she had for Teddy was a pull, unlike anything else.

"I love you, very much," Hermione sighed as she caressed his cheek.

Teddy smiled. "I love you too, Hermione."

"When people love each other, they do anything for them. They will climb mountains for their happiness or walk through fire," Hermione added.

"Like you and Uncle Sirius?" he inquired.

Hermione tilted her head and exhaled. "Yes, but I've been a bad person to Uncle Sirius. I haven't been allowing him to be fully happy. I was staying busy at work so he would be happier."

"But he's not," Teddy remarked.

"I know, but the only way to make him happier is for him to spend time with your father. Does that make sense?"

Teddy scowled and shook his head. "No, Hermione. He's been arguing with my dad when they think I'm not there. They aren't happy together."

This wasn't the encouraging imagery she was hoping to hear. "But they could be," Hermione murmured.

Hermione jumped as a rough hand landed on her shoulder. "Teddy, why don't you get ready for bed, and we'll have the biscuits when they come out?" Remus asked.

The boy hopped from the stool and nodded. "Okay, dad."

When Teddy left the room, Remus moved to his empty seat. Hermione had made an effort to avoid him and Sirius, which only caused her more nerves when she saw them this last week. Remus didn't move to speak or even turn to her. He snagged the bowl of batter across the counter and spooned a bit into his mouth.

"This is good," he said after swallowing.

Hermione smiled and relaxed her shoulders. "It's Molly's recipe, so I assume it's good," she responded.

After scraping a bit more, he offered her the spoon. "She always was a devilishly, witty cook."

The witch accepted the spoon and enjoyed the textures of the batter in her mouth. There was this familiar feeling of their past that lingered between them. So many nights they spent doing just this: making cookies, eating the batter in the bowl, and enjoying the company of each other. Their lives were littered with this tone of familiar moments.

Remus turned to her and beamed. "So, do you think we can read and have a bit of that reserved label you have stashed away? Celebrate a bit?"

It was eerily normal. "Oh, yes. What about Sirius?"

"He said he wanted," Remus stopped as the sound of footsteps fell behind her.

"I wanted to see if you would sleep with me tonight," Sirius added.

Hermione turned around with a frown.

He held up his hands and grinned. "No funny business, love. Just sleep. I haven't had a good night's rest since our argument."

"I thought you both would be sleeping together," Hermione grumbled as she turned toward the counter.

"You can't keep attempting to push us together any faster than we are going, Hermione. We have tons of baggage and more to work out without you trying to self-destruct your agreement," Remus huffed.

"I just thought that's what you needed. You needed to know that I wasn't going to," She paused when Sirius touched her shoulder.

"Love, you need to let us figure that out. You said you wanted no part in it. Kindly let us work it out without running from home?" Sirius asked while kneading her shoulder.

Hermione chewed her lip as she stared down at the clean spoon. "But this isn't normal."

Remus laughed while shaking his head. "No, it most certainly isn't. However, I am not going to toss it in the bin because it's not. When have we ever had a normal life? Scathing inquisitions from Molly. Late nights of books, spirits, and chocolate. The full moon and its phases. You have to admit, at some point, we never had a normal friendship."

Sirius moved between them and jumped on the counter. "Let's not forget my appearance and the oddity of that. How you spent countless nights in bed with me just talking because the world changed so quickly since I was gone. Your forgiveness for my less than usual routines of pickling my brain. It all is quite different," he added.

She stared at them both and breathed with a nod. "I won't meddle. I will live in my truth and by my word. I won't disappear in my work unless it's needed for my job."

Sirius clapped as he hopped off the counter. "Good! Then we'll do just that. I'm going to take a nice long bath and relax in your room. When you're done reading with Moony, you come up, and we'll get some sleep."

"Clean behind your ears, mutt," Remus snickered with a smile.

Sirius reached over and patted his cheek with a light slap. "Well, you're always so charming, Moony. No wonder it took you this long to say something, beasty."

Remus snorted as the animagus pulled away. "Don't use that disgusting shampoo you only use to irritate my nose."

Hermione covered her giggles with a hand and shook her head. "See you soon, Sirius."

The animagus disappeared, and she slumped in her seat. "I'm completely barmy to think this will work," she sighed while pressing her forehead onto the surface.

Remus stole the spoon from her and hemmed. "Well, that's true, but it's worth the effort if it works."

"What works?" Hermione asked as she turned her face and let her cheek rest on the counter.

"You find what makes you happy. That's all we care about," he responded before delving the spoon into the bowl again. "If you aren't happy, we aren't. It's that simple."

"If it's that simple, then why do I have nausea thinking about the repercussions of a sour end?" Hermione questioned.

Remus shifted as he enjoyed the last bit of batter. "Well, you wouldn't be frightened if you didn't want to see, now would you?"

"Touche, Professor Lupin," She snickered with a smile.

The alarm for the oven went off, and Remus stood up. "We want the same thing, Hermione. We also want to take care of you as your friend, which takes priority. Let's start with the basics with the intention of not holding back our thoughts any longer, alright?" He asked while pulling out the cookie sheets with an oven mitt.

"That's fair, Remus. We can start there," Hermione sighed as she sat up.

Remus set the cookies down and turned to her with his arms folded, the oven mitts still over his hands. "Hermione, I don't think I have to tell you that what we do isn't about marks. We aren't looking to grade you on your skills as a woman. Sirius assured me that you're beyond passing," Remus finished with a smirk.

Hermione laughed while shaking her head. "Do you always have to make me feel better in the worse situations, Remus?"

"That's what I'm decent at. How long have we been each other's strengths? Years of moments that when one of us falters, the other holds them. I promise, I won't let you fall. You're ours to tend to, and I know that Sirius is capable of doing so as well."

"Yes, he is quite decent. I don't understand why you both seem so off-kilter," Hermione sighed.

Remus took off the mitts and snagged the spatula off the counter. "For one, we know each other's sore spots. We have exploited them many times while we were maturing. It's complex to sift through all of it. There's no one on this planet who knows me as well as he does."

Hermione climbed from her seat and wandered around the counter. "Do you still think this is wise then?"

The werewolf shifted as he was pulling the biscuits off the tray. "Are you asking me as a friend or participant?"

"Both."

"If that's the case, then I will be blunt. Yes, I do think it's wise. None of us wants to see the other leave. We all want our cake and to eat it too," Remus remarked as he set down a few more cookies on the cooling rack.

Her brow was pinched as she examined him. "That doesn't work. Happiness can just bloom from three different connections."

"Why not? There's no rules to love, Hermione. If there were, I would have happily studied them prior to my growing pains in relationships. I'm the perfect example of an awkward sliver of luck."

Hermione breathed as she leaned on the counter next to Remus. "So, if that's the result, then what do we do to avoid hurt feelings?"

Remus beamed and touched her cheek with his free hand. "We stop telling each other what we need to do and just do it. Stop trying to fix us. We'll come around when there's room. Right now, there isn't any room because you won't settle the waters."

"You promise?"

"Let me take the lead on this one. Let me walk through the door," Remus whispered as he neared her lips.

Hermione instinctively licked her lips before closing the gap between them. It was soft and lightened the metaphoric weight on her chest. She didn't truly have to choose? Would it just play out the way it was designed? What type of luck was that?

"Dad, are we going to have dessert?" Teddy's voice interrupted their pleasant kiss.

Remus jerked away and pivoted to smile at him. "Of course, son. Let's have dessert and head up to read."

The boy sized the pair up before nodding. "Okay."

Well, that's one way to break the ice.