"Gods, he's such a prick." Hermione whispered as she leaned over the thick tome, her hands curling around the edge as she closed some of the distance between Remus and herself, hoping that the students who lingered in this section of the library didn't overhear her less than professional words.

Remus, who had been grading, glanced up towards her. Green eyes peered over the top of his wire frame readers that were perched low on his nose as he lifted a single brow. "What happened now?"

How she'd fallen into this easy friendship with Remus Lupin—her once Professor now colleague was beyond her. One day she'd been grading essays by herself in the back of the library, and the next he was at her table striking up a conversation. It wasn't as if she had been opposed to it, she'd always found him insightful and a pleasure to converse with, but it was hard to imagine just six short years ago she had been sitting in his room as a pupil instead of a peer.

The transition of their relationship did not seem entirely difficult for him, he even had no qualms about using her given name, and even invited her for post-first week of term drinks with the fellow Professors without pause. His ease was admirable, for she found herself still slipping into old habits and referring to him as 'Professor' in private more time than she cared to admit.

"He just—ugh—he's over there with her. He knows this is where I do my grading." Hermione gestured behind her, where four bookshelves back her ex sat with the new Divination Professor.

Aside from the occasional outburst of giggles, one might not even know the two professors sat back there. But Hermione knew—of course she bloody knew. He made a fucking point to stop by her desk to say hello before he disappeared.

"Uh huh…" Remus said slowly before reached up to pull the glasses from his face and he tossed them on top of his stack of grading before leaning back in his chair. The sleeves to his button up were rolled up to his elbows, exposing the sinewy muscles of his arms—that admittedly might be one of her favourite physical traits about her friend, not that she had a catalog of things she found attractive about him. Because of course she didn't. He was her friend, after all. Had Remus been literally anyone else, she might consider him an option. He was intelligent, thoughtful, and despite being in his early forties, rather fit. The whole salt and pepper look was really working for him. "Do you think that maybe he might just want to grade papers in the library and he wasn't doing something to spite you?"

"Seriously, Remus?" Hermione deadpanned, her lips pursing to the corner of her mouth. "You're supposed to be my friend."

"I am your friend. I am simply giving our colleague the benefit of doubt," Remus corrected, the corner of his lips lifting in that half-smile he often gave her that made her stomach flutter. "I'll agree, he's a prick. I have never subscribed to the McLaggen fan club, so…" His voice trailed off and his shoulders lifted in a small shrug before he leaned forward to plant his elbows on the table, his palms pressing against the oak. "But…if he is trying to flaunt whatever he's got going on with what's-her-face—"

"Celeste." Hermione supplied with an exaggerated roll of her eyes, as if uttering the witch's name was the most revolting thing in the world.

"Celeste, thank you. Ifthat was in intention, don't you think getting upset is doing exactly what he wants? Ignore him. You know what type of wizard he is—"

"An arsehole."

"Yes."

"A loser with mummy issues."

"Yes, yes. I know all the bloody details. Look. Forget about him, okay? He's not worth your time or effort." Remus reached out to lay his hand over hers, his fingers curling around her palm and he gave her that smile—the one that made her heart twitch and her stomach flutter. The same one she had a hard time not returning. "Take it from me. I've been around a time or two by now. The sooner you let go, the sooner you'll find something better."

Hermione sighed, giving him a slow shake of her head before she turned over her palm under his so she could return the gentle squeeze. "I know…I know. It's just hard. He's made some comments about me still being dreadfully alone and gods, I just want to hex him."

"I might be able to arrange some bodily harm. Sirius owes me a couple favours…actually a lot of favours. Who's to say a rogue bludger doesn't make its way across the pitch to Magical Creatures?" Remus wagged his brows, the quirk in his lips indicating that while yes, he was joking, there was a small sliver of truth. Cormac and Sirius had had plenty of runs in to date, and Hermione know the Flying professor only needed the slightest bit of an excuse to make Cormac's life a living hell.

Hermione snorted, her free hand lifting to brush her curls from her forehead. "Gods, if only." She muttered before slipping her hand free from Remus' grasp and she began to tidy up her papers. She wasn't going to get any more work done knowing they were just on the other side of the stacks, so she might as well not pretend any further. "I think I'm going to head down to Three Broomsticks for a drink…fancy coming along?"

Remus hesitated, jade green eyes tracking her movements, obviously weighing out the benefits of getting a nightcap on a school night. "Ehh…I don't know, Hermione."

"Aw, come on. I'll buy the first round." She offered with a hopeful lift of her brows.

"Ehhh…"

"What? Afraid of temptation?" Hermione teased, wiggling her jumper covered shoulder at him as she waved her wand across the oversized tomb to drink it down so she could tuck it in her bag.

"Hardly," Remus barked with a laugh. His hand lifted to smooth over his face, fingers rubbing the corners of his eyes before he finally relented. "Okay, but two drinks. Tops."

"Two." Hermione agreed, her smile widening until her molars showed. "Promise. Nothing more ...shall we invite Sirius?"

"No!" Remus rushed out, his hands already straightening his stack of parchment. "If he arrived, we certainly wouldn't be ending at two bloody drinks."

Two drinks.

That was all they agreed to.

Two mesely little drinks.

Of course, by the time they'd both finished their second pints of ale, the promise of ending the night at two sounded rather dull. So, in a show of great wisdom—which had nothing at all to do with the effects of the ale coursing through their system—they opted to stay for another two rounds.

Which is how Hermione found herself standing at the bar beside her friend in her camisole, and denim trousers. Her jumper was discarded in the booth they took over at the beginning of the night, laid haphazardly across the seat. "Merlin, it's hot." Hermione complained as she fanned at her face. She'd pulled her hair up on the crown of her head, her wand stuck through her curls holding them in place.

"It's really not." Remus laughed as he leaned on the bar with his elbow, body turned to face hers. "It's that gods awful beer you keep ordering."

"First off, Mountain Knoll Ale is not awful. It's delicious." Hermione replied with a playfully crisp edge to her voice as she held up her index finger towards him. "Secondly, I am not the only one who shed layers—" Her hand moved around them to gesture to the patrons, some of which were without their jumpers and jackets. "—so clearly I'm not off base. You're just stuck up and won't discard your cardigan because gods forbid you appear even remotely casual while out in public."

Remus looked down at her attire, his brow cocking before he glanced back up to her. "Is that a challenge, Professor Granger?"

"If you make it one, sure. Professor Lupin."

The used of his title seemed to have an affect, because even from where she stood she could make out his eye colour flickering with gold. Hermione bit her bottom lip to keep from commenting on the change, and instead watched silently as Remus unbuttoned his outerwear.

Shrugging out of his cardigan, he set it down on the bar top before adjusting his oxford underneath. He untucked it from his trousers before popping open the first couple buttons at his neck, revealing a small tuft of auburn hair that instantly made her mouth run dry.

But this was Remus.

Professor Lupin.

Her colleague.

Her former instructor.

She couldn't—wouldn't—give into such ludicrous feelings.

Clearing her throat, Hermione turned to face the bar, planting her hands on the sticky countertop as she rose to her tiptoes to get Rosmerta's attention, signaling for another round. When the next set of pints floated in front of them, Hermione began to fish around in the front pocket of her denim's to retrieve some coins to pay, but Remus slapped down payment before she could.

"I got this round, Hermione." Remus' chest pressed against her shoulder as he leaned in to pick up his drink, his breath ghosting along the back of her neck.

"Oh…thank you. Are you sure? You're doing me a favour coming out." Hermione said, sliding her drink closer toward her before she picked it up to take a large sip. When she felt the heat of his body back away from hers, Hermione turned around, letting her upper back dig into the countertop as she faced Remus.

"I don't mind. Sometimes it's nice to be reminded that I don't have to feel so bloody old all the time," Remus said with a small incline of his head, his lips quirking in a small smile before he lifted his glass towards her in a salute of sorts. "So, thank you for forcing me to join you."

"Ah! I wouldn't call it forced." Hermione said, her nose scrunching. "More like…persuaded."

"Isn't it the same with you?"

"Gods I hope not." Hermione laughed.

It was just then the brass bell atop the front door began to jingle, signaling an incoming patron. Brown eyes drifted towards the door on instinct, and she watched the familiar figure of her ex saunter through the front door with his picture-perfect blonde girlfriend tucked under his arm.

They were mid-laugh as they came in from the crisp autumn night, looking ever the perfect couple. Hermione's entire body went tense, and the hand curled around her pint glass tightened. Of fucking course he'd come here. Because all measures she'd taken to avoid her ex clearly weren't enough.

"Fuck." Hermione breathed, turning to set her glass on the bar top before she sunk back, trying to hide behind Remus' lithe form as she withdrew her wand and began to fluff at her curls in a feeble attempt to appear more put together and less drunk than she was.

"What?" Remus questioned, lifting a brow at her before he began to look around the room.

"Fucking Cormac." Hermione hissed, pointing to where the couple were lingering in the doorway so they could share a kiss.

Remus' eyes followed her hand and he let out a small noise in recognition. "Should we leave?"

"No, fuck him." Hermione snapped, her brow setting. She was tired of having to run away from all her local haunts just because he decided to show up. The library was bad enough, but there was no way she was willing to give up the Leaky. And especially not tonight. "You told me to not let it bother me, right? So…I'm not."

Remus turned back towards her with a surprised lift to his brows. "Well colour me impressed."

Hermione rolled her eyes and just as she turned to pick up her drink from the bar, her elbow smashed directly into the glass, sending the nearly full pint spilling across the bar and the glass rolling over the edge, where it fell and shattered to the ground.

The noise cut through the crowded bar, and suddenly all eyes in the room were on her—including those of her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend.

Suddenly, the calm and collected she had felt moments earlier vanished, and in its place an anxiety ridden monster roared to life.

He'd see her! He'd known she was out, drinking until she was two sheets to the wind on a bloody school night! He'd likely think he was the cause—and while he wasn't wrong, she was not about to let him know that. She needed to do something. Something to throw him off the trail. Something that would shock him enough into bloody leaving.

"Maybe we should be—"

Remus never got to finish his sentence.

Hermione's hand curled into the front of his oxford, straining the buttons as she pulled him closer to her until his body pressed into hers. Heat coloured her cheeks crimson as she rose on her toes and press her lips into his.

It was no big deal. It was just a kiss. A fake kiss! A means to an end. A way to show Cormac she was one hundred precent absolutely positively over him. That she didn't care what his new flavour of the week was, because she had moved on.

Remus bristled under her touch, his body frozen. She could feel tension ripple through his muscles as she pulled him closer until her hips seated against his. "Kiss me!" She hissed into his mouth, her other hand raising to cup around the back of his neck.

It seemed to be all the encouragement the werewolf needed, for just as quickly as the apprehension had risen in him, it quickly vanished.

His lips felt soft on hers, slanting over her mouth as he pressed her back into the bar and she distantly heard the clink of him setting down his pint glass over the rushing sound of her heartbeat.

His hands curled around the bar on either side of her, trapping her against him as he swept his tongue over her bottom lip and suddenly the thoughts Cormac were replaced by how bloody good this actually felt.

His stubbled chin scratched lightly against hers as he slipped his tongue into his mouth, and the taste of Remus sent a foreign heatwave rushing to the apex of her thighs. Her hand curled tighter around the back of his neck as her other left the front of his shirt to smooth over his chest before linking around his shoulder.

She didn't know how long they stayed there, snogging in the middle of the bar—nor did she bloody care. All that seemed to matter was the feeling of Remus' lips, and the way his body fit perfectly against hers. It wasn't until there was a crisp clearing of a throat from behind them that Hermione reluctantly withdrew from the kiss.

"Look, I'm happy you both finally realized your feelings for one another," Rosmerta said as she wiped her hands on a dirty dish rag. "But, I'd much prefer if you not snog at my bar…It's bad enough with your students, I certainly don't need it from faculty too."

Hermione's cheeks burned bright red as she gave the witch a slow now, a small squeak in recognition leaving her throat and she turned to look back at Remus, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip.

Remus' eyes were pure gold, burning brightly. The look nearly store her breath, but it wasn't the shift in colour that startled her. It was the burning desire that lingered there. The way he looked at her like she was the most important thing on the bloody planet.

"I…uh…" Hermione gulped, trying to rid her throat of the lump that appeared.

"Did it work?" Remus breathed, his eyes flickering down to her lips.

"Did…what work?" Hermione whispered, her body frozen in his arms, not yet ready pull herself free from his embrace.

"Did he notice? You kissed me…to make him mad…right?"

"Who?" Hermione's brow furrowed in confusion; her mind still fuzzy from the after-effects of the thorough snogging. Make who mad? Why would anyone else matter?

"Cormac…?"

"Oh! Right." Hermione glanced over to the door where her ex stood moments earlier, but the spot was now decidedly vacant. She looked around the room, but saw no sign of the overly cocky brunette. "Uh…you know…I'm sure." She lied as she drew her eyes back to Remus, teeth sinking into her bottom lip. "Maybe we should…try again."

Remus gulped, his adam's apple visibly running the length of his throat. "Try…again?"

"Yeah, you know…snogging." Hermione could feel her blush travel down her neck and onto her chest, but she couldn't bring herself to care. At least not in this moment, not while the ale's she had fueled her courage. "Just in case he didn't see."

"Oh…right." Remus said with a quick nod of his head, his lips lifting in the smallest hint of a smile. "Just in case."

"Right…better safe than sorry."

"I couldn't agree more." Remus whispered, gold coloured eyes dropping back to her lips once more before he closed the distance between them.

Hermione ignored the small noise in irritation from Rosmerta, instead opting to wrap her arms around Remus' shoulders once more, pulling his body back into hers. They could deal with the repercussions of what this meant later, for now, she wanted to just enjoy the feeling of his lips.

Author's Note:

My muse has been giving me a very hard time lately, so the ever lovely Ravenslight prompted me with the following: Fake-out Make Out. w/ the line "what? afraid of temptation?".

This was what I came up with. I hope you all enjoyed this quick little nonsense.

Thank you Ravenslight for the prompt (xoxo) & Mcal for being my clutch beta. I adore you both endlessly and the fandom is lucky to have you both. 3

until next time. xx