"Of Crushes and Valentines'

By: wizardhp23

Genre: General, Romance

Rating: PG (just in case)

Brief Summary: It's nearing Valentine's Day at Hogwarts, and Professor Dumbledore has decided to make a rule that all teachers must have a date for the Valentine's Day banquet – a student date. What do you get when you have Hermione Granger and her secret crush on Professor Lupin? Set in Hogwarts, in the kids' seventh and final year. Lupin is back to teach lycanthropy!

DISCLAIMER: Heck, I wish I own Lupin and Hermione but unfortunately, all Harry Potter characters and places belong to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter One – Crushes and Glances

'YOU WHAT?!'

17-year-old Ronald Weasley (Ron) stared at his best friend Harry Potter in shock. Harry quietly replied, 'Calm down, Ron, it's just a little crush…'

'Little crush?! Do you know what this means? It means I'll have my best friend as my brother-in-law!' cried Ron.

Their friend Hermione Granger rolled her eyes. 'Seriously, Ron…Harry just has a crush on Ginny, that's all. No need to go all overboard about it.'

'Be quiet, Hermione,' Ron snapped back, 'when you don't even know what a crush is…oh wait, you do…on that mental bloke Lockhart!'

While Ron went back to rambling, Hermione shook her head, and secretly slipped out her diary. Her friend was wrong. She knows what a real crush is and what is the feeling of having a crush on someone is…no, not on that crazy Gilderoy Lockhart, at least not anymore. Her new crush is yet another Hogwarts professor – the former DADA teacher and current Lycanthropy professor, Remus J. Lupin.

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Apparently, Remus John Lupin has changed since his last stay at Hogwarts during Hermione and her friends' third year. He must have been on some kind of makeover show, like "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy", because he is now considered a lady-killer, having short strawberry blonde-hair, and sporting stubble on his face. Sweats and jeans with a matching robe thrown on casually replaced the old patchy robes he once wore. As far as Hermione knows, all of the female classmates and students usually tried to steal glances at him whenever they can. Hermione, surprisingly, was no exception. During her Lycanthropy lessons, she would stare at Professor Lupin and absently draw tiny hearts around Lupin's name on her timetable. Harry had caught her doing that once, but she managed to perform a slight Memory Charm on him, and within moments, Harry had forgotten all about what she did.

Today was just another dreamy day. Hermione arrived early for her Lycanthropy lesson, as usual. Looking around, she noticed that a group of female classmates were huddled close together. Curious, Hermione moved slightly closer to the girls.

'The Valentine's Day banquet is almost here!' Lavender Brown was saying.

'Do you think we can ask Professor Lupin out?' piped out Parvati Patil.

The girls all snorted. Parvati's twin sister Padma cried out that there was no way to get Professor Lupin to the dance. At that moment, the teacher appeared, dressed very scruffily yet handsomely too, in a neatly pressed white shirt and jeans. His tie was hanging loosely from the collar of the shirt, and his jacket was hanging from his tucked-in right arm. In his other hand, he carried the necessary equipment needed for today's lesson. At his appearance, all of the girls squealed and gaped at him. Lupin casually unlocked the classroom door with a flick of his wand, and went in, unaware of the female students' reactions.

A/N: Please r/r and I promise to update soon with the reviews!