A/N: This is second and final part of this fic, written for the rlhg exchange on livejournal, '09. :)

Disclaimer: All you recognise belongs to JKR and associates. All you do not, is mine. No profit is made from this fanfiction.

Part Two

x.x.x

Hermione yawned, a hand moving to briefly rub at one eye as she slowly came back to the land of the living before carefully trying to sit up somewhat, the crick in her neck beyond uncomfortable. Damn, how did I do that– her thoughts cut off as she finally opened her eyes to find Remus sat at the head of the bed, a bemused look on his face.

"Morning," he said simply, tilting his head in question. "Your bed catch fire, did it?"

"Er, yes?" Hermione said, sleepily moving to the edge of the bed and letting her feet dangle over the edge. It relieved the ache she had in her knees. Turning, she smiled at him and shrugged. "You were having a nightmare last night."

"I was?"

"Well, I assume that's what it was. I tried to call Poppy or Anne, but no one came... so I ended up walking from my bed to yours to see what I could do." She ran a hand through her hair, fingers catching on the snarls and making her eyes water as she pulled too hard.

"Oh," Remus said, brow drawing together in thought. "I don't remember. Sorry. I was loud, I guess?"

Hermione turned on the bed to face him properly, smiling in reassurance. "Well a little, but don't worry. I was more concerned with you moving and doing more damage to your ribs, to be honest."

Remus nodded and Hermione watched as his hand drifted up to his chest, covering his ribs for a moment before dropping back to the bed. I'd forgotten what his hands were like... she thought, eyes watching with interest as he smoothed out the sheets with his palms.

"Thank you, Hermione," Remus finally said, catching her attention and drawing it away from his hand. "Though I'm still wondering why you were sleeping at the bottom of my bed."

"Oh, my feet hurt too much from walking over so I, um, sort of curled up and went to sleep while I waited for Poppy or Anne to come to check on us," she explained. Looking around the room, Hermione guessed neither of them had been in, which was odd. "I guess they forgot about us or something."

Remus shrugged and moved from under the sheets until he was sitting next to Hermione, feet over the edge of the bed. "This is nice," he said quietly, stretching his legs out and wiggling his toes in the air.

Hermione smiled from her seat next to his, her eyes moving and hesitantly meeting his own as he turned to look at her.

Oh, she thought dimly as neither of them moved, eyes holding one another's gazes. What should I... Ohh. Hermione's mind went blissfully blank as Remus' hand came up to cup her cheek at the same time that he closed the distance between their mouths, lips grazing hers for a long moment. Pulling back he dropped his and resumed his observation of his feet.

"That was nice too," he added, bumping his shoulder with hers gently.

Hermione could feel her cheeks going red and mentally cursed her blood vessels, biting her lip as she tried to think of something to say that didn't sound stupid. "Yes," she finally settled for, figuring honesty was best. "It was." She smiled at him again and leant her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes for a brief moment before a voice at the doorway made them snap open.

"Well," Poppy said as she walked into the room, hands on her hips in a typical 'I'm not happy, my charges are misbehaving' posture Hermione had seen once when Harry had legged it from the hospital wing before she had had the chance to force some foul-tasting potion on him.

"Morning, Poppy," Remus said from beside her, his tone all cheer. "Hermione's been naughty."

Hermione blinked and stared at Remus, mouth open in shock. "What-but... you!" she stuttered, head whipping round to look at Poppy. "I haven't!"

Poppy rolled her eyes at the both of them, and moved over to Hermione. "Well, let's see if you can get back now into your own bed first, shall we?" she asked, shifting to try and wrap an arm around Hermione.

"I'll help her," Remus said, as Poppy moved to slide an arm around Hermione's waist. Poppy paused and shook her head.

"As much as I'm sure you want to, Remus, I don't think you'd get very far right now."

Remus sighed, shoulders drooping in defeat. "Fine, fine."

Poppy helped Hermione up, supporting most of her weight as Hermione took careful steps towards her own bed. "Doesn't hurt as much this morning as it did last night," she muttered under her breath as Poppy allowed her to take the last two steps under her own steam.

"What do you mean last night?!" Poppy exclaimed, looking back to Remus askance as Hermione settled herself back on top of her sheets. Remus just shrugged and Poppy turned back to Hermione, missing Remus' big grin.

"Oh, er, well you see..." Hermione began, wishing she'd kept her mouth shut.

x.x.x.x

"Got any fours?" Remus asked, peeking at Hermione from over the top of his hand of cards. He smirked when she pouted and passed two to him over the small gap between their beds.

It had taken them almost three days since the incident with Hermione waking up on Remus' bed, and a lot of bell ringing until Poppy finally broke down and gave them a pack of cards – the non-magical kind – and a chess set. It was apparently all she could get her hands on and while Hermione thought she was holding out on them, neither of them had complained, taking the chess set and the cards with big smiles and a 'thank you, Poppy!'

"Any queens?"

"Go fish."

In order to play without needing help they'd persuaded (nagged and cajoled) Anne to move Remus' bed over towards Hermione's. Scowling, she'd complied, but only because she'd learnt the hard way over previous days that Hermione and Remus were as thick as thieves and ten times more determined when it came to getting something they wanted. The rule that Anne had finally comprised on was that they could only have their beds that way between mid-morning and sometime early in the evening.

It was better than nothing.

"Sorry to break up your playtime, Hermione, Remus, but you have a couple of visitors," Poppy said cheerily as she entered the room, waving her wand and gathering up the cards, pocketing them before either Hermione or Remus could say a word about it.

"Visitors?" Hermione repeated dumbly as she watched Remus' bed glide over to the other side of the room once more. Poppy then carefully guided a still weak, but growing stronger every day, Remus back into it. One thing he'd refused to allow was to be levitated with his bed, arguing that the few steps were good for him after all the bed rest.

"Yes, visitors," Poppy said, smiling at her. "I figured that if you two are able to harangue me and Anne as much as you have then you're ready for them. Yes?"

Hermione nodded eagerly and looked over to Remus who looked a little unsure. "Remus?"

She watched as he ran a hand over his face, obviously tired. Even now that Poppy was beginning to treat what was remaining of the poisoning with potions, he still slept a lot. Albeit in shorter naps throughout the day rather than constantly. His skin was pinker, less ghost-like than it had been the first time she'd seen him and he'd become more like the man she'd known before all of this had happened. "Who is it, Poppy?" he asked, glancing to Hermione quickly before turning to face Poppy.

"It's Harry and Ginny," Poppy answered with a frown, looking at Remus. "I can say no, if you're not feeling up to it."

"No, no! It's fine. I'm just tired, as to be expected, Poppy," he reassured her with a wan smile. "Let them in, I'd like to see them. It's been a while."

Poppy straightened her apron and nodded at him, sparing a glance for Hermione as she left the room to go get their visitors.

Hermione was actually excited, if not a little nervous. Poppy had only told them generally what the outcome of the war had been and the casualties they'd suffered as she'd tended to both of them in the past few days. Anne had been decidedly tight-lipped about it all, and both had said they were too busy to fetch them a Daily Prophet, much to Hermione's frustration.

Hermione couldn't stop the wide smile from lighting up her face as Harry poked his head round the door frame, a Muggle balloon saying 'get well soon' bobbing in the air behind him.

"Harry!" she said, leaning forward in bed, to take his hand as he moved to her bedside. "I... I'm so glad you're alright!"

"I'm glad you will be, too, Hermione," Harry said softly, squeezing her hand a little too hard. Hermione pulled it out of his grasp with a wince, and a shake of her head at his small frown.

"Sorry, my nerves are still a bit sensitive to pressure," she explained, smiling at him reassuringly as he tied the balloon to the head of the bed frame for her. She saw he hadn't noticed Remus yet, so she poked at his shoulder until he got the idea and turned around.

"Remus!" he yelled, bounding over to the bed and then stopping short as he took in the colour of his skin. "God, you look so... pale."

Remus laughed, coughing a little as he did and wincing as he put strain on his still tender ribs.

"Harry, nice to see you, too. I'd hug you, but still healing ribs aren't conducive to that right now. I'm pale because of the silver poisoning. Don't worry," he added quickly as Harry took a few steps forward, worry imprinted upon his features, Hermione guessed from where she watched. "I'll be fine; it's just going to take a long while to get it all out of my system."

Harry let out an audible sigh of relief and perched on the edge of Remus' bed near his feet. "So what happened?"

Hermione turned away, having already heard how the rat Pettigrew had injured him and waved as an unsure Ginny peeped around the door frame, just as Harry had moments before. "Hey, Ginny," she said, beckoning her over.

"How are you?"

"I'll be okay," Hermione said quickly, not wanting to get into the rather long and sordid tale about her nerve damage. "How's things? How's your family? Poppy and the other Healer, Anne, don't really say much about what's going out outside these four walls and it's been driving me nuts."

Ginny took a deep breath and, sitting down on Hermione's bed near her feet, attempted a smile that Hermione saw didn't quite meet her eyes. "We lost dad, and Bill... and Percy," she said in hushed tones. Her hands were clasped together tightly and Hermione's heart went out to her. Reaching forward she put her hand over Ginny's and squeezed them as tightly as she could for a brief moment, ignoring the shot of pain up her arm in order to comfort her friend. "Oh, Gin."

"It's okay, Hermione. I mean... it isn't really, but... well, we still have mum and the others. We'll manage. Ron's-" she broke off looking up at Hermione, her eyes watery. "Sorry."

"Doesn't matter," Hermione said, squeezing her hand again. Ron was of no interest to her after everything that had happened, but a part of her was glad he was alive and well. Even if that was more for Harry and Ginny's sakes than her own. "How are things between you and Harry?" she asked, trying to change the topic away from the gloom and horror of the war.

Ginny looked over to Harry with a tender smile on her face that spoke volumes. "We're good. Found a nice flat just outside of London we like and we're thinking of moving in together. Though not for a while... we're still at the Burrow right now, helping mum."

Hermione nodded in understanding and moved back, resting on the pillows. "I can't wait to get out of here, Gin," she said as she tried to shift her legs a bit, they were getting a bit stiff from staying in bed all the time and she'd started trying to move them more and more. With Poppy's approval of course. "It took us three days before to persuade Poppy to give us some cards to stave off the brain rot. It's so boring here most of the time."

"Oh, I don't know," Ginny said, a sly look coming over her face as she looked over to where Remus and Harry where still sat talking quietly. "Being stuck in a room with Remus doesn't sound all that bad if you ask me."

Hermione felt her cheeks turn pink and she ducked her head. "He said something along those lines a while ago," she admitted.

"Really?" Ginny said loudly, making Hermione's head shoot up and turn in the direction of Remus to find both him and Harry looking over at them suspicious. Ginny just shrugged and said loudly, "girl talk."

They both rolled their eyes and resumed their own conversation, though Hermione noticed Remus glancing over in their direction once or twice after that – much to her own enjoyment, she admitted to herself quietly.

Ginny giggled, a sound Hermione liked because it was cheerful and soothing after all the screams and heart ache they'd all been through. Even four weeks of enchanted sleep hadn't stopped her from having nightmares in recent days. What she saw made her retch if she thought too hard on it.

"Hermione, look, Poppy told me not to tell you too much, about everything that's happened. She said something about letting you find out in your own time, whatever that means.

"What I will tell you is that we're seeing this as a fresh start. Everyone is. We've all lost a lot, some more than others, and now that Voldemort and all he stands for is gone, it's time for a new beginning. It sounds trite in a way I suppose, but it's nice. Like when I was out near the shops, everyone was friendly, talking to each other and taking their time," she paused and Hermione kept quiet, not quite sure what to say.

Ginny looked over to Remus and Harry and Hermione followed her gaze. They were both sitting on Remus' bed, heads bent and Remus was speaking quickly and quietly about something.

"He likes you, doesn't he?" Ginny said softly. "I think you like him, too."

Hermione swallowed, and nodded, only speaking when she realised Ginny couldn't see her. "I think so, yes." Ginny turned her head and smiled at her, raising one eyebrow in question.

"Okay, yes!" Hermione said exasperated. "Yes."

Ginny's lips curled up in a smile, and Hermione couldn't help but do the same herself.

"He kissed me," Hermione said, finally glad to be able to tell someone.

"What! When?" Ginny said in an excited whisper, turning in her seat on the edge of Hermione's bed and shifting closer to her, her eyes wide with surprise. "Well? Come on, tell me!" she added, prodding Hermione's leg gently.

x.x.x.x

Putting the cards to one side, Remus rubbed his hands together in anticipation as Poppy brought in his first proper meal in weeks. He'd been eating small amounts of food, as instructed, but it had all tasted of sand. The poisoning had ruined his taste buds and they'd only just recently repaired themselves enough so that he could face something larger.

"Well, it certainly smells nice," Poppy said as she placed the tray in front of him, another levitating behind her for Hermione. Turning, she took it from mid-air and placed it onto the table for her. "Don't force it, Hermione," she added putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder for a moment. "Your stomach will still be a little fragile from the potions."

Remus smiled as Poppy took her leave and turned to Hermione. "I've missed this," he said as he picked up his cutlery.

"Missed what? Food?" Hermione asked, echoing his actions and draping her napkin over her knees in a habitual fashion.

"Well, yes, sort of. You know I've been eating a little, when I can, but it's tasted foul. What I've really missed is Molly's cooking though."

Hermione licked her lips, having taken a small bite of the mashed potato on her plate when he was talking. "She is a splendid cook, I'll admit."

Taking a forkful of the mash and some beef, Remus didn't restrain his appreciative 'Mmm'as it hit his tongue. Merlin, that's good. He smiled up at Hermione, fork still in his mouth and for a few moments neither of them spoke as they sat there enjoying their first home-cooked meal in weeks.

Molly had apparently Flooed Poppy late the very same evening after Harry and Ginny had been in. She had stated, in no uncertain terms, that they would be in need of something home-cooked and she volunteered for the job, refusing to take no for an answer.

Remus knew that normally Poppy would say otherwise, explaining that her 'patients' diet was well met already, thank you very much', but she'd obviously had a hard time saying no to the Weasley matriarch. After all she had lost in the war Remus didn't blame her. He didn't think he'd be able to allow himself to do so if he were in Poppy's shoes.

Molly was, according to Harry, overprotective and would fuss over to anyone and everyone she considered to be family. Fortunately for Remus, he was now considered part of the ever growing Weasley clan, despite the fact that they had lost more then a few to the war. Not that he minded at all, considering that he had never had a family to call his own. Harry had told him that it was Molly's way of coping, and he supposed that Poppy knew that too.

"I could go for some lemon meringue pie," Hermione said, breaking Remus away from his musings, as she set her knife and fork aside with a frown. "I hate not being able to eat as much as I want."

Remus swallowed his mouthful of carrots and gravy and took a sip of water, looking at Hermione's plate. She hadn't eaten much, no more than a third of it really. It was a shame, Molly's cooking was top-notch. Remus' stomach rumbled at the sight, catching Hermione's attention.

"Did your-" she cut off, gesturing with an amused glance at his stomach.

"Yep." He grinned, rubbing his stomach briefly with one hand and putting another mouthful of beef and mash into his mouth with the other. "Poppy said I'd be eating like a herd of Thestrals once the poisoning stopped messing with my sense of taste."

Hermione laughed and pushed her plate to the edge of her bed table, indicating he should take it. "Go on, don't waste it. It's good your appetite's back. I just wish I could eat more, it smells so nice, but seeing as I'm fit to burst I wouldn't want it to go to waste."

As he finished both his and Hermione's meals, he watched quietly as she did her regular stretching and testing of her hands and arms. Poppy had told her to do the exercises frequently to help with the healing of the nerves and to ensure they were sensitive enough and so on. Hermione had taken it very seriously and had finally been allowed to start taking very short walks to the around the room, under Poppy's supervision of course.

"Still hurt?" Remus asked as he finished up the last few bites of Hermione's meal more slowly than he'd eaten the rest.

"Not too much," Hermione admitted. He watched as she grasped the edge of the table with both hands using only her fingertips and thumbs, testing how much pressure she could use. "I think my hands are better than my feet because I've been using them much more."

"Makes sense," Remus agreed. He put her now empty plate back on her table and carefully moved both his table and hers so they were no longer above their legs on the beds. Moving further down his bed, so he was closer to Hermione, he was sat cross-legged and took her closest hand in his.

Brushing the skin on back of her hand with his fingertips, he looked up at her though lowered eyelids. "Does that hurt?" he asked, watching as she stared at their hands for a moment longer before answering, a blush grazing her cheeks.

"No."

He increased his pressure a little, drawing circles on her palm before moving his hand to lace their fingers together. "Now? Still okay?" he asked again, his eyes tracing her fingers as they meshed with his.

"Still good." He received in reply, her voice softer. Her hand tightened around his and he smiled.

Lifting her hand up, loosening his grip on it, he bent his head forward to press a kiss into the back of her hand, just above the knuckles. His ribs complained a little, but it was worth it.

"Still good?" he asked, lifting his eyes to meet hers. She blushed harder and smiled, moving her hand from his and up to brush his cheek gently

"We're definitely still good," she answered, brushing her fingertips over his lips gently before dropping her hand at the sound of a cough coming from the doorway.

"Poppy," Remus said jovially, moving back onto his bed properly. "Tell Molly the food was wonderful, can you? I haven't had anything so pleasant in a long while."

Poppy eyed the both of them for a second, something which amused Remus greatly, and then moved to take the trays out, without a word.

"Erm, oops?" He offered to a beet-red Hermione after she left. He grinned and took the cards out again, dealing them each a hand.

x.x.x.x

"Good afternoon, Minerva," Remus said cheerily, catching Hermione's attention. She'd been reading that god-awful book about Moonstone again, and had found herself in some sort of trance as she imagined what she'd say to the author should she ever meet him.

"Remus, Hermione," Minerva said, nodding to each of them with a smile. "I'm sorry I haven't been in to see you before now, but as you can guess I've been rather busy with Hogwarts preparations for the coming year as well as Order work."

"Oh, we're fine, Minerva," Remus said as Minerva took out her wand and transfigured an empty glass into a comfortable-looking settee. Minerva gave him a disbelieving look over the rim of her glasses as she settled into it. It was just at the right angle that she could see both Remus and Hermione without difficulty.

"Well, alright we are a bit bored," he added with a grin at Hermione. "There are only so many games you can play with cards and a chess set."

Minerva shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Why does that not surprise me? I heard about your bell-ringing ploy, young man."

Hermione laughed loudly at the same time Remus did and she smiled. Minerva looked at her askance. "Miss Granger?"

"Oh, I was in on it too, Professor," Hermione admitted, wiping at her eyes with a tissue she had taken from the never ending supply on her bedside table. The tone Minerva had used with Remus just then had been rather amusing, more like the strict professor she had once known.

Minerva shook her head disapprovingly, but Hermione saw the small grin she hid as she had ducked her head. Straightening up, she took off her glasses, cleaning them with a flick of her wand.

"Now then, to why I am here – not that I didn't want to visit you understand – but there is another reason. Poppy says that you will both be ready for discharge so long as you're somewhere that people can check in on you occasionally. I thought I would come and extend Hogwarts as an option."

"She did?" Hermione said dumbly, before thinking about it. "Sorry, Professor, it's just that this is the first we've heard of it."

"I know, Poppy said I could tell you. The other Healer who came from Mungo's to help with all the patients had to return this morning, and the poor dear is more than a little overwhelmed with trying to keep up. I spoke to her about half an hour ago and she said she would come and see you when she can."

Hermione nodded, understanding how busy she was. Apparently there were over forty patients in the main wings of the hospital, as well as a few others in the well-hidden side wards like this one.

"So we have to go somewhere that someone can check up on us? I'm assuming you mean somewhere we aren't alone and that's why you're suggesting Hogwarts?" Hermione asked, glancing back and forth between Minerva and Remus as she spoke. As much as she was grateful for the offer, the idea of being stuck at Hogwarts for god only knew how much longer she had to recover was a little depressing.

"Yes, precisely, Miss Granger." Minerva replied. She turned to look at Remus, continuing. "I'm not going to make you, Remus, so get that look of thinly veiled horror off your face."

Hermione looked to Remus, finding him grinning a little and shaking his head disbelievingly. She looked to Minerva, confused.

"Oh, you forget, Miss Granger, that I taught Remus when he was younger and learnt how to read him – as well as a lot of other people – quite well. He never could hide what he was thinking from me, much to his frustration. I caught him and the other Marauders out on many an occasion because of it."

Remus poked his tongue out at Minerva while she was looking at Hermione. Hermione bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"And I definitely saw that, Mr Lupin," she added, winking at Hermione. Remus looked suitably chastised.

"Now, back to business. I did have one other suggestion, but you'd have to get the owner's permission, of course."

Hermione's brain clicked into place straight away. "Grimmauld Place."

"Yes."

"Well, I don't think Harry will say no..." Hermione trailed off, looking to Remus. "If we could just send an owl?"

"Nonsense, Miss Granger," Minerva said as she stood and crossed to the window, looking out at the green sunlit grounds of the school.

"Why?" Remus piped up, brow drawn together in confusion.

"He should be here shortly, that's why," Minerva answered, turning back to the chair. "I flooed him about an hour ago and he said he'd be here once he finished up with Severus."

Hermione moved from her sitting position on the bed and carefully, under the curious gaze of Minerva, crossed the room to perch on the end of Remus' bed, looking out of the window.

"What?" she asked when both of them just stared at her for a few moments.

"You didn't wince," Remus said, looking at her feet curiously. "Not once."

Hermione looked at her feet and shrugged. It hadn't really hurt, not like in the past. Walking the incrementally longer periods that Poppy had subjected her to had helped and improved her feet dramatically compared to that first night walking to Remus' bed.

"It only tingles, mostly. Short distances are fine now; I just have to build it up to longer distances." She smiled up at Remus then looked to Minerva who was smiling too. "So you said Professor Snape was with Harry? Is he okay?"

"Yes, for the most part. He had a few injuries, of course, but nothing as bad as the two of you. He spent some time at St Mungo's, but well..." she turned to Remus with a knowing look.

"Well what?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Severus doesn't take kindly to being mothered," Remus answered, with a wince of remembrance. "I once tried to help him after a nasty Order assignment and he hexed me six ways to Sunday without so much as a by-your-leave." He shook his head and glanced out of the window. "Oh, that's good timing. Harry's here... and it looks like Severus is, too."

x.x.x.x

Remus made his bed, then unmade it, then made it again. It was nice to have a wand back in his hand after so long. Even if it isn't a perfect match, he thought as he rolled the new ten inches of oak and rosewood between his palms. Feels a bit light, but Ollivander knows his stuff, I guess.

Levitating his suitcase – kindly brought to him from Grimmauld Place by Harry three days previous – he turned and perched on the end of his bed, waiting for Hermione who was still getting changed on the other side of the screens. He'd had a tricky time getting himself dressed, socks and shoes being a major bone of contention between him and his ribs. Poppy had ended up helping him with them, telling him slippers might be best once they were at Grimmauld Place.

"Okay, done. Where did I put my wand?" she said just loud enough for him to hear. He then heard her mutter something unintelligible under her breath and suddenly the screen was shrinking and moving over to the corner as he'd seen Poppy do numerous times during his stay.

"Done," she said to him with a quick grin and a flourish of her new wand. Vinewood, as she said it had been before, but this time a veela hair core, instead of heartstring. Shows how much we've all changed.

Standing, he added Hermione's bag to his levitation spell and gestured for her to go ahead of him, out towards the Hospital wing office. Minerva had arranged for them to Floo to Grimmauld Place from there instead of going down to the Great Hall. Somehow I doubt either of us would make it that far without something hurting, Remus thought to himself as he took one last look at their room and followed Hermione into the office.

"Well, I'll go first," Harry was saying as he shut the door to the office. It was warm in here, the fireplace huge in comparison to the rest of the room. "Then Hermione, Remus and Ginny, okay?"

Everyone nodded in assent and Harry disappeared in a flash of green. Hermione took a step towards the fireplace for her turn, stopping to hug a surprised Poppy on the way.

"Thank you for everything, Poppy," she said, holding the Healers hands briefly.

"Oh nonsense, Hermione. It's what I do. Now you take care, you hear me? I'll be over to see you in a day or two, to check you both over."

Hermione nodded and took a pinch of Floo powder, disappearing quickly into the green light, leaving Ginny, Poppy and Remus in the room.

"Thank you again, Poppy," Remus said, kissing the woman on the cheek and earning himself a glare for his impetuousness. Knowing he'd quickly tire, he moved to the fireplace.

Grabbing a pinch of the Floo powder with one hand, he guided the cases into the fireplace in front of him, everything in front of his eyes flashing green as he called out his destination.

"Ow, damnit!" he bit out through clenched teeth, grasping his side as he staggered out of the fireplace, Harry's guiding arm moving to his back. He'd forgotten that suitcases levitated whilst using a Floo had a tendency to move about in transit. The corner of one had whacked him on his back, jostling his ribs as he came to a stop at Grimmauld Place.

"You okay?" It was Ginny, having arrived moments after Remus had.

"Yes, fine," he said, trying to straighten up and dispel the pain in his ribcage. "I forgot that bags move about in transit, is all," he added with a scowl at the luggage still floating gently beside him. Taking his wand out, he ended the levitation charm and moved over to the comfiest looking chair in the room wanting nothing more than to be able to flop into it. Instead he turned away and found the firmest chair in the room and tentatively sat down.

"Right, Gin and I have set up two of the ground floor rooms for you. They're next to each other, opposite to the bathroom so you don't have far to go... how did you do that in hospit- never mind," Harry rambled, stopping to put a hand over his face as his mouth ran ahead of his brain. "Me and Gin are still at the Burrow, but we're over here pretty much everyday sorting out the Order stuff. Professors McGonagall and Snape come in occasionally, too. The front room is a bit of a mess, but it's okay in here and the kitchen now that everyone's taken their stuff out."

Remus glanced at Hermione who was looking somewhat bemused at Harry's speech as she sat on a faded blue settee. The room was a lot tidier than when he'd last seen it, which was in the midst of an Order meeting and full to standing room only with Order members preparing to go out on another lot of assignments. Now it looked a little drab, the wooden chairs moved back to the kitchen, leaving only two settees, three chairs and one or two side tables. Oh, and the ancient, dusty, and nastily enchanted grandfather clock in the corner that even Molly had given up on ever moving. Harry was speaking again, so Remus dutifully turned his attention back to him.

"Molly said she'll sort out feeding you for the next couple of days, at least till you get back into the swing of things. I can stay over, if you need me to," he added, looking between Hermione and Remus. "Gin too, we don't want you to have to struggle or anything."

Remus smiled, waving a hand to catch his attention. "Harry, don't worry. We'll manage, and if we don't then we'll let you know. All I want to do right now is to take a bath, have something to eat and sleep."

"Me too," Hermione chimed in, glancing at Ginny briefly and smiling before darting a look at Remus to see if he'd seen. What are you up to? he wondered.

Harry looked a little bereft, but Ginny stepped up to his side, sliding an arm around his back. He relaxed instantly and Remus smiled, it was nice to see them happy.

"Well, we'll move your bags then leave you to it," Ginny said with a pointed look at Hermione that Remus caught out of the corner of his eye. Ginny gave Remus a quick nod and, picked up Hermione's bag, nudging Harry to follow suit with Remus' then leaving the room with light steps.

Hermione still stood up, but leaning against the back of one of the armchairs looked over at him. "Who goes first?"

Remus shrugged and carefully levered himself out of the chair, moving to the doorway. "You can, Hermione. I'm more hungry than anything else right now."

Moving to stand next to him, she leant around the door frame, looking at Harry and Ginny as he was. They were standing at the other end of the hall, close together. Ginny was speaking quietly and Harry was looking rather confused.

"What do you think that's about," Remus asked, moving to stand behind her and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, well... us actually," Hermione answered, turning her head to look up at him. Even as grown up as she was now, almost twenty he recalled from one of the many conversations they'd had recently, her head still didn't quite reach his shoulders.

"Us?" he replied, one eyebrow raised in question.

"Well, I sort of told Ginny about you and me..." she trailed off and Remus knew right away she was having doubts about what that meant.

"Right, but Harry doesn't know," Remus finished for her, moving his hand from her shoulder across her back and under her arm, stopping near her waist. "Yes?"

Hermione nodded, biting her lower lip. This time he didn't prevent himself from reaching out to stop her from chewing on her bottom lip, as he had done in the past.

"That's very distracting," he said, brushing his thumb across her lower lip. She smiled and the faint blush on her cheeks darkened as she moved her gaze back to Harry and Ginny. Lifting his eyes, he saw that both of them were watching himself and Hermione, Ginny with a smile playing about her lips and Harry with a look of disbelief on his face.

x.x.x.x

Hermione snuggled closer to the body emanating warmth beside her and smiled as she felt the arm around her tighten briefly.

It had been a week since they had left the hospital wing at Hogwarts and it hadn't been an easy one. Hermione had thought she'd be able to cope with moving about more once she'd left, but had found it trying at first. Even now she could only go so far before her nerves stung. But it's nowhere near as bad as before, she reminded herself sternly.

Remus had been struggling too, she knew. His ribs were taking a while to heal up not only from the jostling they had been given by the suitcases when he had flooed to Grimmauld Place, but also because of the poisoning. Although most of the silver had left his system thanks to Poppy's attention, his ribs were being little slow to catch on. More than once he'd spent time lying in bed because he'd jarred them. Poppy thought, however, that after the next full moon they should catch up, in which case he should be as good as new in less than two weeks.

"You're warm again," Hermione said into the soft blanket that covered the both of them as they sat in front of the fire in the library. Her head was turned into his shoulder – on his non-broken rib side, of course – and it came out muffled.

"Fire helps," he replied sleepily, moving a little so that his head came to rest atop hers. They'd both been sitting and dozing for the last hour, Hermione's legs tucked up onto the sofa over Remus' thighs.

Now that they were 'out in the real world' as Remus had phrased it, they knew the extent of the war, and the full cost that the wizarding world had paid to rid the world of evil that was Voldemort. Hermione didn't like to think about it if she could help it, especially not while she was stuck holed up, body not behaving like she wished it to and unable to do anything about it.

Shifting, Hermione moved her legs, pins and needles in her feet making her uncomfortable. Stupid nerves, she complained.

"Sorry," she said as he lifted his head, opening his eyes to see what she was doing. "Pins and needles."

He put an arm on her knees encouraging her to put them back and then with the other hand gently took one foot and began massaging it gently.

"Better?" he asked after a few moments. Hermione nodded and offered him the other foot, gaining a laugh and a follow up massage.

"That's nice," Hermione murmured as he moved his hand up to work on her lower leg. Grinning as he tutted and did the other one, too.

He stopped and Hermione raised her head from its resting place on his shoulder, finding herself very close to his face. She smiled briefly, her gaze flickering to his lips and then his eyes. Leaning forward she closed the gap and kissed him, her mind closing in and focusing on the experience, and sensation.

The last week things between them had developed, too. They'd spoken more about what they meant to each other and attempted to be a little more intimate. Unfortunately, Hermione thought to herself, being more intimate in a house open to all and sundry isn't easy.

The comings and goings of the Order members, Harry and Ginny included, had interrupted them more once during their snogging sessions, as Hermione thought of them. Including one occasion where Professor Snape had walked in on them in the kitchen, gaped for almost a full ten seconds then turned on his heel and left without a word. It had been worth the interruption just to see that look on his face. Other visitors had been much less welcome though – she refused to think about Ron's visit except for the part where Remus had practically growled at him to get out of the house.

Remus shifted on the settee, leaning forward carefully without breaking the kiss until Hermione realised she was laying down, Remus half on top of her. She smiled into the kiss and brought a hand up to the nape of his neck, fingers mussing up the hair there as he deepened the kiss.

Tongues tangling, Hermione gasped as he brought a hand up from where he was holding onto her waist and cupped her breast carefully, the thin material of her pyjama top the only thing between them. Her back arched, pushing her chest into the touch and her hand came to grasp his upper arm just as he moved again, causing her to slip and whack into his sore ribs.

He sat upright wincing as Hermione opened her mouth to apologise. He stopped her, fingers coming to her mouth and a shake of his head.

"Don't, it's fine," he said, settling back onto the settee with a sigh. He pulled her to him with one arm and she settled back beside him feeling terrible.

"I'll be so much happier when we're both restored to our full health," he said a few moments later, as he gazed into the fire. He took her hand in his and kissed the back of it.

"Me too, I can't wait." Hermione let her head drop onto his shoulder, and squeezed his hand.

"Yep, I know exactly what I'll be doing once I'm mended," Remus continued, grinning at her as she looked up at him.

"Oh really?" she asked a look of disbelief gracing her features.

"Oh yes, I'll be putting on socks and shoes like there's no tomorrow. It'll be nice to be able to do so without wincing."

Hermione burst out laughing, not expecting his reply and pulled him in for another kiss. Gods I love this man.

x.x.x.x

THE END

A/N: Thanks for reading this and if you've enjoyed it please consider leaving me a review- they feed the muse and let a writer know if she's any good or not.