A Dance Through Thyme (Harry Potter)

Vergeben und Vergessen

Chapter 27: Forgive and Forget

A bit of a shorter chapter today! For the sake of my curiosity, what do you all think will happen next? Comment with your predictions, and we shall see how accurate you are!

Hermione stared at the parchment that was resting in her hands. The strokes of black ink were still dark and fresh. Clearly they had been written just that morning. The pen strokes seemed very deliberate and it was the absolute antithesis to how Hermione was currently feeling.

She had consented to this in person, and it seemed easy at the time to just agree, but now that she looked down at the cold, hard facts it was a lot more difficult than what she anticipated.

He wanted to see her in the afternoon. This afternoon.

Her sweaty palms were beginning to stain the edges of the parchment so she put it down onto her lap, eyes never leaving the words that were written on it.

Remus would be expecting a reply soon, and she would have to give it.

Walking slowly over to her desk, she reached over and grabbed a quill. Quickly dipping it into the ink, she wrote a neat yes on the back of the letter, and attached it back onto the owl’s leg. The owl gave a brief hoot of acknowledgement as Hermione opened the front door to allow it to fly back to its owner.

Sighing to herself, she closed the door and forced herself back inside to get ready. Her original plans for the day included sneaking out for a bit of grocery shopping, but those plans were now scuppered. She was meeting Remus for coffee at eleven.

HPHPHPHPHP

Her eyes were opened wide as she walked into the cafe, slightly surprised that Remus had picked a muggle cafe to meet her in. It was a pretty place, but Hermione ignored the decor. Instead her eyes focused on a table at the very back of the room.

Hermione could see Remus hunched over a magazine. He looked up as she approached, taking in her entire appearance.

“Hello, Remus,” Hermione greeted him, suddenly feeling awkward. Should she hug him? Shake his hand?

Facing an internal dilemma for a few moments, Hermione’s questions were soon answered when she felt Remus wrap his arms around her in a gentle hug. Not too distant, yet not too intimate. Perhaps he was as confused as she was?

“Hey, Hermione. Take a seat. I haven’t ordered yet, is there anything that you would like?”

“A cappuccino, please,” she requested before Remus approached the counter to order their drinks.

Hermione did not know what to do with herself whilst she waited for Remus to return. Sitting in silence, she played with her fingernails until Remus returned, bearing a table number.

“It shouldn’t be any longer than about five minutes,” he said to her with a smile as he took his seat.

“Thank you,” she replied.

“How have you been?” he asked her. Apparently they would be making small talk first.

“I’ve been fine - just settling into my new house. What about you?”

“I’ve been okay,” he replied. Hermione was not sure how much she believed him. The circles under his eyes were more pronounced than ever, and his skin looked like it hadn’t seen the sun in several centuries.

When Remus had first brought up the idea of seeing each other to discuss things, she had hoped that it would be in a bit more of a private place. This cafe seemed to expose her far too much. However, she quickly realised that it did not matter where they discussed their private matters. She did not know where to start, or even what she wanted to say. Thankfully Remus got the ball rolling.

“I don’t really know where to begin, except to say that I’m sorry for our last argument. I didn’t mean for it to get so out of hand,” he said, hazel eyes boring into her brown ones, desperately searching for a response.

Hermione was not sure what to give him.

“I’m sorry too,” she finally replied. “I should have told you that I knew about what I knew, but something in me couldn’t. I was upset that I had to find it out another way. It should have come from you.”

Remus hung his head down, knowing that what she said was true.

He should have told her about being a werewolf. Instead he blatantly lied to her, and even worse, he got others to lie for him. Still, what if he told her and she had left him? It didn’t matter, she had left him anyway. He had lost the single best thing that had ever happened to him because he had been too insecure and too careless, but he couldn’t help but still hold resentment towards Hermione.

“Are you able to tell me what you couldn’t back then?” he asked of her, lifting his head so that he would be able to watch carefully for her response.

He saw her bite her lip and her brown eyes were clearly filled with worry. His heart felt heavy as the bitterness grew a little bigger within him.

“No,” she said.

At least she had answered truthfully.

“Why?” was all that Remus could ask, not able to stop the anguish from entering his voice.

It was at this most inopportune moment that the waiter had decided to deposit their coffees on the table. He took away their table number, but not before casting a confused look towards a visibly distressed Remus.

Remus reached forward, taking a sip of his hot drink, waiting for Hermione to respond to the question. When she didn’t he cleared his throat, putting the cup down and reaching his hands across the table to clasp hers within his.

“Why can’t you tell me?” he asked again, the urgency more evident in his voice.

“Remus, we’ve already been through this. I can’t tell you. It’s too dangerous, especially that I’m now spending time away from Hogwarts. Please, trust me,” Hermione implored, her voice low and pressing.

Standing up without having finished his drink, Remus looked at Hermione with what she supposed was a look of contempt.

“How can I trust you, when you refuse to trust me?”

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