Shouldn't

Shouldn't

I shouldn't be thinking about this, Hermione thought. Get a grip, girl. Concentrate on your work. Focus on the parchment in front of you.

But Hermione couldn't concentrate on her work, not with him sitting right beside her.

She stole a glance at him. He sat there silently, grading papers from his second-year students. She forced her eyes away from him and back to her essay. But the words on her parchment blurred as she stared at them.

I shouldn't be thinking about this, she chastised herself. He is your teacher. He was friends with your best friend's parents. He is old enough to be your father.

Hermione distractedly twirled her hair around her finger. The truth was, when she was sitting here with him like this, she forgot all those facts. He was just the man who had been her friend for the last four years. The man who, despite his age and experience, still had a child-like hope and innocence about him. And the man who, she knew in her heart, she was falling in love with.

*

I shouldn't be feeling this, Remus thought. This is crazy. You have officially lost it. Just concentrate on the test you are grading. Right, right, wrong, right, wrong...

He saw her small hand in the corner of his vision and his eyes involuntarily lingered there. He then lifted his gaze to focus on her face. She was concentrating on her work, and she had never looked more beautiful.

Remus mentally shook his head. I shouldn't be feeling this about her, he chided himself. She is your student. She is only seventeen. She is best friends with the child of your friends.

But the truth was, when they were alone together like this, he forgot all those facts. He could only see her as his friend. As a woman who was not only smart, but mature and wise beyond her years. And as someone, he knew in his heart, he was falling in love with.

~*~

Remus was sitting at the head of the desk with Hermione sitting to his left. They sat together in silence; Remus grading some papers while Hermione was completing her Defence Against the Dark Arts test from the class that she had missed the day before.

It was getting late. The sun had set and the only light in the room came from the floating candles around them, giving the room a dream-like quality.

"How's it going Hermione?" Remus asked.

Hermione looked up at him. "Fine. Why?" She grinned. "Are you offering to help me Remus? Somehow I don't think that's terribly appropriate," she joked with him.

He smiled at her. "No, I wasn't offering to help you. And I think we both know that you don't need my help."

Hermione blushed slightly at this compliment. They looked at each other somewhat longer than was necessary before they each returned to their work.

Hermione continued scratching away at her parchment. When she got to the bottom of the sheet, she moved it in front of her and when she did so, her hand accidentally brushed Remus' lightly. She stopped breathing at this touch, unsure whether she was imagining the electricity she felt. She didn't dare look at him, but if she had, she would have seen that he had stopped breathing too.

Time passed slowly for the pair, the tension in the air growing thicker by the minute.

Nearly an hour later, Hermione finished her test. She shuffled her papers together as Remus looked at her, his eyes sparkling.

"Finished?"

She nodded in reply. He took her parchment and added it to his 'unmarked' stack of papers.

They sat there for a minute, gazing at each other.

"It's late. You should get going," Remus finally broke their silence.

"Are you sure? I could help you mark those papers if you like," Hermione asked, trying to find a reason to stay there with him a bit longer.

"No, that's okay. Go on, off to bed," he said softly, placing his hand on hers. He had only meant it as a simple, friendly gesture, but when his skin touched hers, he felt his whole body tingle, and he couldn't let go.

Hermione's heart was beating at a million miles an hour. Her stomach lurched as she felt Remus caress the back of her hand with his thumb.

Their eyes were locked on each other. Hermione didn't dare look away; she didn't want to scare him into stopping his ministrations on her hand.

"Goodnight Hermione," Remus said huskily, slowly withdrawing his hand, but his eyes never left hers. He stood up and so she stood too.

Hermione smiled slightly. "Goodnight Remus."

Before she knew what she was doing, before she had time to think about it and rationalise her actions, she bridged the gap between them and kissed him. He stiffened slightly in shock before returning her kiss. He lifted his hand to her cheek and stroked it lightly before she covered his hand with her own.

The kiss soon intensified. Hermione locked her arms around his neck while Remus encircled his arms around her waist, placing his hands on the small of her back and drawing her closer to him.

When the need for air finally overwhelmed them, they slowly broke apart. They took a step back from each other, both of them dizzy and disoriented after their kiss.

"We shouldn't have done that," he said hoarsely, but she could tell from the look in his eyes that he didn't regret it and that he was saying this simply because he thought he should.

"Maybe you're right," she replied. But after a brief pause, she added with a grin, "but maybe you're wrong."

Remus smiled at her as he stepped forward, took her hand and gently brushed a soft kiss over her knuckles.

Hermione smiled at this sweet gesture. When he released her hand, she leaned across and kissed his lips once more before turning and walking out of the classroom and back to her bedroom, a smile never leaving her face.