the_debt_of_time

"Obviously." Remus sighed, reaching into his pockets for his wand. "And why
didn't you go see Madam Pomfrey? This looks painful."
"I... I thought I could fix it myself, but I was already off schedule, and I thought
it could wait," she said with a frown. "I didn't want to get into trouble."
"Why would you get in trouble, Hermione?"
She looked up at him with fearful, pleading eyes.
"You can trust me," he promised her, gently holding her hand in both of his.
Hermione took a deep breath. "I punched Draco Malfoy."
Remus's eyes widened ever so briefly, and he had to remind himself more than once
that he was a professor and, therefore, not allowed to laugh at the fact that the tiny witch
had punched what he assumed was her first Slytherin. The first of many.
"I see," he noted aloud, leaving it at that as he gently tapped her hand with his wand.
"Episkey." He smiled sympathetically when she cringed briefly in pain. "There's nothing to
be done about the bruise unless you go down to the infirmary."
"That was.. ." Hermione smiled brightly, flexing her fingers. "Thank you,
Professor."
"You're most welcome. Healing Spells come in very handy. You're a very bright
witch; I'm sure you'd have a talent for picking them up with great ease. I have a book I can
loan you, in fact," he said thoughtfully, knowing that in the future she would need it if she
were going to go into the past and help him through some of his worst full moon injuries.
"I would love that." Her smile slowly faded, and she worried her bottom lip between
her teeth. "Don't you want to know why I did it?"
"Would it be foolish of me to admit that I trust you had your reasons?" he asked
her with a smirk.
Hermione laughed quietly, glancing over her shoulder to where Madam Pince was
distracted with reorganising a stack of books. "It would be... very suspicious. You're not
like the other professors."
Remus frowned, looking down at the bruises on her hand. "I've heard Draco Malfoy
say some very unkind things about his fellow students, the world as a whole, and even my
own person; which, to be honest, I could not care less about. My self-esteem does not rest
on the words of a thirteen-year-old boy." He chuckled when she smiled at him. "I imagine
he said something very cruel to you?"