𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐑 ❧ sirius black

XXVII - You're Cordially Invited

"Harper!"

"Earth to Harper Slughorn..."

"Is she okay?"

Giving a strange look over to Lily, James, sitting across from the girl who couldn't seem to keep her focus, dangled his fingers in front of her face in an attempt to wake her from this "trance" she was experiencing at the Gryffindor dinner table. It didn't work.

But she had once again, fallen into the pit of Peter and Emma and what happened in the Room of Requirement last week. Already, five days had passed. But Hermione's memory of it made it seem as if it occurred less than an hour ago. It played in her mind like a fresh, raw wound, as opposed to the fading bruise that it had truly become.

Though a simple touch on her back by the boy she couldn't seem to get out of her head brought her back to reality, the thought of what Peter had done simmered in her thoughts. Every time she looked at him she wanted to punch him. She wanted to--

"Everything okay, Harper?" whispered Sirius into Hermione's ear, his hand still placed softly on her back. As she tensed up, so did he. Quickly, his hand returned to his fork.

"I'm okay. Just tired," Hermione replied.

The rest of dinner was long and painful for Hermione, already so stressed out of her mind. She didn't expect that something as simple as Sirius touching her back for a brief moment would cause her heart to race, to make her forget about what Peter had done to Emma for a short while. But it did.

Hermione planned to have another weeknight that consisted of finishing up her last few assignments for her classes before studying for her final exams next week. Maybe she would browse Peter's notebook with a fresh set of eyes, or flip through Vanity's book again to see if she missed anything. Maybe she would spend some time with her friends, seeing as her classes didn't really matter here.

Wow. If 1996-Hermione knew that that thought had crossed 1977-Hermione's mind, she would go ballistic.

For the past few weeks, Hermione had been trying to distract herself from what she finally admitted to herself as feelings for Sirius, but now, it seemed as if she were trying to distract herself from what she saw Peter do to Emma. She couldn't get it out of her mind. And spending time with Sirius and the rest of her friends (not including Peter, of course) seemed to be the only solution to clearing her mind.

It was a role reversal, if you will, of the thoughts that occupied her mind. Maybe she would have another chat with James to get some clarity.

An hour or two after they had arrived back at the dorms after dinner, Hermione had gotten most of her work done independently. The others were studying down in the secret room they found at the start of the term where they held Marlene's birthday party a few weeks ago, and Hermione figured that she would join them now that her "more important" work was out of the way. All except James were present in the secret room, but it wouldn't be long before he would return.

"I have the most epic news, everyone," announced James as he strutted through the magically concealed opening to the secret room and practically danced upon the large area rug. He was holding a sheet of paper that appeared to be a letter, and his eyes were brighter than ever.

"I just got back from the Owlery and got a letter from my parents!" he squealed, while the rest of the room remained both silent and confused, eager to hear about why this letter made James so excited in the first place.

"And what's it say, Prongs?" questioned Remus, peaking over James' shoulder.

"You're all cordially invited to a holly jolly Christmas at the Potter household!"