It was quiet that night, almost too quiet it seemed as Remus and Hermione sat in the light of the glowing hearth. Her cobalt eyes were focused on the chessboard set between them, while Remus's gaze landed on her face, darted away like he hadn't been looking before eventually returning to the board as well. Lifting a lip as Hermione ordered one of her pieces to move, Remus chuckled,
"Mm, check,"
The Black Knight slid slowly across the board, violently kicking at the White Castle set to protect the King,
"Boggart," Hermione breathed softly, leaning forward on her knees and furrowing her brows. Channeling Dumbledore, she steepled her fingers as she thought about her next move.
This had, seemingly, become a nightly ritual for the two. Hermione would hide away in the dormitory, completing her homework or chatting with Lily before making her way down into the Common Room after the other girls fell asleep. Remus was - usually - already there, chocolate and tea ready and the fire crackling softly,
"I've never been good at chess," Hermione mumbled from behind her hand, eyebrows still neatly pulled together in deep concentration. Finally, she made a move,
"Checkmate, Hermione," Remus said, watching as the White King fell with a small clatter. Heaving a breath, the loser in question groaned slightly. The chessboard had been a new addition to their nightly ritual, along with packages of Chocolate Frogs stolen from James' trunk and a few hands of Exploding Snap if sleep was heavy in the dorm rooms,
"You're very good at Chess, Remus," Hermione mumbled, leaning on a hand as she watched an enchanted hand broom sweep the pieces back into the bottom of the box,
"It helps me relax. Though it's much nicer having someone to play with,"
"Oh?" Hermione questioned, lifting an eyebrow as the pieces began to reset themselves, "why's that?"
"So I can rub someone's nose in it,"
Scoffing, Hermione reached out and tapped Remus on she shoulder. However a quietness enveloped them suddenly, as the clanking of the pieces filled the silence,
"Listen...Hermione, about today at breakfast-"
"I don't even want to talk about breakfast," Hermione mumbled, a sour expression coming to her face as she thought about Sirius, "what's his deal anyway?"
Remus seemed to start a bit as Hermione paled, realizing she was supposed to know exactly what his deal was. She was his deal - as his least favorite Slytherin cousin. Swallowing and shrinking back against the sofa, Remus leaned in close and squinted slightly,
"You mean you can't remember?"
Hermione twitched slightly, rubbing a hand against the back of her neck. She didn't want to lie to Remus, but she didn't want to tell him the truth. Traveling back in time and waking up as someone else was bizarre enough, let alone being transported 20 years in the past on top of that. Clearing her throat as Remus waited for an answer, Hermione groaned slightly,
"Since you're so desperate to know, Mr. Lupin," she snapped unintentionally, "When I woke up in the Hospital Wing, I couldn't remember anything. It was almost like...like I was living a different life,"
'It's not a total lie,' Hermione supposed blandly, rolling a lip and twirling a curl of dark almond hair,
"Memory loss, I'm sure Poppy has some kind of potion for that," Remus stated helpfully, though the look Hermione was giving him shut his mouth quick. It was a look of utter confusion, one Hermione reserved only for when Divination got something right, or she had gotten something completely wrong,
"Remus, I know you want to help. But I just...I really don't understand what happened to me, and it's all very confusing,"
Hermione grimaced slightly, thinking about how the Gryffindors and Slytherin's alike now avoided her like the plague,
"My past reputation precedes me. Whatever I did to Sirius, I'm sure it gives him the right to utterly despise me,"
Remus nodded slowly, tapping his knees slightly as a small Brest escaped both their lips. Standing, Hermione gathered up the blanket she had brought down with her,
"Thank you, Remus, as always. I'm glad I have someone to talk too,"
"You too Hermione. Are you going to the Quidditch match tomorrow? Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, it should be a brutal game,"
"Unfortunately. Lily won't stop talking about James and how good a Seeker he is. The bloody girl is mental sometimes-"
"I'll...see you there then?" Remus asked, still standing in his night clothes before the fireplace as Hermione deeply inhaled and smiled,
"Definitely. Goodnight, Mr. Lupin,"
"Same to you, Miss Black,"
As Hermione made her way back into the girls dormitory, she practically floated to her bed and fell on it, stifling a groan with her pillow. What was she thinking! Almost spilling everything to a member of the Marauders,
'But he's just so Remus,' Hermione thought dreamily, flipping over onto her back and staring at the canopy of her bed, slamming the heel of her palm to her face, 'stupid girl. You already have a boyfriend. Ron Weasley, is your boyfriend! Remember him?'
Hermione grunted and pulled the blanket over her shoulder, sniffing as she stared at the limestone wall she was pushed up against. The smile made its way back onto her lips as her mind wandered back to the quiet werewolf she played chess with,
'He's so sweet though...no! It's Lupin. Professor Lupin! A.k.a, already married and with child, Remus Lupin!'
Hermione sighed heavily and dug her palms into her eye sockets before the smile reappeared and stuck there,
'But that's in a different time,'
Satisfied with the compromise her mind had been fighting with, Hermione let her eyes drift shut. It only felt like minutes before a body practically fell on her, causing her eyes to shoot open and her body to twist around to face her attacker. Bleary eyed and drowsy, the startling green eyes immediately made Hermione think 'Harry', but as her vision cleared and red hair fell across her lips, the name Lily Evans came to mind,
"'Mione! Get up or we'll miss the trip!"
"Mm wha?" Hermione blinked lazily as Lily practically hauled her up by the arms,
"Come on! You said you'd come with me to Hogsmeade!"
"When exactly did I say that?" Hermione questioned, finally blinking the daze from her mind and rubbing the crust from her eyes. Lily appeared guilty for a moment as she summoned a hairbrush with her wand and began to work on Hermione's tangled obsidian locks,
"Well you weren't exactly...awake at the time. But you still said yes which means you have to come!"
"That hardly seems fair..."
"We'll compromise, then. You come to Hogsmeade-"
"And Quidditch," Hermione reminded Lily whom quickly nodded in realization,
"Right, and Quidditch. And I pay for our entire day. We'll have a 'just girls day'! "
Knowing already Hermione couldn't challenge her best friend's mother to a solid compromise, she merely nodded as Lily smiled and finished the long plait she had been working on,
"Great! Now get dressed. I'm absolutely starving!"
Lily was an absolute whirlwind - Hermione decided - as she dressed herself in a warm black woolen sweater, a black skirt, white leggings and worn leather boots. She personally would have preferred a pair of jeans for the outing, but there wasn't much 'muggle' clothing in a Pureblood Witches trunk.
Breakfast itself was a blur as Hermione skipped out on eating for a must needed rest of the eyes. Before resting however, Hermione couldn't help but glance down the table at where the Marauders were sitting. Sirius and James looked to be having some kind of sword fight, while Remus was smiling at Peter who had stabbed two halves of potatoes with two forks and made them tap dance. Smirking, Hermione sighed and rested on her arm. Remus looked extremely pale this morning...and Hermione was unfortunate to know why. Lycanthropy was rough on anyone, especially someone like Remus who had been bitten so young in life...
"Earth to Black?"
Hermione's head snapped up as she pulled away from staring at Remus, instead finding Lily staring at her with a glimmering intensity. It wasn't a malice filled stare, merely a distrustful and half-obsessive curious one,
"Who are you staring at?"
Hermione felt the blush rise onto her cheeks as she shook her head hopelessly,
"Nobody important,"
"Pfft. 'Mione, you're as pale as a sheet normally, and right now your face is the shade of a watermelon. I will find out who you fancy eventually, you know that right?"
"Yeah....I know,"
And before Hermione even knew it, she was soon allowing herself to be pulled about by a very energetic Lily Evans.
'If I ever see Harry again I'll tell him his mom was a bloody nuisance,' Hermione thought to herself, sniggering as she leaned against a building. Across the street, Lily was standing with none other then James Potter, who was explaining the speed and angulation of the broomstick currently on display. Smiling again, Hermione huffed lightly,
'Amazing that she hated his guts a few days ago,'
Just then however, Hermione's attention was drawn by a noise in the alleyway just beside her. Triggering an instinct she didn't know she had, Hermione quickly whipped around,
"Crookshanks?"
The soft mewing happened again, leading the perturbed witch to abandon her position against the wall, searching for her beloved pet. Logically Hermione knew her cat hadn't fallen off the bridge with her upon her arrival, yet even without seeing him, Hermione knew that's what the sound was,
"Crookshanks? Here kitty, kitty,"
Hermione walked farther into the alleyway, spying a small tuft of golden lions fur moving against the wall which made a dead end. Hurrying forward, she reached down, seeing a pair of large reddish yellow eyes peer up at her from a snow pile,
"Crookshanks? My goodness, look at you,"
Hermione grasped her familiar by the body, hoisting him up and smiling slightly. He looked pathetic really, frowny face and matted fur wet with snow. But this Crookshanks was far younger than the one Hermione had left in her own time,
"Pathetic creature," she whispered, wrapping the cat up in one edge of her jumper and stroking his head with a hand. Of course Hermione knew Kneazle's were fairly loyal creatures, but Crookshanks wasn't dumb enough to go jumping off bridges for her, "but how did you get here, little thing?"
Standing fully, Hermione barely had time to turn around before something hard knocked into the back of her head, causing everything to spin before fading completely to black.