'More muggles killed! He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named strikes again! When will the terror end!?'
Hermione tapped her fingers against the newspaper, running her fingers over the black inked headline as she stared sullenly at the picture on the front page. A single house was on fire, and the twisting serpent floated above it,
'It's so much more terrifying in person,' Hermione thought mindlessly, reminiscing on her experiences with Harry and Ron at the Quidditch World Cup. The chaos and panic made Hermione cringe slightly, blinking as someone reached over and quickly flipped the newspaper over,
"You really need to stop reading those," Lily stated, not taking her eyes off the Potions Essay she failed to complete for Slughorn's class, "it gets you all tense,"
"Aren't you worried about it?" Hermione questioned, lifting an eyebrow,
'Maybe she wouldn't be dead if she was,' Hermione thought briefly, slapping herself at such an awful idea. Hermione Black, at it again. Not seeming to notice her friends inner debate, Lily shrugged and lifted her head,
"I am worried about it, Hermione, but what can we do? Were just students,"
'Just students my arse,' Hermione thought, remembering the success of the DA in her own timeline. Glancing about the Great Hall, Hermione's eyes landed on Professor Dumbledore. He was deep in conversation with Slughorn about something, but Hermione felt her gut give a lurch. Certainly Dumbledore had the idea for the Order of the Phoenix? Sirius and Remus were part of it, as was James and Lily. Even the Longbottoms had been part of the Order...
"I bet we could do something," Hermione mumbled, turning back to the newspaper and staring at it hard. She looked up however when someone slipped into the normally empty seat across from her,
"Hello, Hermione," Remus stated with a smile, beginning to fill his plate with food. Lifting an eyebrow, Hermione glanced at Lily who was trying to hide a smile while finishing her essay,
"Hey, Remus. Are you...uh, feeling better?"
"Much, thank you. The books you brought me were a great way to burn time,"
Hermione flushed deeply as she nodded,
"O-of course, it was no problem. Remus...I hate to ask, but why are you sitting here?"
Remus looked up with a twinkle in his eye as Hermione sat back with a cocked eyebrow. She hated when people's eyes twinkled, it meant hey were up to something,
"The other Marauders didn't put you up to this, did they?"
"Of course not," Remus stated, shifting his eyes to the untouched goblet beside Hermione's plate and jerking his head a bit. Blinking in surprise, Hermione reached towards the cup and took it, running a finger long the rim before smelling,
'Sirius Black, putting a polka-dots potion in my drink! That little rat!'
Smirking slightly as she swirled the tainted Pumpkin Juice, Hermione glanced towards the middle of the table. The Marauders were trying to look inconspicuous, but she could see their eyes flicking in her general direction,
'I'll show them,' Hermione thought,
"Remus you're right," she stated, loud enough for most of the table to hear, "I really should treat myself more. Bottoms up, mate?"
Hermione put the goblet to her lips, practicing the motion of swallowing the drink before setting it down, even if none of the juice had actually gotten past her closed lips. Smiling at Remus, who was desperately trying to keep from snorting, Sirius Black and the other Marauders were now watching intently. After a few moments, Hermione turned to Remus and picked up the goblet,
"Remus, does this taste funny to you?"
"I dunno, give it here and we'll see,"
Taking the cup, Remus was about to put it to his lips when Sirius scrambled behind him and took the cup in his own hand,
"Thanks for offering, Remus," He stated, taking a gulp of the juice and smiling. His face soon twisted however as polka-dots began to appear on his skin, causing him to shriek. Unable to keep it in any longer, both Hermione and Remus burst out laughing,
"What...what did you do!" Sirius cried, whipping around to glare at Hermione who was only just managing to contain herself,
"W-what...ehm, what ever do you mean, Sirius?"
"You...you..."
Sirius looked like he was about to explode, but instead of the anger Hermione was expecting, he howled with laughter,
"Hermione Black, you are unbelievable," he stated, pointing his wand at himself and casting an 'explico'. As the dots vanished, Sirius smiled in a goofy way and slapped Remus on the shoulder,
"Good to see you back mate," he practically yelled, "I'll get you eventually, Hermione," Sirius pointed a finger at his cousin, "really I will,"
"Good luck with that," Hermione mumbled, popping a piece of morning muffin into her mouth as Sirius returned to the other Marauders,
"You are amazing, you know that?"
Hermione shrugged slightly at Lily's comment,
"I don't know what you're talking about,"
"You were mortal enemies with your cousin a few days ago, and now you're all buddy-buddy. What gives?"
"It's the Hermione charm," Remus said before Hermione herself could answer, "it worked on me too,"
"Ha, ha very funny,"
Deep down, Hermione was running in circles.
'Did he really just say that? Does he really think I'm charming? Sweet Merlin Hermione, you sound like a school girl snap out of it!'
"Thanks for the complement, Remus,"
"No problem. By the way, do you think you can help me get caught up in Charms? I'm a bit behind,"
Remus smiled and pushed some almond hair out of his eyes as Hermione nodded and swallowed her blush,
"Of course, Remus. Meet me in the Common Room after classes and we'll do some review,"
"You're a life saver, Hermione Black,"
"I know that already, Remus Lupin,"
After that, the day seemed to fly by. Classes were quick and easy, and soon enough Hermione found herself sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room. It was dinner so everyone else was downstairs eating. Hermione was curled up on the sofa, stroking Crookshanks with a hand as she reviewed her current book on Time Travel. Remus would be back from dinner soon, and they would start their studying. However, Hermione's head jerked up as there was a distinct pop in the room and a familiar house elf appeared,
"Quitz? What are you doing here?"
Hermione leaned forward as the elf bowed slightly and smiled,
"I has a message for you's, Lady Hermione,"
"I thought you weren't in my service anymore? The letter-"
Quitz shook his head as he held a small item wrapped in cloth for the witch to take,
"I has defied the Black family, Lady Hermione. You's are my mistress, I's is loyal to you forever. Master Aberforth wishes your audience as soon as possible, misses,"
"Aberforth?" Hermione questioned, unwrapping the cloth to find a mirror. Eyes widening, she held it up, "Hello? Aberforth?"
There was a moment before the old man appeared in the mirror shard,
"Hermione, I'm glad Quitz made it back to ye' alright,"
"Yes, I'm here. Is something wrong?"
Aberforth sighed heavily, looking off somewhere beyond the mirror,
"Yes. But I don' wanna talk about it over mirror-"
"I can sneak out tonight using the tunnel. Will you have Ariana's portrait open for me?"
"I will. I'll send Quitz when I'm ready for you,"
"Thanks,"
Putting down the mirror, Hermione tucked it away in her cloak. Quitz was still standing by her side, waiting for some kind of instruction,
"Quitz, do you mind making a pot of tea? Remus should be coming by soon,"
"Of course, my lady,"
With a soft pop the common room was empty. Just then, the portrait hole opened, revealing Remus. In his hands were two plates piled high with food. Lifting an eyebrow, Hermione leaned on a knee,
"What's this for?"
"You didn't come to dinner. Lily was furious so she forced me to bring something to you,"
"Well that was nice of her," Hermione stated, smiling as she and Remus sat down to eat. However, the silence wasn't a comfortable one as Quitz returned with tea before disappearing again. Hermione hadn't really focused on eating, and chose instead to push food around her plate as Remus stared from across the table. Finally, he spoke up,
"Why do you do that?"
Hermione looked up dazedly, snapping out of her wonderland quickly and blinking,
"Do what?"
"'Mione, I haven't known you long; but I'm certainly not blind. You hardly ever eat anything, and whenever the opportunity comes up you're always...somewhere else. You can trust me,"
"Remus," Hermione sighed heavily, raising a hand to her forehead and rubbing it slightly. Her pain was up front and center now, causing her entire body to ache as she squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to tell him about the war and the Death. She didn't want him to know that she was the reason her friends were probably murdered or captured, "I know I can trust you, and I love you for that. But...everything is still so unclear. I feel like I'm split in half. I feel like I should be Hermione Granger. I'm 18 years old and have just...I've just gone through something horrible. But then the longer I'm here, the more I feel like I'm Hermione Black,"
"So which one are you?"
Hermione shook her head, closing her eyes as a tear slipped out from beneath her eyelashes,
'I just don't know anymore,'
Hermione didn't speak the phrase out loud. But as if reading her mind, Remus sat down on the couch beside her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and holding her tight. He felt like a human furnace, the heat pouring off him in waves as Hermione turned into his chest. For the first time in a while, she let herself cry in someone else's arms. It was a great comfort, the two of them rocking slowly back and forth, no saying anything,
"I know how you feel," Remus whispered, "sometimes I forget who I am, too,"
Hermione wanted to say something, but she was stopped by soft lips on hers. The kiss was so brief, she wasn't quite sure it actually happened. But as her mouth tingled, Hermione smiled and inhaled deeply, taking in all that was Remus Lupin. After a while, she finally sat up and smiled at the young werewolf - who looked extremely handsome in the firelight,
"Thank you,"
Remus smiled slightly, turning as Quitz appeared and vanished the dishes. He turned to Hermione and waved a hand,
"Master Aberforth is ready for you now, Misses Hermione,"
"Right. Uh, Remus...I guess you already know about my secret. Do you think you could...come with me? Just in case something happens?"
Remus nodded and stood, fixing his jumper and holding a hand out to his date for the night,
"Only if you agree to go on a real date with me this weekend?"
Chuckling slightly, Hermione lifted a brow and the pair allowed Quitz to take their hands, as to side apparate them (House Elf style) to the correct portrait,
"I would love to go on a date with you. But let's try and survive tonight first, shall we?"