It was official. Hermione Black and Remus Lupin were not allowed to spend any time together unsupervised. Feeling similar to a prisoner serving her sentence in Azkaban, Lily had been recruited as Hermione's personal guard. If she were having trouble slipping away from the overprotective redhead before, now it was downright impossible! Sitting at breakfast, Hermione popped a piece of muffin into her mouth, arm looped with Lily's as she mindlessly chatted to James. He had originally slipped in to 'work' on a difficult potions problem - as Lily was quite accomplished in the class - but the two had trailed off into a conversation about who-knows-what. Just being in the presence of the two love stuck fools made Hermione want to gag,
'It's like watching Ginny and Harry all over again,' Hermione thought, sniffing her Pumpkin Juice cautiously before taking a small sip of it and glancing at the pair of idiots making doe-eyes (get the pun?) at one another, 'certainly Ron and I weren't that bad before we started dating?'
Hermione felt saddened at the thought of the redheaded Weasley, but the arrival of the Daily Prophet brought the black haired beauty away from her thoughts. Giving the delivery owl a few sickles and a strip of bacon, Hermione took up the newspaper and practically buried herself in the contents, as to ignore the laughing of Lily and James beside her. There hadn't been any more muggle attacks, or at least any which were worth mentioning on the front page. But Rita Skeeter was having a ball bashing the Ministry of Magic for their lack of effort in defeating Voldemort,
'Ministries Misses - By Rita Skeeter
The Ministry of Magic is a fraud. A sham, a fake, a load of conswobble all wrapped up in a neat package. As war is bring brought down upon the Half-Bloods and Muggleborn's of our era, the Pureblooded families stride tall and proud. For there is no fear, as they have the Ministry notched under their petty thumbs. When will this horrible discrimination end? When will He Who Must Not Be Named finally be bright to trial? And if he ever is caught, what chance will those non-pureblood families have, when a majority of the Wizengamot is in favor of Pureblood hierarchy?'
'I wish Rita would write this kind of stuff in my time,' Hermione thought to herself, lifting her lip at her memory of such an awful woman. Pushy, flirty and willing to go to any lengths to get the best story possible, even if it wasn't true, 'I wonder when she started getting paid off by the Ministry?'
"Miss Black?"
Hermione put her paper down and turned slightly on the bench, smiling up at Professor McGongall who was standing before her. Even in this time the woman showed clear signs of her age, but Hermione always thought she had an air of elegance to her, even in 1998,
"Yes Professor?" Hermione glanced at James and Lily, whom had both halted their conversations upon the approach of the future headmistress of Hogwarts,
"The Headmaster wishes to see you in his office immediately,"
"Oh, of course," Hermione made a move to get up from the table, but was halted as Lily tightened her grip to keep her from moving. Rolling her eyes and turning, Lily was glaring at her with an air of humor,
"Oh no you don't. I'll escort you to the Headmaster's office. I don't need you going out and shagging with that scoundrel, Remus Lupin in an alcove somewhere,"
Hermione snorted at the aghast look on Professor McGongall's face as Lily lifted her nose into the air proudly and made a move to stand up,
"Trust me Lily, you don't have to worry about Remus and I. Especially when he's being guarded by a hellhound known as Sirius Black,"
Motioning down the table, Remus was indeed being heavily guarded. He was squeezed protectively between Peter and Sirius, the dark haired goofball pulling Remus closer after he caught Hermione staring in their direction. Seemingly convinced, Lily plopped back down next to James,
"Fine, Black. But if I find out from anybody that you two were together without our supervision, I swear I'll bind you to the bed in the girl's dorm and not let you leave,"
"I wouldn't dream of it Evans. Professor, what's the password to Dumbledore's office?"
"Lemon Drop, I believe. And please make haste, you don't want to keep him waiting,"
Nodding, Hermione gathered up her things and left the Great Hall, snagging a slice of toast from one of the silver racks before making her way towards the Headmaster's office. This 'immediate' meeting was probably about the note she had sent with Fawkes the night before,
'He probably suspects something, now,' Hermione chided herself as she strode quickly through Hogwarts, 'not everyone can just call a phoenix like that,'
Shaking her head at her own stupidity in the matter, Hermione came to a stop before the golden Griffon guarding the staircase. Speaking 'lemon drop', the bird turned as Hermione hopped onto one of the stone stairs and ascended. Similar to the last time she had visited the Headmaster for her re-sorting, Dumbledore knew she was approaching and called her in before she even had a chance to knock. Entering carefully, the man was standing behind his desk, hand resting on his beard as Fawkes flew elegantly about the room. Hermione watched the bird as well, smiling as he flew towards her and landed upon her shoulder, 'hello, Fawkes,' she thought, stroking the birds feathers as he trilled ever so softly,
"You seem to have an affinity for my Phoenix," Dumbledore stated curiously, "do you know much about them, Miss Black?"
"No sir, not much," Hermione lied, throwing up her Occlumency wards against the Headmaster's prying eyes. Harry had informed her once that Dumbledore had a bad tendency to use Legitimacy on whomever walked into his office, and she was suddenly grateful that Harry taught both her and Ron about the 'mind blocking technique' during their Horcrux hunt. After a moment of blocking Dumbledore out, the man gave up and continued speaking,
"Fawkes is one of two domesticated Phoenix's in the country-"
As Dumbledore rambled on about the properties of the Phoenix, Hermione focused her attentions on the bird perched comfortably upon her shoulder. She had only known a few people whom actually had contact with the fantastic creature, and that was Harry and Neville Longbottom. Finally Dumbledore seemed to remember she was standing there and cleared his throat, "if you'll take a seat Miss Black, we'll start our discussion,"
Nodding, Hermione allowed Fawkes to take flight again as she moved to sit opposite the Headmasters desk, rejecting the lemon drop he was offering her. They reeked of a relaxing potion, which would most likely loosen her tongue during their meeting. Sitting back slightly, Dumbledore steepled his fingers and stared at her from under half-moon glasses, "what is it you'd like to discuss with me, Miss Black?"
Shifting slightly under his twinkling gaze, Hermione drew herself up. What she was about to say could destroy her entire future, but at this point, she could care less,
"I would like permission to start up a Defense Club, sir,"
Dumbledore blinked as his bushy brows shot up into the creases of his forehead, eyes no longer twinkling as the old man sat forward a bit,
"And...what is your reasoning for this, Miss Black?"
"Well, the Dark Lord certainly doesn't care whom he kills nowadays, it seems. The war could end up right at the steps of Hogwarts and we wouldn't be ready,"
"My dear, Hogwarts is the safest place in the Wizarding world-"
"But what happens when we aren't at Hogwarts? What happens if a Death Eater marches right up and puts his wand at your throat in the street. What are you going to do if you have no idea how to defend yourself? I just want us to be prepared for the worst sir...to remain vigilant,"
"Ah," Dumbledore chuckled deeply, "you remind me of an Auror friend of mine. He uses that phrase as well."
Hermione felt saddened at the thought of Alistar Moody, whom was just another casualty in the war, but quickly shook herself out of it as Dumbledore nodded his head and stoked his beard,
"I suppose you're right. But whom would teach this little club?"
Swallowing, Hermione fought back the urge to spit out Harry's name,
"I would sir. I've been studying advanced battle spells and charms for months, I could teach with no trouble,"
"Have you, now?" Dumbledore asked, creating a face of amusement as he smiled crookedly. He obviously didn't believe she was able to teach. Clenching her teeth, Hermione removed her wand from inside her sleeve and flicked it. Surprisingly it wasn't her memories of Ron and Harry which summoned the wordless Patronus, but her long nights with Remus and meals with Lily which impacted her the most. As the silvery wisp flowed out of her wand, Hermione was astonished to see - not her usual otter - but a large corporal lioness appear beside her chair. It stared at the Headmaster before plopping down onto its side, laying its head against the top of its paws as Hermione cancelled the spell as it vanished,
"Please sir, I'll get some more help. I just think this is important,"
Dumbledore was silent for a long while, sitting back in his chair. His expression didn't hold any clues to what he was thinking, but Hermione glanced up from her lap as he sighed and nodded,
"Alright Miss Black. I believe you are fully capable of handling this endeavor on your own. But know that if the Ministry gets a wiff of this-"
"I understand the need for secrecy, sir. I'll take care of everything,"
"Mm, very well. And what will you call this little club of yours?"
Biting her lip to keep the knowing smile from appearing on her face, Hermione sighed and cleared her throat,
"I think I'll call it...The Order of the Phoenix,"