The Summer days seemed to pass by lazily. Hermione laid out on the grass just beyond the Burrow, staring at the pristine blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds,
'Deceptive weather for the way I feel,' Hermione thought, heaving onto her side to look down the hill towards the Burrow. There, a Stag and a Grimm were relishing in the shade the house provided, while Remus was sprawled out on his back reading a book. Inside, Hermione could hear Molly and Lily preparing lunch in the kitchen, while the noises of tinkering came from inside Arthur's shed. If Hermione had looked upon any other Summer day of her life, this one wouldn't look much different then the others,
'How did I get so lucky?'
Hermione frowned and rolled back onto her shoulder blades, unconsciously feeling the leaf under her tongue as she knitted her brows. Things could have been much worse for her. She could have been stuck in Slytherin house, and would have probably had to become a Death Eater out of pressure. Frowning, Hermione closed her eyes and imagined Regulus,
'He died doing the right thing,'
It was true. He had helped Hermione find the locket. Without him, they would'of had to find a different way to get into Black Manor,
'That could have gotten messy,' Hermione thought with a smirk, turning her attentions back to the last two pieces of Voldemort's soul. She knew that, at least in her time, Bellatrix Lestrange had come across the cup. It was gifted to her by the dark lord, and she put it in her vault at Gringott's. But Quitz had popped into the vault to check during the school year, and said there was no cup to be found there,
'Tom must still have it then,' Hermione pondered, 'and then there's the issue with Nigini,'
The oversized viper had been trouble the first time around as well. It was only by pure luck that Neville happened to behead it with the sword of Gryffindor. She and Ron were both almost killed by it,
'How can we get close to the snake without being noticed?'
Hermione sighed heavily and rubbed her eyes, glancing up when a dog barked from somewhere down the hill. Turning that way, Hermione could see Sirius running around the hooves of James, who was playfully butting at him.
As if a lightbulb had flicked on in her mind, Hermione sat bolt straight. Scrambling to her feet, the young Witch headed down the hill towards the boys, ignoring their play fight as she shook Remus's shoulder,
"What is it, love?"
"I have an idea on how to get the last two Horcruxes,"
The play fight stopped nearby as the Stag and Dog turned back into men, blinking at Hermione as she sat down in the grass and pulled her knees to her chest. Hurrying over, the boys sat down as well, closing the circle. Casting a few privacy charms on them, Hermione began to speak,
"Ok, so. We know right now that the cup of Hufflepuff is a Horcrux, but not where it is. I know for a fact that Tom will eventually entrust Bellatrix with it, and she'll put it in her vault at Gringotts. Once that happens, we'd have to use a house elf to get inside-"
"But we don't have that kind of time," Sirius grumbled, making Hermione nod,
"Exactly. We also know that Voldemort keeps a snake with him, and it is his latest Horcrux. If we can infiltrate wherever Tom is hiding, all without being spotted, we can take out both of them at the same time,"
"How? That place is probably crawling with Death Eaters. We'd get caught the minute we got there,"
"Not necessarily. I have a feeling that a certain blonde haired ferret will be playing host to the Dark Lord soon, as he prepares his first major attack on the Ministry-"
"Malfoy?" James questioned, lifting a brow. Hermione nodded,
"I know that mansion inside and out from... experiences...and I think we could probably get inside without being noticed-"
"What about the wards?" Sirius asked, "we'd get ten feet before getting caught on the grounds,"
"Malfoy Manor has some very ancient house wards, which can keep all unwanted wizards out, yes. But, those wards do not apply, to animals,"
There was a moment of nothing before a grin broke out on Sirius's face, causing his dark eyes to gleam as he pointed a finger,
"I told you being an Animagus would be useful someday! Ha!"
Both James and Remus rolled their eyes as Hermione chuckled and twirled a lock of her dark auburn hair out of habit,
"Yes, you definitely told me, Sirius. Luckily today is the last day before I need to preform the spell. But we have to find out when Tom is moving to Malfoy Manor,"
"Maybe we should do a stakeout before hand," Sirius asked, "sniff the place out,"
"Good idea, snuffles. You and James will go out tonight after the...lesson,"
"Are you sure you want to do this, Hermione? Becoming an animagus could send you to Azkaban if you get caught-"
"I'll be fine, Remus. We need animal forms to get into Malfoy Manor. Besides, I don't think Sirius will let me off the hook after all this time,"
"Damn straight," the black haired boy stated, causing everyone to laugh as there was suddenly a tapping on the private bubble Hermione created. Lowering it, Lily was smiling at them,
"Took long enough to get your attention. Lunch is ready,"
"Ah yeah! Race you inside, Prongs!"
Darting to his feet, James quickly ran with Sirius towards the house as Hermione chuckled and got to her feet, waiting for Lily to turn around before Remus pulled her in close,
"You look nice today," he said, resting his chin on Hermione's forehead as she sighed heavily, "are you doing ok?"
"Not really. I'm just tired of it all," Hermione admitted, walking with her boyfriend back towards the Burrow, but stopping outside the door, "sometimes I just wish I was born Muggle,"
"Doesn't mean the problem would go away,"
"Ignorance is bliss," Hermione breathed, running a hand over her face as she exhaled shakily again, "sometimes I wish I just... fell off that bridge and didn't wake back up. Things would have been so much simpler,"
"You never would have met me, then?" Remus pouted, only to smile as Hermione patted his cheek with her hand,
"You forget, Remus, I have already met you. You were the best DADA professor I ever had, and you were kind and considerate. You were still a bit mischievous of course, but it never outweighed your loyalty to Sirius, and the memory of James,"
Hermione jerked her head towards the Burrow, where the two friends were already filling their plates,
"You, Remus John Lupin, are the perfect man in any timeline. I guess I'm just lucky to have to in this one,"
Hermione leaned up and pecked the boy on the lips, leaning into his chest as they both leaned against the doorframe and watched the sky silently float by. It was little moments like these, moments between the chaos, which Hermione enjoyed the most. Of course her life would be thrown right back to hell again, but she could remember this moment.
"Are you coming in to eat, dears?"
"Yeah, Mrs. Weasley-I mean, Molly. Sorry," Hermione shook her head as Molly laughed slightly at patted her hand. Even as a young woman, she was still the same Molly Weasley Hermione remembered. Letting the woman waddle off towards the shed, Hermione turned inside. The table was full of food, some of it already half gone thanks to James and Sirius. Remus didn't hold back either, filling his plate high as Hermione sat next to Lily,
"Pits like back holes," the redhead mumbled, "all of them,"
"You'll get used to it," Hermione said, both girls giggling as lunch continued. Soon enough though, it was time for the last 'lesson'. It was being held outside instead of in the library today, and James was already in his stag form as Sirius pulled out a worn leather journal,
"Ok, so, the Mandrake Root has been in your mouth for all three months? Check,"
Sirius used a goose quill to check off the progress as Remus held his girlfriend tightly around the waist. She was tense and nervous, but this was something she needed to do,
"Ok, here we go. So, take the leaf out of your mouth using your right index and thumb, hold it up in the air for ten seconds and think of becoming an animagus. You can't choose what form you take, so just think about 'changing'. Then, you need to crumple the leaf in your right hand. That, plus the other spells we did last night in preparation, should help your form take shape,"
"I'm going to feel like an idiot, aren't I?"
"I sure did," Sirius stated, snapping his book shut as he shoved his hands in his pockets, "it'll feel weird at first, and you'll be really tired and really sore afterwards. But it should work,"
Nodding her head, Hermione motioned to Remus, who hesitantly stepped back from her and went to stand next to Sirius. The first step was to finally remove the blasted leaf from her mouth. She was, honestly, so tired of it sucking the flavor out of anything she ate. Removing it with the correct hands and fingers, Hermione held it up in the sky, feeling her hand tingling as she concentrated,
'Shifting to an animal. Animagus. No more human Hermione. You can do this'
Lowering the leaf and crushing it in her right hand, Hermione closed her eyes. The raw magical power she was feeling was exponential, getting stronger and stronger as a flash of golden fur appeared in her mind. There was a familiar meowing in her mind as Hermione opened her eyes, startled to find a black dog staring right at her, along with a Stag, and Remus who was beaming,
'I think you just gave Liontail a whole new meaning, Hermione,' Sirius panted, licking the girls face as she hissed, stopping and twisting around to look at herself. She was in the form of a very familiar half-kneazle,
'Figures I'd look like Crookshanks,' Hermione thought with a sad but happy chuckle, mewing softy as she was suddenly lifted from the ground,
"You are very cute as a cat, Hermione Black," Remus stated, holding Hermione in his arms and scratching behind her ears. Without even realizing it, Hermione transformed back,
"Mm I much prefer you holding me this way," she said, leaning tiredly into Remus's chest as he kissed her forehead,
"Sleepy?"
"A bit," Hermione mumbled, turning to Sirius and James who were still in their animal forms, "can you guys get to Malfoy Manor?"
Sirius nodded and barked happily as he nodded to James and they scampered off before disappearing into the woods. Frowning, Hermione leaned into Remus a bit as he led her back to the Burrow. Inside, Lily was waiting with blankets and tea, and they all sat down to await the boys return,
"I just hope I'm not making a mistake sending them out there," Hermione said aloud, exhaling heavily as she closed her eyes,
'I've made too many mistakes already.'