viii.
now hold on, let me finish
(One by Sleeping at Last)
__________
September 1, 1975
"What's this again?"
"An amulet," Hermione explained with a tired sigh, frowning at Peter's confused expression. The red gemstone hanging on a brown thread glinted brightly under the lights of King's Cross Station. "I tried practicing my Charms over the summer and made this for you."
Peter still looked mighty confused and rubbed the nape of his neck. "Oh, okay," he simply said. "Thanks. I guess."
Hermione rolled her eyes, the corner of her lips tugging upward. "It's supposed to protect you from dark magic," she elaborated.
He gave her a bemused smile. "I don't think I'll need protecting from dark magic," he shot back, snorting afterwards.
"Yes, you will if you ever become an Auror," she said with a meaningful glance. "Just bloody keep it on yourself everywhere you go. Times aren't exactly... pleasant nowadays, so it won't hurt to be careful."
Hermione's mind went back to the series of news reports over the summer, how the Muggle newscaster had announced various weird phenomena they attributed to some terrible disturbance from nature. Any Muggle would be able to see black smoke and flashing lights, probably thinking of thunderstorms, as numerous towering trees were ruined and their homes destroyed. Sometimes, these 'thunderstorms' resulted in death. But, anyone with a magical background would be able to distinguish swiftly apparating wizards and witches, cloaked with black and faces hidden behind silver, glinting masks. The flashes of light were various spells, most undoubtedly dark curses, that destroyed and killed hundreds of lives.
The series of news had greatly bothered Hermione and encouraged her to work on practicing her charms more fervently. In the end, she managed to produce amulets that would protect both her mother and her brother everywhere they went. Anya liked it so much that she had promised to wear it anywhere she went. Peter, on the other hand, seemed terribly uncomfortable with her gift.
"Wait, you mean to say you've been practicing over summer?" Peter asked, confused. "How were you able to do that without being detected by the ministry? I mean, you're still underage."
Hermione snorted and dragged her trunk onto the train. "We can't be detected because of Mum's wards at home," she pointed out. "Honestly, that stupid law just applies to Muggleborns, who are constantly surrounded by Muggles over the break. Quite unfair, if you ask me."
"Mum placed wards on our house?" Peter thundered, clearly surprised.
"Of course," she exclaimed, throwing him a bewildered glare. "You didn't know?" When he shook his head, she frowned. "Huh, well I can feel the pulse of magic surrounding our house. I didn't notice it at first because Mum never placed any protective wards before because... you know..." Peter grimaced, and Hermione quickly added, "I just noticed it once we got home at the start of summer."
Her older brother suddenly looked worried. "Why do you reckon Mum started placing wards on our home?" he asked.
Hermione bit her bottom lip to stop herself from blurting out the most obvious thing. With the increasing attacks made by Voldemort's followers, people were growing afraid. Even her mother, who had happily lived like a Muggle for the past few years, already understood the implication of the growing attacks. Anya just wanted her home to be extra safe, especially if her children were home.
She knew Peter had instantly thought about that, too, but never voiced it aloud. "Most magical families always place wards around their home to protect them from thieves and other unwelcome guests," she reasoned out, trying to convince herself too. "It isn't uncommon, Peter."
He sighed, smiling slightly because he knew what she was trying to do.
"Anyway," she said, grabbing onto his arm. "It is OWLs year for you lot so we should continue our study sessions."
"We're not yet in Hogwarts, Hermione, have mercy," he whined. When she merely glared, he laughed and nodded. "Fine. I was planning to anyway. James has been pestering me over the summer, asking if we'd still study together once the school year starts."
Well, that was news to her. "He did?"
"Yeah," he said with an amused smile. "Said he couldn't wait to pick your brains again." This prompted Hermione's eyes to widen, but Peter merely laughed. "I'm sure that wasn't really his reason. I can't help but think he's just using your study sessions as an excuse for something else entirely. I still haven't figured it out though."
"I have," Hermione said with a deft shrug.
"What? Really?"
She snickered. "I'm sure you will know all about it in due time," she reassured. "One thing I know about James Potter is that he likes everything boisterous. I don't think he'll hold back this year anymore."
"What do you mean?" Peter asked, knitting his eyebrows in confusion.
Before she could answer, she spied the redhead that was James' object of affection. "Never mind now, Peter," she brushed off. "I see Lily over there. I'll see you around in school, yeah?"
Peter pulled her into a brief hug. "Don't study too hard, Hermione," he seriously said with a pointed stare.
"Since when do I listen to you, brother of mine?" she teased. The Ravenclaw then bid him goodbye and pulled her trunk towards the compartment where Lily was. She was immediately engulfed into a huge, warm hug and laughingly, Hermione tried to pry away the excited redhead from her arms.
"And hello to you too," she greeted as she completely walked into the compartment and closed the door behind her. "Hello, Sev."
"Pettigrew," the Slytherin replied with a small smirk on his face. "Had a good summer?"
She merely shrugged her shoulders and sat down on the seat across from him. "It was all right," she said. "Mum brought over her Muggle boyfriend to meet us and besides the awkwardness of it all, he was tolerable."
"You don't like him," Lily pointed out, quirking an eyebrow.
Hermione had no qualms of showing how she truly felt about her mother's new boyfriend, now that Anya wasn't there to see it. "He was... something," she said, scrunching up her nose. Richard Jones looked harmless, definitely better than Timothy Pettigrew, and her mother liked him enough to keep him around. But Hermione just thought that he was so... dull. Peter blessedly tried to be the sweet boy he'd always been, engaging the man in some conversation about anything Muggle he was still familiar with. Richard tried asking them about their magical school, but Peter and Hermione kept their answers curt, knowing it wouldn't still be a good idea if they divulged too much about their society to a Muggle.
Honestly, Hermione thought that the reason why Richard Jones asked her mother out was because she was a witch. She wouldn't even be surprised if this was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to him.
"Something meaning?" Lily pushed.
Her cheeks flared up because she knew it was a bad thing to say, but really Hermione couldn't help herself. "He was terribly dull," she complained. "I know my mother will pull my tongue out just saying that aloud but he is. I tried so hard to like him because my mother did, and Mum is probably the most wonderful woman in this whole world. But I really can't. He droned on and on about car parts and how fascinating his new television was and all I could hear inside my head were gears screeching and turning and bloody hell, I had to stop myself from yawning widely because I didn't want to offend him."
To her surprise, Severus barked a laugh. "Now you know how we felt when you lectured us about your precious theories," he pointed out.
Her cheeks flared once more, this time deeply affronted. "I am not dull!" she exclaimed.
"No, you're not!" Lily insisted, engulfing Hermione into another bear hug whilst shooting a dark glare at the Slytherin. "You make our lives entertaining, Hermione Pettigrew."
"You make me sound like some kind of a clown or something," Hermione sighed, patting Lily's back. "But thanks for trying, Lils."
The older witch grinned. "Anyway, I have some news!" She then excitedly flashed a shiny maroon badge, proudly bearing the letter 'P'. "I was made Prefect this year."
"Everybody knew you'd become one, Lily, honestly," Hermione teased, but hugged her in congratulations nonetheless.
"I made Prefect, too," Severus silkily announced. Lily's eyes comically widened as she whipped her head around. The Slytherin also showed them the same badge with the letter 'P' embossed on it. The only difference was that it was emerald green.
"Great, now you're both Prefects," she sighed. "I'm sure you'll have a lot of responsibilities this year and you won't have enough time for me."
It was troublesome, and maybe a tad silly, how she was saddened over this simple fact. She was proud of her friends, but this also meant they'd be busier this year. Being best friends with upperclassmen was difficult enough; Hermione had to align her schedule with her best friends just to spend time with them. It was extra hard because Lily and Severus were from different Houses, so they had different schedules too. Hermione's housemates always pointed out how amazing it was they had stayed good friends despite their different year levels and houses. But they really tried looking for time to hang out together and it still made Hermione's heart flutter with delight how Lily and Severus wanted to spend time with her just as much as she wanted to spend time with them. She never really thought about the importance of spending time with her friends before, because Harry and Ron were here housemates and they were on the same year level. Now, Hermione treasured every moment she had with both Lily and Severus.
"You know," Severus quipped, dragging her mind back into reality. "You should start hanging out with your housemates more, Hermione."
"I have Ravenclaw friends," she interjected, but the Slytherin merely rolled his eyes. "But I'm sure you will miss me very much if I started spending more time with them."
Lily laughed when Severus made a sour face. "Don't delude yourself, Pettigrew," he snootily replied, but Hermione merely smiled, knowing nonetheless that he would, even though he'd rather die than admit it to her.
As Lily and Severus fell into amiable conversation, Hermione secretly started worrying about this year. According to Harry's stories, this was the year of their fallout. Hermione was glad Harry was able to provide some details about it, telling her that it happened after the end of their OWLs, with Severus calling Lily a 'Mudblood'. With their broken friendship, Snape had spiralled out of control and grew more immersed with the Dark Arts. Lily, on the other hand, had grown closer to the Marauders and by their seventh year, she had started dating James Potter.
Hermione's eyes strayed over to Severus, his eyes glittering fondly whilst Lily comically recounted how Petunia's new boyfriend – Vernon Dursley for Merlin's sake – boasted his funny little moustache and about other, boring Muggle things Lily didn't bother understanding. Severus snorted in all the right places, his attention solely on Lily, and as usual, her oblivious best friend couldn't see the clear adoration in his eyes.
The Ravenclaw felt relieved how she and Lily had managed to stop Severus from dabbling too much with the Dark Arts. He had tried to research potions that almost bordered questionable, and although Hermione had no right lecturing him about making shady potions, they managed to convince him there were other challenging potions he could brew without having to acquire ridiculously evil and dangerous ingredients.
Severus was also tolerant with Muggleborns now, mostly because he had been best friends with one since they were children. Lily was undoubtedly special to him, which was why it wasn't a surprise he treated her differently. The other Muggleborns, however, were treated civilly by him. He was still a Slytherin after all and he couldn't be seen by his Housemates as being all chummy with them. He was already bullied for his blood-status as a Half-Blood and fraternising with a Muggleborn; he didn't need another reason to be tormented by his housemates.
When Severus broke out into quiet chuckles, his face lighting up, Hermione stared in amusement. She made a promise to herself that whatever happened this year, she would not let Lily and Severus' fallout happen at all. She would fight tooth and nail if the need arose just to keep this little trio together. She had grown very fond of them both and she didn't want a single event to break their friendship.
"Damn it!" Lily suddenly exclaimed, quickly jumping onto her feet. "We have a meeting with the Heads, Severus."
"Relax, Lily, we have five more minutes to spare," he pointed out, languidly standing up from his seat.
Lily bent down to give Hermione a hug. "Sorry we have to leave," she murmured against her voluminous hair. "We'll buy you toffees from the Trolley Lady before returning."
Hermione gave them both a smile and bid them goodbye.
Once she was left alone, she sighed at the silence that was left in their wake. Deciding she didn't have to wallow with her silly misery, Hermione pulled out her Herbology textbook and browsed through their first lesson for this school year.
__________
Hermione was jerked awake when the compartment door opened.
She blearily rubbed sleep out of her eyes and glanced at the door, expecting to see both Lily and Severus back from their meeting, but was greeted with someone else entirely. The silver eyes staring at her were colder than his brother's, bluer in fact, and although Sirius wore his hair charmingly dishevelled, the boy standing at the door wore his styled impeccably. He looked so much like Sirius, but he didn't exude Sirius' carefree attitude. Despite being a year younger than the Black heir, he looked much more mature and the perfect picture of Pureblood aristocracy.
"Can I help you?" Hermione slowly asked, deciding that she'd be the one to break the silence.
Regulus pursed his lips and stiffly walked inside, quietly closing the compartment door behind him. Hermione watched him warily as he sat down on the seat opposite her. His shoulders were stiff and he sat as straight as a ruler, it was quite unnerving.
He looked deeply troubled. His face was a picture of indifference, something she had always seen Draco Malfoy wear at school, but his grey eyes were tumultuous. Regulus kept on furiously glancing at the compartment window, as if expecting that someone would suddenly burst inside and drag him away.
"Are you... are you all right?" she asked, her voice a tad softer this time.
He finally seemed to realise that he was not alone in the compartment and visibly relaxed. His shoulders slumped forward and his mask briefly slipped away. Hermione was able to see a deep haunted look on his face, an expression that no fifteen-year-old should wear, and wondered what had caused him so much distress.
"May I stay here for a while?" he silkily asked, his rich baritone reverberating in the small, four walls of the compartment. He sounded so tired and Hermione couldn't say no.
Thick silence settled between them and Hermione didn't know how she should act around the elusive Slytherin. She never really looked his way in the past years. Unlike Sirius, who demanded attention everywhere he went with his loud voice and charismatic smile, Regulus was quiet and aloof – everything a Pureblood heir possessed. But that did not mean he wasn't a force to be reckoned with, too. There was something in his aura that also demanded attention, and although she never really looked at him properly, she couldn't deny that her eyes strayed over his form every time he walked into a room.
"Pettigrew, right?"
She blinked in surprise upon being addressed. The stuffy Pureblood had now marginally relaxed and this time was peering at her curiously.
"Hermione's fine," she said with a tight smile.
He briefly nodded his head and quirked a small smirk. "I'm—"
"—Regulus Black, I know," she finished for him. He looked at her in surprise, and she couldn't help but to expel a breathy laugh. "We're in the same year. And, well, your older brother's pretty famous so everybody knew about you."
His silver eyes darkened upon the mention of Sirius, but he replied nevertheless. "Of course." His jaw tensed briefly, before he relaxed once more and questioningly looked over at Hermione. "You're quite famous too, you know," he offered.
"Because I'm Peter Pettigrew's little sister?" she said with a kind smile. "He's friends with the infamous pranksters after all."
"That isn't entirely false, but I'm speaking about another thing," he continued. He peered at her with a mixture of honest curiosity and appraisal. "Brightest witch of her age, that's what the Ravenclaws have been calling you."
Her eyes widened at the familiar title. "What?" she sputtered out. "Really?"
When he nodded his head, amused at her surprise, Hermione grew panicky. If she was famously bestowed with that title, that meant everybody knew her. She silently berated herself, because she had tried her hardest to blend at least with the crowd. That, when people spoke about her, the first thing they'd think of would be "Oh, Hermione Pettigrew? Clever girl." And then, they'd move on to another topic without thinking about her again.
But now, now if people were hailing her as the brightest witch of her age, then people would talk about her more and Voldemort would inevitably notice her.
"Are you quite all right?" Regulus asked, his eyebrows now knitting together at her surprising silence.
"What?" she asked a tad squeakily. "Oh, oh... err, yes."
He merely quirked an eyebrow and proceeded to look outside the carriage window. Hermione busied herself by glancing down her open Herbology textbook, but the words swam before her eyes, refusing to be read.
Now that they were properly acquainted, Hermione couldn't help but think about Regulus' inevitable future. He was the first one to discover Voldemort's secret and had ultimately sacrificed himself trying to bring the Dark Lord down. It made her uncomfortable how he would be dead in four years, his body lost with the other Inferi in the lake guarding the horcrux. She also wondered how he would feel if he discovered his self-sacrificing act was for naught, since the Light Side had lost. Would he regret his choice of defying the Dark Lord in the end?
"Do you reckon this year will be difficult?"
He was speaking again and Hermione didn't understand why he was bothering to converse with her. She owlishly glanced at him, unsure what was going through his mind. The Slytherin slowly pulled his gaze away from the greenery passing by and settled his eyes on her.
"We will be having our OWLs next year," she slowly pointed out. "It will be mighty difficult because most of our lessons this year will be asked in our OWLs."
"Hmm." He grew thoughtful and pursed his lips. "I suppose I should start studying soon."
"You should start studying now," she insisted. "I managed to convince my brother to start studying last year and he's gotten better academically. He thinks studying early was the best thing he'd ever done. He wants to be an Auror, you see. And Auror selection is very stringent."
Regulus now sported a small, amused smile on his face that almost made him look too much like Sirius. "I don't plan on becoming an Auror," he said. "Our vaults are filled to the brim, Pettigrew. I don't have to study my arse off to hopefully get employed in the future. The Black fortune will get us by for another century or two."
Hermione wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Of course," she scoffed. "The Sacred Twenty-Eight really have it easy." She murmured under her breath, annoyed at how unfair it was that pompous gits could sit primly on their velvety couches whilst other witches and wizards like her had to work day and night just to put food on their plates.
A booming laugh escaped from Regulus, once again bewildering Hermione. "You're an interesting witch, Hermione Pettigrew," he said, unbothered by the wide grin on his face that lit his whole features. "I'm starting to regret the years I've wasted not acquainting myself with you."
She knitted her eyebrows, unsure if he was complimenting her. "Err... thanks?" she hesitantly asked.
The compartment door suddenly drew open, capturing both of their attentions. Lily was animatedly speaking with Severus but stopped abruptly, seeing that Hermione wasn't alone.
"Oh," the redhead said, cautiously looking at the younger version of Sirius. "Hi."
"Evans," he smoothly greeted. Hermione watched in amazement at how his open emotions a while ago had quickly slid behind his aloof mask. His grey eyes slithered slowly at the tense Slytherin standing beside Lily. "Snape."
Sev's jaw tensed and merely acknowledged his greeting with a slight tip of his head.
"Well," Regulus said, his gaze snapping back to Hermione, amusement once again seeping into his silver eyes as he elegantly stood up from his seat. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Hermione Pettigrew."
"Um... likewise," she said, giving him a hesitant smile.
He bid them goodbye and left.
As soon as he had gone, Lily slid on the seat beside Hermione with wide eyes. "I still can't believe he's related to Sirius Black," she said, followed by a disbelieving laugh. "Imagine Sirius acting like a proper Pureblood. I think hell would have frozen over by then."
Severus, on the other hand, still looked tense as he sat down on the seat opposite Hermione. "When I said you should start making more friends in your year, I didn't mean Regulus Black." There was suppressed anger in Sev's dark eyes and Hermione wondered if the younger Black was one of the students who made his life a living hell.
"He wasn't... bad." Hermione frowned, wondering if that was the right way to describe her interaction with the future Death Eater.
It surprised her when Severus suddenly reached forward and tightly gripped her arm. "He's bad news," he ground out through gritted teeth. "It's best if you stay away from him."
"Sev, really, you're being a tad melodramatic," Lily said, but there was worry in her eyes at his strange behaviour.
Hermione calmly placed a hand on top of his and gave it a comforting squeeze. "You don't have to worry about me, Sev," she teased, trying to dispel the suddenly heavy atmosphere in their compartment. "But it's nice to think that you worry for my wellbeing."
Her words seemed to do the trick for Severus's face twisted in disgust and he immediately pulled his hand away from her. "Shut up, Pettigrew," he shot back, his cheeks reddening slightly from embarrassment and annoyance. Lily giggled while Hermione grinned.
They went back to their comfortable conversation, with Lily doing most of the talking. Hermione hummed and smiled at the right moments, but her mind was already elsewhere, consumed by thoughts of an enigmatic fourth year Slytherin.
__________
September 30, 1975
Hermione knitted her eyebrows when James Potter purposefully marched towards the table and sat on the chair opposite her uninvited.
"We have no study sessions today," she pointed out, wondering what had made the usually confident Gryffindor so... flustered.
"I'm not here for any study sessions," he explained, running a hand through his unruly hair. He nervously drummed his fingers on the wooden table and Hermione patiently waited for him to tell him his reason for bothering her in the library today. Years and years of being best friends with Harry Potter had made her notice some nuances that he and his father shared. Like James, Harry had a hard time voicing out the more difficult feelings and Hermione knew that no amount of coaxing would get him to talk; all she had to do was be patient with him. She didn't doubt it would be the same with James.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the Gryffindor leaned closer to Hermione. "I have a favour to ask," he simply said.
Her eyebrows flew to her hairline, intrigued. "Favour?" she echoed. James slowly nodded his head, his hazel eyes sweeping around the library as if to see if there was anyone listening in to their conversation. "About?"
His cheeks flooded red as a sheepish smile grew on his face. "About Lily Evans, actually." He nervously fluffed his hair once more and avoided her eyes.
'Oh,' she thought, internally rolling her eyes at how ridiculous he looked. "What about Lily?" she insisted, though she already knew where this was going.
"You're her best friend, right?" he asked bluntly. Hermione merely stared at him, prompting his cheeks to redden more. "I mean, yeah, yeah, of course you are." He laughed nervously and thickly swallowed. "I was wondering if you can – I dunno – put a good word about me to her. Like how I'm actually diligent and err, bloody nice if I wanted to. Maybe a tad charming, too? Or sweet. Whatever, just some good word will do, Pettigrew."
She couldn't stop the amused snort from escaping her mouth. James looked slightly offended and more embarrassed. "Lily already knows about you, Potter," she reminded him. "I don't think my good word will make her change her opinion about you."
James expelled a loud groan and tiredly removed his glasses. He rubbed his face, perhaps trying to remove the redness on his cheeks, and loudly sighed. "I was such a berk, wasn't I?" he asked.
"Yes," she said, fully knowing it was rhetorical.
He gave her a light glare, but Hermione was unfazed.
"I'm going to try to woo Lily Evans this year," he confessed, placing his glasses back on top of his nose. "I was hoping you can help me."
Hermione sighed. She didn't exactly like James as much as she liked Lily; he was, after all, a berk. It still unnerved her how a boy with Harry Potter's face could be such a bully without thinking too much about the consequences of his actions. But Hermione had long divorced the thought of her beloved best friend from the hazel-eyed Pureblood sitting across from her. They were too different for her to even think about Harry every time she looked at James.
But, if helping him meant he would be able to get together with Lily and ultimately make Harry Potter, then Hermione knew she never really had any choice.
"All right," she said, knowing fully that she was grimacing.
He laughed at the look on her face. "There's no need to look like you've eaten something rotten, Hermione," he said with that stupid, stupid lopsided grin that would look terribly out-of-place if it was Harry who had worn it.
"I love Lily very, very much," she warned with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "If you hurt her, I will not hesitate to throw another Bat-Bogey Hex your way."
Comically, he immediately covered his nose from her gaze. "Bloody terrifying, that's what you are," he murmured under his breath. When Hermione continued to glare at him, he expelled a huge sigh. "I'm not going to hurt Lily. I like her too much to do that."
"If I'm going to help you get together with Lily," she started, "it means you will have to stop bothering Severus."
He didn't like her condition, that was for sure. "Hey, I'm not going out of my way to torment the bastard now, am I?" he grumbled under his breath. He looked like he was still struggling to stop himself from asking a question, but his curiosity had won over. "They're not together, are they?"
Hermione pursed her lips, Severus' glittering eyes full of adoration for Lily flashing before her eyes. "No," she said, knowing it was the truth anyway. James beamed brightly at her answer.
"So, will you help me?" he asked, eyes full of hope.
She sighed again. "Fine," she said, unable to stop smiling when he looked ridiculously happy.
James grabbed both of her hands with earnest gratitude, managing to bewilder Hermione. She mutely blinked her blue eyes at him as he said, "Thanks, Pettigrew. I owe you a butterbeer."
He gave her that lopsided smile once more and bid his goodbye. Hermione's eyes were still wide as she watched him completely leave the library.
It bothered her immensely how it took her heart at least a few more minutes to rest easy.
__________
A/N: Hermione's fourth year will span for four chapters :)