x.
i don't want your wicked love
(Wicked Love by Sara Bareilles)
__________
November 30, 1975
There was a huge commotion over at the Gryffindor table, and intrigued, Hermione looked up from her Arithmancy textbook to glance at the ruckus. A huge owl, larger than Hermione had ever seen, was flying over in the general direction of the Marauders, before dropping a huge package in front of James. A few porridge bowls flew in various directions, drenching some of the poor Gryffindors in the process, but the Potter heir ignored their shrieks of annoyance.
James was grinning widely at his package and excitedly tore away the brown wrapping.
"That doesn't look like a broomstick," Lily quipped, a mixture of annoyance and curiosity in her green eyes.
"Who cares about whiny pompous gits like him?" Severus grumbled under his breath, pointedly ignoring James Potter and his merry band of pranksters.
Lily and Hermione exchanged a glance. Sev had been in such a sour mood these past few days. Lily thought he was merely stressed over the OWLs; Professor Slughorn had once said he'd expect no less than an 'O' in Sev's Potions OWLs. But Hermione had seen how Severus' mood worsened every time James proclaimed his love for Lily.
Although he was undoubtedly a Slytherin through and through, green definitely did not suit Severus Snape.
Once James was able to rip away the package paper, Hermione's eyes widened when she recognised a guitar case. Sirius and Peter were already marvelling his new instrument, trying to have a go at strumming it.
The hazel-eyed boy then looked over at the Ravenclaw table. Lily was already scowling, watching as his eyes searched for someone, and to Hermione's utmost surprise, James' eyes landed on her. His grin reached far and wide as he gestured excitedly at his new guitar and in spite of herself, Hermione smiled and rolled her eyes. This only made his smile grow as his eyes briefly landed on Lily's, the blush on his cheeks unmistakable.
'I think I should start re-teaching myself how to play the guitar,' she thought to herself, knowing full well that James would start pestering her to teach him now.
__________
December 1, 1975
"Good afternoon, Pettigrew."
Hermione's eyes widened, recognising Regulus Black's voice, and she immediately looked up from her Transfiguration essay. The youngest Black was impeccable as always, his black curls parted stylishly and held in place. He was wearing a handsome set of black robes and despite it being a weekend, he looked like he was going to attend a charity ball or something.
His grey eyes looked like molten mercury however, warm and definitely dangerous. A small smirk was plastered on his face, undoubtedly amused at the surprise on her face.
The Ravenclaw realised she had been staring and instantly shook her head. "Hello," she hesitantly greeted, frowning when his smirk turned into a full-blown smile. Regulus invited himself over and sat on the chair opposite Hermione, placing his expensive leather satchel on top of the table. Hermione watched in confusion as he started pulling out his things and placing them on the table.
"What are you doing?" she dumbly asked, eyebrows knitting in confusion.
"Studying, obviously," he pointed out with a bemused smile. "I remember a certain brunette telling me during the first day of term that I should start studying soon."
Hermione's frown deepened as she swivelled her head around, noting that there were a lot of vacant tables, seeing that it was a Saturday and most of the students were probably still sleeping in or lounging around the Hogwarts grounds.
"I heard that Hermione Pettigrew was a brilliant study partner," he explained, recognising the confusion on her face. "I admittedly got curious, so here I am."
"Oh," she said, awkwardly scratching her chin with the tip of her quill.
Regulus quietly laughed and pointed at her chin. "You've got some ink smeared on your chin now, Pettigrew," he claimed.
"Right, of course," Hermione said with reddened cheeks and immediately rubbed the ink away.
His eyes lit up in amusement, before they flickered on the parchment in front of her. "What are you writing?" he casually asked.
He looked perfectly at ease when Hermione felt anything but. Sev's warning back on the Hogwarts Express still rang loudly inside her head, and she wondered if Regulus was already dabbling with the Dark Arts. Or worse, he was already acquainted with the Dark Lord. What if he had already seen that slimy snake? Shook hands with him? Dined with him?
All these thoughts made Hermione sick in the stomach. It would be a bad idea to associate with someone so intricately tangled with Voldemort and his web of sorrow and destruction.
"Transfiguration essay," she curtly replied, realising she hadn't answered his question.
"The Cross-Spell Switches essay?" the Slytherin asked in surprise. After Hermione slowly nodded her head in confirmation, he smirked, "The deadline is two weeks from now, you know."
"Err... yes," she said, unsure of his statement. "I had nothing else to do so I figured I should start doing it now."
Regulus leaned back on his chair and crossed his arms against his chest. His silver eyes intently bore holes into Hermione, and the Ravenclaw fought her hardest not to squirm under his intense gaze.
"You have nothing else to do?" he quipped, quirking a perfectly arched eyebrow.
"Yes," she shot back with a frown.
His shoulders shook as he quietly laughed, his lips tightly pursed together to stop himself from bursting out into boisterous laughter. When he was like this, he looked like Sirius and Hermione suddenly felt annoyed.
"What's funny?" she hissed, cheeks already warming with embarrassment.
But he shook his head and leant closer, placing his pointy, aristocratic chin on top of his upturned palm. "You don't mind if I start studying with you, Hermione Pettigrew?" he asked, amusement still in his eyes. "My other Housemates are terribly dull – in intelligence and humour, so to speak."
"And I'm not?" she quipped back, her eyebrows once again drawing together.
"Merlin, no," he shot back with a soft laugh. "You're the farthest girl I know from being dull. Maybe this year will be more tolerable if I started hanging around with you."
There was a certain bite in his tone when he spoke his last sentence. Hermione's eyes instantly snapped back to him, trying to gauge any hint of what he meant. But Regulus still looked mildly amused – at her, to her disgruntlement – and did not give any indication of any meaning to his words.
Hermione once again remembered his behaviour back on the Hogwarts Express. The boy looked deeply troubled and Hermione couldn't help but compare him with the sixth year Draco Malfoy, who had been secretly working on an impossible task just to please the Dark Lord.
For a moment, terror struck her heart, wondering if he really was already dabbling in Voldemort's dangerous games. A loud siren rang inside Hermione's head and a voice that strangely sounded like a tired, terrified Harry Potter told her again and again, that she should run away, that she should look away. Because the boy sitting across from her would only bring the danger and grief she had worked bloody fucking hard to run away from.
But... but she remembered Draco Malfoy, sixteen and terrified and so, so lost and Hermione had wondered then if they'd only reached out earlier, if Harry hadn't been obsessively trying to catch him red-handed... she wondered if the war could have changed course if they had put their hatred aside and reached out to Malfoy. Perhaps then, he wouldn't have let the Death Eaters in. Perhaps then, Albus Dumbledore wouldn't have died.
Swallowing down her trepidation, Hermione's eyes hardened as she looked once more at Regulus Black.
'He isn't a Death Eater yet,' Hermione harshly told herself. 'He isn't. Not yet. He's just like all of us. A teenager in need of a study buddy.'
'But he soon will be,' Harry's sensible voice cut through her denials.
And Merlin it was the truth but Hermione... Hermione couldn't look away. Not yet, anyway. Not now, when the youngest Black only wanted a study partner, to exchange conversation about their lessons, and maybe some help with his homework.
'Not yet, Harry,' she insisted with mighty resolve. 'Not yet.'
Hermione took a deep breath and gave him a small, tentative smile.
"What are you planning to study today, Regulus?" she finally asked.
His eyes merely lit up in response.
__________
December 5, 1975
"Sorry, I've got to go," Hermione said after briefly looking down at her wrist watch. She then proceeded to shove her things inside her bag, meaning she was unable to notice the surprised looks exchanged by Lily and Severus.
"Already, Hermione?" the older witch asked. "You haven't stayed in the library for over an hour yet, you know."
The brunette softly laughed. "I have something else to do," she said, thinking it would be better not to reveal to her best friends she was going to teach James Potter how to play a guitar to woo the redhead. Lily and Sev had already been complaining to her how easily she had agreed to let the Marauders study with her sometimes; she hazarded they wouldn't speak kindly now she was helping the pompous Gryffindor in winning Lily's heart.
"Well, that's bloody new," the sour Slytherin said with an eyebrow raise. "You never do anything besides studying."
"That's not true," Hermione interjected, throwing a light glare towards him. "I do a lot of other things than studying."
"Like?" Lily had no qualms hiding her teasing grin, prompting Hermione to redden in annoyance.
"I have other things to do," she interjected once more, pointedly ignoring Lily's question. The younger witch both gave them a warning glare. "Don't start bickering. That might get you kicked out of the library."
Comically, Lily paled and grasped onto Hermione's hand. Severus, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and darkly muttered under his breath, this time pressing the tip of his quill on his parchment with more force than necessary.
"Please don't leave me alone with this sourpuss," Lily pleaded, looking genuinely worried. "I don't know what has gotten into him lately but he's been so... so... incorrigible."
Hermione merely laughed and engulfed the lovely redhead in her arms. "Just do what we usually do when Sev's in one of his moods, Lils," she said, patting her back comfortingly. "Leave him alone most of the time and poke him carefully if we need something from him."
"I'm right here, you know," Severus grumbled with a glower, but Lily merely giggled under her breath.
"I'll try to drop by later when I'm done with this thing," Hermione assured, but highly doubted she'd be done before curfew. James looked bloody set on mastering how to play a guitar today and she knew he wouldn't let her leave until he had done so.
The brunette gave Lily a mighty squeeze before pulling away from her. She gave Severus a bright smile for goodbye, to which he only scowled at.
"Be nice," was Hermione's parting words. She finally walked out of the library and sauntered towards her meeting place with James. The Gryffindor once suggested they could hang out in the Gryffindor Common Room so that she could teach him there, but Hermione hastily declined. James had then asked why they couldn't go there since it was bloody convenient. Besides, his friends had other things to do than bother them, so Hermione didn't have to worry.
But Hermione still politely refused, insisting that an abandoned Charms classroom on the second floor could be their meeting place. It had been under renovation for years after a disastrous accident in the last decade, but the repercussions were too huge and the teachers had all agreed to move the Charms class into another room.
James finally agreed, but still looked mighty suspicious at her rejection. But how could she possibly tell him the Gryffindor Common Room held too many memories for her to handle? Granted, it might have looked different at this time period but still, she doubted much would have changed. She'd rather not get teary while she taught him how to play his guitar, memories of Harry and Ron bickering over Wizard Chess near the roaring fire flooding her mind. It would raise too many questions.
When she arrived at the abandoned classroom, James was still nowhere to be found. Hermione wandered towards the teacher's desk at the very front and hopped onto it. It was one of the desks still mercifully intact in this room. Mostly everything at the back had been blasted into smithereens and no amount of magic could restore the damage or shift the leftover furniture.
"Whoa."
She blinked in surprise and looked at the new arrival. James was gaping at the disastrous part of the classroom, then comically looked at Hermione, still with wide eyes. "I would have paid a handsome sum just to witness whatever the hell happened here," he said, breaking into a brilliant smile that made the corners of his eyes crinkle.
Hermione weakly smiled in return, then gestured at the guitar case slung over his shoulders. "Shall we start?" she asked.
James grinned and pulled a chair closer to Hermione. He plopped down and removed the new guitar from its case and Hermione's eyes widened, admiring the brand-new wood and the other parts of the instrument. She didn't doubt that this one would have cost a fortune. James Potter's parents really doted on their son so much it was almost saddening, because Harry Potter was neglected all his life when his father had been showered with love and affection.
She secretly shook her head to get rid of any thoughts about Harry Potter. She was tasked to teach his father how to play a guitar to woo his mother, after all. Hermione couldn't afford to get distracted now.
"Do you know any chords?" she asked.
James scrunched up his nose and started strumming randomly. The resulting sound he made was atrocious to Hermione's ears. He sheepishly smiled upon seeing the look on her face. "Judging from your expression, I think you already know the answer," he replied.
Hermione heaved a deep sigh and pulled out her wand. Like clockwork, James hid his nose behind his hands.
"I'm not going to hex you," she laughed, then murmured a soft 'Muffliato' at the door.
"You can never be too careful," he murmured, cheeks tinging red.
"Merlin, that was ages ago," she reminded, but James scowled and started rubbing the tip of his nose. She grinned once more then started rummaging inside her backpack. She pulled out a sheet with written basic guitar chords and passed it over to James. He briefly scanned it and frowned, obviously unfamiliar with everything on it.
"Those are just the basics," she explained. "Playing the guitar is pretty simple once you get the hang of the basics. Most of the songs actually only use repeating chords." Hermione proceeded to point at each string and their corresponding note. James listened in rapt attention, deep concentration on his face every time Hermione listed down a pointer. "You have to press hard or else the sound won't be nice."
James sighed and thrust the guitar at her. "This is bloody hard," he complained. "Show it to me instead."
Hermione glared. "If you're giving up so easily, then I don't think you'll be able to play the guitar even if I tried to teach you," she hotly shot back.
The Gryffindor wearily sighed, but still persistently handed the guitar at the brunette. "Just show me, come on," he pleaded.
The brunette sighed and positioned the guitar in her arms. Although it had been a really long time since she had played, her hands mechanically went into position. She'd painstakingly learned by herself all those summers back when she was Hermione Granger. Her dentist father had been musically-inclined and Hermione wanted to surprise him on his birthday by playing his favourite Beatles song, 'The Long and Winding Road'. Since then, besides reading, Hermione liked playing the guitar to pass the time.
"Fine," she gruffly said. "This is a G." She positioned her fingers then strummed twice. A pleasant melody echoed in the abandoned classroom and James' eyes lit up in delight. "This is A." She strummed once more. "And this is a D."
"Play a song," he suggested, his hazel eyes twinkling brightly even though the lights in the abandoned classroom were dim.
Hermione hesitated. "Well, I'm a little rusty because I haven't played for a while," she disclaimed.
James loudly snorted. "Hermione, really, I have no clue how to play a guitar so I can't really judge you if you played a wrong chord or something," he said, his lopsided grin once again plastered on his handsome face. "Go on. Show me. Play me a song, Hermione Pettigrew."
Her cheeks unwittingly flushed under his gaze and she ducked her head down before he could see it. "Fine," she answered haltingly. "There's only one song I've memorised so..."
He gave her his rapt attention when Hermione started strumming the chords to 'The Long and Winding Road'. James' eyes widened at her fingers, awed with her movements, and she softly laughed at the ridiculous look on his face. Not really a good singer, Hermione opted to hum the song under her breath, memories of Harold Granger with bright brown eyes and impossibly dishevelled curls swimming before her eyes. Although they weren't as openly affectionate as Anya Pettigrew, her parents had shown her how much they had loved her in their own little way. As Hermione continued strumming and humming the song under her breath, her heart lurched as she remembered how Harold's eyes lit up in recognition, a proud smile stretching wide on his face when Hermione strummed and sang through the song without any mistakes.
Her eyes watered slightly as she neared the end, remembering how Harold had engulfed her into a big bear hug and told her it was the best birthday gift he had ever had.
When she finished the song, she stared unseeingly for a while, wondering where Harold Granger was and if he had finally met Jean Lowell by now.
Her mind was brought back to reality when James broke into a slow clap. Hermione's cheeks flared and she lightly glared at him, but the Gryffindor merely laughed, his clap growing thunderous, as he also slid off his chair to give her his very own standing ovation.
"That was brilliant!" he exclaimed.
In spite of her embarrassment, Hermione snorted. "I'd like to think it's a compliment, but you did say you don't know anything about playing the guitar so you wouldn't be able to notice the slight mistakes I made," she pointed out.
"All right, all right, I think I'll be diligent enough now to study," he said, grasping the guitar from her hands to position it against his chest again.
Hours passed with James continuing to learn and Hermione pointing out his mistakes, and by the time it was nearing curfew, the Gryffindor had been able to finally learn the basic chords by memory. Hermione thought it was mighty unfair how he was able to at least get the hang of it in just a few hours. But he was brilliant at it, and she knew that in no time, he'd be able to play even better than she could.
"We can start practicing 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand'," Hermione offered after glancing at her watch. "But it's nearing curfew."
"Tomorrow sounds fine," he said.
She glanced at him as if he'd gone barmy. "No," she corrected. "Tomorrow, we're going to study for your OWLs."
James didn't look pleased. "Herms, really," he said, prompting Hermione's lips to curl in disdain at the awful nickname, "there are far more important things than studying."
"Like learning how to play a guitar?" she sputtered out, disbelieving his words.
"Like wooing a girl, who by the way, will most likely be the future Mrs. Potter," he elaborated with a lazy smirk.
Hermione's hand twitched, but she was determined not to smack her forehead in frustration. "Why do you like Lily so much?" she asked before she could stop herself.
James' eyes widened at her question, before a small, besotted smile grew on his face. "Lily has the prettiest eyes," he pointed out. "Have you seen her eyes?"
"I'm her best friend, you berk," she shot out with a flourished eye roll. "I see her eyes all the time."
"But have you really seen them?" he insisted. "They're like – I dunno – shooting stars when they're twinkling brightly." He blushed and awkwardly chuckled as he ran a hand through his dishevelled hair. "And, you know, I think pursuing her is a goddamn challenge. The thrill of it all – like how you're trying to learn a difficult spell. Once you get it right, euphoria." His hazel eyes intently focused on Hermione. "It's a little exciting to know that she doesn't give up easy. Because once she relents and goes out with me, I'm sure it will all be worth it."
By the time he was finished with his explanation, Hermione was frowning. "This isn't a game, Potter," she deliberately said, watching as confusion appeared on his face. "Lily is not some prize to win."
"I know that," he shot back with a frown.
"Do you?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow. "If you finally get together and the euphoria of winning, of conquering a challenge, fizzled, what then?"
It disturbed her deeply when James grew sombre and a little confused. "But—" He bit his bottom lip and slightly glared at Hermione. "We'll cross the bridge once we get there, yeah?"
"Lily's my best friend," Hermione hotly replied. "If you're just going to hurt her, then I think you shouldn't waste your bloody time, Potter."
Hermione bit her tongue hard after such an accusation, silently berating herself for even spouting the words. James and Lily were supposed to be together so that Harry Potter would be born, right? She shouldn't reprimand this boy – although, he rightfully deserved it as a berk – and discourage him from pursuing her lovely best friend.
"I'm not going to hurt her," he defended, his cheeks red once more but this time due to annoyance. "I'm trying to learn her favourite song, am I not? I don't think a bastard would even bother doing all of this if he's just in it for the thrill of it."
The brunette deflated and looked properly shamefaced. "Right, of course," she said with a sigh. "I'm sorry. That was terribly presumptuous of me."
James tightly clenched his jaw, but then finally nodded slightly to acknowledge her apology.
"We can practice again tomorrow," she offered as her apology. James' hazel eyes glinted in excitement, but Hermione wasn't done. "After you've reviewed your fourth year Potions. Although pursuing relationships you deem worthy of your time is important, studying hard for your future career shouldn't be neglected."
"Fine," he sourly said, although his hazel eyes were still glinting in amusement. "Peter wasn't kidding when he said his sister's a bossy, know-it-a—OW!"
"Berk," she glowered, but James merely laughed as he absentmindedly rubbed his smarting arm.
__________
February 28, 1976
Hermione's throat ran dry as she stared at the familiar parchment on top of the table.
She was once again in the library, goading Peter and his friends into studying for their OWLs now that they were fast approaching. Lily had already retired to bed for the night, fed up with James Potter's constant boisterous wooing. Severus, as usual, never approached their table if the Marauders were present.
The said Gryffindors' minds were far from their OWLs, even studious Remus, as they excitedly showed her one of their projects since their fourth year.
"Now, Hermione, consider this as a privilege," Sirius told her, his grey eyes staring deeply into hers. "No one in this school except the four of us knows what we have been creating."
"Best map Hogwarts has ever seen," James eagerly said, practically brimming with excitement as he pulled out his wand and tapped the end of it on the parchment.
"It's a bit tricky," Remus said with a reverent nod. "It requires skill and the perfect execution of the Homonculus Charm. Are you aware of that spell?"
Even before she could answer, James and Peter claimed, "Of course she is!" Madame Pince harshly shushed them quiet, but the boys merely smirked and ducked their heads nearer the quiet brunette.
"I am," Hermione croaked, smiling kindly at the future Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. "It lets you track the movements of every person in a mapped area."
Remus nodded his head. "Yes," he replied, "and besides mastering this charm, you should also have extensive knowledge of every nook and cranny of whatever mapped area you want."
"And in this case, we want one of our legacies as Marauders to be a completed, perfect map of Hogwarts – people and secret passages and all - for future generations of pranksters," Sirius added. "Please tell me we're bloody brilliant, kitten. If it came from you, then we will all feel wonderfully validated. Which was why we wanted it to be you who knew about this secret project of ours."
Hermione's eyes widened when she looked at each of their eager faces. It flattered her greatly that they wanted her approval. "It is bloody brilliant," she said, chuckling softly when their eyes comically lit up with her praise. "I mean, like what you said, it takes great skill to master the Homonculus Charm. But, are you quite sure this map will show all the secret passages in this school?"
"Of course it will," James hotly defended. "We're Marauders and – well – we have a way of covering all the secret passages and places in Hogwarts to put in this map."
"Like when you turn into an Animagus?"
"Exactly, I me—what?"
Sirius, James, and Remus all gaped at her in surprise. "How in Merlin's name—" Hermione was unable to hold in her snort when all of their heads swivelled around to throw an accusatory glare at her sheepish brother. "Bloody fucking Peter."
"It's all right," Hermione laughed as Peter shrank lower in his seat. "I'm not going to tell anybody."
Remus suddenly paled and was unable to meet Hermione's eyes. "He didn't say anything else?" he casually asked, trying to sound nonchalant, but his tensed jaw and pale face gave away his terror.
Hermione's heart swelled at his obvious nervousness. "What else does he need to tell me?" she asked, feigning confusion.
The werewolf visibly relaxed and shot another glance at Peter. Her brother's blue eyes were boring intently into Remus, as if wordlessly communicating that his secret was still safe among them, before Remus strongly nodded his head and looked back at Hermione.
"Is it done yet?" Hermione asked, curiously peering over the parchment.
"No, not yet," Sirius said with a disappointed sigh. "We still haven't covered most of the east part of Hogwarts. That will take a few more full mo – err, months." Sirius darted a sheepish smile at Remus for his almost slip.
"And," James added, "we wanted to place a spell or something on the parchment before its secrets are revealed. There's a spell for that, mind you, and Moony has been practicing it for months. Sort of like the Revelio Charm. But more than that, we wanted to come up with a password – an oath – by the possessor of the map, promising that he will put the map to good use."
The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop herself. "How about... I solemnly swear that I am up to no good?" Hermione's mouth dropped open at her words, and she mentally smacked herself for carelessly muttering the words she had heard Harry utter countless times during their adventures. "I – I mean, since you said this map is designed with future generations of pranksters in mind and... um... yes..."
The Marauders stilled, then slowly looked at each other.
"That was—" Peter faltered, a deep frown appearing on his face.
"I mean we could—" Sirius beamed, ruffling his curls.
"It's like an oath—" James helpfully supplied.
Remus blinked then beamed at Hermione. "I should give it a try," he announced. Then, pointing the tip of his wand on the parchment, he whispered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
They watched with bated breath as an accurate drawing of Hogwarts appeared on the cover. Hermione laughed when she read their familiar greeting. "Berks," she called out, but the Marauders were proudly grinning in return.
"We should utter a phrase too to keep it hidden once more," Sirius suggested. "We can't let other bastards see our work of art when they're just going to bloody confiscate it."
This time, Hermione sighed in relief when she didn't sputter out the familiar phrase that would conceal the map.
"Peace out, pranksters," James deadpanned. Sirius snickered under his breath while Remus rolled his eyes.
"Not catchy enough, Prongsie," the Black heir pointed out.
"How about... Our work is done?" Remus offered with a shrug.
Both James and Sirius scrunched up their noses. "Terribly dull, Remus, what the hell," James pointed out.
"Oh, oh!" Peter exclaimed, excitedly waving his arm in the air to get their attention.
"Merlin's balls, Peter, you don't have to raise your hand to offer a suggestion," Sirius said with a loud snort.
"How about... Mischief managed?" Peter's eyes were twinkling, obviously fond with his suggestion.
Hermione couldn't help it; she smiled upon hearing the famous line.
"How are you so good at this, Petey?" James gushed out, awe in his eyes. "You're the one who even suggested what our group should be called." His hazel eyes briefly landed on Hermione, prompting him to widen his smile. "Look, even Hermione loved it."
James then cleared his throat and looked at his friends. "Messrs," he drawled, "all in favour say 'aye'."
"Aye," the other three chanted.
They all grinned as their eyes landed on Hermione, expectant.
"What?" she asked with a confused laugh. "Me too?"
"Just bloody say 'aye', kitten, if you love it," Sirius pointed out.
Hermione laughed and softly uttered "Aye".
"All right," Remus said as he pointed his wand at the parchment once more. "Mischief managed."
The words and Hogwarts logo slowly vanished.
The Marauders' smiles were blinding by then.
__________
June 10, 1976
Hermione luxuriously stretched her arms overhead and sighed when she heard satisfying cricks from her bones.
Fourth year was drawing to an end and blessedly, Hermione still found herself very much alive and not entangled in some ridiculous adventure that would have cost her her life. She was still steadily at the top of her class and all was going really rather well. Hermione felt like she was settling well in this world and that was all that really mattered.
She greeted some of the familiar students as she finally walked out of the castle. The sun was high and bright overhead and the sky was cloudless and clear. It was undeniably a beautiful day and it was a shame it was OWLs week for the fifth years. She could have hung out with Lily and Severus near their usual tree at the Black Lake and just lazed around conversing about random things.
But her two best friends were frazzled over the exams. Severus hadn't slept properly in days and had skipped showering again. Hermione had incessantly told him he wouldn't fail his bloody exams if he only washed his hair but the sourpuss glared at her darkly and continued muttering different Potion ingredients under his breath. Lily was marginally better than Sev, but she had become quite tetchy for the past few days. Hermione reverently stayed by their sides though, offering help if they asked for it. But most of the time, she would silently watch in amusement as her best friends broke down quite a few times as the OWLs neared.
Since it was Thursday, they had just finished their Defence Against the Dark Arts exam. They had Transfiguration tomorrow and Hermione, having nothing left to do for the week, promised to quiz her best friends about random Transfiguration questions that would most likely appear in their OWLs.
Hermione's happiness dampened a bit when two excited third years rushed past her, one of them bumping against her, but not even stopping to apologise. The brunette lightly glared at her back, but when her eyes strayed at where the running girls were going, her jaw dropped.
Right in front of her were the cackling Marauders, James' wand brandished and pointed menacingly at an upturned Severus. The Slytherin's robe had fallen over his head, exposing Sev's greying underpants. It mortified Hermione how everyone was laughing at his expense and although Sev's face was covered, she was sure that he was already red in the face.
James, Sirius, and even her brother were roaring with laughter and Hermione could feel bile rising up in her throat. Here she thought they had somehow changed their ways after she had agreed to tutor them. Here she thought that James had changed, remembering the bespectacled wizard had promised he'd stop tormenting Severus if Hermione would start helping him woo Lily.
"LET HIM DOWN!" a fiery redhead screamed. Lily was already red in the face and furiously lashing out at James.
The pompous Gryffindor glanced towards Lily with a frown. "Fine," he sighed. With a mighty flick, his charm vanished and Severus fell unceremoniously on the ground. Hermione's eyes prickled when she saw clear mortification on his face, but the Slytherin's black eyes were burning with unadulterated fury.
The Slytherin quickly darted towards his fallen wand, but Sirius was fast. "Petrificus Totalus!" he exclaimed. The spell hit Severus squarely on his chest and he toppled forward with a dull thud on the ground.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily shrieked, stomping her feet angrily as she pulled out her wand and threateningly pointed it towards the Black-Potter duo.
This snapped Hermione into action as she hastily ran forward.
"Evans, come on, don't make me hex you too," James pleaded, his hazel eyes still trained intently on the tip of her wand.
Hermione stumbled forward and landed beside Severus.
"Take the curse off him," the brunette snarled, her blue eyes narrowed angrily at the Marauders. She tried to catch Peter's eyes, but he was steadfastly ignoring her. Instead, she directed her eyes at both James and Sirius.
"Kitten, please, stay out of this," Sirius sighed.
"You heard Hermione!" Lily shrieked. "Take the damn spell off."
"Fine, Merlin," James cried exasperatedly. He flicked his wand once more and Severus was already furiously climbing onto his feet.
"Sev..." Hermione cautiously called as she tried to latch onto his wrist. Severus looked inconsolable, like a volcano ready to erupt and cause destruction in his wake, no matter who was in the way.
Even Lily.
Hermione immediately stood up when she heard James say, "There you go, Snivellus. You're lucky Evans was here, or I would have—"
"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"
'Fuck,' Hermione internally screamed, watching as Lily's face crumpled like she had been slapped painfully across her face. 'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.'
Severus looked clearly horrified at his words. "I didn't—" His words were left unheard as Lily's face morphed into unadulterated anger and whipped away from him.
"APOLOGISE TO EVANS, YOU FUCKI—"
Lily angrily shot a spell towards James that turned his legs into jelly. The Gryffindor stared at her in shock, watching warily as Lily stomped closer to him, her wand still trained intently on him. "I don't want you to make him apologise," she harshly cried. "You're as bad as he is."
"Lily..." Hermione cried, but her best friend stubbornly refused to look her way. The brunette looked over at Severus and saw him breathing deeply, eyes still furiously dark. She wasn't entirely sure who he was furious with anymore.
"What?" James exclaimed. He undid her spell and sprang back onto his feet. "I'd never call you a – a you-know-what, Lily!"
The angry redhead closed the few remaining gaps between them and pointed her wand underneath his chin. James visibly swallowed nervously and had blessedly shut up. "Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick," she snarled, ignoring how James was steadily growing redder with her words, "showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can – I'm bloody surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with your fat head on it. YOU MAKE ME SICK, JAMES POTTER!"
Her angry tirade rang loudly in the open field. Even the spectators had grown quiet after Lily's outburst. James by then was red from his neck up to the roots of his hair.
Lily pushed him away with all her might. James would have almost toppled backwards, if Sirius hadn't broken his fall. The irate witch then turned away and ran back inside without a single glance back.
"Evans!" James called after her. "LILY!"
Hermione watched warily as Lily's furious stomps hastened. She wouldn't even be surprised if there were already tears pouring down from her eyes.
She glanced at her other silent best friend and glared. "You really had to call her that despicable word, Sev?" she growled.
Severus stiffened and clenched his hands into fists at his sides. He didn't offer an answer to Hermione's accusation.
"What is with her?" James complained, clearly put-out by Lily's words.
Sirius grinned and placed a hand on top of James'. "Reading between the lines," he started with a snicker, "I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate."
"A bit," Hermione shrieked, snapping her head quickly in their direction. "Biggest understatement of the year, Black."
James looked positively livid now. "Right," he growled. "Right." He pointed his wand at Severus once more and hotly hollered for all of the spectators to hear, "Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?"
"Enough!" the brunette roared, stepping in between the furious boys to stop any spells from hurtling.
"Hermione," Peter pleaded, finally catching her eyes. "Just... just stay away."
"Like hell I will!" she bellowed. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Severus direct his wand at James, a spell – most likely a dark one – on the tip of his tongue. But Hermione turned to him and placed both of her hands on his chest. "Back away, Sev. I'm warning you."
"Let me have a go at him, Hermione," he angrily snarled. "Just let me fucking—"
A light whizzed past her curls and almost hit Severus on his face. It was lucky he was fast enough to duck away.
Hermione turned on her heel and scowled at James, whose wand was raised once more and pointed in their general direction. "Really, Potter?" she cried.
"I don't want to hex you either, Hermione," he snapped, hazel eyes still trained intently at Severus. "Stay out of this."
"I am so tired of being told what to do," she snarled, stomping closer to James to forcefully bat his hand away. He looked very displeased with her actions as he finally directed his gaze down at her. "Just get out of here, Potter. You've had your fun."
"You don't understand!" he yelled, angrily pointing his wand at Severus. "He called Lily that stupid name. How can you still defend him?"
"Let me deal with my own friends, Potter," she clipped, matching his irate glare with an equally powerful one. "Get the hell out of here."
James' jaw tensed. "I don't like being told what to do either," he coldly replied.
Remus finally thought it was the right time to intervene. He shot forward and wrapped a tight hand around James' arm. "Come on, James. I think we should just go," he appeased.
When Hermione felt Severus move behind her, she glanced over her shoulder with lightning speed. "Don't even think about it, Sev," she warned. The Slytherin briefly glared at her but blessedly faltered, deliberately pocketing his wand.
"Fine," James snapped. Hermione's gaze landed back on him. "I still don't think you should be hanging around people who carelessly throw slurs at their friends."
The Ravenclaw scoffed. "And you think you're different than him?" she snapped. "You're nothing but an arrogant bully, James Potter. Lily was right; you're a bloody toerag." Her heart clenched tightly, painfully, an invisible hand wrapping tighter and tighter until her chest hurt. James was wearing Harry's face and it hurt her heart to see him defile her best friend's face with his arrogant words and bullying jibes. "I expected so much from you, James."
She uttered the last words in a whisper and for a moment, James' hazel eyes widened in surprise. It was brief, however, as anger clouded his face once more and he stiffly allowed Remus to finally pull him away.
Hermione's shoulders sagged, knowing the fight was already over. James had his head held high as Remus incessantly tugged him away. Sirius glared at Hermione and immediately ran ahead to follow his best friends. Peter had thrown her a look that was mixture of apology and disappointment, before looking away and following his friends.
But Hermione's relief was premature, for Sirius suddenly skidded to a halt and turned around. Hermione's hand tightened around her wand but Sirius steadfastly ignored her and instead glared challengingly at the silent Slytherin behind her.
"Say, Snivelly," he snapped, a dangerous glint in his steely grey eyes, "if you really want to have a go at us, why don't you meet us this Saturday at the Shrieking Shack at around midnight? What say you?"
Hermione was at first confused with his specific instructions, but when she saw how Remus paled and froze, horror bloomed in her heart.
Her eyes widened in disbelief; she knew they all hated Severus but she didn't know they would be this petty to lure him out unprepared, not knowing at all that a werewolf was lurking around.
"Sirius!" Remus harshly reprimanded. Even James looked surprised with Sirius' challenge. The werewolf threw a panicked glance at the bespectacled boy. "Tell Sirius he shouldn't bloody push through with this."
"Padfoot, mate. I don't think that's a good idea. It's..." James trailed off, uncertainly looking at Severus.
But Hermione knew the damage was already done. When she glanced at her best friend, there was suspicion in his eyes. She knew Severus already had suspicions about Remus – he had once reckoned he always looked tired to the bone once a month – and to see that it was him who had reacted badly to Sirius' challenge, Sev's curiosity was piqued.
Peter then quickly clambered towards Sirius and pulled him away. The four Marauders meandered through the gathered crowd without another single glance back.
"You," Hermione breathed out once the crowd had thinned and the Marauders were far away. She levelled her gaze at Severus, who slightly shrank back. "We need to talk."
__________
"Lily hates me."
Hermione stopped her pacing and finally faced her best friend.
After that exhausting debacle, Hermione purposefully pulled him along until they had reached the very back of the library. Blessedly, students had steered clear from this room now that summer was nearing. Besides Madame Pince and a handful of scattered students around, there was no one else in this room that would bother them.
Severus looked bloody exhausted, now that she properly looked at him. There were dark bags under his eyes and his hair was the greasiest she had ever seen. He looked like he hadn't been sleeping enough, eating enough, and she knew that he had been obsessing over getting acceptable scores for his OWLs.
"That was a hateful word, Sev," she whispered, plopping down on the seat beside him.
The Slytherin guiltily hid his face behind his hands. "I know," he grunted. A pause. "Gods, I'm so fucking stupid. I can't believe—" He swallowed thickly and pulled his hands away. His eyes were shining and Hermione thought he would start crying. But no tears fell. "The Slytherins used it all the time and I never... I vowed never to use that because Lily and— but I was so exhausted from the OWLs, and Potter was a fucking berk, and I was so fucking embarrassed and I just— I didn't mean it."
He paused and took a deep shuddering breath. "Lily hates me," he mournfully repeated.
"You should apologise to her," she insisted.
Severus quietly snorted. "And you think she'll forgive me?" he dubiously asked. "I've been best friends with her for years, Hermione. Even longer than you've known her. She wouldn't— I'm sure she wouldn't even talk to me if I tried."
"Are we really talking about Lily right now?" she asked. "Because the Lily Evans I know has a big, golden heart and even the vilest wizard can squeeze a way into it if he tried really, really hard."
In spite of himself, he hollowly laughed. "Not before she hexed his ballsacks off, I'm sure," he pointed out.
Hermione softly chuckled. "That's Lily Evans, all right," she said.
The laughter died from his lips as Severus remorsefully glanced at his hands. "I really didn't mean it," he whispered.
The brunette expelled a mighty sigh and leant forward. "I really hated how you carelessly threw that slur," she confessed. He flinched at her words, but didn't reply. "Lily must have been really hurt. You know how she's anything but that."
"Of course," he croaked. "Of course, Hermione. Of course."
The corner of her lips twitched into a small smile. "It was a shitty day for all of you and James Potter just had to—" She paused to swallow down her anger. "Just apologise to Lily, Sev. If you really mean it, and promise to never hurt Lily with your words anymore, then we're all good. I can't just... I can't just stand back and watch as my two best friends stop talking to each other."
Severus ran a tired hand through his hair. "I'll try," he promised.
"Not good enough," Hermione snapped, furiously shaking her head. "You have to do. Apologise, Severus Snape."
"Fine," he sighed. "But maybe I should just give her some time to simmer down..."
Hermione didn't have a good retort to that because she knew Lily would need time. Her temper was as fiery as her auburn hair after all.
"Fine," Hermione echoed. "And promise me that you will not listen to Sirius and stupidly go to the Shrieking Shack on Saturday."
He knitted his eyebrows and looked away.
"Promise me, Sev," she insisted.
"Fine," he ground out, but his eyes were still averted. "I'm not that stupid, Hermione."
The brunette bit back a groan.
He was bloody stupid because she sure as hell knew he would still go.
__________
A/N: Of course 'Snape's worst memory' will make an appearance in this story. That's the scene that showed the Marauders in action in canon after all. That part was almost verbatim, but I've tweaked it to fit Hermione in the scene.
So, anyway, next chapter is the last chapter set in Hermione's fourth year. Things will be basically very eventful.
Finally, just a gentle reminder that Hermione is very sad and tired after everything Hermione Granger had gone through. Of course she'll be slightly different from canon Hermione.