Chapter two's up! Yay! Before we start I wanna say thanks to my wonderful reviewers! This is my first fic and I'm really excited! I'm glad that at least some people like it.
In answer to one of your questions, yes this is a LMHG fic, that is what I said in the summary and that's what I'm going to do, just be patient! I hope it's a bit more obvious in this chapter!
Enjoy!
Chapter 2: A stroll in the forest
Hermione awoke the next day in her bed up in Gryffindor tower. After stretching out her stiff limbs, she slowly got up, yawning grandly and rubbing her eyes.
After getting changed she walked over to the door, passing occupied beds where girls were still soundly sleeping, after all, it was only 6:00 in the morning, most didn't get up until 8:00.
As Hermione made her way to the door she couldn't help but feel she was forgetting something, turning the handle and opening the door swiftly, she was met with an unexpected face that brought her crashing back into reality.
"AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed, slamming the door again, cutting out the smiling face of Sirius Black.
"W-what happened?" yawned a tired girl, pocking her head out from around the curtains of her bed.
"Harriet, what are you doing up at this hour?" Lily asked her.
Hermione slid down the door, panting. Right. She was in the past, Heeelloooo Hermione, wake up! She stood back up and opened the door again, Sirius was still waiting.
"What do you want?" she said, glaring at him.
"I think we may have started off on the wrong foot" he said "Sirius Black, Gryffindor sex-God" he stuck his hand out. Rolling her eyes Hermione tried to push past him, but he blocked her. "Hey! Not so fast! I'm standing on your doorframe here!" Hermione looked down and saw that indeed he was standing a few inches above the slide that had formed.
"How did you get up here? And how did you know I would be awake?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"I figured you for a morning person" he said, smiling mischievously. Hermione raised a slender eyebrow and gave him a rough push in the chest, watching with delight as his eyes widened in surprise and he fell off balance onto the slide.
"OW! Merlin, woman! What are you trying to do, kill me? All I wanted to say was good-morning!" Sirius yelled from the bottom.
Hermione gracefully slid down to meet him, dusting invisible lint off her uniform she said: "Good-morning" and brushed by him, heading towards the Great Hall for breakfast.
She sat down beside Remus, the only one at the Gryffindor table this early in the morning, who had his nose buried deep in a book. At the sight of Hermione he smiled, pushing his book aside quickly to keep her from reading the title.
"What's that?" she asked, indicating the book Remus was currently shoving into his bag.
"Uh… nothing, just been doing some research for a school project" Remus said uncomfortably and Hermione didn't pursue the topic. "So, you're Harriet Grant?" he asked. She nodded, "I'm Remus Lupin".
"Oi! There he is!" yelled a messy-haired boy from the entrance to the Great Hall "and I think he's trying to steel your girlfriend, Padfoot! Ow!" James was silenced by Sirius's sharp jab of the elbow in the ribs and Remus's roll of the eyes.
As they sat down at the table Hermione couldn't help but notice; "You're up early" she said.
"All the more time to plan pranks against the Slytherins" James said, winking.
"Where's Pe- you're friend, the blond boy?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, Peter? Chatting up some Hufflepuff I think…" said James, frowning slightly "You know what? As crazy as it is, I think he gets more action than either Sirius or me"
Hermione pulled a disgusted face and turned back to James. "What's your name?"
"James Potter, I know who you are, of course" he said nudging Sirius a tad.
Hermione blushed and turned back to her food, but unfortunately the scrambled eggs had lost their appeal.
"I think I need to go to the library" she said.
"I'll escort you!" Sirius offered, standing up.
"That's ok, I know where it is, thanks" she said before walking briskly off towards the library.
"How can she know where it is? She's only been here for a few hours" Sirius commented, looking slightly disappointed.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Hermione sat down in the library, breathing freely for the first time that morning, she truly did feel at home here…
"AAH!" she yelped as her chair gave out from under her. Tears of frustration in her eyes she turned around to glare at the group of 5th year Slytherins hiding behind the bookshelf.
Fine. She decided. I'll go somewhere else.
Hermione decided to wait in class, they would start in half an hour anyways and she didn't want to be late.
Consulting her new timetable that McGonagall had given to her last night, Hermione headed towards Potions.
Unfortunately, with the forces of fate acting against her, (Hermione was held up by Peeves, tormented by a few more Slytherins, asked to speak with McGonagall before classes and a few moving staircases) she arrived in class just as the bell rung.
The teacher looked up and for the first time in her life Hermione felt a strange jolt somewhere in her middle stomach area. A tall man with long blond hair and icy grey eyes was staring back at her, never had Hermione met someone who did this to her, never.
"You're late, 10 points from Gryffindor" he said shortly. The Gryffindors protested and the Slytherins snickered from the other side of the classroom. The odd feeling that had taken over Hermione quickly vanished as she closed her mouth defiantly and glared daggers into the teacher's head. She saw Snape snickering softly in the corner; so that's where he gets it from… she thought to herself.
Looking for an empty seat she slumped into the only one, conveniently next to Sirius.
He opened his mouth to say something but Hermione quickly cut him off with a glare and turned towards the teacher.
"So, as I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted, many of you may recognize me from previous years" at this, half of the room (the Gryffindors) intensified their glares and mumbled a few things to their neighbors. "But now that I am your teacher, I will not be expecting any irrational behavior in my class" a few rolled their eyes but let him continue. "I am replacing Mr. Smigg who has been teaching you for many years and has finally been forced into early retirement by" his gaze hovered over the Marauders "certain select students" Sirius smirked. "My name, for those who may not know me, is Professor Lucius Malfoy, I- "
"WHAT?" yelled Hermione, who had just been woken up rather painfully from her daydreams involving a certain blond teacher. He looked at her coldly and she cowered slightly, silently disgusted at herself for daydreaming during class.
"Is there a problem?" he drawled. Hermione cringed as she noticed for the first time how much he was like his son, arrogant, rude, egoistic and unfortunately drop-dead sexy. Ugh.
"No, sir" she said, fuming slightly with a face as red as the setting sun. He looked at her oddly for a moment or two, then continued.
"Good. Now, as I was saying…"
The class went on for another hour and a half before they were dismissed.
"Why did it have to be him?" Peter asked, joining the rather unhappy group of Marauders.
"I don't know, Pete, but I think I am right in saying that it is our duty to make his stay at Hogwarts as painful as possible" said Sirius, smiling widely over at James.
"Most definitely" James replied.
"Now come on, guys, just because he was rotten to us in the past doesn't mean we have to jeopardize his career!" Remus said. Sirius and James looked at him funny.
"I'm afraid I don't understand your logic, Moony" Sirius said after a long pause.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Later that night, the Marauders were huddled together at a little table in the far corner of the Gryffindor common room. Anybody who knew the Marauders knew that this wasn't a time to disturb them. Hermione, however, who did not know the Marauders (or at least not at this age), was efficiently peeved by the fact that they had annexed her usual homework table to march over and demand for them to move.
"Excuse me" she said once she had reached the table "this is my homework table" she said matter-of-factly. But none of the boys seemed to have heard her. She was just about to try again when she heard Peter speak.
"Guys, don't you think this is a little dangerous?" he asked.
"Oh come on Pete, where's your sense of adventure? He deserves this, after all; remember when he made you run around the school, spanking the bottoms of every girl you passed?" James replied defiantly. Peter blushed furiously and an odd glint of revenge appeared in his eyes.
"I agree with Peter though, James, this is ridiculous, I mean, how would you feel if you had woken up in the Forbidden Forest, of all places, with no clue of how you got there?"
"Yes, but you're forgetting something, Moony, I'm not the one that's gonna be out there, Malfoy is!" James retorted with a smirk. Remus rolled his eyes.
"You guys could get into a lot of trouble for this, you know"
"Oh come on, Remus, stop being such a wet blanket!" Sirius said.
Hermione slowly stepped back from the group. Her mind reeling from all this information, screaming at her all the rules that these four boys were about to break. Not knowing how to stop them however, Hermione decided to wait and see what they did.
The next morning the Marauders were cheerier than usual, if that was possible. They smiled knowingly at each other and anybody who recognized these signs prayed that they weren't the ones about to be pranked.
The classes passed without too much excitement. Hermione managed to pass Lily in charms and transfiguration, something that made the redhead a little green with jealousy. When the evening came and still the Marauders hadn't done anything, Hermione began to relax a little. That was before she heard them chatting discreetly again, only a few seats down from where she sat talking animatedly with her newfound friends from her dormitory.
"Come on, Remus, please? They'll never suspect you!" James pleaded.
"Yeah, you're the only one of us who still has a clean record!" Sirius offered.
"And how I've managed to keep it so clean after years of hanging out with you people remains a mystery to me" Remus replied dully then: "wait, how was Peter's record tarnished?"
"He had some trouble explaining why he was putting crap-smelling fudge all over the toilet seat in prefects' bathroom, remember?" James said.
"Oh yeah…"
"It was just a small April Fool's joke" Peter shrugged "much less than what you two have gotten in trouble for" he said, indicating Sirius and James who both smiled.
"Anyways, that's why you've got to do it, Remus" Sirius said.
"What am I going to say to him?"
"Just ask about homework or something" James suggested. Remus sighed.
"The things I do for you people" he said, slowly standing up. He made his way up to the staff table then stopped in front Malfoy who looked up at him icily.
"Yes?" he drawled. Hermione watched from the Gryffindor table, noticing how well the Marauders seemed to be paying no attention at all to what was happening up at the staff table. Remus shoved a piece of paper under his nose, blocking his drink from view.
"I have some questions about the homework, sir" Malfoy gave a short hollow laugh.
"You, Lupin, have questions about homework as easy as this? Somehow I find that hard to believe" a faint pink tinge appeared in Remus's cheeks, but never the less he continued.
"Yes, sir…" and as he began to explain his problems with the homework, he uncapped a vial and emptied its contents into Malfoy's cup with surprising stealth.
"What do you mean? I never mentioned the boomslang skin" Malfoy said, shoving, the paper out of his face.
"You didn't? Oh, my mistake then" Remus smiled pleasantly, placing the vial back into his pocket and walking back to the Gryffindor table, feeling Malfoy's glare follow him the whole way.
"Did you do it?" Peter asked with awe.
"Yup, all done" Remus said, James and Sirius grinned at him.
"See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Sirius asked. Remus made a face but didn't respond.
"Now we just wait for him to leave the table… ah yes, there he goes now" James said. The Marauders (and Hermione) whipped around in time to see Malfoy racing from the hall looking like he was about to be sick.
"Gentlemen, the prank begins!" Sirius said standing up. The others followed him, Hermione trailed behind, just out of view.
Hermione, sit down, you don't want to get in trouble do you? Her insides screamed at her.
No, but I just want to see what they're up to. She reasoned with herself.
Hermione… I think you like him
Who!
You know…
No, I don't, who!
That Lucius fellow
Hermione's eyes widened in horror
I do not!
But why else would you be following them?
To make sure they don't do anything bad! She replied defiantly
I think you're forgetting why you're really here, Hermione.
What do you mean?
You're supposed to be saving the future, Ginny is waiting for you, have you made any plans at all on how you're supposed to do this?
Hermione realized with a horribly guilty feeling that she had indeed not planned anything at all, how very unHermionish.
I'll do it tonight, as soon as I find out what they're going to do.
Whatever, just remember, the future depends on you, don't disappoint your friends.
Hermione pushed the voice to the back of her head and continued to follow the four boys. They turned down an abandoned hallway and stopped by the unconscious body of Malfoy who appeared to be in a deep sleep.
Hermione hid behind a suit of armor and watched.
"Alright, let's get him out of here" James said and, while Peter sent nervous glances down the hallway, they levitated him off of the ground.
"Sirius, Peter, you know what to do" James said.
"Right, alibi" Sirius said, setting off towards the Great Hall.
"Can't I come too?" Peter pleaded.
"No Pete, we need you to help Sirius" James said.
"Why can't I do that?" Remus asked.
"Merlin, we are not having this discussion now" James said furiously. "Go Peter!" he yelled at the boy who jumped slightly and follow Sirius quickly out of the hallway.
"You, know, you really should lay off him a bit" Remus commented, James shrugged.
"Let's get out of here"
With one last glance down the hallway, the two set off, a floating potions professor following closely behind.
Hermione quietly followed them outside into the Forbidden Forest.
"Alright, let's leave him here" James said.
"You know, I'm still not sure about this" Remus said, glancing nervously around at the dark forest.
James groaned "I knew I should've brought Sirius"
"Why didn't you?"
"Come on, Remus, would anybody have believed we hadn't done it if nobody saw Sirius or me after supper?"
"I guess not…"
"Good, now come help me with the final touches"
"Ugh. Fine. But this is disgusting" James smirked and together they began to put illusion charms on the teacher's clothes, leaving him looking like he was dressed in nothing but his boxers. Hermione's eyes widened in horror (and something else that she was too ashamed to admit).
"Alright, let's go!" James said.
"Uh, I don't think so!" Hermione said, stepping out from the bushes.
"F&K!" James yelled clutching his heart. Hermione smirked. After a few seconds to recover from his shock James glared at her "who died and made you McGonagal?" he asked venomously. Hermione narrowed her eyes.
"You have to admit, though, it is a bit strange having a new girl follow you around telling you what to do" Remus said with a tinge of amusement in his voice.
Hermione thought about this and realized it must seem a little odd. Sometimes you forget how much you're supposed to know someone.
"Sorry" she said "It's just that sometimes I feel like I know you guys so well, you remind me of friends from my old school, I used to chide them off for doing crazy things, too"
Remus nodded "But I think if we were on a friend's basis, this may seem less strange" he stuck out his hand "friends?" Hermione shook it, smiling.
"Well, now that we've got that cleared up, I think we should be heading back to the castle" James said, clapping his hands together.
"No, I don't think so, release him" Hermione said.
"No, that wouldn't work…" said James "He'd get us expelled in 5 seconds flat"
"Fine, whatever, I'm going back" Hermione said, but James grabbed her wrist.
"No, that won't work either, see, because the first thing you're going to do is run to McGonagall" Hermione fumed. How did he know?
"So, Mr. Potter, what's your brilliant plan then?" she said, putting her hands on her hips.
"We leave you here"
"What!" Remus and Hermione yelled at the same time.
"James, I think this is going a little too far…" Remus said.
"Heck ya!" Hermione nodded.
"Think, Remus, if we bring her, she'll tell McGonagall right away and McGonagall will see us come in and know that she was telling the truth, landing us in a month's worth of detentions plus a dirty mark on your record" Remus cringed at this. "If we leave her we'll be back before she'll have a chance to tell McGonagall, meaning that we have our alibi to back us up"
Remus processed this information carefully. "How do we make sure she stays here?"
"We chain her to him" James said matter-of-factly, indicating the ex-Slytherin.
"What? No I don't think so" Hermione said, crossing her arms.
"Come on, Remus" James said, ignoring Hermione.
Remus sighed. "You have to promise, however, not to follow through with the last part of the plan"
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"Getting everybody outside to greet you as you try to come in unnoticed" Remus replied, Hermione's mouth fell open.
"But Remus, that was the best part of the prank!" James pleaded.
"Well, this prank hasn't gone completely according to plan, now has it, Prongs?"
"No, I guess not"
"Good, now, Harriet, if you could just stand here-"
"No bloody way!" she yelled, making a break for the castle, but James was faster and soon the young disgruntled Gryffindor was sitting beside Lucius with a long golden chain binding the two by the wrists.
"Good night!" James yelled pleasantly over his shoulder as the two boys retreated.
"Sorry Harriet, we had no choice" Remus added, looking deeply apologetic.
"Lupin, Potter, I'm going to murder you when I get back!" she yelled, spit flying from her lips.
Great Hermione, just splendid. Now what!
Oh, shut up, will you?
Swearing, now are we?
…
I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did, please R&R to keep the updates coming!
