A/N. As I write this, I am wearing a facial mask. It is hardening like that shell-chocolate you put on icecream. It is difficult to move my face. Just thought I'd share.
How was YOUR day? Answer in the reviews! Or send me a PM! Really, I love to hear all about you guys!
So, as I'm planning out this story and coming up with plots in my mind, I realize that after writing TLM it has been REALLY weird for me to write Hermione with anyone but Remus - I'm not changing the pairing of course, I just feel like I'm cheating Remus in some way. But I shall push on! After all, I love reading Hermione/Sirius stories, I just have to get in the swing of writing them.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, I would have killed Ron and kept Fred. Really.
...~oOo~...
Chapter Four: Meeting the Marauders
Hermione, with nothing but her little beaded purse and the copy of The Trick, walked down the corridors of Hogwarts, a huge cloak of distress and confusion draped over her. She felt an overwhelming lostness that gripped her around the heart and lungs.
It was like being in a different country, only worse. At least if she were in a different country, she could fly back home, but no. She was stuck. The people there were going to be from a different generation, therefore have a different way of speaking and acting. She was just grateful it was evening and past curfew, because she didn't think she could handle being thrown straight into the throngs after only having a few moments to breathe.
At least she could get a few hours of sleep to mentally and emotionally prepare herself for the next day.
Term had only started a week before, so classes were only just picking up, but she'd been studying for Seventh Year since the day she got her Hogwarts letter. Of course, Hermione was still panicking. What about the curriculum had changed in twenty years? Surely it was a lot! And the teachers! She didn't know most of them, and therefore she wasn't on their good side. What if they disliked her?
There was just so much to do and errands that needed running before she felt properly prepared for -
She then heard fervent whispering and hissing.
"Dammit -"
"What the -"
"We are too big for this thing -"
"It isn't my fault!"
"Of course it's your bloody fault, you great pr-"
"Shush!"
The voices quieted further, but didn't cease. They just became a harsh little hum and footfalls.
Hermione followed the noise, walking carefully down the rest of the halls and then waiting at the corner, listening to what was happening only just around the turn.
"This is so bloody difficult without the Map..." one voice said morosely.
"And whose fault is that, exactly?"
"I already said I was sorry!"
"Can we stop passing around the blame?"
"Shut up, Moons."
"Yeah, Remus, stop being so fucking reasonable."
"Moony is right, you two are acting like children. So Sirius, stop making Peter feel even worse than he does. I mean, look what he's done. He is the reason why the most incredible tool in the history of the universe that we worked years on perfecting is now in Filch's hands. I'm sure he already feels awful."
"Thanks, Prongs, really, for reminding me," a nasally voice grumbled.
"Your welcome, Wormtail. Now let's go!"
Hearing the familiar nicknames, Hermione's pulse started doing hopscotch and she poked her head around the corner, desperate for some confirmation.
But no one was there.
"Wait, wait, wait," one of the voice hissed as quietly as possible - but Hermione still heard and the footfalls stopped.
The Invisibility Cloak. Of course. The boys must have seen her and frozen.
Hermione cleared her throat. "Um. Excuse me, but uh... I know you're there."
"Who's the bird?" she heard the most high-pitched of the voices say.
"Wormtail, shut up!"
Then Hermione caught sight of a sock-sheathed toe appear in the hall, only two yards away from her. Someone wasn't paying attention to their feet from under the Cloak.
"I'm not a Prefect," Hermione said. "I'm not going to get you in trouble." Goodness knew how many nights she, Ron, and Harry spent sneaking out after curfew under that very same Cloak. She felt a lot of sadness along with nostalgia. It was very possible she would never see her best friends and now... she had a very strong want to see the father Harry never knew.
There was a long silence before one of the voices, a familiar one, said, "Oooooh! Ooooh! I am a ghoooooost!"
"For Merlin's sake, Pads, will you knock it off?"
"Oi! At least I'm doing something, unlike you, Moony!"
"My name is Hermione," she said, inching closer to the lonesome toe. She just wanted to see their faces and she wouldn't be able to sleep until she did. The curiosity was killing her. "And... I'm new here."
"You don't look like a First Year."
"Wormtail, that's as obvious as it gets."
"But she just said that she was - !"
"New, yes," Hermione finished for him. "But not a First Year. A... transfer, I suppose you could say."
"Are you from Durmstrang?"
"Don't be stupid, Prongs, she's obviously a Beauxbaton's girl."
"I dunno, she's not fit enough to be a Veela -"
"Christ, Pads, can you be any ruder? I apologize for my friends." And with that, the Cloak was yanked from over top of them, revealing its hidden boys.
The boy holding the Cloak was... spitting image of Harry. But of course, everyone had always said that Harry was identical to James, so it wasn't much of a surprise - except for the eyes (of course) which, in James's face, were hazel.
James continued saying, "They don't know how to act in front of a lady."
"Yeah, like you do," one of the other boys snorted. Hermione knew the face, the stature, the height, the long, silky black hair and smoky eyes. The handsome young man was no other than a teenage Sirius Black.
"I do!" James persisted.
"Evans would beg to differ," Remus said neutrally, but his eyes were examining Hermione closely. Young Remus was certainly a more classical brand of handsome with a unique sort of nose, sandy blondish-brown hair, and light eyes with three slightly irritated scars across his nose and cheeks. He was tall and lean, thin in comparison to the broad-shouldered Sirius or athletically built James.
"Who are you?" the last boy asked without preamble. He wasn't what Hermione had imagined Peter to look like at a young age. In her mind, she always saw a ugly thing with rat-like expressions, but he wasn't evil-looking at all. He looked sort of confused, had a round face, was the shortest among his friend, and a chubby belly with nervously clasped hands. His hair was light, his eyes brown, and he looked oddly... innocent.
"She already said who she was," James said. "Hermione, right?"
She nodded. "Yes. Hermione. And you are..."
"I'm James Potter," James said with a prideful sort of look, like this should mean something to everyone. Like his name was famous - which, in this era of Hogwarts, it probably was. "This bookish-looking fiend is Remus Lupin, the tall-dark-handsome-and-prattish is none other than Sirius Black, and this special little bugger is Peter Pettigrew." James gave Peter's hair a goodnatured ruffle.
"Pleased to meet all of you," Hermione said, putting on a smile. "If you don't mind my asking, what are the four of you adult boys doing crouching under a Cloak past curfew?"
"Confidential," Sirius said automatically.
"Top secret," Peter confirmed.
James added, "One of those strictly need-to-know things. And well, we don't really know you..."
"So you don't need to know," Sirius finished for him. He turned to his Harry-twin friend and said, "Can we get this over with already? Or are you not done chatting up this strangely formally dressed young girl?"
"Yes, why are you so formally dressed?" Peter inquired, ignoring the glare Sirius sent him.
Hermione looked down at her knee-length red dress that she'd worn to Bill and Fleur's wedding. She had actually forgotten she was wearing it. She looked up and said and said, "Uh... at... Beauxbaton's Academy we were taught to dress like... ladies."
"Ah-hah! So she is from Beauxbaton's!" Peter said triumphantly. "After all, look how pretty she is!"
Such a compliment from the mouth of a rat like Peter made Hermione feel immediately slimy, and she felt the shiver roll down her spine.
She noticed Sirius's head cocked to the side, much in the fashion of a intrigued puppy, and scaling his gaze up and down her. "Eh," he hedged. "Wouldn't say she was Beauxbaton-material pretty, actually."
Insulted, Hermione shifted her shoulders back and said, "Well, don't you know, that's why they kicked me out. I wasn't pretty enough for them."
Peter's brow furrowed. "They can kick you out for that?"
"She's being sarcastic, Peter," Remus explained. "Because Sirius was being a jerk."
"What! It's true!" Sirius said indignantly. "Those women are goddesses and this one is just... well, you see her."
"I do," Remus said, "and what I see is a very attractive young woman who doesn't deserve to be treated so rudely. You aren't exactly giving her a good Hogwarts Welcome, Sirius."
Sirius shrugged like this didn't concern him. He looked sick of the conversation and ready to get along with whatever they'd been doing before Hermione interrupted them. He didn't look at all impressed with Hermione, and maybe even a little miffed for her appearance.
"I apologize for interfering on whatever late-night... activities you were... doing," Hermione said, suddenly feeling very stupid. Under normal circumstances, she'd be standing up for herself and explaining that what she lacked in looks she made up for in brains. But she was so unbearably tired and over-all confused, she just didn't have the energy or drive. "I'll be on my way." Tucking her beaded handbag under her armpit so that she could use both hands to open the book, she began walking away, reading as she did.
Really, though, she couldn't focus on the words. They all floated around the page, so she shut it back up, turned around once more to give a last wave to the now-invisibly Marauders, and she was on her way.
...~oOo~...
The Marauders were very good at two things. One was pranks. The other was running. The sprinting they did because of Mrs. Norris had to be equivalent to the training Olympians did, because after six years, they were fast. Even Peter was fast enough to almost keep up, and the foot or two he lagged behind, they all blamed on his shorter legs.
They'd squeaked the password to the Fat Lady in unison and flew threw the opening and into the Gryffindor common room. Once the portrait was shut behind them, the four boys collapsed to the ground in relief.
Well, Peter collapsed, Remus dropped against the wall, James's shoulders fell and Sirius went to his knees and then fell onto his face dramatically.
"I... hate... that fucking... cat," Sirius growled into the carpet.
"I think we all do, Pads," James answered, breathing heavily from their run.
Remus dragged his hand down his face. "I hate you. All of you. If we'd been caught..."
"Oh, don't worry so much Remus, I'm Head Boy, remember?" James said with a goofy grin.
"Thinking about his Boyship," Sirius said, smirking, "you better run back to your private dorms before Evans deducts a thousand points from you."
"It's alright, I think I'll spend the night here."
Peter's eyes lit up. "Really? Just like old times?"
"If by 'old times' you mean last year, then yes."
"I must admit," said Remus, "or room just isn't the same without your harmonious snoring, James. I've barely slept a wink without your special, sleep apnea lullabies."
"Speaking of snoring, look who's on the couch," Peter said, dropping his voice to a whisper.
They all turned their heads in unison to the sitting area where the same girl they'd run into in the hallway was lying across, sleeping. She wasn't quite snoring like Peter had implied, but making quiet sighing sounds, soft and even with her breathing. A light blanket was over her, but it'd slipped down to her hips, so that her upper-body was exposed. She was wearing a blue camisole with little beads along the neckline, a blue book open wide draped over and covering her breasts. In one of her hands she clutched a small purse.
"Why do you think she's down here?" Peter asked, sounding almost concerned.
"Looks like she fell asleep reading," Remus observed. Head tilted, Remus slowly began walking over to the couch. "I wonder what she's reading." He stopped short when James said:
"Merlin, there's a girl sleeping in barely anything in front of you and all you can think about is what literature she's into?" James scoffed. "Seriously, Moony, we're going to have to teach you have to fantasize. Now, come on, it's creepy with all of us staring at her like this." He strolled towards the stairs up to the boys' dorms, waving for his friends to follow.
Following behind, Sirius said, "Why the hell do we keep running into that bird? Twice in one night!"
Peter, trailing like a loyal duckling said excitedly, "Perhaps she's my Evans!"
Sirius snorted. "C'mon, Peter, you can do better than her."
Remus raised an eyebrow. "No, I can't. She's great!"
"And what does he mean by 'his Evans'?" Remus asked.
"You know, like his soul mate," James explained, climbing the stairs. "Like she is the Lily to his James." He shot a smile back to them all.
"But really," Sirius said shortly, "Pete can do better."
"What's got your knickers in a twist?" James asked once they got to their door, swinging it open. "She's just a girl, Sirius, a species of which you are very familiar. And we've only just met her."
Sirius's nose wrinkled. "I dunno. I just don't like her. And she's very plain-looking. Almost ugly, really."
"That's a lie, and you know it," Remus said, sliding onto his bed. "You're just upset that Operation Recover Map failed."
Throwing himself theatrically onto his bed, Sirius lounged like a tortured poet waiting for the end. "Oh, Moony!" he moaned. "We were so close! I don't know how long I can go on whilst knowing that my baby, my one true love, is being held captive by that bastard Filch!"
"We're all upset about the Map, Sirius," James said, tucking himself under the covers of his old bed. "Worst comes to worse, we make a new one."
"But we poured our soul into that one!" Sirius cried. "There can only ever be one Marauders' Map!"
Ignoring his best friend's tendencies to blow everything out of proportion, James sighed and mumbled, "I wish I had my pajamas."
"You could easily make it to the Heads' rooms without being seen, James," Remus pointed out.
"Yeah, what's stopping you?" Peter asked.
Heaving a sigh, James said, "Well... in all honesty... Evans changed the password to our dorms to punish me. Something about being a sexist pig and eating shorts... I dunno what she said, but bottom line is that I can't go back in our dorms until she sees fit."
Sirius barked a laugh. "What do you know? It's like their married already."
...~oOo~...
Challenge: 1. Favorite part and line? 2. Predictions? 3. What do you think Lily changed the password to?
~ So Long And Thanks For All The Fish ~