Chapter VII

Remus

"Sirius, mate." Remus said trying to catch his friend's attention. The Black heir's eyes never left the bed where the petite brunette was sitting as the Madame Pomfrey fussed over her. Remus watched his friend carefully. He noticed how Sirius attempted to suppress a grin as Hermione tried to insist that everything was fine and deny treatment. He didn't know how to place it. The situation didn't make much sense to the werewolf—from what he understood; Sirius had met her earlier that summer, just once–Yet somehow he seemed almost to be connected to her. His body language more than suggested that he was possessive of the girl. The animal in Remus was torn between respecting his pack mate, and proving his strength as the alpha by taking the girl for himself.

Thankfully, Moony wasn't interested in the girl further than that. It gave Moony some relief—and allowed him to focus on figuring out what was going on with Sirius. The entire situation seemed like it was out of a fairytale; as if something magical had forced the two of them together.

"NO!" Hermione's strangled scream tore Remus out of his thoughts, as his head snapped to her direction. Remus' arm had shot out to prevent Sirius from moving. Madame Pomfrey had been trying to convince Hermione to allow her to pull up her shirt so she could examine her for bruising.

"Dear, I need to be able to examine you, so I can heal that rib. You no doubt have at least a crack, since you're having so much trouble breathing." Madame Pomfrey explained. Her tone left no room for doubt that she expected Hermione would comply after hearing the explanation. Remus felt himself smirk when her face fell once she realized that the brunette wasn't going to be an easy patient.

"I can take care of it myself." Hermione said quickly. She had the hem of her shirt in a death grip, as though she was terrified the nurse would try to remove it without her permission. Remus tensed up upon noticing it, his eyes darted to Sirius to see if he had as well, but his friend was far too distracted by Hermione's distress.

"Healing spells are extremely complicated. They take your energy and if you don't perform them correctly you can do more harm than good." Lily blurted out. Madame Pomfrey began nodding in agreement.

"You also don't have a healing license, dear." The matron added after a moment. Remus watched as Hermione bristled at the comment.

The girl knows. She's irritated at the subordinate's tone. It was Moony who was commenting in his head. He clearly recognized that Madame Pomfrey was irritated with Hermione's refusal to comply.

She's normally much more respectful than this. Titles must have given her airs, and gone straight to her head. If she's not careful the alpha's going to grab her jugular. Remus was confused by the thought that Moony was pushing onto him, until he realized that Moony wasn't reading Madame Pomfrey, but Hermione. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of the subordinate remark, so he left it alone.

Normally Moony ignored his friends and other people. He usually felt that it was beneath him to take notice of the other humans around him. He was shocked to realize that Moony wasn't only translating Hermione's response, but also anticipating what she would do. The wolf wanted to see her react.

"Having a license means nothing other than you studied for a certain amount of years, and that you paid for it. It doesn't mean that someone who doesn't have one is incapable of performing the same spells," Hermione snarled back.

Good girl. Remus was moderately disturbed to think that the wolf was using that phrase towards Hermione. He was growling in approval at Hermione's stubbornness.

"You have too many injuries to try an attempt at healing yourself. It will do more harm than good, even if you were to miraculously perform the spells correctly. Just allow me to examine your ribs," Madam Pomfrey said, clearly losing her patience with the girl.

"Heal the other injuries, and I'll take care of my ribs." Hermione told her, refusing to compromise on that point. Remus watched with a morbid fascination. He would never have dreamed of actually snapping at an elder, even with Moony commentating in the background. Yet here was a tiny, slip of a girl who wasn't hesitating in the slightest to do just that.

"Madame Pomfrey, is there a way that you could examine her without having to remove her shirt?" Sirius asked interrupting the two women. Remus returned to watching him, and it didn't take much to realize how stressed Sirius was at the situation. He was tugging at his sleeves, something that was a bit of a nervous tick for him. The habit happened extremely infrequently, and generally was very subtle.

"No, I have to see the damage and run diagnostic spells." Madame Pomfrey answered as she glared downwards at Hermione. Everyone sat silently; the only sound was Hermione's labored breathing and after a minute of listening to it, everyone was wincing.

"Dear please—"

"NO." Hermione growled. The resident mediwitch threw her hands up exasperated and stormed into her office before bellowing for the marauders and Lily to join her. Remus sighed heavily as he was forced to drag Sirius away from Hermione and into the office. Lily was listening attentively to the nurse, as she scribbled on a piece of paper before handing it to the younger girl.

"Now I need you lot to go and fetch the Headmaster. I am hoping that she'll see sense then, otherwise I'll have to wait until she passes out." She muttered.

"Be quick about it." They all nodded and practically sprinted out of the room. Remus was the last one out, as he was pushing Sirius through the door, and he didn't need Moony to catch Hermione's last comment to the nurse.

"You could have just sent a patronus." Remus had nearly stopped to ask her what she meant. It was the ever learning student in him. He reluctantly followed the rest of his friends out of the Hospital Wing. It took them relatively little time to reach the Headmaster's office and bring him up to speed with what had occurred. Remus had never seen the Headmaster react as quickly as he had once he had processed what they had sputtered out. It seemed like only moments later that they were back in the hospital wing.

"Headmaster, please make Hermione see reason." Madame Pomfrey blurted out the moment they had entered the room.

"I cannot pretend that I have that much control over the girl," Albus said, although he was lacking the usual twinkle in his eyes. Hermione chuckled at the statement, only to start coughing. Everyone looked at her concerned, until she stopped suddenly. Remus watched her closely as everyone else turned back towards the Headmaster.

Strong.

The second that Hermione saw all eyes off of her, she discreetly spit into a cup that she had somehow managed to get. Remus didn't need to see it to know that it was blood. He could smell it even from across the room. Sirius swiveled around to look at her, just seconds from missing her vanish the contents silently.

"Remus do you smell blood?" He asked looking straight at Hermione who stared back at him with an innocent look on her face. Remus didn't answer; instead he chose to just glance at his friend.

"Hermione," Dumbledore began.

"Perhaps, you would be more comfortable if Madame Pomfrey examined you in her office?" He suggested. Hermione opened her mouth to begin protesting immediately.

"Another option would be to simply knock you out." He said after a moment, never breaking eye contact with her. The girl promptly shut her mouth. A few minutes later she reluctantly followed the nurse into the office. Remus could hear the matron, saying numerous things, but one that stuck out in his mind was when he heard her stop moving about.

"You poor child," after that there was silence.

Hermione

Hermione was awake at five am sharp, even with being force fed a dreamless sleep potion the night before by Madame Pomfrey. It took her a moment to find her bearings, and stop panicking once she realized that she was still in the hospital wing. She wasn't surprised that she was awake so early considering there were no wards around her to ensure her safety. She was surprised to see that all of the Marauders and Lily had stayed overnight with her. What really amused her was the fact that Lily was using James as a pillow and his hand was in her hair, no doubt from him playing with her hair while she slept. She cast a silencing charm on herself before lifting Sirius' hand which had been on her knee, and crawling out of bed. Last night had showed her that her suspicions were correct of an animagus' senses. She knew that Sirius and Remus had both smelled the blood that she'd coughed up. Seeing as they were both camped out by her bed, she didn't want to risk waking either of them up.

After she dressed herself, in the extra clothing Lily had brought, although Hermione didn't recognize them which meant that the redhead hadn't been able to get past her wards. She inched over to the Hospital Wing entrance with one last glance back towards the bed, before slipping out as silently as possible. Her ribs felt spectacular, even though her face still hurt like hell. She'd have to make sure to return the gift in kind. She walked as quickly as she could down the corridors, and taking as many shortcuts as possible so she could reach her dorm in the least amount of time. She wanted to take a shower before the rest of the dormitory was awake—although it appeared that the entire population of Gryffindor Tower were asleep in the Common Room. It was nearly impossible to reach the bottom of the girl's staircases without stepping on someone. It looked as thought they'd thrown a party for some reason. Entering into her dorm, she wasn't surprised to see it empty.

This shower was longer than her normal ones—which themselves could be considered ridiculous—because there was just something about running into a Lestrange that made her feel disgusting. That particular family had violated her emotionally, physically, and verbally, and now it wasn't just Bellatrix who could claim responsibility. In all honesty she would be more worried if she didn't have some sort of reaction like that to seeing one of them. As she let the water run over her, she started day dreaming about various ideas that might be possible to use against the boys who attacked her. The old Hermione Granger would never have dared to retaliate, and would have chosen to take the high road instead. Following several years of influence from Harry and Ron, however she had grown to depend on her "Slytherin" side much more often.

It was about an hour later when she finally decided to emerge from the water. She wrapped her hair into a towel and threw on her clothes, until she was standing in jeans and a bra. While her ribs had been healed up nicely, and the bruising from the injury was also gone, her right side still was hideous. She gingerly reached a hand up until she touched the large scarred letters on her ribcage. It expanded from her hip to just under her bra line. It was large, jagged, and ugly; which is exactly what Bellatrix wanted. Madame Pomfrey had wanted to heal it the second that she saw it, but Hermione didn't have to tell her it was futile. The woman had tried everything in her own time and after that failed, Hermione had eventually just accepted that it was hopeless. She couldn't put herself through that again.

"Hermione, are you in—" The door had been thrown open by Lily, before Hermione could react. Lily's words died on her tongue as her eyes locked in on Hermione's rib cage. Her face had taken on a nasty hue of grayish white.

"What in Merlin's—?" Harry's mom sputtered out as a hand flew to her mouth as her voice faltered again. The two stood there silently until Lily shut the door behind her. Hermione felt herself grow tense, unsure of how to react to Lily. She didn't know the girl well enough to know how she would respond.

"How long did….how did they do this? I thought that we got there in time," The redhead finally managed to say.

"They didn't do this," Hermione said gesturing to her side. Lily's eyes widened even further and she looked as though she were about to fall down from sheer horror. The information didn't seem to comfort her at all. In fact she looked even more horrified to know that something had happened.

"Hermione. Explain." Lily said firmly. The look on Harry's mom's face was enough to tell her that she couldn't avoid this conversation. It was going to happen with or without her permission. So with a heavy sigh, she silently locked the door, cast a muffliato charm, a silencing spell on the room, and warded the door shut as a precaution. Lily looked warily at her while she did so, but said nothing.

"What I'm about to tell you, doesn't leave this room." Hermione ordered. Lily's eyes widened and she began nodding slowly.

"I need you to take a wizard oath." To her credit, Lily hesitated only slightly before she slowly nodded her head in agreement. Hermione wasn't even sure where to begin, or what to say at all. Part of her honestly thought about obliviating Lily, but she was too afraid of the consequences to even attempt it. Only after Lily had taken the oath did Hermione begin to explain.

"You've heard about Death Eaters," Hermione said after a moment. It was a question phrased as a statement.

"Yes. They're pureblood supremacists. The Daily Prophet has reported that they're the cause of several disappearances. Apparently it's a handful of them running around creating havoc. They're led by You-Know-Who." Lily answered immediately.

"Voldemort." Hermione corrected harshly. Lily jumped when she heard the name.

"Always use his name. It's not going to hurt you, and not doing so only allows him more power over you." Hermione explained.

"Unfortunately there are quite a few more than just a handful of Death Eaters running around, and as time goes on, he gains more and more followers. Even worse is the fact that the majority of his followers are quite wealthy. Don't mistake their mission for Voldemort's though." Hermione said, ignoring the shudder that went through Lily as she heard the Dark Lord's name again.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked curiously.

"Voldemort just wants power. He doesn't care how he gets it. Blood doesn't matter to him, if he had to kill a pureblood to win, he would do it in a heartbeat. He's nothing more than halfblood anyway." Hermione explained. Lily's eyes widened considerably at the information that she'd just been given.

"My best friend's godfather was in danger a few years ago. He didn't listen to me, when I told him that it was better if we let the adults handle it and it turned out to be a trap. This is how I received this scar." Hermione said turning to face Lily and pointing out the ugly scar across her stomach that she had gotten from Dolhov.

"There's no cure for it. It's a homemade curse, and the only reason that I'm still alive is because I managed to get a lucky shot in and had silenced the Death Eater who cast it." Hermione said.

"How would you prevent it from happening again? Could you use a shield charm?" Lily asked.

"The spell itself is a unique, vibrant shade of purple, and when I see it I hit the ground. It rips through shield charms." Hermione answered. Lily's eyes widened as her hand flew up to her mouth. She stumbled back towards the door in horror. The brunette knew without needing to hear from Lily why she was reacting like that.

"Someone shot that at me in class. That's why you threw yourself at me, you knew what it was." Harry's mom whispered. Hermione nodded.

"Is the person who attacked you at Hogwarts?" Lily demanded.

"No." The answer was firm and Lily didn't like it.

"Then how do you explain—"

"Someone has been teaching dark spells to students." Hermione answered grimly.

"We ended up being rescued by my uncle, but a few years later when I was camping with my two best friends in the Forest of Dean, two death eaters happened upon us. They dragged us back to their hideout, and decided to have fun." Hermione's voice was void of any emotion. She was staring at the ground as she robotically spoke.

"I don't remember how long I was stuck there. At least two hours, the entire time she was playing with unforgivable and carving into my skin. The boys were locked up in the dungeons of the house, while I was on the floor of the front parlor."

"How'd you manage to escape?" Lily asked in a horrified whisper.

"I don't know really. I believe one of my friend's house elves saved us. I was unconscious for most of it towards the end. I vaguely remember having a knife to my throat, which is how I got this lovely scar." Hermione said as she tilted her chin up. It was very slim and white; nearly invisible to the naked eye. Lily looked as though she wanted to throw up. She didn't though, although she did start crying.

"I'm so sorry." Lily said as she continued to cry.

"It's fine. It's not your fault."

"I've been so awful and acting like prat. You've done nothing wrong, and you saved me." Lily said as she cried harder. Hermione slowly pulled a tank top over her head before reaching for her wand. Lily noticed her movement and looked at her questioningly.

"Someone is trying to break through my wards, and they're not trying to be delicate at all." Hermione said bluntly. Lily moved away from the door and stood next to Hermione with her wand in hand as well.

"What's the plan?" Lily asked. Hermione shrugged as she forced herself to drop her three strongest wards. She left up the outermost; the baby ones that attempted to turn people away from the room.

"Confringo!" Hermione thought silently as she pointed her wand at the door. The spell whipped out of her wand, and as it collided with the bathroom door it erupted into a fiery chain which blasted the heavy metal and wood door off of its hinges. The girls heard a huge collision as it collided into several beds before hitting the far wall. There was a moan of human pain, accompanied by a shout of "Prongs!"

"Sprite, it's just me!" Sirius called from the other side of the hole. Lily panicked and sprinted through before Hermione could stop her. She was on the ground searching for James before anyone could blink. The muggleborn witch was freaking out, calling his name and crying while apologizing profusely. Hermione wanted to go to her, but she was too shaken up to move. What if she killed Harry?

"Sprite?" Sirius asked warily as he ducked into Hermione's sight. She felt her body react, her wand was pointed at him, but her mind was achingly numb. Her vision began to swam, and her whole body felt very heavy.

"It's just me." He said as he strayed closer. Her body wasn't reacting for her anymore, at least not defensively. The closer he came to her, the more she wanted to reach out for him. In two steps, he had reached her, and wrapped his arms around her. Hermione's brain wasn't okay with this, it was trying to fight for control over her limbs again. The last thing that she remembered clearly was Lily yelling at Sirius that they needed to take James to the Hospital Wing.

"You shouldn't have attempted to use magic that soon after leaving the Hospital Wing!" Madame Pomfrey scolded her as she fussed.

"Better yet, you shouldn't have left the Hospital Wing at all! You weren't cleared to go. What if your injuries hadn't been fixed?" She asked the brunette. Hermione wasn't paying attention to what the nurse was saying. Instead she was focused on leaning as far back as possible. The nurse was far too close to her, and it was literally all she could do to keep from blasting her backwards.

"Madame Pomfrey, could you check on James please?" Sirius asked after a moment. The resident nurse swung sharply away from Hermione to look at Harry's Dad. To everyone's surprise she began treating him again, instead of continuing with Hermione.

"What in Merlin's name possessed you lot to have a duel the second one of you left? Especially when she had such extensive injuries?! Of all the stunts you lot have pulled this sure takes the cake! Not to mention how unexpected this is of you Miss Evans!" Madame Pomfrey ranted as she started shooting diagnostic spells at James.

"It seemed like an excellent idea at the time." Lily said after a moment. Everyone, save for James—who wasn't awake—turned to look at her in surprise. The attention caused Lily to turn bright red.

"We wanted to make sure we were up to par for our exams in Defense Against the Dark Arts." Lily said as if her lying to a teacher was a normal occurrence. The nurse watched her suspiciously for a moment before turning back to James, which signaled that she had chosen to believe the prefect. It escaped no one's notice how close Harry's mom was sitting to her future husband.

"Now, Miss Dumbledore, you need to let yourself heal before using any more magic such as you did earlier. In the state that you were in last night, it will just drain your energy. At least wait until after dinner, before you feel the need to duel someone again." Hermione wanted to roll her eyes. The information clearly wasn't anything other than the Nurse's attempt to maintain order in the castle. She'd seen her attempt to do the same with the twins, after they had been sent to the hospital wing for fighting with Slytherins before they left school for the final time.

"Is he going to wake up?" Lily asked worried. Her question drew Hermione's attention back to the present time.

"He'll be just fine," Madame Pomfrey reassured Lily.

"Mr. Potter has been put under a terrible amount of stress. As you know, Hogwarts is a very sturdy castle, and having a door blasted open on top of you isn't very conducive to staying in good health. Although," here she paused and looked up at Hermione.

"Had you been under a real attack, and in real danger, I would commend you for your ingenuity. Very few duelist ever think to use their surroundings in a fight. Gryffindor is thirty points richer than they were earlier this morning." Madame Pomfrey didn't give them anytime to comment before she went to her office to retrieve a potion for James.

"Did you just earn points for injuring a fellow student?" Sirius asked clearly dumbfounded by this particular turn of events. Hermione managed to shrug with a slight smirk on her face. Once James was awake Madame Pomfrey sent them on their way with strict instructions not to show up again for at least two weeks. They had barely made it out of ear shot before Sirius and James started asking questions.

"So…am I going to get an apology?" James asked the two girls. Lily turned bright red and immediately began to mumble under her breath. Hermione's reaction was far different. She didn't even bother to turn around or stop walking.

"No." She said over Lily's mumbles. Hermione's lack of regret caused the other three students to stop abruptly. When she realized they were no longer walking, she paused and turned to face them.

"What?" The brunette asked tiredly.

"That's it? You exploded a door on top of me, and nothing? Not a single, 'My bad Potter?" James asked. He seemed shocked that Hermione wasn't groveling at the moment. Hermione knew that the old her, the one who had lived before the war, would have been apologizing profusely from the moment she cast the spell. In all honesty, that Hermione most likely wouldn't have even attempted to cast the spell because she would've been afraid of someone getting hurt. However, times change and people are forced to adapt.

"Lily and I are not at fault." Hermione answered coldly. James blinked before looking at his future wife. Sirius on the other hand seemed to snap at her answer.

"Excuse me?" He asked..

"You exploded a door—one made of iron and wood—and threw James across a bedroom, gave him a concussion, not to mention several serious injuries. Yet you think we're at fault?" The Black heir demanded as he stepped forward.

"The two of you attacked my wards without restraint. How was I supposed to react? How would you bloody react if someone tried to browbeat their way into a room that you had secured for a specific purpose? Especially after trespassing into an area strictly off limits?" Hermione said irritated. She could feel her magic crackle to life as Sirius' reared up threateningly.

"It's bloody Hogwarts! What grounds would you have for thinking that someone's actually going to hurt you?" Sirius asked angrily.

"How about the fact that you decided to bombard my wards with relentless attacks—to the point that you nearly sliced through them in three rounds? Honestly, if anyone should be mad it should be Potter over the fact that you knew how I would react! You were the one who was stupid enough to try and break through my wards. Did you really expect that I wouldn't retaliate? Obviously not since you knew enough to get out of the way before I shot the door off of its hinges!" Hermione hissed.

James looked over at Sirius with a glare as her words were processed, but Sirius was too focused on the brunette in front of him to acknowledge his best friend.

"I find it funny that you think you know who attacked your wards." Sirius said mockingly.

"Oh don't try to deny it Black. Your magical signature was unmistakable—bold, raw and unapologetic." Hermione bit out. Sirius' body language changed the second that the words left her mouth and she immediately regretted saying it. James' eyebrows rose drastically, as did Lily's whose hand had flown up to her mouth, while her left grabbed Potter's wrist out of shock. Everyone knew the significance of that statement, which is why when Sirius began to predatorily stalk Hermione, James and Lily did nothing.

The sexual tension forced a deep blush upon her cheeks. All she could see was Sirius, his frame dwarfed her own, and it overwhelmed her.

"How long have you known my magical signature in such intimate details?" He asked. His voice had taken on a seductive tone, and Hermione felt herself gulp.

"Sorry?" Her voice just barely managed to squeak out a response. She blushed further at the direction that her thoughts flowed.

"You heard me," Sirius murmured as he stepped closer to her.

"In order to recognize someone's magical signature, you need to either have a very old friendship—like James and I—or intimate knowledge, which takes couples years to develop. So which is it?" He asked. In Hermione's reality it was the former. She'd known Sirius since she was thirteen years old, and she'd lived with him for several years—they often dueled out of anger or training. Of course she would recognize his magical signature. In fact it would be ridiculous of her not to do so! Hermione opened her mouth to tell him off for assuming her to be so unobservant, when she really looked at who was standing in front of her. Upon recognizing that she was indeed standing in front of Sirius—but a much younger one, she promptly snapped her jaw shut.

"Oh come on darling, it can't be that difficult." His voice taunted her and all she could seem to think about was kissing him. The idea was ridiculous because of the fact that this was Harry's Godfather!

"You're being ridiculous." She finally blurted out, not knowing what other strategy to employ with him. His right eyebrow quirked up in curiosity of her statement, which made Hermione want to run.

"Am I? You are the one who is claiming to know such an intimate manner. So either you know it was a lucky guess, which makes me question your magical ability," The suggestive tone of his voice was unmistakable.

"You're brash; you run head first into stupid situations without thinking and your magic is exactly the same! It's relentless in its pursuit!" Herminie blurted out angrily falling for the insult. Sirius' smirk only grew bigger as her words washed over him. She returned to blushing as he continued to stare at her.

Lily

From across the hallway, Lily and James were watching with mixed expressions of horror and delight. Lily wasn't sure when she started clutching James' arm for support; somewhere between the fighting and now Sirius attempting to hit on the girl. It was like watching a soap opera. Part of her knew that she should intercept, and rescue her friend.

Her friend. Lily blinked at the fact that she'd just referred to Hermione Dumbledore as her friend. She wanted to start overanalyzing when exactly her brain had shifted the girl into her friend zone. The redhead though already knew how she made the change. Her behavior was unacceptable, and Hermione hadn't provoked it. What was even more stunning was the fact that she had saved Lily. She watched as Sirius continued to box her in, and decided it was time to intervene. She stepped forward, only to have James' pull her back.

Lily nearly gasped as she felt James put his hands on her hips and step closer to her. She could feel his chest against her back, and immediately began to blush Her face matched the color of her hair in seconds. . She briefly wondered where all of this tension was coming from until she looked back at Hermione and Sirius. Their magic was radiating off one another. She was too shocked to really consider moving away from James, a state which only grew the longer she stood there.

"Give them a minute." He whispered into her left ear. Lily's eyes closed involuntarily for a split second only to snap open upon hearing Hermione shriek. Neither Sirius, nor his prey, had moved.

"Don't blame me for the fact that you don't know how to hide your magical signature." Hermione said defensively. Sirius started chuckling, which only served to anger Hermione. Lily began to wonder if Sirius even realized how defensive the other girl's stance was at the moment. She seemed as though she was about to bolt at any moment, which Lily couldn't blame her for considering what she'd seen earlier.

"Darling, don't try to play games with me." Sirius said as he watched Hermione.

"You're the one who's demanding answers that are irrelevant." Hermione said angrily. Lily watched wide-eyed as the scene continued to play out in front of her.

"Hermione, don't try to play dumb. It doesn't become you. We both know that magical signatures are very personal and people only learn others' when they're magic brush up against one another. It takes ages to be able to recognize it on sight. This isn't something you can figure out with a 'lucky guess." Sirius said. Hermione's back was against the wall by this point and Sirius had officially trapped her.

Lily watched warily as Sirius purred at the other Gryffindor female.

"He's got her wrapped around his finger." James whispered into Lily's ear. The action sent an involuntary shiver down the muggleborn's spine. She wanted to die of embarrassment. This was Potter—the pureblood prat—he picked on her for years! It was seconds after James had spoken that a white light suddenly erupted in between Hermione and Sirius. Lily felt herself being forcefully shoved backwards, before James' arms fully encircled her waist and spun their positions so that he was taking the majority of the reaction. Lily clung to him, afraid of what would happen if she were to let go.

When it finally stopped—eons later—Lily and James had been pushed all the way across the corridor. Her back was against the stone wall, even though she was leaning heavily against James. Her energy was completely drained, though she didn't understand why. James was breathing heavily as well, and he hadn't let go of her, opting instead to pull her closer. She knew at some point that her brain would kick-start and remind her that this was inappropriate. However at the moment, Lily was far too exhausted to fight whatever comfort James was willing to give to her.

"Blimey," They heard Sirius groan. James turned partially, while never letting Lily out of his arms, to see his mate. Lily was able to catch a glimpse of the Black Heir sprawled on his back in the middle of the corridor. Hermione wasn't anywhere in sight. He slowly pulled himself back to his feet before turning to face James and Lily.

"Where did she go?" Lily asked as she stared at her housemates. James shrugged while he and Sirius exchanged looks of shock.

"So much for not using magic for another few hours; that girl is going to kill herself." James commented as he looked down the corridor for any hint of the path Hermione had taken.

"That was accidental magic mate." Sirius said as he walked over to Lily and James.

"How do you know that it she didn't cast it non-verbally?" James asked. Lily looked at him surprised that he was thinking so logically. She felt a small smile spread across her face at the thought.

"She didn't have a wand in her hand." Sirius answered matter of fact.

"Wandless?" James countered.

"I could feel it. The surge was sporadic, overly powerful and there was this overwhelming feeling of panic." Sirius said after a minute.

"What?" Lily asked slightly horrified.

"So now you're able to detect her magic on that level too? How is that possible?" James asked confused. Sirius shrugged while running a hand over his face.

"Should we go speak with the Headmaster or Professor McGonagall? What if something is wrong with your magic?" Lily asked worried.

"No." Sirius said quickly.

"What if—"

"No." Sirius said more firmly. Lily looked put out, but said no more on the subject.

"We need to find her. You heard what Madame Pomfrey said. What if something bad happens?" The redhead said as she bit her lip in worry. The two boys nodded and they made their way to the tower.


Author's Note:: Hey guys. I'm sure a lot of you are surprised by the new format for Lacero Contrafaco. I've been unable to update it all summer because of writer's block and working two jobs. I decided to change it up in order to help jog my desire to continue writing it. It seems to have helped quite a bit considering I've been ignoring all the hmwk I should be doing instead. Please let me know your thoughts. The majority of the content is still the same, although there are some things that have changed.

Aalis