AN: Hello my lovelies! I felt so bad about updating so late after I got back from my holiday that you all get two updates in two days. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I'm so grateful to each of you.
Adhara Cassiopea Black: Thanks for reading!
leonix2009: I'm glad you enjoyed the update. As for your question, you'll find out the answer in future chapters and I don't want to give anything away! You'll just have to keep reading!
Blue Raging Fire111: In my head, Voldemort isn't an old man. I always imagined that since he's so scared of death that he would somehow retain the features of someone who is in their late twenties or early thirties, rather than looking his proper age. And as for the relationship between Sirius and Hermione, I feel that it would be unrealistic for Sirius to be overprotective of her simply because he heard her having a nightmare. Emotions are more complex than that, and I want to make their relationship and it's development as real as possible. Sirius, as a young man, is headstrong, and reckless and honestly kind of a jerk and I think him and Hermione would spend a lot of their time arguing and pissing each other off at first. Sirius is a complex character and I don't think it would fit for him to suddenly care deeply about this strange girl that literally fell out of the sky. I hope this clears things up!

DISCLAIMER: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, not I.

Hermione floated through the remainder of her day, clouds of worry filling her head. She was standing behind the counter, facing away from the door restocking the supply of Gillyweed in a jar behind the counter, her thoughts so filled with haunting images of Voldemort's snake like eyes, that she did not hear the bell on the shop door ring.

"Merlin, this place is so depressing, I don't for the life of me understand how you can stomach working here!"

Lily's warm voice rang through the shops' dusty interior, and Hermione's hands shook so hard at the unexpected sound that the jar of Gillyweed she was holding fell to the stone floor and shattered, spraying Hermione with slimy lake water. Calming her nerves, she confidently waved her wand to clear away the mess, before turning to stare accusingly at Lily. The redhead had the good grace to look abashed, circles of pink flaring on her cheeks.

"Sorry about that!" She apologized, before smiling brightly in the way that someone does when they want something. "I was just coming to whisk you away to the Three Broomsticks for drinks, you really need to unwind." Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but Lily held up a silencing hand.

"You're coming." She said, and her tone had a note of finality in it that told Hermione arguing was futile.

When they reached the Three Broomsticks, Hermione was assaulted by the familiar warmth and noise of the pub she had once frequented. The caramel scent of Butterbeer floated through the air and Hermione's mouth watered. Lily led her to a large, rounded table in the center of the pub, where James, Remus and Sirius were already seated, along with several faces which were unfamiliar to her. Lily settled into the empty seat beside James, and Hermione into the one between two unfamiliar redheads. A knot formed in her throat at the familiar shade, but she pushed her feelings down. The witch sitting next to Remus, with a rounded face, wickedly bright blue eyes, and her black hair shorn into a pixie cut smiled warmly at Hermione.

"I'm Alice Fawcett, and this is Marlene McKinnon." she gestured to the woman sitting next to Sirius. Marlene's sharp grey eyes, and thin mouth made her look severe and unfriendly, but her entire face warmed as she pushed a lock of golden hair behind her ear and smiled widely at Hermione.

"It's wonderful to meet you!" She exclaimed happily. Hermione smiled tentatively in response, feeling slightly overwhelmed.

"You as well." She murmured quietly.

"And we are," The redhead to her left began grandly.

"Gideon," The one to her right remarked with flourish.

"And Fabian Prewett." The one to her left, Fabian, continued exuberantly.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance." Gideon took her right hand and gently brought it to his lips. Hermione's face flushed a deep shade of red, and both Gideon and Fabian watched her closely with identical wicked grins.

As the night progressed, the group of young witches and wizards became progressively more intoxicated, and explosively loud and obnoxious. Hermione's head felt light with laughter and with alcohol, and her gaze darkened slightly as she looked back and forth between Gideon and Fabian. Fabian was lazily playing with one of her unruly curls, and Gideon casually had his arm draped over the back of her chair.

"You look so much like someone I once knew…" She whispered, reaching up to touch Gideon's russet hair almost unconsciously, before turning to Fabian and studying his clear blue eyes. A sharp pang of loneliness jolted through her, and she turned away from the twins, for every time she looked at them all she could see was Ron.

Hermione didn't notice that Sirius had been watching her closely, had seen her touch Gideon's hair tenderly and stare into Fabian's eyes with abandon. His upper lip curled, and he blurted almost without thinking,

"Two wizards at once, kitten? I didn't peg you for that kind of witch."

Immediately, all eyes turned to him, and Sirius felt something akin to shame flood over his skin before he pushed the uncomfortable feeling away and arranged his face into his trademark smirk. Hermione's face was ashamed, as she carefully extricated herself from the Prewett twins, markedly avoiding Sirius' gaze and wishing everyone a good night before racing out into the night, stumbling slightly.

"I'll go after her." Remus muttered, fixing Sirius with a glare before following Hermione out.

For such a short witch, Remus mused, she certainly could move quite quickly. Hermione had almost reached their flat by the time Remus caught up to her, and he followed her inside, settling himself carefully on the couch to observe as the angry witch paced the living room, static sparking in her hair. A loud tapping at the window attracted both of their attention towards a regal brown owl floating at the window, a stiff white envelope in his beak. Addressed in emerald green ink, and delivered by an owl with such a sense of self-importance that it could have only come from Hogwarts, Hermione looked at the offending parchment with empty eyes and a face so terrified that Remus was sure that she would have another breakdown. As he watched from his seat on the sofa, Hermione seemed to struggle with some sort of internal battle for a moment, before gingerly retrieving and opening the envelope, as though she expected it to physically harm her. Her golden-brown eyes, which had just begun to regain some semblance of life, darkened.

The letter was concise and to the point.

The Headquarters of The Order of the Phoenix can be found at 727 Cackle Street, London. Your presence is requested at the next meeting on the 21st of May.

Hermione's blood boiled, and the parchment burst into flames between her fingers. Remus, emitting a shout of shock, was on his feet in an instant.

"Aguamenti!" Cool water quickly extinguished the blaze, and Remus grabbed Hermione's hands, inspecting her fingers for burns. As his gentle hands cupped Hermione's own, Hermione remembered the Remus Lupin she had known.

The door to Shell Cottage burst open, and Remus Lupin erupted into the small space.

"It's a boy!" He crowed proudly, looking younger than Hermione had ever seen him. "Tonks had the baby! We named him Teddy." His golden eyes sparkled with pride and excitement, and he beamed as Bill pumped his hand furiously.

"Congrats mate!" Harry and Ron both clapped him on the back happily, soft smiles on their features. A glass of Firewhiskey was shoved into his hands and he happily drained it, practically vibrating with the excitement of it all.

"I should be getting back! I just wanted to let you all know!" And with that, he took off out the door as fast as he had come, rushing back to his new son.

A tear slid slowly down Hermione's face, and before she could stop herself, she had launched herself into Remus' arms. He stood stiffly for a moment, before timidly patting the top of her wild head of curls.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to any of you." She whispered, so quietly that if it had not been for Remus' wolfish hearing, he wouldn't have heard her.

AN: Thank you all for reading this chapter! Please fav, follow, and review if you liked it. Unfortunately, due to the fact that I'm in university, I'll be spending most of the next month or so writing my final exams. This will not leave me a ton of time to write and update, although if I have time I will do my best. It is most likely, though, that this story will not be updated again until the new year. So unless I see you before then, happy holidays to you all, and I will see you all again in 2018!

XOXO

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