I dedicate this chapter to Lindsay – who always reviews my stories, no matter what genre or pairing they are, and whether or not they are crappy. She always seems to make me smile, and Linz – I'm sorry I haven't been talking much to you on dA, but – high school! *throws hands up in the air, frustrated with the blasted institution we're sent to every day*
Oh, also – last chapter, it said 'definitely on the cheek' when I meant to say 'definitely not on the cheek.' So…yeah, too lazy to go change it, just make that little correction in your noggins.
Disclaimer: I own only the plot and racy books and prudes.
"That is very interesting," Dumbledore said, looking up at Hermione as she paced, Fred and George occupying the two chairs in front of his desk, each lost in their own thoughts.
"Like – I can't even remember why I was so afraid of Sirius in my third year, and I know that Remus was there too, I just can't remember how," she said.
"Sirius was a supposed mass murderer and escaped from Azkaban," Fred offered, then took a glance at Dumbledore's horrified expression, "No, no, he wasn't, it was somebody else."
"Can you remember who that somebody was, though?" George asked him.
He sighed after a moment, "No."
"And I can't remember the name of Sirius' cousin's daughter. Remember her? She was a Metamorphmagus," Hermione said, "She hated her name and wanted to be called her surname."
"Err…Tonks!" George said brightly, "Andromeda Tonks!"
"No, you barmy idiot – that's her mother," Fred frowned at him, "It was Nymphadora."
"Oh yeah…."
"If I may voice a concern without worrying you," Dumbledore interrupted, frowning slightly, "Why is it that Miss Granger seems to be asking a great majority of the questions?"
Everybody froze, looking at him with wide eyes.
"I – I don't know," Hermione said after a moment, "I don't know."
The sun was shining mercifully down on the grounds, saving the practicing Gryffindor Quidditch team from freezing to death as they flew around on their brooms, paying little mind to the girl underneath the tree, book in hand and trying to get her hair to stay away from her eyes. But one person with sandy brown hair did, and once he was close enough to her he dropped down and put his head in her lap, startling her.
Hermione looked down, frowning a little as Remus smiled up at her, reaching for the book.
"Morning, Mione," he said, taking the book from her and marking her spot and reading from there. "What're you reading?"
"It's a book Marlene gave me," she said, "It's alright so far."
Remus' eyes scanned the pages before his eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened before a smirk appeared, "'And as the kissing got heavier, his hand reached up and cupped her – '"
"Excuse you!" she yanked the book from him and glared at the page, "Where did you get that?"
"Page ninety-three," he said, grinning up at her cheekily as a blush got steadier and steadier on her cheeks.
"I hadn't gotten that far yet," she said before closing it and placing it a good length away, "And I never will."
He laughed, flipping over on his stomach and looking up at her, "You're such a prude!"
"Hey!" she hit him with her history book, but lightly, making him laugh again, "You're rather prudish too!"
"Am not! I'm a guy!" he grinned up at her.
Before she could answer, a shadow fell over them, making them look up and smile at the figure, who collapsed next to them with a sigh.
"Hi, Lily," they said together.
"Hey," she sighed again, rolling onto her stomach and looking dully at them.
"What's up?" Hermione asked.
"Not much," she shrugged, reaching for the discarded book. Hermione shrieked and grabbed it from her, making her blink at her empty hand. Remus started laughing, putting his head back on Hermione's leg as he did.
"Oh shut up, you!" she ordered, flicking his hair as he chuckled.
"Love you too, Mione!" he grinned at her.
"Somebody's feeling better," Lily smirked at him, "You were nearly dead on Halloween."
"Yeah, I know – shame too, that's my favorite holiday," he sighed, "I miss carving pumpkins at home."
"I miss trick-or-treating," Lily sighed too, "I mean, I know I'm seventeen and all, but still – free candy. Best holiday ever."
Hermione was silent, watching as the leaves flew about from their trees, and the two took note of her silence before it clicked.
"Oh!" Lily gasped, reaching over and putting a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, we didn't – sorry. Sorry."
"It's alright," she said, still gazing at the leaves, "I'm sure they miss me too."
Remus looked up at Lily, wincing a little, "Hermione…err…wanna go throw things at James and watch him spazz on his broom? That's a lot of fun!"
She laughed, "No thanks."
"Why won't you let me read that?" Lily asked, pointing at the book in Hermione's hand. She held it away from Lily, as if she was going to attempt to grab it, while Remus got a maniacal glint in his eyes. He reached up and grabbed it from her, sitting up in the process. Hermione gasped and reached over to try and grab it, but he grabbed her wrist and tugged, sending her on his legs now. She huffed as Remus held the book out to Lily.
"Here you are," he grinned, "Page ninety-three, if I recommend."
"You prat!" Hermione said, smacking his knee and making him wince a little through his grin, "It was Marlene's, Lily, I swear."
"Oh, ugh," Lily wrinkled her nose, "I know this is Marlene's, she made me read it too. The girl gets pregnant in the ninth chapter and there's a whole 'evil twin' dynamic and blah-blah-blah…."
"You actually read that?" the two asked, Hermione looking shocked and Remus trying to keep from laughing again.
"Sadly," she sighed, tossing the book behind her.
"Isn't Hermione a prude for not wanting to read that?" Remus prompted, smiling as Hermione tried to escape from his grasp, but with no luck.
"Somewhat – I only read it because Marlene was annoying me to do so. Is that what you were talking about before I got here?" she grinned, arching an eyebrow.
"Yes," they answered together.
"Oh goodness," Lily shook her head at them, "You're both a mess."
"MOVE!" somebody shouted, making the three look over towards the Quidditch pitch.
They all screamed before jumping up and bolting, running behind the tree as a Bludger came flying at them. Lily reached out and grabbed the offending book, stepping out to hit the Bludger away from them. James' eyebrows shot up before he dropped to the ground, the ball flying over his head and knocking the wind out of one of the twins.
"Great blow, Evans!" James said as he popped back up, grinning at her, "That was great, fantastic actually."
"Yeah, well," she shrugged, "I had a lot of practice with you over the years, haven't I, James?"
He chuckled, "Yes you have. Oh, hello there, Miss Granger and Mister Lupin!"
"That could've killed us," Remus frowned at him, stepping out from behind the tree, Hermione's wrist in his hand.
"Darn," he said, picking up the discarded book, "What's this?"
"No!" Hermione shouted as Lily and Remus both gleefully shouted, "Page ninety-three!"
James glanced between the three warily and flipped to the page, Hermione trying to swipe it away from him with one hand, seeing as Remus was still holding her back. James' face was suddenly as red as Lily's hair, dropping the book with a horrified expression and wiping his hands on his jeans, as if he'd gotten some kind of germ from it.
"Oh Merlin," he said, backing away a little from the book, "W-why did they write that? Why did you make me read it? W-why do you hate me?"
"They're calling me a prude for not wanting to read it!" Hermione said, yanking her hand away from Remus, who shrugged.
"That's just – no, no, why would you ever – rude, repulsive, foul – why?" James asked, looking pleadingly at them.
Remus and Lily both stared at James as if he'd lost his head.
"Are you telling me, that after all of that bragging, you've never…?" Lily asked, her grin growing malicious, "James Potter, did you lie to us about your many a conquests?"
"Honestly, you're even asking?" Remus snorted, "His mother would kill him if he ever did. But, I'm surprised, I didn't think you'd be so…prudish."
"I'm not prudish!" he yelped.
"Can we stop talking about this please?" Hermione asked, sitting on the ground in the middle of all of them, looking up at them pleadingly.
"Please?" James repeated, tugging at his collar.
Remus and Lily looked between each other before laughing, doubling over and clutching their stomachs. James huffed at them and helped Hermione off the ground.
"Come along, Hermione," he said, dragging her away, "I can tell when we're not wanted."
Remus tried to object to that, and so did Lily, but they were too busy laughing to make a recognizable word.
"Alright, so," George started, pacing around the Room of Requirement, which was enchanted to look like it had been when they used it for DA meetings, "It's the first weekend of November, then we've got December, January, February, March, April, May, and until the end of June to figure out how to fix everything."
"It sounds like a long while, but it really isn't," Hermione sighed unhappily, draped in a chair and looking over through a window, which had not been there before but had appeared for her.
"And we keep forgetting things for no reason," Fred said, scratching his head with a quill as his History of Magic essay folded in his lap.
"Maybe if we went to sleep," George started before he was interrupted with a yawn, "Maybe if we went to sleep, we'd get a dream."
"Hope so," Fred said, holding back a yawn as Hermione did one as well, "Stop spreading your yawning disease and come on."
Listen now and listen well
We have quite a story to tell
You're forgetting things
We make it so
We make it so you won't know
We'll make it harder as the days go by
But be quick, before your friends start to die
You'll forget but then you'll know
That's the way we make it go
"HERMIONE, WAKE UP!"
Hermione bolted up, staring wide eyed at Lily, Alice and Marlene, all of them crowded around her bed, the moon illuminating them in the darkness.
"What?" she asked, a hand flying to her hair as it began to fall over her head into her eyes.
"You were screaming, having a nightmare," Alice said, her short brown hair splayed out as if she had been electrocuted.
"You kept saying 'can't let them die, can't let them die,'" Marlene said, biting the side of her thumb worriedly.
Hermione looked blankly at them before sighing, "I can't explain it."
"You don't have to," Lily told her, "We just wanted to see if you were okay."
"I'm fine now," she said, smiling at them as they looked relieved, a trace of worry still on their faces, "Go back to sleep, girls."
"Night," they chorused as Hermione dropped back into the crevice she'd made.
Hermione waited, watching the moon in the sky as the girls dropped back into slumber, hearing Lily sigh in her sleep a certain Quidditch captain's name. Smiling at that, she looked back at the sky.
"I won't let them die, Harry," she whispered to the moon, "I promise."
Alright, a few things about this chapter. One – they're having trouble remembering things, but some can remember one thing better than another can. Like how Fred and George corrected each other on Tonks. Two – I don't honestly know about the racy book. It's just, well, if you read one of those, you wouldn't want your friend to come up and ask you what you were reading. And I just wanted to fluster Mione in front of Remus. :D Three – last line, I love it, because I think of Bruno Mar's song "Talking to the Moon." I'll put lyrics here right now for you!
I know you're somewhere out there
Somewhere far away, I want you back
I want you back
My neighbors think I'm crazy, they don't understand
You're all I had, You're all I had
At night when the stars light up my room
I sit by myself
Talking to the Moon
Trying to get to you
In hopes you're on the other side,
Talking to me too
Or am I fool who sits alone
Talking to the Moon?
And four – yes, I did write that genius poem. If you can decipher it, keep it to yourself. :| Or no story for you! I am Story Nazi! BWAHAHA!
(PS – this all reminds me very much of Lindsay, so this chapter has rightly been dedicated to her.)
