Hey guys, thanks for the reviews, it's always wonderful to get a response.
We are on Chapter 10 which is just incredible, I can't believe I've actually managed to keep up with weekly updates and that's down to your enthusiastic response, this story has over 150 reviews, which is simply amazing.
I would like to thank nightgigjo for responding to my request for a beta, we shall be working together from chapter 11 onwards, nightgigjo has also been kind enough to offer to edit previous chapters.
I received a lot of questions last chapter, I'm on Tumblr, the info is on my page, come and ask me over there and I will 100% answer you. I love talking to you guys about TOEG.
2 lovely reviewers asked why Hermione Evans looks like Hermione Granger, well I felt that Hermione Evans was personality wise so different from Hermione Granger and that if I changed her trademark physical features, it would be like having an OC instead of Hermione and I absolutely adore her curly hair and brown eyes, I did get rid of her large teeth though.
El.
}{—}{—}{
"You'll have to wear the bandages for at least another day" Pomfrey tutted, examining her hand.
She'd spent the past few hours in the hospital-wing, having various potions shoved down her throat. Her hand no longer hurt and the colour had changed from a dark purple to a light pink.
"You still have a high chance of infection" Pomfrey frowned "so you'll need to come and see me for the next week" she said as she re-bandaged her arm, "how in Merlin's beard did a blasting curse cause so much damage?" She wondered aloud.
Hermione shrugged, working to keep the guilty look off her face.
Her watch had almost taken her arm off but it worked. A few adjustments, perhaps lessen the strength of the runes and it would surely work as it was suppose to.
The Infirmary doors opened but Hermione was too wrapped up in her thoughts to pay much attention.
"Professor Dumbledore" Madam Pomfrey said brightly.
Hermione's head snapped up to see that it indeed was the Headmaster of Hogwarts making his way down the aisle.
He wore eccentric blue robe with whizzing star across it. Although he was twenty years younger, Albus Dumbledore didn't look very different from his 90's counterpart.
"Poppy" Dumbledore greeted with a smile "would I be able to bother you for some Pepper-up potion, I'm afraid that I'm not as robust as I use to be"
Madam Pomfrey slightly frowned, the corner's of her lips turning down, but it was the confused look in her eyes that alerted Hermione to the fact that this was an unusual occurrence.
"Why, of course Headmaster" Madam Pomfrey replied, "I'll be but a moment" she told Hermione.
With a strained smile, she walked into her office, leaving Hermione alone with Dumbledore, who wasted no time in his interrogation.
Perhaps if she hadn't already lived through a lifetime with Albus Dumbledore, perhaps if she really was just a fifteen year old girl, perhaps if she hadn't experienced the darkest war to befall the magical world, then just perhaps it would have worked.
But she had and so Dumbledore had never stood a chance in cracking her walls.
"I was sorry to hear about your injury, Ms Evans" Dumbledore frowned, sitting down beside her bed. "Mr Black has been dutifully punished" he added "he's also been placed on special measures, I shall be personally reviewing his school record to decide if expulsion is appropriate"
Hermione remained unaffected, her face a mask of calmness.
Was Dumbledore trying to guilt her into telling the truth?
"If that's the school's policy, then I suppose that it must be adhered to" Hermione nodded.
Dumbledore's eyes slowly roamed over her, settling on her injured arm. "Mr Black is certainly a troublemaker" Dumbledore conceded, their eyes connecting "but he's never been one to terribly injure other students"
"It was an accident" Hermione lied, her eyes unwavering from Dumbledore's.
"Yes, Mr Black, said as much" Dumbledore nodded "may I suggest that the next time you try and teach a volatile curse that you use an empty classroom" he sweetly smiled.
"Of course, Professor" Hermione quickly agreed, "I should have used better judgement"
They fell into a tense silence, neither willing to back down, she was lying and they both knew that he knew it.
Madam Pomfrey interrupted their stand off, "here you are Albus" she smiled.
Dumbledore slowly rose from his seat, "Rather peculiar, don't you think Ms Evans?" He asked
"What is, Professor?" She questioned.
"That last night, for the first time in living memory, the wards of Hogwarts were breached and the very next day you find yourself in the hospital-wing with a serious injury"
Hermione stilled, forcing her body to remain relaxed but before she could come up with a reply, Dumbledore gently smiled, "I hope you recover quickly Ms Evans and don't find yourself so severely injured again"
Hermione managed a strained smile as Dumbledore took his potion from Pomfrey and left without another word.
With a heavy sigh, Hermione leaned back against the headboard, her detection rune had failed, that must have been why the Professors were all over the castle on their return.
"I wouldn't pay the Headmaster any attention Ms Evans" Madam Pomfrey frowned, "he's been under a lot of stress lately"
He certainly wasn't the only one, Hermione thought.
How much did Dumbledore know? He'd hired Trelawney so surely he must know quite a bit but was he doing anything about it?
"Alright, you can leave for now" Pomfrey said "but I want you back here after breakfast tomorrow and try not to strain your arm"
"I won't" Hermione promised
"If you feel any pain, just come back here and I'll give you another dose of a pain-potion"
"Will do" Hermione nodded, climbing off the bed, "I'll see you tomorrow" she managed a smile, all but running out of there.
Shortly after she'd arrived, Pomfrey had shoved a sleeping draught down her throat, which meant that she'd slept most of the day away as Pomfrey worked on her arm.
It was late evening now and the halls of Hogwarts were empty except for a few scattered students who paused and then whispered amongst each other when she walked passed.
The attention unfortunately didn't wane when she was safely within the confines of Gryffindor's Common Room.
A wave of silence engulfed the room when she made her way through the portrait hole and then just as quickly quiet chatter broke out as frustrated seventh years shushed anyone who dared make noise and eager first years leaned over their friends to get a look at her.
Without warning, a head of red hair barrelled into her, almost knocking her to the ground.
"Careful" she warned Lily as her sister squeezed her to death.
Lily quickly pulled back, worry flashing in her emerald green eyes, "sorry" she shook her head, her eyes landing on Hermione's injured arm. "I've been trying to see you all day but Pomfrey wouldn't let us" she rambled
"I was asleep for most of it" Hermione sheepishly said
Lily's face darkened "when I get my hands on Black-"
"It was an accident" Hermione cut her off, "my fault really"
Lily's frown deepened and she looked downright furious, but she chose not to argue over it.
"Let's sit" she demanded, leading Hermione to a table by the windows, where Arlo, Diana and Marlene sat.
"How bad is it?" Arlo frowned as Hermione took the empty seat besides her.
"Not too bad" Hermione lied
"I can't believe Sirius hurt you" she frowned
"It was an accident!" Marlene snapped, worried blue eyes landing on Hermione "wasn't it?"
"It was" Hermione reassured her. The last thing she wanted was for everyone to blame Sirius for something he didn't even do.
"You can't call using a blasting curse in the library an accident!" Lily hotly snapped, her red hair sparking to life as she glared at Marlene.
"It was my idea" Hermione lied
Lily's glare shifted from Marlene to Hermione.
"It was!" Hermione assured her "if you're going to be mad at Sirius you should be mad at me as well"
Lily's glare suddenly shot up and zeroed in right above Hermione's head.
"Alright, Evans?" said a familiar voice.
Hermione turned in her seat to see James Potter with Peter and Remus on either side, for what she presumed was the first time ever, for she couldn't recall it ever happening before, James wasn't addressing Lily but her.
James stood nervously fidgeting, running a hand through his messy hair to make it even messier.
"I'm fine" she smiled.
"How's the hand?" He nervously questioned.
"It was just a graze" she lied, hiding the hand from view.
An awkward air swept over the group.
"Sirius feels awful" James blurted out.
"No he doesn't" Peter muttered under his breath but it was loud enough for them all to pick up.
James elbowed him with a strained smile.
"He shouldn't feel bad" Hermione smiled "it wasn't his fault"
James looked relived at that, the tension deflating from his shoulders.
"Where is he anyway?" Hermione enquired.
James seemed surprised at her question "oh, uhh, he's, well-"
"He's cleaning the Astronomy tower" Peter frowned "for blowing you up" he snarkily added.
James slowly tilted his head towards Peter and whatever look her friend saw was enough to kill whatever bravado he had.
Hermione rose from her chair, "I'm going to go and see him" she said
Three voices simultaneously asked "Why?"
Lily with a frustrated tone
James with a hopeful ring
And Marlene with a hard edge.
Hermione frowned at all three "because I can" she retorted and with a shake of her head, she walked passed the Marauders and through the portrait hole.
When she walked through the doors of the Astronomy tower, Hermione thought that perhaps she'd missed Sirius because the room was empty.
As she was about to turn back around she noticed that the balcony doors were wide open. With slow footsteps she made her way through the doors and found Sirius Black lying down on the floor and staring up at the night sky.
"Aren't you suppose to be cleaning?" She jokingly demanded.
Sirius jumped in surprise, startled at being disrupted.
His eyes locked on her and the shock dissipated and was replaced with surprise.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, sitting up with his legs stretched out in front of him.
Hermione shrugged, unsure of how to answer. "I wanted to say thank you" she admitted.
Sirius' gaze drifted to her arm and she quickly hid it behind her back.
The last time they'd spoken, she'd been adamant that she was fine and she now felt a little foolish at having to admit that she hadn't been, that she'd needed help.
Sirius slightly moved over and patted the space on the ground next to him.
She quirked a brow.
"I don't bite" Sirius grinned "much" he added with a smirk.
With a roll of her eyes, Hermione gave in and sat down on the ground next to him.
They sat in silence for a while, before curiosity got the better of her.
"How did you know?" She wondered, "that I needed to go to the hospital-wing" she clarified
"Oh" Sirius breathed out, leaning back on his hands "Fenwick gave it away"
Hermione frowned.
"Your boy isn't the best at coming up with stories on the spot" Sirius smirked "he walked right up to Lily to ask how you were. He was livid when he realised that you weren't at the hospital-wing"
Her frown deepened as guilt shot right through her and settled in her stomach,
"Next time you need a partner in crime, I'm the better choice" Sirius smirked, his grey eyes alight.
"I wasn't committing a crime" Hermione lied.
"You were doing something that you weren't supposed to be" Sirius frowned "now I'm not one to ruin people's fun but a little rule breaking doesn't nearly take off someone's arm" he admonished.
Hermione grimaced, averting her eyes to stare up at the sky.
"So does the whole school know about my injury?" She wondered
"Pretty much" Sirius shrugged, "although they all think that I did it" he frowned
"I'm sorry" Hermione said earnestly, meeting his gaze.
"I'm a big boy Evans" Sirius said, "I chose to do it, although, I didn't count on your sister almost smacking me or Madam Pince almost killing me in the library, that woman is obsessed, I swear she was more worried about the books than you" he shook his head.
"Lily tried to hit you?" Hermione's eyes widened
"If it wasn't for James she would have, idiot put himself between us and got a smack for it" Sirius grinned.
Hermione groaned, she'd already spoken to Lily but that hadn't helped very much.
Sirius suddenly laid down on his back, both hands behind his head.
"What are you doing?" Hermione demanded with a frown.
"I'm sitting alone with a pretty girl, do you really think that I'm going to waste this opportunity?" He grinned
Hermione scowled but it had no effect on him.
He moved one of his arms from the back of his head and stretched it out for her to rest her head on, "I thought you were sorry?" he smirked "it's just some stargazing Evans, it isn't going to kill you" he added.
Hermione considered it for a moment, then huffed and laid down next to him, using his out stretched arm as a pillow.
They stargazed in silence, no tension or awkwardness in the air, cherries and smoke tingled her senses and although it was coming up to the end of November, she felt oddly warm.
"You can't see it" Sirius suddenly spoke up "but I'm named after a constellation"
"Canis Major" Hermione said "the dog star
"Is there anything that you don't know?" Sirius laughed.
"There's plenty of things that I don't know" Hermione replied, she tilted her head away from the stars to look at Sirius.
A shock of surprise went up her spine.
Sirius wasn't stargazing.
He was gazing at her.
"You're missing the stars" she informed him.
"I have a much nicer view down here" he smirked
Hermione grinned and Sirius' eyes lit up.
"That was disgustingly corny" she smiled, trying to regain her composure.
"Corny!" Sirius' brow's furrowed "I thought that was very smooth of me"
"You need new pick up lines" she tried to not smile but miserably failed.
"Your standards are much too high, Ms Evans, now, hush, I'm trying to watch the stars" his eyes didn't move from her face, Hermione, however, inclined her head towards the night sky.
"How's your hand?" Sirius suddenly asked.
"No lasting injuries" Hermione replied, although the question did bring up other questions that she had, ones she was desperate for an answer for.
"I was wondering" Hermione began, turning to look at him "and I figured since you're a Pureblood that you may have some insight" she explained "is there a way to track Muggle-borns before they're born?"
Sirius frowned at her, confused by her line of enquiry, he thought about it for a moment, before answering "not really" he slowly said.
"Not really?" Hermione repeated with a raised brow.
"Well, their births are registered simultaneously in Hogwarts and the Ministry as soon as they're born" Sirius explained "and there's no definite way to figure out who'll be a Muggle-born before they actually arrive but" he hesitated "there is a slightly ambiguous way"
Dread raced through Hermione.
"How?" She demanded
"All Muggle-borns are descended from Squibs" he explained, "it's just their family magic resurfacing after many generations"
"So?" Hermione said, picking up on his train of thought "if I wanted to track down future Muggle-borns, I would start with a Squib and then track down their family tree until I find whatever remaining descendants are alive today?"
"Exactly" Sirius said "I told you it wasn't a great method"
"But I thought that most Squibs just disappeared into the Muggle world?"
"They do" Sirius agreed "but the Administrative Registration Department has a record of every Witch who's birthed a Squib, so you'd start there and if you were desperate enough, I suppose you'd track that Squib through the Muggle world" he shrugged "a lot of effort if you ask me, I can't imagine anyone would ever bother"
"Yeah" Hermione breathed, unfortunately she did know someone who was crazy enough to go through all that trouble and most likely had the resources to do it.
Hermione turned back to the stars, when out of the corner of her eyes she spotted Sirius clenching and unclenching the fist of the hand she was resting her head on.
"Sirius?" She asked
"Yeah?"
"When did your hand go numb?" She enquired, looking at him.
His face flushed with embarrassment "about ten minutes ago" he admitted.
Hermione sat up with a shake of her head, "you should have told me" she sighed
"You're worth the pain" he smirked.
She snorted and rose to her feet.
"Leaving so soon?" Sirius frowned, sitting up.
"I think I should leave you to your cleaning" she softly smiled
Sirius' frown deepened but he said nothing as she walked away.
She stopped by the balcony doors, "Sirius" she called, remembering a conversation they'd had a short while ago.
"So you don't like roses in general?" Sirius asked "or you don't like roses from me?
"Both" Hermione smiled.
A slow smile graced Sirius' face and he leaned in even closer "so what sort of flowers do you like?" he asked.
He turned to look at her, his grey eyes gloomy and his shoulder's deflated.
She felt like she owed him, he'd covered up far more than he realised.
"Marigold"
"What?" Sirius frowned, confused
"My favourite flower" she clarified, "it's Marigold"
The confusion only lasted for a second, his eyes lit up, his chest puffed out and a slow grin appeared on his face.
Hermione left before anymore words could be exchanged.
}{—}{—}{
As much as Hermione wanted a quiet Sunday, that hope died before she'd even gotten up for the day.
"What in Merlin's beard is this!" Diana's shriek startled awake the whole dorm.
Hermione bolted upright and reared back in surprise at the sight.
Every inch of their dorm, all over their beds, covering every inch of the floor, their desks, their trunks and even poor Gus were Marigold flowers.
Hermione gingerly lifted one off of her duvet, it was a mesmerising orange colour in the centre of the petals with a yellow outline.
"Who would do this?" Arlo questioned, dumping a heap of Marigolds off of her bed.
"It's probably another Potter prank" Marlene huffed, accepting defeat and simply laying back down on her bed amongst the Marigolds.
"I don't like Marigold's" Lily frowned, her eyes straying to Hermione, who she knew did in fact like Marigolds.
"Don't tell me that you like Lilies'" Marlene grinned
Lily rolled her eyes and laid back down resting her head on her arm.
With a frustrated sigh Hermione leaned back on her headboard.
There was only one person that could have done this and she had an inkling as to how but why anyone would go to so much trouble she couldn't comprehend.
With a huff, she rose up from her bed.
"You're getting up already?" Lily frowned
"Might as well" Hermione shrugged, "I wanted to get to the library before it gets busy and I still have to write Mum and Dad a letter"
"The library?" Arlo grimaced, "on a Sunday" she said aghast.
"Has anyone actually finished McGonagall's essay?" Hermione asked, "it's due tomorrow"
"I have" Lily beamed as the other girls loudly groaned
"I'll see you three in the library" Hermione said smugly.
She quickly got dressed, shouting out a "bye" to the girls as she left the room.
Although it was an early Sunday morning the Common Room was filled with students and the reason why quickly became clear.
It wasn't just their dorms that Sirius got to, the Common Room was filled to the brim with Marigolds.
Hermione was rather bemused at the sight.
What an odd way to try and impress a girl.
With a shake of her head, she made her way to the comfy chairs by the fire where the Marauders were lounging around.
"Come on" she demanded, tapping Peter's shoulder.
Peter looked up at her in confusion.
"Library" she explained
"I don't want to go" Peter frowned
"I'll come" Sirius offered
Hermione ignored him, her whisky brown eyes focused solely on Peter "have you done McGonagall's essay?" She enquired.
"No" Peter frowned
"Would you rather do it now with my help or later in the day by yourself?" She pressed.
Peter huffed out a breath and with a groan rose from his seat, "I'll go get my books" he grumbled, walking passed her and up the stairs towards the boy's dorms.
"I still haven't done McGonagall's essay" Sirius said as James and Remus watched on in amusement.
"Then I suggest you get a start on it" Hermione smiled "alone" the smile slipped off her face.
James chuckled and then tried to cover it up by coughing.
Sirius ignored him in favour of Hermione, "see anything you like?" he asked, opening up his arms to indicate all the Marigold flowers.
"You know I use to like Marigolds" Hermione said as Peter made his way back down "but I have a sudden intense dislike for them now" she smirked
Sirius grinned at her, her words having no effect on his mood.
"We shared a moment babe" Sirius beamed "there's nothing that you can say to change that"
"Before or after you tried to blow her up?" Peter questioned
"After" Sirius immediately replied.
"We shared nothing" Hermione stated "and don't call me babe" she demanded, "come on Peter" she said, walking away before Black could say anything else that would annoy her.
Peter fell into step besides her as they exited the Common Room.
"That boy is so insufferable" she said
"Try sharing a room with him" Peter replied, "he made us sneak into Hogsmeade last night to get all those bloody flowers"
"You know Peter there's this magical word called 'no', you should try using it sometimes" Hermione said
Peter shook his head at her "you can't say no to Sirius, he's Sirius Black"
"And your Peter Pettigrew!" Hermione asserted as they entered the library. Madam Pince sent her a dark look and she immediately lowered her voice.
They walked around the tables and shelves until they found a a quiet alcove at the back of the library.
"I understand that in the world of Hermione Evans, with your Nargles and your books, that things work differently" Peter said as he dumped his books on the table "but in the real world, there are levels"
"Levels" Hermione frowned as she placed her own books down much gentler.
"Yeah" Peter nodded as they sat down. His blonde hair had grown over the past few weeks and he had a mop of hair that slightly resembled James'.
Peter held his hand up over his head "up here are people like James, Sirius, Mason, Lily, MacDonald, Dumont, and Rosier" he lowered his hand to about eye level, "then you have the likes of Marlene, Diana, Remus, Yaxley, Mulciber and you" he lowered his hand once again to about shoulder level "then there's the nobodies, Snape, Arlo, Aubrey, Carver and me, along with the rest of our year" he said "people on this level" he said with his hand near his shoulder, "don't say no to people on this level" he raised his hand so that it was above his head.
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard" Hermione said.
Peter huffed out a sigh and flipped open his textbook, "just because you don't understand it, doesn't mean that it's dumb" he grumbled
"Oh, I understand it" Hermione said "it's just really dumb" she frowned "Peter if you want to say no, just say no and if you want to go along with their stupid pranks then do that but own up to it, take some responsibility"
Peter frowned but chose not to answer.
Instead of arguing, Hermione decided to drop the subject "let's get to work" she said.
Whilst Peter worked on his essay, Hermione grabbed every book on Squibs that she could find. They all pretty much backed up what Sirius had said, Squibs weren't important enough to register but it was noted down whenever a Witch gave birth to one. The Ministry didn't keep any records on Squibs, so Voldemort would have to track them down in the Muggle world.
So in theory, Voldemort was using the Ministry records to track down Squibs and then tracking them and their descendants in the Muggle world, all because of the Prophecy.
She supposed that the older the Squib the harder it would be to track down any living family members but what could possibly have been in the Prophecy, for him to go to so much trouble to kill Muggle-borns that had yet to enter the world?
}{—}{—}{
Muggle-borns being descended from Squibs is actually canon.
Once again, I am on Tumblr, any questions, you can come and ask me there and I'll always reply.
I'm going camping this weekend and it's suppose to rain, so my weekend will not be fun.
See you next week.
El.