A/N : All JK's! :)

The head boy of Hogwarts was seen bright and early on Monday morning trying to get his friends out of bed.

"Damn it guys get up already! We are going to be late!" the desperate werewolf was heard saying as quietly as he could without waking Hermione but James covered his head with a pillow and Sirius simply sunk deeper under the sheets.

"I'm not going to wait you know" Remus threatened and both marauders peeked at him with slight smirks.

"You won't go out there alone moony" James said confidently.

"Maybe I will" Remus huffed but even he knew he wouldn't dare venture out without those two.

"No you wont!" Sirius said lazily from under his sheets, already having nestled back in.

"Fine I won't. But I will hex you." He warned with his wand drawn. Both boys snorted and moments later yelped loudly and sat up drenched in cold water.

Remus stood there proudly while a now fully awake Hermione giggled.

"Well someone is enjoying themselves" Sirius muttered, grudgingly getting out of bed. James threw a wet pillow at the grinning werewolf and then followed Sirius to the bath.

"You might want to dry that up before madam Pomfrey comes around" Hermione said after finally getting her breath back.

"She won't be around for another twenty minutes at the least but you are probably right" Remus agreed and quickly dried the sheets up.

"Yes cuz no one is as paranoid as Remus about getting a good breakfast" Sirius said coming back from the shower with a lose tie around his neck but otherwise in full uniform. Remus snorted delicately but wisely chose to ignore the comment.

James came in a moment later, messing his hair up a bit more before flopping onto a bed.

"Remind me why we are up this early again?" he asked grumpily.

"Because unlike you I do not like the idea of getting mobbed first thing in the morning." Remus retorted.

"What he means is he wants to have his breakfast in peace" Sirius translated from his place in front of a mirror.

"What do you have against a good breakfast?" Remus asked scowling as Hermione watched them with fond smiles.

"Just the early hour that we are supposed to have it at!" Sirius muttered.

James was beaming at them before saying happily "come on guys, think of the brighter side of today!"

"Apart from being mass murderers who have been missing for the three days and the fact that the whole castle is going to be on our tail you mean?" Sirius asked sarcastically

Before James could bring himself to answer they saw Hermione laughing hysterically. It took her a good five minutes to get over herself and when she did she muttered something about "nargles and cheering charms" and giggled again.

James seemed worried about her sanity, Remus was confused and Sirius was staring at her quietly, a small smile on his face. He loved how often he made her laugh and though he too had no clue what it was about this time, he felt content because it was only during these times that she actually acted like a fully alive and functioning teenage girl.

Finally she stopped and collected herself again before apologizing quickly. "Sorry, it reminded me of something else but what were you going to say James?" she asked.

"What? Oh! Yeah, the brighter side of today! I get to see Evans!" he said happily and the other two sighed dramatically.

"Looks like its going not going to be such a good day for lily either" Remus said very matter-of-factly but James was unfazed.

"You don't know that! She might have suddenly realized she missed me" he said.

"Right, the next thing I know you are going to say you want to resign as Quidditch captain" Sirius said.

"That's blasphemy!" James said in mock horror.

"Can we continue this on our way?" Remus asked and instantly both of them whined in protest.

Though the three of them were trying to act casual Hermione could see they were tensed to return to the castle after three days and face all the rumors and gossip again, cuz despite a pleasant weekend peter was still a touchy topic that was avoided at all causes.

She sighed wishing there was something she could do but Hogwarts never did give you much privacy, she would know. And suddenly she sat up straighter, her mind racing.

"Well maybe James is right. Today might not be all that bad" she said grinning wickedly.

"Oh no Hermione, not that look" James said with a huge fake sigh as he returned her grin.

"Come on! It will work brilliantly! Trust me." She replied. "You just need to help me out a little bit"

"What exactly do you have in mind?" Remus asked curious despite himself.

"Well Hogwarts needs its gossip, you need peace and I need to get out of here" she said casually and saw three jaws drop.

"You want to what?" Sirius asked, hoping he had heard wrong.

"I knew that bump on your head had done some damage!" James stated weakly.

"That's ridiculous" was all Remus managed.

"Oh come on! It will work out beautifully! I have the same classes as all of you so there's no problem there, I just need to glamour all this off and probably take an energy drink" she said sounding excited.

"Hermione, do you have any idea how large the castle is? You won't be able to make it from one class to another not to mention madam Pomfrey will never consent" Remus placated.

But she crossed her arms stubbornly and pulled the sheets off. Then slowly getting out of bed, she held on to it and walked the little distance she could before letting go and taking a couple of steady steps.

She hadn't made much progress before she stumbled and Remus caught her. She gave him a wide smile but he shook his head in a negative and tried to get her back in bed.

"I'll get there even if I have to crawl you know" she replied as she tried to get Remus to let her go to the shower.

"You aren't ready for this Mione" James said softly as he came over.

Sirius watched as a shadow fell over her face and for a moment her body slumped against Remus. She was muttering under her breath but they could all hear her clearly.

"I will not keep running away. I won't. I can not runaway"

"Hermione listen to me, you aren't running away" Sirius said trying to get her to relax a bit.

"You are right. I am not. I am walking into the great hall today, with or without your help." She declared to three shocked boys.

"You are being difficult Hermione" Remus sighed

"This is insane, you need to take rest" James argued.

"They are right, you need to go back to bed because we aren't helping you out on this today" Sirius said with finality in his tone.

Hermione and Sirius glared at each other before she shrugged lightly and pulled out her wand. It took her considerable effort to summon her uniform and transfigure nearby glasses into crutches.

James watched with his mouth hanging open as Hermione tried to balance her wand, clothes and crutches while staying on her legs. She lost her balance after a couple of steps and Remus tried to help but Sirius held him back. She grimaced at Sirius's rigid expression but within five minutes she was across the room and into the shower.

"She's something" Remus muttered in awe.

Sirius was about to retort when his keen ears picked up a stifled gasp followed by a quiet sob. The boys rushed towards the closed door, remus knocking frantically in worry.

"Mione? Damn it! What's wrong?" Sirius asked.

"I – am I – will I always look like this?" Hermione asked as she inspected the numerous scars on her body with silent tears running down her face.

The boys softened at the broken voice but didn't know what to say. They knew most scars were there to stay and they knew Hermione knew that too and that wasn't exactly the minute to ask her to be proud of it.

"Its okay…I'll go get madam Pomfrey" James said softly and then he was gone leaving a frustrated Sirius and a worried Remus behind.

SBHGSBHGSBHGSBHGSBHGSBHGSBHG SBHGSBHGSBHGSBHGSBHGSBHGSB

Twenty minutes later, the marauders found themselves standing against the wall, keeping a safe distance from an angry madam Pomfrey and a determined Hermione. The medi-witch had hurried back with James and instantly wet blanketed Hermione's request. After a heated argument the young girl had demanded for the headmaster for whom they were all waiting for.

Hermione stubbornly refused to look at any of them as she kept her eyes fixed on the floor and tried to keep the tears from falling. She didn't want to be alone here. She couldn't bear to be alone again after three days of constant company.

Albus Dumbledore swept into the room in all his tall, silver haired glory. His blue eyes were twinkling at Hermione who glared back fiercely.

"What is this I'm hearing about a difficult patient Miss. Granger?" he asked with that ever present smile that at the moment infuriated her.

"I've been here for ten days now" Hermione said through gritted teeth.

"And you need another ten days before you are ready to leave" Madam Pomfrey rebuffed

Albus held up a hand to poppy and turned to look at the brunette sitting stiffly on her bed.

"Miss. Granger your injuries are far more extensive and the treatment cannot be rushed" he said calmly and Hermione laughed.

"Time is a luxury I cannot afford. There's a war out there that-" she began angrily

"And you returning to classes is not going to affect it one bit dear" the old wizard said.

"Yes it is. It is going to affect me. I cannot stay here and drown myself in memories. There are too many lives on the line for me to lose focus now and I refuse to be weakened like this." she said and her eyes blazed into the headmasters.

"Very well my dear, say I do convince poppy to let you out, do you think you are honestly ready for this yet? Because I can only begin to image how painful it is going to be" the headmaster asked, his eyes fixed on hers in a penetrating gaze.

She sighed and looked away. After a few minutes she whispered a soft "no".

Dumbledore reached out to gently pat her shoulder and the marauders relaxed slightly because despite the blooming friendship, they didn't know her all that well. So when she looked back up at the former transfiguration professor her eyes shone with unshed tears.

"No sir. I am not going to be ready. Not today, not in a month, not even in the years to come. But I will not run away. I've been through too much to give up fighting now" she said determinedly as she managed to stand up.

"This is ridiculous" madam Pomfrey said echoing Remus's earlier sentiment.

"But she can do it." Sirius said stepping forward much to his fellow marauders surprise.

The headmaster was looking keenly at the boy who didn't hesitate to continue "we are in all her classes and we'll make sure she's alright" he said confidently.

James who had been gaping at his brother suddenly became solemn and stepped forward "we'll make sure she doesn't exert herself much or perform any real spells in class" he promised.

Remus too smiled and came forward "yes. We'll even have all the potions she needs and make sure she takes them on time" he said also giving his word to the two adults.

The headmaster peered over his half moon glasses at the three boys before smiling widely. Hermione too was looking at them in stunned silence.

Finally Dumbledore spoke in a decidedly happier tone "then it's all settled, I'll just glamour these away while poppy gets the potions and all of us can be off" he said.

It took a moment for the words to sink in and when they did she launched herself on the three surprised boys, holding on to them as tightly as she could. Understanding for the first time what friendship truly meant to the marauders.

A/N : She's out of the Infirmary! yay! now i can speed things up! :D Or was i the only one getting impatient with the pace?

And ten chapters! ten frikking chapters! woohoo! Thank you for all your support! :D