Friday, 21st October 1977

It hadn't even taken two days for her 'past' to become common knowledge amongst the students, and for the most part everyone was very welcoming. The only ones who didn't seem to care were the Slytherins. Most of them ignored her, some of them sneered at her (and her choice of friends), and there were a select few - the ones she knew for certain were Death Eaters - who outright laughed at her whenever they were in the same vicinity. Other than those few, she was mostly ignored by the house of snakes, which suited her just fine. The Gryffindors had taken her in straight away and she'd spent a few nights tucked up in the Gryffindor Tower with her housemates, although the library was still her favourite place to be.

Surprisingly, it was Peter who joined her more often than not. She had expected Remus to be the most studious of the group - based on what she knew of him in the future - but Peter had just laughed when she brought it up one evening during her first week of classes.

"It comes naturally to Moony. He can read a book once and retain the knowledge for years. James and Sirius are both quite intelligent too, even if their scheming ways detract from it a bit. The difference with them is that they can just crash-study right before exams and fluke the rest. Don't get me wrong, they know a lot of stuff - perks of growing up in a magical home I guess - but they don't spend as much time studying as they probably should. They still pass their classes, but they'd probably both be closer to top of the class if they studied a bit more."

"And what about you? Where do you fall in that?" she had asked in return, curious about his answer.

Peter shrugged, blushing a little as he ducked his head. "I study because I need to. I wouldn't call myself an idiot by any means, but I don't have the luxury of relaxing in my studies like Padfoot and Prongs do. They could probably miss a whole week or two of classes and not be any worse off, where I know I'd need some serious studying to catch up. And with Remus, well, none of us can compare to him," he laughed, his face clearing of any embarrassment. "Bloke's a bloody genius!"

Hermione laughed with him, pressing a hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles when the librarian glared their way.

"And you, Hermione? You seem pretty bright too. Why do you study so much?" he asked, once they'd been silent for a little while.

Hermione put her quill down, shaking her hand out as she answered. "Well, I used to be called the 'brightest witch of her age', but it's really not a natural intelligence like everyone assumed. I mean, I am highly logical - I always have been - and that can imitate intelligence in some scenarios, but mostly it's book smarts. I'm terrible with lots of other things, like relationships and reading people. And sometimes I push people too far because I think I know best - usually because of something I've read somewhere. It was a bit of a burden to be referred to as so intelligent, because it meant I couldn't ever mess up." She sighed heavily, picking her quill back up and pulling out a new piece of parchment. "But I guess I'm like you in a way... I don't just pick things up super easily. It takes study and practise for me. I always used to study ahead - almost a month ahead usually - so I guess when I answered questions in class that nobody else knew, well, they all thought I was a genius. In reality I was always just trying to prove that I was just as good as my peers, despite the 'disadvantage' of my blood status."

Hermione finally looked up at Peter once she'd finished talking, embarrassed to have been blabbering on about herself, but he was just nodding in understanding whilst practising his wand movements.

"Yeah I get that. Remus and I are half-bloods, so it's not as tough for us, but I can understand the pressure you'd feel coming into a world you had no idea about, knowing nobody, and being expected to just act like it was all totally normal."

"Exactly," she responded, a little too loudly, glancing around to make sure she hadn't disrupted anyone else as Peter snickered. "Like everyone just expected me to take it in stride that people could travel by fire and broomsticks, and not blink in the face of house elves or dragons. Stuff that had only ever existed in fairy tales for me."

"Yeah, I don't envy you in that respect. I'd probably have thought I was mad!"

The two continued to meet in the library after that and Hermione quickly grew to like Peter on his own, not just as a Marauder, and before Hermione knew it she was finishing her third week of classes. It was the Friday before the next Hogsmeade visit that things changed a little.

Hermione had been in the library for a little more than an hour before Peter arrived. She barely glanced up when he put his bag down, but she frowned at him when she noticed that he was a little pale and seemed nervous.

"Peter, are you alright?" she asked quietly, glancing around to make sure they were alone in the study nook they had claimed as theirs.

He cleared his throat and sat down heavily, glancing over his shoulder towards the aisle he'd come from. "Ye- Yeah I'm fine. Just Avery and Mulciber being annoying," he muttered, starting to pull his books out.

"What did they want?" she asked quietly, staring at Peter intently. She didn't think he'd still become a Death Eater, especially after the magical oath he'd taken in the Infirmary when he'd thought she was sleeping, but she had to ask.

"Nothing. They just made some rude comments about us studying together," he looked up at her disbelieving face and sighed. "Honestly, H, don't worry about it. I'll tell the guys when I get back to the dorms and we'll deal with it."

"Peter, a prank is probably not the best idea right now," she warned.

"I don't think a prank is what the others will have in mind, Hermione," he replied casually, finally relaxing into his chair. "But don't worry about it. They're just trying to find a weak link, but they won't. Not this time," he insisted, looking at her pointedly.

Sighing heavily, Hermione let it go. She knew his vow would stop him from purposely or even inadvertently killing his friends. Which, now that she had been reminded of it, she actually had to talk to him about that. Clearing her throat gently, she got Peter's attention and cast a non-verbal Muffilato around them.

"I wanted to speak with you about that actually. You see, that night, in the hospital - well, I was awake, you see. And I heard your oath. I'm sorry," she hurriedly continued, seeing him about to interrupt, "I was really groggy, and by the time I realised it was you and I was going to move or cough or let you know I was awake somehow, you'd already moved to leave and I didn't want to embarrass you and-"

"Hermione, it's fine," Peter insisted, finally interrupting her word vomit. "It wasn't a secret. I won't be the reason they die this time. It's a promise, that's why I made the oath."

"And I appreciate that more than you know, Peter, really. But... well, there's a small problem..."

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Well, I think it might have been a bit vague, that's all. You said 'I swear on my life, I will never be the reason my friends die' and it has me worried. What if the 'reason' is something totally out of your control? Like, you slip in a duel and a spell hits one of them instead, and BAM, dead?" she worried out loud.

Peter just stared at her, not having thought about it like that before. "Shit."

"I know, I just... Is there any way you can revoke the oath? Or amend it so that it's a little more specific?"

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit! Fuck!" he cursed, pulling at his hair as he stood and started to pace in front of the small table. "I didn't think of that Hermione! What have I done!? I don't want to die!"

"It's okay though right? You can just amend the oath right? I mean, you made it voluntarily, without anyone asking you to do it... surely that gives you a little more freedom with it?"

"No, Hermione, you don't understand," he said, his voice rising with panic. "We need to find the others. Sirius and James will know more about this kind of thing, but as far as I know, once it's done - it's done."

He started shoving his belongings back into his half-unpacked bag, grabbing some of Hermione's things when she took too long to pack up herself. By the time the desk was clear a few moments later, they were already walking towards the door, picking up speed as they went. As soon as they cleared the entryway, Peter grabbed Hermione's hand and ran.

Luckily for them, Friday was 'game night' in the Head's dorms, and the rest of the group was already there waiting for them as Peter barged in, practically dragging Hermione behind him.

The reaction of their friends would have been comical if it were any other situation. Remus stood and drew his wand, James spilt his drink down his front, and Sirius leapt backwards over his chair, tumbling to the floor with a thud.

"Guys," Peter panted, trying to catch his breath. "I fucked up, big time. I made a magical oath that was too vague and I could potentially die at any minute."

Hermione snorted, ignoring Peter's responding glare as she tugged her hand free and sat down in Sirius' vacated chair. "That's probably a little extreme Peter, but we really do need a solution. Sit down guys - James you're a wizard aren't you?" She cast a drying charm on the dark-haired boy as he attempted to wring out his wet robes and continued, "Anyway, Peter's right, this is ser-"

"Sirius?"

They all groaned - Hermione louder than the others - and then laughed, the tension broken for now.

It didn't take long for the others to realise the gravity of the situation.

"Damn it, Pete! What the hell were you thinking?"

"Prongs, I just - I just wanted to prove that I wouldn't betray you guys and -"

"But you didn't have to make a fucking magical oath you twat!"

"But he did, mate. Cursing him out now isn't going to change that," said Remus, always the voice of reason. "We need to figure out what we can do about it."

"We can't do anything about it, Moony." All heads turned to Sirius who was sitting on the edge of the coffee table, hunched over with his elbows on his knees.

"Wha-" Hermione choked out, having to clear her throat twice before she could properly speak. "What do you mean Sirius? Surely there's something that can be done?"

He just shook his head sadly, raising his eyes to meet Peter's. "A magical oath is just that - an oath. It can't be changed or revoked, only fulfilled. At least that's what I was taught." He glanced at James, who nodded in agreement. He'd been taught the same.

"Yes, but has it been studied?" asked Hermione desperately. "Maybe we could figure it out? We could ask the Headmaster, or Professor Flitwick or someone? Surely there's got to be some way to alter a willing vow? It wasn't even an Unbreakable vow for Merlin's sake!"

Both Sirius and James were shaking their heads before she'd finished talking, and Remus had steered a sick-looking Peter into a seat.

"I'm sorry, H. There's nothing that can be done," said James gently, still looking quite upset himself. "We just have to be careful. We as his friends might be able to absolve him from guilt if we get killed, but there are too many variables like instant death or the fact that he didn't specify which friends. It could refer to just us - because that was the intention - or it could include anyone Pete's ever considered a friend. We can't know for sure."

The room was silent for a long time after that, before Peter tried to lighten the mood.

"Well, since I'll probably be dead before the end of this war -" there was an instant uproar from his friends, so Peter raised his voice to be heard over the noise, "Hermione? Wanna go to the Halloween Ball with me next weekend?"

The noise stopped just as suddenly as it had begun, and the rest of their friends looked between Hermione and Peter - as though they were watching a Quidditch match - as she blushed all the way from her chest up to the roots of her hair.

"Um, sure, Peter," she replied quietly, "I'd love to."

"Great!" he said happily, "I'll pick you up from your rooms then?"

"Um, yeah - yes of course. That- that sounds good," she stood up and walked quickly to the door, avoiding the other Marauders eyes as she went. "Um, okay, well, I guess I'm off to bed then. Hogsmeade tomorrow, you know... Okay, um, bye!" She ducked out quickly and leaned against the wall beside the portrait hole as it shut behind her.

As soon as the door clicked shut, a roar of noise could be heard from inside the Head's dorms as the boys cheered for their mate, the stress of the night forgotten for now.

Hermione giggled as she made her way back to her own dormitory, a wide grin stretching across her face. She had a date!

Author's note:

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Love, A
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