A Close Call - Third Year Part 1
A/N: Hey guys, third year is here. I wanna take this time to thank everyone who has supported the story thus far. Your reviews have been great - keep 'em coming. I really want to hear your feedback. Now without further ado, let's get to the story. As usual R&R PLZ!
Hermione slowly rose through the fog of her uneasy sleep. She wasn't even sure she could call it that, she certainly was not rested. Nonetheless she got up and went to her bathroom to get ready for the day. She dressed in jeans and a light cotton t-shirt, pulling her hair up into a ponytail. She picked up the third year folder slowly, rather than just paper she felt like she held the fates of five people in her hands. She didn't know who else was up so she tucked the folder under her arm and quietly padded down the stairs into the kitchen. She was shocked to see Sirius already there with a cup of coffee.
"Morning Mya," Sirius smiled at her but dropped it rather quickly.
"Morning Sirius," Hermione tried to force as much enthusiasm into her voice. "Sleep well?"
"Not really, I was too keyed up for today," Sirius fingered the cup's handle.
Hermione laid a hand on his upper back, "It'll be hard but you have your friends with you." Sirius looked at her for a long moment then nodded. He poured her some coffee and they stood there, drinking silence. Footsteps from above broke their reverie.
"Mya? Sirius?" Lily called.
"Down here!" they answered in unision.
Lily appeared in the kitchen in shorts and a large shirt, rolling her hair into a messy bun. "There you are, let's get started with breakfast. The professors will be here in a couple hours." With a wave of her wand, the eggs cracked themselves into a bowl, the bread buttered itself, more coffee was made, and bacon was frying in the pan. Hermione and Sirius set the table in silence, occasionally glancing at each other. Hermione could tell that Sirius was still brooding over what she was to tell them today. As much as she wanted him to stop the truth was she didn't blame him at all. Remus had just joined them when there was a knock at the front door.
"I wonder who would be knocking at the door?" wondered aloud Lily. She tucked her wand into the back of her shorts and cautiously went down the hall. The threesome in kitchen stayed quiet, listening in as Lily answered. Dread coursed through Hermione's veins when Lily said joyfully, "Peter!" The marauders watched in confusion as Hermione sprung into near silent action, placing a Disillusionment charm on herself and creeping into the hall. She saw Lily let in short plump man with straw yellow hair. Hermione felt herself become sick when she saw Lily bend down to peck his cheek. She stalked up the stairs right before James was going to go down with Harry.
She immediately grabbed him and hauled him to the side. "James it's me!" she hissed before he could yell.
"Mya? Why the hell are you disillusioned?"
"Peter," she spat out unable to keep the venom out of her voice, "cannot be allowed to see me or even know that I am here. Tell Lily not to worry about breakfast for me and make sure no one says anything about what happened yesterday. He must leave before the professors arrive; I can't allow any inkling of what's going on to reach outside this house. Make up some excuse to get him out. Sirius and Remus said they were going to go back home for more clothes right? Well use it as a ruse to make Peter think that you're all leaving. He cannot be here James, do you understand?"
James's brow was furrowed and his mouth turned down, "Why?"
"I'll explain later, just go take care of it," Hermione pled with him.
"Okay," his eyes told her she would be explaining later. He fixed Harry in his arms and went down the stairs, glancing back up to where she stood before going to breakfast. Hermione sighed, everything they needed to know but would never want to hear was in her notes. Her head snapped up, full blown panic erupted in her stomach, her notes were in the kitchen! She left them on the counter when she was having coffee with Sirius. How could she have been so careless?! There was nothing for it, she couldn't take the chance of that rat seeing them. She went back down slowly, one step at a time. She moved as quietly as possible right up to the entrance to the kitchen. She peeked in and saw everyone seated at the table. There was a kind of tension about Remus, Sirius, Lily that told Hermione James had relayed her message. The rat sat with his back to her, she felt another stab of revulsion as he mussed Harry's hair and tickled the infant. Muttering expletives under her breath, she scanned the room quickly spotting her notes. Taking unnecessary precaution, she crawled on her hands and knees until she was behind the kitchen island. The problem now was that there no way to retrieve them without the rat seeing.
As if on cue Lily asked, "Anyone for more eggs?"
"Yes please Lily," god how his voice grated her nerves, the pathetic git.
"Anyone else?" There was a lot of mumbling and she could just imagine Lily rolling her eyes. "I'll take that as a yes." Hermione waited until Lily was at the stove, blocking the rat's view before accioing her notes. Lily saw it and looked around. She surreptitiously pulled out a plate and filled it, another quick glance and she crouched down setting the plate and a glass of orange juice on the floor. Lily whispered, "You've got them really worked up, first Sirius now Peter? They're planning on demanding answers after Sirius and Remus come back. I won't pretend to know exactly what's going on but if this is headed in the direction I think it is, please be gentle when you break it to them." The red-head straightened up and returned to the table.
Hermione ate her food quickly and quietly, she mulled over Lily's words. In hindsight she could have been much smoother but she was caught off-guard. Well there was nothing she could do now but deal with Marauders after this little drama. A chair scraped across the floor and Hermione peeked over the island and saw Sirius standing.
"I guess we should get going huh Moon? What about you Pete?" he asked loudly and dramatically. Mya wanted bang her head against the countertop, way to be subtle Padfoot.
"I guess if you guys are going, I should too," the rat got up. They all went to the fireplace, Hermione followed. Sirius and Remus shared significant dark looks before grabbing some floo powder and disappearing in separate flashes of green flames. Peter stepped up and took some powder.
"Thanks for coming by anyway Wormtail," James gave him a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"No problem, I'll come back another time." Wormtail tossed the powder into fire and with a flash he was gone too.
"Okay Mya," yelled James, "you can come out now."
Despite using her nickname, Hermione could feel the tension rolling off of James. The coward in her wanted to stay disillusioned but she knew she had to explain herself. With a resigned sigh, she lifted the charm and met James's upset eyes. "I know I have some explaining to do -"
"You have a damn sight more than just some explaining," James crossed his arms.
Hermione felt the urge to cry, "You have to believe me, I really wish I could just tell you everything but it's complicated and twisted."
James started to pace the floor before stopping in front of her, "So when the hell do you plan on telling us about Peter?"
"Today," Hermione responded immediately. "Third year answers everything I swear and if you have more questions afterwards I will answer them within reason."
"Within reason," muttered James pacing again. A few tears slipped down Mya's face and that's when Lily, who had been holding Harry off to the side, stepped in.
She tried to calm her husband down, "James you can't blame her. She's only here to help. You're forgetting Mya gave up her world as she knew it to come and save us."
James seemed to deflate a little, "But Lil-"
"No buts," Lily said fimly. "Let's just settle down and hear Hermione out."
James huffed, "Fine." Just then the fireplace sprang to life, Remus and Sirius came out holding rucksacks. Sirius turned to Hermione and opened his mouth to speak but Lily cut him off -
"No badgering Hermione, she just told James and I that third year will tell us everything including what just happened with Wormtail so let it go until then." They snapped their jaws shut and nodded. There was another flash of flame and the professors appeared.
Dumbledore took in everyone's expressions, "As I understand it, you completed second year last night and now want to begin third year correct?" There was a dull 'yes sir'. "Good. I gather that this will be an emotionally wearing on you but let us not cry over milk that hasn't been spilt. Shall we begin?"
With some affirmitive sounds, they settled into their spots and looked at Hermione expectantly. She ran a hand over the cover before opening it, "Third year begins with Dursleys. Harry did get into some trouble with them for giving us their phone number. Our friend Ron called and totally messed things up in that sense by practically screaming into the phone. But on the upside, Hedwig was allowed out and he was doing his homework. Admittedly he had to pick the lock on the cupboard to get his books, do it at midnight, and hide it under his floorboards."
"Better than nothing," Lily muttered. Her son's education was very important to her.
"On his birthday, myself, Ron, and Hagrid sent him presents. Hagrid got him a biting book but more on that later, I sent him a broomstick servicing kit, and Ron sent him a sneakoscope along with clipping about his family winning the lottery and going away to Egypt."
"Well that is good for Arthur, his family deserves it," Lily said kindly.
Hermione nodded, "Then the Hogwarts owl arrived with the permission slip for Hogsmeade."
"Oh no," Sirius groaned, "There is no way the Dursleys would sign it." The animagus was dying a little on the inside; if he was there he would've signed it in a heartbeat.
"Well the next day he went to ask them and was told that Vernon's sister Marge was coming to stay with them for a week. She absolutely hated Harry, even more than the Dursleys in some ways. It turned out that his uncle told his sister that Harry was attending some school for criminal boys. So Harry cut a deal with Vernon, if he - Harry - played along with Vernon's ruse and behaved, then Dursley would have to sign the permission slip. But it was hard deal because Marge was more...vocal about her dislike. Nonetheless Harry managed to keep his temper until the last night. Marge got a little drunk and started talking about you." Hermione gestured towards Lily and James who looked at each other.
"What do you mean?" James asked.
"The gist of it is Harry was the way he was because of bad blood. You James were an unemployed drunk and something was off about Lily, like an oddball who had passed her deficiency on to her son." This was met with an explosion of protest on all sides of the room.
"That wretch!" roared Sirius.
"How dare she make such accusations!" McGonagall demanded furiously.
"What an awful excuse for a woman," Remus made a disgusted expression.
Lily and James were standing up for each other -
"James is NOT a drunk, who the hell does she think she is?!"
"Lily is far better than they could ever hope to be!"
"Alright, alright," called Hermione over the noise, "I know it's hard to hear but we need to get through this. Besides you might want to save those tempers for later," Hermione muttered that last bit to herself not noticing Remus, James, and Sirius's heads snapping up. "Now obviously Harry became as furious as you and lost control and performed some accidental magic. He caused Marge to expand to a huge size, to the point where she was floating on the ceiling and eventually flying out the door. Harry was still enraged so he got his stuff together and ran away from his aunt and uncle's."
"I don't like him leaving like that but I get it," murmured Sirius. His best friends looked at him in sympathy.
"He came to a fork in the road before realizing he had nowhere to go. Ron was in Egypt, I was in France, and he couldn't perform magic because he wasn't sure what was going to happen after what happened to his aunt. He sat there on the curb for a little while trying to figure out what to do when he saw something in the shadows." Hermione inwardly smiled, this was favourite moment between Harry and Sirius. They had laughed about it a lot in fifth year especially when Harry revealed to his godfather that he thought the dog following him around was an omen of death. "It was big and furry with pale eyes." She watched as the marauders and Lily unanimously glance at Sirius who looked almost scared to hope. "Harry rose his wand to see it better but also accidentally flagged the knight bus causing him to fall backwards. He tried to see if it was still there but in between the bus coming and him nearly getting run over, the dog vanished." Hermione sent Sirius a half smile. Sirius swallowed, that was him but why didn't he approach Harry? Wait wasn't he supposed to be in Azkaban? Was he released? Sirius gestured to keep going.
Hermione understood, "On the knight bus he met the conductor Stan Shunpike. Stan was reading the daily prophet and Harry recognized a man on the front page that had been on muggle news warning the public."
"Who could that possibly be?" Remus asked.
"Yeah they would have to be bad to be such a danger," James commented to general agreement.
Hermione steeled herself, she had to take a few calming breaths. She did not want to do this at all! "It was Sirius." The room went deadly silent. Sirius went as pale as a sheet. It felt like he had been hit over the head.
Remus's jaw clenched and unclenched, his fingers flexed dangerously and low growl rumbled through him. "What happened Mya?" he hissed.
"He broke out of Azkaban," Hermione said in a quiet voice. She knew that was not what they were asking for.
James stood up, "What were the charges?"
Hermione sighed, "The story was that he murdered thirteen people with a single curse. Twelve muggles and one wizard." Lily set Harry down to bury her head in her arms.
"What the hell!" James yelled. "What exactly were you taking revenge for Sirius?"
"How the bloody hell do I know?!" Sirius shouted back. "It hasn't happened yet. At first I thought I would be taking revenge for you but why I blew away thirteen people, including twelve innocent muggles, is beyond me."
"Are you sure?" Remus asked before he could stop himself.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius demanded. Remus said nothing while his friend continued to glare at him.
The professors said nothing but their faces were grim to say the least. Dumbledore turned to Hermione, "Perhaps we should move on Ms. Granger."
Hermione nodded, "Harry questioned Stan and learned all about Sirius. Harry then asked to be taken to the Leaky Cauldron where he met the Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge again. Fudge said they had found Marge and set her right. He didn't punish Harry but warned him about going off his own when there was -" the girl shook her head disparagingly "a killer on the loose." Sirius let his head hang further down. "However he got the feeling there was more to it than just his general safety but didn't push it. He stayed at the Cauldron for the rest of the holidays where he met Ron and I. Ron's rat Scabbers wasn't feeling well so we took him to the menagerie for some medicine and I also wanted to buy myself an owl. Once we got inside Ron was attacked by this huge ginger cat named Crookshanks. They got him off and the woman prescribed Scabbers some tonic while I bought the cat." Hermione smiled a little, how she loved her cat, she already missed when he would come curl up next to her while she was reading or doing homework. "At any rate, the entire Weasley family and myself were staying at the inn too. Arthur said the Ministry was providing cars for us to get to King's Cross station. He tried to say it was favour but Harry didn't totally buy it."
Lily raised her head, "They think Harry is danger because of Sirius." She stated flatly. No one knew how to respond to this then –
"Never," Sirius voice cut the air, "I don't care what I have done or for what reason. I would never ever hurt Harry. I love him and there is nothing in this world that would change that." Hermione saw Dumbledore nod almost imperceptibly.
The time traveler plowed on, "The night before we were set to leave, Ron had left the rat tonic at the bar so Harry volunteered to go get it for him. But when he went down the stairs he overheard Arthur and Molly arguing. They were debating on whether or not to tell Harry that he was thought to be Sirius's target. According to Arthur, the night Sirius escaped he was muttering in his sleep 'he's at Hogwarts' over and over. They thought that Sirius was a big supporter of Voldemort who had lost everything the night Harry destroyed him so he was coming to get Harry in retaliation."
"Revenge seems to be a common theme for you mate," James commented with dark humor.
"Wouldn't Mum be proud," Sirius replied with same tone. "Hell I killed twelve muggles, she might actually put me back on the family tree."
"We all know how much you'd love that," Remus pitched in.
"The next day Arthur tried to tell Harry everything but of course he already knew. Arthur then made Harry promise not to go looking for Sirius no matter what else he may hear."
"What else is there to hear?" asked Remus incredulously.
"A lot," Hermione said shortly, "So we boarded the train but couldn't find a compartment. Eventually we found one even though it had one person asleep inside. It was an adult so we figured that this was our new defense teacher."
"Who did I hire now?" Dumbledore queried.
"Well like I said he was asleep but his suitcase did have his name on it…" Hermione trailed off delicately.
"Well then tell us Mya," Lily urged.
"R.J. Lupin," Hermione smirked as the room went pin drop silent again. Remus wore a dumbfounded expression. Sirius and James, once they had recovered from their own shock, started to cheer.
"Well done Remus," Lily got up and hugged him.
"It's Professor Mooney," crowed the other two.
"Oh gods no," Remus groaned, "if I become a professor this time, you will NOT call me Professor Mooney. I know you'll make sure the students do it too."
"Aw come on Moons," James pouted.
"No! Although I'm worried that I might hurt the kids," his friends sighed exasperatedly at this.
"Really Remus, do you think Dumbledore would employ someone who would endanger the children?" asked McGonagall.
"I must say Mr. Lupin I do approve of the appointment," Dumbledore commented, "With the right precautions, I don't see why not. In fact I wouldn't mind cutting out the middle men and hiring you for this coming term, if circumstances permit of course."
"That's a fantastic idea professor," Lily gushed. Remus looked at a loss for what to say.
Hermione laughed, "Well I think the students would approve too but more on that later. While we were on the train Harry filled us in on everything then Malfoy came in. He taunted Harry about wanting revenge if he was him but when Harry asked what he was talking about Malfoy said nothing."
"Of course he wouldn't," Sirius glowered, "he's trying to bait Harry."
"Then he made fun of Ron because of the lottery and Ron being poor and they were about to get into a duel when Malfoy noticed our professor asleep right there. Convenient actually," Hermione turned to look at Remus, "literally the second before the boys were about to curse each other a sleeping man turns over with a particularly loud snore." Remus smirked half-heartedly.
"Subtle Mooney," James snickered.
"Well it worked. Draco left but more trouble was to come."
"You haven't even left the train yet," McGonagall muttered.
"About three quarters into the journey the train stopped and something came aboard. The lights went out and it became very cold. We heard noises then Ginny and Neville came running our compartment. It was then Professor Lupin woke up but before he could go investigate that thing came in."
"What thing?" Lily demanded.
"It was a dementor," Hermione shuddered. "It affected Harry more than the rest of us. It made him hear the sound of Lily's scream and Voldemort's laugh right before he killed her. Then he passed out." Lily immediately grabbed Harry and James put his arms around them.
Remus had turned green, "He laughed?" The question spoke volumes.
"Albus how could you allow those creatures near the students?" McGonagall asked astonished.
Before Dumbledore could respond Hermione cut in, "No professor, the Headmaster was very clear about his dislike of them being near the school and its students but given the current state of things, the ministry felt they were a necessary precaution."
"Me again," Sirius looked absolutely revolted, "I'm the reason Harry has to relive the very worst thing to ever happen to him. I'm sure he came into contact with the dementors again too, and the recollections only get worse. All I've done for him is made his life miserable."
"Sirius I am only going to say this once," Hermione warned severely, "You cannot blame yourself for everything that happens especially since you haven't done anything as yet. But as far as the dementors are concerned, believe it or not, it's actually a good thing he deals with them now." Sirius just shrugged despondently. Hermione's eyes narrowed while she continued with the story, "As I was saying Harry passed out for some time but we woke him up. He claimed he heard screaming but no one on the train was." Lily shuddered. "Professor Lupin gave us all some chocolate then left to talk to the driver and send word to castle about Harry."
James snorted softly, "Professor Lupin," he looked at Sirius who gave a half-hearted laugh.
"We got to the castle where Harry was cleared by Madam Pomfrey and I had a meeting with Professor McGonagall about some school stuff. During the feast, Professor Dumbledore explained that the dementors had been searching the train for Sirius and would be stationed at the entrances to the grounds until further notice. He introduced Professor Lupin and announced that Hagrid had become the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher."
"Hagrid must have been thrilled," Lily smiled.
"Oh he was, he was the one who chose that biting book for us," Hermione shook her head fondly. "Then it was time for classes to begin. One of our new classes was divination taught by Sybil Trelawney. We were doing tea leaves and when it was Harry's turn she told him it was the grim."
"The grim? As in the omen of death?" James asked.
"Really Potter, don't tell me you honestly believe that rubbish?" McGonagall scoffed.
"Well Harry kind of bought into it, after all he did seem a grim-like dog the night he ran away," Hermione giggled followed Lily when she caught on.
"He thought Paddy was the grim," James cracked, Remus and Sirius sniggered.
"And why would he think that Mr. Potter? What does the dog have to do with Mr. Black?" Dumbledore asked delicately. The Marauders froze, they had forgotten no one else in the room knew about their animagi forms other than Lily and clearly Hermione.
"Ummm," James looked at his friends panicked. "The thing is professor, you see -"
"I will be addressing that as well," Hermione jumped in, "it is an integral part of the story."
"Alright then," Albus looked faintly amused. Apparently they had stumbled on some more Marauder antics that were never discovered.
"Of course Professor McGonagall tried to set him straight but he still thought about that dog. Next was Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid decided to show us Hippogriffs for our first lesson."
"That doesn't sound too bad," Lily said cautiously.
Hermione nodded, "They were pretty good. Harry volunteered to demonstrate how to approach one and actually got to fly one named Buckbeak."
"I know that creature," Albus smiled, "He is quite young now, Hagrid is extremely fond of him."
"And the rest of us will be the same soon," Hermione responded. "Unfortunately Malfoy got Buckbeak next and insulted him."
"You never insult a hippogriff," Remus gasped.
"Surely Hagrid explained that," said James.
"He did. But Malfoy was too busy talking to his friends to hear him and that cost him a huge gash on his arm. Hagrid took him straight to the hospital wing but his father was furious. Lucius went to the board of governors and complained."
"Oh poor Hagrid," Lily sighed.
"We'll come back to that. It was time for our first defense lesson!" Hermione beamed. The marauders and Lily perked up. "Professor -"
"Call him Mooney please Mya!" Sirius pled.
James joined in, "Yes please do, Mya!"
"Oh Mya, please don't," Remus groaned.
Hermione brightly replied, "Okay," two out of three Marauders cheered. "So Professor Lu – oops sorry Professor Mooney decided the first day was going to be practical. He took us to the staff room where we ran into Peeves trying to jam gum in the keyhole. When Peeves saw our new professor he started singing 'looney loopy lupin', I suppose there's a story?"
Sirius smiled for the first time in a while, "Let's just say it was an accident that involved a jelly legs curse, a confundus, and a very unfortunate werewolf." Remus mouthed 'thanks' to him.
"Well that probably explains why Professor Mooney charmed the gum up Peeves's nose." Everyone, professors included, laughed at that.
"You still got it Mooney," James high-fived his friend.
"Oh it gets better." Hermione couldn't wait for to tell them about this. If this didn't cheer Sirius up, nothing would. "Inside the staff room was Snape and -"
"OH NO NOT AGAIN!" The marauders clapped their hands over their ears. Lily shook her head with a broad grin.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Calm down you lot! He was alone and he was decent." They uncovered their ears slowly as if afraid Hermione was about to take it back.
"Better safe than sorry after what a certain time traveler said," James glowered at Hermione who sighed.
"Do you want to hear what Remus did or not?" They nodded enthusiastically, "Good then let me talk. Snape didn't stay to watch the lesson but he made a few jabs at Neville before he left."
"That's not fair, that is another teacher's class," Lily frowned.
"For which the punishment was royal let me tell you. So the topic was boggarts. Professor Mooney – sorry Remus but you'll know why you really deserve the title after this – had found one and locked it in a spare wardrobe and called on Neville to ask him what scared him the very most. It was Snape and trust me Neville had good reason. Then Professor Mooney asked about the kind of clothes Neville's gran wore and if he could picture them clearly in his mind."
"OH LORD REMUS," Lily rolled in her seat, catching on before the marauders and laughing like a loon. Dumbledore and McGonagall looked like they too were having a hard time keeping straight faces, McGonagall actually giggled before coughing.
"Someone want to clue us in?" James asked.
"Well like I said the topic was boggarts and as we all know the only thing that finishes a boggart is laughter so he taught us the 'Riddikulus' charm and told Neville all he to do was picture his gran's clothes and boggart Snape would be forced to wear them."
The Marauders burst out laughing, Remus rubbed his forehead, a hint of a self-satisfied smile on his face, "May I ask if it worked and what clothes were they?"
Hermione nodded, "Of course it worked you were the one teaching us, and the clothes consisted of a full length green dress, fox fur scarf, a bright red handbag, and a stuffed vulture topped hat to complete the look."
Remus smirked, "That's what he gets for ragging on my student in my class." Then as if his words caught up with him he looked at the other two, "I guess you were right, Professor Mooney is an apt. I suppose there was something about being back at Hogwarts that brought it out in me. Throw in Snape and all I'm missing is my best mates." The smiles on the three men's faces slowly faded away. Remus stared at the ground, "Playing pranks just wouldn't be the same without you, nothing would be. So many memories…"
"But that's where your friends live on Mr. Lupin," said Albus, "In your heart and memories, just as you remember them."
"You'll have us this time Remus," Lily promised. "Come hell or high water we will find a way to fix this."
"So what happened with Harry's turn Mya?" James asked in a transparent attempt to change the subject.
"Well he couldn't figure out what scared him the most. Obviously he thought of Voldemort but then he remembered the dementor."
"The only thing you have to fear is fear itself," Dumbledore quoted.
Hermione bobbed her head once, "But when the boggart got to him, Professor Mooney interrupted and had Neville finish it off."
"Why?" Lily asked.
"No doubt I thought of Voldemort too," Remus answered. "Although I can't think of anything that could make a dementor amusing."
"Make the robe fall off to reveal a pair of god-awful underwear?" Sirius suggested. Everyone couldn't hold back a snort at that.
Dumbledore chuckled, "That might actually work Mr. Black."
"Too bad Harry didn't think of that, it would have made for great end of the lesson especially after the train search. As it was, Harry was concerned that Mooney thought he couldn't handle it. On Halloween during the Hogsmeade visit – remember Harry couldn't go – he had tea with Remus and he told him that he had assumed it would take the form of Lord Voldemort. Then Snape came in with Mooney's potion and Harry left not much later."
"Wait doesn't Remus tell him about being my best mate?" James frowned.
"What about me?" Sirius whined.
"Pads you're my best mate too but I know you can see why Remus may not be inclined to speak about you, let alone reveal to Harry that we were friends."
"Yeah I guess," Sirius conceded.
"Remus doesn't tell Harry that for a long while James. I don't know why but that's how it worked out," Hermione said while turning a page, "At the feast, Ron and I gave Harry all the sweets we could carry and discussed the potion and what it could be for. But as we were heading up to the tower we saw the Fat Lady was gone and her painting had been slashed."
"Who would do that?" McGonagall asked astounded but everyone, including her, had pretty much guessed the answer.
"It was Sirius," Hermione sighed, "according to the Fat Lady he got mad when she wouldn't let him into the tower and shredded her portrait in a rage."
"Maybe I really have gone mad," Sirius muttered lowly.
"I just can't believe you got past the dementors again mate,' James commented. "First breaking out of Azkaban now you're breaking into Hogwarts. It's like there is nothing that could hold you back."
"But from what though?" Sirius asked somberly.
Hermione sighed, "You'll see. So all the students spent the night in the Great Hall while the school was being searched but they found nothing. Sirius had vanished and security was amped up. Soon it was time for Quidditch season to begin. One day Harry was just a little late for defense class because of practice."
"Aw don't worry Har," James tickled the baby, "Professor Mooney would be mad at you."
"Professor Mooney no but Professor Snape yes," Hermione sighed remembering the day clearly, "Remus was off sick so he was covering the class and deducted points from Harry. Then he decided to skip ahead on the lesson plan and teach us about werewolves."
"He didn't," Remus growled. James and Sirius scowled.
"Well I tried to correct him but he took points from me then when the lesson began he used every available chance to make Remus look bad. He called me an insufferable know-it-all for answering a question out of turn and gave Ron detention for standing up for me. He capped the whole thing off by assigning a huge essay on werewolves with particular emphasis on how to identify them."
"That git," James said sourly.
"Don't worry about it, Professor Mooney cancelled the essay – even though I had already done it. Now let the Quidditch begin!" The marauders cheered. "Harry's first match was against supposed to be against Slytherin but there was so much rain so Malfoy played up his injury to get Hufflepuff to the play them instead."
"I guess they'd forgotten the reserves," James said derisively.
"Yeah must've slipped Snape's mind," Hermione agreed. "So the day of the match came and it was horrid. The rain was really coming down and visibility was terrible. There's no point in commentary because we couldn't even hear Lee over the thunder. Gryffindor managed a few goals but with his glasses Harry stood no chance of finding the snitch. That's where I came in; during a time out I put an Impervious charm on the glasses so that they would repel the water. According to Harry, Wood looked like he wanted to kiss me." Hermione laughed remembering his mania with Quidditch. "So they resumed play and the charm worked and Harry was able see everything including something in the stands. It was the Grim a.k.a. the dog from the night he ran away."
Lily got up and hugged Sirius. "You went to his match," she whispered in his ear, "Remus was probably still ill but at least someone was there when we couldn't be. I don't believe you want to hurt Harry so thank you Sirius for trying to be there for him even under extreme circumstances." Sirius returned the hug half-heartedly.
"You're welcome Lilyflower," Lily chuckled and went back to her spot. James just nodded and gave him a small smirk.
Hermione spoke again, "So Harry was staring at this dog when he suddenly colder than ever. A hoard of dementors had left their posts and come to the match. Well with the presence of so many of them, Harry passed out on his broom and fell almost fifty feet. Thankfully Professor Dumbledore saved him and sent the dementors back. When he regained consciousness later on the team tells him the other seeker Cedric Diggory had caught the snitch and his broom had been blown into the Whomping Willow."
"That was one rough match," Remus said hollowly.
"Lost the match and his broom in one clean stroke," Sirius shook his head.
Hermione turned another page and her eyes widened when she realized they had arrived at that dreaded part. More or less to stall even talking about it she gave them a note from Harry addressed to his parents, Remus, Sirius –
Dear Everyone,
I know what you've been hearing about Sirius has been hard and Sirius I can sort of sympathize with you mate but you won't find out about that for a while. You're going to learn the other half of Sirius's story, more like the half of one side really because Sirius has yet to say his piece and he will eventually. Please don't jump to conclusions or buy into what you hear. I'd personally rather you didn't hear it at all but it is very important. Just remember he is there so he can be trusted. I love you all, SIRIUS INCLUDED, and you'll hear from me soon.
Love,
Harry
"Mya," this was not sitting well with James, he glanced at the girl across from him. "What is this all about? What do people say Sirius did?"
Hermione cleared her throat, "Okay before I get into it, I'm going to say that we're going to take a break right after you hear this. I won't force you to listen to anymore until you're ready and -" Hermione steeled herself before saying, "I'd like you to put your wands on the table." She hated the precaution but she wouldn't take the chance. The marauders and Lily shared scared glances but complied. Sirius was the last person and Hermione got up and moved them away from the owners but they were still in plain sight. Hermione looked at each person as she returned to her seat. She picked up her notes and began – "Okay so after the episode with the dementors at the Quidditch match Harry spoke to Professor Mooney about having some extra lessons on how to defend himself against dementors to which Mooney agreed but it had to wait until after the holidays. In the meantime it was time for another Hogsmeade trip. Harry resigned himself to staying behind when he ran into the twins. Fred and George had bit of early festive cheer for him." Hermione was putting real enthusiasm into this. "They gave him a bit old parchment they had nicked from Filch in their first year."
"How does that count as festive cheer?" Lily asked.
"I think I know," James smiled wickedly.
"Well this was no ordinary parchment. One only had to tap it with their wand and say a certain phrase to reveal a very detailed map of the school." Hermione grinned, hoping to draw this happy moment for as long as possible.
"Yes another heirloom!" James cheered, Lily face-palmed. She knew all about the map and wasn't exactly jumping for Harry to get a hold of that but then again it was important to James. Just like the cloak she settled for just being happy Harry has something from his family. Remus smiled thinking of all the fun they had with that old map while Sirius, temporarily lifted from his musings, beamed. McGonagall and Dumbledore looked at each other but Dumbledore shrugged lightly. After all what was life without a little chaos?
"The map also detailed passages in and out of the school. Filch knew about four, one was caved in, one had the Whomping Willow planted over it so he had to use th-" Hermione's flicked over to professors then to the marauders, "he had to use this passage behind a statue nearby where Harry and twins were." The marauders subtly mimed toasting her. She bowed her head a little, "So Harry used it and surprised me and Ron at Honeydukes. I thought he should turn in the map because of Sirius but Ron pointed out that Hogsmeade was being regularly searched and the location of the passage wasn't really out in the open. I gave in and we toured Hogsmeade. Then we decided to go to the Three Broomsticks for butterbeer and that's where things get bad." Hermione didn't need her notes for this; she remembered it like it was yesterday. She closed the folder and leant forward to rest her head on her hands as if she was in prayer. Maintaining this posture she said, "We were sitting at our table when Fudge, Hagrid, Professor Flitwick, and Professor McGonagall came in. Harry went under the table and I levitated a Christmas tree over to hide us. But we could still hear everything they said. Madame Rosmerta brought their order and they invited her to sit with them and she accepted. They got on to the topic of Sirius and Rosmerta said she couldn't believe it since she had known you lot in school."
"Rosmerta was great," Sirius sighed.
"All of us had pet crushes on her at some point," Remus laughed once.
"You too?" Lily asked her husband nudging his side.
"Well dear you did break my heart so many times." James chuckled, "Rosmerta used to give me advice on how to get you to come around. She always said that if I really felt something for you then I shouldn't give up and one day you'd see it, either that or go on a date just to shut me up. Then she'd say she was rooting for the first one."
Lily smiled softly, "Is that why she gave us six rounds of butterbeer on the house when we went there on our first date?"
"Yup one for every year she and the rest of the school had to wait for us to get together. She told me later she wanted to do one for every time you turned me down but then she would've gone out of business." The room laughed but the solemn mood didn't quite lift.
Hermione looked up sadly, "Well Fudge told Rosmerta that she didn't know the worst of it. He asked Rosmerta if she remembered who Sirius's best friend was and obviously she said yes James. Well that's the first time Harry heard of that and shock didn't even cover it. It didn't help that he also found out Sirius was Harry's godfather at the same time."
"That must've been a blow to him," Lily grimaced.
"It gets worse. You see you guys weren't just randomly attacked by Voldemort; he targeted you specifically. A spy informed Dumbledore of this and he advised you to go into hiding using the Fidelius Charm. Professor Dumbledore offered to be your secret keeper himself but James insisted on it being Sirius. And – according to the story," she could not stress this enough and she waited for each of them acknowledge what she said before continuing, "a few days after the charm was performed, Sirius supposedly sold you to Voldemort. WAIT!" she yelled before anyone could open their mouths, "let me finish. They knew there was spy close to the Potters who had been passing information for a while so they assumed it was Sirius. Hagrid then told his bit about seeing Sirius the night the Potters died. He said that Sirius showed up white and shaking and Hagrid comforted him. He asked for Harry but Dumbledore's orders were for him to go to the Dursleys so he told Sirius no and he gave him his motorbike to take him there. They say Sirius tried to run but didn't get far because he ran into that -" Hermione stopped herself, "he ran into Peter. Peter, beside himself in grief, screamed for the whole street to hear that Sirius had betrayed Lily and James and tried to duel him but Sirius blasted him taking out twelve muggles as well. All they could find of Pettigrew was a finger. Fudge was one of the Ministry people on scene, he said it was awful and there was Sirius standing in the middle of a giant crater laughing even as he was being led away." Hermione looked around at the stony expressions, "we'll stop here."