It was Hermione's birthday on Saturday! SO this is a surprise chapter, due to my love of our bushy haired friend, and also because of the lovely reviews last chapter.
My update schedule is rubbish at being consistent at the moment, technically this is supposed to go up on Wednesday; but if I have time I may still post then, because I have a mini chapter planned (all about Lily and Severus, and their second year interactions).
You get all kinds of fun things in this chapter, we're going to be wrapping up their second year soon, not cause I don't looove writing them as twelve and thirteen year olds, but because...it's time. You know? Third year here we come *choo choo* I'm such a nerd, I know.
Kon Shun'u : Made a loooot of comments, and seriously thank you.
Patty cake rocks: Thannnks :*
nikkiRiddle: Ahhh that's what I was thinking literally moments after I posted it. Next big present opening situation, I promise I give you all the details.
MissesE: I"m soooo glad that you do, makes me unbelievably happy. I really like writing about their daily life!
Jily71102: THANK YOU.
Guest: Oh you know our little wolf is going to have to take a moment when he remembers, as for Sirius...well, I love my grey eyed boy I do.
iamkcortiz: omg thank, thank, thank you xx
Hazel Abberely: You made me so happy. It blows me away that people actually like the ideas that I put down onto 'paper'. Wow. Deeply just stunned and so happy. :D
Guest: I don't think I have the words to express how much what you said meant to me, as for the subtle affection between Draco and Hermione, thank you, thank you. Again, so happy, and grateful. I hope you continue to enjoy it!
I think I've rambled enough.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, and only the storyline and any OC's belong to me.
February 12th, 1973
Slytherin Common Room
"They are so eager to prove themselves, wouldn't you say, Cissa?" Lucius drawled, chin pressed into his palm, arm propped up on the black, leather armchair. Narcissa was sitting primly on his knee, silently regarding Regulus Black and the other first years, throwing insults around in a 'playful' manner.
"So full of youth and promise," Narcissa sighed. Not for the first time, her mind drifted to the Potter boy, his grey eyes haunting her.
"Does something trouble you, love?" Lucius sat up, gently taking Narcissa's chin and turning it to him.
"Are you sure you want to marry me," She whispered fearfully, closing her emotions off as she avoided his gaze. Lucius a bit more forcefully this time moved her chin so their eyes met directly.
"There is nothing in this world I want more," He admitted, letting down his walls for once, the fear, worry, excitement, and trepidation displayed openly.
Narcissa gasped softly, wanting nothing more than to kiss him right there, but it was indecent for a Pureblood woman to be openly affectionate in public, outwardly she must always show a collected and calm exterior. Never doing anything rash, and portraying herself in the utmost respectable way.
"I love you," Narcissa settled for instead, her voice but a whisper as she leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek.
"And I you, I love you more than you know, Cissa," Lucius smirked, hand on the back of her neck as he kissed her forehead.
"Oi! Cut it out!" Regulus and a small, mousey girl now had their wands out, and the Regulus had tripped the girl with a tripping jinx. When they blatantly ignored him, Lucius sighed. "Pardon me a moment, my love." Narcissa nodded in understanding, standing up, hands clasped in front of her as she watched Lucius stride over to the first years. Picking them both up by the scuff of their necks, fabric clenched between his fists. "We don't hex one another. We hex people that get in our way, like Gryffindors, who strut about as if they own the castle. We do not hex or harm our own. Clear?"
"Yes...Lucius," They both grumbled together, Regulus shooting him a dirty look when Lucius released him.
"Is telling them to hex the Gryffindors really the best idea?" Narcissa shook her head when he crossed back over where she was; she had shifted out by the window that looked out into the Black Lake. Admiring the various creatures swimming about.
"I made the mistake of trusting a Gryffindor when I was their age, and it brought me nothing but pain. They don't care about anyone but themselves, and you need to hex them before they can hex you."
"What about the Pettigrew boy?" Narcissa quirked an eyebrow, Lucius worked his mouth, but nothing came out.
"That's different!"
"How?"
"It just is..." Lucius trailed off when Narcissa shot him a scathing look, the green light from the lake pouring onto her blonde hair and pale features.
"Leave those boys alone," Narcissa said firmly, "unless they do something to you, which I doubt, then I give you full permission to so." Narcissa stepped closer to him, placing her palm against his cheek. "Instead why not focus on your NEWTs ? Trying to do well on your exams and enjoying the rest of our last year?"
"For you," Lucius clarified as he agreed, pulling her to him and hugging her gently.
"Lucius, we're in public-"
"I don't care," he breathed into her ear, the short wisps that were tucked behind it rustling as he did so.
Narcissa bit her lip, and decided to finally bring up what had been troubling her. "Are you sure you don't mind that having children will be difficult, remember what the healers-"
"Narcissa Black," Lucius pulled away, amazed that that was what had been bothering her all this time. "I love you, and I don't care how long it takes, all I know is I want to be with you for the rest of our lives."
Lucius hid her face into his chest when she began crying, hiding her away from the rest of the world, allowing her a small reprieve in which she could break down. Narcissa silently wondered what drove him to be so nasty to the Gryffindors and often younger students, when this side of him existed. It was wrong she knew, to let him continue with it, but she loved him too much. Love made it easy to forgive the bad parts of someone, because if you truly love someone, you love all of them; including the bits you didn't like.
...
March 27th, 1973
I'm thirteen.
March was a busy month for the Marauders and birthdays, Remus' having been on the tenth, and James' was today. A year older and he barely felt any different.
Little did he know, the Marauders and planned a prank to end off their year. Sirius was in charge, and Hermione whilst scolding them the entire time, was his co-conspirator. After this, Hermione insisted they buckle down and at least try and study for their exams.
"I can't believe you looped me into doing this," Hermione held her face in her hands.
"Says the girl who up until yesterday was all gung ho about doing this," Sirius pointed out cheerily, nibbling on the end of a sugar quill.
"It's a truth potion variation, Sirius. Make sure not to drink any," Draco grinned.
"Hey! I don't lie!" Sirius protested.
"Last week, when those girls asked you about Riley..." Remus piped up, drifting off with a large grin as Sirius flung himself at the werewolf, who stepped back and out of the way, leaving Sirius sprawled out on the floor.
"The whole point anyway is to get Evans to admit she likes James, that'll make his birthday extra special!" Sirius pushed up off the ground and put his hands on his hips confidently when he stood up.
"You know this could end horribly," Hermione groaned, it was too late now, they had snuck into the kitchens and poured it into the pumpkin juice when the House Elves weren't looking. Much to the chagrin of Hermione, she was the decoy; she had asked the Elves to make her a batch of blueberry muffins for her brother's birthday, and a large Cauldron cake since there was going to be a surprise party in the Common Room later.
Peter was munching on one of said muffins, holding the basket handle tightly as he trotted right behind Hermione and Sirius. Remus and Draco were a little way ahead of them. Moments later they bumped into James.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAMIE!" Hermione squealed, flinging herself into her brother's arms. James laughed heartily, a broad grin on his face as Hermione pecked his cheek, affectionately ruffling his hair.
"My turn, move," Draco whispered in Hermione's ear, winking at her as she rolled her eyes, pulling James in for a quick hug. "Happy Birthday, bro."
James looked at Remus, who panicked, seeing where this was going. "Happy birthday?" Remus squeaked out, realising a little too late that that alone wouldn't suffice. James pulled Remus in for a hug by his arm, the werewolf sighed, arms limp by his sides.
"The longer you take to hug me back, the longer this is going to last," James informed him, humming jubilantly.
Remus blew out a harsh breath through his nostrils, and tentatively raised his hands and patted James' back. The Potters were definitely changing his resistance to physical affection, every now and then he fell back into old habits, but he was a lot better than he used to be.
"ALRIGHT. MOONY YOU'RE HOGGING HIM," Sirius bellowed, ducking under James' arm and wiggling until it was a three way embrace. "Much better," Sirius mused, almost purring out of happiness.
"What about me?" Peter asked in a small, dejected voice.
"There's enough of me to go around," James laughed, pulling out from his other friends, and hugging Peter to his side, since the basket was in the way of a proper hug, messing up the smaller boy's hair as he did.
"We did a little pranking in your stead," Hermione quipped, frowning when she thought how if they hadn't bumped into James then he might have drunk some of the juice.
"Mione was involved? This I need to see," James nodded his head in shocked approval.
When they reached the Great Hall, all seemed to be well. That, however, did not last long. Breakfast was officially served and everyone began to dig in. It was only a matter of time before the effects of the potion began to make themselves apparent. Peter had forgotten and accidentally taken a sip, which was highly problematic. Draco forfeited seeing the rest of their handiwork and grabbed Peter and hurried him out of the hall before McGonagall caught on and began to question them. Draco was very good at brewing potions and he knew it; it was going to be very potent.
Gideon soon figured out what was going on when James Thomas began to confess that he had snogged Gideon's ex-girlfriend in the dark by accident, and that he always thought Molly was a very attractive woman. The redhead turned his head, found the Marauders down at the other end of the table, close to the door, made eye contact with Hermione and gave a small nod. Hermione pursed her lips, quirked an eyebrow and then subtlety nodded back. The grin that broke out onto his face was priceless.
A little closer to home, Nancy confessed that she thought James Thomas was the cutest thing, and that she wrote songs about him after Sirius began to ask questions. Kira lasted a bit longer after Nancy whispered in her ear; then looking Remus straight in the eye said, "I think you're fit."
Remus was a blushing mess for the rest of the day. Lily looked completely unfazed, swirling her goblet filled with pumpkin juice around in her hand. She leaned forward and sniffed it. There is no way. Dray said that any smell was so minute that you would have to have Remus' sense of smell to tell that there was anything in it. James stared at Lily with a newfound adoration, she grimaced before holding her hair back with her other hand, and then trying to smell it again. Eyes widening she turned to say something to Alice, but it was too late.
"F-Frank what do you think about me?" Alice asked, face burning, but taking the opportunity in case it was actually going to work.
"I think you're really pretty, and I love that you named your Teddy Sir Nicholas-"
"My, oh, My. What is going on here?" Nearly Headless Nick appeared from under the table, "Did someone call?"
"Sorry, Nick, Frank over here is about to tell Alice how much he loves her." Sirius waved the ghost to come next to him. With bated breath they watched the scene unfold, Frank couldn't stop because of the potions effects.
"I think you're really cute when you're focusing on trying out a new charm or spell. Your brow scrunches up a little, your mouth twists to the side. I get really happy whenever you smile at me, and I like you a lot," Frank covered his face with his hands, and a large group of enchanted sighs came from the Gryffindors, lead by Sirius of course.
"Alice, Alice, are you going to say something back?" Lily whispered to her frozen, dazed friend.
"I...uhhh...I really like you too," Alice stammered out, hands flying to the sides of her face, eyes locked on Frank.
"This is great," Sirius whispered to Remus, who was still recovering from Kira's confession, numbly nodding his head.
"What on Earth is going on?" McGonagall asked loudly, jumping up from her seat and making a beeline straight for the Marauders.
"I'm going to enjoy this," Sirius chuckled lightly.
"You lot. This was your doing, wasn't it?" McGonagall reached them, tapping her foot, hands on her hips, her pointed hat shifted a bit too far backwards.
"Good Morning, Minnie, how are you on this lovely morning?" James grinned broadly.
"A bit irritated," McGonagall's eyes rounded as the words flew out of her mouth.
"Not sure if this is too personal, but what colour underwear do you prefer, Minnie?" Sirius grinned devilishly, chin propped on his hands as he stared innocently up at her.
McGonagall's hand moved at lightning speed to cover her mouth, glaring at them, she turned on her heel and left. Halfway back to the Head Table, the potion obviously got to be too strong; "BLACK!" She yelled, storming back to her seat. Angrily stabbing at her plate afterwards.
"I LOVE YOU TOO, Minnie!" Sirius jumped up onto the table, and one hand to his chest, he started to sing. It was a pleasant surprise when he was able to carry a tune, "Yooooou are the only one for meeee, I'll love you until the end of my days! Until I'm greying and old, and I will love you until I die. My sweet, my love, my MIIIIINNNNNIIIIIIEEEE." McGonagall dropped her cutlery, torn between giving him detention on the spot, yelling, and being almost flattered. Hermione was a quicker to react, yanking Sirius off the table, and clamping her hands over his mouth when he tried to continue.
"I'm going to hex you later if you lick my hands like you did last time," Hermione warned him, Sirius tensed up.
"He was probably about to you know," Lily shook her head, bright green eyes roving over the grey eyed boy. "You're a right nutter, completely mental."
"Play nice, it's my birthday," James cut in.
"Oh, happy birthday, Potter," Lily smiled lightly. "Enjoy it."
It wasn't what James was looking for, but for now it was good enough; he couldn't wait to see what the rest of the day had in store for him.
...
The Gryffindor Common Room that evening was filled to the brim with lions, a few other people from other houses had been invited, but for the most part it had been kept in house. James was upstairs with Draco, who was meant to bring him down in the next few minutes. Hermione was bustling through people, making sure everything was done; Gideon and James Thomas had been incredible help setting up the whole thing. Gideon had a soft spot for James after all.
"I can't believe the youngest Potter is already thirteen," Gideon sighed nostalgically, "Much less that our sixth year is almost over. Don't you agree Tommie?" James Thomas looked over at his best friend, and grinned broadly, "It has been a pretty swell year though. Gids."
"Swell. Have I mentioned how much I like that word? It just slips right off the tongue," Gideon said elatedly, smiling gently at Hermione as she handed him a chocolate chip cookie. "This don't have nuffin in it right?" Gideon asked whilst eating the cookie.
"Nope, just dark chocolate chips," Remus' ears pricked at her words and he snuck through the crowd and slipped a few of them off the plate. There was a table lining one side of the room, covered in snacks, and punch. Sirius was already eyeing the Cauldron Cakes.
Peter rushed down the stairs from the boys dormitory and hissed, "they're coming!"
Sure enough, moments later Draco carefully led a blindfolded James down the stairs.
Draco unfurled the blindfold when they reached the bottom of the stairs, and everyone cheered, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
"He never does anything small, does he?" Lily leaned into Alice, resting her head on her best friend's shoulder. Watching as James ran at Hermione and span her around in a circle.
"You know, he's not that bad," Alice stroked the top of Lily's head.
"He's mean to Sev, and I can't forgive him for that. Sev is one of my best friends." Lily said fiercely.
"I know, Lils."
"If you knew him, like really knew him, you would like him," Lily sighed.
"He didn't want to talk to me...remember?" Alice frowned, accidently catching Frank's eye from across the room and blushing.
Lily didn't know how to explain that one, Sev had always been a bit reserved. He only acted like himself when they were alone, and it made her sad that people were misunderstanding him. Sev wasn't a bad person, he just wasn't good at communicating how he felt.
Gideon waved his wand, aimed it at the ceiling, and confetti spurted out of it. Raining down on everyone. James Thomas cranked up the music, and soon everyone was dancing around the room, a cluster of tightly packed bodies. Hermione was with Remus in the corner, where there was a little space, and Lily smiled when she saw Hermione wipe the chocolate crumbs from the side of his mouth. Speaking of Gryffindor boys. Lily's eyes had no problem finding him, it was strange, he looked so much like James, but he was so different as well. The weird thing though, was for the first time that year, Lily found her eyes being drawn to the birthday boy instead of his brother. Shaking her head violently, she whirled to her right and addressed Alice, "Let's dance!" Lily yelled so Alice could hear her over the music. Lily saw Draco leave James' side and head to Hermione and Remus' side. It could have been her imagination, but she swore she saw Hermione's cheeks pink, and Remus frown. Peter was sandwiched between two couples in the middle of the dance floor, face scrunched in distress, as he tried to make himself as small as possible.
Lily rolled her eyes at the oblivious couples grinding on their respective counterparts, using her arms to make enough for room as she moved to get to Peter, "come on." Peter looked up at her with grateful, watery eyes and squeezed out of the tight space and followed her across the room back to Alice. Who fortunately or unfortunately was occupied in a quiet conversation with Frank. Lily stopped in her tracks and turned to Peter, smiling weakly.
"Are you having fun, L-Lily?" Peter asked anxiously, swaying from side to side.
"Yes, what about you?" Lily asked kindly, Peter always struck her as a bit scared of the world, and she didn't want him to feel like that with her, ever.
"G-great. Draco and Hermione organised everything, we just helped," Peter preened, clearly proud at what he and his friends had done.
"Well, either way, you guys did a good job," Lily nodded her head appreciatively as she looked around the room.
"Hey, Pete!" James exclaimed, bursting out of the crowd and landing by them, "Evans."
"Potter," the corners of her mouth turned down, hand itching and ready to reach for her wand if necessary.
"Right, Sirius suggested that Moony may be a bit uncomfortable. Dray and Mione already came to that conclusion, way before us, as usual. So we're going to duck out for a bit, you coming?"
"Yes!" Peter proclaimed a bit too loudly, a bit too eagerly.
"Let's go then," James gestured with his hand, reaching down to ruffle Peter's hair. James looked back over his shoulder at Lily for a second and mouthed, "Sorry about Snape." Lily was stunned, she didn't think he cared enough to apologise for bullying Sev last week. Sev had calling Mione dirty since she had slid down one of the hills with the boys, and James had gotten defensive. It had been a big pissing match, and it was completely unwarranted. They had both acted like idiots, but James had carried it a touch too far, a stray tripping jinx causing Sev to hit his head on a rock. James had freaked out immediately, Hermione and Draco had worked to stop the bleeding, all whilst assuring James that head wounds always bleed a lot. Lily had run, screaming down the halls until she reached the infirmary, not even five minutes later, Hermione was floating Sev into the infirmary onto a crisp, clean white bed.
The Potter twins had stopped the bleeding, and Madame Pomfrey stared at Hermione as if something bothered her, but shook her head; dismissing whatever the errant thought was. Then she told Hermione that perhaps she should become a healer some day. Hermione's response was a sharp laugh, and haunted eyes. Lily didn't know that Hermione was recalling treated Harry and Ron's wounds when they were on the run. Constantly taking care of boys who seemed more fond of the infirmary than their beds in the Gryffindor tower. Somehow she had managed to land herself in a similar situation, only this time, she saw faded, blurry illusions of boys lying, and sitting on hospital beds. Red hair, raven hair contrasting heavily with the white. Their blue and bright green eyes insisting as they assured her that they were alright. It was that moment when the intense longing to be back home, and to see them filled her. Later that afternoon it had subsided, but it's effects lingered. One lengthy and gruelling conversation with Draco later, and she was better, good as new.
James Potter may be a good boy and she liked him well enough, but he had hurt her best friend, and as far as she was concerned, until he got his act together; she wanted nothing to do with him. That arrogant little toe rag.
If anyone ever wonders which OC's I'm referring to I mean James Thomas (who you can take as Dean Thomas' Father). Kira, and Nancy. Falling asleep as I'm writing this closing statement because of how busy my day was. I was wondering if I actually gave Kira and Nancy last names, I don't think I did. Anyone have any suggestions for surnames? I'm open to them.
It is canon that Mary McDonald was supposed to be in their year, but when I was writing the scene in their bedroom and introducing their roommates, I don't know. I had a craving for a couple OC girls. One that was quiet, but sassy when needed, and a bold, fierce and bubbly girl that was a tad similar to Hermione and Lily, but vastly different as well.
Sorrrry for any grammatical mistakes, I'll go through again in the morning or maybe even now and find them, and hopefully fix them soon. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I would love to know what you thought.
LOVE YOU,
Indieblue xx
P.S. Shameless tumblr promo : indiebluecrown. tumblr. com, the easiest place probably to get in touch with me, that or PM, but usually on my phone, so I won't see it until a little later.