"He could have died!"
"But he didn't! I took care of it!"
"Your idea of 'taking care of' things leaves a lot to be desired, miss! You tore apart three centaurs and allowed innocent students to see the carnage. Not to mention we're now on shaky ground with the rest of Magorian's herd!"
"I tore apart four, thank you very much. They betrayed our deal. Their honor was at stake. There won't be any repercussions from me tearing apart the four who almost killed my student out of a misplaced sense of hatred towards humans!"
"You said the students weren't even going to be hurt!"
"I said that they would be taken care of and that the more dangerous spells would not be permitted."
"All right, all right, enough!" Dumbledore bellowed. He stared down his nose at the three teachers gathered in his office. Hermione was looking mutinous and Fred was undoubtedly backing her up. He stood slightly behind her, ready to step in should she need him to. McGonagall was completely infuriated that a student had almost been killed in an exercise that she had been overruled on.
"Fred, Hermione, I'm very upset with both of you. Fred, I expected you to take more thorough measures in protecting the students. Hermione, you can't just go around executing Beasts without a trial. We have justice system here. Think of the example you're setting for the students."
"With all due respect, sir," Hermione snarled, not sounding respectful in the least. "I followed the laws of the centaurs. I was perfectly within my rights to exact justice on the centaurs that reneged on their leader's pact. I had permission from Magorian himself to track them down."
She crossed her arms. "As for setting an example for the students, if they had followed our orders and not mistakenly believed I needed saving, they would have seen nothing. And had no knowledge of what had happened."
Dumbledore looked at her sternly. "You are missing the point, Miss Greene."
She snorted. "More like blatantly ignoring it. I will not apologize for my actions. Would you rather I have taken care of it immediately or would you rather deal with Rosier's parents when they come demanding to know why you have no taken steps to avenge their son?"
Dumbledore and McGonagall looked slightly taken back by that.
"All life is sacred, Miss Greene," McGonagall said slowly, as though speaking to a child. "You cannot simply expect us to be on board with you completely tearing apart three creatures that have not bothered us in years when we hold fast to that belief."
Hermione said nothing for a moment. "All life is indeed sacred," she said finally. "But I believe that the life of my student is far more important than the lives of centaurs that had already proven themselves to be backstabbers and deal breakers."
Fred finally spoke up. "From what we can tell, the rest of Magorian's herd stayed away from where the barriers were erected. The ones that Hermione took out must have been in the planned area before we set off the wards."
Dumbledore sat down in his chair and rubbed his temples. "Does it not bother you that you have killed in such a horrendous fashion, Miss Greene?"
"No," came Hermione's immediate reply.
McGonagall felt that there was more to Miss Greene than what she was being presented with, but there was something about her eyes that made the older professor let it go. The girl seemed almost haunted, but there was a hard edge there that made McGonagall reconsider what she had been about to say.
"Albus," she interrupted what was sure to be an explosive argument. "Let's let it go for now. What's done is done. And these two need to get to Hogsmeade soon."
He narrowed his eyes at the three of them. "Fine. But I won't have you teaching my students how to kill people, Miss Greene. So think about that the next time you decide to have a class activity."
"Don't threaten me, sir. I don't do well with threats. I don't technically need this job, but you do need students that can defend themselves and survive. If they need to learn something, you can guarantee that I will be teaching them," Hermione said coldly.
"Aaaaannddd, on that note, we'll be taking our leave," Fred said as he pushed her out the door. "Have a lovely afternoon, professors!"
. . .
Hermione stalked off down the streets muttering about incompetent headmasters. Fred watched her go for a minute, hoping that none of the students would be foolish enough to bother her. She had had a very stressful last twelve hours.
He meandered his way through the town. Store fronts hadn't changed much in the last twenty years. Almost everything was exactly the same as it was during his own time at Hogwarts. He fondly recalled George and his favorite haunts.
His thoughts turned a bit melancholy at the thought of George. His twin would have thought going back in time to be the grandest adventure. And maybe on some level it was. He was seeing history unravel right in front of him instead of just reading it in textbooks or hearing someone briefly speak of it.
But he was also still trying to mentally and physically recover from the war he and Hermione had left behind. No matter what Hermione believed, he too was struggling to cope with the world around him.
He still woke from nightmares. Dark dreams where he could hear the piercing cries of his friends, where all around was the dreaded lime green, where his body felt like it was being blasted apart. He could still taste the smoke and blood. He could still feel the fear and emptiness and the terrifying pain of hopelessness. He could still see the broken bodies and crumbled down walls where they made their last stand.
They won. He knew they won. But right now, he wasn't living in a world where good ol' Voldy had been defeated yet. He was living the days when the darkness was only just beginning to creep upon them.
And somehow, that terrified him more than the fact that his nightmares weren't getting better.
He shook himself out of that train of thought. He had to be strong for Hermione. He owed it to her. She had to keep believing that he was perfectly fine.
He popped into the Leaky Cauldron and noticed a table full of Hufflepuffs. He nodded to a couple and made his way to the bar.
"I'm needing something a bit stronger than butterbeer, love," he said jovially to Madame Rosmerta.
She eyed him skeptically. "Not sure I can, sir. You're a bit young aren't you?"
He chuckled. "I'm one of the new Defense Against Dark Arts teachers up at Hogwarts. I think that alone qualifies me for a drink."
She laughed with him. "I suppose you're right. Here's one on the house. Celebrate your new position."
"Thanks, miss." He winked at her and sauntered over to where the Marauders had just settled themselves. Surprisingly, he saw Peter Pettigrew was with them for once. Lately Fred had been seeing him with various Slytherins, which irritated Hermione to no end.
Sometimes, time travel sucked.
"Hullo, boys!"
"So how much trouble did Hermione get it last night?" Sirius wasted no time asking.
Fred raised his eyebrows. "Now, how would you know she got in trouble?"
James snorted. "Please. She completely obliterated three Beasts. There's no way Dumbledore would give her a free pass on that one."
"Four, and Dumbledore wouldn't even have known something like that had happened, had three of you and Mister Snape not tagged along uninvited."
"Someone would have noticed that centaurs were missing! The leader would have thrown a fit and declared war!"
A loud bang caused the four boys to jump. Fred just watched in mild amusement as Hermione stalked over. Apparently her trip to the bookstore was not a good one.
"What are you drinking?" she demanded irritably.
"Firewhiskey."
She nodded and stalked over to the bar. A moment later she was back with a full bottle.
"This is for me," she told Fred sternly. He shrugged at her. One of them would need a clear head and it didn't look she had any intention of fulfilling that duty.
"Did you not find anything at the book store?"
"No, I did not. I was too busy being hounded by some fourth year menaces that seem to think that because I help occasionally with homework, it's acceptable to pry into what I do. Brats," she muttered the last into her glass right before she tossed it back.
The Marauders all traded glances. They really wanted answers, but there was no way they were going to get them with Hermione there.
"You didn't… hex them… did you?" Fred asked hesitantly.
"No, but I did put the fear of God into them."
"Hermione…"
"Shut up. I'm trying to get drunk."
"But you're a teacher?" Remus asked curiously.
"Who the hell cares? I avenged a student and was reprimanded for it for about four hours. I'm not in the mood to behave. Let me be the eighteen year old I am."
Fred laughed. "If you're pretending to be a normal eighteen year old, you can't drink that you know."
"I'm in my rebellious phase."
Fred just shook his head as he turned back to the boys. "What were we saying before this rebellious teenager came in?"
"Someone would have known the centaurs were missing, I think," Sirius said slowly, not sure if they should continue their previous conversation. Hermione wasn't even listening to them though. She was working her way steadily through her alcohol and ignoring everything else.
"Right. Magorian himself gave them away so I don't think that would have been an issue really. Now," Fred said as he played with his now empty glass. "Let's talk about literally anything else."
"Let's talk about you and Hermione's relationship!" James suggested excitedly.
Fred groaned. "What the bloody hell… I thought we were past those questions!"
Sirius chuckled as Remus grinned. "Until we dig to the bottom of the mystery that is you, we're not giving up," Sirius stated.
Hermione snorted. "Good luck with that, boys," she said, her words surprisingly clear considering that she had drank more than half the bottle. She eyed her firewhiskey carefully. "Either I'm well on my way to becoming an alcoholic or this is not as strong as the last batch I had."
She stood up from the table and wandered over to the bar.
"Do you ever get the feeling," James asked cautiously, "that Hermione has as many layers as an onion?"
Fred smiled tiredly. "That she does. And the closer you get to the center the more she makes you cry."
Peter, who had been silent thus far, squeaked out, "How many times did she make you cry, Mr. Fred?"
"Far too many to count." He didn't bother to specify why she had made him cry. Thinking about it would only bring up worse memories.
"Was one of them when she rejected your love confession?" James asked eagerly.
"Wha- where did you- why do- no!" he spluttered.
"You know," Sirius said as he played with his bottle of butterbeer. "I've noticed something with the girls I date. Usually if they don't want me to know something, they more they protest, the closer I am to an answer."
Fred raised an eyebrow. "Well, I can safely say that I have never confessed my love for Hermione. And she's never confessed her love to me."
The four boys exchanged a look. Fred sounded genuine enough. But there was some slight inflections that showed he wasn't telling them the whole truth.
"So why are you so sad about it?" Remus asked.
Fred rolled his eyes. "Can we please talk about anything other than dead centaurs and mine and Hermione's nonexistent romantic relationship?"
James shrugged. "Sure. Sirius wants to know if he can date her."
Sirius looked surprised at that information. "I do?"
"You think she's hot."
"She is hot."
"Sirius is welcome to woo her," Fred smirked. "She's not going to say yes to a date though."
Sirius stood up. "Watch me woo the lady."
. . .
"She turned you down cold," James laughed as they trudged back to Hogwarts.
Sirius threw out a punch that James easily ducked. "She was completely un-woo-able. I don't even know how it happened," Sirius confessed. "One minute I'm flirting and then next I feel like she's about to murder me if I don't leave her presence immediately."
"That is because you came during her drinking time," Fred laughed as walked by Hermione. She was still annoyed at Sirius so she wasn't acknowledging any of them. He nudged her slightly and winked when she only glared at him. "Not that she would say yes had you chosen any other time."
"She is standing right here," she finally groused. "And she is done with this topic of discussion." She strode away.
But as she was leaving, she stumbled. She barely managed to catch herself, only to find that knees had turned to jelly. She was almost unable to remain upright. Her hands began to shake. She squeezed them together trying to keep them still but she knew it wouldn't work.
"Fred," she said right before a spasm racked her whole body. She fell to her knees as all of her began to shake uncontrollably.
"Hermione, calm down, I've got you," Fred whispered. He knelt down next to her and turned her on her side as she spasmed. After a minute of intense seizing, her body settled down to small tremors.
When she had stopped shaking enough, he pulled her gently into his arms and held her while she calmed down. Her fingers twisted themselves in his sweater, and she buried her face into the crook of his neck. He murmured into her ear.
The four boys had stood aside in shock as Fred took care of Hermione. Sirius and Remus could just barely work out what Fred was telling her as he slowly rocked her back and forth.
"Shh, it's ok, Hermione, you're ok. Fred's not leaving. You're safe, they can't hurt you. You brave girl, my little Hermione is ok." He repeated the words over and over until she had her breathing under control.
"Take me back, Fred," she whispered, closing her eyes to the world that was still spinning.
"Ok, love," he answered. He picked her up carefully and started the long trek back to Hogwarts. Neither of them paid any attention to the four boys they left behind.
"Has… has that happened before?" Peter asked quietly.
Sirius sighed and blew a lock of hair out of his eyes. "Yes. I think this is the third, possibly fourth time since they got here."
Remus and James exchanged a look. "How do you know that, mate?" James asked curiously.
"We've only seen the one," Remus added.
Sirius shoved his hands into his pockets. "I came across Fred talking to Madame Pomfrey about a week ago. Fred caught me after and told me some stuff. Remember when a few days ago, she was looking exhausted and she wasn't walking as smoothly as she usually does?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, Fred said that she had another attack but this one was in her sleep. And he asked me to keep an eye on her and what to do if he or Madame Pomfrey wasn't around. He said she wouldn't trust me, but at least somebody would know what to do just in case."
The four were silent for a moment. "What do you think happened to her?" Remus finally asked.
Sirius shrugged. "He wouldn't say. He just said that she had some kind of muggle disorder that couldn't be fixed with magic."
The four slowly made their way back to the school. They had a lot to think about.
. . .
James Potter was completely infuriating.
First, he wouldn't leave her alone. For years he hasn't left her alone. Now, for some random reason she can't comprehend, he's suddenly very distant and only calls her by Evans. He doesn't pursue her in the hallways, he doesn't offer to carry her books. He doesn't ask her for help on homework. He treats her exactly like he treats every other girl.
When Lily first noticed that he was more friendly with their pretty DADA teacher, she had shrugged it off. Typical Marauder behavior. But over the last four days, she had noticed that he was watching Miss Greene more carefully than he had ever watched Lily. And that caused her stomach to twist in a rather uncomfortable way.
She didn't like Miss Greene. At first she had been fascinating to watch since Lily had never seen someone like her. But then Miss Greene began to push them against everything they had been taught thus far. She challenged them and was constantly correcting them. She was cold and hard and bitter. She never smiled, never laughed.
But, oh, was she smart. Lily had overheard her explaining some fifth year potions to a third year the other day. Miss Greene had be able to explain why each and every component was necessary to make the potions. Lily hadn't even known half of that.
Being smart was her thing. She knew she wouldn't feel as threatened by Miss Greene if the girl wasn't only a year older.
She buried her head into her pillows as she suddenly realized what her problem was. She wasn't mad about being replaced by Miss Greene. She was mad that James had seemingly moved on.
Jealousy, thy name is Lily.