A/N: This one goes to Diamondheart07, who really wanted an update :D In love with the story, with you readers and the written word.
Disclaimer: (here was my original post and I thought it might be fun to revisit:) First off, I saw Part 2 this past weekend and listened to the soundtrack while writing this. It broke my heart when the movie ended because it was like saying goodbye to my childhood and teen years even though they ended a while ago lol. I am so thankful to Rowling and the movie magic makers for giving us such a powerful story to follow.
PART 2: Hogwarts
Chapter 21
Hidden in the Gray
His nasally voice cracked as he grumbled, "And you're sure about this are you?" The narrowed eyes of the Ravenclaw, a head shorter than him, fixed onto the ticket in his palm.
Smoothly he replied, "Course it is Pince! Would I lie when I've known the bloke all my life?"
The librarian's scrawny nephew grumbled to himself as Pete ushered him away, sounding out a very loud, "Next!"
The line went on and Sirius was already calculating the earnings they were about to make off the upcoming match. If the look on James' face the night before was any indication, ten zillion times wilder than the time Evans spoke civilly to him fourth year. He chuckled as he finished booking the last bet from a pair of hopeful eyed Hufflepuffs.
Everyone trusted the word of Sirius Black, unofficial Hogwarts bookie and self proclaimed opportunist. Remus and James were either too moral or too honest to dabble this far on the edge of law. The one time Sirius tried getting James in on a cut, his best mate boxed his ear and threatened to toss him off his broom.
"All right that's it ladies and gentlemen! Pleasure doing business with you," he announced to the greedy gents before them.
Pete added as he shooed the rest away, wand in hand, "Always remember if it ain't Black it ain't worth shat."
Sirius rolled his eyes at Pete's coined and grammatically incorrect motto. If only Mione could see him now. Sometimes he truly wondered if the rat ever used his brain.
Once the unused classroom was cleared and all trace of Filch lost on the Marauder's Map he set everything into the bottomless pit of his old knapsack. He was rolling up the map when Wormtail returned with a gleam in his pale eyes.
"We gonna cash in this time Padfoot?"
Sirius smirked. "Oh you can bet your sainted mother's bunions on that one Pete." He slung his sack over his shoulder and left through another door that would take them through one of Hogwarts many hidden passages.
Wormtail piped up again, close to his side, "One thing I'm curious about though."
"What's that Pete?" Sirius grinned to himself. It was all too beautiful to mess up really, which is why he kept his trap shut.
"Yesterday you swore James was gonna ruin our chances. Then after Hermione left our common room you were back to being an arrogant bastard again."
Sirius met Pete's grin with one of his own. One reason he loved having Wormtail around was because his mind could be just as devious as a Snake's. "All in good time Pete. Just watch the master and learn."
Pushing the door slowly aside he poked his head slowly from behind the tapestry covering the passage entrance. Dawn peeked through the smoke vents high above, shining a dim morning light below. They had turned up at west end of the castle in another nondescript rarely used hallway on the second floor.
Sirius's stomach was grumbling and his morning crankiness was swept aside at the thought of a mile high stack of pancakes and bacon.
"Gotta go meet up with McKinnon now mate," Pete offered once they had made the turn and began to head towards the Great Hall.
Sirius slung an arm round the shorter Gryffindor. "McKinnon eh? You sly sneak of a rat! You do me proud sometimes Wormtail, you know that?"
Pete nodded to himself, instead of blushing like he usually did, when the kind blonde was mentioned. "Oh really? Yeah…well I try…" Glancing once to meet his friends' eye, Wormtail slipped out of reach and shuffled with his hands in his pants pockets. "See ya at the game Padfoot."
Sirius paused to frown a moment after and mused to himself, "Must be shagging her…"
James was an early riser, unlike himself and Wormtail. With the exception of the morning of the next Quidditch match and his occasional rendezvous with a broom cupboard and his latest bird. So it was no surprise when James came running down the hall at that moment, already dressed in his uniform and obviously recently off the broom, judging by how his black hair stuck up in every direction.
"Padfoot! Wait up!"
Sirius grinned smugly at the dramatic difference in his best mate's demeanor, compared to the drag he had been the last month and a half. They walked to the Great Hall together in step.
"Haven't been tiring too soon before the game have you Prongs?" Sirius innocently inquired.
James blushed deep through his sun warmed skin and grinned goofily. "I don't think anything could do that Pads!" He popped his back with a twist of his arms. "Right now I'm on top of the world and I'm gonna give Selwyn hell for what he pulled last spring."
Sirius flashed a grin every bit as confident and eager. "Hope you leave some of him left to let me in on the fun." Smashing a fist in to his palm, he added, "The git owes me for not cursing his ass onto his face…"
James laughed, "Can't wait to see how you pull off that one!"
"Says the Head Boy. Sure is great to have you back Prongs. Glad we convinced Hermione to ease up enough to waste her time with us yeah?" He was baiting him and his intentions weren't entirely honorable. But he really did need the extra money for his burgeoning enterprise and he did genuinely care to see his best mate happy. Not to mention it was a hell of a lot more fun marauding with Prongs than without him.
A frown crossed James' features and his voice lowered. "She…I thought I should…" Clenching his gloved fists, James glared up at the opposite end of the long corridor and grimaced. "Hermione left after wishing me luck yesterday. You know why she didn't stick around? We were supposed to raid the kitchens for a couple more slices of yesterday's dessert and I—I just wondered if she said anything to you?"
Sirius' eyes widened. Holy shit! He knew that look too well. But he never would have imagined Hermione actually would go through with it! His grin threatened to be just as gregarious as one of James' as he burst. "She ride your broom Prongsie?" Elbowing him was a mistake because James punched him hard on the offending arm.
"Shut it! Hermione's not your usual brand of Witch, Pads and I hate it when you talk like she is!"
Palms up in defeat, he countered, "No need to go spare Prongsie it was a joke!"
Sort of…
James nodded in acceptance and Sirius was beginning to really wonder exactly what Hermione had done to keep her end of the bargain? She'd been in there a while, not too long but long enough he supposed…
Running a hand through his already messy hair, James attempted to explain. "I just can't get her out of my head. It's worse than its been before. I thought I could ignore it but I can't…Pads," He began with a look Sirius had never seen the like of on his face in all the years they'd been friends. And to his amazement, instead of blurting out all the nasty dirty details like he would have in the past, James turned and thrust his wand arm out without hesitation.
Wandlessly, he shouted,"Expelliarmus!"
And the group of Slytherins that had been ready to ambush them scattered.
"Fuck!" Sirius cursed and snatched his wand out of his back jeans pocket and barely managed a protego as a nasty purple hued spell met his shield.
Thus far Sirius had kept to his word and managed to avoid the usual hexing wars with their house rivals. But the more time Hermione spent with the Marauders, the more that itch in the back of his head burned and told him things wouldn't take long to turn nasty. Obviously, since the Snakes dared to attack them before breakfast on the day James was supposed to play the Lions' first match.
Faces masked with the cowl of their cloaks, the bitches put up an outnumbered and unfair fight.
They stood back to back, weaving in and out of one another as James generally attacked first and Sirius took defensive.
Two of the seven were stumbling away after a couple of James' hexes met their face. Rocks crumbled from the ceiling above and fell over their heads as they ran, knocking them to the floor. The other five were incensed at the fall of their brothers and renewed the attack.
They know James is Head Boy. What the fuck are they trying to pull?
"Stupefy!" Sirius cast just as James shouted another wandless, "Obscuro!" Sirius grinned when the Slytherin stumbled into another, hand grasping at his face trying to see. Both of them were laughing now and Sirius turned to stand side by side and offer, "Nice one James!" while dodging a loudly shouted reducto.
"Expelliarmus!" Another of the Snakes' wands flew into James' hand and if his wandless threat was bad enough, with one he was down right scary.
"Incarcerous!" A nearby bitch shouted and both dove to either side of the narrow hall to avoid the robes grasping for them. Without their initial target the ropes latched onto the Slytherin's fallen comrade.
Yet Sirius hissed when a stinging hex grabbed his thigh and turned vengeful to the bastard who just turned and grabbing two of his friends with a quick levitation spell tried running away. "Son of a bitch!"
James laughed, "Is that the best you can do?" His eye met Sirius' and they shared a particularly wicked grin before jumping up and pointing their wands side by side, Sirius' right arm to James' left and shouted together, "Confundo!" It was their personal favorite, because the remaining Death Eaters began to stumble and rush a troubled collective into one another. One simply forgot what he was doing.
"Let's finish them off!" Sirius grumbled eagerly.
"NO." Was his friend's reply as he threw the Slytherin's wand to the floor and walked up to one of the nearby fallen to rip off his mask.
Sirius came to stand at his side and sneered, "That's Travers, one of Snivellus' little friends isn't it? I swear if he set us up!"
James pushed his friend back with a strong yet trembling arm, exposing just how troubled he was by the attack.
Sirius shoved a nearby Slytherin into the ground in his frustration. "Prongs we have to do something! They can't get away with this one!"
A frown contorted James' features and he glanced back at him with the beginnings of a smile. "They won't. And we aren't going to report this. Come on, we need to go, before people notice we aren't at breakfast." By the sudden eagerness in his step, Sirius knew he was thinking about Hermione again.
Staring in disbelief at the wreckage around them, he asked, "How are we gonna explain this?"
James threw back a glance and with a lift of his hand whispered, "Reparo." The stone rushed up to find its place on the castle walls and ceiling above and all that was left was a huddle of confused and unconscious Slytherins covered in dust.
Sirius jogged to match his stride. "Aren't you at least gonna take away House points or something? They could have killed us! Or worse, hexed you till you'd never be able to ride a broom again!"
James rolled his eyes. "Relax Pads. That's what they want us to do. Otherwise they wouldn't attack the Head Boy would they?" He turned calculating, planning, "We need to find out who was behind this and why. There had to be a reason…"
Throwing his arms dramatically around them Sirius tried to walk off the stinging hex still clenching his thigh muscle in uncomfortable ways, "Of course there is, they're fucking Death Eaters! What other reason is there? And we need to go to Dumbledore, tell him exactly what's going on…"
"And tell him why you were here so early when you never get up until five minutes before breakfast?"
Sirius ducked his head sheepishly though not with any less defiance. "Point taken. But don't think I'm gonna let this one go Prongs. You know they've had it out for us ever since third year…"
"And we've been pranking them long before that. There's a million ways they could blackmail us Padfoot. If we give into this, we lose in more ways than one. Not saying I'm not out for blood, but we have to think about the people who don't have any part in this. They're the ones they'll go to next if we rat them out."
"You've gone soft ever since little Miss Dumbledore..." He didn't get to finish because James turned suddenly, grabbed his tee shirt with a fist.
"I've gotten smarter. We've gotta start thinking about this like a war or we're not gonna last five months out there as Aurors. You've seen what they do to those who cross him. We can't keep acting like this only affects us." Letting Sirius go in a huff, James stalked away before Padfoot could see the pain in his eyes.
Sirius grinned and raced to catch up, slapping him on the shoulder. "Okay Prongs. You say wait, we wait, yeah? And I do think about them too you know."
He was talking about Dorea and Charlus who were more like parents to him than his had ever been. He was thinking about Hermione who belonged to James yet Sirius couldn't help but fantasize about himself.
James' grin was slow and his sudden hard weariness washed away. "I know Pads. Come on let's eat. And don't think I'm going to forget about giving Slytherin hell just because we have a game to play."
Sirius laughed, "I would never dream of letting you Prongsie."
"You're a coward Dumbledore…" Hermione thought to herself, clenching and unclenching her fists, pacing up and down the length of her dorm in the hour just after lunchtime.
But it was true. She was a coward and she was beginning to wonder if it was such a crime to admit the truth to herself or not.
A groan from the vanity nearby and clash of cosmetics on its table caused all pacing to cease. "Are you quite finished?" Lefay's narrow gray eyes were mere slits in her mirror.
Hermione raised a single eyebrow imperially. "Forgive me if I was disrupting your daily ritual…"
Desdemona smirked, knowing full well her acquaintance meant otherwise. Setting her hands primly over the mess her temper had just made she twisted to face Hermione in the flesh. "I am simply requesting you do not dig a deeper hole into our floor with your feet."
Hermione waved her hands as if to brush away her words and fell back onto her bed in a huff. "I just happen to have a lot on my mind."
"And if anyone else in Hogwarts caught you talking to yourself like that no one would ever question your relation to our Headmaster." Lefay painted her lips like it was a fine art, the bold red somehow perfectly blending with the black ringlets pinned expertly about her head.
In contrast with Hermione's bushy mane, the latter was only further reminded of all the other women James could easily fall for. She had seen Lily Evans with her emerald eyes and scarlet hair. Even Wilkes once admitted Evans was a hot piece of ass, if Snape would ever lay off enough to share.
"Be careful how you speak of my Uncle, Lefay," Hermione warned, the fire in her golden eyes a blend of cool Pureblooded indifference and fierce loyalty.
Mona grinned, anticipating this reaction. Applying the rest of her makeup the magical way, she replied, "Don't be so easily offended Hermione. I am reminded every day how influential my father's position is. At least people look to that now instead of our family history."
Hermione's eyes paused on the mirror briefly. Mona had never volunteered to discuss her roots in depth. Among Slytherin, such information was simply known. Were Hermione to ask it could potentially betray everything she and Dorea had worked for those last crucial days before term. Because even if she had been privately tutored before now she would already know her family tree and a vague outline of the others.
Remembering Dorea she snatched up the letter still resting on her pillow, torn open the moment she retreated from breakfast in the Great Hall.
More like ran from him.
She shuddered to think how his eyes seared into her, the way her skin heated to burst. Even across the Great Hall she couldfeelthose eyes and where they took the place of the touch he could not give her.
He's probably wondering why the hell you kissed him Dumbledore!
She berated herself and read over Dorea's weekly letter a third time.
'Hermione darling, I am certain that you have realized by now being an escort does not necessitate you should feel pressure to anything other than your duty.
Yet I cannot write without being completely honest with the questions I am certain are rolling about in your head.
My son is not the most secretive of his family. None of the Potters ever had a talent for subtlety. Yet James likes to forget he is half of me as well.
And there will be times when you must sort out the mystery of his actions for yourself.
There will be times when you must trust your heart even when I know you fear to trust your hidden self.
Trust the word of a reformed Black when I tell you I read them like the book.
So does my son. And you my dear are a puzzle too tempting not to try and sort out.
From what I have seen through our correspondence and time together, you have reason to trust the pieces even you do not know.'
She barely registered Mona's donning of her casual robes, and froze when the tall Pureblood appeared at the corner of her bed.
"Are you finished talking to yourself, Dumbledore? I, for one, am ready to watch Ravenclaw slap Gryffindor's ass."
Hermione groaned. Late again. She was supposed to meet up With Remus and Pete before hand so they could sit together. Hermione knew it was a ploy to get her closer to James' line of sight. Sirius had other plans apparently, judging by his disheveled appearance at the table this morning. And the look in Mona's eye gave no room for argument.
"I'm not so sure I should go," she said.
Because all she could think about when she shut her eyes was the way his lips had felt against hers, how his hair was sharp and so soft at once…how he smelled like home and how his heart shone through his eyes so boldly, she had to run away.
It was just supposed to cheer him up. I didn't know he would see it any differently…she tried to rationalize.
"Coming?" Lefay's narrow silver eyes turned beside the door, gloved fingers resting on the old wood. "Would you rather fantasize about Potter in bed or watch him win this match for you?"
"I'm not sure what you mean," she said while inwardly, she panicked.
How could she have known? James didn't say anything did he? If he told Sirius I'll kill him!
Mona rolled her eyes lazily. "Though I find your denial of his obvious affection for you amusing, I am now bored. And we all know what happens when I get bored."
Hermione sighed because Slytherin Ladies never grunted or huffed. They were well bred and if they occasionally lost their cool they recovered in seconds, unlike their ancient rivals. Something Mona had said caught her attention as she followed her friend out the door. "I thought you wanted Ravenclaw to win?"
"Maybe I'm going to this game just to see a miracle?"
Once they entered Slytherin's stands on the pitch the crowd gave way for two of its most wealthy members. Preliminaries were already out of the way and Hermione realized how late they were by the thick of the crowd and the silence dimming the roar of the mob. Slytherin wore blue and bronze only. Many of their House had refused to waste their time "watching a bunch of mudbloods and traitors" toss a quaffle.
She nodded to the necessary acquaintances she passed and rolled her eyes at the obvious attention of annoyingly persistent boys. Wilkes and Macbeth met them at the railing.
Even at the end of summer the north winds sank into her bones and she drew her cloak more firmly over her bare shoulders.
Maybe you should give in and stop wearing the sundresses after all?
"Took you long enough!" Pervincia was in a mood over something, perhaps the brunette flirting with Wilkes on his right. "Lefay I don't know why you spend so much time primping when the wind will ruin it in before the game's finished. It's already started raining!"
Desdemona's only acknowledgement was the slight tilt of her head and otherwise her gaze kept forward. "I am perfectly capable of charming my hair to perfection Macbeth. Were I a lesser Witch, perhaps I would knowingly toss an hour of work aside by not adding the necessary charms."
Ignoring the thick curls blowing madly round her head with each gust, Hermione rolled her eyes as she tuned out the usual argument. The announcements were just beginning and anticipation was building up and boiling over, because she was about to see him again. And she would learn soon enough how Sirius' plans turned out on the field toady.
All good feeling was swept aside the moment Black dared to glare down the Fifth year beside her and take his place. The poor boy scampered away so quickly, she had the fleeting suspicion that he had been planted there.
Regulus Arcturus Black eased into his classmate's spot as though he had been standing there all along. His uneven, chin length hair blew just as madly as Hermione's, yet she couldn't help but catch his sapphire shaded amusement, along with something else Hermione was finding more and more often of late.
She didn't approve. "What are you doing here?"
He leaned forward over the railing on his elbows, fingers clasped together and turned his head to face her. "I thought I was watching a Quidditch match. I am on our House's team you know. And I have to observe the competition when I can."
Bullshit…she swore in her head.
"Your friends seem to have taken another seat further down." She glanced over to the intersection between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Death Eaters seemed to thrive on the promise of confrontation in Hermione's opinion. And she could see many of the Marauder's housemates shifting uncomfortably in their seats beside them.
Oddly enough, Hermione noticed Severus Snape and Lily Evans were standing just the junction of the blurring lines, her hands wrapped round his fist. Hermione blinked to be certain she wasn't imagining how much more relaxed Snape looked in that moment.
Her eyes chose then of all times to find a furious silver pair of orbs, framed with features more obviously handsome than his brothers. Sirius was making deals and slight of hands with other people's money. Yet his attention was fixed firmly on her, more importantly the git beside her.
"I can talk to them anytime I want," Regulus was saying. "But I rarely see you anymore outside of class though Hermione. Why don't you study in the common room like you used to?" Smugly he glanced Sirius' way but paid his brother no more attention.
"I thought you were here to watch a game, not talk to me. I thought I made it clear I didn't need your friendship, or your protection."
And then, in that suddenly serious mysterious way of his, Regulus' brow darkened. The back of his fingers brushing against her bare forearm as he said, "You have been growing careless, spending too much time with those Gryffindorks and the others are beginning to take notice. Despite your Uncle's name, there are those among us who would do anything to rid the world of the traitors you associate with. You may deny my friendship Miss Dumbledore. But we both know you need my protection."
Their eyes met and Hermione felt the same conflict of emotion stir in her gut. Why must he insist on pulling and pushing her every time they met? There were times at the start of term she had considered trusting him! But he had a reputation that rivaled his brothers, far more discreet but impressive for a Fifth Year. It did not help that he already looked older than Sirius, complete with his firmly square chin. An early bloomer in most aspects, it was the lines about his eyes and face, the strained drawn look he masked with charisma that aged him.
His eyes continued to graze hers, always guarded, fingers disappearing into his cloak before she could protest their pressure. The roar of the crowd turned her attention from his presence.
The four balls had been released and the teams flew around the pitch, taking their positions as the snitch and bludger darted about the arena. A familiar burning sensation prickled at the back of her neck and sang in her blood and she knew even though she hadn't seen James he had found her.
Hermione watched the snitch soar into the clouds and when she looked down once again the quaffle had been tossed and the game begun.
James was at the center of the mad fray as mist coated them. His body made an effortless line with his Nimbus. It was no surprise he had already scored ten points with the quaffle, but it was a surprise to see how effortlessly he did it again and again and again.
Fierce concentration and power were behind his every twist and turn. Yet he still laughed each time Selwyn gestured back at him.
Her heart pounded in her chest as the match wore on. The snitch had not been caught yet. But Gryffindor was nearly on their way to winning without needing the snitch either way.
Only once did she dare a glare at Sirius who was grinning wildly and calling out shouts while he gathered more and more money from angry gamblers. Because at that moment Ravenclaw caught the snitch, and the crowd held their breath. James Potter was still laughing in the pitch, avoiding the bludger that kept aiming straight for him.
I swear he has eyes on the back of his head…
"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted Scamander from his stand.
Sirius had better make good on his vow.
He would or everyone would learn how a Black looked bald. Hermione allowed one very Slytherin-ish smirk grasp her lips. She barely registered the curses and groans of every one of her House Mates. Most of them, she noticed, had already left along with a good portion of sour faced Ravenclaws.
Wilkes was yelling, "Aw fuck! Come on what the hell was that?"
"Curb your barbarity Wilkes," Desdemona seethed.
Pervincia pouted while entangling herself in Wilkes' arm. "Oh how they can live with the shame is beyond me! All thanks to James bloody Potter!" Yet when her eyes met Hermione's she winked yet again.
Hermione wanted very much to throw her into the pitch. She could only pray Regul-Black had not noticed. Yet when she turned to find out he was already gone.
The field was covered in a sea of gold and reds. James and his Nimbus were hoisted above their heads along with the rest of the Gryffindor team. Somehow Sirius ended up on shoulders beside James as well and Hermione had to shake her head and smile at the sight. Pete jumped up into Remus' arms and the taller Marauder punched the smaller one senseless for daring.
While watching the party that was already beginning and likely to last the rest of the evening, she felt another cold wind gust. Shivering against the cold she fought the chill of unexpected loneliness.
Follow your heart…Dorea had said.
Hermione watched the boy who had saved her life only a month ago laughing and now searching wildly in the sea of faces for something.
Someone.
Breath hitched in her throat as she tightened her grip against the railing. His search ended the moment his eyes found her alone in the stands and slowly, both their smiles began to fade. As Gryffindor carried their Captain away from the pitch, he disappeared into their sea of chants and song.
Hermione shook her head. So much for clarity. She had been hoping to see something, to be reassured she hadn't stepped too far. Even though a part of herself was beginning to admit that she wanted to kiss him, not just because Sirius conned her into it.
Her past had not become any less dim since her arrival at Hogwarts. And Uncle Albus was unsuccessful in all his attempts to break into her mind piece by piece. More than once they had ended on the floor in pain. Once the barrier round her mind fought back enough to send the aged Wizard across the room into a bookshelf.
That unknown frightening blood stained past was tucked safely away. She was free to follow his advice and find happiness in the here and now. She studied hard to become the best student possible, even though the material bored her. Slytherin tried many times to induct her into its darkest circles. Lefay and Macbeth helped her keep her sanity and find some amusement at their housemates expense. Letters from Dorea and occasionally Charlus lightened her load. Meetings with Albus softened the hard edges of her structured mask. Yet it was her time with the Marauders when she laughed and genuinely smiled.
Although she didn't want to admit it, every part of who she was now was connected in some way to James. Being with him was what made her happiest of all.
"But what does that mean?" she whispered aloud, turning to face the bite of the northern. The sun was setting after the long and relatively short match.
Lefay knew Hermione well enough now to know she needed some time alone. Her excuse during breakfast was that she had loads of studying to devote her afternoon to. Everyone in Slytherin was well acquainted with how seriously Hermione took her studies by now. Little did they know the text in books still made her head swim with never ending photographic clarity.
The sun was setting with a brilliant burst of color, stealing her breath away. The rose hue burn deeper before shading a softer pink and rusty violet. Yet it was the colors most people had never seen before that stole her breath. Showers of golden sparks and half blues and greens, shades of a spectrum she was not familiar with, exploded with the descent of the sun. As if seeing all the hidden hues black overshadowed and white overwhelmed at once.
Mist made her find use of her head and pull away from the out of doors, accompanied by a grumbling stomach in need of feeding. She rushed down towards the dining hall. Loud music and cheers erupted in the direction of Gryffindor tower and she shook her head at their stupidity.
Ever heard of a simple silencing charm?
She was tempted to pass by to cast it herself but did not want the risk of running into him right now. Hermione did well enough to collect her thoughts on a consistent basis without these new recent revelations. Besides, she was going to be starving before too long and hadn't eaten since breakfast. She forced herself to walk because a Slytherin Pureblooded Lady never ran. Casting a drying charm over her hair, along with another borrowed from Dorea to tame it into softer ringlets, she started to feel normal again.
It was as she passed by a lumpy tapestry of what looked to be two of the founders in the midst of some historical battle that the hall cleared empty. Her eyes followed it as she past and Hermione gasped as she collided into something high broad and hard and was swept off of her feet and twirled many times in the air.
"Hermione! I've been looking everywhere for you!" James' face was suddenly level with hers, grin perfect and brilliant as ever, eyes alight with testosterone, ego and nothing less than could be called passion. Added to this disconcerting observation, he had yet to set her down again. One hand clutched her bum to keep her weight even and the other round her back as he brought them to a halt.
His excitement was contagious and she grinned. "You did it! I knew you would do it!" It only seemed natural to wrap her arms around his neck. They were friends after all, safely in the role she had given her savior.
"Only because of you!" He looked at her in wonder.
Her hand came to caress his dirty cheek. "You haven't showered yet have you?"
His grin widened. "Trying to tell me I smell?" At her scrunched nose he laughed. "I haven't had time. They were trying to pour Firewhiskey down my throat the moment we came in and it was everything I could do to get away from Padfoot."
"I don't want you to miss your party."
He shook his head, grin softening, but the light in his eyes burning brighter. And with her new eyes Hermione saw depths of color in his, she had never known before. "I had to come find you first. I'm not drinking one lick of that rubbish unless you're right next to me."
"I can't go in that common room James!" She gasped at the traitorous thought.
Brow raised, he laughed at the challenge. "Anyone has anything to say about it they can go to hell! It's our party Mione and I'm making sure everyone knows it."
She laughed because his laughter was contagious, much as the joy that always seemed to hover round him like an unstoppable juggernaut. When her fingers ran through her hair his gaze darkened considerably. What had been light hazel eyes turned into something dark as the Forbidden Forest and bright as burnished silver.
She breathed, "You're the reason they won the match. They won't want a Snake with them."
"I want you damn it!"
She had seen how quickly his temper could flare, should have seen it coming, but was unprepared for his reaction. Because his arms tightened suddenly, fingers digging into her backside, pressing her roughly to the tapestry covered wall, body keeping hers in place so his free hand could roam. It dug into her cloak and smoothed over her hip, up to lightly graze her breast. She gasped at the contact, instinctively pressed her hips against his, dug her fingers into his shoulders, shut her eyes to find control of her senses.
"Look at me," He commanded, voice rough and tender at once. And as she did, she saw his intent too late. He didn't attack her lips like she expected he might. He wasn't slow and hesitant as she was either. Instead they ghosted over the skin of her cheek, seemed to breathe her in, steal her breath as he explored her mouth.
She moaned at the aching pleasure that began in her core and spread through every nerve of her body. All thought faded the moment he smiled and trembled with barely restrained will. James gasped when she thrust herself into the kiss. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she dug her fingers into his black hair.
She couldn't have explained this need to be close to him, to savor every touch like it were their last. She didn't know why she instinctively threw all caution and fears to the wind and told her inner Hermione to shove it. Because she knew without a shadow of doubt, with what she dared to hope to own, she wanted him.
His tongue grazed her lips, plunged in to stroke each crevice of her mouth. She opened quickly to him, sighed at the rush of feeling she had never known the strength of before.
This is what we live and die for…she absently wondered.
James' free hand reached up to tangle into her hair and pull her in closer. When she thrust her hips against his a strangled groan escaped from the back of his throat and the southward rush of blood began to rise in evident ways. James was secretly terrified he didn't deserve this. That she had every right to run away because he was taking advantage of her. But oh gods he wanted this, had wanted this long before he met her.
She was silk and fire and warmth that was snaking against him and doing terribly wonderful things to his body. His heart pounded in his chest and soared in a way only she did better than flying.
He hadn't planned on kissing her. Not that he could think about anything else but her lips even during the game. And when the map showed him where to find her, he had to use his cloak to sneak out and find her.
He had to see her. Watching Reggie Black and all those other Snakes crushing her between them, seeing the way she watched him made something snap inside of him. It had been far worse than the moment he saw Lily holding Snape's hand tightly in her own and realized exactly what it meant.
Without thinking of the consequences, whether or not she intended her kiss to be for luck or not, he knew he wanted her in his arms the moment he found her in the halls. Once she was in his arms all the rush of post game adrenaline and simply the way he was with her took over. He didn't fight it this time.
Damn it all to hell if she tries.
He'd had enough of pretending and wasting time. Remus was right. His Mum was right in her letters. The Daily Prophet reminded him every morning that one day her past would catch up to them and on that day he could lose her.
He did want her. He hadn't known how much until she kissed him last night and stole the last reserve he'd built trying to protect her.
And so James Potter let himself feel.He crushed her between the wall and him, anything to bring her closer. If this was the last time that he kissed her he wanted it to count, to brand this into both their memories as something neither of them could ever forget. And he whispered a prayer each time his lips drew hers between his, every time he caressed the nape of her neck and answered her soft sounds with everything left in his sore muscles. He prayed that she could be his and he would belong only ever to her. He would die to himself if it meant he could keep the war away from her and keep her past from haunting her anymore.
James was no fool. He knew when that torturous withdrawn look reclaimed her and what it meant. It appeared whenever she was the most happy, like a thief for her joy. And it always left James with the unparalleled urge to kill the thing responsible for that look.
He knew that giving into Hermione also meant giving in to a darker side of himself, one that he kept buried from everyone except for Moony. To protect her from the darkness that clung to her even now, James had to bleed into the gray in between and anchor himself to her.
Of course he didn't think about any of these things until later. Not when her legs were so tightly wrapped around his torso and her tongue teasing his.
Oh Godric I think I'm gonna lose it if she doesn't stop doing that…
He pulled away and they both gasped, staring at one another with opposite reactions. His jaw was ready to fall off with this much smiling.
She looked scared shitless with her golden eyes dark as pitch, lips red and tears on her cheeks.
He wanted to say something clever, something romantic, something brilliant and witty, something to win her over. James knew that the best snog of his life and a painful hard on didn't come close to meaning he'd won her.
They had the Gala event to deal with the first of the month, an event they were only going to as friends. And if the rest of the school found out there would be hell to pay, at least for Hermione. She didn't know it yet, but her House was just as awful to have on your bad side as his.
If anything he had just made things a lot harder on her. Yet he ignored the bulge in his pants and the unanswered need that only her lips and her touch would satisfy. He made himself stop not because he could, but because he had to.
For her…
They shared the same space of breath in a silence that was too fragile and too deep for words. His thumb wiped the tears from her cheeks in a caress and a wild thought jumped into his mind. "Come with me," he said.
Wind swept through her bound hair, desperately trying to tug it free from its constraints. The stars burned so much brighter here, like shards of tiny glass pieced on a velvet cloak. In she and James' astronomy class, they had discussed how some believed the stars could actually sing to the watcher, not just foretell the future.
She clung to James' broad chest, finding comfort round his narrow waist and willingly pressed herself tightly against it. She savored in each twist and dip he took them, every time they slowed to hug the world above the thin clouds. In all their short time together, she had never felt him use the sort of confidence and strength he now wielded.
The north winds peeked through her clothes till her only source of warmth was in the boy in front of her.
When they sat at last on top of the world, above the Forbidden Forest, overlooking the lamplit castle and the stars mirrored on the Black Lake she clung even tighter and tried not to think how high they were. Shakily, she asked, "Is this what you wanted to show me?" She couldn't help but smile when one hand moved to cover both of hers and he twisted his head to tempt her with a cocky grin.
"This is part of it, love." And after a brief silence where she let her cheek rest against his shoulder blade and felt happier than she feared she ever would again, he said, "Mione…I've never had a way with words like Sirius…"
"But you do!" she insisted, indignant that he could compare himself.
James grinned, never tearing his gaze from their small corner of the world. "Maybe some, but I'm talking about girls, not just charm." He shook his head. His hand pressed her arms closer to his stomach and he sighed when she squeezed tighter. Neither of them had given the other permission for this or felt the need to. Maybe because they had fallen into it so naturally? Or maybe because they secretly feared talking about it would change everything.
James let out a shaky sigh. "You have no idea what you do to me, Mione…"
She smiled. "Not a way with words?"
His laugh was almost bitter and frustrated, "Will you quit interrupting me so I can get through this? It's hard enough to think with you this close you know."
She nodded and bit her lip to contain the laughter bubbling up in her throat.
"Good," he said, though not without his own inflection of humor. "Mione I don't wanna screw this up…I know in the beginning I was only claiming you to protect you but I'm not so brilliant as I seem. The only things I've ever been good at are flying and…and…" He stumbled when she slid her palms further up his chest, fought for control. "Sweet Slytherin will you stop doing that?"
"Doing what?" she teased, wondering innately where this confident and bold Hermione had come from. But she was having too much fun to rein her in.
"You know what!" he cried and twisted round to narrow his eyes at her, barely masking the lust behind it, his laughter, his joy. "If you don't quit I won't show you the surprise and we can both just sit up here till we freeze."
In her iciest tone, she hissed, "You wouldn't dare…"
James Potter loved a challenge. He loved even more when she was the one giving it. "Never threaten when you have nothing Dumbledore."
Holding her lower lip between her teeth she slid her hands once again, lower than the good girl in her would have dared. Once again something had taken hold of Hermione, just like the moment he grabbed her in the castle. And some sense of urgency warned her not to fight it anymore or she would regret letting him go.
Sitting up a little further on his broom, using his chest to steady herself she slipped up against his neck and pressed her lips to the skin just behind his ear. "Don't be so sure I don't."
He visibly shuddered at her touch, shivered when she didn't stop. "H-Hermione…" More firmly, "Mione!" His rough, sudden laughter carried her along with it. Giving in with a shake of his head, he said, "Fine you asked for it Witch!"
Her scream echoed behind their vertical plummet to the earth. If it had been anyone other than James Potter, she would say they were about to crash straight for the prickly gray of the Forbidden Forest below them. At just the last second they broke through the uppermost branches. Beneath the canopy, the trees wove between their trunks faster than should be possible.
Her scream died in her throat the moment they entered the ancient wood. Still, she held on for dear life, wondering vaguely how he seemed to know his path so well or how he managed not smashing into the dozens of shadow drenched trunks. When the stray branch of one reached just past her cheek, Hermione shut her eyes and tried not to blanch but rather savor the rush.
"You can let go of me now love," he said with a chuckled and surprised her with their sudden almost effortless stop.
Cracking open an eye, she took in the clearing he had led them to. The grass gleamed silvery indigo and waved softly against the stone circle they hovered among. Curiosity stealing the freefall shock arresting her limbs, Hermione practically rushed to scramble off of her Wizard and stumbled awkwardly on her feet. He was at her side and steadying her arm almost instantly.
She couldn't look away from the monolith circle. It was a strange, eerily silent place, rather than cursed by the howls and moans as the rest of the forest. Within the circle the stars shone brighter and the stones were cut in different shapes, some round, others square, others twisting pillars and what looked more like the ruins of something even older.
Hermione had a sense that once she had searched deeply for traces of places like this, places of ancient magic. From behind the veil of her hidden memories the words rose before her.
The most ancient and powerful of magics was love.
How had the first wizards used this? Did it all come down to an subconscious act of pure will? Or was it something more? Did they once have the ability to use and only in later times lost it? Something tickled at the back of her mind that she should know, that she did know about this ancient magic.
And something powerful in this place tugged at her own powerful, cursed magic. The wand in its holster burned against her skin, begging to be released. She shoved the urge back down with an iron will. She still hadn't gotten used to handling the thick darkened wood without leaning on her wandless magic again. With the wand, her spells came too quick, too powerfully, even after all her hours of practice.
Turning her attention to the ruin and the wizard standing so near, Hermione peered closer. Precious stones marked odd swirling patterns all over the ruin and her hand reached out to touch one.
His hand snatched hers back just in time and she sent him a silent reprimand. His hazel eyes gleamed, as though understanding her curiosity. "Look, but try not to touch. Otherwise you'll get a nasty hex that won't fade for at least a week."
"What is this place?" she asked. Leaving her hand in his, she turned once more to take in the secret ruin.
He led her through the maze. "I'm not exactly sure to be honest. Obviously it's ancient, built way before the castle but I haven't found anything in the library that suggest any Wizards lived here before the Founders. My guess is they came here to protect something."
"Protect something."
His mouth tilted up into a side along grin. "Yeah. Why put such strong defensive spells over it? Nasty hex, remember? Took me weeks to get feeling back in my arm again. Almost missed the first match of the season that year…"
While he laughed over the memory, fresh thoughts began to turn her attention to the man in front of her as he wrapped his free hand round her waist. "This is your special place isn't it?"
His eyes gleamed and he nodded. "Was always breaking the rules when I was younger. I loved Hogwarts but it was a mistake for them to call this the Forbidden Forest. Drew me like a magnet to it. Even Sirius thought I was mental and wouldn't go near it 'cept during Kettleburn's class. Was a good thing I disobeyed the rules though so don't give me that look Miss Dumbledore! Besides, it paid off later on for other reasons…"
Here he looked away from her piercing eyes, filled with that one secret Hermione had often seen on all the boys' faces.
"I'm the only one who knows about this place. It won't let centaurs or anything else in because of some kind of magical shield. That's how I figured Wizards built it. And I swear I'm not that brilliant. Took me forever to figure out what I told you. For the longest time I came here when I needed to be alone." He grimaced and Hermione wondered the immense pain behind that one look. "But I did learn a few things once I started coming here. After the first time it hexed me I found one that didn't have the same affects. Couldn't do any wand magic, just this…"
They had come to the center of the ruins, to a stone structure lovingly carved into a sweeping arch. Taking her hand in his he reaching out he placed their hands into the air between it and grinned.
She hesitated. "What are you doing?"
"Just trust me," he reassured, eyes sparkling with mischief.
Eyebrow arched, she lightly sighed and allowed him to push her hand forwards. Rather than let go of her fingers once they pushed through, however, he seemed rooted suddenly to her skin and frowned. Hermione rolled her eyes when nothing happened.
If this is one of his tricks, I swear on Salazar's nightgown...
The cursed Witch gasped when the walls surrounding her mind clenched and made her double over in pain. Grasping her head with her free hand, eyes screwed shut, she thrust back and nearly bumped heads with James on the way up as a whole new set of sensations overtook her.
A burst of pure feeling filled her soul. Their hands were held by an invisible, unyielding force, yet they shook with the effort to escape. Her eyes widened and fixed firmly onto his, filled with knowing. An equally troubled yet passionate feeling filled his hazel orbs and soon there was nothing else surrounding them. There was nothing else but fear, anger, desire, but need and a thousand other emotions that filled the gap of distance between them and drew them tightly together.
Judging by James' expression, he was just as surprised as she was. Whatever the arch had been charmed to do before, he hadn't expected this. It was only supposed to show a dark reflection of the future. He too grimaced beneath the full weight of the ancient magic roaring about them, pushing them closer together. It wasn't doing anything that either of them didn't want it to do, yet it was searing them too deeply. It was daring to change things that were not meant to be so radically changed.
Hermione gasped with the effort to breathe past he weight of her own feelings, all the angst and longing and sorrow she couldn't remember feeling and foreign emotions that blended with her own. Above the resignation was an honor will bound determination that held the darkness at bay. Despair she had never known made her clutch on to James with her other hand.
His eyes were clouded with things he too had never felt before, yet he felt more than ever before he had to have her closer. The moment her fingers brushed the skin of his neck a burst of fresh emotion filled him and his arm wrapped around her waist, drawing her flush against him.
She trembled with the double force of his emotions when his lips brushed hers and tasted the foreign, ancient magic that swelled and burst and consumed their own. The roar that had filled their ears was instantly gone, pressure of feeling dissipated until all she heard was his heart beating wildly in his chest in time with her own.
Hermione blinked as her vision blackened and came back to life.
They had stumbled to the earth once the arch released them, upright only because James held her up in his arms. As she took a shaky breath, drank in the night air and his rich overwhelming smell, felt his magic tangling still with her own, she exhaled. "James..." She gasped and felt her tears stream down her cheeks. Whatever reserve she had felt before was brushed aside. Whatever affection she felt for the Wizard in front of her doubled into something new.
Pushing back against his chest, she tilted her head back to look into his curiously dark eyes. There was something different in them than there had been before, something she hadn't been able to see.
He breathed heavily, gruffly wondered aloud, "What the hell was that?" His need to protect overshadowed the sudden, unquenchable thirst he had for the Witch in his arms. Or maybe it was because of this need he forced his mind to focus on the larger problem.
Neither of them understood exactly what had happened and even afterwards wouldn't be able to describe just what transpired on that strange starry night.
He escorted her to her dormitory afterwards and couldn't bring himself to admit he might have done something to make her situation worse. Because though she was feeling so intensely beyond all restrictions of logic and questioning everything she knew for what he had just shown her, James Potter felt the first tremors of ancient magic now embedded in his soul. Now that the dormant was unleashed, he was struggling with more than the constant need to touch her, though he wouldn't realize it until much later.
Neither of them talked about their kiss or that night inside the ruin, when he called on the stars, after that. Like many things it remained a present phantom between them, better left unsaid.
Review: Though this is much shorter than you deserve, there is a larger chunk coming. In the end, this chapter seemed like it needed to stand on its own. Thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! I'm not abandoning the story, just in case anyone thinks so! Hopefully I will be able to go back to a once a week or at least every other week pace after this :)
For now, what is your opinion of what just happened between James and Hermione? And how do you think it will affect them in the future? Or rather the future itself lol?