Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The Marauders IV

Remus was slowly waking up when he heard light footsteps on the floorboards. The sound was barely there but with his keen sense of hearing, he could detect it and tell that those weren't Prongs', Padfoot's or Wormtail's steps. He peeled his eyes open, shielding the sunlight with his arm and groaning as he pulled himself up. There was a squeak and he looked up to find a very familiar girl with bushy brown hair, looking at him with a cross between a horrified and a mortified expression.

Remus blinked and squinted his eyes, recognising the girl immediately. "Hermione?" He blurted out in disbelief.

Hermione blushed, fiddling with the gold chain around her neck. "Err, good morning, Remus."

Remus blinked again. He could hardly believe that Hermione Granger was standing in the middle of his dormitory, only wearing a red jersey shirt that Remus could recognise anywhere. He couldn't be mistaken; it was James'. He groaned and rubbed his face.

"Please tell me that you didn't have sex with him," Remus pleaded with another pained groan.

Hermione impossibly turned even redder. "Of course not!" She denied vehemently. "I— we — uhh..."

"Who had sex with who?" Sirius questioned, yawning and scratching his bed head. He blinked his eyes at Hermione for a moment or two before his silver eyes widened and he yelped as he pulled his blanket up to his bare chest. "What are you doing here?!"

"Trying to leave undetected," Hermione quipped. "Although I can see that I failed miserably."

"How did you even get here?" Remus questioned, trying not to ogle her exposed legs, which Sirius had no problem doing.

They both wondered if she was only wearing that shirt and nothing else. They exchanged looks.

"Well, uh, James and I," Hermione began in discomfort. "We, uh, he surprised me last night because it was our first month anniversary. Well, it's still our anniversary today."

"Aww," Sirius cut her off, cooing, "congratulations!"

"Thanks." Hermione smiled, tension melting away from her shoulders. "Uh, anyway, it had gotten so late or early, it depends, that we decided to stop by here instead and get some sleep after convincing me that I could easily sneak out in the morning."

"Well, you were bad at sneaking out," Remus said. "Even the dead could hear your footsteps, Hermione."

Sirius slowly smiled. "Wait, so, you're saying that you slept in James' bed?"

"Yes, we slept in his bed but that was only that. We didn't do anything else other than sleep," she proclaimed in irritation.

"Then, why are you wearing his Quidditch jersey then?" Sirius pointed out, smirking at her.

Hermione reddened but looked ired. "I was cold. Your dormitory is colder than mine so James let me borrow his jersey. It's not as if I'm naked underneath."

"Prove it then," Sirius said, which earned him a thrown pillow from Remus that landed on his side. "Ouch! Hey! I was just asking!" He added when he saw Remus' glare.

"What's happening?" Peter grumbled as he rubbed his eyes and sat up on his bed. "Why are you all talking so loud?"

"Hermione's here," Remus informed him.

"Hermione's here— huh? Wait, what?" Peter blushed when Hermione waved tentatively at him. He inched his blanket to his chest, looking extremely embarrassed if his red ears were a hint. "What's Hermione doing here?"

"Leaving after shagging Prongs." Sirius grinned wickedly.

"WHAT?!"

"Padfoot!"

"I absolutely did not!"

Sirius grinned at their simultaneous reply. It was in that moment when the curtains around James' bed opened and they all turned to the Quidditch captain who was kneeling on the bed with his rumpled hair, sleepy eyes, and bare chest. Hermione yelped and covered her eyes, lips quivering as Remus, Sirius and Peter stared at James.

"Not shagging, huh?" Sirius snickered.

"What's happening?" James questioned with a yawn.

"You didn't tell me you slept without a shirt on!" Hermione spluttered, still covering her eyes.

James paused when he saw his girlfriend standing in the middle of a boy's dormitory. "It isn't what it looks like," he told his friends.

"How dare you corrupt Hermione!" Peter cried out, looking enraged as well as wanting to cry. "Shame on you, Potter!"

James gaped at him. "We didn't do anything!" He insisted. "Hermione, tell them."

"That's what I've been trying to tell them." Hermione gritted her teeth. "Can you put your shirt on? Please?"

James grinned but complied, taking the shirt that he chucked at the foot of his bed and slipping it into his head. "I'm decent, Pumpkin."

Hermione slowly took off her hand from her eyes as if she was making sure that her boyfriend was not just playing her. She let out a relieved breath when she found him with a shirt on. "Thank you, James."

"So, are you going to explain or not?" Remus demanded sternly, his eyebrows raised.

"I met up with Hermione last night," James frowned, thinking, "or very early in the morning. Probably the latter since it was midnight then. Anyway, since it was too early and Hermione was especially tired, I decided to let her sleep in my bed since the Gryffindor tower is closer than her dorm. When we got to the tower, Hermione was shivering so I let her borrow my jersey to warm her up. And then we slept."

"How come I never heard you two?" Remus demanded.

"I silenced our footsteps," James answered.

"And how did you end up without a shirt on?" Hermione's voice was a warning sign that cautioned him to tread carefully. "Last time I checked, you were wearing one."

James blushed and rubbed his nape. "Uh, I don't sleep well with a shirt on and your body was like a furnace, Pumpkin. I'd be sweating if I had clothes on. So, when you were sleeping, I just tugged it off."

"Ehem. Excuses," Sirius coughed, smirking at them.

James stuck his tongue out at him as Remus sighed. Peter was still glaring at James, thinking that he was corrupting Hermione's innocence.

"So, how do we do this?" Sirius clapped his hands once and elaborated when he saw their confused expressions. "Well, the others in the tower are likely waking up in this hour. How are we going sneak Hermione out?"

"Sirius is surprisingly right," Remus remarked, ignoring Sirius' frown. "We don't want any rumours to spread around in school that Hermione spent the night here. It'll look bad in her part."

James hummed. "Why don't we just fly again?"

"The sun is rising, Hermione will be seen," Remus said, looking out the window.

"What about a Disillusionment charm?" Hermione suggested.

"That's a very advance spell." Remus pursed his lips in thought.

"What does it do?" Peter asked.

"It makes the target blend in its surroundings like a chameleon," Hermione explained in her lecture voice.

"That might've come in handy when we go pranking and don't have the Invisibility Cloak." Sirius whistled. "Have you tried that before?"

"Nope. This'll be the first time. If I fail we're going to use the Cloak."

"Why not use the Cloak now?" James enquired.

"Because I want to try an advance spell, that's why." Hermione shrugged and then brandished her wand. She tapped herself in the head and the Marauders watched as Hermione slowly faded into their surroundings. "Well? Can you still see me?"

"Nope!" Sirius chirped, popping the p. "You're as invisible as my underwear since I'm not wearing one right now."

Remus groaned. "We do not need to hear that."

There was a noise of disgust from Hermione's spot. "Well then, boys, off I go!"

They all heard light footsteps, signalling that Hermione started walking. James made a startled sound when he felt something soft on his cheek and he smiled goofily. thinking that Hermione must've kissed him goodbye. Then the footsteps were gone and they all turned to James who was staring at the door, looking in daze.

"Hey, Prongs!" Sirius yelled at him before throwing a pillow at his face.

"Ow!" James yelped and glared at his friend. "What now?"

"So, what does it feel like to have a woman in your bed?" Sirius grinned suggestively. "Especially someone like Hermione, your girlfriend?"

James reddened and threw the pillow back at Sirius who was laughing as he caught it. Remus shook his head before falling back to bed whilst Peter was already snoring in his.

Sirius continued grinning. "Was it hard?" He waggled his eyebrows.

"Padfoot!" Remus said sharply.

"What?" Sirius shrugged. "Is it wrong to ask?"

"Shut up, Pads," James grumbled.

"Aww, come on, tell us!" Sirius whinged, pouting like a three years old.

They all ignored him.

A/N: The Marauders' POVs are my favourite. What's yours?

I won't be updating on the 24th and 25th but I will resume publishing chapter 39 on the 26th. For the first time since writing this fic, I am experiencing a writer's block. My muse has left me and I hope that she comes back to help me write Dorea's POV because I am stuuuuck. Hopefully, by 26th, I'm done with Dorea's POV.

Advance Merry Christmas everyone! Reviews are welcomed!

~ NR xx