Greetings Everyone! 50 CHAPTERS WHOAH!
New chapter, I hope you like it, please leave a review and tell me what you think!
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the Harry Potter Universe, not me!
Remus' POV
Weeks went by and the warm summer air turned brisk and cold as October fell upon them. Remus found his seventh and final year at Hogwarts to be someone tame compared to his others. He wasn't sure if it was due that he and the rest of his tight knit friend group had matured, or because they had lost their certain aurora of moxie that they had possessed in their earlier lives. Remus was almost certain it was the former, it was impossible to lose something that was a part of you, or at least he thought it was pretty hard too.
Remus rolled over in his bed and pulled the large crochet blanket that his mother had made him over his head, attempting to block out Peter's repetitive wheezes. With the blanket failing miserably, Remus grabbed a nearby pillow and held it over his ears, a last ditch effort at drowning out his friend's snores.
When the pillow failed immensely, Remus ripped the pillow off of his head and sent it flying in his sleeping friend's direction.
"Ouch!" Peter's snoring hitched and he grumbled out a reply. "Who did that?"
"It definitely wasn't me," Remus said dryly and then groaned. "And I definitely didn't do it because you obviously do not have a breathing condition that Madam Pomfrey should clearly not check out." Remus sarcastically retorted. He didn't do mornings well to begin with, add in a loud and snoring Peter—it made for a grumpy Remus.
"Oh, okay…" Peter blinked from his bed and then sat up. Remus wasn't expecting the pillow that came soaring threw the air at him and hit him lazily in the face. From Sirius' bed, Sirius sighed loudly.
"Peter, I'll have none of that in my room." He told his pudgy friend, and then he turned to Remus. "And you Moony, too much sarcasm much too early. Try and tone it down, please." Sirius said with a smirk and Remus rolled his eyes.
"Ahah!" James cried from his bed as he sat up and pointed at Remus. "That right there was too much sass, no eye rolling allowed! Ten points from Moony!" He cried out into the early morning. Remus flinched and ran a hand through his curls.
"Stop yelling!" Remus shouted back at James, who had found his glasses on the bedside table and was wearing an impeccable smirk.
"Twenty points from Moony!" James announced loudly to the room. Remus' mouth fell open and he frowned.
"You can't—"
"Thirty points!" Peter cried from his bed, and James nodded his head approvingly.
"Shut up—"
"FORTY POINTS!" Sirius screamed and Remus dead panned at the four boys.
"I'm going to—"
"FIFTY POINTS FROM MOONY!" James yelled at the top of his lungs, sending the other two boys into complete hysterics. After a few moments of breathy laughter, Remus swallowed and cleared his throat.
"I'm going to shower," Remus paused and waited for one of them to interrupt, but they remained silent. "I'll meet you in the common room?" He raised a brow and James nodded his head eagerly with a smirk. His hazel eyes dancing over to Sirius', and they both shared a knowing look. Remus ignored it however and made his way out of his dorm room. Once he shut the door, he swore he could hear them burst into a blatant guffaw.
As Remus turned the shower all the way to the left, the scorching water poured out of the faucet in inconsistent patterns, falling onto the shower floor in an unrhythmic melody of noise. The water hit Remus' skin lightly and then hard, lightly and then hard. Remus rather enjoyed the shower. It was a place where he could let himself go for once, not have to worry about exposing one of his many scars that would raise questions.
He let the water hit his face and then slowly drip off, falling down onto the tile floor. Remus did a lot of his thinking in the shower as well. He thought about Hermione, and he thought a lot about the war that was storming on outside of the castle. Just last week, a kid had been sent home because of a death in his family, and it was rumored that it had been due to a Death Eater attack.
He knew that Hermione was sent back here to defeat Voldemort, or to at least die trying. Remus knew that Dumbledore had given Hermione a large favor by letting her live a life her next two years at Hogwarts. It made Remus feel a sense of gratitude for Dumbledore, for him sharing Hermione with the rest of them, for letting them enjoy her presence for as long as they could. But Hermione was sent here on a mission, and as much as Remus hated to admit it, the mission came before him.
The problem with Dumbledore letting Hermione stay, was that Remus had grown attached and he was almost certain everyone else had as well. Hermione had made a life here, and Remus was a massive part of it. He didn't want to lose her; she was his mate, another extension of himself. There was no one he had ever felt closer with, if he lost her, Remus would lose a part of himself.
As the water dripped down his scarred torso, Remus sighed loudly. He lifted up his hand and traced it over the mark Hermione had gifted him with. His hand delicately walked over the scar, tracing every indent and crease, and he thought of his mate once again. Remus found it odd that Hermione's mark had remained on his body. If it was just a regular human bite, it definitely would have faded by now, or even completely disappeared. But instead, the mark remained a silvery color, much like his other scars that stood out against his pale skin. Remus figured it had something to do with Hermione being his mate. Although she wasn't a werewolf like him, she had similar tendencies of a wolf due to being claimed and marked by Remus. Maybe Hermione was more wolf than either of them had initially thought.
A sudden rapt on the door brought Remus out of his thoughts.
"Oi, mate! Hope you're done wanking in there; we have to get to class soon! Slughorn will have our arses' if we're late again!" Sirius' voice called from the other side of the door. Remus rolled his eyes at his friend's brass words.
"Coming!" Remus called as he rinsed off quickly and then hopped out of the shower. He patted himself dry and then hastily threw on his uniform and robes. Remus scurried out of the bathroom where the three other boys were lounging.
"Alright, we better get going before Slughorn curses us," James said hastily as he led the way out of the Gryffindor common room.
Sirius held his hand up to his forehead in mock salute and nodded his head curtly. "Aye Aye Head Boy," Sirius said and the pulled his hand away quickly and clicked his heals together, causing Remus and Peter both to sputter out a stifled laugh.
Despite the risk of showing up late, the Marauders strolled through the corridors lazily and at ease, seemingly not in a hurry of any sort. They appeared at Slughorn's right on time, and Remus' stomach tingled as he spotted Hermione near the front of the room sitting by Marlene. She grinned at him and then motioned towards his hair. Remus' hand shot up quickly and rubbed down a particular odd curl that was sticking straight up. Hermione nodded her head quickly with a large smile, the mischievous glint never leaving her eyes.
Remus made his way towards the back of the room and sat down next to Sirius, instantly noticing a mysterious cauldron that was sitting in between them on their desks. Remus casted a quick glance around the room and soon found that every desk had a small cauldron on it. Sirius seemed to notice the same thing, because he raised an eyebrow at the cauldron, then at Remus.
"It appears," Slughorn called from the front of the room. "That some of you have grown rather curious about the suspicious potion that sits on your desks." Slughorn reached a hand up to his rather large mustache and stroked it, a gesture that Remus always found hilarious.
"Today," Professor Slughorn addressed the class. "We have a bit of a competition." At the news of this, Slytherin and Gryffindor students suddenly perked up, giving their professor their undivided attention.
"Quite an easy one, no doubt if you just use your brain," Slughorn added. "The first pair, who correctly guesses what the potion is, wins…" Slughorn held up a small vile of potion.
"Felix Felicis, sir?" Lily wondered from the front of the class.
"Ah, Ms. Evans, correct once more." Slughorn smiled down brightly at her. "You lot know I'm rather fond of a light hearted competition. One vile will be presented to both partners of the winning pair; I hope you chose your partner wisely today." He said with a smirk. Students looked around at their own partners, and then at others, no doubt sizing up their competition. These competitions were often occurrences in Slughorn's classroom, and usually Lily won them all.
Remus turned toward Sirius, and couldn't help but be thankful for his partner. While Sirius rarely studied and procrastinated his homework, he was bloody brilliant. It used to make Remus bitter and jealous, but Remus soon grew to be proud of working hard for what he deserved. Every grade he received was because he worked for and deserved it, and that was something to be proud of.
Sirius however was a different story, he easily passed his exams and blew through his homework—when he finally decided to do it, that is. Knowledge came easy to him, Remus was sure it had something to do with being raised in such a privileged household, tutors and special teachers were probably brought in before Sirius could even talk.
"You ready to win?" Sirius smirked as he peaked over the cauldron. Remus let out a chuckle and turned around to face the desk behind him. James sat next to Peter and was shaking his head into his hand. Peter was looking around the room frantically, already panicking about the situation. To say Peter was dull would be misspoken; it wasn't that Peter wasn't smart; he just cracked under the lightest bit of pressure.
"You have your potions book to reference from," Slughorn announced to the class. "Begin."
Students all around the class leaned over the cauldron and peered inside it. A few brave ones sniffed it, and others were flipping rapidly through their books. Remus looked inside his own cauldron and saw it to be full of a sheen liquid, the steam spiraling off of it in an unfamiliar fashion.
Next to him, Sirius was scribbling down the characteristics, and then loudly cleared his throat.
"Well go on," Sirius said as he motioned toward the cauldron. "Get a sniff." Remus' jaw dropped in disbelief and he let out a loud snort.
"Why don't you get a sniff, Padfoot?" He questioned and nudged his friend. Sirius scoffed and crossed his arms. Then the raven haired wizard leaned in towards Remus and cleared his throat.
"You have the better smell, mate." He said as he jerked a thumb in Remus' direction. "Y'know, werewolf and all." He said in a much lower voice. Remus dead panned at his friend and finally snorted.
"You're just as much dog as I am, Padfoot." He told him with a smile. "So much so, I'm surprised you don't have a tail." He teased and Sirius blinked at him.
"Whatever, I'll do it." Sirius finally gave in. "I actually want to win," He added under his breath, which Remus rolled his eyes too. Remus grabbed the quill and parchment and was ready to write down any notes as Sirius inhaled the potion deeply.
"Hmm… It smells like…cinnamon, I think." Sirius said, then closed his eyes and inhaled once more. "It smells like rain and…and…the library, books I think." Sirius finished and then sat back down in his stool, confused. Remus raised an eyebrow at Sirius then flipped through his book quickly.
"That doesn't make sense, no potions smells like…the library." Remus muttered as he continued looking through the book.
"I wasn't lying to you, see for yourself," Sirius said as he motioned his hand toward the cauldron. Remus nodded his head and leaned over the cauldron.
The first smell that came to him was familiar. A warm comforting smell, a smell in which Remus could have inhaled forever. It consumed every bit of him and swallowed him whole, and Remus didn't even mind. Sirius was correct, the potion definitely smelled of cinnamon and fresh rain. It smelled of the library as well, but there was also something else…Something Remus couldn't quite place…
"No, you're right. It does smell like that." Remus said to Sirius and then frowned at the potion. "I'm—I'm not sure what it is." He admitted and Sirius frowned.
Sirius leaned forward once more to smell, and a small smile came upon his face.
"Smells like Hermione, mate. I swear her perfume smells like this." Sirius said after a moment, and then inhaled again. "Or maybe it's her shampoo, I'm not sure." This peaked Remus' interest, and he leaned forward and inhaled again.
Sirius was correct, this did smell oddly just like Hermione. But Remus wasn't aware Hermione wore any perfume, and he was certain that her shampoo smelled more like apples. Just as he was about to point this out, Lily's hand shot up in the air quickly. Slughorn gasped from his desk and stood up, bringing the class to a silence.
"Miss Evans, have you found out what this particular potion is?" Professor Slughorn asked, causing gasps to spew out over the room.
"Yes sir," Lily said clearly. "It's Amortentia."
Remus felt himself inhale harshly. Amortentia smelled different to everyone, its aroma depended on whatever the person who smelled it was attracted to most. It was obvious that Remus would smell Hermione. She was his mate, and his girlfriend; it would make sense that he would smell her in the potion.
Remus felt a sudden jab of insecurity. What if Hermione didn't smell him? What if she smelled broomsticks and leather jackets, and everything that Remus was not. His insecurities quickly faded as he turned to look at Sirius.
They had both smelled Hermione; his realization was only just dawning on Remus. He opened his mouth to ask about it, but Sirius sat forward. His eyes staring straight at Slughorn and his hands folded in one another, attempting to look like he was paying attention to whatever Slughorn was rambling on about. Maybe Remus should leave it alone. Hermione was with him now, and he wasn't threatened of Sirius. He didn't want to start another fight with Sirius anyways, their friendship meant too much to him. Remus thought that maybe he should just pretend the past hour hadn't occurred; it seemed to be what Sirius was doing.
Slughorn droned on about the potion for a short while longer before handing off his prize to Lily and Alice. The two girls pocketed their viles, and then turned and looked at each other, giggling in the process.
Hermione's POV
Hermione quickly found Remus after they were dismissed and instantly intertwined her hand with his.
"How did you like that lesson, Remus?" Hermione said with a smirk as she looked up at him. Remus' pale bluish-green eyes stared blank at her for a moment, and then crinkled up into a grin.
"I thought it was absolutely dreadful." He teased and then nudged her with his hip. Hermione laughed loudly as she stumbled into an unsuspecting first year and then sighed loudly.
"So please enlighten me," Hermione announced clearly. "What exactly did you smell?" She raised an eyebrow and bit her bottom lip, waiting for an answer. In front of her, Remus shifted a bit awkwardly, and stared down at his feet. After another moment or two, Remus cleared his throat and sighed.
"You obviously," He said in a teasing tone that Hermione adored.
"Elaborate," Hermione clarified, and Remus let out a hearty chuckle.
"I smelled cinnamon, books, and rain…And now that I think of it, hot chocolate as well." Remus grinned, and Hermione fought the urge to blush. "All of those things smell very much like you, don't you think?" Remus wondered. Hermione shrugged her shoulders and paused to think.
"Cinnamon," Hermione repeated after a moment. "I hate cinnamon." She admitted quietly and Remus let out another chuckle.
"And what, may I ask, did you smell?" Remus casually asked, but Hermione could sense an urgent need to know behind his pale eyes.
"Hmm…" Hermione thought for a moment, thinking back to the delicious smell she was encountered with earlier in the day. "I smelled freshly washed blankets, parchment, a burning fire, and wolf." Hermione confessed to Remus.
"Wolf?" Remus repeated incredulously. "What does wolf smell like?" Remus' eyes were large and his eyebrows reached his hairline.
"You, Remus. It smells like you," Hermione clarified as she poked Remus in the stomach. Remus stared at her for a moment and then laughed loudly and pulled her in for a warm embrace. Hermione melted into Remus, happy for the sudden reach of affection. She smiled against his chest, inhaling the familiar and loving scents. Hermione decided then, that she was never going to tell Remus that she also smelled the faint scent of old cigarettes, leather, and Firewhiskey.
~Until Next Time~
Ooooh! I know, what a place to leave off! HAHAH! Thank you so much for reading, it means a lot to me! Please review and let me know how you like it, I love hearing from you guys, it makes me write so much faster!
