Waking up on Christmas Eve, Hermione felt numb. She wanted more than ever to crawl into a hole and disappear, feeling so incredibly alone, as far from her friends and family as possible. What a mess she was in.
In a bid to try and stop herself from spiralling she hid herself away in the library. Every other student was giving it a wide birth, no one but Hermione finding comfort in the distraction that studying brought her but she was quite happy with that, revelling in the silence. Keeping her mind busy was exactly how she liked it. Hermione didn't want to think about Christmas or how alone she was, instead she decided to start a notebook and fill it with everything that she could remember happening from the moment that she found the time turner.
She made notes of everything, no matter how minute the information was, just in case it might trigger her to remember something that could help her get home. She was hoping to find some kind of positivity to come from the exercise, hoping it would give her a better focus on her situation seeing as she was still waiting on Dumbledore. As a precaution she enchanted the notebook to only be able to be opened by herself. Not that it particularly mattered; she knew if someone did happen to find the notebook then they'd just think that she was insane if anything anyway.
"Merlin, don't you ever stop?" Hermione looked up to see Sirius entering the library, walking over to her before standing on the opposite side of the table, a look of astonishment on his face.
"You're looking a lot better," Hermione noted as she looked over his face, the cuts having been healed and his posture much better.
"Yep," He grinned, "Which means I'm ready to start teaching you how great sex can be. I thought we might start with practical lessons." Hermione rolled her eyes and looked back down at her notebook.
"Wonderful," Hermione muttered sarcastically, flicking back a page and rereading what she had written.
"Ah playing hard to get, got you," Sirius pulled the chair out and dropped into it, "What are you writing?"
"Nothing that concerns you," Hermione put her quill in her mouth before scribbling out a paragraph that she had written that didn't quite make sense.
"Ooft," he held his hand to his chest, "well someone has got their knickers in a twist today."
"I'm tired," Hermione said dismissively, not looking up.
"You're always tired," Sirius whined.
"Sirius," Hermione sighed, putting her quill down and looking at him, "What do you want?"
"Be nice to me and you'll find out," Sirius pouted, the difference in his demeanor from the previous day was just phenomenal.
"Or you could just tell me…" Sirius stared at her for a second, narrowing his eyes before nodding.
"Okay, fine. There's a letter in the common room for you."
"...Okay, thank you… and you just had to come and tell me that, why?"
"Because I missed you. I can't stay away Hermione. I need you," He breathed, rocking the chair back on two legs, grinning at the dubious look Hermione was giving him, "Okay fine; It's because the owl won't leave. We think it's been instructed to give it to you only and the fucker is attacking anyone that goes near the envelope."
"I.e. you," Hermione said with a small laugh as she noticed the bite marks on Sirius hands.
"Oh wow, okay, so I have to be mortally wounded to get you to smile, cool."
"Merlin, you're dramatic today," Hermione said before glancing at the clock on the wall, "Just give me ten minutes and then I'll come up, okay? I just want to finish this up."
"Okay," Sirius said before settling back in the chair, picking at his fingernails. Hermione raised her eyebrows at him.
"What are you doing?"
"Waiting for you."
"Merlin Sirius, just go back up to the common room, I won't be long."
"Why? We may as well go back together."
"It's going to take me longer than ten minutes if you're sat there distracting me."
"You are so rude," Sirius sighed, pushing the chair back and standing up, "Fine. You have ten minutes. If you're late and I have to come back down here and drag you up there you'll regret it Granger." He said in mock anger but Hermione's attention was already back on her notebook.
"You hear me?"
"Loud and clear Sirius," Hermione muttered and Sirius huffed, going to take his leave.
"You're no fun when you're grumpy!" He called as he left the library and Hermione rolled her eyes.
Going back to the common room she climbed through the portrait hole to immediately spot the owl in question. Peter was sitting at one of the tables with it, peering at the owl as it stared back at him defiantly.
"She's finally here to save us from the beast!" Sirius shouted, holding a book up like a shield as he flopped down onto one of the sofas, Remus rolling his eyes with a grin.
"Oh give over, it's hardly vicious is it, look at the little thing," Hermione said in amusement, the tiny tawny owl looking anything but intimidating as it looked at her with wide beautiful eyes. "It's not attacking Peter."
"He's the only person it's been fine with. Personally I wanted to stun the fucker but apparently that's 'animal cruelty'," Sirius said, mocking Remus' voice and making it higher pitched.
"I'm the only one that didn't try and take the letter from it," Peter explained. Stroking the bird's feathers she then took the rolled up letter from the birds leg before sighing as it nudged into her hand slightly.
"Do any of you have any food on you?"
"Here," Remus threw an apple over to her, Hermione thanking him before biting a piece off and giving it to the bird. Opening the window the bird immediately took it's leave.
"So what does it say?" Sirius asked, watching Hermione over the back of the sofa.
"It's nothing to do with you," She said with a small laugh.
"Hey that's not fair! I got clawed by the bastard, I want to know what was so important!" Sirius exclaimed, jumping up from the sofa. He lunged for the envelope in her hand, Hermione not being able to help but laugh loudly as she dodged him. She ran up a couple of steps of the girls staircase, putting enough distance between her and Sirius that he couldn't just grab it out of her hands.
"Oh you think that's going to stop me? Really Hermione, do you not know me at all?"
"Sirius, no!" Before she could say another word he leapt up a couple of steps and he had almost grabbed it out of Hermione's hand but then suddenly a loud wailing filled the common room. Hermione let out a surprised squeak as the stairs beneath her feet dissolved into a slide, both Hermione and Sirius ending up in a tangle mass of limbs at the bottom, Hermione laughing hard.
"You're an idiot," She grinned, shoving him off of her.
"You're stubborn," He shot back.
"Will you two just stop flirting for five minutes," Remus commented and Hermione rolled her eyes as she dusted herself off.
"It's the only thing I'm good at mate," Sirius said as he lunged for the letter and Hermione stopped him with a deadly look. "Okay fine, you win. Just know that I'm going to assume it's about me though if you don't tell me."
"Maybe it is," Hermione shrugged with a grin, curling up in one of the arm chairs opposite where Sirius had dropped down next to Remus on the sofa.
"Minx," Sirius muttered as she opened the letter.
Hermione,
Merry Christmas! I hope the boys aren't driving you up the wall. Sirius told me that you two have sorted things out so that's good to hear!
Severus and I… where do I start?! It's always been a bit complicated between us; he was my first friend at Hogwarts but we were sorted into different houses so that put a strain on our friendship straight away - as a first year it can be very confusing when it comes to the rivalry between houses. Whilst now, now I guess it doesn't matter - you and Regulus have proven that.
I'm guessing you roughly know what happened? The boys have never got along with Sev, I think it goes back to that rivalry between the houses and well you didn't know them before but as teenagers they were so damn arrogant and just assholes really. They attacked Severus that day and as far as I'm aware he did absolutely nothing to provoke them. They humiliated him and only stopped because I stepped in. James was even more of a fool back then so he backed off when I came over. Severus was humiliated though, he snapped at me, called me you know what and I swore I'd never speak to him again. Things are okay between us now I guess, but they're not like they used to be. I think the worst thing I could've done to him was start dating James at the end of sixth year. He has changed though, and I think deep down he is a good guy but he's getting mixed up in the wrong crowd. Maybe the fact that he's spending more time with Regulus, and as a result you, might help with that.
I'm not sure exactly why you asked but I have an idea so my advice is to just give him a chance. Unless he calls you what he called me that day and in that instance I'll come and help you fight him.
Don't spend all holiday dwelling on this, life's too short.
Have a wonderful Christmas, see you soon.
Lily x
Putting the letter down Hermione rubbed her eyes, what was she supposed to do now?
"Good news?" Sirius asked, watching her carefully.
"It's complicated," She muttered, all of the joking between them gone as she chewed her lip, "I'll be back soon." Hermione said softly, lost in thought as she got up and headed up to her dormitory. She carefully penned a response back to Lily before sealing it and putting it on her bedside table, she would send it later when she could get up to the owlery.
Heading back downstairs she found Sirius laying across the sofa with a Santa hat atop his head, Remus and Peter gone.
"So are you going to tell me what it said?" Sirius asked, giving her puppy dog eyes.
"Nope, it's none of your business," She laughed lightly. She was going to drop down onto the chair by the fire but then Sirius lifted his legs for her and before she realised what she was doing she had dropped down into the empty seat beside him, Sirius then plonking his legs across her lap. She yawned widely.
"Where's Remus and Peter?"
"Answer my question and I'll answer yours," Sirius said lazily and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"You know that's not going to work, right?"
"It will eventually," he smirked.
"You're so childish."
"You're so secretive."
"Maybe it was something private Sirius, you shouldn't pry."
"Maybe," he quipped, "but I know Lily's handwriting, and the fact that you're being secretive about something that she has sent you is intriguing me."
"It was just a Christmas letter!" Hermione uttered aghast but Sirius narrowed his eyes at her slightly as he studied her before smiling.
"You're a terrible liar." Hermione sighed.
"Suit yourself Sirius." She pushed his feet off of her and stood up.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"I'm going to go back to the Library."
"No, come on, just stay here," He moaned.
"No, I've got some bits I want to get done."
"But it's Christmas Eve!"
"Point being? Look I just need to clear my head and working helps," Hermione said honestly and Sirius paused, studying her face before nodding.
"Well make sure you're not there all night, we have festivities to be involved in."
"What festivities?"
"You know the deal, you answer mine and I'll answer yours."
"Oh grow up Sirius," Hermione rolled her eyes, turning her back on him as she headed for the portrait hole.
"Make sure you're back by 8 at the latest!" He called after her retreating back.
Remus was on prefect duty, checking each of the areas he had been asked to focus on by McGonagall. With it being Christmas Eve she literally only wanted him checking specific areas, not taking up too much of his time, especially seeing as it was just him with Lily being at home. The castle was quiet, the majority of the students that were staying at Hogwarts over christmas had retreated to their common rooms. He was heading back towards Gryffindor Tower but stopped off at the library on the way, Madame Pince away so he headed for the restricted section to make sure it was still untouched.
Walking down the rows of books towards the back of the room he could hear the faint rustle of book pages and he couldn't help but sigh. He really couldn't be bothered with telling someone off, he was half tempted to just pretend he hadn't noticed them. The closer he got to the sound the dimmer the torches became as he went deeper into the restricted section. Remus paused as he caught a scent, it was Hermione; what was she doing in the restricted section?
Rounding the end of the bookcase Remus immediately spotted her, sat on the floor cross legged, hunched over a large old book. She was reading it by wandlight, completely engrossed, not even realising that Remus was standing there.
"Hermione?" She looked up so fast, her eyes wide as she took in Remus, seeming to breathe out a little in relief at the fact that it was him. "You know this is the restricted section right?"
"Oh," She breathed, looking around herself for a second in surprise, "Sorry, I didn't realise," she said it so half heartedly that Remus knew that even she didn't expect him to believe that. She pulled herself up, her heart hammering at having been caught. He glanced down at the book in her hands but he couldn't figure out what it was.
"I'm assuming you don't have permission to be here?" He asked and Hermione looked down at the book, fidgeting slightly.
"I don't," Her voice was small and Remus realised with a jolt that she was anxious, his demeanor softening. "I didn't think there'd be any harm, I just wanted to do a bit of light reading."
"Light reading?" He couldn't stop the smile as he looked at the huge book in her hands.
"Well, you know what I mean," She returned his smile.
"You need to be careful, you'll get into a lot of trouble if anyone catches you here without a teachers note."
"Well how come you're here?" Remus stared at her in amusement for a second.
"I'm a prefect; McGonagall asked me to do some rounds. I'm not the only one doing them though and whilst I'm not going to get you in trouble, I know some of the assholes in Slytherin would."
"Right," Hermione mused and Remus watched as she looked back down at the book in her hands, looking torn, not wanting to put it back. She finally relented though, going to slot it back into the shelf, Remus' chest tightening at the look of defeat on her face; whatever she was reading must've been important to her.
"Look it's fine, stay. Just be careful," He said quickly, against his better judgement, Hermione always had him so damn torn. She stopped and looked back up at him.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, though if you get caught don't tell them I said it was okay."
"Oh, well thank you," She said in surprise, her face brightening.
"It's okay, it looks like it was important," He probed and Hermione hesitated before nodding, strategically hiding the title with her hand.
"It is, I thought it might help me with some personal stuff," She said softly and Remus nodded, giving her a careful look.
"Well I guess I'll see you later then," He gave her a small smile.
"Yeah, I'll see you later." Remus went to turn around, about to walk away when he stopped and turned back to her.
"End row, three units back, there's a dissolution charm on the section against the wall, it'll hide you from view if anyone else comes." Hermione stared at him in surprise for a second before smiling.
"Oh, thank you!"
"No problem." Remus turned back around and headed out of the library. Maybe he needed to give her the benefit of the doubt? Maybe it was the Wolf which had made him so distrusting of her and really there was nothing wrong. Remus rubbed his eyes tiredly; his instincts had never been wrong before though.
Hermione's head was spinning with all of the accounts that she had read about time travel, every single one telling her that it wasn't possible for her to have gone that far back. She shouldn't have made the journey, her body shouldn't have been able to deal with the trauma. Which from the state she had been in when she had arrived she couldn't help but understand and believe to be true and whilst yes, Hermione was lucky to be alive, she also couldn't help but start to think she would never be going home.
After Remus had left her, Hermione had gone to the disillusioned section of the wall and settled down again with her book. Having lost herself in her reading she hadn't quite realised just how late it was. She pulled herself up from the dusty floor, her heart heavy as she pushed the book back onto the shelf before leaving the library.
The halls were deserted as she made her way back to the common room, Hermione starting to wonder if she had been in the library longer than she had realised.
"Excuse me," On the stairs she stopped and turned to a portrait of a man with a black pointy goatee, his surprise at being addressed by her evident on his face, "Do you know what time it is please?"
"Do I look like a timepiece to you?" He replied snottily and Hermione sighed slightly and rolled her eyes.
"Ignore him," Another portrait piped up from two portraits below, a softer faced youngman with blond hair, "It's nine fifteen my dear."
"Oh no," Hermione groaned, Sirius had told her to be back by eight, "Thank you!" She called behind her to the portrait before running up the rest of the stairs, the portraits all watching her go. She sprinted the rest of the way to Gryffindor Tower, thankful that there weren't any teachers about to catch her out past curfew.
Her lungs were burning in her chest as she reached the fat lady, barely getting her breath back enough to wheeze out the password before stumbling through the portrait hole.
"Ho, ho, ho Hermione!" Hermione looked up and stopped dead. Her jaw dropped open as she looked around to see that Gryffindor Tower had been transformed into a winter wonderland.
"Holy shit," She laughed in amazement. One of the armchairs had been transfigured into a throne; on which Sirius sat, clad in a Santa suit, with a thick bushy white beard.
"You!" He pointed at her, "are late young lady! You will be going straight onto my naughty list," he waggled his eyebrows at her and she couldn't help but laugh, her hand over her mouth.
"She's lost for words," chimed another voice and Hermione turned, bending double with laughter as she saw Peter and Remus in full elf costumes.
"Oh my god," she breathed, stepping into the room and looking around; the other Gryffindors all sat around, two of them watching her whilst the other two were helping themselves to the food and drink set out. Hermione looked around in awe, taking in all of the details; baubles and tinsel decorated every surface, mistletoe hung in various places, snow falling before disappearing a second before it hit the floor. It looked like a genuine winter wonderland.
"This is incredible," she breathed, before looking Remus up and down and not being able to stifle her laugh.
"There's eggnog and food as well, just help yourself," Peter grinned and Hermione shook her head in amazement.
"Did you three do all of this?"
"Yep," Remus smiled, taking a seat on the sofa, "It was Peter's idea, we just helped him execute it."
"And of course Sirius would only agree if he got to play Santa," Peter laughed.
"I think it suits me," Sirius quirked a smile before beckoning Hermione towards him with his finger, "now young lady, why don't you come and sit on Santa's lap and tell him how much you want me for Christmas."
"You know what, I don't think I want anything for Christmas this year," she laughed, "I think im good."
"Are you sure? Santa is ready for you Miss Granger."
All of the anxieties that had been eating away at her all day left, completely forgotten the moment she had seen what the Marauders had done. Hermione couldn't wipe the smile off her face. She sat down on the sofa, her eyes darting around the room still as she took in more and more of what they had done.
"Right, as agreed, if you wish to take part in this evening of festivities, you must dress the part," Sirius announced to the room.
"Do we have to?" The fifth year guy groaned and Sirius pointed his finger at him.
"Yes! It's all a part of the fun, you miserable bastards - don't worry, I have gone to the effort of getting the costumes so all you lot need to do is get changed. Peter, would you please be so kind as to go and grab them for me?" Peter did as he was asked, jumping up and running up to their dormitory.
"I'm not wearing some skimpy outfit," one of the girls grumbled and Hermione couldn't help but agree.
"I feel like you lot don't trust me."
"It's because they know you better than you realise," Remus pointed out.
"That, is offensive, you're all going on my naughty list." Hermione couldn't help but groan as she saw Peter struggling down the stairs, laden with bags. Peter handed them out, Hermione looking at hers incredulously; Mrs Claus.
"You're kidding me," she uttered, raising her eyebrows.
"You can't blame me for that one, James picked it out," Sirius grinned, waggling his eyebrows at her.
"Sure," Hermione rolled her eyes, standing up with her bag in hand, "Right, well I guess we best go and get changed," she looked at the other three girls, the second years looking incredibly unsure at the situation that they had somehow found themselves in, "we can all get changed together if you want?" She asked them and the fifth year immediately nodded, her red curls bouncing from her enthusiasm.
"I would really appreciate that," she smiled, beckoning for the other two to stand as well.
"I feel so stupid," one of the second year girls groaned as she pulled her elf hat on.
"Just look at it this way, at least we're all dressed up," Hermione said in what she hoped was an encouraging tone, "just think, it could be worse, you could be the only one."
"I personally love it," the other second year smiled, "kind of makes up for not being able to go home this Christmas."
"That's the spirit," Hermione smiled, looking forward to having some of the eggnog when they went back down.
Dressed as Mrs Claus, Hermione sat on the sofa surrounded by falling snow, food and elves.
"I can't believe you guys did all of this," Hermione smiled, looking to Peter who was sat beside her.
"It's nothing really," he brushed off, his cheeks tinging pink.
"It's really not," Hermione breathed, looking around the common room, her own cheeks rosy from alcohol, "you guys have put a lot of effort into this."
"Well you've been working so hard and then to have to stay here for Christmas too… well I just thought it might cheer you up a bit." Hermione's heart tightened in her chest, tears welling in her eyes; she never would have imagined Peter would be capable of such a kind deed, what was going to happen to this boy to turn him into the traitor she knew him to be in the future?
"Thank you," she said earnestly, her gaze drifting to where Sirius was sat talking animatedly to the two second year girls. She found herself smiling as she watched their exchange.
"Do you like him?"
"Hmm?" She turned her attention back to Peter.
"Sirius, do you like him?" Peter asked and Hermione's smile grew wider, a small laugh escaping her.
"No, not in the way that you're thinking anyway."
"You spend a lot of time together at the minute."
"You spend a lot of time with both Remus and Sirius," Hermione said plainly, raising her eyebrows at him, "should I start wondering if something is going on between you two as well?"
"Yeah, but that's different-"
"I am going to have to take these tights off soon," Remus fell onto the sofa between Peter and Hermione, cutting their conversation short. He was well on his way to being drunk, he Sirius and Peter having drunk far more than any of the others.
"I know the feeling," Peter winced, "pretty sure I won't be able to have kids now."
"Were the costumes Sirius' idea?"
"Yeah."
"You know you don't have to go along with every daft idea of his, right?" Hermione smiled, shaking her head in amusement.
"It's just something we do," Remus smiled coyly, "no matter the idea and no matter how stupid, idiotic or dangerous it is, we will always at least give it a go."
"We're a team," Peter smiled happily and Hermione felt such an intense sense of longing. She thought of Harry and Ron and how they had had a similar friendship.
"I had a couple of friends like that," Hermione said softly, "this is the first Christmas that I've spent without them in such a long time." Remus looked at Hermione curiously, she was telling the truth for once.
"Did you have any traditions?" Hermione snorted at that.
"A tradition in the sense of me buying them an academic gift that they'd pretend to like and secretly hate," she laughed.
"Nice to know you haven't changed," Sirius appeared behind them, Hermione tilting her head back and smiling at him.
"I guess not." Sirius perched on the arm of the sofa, his arm going around the back of Hermione. "Christmases were always so different for us. We spent a few of them at school but then we started spending them together outside of school at different houses - they were just always so magical. We were one big family no matter what," None of them interrupted; Hermione opening up was such a rare occasion, "It's strange spending one without them to be honest."
"Will you get to see them again?" Peter asked softly. Sirius stayed silent, stroking her arm comfortingly.
"Maybe," Hermione forced a smile, "I'm not really sure at the minute."
"Well you've got us now as well, we can be your extended family," Sirius said softly, squeezing her arm.
"Yeah, you're officially a part of our family now," Peter piped in.
"We all have each others back," Remus said softly and Hermione felt her heart swell.
"We'll always have yours," Sirius pressed a kiss to the top of her head, Hermione couldn't help but well up.
"I don't know what to say," she breathed, trying to keep it together.
"It's strange you know, I feel like I've known you for years," Sirius mused and Hermione couldn't help the little laugh that escaped her.
"Yeah," Hermione uttered, feeling incredibly odd in that moment; resisting the urge to suddenly tell them everything and confide in them, alcohol loosening her lips.
As the night wore on the others started to drift off to bed and around midnight it was just the four seventh years left, toasting themselves by the fire, chatting quietly. Peter was sat at the end of the sofa, starting to doze off, his head propped up by his hand. Remus was beside him, still in his elf costume, green tights bright against his legs, scars shining through faintly; he was distractedly staring into the fire, lost in thought. Hermione was next, sat slumped against Sirius, both of them fast asleep. Sirius was perched awkwardly, still on the arm of the sofa, his head resting against Hermione's.
Groggily Hermione awoke on Christmas morning, slightly dazed and confused as she looked around herself. She was still in the Gryffindor common room, wedged onto the sofa with the three marauders, all of whom were still fast asleep. She groaned, her neck stiff, moving forward slightly without realising that Sirius was using her as support. He jolted awake, swearing as his neck protested at the sudden movement, Hermione laughing through a yawn.
"Merry Christmas," she whispered to him but he just groaned and hid his head in his arms.
"Too early," he murmured. Hermione was distracted however as she looked in surprise at the four neat little piles of presents that sat in front of the sofa waiting for them. She had no one here, she didn't expect any at all.
It didn't take long for the three Marauders to awaken groggily. Hermione had no clue what time it was but she felt giddy with excitement. They all agreed that they should probably go get showered and changed before they did anything else so they split off for a while before meeting again in the common room, all of them feeling a little bit more human.
"I don't even know who these are from," Hermione said quietly to Peter as they waited for Remus and Sirius.
"They're from us," he laughed lightly like it was the most obvious thing in the world but Hermione paled, her heart sinking.
"Oh no," she breathed, picking one up to find that it was indeed from all of the girls, "no one told me we were doing gifts!" Her eyes widened as she looked to Peter.
"It's okay! We didn't expect you to get us anything. It's your first Christmas here so we wanted to make sure you had something to open - we didn't know if you were in contact with your old friends or not so didn't want to risk you not having anything to open on Christmas Day." Hermione was welling up despite herself.
"I don't deserve you guys," she wiped at her eyes, Peter looking at her in admiration.
"Of course you do, you're one of the nicest-"
"Merry Christmas!" Sirius shouted as he ran over to the sofa, throwing himself over the back of it, straight into Hermione and Peter with an umf, "have you kiddos been good?"
"Get off," Peter grunted, shoving at Sirius until he was sitting up between them, rubbing his arm.
"Not the day to a be a grump Petey-pie," Sirius grinned as Remus walked up, he sat cross legged on the sofa beside them.
"Don't be an ass," Remus whacked Sirius over the top of the head before looking to the piles of presents, "Hermione did you want to open yours first?"
"Oh no, I-"
"Ladies first," Sirius beamed, grabbing a handful of her presents and dropping them into her lap. She blushed, not having expected anything and then to have all of this.
Hermione felt flustered as she opened them under the watchful eyes of the Marauders, all of them were in high spirits whilst Hermione felt like none of it was real. She received a muggle book from Remus, a homework diary from Peter, a pile of sweets from Honeydukes from James and a box of chamomile tea from Sirius. She looked to him in surprise when she opened the muggle tea.
"Lily told me it would help you to sleep," he explained and a new wave of adoration filled her. Another gift was shoved into her hands from all of the Gryffindor girls. She opened it, her smile widening as she found it to be a box full of bits of bobs from makeup to toiletries to hair rollers; all of the things Hermione had never bothered using on herself before but had had fun with when the girls had made her up.
"These are also for you," Remus said, reading the tags on two more gifts.
"From who?" Hermione asked aghast.
"Doesn't say," he handed one of the gifts to her. The first she picked up simply said 'Hermione, keep warm for once' on the tag. She immediately knew the handwriting, the scratchy cursive was unmistakably Reg's. She opened it carefully, smiling softly as she found a black knitted hat, silver thread running through it. Feeling a lump inside she put her hand in and found a small vial hidden there.
"Who's it from?" Sirius asked and Hermione snapped out of her thoughts, looking to him guiltily though she wasn't exactly sure why.
"Reg," She admitted, watching as Sirius' smile fell.
"Right," He nodded before turning his attention back to the pile of presents, "So what's next?" He asked, distracting himself and prompting Remus to pass Hermione her last gift. Immediately she recognised the handwriting, knowing Dumbledore's scrawl from the many notes he had made in the Tales of Beedle the Bard. 'For you, spend as you wish.' She opened the package to find a red velvet pouch filled to the brim with galleons, knuts and a few gold pieces.
"Who the hell is that from?" Sirius asked in surprise, Hermione shutting the pouch with wide eyes pretty much as soon as she had seen what was in it.
"My parents," she said in surprise.
"What is it?" Peter asked, peering across Sirius and to the pouch that still sat clenched in Hermione's hands. A sense of foreboding overcame her, if he was given her this much money it clearly meant that he didn't think she would be going home any time soon.
"They've just sent me some money."
"Some?" Sirius guffawed but was cut off as Remus threw a present at him.
Hermione couldn't have been more thankful for having the Marauders around her that day, they truly made it special. She sent letters to the girls to say thank you and then when Christmas lunch came around, they sat at a large round table with the teachers and other students that had stayed behind, not a single spiteful word being uttered between houses.
That evening she pulled one of the armchairs over to the window, curling up with a blanket over her as she watched the snow fall outside. She was lost in her thoughts but they were so much calmer now. The day had been so much better than she could have expected and she actually felt content.
"Hermione?" Turning slightly, she saw Peter heading towards her.
"Hey Peter," He beamed at her, "You okay?"
"Yeah, we were actually just going to head out for a walk, did you want to come with us?"
"A walk?" Hermione looked to the clock on the wall in surprise, "But it's almost ten?" She sat up straighter as Peter grinned at her, a mischievous look in his eyes.
"We have a way around that."
"Oh?" Hermione's stomach somersaulted with excitement, where they really going to tell her about the map or the cloak?
"You'll find out if you come," Peter grinned excitedly and Hermione nodded, moving the blanket off of her.
"Okay, I'm in," she said, getting up.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, why the hell not, it's christmas after all," She grinned.
"Okay great! We'll meet you down here in ten minutes. Wrap up warm, it's cold out there." He left her to it and Hermione felt a small buzz of excitement as she ran upstairs, wrapping up in her big coat. She pulled on her new hat from Regulus before wrapping her Gryffindor scarf around her neck.
The three Marauders were waiting for her as she came downstairs, all of them as equally wrapped up as her. She saw Sirius' eyes linger on her hat before he smiled brightly at her.
"You ready my little rebel?" She rolled her eyes at him.
"So how do you plan on getting out of the castle without being seen?"
"The great thing about this place is how old it is," Peter grinned.
"You would be amazed at the amount of hidden corridors and passageways," Remus uttered as they headed to the portrait hole.
"We're going to use one of those?" Hermione asked and Sirius nodded.
"You haven't been to Hogsmeade yet have you?" Sirius asked and Hermione shook her head, "Well you are in for a treat then."
"We're going to Hogsmeade?"
"Yup."
"It wouldn't be Christmas Day without a festive drink in the snow Hermione," Sirius answered, pulling a hip flask out of his pocket and she laughed lightly.
"I suppose we should get moving then."
Slightly disappointed that they weren't sharing their secrets of the Marauders Map or invisibility cloak with her she followed the boys silently to the fourth floor. She watched as Peter pulled a large mirror forward, revealing a corridor behind it. He turned before entering, looking at Hermione to garner her reaction. Remus gestured for her to follow after Peter, leaving Sirius and Remus to pull the mirror shut behind them. With their wands lit they walked down the stone walled corridor. The floor slowly became uneven before finally all of the stone had gone and it was just a soft muddy path left.
The four of them chatted as they went, Hermione completely losing track of time and how long it was taking them before finally they reached the end of the tunnel. It looked like they had just come to a dead end but Hermione watched as Remus stepped forward, he was listening she noticed, listening for anyone that might be near. He used his wand to open a trapdoor which sat in the low ceiling above them. Remus went first pulling himself up before bending down and offering his hand to Hermione.
"I've got it," she whispered before jumping, her hands grasping the wood before pulling herself up. She looked around herself, trying to figure out where they were but it didn't look familiar at all. It was a store room of sorts, Hermione's eyes darting around it trying to spot anything that would give away where they were.
"Where are we?" She whispered but Remus shook his head at her, holding one finger up and that's when she realised they weren't out of trouble just yet. She watched as Sirius carefully shut the trapdoor behind himself before Hermione, Sirius and Peter all followed Remus as he lead the way.
"We're on the outskirts of Hogsmeade," Sirius whispered from behind her, so close it made her skin prickle, "the buildings abandoned but you sometimes get people that meet here to do dodgy shit." She nodded slightly in surprise, feeling Sirius' hand on her lower back as he followed her up the stairs. The four of them stepped out of the shop when Remus said it was clear, Hermione's breath catching in her throat as they stepped out into the freezing cold night air. The snow crunched beneath their feet, Hermione looking around herself with a small smile; Hogsmeade never got old. She glanced back at the building they had come from before pausing; whilst abandoned now Hermione knew it from her own time as one of her favourite book shops in the Wizarding village.
"What have you seen?" Sirius whispered, coming up beside her, also looking back.
"Nothing," She answered quickly, turning to him with a soft smile, "Just trying to take everything in."
"You've seen nothing yet," He grinned, "Come on." Sirius grabbed a hold of her hand before dragging her into a run to catch up with Peter and Remus who had walked ahead. The streets were quiet except for the sound of live music coming from within The Three Broomsticks. Sirius pointed places out to her as they went and Hermione nodded and made comments in all of the right places. Finally they reached the end of the highstreet and they turned right, away from the lanterns and towards where the Shrieking Shack was. They finally stopped though at the cliffs edge that looked over a small valley of houses. Hermione's eyes were wide as she took in the site of the town, various lights on in houses below them, snow falling heavily around them. It was so still and quiet up there.
"Merry Christmas," Remus breathed with a small smile as he looked out across the valley as well.
"Merry Christmas," the other three repeated before each of the Marauders pulled out a hip flask, Sirius sharing his with Hermione as they took a swig. Sirius wrapped his arms around both Remus' and Hermione's shoulders, pressing a kiss to both of their cheeks before Remus threw his arm around Peter's shoulders. Hermione looked out, feeling so incredibly peaceful; for the first time since she had arrived in this time she was starting to feel like she was truly home again. She felt like she belonged.
"So," Sirius smiled turning to look at her, his eyes soft. Hermione returned the smile, a warmth spreading through her chest, "what did Lily's letter say?" She couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head and looking out to the valley again, not saying a word.
Author's note: Merry Christmas guys! Thank you so much for all of the love and support on chapter 13, I swear to God you guys were trying to make me cry with your lovely comments!