January, 1976.
Needless to say that she was surprised when she received something rather touching from the boys. Not that their older gifts were bad, no. They were perfect . . . just very different from this one.
The boys had pitched in for a bracelet — one with charms that represented their Animagus forms. It was so thoughtful and her heart warmed at the gesture.
She smiled at the size difference of the two dogs. Hermione was getting used to being the pup. Not to mention how the wolf protectively huddled around his friends, especially the smaller ones, like her and Wormtail.
"The little pup reminds me of you, Herms," Marlene cooed, grinning at Hermione when she threw her friend a quick glare.
"What are those animals?" Lily asked, her eyebrows scrunched together as she stared down at the gift.
Sirius snorted at the uncomfortable look on James's face, who was most likely unsure on how to lie to his girlfriend. "It's just what we consider our animal forms to be."
Regulus let out a low chuckle, making sure to ask, "Is Potter the rat?"
"Why would I be the rat?" he asked indignantly then threw an apologetic look at Peter.
"Haven't seen your hair in the mirror, have you? It's a rat's nest," he said tauntingly.
"No, it's magnificent. Anyways—of course, now we have three sarcastic Blacks—," he muttered in between, "the rat is actually our Peter." His tone was loud and proud and his gaze was set admirably at his best friend.
Peter preened under all the stares, as though he'd been complimented by each one of them for winning a trophy.
Once all the animals were assigned to each Marauder, Lily scooter closer to her boyfriend and glanced at him curiously. "James . . . why did they choose a deer for you?"
"I think he has no eye-deer," Hermione piped in, taking the opportunity with a wide grin. She was sure she could see Granger's disappointed frown at such a bad pun.
"No!" James gasped. He gave her the middle finger and because Lily looked unsure on what the hell was going on, Hermione threw one finger right back.
Reg scooted away from her, scowling at her like a petulant child. "Get away from me—I'm going back to the dungeons."
Sirius looked dazed for a moment and Marlene shook his shoulders lightly with a scowl. "I'm so proud of you. Idea . . . wow, Hermione."
Remus gave her a slow clap, the side of his lips almost lifting in a smirk.
Finally, she watched as Lily looked around and almost laughed at the reactions.
It was progress and she felt her heart ease.
Hermione laid her face on her palm, her eyes now closed. It struck to her how whole she felt — like the cage that had been stuck in her chest was finally freed. A part of her still couldn't grasp onto the reality of what had happened before her eyes a few minutes ago.
All of her family was now reunited; new and old.
And just as she was about to turn her head and murmur to Sirius of just how content she felt, her whole body chilled with goosebumps.
Had they not been closed already, she would've shut her eyes instantly at the rough, heavy pain that struck on the side of her head, as though she'd been hit by a Hippogriff.
She knew this feeling. She'd felt it before, Merlin knew how hard it had been to make it go unnoticed at Grimmauld. So, could she say that she'd wished to have her Seer powers taken away from her? Yes, terribly so.
What she had Seen so far was her brother at Gringotts or about to stand against Voldemort for her. In a way, it had helped her save him. So, why couldn't she also have gotten a chance to save her father?
Breathing haggardly, she leaned against the wall, allowing her head to fall back and hit the hard surface. It only made the throbbing pain grow, even as colours swam in her vision and she sucked in a breath.
There was a couple. It seemed to be a wife and a husband around their fifties, their feet settled on the coffee table as they read a book together. Before Hermione could get a chance to look for clues on who they were, her neck snapped back after hearing a loud sound come from nearby.
She looked back at the couple once, before moving towards the sound in scurried steps. The thud of her heart was ringing loudly in her eardrums and she wished desperately to make it stop completely—no, calm it down just enough.
She froze on the spot, unable to move no matter how much she wished to. Shock ran wildly in her veins as she watched more than a couple of figures—Death Eaters, they were Death Eaters!—blast the front door open and move to the living room immediately, where the couple was still sitting, unaware of the intrusion.
Her mouth opened and she tried to scream as loud as she could to get their attention—
"Hermione . . ."
She felt the bed shift, Sirius now sat closer to her to stroke her hair lightly up and down. The bridge of her nose burned with a deep sense of despair, foolishly urging her to slam her eyes shut once again.
You need to inform Professor Dumbledore, the woman in her head softly reminded her, joining her twin brother in keeping her grounded.
She gasped for air as quietly as she could, clutching onto Sirius's arm like it was her lifeline. Do something, do something, do something!
"Was it a vision?" he asked, looking over at the other boys, who were huddled around their leftover homework.
She nodded slowly and her blurry, caramel eyes tried to focus on the light blue colour of her blanket. Her fingertips desperately moved against its surface to feel the soft, warm touch. She snuggled closer to Sirius, taking in the brotherly scent of his magic that came with his presence.
A lump had begun to form in her throat, but she swallowed it before it could swallow her voice whole.
"I need to go see Professor Dumbledore," she informed him, her feet already moving towards her slippers and her hands gripping her robes tighter around her frame.
"I'll come," he offered and she nodded silently, shaking in trepidation as she waited for him to get ready as quickly as possible.
She was already out of the doorway, when she heard James holler, "Oi! Where are you going?"
Hermione was just about to turn around to quickly spit out a lie and call it a day, but Sirius bested her to it. "Abraxas wants to talk to Hermione!" he blurted out, the eldest Malfoy being the first thing that came to his mind, for some reason.
She couldn't focus on what James had replied with, nor the long walk they had to the Headmaster's office. To think that she'd been in a good mood, when she'd left it a few hours ago . . .
"Miss and Mr. Black," Professor Dumbledore exclaimed, his tone had a hint of surprise. Surely, he knew by now that she wouldn't be the only one losing sleep over these things. She needed help and she wasn't ashamed to admit it for once. This was an important matter, one that weighed more than her Black ego.
She moved to her usual seat and saw her brother sit on the one beside her. Taking in a deep breath, she looked at the Headmaster in the eyes and said, "I saw something in a vision. There was this couple, Muggle, I think—there was a lot of unusual furniture—and then, Death Eaters barged in! Sir, this hasn't happened yet, right? We can stop this—"
"Hermione," he started and fixed his glasses before proceeding, "Do you have an appropriate description of the two Muggles or their location? Anything that could help us find them?"
She paused, clasping her hands in a tight grip. She looked down as she filed through her memory, unsure of the attention she'd given to details.
Everything felt blurry.
"What if I were to give you a memory of it?" she asked, hating the way her voice broke with uncertainty.
He shook his head solemnly. "A Sight does not behold access to others."
She shut her eyes, focused on making the same scene appear before her eyes, no matter how illogical it sounded. The only thing she could see were the bodies that lay dead on the bloodied floor.
"Is there nothing we can do?" Sirius asked, giving her time to adjust her breathing.
He sighed, but before he could answer, she began again, "Let's think about it, Professor! Who would Voldemort attack first after all these months of silence? It would be those he despises the most, muggleborns."
"So, this could be a muggleborn's family, right?" Sirius asked, leaning against the edge of the table and watching Professor Dumbledore's reaction carefully.
The older wizard gave the two of them a proud look, his hand grazing through his white, frizzy beard. After a beat of silence, he said, "It seems that the conclusion would be the most logical. I shall inform some friends of mine, Hermione, and we will begin to look into our students' families right away. Do you have an idea of which student their looks might have resembled?"
Hermione bit her lip, pressure hard as she thought about the few features she'd managed to remember. Dark black hair for the husband, strikingly blue eyes for the wife . . . there had been a family picture somewhere there; she was sure of it.
The teenager that was in the picture, she looked quite familiar — a name that her mind couldn't quite yet grasp on. She hadn't seen that face in a long time, that much she was certain of. But then, where would she have seen it?
Second year! That meant that the student had graduated, hadn't she? And among the graduates that year, there was . . .
"Dorcas Meadows!" she gasped out, her hands flew to her mouth in shock.
Professor Dumbledore's brows shifted into a tight line, looking quite worried. "Auror Meadows?"
"She's an Auror, now? Of course - she was terrifying even here," Sirius muttered, scratching his jaw as he looked in between Hermione and the Headmaster.
She gave him a distracted glance before coming back to her senses, just in time to hear Professor Dumbledore say, "As I know Auror Meadows very well, I'll be informing her immediately. We must also look into protecting other families." He let out a sigh. "For now, please do go back to your dorms."
With a shuddering breath, she gripped the arm of the chair before she let go, standing up and moving towards the small staircase. Sirius joined her quickly and she took one step closer to the door, just in time to hear Professor Dumbledore say, "Thank you for doing your best, Hermione."
Only Sirius was able to see her nod with a teary gaze.
Hermione slept as much as she could, even lamenting loudly when annoying sunlight streaks hit her face. Though she'd thought about throwing her blanket over her head, someone thought it'd be a good idea to irritate her early in the morning and drag the warmth away from her body.
Her blanket no longer within the reach of her arms, she shot an irritable look at James. He should've known better than to irritate her, especially after he mentioned how Hermione was the only one left to still finish the Muggle Studies project.
She had a strong urge to sit up and choke her best friend — lightly, of course — but Remus came to his rescue just in time, bringing her blanket closer to her once again and snuggling right next to her.
She didn't know how he'd managed to tell that she was in a desperate need of cuddles, but she wasn't going to complain, either.
Being a werewolf, his body was naturally very warm, even in his human form. So, when he wrapped his arm over her stomach, she welcomed the warmth with a content sigh.
She looked up at James and narrowed her eyes, daring him to do anything more. Surprisingly, the boy looked away, scratching the back of his neck, which was getting increasingly red at each step he took.
"Ugh," Sirius's voice rang close to her bed, "Prongs, come give me platonic cuddles, too!"
She was a hundred percent sure that he had his bottom lip pulled out in a pout to create a faux-innocent look. She knew because they'd spent their entire childhood perfecting it in front of mirrors.
"Oh, Sirius Black! Let me show you what a good cuddle is," James said in a high pitched voice, resembling the growing number of girls that continued to get in line for a kiss with Sirius.
She blanched at the thought and thought it'd be a good time to address it. "Sirius," she called out, her voice reverberating against Remus's chest.
"Yeah?" He sounded like he was struggling to keep James in his arms, not giving his best mate a chance to escape already.
"You need to start treating girls better," she pointed out in a stern voice.
"Where's that coming from? And don't worry, Cub. Before I do anything, I make sure to tell them it's only a one-time thing . . . huh, they do seem more relieved after that."
"They likely want to get a kiss from you before they get a long-term boyfriend," Remus murmured through the explanation.
She gnawed on her lip, not quite sure of how that worked. "They're using you!" she concluded with wide eyes.
"No, Hermione. If anything, we're both using each other for equal benefits."
"I suppose," she said, blowing away a curl that had settled close to her nose. "When's Lily going to warm up to me?"
Remus gave her a light smack in the head and asked, "What's with all these random questions?"
Anything to keep her mind off other things, she thought.
"Lily is trying to get used to our dynamics, so don't act too pissy faced with her," James warned her, though his voice lacked any malice.
"I would never!" she gasped out, stifling a laugh when Remus gave her an incredulous look.
"Alright - get off me, mate," Sirius hollered loudly and a crashing sound followed. Blankets were rustled and soft footsteps padded over to her bed, where her twin narrowed his eyes at her.
"You're either drunk off the lack of sleep, or you're wasting time so that you won't have to admit that you still have homework left that's due tomorrow."
"Wow, you're really my twin," she commented lightly, only to have Sirius smile at her abashedly before taking his wand out from Merlin knows where. Giving her no time to react, he pointed it at her and murmured a spell that she knew all too well.
"Sirius Black," she gritted out, "tell me you didn't do it."
He shrugged, told her to get up to check whichever colour he chose for her hair, and had the nerve to shift into Padfoot!
He even went back to the comfort of his own bed, so why did she have to get up?
This was a punishment for all the times she's woken the boys up, her loud orders of getting their work done. Being on the other side surely sucked.
With her hair stuck on the colour electric blue for the rest of the day, she decided to stay in the dorms. Normally, she wouldn't have cared about going around with the product of a prank, but it was cold out anyways, so she had no interest in watching the Quidditch practice.
Instead, she had a long conversation with Granger on her Muggle Studies project. She found out that the woman had managed to actually take all electives for her third year!
Hermione had wished to do that too, but decided it wouldn't do her any good to overwork herself, instead focusing to spend some time with her best friends. She especially couldn't even understand why Granger took Muggle Studies, when she definitely already knew everything there was to know about Muggles already.
Stop thinking about me, Granger mumbled.
Well, it was kind of hard when the woman was literally in her head all the time.
A sigh was heard and then, I want you to try this Cassette Spell and find a song you like.
She followed the orders diligently, excited to learn more about the music in the Muggle world. She'd heard cassettes playing at the small stores her and Sirius had visited, each time they'd sneaked out of Grimmauld, but this felt different - more personal; getting to choose her own song.
So they filed through the latest hits: Love Will Keep Us Together, Down Down, Ms. Grace, and I'm Not in Love.
It was healing to say the least—nothing like a jarring project at the last minute. They'd been told to research the arts in the Muggle world and Hermione had the best source to trust with the info.
She closed her eyes with no worries when the songs got quieter and quieter, taking in the relaxing beat of her heart along with the tune.
And when the songs managed to get her up from the bed, there was nothing that could stop her from dancing along the feels that had her on the verge of crying. Not even James barging in, looking like a hot mess minus the hot part.
At least, he wasn't the one close to having a breakdown, while listening to When I Need You.
Leo Sayer knew what he was doing with those lyrics, Granger sighed like an old lady.
"What happened to your hair?" she asked, giving it a long look. It was sticking out on all sides, random wet strands falling on his forehead.
"What happened to your hair?" he threw back, chuckling at the colourful mess that was surely living on top of her head. All that dancing had messed it up even more, but she didn't care.
When I need you, just close my eyes and I'm with you.
She grinned, approaching him in slow steps. "Five years of friendship and I have yet to see you dancing," she commented with a narrowed look.
"Oh, yeah? Bring it on," he challenged as he put his weight on one leg to another, looking more like he was ready to fight than dance.
She rolled her eyes, closing them at the slow tune and going along with it as she swirled around.
I never knew there was so much love.
When she opened her eyes, he held her hands and stretched his arms in and out, pulling her closer and then far. "You look like you've had a hard day."
She gave him a weird look. "Don't I look like it everyday?"
"Yeah - you do, actually. Hermione, is there anything I can help you with?" he asked slowly, his grip on her hands getting unconsciously tighter.
Miles and miles of empty space in between us.
Words lodged in her mouth and her heart urged her - Merlin, pushed her to tell someone, tell James everything and let it all out. Talk about how helpless she'd felt just a night ago, when she'd been stupid enough not to pay attention to the details of a vision.
"No, but thanks for the offer. Maybe some other time, Prongsie?"
He rolled his eyes, but gave her a small smile, anyways. "Don't forget about it," he warned, being extra dramatic in holding her finger and twirling her around.
Honey, that's a heavy load we bear.
"I promise on the frog we rescued from the Black Lake," she told him with exaggerated solemnity and he gave her an incredulous look.
"Crazy how you remember that from our second year."
She scoffed. "Like you don't."
"I do! I told Lily about it just yesterday—You have no idea how close we are to the tale of the cat rescue from our fourth year."
She bit her lip to stifle a smile. "Wait . . . You're the one I saved it with?!"
"Hermione!"
But you know I won't be travelling a lifetime.
A/N: I hope you liked it. Happy Valentine's Day!
