March 1980

Longbottom Hall

It'd been months since she'd seen Albus Dumbledore. Months.

While she was rather disgruntled on the matter, he seemed completely unaffected. They'd gathered in the upstairs lounge, merely a handful of them crowding where the Headmaster sat. The portrait above the fireplace that was usually sleeping with his mouth gaping was now alert, perched at the edge of his tufted chair with wide, curious eyes.

Albus remained silent, nodding along as Frank recounted the last few weeks in hushed tones. Irritation bubbled to the surface, and Hermione's mouth puckered as though she'd just sucked a lemon. James was a constant at her side, the other Marauders and finally Marley shuffling into the corner.

In a cacophony of expletives and grunts, Moody thundered into the small room, taking up any excess space; Kingsley was next, his braids tied into a knot at the top of his head and his wand tucked behind his ear.

"Albus," Moody said by way of hello, and he and Kings stopped in the front of the room.

"You're all here," Albus said, a small smile bending his lips. "Frank here has filled me in on the issues as it stands with the Death Eater attacks as well as our two members coming up as Aurors. Congratulations to you both." He paused, nodding deeply in their general direction. "Miss Granger, how goes your task? Have you acquired any other Horcruxes in the months since we last met?"

Hermione bristled, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "No. I've had some progress with one but the others I am still without threads to follow. My notes dictate that Tom may have wanted to create Horcruxes from artefacts from other houses. I am almost positive he failed in regards to anything from Gryffindor but—"

Albus lifted his weathered hands and searched through the crowd. "Ah, there you are Miss Meadowes. Can you assist Miss Granger with her task? I seem to remember you had some proclivity towards magical artefacts in your time at Hogwarts."

Hermione had been cut off during her small window of time to actually speak to Dumbledore, delegated to someone else as though she were nothing more than a task on his neverending list. Crimson twinged her vision and though Dorcas had stepped up and readily agreed, Hermione felt the dam of her manners break, frustration flooding her system.

"Professor, I'm sorry but you seem to be treating my being here like a hobby of mine. I had a life in 1998: friends, family, possibilities for a future." James stilled at her side as the room fell into a tense quiet. "I wouldn't be here if my mission wasn't of the utmost importance. All these other side projects are for naught if we don't find a way to track down and destroy the Horcruxes. If we don't—nothing changes. Nothing. Even if you did find a way to kill him, he'd come back. This mission is the only thing that matters!"

Her chest heaved in the wake of her rage, through Dumbledore remained passive yet again, his blue eyes unwavering and his hands still folded neatly across his beard.

"Do you know the Wrights, Miss Granger?"

Her jaw slammed shut. "No."

"The O'Haras or the Everlys? Maybe the Windors?" When she didn't respond, he continued. "I understand that your task is important but say that to those families who have been attacked within the last month—tell them that your mission is the only thing that matters. The Order is a unit." He lifted his hands, locking his fingers together in the space in front of him. "No one task is more important than the others; it can't be. We delegate and cooperate because no one member is able to sustain alone—not even myself."

Sitting up tall, Albus craned his neck once and continued, "Your mission is part of a larger tapestry, one that includes the safety of the Wizarding world in 1980. I cannot abandon the rest of our population to focus all of our energy on finding the Horcruxes. That must fall on you. We've provided what we can and will continue to do so. Outside these walls and the protection of the Order there is more happening than any of you possibly know."

Hermione nodded, her brow severely arched. She was, for all intents and purposes, alone in finding the Horcruxes. And if that were the case, she could no longer wait for approval in getting what she needed to find and destroy them.

"Very well. I am also here to inform you that following the end of the term at Hogwarts, I am being dispatched with the International Wizarding Coalition. I will do what I can to stay as informed as possible but in order to do so I am requesting that missives directed for me go through Alastor and Kingsley; they will see that I receive them."

Marley piped up from the back. "Where're you going, Headmaster?"

"I'm afraid both my work with the I.C.W. as well as the location are confidential for now. Anything else?" The room remained otherwise quiet. "Lovely. I'll hear from the rest of you now."

Digging her fingers into the back of the sofa, Hermione tried in vain to control her anger. Dorcas spoke about the raids and Benji on a plausible few offensive strikes that Dumbledore didn't seem all that keen on. The twins were next, filling in the details of what they and Benji had discovered about the disappearances in Muggle London.

Benji cleared his throat and took over. "While the attacks on Muggle-borns have been mostly scare tactics and vandalism, things have been downright violent in Muggle London. There have been more and more disappearances and in some cases deaths. You-Know-Who is targeting an odd sort: drifters, the homeless, Muggles addicted to drugs."

"He's building an army," Hermione said flatly, her lips pursed as though the man had personally offended her. "An army of Inferi."

Deafening silence followed by low mumbles of disbelief.

"You're sure?" Kingsley asked, taking a step forward into the centre of the room.

Her gaze flickered to Sirius, whose jaw was set hard like steel. "I am."

The two head Aurors shared a look, and Moody nodded, his eyes drifting back to Hermione. "We'll increase patrols in the dodgier areas of London. If we can apprehend Death Eaters in the act, we may find ourselves a lead. We are working on getting approval for Veritaserum while interrogating those suspected of working with You-Know-Who. We'll need volunteers—"

Hermione's hand shot in the air. "I'll go."

"Hermione…" James warned from her side, but she swallowed hard and ignored him.

"I am tracking down Horcruxes; I need Death Eaters for that. This way I can help with monitoring as well as give me the best chance to get close to some actual evidence. Whatever you need, I'm there."

Moody grunted. "Fine. At this point we can use every body we can get. You'll need a team."

Marley's fingers tickled the air, and she stepped next to Hermione. "Aye, I'll go with her. Safe houses are secure and stocked; I can take on more between my shifts at the Leaky."

"Me too," Alice said clearly, jaw set as she worked her way forward. "And don't start, Moody—or you, Frank—patrols are nowhere near as dangerous, and I can handle it a few more months yet. We'll call for support if we need it; the girls could use an Auror with them."

Hermione's chest filled with pride and anticipation as she fought a smile. "I'm ready."

xXx

Laying in James' bed, Hermione couldn't shake the discomfort that had settled around them earlier that day. Things had taken such a sharp shift, and it was the first time since they'd begun seeing each other that Hermione found herself at a loss for words.

James was quiet as well, lying with his hand tucked behind his head and his jaw tight.

When she could stand it no longer, she shot up and turned so she was facing him. "What is it?"

"What?"

"What is it?" Hermione pressed, unsure if she even really wanted to know the answer.

"It's nothing, Hermione. I'm just tired." His voice was void of any inflection or emotion and it only set to drive her further on edge.

It wasn't that she didn't know why he was upset; it had happened so suddenly that there was no question. She just felt deflated in saying it aloud. "Is it because I'm going out with Alice and Marley?"

"It's dangerous out there, Hermione."

"And you don't think I know that?" She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"You don't," he bit out, "Not really at least. You haven't seen—"

"Please don't patronise me, James. I've fought Death Eaters before. That scar on my ribs? It's from Antonin Dolohov." The name caught James' attention, his eyes flickering to her. "Yeah, I got it sneaking into the Department of Mysteries to save Sirius Black when I was sixteen. I'm not fragile, James. I'm strong. I can handle myself."

"It's not the same."

Her brow inched towards her hairline, disbelief dripping over her features. "You're impossible; I'm leaving."

She made to scoot off the bed but he stopped her, his hand coming down on her knee. "Please don't."

"Do you treat all the women in the Order this way?"

A smirk twitched on the corner of his lips, and she could see him visibly soften. "I'm not in love with all the women in Order. I'm allowed to want you safe. I'm allowed to be worried that my girlfriend is out there in the grottiest parts of London searching for trouble."

As much as she detested it, reason shrouded her irritation. She'd felt the same way when James had volunteered himself. With a long sigh, she summoned her enchanted bag and began rooting around. Near the bottom, her fingers brushed along a gold chain and she lifted it free, holding it in the space between her and James.

His eyes caught on the Time-Turner, his jaw hardening. "Ah."

"This is what brought me here; it's a long jump Time-Turner. It requires far more magic than a standard one and is considered useless after its single jump."

Quickly scooting up to a seated position, James vibrated with concentration. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying," she paused, closing her fingers around the concentric circles and busted hourglass, "unless I find another long-jump time turner, I won't be going back. I'm here."

James swallowed and shifted in his seat, his normally playful smirk missing and replaced with a downward turn of his mouth. "Did you know that when you used it?"

Lips folding inward, she nodded. "We were losing more and more people every day. Harry—" She flinched at the sound of his name on her lips and fought back tears as she prepared to tell him what she'd put off for so long. "On October 1981, Harry is turned into a Horcrux. That's when You-Know-Who was defeated for the first time."

"What?" Confusion flickered across his face. "How is that possible?"

Hermione's eyes fell to her fist holding the necklace. "You-Know-Who entered your home at Godric's Hollow that night to kill Harry."

"To kill a… a baby?"

Nodding, she continued. "There is a prophecy that leads him there. Lily sacrifices herself for Harry and in doing so, protects him from the Killing Curse, rebounding and destroying You-Know-Who's body." A single tear slipped free, and she quickly banished it.

"Lily dies?" The pain drenched in his voice made her heart clench and her gaze involuntarily jumped to his. "Is that when—" His voice hitched, unable to continue.

"Yes," she said around the knot lodged in the base of her throat. James had known, of course, but she could see him now settling into the truth of it. With a heavy breath, she continued. "That's why I had to come back. If Harry is made a Horcrux, then the only way to defeat You-Know-Who is for Harry to die."

"Fuck," he hissed, his fingers darting out and tightening around her knee.

Dragging a broken breath through her teeth, she ignored the fresh tears staining her cheeks. "I thought I was coming back to protect him—to save him. But now it's so much more. I have to save you, James. Have to save Lily and Sirius... and Marley and Gideon and Fabian and Benji and Dorcas and Frank and Alice and—"

James shot forward, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her until her sobs had quieted.

"I have to, James. And that means I have to find those bloody Horcruxes—and that means I have to take risks. Risks you might not like."

The muscles of his throat tensed as he swallowed back any more of his argument. "We do this together. You don't run into fights with Dolohov or any of those other evil fucks without me. Okay?"

"I promise to try," she allowed, lips twitching into a smile. "We'll do this together."

Shifting forward, he caught the back of her neck and tugged her forward until their foreheads were resting against each other. "Together."

"Marauders!" Remus' voice echoed through the house and both Hermione and James sat tall, heads snapping towards the sound. After the meeting, Dumbledore had requested that Remus stay back though no one knew why.

The occupants of the house filtered into the living room where Remus was standing, features pinched and hands shoved in his trouser pockets. As Sirius and Marley trodded down the stairs, he rocked back on his heels and sucked in a hard breath. "Right, I best be on with it."

"On with what, mate?" Peter asked, his dark gaze shooting nervously around the room.

Remus swallowed hard once and lifted his gaze to the group, his expression tightly guarded. "Dumbledore needs my help."

"Yours specifically?" Peter queried. "We can help, whatever it is."

"You actually can't this time, mate." Remus' lips quirked in a small smile. "I'm being dispatched to the mainland to seek out werewolf packs. Dumbledore would like their allegiance if things turn bad here."

Two heartbeats of silence followed by a collectively shouted, "What!?"

"He's barmy," Sirius nearly yelled, his hand darting to his hair. "You're not going in hunt of fucking werewolves! What—does he want you dead?"

"Sirius is right," James said, his voice low and serious. "This is dangerous as fucking hell and it's not like you'll be an Apparition away if you're—"

Remus rocked back on his heels. "I won't be coming back for awhile. He'd like me to assimilate into a pack; hopefully once I am and have some clout I can convince other packs."

"No way. No fucking way," Sirius began violently shaking his head and pacing. "We'll come. We'll help."

"You can't and you know it. Not only will they never accept me if I have three of you in tow, but you've just started as Aurors. Pete just applied to Gringotts." The group reeled on Peter, whose cheeks were blooming red. "Sorry, Pete, didn't mean to spill your news… All I mean to say is that you lot have lives here. You have each other and a purpose and I don't—this is my chance, alright? I'm going to take it. I'm going."

Sirius stopped in his tracks, the tension falling from his face and shoulders. "We don't separate. We never have, and it's the only bloody way we've all made it this far. We're Marauders—we stick together."

"We still are, mate. Let me go and do something for myself, yeah? This is a good thing—dangerous, yes—but good. I'll come back in a few months between moons; Dumbledore agreed to secure me a Portkey in June." Remus gave a tight, lopsided smile. "I'll owl when I can."

Marley moved first, crashing into her friend with a fierce hug. "When do you leave?"

"Now. I need to go and get my things together and meet with a liaison from the Magical Creature Department for a briefing. Stop looking at me like that, you gits. I'll be fine. Couple months of income will do me good."

Remus got several pats on the back from the rest of the Marauders and finally stepped up to Hermione, surprising her by crushing her in a tight hug. His mouth fell to her ear, and he squeezed her tighter. "Tell me I make it out of this alive."

With a trembling jaw, she wrapped her arms around her future Professor and nodded. "You do," she whispered. "But be safe anyway, yeah?"

A hollow laugh rumbled through him and he pulled back, winking quickly at her and then jogging up the stairs for his room.

The quiet that followed was stifling and it was punctuated only by Sirius slamming his fist into the wall and shouting, "Fuck!" before storming out the back door.

xXx

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this week's update! Poor sweet BB Remus… unfortunately, we knew this was coming canonically but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it! Fear not, Remus shall return.

Thank you so much for reading and following along. You all mean the world to me!

Big thanks to my sweet British Alphabet: Farmulousa, Ravenslight, and NuclearNik for their help cranking out this chapter.

I hope this update finds you well, friends, and I'll see you next Monday! All my kisses!