Chapter 19: Wednesday, January 2, 1980

"There's no one way to the top. Make your own opportunities, see around corners, raise your hand for assignments."

-Denise Morrison

Hermione gave herself one last look over before she grabbed her back, slinging it over her shoulder, and shrugged into her winter cloak. Her bag was packed with as many snacks she could fit into it, and the softest blanket she had. In lieu of having dinner and going shopping for their monthly "girl's night", Lily had insisted they stay in at her house, eat too many snacks, and watch movies on the new VHS player that she had convinced James to buy for her.

When she arrived at the Potter's, she realized as she was removing her cloak and trainers that Remus, James, Peter, and Sirius were still home. She could hear a hushed conversation coming from the living room. Hermione knew it was rude to eavesdrop, but the irritation in Lily's voice piqued her interest.

"Just tell her, Remus! I don't understand why you're being so difficult about it!"

"She doesn't need to know," Remus said.

"You fancy her! If you want to date her, you need to quit lying to her!"

"I'm not going to date her, Lily! I can't! You know I can't and-

"You think you can't let anyone near you and you know that's complete bullshit! You have never hurt any of us, you deserve to be happy too!"

"And what happens when she freaks out?" Remus asked, "You remember what happened when the order found out! Marlene wouldn't look me in the eye for months! She still won't sit near me!"

"Marlene is a bitch," Sirius said, his voice gruff.

"Regardless, I'm not telling her!"

"Remus, you're making a mistake! If you would just-

"Enough, Lily!" Remus said, his voice rising slightly with agitation. "No. That's final. I'm not telling her, and no one else is going to, either!"

Hermione took a deep breath before entering the sitting room. She saw Lily and Remus standing in the center of the room, staring angrily at one another. Alice Longbottom was perched on the couch next to Peter and Sirius was leaning against the back of the chair that James was sat in.

"Hello, Kitten." Sirius said, smirking as Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I swear to Merlin Sirius, if you keep calling me that, you're going to find out what kind of claws this kitten has," Hermione grumbled.

James burst into laughter, effectively breaking the tension in the room. He stepped from behind the chair and pulled Hermione into a quick hug.

"I'll give you ten galleons if you prove that in front of me," James laughed.

"Traitor!" Sirius snapped, putting his hand to his chest in feigned offence.

Remus collapsed into the empty chair and rubbed at his temple, looking every bit as irritated and exhausted as Hermione knew he must be. It was nearly nightfall now, and she could tell by the bounce of his leg he was anxious to leave. Hermione pulled away from James, shooting a look at Sirius before walking over to Remus.

"Are you alright?" she asked quietly, thankful that Lily had distracted everyone else by divulging their plans for the evening.

"I'm fine, just a bit tired." Remus murmured, his eyes slowly dragging up to meet hers. "I have a headache from hell and Sirius' rambling doesn't really help that."

Hermione nodded, knowingly. She pulled her bag off her shoulder and dug into it, pulling out a phial of pink potion. "Drink this, it'll help."

"It looks like Amortentia," Remus mused, taking the phial from her.

"I assure you, it is not. It's a muscle strengthener combined with a concentrated pain potion, with a dash of Pepper-up. It comes in handy for evenings that may be… more physically exhausting than others. At any rate, it should help ease any muscle pain you're having."

Remus stared at her, his gaze completely gold, barely a trace of the evergreen shade his eyes usually were. If he didn't want to tell her, fine. But she would be damned if she had something that could ease the pain of transformation and not give it to him. She silently kicked herself for never copying down the Wolfsbane potion recipe, wishing she could figure it out to help him. However, with the volatile nature of the ingredients, she was afraid to try her hand at it. Knowing that one wrong stir of the cauldron or a too heavy handed shake of powdered aconite could kill Remus upon transformation.

This particular potion was a concoction she and Draco had come up with to speed up muscle recovery after an injury and to ensure any strenuous activity to the damaged muscles wouldn't cause any severe pain. She knew it was a far cry from a decent Wolfsbane potion, after all it wouldn't hold his mental state in any better control, but it would- theoretically, help with the pain of transformation.

Remus looked at her, studying her face for a long moment before pulling the cork from the phial and taking it all down in one swallow. He grimaced at the taste and handed her back the empty glass tube.

"For as pretty a colour that potion is, it certainly tastes bloody dreadful." Remus said.

Hermione chuckled, tucking the empty phial back into her bag, "Does the taste really matter if it works?"

"I suppose not," he agreed.

After another ten minutes of talking and James reassuring Lily that both the new VHS player and telly were charmed to work without electricity, Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James said their goodbyes and headed out. As soon as the door closed, Lily checked to make sure the telly would turn on and presented the movie she had purchased for them to watch.

The Sword and the Stone.

The three women huddled together on the sofa, sharing their blankets and snacks with one another as the movie began playing. Alice had never watched a movie before, and was enthralled by the moving cartoon on the screen, while also offended by the blatant disrespect of the creators to Merlin.

"Is this what Muggles think of Merlin?" Alice asked, watching as the cartoon caricature of the wizard danced around, making dishes clean themselves and mops dance along the floor. "They think he was just some peculiar old warlock who used his magic to help Muggle boys with their chores?!"

"It's fiction, Alice!" Lily laughed, pulling the sugarquill from her mouth.

"I know that, but if Muggle children think that-

"Muggle children don't think magic exists," Hermione explained. "They think it's just a fairytale, just like this movie."

Alice blew out a frustrated sigh and Lily launched into an explanation of Muggle fairy tales and children's stories. Hermione stood from the sofa, excusing herself to use the loo. After she washed up, she took the extra moments of privacy to sneak into Remus' room. It was neat, the same as it had been on New Years Eve, everything in its proper place, the bed made neatly and quills lined up perfectly on the desk.

Hermione stared at the bed for a moment, frowning at the flattened pillow that looked hard as a rock. She pulled her wand from her bag, casting a cushioning charm and smiling to herself. He deserved the little bit of extra comfort, especially after a full moon. She was glad to see there was a spare bit of parchment on the desk, she didn't want to rummage around his things to find one. She pulled out a few bars of Honeyduke's Finest Chocolate from her bag, along with a phial of the concentrated pain potion and set them on his desk. She borrowed one of his quills and scratched a note onto the parchment, the same note she left last time:

"Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends"

Remus hadn't indicated that he knew it was Hermione who left him potions and chocolate, she wasn't even sure if he had utilized it last time, but she wanted to help where she could. If he was set on not telling her that he was Werewolf, she would settle by helping him anyway. Even if it just meant leaving him chocolate and something to take the edge off when he got home in the morning.

Thursday, January 24, 1980

The first month of the new year felt as if it were flying by. The relief that came as Hermione became more settled with the Marauders and Lily, particularly with Sirius, was a considerable improvement. Instead of the stress from being afraid of getting too close, that she may slip up and reveal information she shouldn't, she felt as if she could really talk to them now.

They had fallen into a routine now that the buzz from the holidays had worn off. Peter had been sent back out on another long-term mission with a few other Order members and wasn't expected back before spring. Something that Hermione was ashamed to say she was glad for.

She simply didn't trust the man. She couldn't remember why she didn't like him, but every time he was near her, she knew that she needed to get away from him. Like something sinister seeped from his unassuming form, and she couldn't put enough distance between them.

The movement of the Death Eaters had seemingly run dry. Every meeting, information repeated over and over as they tried to find more out about what Voldemort's next moves would be, but he seemed to be laying low. There had been very little movement from the Death Eaters over the last six weeks; no mention of any random murders, no news of new Dementors sprouting up, no disappearances… It was eerily quiet on their front.

The silence of the Death Eaters made things all the more confusing when, at the Order meeting Hermione currently sat in, Dumbledore and Moody explained they needed at least two people to take on a mission. The mission would likely last two weeks, and would be nothing more than observation and gathering.

"Black," Moody grumbled, interrupting Sirius' pursuit of Marlene McKinnon. "I want you to be on this."

"Me? On an information gathering? I'll pass, that seems like a Remus thing."

"That feels like an insult," Remus said, his eyes narrowing at Sirius. "But I do prefer to do the observation and gathering. Sirius has a tendency to forget himself in situations that require stealth."

Hermione snorted a laugh and didn't miss the smirk or the sidelong glance that came from Remus.

"Unfortunately, Remus, Sirius has skills that may prove to be useful should he need to shift the scales," Dumbledore explained.

Remus' brows furrowed together in confusion for a moment before the realization of what Dumbledore was referencing dawned on him and he nodded, "I understand."

"James, perhaps you could assist—

"With all due respect, Albus, if we want anything done having those two dunderheads on the same assignment on their own may not be our best option." Moody grumbled.

"Hey!" James and Sirius said in unison.

As they continued talking, trying to figure out who should go with Sirius, who would best keep him on track and work well with him, Hermione made the decision that it should be her who went. She was growing tired of not being involved, not doing anything to help. Sure, she was stocking up on her brews and teaching Lily more healing magic, but it wasn't enough.

She had spent the last four years in the field in active battle! Sitting here, making pain potions and knitting flesh wounds back together was hardly enough to feed her need of adrenaline. It had been nice the first few weeks, to be out of the throes of war and have time to think and relax. To actually enjoy a cuppa and reading a novel, something she hadn't done in ages. But now? Hermione was ready to get back into the field, to get answers and do something more. She was on a time frame, after all, and every day she spent without answers was another day closer to becoming a Dementor.

"I'll do it," Hermione piped up, effectively silencing the room.

"Hermione , no. You don't have to go!" Lily said, leaning over to clasp her hand. "It's just information gathering, why risk your neck to-

"So I should expect everyone else to risk their necks, but not me?" Hermione asked, looking first at Lily with a raised brow and then roaming her eyes over all the members at the table. "Let me do it."

"Want to go and try to keep me in line, Kitten?" Sirius smirked, rolling his eyes at the ludicrous idea of it.

Hermione pulled her wand from her pocket and quickly aimed it at Sirius, hitting him with a mild, wordless, stinging hex.

"Ouch! What was that for?!"

"I told you to stop calling me that," Hermione said. "And I think it's a good way to prove that your charm won't work on me, as it might another witch." She didn't even try to hide the look she gave Marlene, to which Marlene responded to by huffing as she folded her arms over her chest, her cheeks going pink.

"All right," Moody said, after sharing a long look with Dumbledore. "Hermione goes with Sirius. You'll leave tomorrow evening and stay two weeks, unless something should happen that would require you to remove yourselves from the premises."

"Great, two weeks alone… Just me and you? This will be fun!" Sirius said, his eyes lighting up as he laughed.

Hermione didn't miss the uncomfortable shift of Remus' posture or the blazing look of annoyance Lily sent to Sirius.

"Fantastic," Hermione said, her voice thick with sarcasm. "I can't wait to see how many ways I can hex you in two weeks."

As the meeting came to a close, Sirius and Hermione remained behind as the others left, getting the details of the assignment. They would be sharing a room at muggle motel located on the upper floor of the building across the street from where they were watching. Apparently, there had been reports of muggle children being kidnapped from the area, and an upswing in magical activity in that particular building. Obliviators from the Ministry had been called to the building more than once to correct some strange phenomenon that was witnessed by a muggle or two. Over the last three weeks, the magical energy in the area had only increased. In conjunction with the missing children, Moody was sure there was something worth investigating there.

Moody explained he felt the Ministry was going under, and he didn't seem confident in who he could trust in his own department there. He wanted to keep his suspicions under wraps until he had proof that there was something nefarious going on, so the use of Aurors for the simple assignment was ruled out.

Hermione assured him she could handle the task, and Sirius grunted in agreement, stating he would be on his best behavior and that if anything went wrong, he would get them out of there. Hermione rolled her eyes at the inflated sense of heroism Sirius was feeling. If he only knew how many times she had saved someone's arse on a mission for the Order…

A few hours later, after ironing out all of the details and setting up a time for herself and Sirius to meet up the following evening, Hermione entered her cottage. The smell of cinnamon wafted from the living room and after she removed her cloak and boots she found the source.

On the center of the coffee table was a small basket filled with her favorite Chelsea Buns, still warm. She picked up one of the buns and smiled, inhaling the scent and taking a bite into the currant and cinnamon bun. As she chewed, Hermione's eyes landed on a piece of parchment tucked into the basket, she unfolded it and smiled at the familiar slanted scrawl.

"Get by with a little help from my friends...

There's enough to last a fortnight.

Be Careful."

.

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a/n Hey all! Thanks for reading! I keep seeing reviews that are showing some frustration with Hermione not telling Remus she knows about his furry little problem... I'd like to address this real quick... Picture, if you will, a completely mistrusting werewolf who is terrified of his own condition. Hiding it for YEARS from his friends, until they finally came to him and said they knew. Hermione knows this about Remus, remember? She knows how self-loathing the man was. And her main goal here is to build trust. A really fast way to completely obliterate any opportunity at that is to drop in and be like "Yo, I know we've only known each other for less than three months, but like.. I know your biggest secret."

so, Hermione remains quiet on it... kind of.

I promise she eventually brings it up with him, but cut her some slack haha

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review! I'll be back with a new one on Tuesday! btw if you haven't yet, come join my FB group! Mimifreed Writing! I post all kinds of photo manips and silly little things on there, I just made a couple manips of the basket of sweets scene and the NYE kiss that I posted. anyhoooo...

xo

mimi