A/N: I always feel a little surprised when I post a chapter with no trigger warnings lmao. Hope you're all having a lovely Saturday! I'm spending mind painting my son's room while he's at his dad's. He wanted an ocean theme. Wish is super fun. And also so stressful haha #recoveringperfectionist

Enjoy, folks!

At dinner the evening of October 1st, Albus stood to make a particularly unpopular announcement. Hermione knew it was coming. Had pushed for it herself.

The students shifted uncomfortably in their seats, glancing between the still-foodless tables, and the Headmaster, their stomachs growling. The Headmaster almost never held up dinner to make an announcement.

"This can't be because—"

"Shut up, James!" Sirius muttered. "There's no way he knows about—"

"Shut up, both of you!" Remus hissed.

Hermione smiled wryly. They definitely had something up their sleeves.

"Good evening," Albus said, his voice quiet but penetrating. Hermione was sure that must be a spell. "I assure you, I will get straight to the point. I can hear the rumbling of your stomachs from all the way up here." He smiled as James' stomach growled obligingly - and loudly. Several students chuckled, and Lily rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"As our older students are keenly aware, we have as yet made no mention of Hogsmeade visits."

Hermione noticed her friends' attention become almost laser focused on Albus' words. Even Sirius and James had stopped conspiring in low voices.

"After much deliberation, and with deep regret—" many people began protesting, but Albus soldiered on, "—the Board has decided to suspend visits to Hogsmeade until further notice in the interest of safety. They do this with the full support of myself and the Hogwarts' staff."

James and Sirius threw themselves to their feet, protest on their lips.

"Now, now," Albus said, waiting for silence. "We realize that this is very disappointing for our students, and so we have contrived a consolation prize of sorts for your entertainment and distraction."

Mel and Tracey immediately crossed their fingers. "Dance. Dance. Dance. Dance. Dance," they chanted below their breath. Hermione grinned.

"We have arranged a Halloween Masquerade Dance—" many of the girls (as well as several of the boys) cheered, and Albus smiled, his damned eyes a-twinkle, "—for the night of the Halloween feast. Costumes welcome, of course, but not required. I won't bore you all with the details now, but I promise a night of merriment and fun." At this, Albus glanced quite deliberately at James, Remus, and Sirius. The gleam in his eye was a clear invitation, Hermione realized, and she watched as Sirius' face lit up like Christmas morning.

"Now then," Albus said, as food appeared on the tables, "do tuck in."

The Marauders immediately stuck their heads together - though James did so while shoveling food onto his plate and into his mouth. The girls were rather louder.

"I am not wearing some sleazy costume!" Lily shrieked.

Tracey grinned. Mel grinned. Hermione grinned. "Oh shut up!" Lily hissed, realizing they were all remembering last Halloween's angel costume. "That was mortifying."

"I dunno, Lils," Hermione said slyly, having finally gotten the knack of speaking whilst concealing the Mandrake leaf in her mouth. She couldn't wait for this Animagus ritual to be finished. "I distinctly recall Jamesiepoo looking quite… impressed."

Lily immediately flushed a deep red.

"Don't worry, Lils," Tracey said in a soothing, manipulative tone. "Mel and I will come up with something perfect for all four of us."

Rather than looking soothed, Lily shuddered with trepidation.

Mel interrupted just as Lily opened her mouth to protest further. "Pleeeease, Lily? It would mean so much to me. I could really use the distraction."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. Mel was playing the grief card. Boldly and unabashedly. Were these two trying out for Slytherin?

Lily stared at them, her annoyance at the clear manipulation warring, obviously, with her knowledge that this really would be a good thing for Mel. "Oh fine!" she ground out finally. "But—"

Tracey grinned deviously, as Mel squealed and launched herself at Lily. Then the two grabbed some toast and dashed off. Hermione's laugh was loud and whole-hearted at Lily's shell-shocked expression. This was going to be a shitshow… And she couldn't wait.

The rest of the month passed in a flurry of excitement that only grew. Mel and Tracey had spent most of their spare moments arguing in furious whispers about the costumes… but the last few days leading up to the dance, they seemed to have come to some sort of agreement. Hermione was relishing the devious grins they kept flashing in Lily's direction.

"I'm going to die," Lily groaned into her hands at the Halloween feast, which had been pushed early, and moved to the house common rooms to accommodate time for preparations for the dance down in the Great Hall. "Any minute, they're going to drag us upstairs to get ready… and they're going bring out some hideously revealing costume and expect me to wear it." Her voice was growing shrill. "And I'm going to have to, Hermione!" Her eyes were wide with horror, and Hermione nearly choked on her pumpkin juice as she tried not to laugh. "I'm going to have to, because I bloody well agreed to. And it's going to be so… so…"

"Sexy?" Hermione supplied.

Lily sputtered.

"Fun?" Tracey suggested, coming up behind them.

"Exciting!" Mel chimed in with a grin.

"Come on, Lils, time to meet your doom," Hermione said with a grin.

Lily groaned one last time, then, gathering all her Gryffindor courage and pride, she straightened her shoulders and followed an incredibly eager Mel and Tracey up to their dormitory.

Hermione laughed unsupportively nearly the whole way up the stairs, and desperately hoped the memory would never fade. "If I had a Pensieve," she said, trying to catch her breath as she flopped onto her four-poster, "I would put this day into it right this moment."

Tracey and Mel exchanged an excited, but somewhat evil look. "It'll get better," they promised slyly.

"Alright then," Lily said in the calmest tone she could muster, "let's see it."

"Well, Mel here wanted something… pretty," Tracey said, rolling her eyes. "But I wanted something with some punch, you know? Some drama."

Hermione swore she saw Lily shudder at the word. I would have been the exact same way a year and a half ago, Hermione realized with a strange sort of dissonance. She thought it over as Mel and Tracey continued to build to the big reveal. I like this me better, she decided. She felt so much more comfortable in her own skin. Happier. More relaxed. And all in spite of fighting a war on the front lines. I must be losing my mind, she mused. Her train of thought was promptly interrupted.

"Out with it already!" Lily shrieked.

Hermione and Tracey laughed, but Mel just smiled excitedly, her eyes sparkling in a way they rarely did lately.

"Greek Goddesses!" she exclaimed.

Lily immediately looked a little confused, and considerably relieved. Togas were pretty tame after all.

"Now, I know what you're thinking," Tracey said. "Greek Goddesses? How cliche! How lame! And, I mean, you're not wrong," she frowned briefly in Mel's direction, "But never fear, Lily darling! I spiced them up." She winked, and Lily immediately deflated.

"I don't even want to know what that's supposed to mean," she muttered quietly.

Hermione grinned. She wasn't really excited about having to dress up either. But she was excited about the look in Mel's and Tracey's eyes, and she was really looking forward to Lily's reaction to whatever she was about to see. "Well, I do! Let's see the costumes, you guys. Who do I get to be?" She forced a little extra eagerness into her voice for her friends' sakes.

"That's the spirit!" Tracey cheered. "Mel, bring 'em out."

Mel quickly distributed the costumes they'd spent the last week perfecting.

Hermione's costume was honestly exquisite. Her gaze roved over the somewhat revealing Greek armor and gown, the Medusa aegis, and the elegant, but deadly-looking spear. "This is amazing, you guys! The transfiguration that must have gone into this…"

Mel and Tracey both smiled proudly. "Gerard helped with the shield," Mel said with a hint of a blush at the reference to her tentative new boyfriend. He'd asked her to the dance last week and watching them shyly holding hands at the breakfast table was honestly one of the highlights of Hermione's days. "We wanted you to really feel like Athena when you put it on. You earned her."

Hermione felt the words punch through her heart, and had to keep the smile fixed on her face… To force herself to hold the compliment and release the baggage. Athena, Goddess of wisdom and war. She was honoured. And also knew it was going to be very hard to put it on without feeling the weight of past battles and recent losses.

Lily was a welcome distraction. "I'm Hera?" she wailed, holding up an exquisite costume. Her (also fairly revealing) white toga was accompanied by a sheer cape in peacock pattern, a gold scepter, and a beautiful diadem.

"We'll charm lilies for your hair, too!" Mel bubbled.

"But…" Lily sputtered, "But… Hera was awful! The absolute anti-feminist! All she did was punish women for being beautiful or for sleeping with her bloody husband! She held grudges for ever and she was—"

"Fiery?" Hermione cut in, her eyebrows raised pointedly.

"Ungrateful?" Tracey added, cheekily.

"Beautiful and powerful?" Mel said sincerely.

Lily deflated slightly, and swallowed audibly. "Okay, fine. I'm Hera," she said sullenly, eying the costume with poorly masked distaste.

"Try it on!" Mel urged.

The girls quickly changed into their costumes. Mel, who planned to be a healer, was Aceso, Goddess of healing (and daughter of Asclepius). Tracey, of course, was Aphrodite, and her own, slightly sheer toga, left very little to the imagination.

"These are honestly amazing, guys," Lily said. Hermione looked at her with scrutiny. There was something off about her tone.

"You changed it!" Tracey accused.

Lily flushed. "Just a little. You know, I just made the neckline a little higher and the skirt a little lower. No big deal, right?"

Tracey glared. Mel pouted. Hermione laughed.

"Come on, Lils," Hermione said softly. "No one's going to make you wear something that makes you uncomfortable, I promise," she cast a firm glance in Tracey's direction, "but is it such a big deal to wear something sexy?"

"Yes! No. I… I don't know."

"Can we make a deal?" Mel suggested.

Lily frowned. "I'm listening."

"Just wear it our way for the next hour. Just up here with us, while we get ready. If you still feel uncomfortable in it, then you can modify it. Okay?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Alright, deal."

The next hour passed in a flurry of fussing and giggling that Hermione was slowly growing accustomed to. It still sometimes felt new, novel, to have a group of female friends she was close with and genuinely enjoyed. Good new. By the end of the hour, their cheeks were pink with laughter, their eyes sparkled, and various fantastic spells had been employed to make them look like their Goddess counterparts.

"We look fucking fantastic," Tracey gloated.

Mel squealed her agreement, and the two began chatting away about boys and dancing and what songs might play.

Lily was silently staring at herself in a floor-length mirror.

Hermione walked to her side and nudged her. "What's up?"

"I look…" Hermione waited as Lily struggled with the word. "I look… really good."

"Beautiful," Hermione interjected.

"Yeah," Lily breathed, almost sheepishly. "We all do. We look beautiful."

"I know. I never would have worn something like this before," Hermione confessed quietly. "I was afraid to look beautiful. Afraid to look promiscuous. Afraid what it would mean about myself, if it was something I liked, or wanted. I scowled at girls for being vapid or shallow. I thought that my plain conservative clothing somehow made me better."

Lily stared at her. "What happened? Why the change?"

"There was something about being brought here… it just… it opened my mind in so many ways. Suddenly, I wasn't Hermione Granger anymore. Suddenly I was whoever the hell I wanted to be. And the fact that that felt terrifying and freeing meant that I… that I hadn't really been who I wanted to be before. It gave me a chance to really look at all the rules I'd set for myself and ask whether they were things I still wanted to believe about myself. About the world." Hermione reached for Lily's hand.

"You don't have to wear it. No one will hold it against you - not even Tracey. But I just… I wanted to tell you, I wanted let you know that you get to define everything." Lily's eyes were pensive as Hermione looked intently into them. "If you want to wear the costume, even some small part of you. Then, well, I think you should do it."

Lily smiled. "You're a good friend, Hermione." She glanced over at Mel and Tracey. "You all are. And you're right. I'm going to wear the costume." She looked back at her reflection. "I look amazing, and I feel amazing. And it does feel a little uncomfortable. And I'm a damned Gryffindor! So there."

Mel and Tracey cheered. "Let's go then!"

"Haaang on," Tracey interrupted. "I invited the guys up for a game of Never Have I Ever before the dance."

"You what!" Hermione and Lily shrieked together.

"Don't worry, I didn't invite Gerard - that's new, and I know we don't want to share all our secrets in front of him. Just Sirius and James and Remus." Her voice took a slightly whiny turn at their expressions. "Oh, come on, you guys - it'll be fun!"

Hermione sighed. "Alright, fine. I have no secrets; I probably won't even have to drink."

"I'm Head Girl!" Lily said. "I can't show up to a school function drunk!"

"Yeah, I thought of that," Tracey said. "You can take sips of a mixed drink. The rest of us will sip Firewhiskey." There was a knock on the door, and Tracey grinned maniacally. "This is gonna be so great!"

Mel let the boys in, and after suitably appreciating each others' costumes (the boys were dressed as the band members of The Hobgoblins), they settled down for the drinking game.

"Okay," Tracey said, pulling a bottle from beneath her bed and pouring everyone their drinks. "The point of this is not to get drunk. Just some good, clean fun, and then we can head down to the dance with a burn in our chest and some swagger in our step. So, I mean, try not to target each other too badly." She smirked around at the group. "I'll go first!"

It went along innocently enough, but Lily, who had nervously gulped her entire first drink and had to get another, was a bit tipsy by the time her third turn rolled around. She eyed James pointedly her eyebrows lifting. "Never have I ever… turned into an animal. Other than human, I mean."

The Marauders looked at each other, their eyes wide in a deer-in-headlights way. Sirius finally sighed, shrugged, and took a drink, James and Remus following. Hermione quietly took a drink too, hoping no one would notice. To no avail.

"You too?" Lily practically shrieked. "I'm surrounded by deceivers!"

Hermione shrugged uncomfortably. "It's a new thing."

The Marauders were staring at Hermione.

"You're an animagus?" Remus asked quietly.

Hermione nodded. "I never saw much point in it when my Patronus was an otter. I mean… how much use could that ever really be? But once it shifted—"

"That was a bloody month ago!" Sirius exclaimed. "There's no way—"

"Yes. I completed my transformation last night, during the storm."

Everyone was staring at her now.

"Well let's see!" Tracey said excitedly.

Hermione looked to Remus. He had taken a drink. He was not an Animagus. He couldn't transform at will. If she transformed, the girls would want the boys to transform too. And Remus' secret would come out. "Maybe another time," Hermione smiled. "We should get down to the dance - we don't want to be late." Gratitude flashed in her boyfriend's eyes.

Mel checked the time and leapt to her feet. "I have to meet Gerard in the Common Room in less than 5 minutes!"

Tracey groaned. "Oh alright. But when we get back up here tonight, you're showing us your tricks!"

"Sure thing," Hermione promised. "Just… I mean… I'm not registered, of course. I don't want Voldemort to find out about my Animagus form. So don't tell anyone, alright?"

Tracey mimed zipping her lips and ran to the loo to "freshen up." Lily and Mel went too. Hermione was about to follow when Remus slipped his hand into hers and pulled her in for a gentle kiss.

"Thank you," he whispered, pressing his forehead to hers. "You are… amazing."

Hermione smiled up at him. "I promised to protect your secret, Remus. I keep my promises."

Remus shook his head, his eyes dark and intense. "No, Hermione, it's more than that. You—"

"Alright, let's get Cinderella to her prince!" Tracey grinned, pushing Mel from the loo and across to the door. "I can't wait to see his face when he sees you."

Gerard's jaw hit the floor when Mel floated down to meet him. "You look… amazing," he said sincerely. He glanced at the other girls. "You all do. You and Tracey did an incredible job."

Mel was practically glowing. "You helped!"

He grinned and offered his arm, "Shall we?"

Together the group made their way down to the dance, where things were in full swing. Hermione dodged a swooping enchanted bat as they swept toward an empty table.

"You know," she shouted to Remus over the loudness of the music, "I still don't know what you three are planning for tonight."

Remus grinned. "Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies."

Hermione laughed. "Fine. Be that way."

His eyes glittered mischievously. She loved that about him, this Remus, who still had joy in his heart, and slyness in his grin. There was so much more life in him. She hoped to hell she could help him stay that way.

"Hey," he said, his eyes immediately concerned. "What's wrong?"

Hermione brushed the thoughts away. "Oh, nothing really. Just thinking."

"I didn't have a very happy life, did I?"

Hermione could barely hear him over the noise around them. She shook her head firmly. "You will." She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him deeply, pouring all her hopes and fears into it, losing them in the feeling of his warm lips, his tongue, the way his hands pressed into her hips, pulling her closer. Her heart was pounding and her entire body tingled.

He pulled away, slightly breathless as a slow song came on. "Care to dance?"

Hermione glanced at Mel's blushing cheeks as Gerard pulled her onto the floor, at Lily and James smiling lovingly at one another, at Tracey and Sirius bee-lining for the punch table with devious looks on their faces. Then she smiled back at Remus. "Of course."

He bowed and extended a hand in a very gentlemanly way, but his eyes were still burning with desire. "I am your most humble servant, oh Goddess of Wisdom," he said with a quirk of his lips.

Hermione hid a smile as she placed her hand into his, not even bothering to search for a witty reply. He pressed a slow, soft kiss to her knuckles and Hermione shivered pleasantly. Then he led her onto the floor.

Some of the heat faded as he pulled her into his arms. Hermione rested her head on his chest, his warmth seeped into her cheek, and she could hear the steady beat of his heart through his shirt.

She glanced up, to tell him how safe she felt, how happy she was, but his lips captured hers and her words evaporated entirely. This kiss wasn't steamy, it was deep and tender… almost loving.

The thought sent ripples of discord through Hermione. Was she in love with Remus? Was Remus in love with her? How did she feel about that? Her tendency to overthink things spun out of control, and she pulled back from the kiss, snuggling back into the crook of his neck.

"Your costume suits you," Remus said into her ear. "Beautiful, smart, strong. The girls chose well." She felt his fingers trailing innocently up and down her bare back, sending happy shivers down her spine, even as her thoughts swirled chaotically in her head.

She forced herself into the moment. "I'm a little disappointed that yours doesn't come with a guitar," she said with a smile.

He laughed, and it rumbled through his body and into hers. "I'll have to rectify that later. I couldn't possibly miss a perfect opportunity to show off. Sirius would harass me for days."

Hermione laughed softly, releasing some of her tension, and they lapsed into comfortable silence for the rest of the song. While Hermione analyzed every feeling she'd ever felt, trying to decide whether she was really in love with Remus.

The song ended, and they pulled apart with just a touch of regret.

"I need to run to the loo," Hermione said. "I never got a chance before we came down. I'll be right back."

Remus pulled her in for a kiss, then released her.

Her Slytherin friends were seated at a table near the door. Regulus and Severus were both there, though apparently dateless, and somewhat sullen about the whole thing. Hermione eyed Narcissa and Lucius carefully. She'd heard they'd gotten engaged over the summer, but they looked distant, unhappy, beside each other. Her heart hurt for all of them.

As she moved toward the doors, Regulus looked up, and for the briefest of moments, their gazes locked. She sent a look towards him that she hope conveyed how she missed them, that she didn't hate them. But he only turned away, striking up a conversation with Narcissa. With a sigh, Hermione pushed through the doors and into the hall.

She was quite a ways down the hall when the door finally swung shut, blissfully settling silence over the corridor.

"Crucio!"