1st March 1975
6pm
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Great Hall
Hermione had managed to do quite a good job over the last few weeks at avoiding her boyfriend, but upon the exasperated urging of her friends she was finally going to end things with him. She'd only started dating him as a distraction and it felt wrong to lead him on when this relationship certainly wasn't going anywhere.
She'd written to her father in a panic as soon as she'd heard about the possibility that he'd agree to the Diggory's suit. She'd received a rather amused letter back from her father assuring her once again that when she was betrothed it would be to someone of her choice, and also that the Diggory's were bloody annoying, and even if Geraint had been choosing for her she wouldn't have had to worry that he'd choose Amos Diggory.
She'd put it off long enough now, so on the evening of what would be Ron's birthday in just five years, she gathered her Gryffindor courage and entered the Great Hall right at dinner time when most people would be in there. She'd been arriving late for the past couple weeks, or just eating in the kitchens, to avoid Amos.
She took her customary seat between Frank and Lily at the Gryffindor table, Dorcas and Alice sitting opposite. They and the Marauders all looked at her in surprise, except Dorcas and Lily who'd talked her into this.
"The prodigal daughter returns!" Sirius crowed, just grinning cheekily at her when she rolled her eyes.
"You okay, 'Min?" Frank asked, looking her over. She resolutely ignored the way her heart fluttered a little in her chest at having his attention.
"Yea," She smiled at him widely, "Lily and Dorcas had a go at me earlier. They pointed out I wasn't being very Gryffindor, avoiding breaking up with Amos."
"You're breaking up with Amos!?" James practically shouted, cringing when half the table turned to look at him.
Hermione glared and then frowned, confused over his level of interest, "Yea," She sighed, "He was already trying to get a bloody betrothal contract with me, which I didn't much appreciate. I wrote my father to stop him." James and Sirius gaped at her.
"Your father lets you decide?" Sirius asked, surprise colouring his tone.
Hermione chuckled a little, and shrugged, knowing it was unusual. "Yea, Molly, my sister, was allowed to choose, and so am I. He still makes a damn contract of course, but it's my choice whom with."
"Huh." Sirius looked surprised.
"Not the same for the Blacks?" Hermione asked, a little amused. She knew the answer in general of course, but was curious whether Sirius had a contract.
"Fuck no." Sirius snorted derisively, "I didn't have one planned for me from birth like my female cousins, but both me and Reg have contracts."
"What!?" James exclaimed, turning wide eyes on his best friend. The rest of the Gryffindor fourth years were equally shocked, Peter and Remus gaping. "Who with?"
Sirius grimaced, and muttered something under his breath none of them caught. When they all just stared at him blankly he scowled, but spoke a bit louder, "Alicia Fawley."
"Who?" James asked blankly.
"She's a third year." Remus responded to save Sirius, "Ravenclaw I think?" Sirius nodded angrily.
"What the fuck, mate?" James was blinking in surprise, clearly not expecting to find out this kind of information about one of his best mates at dinner on a random Saturday in March.
Sirius was still scowling, "It's not my choice." He snapped.
"Do you have a contract James?" Dorcas curiously asked, sipping some soup from her spoon, and effectively taking the heat off Sirius who looked thankful for it.
James just shook his head, and gestured to Hermione, "'m like 'Mione." He mumbled, not taking his shocked eyes off Sirius. They all chuckled a little at the dumbstruck Potter heir.
"I don't either. I'll get input when I'm the right age for them to start the process." Frank admitted when it was clear that they weren't getting anything further out of James, who was too shocked, or Sirius, who was too pissed off. Peter nodded in agreement with Frank as he was in the same boat.
"Yea, me either," Alice said with a little relieved smile, "My parents will most likely let me choose, but at least they're waiting til I'm legal."
"I'll never have a contract, thank fuck." Remus said emphatically, taking a big bite out of his crusty roll.
"Yea, the perks of not being Pureblood." Dorcas said with a laugh. "We're the lucky few." She nudged Remus next to her, and waggled her eyebrows ridiculously at Lily opposite. Hermione laughed; she loved her current life, but every now and again she'd miss her old one desperately no matter how awful some of it had been. She'd been proud of her Muggleborn status - and still was despite being a Pureblood now thanks to the adoption.
Hermione found herself relaxing infinitesimally as dinner went on and Amos didn't approach her. She almost thought she might get away with just not having to break up with him when someone cleared their throat behind her.
"Hermione, beautiful?"
She scrunched her nose at the endearment and Dorcas had to cover her mouth so she didn't burst out laughing. She spun around slowly and looked up at her boyfriend, "Yes, Amos?"
"I haven't seen you in so long, love." Hermione could hear more of her friends stifling laughter behind her now at the pet names. She could see out of the corner of her eyes that Lily was looking at Amos with barely disguised annoyance and quite a bit of disgust, and Frank was glaring. "If I didn't know better I'd have thought you were avoiding me." He let out a loud laugh and Hermione slapped Lily lightly when the redhead snorted.
"Oh, I'm sorry Amos. I've been wanting to tell you something, but I couldn't find the right time." She simpered, resolutely ignoring Sirius and James' snickering. "Can we go somewhere private and talk?"
"Whyever would we need to do that, darling? We can talk here."
Hermione grimaced, Circe his endearments were getting worse. Cedric hadn't been anything like this from what she remembered so he must've learnt his flirting somewhere else, thank Merlin. "Um," She looked around at her friends, all much too eager to watch her break-up with Amos. "I think it would be better if we went somewhere private." She murmured, getting up from the bench and trying to usher him out of the Great Hall.
"Nonsense, sweetie. I'm sure your friends don't mind hearing."
She winced a little, but Amos, being typically oblivious, didn't notice. Her friends certainly didn't mind seeing this. She glanced over at them, and Sirius and James were practically vibrating in anticipation. She rolled her eyes.
"Fine." She avoided looking at him straight on, staring at a point just over his shoulder, "Amos this isn't working."
"What's that, dear? What's not working?"
She sighed heavily, Circe why had she ever thought she could date this boy, "We aren't, Amos. We're not working. I don't want to date you anymore." She tried to keep her voice quiet, but a hush had fallen over the hall and everyone seemed to be watching and listening.
"We aren't? But sweetheart, House Diggory have requested to start courting in anticipation of a contract."
Hermione sighed again, she hadn't wanted to get into all of this shit too, "I'm breaking up with you, Amos."
Amos frowned down at her, and reached out to take one of her hands before she could snatch it back. He looked at her like she being particularly stupid or dense when in reality that was him right now, "We can't break up, honey." Oh this was getting ridiculous! "We're going to start courting to be betrothed."
She tried to yank her hand out of his, but he kept a tight hold. "No." She insisted, "We aren't. Please let go of my hand Amos."
"Darling, you're just confused. I'll write to our fathers and they'll explain everything to you."
"Let go please, Amos. I don't want to be with you anymore."
Amos snapped, pulling her hand - and subsequently her - closer to his chest, "You don't have a choice. Women are supposed to obey, Hermione."
She heard snarls from her friends at the table, and she felt like joining in as she tried harder to pull away from him. Before any of them could do anything though, there were suddenly two tall bodies pushing between her and Diggory, and pulling her gently away from her now ex-boyfriend. She looked up to see Fabian holding her close to his chest, whilst Gideon lifted Diggory off the ground by the neck of his robes.
Gideon looked like some kind of avenging angel. Her brothers were both much taller than Diggory, and Gideon's shaggy red hair was practically sparking with his anger. She knew Fabian's would look the same if she looked up at him. Their blue eyes were hard and cold with anger.
"What the fuck don't you get about no, Diggory?" Gideon snarled, "She doesn't want to be with you anymore."
Diggory spluttered a little, "But we are going to start courting."
Both her brothers growled now, "And where the fuck did you get that stupid idea, Diggory?" Fabian snapped.
Diggory stammered a little, "I wrote a letter-" He started.
Gideon cut him off with a snarl, "House Prewett did not accept and will never accept. Our sister is the one who makes the choice, and she wrote our father begging that you not be allowed to court her." Gideon dropped Diggory back to his feet, and shoved him away a little, "Stay the hell away from Hermione. If you get close then House Prewett will review its alliances to protect our sister."
Diggory stammered again, but rushed away from the older boys when they both growled at him. Fabian immediately sat Hermione back down on her seat on the bench between Lily and Frank, and crouched down in front of her.
"You alright, 'Mione?" He asked gently, brushing some of her unruly red-brown curls away from her forehead. Hermione nodded, amused as she watched Gideon shout that the show was over and everyone could piss off and stop watching. "You sure?" He whispered, taking her hands between his larger ones, and warming them slightly when he rubbed them roughly.
"Yea, I'm fine. I wasn't expecting him to react like that."
"None of us were." Gideon snarled, crouching down beside his twin, "We'd've been with you if we had." He scowled in the direction Diggory had scurried off in.
"Thank Merlin he didn't accept your offer to go somewhere private." Fabian pointed out, a matching scowl upon his face.
Hermione hummed a little, "I'm fine, honestly. You can go back to your dinners."
Her brothers raised sceptical eyebrows at her, but nodded their acquiescence. "Keep an eye on her for us?" Fabian demanded, looking at the Marauders specifically. They all nodded, and she scowled a little.
"I don't need keepers!" She snapped at her brothers who just grinned cheekily at her, and sauntered back to their place further along the Gryffindor table. She sighed, and turned back to her meal. Conversations slowly starting back up around them once the drama was over.
27th March 1975
5pm
Hogsmeade Village
Shrieking Shack
The night of James' birthday had turned out to be a full moon, and though Remus had heavily protested, the Marauders and Hermione had insisted that they would celebrate James' birthday with a large cake his parents had sent in the shrieking shack before moon rise, and then spend the night cavorting as the animals they were.
Remus had finally acquiesced when he'd lost a long staring contest with an especially stubborn James. "Fine!" He'd said, throwing up his hands, "If you wanna spend your bloody fifteenth birthday eating cake in a shitty hut and then trying to placate a werewolf, be my bloody guest."
So there they were, traipsing down the long tunnel to the shrieking shack; cake, blankets, and healing potions for Remus in tow. They settled into the ratty chairs in the small living room downstairs, and Hermione conjured some candles to lend some light and warmth to the otherwise cold shack.
Sirius pulled some bottles of butterbeer out of his jacket - he'd been banned from bringing any alcohol considering they were all going to be changing into animals soon - and passed them around, whilst James busied himself cutting huge slices of cake for everyone.
They all settled into the dubiously comfortable chairs with their butterbeer and cake, and whiled away the hour until Remus transformed talking about inconsequential things. Somehow they got onto the topic of the secret passage to the shrieking shack, and Hermione sat back and watched as the boys contemplated whether there were other secret passages and where they could lead.
This must be the beginning of the Marauders Map she thought, watching as they all got more and more animated. James was on his feet now, gesticulating so much in his animated eagerness that pieces of cake were flying around the room.
"Put the cake down!" Hermione finally cried when a large glob of icing flew at her and landed smack on her nose. She scowled down at it, but not one to waste food, scooped it off and sucked it off her finger. She looked up in surprise at the silence, and found James and Sirius staring at her looking rather awe-struck. She frowned, and wondered at Remus' put-upon sigh.
James cleared his throat awkwardly, and shoved the rest of his cake in his mouth, turning away with a mumble of something. Sirius just winked at her and went back to gulping down his butterbeer. Hermione frowned again, utterly confused as to what had just happened.
Remus suddenly stood, attracting all of their attention off the awkward moment, "Moon's nearly risen." Was all he said, hurrying up the stairs to the room he changed in. They all hastily put away the empty drinks bottles, and leftover cake so their animals couldn't get into it, and upon the first human scream from upstairs the four remaining Gryffindors exchanged glances and transformed. The four animagi spent the rest of James Potter's birthday cavorting with a werewolf cheerfully, all possible problems or teenage awkwardness pushed to the side.
28th March 1975
8am
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Gryffindor 4th Year Boys' Dormitory
They'd all dragged themselves back into the castle just after moonset at 6am, Remus stumbling his way up to the hospital wing by himself, surprisingly uninjured for once. The rest of them had returned to the boys dormitory and collapsed into their beds quietly - careful not to wake Frank. Hermione had collapsed into Remus' empty bed, not wanting to try and get back into her dorm without waking any of her friends. Remus returned to the dormitory surprisingly early after Madam Pomfrey had filled him with healing potions and sent him on his way. He'd pushed Hermione across slightly to join her in his bed and then fallen straight into a deep sleep along with the rest of them, so deep that Frank getting up at 7:30 for breakfast didn't wake any of them.
The Longbottom heir had just rolled his eyes, much too used to his roommates' weird behaviour, and hadn't noticed Hermione asleep in Remus' bed. He'd then headed down to breakfast. Lily Evans, not wanting to lose any more points than they already had so far this year, had huffed when the Marauders and Hermione still hadn't made it to breakfast by 8am, and stormed up to Gryffindor tower.
She shoved the door open with a bang, startling nearly all of them out of sleep. James' squeal was amusingly high-pitched, and he clutched his covers to his chin like a debutante from 100 years ago. Sirius fell off his bed in a tangle of limbs and duvet with a shouted "Fuck!", Peter squeaked and sat bolt upright, blinking furiously. Hermione grabbed her wand and was halfway through shouting a stunner when her eyes registered who she was looking at, and she lowered her wand sheepishly. Remus had somehow managed to sleep through it all.
"You're all late to breakfast!" Lily screeched, ignoring their reactions, and raising an eyebrow silently at Hermione cuddled up to the still sleeping Remus. She didn't react much at their protests apart from the slight flinch at having Hermione's wand pointed at her that she couldn't suppress.
"Urgh, Evans." Sirius groaned, managing to untangle himself from his blankets and pull himself off the floor and onto his bed, "Did you have to wake us up?"
Lily glared over at Sirius, and her cheeks immediately flared a bright red as she took in his state of dress - or undress as the case may be considering he was only wearing tight Gryffindor red boxers. She looked away resolutely. "You all need to be down soon otherwise we're going to lose more points for your lateness! I refuse to come last in the House Cup for a fourth year running." She snapped. "And why are you in here Hermione?" She demanded, rounding on her friend.
Hermione snorted a little, and ignored the question she didn't really have a good answer to. She shoved Remus until he woke up, as she pulled herself out of his bed. She was still fully dressed, so she just cast a couple spells to tidy up her hair and remove the wrinkles and any possible smell from herself and her clothes; considering she didn't have time to shower or change before their first lesson of the day.
Remus sat up abruptly in the bed, his hair an utter mess, "Wha'?" He mumbled, his eyes narrowed to slits.
James sighed, and pulled himself out of bed too, scratching idly at his bare stomach and not noticing the wide eyes of the two witches in the room watching his lithe body as he stretched. Sirius snorted a little, and Hermione and Lily both broke out of their reveries with red faces. They exchanged a quick look, blushed harder, and promptly stopped looking at everyone in the room.
"Anyway." Lily said, trying to distract from her ogling of two of the four boys in the room, "You all need to come down to breakfast now." She scrunched her nose a little, "Also clean, it smells like wet dog in here."
Luckily she didn't notice all five of them exchanging awkward looks; James, Peter, and Hermione glancing desperately away from each other and avoiding eye contact lest they burst out laughing, and Sirius and Remus glaring accusingly at the other, inaudible growls slipping out of the two canines' mouths.
"Okay." Hermione said loudly, breaking the tension in the room. "We'll be down soon. Thanks, Lily." Lily nodded firmly, still keeping her eyes away from James and especially Sirius' half-naked forms as she backed out of the room.
Hermione snickered a little, but frowned when she realised James hadn't noticed Lily's look at all, and wasn't preening over it like she expected him to be. Surely by now he should fancy the pretty Muggleborn? Hermione pushed it aside to think about another time, though she found it deeply troubling.
Remus was still propped up in bed, and blearily watching the rest of the Marauders slowly get dressed, exhaustion making all of them sluggish. Hermione stepped over, and lightly ran her fingers lovingly through his hair, "Go back to sleep, Remus." She whispered, "The Professors will know why you're missing." Remus grumbled a little, but fell onto his back, and was asleep again within moments.