A/N: I hope everyone had a good Halloween! I spent the day of the 6th putting up all of my Christmas decorations already (yes I'm one of those people. I would have done it on Nov 1st, but my friend made me wait until Bonfire night was over before decorating or I'd have to face his wrath). Happy November! Is anyone else trying to do NaNoWriMo? I tell myself I'm going to do it every year, and I've never actually completed it before so wish me luck! I am not off to a good start.

Chapter 22 - Guilt

On the morning of the Valentine's Hogsmeade trip, the sixth year Gryffindors all sat together at breakfast. The owls had just delivered the morning mail and most of them were reading their post or the Sunday Prophet.

Hermione's own copy of the paper sat neatly folded next to her plate of food. The Christmas gift Lily had given her of a subscription had really come in handy so far and she greatly appreciated being able to stay informed at what was happening in the wizarding world during that time.

But rather than reading the Prophet, Hermione was opening a letter one of the school's owls had dropped off for her instead. Thanks to what James had said a few months ago, Hermione had gotten in the habit of occasionally sending herself fake mail after he had pointed out that she seemed to never receive letters.

These letters she would send herself were written as if one of her friends from her time were writing her, just with names and important details changed for obvious reasons. Her favorites to write were ones addressed from Harry – or in these letters he would be Henry.

With all the weirdness around her, it had been easy to think of Harry; it was impossible not to. Anytime she looked at James or Lily she couldn't help but be reminded of one of her favorite people. It was easier for Ron to slip her mind, and the thought of that brought on terrible guilt. It was one of the reasons she mainly tried to stick with letters involving Harry.

She smiled down at the parchment in her hands. The letter she was currently reading was a retelling of the time Draco had stolen Neville's Remembrall during first year. She had written it as if Harry were writing to tell her about that time where he had flown during flying class to get it back.

Even though she had written it herself, reading it brought back fond memories that maybe hadn't seemed so fond in the moment. During that flying lesson she had been so annoyed that Harry had risked getting them all in trouble by flying when Madam Hooch had specifically told them to stay grounded. She had been even angrier when Harry was basically rewarded by being given a broomstick and a place on the Quidditch team for breaking the rules. It seemed like lifetimes ago and they had all been so young…

But these types of letters were only a fairly recent idea. When she had first started sending herself post, the letters had just consisted of school notes of some sort. Rewriting all of her notes had just been like extra revising, which she found helpful. The idea of trying to write letters as if one of her friends was sending her something had been too painful at the beginning, but that pain had slowly turned into a small pang of sadness mixed with fondness as time moved on. It was almost therapeutic to write about these memories and try to mimic her friends' personalities. And while she probably didn't do any of them justice, in a way, it kept them alive in her mind and reminded her about where she came from and that her goal was to still get back to them.

But these fake letters were also a better cover than just notes. She had begun writing them the more she spent around other people, just in case someone got too close to see what was written in them. This seemed to pay off that morning as Sirius leaned over the table and tried to get a look at the one in her hands.

"What are you smiling at?" he asked peering down at the letter. "Who's that from?"

"My friend Henry," said Hermione casually, pulled the letter closer to her chest to get it out of his reach. "He was just telling me about something that happened back at Beauxbatons."

"What happened?" asked Sirius nosily.

Hermione sighed.

"Someone stole something from one of our friends out on the grounds. They'd been tossing it back and forth between them and their other horrid friends. Henry used his broomstick to fly through them and catch it to bring it back," she said, trying hard to leave out any specific details without sounding like she was lying.

"Nice. That sounds like something James would do," said Sirius looking impressed as he bit off a piece of toast with a loud crunch. "Henry… Was he the one you liked?"

The question took her by surprise, and she had to try to keep her voice even.

"No… I had liked Rory. I don't often hear from him," she said slowly, the sensation of guilt returning at the thought of Ron.

Normally the guilt when remembering Ron was caused from her just forgetting to think about him, but over the days following their last Potions class she felt even worse. A small part of her had expected to smell something that reminded her of Ron when she had been near the Amortentia, but there had been nothing. When she had attempted to make sense of what she did smell, she had tried to convince herself it was because Ron always ate a lot of sweets and collected chocolate frog cards. That could have been why she had smelled chocolate. But if the potion did have to do with Ron, wouldn't the smell have been more distinctly specific, like Mary's had with Marcus's cologne? Ron's hair had always had a very particular smell, one she had always found appealing. Wouldn't the potion then have smelled something like that?

Hermione wondered if she hadn't gone back in time and had been smelling the potion as if none of this had happened with Ron and Harry by her side, if she would have been able to smell him. Would she still have been hoping they would be together instead of feeling guilty about never remembering to think about him like she did now? There had once been a time when she had thought of him constantly, wanting nothing more than for him to be thinking of her as well. But now she would go days, even weeks without remembering to think of him. When she did, that old sense of longing seemed smaller than ever. How odd it was how time could change so much.

She took a sip of her tea and let the warm spices calm her as she swallowed. As much as the thought of Harry and Ron brought a lot less pain lately than it initially had, there was still the lingering feeling of loss when thinking about them for too long. Talking about them out loud was still significantly worse.

When Hermione looked next to Sirius, Remus didn't meet her eye. He was staring down at his plate, looking somber as he pushed his breakfast around absentmindedly with his fork.

"Are you feeling alright, Remus?" asked Lily, setting her copy of the Sunday Prophet down and looking at him with concern from beside Hermione.

Remus seemed to force the smile that came to his face. "Oh, I'm fine, I was just lost in thought."

By the look on his face, Hermione felt like he was holding something back, but she also knew better than to question him in front of everyone. He had seemed fine yesterday, and the full moon had been over a week ago now so that couldn't be it. She wondered what could have changed his mood to make him look so down.

Lily nodded with a sad smile and didn't seem to question it. She was probably used to these vague kind of responses from Remus. "Well, I just hope you aren't coming down with something again."

"Thank you, Lily," he said with a kind smile.

"Moony will be just fine," said Sirius, clapping him on the back right as Remus took a sip of his juice. It sloshed out of the goblet and fell down his front.

"Brilliant… thanks, Padfoot…" he sighed tiredly as he began to mop up the liquid on his robes.

"You know, I've always wondered," started Mary, staring at Sirius curiously. "What do those nicknames even mean? They're quite strange."

Hermione focused on Sirius, wondering how he would respond. They were strange nicknames, and Hermione had always questioned how no one ever suspected their secret. Hopefully he had enough sense that wouldn't blurt out the truth as easily as he had to her.

The question seemed to put Remus on alert as well, as he froze slightly while drying himself off. It was barely noticeable, but Hermione could see his worry as he glanced sideways at Sirius.

"It's a secret," said Sirius without missing a beat. He winked at her and Mary blinked back at him. This made Remus relax. His shoulders dropped slightly as he went back to cleaning himself.

"Maybe we could have nicknames too," challenged Mary, twirling her finger in a small circle in front of her, gesturing towards herself, Lily, and Hermione. "But normal ones that normal people have. You know, ones that actually relate to our names."

Lily grinned at Mary. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well…" said Mary. She thought for a moment and everyone waited patiently. "Lily could be 'Lil' or 'Lils'."

"You do call me Lils sometimes and I've always thought it was sweet," said Lily fondly and Mary beamed at her.

"It is sweet! And I think it would also be cute to call Hermione, 'Minnie'," said Mary and she smiled towards Hermione.

Hermione nearly choked on her tea. When she regained her composure, she tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at Mary.

She had gotten plenty of nicknames from kids growing up – most of them were rude, with her least favorite being Hermy – but this one, while not rude like the ones she had gotten in primary school, was definitely a first. There was nothing wrong with the name Hermione and she had never felt the need to shorten it before, even if Mary's heart was in the right place.

"Like the mouse!" said Lily with a grin.

"A mouse?" asked Peter, looking confusingly at Lily. Mary also looked confused as she waited for Lily to explain.

"Minnie Mouse!" said Lily, looking excited, but her smile fell slightly when no one else at the table other than Hermione seemed to understand. "No?"

"Minnie Mouse is nice…" mused Hermione, trying to be polite, when in reality she was already not very fond of being called that.

"That's a horrible nickname," said Sirius, shaking his head and Hermione had to agree. Mary frowned at him.

"I think it's nice," defended Mary. "It's a nice name in general."

"If you're going to give her a nickname it should be something like 'Mione' because then it at least sounds closer to Hermione," he said. "Right, Remus?"

Remus, who had finished drying himself off, seemed to not have been paying the closest of attention anymore. He looked up and spoke in a soft voice. "I think Hermione's name is lovely as it is."

The comment touched her and Hermione couldn't help but smile. Mary sighed, pursing her lips at Sirius.

"I think it's rich to say a nickname is horrible when yours is 'Padfoot'."

"Okay, well how were you planning on shortening Mary?" questioned Sirius. "Would we just call you 'Ma'? Because honestly, if you think our nicknames are odd but you want us to go around the castle calling you 'Ma' then you have a strange definition of a normal nickname."

Mary flushed. "Of course not… I was thinking maybe something like May. That's not too horrible."

Sirius considered this. "That one actually isn't so bad. But I think sticking with Mary would still suit you better."

It was almost as if it were a compliment, and Mary blinked again and stared at him curiously, not sure what to make of it. She was probably waiting for some sarcastic comment that never came.

"But it's not like you even call me Mary, you just call me Macdonald."

"That's… true," admitted Sirius, frowning slightly. He looked like he was going to say something else but thought against it. A short and awkward silence followed.

"Now I'm glad McGonagall stayed in the room when we had detention… If we had been allowed to talk and it had been like this the entire time it would have been torture," said Peter weakly to James who grinned. Peter wore an expression of a child whose parents wouldn't stop arguing and Hermione felt similarly.

"Okay, fine! I give up! I'm terrible at nicknames," sighed Mary.

When breakfast ended, there was a buzz of excitement around the Great Hall as students began leaving for Hogsmeade. Mary bounced out of view as soon as they had finished to prepare for her Valentine's date and Hermione followed the rest of her friends back to Gryffindor tower. While James was going to meet her in his dormitory, the rest of them were going to grab their cloaks and winter gear before leaving for the cold village.

Remus still had that somewhat gloomy distracted look on his face as they made their way through the castle. Hermione had tried to catch his eye ever since they left breakfast, but it almost seemed like he was deliberately walking ahead of her. Instead, he seemed very focused on talking with Peter.

There was nothing unusual about him talking to Peter, but Hermione had gotten so used to him hanging back to talk to her when they all walked together. She was slightly hurt, wondering if maybe he was intentionally not talking to her for some reason. After all, he hadn't even looked at her at breakfast… but then again he had also been quite quiet with everyone as well. Maybe something really was bothering him.

A part of Hermione also couldn't help but feel slightly jealous, which was ridiculous. It wasn't like she had some sort of claim on his attention; he was allowed to speak to whomever he wanted. Obviously, he was also best friends with Peter, James, and Sirius, so of course he would want to talk to them. Still, it stung.

"Michelle, Claudia, Doris, and I are definitely planning on going to Honeydukes and the Three Broomsticks for butterbeers," said Lily, who had decided to walk with Hermione instead, and was happily chatting about her day's plans. "After that it's all up in the air. I may have to try to convince them to pop into Dervish & Banges for a bit. I think I may have burnt a small hole in my cauldron the other day when Mary and I were brewing developing solution. I'm going to need to get that fixed…"

"Is it not something you can repair yourself?" Hermione asked, tearing her eyes away from Remus and Peter as they approached the Portrait Hole to focus on Lily.

Lily shook her head sadly. "Mary and I both tried to repair it, but when we tested it the same spot still just goes weak. I think it's just old, so I'm going to need to get it professionally looked at I'm afraid… If they can't fix it, I'll probably have to go to Ceridwen's and get a new one."

Lily let out a sad sigh as Hermione stood aside as Lily climbed through the Portrait Hole. Once she was on the other side, Hermione climbed in after her and followed her towards their dormitory.

"I'm sure they can fix it," said Hermione. Distractedly, she looked at the stairs that lead to the boys' dormitory and saw the back of Remus's head disappear up the steps and she frowned slightly. Was he avoiding her?

Lily followed her gaze and gave Hermione a small nudge and a soft smile as they made their way through the common room.

"Are you sure you can't come to Hogsmeade today? You're welcome to join me, Claudia, Doris, and Michelle. Or I'm sure the boys would be glad if you went."

"It's alright. I think the quiet will be good for studying anyway. Less distractions. And James is staying at the castle too, maybe I can convince him to work on Professor Warbeck's essay," she added.

At first, Hermione wasn't sure if she should tell Lily that both her and James would be missing, but now she realized it would seem more suspicious if she didn't mention it and Lily found out later. Hermione may have given Dirk the wrong idea, but she certainly was going to try not to give that same impression to Lily.

"Oh," Lily said, clearly surprised by the news. "James isn't going either? Do you know why?"

"I may have begged him to cover for me when I needed an excuse to say no to a date with Dirk Cresswell…" she admitted quickly, feeling her face grow warm. "He was not very happy with me."

Lily's green eyes went wide, and she coughed back a short laugh. "I'm sorry, what? Dirk? Why is this the first I'm hearing about this?"

"Because I felt bad about how I handled it," said Hermione, which was the truth. "When he was asking me, James was walking back from Quidditch practice and it just slipped out when I saw him. I should have just told Dirk no."

"You just didn't want to hurt his feelings," said Lily kindly as they both began to climb the stairs towards the dormitory.

"Yes, but I also don't want anyone thinking I have any interest at all in James. And James is also annoyed he's missing the trip so I feel badly about that as well."

"It is a bit sweet he's helping cover for you, though," said Lily with a smile. Her expression had gone soft and Hermione realized she had made the right decision to tell her. If anything, she looked impressed with James's kindness. "He'll get over his anger when you get him an 'O' on his essay."

Hermione laughed. "I guess we'll have to see. But if I had just been honest with Dirk then I could join you all at Hogsmeade," she said, trying her best to make it sound like she was disappointed she couldn't go.

"Well, I hope you go to the next one at least. You can't study through all of the trips. You deserve a break too."

Lily gave her a sad smile as she pushed open their dormitory door and was instantly met by an exiting figure bumping into her. Lily quickly hopped backwards with a short squeal.

Mary, who must had rushed back to the common when she hurried out of breakfast, was dressed warmly but with a little more effort put into her appearance than usual in anticipated for her date. When Mary had told Hermione that people would treat the trip like it was Valentine's Day, she must not have been exaggerating. She wore slightly more makeup on than usual and her dirty blonde hair was neatly braided down her back with little white and pink flowers in it. She wore pink earmuffs that matched the pink jumper that she must have picked out just for Valentine's Day. One of her arms was already in her winter cloak and she seemed to be struggling with carrying her bag and pulling her other arm through at the same time when she slammed into Lily.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Lils! Got to go! Marcus is waiting for me in the Entrance Hall!" she was flushed in the face and beaming from ear to ear as she rushed past them and down the stairs. It looked like she was still struggling with her other arm when Hermione and Lily walked into the dormitory.

Lily let out a laugh as she walked over to her bed and grabbed her own bag and cloak. "Well, let's just hope Mary has a good time." She started walking back towards the door but then quickly stopped. "Oh! Almost forgot!"

With a quick little skip, Lily hopped back towards her school supplies and pulled out her pewter cauldron. Holding it in her other hand, she raised her wand and tapped it lightly.

"Reducio!"

The cauldron shrunk down until it became travel sized in the palm of her hand and Lily quickly slipped it into her bag.

"Can't forget that, now, can I?" she said with a grin as she crossed the room. She paused when she reached the door and looked back at Hermione. "You know, if you do end up going to Hogsmeade, you really are welcome to join us."

"Thanks, Lily. I hope you all have a good time and that you figure something out with the cauldron," she said, before remembering something. "Oh! And please don't tell anyone about Dirk, especially Michelle."

Lily covered her heart. "You have my word. But I want to hear all about the Dirk situation when I'm back!" She grinned and gave Hermione a small wave before leaving the dormitory.

Hermione waited a little bit in the empty room, not entirely sure how long until Remus, Sirius, and Peter left for the village. The last thing she needed was to run into them and have to explain what she was doing in their dormitory rather than the library. The entire time leading up to the trip she had tried to remain as vague as possible as to why she wouldn't be attending and would instead be studying at the library. Other than James, the only person she had told about Dirk had now just been Lily because she did not want him finding out she had made an excuse to ditch him. Dirk was still a friend, but event thinking of dating anyone while stuck in the past seemed inappropriate. Not that she'd even want to date Dirk anyway.

She let about ten minutes go by before she left her dormitory. It seemed like a good amount of time to wait just to be on the safe side. When she got to the boys' dormitory, she paused shortly to see if she could hear anything coming from inside. When the coast seemed clear, Hermione knocked three times.

"Come in!" said James's voice, and Hermione pushed the door open. She spotted James digging in his trunk for something and he turned to look at her. "Ah, Hermione, good. I'm glad it's you. I was wondering where you were."

"Did you think I abandoned you here by yourself and went to Hogsmeade?" she teased with a small smile.

"Wouldn't be the first time," he said with a laugh. He grinned at her before looking back into his trunk, pulling out a large and very old looking textbook from beneath a pile of clothes.

"Is that it?" she asked excitedly, rushing over to stand next to him.

"The one and only," he said with a nod, passing her the textbook.

She took hold of leatherbound book eagerly and began to flip through to the table of contents and squeaked with glee when she saw chapters of practical approaches.

"Perfect! James Potter, you are my hero!"

James laughed and sat down on his bed. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, now." He looked at her expectantly before letting out another laugh and gesturing for her to sit. "Well, go on then!"

Not having to be told twice, Hermione quickly sat down on Remus's bed with the book in her lap. James was watching her with amusement as she buried her face in the book.

Most of that morning was spent with Hermione reading every single word with the utmost of care, not wanting to miss a single detail. She took careful notes on every little piece of information given so when James returned the book she would still know what she needed to do.

It was by far one of the most difficult pieces of magic she had ever read about. Reading all of the steps to the process just reminded her of her days spent in the second-floor girls' lavatory trying to brew Polyjuice potion. The thought of that worried her; she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she managed to transform into an odd humanoid cat thing again.

"What's that look?" asked James, staring at Hermione curiously. She hadn't realized she had been scowling down at the book as she thought about her mishap with Millicent Bulstrode's cat hair.

"I'm worried about not completing the process correctly," she admitted. "What if I turn into half a cat and I'm stuck?"

James laughed at this.

"Is that what you plan on becoming? A cat? Sirius would love that. He'd chase you all across the grounds."

Hermione pursed her lips. "Well, no. It's not like anyone has a choice, it's random isn't it? Although some studies suggest that it could be linked to personality…"

She thought of Rita Skeeter being a beetle, a literal fly on the wall, bugging rooms to get information. James as a stag, brave and a leader, Sirius the dog, loyal and happy-go-lucky, and Peter… well Peter was a rat for good reason.

"But what if something went wrong and I got stuck in some sort of half-formed hybrid animal?" she questioned.

James was already shaking his head before she finished her sentence.

"I highly doubt that Hermione. If anyone can do this, it'll be you. Blimey, you're smarter than half of the professors here. If we were able to do it then you definitely can."

Normally a compliment like that would have made Hermione blush with pride, but the only thing she was feeling was budding panic.

"But look at this! 'You must carry a single mandrake leaf beneath your tongue from full moon to full month' and then it says I have to take that leaf and 'add it to a crystal vial that receives the pure rays of the moon with a single strand of your own hairs.' And those seems like the easier steps!" She turned over the page and stared down at the rest of the instructions with a frown. "And where am I supposed to get the chrysalis of a Death's-head Hawk Moth? That's not an O.W.L. or N.E.W.T level potions ingredient, I doubt they'll have that lying around in the student store cupboard…"

"You're over-thinking it," said James kindly.

"But am I?" she asked, hearing her own nerves echo through her voice. "Where does one even find…" she looked back down at the textbook. "'dew from a place that neither sunlight nor human feet have touched?' Honestly, I have no idea how the three of you even managed this."

She had tried to make the statement sound as if she were impressed that they were able to accomplish such difficult magic, but it was clear to both her and James that she was starting to panic.

James stared at her sympathetically, and Hermione again felt bad. Here she was, panicking over something she had practically forced James to be a part of. She wasn't even sure why she felt so anxious. When she had decided to make the Polyjuice potion she had felt so confident. Sure, there had been nerves there as well, but with this… something felt different about this.

"Sure, it looks really complicated," soothed James. He stood up from his bed and walking over to sit beside Hermione and he looked down at the book on her lap. "But once you start following the steps one-by-one they don't seem so bad. You just have to take them one at a time."

"I just don't know how I'm actually going to be able to do most of these steps…"

"Are your parents still away?" James asked, looking up from the book.

"Yes," she said automatically, feeling the pit in her stomach grow slightly like it always did at the mention of them. "Why do you ask?"

"So you were planning on spending Easter Holiday here at Hogwarts?"

"That was the plan."

He grinned. "Well now you can come spend it with me and Sirius."

Hermione stared at him. "That's a very kind offer, but what does that have to do with anything we're doing right now?"

"Look," he said, suddenly looking serious. "These steps are unusual. One of the reasons it took us so long to do it was because we had no idea where to start, or what we needed, or even what we really had to do. But we can knock a bunch of these steps off of the list if you come back home with us."

"And these steps will be easier at your house how?" she wondered out loud.

"I still have some of the supplies we'll need," assured James. "We had stocked up on a lot just in case we messed up and had to start over – which we all had to do at least once because on more than one occasion we swallowed our leaves. Don't forget, my dad is a potioneer! He has all kinds of ingredients in his potions laboratory. We got the Death's-head Hawk Moth from his storage last time, and he may even have mandrake leaves. But when we did it, we wanted to start the leaf part while we were all together at Hogwarts, so we got them on our own. We should probably do that with you too, so we might need some sticky fingers."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up as James wiggled his fingers playfully at her. "Stealing?"

James grinned at her. "This was your idea, Hermione."

It wouldn't be the first time she stole potions ingredients… but for some reason this seemed a bit more selfish than when she had stolen from Snape with Harry and Ron. That had been to stop students from being petrified, and to find the heir of Slytherin. This seemed almost recreational in comparison.

"Okay fine. But only because this is for Remus," she relented.

"We'll have two weeks for break, which is perfect," continued James. "If we nick the mandrake leaves beforehand, you can start a few weeks before we leave so it finishes over the break. That way there's less of a chance for professors or Remus to notice you have it in your mouth and you'll have plenty of time to hide the phial away outside of school. I know the perfect spot for it too."

He looked very proud at this statement and Hermione had to concentrate on not smiling at his delighted face. She still had questions.

"But how am I supposed to get it back for the electrical storm if it's at your house? Wouldn't I need it be somewhere near?" she countered.

"I highly doubt they'll be many electrical storms before summer anyway," said James. "We get loads in south England. You can either spend the summer with us as well or, if your parents are back by then, you can just come by during the storm. We should have our Apparition licenses by then anyway since I doubt your house is connected to the floo with your family being muggles and all."

Hermione's heart was racing as she felt many of her nerves slip away. This could really work… James had thought of nearly everything. There was a good chance by the end of the summer she could become an animagus and be there for Remus. Well, if everything went smoothly… She couldn't help the smile that quickly spread across her face.

"I take it that you think this is a good idea, then?" James asked with his own smile.

"I honestly do think it could work!" exclaimed Hermione, feeling more excited than she had felt in a long time. "You're a lot smarter than you look."

James snorted. "That's what I've been trying to tell you all this time!"

"So, what do we do now?" she asked, closing the textbook and letting it sit neatly on her lap.

"We'll have to discuss with Sirius and Peter when we're going to get nick a mandrake leaf," said James, mostly to himself.

Hermione froze. "Sirius and Peter?"

"Well, yeah. If we're going to help you become an animagus then they'll have to be there for all the steps too," said James, looking at her in confusion.

"I thought we were just going to keep this between us!"

"Well, I've already told Sirius-"

"James!"

"Hey! This doesn't just involve you and me, it involves all of us. Sirius already said that he's willing to help us out. Me and him just need to find the right time to tell Peter. This is a Marauders' thing; you should be happy we even agreed to teach you." Hermione stared at James, gaping at him as he shook his head at her. "This isn't something we can keep from them, it's bad enough we're not telling Remus."

"Yes, I suppose that's fair…" said Hermione biting her lip. There was no way out of this one, and James had a point; it wouldn't be right to not include Sirius and Peter. That didn't mean she had to be happy about it. She was particularly worried about Peter knowing.

"But since they're helping, they should come to our patronus lessons too," continued James.

Hermione groaned to herself. This was becoming more and more complicated as the days went by.

"Okay, but then we wait until after I become an animagus for the lessons so Remus can come too. I feel bad enough doing all of this behind his back, I won't leave him out of this as well."

"I suppose that's fair," he said repeating her own words back to her with a smirk. "Now if we're pretty much done here… can we go to Hogsmeade?"

"But what if anyone asks what assignments we did?" said Hermione, reaching for her bag with her schoolbooks in it. "All I have done are notes on becoming an animagus and I told Lily we would be working on Professor Warbeck's essay."

James looked so shocked it was as though she had electrocuted him. "You told Lily we were together today? What did she say?"

He shifted slightly away from her on the bed with wide eyes. Normally she would have felt bad again, but this time she was prepared with her response because she was sure she had done the right thing.

"Well, I told her what you did for me with Dirk and that you were just helping me out of a tricky situation. Not to mention I made it very clear it was basically against your will. Lily seemed very touched by your actions. She looked impressed," Hermione said with a smirk, and James's face lit up.

"Was she now? Said she was impressed with me?" he asked excitedly.

"She said she thought it was sweet. And with the smile on her face, it seemed like she meant it."

James beamed at her. "Did she say anything else?"

"No, but I could tell she thought it was very kind of you," said Hermione, laughing at his eagerness. "Now can we start that essay?"

"You're joking… you actually really want to do the essay?"

"Of course! We might as well since we're here!"

James groaned and fell backwards onto Remus's bed with a bounce. "You're killing me, Dawson."

"The faster we start the essay the faster you'll be finished and then we may have time to get to the village," she said.

This seemed to get through to him because he heaved himself off of Remus's bed and went back to his own. He was muttering to himself as he sat down and grabbed his own school bag.

They spent a good part of the afternoon working on their essay on Inferi. With the two of them working together, the essay didn't take nearly as long as Hermione had originally expected. She had never worked alone on assignments with James, and it was amazing how quickly he was able to work when Sirius wasn't around for them to goof off. The thought of that amused her.

James seemed to be working at super speed, as he was so determined to finish his work as fast as possible. When Hermione checked over his essay after he claimed he was done, she was actually impressed with the quality of it. James might earn that 'O' like Lily had said after all, even without much assistance from her.

"Now can we please go to Hogsmeade for a bit before they start sending everyone back?" James begged as he shoved his books back into his schoolbag. His eyes kept shifting out the window to the darkening sky.

Looking over at the clock on the dormitory wall, Hermione sighed. There wasn't too much time left but going to the village was probably the least she could do after all James had done for her.

"Yes, I guess there's still time…"

"Brilliant!"

Less than ten minutes later, dressed in her winter clothes and clutching her bag, Hermione met back up with James in the common room. The walk into Hogsmeade village was a cold one. It hadn't snowed in a few days but the path leading to the village was still packed flat with snow from the last heavy snowfall. It was overcast and the sun was already beginning to set, making the walk seem even darker than usual and a cold breeze kept curling through her hair. But there wasn't a lot of time to focus on the chill biting through the air as Hermione was practically running to keep up with James's pace. He really didn't want to waste any more time.

When they approached the brightly lit, snow covered village, Hermione noticed right away that Mary had been right. Even though it wasn't until tomorrow, there were Valentine's Day decorations all over High Street. Windows were plastered with pink paper hearts, many of which were bewitched to look like they were beating. Pink, red, and white paper chains hung around window frames. They even passed a shop where the entire front of it was covered top to bottom in lurid pink flowers.

The most impressive display had to be Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. It was located on a corner of High Street and a small narrow road, and it was bursting with pink. Through the window, which was also surrounded by hearts and flowers, Hermione could see there was nothing but couples inside. A few golden cherubs were flying around above the tables, sprinkling patrons with shiny pink confetti.

"Gaudy, isn't it? Imagine getting confetti in your tea," said James with a smirk and Hermione had to agree. She wondered if that's where Mary and Marcus had gone. Mary had definitely dressed appropriately for it.

They decided the best place to look for Remus, Sirius, and Peter would either be the Three Broomsticks or Zonko's, which is where James was itching to get to. Their instincts had been right because as they approached the center of the village, Hermione spotted Remus and Peter standing outside of the pub, both holding bags from Honeydukes. The sight of Remus made Hermione's stomach flutter slightly, bringing back those feelings of guilt at hiding things from him, and remembering his odd behavior from that morning. Her second thought was wondering if he had chocolate in his Honeydukes bag.

At the sight of them, James beamed and hastened his already quick pace, making Hermione really struggle then to keep up.

"Moony! Wormtail!"

The two boys looked up at James's voice and Remus's eyes fell on Hermione. At first he looked confused, but then he broke into a crooked grin. The sight of his smile immediately made Hermione feel better. Maybe she had been overthinking everything and he wasn't mad at her for something. He could have just been tired; it had been early in the morning after all.

"We weren't expecting to see you both until we got back to the castle," said Remus, his eyes not leaving Hermione as the two of them walked up to him and Peter. "They're probably going to start sending us back up to Hogwarts soon."

"Well, here we are!" said James. He looked around a bit and frowned in confusion. "Where's Sirius?"

"Preoccupied," said Remus with a smirk and James raised an eyebrow at him.

"What does that mean?"

"He's a bit busy," said Peter with a laugh.

Hermione also frowned while James continued to look confused. They were being awfully cryptic.

"I thought you were going to be in the library all day," said Remus, clearly wanting to change the subject even though he was still grinning. "We just finished at the Three Broomsticks. If we knew you were coming we could have waited…"

Hermione quickly waved him off. "We got more done than we expected. And this one—" she jerked her thumb towards James, "—was moping about missing the trip."

"But I'm here now!" said James, rubbing his hands together.

"Did you guys want to go back in for a quick butterbeer?" asked Remus, gesturing towards the pub.

"No time, I need to get to Zonko's before they close," said James, turning and staring longingly in the direction of the joke shop.

"I'll come too!" said Peter almost too eagerly as he moved towards James.

"If you see Padfoot, tell him where we went," called out James, who was already starting to speed walk down the street with Peter right on his heels.

Hermione looked at Remus who was smiling faintly at the retreating figures of his friends.

"What was that about?" asked Hermione as she watched the two boys hurry off towards the joke shop.

"It's been an odd day for us," said Remus, suppressing a smile.

"Alright… So where is Sirius?" Hermione asked, looking around.

Remus's grin widened. Without a word, he took a few steps down the road he pointed in the direction of a tight alleyway between shops. Hermione followed him forward and peered around the corner. She looked to where he was pointing and it took her a moment to fully recognize what she was seeing.

With a gasp, she realized she was looking at Sirius, who had someone pressed up against the stone wall of the alley and the two of them were snogging rather enthusiastically. The girl was short and pale, with short black hair and that's when Hermione recognized who the Hufflepuff was.

"Is that Doris Cassidy?" squeaked Hermione in surprised, immediately feeling embarrassed. She flipped around to stare at Remus who was laughing quietly.

"I'm afraid so," he chuckled, nodding his head. "You should have seen how thrilled she was when Sirius asked her to pull up a chair at our table."

Hermione's jaw dropped in disbelief. "So, you're telling me… that even with the extra room at your booth with James and me not there, that Sirius still made her pull up a chair instead of letting her sit with him?"

"Yes."

Hermione smacked herself in the head with her mittened hand, earning another laugh from Remus.

"That's absolutely horrible! Since when have Sirius and Doris been a thing anyway?" Hermione asked with a huff. She didn't think she had ever seen Sirius even speak to Doris before and he certainly never made it seem like she was someone he was interested in.

"Oh, since about the second she sat with us at the Three Broomsticks," he said wearily. He seemed just as uncertain about the pairing as Hermione felt. "We ran into her with Lily, Michelle, and Claudia, but she didn't want to go with them to get a cauldron fixed or something along those lines… So she asked to join us, we said yes, and then Peter and I had to sit there while they just flirted with each other the entire time. When we walked out, they just started to… go at it…"

"That's so—"

"—Uncomfortable?" finished Remus with a small laugh. "Tell me about it. I blame all of the firewhisky he drank."

Hermione grimaced "I'd forgotten he was of age now…"

"Rosmerta thought the same thing. She was not pleased," he said, his green eyes twinkling.

"Maybe it's a good thing I only just arrived…" she said shaking her head.

Remus looked at her curiously, his smile faintly disappearing from his face. "Did you want to go in for a drink?" he asked, pointing back at the pub behind him.

"That's alright, you just came from the Three Broomsticks."

"How about a walk then? Before they sent us back to the castle?" he gestured down the road.

"Sure," said Hermione with a small smile.

They set down the road, passing more pink shops and couples huddled closely together in the cold. There was an occasional snowball fight, but for the most part it seemed like most of the visiting Hogwarts students were inside the shops rather than hanging out on the cold street.

"So, was doing work the only reason you wanted to avoid this trip?" Remus asked casually as they walked.

"Avoid? Who said I was avoiding the trip? I like Hogsmeade…" she said carefully.

He ignored this. "What I can't tell is if you avoided it because of Valentine's Day in general, or because of a specific person."

"A specific person?"

"It wasn't because Dirk Cresswell asked you to go with him?" asked Remus, and Hermione's head snapped to look at him. He wore a faint smile was on his face as he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Did James tell you that?" she asked, slumping her shoulders. She had wanted as few people to know about her ditching Dirk as possible. Remus nodded at her and Hermione pursed her lips. James had seemed rather annoyed at first when he found out she had mentioned it to Lily, and yet here he was going and telling Remus. "Was that all he said?"

This caused Remus to raise an eyebrow at her. "Yes, that's all he told me when we were getting ready to go to breakfast. Why, was there more to say?"

Hermione quickly shook her head. "No, that's basically it."

"You could have told me, you know," he said quietly. Hermione could hear a sad undertone to his words and she could feel her stomach tighten.

"I'm sorry, Remus," she said sincerely. "James was the only person who knew before today, and that was only because he was there when Dirk asked me. I've tried to justify it by thinking that I should keep it to myself so I wouldn't embarrass Dirk, but really I've just been covering for myself. I've felt terrible ever since and didn't want many people to know about it."

"Because you actually did want to come with Dirk?" Remus guessed.

"Oh gosh, no… That was definitely not going to happen," she said with a bitter laugh. "I thought if more people knew, then it could get back to him that I lied just to avoid a date. And I also feel as though that I may have given Dirk the wrong idea, and I'm hoping that the wrong idea isn't spread around. So, the less people who knew the better."

"The wrong idea?"

"That James and I are together," she said, exaggerating a shiver.

"Oh well you won't have to worry about that. James made it very clear that it wasn't a date between you two."

"Well, good!" she huffed, which earned her a smirk from Remus. "We were just doing schoolwork. I had to be very careful with what I said to Lily earlier too so she wouldn't get the wrong idea either."

"Lily? Why? Do you think she would have been angry if she thought you went out with James?" he asked with a voice that sounded almost too casual.

Although he didn't directly ask her, Hermione was pretty sure by his tone what he was really trying to figure out.

"She's never mentioned liking James, if that's what you're getting at," Hermione said quickly. "But he likes her so much and I'm holding out hope that maybe one day… well… I just don't want to come between that. I had to make sure it was clear that James is, and will always only be, a friend. It seems like she's starting to at least tolerate him a lot more lately, so you never know."

She hoped by saying that she would just sound like a good friend that wanted to give two of her close friends a chance to find happiness together. Really, her main concern was that she might do something foolish and cause them to never get together somehow, if that were even possible.

So far, it thankfully seemed like she hadn't made any changes to the future. At least not noticeable ones. But it was so hard to tell if everything she was doing just seemed like she was blending in, or if she was somehow accidentally creating minuscule changes that would one day alter something for the worse. She was not willing to try to push her luck anymore than just becoming an animagus. Making sure she didn't disturb James and Lily's relationship would have to something she watched out for.

"Wow, Hermione. I never pegged you for the sappy romantic type," Remus said with a laugh, clearly having believed her concerned friend approach. His demeanor seemed to change at her words and he looked at her warmly.

"Ha ha…" she said, rolling her eyes, but she couldn't help her small smile. "Honestly, the only reason I even forced James to stay behind was because he just happened to be the one that walked by when Dirk was asking me. I mentioned that to Lily too because I wanted her to know it was all coincidental."

"So, you just asked James because he was there? If it had been someone else that you knew walk by then you'd have spent the day with them instead?"

"Exactly! Or at least I would have tried to get them to. I would have done the same thing if it had been Lily, or Mary, or Sirius," she said honestly. Although she wasn't going to mention how perfectly it had worked out that James had been the one there. It wasn't as if Lily or Mary could have helped her today. "Or you, obviously," she added quickly before he could get suspicious.

"I definitely would have helped you out today if you had asked me," he said with a smile. "We could have made a day of it."

"Thank you, that does sound nice. But now I have to worry about what happens after Dirk finds out I'm not with James. What if he tries again?" she groaned. "I should have just said I wasn't interested."

"Probably…" he agreed. "But if he tries again you could always use me as an excuse. I'd be happy to hide away in our room so he can't find you."

He looked at her so kindly that Hermione felt her face grow hot. If the day had only been about avoiding Dirk and not also learning about becoming an animagus, she would have preferred nothing more than to have spent it in the Room of Requirements with Remus.

"I'll have to keep that in mind," she said, her ears starting to feel warm despite the cold. "Actually, when I first told Dirk I already had plans, he was shocked when I said it was with James. He assumed they would have been with you."

"Did he now?" he asked, his lip twitching ever so slightly.

"He did! It probably would have been more believable if I had told him that my plans were with you. But James was right there… and Mary had been going on and on about how everyone would treat today's trip like a big Valentine's Day thing and I panicked. It was the first thing I could think to say to get out of it when I saw James…"

She hadn't been sure whether or not to tell him everything, but it seemed to appease Remus because he smiled to himself. It was also incredibly difficult to keep anything from him.

"Well, I can't really blame you. Mary was right about how people treated today. It would have been an awful time to be forced into an unwanted date," he said. He cocked his head to a bench they were walking past where two people were locked into a tight embrace. Hermione quickly averted her eyes from them to avoid the second-hand embarrassment as she thought about Dirk's intentions. She could hear Remus chuckle to himself at her reaction. "But how unlucky for James. I'm sure he took a bit of convincing."

"Oh, you have no idea…" she sighed, shaking her head slightly, glad to no longer be talking about dates and Valentines and Dirk. "I honestly feel terrible that I put him in that position. He seemed so upset! I'm surprised he even agreed."

"He may be a bit full of himself at times, but he does come through for his friends," said Remus with a nod, smiling fondly down at the path in front of him. "I wish I had stayed behind with the two of you."

"Why do you say that?" asked Hermione, looking at him in surprise. "Did you not have a good time today?"

Remus shrugged lightly. "It just wasn't the same. Between you and James gone, and then Sirius realizing Doris existed, it was really just me and Peter. Don't get me wrong, I love Peter, it just felt… lonely…"

His words pulled at her heartstrings and that pesky guilt returned to Hermione's stomach again. There was a part of her that could understand, she had felt like that on the days Remus was gone because of the full moons. Even surrounded by everyone else, there was a loneliness with him gone. It was cruel irony that Remus was who she would want to learn how to become an animagus with the most, and yet he was the one she had to keep it from.

"I would have loved to have had you join us, but I wasn't going to make anyone else miss the trip because I was too much of a coward to just reject Dirk," she told him instead. "I feel as though I already ruined James's day, I'd have hated to make you miss going to Hogsmeade as well. Besides, someone had to look after Sirius and Peter."

"Oh, trust me, Sirius was well taken care of."

They reached the edge of High Street and turned down a path on the outskirts of the main village. It was quieter there without groups of students huddled around. The silence was peaceful as they walked side-by-side. Snow was piled higher on the path there, given that it received much less foot traffic, so their pace automatically decreased as they walked through it.

Small flurries had started, and Hermione watched the snowflakes dance slowly from the sky, illuminated as they passed under the oil lamp streetlights lining the path. With the sun having now set, everything was cast in an amber glow from the streetlights, making it feel as though the two of them were walking through a Christmas card there on the outskirts of the quaint, snow-covered village. She pulled her scarf a bit tighter and just enjoyed her surroundings.

They walked together in silence for a bit, taking in the snow and the village. Occasionally she would peak looks at Remus, and he would get this serious look on his face again, making Hermione's mind wandered back to that morning.

"Remus?" she asked lightly.

"Yes?"

"Why were you acting so strange at breakfast this morning?"

The question clearly took him off guard and he flinched slightly. There was another silence as he seemed to consider his answer. "Besides being annoyed that Sirius made me get juice all over myself?"

It was clear he was trying to keep the conversation lighthearted, but Hermione could tell he was hiding something by the way he didn't fully meet her eye and instead was staring at the ground as they walked.

"Even before that, you seemed off. Is everything alright?"

"I was just lost in thought," he said with a weary smile, just as he had done to Lily when she had asked.

"That may work on Lily, but I think I know you a bit better than that. I didn't want to say anything while we were all together and then… well..."

"Well what?" he asked, sounding confused.

"Well, we didn't talk afterwards, so I still never got a chance to ask you," she said, feeling brave. "I thought maybe I had done something to upset you somehow."

His head jerked towards her and his mouth fell open as he came to a complete stop, and Hermione nearly slipped in the snow trying to stop beside him. "You thought I was upset with you?"

"I wasn't sure what to think," she answered truthfully, trying to regain her footing in the snow. "I couldn't tell if you were avoiding me or if something really was bothering you. To be honest I was worried."

"But why would that mean I was upset with you?"

Hermione shrugged, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Normally we always walk together but then we didn't this morning. It's silly, really…"

There was an awkward silence between them now as Remus looked at her. His eyebrows were knit together, and he looked as though he were trying to figure out if he should say something or not.

"But you do know that if there's anything bothering you that you can always tell me, right?" she said when he still didn't say anything.

"Honestly?" he asked slowly, staring intently at her. His expression seemed to change into one of uncertainty and he shifted his weight nervously before beginning to walk slowly down the path again.

"Of course," she said, walking beside him, trying to make her voice sound as comforting as possible. She put her hand on his arm, hoping it may relax him, and he stared down at it as they continued to walk.

After a long pause, he let out a deep sigh. "I was upset because James said you weren't going to be on the trip."

"Oh," was all Hermione could say, slowly dropping her hand from his arm.

Remus seemed to hesitate again. "I had hoped we could have come to Hogsmeade together today."

Sadness flooded through her body as her stomach fluttered slightly, and Hermione immediately felt guilty again. Not only had she abandoned them on the trip, but she had also taken James with her for the day. She could only hope that one day Remus would understand that she was doing this for him. Maybe then the pain she was causing him would be worth it. Instead, she had to live with the shame of lying to him about even more things.

"I'm so sorry, Remus," she said sincerely, as she started to walk slowly down the path again, keeping her eyes on the ground in front of her. "I wish we could have spent the day with all of you too. It's all my fault that James and I couldn't go."

Remus had only started to walk too when his step faltered slightly and he stopped in the middle of the path again to look at her, seeming uncomfortable. Hermione stopped as well and looked up at him, holding his gaze that had suddenly turned a lot more serious.

"That isn't exactly—"

"Oi!" yelled a voice.

Remus and Hermione both jerked at the sound turned towards one of the narrow lanes leading back to the village. Sirius was trekking through the snow at the end of the of it and waving wildly. Even from the distance, Hermione could see that he was slightly pink in the face and a sheepish, but smiling, Doris Cassidy was trailing awkwardly behind him looking just as pink.

"I thought I saw your mug, Remus!" Sirius shouted from down the tight road. He broke into a grin when he spotted Hermione. "Hey Mione! You made it! Does that mean Prongs is around here somewhere?"

Hermione just frowned at him at the use of the nickname. At least it hadn't been Minnie.

"Zonko's," Remus called out to him with his hands around his mouth to enunciate his voice, sparing Hermione from having to answer.

"Wicked!" called back Sirius. "Come on, Doris, we're going to Zonko's!"

He gave another short wave to the two of them and then headed back down the lane towards the main road, stumbling slightly. The way he hurried reminded Hermione of James earlier, with poor Doris pushing through the snow trying to keep up.

Remus was staring down the road at the spot the two of them had just been in, looking as though someone had punched him in the gut.

"Remus?" she asked nervously, not sure what to make of his shift in mood.

"Here, follow me," he said suddenly. Without even waiting for a response, he began walking farther away from the village, getting closer to the edge of town. His pace wasn't quick, like James or Sirius's had been, but he walked with a steady determination.

Hermione had a good idea where he was leading her, but she stayed silent as she followed him. Her intuition paid off when he stopped alongside an old wooden fence that blocked the path from the Shrieking Shack that sat further up a hill.

The shack was barely visible between the dark sky and the light snow flurries. But after squinting, Hermione could make out the dark shape of the old decrepit building, with dark, boarded up windows.

Remus looked at the shack, stone-faced as he walked up to the fence and gripped it tightly, letting himself lean down on it. Hermione walked after him and stood beside him, their shoulders nearly touching as she followed his gaze up to the building he sought out one night a month to transform in.

Hermione waited for him to say something, but he just stood there silently. He seemed to be having some kind of moment that she didn't want to interrupt. So instead, she thought about the odd pairing of Sirius and Doris.

Hermione felt a sudden pang of pity for Doris. Sirius had never even mentioned her before but Hermione knew Doris liked Sirius. Hadn't she been the one who said on their first Hogsmeade trip that she had found Sirius good looking? What had she called him? 'Quite the looker'?

Well, she had called Sirius, James, and Remus 'quite the lookers', but had made it very clear she preferred Sirius to the rest. Claudia, on the other hand, had been the only one who disagreed and thought Remus was more handsome than his friends. She had then politely asked Hermione if she had agreed. It had been a very odd conversation, thinking of any of the boys in that way, especially given Hermione's situation.

But Hermione couldn't help but stare up at Remus, who was still looking at the shack. She used his distraction to get a look at him, a really good look, trying to see where Claudia was coming from.

He was leaning stiffly against the fence, his bag of Honeydukes sweets laying in the snow by his feet. There were snowflakes lightly caught in the escaping sandy curls that poked out from beneath his winter hat, and his skin was milky white in the cold, except for the faint rosiness of his cheeks. He was tall and lean, and his face was nearly free of the scars it would one day have. Instead he looked youthful, healthy, and boyish with his big green eyes. There was only one small little scar above his right eyebrow that would be barely noticeable unless you were up close and looking for it.

But even with the scars that he did have across his body, he really was beautiful. Not even despite them, but with them. They just added to his beauty; a sign of his strength, bravery, and resilience, showing how much he had endured and that he still came out on top.

Claudia may have been right, there was something about him that stood out from James and Sirius, but it was just so much more subtle, hidden beneath his humility. And it was more than just his looks, but also how intelligent and funny he was. There was the way that he smiled crookedly that was so endearing, and how he was always so honest. Not to mention how he radiated comfort, warmth, and kindness that made her feel so drawn to him. The more she got to know him the more beautiful he truly became.

With a jolt, Hermione tore her eyes away from Remus and looked back up at the shack. What was she even doing? She should not be thinking about anyone from this time like that, especially not people she knew in the future like Remus. It was entirely inappropriate, not to mention misguided. She was still going to go home one day.

Then there was a new feeling of guilt. Was it bad that she was now secretly hoping that the day she'd go back would at least be after she finished her animagus transformation? Yes, that was bad. Her focus should still have been entirely on finding a way home, but instead, she was spending her free time trying to learn something that would only put more roots down in this time. Then again, if she was sent home then she wouldn't need the animagus ability at all.

The realization of it all made her mouth go dry as more guilt oozed its way throughout her body, making her feel even colder in the crisp February air around her. She was going to need to sort out her priorities.

The sound of giggles and laughter broke the silence and Hermione turned to see a group of younger Hogwarts students making their way down the deserted path. They must have been third years by the looks of them. Young and rowdy, running and stumbling through the now accumulating snow. It must have been their first time at Hogsmeade in the snow and their excitement was palpable.

Silently, Hermione watched as one of the girls threw a snowball and nailed a boy straight in the face, sending him flailing to the ground. The group all laughed, including the boy on the ground as they ran about the street, slowly growing nearer to where Remus and Hermione stood.

"Don't get too close!" called out one of the boys, as two students from their group approached the fence blocking the road from the Shrieking Shack. "It's haunted by a monster!"

Hermione felt Remus stiffen beside her as the boy's group of friends all laughed and continued to throw snow at each other as they headed back towards the village.

"Don't listen to them, Remus," she said lightly, putting her hand on top of his on the fence and giving it a squeeze. "They don't know what they're talking about. Not at all."

Still facing the shack, he closed his eyes and nodded once. Hermione watched his chest rise and fall as he took a deep breath.

"The townspeople are starting to call it the 'Shrieking Shack' now," said Remus with a dark laugh. "People can hear the screams when I transform so no one ever wants to get too close to whatever monster inhabits the building."

"That's because all the rumors they hear about it are just that; rumors," said Hermione easily. "People love a ghost story. I'm sure they'd be very disappointed to find out that the monster they think lives there is actually a very kind and intelligent 16-year-old student who is trying to make the best out of a difficult situation. But that wouldn't make for a very exciting story, now would it?"

His eyes opened and he turned to look at with strong emotion. "I suppose it wouldn't…"

"Why did you want to come out here anyway?" she asked softly.

"I'm not entirely sure, I think I just wanted to bring you to where I go when…" he trailed off, and Hermione smiled sadly at him.

"Come, let's go back to the castle," said Hermione kindly, giving his hand one last squeeze before letting go. "It's getting cold and I can see students already starting to head back."

They started back in the direction of the village and were quickly joined by other groups of students in the road, all headed back towards the castle. Everyone around them chatted happily, having spent another enjoyable day in the quaint village. There were some people around them that were still tossing snow at each other, but luckily these ones were a decent distance away from her and Remus.

It was still snowing slightly, and Hermione noticed many couples holding hands or huddled close together. Although there were a few faces in the crowd that looked extremely put off, most likely not having had a very good Valentine's Day experience.

What she didn't see in the crowd were any of her other friends. There was no sign of James and Peter, nor Sirius and Doris. She didn't even see Mary or Lily with any of the other Hufflepuffs. But in honestly, she didn't really mind, she was usually content with just Remus.

"Oh, I almost forgot," said Remus unexpectedly as they walked. He lifted his bag from Honeydukes and gave her a soft smile. "We didn't think you would make it to Hogsmeade at all today, so I actually got something for you."

He riffled through the bag and Hermione was greeted with a whiff of chocolate. For a wild moment she was confused as she wondered if he were about to hand her Valentine's chocolates but instead, he pulled out a small white box marked 'Deluxe Sugar Quills'.

"Ooh! My favorite!" she gushed as she took the box from his hands and beamed up at him. "You didn't have to do that!"

He shrugged casually with a smile. "It's nothing, just some sweets. I didn't want you to miss out on having something from Hogsmeade."

"Well, thank you!" she said, nudging him gently with her shoulder, smiling at the box of sugar quills. "How did you know?"

"It was the only thing you bought last time we were at Honeydukes so I just assumed they were your favorites. I made sure they were the deluxe kind too. But of course I also had to pick myself up some chocolate," he said with a grin.

He showed her the inside of the bag and how it was filled with freshly made chocolate bars, which was why the smell was so strong. It immediately made her think of the Amortentia and Hermione forced herself not to show her budding confusion that was returning like it had that morning.

"Ah yes, of course," Hermione laughed, trying to cover up her discomfort. "The universal remedy."

"It really is!"

"You know," started Hermione, taking a sugar quill out of the box and nibbling at the end of it to distract herself. "These are what Peter sent me for Christmas… I wonder how he could have possibly known…"

She glanced at Remus out of the corner of her eye and he sheepishly grinned at her.

"Ah, yes, well… I may have suggested to Peter around Christmas that it might be something you'd like… but don't tell him I told you that."

"You secret is safe with me," she said, feeling warm despite the cold walk. If anything, she was just touched that he even noticed.

"I hope so," Remus said. "You know enough of them."

At first, Hermione wasn't sure how to react to that, but Remus quickly began to laugh, and she easily followed suit. Their laughter made the weight of the day seem to slip away.

She was suddenly so glad that James had insisted on going to Hogsmeade, even if she had only had a little less than an hour there. It felt nice to be out in the village after stressing all day over animagus logistics and waves guilt. Getting to spend the evening walking around Hogsmeade with Remus was just want she needed.

But even with so many things running through her mind about her day, as they walked back to the castle, all Hermione could focus on was the lingering smell of chocolate.

A/N: This was such a long chapter… There must be something about writing Hogsmeade chapter with me. This was the second longest chapter behind chapter 12 which was the first Hogsmeade trip! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed!

I know we found out last chapter what certain characters smelled in the Amortentia, does anyone want to take a guess at what Remus smelled?