Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I don't make money from this fic.
November 10, 1976 Hogwarts, Scotland - Gryffindor Common Room
Sirius and James sat hunched over in their corner of a nearly-empty common room. Sirius's eyes raked the map for Hermione's name while James kept his eyes on the room, making sure no one saw them.
"She's not here, Prongs. I can't see her anywhere." Sirius said, hearing the worry in her own voice. They hadn't seen Hermione since Potions had ended, and that had been nearly two and a half hours before. Dinner was getting close, and the boys had started worrying about her. Remus and Peter had gone to check the library, the surest bet as to where she was, but they'd come up empty and had searched elsewhere in the castle instead. James and Sirius had tracked them through the castle, scouring the map for any sign of her. Peter and Remus were checking the grounds last Sirius had seen, but he was really getting desperate to find her.
"Pads, what if she's in the Room of Requirement? It doesn't show up on the map, remember?" James said, touching Sirius's arm to calm him down a bit.
"James, you're brilliant." Sirius said, getting to his feet. "Wait here for Moony and Wormtail, I'll be back when I find her." he said over his shoulder, bounding across the common room.
"Yeah, yeah, just find her." James said, waving him away and collecting the map before heading up to the boy's dormitory. Sirius nearly sprinted out of the portrait hole towards the Room of Requirement.
Sirius stood before the door to the Room of Requirement, his hand on the knob. He was having an internal debate. Would he be invading her privacy by peaking in? What if it wasn't her? He shook his head to clear it. Hermione was missing, and he was far too worried about her to stay on the other side of the door for much longer. He turned the knob and opened the door gently peeking in.
On the other side of the door, he found a large, open room, lit entirely by candles. There were several large cushions on the floor and two of the walls were covered in mirrors. He scanned the room quickly and his eyes landed on a figure sprawled across the floor. Hermione. He ran to her, kneeling down beside her and pushing her hair from her face. Her eyes were wide, she was pale, and she looked past her unseeing. She was shaking uncontrollably, as if she were sobbing. Her breathing was ragged and as soon as Sirius touched her, she gasped for air as though she had been drowning.
Her eyes focused a bit, searched her surrounds. She frowned, meeting Sirius's gaze.
"Sirius? What-" She gasped in pain again.
"Hermione, we need to get you to Madame Pomfrey." He said, slipping an arm under her head and behind her knees and pulling her to his chest. She placed her hand on his chest, looking up at him.
"No, Dumbledore. I'm fine, medically speaking. I need to talk to Dumbledore."
"What do you need with Dumbledore?" Sirius said frowning. She winced in pain again. "You're obviously hurt, Hermione. I'm taking you to the hospital wing."
"Sirius, it's imperative you take me straight to Dumbledore. If you don't, someone may die." Hermione said. That made Sirius pause for a moment, before lifting her into his arms and hurrying out of the room, headed to the second floor and hoping beyond hope that Dumbledore was in his office.
"What do you mean, I have to leave? I found her thrashing on the floor, writhing in pain, and brought her straight here on her request, despite every instinct to take her directly to Madame Pomfrey, and you expect me to leave her without any information as to what happened?" Sirius fumed. He was surprised that Dumbledore was able to remain calm throughout his tirade.
"Professor, let him stay. He knows a bit about my visions. He and James think I may be a Seer." Hermione said. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at Hermione, his eyes sparkling just a bit. Sirius saw some sort of non-verbal exchange between the two, but he was too worried to register what it could mean.
"Alright, Ms. Potter. Tell us what you saw." Dumbledore said, wordlessly summoning another chair and motioning for Sirius to take a seat next to his cousin. Hermione took a deep breath and Sirius reached across to hold her hand. She smiled a bit at that before beginning.
"They know who I am. I didn't come to you after my last vision because it was late and then I got so caught up in my school work I just didn't remember to come talk to you, Professor. They've known who I am since Halloween, I think. The last vision said they found out during the first Hogsmeade trip. Lucius Malfoy- he was spying for the Dark Lord and giving reports to his father. They know my name and my House, and they deem me a threat." Hermione said, looking down. "This last vision- I was being tortured. I was- somewhere. A manor or large house. They were using the Cruciatus on me, and I could feel it." Sirius tightened his grip on Hermione's hand. He hated that anything could hurt her that badly.
"I see. Hermione, your visions have proven themselves to be susceptible to change. Your vision about the Bones family's murder allowed us to place Aurors with the family and catch the Death Eaters who attempted to kill them. They are now firmly in Azkaban. That being said, we can do the same to help you. I will have the security detail around the school strengthened, and I want you to walk to classes with Mr. Prewett or someone similarly associated with the school or the Order. And, for now, I think it best if you refrain from visits to Hogsmeade."
"The Order?" Sirius asked, looking between the two. The other two shared a look again, before Hermione nodded and Dumbledore settled his gaze on Sirius.
"The Order of the Phoenix, a secret society committed to fighting the Dark wizard who has proclaimed himself as Lord Voldemort. To join, one must be of age-"
"I want to join." Sirius said immediately.
"And out of school. I don't want this war to interfere with education."
"It's already interfering with my education, sir. My cousin has already been targeted, and they're targeting her again. This is my family they're messing with. I'm of age, just turned seventeen a week ago. I don't care if all I do right now is help protect Hermione, walk her to class, whatever. I want to fight, and I will just be joining the Order when I'm out of school, anyway." Sirius protested. Dumbledore looked him over.
"I do believe she would be safe with you, Mr. Black. Especially if Mr. Potter and Mr. Lupin are involved. I will allow you to join the Order as a student member, as well as the other boys when they turn of age, if they want. However, your primary mission will be guarding Ms. Potter. You won't be able to attend meetings until after you graduate, though. Am I clear?" Dumbledore said.
"Crystal." Sirius said, nodding once.
"Very good. Now, I believe we should get Ms. Potter to Madame Pomfrey. I believe she has a potion which can help with the residual effects of the Cruciatus, whether inflicted physically or otherwise. Mr. Black, would you please escort her down?" Dumbledore asked, pulling a sheet of parchment from his desk and scribbling something on it quickly. "Give this to her when you get there and you should be squared away in no time. I'll have the house elves send some dinner to your common room, as well." Dumbledore said, handing the note to Sirius. He turned to Hermione.
"Think you can walk? You can lean on me all you want, but I think you should try and move around a bit." Sirius said, holding his hand out to her. Hermione took a moment to assess herself, then nodded, taking his hand and letting him let her up. She thanked Dumbledore before the couple left the room, Hermione leaning heavily on Sirius.
That night, Hogwarts, Scotland - Gryffindor Boys' Dormitory
"She what?" James asked for the fifth time. The boys were crowded around Sirius on his bed, and Sirius was feeling quite tired. He sighed, scrubbing a hand down his face.
"When I found her, she was on the floor. It's like she was in pain. Her eyes were open wide- it was really scary, seeing her like that." He said, looking down.
"What did you do?" Peter asked, frowning.
"I was going to take her straight to Pomfrey, but she insisted on going to Dumbledore." he shook his head. "Didn't know why she wanted to go to Dumbledore, but she said if she didn't see him immediately, people could die. There's a war going on, so of course I took her at her word. I took her up to Dumbledore." Sirius said.
"Then what?" Remus asked.
"Had to fight to stay there, but Hermione, she did- something. Some sort of non-verbal communication with Dumbledore. Anyway, she got him to let me stay." Sirius said.
"Non-verbal? Well, Dumbledore likely has some training in Legilimency. I wouldn't be surprised if he read her mind." Remus said. "What was said?"
"Hermione had another vision. Two, actually. In the first, Malfoy was spying for You-Know-Who. He was in Hogsmeade, on Halloween. He found out who Hermione is, and she's a target again. The vision she had tonight was of her being tortured. She could feel the Cruciatus curse." Sirius watched James's knuckles whiten as his hands curled into fists, and he heard a low growl from Remus. He'd expected such a strong reaction from Remus and James, what he hadn't anticipated was the furrowed brows and look of legitimate fear on Pete's face.
"Is there anything else?" James asked, through clenched teeth.
"I asked Dumbledore to join the Order. You're parents are in it, I think, Prongs. He wanted Hermione to be walked to class by someone affiliated with the school or the Order. I told him I wanted to fight, so he allowed me to join as a student member. I won't be able to attend meetings until after school, but he said you all were welcome to join when you turn of age, too. He trusts us to protect Hermione."
"The Order of the Phoenix?" Remus asked. Sirius nodded.
"Well, of course we'll join when we come of age!" James exclaimed. "I want to fight. And if the Order can help us protect Hermione, protect our family, I'm in."
"So am I." Remus said, a bit softer. "You lot and my parents are all I've got. I'd give anything for you." The boys looked to Peter, who still looked scared.
"We've gotta keep Hermione safe. If anything happened to her-" Peter said, looking down. "I'm in." Sirius looked the smaller boy over; he'd never seen Peter act so afraid. The boy was generally anxious and jumpy, but the amount of genuine fear present alarmed him. Did Peter know something that they didn't? He looked the boy over once more before nodding to them all.
"So we're in this together?" Sirius asked.
"Of course. We're brothers." James said.
"You're my pack, I wouldn't be able to function each month without you." Remus said, a half smile on his face.
"Together." Peter said, more firmly than Sirius had heard him speak before. James looked Peter over as well, but Remus's grin just broadened and he clapped Peter on the back.
"Then it's decided." Sirius said. "We're going to fight."