Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, I don't make money from this fic.
December 17, 1976 Hogwarts, Scotland - Gryffindor Girls' Common Room
"Are you sure Lily? I feel like I look like a flower." Hermione said, running her hands over the red velvet of her dress and pulling at the off-the-shoulder neckline. Lily swatted her hands away and fixed her dress again.
"That's a bad thing? You look gorgeous, Hermione." Lily said. She'd used Sleakeazy's Hair Potion to manage her curls, which Aunt Effie had sent to her by owl when she expressed that she didn't know what to do with her hair. She didn't realize that Harry's grandfather had created the potion she used in her fourth year. She'd have to tell him about that when - if, she reminded herself- she got back to her own time.
Hermione looked Lily over. She'd opted for a three-quarter sleeve white A-line dress with a red satin ribbon around her waist. She wore her hair in a twisted side braid that fell over her shoulder. Hermione looked at her own loose, but tame, curls and decided she did look pretty. Lily had helped with her makeup and before doing her own, and the only thing Hermione lacked was shoes.
"I didn't even think about shoes, Lily!" Hermione said, turning to the other girl.
"Luckily, I did." She said, heading back into their room from the bathroom. Hermione followed her and Lily pulled out a pair of black heels. Hermione liked the style, and the height, but she found one problem.
"I'm not going to be able to fit those." She told Lily. "Your feet are way smaller than mine." Lily laughed.
"Are you a witch or aren't you?" Lily said, grabbing her wand from her bed. "Engorgio." Hermione blushed a little as Lily handed her the shoes that were now perfectly her size.
"Thanks. Lils. I forget about the most simple things, sometimes." Hermione said.
"That's alright. Probably just nerves." Lily said, checking the time. "It's nearly eight, we shouldn't keep the boys waiting. Gideon is to meet you in the common room, yeah?" Hermione nodded before checking herself over once more and grabbing the little black purse that held her wand and a few other necessities. The two girls headed down the stairs together, pausing in the common room before locating their respective dates. Remus had been sitting in an armchair by the fire, with James and Sirius. He stood when he saw the girls come down, smiling at Lily and Hermione. He made his way over to them, leaving behind two shell-shocked boys.
"Lily, Hermione, you're both quite stunning tonight!" Remus said, grinning. He looked quite handsome, himself, though Hermione was almost certain he'd borrowed James or Sirius's dress robes, as the hems were a little short.
"You clean up well, Remus." Hermione said with a smile. He grinned at her and dropped a wink her way, making her think he'd spent entirely too much time with Sirius. Hermione caught sight of Gideon across the room and grinned at him. She noticed his eyes were wide as saucers, and blushed a bit. Gideon joined the other three, nodding to Lily and Remus before turning his attention to Hermione.
"Wow. You're- You look beautiful, Hermione." He told her, making her turn scarlett.
"Thanks, Gideon. You look great, too." She said, meaning it. His dress robes were clean, fit him well, and looked brand new. His longer, bright red hair, usually tousled and wind-swept, was parted neatly on the side.
"Shall we get a move on? We'll be late if we don't hurry." Remus pointed out. Hermione agreed at once and the four of them left the common room, leaving behind James and Sirius as its only other occupants.
"Did you see James's face?" Hermione asked in an excited whisper in the corner of Slughorn's small office. The boys had gone to get them a drinks, which left the girls to gossip freely for a few moments.
"James's? Did you see Sirius's?" Lily asked, equally excited. "He was equal parts stunned and enraged. When he first saw you- there's no doubt in my mind, 'Mione, he really likes you."
"Who really likes her?" Remus asked, sliding up next to them and handing Lily a drink. "And don't worry, Prewett got sidetracked with Slughorn."
"Sirius!" Lily whispered loudly. Remus smirked.
"Of course he does, I could have told you that. He's probably a sulking mess right now with James in the common room. With any luck, James will give him a pep talk and he'll be back to his old self, and doing his best to woo Hermione, by tomorrow." Remus said, nonchalantly. Lily smirked at that.
"And if he doesn't?" She asked. Remus smiled and shook his head.
"Then I'll have to give him the pep talk, and stick my foot up his arse until he gets going. I really prefer the first option, though." He chuckled. Hermione smiled at her friends, but stiffened slightly when she felt someone behind her place a hand on her waist. She looked up to seee it was just Gideon, but she noticed Remus's face harden a bit, his eyes locked on Gideon. His free hand curled into a fist and his jaw clenched. Hermione's brows pulled together slightly at his behaviour; she'd have to ask about it later.
Gideon glanced across the room, noticing someone before returning his attention to the little group.
"Slytherins headed this way, nine o'clock." He said, not making eye contact with any of them, but rather picking a spot in the middle distance. Slughorn's office was small enough that nearly everyone stook shoulder-to-shoulder when walking about, and that was no exception with the approaching Slytherins. Hermione glanced up to see Snape, along with another boy with black hair and grey eyes mingling through the crowd. Snape didn't talk much, merely nodded politely, but the other boy was smiling, and was greeted by several people. Hermione looked away, trying to focus on the conversation Remus and Lily were having, something about the Charms essay assigned over the break.
She suddenly felt claustrophobic, but she wasn't sure if it was her proximity to Gideon or the cramped office, or a combination thereof. She shook her head a little to clear the haze that was beginning to settle over her mind, pulling away from Gideon a bit. She frowned when he pulled her closer, his hand jerking her towards him roughly. She shuffled in place, trying to get her feet under herself properly, but she felt her ankle give way as her heel landed funny. As she tried to catch herself, she toppled sideways, nearly knocking over the boy next to her, before he caught her. Hermione looked up, first at Remus, whose face was a mixture of worry over Hermione, and anger at Gideon for letting her, making her, fall. Then she glanced at Gideon, who looked furiously at the boy who had caught her. Then Hermione looked up at the boy who was attempting to help her stand. It was the same boy she had seen smiling and mingling through the crowd with Snape. He set her up straight, but she nearly fell over again due to her sore ankle. The boy caught her again.
"Seems like you might have sprained it. I can take you to Madame Pomfrey, if you want?" the boy said. Hermione tried putting pressure on her ankle again, tears springing to her eyes at the pain. She nodded, looking to Remus and Lily.
"Thank you for the offer, Black, but I'll take her." Remus said, nodding curtly to the boy.
"Black? You're Regulus, then?" Hermione asked, looking over her shoulder at the boy. He nodded.
"Leave her to her friends, Reg. We've got better things to do." Snape snarled. Regulus looked Hermione over before speaking.
"My offer stands." He said, and Hermione heard something in his voice that told her she would be safe with him. Snape turned up his nose and stalked away, even as Hermione looked back to her friends.
"I'll be alright, Remus. Stay here with Lily, I don't want to ruin your night with a silly sprained ankle that Madame Pomfrey will just wrap up and give me a pain potion for." Hermione said, smiling at him. Remus studied her face carefully, then nodded.
"If you're sure," He said. "We'll come by the Hospital Wing after the party to help you back to the tower, okay?" Hermione nodded, then turned to Regulus.
"Could I lean on you? I don't want to put too much pressure on it." She asked. He chuckled.
"Of course, but I'd take off those death traps you call shoes off I were you, otherwise I'll end up carrying you to Pomfrey." He said. Hermione managed a smile as she leaned on him for support, slipping out of her heels and handing them to Lily.
"Can you explain to Slughorn, Lils?" She asked. The other girl nodded, with a smile.
"Do be careful, won't you?" Lily said. Hermione nodded, and let Regulus lead her away from the crowded room.
Hermione and Regulus walked in silence until they could no longer hear the party behind them. Once it was behind them, Regulus looked down at her. Though he was nearly two years younger than her, he was at least a head taller, and he looked very much like his brother, though his face was a bit rounder, and he was a tad shorter.
"So you're Hermione Potter, my long-lost cousin." He said quietly. Hermione nodded. "I've heard people, specifically Snape, talking bad about you since you got here. Surely you can't be that bad, with Black blood in you."
"I'm surprised you're even talking to me, honestly. According to Sirius, I'm not even on the family tree. He expects my father was blasted off when he married a Muggleborn." Hermione said.
"That part is a shame. I don't approve of that part, but in my mind, you're still family. Especially now that your parents are dead. You still have Black blood in your veins, Hermione." Regulus said. Hermione was a bit surprised by that.
"Regulus, can I ask what happened between you and Sirius?" She asked. He looked down.
"Differing opinions. He's got a bit of a temper, my brother. It's his way or the highway. Our family has never been the most- loving. Sirius and I, we were close growing up. He was my best friend. He made sure I stayed out of trouble with Mum and Dad, even if that meant he took the fall. When he came to Hogwarts, and was sorted into Gryffindor, that changed. Mum was furious. And of course, I was left home with her all year while Sirius went to school. So she started trying to mold me into this perfect Slytherin, trying to fix where she'd gone wrong with Sirius. I conformed, because without Sirius there to keep Mum off me, it was conform and submit, or be beaten into submission.
"So I became the model student, the perfect Black child. It's been mostly an act, until recently. Mum's been talking about the Dark Lord a lot. How he's recruiting, and how it good it would look on the House of Black if I were to join.I told her I had some friends interested in the Dark Arts, which I do. If you can call them friends. That seemed to please her, but I'm not sure how much more I can do. How much further I can take this without falling into something I want no part in." Hermione looked Regulus over, realizing that not having Sirius in his life had hurt him just as much as it had hurt Sirius.
"Well, that makes sense now. You know, Sirius doesn't hate you. Not as much as he pretends to." Hermione said. Regulus looked over at her.
"Really? It's seemed like he's even stopped trying to fight with me. After he was cast out of the House-" Regulus winced at that.
"I had a talk with him. I asked him if it came to it, that if you were in danger, would he want you to think that you couldn't come to him. Any guesses on his answer?" Hermione half grinned.
"Probably not. Suppose he wouldn't want someone who turned their back on him to come to him in a time of need." Regulus.
"Actually, no. He loves you, Regulus. Despite everything, you're family. You need to talk to him. I've been telling Sirius this for weeks. You two need to sit down and talk it out. I'll even be there, as a mediator, if you want." Hermione smiled. Regulus looked hopeful, and nodded.
"Yeah, I think we need to do that." He said, then grinned sideways at her. "Are the rumors I've heard about you two true?"
"We went on one date, then he chickened out and wouldn't even hold my hand for months." Hermione groaned. Regulus chuckled.
"That explains why you went with that idiot Prewett. May be Head Boy, but he's awfully thick sometimes. You know why he pulled you closer, right?" Hermione shook her head. "I walking up close to you and he was trying to get you outta my way. He scowled at me just before he yanked you closer."
"He doesn't like Slytherins very much, does he? I suppose he was trying to be protective, but he didn't have to be such a prat about it." Hermione said.
"Lupin looked like he wanted to murder him." Regulus said.
"That's Remus for you. He's fiercely protective of his friends." Hermione smiled to herself.
"So are you wanting to continue things with Sirius? If he pulls his head out of his arse?" Regulus said, as they rounded the corner, the Hospital Wing door in sight. Hermione sighed, then nodded.
"Yes. I like him quite a lot. But is it weird that we're cousins?" Hermione asked. Regulus shrugged.
"My perception may be a bit skewed on that one. My Mum and Dad are first cousins, after all. I'd say if he makes you happy, and can protect you, you should be with him." He told her, helping her onto a bed before turning to fetch Pomfrey.
"Regulus-" Hermione said. He turned back to her. "Thank you for this. For helping me. And talking to me. If you ever need anything, anything at all, I'm here." Regulus smiled at that.
"You're quite welcome, Hermione. I'll remember that. I'll be right back, okay?" Hermione returned the smile before sitting back on the bed and waiting for him to return with the matron.