Changes Can Be Made
Disclaimer: I don't own the story of Harry Potter nor the Harry Potter characters.
A/N: Everyone, I owe you all an apology and an explanation… I'm really, truly, sincerely sorry guys! I'm really sorry everyone! T^T I've been really busy for a while because of classes… I have my first major class and my grades are dropping, I'm also busy doing a college improvement project, and I'm busy with another college club. With all these stuff going on, I really forgot about my stories…. T^T Sorry guys! But I pray I'll be able to continue writing stories/chapters that you guys will enjoy… I'm sorry if I've let some of you guys down, but I will try my hardest to improve my time management and memory… So here's the very, very late update…
Chapter 26: Decisions and Plans… The Usual
"We have to talk," Hermione smirked as she ushered Lily towards the Transfiguration classroom, only turning around to bid the overjoyed Marauder goodbye. "See you later James!" He waved back, smiling goofily at the two girls. When the boy was out of sight – but definitely not out of mind – they steered back to their conversation. "Now, spill Lil," Hermione demanded.
"About what?" Lily said pretending to be as innocent as a child.
Hermione scoffed and rolled her eyes at her red-headed friend, "About what transpired between you and a certain Potter?"
Lily's cheeks burned a bright pink, "We were… ah… just talking…"
"About?"
"You know… Hogsmeade weekend…."
Hermione lit up like a Christmas tree at Lily's response, "And!" She beamed.
"And…. You know….."
"Come on Lil, I obviously don't know."
"Alright…. Well, here's what happened…"
Lily was leaving the classroom as James Potter caught up with her.
"Hey Evans!" he called, "Evans, I need to talk to you!"
She spun around mildly annoyed at the persistent guy, but when she faced him, she immediately knew something was off. James looked not at all hopeful. He wore a sad smile and had eyes that showed his internal pain. This alarmed her. 'Did I do something?' she thought worried for the Potter boy.
"Look, Lily, I know that you haven't been keen on going with me to Hogsmeade weekend, and I know it's in two weeks, but I've decided not to go through with our deal," he said weakly.
"Um… the deal about me thinking about going with you if you get good grades?" she asked unsure of where this conversation was going.
"Yeah…"
"Oh…"
"Well, I want to erase our deal."
"It's because you didn't get good grades isn't it," Lily giggled.
James frowned at her statement. "No, I actually did great."
"Ah… sorry," guilt tightened its terrible grip in her chest. 'What's up with him?' Normally James would welcome humour from the girl of his dreams, but not today.
"No, it's ok," he sighed.
"Then why?"
"…Because I don't want my love for you to be treated as a deal."
Guilt tightened. It tightened to the point where she found it hard to breathe.
"I don't want to pressure you or for you to keep my hopes up…. I don't want hope if there's really no chance for an 'us'," his smile this time showed all the pain and the heartbreak he held inside.
'Was this how he's been feeling all this time? What have I done?' she thought in despair. She opened her mouth to speak, to tell him she was sorry; she was sorry for hurting him, for making him hurt the way he was. But her mouth seemed to have become useless, moving up and down like a machine with no words or even sound to accompany the movement. James, seeing her reaction, sadly turned away and headed for the door. "James! Wait!" She cried out.
He stopped at the door immediately, but didn't turn around. Lily strode over to him and peered at his face, determined to stop this weird behaviour. "James Potter, Head boy of Gryffindor, and Quiditch captain, don't you start saying this now after you've already worked hard to express your feelings for me," she said straightforwardly. "How can you be such an even bigger git than before!" she was blushing now; exasperated from her outburst. 'How didn't I see it myself?' she asked herself. 'I like James…' she blushed at her confession.
"W-What?" he blurted, clearly shocked by her outburst.
"L-Look, whether you like it or not, I'm going with you to Hogsmeade weekend," she told him while avoiding eye contact with the boy.
"A-A-Are you s-serious?!"
"Yes, so don't go saying things like that!" she scolded him.
James was overjoyed. It was obvious by the wide boyish grin plastered on his face and the life that shone in his eyes. "I love you, Lily Evans."
"James…" she said touched by the feeling he had in his words. The said boy took both of her hands into his and brushed his thumbs over her knuckles. His hands were big in warm around her soft small ones.
She became a tomato when James brought both her hands to his lips and places a gentle, loving kiss in them. "I really do love you Lily," the sweet look in his eyes proved his words rung with truth.
"James, I-"
"We have to talk," Hermione interrupted Lily. Lily was stunned. Not because Hermione interrupted but because she was about to tell James she loved him too.
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After Lily spilled what had occurred, Hermione was ecstatic. 'Finally, their relationship is going somewhere,' Hermione thought happily. She was so happy because she needed them to start their relationship now so in a couple of years – after they're married – her best friend Harry Potter would be born. "That's great!" Hermione beamed as they entered the Transfiguration room.
"Yeah, I guess…." Lily grumbled. "Well anyway, who are you going with, Mi?"
"I don't know if I'll go…"
"What?! You can't possibly be choosing to be a loner!"
"Maybe I am," Hermione mumbled.
"Come on, Mi," Lily pushed on. "I know Sirius and Regulus Black have both asked you to accompany them."
Hermione scoffed, "N-No they haven't…"
"Don't you dare trying lying to me, Miss Hermione Grace," she scolded the caramel haired girl.
"Ok, ok… fine, they did, but how did you know?"
"I'm a head girl, I know everything that happens in Gryffindor," she said smugly.
'Not everything… I'm from the future,' Hermione smirked to herself.
"And, I'm not stupid. I saw you and the younger Black boy in class today. I got the gist of what you two were chatting about with Hogsmeade weekend coming up," Lily explained as Professor McGonagall.
Sirius Black waltzed in soon after the cat witch. He smirked at the sight of the curly brown headed bombshell. He seated himself beside the said girl and sighed.
"What's with the smirk Sirius?" Hermione said quizzically.
"It's always nice to see you too, 'Mione," he chuckled.
"Sorry," she apologized sheepishly.
He laughed, "It's okay, so anyway, I'm just happy."
"And why is that?"
"Well you're here, need I say more," he winked.
Hermione rolled her eyes at the comment. Hermione spent the lesson quietly ignoring Sirius' showy self. She didn't feel like listening in class or chatting with the head girl whose cheeks were the same shade of red as her hair. Hermione had other things on her mind. 'Hogsmeade or not… Argh! Why do I even need to think about it, of course I'm not going to go! I have to think about how to get the information about the other Horcruxes from Lucius,' she scolded herself. 'Finding and destroying those Horcruxes are my top priority.' She started thinking of ways to get the information but they were not effective. She needed a way that no one would witness her and Lucius. She also didn't want to endanger the Malfoy boy, yet she didn't know why. Her thoughts then shifted to what Dumbledore had told her: "Why don't you take that time to relax and have fun with your new friends?" she shook her head to rid herself of the memory. 'No Hermione! No Hogsmeade for you!' She sighed in frustration, why did it have to be this hard? Every time she thinks of doing something fun, guilt creeps back to her heart and constricts like a Boa around the organ. 'How could you even consider having fun when your friends in the future are struggling against the forces of evil!' she yelled at herself internally. Throughout the lesson Hermione was devising plans then skips to Hogsmeade weekend and then the guilt stabs her chest. This cycle continued all throughout the class and before she knew it, the lesson was over.
"Mi? Mi? Hello Mi~" Lily called as she waved her hand in front of Hermione's face.
"Ah! Sorry Lil!" Hermione quickly packed her stuff up.
"It's ok," Lily said slowly, worry written all over her pretty face.
"Mione, are you okay?" Sirius touched her shoulder.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," she smiled at him. "Let's get to the grand hall?" she said unsure.
"Yeah! I'm starved!" Sirius cheered draping an arm over the curly haired witch's shoulder.
Hermione shrugged off his arm as she and Lily shook their heads while saying: "Boys…"
When they reached the noisy hall, assorted dishes lined the tables with hungry witches and wizards chatting away. Hermione looked around and smiled, 'Something's never change.' She strode down the middle aisle with Lily as Sirius ran ahead toward the other marauders.
"Hey Hermione and Lily," Peter and Remus smiled happily, as the two girls seated themselves with the Marauders.
"Hey boys," the girls greeted them.
"Boys!" James announced to the three other Marauders. "I need to tell you something," he grinned happily.
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Sirius looked at James strangely, 'What's the git up to now?' But without further questions to the goofy boy, the marauders gathered together.
"What's going on Prongs?" asked Peter.
"Yeah," Remus agreed.
"Lily Evans has agreed to go with me to Hogsmeade weekend," he said in a hush tone.
"Congrats Prongs!" Sirius cheered.
"Yeah, good on you," Remus smiled.
"That's great Prongs!" Peter grinned. "Now all that's left is you Padfoot."
"Me?"
"Yeah, you and Hermione," Peter confirmed.
"Ah, yeah, how's it going?" James asked as he stuffed a sandwich into his mouth.
"Wait, you asked Hermione?" Remus asked shutting his book and placing it down on the table. He looked Sirius in the eyes.
"Yeah, I did," Sirius smirked. 'What's up with him?'
"Well, is she going with you?" Remus said without emotion in either his voice or face.
"She didn't really give me an answer," Sirius admitted slightly irritated.
Peter and James sat quietly eating while watching the silent battle go on.
"Well… You should ask her again," Remus said devoid of emotion yet again.
"Yeah… I will," Sirius smiled. Then something dawned on him, "Wait, boys, isn't it a full moon tomorrow night?"
Remus nodded silently, dropping his eyes down to his empty plate.
"Well, let's start planning," James said seriously. "Wormtail, keep the girls distracted, we're going to the library," he winked.
"You got it," Peter smiled.
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Hermione grabbed a couple of sandwiches and turned to Lily. "You know, James seems to have just told them about what happened," she smirked.
Lily's face turned beetroot red, "Yeah, I guessed."
"So, why did you decide to go? You never actually told me the reason," she asked as she bit into the cucumber sandwich.
"Well… I don't know… I just didn't want him to give up on me," she admitted secretively to Hermione.
Hermione smirked, "So you like him?"
"No!"
Hermione continued eating but raised a brow at her friend's denial.
"…okay… maybe a little….."
"Don't be shy about it to me," Hermione told her. "I'm in full support of you two."
"Yeah, I get that… but it's just that I don't know if it was a good choice."
"All choices that come from the heart are right in a way," Hermione said as she remembered her choice to come to the past. 'Back then, it was either I leave them to fight for themselves to save them in the past or stay with them and fight by their side never sure if it'll be able to save anyone. I had to save them no matter the cost for me… so leaving them to come to the past was the right choice,' she told herself.
"Wow! Well aren't you the fortune teller," Lily winked. The two girls giggled. "Well, what about you? You going to Hogsmeade weekend?"
"I don't know… I don't think I should, I've got lots of things to do."
"What things? I can help with those 'things' and then you'll be able to come," Lily said innocently.
"No, no, it's okay… These are 'things' I need to do by myself."
"You don't need to do things by yourself; we're," she gestured to herself and the marauders who were in a deep secret meeting, "we're here to help you."
For a moment Hermione thought about Harry. "Harry…" she whispered.
"What?" Lily said absentmindedly as she chose a sandwich.
"Ah nothing," Hermione smiled nervously.
"Okay," Lily shrugged, "so, you gonna come or what?"
'"Why don't you take that time to relax and have fun with your new friends?"' she recalled Dumbledore saying, '"Think about it Miss Granger." Should I?' she questioned.
"Well?" Lily pushed on.
"Okay, I guess I'll go…"
"Yes! Okay, now that that's worked out, who are you going with?"
"Can't I go with you?" Hermione whined.
"Of course!"
"Yes!"
"But…" Lily went on.
Hermione's face visibly became dejected.
"You have to come with a guy to make it less awkward for me," Lily said, eyes pleading with her.
"What are you ladies talking about?" Peter Pettigrew butt in. He innocently chewing on a ham sandwich as the other three marauders stood up and walked off saying their goodbyes and heading for either the library or courtyard, Hermione wasn't sure.
"Well, we're discussing who Hermione is going with to Hogsmeade with," Lily explained.
"Oh! So you're definitely going?" he asked the girl.
"Yes, I am," Hermione confirmed.
"Great! So, who asked you?" mischief glinting in his eyes.
"Sirius, as I'm sure you know," she drank the sweet apple juice from her goblet. "And Regulus Black," she finished.
Peter almost choked on his food, "Regulus?!" he said in shock.
"Yeah…" Hermione looked over to the Slytherin table to see if the Black boy was alerted to their conversation. Fortunately for her, the boy wasn't there. "But I'm not sure what to do," she sighed exhausted from all the choices.
"Well, who do you feel more comfortable with?" Lily asked.
"Both?" Hermione smiled unsure.
"Come on, Hermione, seriously, who?" Peter rolled his eyes.
"Peter- ah! You've got some filling on the side of your mouth," Hermione smiled sweetly at the boy. "Here's a napkin," she handed the soft white tissue to him.
"Thanks," he blushed looking very embarrassed.
"Peter, you've got crumbs all over your shirt," Lily said as she brushed off the top of his shirt.
Peter's blush darkened, "You two sound like my mother."
They all giggled. "Well you are our precious little Peter," Hermione patted his back.
"Exactly! You're our little brother," Lily smiled sincerely.
"Yeah, well you two are my precious sisters. I'll always protect you gals," he smiled equally as sincere and happy.
"Anyway, Peter, I was being dead serious. I'm comfortable with both of them, but I can't pick either because it'll hurt one or the other," Hermione sighed.
"True," Lily nodded.
"Well then, just go by yourself," Peter shrugged. "Problem solved."
"No, it's not solved! She can't go by herself because I don't want to be left alone with James," Lily grumbled. "I don't want it to be awkward."
"She can go by herself because the marauders will be with you and James, thus it won't be awkward," Peter reasoned out.
"Please Lil," Hermione activated her beautiful puppy dog eyes.
"Argh! Fine!" Lily threw her hands up.
"Great!" Hermione laughed out with Peter. "Anyway, I want to go exploring Hogsmeade," she smiled pretending to be very curious about the place.
"Hey Peter, where'd the boys go?" Lily asked curious as to what those troublemakers were up to.
Peter almost spilled the drink he was gulping down. "Oh, they went out and about."
"Out and about?" Lily looked more suspicious this time.
"You know… places…" he disclosed nothing again.
"Peter! Tell me what they're up to," Lily frowned at him.
Peter smiled nervously and the war to find out what the marauders were up to started. Hermione giggled at the two and their, somewhat, bickering. She picked up her cool cup for a drink of the sweet citrusy orange juice as she gazed around the hall. Her eyes drifted down the Slytherin table searching. Searching for what? Well, not even she was sure herself. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary or a familiar face. She let out a breath she wasn't even aware she was holding. She felt relieved but, at the same time, she felt mildly disappointed. 'What's wrong with you, Hermione…' She put her cup down and slowly gathered her stuff. 'Class will be starting in less than an hour,' she told herself. Hermione was never one to be late to anything, she was always early or right on time, and she wouldn't be late for Arithmancy. Her two companions were still at it, and the whole scene was a tad bit funny so she decided to give them a few more minutes. Resuming her survey, again she saw nothing at either the Slytherin or Gryffindor table, but this time she continued her gaze to around the room and that's when she saw Lucius Malfoy with his loyal worshippers – boys that Hermione found completely useless to even try to learn their names.
The Malfoy boy strode confidently down the aisle to the end of the Slytherin table which caused the obvious firsties to move away to allow his group room. Following behind them was Severus who, as per usual, had a black arts book in his hands and his nose in the book. And behind him was Regulus and his gang of loyal followers. Unlike the first two boys she saw, Regulus seemed to feel Hermione's gaze on him, because he turned his attention to her to look her straight in the eye. Hermione's heart tingled as if someone had set fireworks to explode in it. His eyes never left hers even as he seated himself at the Slytherin table, and she couldn't take her eyes off of his. 'Hermione Granger! You look away right this instant!' she screamed at herself in alarm, but alas, she couldn't. It was impossible. Then the worst thing happened… He smirked charmingly at her and subtly mouthed a 'Hello Angel' to which she replied with a smile and a 'Hi Reg'. In this moment, she felt as if time and space belonged to the two of them; it was the same feeling she had whenever she was together with Sirius. Hermione and Regulus continued being lost in each other's eyes until Hermione was pulled from the sweet moment by Lily.
"Mi, let's go, we have to go to Arithmancy now," Lily smiled.
"Ah yeah, let's go," Hermione returned the smile. "Hey, where did those boys go?"
"Peter finally spilled the beans, they're going to prepare for James' 'date' with me," she said with a blush, but scoffed soon enough to add, "It's not even a date!"
Hermione and Peter giggled as they all headed for Arithmancy. Hermione, though, gave the Slytherin table one last glance and saw all the boys – from Lucius and his group to Regulus and his group – glaring at her. 'Oh Merlin, what did I do now?' she thought nervously and quickly caught up with her companions.
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Regulus was very annoyed. He had spent a wonderful lesson with Hermione in the morning only to have a horrible second period lesson with Josanne hanging around him grabbing every opportunity to cling to him and announce her possession on him. He was beyond angry with Josanne's antics. And to add to insult, the same girl was currently tailing him and his group like the stalker she is. He was currently in the library with Lucius, Severus, and some other Slytherin boys trying to study. When their original objective [to study] failed due to boredom and other factors like Josanne, they were preparing to leave.
"Let's get going, Regulus," Lucius' demanding voice said to him.
"Of course, I'll just deal with something first," Regulus seethed with irritation as he pointed out the poorly hidden Josanne.
Lucius rolled his eyes at the girl and nodded in understanding, "Well be quick, you to Severus."
The silent black haired boy nodded and headed for the dark arts section.
Regulus stood up and walked over to his stalker and pulled her into a concealed out-of-sight aisle. "Stop following me, Josanne," he growled angrily.
The girl shivered out of both fear and obvious attraction. 'How revolting,' Regulus thought disgusted by the girl in front of him.
"What makes you think I'm following you," she said, failing at her attempt to sound seductive.
"Because you follow me wherever I go and keep watching me. But enough, it's sickening and disgraceful," he growled. "Act more like a Slytherin and stop soiling our reputation and image." Regulus turned to leave, but Josanne stopped him with a sadistic laugh.
"You say that to me yet you protect that muggle-born, Hermione Grace," she spat.
"I do not protect her."
"You do! It's disgusting! She's below us Pure-bloods! She's a filthy mudblood!" she cried out, eyes red with rage.
That pushed him over the edge. "Don't you dare talk about her!" he raged. Josanne visibly shrank in fear. She leaned against the bookshelf as Regulus advanced visibly enraged by her words. "If I see you near her or around me, I'll make you pay dearly."
Josanne, this time, nodded and swallowed deeply as she shook in fear. Regulus turned and left the dark aisle. He picked up his belongings and breathed deeply to calm down. Once calmed, he followed Lucius out only to find another person he was not fond of.
"Hello Regulus," said the Gryffindor Black.
"Sirius," Regulus hissed.
"Oh, if it isn't the troublemakers," smirked Lucius. "You seem to be missing the scrawny one."
"His name is Peter," James corrected darkly.
"Oh, my apologies, you're all just pathetic, I can't remember who is who," Lucius replied venomously. The Slytherins snickered at the statement.
"Well, we have the same issue with you snakes," Remus replied devoid of emotion. Lucius and many of the other Slytherin boys glared the young wizard.
"Enough of this ridiculing, it's annoying," Severus said also devoid of emotion, which was normal for the boy.
"Yes, you're right," Lucius supported. "Plus, it's a waste of breathe to try reasoning with these fools," with that, Lucius and some Slytherins left, pushing against the Marauders.
"Watch it snakes!" James spat. No reply or reaction came from any of the Slytherins.
"Remus," Severus nodded as he walked passed.
"Severus," Remus replied with the same actions.
Regulus would have also left but he and Sirius were in a glaring competition.
"Well, Regulus, have you got your little girlfriend on a leash yet?" Sirius smirked.
"She's not my girlfriend and yes, she won't be bothering Miss Grace," Regulus said through tight lips.
"She better not," Sirius said darkly, his smirk completely gone.
"Ah… We'll go ahead," James said awkwardly. James and Remus left the two alone outside the library.
"Well, see you around little brother," Sirius said carefree. "Oh and another thing," Sirius began before he got to the entrance of the library, "stay away from Mione."
"Well, that would be hard since I invited her to Hogsmeade weekend with me," Regulus smirked.
"What?" Sirius angrily turned to Regulus.
"I asked her to come with me to Hogsmeade weekend."
"She's coming with me, I asked her already," Sirius said as he approached Regulus.
"And did she agree?" Regulus' smirk widened at Sirius' lack of an answer. 'So she didn't give him an answer.'
"Well, did she give you an answer?" Sirius doubled back.
"Not yet."
Sirius chuckled, "Regulus, I guess we're in the same position. But the only difference is that she won't pick you."
"You never know," Regulus shrugged still confident, "She might just pick me… I'm obviously the better choice."
Sirius scoffed at his reply, "She wouldn't pick you. You're a Slytherin, surrounded by people who'll become death eaters… She hates death eaters, so why would she choose to be closer to them, therefore why would she choose you."
'It's true, as a muggle-born witch, she would obviously hate them…' he thought sadly, but he didn't give up. "She doesn't seem to be opposed to me during our classes," he smirked.
Sirius glared angrily, "We'll see, Regulus," he growled. Regulus growled in response. The two boys parted ways angrily. Regulus caught up with the Slytherins.
"What did he want?" Lucius asked harshly.
"Nothing really," Regulus replied. He looked as disinterested as he really was with the subject.
"It heard that Gryffindor spout something about that Grace girl," one of the Slytherin boys snorted.
"Her again," another whined.
A few of the boys laughed and howled, "But she's hot, right!" Another round of cheers and laughter erupted.
"Such a shame she's a mudblood," a boy chuckled.
Regulus became irritated, 'How dare they!'
"And why are you talking about her now?" hissed Lucius.
Regulus stared shocked at the platinum blonde boy. 'He's defending her? I thought he hated her…'
"Lucius?" they questioned.
"You boys are being pathetic," sighed an emotionless Severus. His eyes were blank and bore into them as if sucking the life from them. The boys swallowed hard.
'Serves them right,' Regulus thought haughtily.
"Exactly, leave her be. Speak no more of the witch," Lucius scolded.
"She's none of your concern," Severus said blankly.
Regulus said nothing. In fact, nobody said a word after that. They simply strode to the grand hall. Once at the passageway of the great hall, most of the Slytherin boys in the group broke out into a worthless conversation about a group of Slytherin girls giggling at the entrance. The girls were seventh years like them, however their eyes laid on Lucius Malfoy and Regulus Black. 'How irritating…' he internally snarled, completely uninterested in all the people around him. Regulus hated the lecherous looks girls gave him. He always found the looks to be disgraceful. 'Such simpleminded gits.'
"Lucius, Regulus, you two are so popular with the girls!"
Lucius smiled smugly and said, in a matter-of-fact tone, "It's only natural."
"I don't care," Regulus sighed.
The group laughed as they entered the hall. Regulus followed Lucius and Severus into the hall and looked ahead to the long table lined with posh, stuck-up wizards and witches. Regulus sighed, tired by the usual scene before him. He had a lot of dislikes, one of which included Sirius, but one of the things he hated the most was boring situations. 'Isn't there anything interesting around here?' he growled. At that moment, he felt something. A sensation filled his chest. 'Is someone watching me?' he considered.
He used his improved peripheral vision to see who had their eyes on him. 'I'm getting used to these enhanced senses.' He smirked internally, and when he realized the perpetrator of the feeling, 'Hermione Jean Grace… Angel…' He looked her square in the eyes. 'Such beautiful brown eyes,' he admired. He couldn't tear his eyes from her pretty caramel orbs, even as he seated himself at the smooth wooden table surrounded by careless young Slytherins. 'Ah, you're always so interesting, angel.' To tease the sweet muggle-born witch, he gave her a dashing smile and mouthed, "Hello Angel." He must have looked completely crazy to anyone who would have seen his actions, but to see her blushing face was well worth it. Hermione returned the smile equally as sweet and mouthed "Hello Reg." 'She's always so interesting.' He was starting to enjoy himself until her red-headed friend took her attention away from him. He kept his eyes on her. At that moment, something Sirius said echoed in his head: "She hates death eaters, so why would she choose to be closer to them." It started bothering him. 'What did he mean? Did they do something to her?' he pummelled himself with these questions worrying about her. 'Then she would hate me if I became a death eater? But if I became a death eater, mother and father would stop worrying over Sirius… but if I do, Hermione will hate me.' He just really needed to talk to her, 'Maybe after dinner…' he sighed.
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Sirius entered the library very pissed. 'So he's after Mione too…' he worried. The things Regulus had said glued itself to his current mind and struck a nerve. 'She wouldn't go with that dimwit,' he scowled, 'She has much better taste.' He kept repeating these sorts of things to himself, hoping to shake the uneasy feeling he was having. He always felt strange when he wasn't with Hermione. She was like a warm sunshine on his field of snow. She was the summer for the winter that covered his heart. He always had a way with women, but not with Hermione. She's a feisty witch; she's a girl of spirit, and that is what was especially attractive about her. He smiled as an image of the witch formed in his mind. She was an image of beauty, but his favourite feature of the girl was her smile. That smile could make anyone her slave. She didn't know it but she had gotten quite a lot of male attention in the past month, but none of her admirers made a move on her due to the fear that the pranksters [the Marauders], especially Sirius, would get them back. Sirius was taken from his thoughts by the call of two Gryffindor boys.
"Padfoot," James whispered.
"What are you doing?" Remus whispered to the black haired Casanova who was currently leaning on the wall nearest the entrance on the library.
Sirius flashed them a cocky smile and strutted over to where his two fellow marauders were seated. They had chosen a table in the farthest corner of the silent library to carry out their secret conversation. To outsiders, the group would seem to be plotting a new prank however the essence of their meeting was of much importance.
"The full moon is tomorrow night," James began.
"Moony have you prepared everything?" Sirius asked.
Remus sat silently but nodded in response to his friend.
"So how're we going to do this?" Sirius asked.
"Like usual," Remus replied looking at both of them indifferently.
He was always different when the full moon was arriving. Sirius and James both understood why. But still there was a big flaw to the plan that they had yet to consider. "Yes, but in case you've forgotten, Hermione still has nightmares sometimes," Sirius began.
"And?" James shrugged, confused as to what the problem is.
"Prongs, what I'm trying to say is that Hermione's infrequent nightmares may be an issue."
"Huh?"
"Her unpredictable dreams may cause her to scream, which, in turn, may wake up some girls like our dear head girl while we" – he spun his pointer around at the boys to symbolize the Marauders – "are trying to sneak out, Prongs," explained Remus.
"Oh…"
They sat in complete silence thinking of a solution, until James clapped to signify that he had an idea. "Well Moony, we'll all take you through the Whomping Willow tonight straight after dinner."
"How would we do that?" Sirius butts in.
"Simple, we finish dinner early and pretend to head to the dorms but instead we go to the Whomping Willow."
Sirius nodded, but then suddenly furrowed his brows. "What if we run into someone?"
Remus sighed, "Then we use the Marauder's Map to navigate to the tree undetected."
"Well just until we get outside of the castle," James interjected.
"Once outside, we can disguise ourselves in our Animagus form and guide you," – Sirius pointed to Remus – "to the tree, set up the Shrieking Shack, and make it back to the dorm rooms late in the evening when everyone's asleep," Sirius grinned.
"Exactly!" James gave thumbs up.
"Alright then, Prongs, Padfoot, it's a good plan, but what if someone, like our very observant girls, notices our early leave at dinner?"
"Then we'll just tell them that we're going to do something fun," winked Sirius.
"How would that work?" Remus frowned.
"Well, they'll think we're up to no good and leave us be. Our gals wouldn't pry about our stupidity," Sirius laughed.
The other two mischief makers laughed with him. They nodded and approved of the plan and excuse. Knowing the girls [Hermione and Lily], they would probably roll their eyes and mumble something about boys being boys, well something along those lines.
"Whoa! I'm late," Remus muttered aloud to himself. "I have to go to Arithmancy," Remus clarified as he stood from his chair.
"Will you be seeing Hermione there?" Sirius asked immediately focussed on Remus.
"Yes, why?"
"Well, look out for her, ok?"
"Why, Padfoot?" James leaned closer to the Black boy.
"Well, my brother seems interested in her…"
"W-What?!" both, James and Remus, stuttered.
"Regulus asked her if she would like to accompany him during Hogsmeade Weekend," he frowned. It was evident to the two boys that Sirius was utterly incredibly pissed at the younger Black.
"I will, don't you worry… I'll make sure she doesn't run into him," Remus nodded, determination planted on his defined face.
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Hermione, Peter, and Lily arrived promptly to their Arithmancy classroom. When they entered the room, they were laughing away about random topics. Hermione almost felt at ease… almost. The feelings from both Sirius and Regulus plagued her mind. She was surely having a terrible time. She was confused as to how she could have such strange feelings while pretending to be having such a good time around her two close friends and still be feeling the pains of the past/future that she escaped from last month. The stress was starting to wear her down. She sighed out of exhaustion when they all took their seats. She saved the seat next to her for Remus, but when the Professor Vector entered the room and there was still no sign of the bookworm Hermione turned to Peter for clarification.
"He'll be here soon," Peter smiled, successfully answering Hermione's unspoken question.
Professor Vector was already lecturing the class about the wonders of Arithmancy in comparison to Divination. 'Blimey! What is it with her and Divination?! Okay, we get that she has a grudge against Divination, but surely this is on the verge of obsessive hatred!' Hermione internally raged.
"And what was the point to this lesson again?" Lily whispered sarcastically to Peter and Hermione, which elicited a hushed giggle from the two.
Hermione sighed and gazed around the room bored to death of the lecture. Her eyes scanned the room full of half-asleep students. Nothing grabbed her attention until her gaze rested on the empty seat next to her. 'Where is he?' she worried when she realized that Remus was Just as the thought entered her mind, the brown haired boy quickly shuffled into the room and took the saved seat Hermione had left him. "Where in Merlin's name where you?" she huffed.
"A marauder never spills his secrets," he smiled.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Well anyway, Peter already told us what you three were up to."
Remus looked up at her alarmed. His alerted eyes travelled from Hermione to the small boy seated next to Lily, then travelled back to Hermione. Remus swallowed hard.
Hermione felt scared looking into Remus' angry eyes. She immediately noted that something was off. 'This isn't the Remus I know…'
Remus' infuriated eyes bore into Hermione's fearful ones, "And what exactly did he tell you?"
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A/N: So here's a long one for you guys! I hope it'll do as an apology for the long absence. I want to thank you guys for supporting me even though I update very very late ALL THE TIME! SORRY EVERYONE! :( Again, I'd like to remind you guys to review and let me know your thoughts. Reviews are always appreciated! :D Also, I'm still working on the 2nd chapter of "Can't Jinx Love" so for those who read the 1st chapter, please hang on a bit longer… I'm getting there! :D Stay happy and healthy guys~! :D OH! AND~~~ BELATED HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE~! 3 3 3 :* I LOVE YOU ALL! Mwah~ :* 3 3 3