Changes Can Be Made
Disclaimer: sup guys! I, Kimzy Bubble, do no own Harry Potter or the characters... the only character that is mine would be the increasingly creepy Josanne. :P
A/N: Hey guys! I know it's been a while… I've been incredibly busy with college and extracurricular club activities. Thanks for being patient guys! I'm currently on my semester break for another week so hopefully I can make another short chapter before then. So sorry it's taken me this long to update… :( This one I made super long as a sort of apology. It's already 16 pages in Word Doc. YEAH! Super proud! XD Please review and let me know what you think. Is it…
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X'D hahaha! Let me know guys ;) Love you all~~~~ xxxx
Chapter 27: Name in the Night
Remus' infuriated eyes bore into Hermione's fearful ones, "And what exactly did he tell you?"
Hermione was shocked at how lethal he looked. 'It's the effect of tomorrow's full moon… Don't mess up now, Hermione… Stay calm and act the part… You can do this... play it cool,' she told herself. She smiled casually, "Relax Remus, Lil and I know you're helping James get ready for the 'date' with Lil," she winked.
Remus' face visibly relaxed. "Is that wormtail said?"
"Yes," Hermione smiled wryly, "so what's James' pickup line? What's the plan? Soften her up with sweet words and a kiss goodnight?" she winked playfully.
Remus smirked, "That's a secret for marauders only. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise now would we?"
"If you say so."
"While we're on the topic of Hogsmeade weekend, I heard that both Sirius and Regulus asked if you would like to go with them... what are you going to do?" Remus asked as he jotted down notes from the unproductive lecture.
Hermione smiled triumphantly, "I'm going by myself."
"W-What?" he sputtered.
"I said, I'm going by myself."
"Yes, but why not with one of the Blacks?"
"Because I don't want their situation with each other to worsen… If I pick one, doesn't matter which, then the other will be angry and their bad relationship will get worse," the young witch reasoned.
Remus was silent the whole time, listening patiently to her explanation. A moment of deafening silence descended upon the two. Hermione watched Remus as the wheels in his head turned. 'What is he thinking?'
"How are you going to let them both know?" he finally asked.
"After or during dinner I'm going to speak with them… they'll understand," she smiled. "Plus, I want to explore this important 'Hogsmeade' everyone's so excited to go to." 'Yeah, the Hogsmeade I've gone to a hundred times… how interesting…' she thought tediously as she skilfully changed the subject. The lesson proceeded to get more boring every minute, luckily for Hermione this meant that she could get to know Peter and Remus a little better and build mental plans of how she was going to ensure a change in the future.
The rest of the day virtually passed the same way. Advanced Potions class was filled with the scent of overcooked bread with a twinge of ash floating within the smoke that rose for cauldrons, students dillydallying their way through potions that Professor Slughorn dictated, but Hermione was hardly paying attention to anything. Her mind drifted between Hogsmeade weekend and how she should tell the boys she's going alone, and how and when she was going to get the information she needed from the platinum blond slytherin, Lucius Malfoy. Frustrated with herself she sighed, 'One step at a time, Hermione… one step at a time…' She idly listened to the conversation of her friends and smiled kindly as she watched their interaction. Lily has happily chatting with Remus and chatting with Severus, although still slightly reserved but still they had become closer now. Remus, spent his time arguing with the Slytherin boy about the potion, however their 'arguing' seemed more friendly than anything else. It all proved to Hermione that she was greatly changing the fate of her friends in the future. 'Every little thing can have the greatest effects,' she smiled to herself.
Once the class was over she bid Severus goodbye and strutted away with Lil as Remus had "somethings to do with the boys."
"What's up with you?" Lily quizzically glanced at the brown-eyed witch.
"What do you mean?"
"You've been so out of it all potions class. What's on your mind, Mi?" she gave Hermione her whole attention.
"Just... stuff..." 'oh, that's a really smart answer, Hermione...' she shook her head.
"Uh-huh," Lily smirked, "and do these stuff have anything to do with the Black brothers?"
"Sort of," Hermione sighed. "Come on, let's just get ready for dinner and perhaps talk about a certain someone's 'date'," she winked.
"Mi, it's not a d-date," Lily huffed in embarrassment.
"If you say so~"
"Yes, I say so," Lily poked her tongue out.
"But, Lil," Hermione subtly smirked, "If you need he'll picking an outfit, I'm right here."
There was a long silence between the two witches until, "...Fine... but nothing revealing."
"Of course not," Hermione laughed. The girls weaved their way through the crowds in the corridor and giggled as the crowds of Gryffindors parted for the head girl as they approached the painting. Once in their respective rooms, they dressed warmly and met 20 minutes later in the common room. "Looking good, Lil," Hermione smiled, "Is there any particular reason why you look so hot tonight?" she giggled.
The said girl blushed furiously then cast a quick look at Hermione. "Back at you, Mi. Ugboots, skinny jeans, and a cashmere sweater... who're you dressed up for?"
The two girls laughed as they linked arms. "I'm sure James will appreciate those jeans on you," Hermione winked.
Lily rolled her eyes and they giggled at the similarities in their attires. 'Dinner is bound to be fun.'
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Alarms sounded in Remus' mind when Hermione mentioned that Peter had told the girls what they [the marauders] were up to. 'Wormtail...' Remus growled inwardly as his eyes darted from beautiful brown eyes to the focussed smaller boy. His inner beast had inched closer to the surface of his mind and, as a result, his vision darkened as his emotions consumed him. "And what exactly did he tell you?"
Shock with a twinge of fear flashed briefly on Hermione's features, but were quickly replaced with a cute smile, "Relax Remus, Lil and I know you're helping James get ready for the 'date' with Lil," she added a secretive wink that calmed him.
He relaxed, 'Oh, Wormtail, you genius.' "Is that what wormtail said?"
"Yes," she smiled, "so what's James' pickup line? What's the plan? Soften her up with sweet words and a kiss goodnight?"
He smirked, "That's a secret for marauders only. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise now would we?"
"If you say so."
'Ah, yes... Hogsmeade... Is she going to go with Sirius or Regulus? Please not the snake...' he thought distressed by an image of the innocent witch following the slytherin around. Then his mind switched to what could happen if they took her out far enough to rid the world of another muggle-born. 'No, I absolutely will not allow her to go with those conniving snakes,' he internally growled. He surprised himself with the amount of animosity he had for Slytherin. The upcoming full moon was already having its effect on him. He quietly shook the feelings away by pretending to actually jot down notes from what was supposed to be an important lesson. To answer his inner questions he casually went on,"While we're on the topic of Hogsmeade weekend, I heard that both Sirius and Regulus asked if you would like to go with them... what are you going to do?"
"I'm going by myself," Hermione answered coolly.
"W-What?" he stuttered in surprise. 'Alone?'
"I said, I'm going by myself."
"Yes, but why not with one of the Blacks?"
"Because I don't want their situation with each other to worsen… If I pick one, doesn't matter which, then the other will be angry and their bad relationship will get worse," the young witch reasoned.
'Then what if I ask her to go with me? Would she agree? But since she cares about the relationship of the Black brothers and she knows how close we Marauders are, that we're like brothers, then she would turn me down too... wouldn't she? Should I risk asking her? But if she agreed to go with me then I would anger and possibly hurt Sirius...' Remus' mind was in a mess. Finally with his decision made [not asking her], he sighed and looked at the sweet girl, "How are you going to let them both know?"
She smiled in response and said, "After or during dinner I'm going to speak with them… they'll understand. Plus, I want to explore this important 'Hogsmeade' everyone's so excited to go to."
'Well that'll be interesting,' he chuckled inside. He knew this would be the first rejection both Blacks would experience. They continued to chat away about any random topic that came up until the very boring lesson was over.
As the group shuffled out of the classroom, Remus nudged Peter gently and smiled. "Thanks for the brilliant excuse. You're bloody brilliant, Wormtail," he whispered to the smaller boy. A wide grin of pride spread across Peter's face as the boys split up, Peter heading to his next class while Remus headed to Advanced Potions with the girls.
Potions passed relatively alright but Remus noticed two things, one, his animosity for the Slytherin house was evident in his arguments with Snape, who obviously knew what was up, but was glad when he also made an effort to make their interaction seem almost friendly. The other thing Remus noticed was Hermione's sideline manner. She was less responsive during the lesson, oblivious to her surroundings as her mind worked. He knew Lily had noticed and he decided to leave Tthe girly issues to a professional, Lily Evans. Brushing off Hermione's odd behaviour, he bid them farewell as he went to meet up with the other marauders at their spot. A lot of preparation was needed for tonight's journey, this was th only preparation time they have.
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Sirius had been in such a foul mood since meeting his brother outside the library. Honestly, he never felt uneasy when it came to girls since most boys weren't competition for the handsome, tall, devilish Black, but he couldn't deny that Regulus was most definitely competition. The younger Black didn't know it but he was just as popular with the ladies. On top of that, Regulus' cocky attitude told Sirius that the boy stood a good chance with Hermione, but then again Hermione didn't like the Slytherin house so maybe the prospect of spending her time at Hogsmeade surrounded by Slytherins would put her off. 'Yeah, there's nothing to worry about,' he smiled.
His mood brightened significantly as he reached the lonely tree behind the library, the marauders' meeting place. The place was their little haven. The place they could gather their ideas and discuss confidential topics such as Lily Evans and the occasional "Moony" night. Sirius, who was usually the last to arrive and the only one who would arrive with a lipstick smudge, was uncharacteristically early today and had no smudge whatsoever.
Well then again, he didn't have to wait long before James and Peter ran his way. "Padfoot? You're early?" Peter sounded as surprised as James looked.
"Well hello to you too boys," he said scowling at the two.
"Sorry," they replied sheepishly.
Remus cleared his throat as he arrived slightly out of breath. "Ok, let's begin."
"Ok, well first things first, do we have everything we need?" James asked seriously.
Remus swallowed, "Yes..."
Sirius knew that the full moon always worried Remus. Well, not worried it was more like it scared him. 'Who wouldn't be scared?'
"Great," James clapped his hands, "so let's eat dinner fast tonight and head to the whomping willow. Moony, where'd you put the stuff?"
"After our library meeting I moved the stuff to the willow."
"So that's why you were late to arithmancy," Peter looked as though he had just completed a terribly hard puzzle.
'Always prepared,' Sirius chuckled. "By the way, Wormtail, did our lovely ladies say anything when we left at lunch?"
"They asked what you guys were up to..."
"And you said?" Sirius pushed on.
"It's great," Remus smiled wickedly. This piqued Sirius' interest as well as James'.
Peter smiled shyly as a blush coloured his cheeks, "I told them that you guys went to help James plan for his 'date' with Lily."
Silence filled the air around the group, but was broken by Sirius' laughter. James was bright red from head to toe. "What'd they say?" Sirius gasped out between laughs.
"Well, Lily denied that it was even a date," said Peter but upon noticing James' dejected look he added, "Don't worry Prongs. She was blushing." That most definitely brightened the gloomy boy. "Anyway, Hermione just found it funny."
"OH! Right! Did Mione mention anything about who she'd go with?" Sirius moved closer.
"Ah… umm… maybe…" Peter looked down, purposely avoiding the playboy's eyes.
'Oh Merlin… She didn't...' alarms went off inside Sirius Black. "What did she say, Wormtail?" The said marauder shifted uncomfortably under Casanova's gaze.
Remus cleared his throat, "Leave it be, Padfoot, if you really want to know just wait until dinner."
"You know don't you," he accused.
"Maybe, but I think you should hear the answer directly from Hermione."
Sirius felt the anxiety and worry twist in his gut like someone wringing water from a tea towel. The anxiety churned about inside him. 'She picked him?!' the assumption quickly manipulated the anxiety to anger. 'Regulus…' he growled. The aggressiveness in him alerted the boys around him.
"Calm down, Padfoot," Peter calmly and carefully approached his friend. "Don't jump to conclusions."
"Exactly," confirmed James. "I assumed that Lily wouldn't go with me and surprisingly she agreed, so don't skip to the end just yet," he winked. Remus silently nodded along with the two boys.
The tension that was building within Sirius suddenly collapsed like domino as the boys gave him nuggets of hope he so desperately needed. 'That's right,' he smiled, 'Just listen to what Mione has to say… then have a little 'talk' with Regulus if the need arises,' he told himself.
Each boy gave Sirius a good-old pat on the back for comfort before racing to the dorms to prepare for dinner and their marauder adventure through the whomping willow.
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Since lunch the Slytherin Black never seemed to expel the caramel haired witch from his mind.
"Regulus? Are you alright?" Severus asked over his book.
The boy sighed as he and Snape made their way to the Slytherin dorms. "Yes, well if I did not run into him earlier I would have been great."
Snape nodded as if he had actually cared about Regulus' answer but sadly, the book was far more interesting to the boy. "I heard something interesting today."
"Oh? And that would be?" Regulus asked more out of politeness than interest.
The monotonous boy looked away from his enthralling book and straight into the eyes of the younger Slytherin. "It seems that you have asked Miss Grace to go with you to Hogsmeade."
Dilemmas usually didn't affect Regulus, but this unnerved him. Swallowing hard, he regained his composure and gave his best so what smile and shrugged, "And?"
"I was just wondering how well Lucius and the others will take that…"
He growled, "I have my reasons…"
"Well whatever they are, do not endanger the muggle-born," Severus warned.
"Of course," he hissed. Nodding in approval, Severus turned back to his book. The two walked in silence.
"How did you know anyway?" Regulus curiously broke the ice.
"I overheard Lily and Remus talking about it."
Regulus nodded, although his mind stressed on something else Severus had said. 'Lily and Remus'? First name basis? My, my, my… At least I'm not the only one playing with fire,' he smirked.
They reached the dorms within a matter of minutes, and, unlike the girls, the boys were changed and already waiting in the common room.
"Why does it take girls so long to prepare?" Lucius sighed irritated by simply waiting.
"Perhaps they're just trying to impress you," a Slytherin boy named, Avery, chuckled. He wasn't as popular with girls but some girls still fancied his muscles.
Regulus rolled his eyes and allowed his mind to wander to more interesting things, like a certain angel of his. He smiled secretly as he recalled their lunch time moment, but the smile was disguised by a look of disgust when a certain Josanne flaunted passed. 'Why must I be the one to deal with her?' he inwardly muttered as he cast a disapproving look at the snobby girl, yet she stilled looked at him as if he had not rejected, as if he shared her feelings and as if they were about to rendezvous romantically in the sunset. 'Argh!' The girl was insane… and not in the good way. Shaking off the skin-crawling feeling she gave him, he focussed on something else… the conversation of the boys. That was simply a terrible idea.
"So you asked a Hufflepuff girl on a date to Hogsmeade?" Avery asked one of his buddies, obviously appalled by the girl in question.
"What? It's better than a know-it-all Ravenclaw and far better than a measly Gryffindor… Plus, she's a Pureblood," his friend snapped back.
"Well Mulciber and I are going to spend our Hogsmeade more appropriately," he said smugly.
"Wow! It's surprising," said Snape.
"What is?"
"That you know the word 'appropriately' but I'm sure you don't know how to actually put it into action."
"Shut up!" Avery snapped while the others, including Regulus, chuckled.
"Enough," Lucius commanded. "Now how exactly are you going to spend Hogsmeade?" he questioned Avery.
"We're going to mess with some mudbloods," Mulciber answered in place of Avery.
Immediately Lucius, Severus and Regulus fell silent. 'Hermione…' Regulus clenched his fist, 'They cast one spell on her or lay a hand on her, I swear I'll…' he growled ferociously but lowly so as to not attract suspicion.
"Which mudbloods?" Lucius pressed on casually taking a step forward though it gave the two boys [Avery and Mulciber] the unspoken warning that Regulus wanted to whole-heartedly punch into their skulls.
"Ah- Mary Maconald," Mulciber unknowingly took a step back.
Regulus still felt uneasy about the prospect of an innocent girl being put through hell by these two dangerous boys, but he found some sort of relief knowing that Hermione wasn't on their menu.
"Don't do anything too rash or dangerous to her," Severus added.
"Since when do you care?" scoffed Avery as he inched forward to Snape.
"I believe what he means is that the school year has just begun, so at least leave the big finale until later," Regulus stepped in, wedging himself between Avery and the Slytherin bookworm. Although Regulus had made it sound very normal to say such a thing, the words were like knives cutting through his tongue and lips. The guilt weighed down his heart. 'How could I have said that?' The question burned into his mind as he pictured the terrible, traumatic things those boys would put the girl, Mary, through.
Avery cackled, "You're absolutely right!" Seemingly pleased with the response, the muscular boy stepped back into his original place and continued laughing with Mulciber. Regulus was more than disgusted with himself. He wished that he would take the pain in the place of Miss Macdonald.
"Moving on," Lucius started, "you," he pointed to Regulus, "were acting strange since lunch. What is it?"
Regulus was immediately the certain of attention. All eyes burned holes through him, but the one pair of eyes that worried him the most was the evergreen pair belonging to the Slytherin prefect. Simply tucking his left hand in his empty pocket, "Nothing much."
Mischief shone through Lucius' green eyes. "Oh? So it has nothing to do with the fact you want to go with a certain newbie mudblood to Hogsmeade?" Lucius smirked wickedly.
The rest of the group, except for Snape, sneered and spat comments about the Grace girl being a major problem. Regulus, in shock, stared blankly at the older Slytherin yet he still held the Black calm, collected composure.
"A certain blonde headed witch told me," Lucius said in a matter-of-fact tone.
'Josanne…' Regulus boiled with anger.
"Look, Regulus, you are a member of a very important pureblood family, you are a highly-respected Slytherin, and you're smart, please don't let your little experiment with mudbloods cause problems for the house… or me," he sneered. "You don't want to end up like that blood-traitor, Sirius, now do you?"
"Of course not," Regulus scoffed. "In fact, the only reason I'm doing it is to make Sirius suffer," he said casually. Regulus was a pro at hiding his true intentions. Growing up constantly having to fulfil the desires of his parents that his brother could not, he learnt exactly how to please others by knowing precisely what they wanted to hear and see. No matter how much it hurt him, this particular skill was what he lived by. No matter what he truly felt, wanted, or thought, he lived to please others. His brother had said, before he was disowned, that Regulus was such a soft boy who lived for others at the expense of himself. He never noticed how much of an expense it was until he met Hermione. He could be himself around her yet he was torn between being himself with her, or, being the Slytherin the others knew him as and against her.
"How so?" Lucius asked, immediately throwing Regulus back to reality.
Regulus smirked, "You see, Sirius wants the girl. Therefore, snatching her from him would hurt him more than anything else."
"I see… well, that's fine, just as long as nothing befalls Slytherin, understood?"
"Of course."
"Well, let's be on our way. I can no longer wait for those girls," Lucius started to move the group toward the doors of their dorm.
Regulus just walked as he listened to the annoying comments of the other boys about "how fun the little mudblood would be" or "the things they'd do to the mudblood to make that Sirius git really angry". It took all of Regulus' control not to start a fight with those irritating dimwits making the comments, but he knew he had to control himself since he had just narrowly escaped a would-be catastrophe, but since everything worked out he had only one more thing to do this evening. 'Let's talk tonight, Angel,' he smirked inwardly as he looked forward to seeing the witch during dinner.
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Hermione and Lily arrived at the same time as the boys. The Marauders were coming from the opposite side of the corridor. When they saw their sweet girls they grinned and waved, well Peter, James and Sirius grinned, Remus on the other hand looked quite pale. Hermione knew it was because of tomorrow night's moon but then again, what could she do to help? She wasn't even supposed to know. Sighing deeply she was drawn back to Lily.
The head girl was currently mumbling in annoyance, "What are they up to? It's not even a date and he's making it such a big deal," she blushed furiously. "Anyway, they always get around quickly… you know why?" she directed to Hermione as they were nearing the boys.
'The Marauder's map, of course,' Hermione muttered inside. "No," she said aloud.
"Well, they always run about! James is the head boy, he should set an example," Lily huffed.
"I should what?" James raised an eyebrow.
"Set an example!"
"For what?" he honestly asked.
"For our house! You are the head boy!" Lily growled.
"Relax Lily," James smiled charmingly. "And you look gorgeous as usual."
A deep crimson red blush spread through her cheeks even colouring her small but adorable ears. Her ears then blended with the red of her hair. "Fine… and… thank you…" Surprisingly Lily's blush got darker.
Hermione and the other marauders laughed at the soap opera playing before them. Lily glared at Hermione and stomped through the grand hall with James running to catch up. He slipped his arm around her shoulder, which she quickly shrugged off. Hermione couldn't help but smile whole-heartedly.
"Well, let's go Mione," Sirius chuckled as he ran after the others, but Hermione stayed by the entrance.
She took in the sight of the people Harry once wanted to see. His parents were such a cute couple that she could see how perfect life would have been for Harry to grow up with them around, rather than in the little room below the staircase of his Aunt and Uncle. Memories of nights like these with the Ron and Harry lit the smile on her face. Her personal reminiscing was interrupted by someone clearing their throat behind her. Hermione whirled around to come face-to-face with boys of Gryffindor's sworn enemy, Slytherin.
"Ah, Hermione Grace," smiled Lucius. "You seem to love standing in my way."
"Yes, I absolutely adore inhibiting your path," she retorted sarcastically, "I must have misjudged the space beside me. Obviously the tremendous space beside me is not enough room for your ego." She noticed Regulus' and Severus' smile, and returned a smirk at them.
Lucius "tch" was all that came from him before he and his group of worshippers stormed off, leaving Hermione with Severus and Regulus.
"Good evening Sev," she smiled warmly at him. "Evening Reg," she said equally warm.
"Hermione," Severus gave a small smile. She knew that the other Slytherins were watching them. She could practically feel their laser stares cut the three students with their judging. Severus gave her a quick pat on the arm and told her he'd see her later. She nodded understanding why he was so reserved, but her attention was quickly taken by the regal Slytherin royalty before her.
"Good evening Angel," Regulus smirked as he grasped her delicate hands and placed a soft, lingering kiss on the back of it. "I do hope we can talk later."
Blushing, Hermione gently removed her hands from Regulus', "Yes, we need to talk."
"Of course, how about after dinner we meet in the courtyard?"
"Alright, see you there Reg."
"I look forward to it, Angel," he smirked as he walked away.
Hermione felt as if her face were on fire. 'Damn the Black brothers! Why are they always so charming?! It's annoying!' She entered the hall completely red in the face. To say she was embarrassed was an understatement, and things only got worse when she arrived at the Gryffindor table beside Lily. Why? Well, a certain heartthrob wanted to talk about Hogsmeade Weekend. He was clearly not happy too. 'Oh Merlin…'
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"Don't be alarmed," James said to Sirius.
"Ah, Prongs, you know that has the opposite effect," Sirius gulped.
"Never mind that, the point is your brother is currently talking to Hermione by the entrance."
Sirius immediately looked toward the entrance. A growl rumbled in his chest at the scene before him. 'Regulus…' He watched as his younger brother smiled like a prince to Hermione and gave her a sweet kiss to the back of her hand that, according to Sirius, lingered longer than it should have. His heart stung as he witnessed their exchange of words. When he had met Regulus early he had said that the pretty witch wasn't opposed to the Slytherin boy's company, and – by seeing them actually talking – Sirius couldn't help but notice how comfortable she was with him. He inwardly debated whether he should stay and patiently wait for Hermione or if he should go and take Hermione away from Regulus.
Noticing his friend's dilemma, Peter leaned forward to Sirius, "Padfoot, be patient."
Remus also was intently watching what was going on chimed in, "For all you know, maybe she's just talking about the Hogsmeade Weekend and rejecting his offer." That certainly settled some of the ripples of unrest within Sirius.
Smiling to himself, "Yeah, you both are probably right." They nodded in unison. However, no matter if the possibility that Hermione could be simply rejecting Regulus, the anxiety was killing him. He continued to watch the two by the entrance. Worry course through his veins when Hermione began to blush. The smirk on Regulus' face told Sirius to watch out. Chaos broke out within Sirius. The internal turmoil affected the beast inside. Hermione was on her way back when Sirius tried to calm himself… tried to calm down, but as soon as she sat down beside James' beloved, Sirius couldn't help himself. "Mione, I think we need to talk about the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend."
Hermione swallowed hard. 'Oh Merlin… This is it… Regulus won.'
"I'm going alone, Sirius," she said awkwardly.
"Ok, so you're going with- wait! What?"
"I'm going alone, as in by myself."
"So you're not going with Regulus?"
Hermione looked at him puzzled, "Sirius, the whole point of going alone is to be accompanied by no one, thus no, I am not going with Regulus… But I'm also not going with you… I'd much rather explore Hogsmeade on my own. Please understand."
'Oh thank god!' Sirius heart felt as if the weight of the world had just been lifted from his shoulders. Yes, he was upset that he was not going to escort her but he was thankful that no one else – especially his brother – was going to be with her. "Oh, I understand. You're a beautiful, strong independent woman. I respect that, in fact I like that," he smirked devilishly. "But you will still hang out with us for a bit, right?"
Hermione let out a sigh of relief, "Yes, of course."
"So Regulus took the news pretty well," he said as he nodded over to the smiling boy.
"So did you… surprisingly," Remus remarked. "I expected your first rejection to be quite traumatic for you." Laughter erupted from the whole group.
"Sod off, Moony…"Sirius grumbled as he ate his roast beef.
"Anyway," Hermione began after she got her giggle-fit under control, "Regulus doesn't know yet. We're going to meet later and that's when I'll tell him."
Sirius nodded silently. 'She's meeting him alone?' "Hermione please take Lily with you… I don't want you meeting my brother alone…"
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Hermione was utterly shocked by how sincere and worried he sounded. It was actually quite… charming to say the least. 'He's quite caring…' Hermione had to admit it was an attractive quality on him. "Look, Sirius, it's sweet that you're worried about me but Reg would never put me in danger."
"Mione, I know you may think that but he's a snake," Sirius said lowly.
"Sirius!" Hermione frowned. "He may be a Slytherin but he's your brother."
"And as his brother I know what he's really like."
"He's a kind boy, Sirius. He won't do anything," Hermione angrily stated.
"Mione…"
She sighed, "Sirius, I'll be fine." She gently touched his hand, "Don't worry, I can take care of myself."
He enclosed her hand in his and brought it to his lips. "I know that," he whispered and smiled as she reminded herself of the many DADA duels she has come out as the victor. He gently placed a kiss to the back of her hand just as sweetly as Regulus, but he did it with his eyes closed. It made the gesture so much more romantic than it actually was.
Suddenly their hands were forcefully separated by Remus. He looked incredibly angry but he simply said, "Sirius, we've got to go."
Hermione watched as the boys whispered to each other then stood up.
"And where are you boys going?" Lily looked suspiciously from boy to boy.
"Just back to the dorms… We're feeling quite worn out," James faked a yawn.
"Uh-huh, I totally believe that," sarcasm drenching each syllable.
'It's a full moon tomorrow night so they're probably going to prepare tonight,' Hermione concluded. She knew that Lily was still not letting them – especially James – get away with just that excuse. She had followed them to the entrance of the hall. Hermione quickly stuffed a meatball in her mouth and ran after them. Once she had caught up, and her mouth was no longer stuffed with an Italian styled meatball, she called out, "Lil! Just leave them to their own devices! They're probably just going to do another stupid prank on the Slytherin house."
"Yes, but it'll affect the Gryffindor house badly!" Lily whined.
The boys sighed and Remus got overly irritated, "Just leave us be, Lily! You're always bossing us around," he snapped at Lily.
"Moony!" James growled.
Both girls were taken aback. She looked awfully offended. Hermione frowned angrily at him, "Remus Lupin, that was totally uncalled for."
"Doesn't matter, Mi. Let's just go," Lily grabbed Hermione's wrist and pulled her away. She called over her shoulder, "Oh and Remus? I was only thinking about our house's well-being."
Hermione pat Lily lightly on the shoulder, trying to nudge her back to her cheerful self, but she was obviously affected by what Remus had said. "Don't worry yourself about it, Lil. I noticed that Remus has been out of sorts all day, so he probably didn't mean what he said."
"Maybe he did…" Lily kept her head down. She must have really been hurt by what Remus had said. 'Of course, Hemione. You saw the way he practically bit her head off!' she scolded herself.
"Look, how about we go back to the grand hall grab a couple of cupcakes and eat them on the way to the dorm."
"Why would we go to the dorm?" Lily finally looked at Hermione. Complete puzzlement in her eyes adorned her pained expression.
"Because you need to eat some carbs and sleep off the pain, then tomorrow we'll talk about how your date with James is going to go," Hermione winked.
"It's not a date!" Lily blushed.
"Sure it isn't, Lil."
They both giggled together and raced back to the Gryffindor table to get the two chocolate cupcakes Lily had her eyes on.
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'We have got to get Moony to the Shrieking Shack soon,' Sirius confirmed after he saw Remus snap at Lily.
James was way past furious, "Moony, don't ever speak like that to Lily again, got it?" he demanded.
"Prongs, I'm sorry… I don't know why I said it… It's… It's the effects of the wolf," Remus said bitterly.
Sirius knew what every full moon meant to Remus. It meant that he'd be trapped, that he'd hurt others unintentionally, that he'd give them what he called 'trouble', and this hurt Remus. He hated what the moon did to him. He hated what he did to other due to the werewolf curse. He hated the werewolf part of him, which then led to him basically hating himself. The boys knew that the one always getting hurt by the situation was always Remus. Sirius always felt sorry for the boy. 'Now is not the time for pity, Sirius. Let's get a move on.' Sirius asked James to get the map.
"Alright… I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," he announced toward the map and gently tapped it with his wand. Ink appeared on the once blank parchment. It took random shapes until it showed the entire Hogwarts School. The map showed that basically everyone was in the hall. The only exceptions were Filch and his cat but they – according to the map – were near the library, and the two girls, who had just left the boys, were heading back to the grand hall, but something was very wrong. James kitted his brows as he watched the footsteps of the two girls.
"Is it all clear?" asked Remus.
"Yeah, but have a look at this," he gestured for the boys to take a look at the map.
"What is it now?" Sirius sighed.
"It says 'Hermione Granger' not 'Grace'."
"What?" Sirius looked baffled. Truly the name above Hermione's retreating steps said 'Granger' not 'Grace'. "Maybe it's just an error?"
"You know the map doesn't make errors," Remus rolled his eyes. He brought a hand to his head and scrunched his eyes. 'Must be the beastly headache,' thought Sirius.
Remus always got terrible headaches each night of the week of the full moon. They increased in pain and duration as the full moon crept closer. It was one of the things that made the werewolf wizard so moody when the time drew closer.
"Why don't we just ask Hermione about it later?" Peter piped in. "We really should be going."
"Yeah, let's do that," James nodded and the boys turned and swiftly sneaked out of the school. The name, though, never escaped Sirius' mind. 'Granger' echoed in his mind as they ran through the back gate of the school and headed for the Whomping Willow. 'If the map makes no mistakes then Hermione isn't who she says she is… If she lied about her name, she could be lying about everything else…'
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"Achoo," Hermione squeaked out. 'Someone must be thinking or talking about me,' she giggled, 'As if! Hahaha!'
"Ah, Mi? You ok?" Lily raised an eyebrow and smiled at her curly haired friend.
"I'm all good," Hermione cheered as they reached the fat lady. "Lil, this is as far as I go with you."
"Why?" she sounded shocked.
"Because I'm going to talk with Regulus. I have to tell him about Hogsmeade."
"Ok," Lily smiled. "Just be careful, ok?"
"I will," she smiled and hugged her friend. Before she left she reminded Lily to get some sleep and headed to the courtyard. 'Oh yeah, I'm definitely not gaining any weight from that cupcake,' she thought to herself as she climbed down the stairs to the nearest corridor. By her calculations, she would actually lose weight from the amount of changing staircases and corridors she'd have to survive. She sighed tiredly, 'here goes nothing…'
Finally, she arrived at the courtyard after her 'amazing race'. Even if she was exhausted, she still had enough energy to be mesmerized by the scenery. Out of all her years in Hogwarts, she had never noticed how beautiful the courtyard was at night. The stones of the walls and flooring shone with age in the moonlight. She moved forward toward the small pond in the middle. The arches surrounding her allowed curtains of moonbeams to gently close her in the sanctuary. Vines clambered high on the archways, shining beautifully and bouncing moonlight from leaf to leaf. She smiled at the bird statues that protected the small water pond. Their wings spread out as if they blew the dark away from not only the pond but also swept the darkness out of the wonderful little place. Hermione sat at the edge of the pond, watching the light dance across the small ripples of water blown by the cool night breeze.
"Beautiful isn't it?" a voice spoke on the other side of the courtyard.
It was a calm, deep voice she knew so well. She turned around to face the voice. "Regulus," she smiled. He stood there against the main archway to the school. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.
He smiled handsomely, "Do you like it here?"
"I love it… It's absolutely breath-taking."
His deep indigo eyes captured her honey brown ones, "Yes… breath-taking…" Time stood still between them. Nothing but the wind blew between them. The awkward silence was broken by Regulus as he cleared his throat and averted his eyes, a blush colouring his cheek.
He made his way over to where Hermione sat at the pond. He sat beside the nearest bird statue maintaining the distance between the two. Hermione noticed then that he looked far more handsome in the moonlight. Her eyes watched him as his turned downward to see his reflection in the pond. His raven black hair was glossy as the moonlight stroked his head. He looked quite princely as he sat almost beside her. The whole scenario seemed rather romantic yet cliché to Hermione. It was much like Romeo and Juliet. Regulus was the Romeo, who was secretly meeting his beloved Juliet in the night. Like a romantic rendezvous between lovers. Hermione blushed as the idea popped into her mind, 'Good God Hermione! Get a grip!' she chastised herself.
"Have you come to a decision, Angel?" Regulus brought his gaze to the Gryffindor witch.
Hermione could see her own reflection in his almost onyx eyes. She looked flushed and nervous, 'Exactly how I feel.' She closed her eyes briefly to collect her thoughts. She smiled sweetly, "Reg, I'm going alone," she announced.
"Oh…" he sounded slightly disappointed. "That's fine, it's better than you going with Sirius," he scrunched his nose.
"Reg," Hermione scolded.
"Calm down," he smiled at her, "Anyway, just be careful at Hogsmeade… Most Slytherins are not as kind as I."
Hermione sighed relieved by his calm acceptance and nodded. They started to converse more openly and began to get closer and closer, in both space in friendship. Hermione was enjoying herself a lot more and the awkwardness disappeared as time went on. After an hour, Hermione was starting to feel the effects of her exhaustion. "Reg, I think we should go back."
He laughed lightly, "You tired?"
"Yes," she yawned.
"Alright," he pat her lightly on the back and helped her up. He escorted her to the main entrance of the school and bid her goodnight.
"You're not going back yet?"
"No, I still have things to do."
"Alright, goodnight Reg."
He smiled dashingly at her and lifted her hand, "Goodnight," he said over her knuckles then gently pressed a kiss to her hand, "Sweet dreams, Angel."
Hermione blushed and parted from him. She turned just enough to see Regulus turn and walk away from the building. 'Where is he going?' He was a mystery to her. She didn't know much about him, and he would hardly disclose much about himself. Her mind was too tired to work properly; she had no energy to ponder further on the subject of 'Regulus Black'.
She sighed as she rounded the corner of the corridor leading to the changing staircases. As she did, she ran right into someone, "Omph." She gingerly rubbed her nose and looked up at the human wall she ran into. 'Oh, not again... and here I thought I'd get a peaceful evening,' she sighed silently.
"Watch it Mudblood," growled Lucius.