Tale of a Smart Witch: Rebrewed
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes. Warning: Completely AU.
"What's going to happen to James and me? Are we going to die soon?"
Hermione stared at Lily in shock. 'Was I so obvious somehow?' she thought, horrified. In the end, she told her friend everything about the future, ending with the Triwizard tournament and the re-birth of Voldemort.
"I promise that I won't tell anyone, and until that fateful Halloween, I'll always be here for you." Lily cast her a reassuring look.
"Maybe you can help me plan small changes, but only tiny ones," Hermione replied, raising a tear-stricken face towards her friend.
"I know that I have to die, but maybe we can save James, so that he can raise our son," Lily began to plan, causing Hermione to agree, half-heartedly.
"Maybe you should ask Dumbledore to put your parents' house under the Fidelius Charm," she said, reluctantly, "perhaps even the Potters, too."
Lily nodded. "I'll speak with Dumbledore," she promised, before she suggested to return home and finish packing. 'I should try to become friends with Petunia, just in case Harry will end up with the Dursleys again,' she resolved.
HP
When they boarded the Hogwarts Express the following morning, Hermione surprised herself by realising that she was instinctively waiting for Harry and Ron to join her and Lily in their compartment. 'They're not even born yet,' she lightly scolded herself, inwardly sighing in relief, when James entered the compartment, efficiently distracting her from any possible dark thoughts.
"Lily," James blurted out, kneeling on the floor in front of the girl, "will you officially become my girlfriend?"
Rolling her eyes in apparent annoyance, Lily cast a glance at Hermione before replying, "Yes, provided that you behave and don't harass the Slytherins."
"I will," James promised, sincerely, before he scrambled up from the floor, just when Sirius and Peter entered the compartment. "Here, for you," he added, handing his newly found girlfriend a small, blue box.
Lily eagerly opened the small box, revealing a thin, golden ring, equipped with the Celtic Claddagh symbol that was surrounded by five tiny emerald stones. "This is beautiful," she breathed in admiration.
"Truly beautiful," Hermione agreed, before she became distracted, when Remus ushered Severus into the compartment, who was closely followed by Regulus.
"Regulus, what are you doing here?" Sirius all but growled, looking up from the box of a chocolate frog he was just about to open.
"He's my friend, and I'm glad that he's here," Hermione spoke up, sharply. "How was your holiday?" she then addressed her classmate.
"Probably less pleasant than everyone else's. My parents…" He slowly trailed off, when Sirius let out a snort.
"Severus, did you have a nice week at home?" Remus greeted the seventh-year Slytherin, making Hermione give her friend a worried look.
"Let's say I'm glad to be able to return to Hogwarts," Severus replied with a tiny smile playing on his lips, and Regulus nodded with apparent eagerness.
"Glad to have you both back," Hermione said, gently, smiling at her friends, who to her delight both returned the smile.
"Do you think I could approach Marlene and ask her out?" Sirius suddenly asked, causing everyone to stare at him in surprise.
"Why not, if you behave and don't continuously play pranks on other students," Remus was the first to respond, and Lily and Hermione eagerly nodded their heads in agreement.
"Remus, what about you?" James spoke up. "Since you're not a werewolf anymore, you don't have an excuse for not having a girlfriend."
Hermione curiously looked at the other boy, who – to her surprise – developed a faint blush. 'He has a crush on someone,' she realised with amusement but also happiness. 'Remus really deserves to be happy,' she thought. "Who is it?" she asked with curiosity. "May we know?"
Remus shook his head. "I don't have a chance anyway," he muttered.
"Rubbish," Sirius replied in a firm voice. "Just because she's a Hufflepuff?"
"Not only because of that," Remus admitted. "You know I've been a werewolf until recently, and…"
"Nonsense," James interrupted him. "You aren't one anymore, and that's what counts. Approach her. I don't know her very well of course, but she seems pretty nice."
"Boys," Lily spoke up in apparent annoyance. "Who in the world is it?"
"Amelia Bones," Sirius informed her. "She's a seventh year Hufflepuff."
"Amelia Bones is very nice," Hermione said, warmly. "I can imagine her to be together with you, Remus."
"Thanks Hermione," Remus replied, smiling.
"What about you?" James addressed Hermione. "Is there no one you particularly like?"
Hermione smiled, unobtrusively glancing at Severus and Regulus, who both seemed very busy studying their new school books. "I'm still trying to get used to being here," she replied in a soft voice.
"Ah, but we could help you with that," Sirius spoke up. "It's not as if we weren't the most brilliant friends one could imagine. It's just that we had the impression as if you were already taken, didn't we, Remus?"
"Yes," the former werewolf agreed, glancing at Severus, who still seemed to be engrossed in his reading, completely ignoring the conversation.
Hermione shrugged. "It's not that easy," she admitted, feeling extremely grateful to the witch coming around with the trolley for choosing that time to make her appearance.
"Eight chocolate frogs please," she told the witch and bought one chocolate frog for each of the friends, only regretting that she could not just ignore Peter this time.
Lily let out a deep sigh. "Please excuse Remus and me for a while, while we do our head boy and head girl duties."
Hermione looked up in shock. Of course, she had known that Lily was head girl, 'but Remus? Another thing I changed,' she thought, letting out a deep sigh. 'It was supposed to be James, even if the professors are right. Remus is a much better choice.'
"Hermione, are you all right?" Regulus looked at her in apparent concern.
"Yes, I'm fine," Hermione lied. "Did Severus tell you about our plan to become Animagi?"
Regulus grinned broadly. "Yes, he wrote to me, and I'm definitely in. I've searched the Black library for the Equilina, and I found something interesting. It was described as the unobtrusive version of a unicorn with similar powers as well as some extras, which unicorns don't have. It said they usually don't allow humans to see them though." He shrugged. "It seems strange, but I guess that's the intriguing point about them. I hope we'll manage to become Equilinas."
HP
At breakfast the first morning, Hermione received a short note.
'Tonight after dinner, library?'
Hermione smiled, knowing immediately that it was from Severus. She let her eyes wander over the Great Hall, until they came to rest at the end of the Slytherin table where she knew Severus would be sitting. Seeing that she held his attention, she gave him a sharp nod of agreement. 'I look forward to it,' she added in her mind.
While she was still pondering what Severus could want, now that their Arithmancy project was finished, she became distracted by Sirius announcing that he, James and Peter would teach her, Lily and Remus the Animagus transformation in the seventh-year boys' dormitory after curfew every evening.
HP
By the time Hermione arrived at the library, Severus was already there, occupying the table at which they had used to work on their combined Arithmancy and Potions project. As soon as she took her usual seat, he cast a series of spells around them, of which she only recognised the Silencing spell.
"Hermione," Severus began to speak in his soft, silky voice, which Hermione had always liked, even in the future. "Concerning the conversation on the train yesterday, I wish to tell you my opinion. I don't know what you're thinking, but I just ask you to listen to me. Will you do that for me?"
"Of course," Hermione replied, helplessly, with a strange feeling of foreboding.
"If I could ever ask someone to become my girlfriend, be sure that it's you whom I'd ask," he began to speak, looking straight into her face. "However, you know my position with the Dark Lord. As I need him and his minions to believe that I'm his spy, I can't associate with you, given that the Death Eaters assume just from your name that you must be muggleborn. Please don't take this personally, and believe me when I tell you that I feel…." He let out a deep sigh, averting his eyes to the table before continuing, "… that I have certain feelings for you."
"Severus," Hermione replied in a soft voice, "please look at me." Seeing the anxious expression on his face, she smiled. "Don't worry Sev, you won't easily lose me. Even if not officially, we can still secretly be a couple. No one has to know. We can ask Professor Vector, or even the headmaster, to assign us another project, on which we can work during this school year, so that we have an official reason to meet on a daily basis."
"But I don't want you to restrain yourself to me, when we don't have a perspective together," Severus said in a small voice. "Together with someone else, you could be happy, marry and have a family, but with me, none of this is possible."
"We can make it possible," Hermione replied, beseechingly. "We will. Just wait and see."
"Do you really think so?" Severus enquired, his voice and expression laced with hope.
"Yes," Hermione replied, smiling. Seeing how close he had come, she summoned her courage and leaned over, kissing him right on the lips, only to realise that he eagerly responded to the kiss.
"No one's able to see us," he mumbled, before passionately pulling her into another kiss, from which they parted, smiling happily.
"See, we can do this," she said, grinning.
"We have to be careful though," he added, seemingly happy.
"Let's go to the headmaster and ask him if he can come up with a special project for us," Hermione replied, and the two made their way to the gargoyle, where they spent the next thirty minutes guessing the password, before it opened on 'Liquorice honey wand'.
"I will consult the four heads of the houses and come up with a project to occupy yourselves," Dumbledore promised after hearing their request. "Miss Granger," he then turned to her, seemingly pensive, "did in your time the light side have any kind of organisation as opposed to the Death Eaters?"
"Yes sir," Hermione replied in surprise, "the Order of the Phoenix. You only told me about it at the very end of my fourth year though, so that I don't know much about it."
"Very well, Miss Granger, Mr. Snape. Please give me some time to think about everything."
Being dismissed without any concrete idea, Hermione felt disappointed, however, knew that they could only wait for the headmaster to come up with something in his own pace. Together with Severus, she thanked the professor and left the office, which looked exactly the same as she knew it from the future.
Pulling Severus into an empty classroom, she told him, "Let's go to Hogsmeade together in any case. Maybe Regulus, Remus and Sirius will join us."
"If they're not going together with their girlfriends," Severus replied, smirking.
Hermione chuckled. "First of all, Amelia and Marlene have to agree to become their girlfriends," she replied, secretly looking forward to hearing about the girls' responses from her friends. "Does Regulus even have a girlfriend?"
Severus shook his head. "As far as I know, he doesn't, but sometimes, the dark, old families make betrothal contracts among each other. I don't know if his parents made such a thing for him."
"Oh Merlin." Hermione shook her head, thinking, 'Middle Ages.'
HP
Hermione badly missed being able to meet with Severus at any time; however, to her relief, the next Hogsmeade visit was announced for the following Saturday.
Together with Lily and James, Merlene and Sirius, Remus, Peter and Regulus, Hermione and Severus walked around the small town. At some stage, they split up into couples, whereas Hermione and Severus remained together with Remus, Regulus and Peter. Only at lunchtime, they met again at The Three Broomsticks.
"Remus, did you ask Amelia out?" Hermione whispered to her friend, who was sitting on her left side, while Severus occupied the seat on her right.
"No, I just couldn't," Remus admitted in a small voice. "I mean, she's beautiful, and she surely has many admirers. I just…"
"Nonsense," Severus interrupted him. "I saw her earlier. She was together with a group of lone Hufflepuff girls."
"Do you want me to talk to her?" Hermione offered, causing Remus to blush.
"I don't know," he said, sighing.
Before Hermione could further follow the conversation, they heard shouts and cries from outside the pub, and Hermione exchanged a horrified look with Severus.
"Death Eaters?" she mouthed; however, Severus shook his head indicating that he did not have a clue either.
Closely followed by Remus, James, Regulus and Sirius, Hermione and Severus rushed towards the door, before Hermione pushed Severus back. "Severus, stay with the others," she hissed, urgently. "The Death Eaters can't see you fight with us."
"That's true. Stay with Lily and Marlene," Remus agreed, giving Severus a light push back towards their table.
HP
When Hermione stepped out onto the main street, she immediately realised the sudden coldness that spread over the small town. She still could not see them, but she remembered the coldness caused by Dementors all too well from her third Hogwarts year. From the other end of the street, shouts of spells and agony penetrated her ears.
"Dementors and Death Eaters," she blurted out, horrified. "Regulus, go back inside and call Dumbledore through the Floo. Bring James and Peter with you to fight."
To her relief, Regulus obeyed immediately, while Remus followed her example of casting a Patronus, as soon as the first Dementors came into sight.
Unfortunately, none of the other students seemed to be able to cast a Patronus, and Hermione stared at the image of her own in shock. In the future, her Patronus had taken the form of an otter; however, it was not an otter who was chasing Remus' wolf Patronus, but what seemed to be an Equilina, just like the Animagus form for which Lily, Severus, Regulus, Remus and she were practising every free minute.
"My Patronus changed," she whispered to Remus, before she thought of the kiss, which she had shared with Severus a couple of days ago, and cast another Patronus, sighing in relief when the feline form was joined by Dumbledore's phoenix Patronus.
With the headmaster's help, Hermione and Remus managed to shoo away the Dementors and could help the students who were fighting against a group of Death Eaters.
'Thank Merlin the fake Moody taught us all kinds of dirty spells,' Hermione thought, as she cast a particularly nasty spell, which the professor had showed them during their fourth year. Quickly repeating the spell alternating with a strong shield charm to keep not only her but also her friends safe, she soon had a dozen Death Eaters lying on the ground and only stopped when Sirius alerted her to the fact that the Aurors had arrived.
"Thank Merlin," Hermione breathed in relief, as she allowed Remus to pull her away from the spot.
"Where did you learn to fight?" Sirius asked in apparent surprise. "You were absolutely amazing."
"Yes, that's true," Remus agreed, sounding impressed.
"In my old school, we had an Auror teach us, and he was absolutely brilliant," Hermione replied, feigning a smile, as she thought back to Crouch Junior. 'I just hope Severus didn't do anything stupid but remained with the girls or returned to Hogwarts,' she thought in concern.
"Did you kill the Death Eaters by the way?" Frank Longbottom, who had fought together with the Marauders, enquired, giving her a curious look.
"No, they're not dead, only badly injured," Hermione informed the boys, just when they reached The Three Broomsticks.
A very young Rosmerta was almost alone in the pub, just surrounded by a couple of old men and women. She informed them that the professors had ushered all students back to Hogwarts at least an hour ago.
'Thank Merlin,' Hermione thought, hoping that Severus had been reasonable enough to remain with the others.
HP
Back at Hogwarts, she returned to her dormitory and took a long shower, checking a bruise on her arm and dismissing it as just what it was, a mere bruise. By the time she felt clean and rested again, she realised that she had just missed dinner. 'I'll go and look for Severus,' she decided and hurried out of Gryffindor, not wanting to run into the Marauders, who might want to keep her in the common room for the evening.
She first checked the library, then a couple of unused classrooms, which she and Severus had used to secretly meet during the last two weeks, however, her friend was nowhere to be found. Hermione was just playing with the thought of checking the Potions classroom, when two Slytherin second-years stormed up to her.
"Hermione, Professor Dumbledore wants you to come to his office," one of the girls said.
"He told us to tell you that the password is Patronus," the other girl added.
"Thank you. I'll go and meet him right away," Hermione replied, smiling at the girls, before she once again felt a sharp sting at the realisation that she was not a prefect and thus could not award house-points.
'I just hope nothing happened to Severus,' she mused, when she made her way to the headmaster's office.
HP
"Miss Granger," Dumbledore greeted her and offered her a lemon drop, before he motioned her to take a seat.
"Is Severus all right?" Hermione blurted out, as she let herself sink into one of the comfortable chairs around the headmaster's desk.
Dumbledore observed her with apparent amusement. "As it is Saturday evening, Severus has flooed over to Malfoy Manor to attend a Death Eater meeting with Voldemort," he informed her, causing Hermione to sigh in relief.
"Oh, thank Merlin, I completely forgot that he had to go there tonight," she breathed and made herself comfortable in her seat, before she sobered and suddenly began to wonder why the headmaster had summoned her at all if it was not about Severus.
"Why I've called you here," he began, however, interrupted herself, when McGonagall stepped into the room, quickly followed by Professors Sprout and Flitwick.
tbc...
A huge thanks to the kind reviewers. Your comments mean a lot to me.
