A/N: I still can't get over how many ppl are reading this! :D Hermi Lu,
welcome to my list of reviewers! *points at other reviewers, who all glance
uneasily at each other* PLUS, I'm in a good mood today (July first) so I
think I'll pop more than just one or two chapters at once! :D heehee and
the "legal you've already got it, illegal you can /get/ it" line I don't
own, either. My friend (KKgirl) used it on me once, I think she read it or
she used it in one of her stories. Anyway, thought I'd let you know.
Oh yeah, did I forget my disclaimer? *looks at the other twelve chapters* well, crap.
DISCLAIMER: look, see? I put the word "disclaimer" in first! Take THAT you blood-sucking lawyers!
*long awkward silence*
... Did I just insult myself?
.
.
.
The rest of the week passes marauder-free for Hermione, and she had only one problem with Lily, who had seemed ready to forgive her for implying that she was drunk.
None of that had to do with why Hermione was currently in tears in the library, though.
The first reason was that she had now been gone a month. One whole complete total month away, at home away from home. The second was that the homework she currently suffered under compared only to that of her third year. She had taken more classes, so avoid the common room (reasons unknown) classes lasting from before even breakfast to after even dinner. And the third was that her hope of ever getting back was dying, slowly and painfully.
It was now the weekend (Saturday, around lunch time), and over half the school was out at Hogsmeade.
So the library was fairly empty, and anybody present didn't take notice of Our Heroine as she buried her face in her hands surrounded by books and papers.
~
"So, this thing takes a month to make, right?" James asked, plopping down next to Peter with a mug. "Is there any way we can shorten the time frame? Does it need to happen, like, at a direct time?" he meant their Monthly Meetings.
"Nah, the longer the better." Remus had a book open on his lap, compliments the restricted section of the library and a silencing charm. "It uses things we won't find in the student cubby, though."
"Like what?" Sirius asked, trading his empty mug with James' half full one. "I mean, if it's legal you've probably already got it, and if it's illegal you can /get/ it, right?"
"Yeah, legal you've got it, illegal you can get it!" Peter repeated helpfully. James snatched his almost empty mug back, drained it, then thumped Peter on the head with it.
"Not necessarily. It's not that some supplies are illegal, it's just that they're impossible to get hold of."
"Impossible to get hold of?" James echoed faintly.
"Nothing is impossible to get hold of," Sirius pointed out. "Mrs. I'm-the- queen-of-England-and-I-teach-potions will have all of that stuff."
Remus stared at him, narrowing his eyes slightly and pursing his lips. "Come here and look at the ingredients why don't you?" he hissed, scooting back in his seat a little bit. Peter got up, walked over, and leaned over his right side, trying to read the list of things it needed, and James did the same on Remus' other side. Sirius got on the table and read everything upside down.
He had the book swabbed in the invisibility cloak with nothing showing except part of a page, and that was the one they managed to read.
"Well, most of that stuff'll be in the student cupboard. Potions lady will have the rest."
"I highly doubt that "potions lady" will have five different types of venom."
"And the powdered leaves, what-were-they-called." Peter added.
"There's a whole bunch of stuff she won't have," Remus repeated, rolling his eyes. "Either way, though, we might as well get started now. We'll get what we can. The tnim leaves and paro barriers can most likely be found in the forbidden forest, and we can mix different things together and drain them to get the liquids. We'll steal what we can, and worry about the rest later."
"Steal? My, but that's such a strong word. I prefer 'borrow'." Sirius said.
"No, no, borrow without permission? That's stealing." James paused. "Nah, we just need things that have been 'graciously donated' by Snake Queen."
"Fine, whatever," Remus sighed.
"Let's get started!" Peter cried, jumping to his feet. "Let's do the impossible! Let's do what no other student has done before!"
The entire pub went quiet, and all eyes turned to Peter.
"Um, Wormy, I think you've had a bit too much butterbeer."
~
'Must stay awake. Must not cry. Must do homework. Must stay awake. Must not cry. Must do homework. Must stay awake...' Hermione ended up dozing anyway.
"She looks like you, Moon," a voice remarked, almost directly above Hermione. Her eyes snapped open and her head snapped up.
Her vision was blurry from lack of sleep, but she still knew James and Remus. Both were standing over her.
"Hey, Granger," James said brightly. "Doing homework on this fine, sunny day? Why aren't you out in Hogsmeade?"
"I don't need to go. Don't want to. I have work. Go away." She said as firmly as she could, dropping her head again and trying to focus on the parchment in front of her.
"You don't fool us," James said, collapsing in the seat next to her after shoving all the books off. Papers went flying. "I've seen Moony here like that tons of times before, it's impossible to do so much work when you're so tired." "You'd better believe him," Remus added softly, perching himself on the side of the table after nudging a few papers aside. "you're far enough behind already, I can tell."
"I take more classes than you do."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! So go away, both of you."
James shrugged and stood up. "Fine. We'll ask you later. Coming, Moony?"
"Yeah." Remus stood up quickly and cast an apologetic glance over his shoulder at Hermione, who bent down and gathered up the things James had dumped on the floor.
Hermione, though, after putting the stuff back on the chair, only felt tears pool her eyes and fall as she began packing her things (borrowed, all them!) up. Stuffing the bag, she held it precariously as she wiped at her eyes angrily and sniffed.
After a trip to the hospital wing, she placed the stuff in the corner of the room where she had slept and then left to go to Hogsmeade.
It wasn't too hard to find privacy there, and after a few butterbeers Hermione's tears stopped.
She went back to the common room, curled up like a cat on a chair, and went to sleep. Right. She was far enough behind, might as well give up and start over again.
~
By the end of the day, up on Remus' bed, the marauders threw all the things they had together and counted up what more they would need.
"Potions Girl had a lot more than I expected," Remus said.
"To hell with it, she had almost everything. What are we going to do about those?" James pointed to something on the page.
"Those come later on."
"Let's make it!" Sirius urged. "C'mon! Where are we gonna brew this stuff?"
"It only takes a week to brew," Remus explained. "And a month to mature. See, the poison has to be bland enough not to kill whomever is taking it."
"Oh." The remaining three glanced at each other. "Right. So, where are we gonna brew this stuff?"
~
Oh yeah, did I forget my disclaimer? *looks at the other twelve chapters* well, crap.
DISCLAIMER: look, see? I put the word "disclaimer" in first! Take THAT you blood-sucking lawyers!
*long awkward silence*
... Did I just insult myself?
.
.
.
The rest of the week passes marauder-free for Hermione, and she had only one problem with Lily, who had seemed ready to forgive her for implying that she was drunk.
None of that had to do with why Hermione was currently in tears in the library, though.
The first reason was that she had now been gone a month. One whole complete total month away, at home away from home. The second was that the homework she currently suffered under compared only to that of her third year. She had taken more classes, so avoid the common room (reasons unknown) classes lasting from before even breakfast to after even dinner. And the third was that her hope of ever getting back was dying, slowly and painfully.
It was now the weekend (Saturday, around lunch time), and over half the school was out at Hogsmeade.
So the library was fairly empty, and anybody present didn't take notice of Our Heroine as she buried her face in her hands surrounded by books and papers.
~
"So, this thing takes a month to make, right?" James asked, plopping down next to Peter with a mug. "Is there any way we can shorten the time frame? Does it need to happen, like, at a direct time?" he meant their Monthly Meetings.
"Nah, the longer the better." Remus had a book open on his lap, compliments the restricted section of the library and a silencing charm. "It uses things we won't find in the student cubby, though."
"Like what?" Sirius asked, trading his empty mug with James' half full one. "I mean, if it's legal you've probably already got it, and if it's illegal you can /get/ it, right?"
"Yeah, legal you've got it, illegal you can get it!" Peter repeated helpfully. James snatched his almost empty mug back, drained it, then thumped Peter on the head with it.
"Not necessarily. It's not that some supplies are illegal, it's just that they're impossible to get hold of."
"Impossible to get hold of?" James echoed faintly.
"Nothing is impossible to get hold of," Sirius pointed out. "Mrs. I'm-the- queen-of-England-and-I-teach-potions will have all of that stuff."
Remus stared at him, narrowing his eyes slightly and pursing his lips. "Come here and look at the ingredients why don't you?" he hissed, scooting back in his seat a little bit. Peter got up, walked over, and leaned over his right side, trying to read the list of things it needed, and James did the same on Remus' other side. Sirius got on the table and read everything upside down.
He had the book swabbed in the invisibility cloak with nothing showing except part of a page, and that was the one they managed to read.
"Well, most of that stuff'll be in the student cupboard. Potions lady will have the rest."
"I highly doubt that "potions lady" will have five different types of venom."
"And the powdered leaves, what-were-they-called." Peter added.
"There's a whole bunch of stuff she won't have," Remus repeated, rolling his eyes. "Either way, though, we might as well get started now. We'll get what we can. The tnim leaves and paro barriers can most likely be found in the forbidden forest, and we can mix different things together and drain them to get the liquids. We'll steal what we can, and worry about the rest later."
"Steal? My, but that's such a strong word. I prefer 'borrow'." Sirius said.
"No, no, borrow without permission? That's stealing." James paused. "Nah, we just need things that have been 'graciously donated' by Snake Queen."
"Fine, whatever," Remus sighed.
"Let's get started!" Peter cried, jumping to his feet. "Let's do the impossible! Let's do what no other student has done before!"
The entire pub went quiet, and all eyes turned to Peter.
"Um, Wormy, I think you've had a bit too much butterbeer."
~
'Must stay awake. Must not cry. Must do homework. Must stay awake. Must not cry. Must do homework. Must stay awake...' Hermione ended up dozing anyway.
"She looks like you, Moon," a voice remarked, almost directly above Hermione. Her eyes snapped open and her head snapped up.
Her vision was blurry from lack of sleep, but she still knew James and Remus. Both were standing over her.
"Hey, Granger," James said brightly. "Doing homework on this fine, sunny day? Why aren't you out in Hogsmeade?"
"I don't need to go. Don't want to. I have work. Go away." She said as firmly as she could, dropping her head again and trying to focus on the parchment in front of her.
"You don't fool us," James said, collapsing in the seat next to her after shoving all the books off. Papers went flying. "I've seen Moony here like that tons of times before, it's impossible to do so much work when you're so tired." "You'd better believe him," Remus added softly, perching himself on the side of the table after nudging a few papers aside. "you're far enough behind already, I can tell."
"I take more classes than you do."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! So go away, both of you."
James shrugged and stood up. "Fine. We'll ask you later. Coming, Moony?"
"Yeah." Remus stood up quickly and cast an apologetic glance over his shoulder at Hermione, who bent down and gathered up the things James had dumped on the floor.
Hermione, though, after putting the stuff back on the chair, only felt tears pool her eyes and fall as she began packing her things (borrowed, all them!) up. Stuffing the bag, she held it precariously as she wiped at her eyes angrily and sniffed.
After a trip to the hospital wing, she placed the stuff in the corner of the room where she had slept and then left to go to Hogsmeade.
It wasn't too hard to find privacy there, and after a few butterbeers Hermione's tears stopped.
She went back to the common room, curled up like a cat on a chair, and went to sleep. Right. She was far enough behind, might as well give up and start over again.
~
By the end of the day, up on Remus' bed, the marauders threw all the things they had together and counted up what more they would need.
"Potions Girl had a lot more than I expected," Remus said.
"To hell with it, she had almost everything. What are we going to do about those?" James pointed to something on the page.
"Those come later on."
"Let's make it!" Sirius urged. "C'mon! Where are we gonna brew this stuff?"
"It only takes a week to brew," Remus explained. "And a month to mature. See, the poison has to be bland enough not to kill whomever is taking it."
"Oh." The remaining three glanced at each other. "Right. So, where are we gonna brew this stuff?"
~