A/N: I just watched a British movie! ................. Oh. My. Gawd. And
I'm sorry about not getting more chappies out tonight. I've got a couple of
scenes I can't wait to post (such as a Dream Scene, and that stuff! Wai!)
and if I've forgotten to say it............ This is SO SB/HG so, like,
shoo if you don't like that. I'm serious. For those of you that don't like
that, this is your last chance. I'm gonna paste some more romantic stuff
up, so, ya. If you don't like romance, beat it. That won't be for a bit,
(actually, I'll start it with the Dream Scene I think!) but I figured I may
warn you. =^_^= thanks for reading and reviewing!
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When Lily Evans had invited Hermione to "camp out" on the grounds, she had so conveniently forgotten to mention that every other fifth year had come, too. How were they all going to fit into a tent the size of a trashcan?
A simple charm. So Hermione wasn't necessarily surprised.
Lily was quick to find her closest friends (friendly with the entire school, that one) and dragged Our Heroine over to them. Introductions really weren't needed, but that didn't stop Lily.
And then they were chatting together aimlessly about basically nothing, and the noise level was enough to give anybody a headache... which was when 'mione remembered she'd forgotten to get her potions from Pomfrey. She stood up quickly.
"What's wrong? Where are you going?" Lily asked, seeing Hermione jump to her feet. A painfully coy smile was the reply.
"I forgot, I needed to get something from Madame Pomfrey. I'll be right back." She managed to exit the tent without any further problems, and promptly tripped over the hem of her robe outside.
Which ever-so-graciously reminded her that it didn't belong to her, she looked ridiculous wearing it, and she wondered momentarily if perhaps she should give it back at some point. or had she ever thanked *him* properly? No. she hadn't. she would have to, at some point, the sooner the better.
"Wait! My-own, erm, Hermione!" Lily scrambled after her, though she really needn't have bothered as Hermione had stopped and turned around anyway. "I'll come with you, Herms, okay? It's better not to be caught in the halls of this school at twilight."
"Herms?" Hermione echoed, falling into step next to her despite herself.
"Do you not like that? I think it's a cute nickname. I won't use it if you don't want me to."
"Oh, no, it's okay. I've just never been nicknamed before, unless you count my boyfriend calling me 'hermy-own'."
"You have a boyfriend?"
They entered the school. How very quiet the halls seemed to be...
"He's not really, I mean, I think we're just, you know, friends, but he'd like to be something more, I'm sure... my heart and eyes are set on another, though."
"Oh, really? That's so romantic!" Lily sighed, though she had dropped her voice slightly. They walked along for a moment in silence. "So, what are their names?"
"Viktor and Harry."
"Cute! Who's who?"
"What?"
"I mean, who likes you and who do you like and so forth."
"Well, I like... I'm not telling you that!"
"Uh, no fair! Okay, have they ever met?"
"Oh, yes. Even had a little chat alone, them."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Except Harry thinks we're only friends."
"So he's the one! That's sooooooooo romantic."
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever."
They stopped outside the hospital wing and Hermione pushed the doors open. Pomfrey was already waiting for her, impatience clearly written upon her face.
"Where have you been? Indeed, I was so worried, I thought you may have gotten hurt!" she watched Hermione take the first glass and make a face before downing it. And such with each one. "There, now," she said once all was finished. "Off you trot!"
"What were those? Why did you have to take them? Are you ill? Do you have an incurable disease? are you contagious? Is that why you've been avoiding everybody? Are you okay? Do you feel well? Do you need to sit down?" Lily couldn't stop asking questions. Hermione gritted her teeth and grabbed Lily's elbow, pulling her into an empty classroom that had a door open.
"I'm fine. I'm not contagious, I don't have some sort of incurable disease, I avoid you and the others because I'd rather not associate with people, and you shouldn't ask so many questions." Hermione glanced around, then dropped her voice. "Listen, just forget about that, okay? Don't tell anybody."
Lily drew herself up sharply. She was roughly slightly taller than Hermione, or maybe it just looked that way because of Hermione's dwarfed appearance in the robes.
"I'll keep it a secret, but only if you tell me why I should. I'm not stupid, Herm, the only reason I can think of that you would want to keep this a secret was that you are either embarrassed, or worried about somebody else finding out what all those potions were."
"Happy to know that it's both?" Hermione hisses, her patience being tested. She was tired, hungry, and stressed to the breaking point. she didn't need her crush's mother of all people hounding on her. "I won't tell you."
"I'll find out."
"You just sounded exactly like Black there. Funny how you used his exact same words, too."
Lily sputtered, apparently unable to think up a good response to that.
"Then, why don't you just tell me? won't you at least tell me what the potions are for? In the least?"
"Headaches and migraines, stomach aches and cramps, dreamless sleep, long and short term memory, making choices, and greater thinking, stress, and I think she's probably put something in there to try and stem the pleasure nerves of my brain. Pity the stress blocks it out." Hermione paused, glancing about briefly. She felt like they weren't alone. "Are you happy? Will you leave me alone, and not tell anybody else?"
"Yeah... why do you need to take all of those things?"
"I take them because... because I need them. Would you rather go around all day sleeping, unable to control what you're saying or thinking, throwing up every few seconds?"
"All of that? you /must/ be bluffing or something like that. it really /is/ an incurable disease, isn't it?"
"No, not really. This place is at such a lower elevation than my other school, you would not believe. It's like you people are living underground."
"Oh, is that it? Because your body is still trying to get used to the elevation change?" Lily seemed to relax after that. "I understand. Okay, Herms, that's all I wanted to know. Your secret's safe with me!" she paused also, glancing around the room. She slipped into silence.
"Lily?" Hermione asked quietly. "Lily, what's wrong?"
"We aren't alone."
"You just figured that out? Let's see, there's ghosts floating around every corner, and..."
"No, I mean, somebody else is... hey, what's that?" in a matter of seconds she had crossed the dark classroom and bent over, picking up something. . .
"What's this?" Lily asked, starting to turn it over as Hermione came next to her. Seeing what it was before the redhead, she bit her lip and snatched it out of her hands. "Hey! What did you - what is it?"
"Just a stray piece of parchment," Hermione said quickly, folding it up and sticking it in her (borrowed) robes nervously. She glanced to her left.
"Erm, yeah," Lily said suspiciously.
"Relax, Lils," Hermione said, rolling her eyes in what she hoped was a nonchalant way. "You go ahead, I'll catch up. I've, erm, got girly stuff to do."
"With what?"
"The chalk board."
Lily laughed, tension eased. "Yeah, right, whatever," she snorted. "I guess I'll just leave you and the chalk board alone, now, shall I?"
"Yes, indeed," Hermione sniffed. "Absolutely /no/ privacy, I swear..."
Lily laughed again as she left, and Hermione cocked her head listening to the redhead's footsteps recede. Then she plunged her hand down the robes she was wearing and slapped the marauders map down on the nearest desk. She only had to glance over it once to figure out she wasn't the only one in the room. Sighing heavily, she straightened herself out and marched out of the classroom, leaving the door wide open behind her.
Those jerks. They had no right - NO RIGHT - to be sneaking around at dusk and listening in on other peoples' conversations! It wasn't just the immorality of it, so was the rudeness, and, and, and those little prats!
On her way down the steps outside the hem of the robes she wore once again got in her way, and as though she expected it (because she did by now) she went flying down the rest of the way.
Ignoring the jarring sensation in her elbows, Hermione got to her feet, tied the sleeves back behind her in a loose knot, and grabbed the front of the robes, gathering them up around her knees as she marched back to the tent, where Lily was waiting.
"Did you and the chalk board have fun?" Lily asked when Hermione sat defiantly next to her.
"Oh, we had a grand time," she grumbled. "I tripped over these robes enough times to send me down the stairs."
The others laughed.
It was actually not an all-too-bad night, but then, Hermione zoned out way before any of the other girls did, and she woke up late. Feeling much more refreshed.
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~
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The marauders hadn't meant to eaves drop. They had been coming back from the bathroom, where the potion was now being stirred by Remus. And who should come along other than Hermione and Lily, their two favorite girls?
So of course they scampered into the nearest empty classroom... only to be joined by Guess Who.
Sirius actually thought it a very informative trip; he'd found out more than any of his charm could milk out of Hermione.
In which Peter happened to drop the map. James made a move to get it while Sirius cuffed Peter on the ear, and of course Lily noticed.
Here's where things got even stranger. When she saw the map, she kept Lily from seeing it, and managed to get the said redhead out of the room (something about 'having fun with a chalk board' or whatever). After so, she looked at it and clearly, unless she had major eye problems, saw the three of them standing there.
But she just left it, grumbling, tripping slightly over the hem of the robes he had let her wear.
"She knows," James whispered once they were safely in their dorm.
"But how much?" Sirius mused. "Could she know about Remus? That wouldn't surprise me, she opened the portrait hole that one time..."
"If she does know, that's not good news, is it?" Peter insisted. "I mean, she might be psychic! Maybe she can read our minds!"
"Shut up, Worm," James snapped.
"I say we confront her. Here. Now." Sirius said, standing up.
"No. what we should be doing is figuring out how to get her to take the truth crap. She's kept her mouth shut so far, and she can do so for another month." James answered firmly.
"She's just so /curious/ though! Oh, I can't wait a month! Isn't there a way that /we/ can read /her/ mind? Something like that?" Peter asked, looking from one to the other.
"Well, yeah," Sirius said sarcastically. "But the worst we could do is give her an even bigger headache than she's already having. And you never know, she might be skilled at occlumacy, or whatever it's called, and I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have some walking mystery invading my mind."
"Hear, hear," James added.
"You, you mean, it's possible? We can? Why don't we try?"
"What are you, brain dead?"
"Remus could, though! He's smart! Why don't we ask him?"
"No, we're already doing the truth crap. After all that trouble we went through... besides, you have to be very strong, very powerful to use that spell. Attack somebody's mind."
"Not to mention it's illegal," Sirius put in.
"But," Peter insisted. "Then, why don't we use it as a last resort, at least?"
"If things go well, we won't need a last resort a month from now," James muttered. "Now, if the two of you dunder brains are done, I'm going to bed. Hogsmeade tomorrow, you know."
"Yeah, that's right!" Sirius agreed.
.
.
.
When Lily Evans had invited Hermione to "camp out" on the grounds, she had so conveniently forgotten to mention that every other fifth year had come, too. How were they all going to fit into a tent the size of a trashcan?
A simple charm. So Hermione wasn't necessarily surprised.
Lily was quick to find her closest friends (friendly with the entire school, that one) and dragged Our Heroine over to them. Introductions really weren't needed, but that didn't stop Lily.
And then they were chatting together aimlessly about basically nothing, and the noise level was enough to give anybody a headache... which was when 'mione remembered she'd forgotten to get her potions from Pomfrey. She stood up quickly.
"What's wrong? Where are you going?" Lily asked, seeing Hermione jump to her feet. A painfully coy smile was the reply.
"I forgot, I needed to get something from Madame Pomfrey. I'll be right back." She managed to exit the tent without any further problems, and promptly tripped over the hem of her robe outside.
Which ever-so-graciously reminded her that it didn't belong to her, she looked ridiculous wearing it, and she wondered momentarily if perhaps she should give it back at some point. or had she ever thanked *him* properly? No. she hadn't. she would have to, at some point, the sooner the better.
"Wait! My-own, erm, Hermione!" Lily scrambled after her, though she really needn't have bothered as Hermione had stopped and turned around anyway. "I'll come with you, Herms, okay? It's better not to be caught in the halls of this school at twilight."
"Herms?" Hermione echoed, falling into step next to her despite herself.
"Do you not like that? I think it's a cute nickname. I won't use it if you don't want me to."
"Oh, no, it's okay. I've just never been nicknamed before, unless you count my boyfriend calling me 'hermy-own'."
"You have a boyfriend?"
They entered the school. How very quiet the halls seemed to be...
"He's not really, I mean, I think we're just, you know, friends, but he'd like to be something more, I'm sure... my heart and eyes are set on another, though."
"Oh, really? That's so romantic!" Lily sighed, though she had dropped her voice slightly. They walked along for a moment in silence. "So, what are their names?"
"Viktor and Harry."
"Cute! Who's who?"
"What?"
"I mean, who likes you and who do you like and so forth."
"Well, I like... I'm not telling you that!"
"Uh, no fair! Okay, have they ever met?"
"Oh, yes. Even had a little chat alone, them."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Except Harry thinks we're only friends."
"So he's the one! That's sooooooooo romantic."
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever."
They stopped outside the hospital wing and Hermione pushed the doors open. Pomfrey was already waiting for her, impatience clearly written upon her face.
"Where have you been? Indeed, I was so worried, I thought you may have gotten hurt!" she watched Hermione take the first glass and make a face before downing it. And such with each one. "There, now," she said once all was finished. "Off you trot!"
"What were those? Why did you have to take them? Are you ill? Do you have an incurable disease? are you contagious? Is that why you've been avoiding everybody? Are you okay? Do you feel well? Do you need to sit down?" Lily couldn't stop asking questions. Hermione gritted her teeth and grabbed Lily's elbow, pulling her into an empty classroom that had a door open.
"I'm fine. I'm not contagious, I don't have some sort of incurable disease, I avoid you and the others because I'd rather not associate with people, and you shouldn't ask so many questions." Hermione glanced around, then dropped her voice. "Listen, just forget about that, okay? Don't tell anybody."
Lily drew herself up sharply. She was roughly slightly taller than Hermione, or maybe it just looked that way because of Hermione's dwarfed appearance in the robes.
"I'll keep it a secret, but only if you tell me why I should. I'm not stupid, Herm, the only reason I can think of that you would want to keep this a secret was that you are either embarrassed, or worried about somebody else finding out what all those potions were."
"Happy to know that it's both?" Hermione hisses, her patience being tested. She was tired, hungry, and stressed to the breaking point. she didn't need her crush's mother of all people hounding on her. "I won't tell you."
"I'll find out."
"You just sounded exactly like Black there. Funny how you used his exact same words, too."
Lily sputtered, apparently unable to think up a good response to that.
"Then, why don't you just tell me? won't you at least tell me what the potions are for? In the least?"
"Headaches and migraines, stomach aches and cramps, dreamless sleep, long and short term memory, making choices, and greater thinking, stress, and I think she's probably put something in there to try and stem the pleasure nerves of my brain. Pity the stress blocks it out." Hermione paused, glancing about briefly. She felt like they weren't alone. "Are you happy? Will you leave me alone, and not tell anybody else?"
"Yeah... why do you need to take all of those things?"
"I take them because... because I need them. Would you rather go around all day sleeping, unable to control what you're saying or thinking, throwing up every few seconds?"
"All of that? you /must/ be bluffing or something like that. it really /is/ an incurable disease, isn't it?"
"No, not really. This place is at such a lower elevation than my other school, you would not believe. It's like you people are living underground."
"Oh, is that it? Because your body is still trying to get used to the elevation change?" Lily seemed to relax after that. "I understand. Okay, Herms, that's all I wanted to know. Your secret's safe with me!" she paused also, glancing around the room. She slipped into silence.
"Lily?" Hermione asked quietly. "Lily, what's wrong?"
"We aren't alone."
"You just figured that out? Let's see, there's ghosts floating around every corner, and..."
"No, I mean, somebody else is... hey, what's that?" in a matter of seconds she had crossed the dark classroom and bent over, picking up something. . .
"What's this?" Lily asked, starting to turn it over as Hermione came next to her. Seeing what it was before the redhead, she bit her lip and snatched it out of her hands. "Hey! What did you - what is it?"
"Just a stray piece of parchment," Hermione said quickly, folding it up and sticking it in her (borrowed) robes nervously. She glanced to her left.
"Erm, yeah," Lily said suspiciously.
"Relax, Lils," Hermione said, rolling her eyes in what she hoped was a nonchalant way. "You go ahead, I'll catch up. I've, erm, got girly stuff to do."
"With what?"
"The chalk board."
Lily laughed, tension eased. "Yeah, right, whatever," she snorted. "I guess I'll just leave you and the chalk board alone, now, shall I?"
"Yes, indeed," Hermione sniffed. "Absolutely /no/ privacy, I swear..."
Lily laughed again as she left, and Hermione cocked her head listening to the redhead's footsteps recede. Then she plunged her hand down the robes she was wearing and slapped the marauders map down on the nearest desk. She only had to glance over it once to figure out she wasn't the only one in the room. Sighing heavily, she straightened herself out and marched out of the classroom, leaving the door wide open behind her.
Those jerks. They had no right - NO RIGHT - to be sneaking around at dusk and listening in on other peoples' conversations! It wasn't just the immorality of it, so was the rudeness, and, and, and those little prats!
On her way down the steps outside the hem of the robes she wore once again got in her way, and as though she expected it (because she did by now) she went flying down the rest of the way.
Ignoring the jarring sensation in her elbows, Hermione got to her feet, tied the sleeves back behind her in a loose knot, and grabbed the front of the robes, gathering them up around her knees as she marched back to the tent, where Lily was waiting.
"Did you and the chalk board have fun?" Lily asked when Hermione sat defiantly next to her.
"Oh, we had a grand time," she grumbled. "I tripped over these robes enough times to send me down the stairs."
The others laughed.
It was actually not an all-too-bad night, but then, Hermione zoned out way before any of the other girls did, and she woke up late. Feeling much more refreshed.
.
~
.
The marauders hadn't meant to eaves drop. They had been coming back from the bathroom, where the potion was now being stirred by Remus. And who should come along other than Hermione and Lily, their two favorite girls?
So of course they scampered into the nearest empty classroom... only to be joined by Guess Who.
Sirius actually thought it a very informative trip; he'd found out more than any of his charm could milk out of Hermione.
In which Peter happened to drop the map. James made a move to get it while Sirius cuffed Peter on the ear, and of course Lily noticed.
Here's where things got even stranger. When she saw the map, she kept Lily from seeing it, and managed to get the said redhead out of the room (something about 'having fun with a chalk board' or whatever). After so, she looked at it and clearly, unless she had major eye problems, saw the three of them standing there.
But she just left it, grumbling, tripping slightly over the hem of the robes he had let her wear.
"She knows," James whispered once they were safely in their dorm.
"But how much?" Sirius mused. "Could she know about Remus? That wouldn't surprise me, she opened the portrait hole that one time..."
"If she does know, that's not good news, is it?" Peter insisted. "I mean, she might be psychic! Maybe she can read our minds!"
"Shut up, Worm," James snapped.
"I say we confront her. Here. Now." Sirius said, standing up.
"No. what we should be doing is figuring out how to get her to take the truth crap. She's kept her mouth shut so far, and she can do so for another month." James answered firmly.
"She's just so /curious/ though! Oh, I can't wait a month! Isn't there a way that /we/ can read /her/ mind? Something like that?" Peter asked, looking from one to the other.
"Well, yeah," Sirius said sarcastically. "But the worst we could do is give her an even bigger headache than she's already having. And you never know, she might be skilled at occlumacy, or whatever it's called, and I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have some walking mystery invading my mind."
"Hear, hear," James added.
"You, you mean, it's possible? We can? Why don't we try?"
"What are you, brain dead?"
"Remus could, though! He's smart! Why don't we ask him?"
"No, we're already doing the truth crap. After all that trouble we went through... besides, you have to be very strong, very powerful to use that spell. Attack somebody's mind."
"Not to mention it's illegal," Sirius put in.
"But," Peter insisted. "Then, why don't we use it as a last resort, at least?"
"If things go well, we won't need a last resort a month from now," James muttered. "Now, if the two of you dunder brains are done, I'm going to bed. Hogsmeade tomorrow, you know."
"Yeah, that's right!" Sirius agreed.