"We don't want to fight," said Remus in a calm voice. James shot him a surprised look and caught the subtle head twitch that was the Marauders' way of winking. James nodded, smarter than he looked.
"Please put down your wand, as it is hard to have a conversation with an armed witch." Moony saw Granger's skeptical expression and caught her pointed glance to their wands, which were now pointed at her throat.
"This is no time to be rash." Lupin soothed, "You are outnumbered three…err…two to one. You can't possibly win." The brown-haired witch looked thoughtful and slowly lowered her wand. The Marauders sighed and she had them frozen with two Impedimentas before they could blink. The cold-eyed witch smirked at them for a half second before freezing the badly wounded Padfoot also. Lupin raised an eyebrow, one of his only features that could still move.
The witch shrugged it off and said, "Now, when you unfreeze I want you to do three things. First, make no attempt to retrieve your wands," the teen quickly muttered, "Accio wands." All three of the Marauders' wands flew out of their hands. "Secondly, I want you to sit down quietly on the couch with your hands where I can see them. Thirdly, I want you to tell me how you got in here and how you learned about me." Due to the wearing affects of the spell, the boys could now nod and talk a little.
"Heal… Sirius?" asked Remus with a small nod in the wounded boy's direction. The clever witch in front of them sighed and said one word with a casual wave of her wand. Sirius was completely healed. With a very small smile, Remus nodded to James. That had proven that the witch wasn't going to murder them. In fact, she probably had a conscious that was scolding her right now.
"I have no conscious. And yes, I am skilled at Legillimins." Granger said, catching his loud thought. She could only catch certain thoughts, and she had guessed for some of that one. It was often what people thought when they saw her. Most people thought she was an inexperienced, naïve little girl. But the teen Lupin didn't need to know that, or anything else about her for that matter.
The boy nodded humbly and lowered his eyes. But inside, he was beaming with hope. The spell wore off and James and Remus helped each other to their feet. Together the boys picked up Sirius and they sat down on the couch. The intelligent werewolf gave his friends the silent code for act natural and innocent. They sat with their hands in front of them and looked attentively at the cold yet beautiful witch before them. It seemed as though Sirius had learned his lesson for now. However, it was most likely he would start flirting as soon as it was confirmed the witch wasn't going to .
"Begin." Granger hissed.
"We happened upon you in the Room of Requirement and decided to take you here. We told Dumbledore we had found you and he told us we had permission to visit you." Remus said dutifully. The Marauder had become a smooth liar. He also knew that as long as he told the parts that were actually true, he would only be lying with silence. That was the only way for someone unskilled at Occlumency could deflect the witch's or wizard's probing brain. Though looking untrusting, Hermione nodded. He knew that she was wondering why Dumbledore would allow the future to change so drastically.
Seeing her worry and feeling slightly over confident, Remus said, "I believe the professor said you needed some company." The Marauders watched as the hard witch in front of them turned red, partly in embarrassment and partly in frustration.
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Hermione knew she couldn't wipe their memories or refuse them access now. Hermione knew well enough that Dumbledore would go to any lengths to make his students at home. She should have realized he would have gotten her company somehow. She was also angry at Lupin for being able to read her so well. No one else could even begin to ponder what went on in her mind, but it seemed due to her tiredness, extreme emotions that had been withheld to long and his high level of intellect, he was able to tell what was headed through her mind. Not even Dumbledore could do it.
In fact, the only people who were ever so connected with her mind were her two best friends, Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. They had been the perfect team, out to save the world. They were so close that they could tell even when she was sad because a book she wanted wasn't in the library. Now the Golden Trio was down to the Ice One. Hermione felt her eyes water as she thought of what Harry and Ron would say if they could see her now. The boys would probably sit down with her and give her a lecture on hope and courage. Hermione could almost hear Harry's serene voice echoing through her head, 'Hermione, you can't hide your feelings for to long.' She could hear Ron smiling, 'You'd explode if you couldn't let out your emotions, 'cause you girls got so many.'
Hermione turned on her heel and strode over to the fireplace, pointedly ignoring the quiet Marauders. As she put their wands over the fireplace ledge, she was able to wipe her eyes with no one noticing. It would do nobody good if she lost control now.