Time Turned
Chapter 9
Hermone frowned.
She'd known that particular silencing charm for almost two years, now, and been able to cast it for at least six months; she was certain she'd done it right. Only, something just hadn't /felt/ right when she'd cast it just now. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it bothered her, whatever it was. The feeling was oddly familiar, though familiar in the way one recognizes something they haven't seen or heard in years.
Shaking the feeling off, Hermione cast a spell to check for the charm. Nothing. It wasn't there. Her frown deepened. She couldn't use any of the other, weaker, silencing charms she knew; Draco could break most, if not all, of those. Hermione sighed. She tried the spell again. Still nothing.
Two flicks of her wand, and the silencing charm should have been up.
"Well, huh." She muttered
"Must've forgotten something."
She sighed. Not that the others would recognize the other silencing charm as dark magic (excepting Harry, who wouldn't be too bothered by it), just that she hated using anything dark to achieve her ends. She knew it, like any use of dark magic, would take some piece of herself, however small, in the process. There were many spells one could use, and potions one could take, to keep such a drain to a minimum. Nearly the whole order had regular doses of a potion to that end, and she and Harry were current for another month. But that didn't mean she liked it.
She wasn't particularly worried, except that something in the back of her mind was telling her it was a bad idea. Rolling her eyes at the nagging voice in the back of her head, Hermione cast the spell.
And very nearly passed out.
About two seconds before she hit the ground, Remus caught her.
"Hermione? What was that?" Harry asked, concerned.
Sirius was glaring at her. "It was a dark spell, that's what it was." He bit out.
"I know, but it shouldn't have-" Harry began.
"But nothing, you can't just /do/ dark magic like that." Sirius cut in. Turning to Hermione, he demanded "What were you thinking?"
Harry answered for her. "Sirius, calm down. The Order trained us in spells like that one. There are protective measures we take, so that it isn't so bad. We've both been using dark magic since this past summer."
"You can't be trained very well, then. It wouldn't have affected her like that if she'd cast anything dark before." Sirius responded.
"What do you mean, we haven't been-"
"Harry, hush. I think I know what's going on." Hermione spoke. She turned to Sirius. "Sirius. Normally I'd ask this of Harry, but, if my suspicions are correct, it would harm him as well. Please don't take this the wrong way, but do you know the "quantum magus" spell?
Sirius snorted. "Yeah. I know it. And I don't know why, but I'll do it, as well. Who?"
"On me, if you would, Sirius. Thank you." Hermione said.
Looking like it was against his better judgement, Sirius cast the spell. Hermione's skin appeared to glow a pale yellow. He glanced at the results, but seemed completely unsurprised. Harry and Hermione, on the other hand, looked downright shocked. James and Remus appeared completely confused by the entire thing.
"Oh, no. No, that's not good." Hermione said.
"Could someone please explain what is going on? What was that spell, and why...?" James asked.
Sirius shrugged. "I don't know what's up with them," he gestured to the franticly-silently-conversing Harry and Hermione, "but that spell she had me use is for guaging a persons' magic levels. It can also tell what's effecting your magic, like if you've used dark magic, or are protected by anything. I've seen it done lots, done it lots, but there was nothing off about those results that I could see. Her magic looked like any normal kid's." He cocked his head at her "Perhaps a touch on the powerful side, for twelve, but certainly not shockingly so."
"And that was exactly the problem, Sirius." Hermione said. "My magic looks exactly as it should, were I eleven. But you forget, I'm not. It's not really a problem; I expect my magic simply adjusted to my age. It was just... a bit of a shock. We use potions and such to protect us from dark effects; those should have been evident. So should the residue of dark magic casting. Plus, I've never seen myself with so little power. It's worrisome to know that I'm the only one here who couldn't defend myself if pressed, and it means I'll have to be more careful what I do."
"There shouldn't be any need to defend yourself, here, Hermione." Remus responded.
"And besides, we'll protect you." Sirius grinned at her.
"Indeed, fair maiden, we shall defend you until the death, should needs be." James continued.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Actually - " Harry caught her eyes, and gesutered meaningfully. "Oh, right, the silencing spell." She stood again, and Harry walked to her side. She reached out a hand to touch his, and again incanted the spell, using the light magic spell as not to harm the unprotected Harry. This time, she felt the reassuring surge of magic.
"There, all set." She finished. "Now, what I was saying is, yes, there may well be reason to defend myself. Firstly, from -"
"Now wait just one minute." Sirius said. "How is it that you did that charm, when you couldn't before."
"Well, simply put, I used Harry's magic to cast the spell. When I touched his hand like that, I had access to his magic for a moment; it only worked because he was willingly lending me the power. It's a skill related to Legillimency, we perfected it this past fall when-"
"I caught that part, actually, Hermione. It's not like I've never seen... that's beside the point. If your magic has lessened from the de-aging, shouldn't Harry's be, as well? It should have been impossible, even for the two of you combined, to cast that spell." Sirius said.
Hermione sighed. "Harry's magic /is/ lessened. He /is/, magically, his twelve, or eleven, or whatever, year old self. However, Harry is... different. He's... " she paused, not really knowing how to continue.
Harry cut in. "This is one of those things we needed to tell you. I'm... you heard the prophecy?"
"No, what about it? We heard something about a prophecy while you were in with Dumbledore, but not the details of it."
"Basicly, Harry is the only one who can defeat the Dark Lord. There's a lot of history we have to get through." Hermione sighed. "I don't know if I want to change the way some things happened, but I think it's best, at least for now, if we tell you everything. Just - promise you'll wait to the end, with all your questions, or we'll never get through this." Everyone nodded, and Harry reached over to grasp her hand.
This time, Hermione's sigh seemed to come all the way from her toes. "Harry was born Harold James Potter, to James Talbert Potter and Lillian Marie -"
"Yes! Yesyesyes! I marry Lilly!"
"James." Remus said "I highly doubt that is the end of the story, or even the most surprising thing to happen. Besides, you already knew Harry was yours and Evans' kid. Now quiet, or I swear I'll silence everyone, just so we can get through this."
About five minutes later, Remus had to prove he would. He added a binding charm, for good measure. It ended up being a good thing. Long before the end, James and Sirius were silently screaming at them, no longer believing a word of it. Hermione had to stop. She'd only just got to the part where Voldemort showed up at the Potter's house, but she couldn't go telling them about Voldemort's defeat or Sirius' capture while they were like this. They weren't even taking in what she said, and Harry was starting to get angry.
"I'll take of the silencing charm, but only if you'll be quiet." She said.
They continued in their silent screams and rants.
Remus sighed. "Yeah, they'll be like that. I don't suppose there's any chance you're wrong?"
"No. There's not. But, well, everyone was wrong once, in our time line. I ... remember how I said Sirius was supposed to be secret keeper?"
Remus nodded, looking apprehensive, as though he had somewhat of a clue what was coming.
"Yeah, well... when I said they didn't tell /anyone/ about the switch, I meant it. Not Dumbledore, not you, not /anyone/."
Remus went white "No..."
"Yeah. Everyone thought he betrayed them, betrayed Lily and James to the Dark Lord." Hermione noticed that James and Sirius had stopped their silent protests, and were now watching her, open-mouthed. "It was the story of a century. The next day, Sirius went to confront Peter. In a streetful of muggles. Peter yelled for everyone to hear that Sirius had betrayed Lily and James, blew up the street, and then transformed into a -" a hand was firmly clamped over her mouth. Hermione looked at Harry, questioningly. Harry merely shook his head. Some things should not be revealed. Hermione sighed.
"He, er, got away." Her voice hushed. She no longer needed to convince them, she could see it in their eyes. "He framed Sirius. Sirius, in our timeline, was found at the scene, laughing. They didn't even give him a trial. Twelve years, he spent, in Azkaban." She stopped. This was enough, more than enough, for anyone to take in for now. And Sirius and James looked like they were not just shocked, but in shock.
Remus, also, had noticed that his friends had fallen "silent". He sent Hermione a wary look, but released the silencing and binding spells. Sirius opened his mouth, glaring at them, but couldn't seem to find words for what he wanted to say. He snapped it shut, and stood, and stormed out of the room. James was more uncertain, glancing between the door and Hermione. He paused long enough to say "I - Hermione, this doesn't change my mind about the bond. But I... I'm not saying I think you're lying. I'm not saying I can believe this, either. Especially not from an eleven-year-old."
"But I'm, we're, you can't -" Hermione sputtered, indignantly.
James held up his hand. "I know you're not eleven. And, like I said, it doesn't mean I'm against you or anything. I just... I think I'm going to wait to decide what I'm going to do or say until I know more. Until, well, after the bond. And, for now... I'm going after Sirius. I'm sure Dumbledore will be able to find me, when he needs to."
James left, much more calmly than his friend. Remus, however, made no move to follow.
"You'll forgive us, Hermione, I hope. That's just - I suppose from your perspective it's obvious, or whatever. But he's one of us, he's a Maruader, and... it's just not possible to believe that of him. If it were you... well, would you believe it of each other? Not just that, but Peter's... he's the "good" one. Even more than I am. He's the one who'd never hurt a fly." Remus stopped for a moment, staring at his hands, clasped in his lap.
"I... I guess I understand what you mean about obliviating, now, though. I'm not sure I want to know, and I know I don't want to treat him, treat Peter, the boy I've known these last years, the boy who knows, er, everything about me, yet doesn't hate me; I don't want to treat that soft-hearted boy like the traitor of a man. I mean, there's no guarantee that he'll turn, this time, right?"
Harry spoke up. "No, there's no guarantee. But, if you don't know, you won't be able to be cautious of it."
"That's not entirely entirely true, Harry." Hermione responded "Any of them who find out from the bond, after all, won't be able to be obliviated. Not of something that big, not without doing permanent damage."
"Why would you tell us. Why did you tell us, and them especially, any of this, if they'll know it anyways from the bond? Why not just wait, let them find out, let me hear it from them? Why give us cause to doubt you?" Remus asked, in a pain filled whisper.
Hermione was hesitant. "Because they might not want to form the bond, might not want these memories at all. And they, and you, have the right to know what you're getting yourselves into, before the time comes when there's no turning back."
Remus gave her a look of shock "Twelve years."
"Exactly." Harry and Hermione answered together.
Remus fell back against the couch, a glazed expression on his face.
"What are you all going on about?" Sirius asked, coming back into the room, much calmer. "I'm sorry about walking out like that. I do believe you. James will take a bit longer to settle, though, I think. He's that sort, you know? I'm a bit, er, I have a bit of a temper, and I don't always think before I act."
Harry winced. Hermione reached out a hand, but jerked it back at Harry's glare.
"We were talking" Remus, too wrapped up in inner turmoil to notice the byplay, replied to Sirius "About twelve years, Siri" his voice was little more than a hoarse whisper. "James' memories will end just after Hogwarts, and the worst bit of difference, is he'll know Peter's a traitor. You and I, though. You'll have the memories of spending twelve years, /twelve years/, Siri, in Azkaban. And I'll have the memory of those twelve years alone, thinking Peter dead with James and Lily, and thinking you the traitor."
"Oh. Azkaban. I -" Sirius cleared his throat. "I guess, I guess I'm a bit..."
"You're sane, Sirius." Harry responded, with a bitter smile "sane as ever, anyhow. Not the same, not like you are now, but sane."
"How? And - how do you know this? Am I found innocent, then, after twelve years?"
Harry's bitter smile became a bitter grin, and he let out a dry chuckle "You escaped."
Remus joined in the bitter laughter. "You would, Sirius. If they locked you in Azkaban unfairly, you would, seeing as the odds are millions to one, manage to stay sane even after twelve years, and then even manage to escape."
The group fell silent, after that. Each was lost in his own thoughts. Remus finally broke the silence. "That's not all of it, is it, Hermone." he said.
"No." Hermione answered, soflty, "it isn't." Clearing her throat, she continued. "Let me start with when we got to Hogwarts. Harry lived, for the first part of his life, with his Aunt and Uncle..."
"....will be born as the seventh month dies"
It had been hours since the group had settled in the room. They'd been through all five years of Hogwarts, interspersed with whatever bits of background information seemed necessary. The Marauders, in turn, had been through much of what they felt the others needed to know. That Remus was a Werewolf (though the Marauders were already pretty sure that the time-travelers knew), about attempting to become animagi (and hoping to succeed soon), and, basically, every other little fact that they thought was important to share. Harry was amazed, honestly, that Dumbledore hadn't been by yet, but was glad for the chance to settle everything, first. Assuming James would know enough, once the bond was complete, Harry had just retold the prophecy, and allowed the room to fall silent.
"There isn't really much else to tell." Harry said. He couldn't even bring himself to look at his young godfathers' face. The guilt, that he'd escaped from since being here, had returned full force. Memories of the night he'd heard the propehcy were invading his mind, blackly fluttering with the quality of the veil.
Hermione was watching him, he knew, but there was little point in trying to hide his feelings. She knew him to well for him to pretend and get away with it. Besides, surely she wouldn't say anyting in front of Sirius and Remus.
"Harry James Potter." Hermione snapped. Harry winced, perhaps he should have tried to pretend. "Not another moment of that. It /is not your fault/ that he died."
Harry sighed, and slowly brought his eyes to those of his best friend. He whispered "Yeah, Hermione... it is." Clearing his throat, Harry changed topic. "Anyways, back to what started this whole topic. That's why Hermione drew power from me."
"Uh, Harry, you actually didn't answer that question." Sirius said.
"'Power the Dark Lord knows not, right?" Remus asked.
"Exactly" Hermione said. "While sheer power alone isn't directly what the Prophecy refers to, Harry has a great deal more magical power than the average wizard would at our age. Even at whatever age we are now, Harry's result of that spell would be at the least green, though more likely blue."
Sirius breathed in sharply "But green is-"
"Normal level for an adult wizard. Yes, I know." Harry said.
Sirius was shaking his head. "Amazing. So, do you think the prophecy still applies, in this time?"
Harry snorted "I doubt I could get away from it that easily. That's another one of the things we wanted to make sure you knew. I wish James was here to hear it as well, but we figured you have to know that you'll end up involved in this war, if you choose the bond."
"I would have been anyway." Came a voice from the door. "Just this way, I will be, sooner. Dumbledore's been by. He said some things have come up, and he couldn't stay to talk to you all. He sent this book," James held up a thick, ancient-looking tome "about the bonding ritual. He also suggested we make it our first priority to find someone compatible with Harry."
Remus was studying his friend "What changed?"
James ducked his head, and flushed a bit. "Dumbledore had a little chat with me. He explained, well - a lot of things. Apparently he spent a bit of time in Hermione's head." James grinned in Hermione's direction.
Hermione grinned back, glad to see James acting, once more, like himself. "Well, how 'bout we order up some Pizza, and get started on a list of potential candidates."
She'd been expecting the purebloods in the room not to know what Pizza was, so she was quite surprised at the resounding "yes!" that came back as an answer. Chuckling, Remus explained that they spent most of last summer at his house, and his parents' place was in an all-muggle neighborhood.
"Oh, well, that makes sense." Hermione answered, not really paying attention anymore. Something else had caught her attention, it didn't make sense that, if James was okay with things, Dumbledore wouldn't have come up to complete the bond. Lost in thought, she didn't notice that Remus, Sirius, and Harry were arguing about the sort of pizza, or that James had come to sit by her. He placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention, and she started. She stared at him a moment before she gave voice to her thoughts. "James, why didn't the Headmaster want to perform the bonding now? Surely it would be best to get it out of the way."
"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." James replied. "It's all in the book, but he explained it to me. He does want us to bond, and as soon as possible. He told me to talk to you about it, and that you'd understand. It's not really something /he/ does /to/ us. The bond was originally intended for married couples, remember. It's a bit... it's sort of a private thing. There are certain adjustments made to it for a familial type bond, but it's still not exactly something done with an audience." By the end of this speech, he was blushing.
Hermione covered his hand with her own. "Remember, I'm not eleven. I've done plenty enough blood magic in my life." She quirked a smile, to cover her shudder. No matter how much blood magic she'd done, she still hated it, and the knives still bothered her. "Besides, it's worth it. I've always wanted a brother."
"I've always wanted a kid sister, myself." James grinned back at her. "So, when do you want to-?"
Hermione plucked the book from the coffee table, where James had left it, and began leafing through. James took it from her, flipped to the right page, and handed it back. Hermione quickly read through the procedure. It was hardly complicated, as it was intended to be able to be used with nearly anyone (not everyone who would want to bond would be smart), but it would require a good number of ritual cuts, and they wouldn't be able to wear an awful lot. Hermione found herself quite glad that she looked eleven, just now. It wouldn't be half so embarrassing to be standing about in her underthings this way. She sighed.
"Well, as soon as you're comfortable with, really. I'd feel much safer, and it would be far easier to check people for compatibility if we didn't have to bring everyone to Dumbledore. We could wait 'till after dinner if you'd like."
"You mean now?!!? Dumbledore said soon, but I don't think he meant /today/. I would think he intended us to wait for later, to practice, or for him to be around if we drive ourselves mad or whatever!" James shouted.
The room went suddenly silent. Harry spoke up. "With the rest of us, yeah, maybe. With anyone but Hermione, there's risk. But you're binding with the most brilliant witch of the age. She's not about to go mad over some hidden power, and she'll know, as well as the Headmaster, what to do if something goes wrong. In fact, I wouldn't doubt if she already knows what hidden talents she's likely to unearth."
Hermione snorted at that. "No where near as well as Dumbledore, Harry. But there's no more risk for us now than there will be later, and I'd rather get this over with." She turned to James. "He is right about one thing. There is less risk for us than for others, because I'm used to channeling immense amounts of power; Harry's power. I was there when we removed the lock Voldemort had placed on Harry's powers, and there's a shield I can use, if you need it. Harry is likely the only other one who can do it, but he's never tried it before, while I have." She paused, considering the boy in front of her. "But we can wait, if you want. There is... a lot, to consider. A lot is at stake."
James gulped. Not that he hadn't intended on doing this, and the Headmaster had said to do it soon, just that he hadn't expected to do it today. "I'm not so sure if -"
"Did Dumbledore leave the knife?" Harry interrupted.
"Huh?" James asked.
"The ritual knife, did he leave it?" Hermione persisted, knowing where Harry had been going with his comment.
"Er, yeah, but what does that have to do with -"
"Then he intended for us to do this now." She stated, matter-of-factly.
"Why do you say that?" Remus questioned.
"It's the way he works. He can't outright tell us to do it, but if he didn't want this done now, he wouldn't have left the knife." Hermione said, decisively.
James looked her in the eyes, "You're right, then. It's best to get this done now."
Sirius stepped forward, and awkwardly clasped James on the shoulder. He tried to say something, but then just turned away, and went to sit back down on the couch. Remus copied his actions. Harry came over, and offered James his hand. The two boys clasped hands, and Harry offered a supportive half-smile. Turning to his best friend, Harry gathered her up in a hug, and held her for a moment. "Be safe, Herms."
Hermione just smiled at him, and tucked the book under her arm. "You have the dagger?" She questioned James.
"Yeah. Here." He tugged a smallish black box from his pocket. Hermione nodded at him, and signalled for him to follow her.
Not wanting to waste time, lest she lose her nerve, Hermione decided to simply use James' room for the ritual. It wouldn't take long. She quickly stripped down to her knickers and t-shirt, rolling the hem of her shirt and then knotting it off to one side to bare her stomach. Turning, she found that James had copied her actions, and stood in his shorts. Hermione was all business, not allowing herself to even consider the awkwardness of their situation. "Did you read this through?" was all she asked.
"Yeah, I read it, and Professor Dumbledore wentover it, but i don't know if I remember all the cuts we're supposed to - "
"Don't worry about it. The cuts are all standard. Just copy what I do. You only need to know this part of the incantation," Hermione pointed out a paragraph, handing James the book to look over again "I'll do the rest."
Then Hermione took the dagger, and sliced both her palms in patterns of tiny, surface-shallow incisions. She began an incantation, the ancient language flowing off her tongue in the pattern of someone who knows the meaning behind the words; who is not simply shoving syllables together in hopes of forcing a magical response. She signaled for James to set the book down, and handed him the dagger, holding her own palms out to him for an example. Wincing very slightly at the thought of these and all the cuts to come, he copied her actions. She changed the pattern of her chant after that, taking the dagger back and slowly marking arms, legs, and feet, in short lines and simple symbols.
After each mark, she handed James the dagger, and he copied her. None of the cuts were particularly deep, and the incantation was repetative enough that Hermione had no need to check the book. Many of the cuts were simply for the sake of having a certain amount of blood on the surface of the skin for the final bit of the spell, and didn't require any exact pattern, simply to be on a certain part of the body. Signalling to James to turn around, she propped the book up on a dresser, never breaking the flow of the incantation, and carefully copied the diagram on the page. She finished, and James turned back around. She pointed to the diagram, and turned her back to him, unknotting her t-shirt and tugging at it to expose her back to him.
He cut a tad clumsily, often deeper than strictly necessary, or too shallow and having to repeat the cut, and Hermione steadfastly refused to wince. Ron had been far more clumsy than this when they had all first learned ritual blood magic. Oddly, one of the protections against dark magic involved a ritual that was almost eerily similar to this one, though it had only required the markings on arms and legs, and they'd done it while carefully watched by instructors. Her back was hurting more from the abuse than her arms ever had. She forcefully returned her mind from thoughts of Ron, focusing herself on completing the ritual. She wouldn't be doing Ron any favors if she killed herself off because she'd been inattentive to a blood ritual. Confident as she'd been when speaking with James, this was hardly risk-free.
Finally, James finished with her back, and the incantation changed yet again, the words flowing seamlessly from Hermione's tongue, James now joining in the incantation. Carefully, she marked a set of runes into her torso, before turning back to James. This time she didn't hand him the dagger, but waved his hands away, marking the runes herself. As Hermione finished the last one, they both fell silent. Eyes now glazed, Hermione dropped the dagger. Carefully, she approached James, and they met, palm to palm, stomach to stomach, pressed together. They recited the last phrase from the incantation again, and then embraced.
Magic flashed through the room, white light coating everything, and they felt the incredible power as it rushed outwards, draining them, and they clung to one-another in fear and anticipation. The sound of it roared in their ears, almost as painfully intense as the fiercely glowing light. The outward tide seemed to have no end, and they both worried that they would fall unconcious from the pull of it. Then, suddenly, the tide changed, and, like waves rolling into a sudden, deep depression, the magic was crashing back into them. The sheer magnitude of it forced them to thier knees, though they still clung to each other. And then it was silent.
Just like that, it was gone, and no signs of anything having happened remained. They were just two kids, kneeling together in a mostly-empty room. They fell back from each other, sitting to the floor, exhausted. James examining his arms, hands, and torso, surprised that no sign of the shallow incisions remained. Hermione smiled at him /what did you think, they would remain forever?/
James jumped at the voice in his head. /It worked?/
He could literally /feel/ Hermione's amusement. /Of course. You aren't insane, and you aren't dead. Those should have been your first clues./
Choosing to ignore Hermione's fascicious remarks, James returned to his original question. /Well, no, I didn't think they'd remain forever. I just thought, I don't know, that they'd scar, or there'd be... some kind of mark/
Hermione smiled at him. Suddenly, he saw a flash of the room as though through her eyes, focused on his right shoulder. The vision faded as quickly as it came, and he looked for himself. There, where one set of the marks had been, was what looked like a tattoo. It very closely resembled the runes Hermione had drawn on their stomachs.
He grinned at her, seeing a matching-but-not-exactly-the-same "tattoo" on Hermione's shoulder. "Nice." Then, worried for a moment /I thought the bond was only supposed to carry thought associated with extreme emotion. Can you hear everything I think?/
Hermione snorted. "No, I can't hear everything you're thinking. Just the things you direct at me. Basicly, if you intend to say it to me, I can hear it. It must have to do with physical proximity, or the newness of the bond. Or one, or even both, of us is a natural telepath."
But that wasn't James' only question. "Telepathy, huh? But, we don't have any really crazy abilities then? And, why don't I have those extra memories?"
Hermione smiled sadly. "There's no guarantee about the extra abilities. They could show up at any time, really, it's just that there's the potential there, now. Or, more accurately, there's more of a chance that we develop them than there used to be. Technically, there was always a chance. Provided that there are any hidden talents there to be developed, that is."
"And the memories?"
"It's not like you'd get them all at once. Remember the way the professor put it? You have /access/ to those memories. It's more like reference than your own thoughts and emotions. They'll become more a part of you, in time, but right now you won't know them unless someone brings something up that, er, triggers them."
"Like what?" James asked, not really thinking about it.
Hermione winced, but knew it would get the point across. "Peter."
James was hit with a flood of emotions, memories, and thoughts. There were so many, that it wasn't even like remembering. There was hate mixed with love mixed with anguish, and he couldn't sort anything out. He was lost, confused, and almost certainly losing his mind. And then it all stopped.
Shaking his head, he realized he felt a bit... fuzzy. "What was that?"
Hermione, surprisingly, was crouched in front of him, eyes closed, palms pressed to either side of his head, and gasping for air from some sort of effort. He didn't remember her crossing the room. "The rushing bit or the stopping bit?" She panted.
"Both." James responded.
"The rushing bit was your memories. The stopping bit was me. Now, as I can't keep them out all day, I'm going to ease this block back out of your mind bit by bit. You're going to get each of those memories you called up, but you're going to get them one at a time. Take your time, and don't worry about signaling me or anything. I'll know."
James took her advice, and lost himself in remembering six years of information about a friend who became a traitor.
It wasn't really very much later, that they emerged from the room. All told, the spell hadn't taken more than about an hour, and reliving the memories had gone rather quickly. James was worried he'd have another relapse like that, but relaxed a bit when Hermione promised that things would be easier to work through after a nights' sleep gave his brain a chance to catch up.
When they walked out of the room, James' living room looked almost exactly as it had when they went in. Sirius was perched on one end of a couch, head in hands. Remus was across from him, leaning against the arm rest, staring at something unknown. Harry was by the window, staring outwards. It was Harry that noticed them first.
Hermione grinned at her friend, and he smiled back, looking relieved. Using their code, out of habit, he asked if everything had gone well, and if James remembered everything. Grinning over Hermione's head, James signed back that Harry was an inconsiderate pain in the leg (Harry and Hermione's code had no specific insults, so he had to make something up, and "arse" wasn't in their code either). While Hermione'd been in his head helping him to deal with memories, he'd asked her about her and Harry's code, and she'd neatly given him the information. It had been simple for her to do so, she'd told him, as the transfer was basically the same as she and Harry'd done for those order members that they'd taught the code to.
Harry didn't seem to mind that someone else knew their code, and laughed outright at being called a pain in the leg. This, of course, drew the attention of the other two marauders, who bounded up in a moment, surrounding James and Hermione, and wrapping them into a group hug.
Hermione grinned. "Well, that's settled. Now, who do you think would be a good match to bond with-"
James neatly covered her mouth, much as Harry'd done earlier. "Enough of that, for now, lil' sis. Pizza first. In depth analysis of the composition of the student body, later."
"But -"
Harry and James shared a grin over Hermione's head. Amidst her protests and Remus' and Sirius' laughter, they wrapped arms around her and marched her over to the couch, pulling her down between them. Harry handed her a slice of pizza, and James passed her a glass. "Someone's got to make sure you eat." They said at the same time. All four boys broke into laughter at the look on Hermione's face.
"Well, can we talk /while/ we eat?" she asked, innocently.
"No need, really" Sirius answered her. "We were talking while you guys were off playing with knives," he grinned, but the sobered "we think we have a match for Harry."
"Really?" Hermione asked, "Who?"
"This one should make you happy, James. Our guess is, Lilly Evans will match him. And we talked about something else, too." Sirius seemed to hesitate.
"What?" James asked.
"We're going to bring Peter up here to check, as well." Remus said. There was a sharp intake of breath from both James and Hermione. Remus paused, measuring the looks on their faces. "Harry thinks he might be a match for Neville."
"There is no way I'm letting that R-"
/HUSH/ suddenly echoed in James' head. Hermione then continued, more quietly. /Some things are better left unknown. Harry suggested we not mention it. It won't be any fun if everyone knows what they'll be./
James frowned at her. /How come I don't know what I'll be? How can I remember the others' forms and not mine? Wait, no... you didn't.../
Hermione smirked /I did. I put a block on those memories, when I was in your head. I'll remove it later. After you find out./
/What else were you messing around with in /my/ head?/
/Oh, nothing/ Hermione replied, over-innocently /Just a few things about Lilly that you don't need to be knowing yet, and a couple of other things. Nothing bad, and nothing particularly important. But it wouldn't be any fun if you knew everything about your life, at fourteen./
/Nothing important? Knowing how Evans kisses hardly qualifies as unimportant./
Hermione snorted. /James. Think about it. You /married/ the girl. If I hadn't blocked /anything/ you'd know a great deal more than that./
James blushed, uncharachteristicly, and looked away. Hermione couldn't help it, she sniggered. And then she was laughing. Sharing a look with Harry, laughing too hard to explain in words, she signed in Marauder code what had just happened. Soon all of them were roaring with laughter at James' expense.
"Of course, I'll take the block off if you insist." Hermione said, after catching her breath. James blanched, then joined in the laughter.
"No, that's alright, Hermione." Then, with an evil grin "Though I do reserve the right to change my mind."
That set everyone off again, laughing until their sides ached. It was as much the release of the tension surroundng the past few days as finding humor in James' statement; they'd needed to laugh.
Finally, Hermione got ahold of herself. "Right. So. Peter and Lilly. How are we getting them here?"
"Hogwarts' dinner will be done in a few minutes. We fire called the Headmaster, and asked him to send the two in our direction. Neville, actually, is wating for them, and should bring them to the corridor. We'll need you to pass them through the wards, Hermione. If either of them isn't a match, Harry says you'll be able to Obliviate them, now that you've got enough power." Sirius answered, then added "If you need to."
Hermione nodded shortly.
James, however, wasn't satisfied with this "What do you mean, if. There's no way Peter can have access to these rooms."
Sirius looked shocked. "James, he's our friend. Just two hours ago, you were more upset by the thought of leaving him out than I was."
"Yes, but now I know. Sirius, he's a traitor! You can't possibly want to let him in here, just to betray us again!"
"He's not a traitor." Remus answered, in his soft-but-firm way. "In their world, after a certain set of events, a man that was once the boy we know betrayed us. But the boy, he isn't that man. And we have no right to judge him for something he hasn't done."
James sighed. "Right, as always, Remus. We'll let him in. But we'll watch him, and we'll be careful. At least a little bit."
"Harry?" Hermione questioned, worried what her friend thought of this.
"Yeah, Hermione. I'm okay with it. We talked it all out, before. And I do agree with Remus."
"Hate to interrupt this 'Remus-knows-all' fest" Sirius said, "But we should be getting Hermione out there to let them in."