Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter. They belong to the one, the only, the beautiful, the talented J.K. Rowling, one of my many hereos.
A/N: Ok, this is it. Part 1 of THE END pauses for dramatic music. Hope you all like and thanks for reading. Luv ya all!
Hermione awoke the next morning with a feeling a foreboding. She didn't know why but she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that something was wrong. Shaking off the bad vibe, she hopped out of bed. Lily and the other girls were still asleep so Hermione dressed quietly and crept downstairs into the common room. She was greeted with a surprise.
"Morning beautiful." Remus welcomed her.
"Morning." She said shyly, allowing Remus to hug her tightly in his arms.
They stayed in their hug several minutes before they reluctantly let each other go. Remus just stared at Hermione as she took a seat on the couch.
"What?" She asked nervously.
Remus just shook his head and said, "Nothing. I just wanted to take in how beautiful you are." He finished with a smile as he sat down next to her.
Hermione blushed.
"Oh, what's the matter? Did I embarrass you?" He teased, smiling and playing with her hair.
"No." She said, cheeks still red.
He laughed and kissed her. Hermione never wanted the kiss to end. It was so passionate yet light and damn was he ever a good kisser! So when Remus pulled away, leaving Hermione craving more, she kissed him, wanting to always have the taste of him in her mouth and on her lips. Soon, the pair were laying down, Remus on top of Hermione, and kissing and rubbing each other like there was no tomorrow. Well, there might not be a tomorrow for them. The doorway could appear today for all they knew. But it seemed that as long as they were kissing and touching each other, time will have stopped; just for them.
The portrait hole then swung open and in crawled Peter. He looked terribly pleased about something although a hint of worry was entraced in his watery black eyes. Remus and Hermione, being so caught up in each other, didn't notice him. Hermione had an uneasy feeling as if she and Remus were being watched so she opened her eyes slightly as Remus began to devour her neck with kisses and nuzzling. Her body tensed up, however, on seeing the short, pudgy guy that was Peter staring around uncomfortably, his face red with embarrassment at having walked in on one of his best friends and his girlfriend. Remus felt Hermione's body tense up immediately and retreated from his action on her neck.
"What's wrong?" He asked sneakily. "Got too much for you to handle?" He asked laughing.
He immediately stopped, however, at Hermione's gaze and turned around. He hastily got off top of Hermione and tried straightening up by patting down his ruffled hair and buttoning up his shirt, Hermoine doing the same.
"H-Hey Peter." Remus greeted nervously, his face more scarlet than a Quaffle. "Been there long?" He looked up at his friend.
"N-No, J-Just got here." He replied just as nervously.
There was an awkward silence before anyone spoke again.
"S-Sorry to have interrupted you." Peter said quietly, shuffling his feet and looking down at them.
"W-What? Oh! That? We were just…" Remus looked to Hermione for help.
"Studying!" She said, saying the first thing that had popped into her mind. Studying? Maybe studying each other. She blushed at this thought; thankful no one could read her mind.
"Oh." Peter said, clearly not believing the excuse. He still refused to meet Remus and Hermione's eyes. A few more long minutes of awkward silence went on before Peter spoke again. "Well-good night." He said hurriedly. He rushed off to the boys' staircase and was halfway up when Hermione noticed something clutched in his small, pudgy hand.
"What's that you got Wormtail?" Remus asked interestingly, seeing something wrapped in Peter's hand also.
"Huh? What?" He looked awfully nervous.
"That there. That thing you got wrapped in your hands." Remus pointed.
Peter looked into his hand as if praying that nothing was there. He sweated heavily as he answered, "Oh, this. Its'…just a c-copy of the D-Daily Prophet." He said, sweat profusely appearing on his brow now.
Hermione thought something was fishy. Why would Peter be so nervous clutching a copy of the Daily Prophet? And why was Peter even out of bed so early? It was a Saturday and if Hermione knew anything about the Marauders it was that they all slept in heavily on Saturdays, the exception being Remus.
"Well, I'm really tired." Peter said quickly before Hermione could point these odd facts out. He faked a yawn and said, "Well night Moony. Night Hermione." He scurried off to his dormitory without another backward glance to either of them.
"That was odd." Hermione stated, turning back around the sofa and staring at the glowing embers of the fire that had long ago went out.
"Hmm…" Remus said without interest.
He scooted over closer to Hermione and started stroking her leg. Clearly, Remus hadn't found anything odd about Peter's behavior. Hermione, on the other hand, wasn't as easily convinced. Remus had started kissing her neck softly, eventually stopping right below her earlobe.
He started concentrating on that one spot as Hermoine spoke abruptly. "Didn't you think that was a bit odd?" She asked, looking over at Remus who had clearly not been thinking about Peter.
"Hmm?" He asked, the familiar glaze had set in his blue eyes.
Hermione explained, "Peter. Didn't you think that he was acting rather odd?"
"It's Wormtail. He's always odd." Remus dismissed, coming back to earth and shrugging his shoulders.
"That's not what I meant." Hermoine said, trying to keep her annoyance hidden. Why did guys always think with the wrong head? "I mean, what was he doing out of bed so early on a Saturday?"
"Not doing the same thing we were doing." Remus said, now taking over Hermoine's earlobe and neck once again.
"Remus this…is…serious." She said, trying to keep her focus. But it was impossible to with Remus nibbling ever so carefully on your neck.
"C'mon Hermoine." He said softly, coming up from his prowl on her neck. She wished he wouldn't of. "Do you really want to spend the time we have talking about Wormtail or…" he bent closer to her, "do-you-want-to-put-our-time-to-get-her to a much better use?" He asked in between kisses in which he kissed her lips, neck, ears and cheeks.
"I'm sorry," she said, "were we talking?"
She smiled, as did Remus, and the two resumed their activity before Peter had interrupted. Several minutes later, a thump upstairs made them both jump and look towards the staircases.
"Maybe we should go somewhere…a little more private." Hermione suggested. Her shirt had been pushed up so her bra was exposed, her bell-bottoms had been unbuttoned and unzipped and she had two large dark marks starting to form on her neck.
"Yea, I think you're right." Remus agreed. His shirt had been unbuttoned all the way and his bare chest was partially exposed, his belt had come undone entirely as had the buttons on his jeans.
They both fixed their clothes and headed, arm-in-arm, out of the common room.
"Where are we gonna go?" Hermione asked.
Remus smiled sideways at her. "I know a place where no one can find us."
Hermione giggled and Remus reached over and kissed Hermione as they were walking, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her next to him as he did so. Right before they had reached the oak front doors, Remus and Hermione ran into Snape, who like Peter, was also clutching a copy of the Daily Prophet and looking thoroughly pleased about something.
"What are you two doing here?" Snape asked nastily.
Remus gritted his teeth and fixed Snape with the most evil look. "None of your business Snevillus."
Snape just stared at Remus and Remus stared back. If looks could kill, Hermione wasn't sure which one would die first. They both stared at each other with narrowed eyes, hatred and loathing seeping into each of their eyes. Hermione was actually kind of frightened, she had never (past or future) seen Remus give anyone the hateful, ugly look he gave Snape now. Snape finally tore his gaze from Remus and fixed it instead upon Hermione. He looked her up and down, which made Hermione feel, violated in some way.
His lips formed that recognizable sneer that Snape had been famous for. "Running around with a werewolf? Tut, tut. And I thought you were just a common, filthy, Mudblood," Hermione had to bury her claws into Remus' shoulder to stop him from drawing his wand, even though she wanted Remus to blast Snape to oblivion, "but come to find out you're a slut too. A werewolf's slut-"
That's all Snape had gotten out of his mouth before Remus stepped forward, tearing away from Hermione's grip and drawing his wand so fast, Snape didn't have a chance to draw his own. He looked so angry, his usual kind blue eyes were like a blazing blue fire, he was breathing hard and Hermione was sure that she had heard him growl.
"Bombarder!" Remus shouted.
In seconds, the sneering Snape was lifted high into the air and thrown, hard, against a line of suits of armor. The noise had been so loud; Hermoine wouldn't have been surprised if the whole castle had been jerked awake.
"C'mon, let's get out of here before Filch or Peeves comes." Remus said, pocketing his wand and grabbing Hermoine's hand.
Hermione was rather scared to go with Remus after that outburst but if she had to choose between Peeves or Remus, she, of course, would choose Remus. Sure enough, when they had reached the oak doors, they heard Peeves crackling with laughter and singing, "Sleazy Slimy Snape". Once they were outside, Remus led the way to the Whomping Willow, neither speaking. He found the long branch that Madam Pomfrey always used and prodded the knot on the tree. Instantly, the tree became still as if paralyzed. They slid down the secret passageway and, soon, both were inside the Shrieking Shack.
Remus also led the way up the stairs and to the bedroom that Hermione had been in only once before. Then, she had been thirteen and Remus had been in his thirties or so. She had also seen Peter transformed back into a person after he had impersonated the Weasley's rat, Scabbers, for twelve years. Hermione was rather frightened then and she was a little frightened now. She had never seen Remus lose his temper like that. Never. It scared her more than she would have liked. But she just couldn't get that look of anger and hatred she had seen on his face out of her mind. It was just so unlike him to lose his temper. Maybe that's why it freaked her out a little. She was so used to Remus being calm, quiet and collected, not angry or hateful.
"I'm sorry." He said, turning to look at her. "I don't know what came over me." He stepped forward to try and reach her hands but Hermione took half a step back. Remus looked as if someone had stuck a knife in him. "I'm…I'm sorry." He offered quietly. His eyes were so full of hurt; Hermoine couldn't stand to look at them so she took her gaze to stare at the dust-covered floor that was between them.
"I know you are." She said quietly to the floor. "I just…got a little frightened I guess." She looked back into those blue eyes. "I've never seen you lose your temper like that and I have to admit, it was scary." Remus looked like he was going to cry so Hermione stepped closer to him, narrowing the gap between them. "I just," she lifted her hand and pushed a stray hair that had found it's way across Remus' face.
Remus looked at her sadly. He hesitated before wrapping her once again into his arms as if he wasn't sure if Hermione ever wanted him to touch her again. Hermione snuggled deeper into his arms and his grip became tighter. How could she have been frightened? She was just being silly. There was no way that the man holding her would ever harm anyone for no reason. How could she have been so stupid?
"I'm sorry." Remus said again into her ear.
"She smiled into his arms. "It's ok."
"No, I frightened you. I don't ever want you to be scared of me. I shouldn't have lost my temper like that. It's just…when Snevillus called you a..a"
"Mudblood?" Hermione guessed quietly.
"Yes but then he called you a-a," he seemed to have tightened his grip around her, "a slut." He added quietly, "I just couldn't stand it. I couldn't take him standing there, sneering. I just wanted to hurt him."
Hermione now understood. If Snape, or anyone for that matter, had ever called Remus a half-breed or something else, she would take revenge on that person as well.
"I love you." He said softly in her ear.
"I love you too." She replied.
She lifted her head and kissed Remus delicately on the neck and kissed him more, leading up to his earlobe. She felt Remus' body relax instantly. She pulled away to look at him.
"Did we come here to talk about Snevillus?" She asked playfully.
He smiled back. "No. Now where were we?" He kissed Hermione's neck, making her giggle, and pulled back his head to kiss her lips.
It was easily the best four hours Hermione had ever had. It was right after lunch before Remus and Hermione emerged from the Whomping Willow and into the common room.
"Where have you two been?" Lily asked. She sounded a lot more concerned than she ever had before.
Hermione laughed. "Out. Why?" She asked slowly when the other three Marauders didn't laugh.
"What's wrong?" Remus asked seriously.
Lily looked at James. They both exchanged nervous glances with Sirius.
"What?" Hermione asked more urgently.
Sirius sighed. "Here. You might as well as read it for yourselves." He handed Remus and Hermione a copy of the Daily Prophet.
Remus looked at his friends. James was looking down at the floor, Sirius looked angry, Lily looked as though she could cry at any moment and Peter was sitting, looking nervous and fidgeting with his thumbs. Remus and Hermione looked at each other then down at the paper Sirius had given them:
You-Know-Who Spy In Hogwarts?
The Daily Prophet has learned that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry may have a spy for You-Know-Who within it's very walls. Thanks to two concerned students, the Minister of Magic, himself will be arriving tonight at the school to investigate Miss Hermione Granger, a seventh year Gryffindor…or so she says. One of the students, who wishes to remain anonymous, states that Miss Granger, "Knows about things that no other living soul would know, such as the Wolfsbane potion, which according to Granger, will keep the werwolf's human mind when he transforms. She says it's not to exist for several more years which leads me to believe she has some sort of Dark Magic advice to travel through time." Time-Turners, as everyone knows, are the only way to transport any witch or wizard through time, though, there is no Time-Turner that can travel years in advance. Then again, since it's You-Know-Who we're talking about, anything is possible. Just last week, You-Know-Who and his followers, which call themselves Death Eaters, committed the worst Muggle slayings since Adolf Hitler, the crazy wizard who ruled Germany in the 1930s and 40s and brought upon World War II, killing at least ten Muggles and seriously injuring nearly 300 others who are currently being held at St. Mungo's Hospital For Magical Maladies and Injuries. "If this Hermione Granger is in fact a spy for You-Know-Who then we will, of course, bring her to justice and send her to Azkaban." The Minister of Magic said today before departing for Hogwarts. He is expected to arrive sometime tonight. If Hermione Granger, does indeed, turn out to be a spy for You-Know-Who then the two anonymous students are to receive awards for Special Services To The School and maybe even an Order of Merlin Second Class."
Hermione lifted her eyes from the paper. Her throat had gone very dry and she felt faint.
"Hermione, are you ok?" Lily asked cautiously.
"She looks like she's gonna be sick." James observed.
James was right. Hermione put her hand to her mouth and rushed up the girls' staircase and into one of the bathrooms just as last night's dinner came crawling back up. It took about ten minutes for Hermione to finally get up off the floor and pull her face out of the toilet. She flushed and shakily went to the sink to wash her hands and to gargle. She turned the faucet on and stared at the Mirror that was above it. Her reflection was ghostly pale, she had circles under her eyes and she was now drenched in a cold sweat. She stared down at her hands to find them shaking uncontrollably. She tried making them stop but she couldn't, she shook more violently. There was a knock on the door.
"Hermione?" Lily's voice sounded from the other side.
"It's unlocked." Hermione managed to say.
"Hermione I-oh my gosh! Hermione!" Lily gasped at the pale, sweaty, shaking Hermione.
"Lily…" Was all Hermione could say before everything started to go bright white and then blackness.
A/N: Well, that's part 1 of the end. I'll have part 2 up, hopefully, by tomorrow or, if I'm good enough, by late late tonight. So, please review! This is one of my fav. chapter I've written so I hope you guys liked it too. Rock on!