"Hermione wake up," said Remus shaking her gently.

Hermione rolled over, wiping her eyes sleepily. She opened her eyes and smiled up at Remus' smiling face. "Morning," she mumbled.

"Afternoon," he replied.

She smiled again. "What time is it?"

"Time to get up," he replied. "We have to hurry if we're going to get to the train on time." His gaze fell and Hermione could see a blush creep over his cheeks. She glanced down and noticed her robe had fallen open a little. She hastily pulled it closed and got out of bed.

"That was a wonderful nap," she said with a sigh. "That and the shower have almost completely washed away this horrible day." She made her way to the bathroom, but left the door open a crack. "I'll just be a second," she called out to Remus. Remus could hear running water and in a couple of minute, she emerged from the bathroom fully dressed and pulling her mass of hair back into a ponytail.

"You ready to go?" he asked with a smile on his face.

She nodded. "I can't wait to get home." He took her hand and laced his fingers through hers.

"Yeah, me too," he agreed. They walked downstairs together and bid Tom goodbye. They exited the Leaky Cauldron on the muggle side and Remus hailed a cab.

"Do you have any muggle money," she whispered as they got into the car.

"I went to Gringott's while you were asleep and had some money converted," replied Remus. "King's Cross Station," Remus told the driver. They settled in the backseat of the cab and Hermione relaxed fully against Remus. He loved how she felt so comfortable in his arms.

"You know we take the N.E.W.T.'s in a month and a half," Remus remarked.

"Mm hm," Hermione responded.

"Have you thought much about what you might want to do after we graduate?" he asked.

"To be completely honest," said Hermione somewhat hesitantly. "I don't think I ever really believed I'd still be here."

"I see," said Remus stiffly.

"I'm sorry," murmured Hermione sitting up.

"Don't be," waved Remus dismissively. "While you were sleeping I was thinking about everything that happened. I tried to imagine what I would do if I found myself out of my own time and away from my family and my friends"

"And," prompted Hermione.

"And I would probably do everything I could to get home."

Hermione smiled sadly. "I'm glad you understand."

"Just promise me one thing," he continued.

"Anything," she agreed.

"Don't ever run out in the middle of the night again. Have enough faith to confide in me."

"Okay, I will," she said earnestly.

"Because I would have never gotten over you disappearing," he continued hurriedly. "The idea of you not being here..."

"I know," said Hermione gently. "I am so sorry."

"I know you are," he returned.

They hugged tightly and Remus leaned over to kiss her, but just as he drew nearer the cab stopped. They both glanced forward to see the driver's grinning face. Remus reached over and handed him a few quid before following Hermione out of the cab.

The cab sped off fairly quickly and they walked into the train station arm in arm. Remus had his arm around Hermione's shoulder and they couldn't stop kissing each other every so often. They looked very much like a young couple in love.

They got through to platform nine and three quarters with no difficulty at all and got on the train. They were the last to arrive. James, Lily, and Sirius were in the first compartment, but neither Remus nor Hermione noticed. They were too involved with kissing each other senseless.

"Ahem," said James clearing his throat loudly. Remus and Hermione broke apart to see James and Lily grinning at them and Sirius rolling his eyes.

"Hi," they said giggling. They joined their friends in the compartment. Within seconds they could feel the train lurch forward and they were on their way back to school.

"It looks like you guys had a great weekend," observed Lily.

Remus and Hermione exchanged a smile.

"How was your weekend?" asked Hermione.

"A bore," sighed Lily. "I pretty much stayed in the house all weekend while my mother tried desperately to get my sister and I to talk to each other. Thank God James came over Saturday night or I would have died of boredom."

"You went over," commented Hermione. "How sweet."

James smiled charmingly.

"Oh please," laughed Lily. "He was just bored because Sirius abandoned him. He was just about to tell us where he went when you guys showed up."

They all turned toward Sirius, James and Lily looked with interest while Remus and Hermione looked uncertain.

"I bought a motorbike," he said casually. "And I decided to have a little fun." His eyes landed on Hermione's, but he quickly looked away. She frowned slightly, but held her tongue. At least for now, her trip to the Ministry would stay between the three of them.

The rest of the trip was spent talking about nothing of importance. They just enjoyed each other's company, each of them grateful to be heading back to school, though none of them would ever admit it.

Dumbledore was there to meet them at Hogsmeade. Hermione carefully avoided looking at him. She wasn't ready to talk about what happened over the weekend. All she wanted now was to get back into a normal routine. He walked the five friends back to Hogwarts and straight to Gryffindor Tower. It was late and most of the Gryffindors were asleep in their beds. James, Remus, and Sirius bid goodnight to the girls and went up to their dorm room.

"Sirius," said Remus. "Could I talk to you for a second?"

Sirius glanced at James, who smiled slightly and continued up to their room. "What's up?" asked Sirius.

"I wanted to talk to you about this morning," said Remus. "I think maybe I was a little out of line. I was just so worried about her."

"You know what, Remus, just forget about it. You weren't out of line, I was," returned Sirius.

"Well, Hermione and I talked things over and we're okay and I just wanted to make sure you and I are too."

"Yeah, we're fine."

"Okay, good," finished Remus. He moved past Sirius to their room.

"Remus," called Sirius.

Remus turned. "Yeah?"

"About what you said this morning, I would never act on it. You're my best friend and I respect that. I just can't help how I feel about her." Sirius stared at his feet.

Remus stared at his friend, uncertain of how to respond.

The silence made Sirius so uncomfortable that he continued unnecessarily. "I didn't mean to fall in love with her you know. I just couldn't help it."

"You're in love with her?" asked Remus in shock.

Sirius's eyes went wide. "I thought... But you said..."

"I knew you were attracted to her, but I... I didn't know you were in love with her," said Remus softly.

Sirius closed his eyes wearily, silently berating himself for opening his damn mouth.

"Does she know?" asked Remus.

Sirius shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

"Are you going to tell her?" Remus held his breath waiting for the answer.

"No," said Sirius quietly. "It wouldn't matter if I did. She loves you. I never had a chance."

"Thanks," Remus mumbled, though he felt miserable. How could he possibly keep Hermione if Sirius wanted her? He was handsome, charming, and rich and Remus had never felt more shy, awkward and poor. "Maybe we should go up," said Remus tiredly. He didn't want to think about the consequences of Sirius being in love with Hermione. It was too much to take in this late.

"Yeah," agreed Sirius, following him slowly. He suddenly felt completely exhausted and only wanted to sleep for the next twenty hours. Unfortunately, the sight that met them in their room drove sleep straight from his mind.

Peter was sleeping in his bed. When James saw his two best friends enter the room he hurried over to them to prevent them from doing anything rash.

"Don't wake him," he hissed. "Now is not the time."

"He has a lot of nerve," seethed Sirius.

"Sirius is right," agreed Remus. "He has no right to be here, not after what he did to Hermione."

"And to Remus," Sirius put in.

"Maybe," agreed James. "But it's late and there's nothing we can do about it now. We'll go to Dumbledore in the morning. If Hermione's finally willing to tell him about the conversation she heard between Peter and Snape, then they'll both be expelled for sure. Don't know why she hasn't said something so far. Anyway, until then you two need to control your tempers."

"Since when have you become the rational one," asked Sirius disgustedly.

"Since Remus stopped," answered James. "Trust me, I don't like it anymore than you do. Personally, I'd have liked to see you throw him off the balcony. It would have saved us all a bunch of trouble."

"I'll keep that in mind next time," returned Sirius. They all stared at Peter for a few seconds before slowly going to their beds. They all changed and got ready for bed, though none of them slept very well that night.

When they woke up the next morning, Peter was gone. The boys showered and dressed slowly, feeling the restless night hanging on them. When they finally trailed downstairs the girls had been waiting for fifteen minutes. They grinned at the boys, none of whom looked very much awake.

"Did you three stay up late and talk," teased Lily.

"No," said James sourly. "Peter's back. Who could get a good night's sleep knowing that rat's in the room."

"We know," said Hermione. "We saw him come down this morning."

"Did he say anything to you two?" asked Remus in concern.

"No," Hermione replied. "He saw us, but he left pretty quickly. I don't think he's too interested in talking to either one of us."

"We talked it over last night," injected James. "And we think you ought to go to Dumbledore about what you heard between Peter and Snape."

"I can't," said Hermione quietly.

"It'll be okay, Hermione," said Sirius. "We wouldn't let them do anything to you, but Dumbledore has to know."

"I agree with Sirius," said Lily. "After what he did to Remus, I can't see any help for it. I always liked Peter. I thought he was really sweet, but he's changed and if he's really in league with Death Eater's how can we not tell."

"But don't you guys see," continued Hermione. "If we tell Dumbledore, they'll be expelled and then they won't have a chance."

"They don't have a chance now," said Remus. "You better than anyone knows that. It's too late for Peter. And anyone could guess that Snape would become a Death Eater."

"Yeah," sneered Sirius. "It's in old Snivellus's blood."

"Some people might have said the same thing about you," Hermione countered. She flinched at Sirius's angry expression. "My point is," she continued hurriedly. "I think we can help them both. They're still young. They can't be in that far. I doubt they've even taken the mark."

"The mark?" questioned Lily. "What's that?"

"Death Eaters are forced to take a mark of loyalty on their arms when they join. It allows Voldemort to summon them whenever he wants," she explained.

They all gasped when she said the Dark Lord's name. "How do you know that," hissed Lily.

Hermione bit her bottom lip. "I just do. I've seen it."

"Yeah well trust us, Hermione," said James. "We know Snivellus a little better than you and he can't be saved. He was a dark wizard the day he was born."

Hermione stood and addressed James alone. "You don't know everything you think you know. Now, I can't stop the rest of you from talking to Dumbledore, if that's what you want to do, but I won't, at least not yet. I think we still have time."

"Time for what?" asked Remus. But Hermione didn't answer, but as it was she didn't have the time she thought she had.

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Peter grabbed a quick breakfast, before hurrying out of the main hall. He had no desire whatsoever to run into his former best friends. They were all so smug it made him wish he was as big as Sirius or as good with a wand as James so he could teach them all a lesson right then and there. As it was, he would have to wait until after the N.E.W.T.'s to make them pay for what they had done to him, all of them, but especially Hermione.

He had spent his week at home very productively. His mother, as always, had been too tired to bother him about where he went every evening. Ever since his father had left them when he was only a little boy his mother had succumbed to long drawn out bouts of depression that usually left her too tired for much.

Peter had always had to fend for himself. His mother liked to have him close, but as he got older he realized that she was usually too out of it to stop him from doing whatever he wanted. When he was young all he ever wanted to do was stay out all night and sleep under the stars and think and dream about what life could have been like.

He thought his dreams had finally come true when he got his letter from Hogwarts. Being sorted into Gryffindor and becoming friends with James, Sirius, and Remus had been everything he had ever wanted, but as they got older things began to change.

Peter never seemed to be able to catch on to their lessons the way his friends did and he could often feel their frustration with him. Other things made Peter angry too. He was always so jealous of the way people flocked to Sirius and James, especially girls. They even seemed to prefer Remus to him, although until Hermione, Remus had never returned any of their attention. He often felt like none of them would have been his friends if he hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor with them. Hermione's arrival only seemed to cement that idea in his head.

The thought of Hermione made his entire body tense. He hated her and he was going to make her pay for what she had done. He had already put things into motion. She was going to be sorry she had ever left France, though Peter wasn't convinced that was where she was from.

She knew too much and she said too many odd things to be just a mere transfer student. Peter was convinced Dumbledore had brought her to Hogwarts to be a spy. She probably wasn't even a student. She was too smart to be just a seventh year. She probably wasn't even eighteen. 'Poor Remus,' he thought gleefully. 'He'll just be crushed when he finds out.'

Peter continued moving quietly through the castle. He was meeting Snape before class on the seventh floor. He could have gotten there faster if he transformed, but he wasn't ready for anyone, not even his new friends, to know that he was an unregistered animagus. One never knew when that kind of a secret could save your life.

Snape stood at the top of the stairs with his friends Rodolphus and Bellatrix. "What took you so long, Pettigrew," hissed Snape.

"Breakfast," returned Peter cheekily.

The three Slytherins stood scowling at Peter. None of them liked the idea of being in league with the traitorous Gryffindor, but they had little choice. It had been made clear to them all that they were going to have to put up with Peter.

"So were you able to pass along all the information we were able to get while you were on your little vacation?" asked Snape impatiently.

Peter nodded.

"And," prompted Rodolphus.

"And they were very pleased with what I was able to give them."

"You little," began Bellatrix angrily, advancing on Peter.

"Calm down, Bella," shot Snape angrily. "Peter's not stupid enough to take the credit all for himself. Trust me. He's not that brave."

Peter scowled. "Yeah well I was the one who was able to give them the map," he returned. "None of you even knew it existed."

"Yes, and with that map, the Dark Lord will be able to launch an assault on Hogwarts and show the entire wizarding world who the most powerful wizard is," said Bellatrix coolly. "And when he's taken over Hogwarts he'll remember who made his greatest victory possible and he'll reward us beyond our wildest dreams."

Peter rolled his eyes. Bellatrix was just a little too melodramatic for him. All he wanted was to make his former friends pay for what they had done and now they would.

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A/N: Absolutely no hate mail for leaving it there. You all would have done the same and you know it. I'll try to get the next chapter up as quickly as possible. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, it was one of those transitional ones, but hopefully I put enough goodies into it to make it worth the suspense.