Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I owned ANY of this stuff, do you think I'd be writing fanfics online? No, I'd be writing books and getting lots and lots of money! The songs will be listed, for those of you who demanded a list of the songs, at the VERY END of the fic. That means, once it's all tied up and concluded, you'll be able to read the band names and albums that contributed to this work.
A big thanks and a shoutout goes to:
Sermione101 – I know what you mean. I listen to Affirmation every night to help me get to sleep. It reminds me of the one I love. Hehe. I'm glad you liked Hermione's reaction. I daresay I was hard put to keep her from punching Viviane, but it just seemed like MAYA as a character would hex first, punch later.
The Gryffindor Drummer – Well, here's that update. I'm SOOOO sorry that it's taken so long. I wanted to make sure I had Chapter 5 done before I posted this one. I want to stay at least a chapter ahead so that I can give you guys fairly prompt updates. And...heh...it's only about three weeks late:: Sweatdrops:
Bob the Amazing Immortal Bouncing Goldfish Lord of the Exploding Plastacine Chickens – (I still love that name...) Actually, you'll have read all of this chapter (Ten pages long on word. Whew! I need hobbies! Oh wait, this is a hobby.) But you'll be reading new stuff in the next chapter. Excited yet? Huh Huh Huh? Hee Hee.
Que Bonita – It is rather funny seeing Hermione Jealous, isn't it? Well, kinda. I bet Riel doesn't think so!
amrawo – I'm glad you like it.
peacock5 – Okay. I'm glad you like this. But I have to ask this: How do you know that they're out of character? Events lead up to the bitterness of certain individuals...and sometimes catastrophes such as the one with Hermione outweigh the events originally turning those people into bitter SOBs. And...I disclaimed ALL songs at the beginning of the first Chapter (Well, technically, it's Chapter 2 but it was officially Chapter 1) and I will have a listing of albums and artists at the very end of the story. After all of this is wrapped up and over with. As you can see, I've also repeated my disclaimer in this chapter.
Jinger – Yeah, she was a wee bit pissed, wasn't she? I'm glad you loved it. And here you go. Another chapter for you to read. I daresay this one will take a while to work your way through.
Reanne1102 – I love how you just assume that I would stop updating if you didn't enjoy it. No seriously...I'm really glad you like it. It's always a fluttery good feeling in my chest when I know people are enjoying what I'm submitting.
Kagomegurl19 – Well. What is up with her? Typical teenage Drama. Have you spent a day in High School lately? Yeah...the drama is all pretty much what I see as being typical of High School. No offence to you High Schoolers out there. And when is she going back? Well...only time can tell. Pun intended.
mrs snake – I'm glad you enjoy it. It's great fun to write. And why do they assume that she's pureblood or halfblood? Well...Durmstrang is fairly famous for its dark arts. Witches and Wizards in the dark arts – in my mind – tend to be purebloods and halfbloods.
FireBringer – Is that a good interesting or a bad interesting?
ghzowy – I'm glad you enjoy it. Here's another chapter for you!
I apologize for taking so long on this. I wanted to finish up Chapter 5 before posting it, and as you can see...Chapter 4 itself is a whopper of a chapter. Put in Word without all of the introductions and such, it's ten pages long. Yes, it's that long. On a rough estimate, Chapter 5 is about the same length...but I want to finish Chapter 6 before that goes up and I have classes and homework out the wazoo so you may have to bear with me.
And now, I will finish my babbling and let you get on to the chapter that you've all waited so eagerly for. Here it is, ladies and gents, Chapter 4!
Yours,
Allison
"Learn from the Past
Live in the Present
Look to the Future" Maya Gurgeon
Kicking Buckets
Lalalalalala Chapter 4 Lalalalalala .
"Hermione did WHAT!" Ron choked out. Harry, Ginny, and Draco looked equally shocked. Hermione hex someone? That many times and in front of TEACHERS?
"Yes..." Severus chuckled softly in amusement. "Maya had quite the temper..." His smile fell away. "And she liked Sirius beyond anything I'd ever imagined was possible."
"Not just like, Severus. Maya loved Sirius." Lucius said, softly. "When Lily started clinging to James more and more, Maya turned to me." He explained to the teenagers. "The Yule Dance was a big flop after Sirius and Maya danced...so as soon as possible, we ended it."
"Hermione disappeared that night..." Remus said, preparing to pick up the story.
"Nobody could find her." The voice broke, but it was definitely Sirius' voice...though it was softer spoken than usual and full of tears. "I thought..." He cut off, closing his eyes. "I thought she'd done something stupid. I made Lily promise to tell me the moment she arrived at the dormitory..."
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Hermione slipped silently up to her room and crawled under her covers, biting back a whimper of cold, tired, grief. It wasn't enough, apparently, because Lily sat up straight.
"Maya Marie Gurgeon!" Lily hissed, venom in her voice. "Where the HELL have you been? Do you know how worried we've been?"
Hermione closed her eyes before turning to face Lily. "Hello to you too, Evans..." She managed to sneer through her chattering teeth. "Have a pleasant evening? I hope so. Mine was shit."
Lily flinched, but she met Hermione's eyes. The hurt in them made Hermione feel a little guilty. Only a little, though. "You didn't have to say yes, you know."
"I didn't know a whore was going to grab me by the hair and hank me around." Hermione growled. "Pardon ME for not being a seer!"
"Will you two keep it down!" Alice Boron shouted. The two witches had been getting steadily louder.
"Sorry, Alice..." Lily said. She turned to Hermione. "Look...I'm sorry...just go to sleep, okay?"
"I was planning to do just that, before YOU interrupted!" Hermione crawled into the bed and pulled the covers up over her head angrily.
When she was sure Maya was sleeping, Lily slid out of the dorm and walked up the stairs to the Boys' Dorms until she reached the dormitory that the Marauders were in. Slipping inside, she walked over to Sirius' bed and touched his shoulder. He rolled over and looked at her with red-rimmed eyes and wet eyelashes.
"She's in." Lily said, softly.
"Oh thank god..." Sirius whispered, and then he began to sob. He was a bit ashamed...he'd thought he'd gotten himself under control. "Oh Lils..." He buried his face in her stomach and cried. James woke up and looked over at Lily trying to comfort Sirius, and he slid from the bed and put his arms around them both. Moments later, Remus did the same. Only Pudge remained in his bed, snoring away.
It was much later that Sirius fell asleep and Lily eased him down into the bed, pulling the covers up over him. She kissed James and hugged Remus and hurried to her own dorm, yawning the whole way.
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Hermione woke up the next morning feeling wretched. She didn't move...just burrowed deeper into her bed and pretended to be dead. Apparently, she did TOO well, because Lily panicked and shook her hard, yanking the covers down to reveal the oh-so-cursed sun.
"Maya! Thank god you're not dead!"
"No, but you will be in about five seconds..." Hermione snarled, grabbing her blankets and disappearing beneath them again. Lily wasn't having it, however.
"Sorry...present time." She threw off the blankets again.
"Not like I got any anyway." On.
"You might be surprised." Off.
"Then I'll be surprised later. Like sometime this afternoon, perhaps?" On.
"Oh but that's no fun! You have to open them NOW!" Off.
"I don't want to be FUN, Evans, I want to SLEEP!" On.
"And what's with calling me Evans? I didn't do anything to you, you know." Off.
"If I'm calling you Evans and Black Black then I won't be slaughtering Riel." On.
"Come ON, Maya!" Off.
"Bugger off." On.
"I'll go get a bucket of water and dump over your head!" Off.
"Go ahead. If you are that suicidal then far be it from me to stop you." On.
"Oh, it's not like it was THAT bad! Riel was just being her normal self!" Off.
"If she was doing it near YOUR man, you wouldn't say that." On.
"Did you just call Sirius your man?" Lily stopped halfway through the gesture of grabbing the covers to yank them down, stunned.
"No." Hermione popped her head out of the covers and then disappeared again.
"You DID!" Off.
"You're imagining things." On.
"I'm not! You did!" Off.
"Will you QUIT?" On.
"Oh wait till I TELL him!" Lily ran from the room. A moment later, Hermione poked her head out and, seeing no Lily, sighed in relief and prepared to go back to sleep...just to have a bucket of ice water poured over her as she was dozing off. With a shriek, Hermione tackled Lily and rubbed conjured ice in her face. She then charmed herself and her bed dry and waterproof, put up a silencing charm, and climbed back into bed, snarling.
Lily just undid the charms and repeated her earlier actions. Hermione had had enough. She snarled and grabbed her brush. "FINE! I'll go open the fucking presents, the one or two that I have, that is, and THEN I'll go back to sleep!" She stormed out of the dorm.
Just to meet Viviane Riel in the Common Room.
"Hello, Gurgeon." Viviane sneered. "Have a nice night?"
"Oh wonderful." Hermione said, not batting an eyelash. "I had so much fun with Siri last night that it was almost unbearable." She stormed past Viviane to the pile of presents at the tree with the intent of finding the ones from Lily and her two guardians and leaving, but the Marauders had other plans. As soon as she sat down, they all piled present upon present in her lap with grins and 'Here Maya's.
"Did you mean that?" Sirius paused to ask. "What Lily said about you calling me your man?" His eyes were so raw with a need that he himself couldn't even explain that Hermione blinked.
"I never technically said that you were my man, Sirius." She said slowly to gather her thoughts. His face fell and she felt her heart wrench at the sight. "But..." He looked up, hardly daring to hope. "I'd...I'd like you to be." She said. Sirius didn't give her time to take another breath before he pressed his lips to hers, rough and needy. Hermione kissed him back, surprised, before gently pushing him away and smiling at him. He smiled back at her and sat beside her, accioing his own presents over to open them. Hermione sorted through her presents methodically before picking up one from Peter first. It was a charm for her bracelet...a tiny wand with sparks shooting out of it. Touched, she reached over and hugged him.
"Thanks, Pudge." She grinned at him. He flushed, and Sirius reached out in jealousy to grab Maya's hand. She laughed and kissed Sirius, who sat back, placated, and opened a present from James.
"Open one of mine next, Maya." Remus said with a small smile. She smiled back and looked at the pile from Remus.
"Which one?" She asked. "You pick." She grinned up at him. He matched her, grin for grin, and handed her the smallest one. It was another charm...this time with a tiny werewolf howling at a full moon on it. Surprised, she looked up to meet his eyes. He blushed a bit.
"I figured...since you found out...and didn't care..." Remus had been the only Marauder that Hermione hadn't hexed to hell on sight after the first few meetings. She smiled at him and leaned in to hug him. She had 'found out' in November...and she had revealed her own secret animagus transformation to him with the promise not to tell if he didn't.
"It's wonderful, Remie." Hermione said with a smile, clipping it to her bracelet with the other two charms.
"Hey! How come I don't get a nickname?" Sirius whined.
"Because you get kisses." Hermione said. "Of course, I could always give Remus kisses and you a nickname..." She leaned towards Remus, whose eyes were sparkling with delighted amusement.
"Don't even think about it!" Sirius pulled her down to him, kissing her deeply. Hermione laughed as she pulled away and reached for one of James' gifts.
"What is it with you people and charms?" She asked, amused.
"Sirius' cousin said that she was getting you and Lils charm bracelets for Christmas." James said.
"She told us that she was only getting one charm to go along with them, so she suggested that for a possible gift." Remus said.
"So, we ran out and bought you charms." Peter finished with a grin.
Hermione laughed and hung the tiny stag charm on her bracelet before reaching for a present from Sirius. She wasn't going to open her present from Lily or her guardians until there was only one left from each. Sirius paused halfway through unwrapping his present from James to watch as Hermione pulled the small dog charm from its package. She looked at it for a while fondly before her eyes filled with tears before she could stop them. She looked up at Sirius and it hit her again that soon these wonderful people would all be in shambles.
"Maya! Don't cry...please! Oh, Please, baby...don't cry!" Hermione felt Sirius draw her into his arms, holding her tightly against him and rocking silently back and forth with her.
"I just...it's so...I didn't expect..." Hermione stuttered out.
"We wanted to, Maya." James said, softly. Hermione looked up at the concerned faces around her. "Everybody should have a reason to enjoy CHRISTMAS!"
"Thank you..." She whispered, looking up at Sirius. He smiled and kissed her forehead, clipping the tiny dog charm on her bracelet for her and handing her another gift.
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Sirius laughed and threw another snowball at James and Lily, who were hiding behind a wall of snow blocks that they'd built before the snowball fight. Remus and Peter were hitting him from behind, and Malfoy and Narcissa were off somewhere to his left. Snivellus and Zambini were to his right, and Maya sat on the steps reading...having warned of what would happen should a snowball hit her.
"Hey Maya!" Sirius called, diving to avoid being hit, just to become the victim of four other snowballs. "A little help here?" When she just looked up and smiled, he added, "PLEASE?"
"Oh, alright." Maya set her book aside and stood, stretching luxuriously. The others, hearing that she was now fair game, sent eight snowballs her way in unison. And then they found out why Harry and Ron hated having her in a snowball fight against them. Using some of the martial arts movements that she'd learned over the summers, Maya sprung out of the way and snatched up several snowballs from Sirus' pile, aiming and firing them off without hesitation. After a moment, squeals could be heard from the girls and shouts from the guys as the snowballs hit their marks. Maya, laughing, grabbed Sirius' arm and pulled him off to the side and around a corner. Snowballs flew past, and Maya laughed and threw a couple back. After a few moments, she turned to see why Sirius wasn't helping and her laughter died in her throat.
"What?" She asked, slightly afraid of his solemn look.
"You're beautiful." Sirius whispered, pushing her gently up into the nook that she'd been ducking into to hide from the snowballs and kissing her...long and deep. Hermione wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, one hand sliding through his hair gently. After several long moments, Sirius pulled back, breathing heavily. Hermione gasped softly for breath as well and looked up at him. Before she could formulate words, he leaned back in and kissed her jaw-line softly, tracing her jaw with feather-light kisses before beginning on her neck. Hermione closed her eyes and her breath left her in a shudder. Everything she'd ever heard on being kissed couldn't compare to this. Even kissing Viktor had paled in comparison.
She finally couldn't take it anymore and pulled Sirius' lips back to hers, kissing him deeply. His hands had just slipped out of his gloves and up the back of her shirt to stroke her back when about forty gallons of snow was dumped on them. Sirius gave a shout that was muffled against her lips, and Hermione squealed and looked up, glaring, at the eight people standing there looking innocent. She twitched one hand.
Lily noticed. "Look out! She's going for her wand!" And they beat it, running for the castle as Maya jumped out from behind Sirius and shot off eight well-aimed spells. They all fell to the ground, petrified.
"Nice shot!" Sirius said in admiration as she put her wand away, smirking.
"Thank you." She said before leaning up into him. "Now, where were we?"
As his lips were but a hair's width away, a sneering voice came from behind him. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here."
Sirius sighed softly and looked into Hermione's eyes. Hermione smiled helplessly at him and they turned to face whoever had interrupted this time. "Bellatrix. Regulus. How unpleasant to see you." His voice was light and humourous...though it didn't reach his eyes.
"Hello, Brother." Regulus, a sixth year, sneered. Their attention focused on each other, none of the Blacks saw Hermione pale at Bellatrix's name.
"Cousin...darling cousin...have you thought any more of our offer?" Bellatrix asked with a smile.
"Yes I have. You can still stuff your offer." Sirius spat. He turned to Regulus. "Mark my words, Regulus, you will regret joining the Death Eaters."
"Oh, I think it is you that will have regrets..." Bellatrix smiled, lifting her wand lazily. Before it was even fully pointed, a fist collided with her face. All three Blacks turned to stare at Hermione, who was standing there, fist balled, pulling her arm back for another blow.
"What the hell, Gurgeon!" Bellatrix had been one of the few Slytherins that hadn't accepted Hermione when she'd started hanging out with Lucius. Now, she was cupping her bleeding nose and cursing. The intensity of her cursing doubled moments later when Hermione punched her again.
"Bugger off, Black." Maya hissed, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Both of you!" Bellatrix gave Hermione a dark glare before running off with Regulus.
"Bloody HELL, Maya!" Sirius said, softly. "What was that about?"
"I don't like her." Hermione said, simply, massaging her sore knuckles.
"I guess!" Sirius stared after his cousin and brother, eyes wide.
Hermione rolled her eyes and took off the body binds on the other eight. "Come on." She said. "I suddenly feel like some Hot cocoa by the fire." She walked inside, leaving the others to stare after her in amazement.
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"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Ginny interrupted. "Hermione's hot tempered but she wouldn't punch somebody for trying to pick a fight! What did your cousin do that was so bad?" She asked Sirius.
"Ginny..." Harry said. "Bellatrix was the one who cursed Sirius and sent him through the veil." He paused to take a mug of hot chocolate from Molly Weasley, who'd come into Ron's room- for indeed, they had moved to the Burrow so that Lucius and Draco could join them.
"Ohhh." Ginny said, comprehension dawning. She looked up at Sirius. "I think you should know...Hermione's had a crush on you since our third year."
"WHAT!" Ron and Harry yelped together. Sirius just smiled wearily.
"Really...you sound as if Hermione's never looked at a guy except for as a different species!" Ginny scolded the boys.
"We didn't think she had!" Ron gasped.
"Oh, that sure explains Krum." Ginny rolled her eyes. "Go on, Sirius."
"Wait a minute!" Ron protested. "I want to hear more about this crush, Gin!"
"Spare us." Draco moaned.
"Shove off, Malfoy!" Harry snapped.
"Watch your tongue, Harry!" Remus snapped.
"Sorry Professor."
Ginny and Draco exchanged glances before turning to Sirius and chiming together. "GO. ON. SIRIUS!" Remus, Lucius, and Severus exchanged amused glances while Ron and Harry stared, slack-jawed, and Sirius gave another tiny smile. He didn't speak for a long time, so Lucius gently prompted him.
"Hermione and Sirius began spending every waking moment with each other..."
"Not true." Sirius said, softly. "But almost. When she wasn't with me, she was with the band..."
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A knock came from the portrait hole leading into the practice room and Lily went to answer the door. Maya was standing on stage, just beginning to play with Lucius as Sirius and James walked into the room and looked around.
You're the real tough cookie with the long history
Of breaking little hearts like the one in me!
That's O.K. let's see how you do it
Put up your dukes and let's get down to it!
Hit me with your best shot!
Why don't you hit me with your best shot!
Hit me with your best shot!
Fire away!
You come on with a "come on", you don't fight fair
But that's O.K. see if I care!
Knock me down, it's all in vain
I'll get right back on my feet again!
Hit me with your best shot!
Why don't you hit me with you rbest shot!
Hit me with your best shot!
Fire away!
Maya stepped forward and began to play a solo, dancing around the stage like a fool as she did...completely lacking the suave moves she used on stage normally.
"Maya will hate that you've seen her when she's fooling around!" Lily called over the din of Maya's guitar.
"She won't hex us, will she?" James looked worried.
"Naw!" Narcissa called. "She'll just get embarrassed!"
Well you're the real tough cookie with the long history
Of breaking little hearts like the one in me!
Before I put another notch in my lipstick case
You better make sure you put me in my place!
Hit me with your best shot!
Why don't you hit me with your best shot!
Hit me with your best shot!
Fire away!
Hit me with your best shot!
Why don't you hit me with your best shot!
Hit me with your best shot!
Fire away! Hermione finished off the song before she looked up and saw that James and Sirius were there. She felt heat flooding into her face as she squealed.
"How long have you two been there!" She asked.
"Long enough to see that you're not nearly so suave when you're not in front of an audience!" James teased. Sirius just smiled as he watched his girlfriend turn an even brighter red.
"I like having fun!" Maya protested, still blushing fiercely.
"You sure know a lot of songs, Maya." Sirius broke in, saving his girlfriend from any more embarrassment, as cute as she was when she blushed.
"Oh, I suppose that's because my parents were muggles." She said, shrugging carelessly. Sirius blinked and Lucius and Severus looked at her in surprise.
"I thought you went to Durmstrang." Lucius said.
"Mhm."
"And...they let you in with muggle parents?"
"Oh..." Hermione pulled something off of the top of her head. "My Aunt and Uncle were a witch and wizard. They're quite powerful, really..." She picked up a chip and took a bite, swallowing before continuing, casually. "They pulled a few strings." She stood there munching on her chip, outwardly calm while her heart beat faster and faster...praying that they'd believe her.
"Oh. Okay." Lucius said. "Bla...ack, I mean..." He caught her glare. "Sirius was right. You do know a lot of songs."
"Thank you." Hermione smiled, glad to have gotten off of the hook. "My best friends there used to tease me about it. I even managed to smuggle a few muggle music players. Pissed the teachers off, royally." Truth. In her sixth year, she'd managed to make not only a small portable CD player, but an entire sound system work. McGonagall had gone apeshit...to say nothing of Snape. She'd thought, at the time, that he'd been mad because it was a muggle song that she'd blasted in his classroom.
The song that she'd blasted was the one she'd just finished singing...Hit Me With Your Best Shot.
She had a feeling that whatever had happened to her in this time...it wasn't going to leave her friends very happy. At all.
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"Hey Gurgeon!" Maya stopped walking between Sirius and Lucius and turned around. Bellatrix was walking towards her, wand out.
"What do you want, Black?" As the warmth in Maya's voice evaporated, her best friend and her boyfriend both looked at her in surprise. They had never seen Maya flat dislike someone...not even Regulus who harassed her at every available moment...but she despised even the sound of Bellatrix's voice.
"Just wondering if you would invite me the next time you, my cousin, and Malfoy here have a threesome. I'd love to get some blackmail pictures."
"Why you..." Sirius began, but Maya cut him off.
"Oh of COURSE, Bellatrix." She cooed. "In fact, we're having one tonight. Just stop on over." She turned and walked away, dragging the two speechless boys by the hands.
"What was that about, Maya?" Lucius stammered when he finally got his voice back. "We're not..!"
"Of course we're not! But she doesn't need to know that." Maya smirked...and the cruelty of that one look made Sirius shiver. "And I ran out of people to prank when I started dating Sirius and Lils started dating James. I'm afraid I might be out of practice!" The smirk fell away and all that was left was ice. "Bellatrix Black is the PERFECT target. Especially since I hate her so."
Lucius and Sirius stopped as she flounced ahead of them into the great hall, ignoring the looks exchanged behind her back.
Hermione rolled her eyes silently. She couldn't explain to them why she hated Bellatrix so. Hell...she couldn't even explain it to herself. Harry was the one who was close to Sirius in her own time...
Harry.
Ron.
She managed not to think of them most of the time now, but it was still there...an ache deep in the back of her heart. She wanted so desperately to be back in her own time...curled up in bed with the two of them reading stories. It was a tradition they'd begun the year before. Harry had had too many nightmares, and so the Golden Trio had gone to Professor Dumbledore and asked for a room apart from the other dormitories...one where they could curl up together and just hold each other. Of course...the way they'd worded it had made it sound more for safety purposes than anything else. The fact remained that it had worked. The three of them had begun sleeping in the same room together. Hell, the same BED together, curled up to each other for safety and warmth.
Their love went beyond hormones. It was the love she and Lucius now shared...the love that let them curl up naked and not feel a bit of anything besides that love. The love that they had made sure Sirius and Narcissa both knew that they could not break apart...for it would not work. It was the love that made Sirius and Narcissa jealous...for the two of them often escaped together to talk, just the two of them...and yet it was a foolish jealousy...one that had no grounds.
That night, Hermione approached Dumbledore at dinner and asked to speak with him. He'd given her the password to his office and sent her on her way...meeting her promptly after dinner.
"What can I do for you Miss Gurgeon?" Dumbledore asked, eyes twinkling.
"I was wondering if...maybe..." Hermione hesitated. "Could Snake's Halo and The Marauders have a separate dormitory? It would promote inter-house relations and..." She stopped as Dumbledore held up a hand.
"Say no more, Miss Gurgeon. I understand." Albus said, eyes twinkling. He'd seen this coming from the beginning...she was an outlaw in her own common room...it was only right that she should want to be somewhere else to cling to her closest friends. And after all she'd lost, Albus couldn't bear letting the young woman suffer any more than she obviously already was. "I have already prepared a common room for you and your friends. Come, I will take you there."
"Yes, Professor..." Hermione stood and followed the Headmaster, silently. He led her down a familiar corridor and stopped before a familiar statue. The statue of Merlin the Great.
"Professor Purdie's Purple Plum Pudding." Dumbledore said, and the statue slowly stepped aside to reveal a small door. Dumbledore produced ten keys and handed them to Hermione, who smiled and opened the door, stepping inside. "You may also access this common room from the Gryffindor Tower and the Slytherin Dungeons. At the statues of the Gryffindor Lion and the Slytherin Serpent. The passwords there are 'Courage' for the Lion and 'Salamander' for the Serpent. You need the key to open it from each place, as well as the password. You will be quite protected in here, Miss Gurgeon."
"Thank you, Professor." Hermione said, softly, remembering everything quickly.
"Your things were moved as we came into this room. As the others enter, their things will also be moved. Please allow no others in here besides yourselves, Miss Gurgeon." Professor Dumbledore looked very grave. "Your key will only work for you. Any copies, magical or non, will be useless." She already knew all of this, of course, but she let him continue anyways. "Now...I will leave you to get your friends and bring them here yourself. Good day, Miss Gurgeon." He paused. "Oh, and it might be profitable to know that mine is the only key that can be successfully magically copied is my own. Which I keep quite safe." He stepped out.
Hermione ran to the portrait of Lily and James...the Head Girl and Boy. In her time, her picture would be up there...as would Harry's. Pushing open the portrait, Hermione stepped into the small hallway that would lead her to the door which would let her out into the Gryffindor Common Room. She opened the door and stepped out.
"Oi! Blimey, Maya!" James yelled. "Where did you come from!"
"I got news!" Hermione bounced over the back of one of the sofas and landed in Sirius' lap.
"Spill!" Lily said.
"Well...I talked to Dumbledore...and we have our own common room."
"WHAT!" The others shrieked.
"Well, we'll be sharing with the rest of Snake's Halo and Narcissa as well, but that's beside the point. Ten of us in our own common room." Hermione handed out the keys. "Come on, I'll show you." She stood up and walked out of the common room, leading the way to the main entrance to the new one. "Professor Purdie's Purple Plum Pudding." She recited, calmly. She heard the snickers from the others behind her as she slipped her key into the lock and opened it, leading the way inside.
"Wicked!" James said, looking around.
"Mhm...I'll be back guys, you look around. I need to go get Lucius and the others."
"Hey Maya." Lily said. "Can we get in through the Gryffindor Common Room, too?"
"Oh, yeah. The password there is 'Courage' and it's the statue of the lion."
"Okay." Lily said, wandering into the kitchen that had been included. Maya hurried to the portrait of the Four Founders and opened it, slipping through to the Slytherin Common Room.
Poking her head out, she called softly. "Lucius! Severus!" After a moment, the two men stepped down a few stairs.
"Maya? What the hell?" Severus yelped, staring at her as she lounged on one of the chairs. "How did you get in here?"
"Through our new common room." She grinned, holding up the keys for Trevor, Severus, Lucius, and Narcissa.
"Wait...what?" Lucius asked. "New common room?"
"Mhm. I talked Dumbledore into it. Go grab Cissa and Trev and I'll take you to the main entrance." When they were all settled in, Hermione sat in Sirius' lap, curling against his chest as the ten teenagers talked softly about the rise of the Dark Lord Voldemort and all that it implied. It was late when they finally fell into bed...dreaming of pleasant times and friends.