Chapter 9: A New Light
Sirius had avoided most conversations that included Hermione that day. Remus had heard about the incident in the hallway and steered clear of Hermione too. Harry caught up with her that night while she was working tirelessly on her Ancient Runes homework.
"How's Ancient Runes?" he asked as he peered at the title of her book. They were at the table in the far corner of the common room. Remus and James were playing a mean game of wizards chess. Sirius and Peter were mostly watching the chess game, but decided to build a castle out of Exploding Snap cards. Hermione had noticed the absence of friends at the moment, and was therefore not in the best of moods.
"In all of my time knowing you Harry, you have never asked me how my other classes were without a reason behind it." She placed down her quill and folded her hands in a very business-like way. "What do you want?"
Harry cursed inside his head. His subtlety was out the window. "What's up with Kyle? Why do you like him?"
"You know this is the first time we've really talked since we had that fight," Hermione said, picking up her quill again and scribbling something on her roll of parchment. "The real question should be, what's up with us?" Harry looked confused by Hermione's question, so she continued. "Are we just friends or—"
"Oh," Harry grunted. "I dunno…"
"Because it seems as if we've drifted back to being friends, just friends," Hermione said slowly.
"Yeah, yeah I guess," Harry agreed hesitantly. He then thought about it and stood up, certainly feeling angered. "At least one of us has got someone new in their life, even if it is all a mistake," he finished in an irate undertone.
"Mistake? Mistake!" Hermione screeched. A few curious heads turned to watch the heated argument. The Marauders stayed focused on their games. "Why is everyone calling him a mistake?"
"Oooo," a girl called Amanda Carrick squealed from the opposite side of the common room. "Everyone, the next Hogsmeade trip is coming earlier this year. It's in two weeks!"
Harry cast a fleeting glare towards Hermione. For one moment he thought that she was about to apologize, but then Hermione's stubborn face kicked back into place. Noticing that this was getting no where, he strode up to his dormitory without giving her another glance.
Hermione had to go through her third and fourth year all over again. Her friends wouldn't talk to her, or at least the boys wouldn't. She was "dating" a popular Quidditch player (Kyle: Hufflepuff Beater). Girls would shoot evil glares at her through the halls from holding his hand. If not with Kyle, who hadn't done anything more than give her a few pecks on the cheek, she was found studying hard in the corner of the common room. The only girls who would really talk to her were her roommates, but even Freya and Dana kept their distance. Though Saumya became closer to her, since they were both seeing Hufflepuffs. Lily thought it was a good thing that Hermione widened her circle of friends. But hardly any girls agreed with her. One girl even tripped her in passing through the corridors. And as Hermione's bad luck would have it, this lasted for two long weeks.
At long last, the day of the first Hogsmeade trip had arrived. Everyone's plans were the same, but James would not give up on asking Lily on a date.
"Come on, Evans," James pleaded as he ran down the stairs into the common room to catch up with a thoroughly irritated Lily. "Just one date! Could it kill you to go out with me for a butterbeer?"
That was Lily's last straw; she huffed and spun around so that James almost collided into her. She took a threatening step forward, which made James cower a few steps back. She kept on advancing on him in pure rage. "Let me tell you this for the last time, Potter," she spat. James's back bumped into the wall behind him. Lily had the towering affect going for her, even though she was slightly shorter than James. "You may have this fascinating crush on me, but I think of you only as a bullying little prat whose ego could take up this entire campus. I won't go with you to Hogsmeade as a date… Ever! Get it through your thick skull already! Ugh!" Lily whipped around so her hair flew in James's face before she stormed towards the portrait hole.
James wasn't the only Marauder to be hurt by their crush's painful words. Remus and Sirius caught up with Hermione right before Lily's rage.
Hermione wore a nice pair of comfy, yet tight-ish jeans and an autumn-colored sweater with her Gryffindor scarf hanging from her neck as she descended from her dormitory. Remus walked up behind her at a fast speed, but was too busy reading a book in his hands to notice Hermione slowly climbing down the stairs in front of him. He ended up slamming into her, causing her to stumble the last remaining steps into the common room.
Hermione turned around to see Remus. Before he could apologize, she said sarcastically (mostly), "Jeez Remus, I know you don't approve of Kyle, but there's no need to murder me."
"Er, sorry," Remus said timidly. He rolled up the sleeve of his green, tattered sweater. "I wasn't watching where I was going." He stuffed one hand in his pocket of his baggy khakis while snapping his book shut with the other hand.
"Are you going to Hogsmeade?" Hermione asked lightly, pleased that he hadn't walked away yet.
"Only to go shopping with James and Sirius," he said in a monotone manner. "They need to go to Zonko's to replenish their stock."
"Oh, that's, er, nice."
"Hermione!"
Sirius came bounding down the stairs, his hair slightly untidy. Apparently, he had shouted up the girls' dormitory stairs to see if she was up there. Once Freya lodged a pillow at his head, he decided to try downstairs. As he caught sight of Hermione, he swept his hand through his hair to clear it up. It fell perfectly back into place.
That, if nothing else, amazed Hermione, how his hair did that. When he was older, his hair wasn't the cleanest or well kept at all. Back in Grimmauld Place, he didn't really bother cleaning up, because the only person he'd have to clean up for was Kreacher. But in this time, Sirius' hair was… perfect. There was no other word for it.
"Hermione!" Sirius said again, this time in a singsong voice. He waved his hand in front of her face. She had been staring at the spot where he had entered.
"Hm, what?" Hermione said distractedly.
Sirius straightened himself up a bit.
"Why are you going out with Kyle?"
Remus smacked his own forehead. "Sirius, have you ever heard of the words subtle approach?"
"Yeah, I have. Why do you ask? This is hardly the time mate," Sirius said. Something in his tone made Remus think that he was serious. (A/N: eh heh) Sirius turned expectantly to Hermione.
She stood there stunned. Two weeks of refusing to talk to her for more than five minutes and they choose twenty minutes before she had to leave for her date to ask about Kyle? "He's nice, sweet, funny, doesn't get jealous if another guy looks at me." At that last quality, she glared obviously at Remus and Sirius. Remus adverted his eyes to his shoes in embarrassment while Sirius continued to stare at her, wincing inside from her words more and more by the second. "He makes me happy. And I thought you two, being that we're friends," she looked particularly at Remus, but flashed her eyes at Sirius, "would be happy for me."
"But why him?" Remus asked quietly. His brown with yellow-flecked eyes bored into her sweet honey brown eyes. He took a deep breath in, as if preparing himself. "Why not us?"
Hermione stared at him in disbelief. How dare he ask such a question as that! "Why not you? WHY NOT YOU?! Merlin, Lily was right when she said James and Sirius were narcissistic prats, but I didn't think you'd join them! Can't you understand? I like you guys, yes." Sirius's head snapped up. "As friends. I'm sorry, guys, but as I said to Sirius, I can't do this with you." For sounding so angered, Hermione looked hurt rather poignant. She turned around and headed for the door.
Harry stopped her before she took half a dozen more steps.
"Where are you going?" he asked. He didn't sound angry or upset, just… protective.
"Er, to Hogsmeade," Hermione said.
"We need a permission slip…"
Hermione hit her head lightly in frustration. She pulled out a slip from her pocket and handed it to Harry. "Oh, I forgot Harry. Dumbledore signed the forms for us. He thought since we had them signed in the future, we should be able to visit the village in the past."
Harry folded his arms over his chest. "And when were you planning on telling me this?"
"I was a little preoccupied lately," Hermione defended uneasily. "Also, he just gave it to me yesterday."
Harry looked at Hermione skeptically. She must've passed the test, because he then said in a more cheerful tone, "All right. Excellent."
"So are you going to go?" she asked eagerly.
"Yeah, I guess… hang out with the Marauders maybe, or the team…" he added thoughtfully.
"Great!" she said over enthusiastically. "Well, maybe I'll see you there—"
She was cut off by Lily's screeching. "I won't go with you to Hogsmeade as a date… Ever! Get it through your thick skull already! Ugh!"
As Lily stormed their way, Hermione gave Harry a sympathetic glance before Lily dragged her through the portrait hole.
Harry strolled over to the sulky Marauders while whistling a jaunty tune with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans. Peter had come down to announce he had been turned down by yet another girl. They all glared at Harry. He was acting way too cheerful at a time like this.
"Hello mates," Harry said happily. "What's with all the sadness?"
"All of the Marauders never go to Hogsmeade without dates," Remus said sadly.
"Except for James, who can never get a date with Lily," Sirius added. James punched Sirius in the shoulder.
"Shut it, mate," he grunted. His face brightened instantly. "Hey, I know something that'll cheer us up!"
"What?" Peter, Remus, and Sirius asked desperately.
"Some firewhisky," James said dreamily. The rest brightened up too. "Come on, let's go!" They all started to speed towards the door, except for Harry. "You coming, Thewler?" James called back.
Harry hesitated. "Yeah, I guess." He joined them as they hopped through the hole. "Someone has to get you back to the castle when you're all too drunk to remember the way back."
They all laughed heartily as they descended down the stairs.
Peter, James, Harry, Sirius, and Remus all stood next to each other in a line at the entrance of Hogsmeade.
"Well mates," James said opening his arms as if to give the town a hug, "it's all ours."
They laughed and headed towards the back of the town where the Hog's Head was located.
"Wait." Harry halted and held out his arms to stop them in their tracks.
"Aw, Thewler," Sirius whined. "Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course not. I wouldn't leave you guys to get caught… It's just that when people get drunk, they are usually too drunk to go anywhere else afterwards, am I right?"
"You're speaking of this as if you've never gotten drunk before," mused Sirius. There was a state of shock hidden in his comment.
Harry didn't reply, but carried on with his original conversation. "And you need some stuff from Zonko's, don't you?"
"Get on with it!" squeaked Peter.
Harry shot a glare at Peter. "Shouldn't we buy your supplies first, and then I can carry them back after you guys are still… intoxicated?"
They all stared at him for a second.
"Now you're speaking as if you aren't going to get drunk with us at all," Sirius said again, this time the shock was more prominent.
James put his arm around Harry. "This mate's got a point, doesn't he?" James said, speaking of Harry while ignoring Sirius's stupid comments. Peter nodded his head vigorously. Remus agreed too with a nod. Sirius shrugged.
"Yeah… I guess Remus has some competition in the 'Reasonable and Smart' department," joked Sirius. He ducked Remus's attempt to swat him over the head.
"Good thinking, Harry," James said. He ruffled up Harry's hair unnecessarily. "To Zonko's!" he shouted.
"To Zonko's!" they echoed. All of them shot their fists up in the air as if about to charge. A few girls giggled on the side streets. The boys ran ahead down the main street towards the joke shop.
The Marauders and Harry strode out of Zonko's thirty minutes later. Each carried at least one bag.
"Jeez, you guys shop like girls," Harry teased. He had learned to duck a hit from someone when teasing, this time it was Sirius. "Oh, and Potter, you owe me twelve sickles."
"I wanted to save my money for the drinks!" James said defensively. "And trust me Harry, you don't want to pay for those…"
They started to aimlessly wander throughout the town for a total of ten minutes. Harry noticed how many girls were always watching the Marauders, but Harry actually caught a few pretty-looking girls staring dreamily after him.
"I know this is a rather random question," Harry said slowly. They all turned towards him.
"Trust me, there is no such thing as a random question with Sirius around," James joked. Sirius's nearest hand was clutching a bag, so he just growled playfully.
"But how popular are you guys… with girls?" Harry asked timidly, finding the gravel pathway below his feet the most fascinating thing.
"Ah, you noticed our fan club, have you?" James asked. He ruffled his hair pointlessly; it was already windswept because of the light breeze blowing.
"You can have all of mine if you want," Remus said tiredly. "There are only two girls I'm interested in," he said quietly.
"Isn't it interesting that out of all girls we could have," James pondered aloud, "we fall for the ones who aren't madly in love with us?"
"Hey, you're right," Peter piped up.
"Oy!" Sirius yelled out happily. "We're here!"
The old, tattered, not to mention tiny, inn stood at the very end of the main street. Its sign of a hog's head swung forebodingly in the breeze. Harry took a deep breath, and followed James into the grungy inn.
They walked up to the bar and Sirius rapped his knuckles on the counter. The barman had been in the middle of "washing" the mugs. He spotted the students and slid over. He knew these kids would buy quite a lot if given the proper first drink.
"Hello boys," he grunted. "What d'ya wants?" He wasn't too particularly cheerful, but to Harry, he had definitely grown grumpier over the past (or is it future) decade.
"Four—" James held up his hand to the barman and turned around to Harry. "Do you want a firewhisky?"
Harry thought for a moment. "How, er… how many do you drink before you get… drunk?" he asked shyly.
"More than one, I can tell you that," Remus laughed.
Harry looked taken aback. Remus didn't strike Harry as the drinking type. But remember, they are just teenagers… said a nagging voice. "Yeah, just one for me."
"Atta boy," Sirius said, thumping Harry on the back.
James smiled and turned back to the barman. "Five firewhiskies please."
"One galleon and three sickles," the barman grunted again.
"I'll pay first round, guys," James offered as they all made to search their pockets for money. They pulled their hands out of their pockets again.
"I'll do second," Peter chimed in.
"Thirds," Remus grunted.
"Guess that makes me fourths, eh?" Sirius said, clapping his hands together.
"I really hope there aren't any fifths," Harry groaned.
James smiled but said nothing, just like the rest of the Marauders. James slapped down some money on the counter and moments later the firewhiskies appeared in front of them.
"Eh, you better leave this out," James said to the barman as he went to put the container away. "We'll be needing this sooner than you think."
"Girl troubles, mates," Sirius announced to the entire room, which was only the barman, what looked like a hag, and themselves.
They picked up their slightly smoking drinks (Sirius swiped the bottle itself) and plopped down at a table in the corner by the grimy windows.
"To girls who don't like us," James said holding up his shot glass.
"Cheers," they chorused. All five raised up their glasses, Harry very doubtfully looking at his glass. They clinked as they brought them to the center of the table. The four Marauders just chucked it down their throats with out a second thought. Harry sighed heavily and then shot it down his throat as fast as possible.
Harry wondered if he should have tasted Muggle whisky first, since it would have been much milder, because firewhiskies stood up for their name. As the alcoholic liquid sped down his throat, he could feel an intense heat travel down… Actually, it felt as if a liquid fire was scratching his esophagus with sharp claws like a grindylow's.
Harry shook his head as if to rid the alcohol from him, but found out it hurt to do that. His head started to throb. He folded his arms on top of the table and laid his head down on them, burying his head so only a mat of black hair poked up from his sweatshirt. Harry didn't care if the other Marauders thought he was weak, in fact, he hoped that they never would bring him here again… How could one drink make him feel so out of it?
Sirius poked Harry on the shoulder. He turned to the other Marauders. "This one's definitely new at the drinking thing," he commented to James.
James shot Sirius a quieting glare. "Hey Thewler?" he asked softly.
A groan came from below the mop of blackness.
"You're okay, aren't you?" he asked worriedly. "You're gonna make it, right?"
Harry lifted his head with all his might to look red-eyed at the Marauders. "I feel… like I wanna… throw up…" Sirius pushed away from the table and Harry. "I said I feel, you dolt, not I am going to," Harry retorted moodily. "I think I'll just stop right now," he said weakly again. "You guys go ahead. I'll make sure nothing too bad happens." And with that last assurance, his head disappeared underneath his arms of his sweatshirt.
They went to pour four more glasses, but the barman rushed to their side.
"Another?" he asked.
"Tell ya what, mate," James said, his words slurred only the slightest bit, "why don't you just charge us for the whole bottle and we'll pay once we're done, hm?"
The barman thought it over. "Fine. But don't get your hopes up on me forgetting." He started to hobble away, his left leg weak. "A good memory I have here in this noggin. Yep yep…"
The boys chuckled as the barman shuffled away. He was still muttering to himself about his long memory and the time he remember the number of a Muggle credit card from one bloke with what looked like a raccoon on his head.
"Crazy ole' badger," Sirius muttered as he went to pour everyone (minus Harry) another drink.
A few minutes after their second shot, they were all shouting at the top of their lungs about all pranks they had pulled. A few profanities came up when they yelled about how their high jinks came to an unfortunate end.
One was about how James and Sirius transfigured Snape into a red and gold monkey. The tale ended with Sirius cussing out Lily for yelling at them and telling McGonagoll about the poop-flinging Snape running around school. The moment Sirius started to swear some more, James punched Sirius in the stomach, though the blow wasn't that hard; James had been aiming for Sirius's head. Sirius would have reacted if Remus hadn't splashed a glass of the alcohol in his face. Harry would have stopped all this way when the first swearword escaped from Sirius's lips, but Harry was too busy trying to calm down his intensely sore throat and throbbing head. He had to focus to keep his last meal in.
After their third round of Ogden's Old Firewhisky, the worn-out, flame-decorated bottle was on its last few drops. Harry's queasiness passed quickly and he got the full blast of how stupid inebriated people could act.
"Today'll go downnnn… in history!" Remus shouted to the pub, his arms flailing all around him.
"And whyyy, Mr. Moony, is that?" James slurred, peering at his empty glass drink.
"I was put into the same… the same…" Remus tried to snap his fingers as he searched for the right word, but only made a rubbing sound.
"Category?" suggested Harry dully. At first it was funny, but now seeing his father, godfather, old professor, and a worthless traitor get drunk together was rather unnerving.
Remus swung his arm around to indicate Harry's word was correct, but ended up poking Harry in the ear.
"Exxxactly!" Remus yelled triumphantly, as if he thought of the word himself. "I was put into the same category as youuuu six!" He swung his arm around his head, ending up pointing at Sirius and Harry's heads.
Harry could have slammed his head hard on the table. He shifted Remus's hand to point at James; this was the fourth time someone had called Harry by his father's name (even James called Harry James once).
James and Sirius didn't even notice that they were being insulted.
"So James can't get this girl that he's had the hotsss for since fourth year," Peter said slowly, concentrating on speaking properly. "Sirius and Remus are crushing after the same girl. A girl, mind you, that haaates them. And I've gotten dumped for the third time in a month." He sighed heavily. "No wonder we're drunk."
Everyone laughed.
"But why is liiittle Thewler here?" Sirius asked.
"Little Thelwer is here," Harry said slowly, pronouncing each word with a great effect, "because he is planning to save you arses when it comes close to our curfew."
"Oh."
"Thanks mate," James said, slapping Harry on the back but falling over at the same time. "We owe you." Since James was so close to Harry, the young Potter could smell his dad's alcohol breath. Harry pushed James off of him; the smell of the firewhiskey was choking him.
"Yes, you sure do," Harry said tiredly. He coughed; the smell of alcohol was more prominent, mixed with the foul smell of stinking sweat.
"Sirius!" Remus said abruptly.
Sirius spun his head around so his hair hit his eye.
"Do you really think you have a chance wittthhh Hermione?" Remus slurred.
"Yes," Sirius said at once. "I gotta… she's one helluva girl."
"I know what you mean," Remus agreed.
"But you know you'll neeever get her," Sirius slurred defiantly.
"And whyyy not?"
"No matter how similar you two are, she just doesn't seem the type that settles for a male version of herself."
"Huh," Remus said.
"Just my point of view…"
Silence grew over them. James and Peter had made up a stupid game to keep them occupied. It consisted of keeping a strand of hair straight while blowing on it. Once James won (don't ask how), Peter giggled and laid his head on Sirius's shoulder. "You have pretty hair, you know that?"
Sirius looked down at Peter disdainfully and shrugged the pasty boy off. "You aaare weird, Wormtail," he said, stumbling through his words. "You are a very—Hey, dere's 'Mione," he slurred distractedly. He pounded on the grimy windows, moved his hand in slow but large circles, and wiped off the grime that had collected on Sirius's sleeve onto Peter's shoulder. All five students huddled around the only clear spot and peered out into the street.
And so she was. Though, Hermione didn't look at all too pleased as she sped-walked out of a darkly lit café. Both of her hands were balled up in tight fists, her knuckles glowing unnaturally white. Her partially tamed hair flew out behind her as she raced down the empty street of Hogsmeade.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Sirius drunkenly commented.
"Just shut up and watch," Harry hissed.
Seconds later, Kyle came running out of the same shop with his flaming-red hair slightly disheveled. He seemed to call something out to Hermione, perhaps her name. Further down the street, Hermione whipped around and shouted angrily at Kyle. Before he could react in any way to her final statement, she broke out into a run towards the gates, putting as much distance between her and Kyle.
The five boys turned back to their table. If they weren't confused before from the alcohol, they sure were confused from that short event.
"What was that about?" Harry wondered, knowing full well that he would get no semi-intelligent answer from any one of his peers. On cue, they all shrugged dumbly, but Remus and Sirius seemed a bit more in tuned than before. Perhaps it was the sight of Hermione that did the trick.
Harry stood up quickly. "I think it's about time we headed back," he ordered quickly, eager to see what happened to Hermione. "Let's get you guys up and running." This was more of a demand than anything.
"Good idea," Sirius exclaimed valiantly. He went to stand with Harry, swayed while holding his head, and plopped back down on the cushioned bench. "But wait 'til we can stand."
Ten minutes later, all four Marauders were standing wobbly-legged and un-crossed eyed. Harry had to stand each one up and hold them straight for about a minute. Peter kept falling over while giggling until Sirius kicked him in the shins. Peter found perfect balance while hopping on one foot while hugged his shin.
Next came walking.
Harry, Sirius, and Remus had to literally drag Peter all the way to the entrance doors. They had to lug James to the gates of Hogsmeade. He had shouted and whined, even tried to punch Sirius when they walked past the Quidditch store.
Forty minutes after they left the bar, they were jogging through the winged boar-guarded gates of Hogwarts.
When they finally reached the Entrance Hall, they parted their ways. James and Peter made off to the kitchens (both could fully walk now). As they have experienced before, the house-elves could conjure up a potion to relieve the drinker of hangovers. Harry, Remus, and Sirius sped up the plethora amount of stairs that stood between them and the Gryffindor common room.
Something had been bothering Harry for quite some time. And now since the Marauders were now sober (more sober than before), Harry decided to ask it: "Let me ask you guys this."
"Hm," Sirius and Remus said automatically. They slowed down their running speed to a slow jog up the stairs.
"How many times have you gotten drunk?"
Remus and Sirius both pondered this (the affects of the alcohol were still in motion). "This would be out third time," Sirius informed after counting with his fingers.
Harry didn't know to feel relieved or worried.
"The first time was… a mistake," Remus said slowly, not to mention uneasily.
"How was it—never mind. I don't want to know," Harry said quickly.
"It's better if you don't," Sirius said seriously. It involved a full moon approaching.
At long last, they reached the Fat Lady's portrait. She had been talking animatedly with her friend, Violet, about what another painting told her: gossiping.
"Patefactus," Remus breathed loudly. He was quite tired, as were Sirius and Harry.
The Fat Lady huffed, because they had just interrupted her conversation about what Armando Dippet had told her. She glared at the boys before reluctantly opening her portrait.
The three boys quickly thanked her and rushed in, looking wildly around for Hermione. Sirius and Remus whipped their heads around when they heard a very faint sniff from somewhere by the fireplace; transforming into dogs and werewolves once a month really improved the sight, hearing, and lurking about.
"Hermione?" Sirius whispered as he crept up behind her, as if not to scare her. He walked around the chair that had bushy, brown hair poking out of the sides. "Are you all right?" He inched closer to the front side of the chair.
Hermione hurriedly wiped away a rebellious tear as she heard the boys enter. She was expecting Harry to speak soothing words only a friend could give as he cuddled up next to her on the oversized chair. She was surprised when it was Sirius whom she saw first. Remus peeped out from behind him next. Harry was walking over with a look of concern. They bent down in front of Hermione's chair, awaiting her reply. To their amazement, she leapt forward to pull all of them into a bear-sized group hug.
"Oh, you guys were right about Kyle," she sobbed uncontrollably. "He was a mistake. Why I didn't see it before amazes me." She pulled back, wide-eyed. She had NOT meant to tell them all that. There you go again Hermione, always being powerfully emotional…
"Shh, it's okay Hermione," cooed Harry. "Everybody makes mistakes. And we were just saying that because we were… jealous, really."
"Yeah, it'll be okay Hermione," chimed Sirius. His face grew more serious. "What did Kyle do, though?"
All boys looked at her expectantly.
"He just… he just…" She looked somberly at Sirius. "Well let's just say the trash talk you heard about me was probably more or less accurate of what he tried to do."
Their faces looked stricken.
"But don't go after him, please," Hermione begged as she saw a vengeful glint creeping into Sirius's pale yet captivating grey eyes. "Just leave him alone." She said the last part mostly to herself. Kyle had reminded her of Krum to some extent.
"All right," Remus said firmly. "We promise."
Silence.
"Where were you guys anyways?" Hermione asked, thankful to get away from her topic. "I didn't see you at Hogsmeade."
Harry looked uneasily at Sirius, then Remus. "Oh, you know… hanging around town."
Bad timing. It is a horrible thing that ruins some of the most perfect moments. In this case, it ruined a perfectly good lie.
"Oy, we got your Pep-Up for the Drunken Tonic!" James and Peter had entered the common room loudly. Apparently, they had taken a tad too much Pep-Up. They waved the bottle happily as they ran sloppily over to Hermione's chair.
Her eyes flashed dangerously at the three boys kneeling in front of her. They now had guilty looks about their face. "Drinking? You were drinking?!" she screeched. "What were you thinking?"
"They weren't thinking at all, really," Harry explained in a tired tone.
"Hey, you had a drink, too!" Sirius said, trying to spread some of the blame away from himself.
"When will you guys learn?" Hermione muttered under her breath. James and Peter were trying to do some sort of dance, but tripped over each other and fell in a messy heap upon the common room floor. They didn't get up, but Remus heard a faint snoring from Peter.
"When you teach us," Sirius answered in the same quiet volume.
Only Hermione had heard him. She looked away from the massive pile that was James and Peter to give Sirius a look. When she met his eyes, she felt the heat rising from her neck into her cheeks uncontrollably. He held her eye contact for quite sometime, but was afraid that someone might notice something. But to their luck, Remus and Harry stood up grudgingly and gave a heavy sigh while carrying James and Peter up the stairs into their dormitory.
Hermione was taken away by how deep his eyes could go… almost into his soul. He had the big, puppy-dog eyes down to a pat. She stared into them more and more, trying to find something other than jokes, witty comments, food, and girls hidden in there. She was so close to finding it, but Sirius broke the eye contact.
He flashed his eye at the direction of the stairs for a half second. He returned to her honey-brow eyes with a comforting passion.
"Good night, Hermione," he whispered lovingly. He leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek. He withdrew and stood up, now staring into her eyes again. "Sweet dreams." He retreated to the back stairs in a slow jog. Before he completely disappeared, he turned around and gave Hermione a wink. He ran up the rest of the stairs, taking three steps at a time until he arrived at his dormitory door.
Hermione was dazed at what had just happened. One moment, she was preparing herself to yell at the Marauders, not to mention Harry, for drinking, and then all of a sudden, she just stared at Sirius. Her best friend's godfather! And not the staring 'Oh, you have some dirt on your nose'. No, it was the 'I'm just staring at you because your so damn attractive'. What was she thinking? But what amazed Hermione is the ending of their little staring contest. Last time it had been a forceful kiss (but still sweet). This past time it wasn't lustful at all. It seemed he really cared about Hermione, as a person, not an object.
With glazed-over eyes, Hermione laid her hand on the cheek Sirius had kissed. She climbed out of her chair and slowly made her way to her dormitory. All her roommates were asleep by then. She dazedly pulled off her clothes, stepped into her pajamas, and hopped into bed.
She lay on her bed for what seemed like ages. All she could think about was Sirius. Not Kyle, who she was mad at. Not the Marauders as a whole, for drinking 'til their hearts content. No, her mind was focused on one boy. That had never happened before. It wasn't supposed to happen to Hermione! She was just a little bookworm, not girlfriend material. What did Sirius see in her? What did he expect from her?
But all Hermione knew for sure was that tonight, she had seen Sirius in a totally different light.
A/N: Woo hoo! One hundred reviews! You guys are all so great!
Thank you all for the information on the eye colour:
Eman, Zenia, Anonymous, Katie, fanfictionworm, Lauren, Killer Angel, terrylove, nicc, fuzzfurry, madisonfairie, pennypie, Lady-Solitary, Padfootz-luvr, popppincorn, Hi Im Crazy, artemisgirl (thanks for the website!), gryphkin (thanks!), and lanna1186! It was much appreciated!
As for the other reviews:
Yumiko Kaze- Don't worry, the mushy scenes will be more frequent and more detailed as the story continues! Thanks!
Dawn1- I'm glad you enjoy my story, but I'm sorry if I held anything up!
Pieceocake- I'm not running out of ideas! I love Lord of the Ring! I like to add that kind of stuff in my stories. It seems fun to me… Anyways, do you know how much stuff Rowling used from Lord of the Ring?
Mio- Thanks! I was worried that the characters in my story aren't close enough to the originals…
Rena- I was going for funny! Thanks!
DoodleGirl- Ahh, the tap dancing cheese… I had a dream a week ago where there was a tap dancing contest between aardvarks and some cheddar cheese. So I entered part of my own dream into my story! And Kyle will show his better qualities soon (but Hermione won't fall for him again). Thanks!
Jean jelly bean- And your wishes of inspiration reached me to finish this chapter! Thanks!
Captain Riley Sparrow- Love the name. Thanks!
Mane Black- Hermione can be a bit stupid sometimes, as we all know. And Kyle will steer clear of 'Mione for awhile. He's not that stupid! Thanks!
Tsk tsk- Aren't you an observant one! wink Thanks!
Rane2920072- Girl power, it's one of the deadliest powers there is, and if Kyle has half a mind, he'll stay away from Hermione. 'Cuz we all know what happens when she gets pissed off at a guy cough Malfoy cough Thanks for reviewing!
Lanna1186- Good idea about Mione turning Sirius's hair green and silver… I might use that later on, but it won't be Hermione cursing him… Thanks for the great idea!
Silver-Enchantress-Elf- Thanks! You don't know how happy I am whenever someone says that!
Artemisgirl- I left you guessing on what Kyle actually did. But yes, he is a very bad boy. Thanks!
Hi Im Crazy- Thanks! I hope the drunken Marauders scene proved funny for you! And yeah, I like Mundungus too. He's just cool!
And my 100th reviewer is Roxxie-Hart! Thanks!
And Callie, my friend who made up Kyle, I'm sorry! When you told me about him and showed me the picture, my original plan wasn't for him to be all mean, but it just fit in the story perfectly! I know your original purpose for him was to be this all-around nice Quidditch star!
Thanks for the reviews! I hope you review some more! wink wink