Chapter 10: A Warning from Dumbledore
Sirius woke up the next morning feeling happier than he could ever remember. Earlier than he could remember too. The sun was just peaking up over the horizon. The radiant sunbeams spread their warmth through the forbidden forest's trees and into Sirius's heart. Today is going to be a great day, Sirius thought cheerfully as he climbed out of bed and walked towards the window.
The sun slowly crept up on the window seat. He sat down on the velvety cushion, which turned out to be quite warm. The sun shone through his unbuttoned pajama shirt onto his bare chest, where the sun's beam uplifted him even more. He sat there, though he couldn't tell for how long. His mind was lost while thinking about Hermione, and how she acted last night. It pained him to see the hurt in her face from that bastard, Kyle. The Hufflepuff boy had always been Sirius's "competitor" in Hogwart's major heartthrob category, but they were good friends… until now. Sirius reminded himself to curse the idiot one of these days. But what puzzled Sirius is how Hermione, after yelling at the Marauders, just stared into his eyes for what seemed like forever. She wasn't supposed to like him, right? She 'couldn't do this with him,' so then why was she staring at him like he was all she cared about in the world?
And why was he so majorly attracted to her? Hermione wasn't exactly the prettiest girl in the school. She seemed like the book-type that never seemed interested in boys more than friends. But there was something hidden in her that Sirius was drawn to like a bug to the flame, something that made Hermione not pretty, but beautiful in Sirius's eyes. She was different than all other girls he had met. Hermione just seemed so confident, but also she… it was hard for Sirius to put into words. There was just something mysterious about her, and he was determined to find out what it was.
When it had become a more respectful hour, Sirius left his position on the window seat and bounded to over James's bed. Sirius took note of James's dream face. It was a grin of pure delight with a hidden smugness, as if he had been right about something all along. Sirius automatically knew what (more like who) his friend was dreaming of.
"Oh, James, you were right from the beginning," Sirius said in a high pitch voice, trying to mock Lily Evan's tone. "We were always meant to be together. Will you ever forgive me for yelling at you for all these years?"
James, still in la-la land, mumbled, "Of course, Lily."
All of a sudden, Sirius found himself being crabbed by the collar and was pulled closer to James's face, which was ready to give a passionate kiss.
Sirius cleared his throat and spoke in his own voice again. "Jeez, Prongs, I know I'm good looking but I'm looking for more of a girl-type figure."
James's eyes snapped open. He was grabbing Sirius's collar and pulling his friend closer. James had to think for a moment before it all seemed to click into place. He shoved his friend away angrily.
"Padfoot!" he snarled.
"Well, you might act more like a girl, but you just don't have the figure," Sirius finished with a bark of a laugh.
Remus slowly sat up in his bed and opened the curtains. "What are you laughing about at this hour?" he asked annoyed.
"Prongs was trying to snog me," Sirius said in a casual tone, skipping over to Peter's bed. He pulled back the curtains just a little.
"I was not!" James shouted angrily.
"I have some cheese for you, Wormtail," Sirius sang quietly in Peter's ear.
Peter screamed and shot straight up in his bed. "No cheese!" He looked wildly around, and spotted a smirking Sirius. "What's got you in such an annoyingly pleasant mood?" He pushed Sirius off his bed and grumpily tore the sheets off of him.
Sirius shrugged and strolled over to Harry's bed. The boy is still muttering about that apartment of miseries. Sirius's face grew mischievous once again. We're just going to have to change that.
"Padfoot," Remus said warningly.
"Let him sleep!" James hissed.
Sirius just smiled even wider and went to stick his head through Harry's curtains, but someone had beaten him to it. Peeves had quietly zoomed into the room and sneaked behind Harry's bed. Once Sirius stuck his face in, Peeves chucked a Muggle water balloon filled with icy-cold water at Harry's face. The poltergeist flew out of the room in a blink of an eye.
Harry's head and shoulders were now completely soaked, not to mention he was awake. He blamed the first person he saw.
"Sirius!"
Sirius scrambled away from Harry's bed, afraid Harry was going to curse him. "I didn't do it! It was Peeves!"
Harry glared. "Peeves isn't even here," he said exasperatedly. He wiped his brow, which was heavy with all that water.
Sirius eyes widened as he looked around Harry's bed. "He was there a second ago!" He turned around to James, Remus, and Peter. "You guys saw him. He floated in here with that balloon!"
Through his snickering, James managed to say, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yeah, we never saw Peeves this morning," Peter added.
This, of course, was far from the truth. All of the Marauders had seen Peeves zoom out of the room cackling only like he could. But seeing Sirius get his comeuppance was a perfect way to start the morning.
"What—that's not—I don't know why I even bother," Sirius sighed. "I'm always the one who gets blamed for everything!" He threw up his hands exasperatedly.
"You get blamed for everything, huh?"
"James, I was joking when I said you were girly. That girl-ish voice just doesn't suit you."
"Oy, you dolt," James said through another hearty laugh. "That was 'Mione talking."
"Huh?" Sirius twirled around to the entrance door to their room.
Hermione was leaning in the door frame of their room. Her eyes had first laid on James, Remus, and Peter, who were snickering like mad. Then Harry, who for some odd reason was soaking wet. She finally set her eyes on Sirius. He seemed only slightly angered, but as soon as their eyes met, his face brightened immensely. His good-natured smile took a hint of his old arrogant smirk when he noticed Hermione's eyes dropping from his face to his bare chest for a few moments.
She blushed and looked at the rest of them again. "Good morning boys," she said cheerily.
"Wish we could say the same," Peter said gruffly.
"Padfoot decided to play alarm clock for everyone this morning," James added in the same tone.
"Hey, you trying to snog me isn't an alarm clock," Sirius said, "it's you being so wrapped up in a dream that you can't even realize that as beautiful as I am, I'm just not Lil—"
"So, Hermione," James interrupted quickly. She giggled. "What brings you to our lovely home?" He cast Sirius a deathly look.
"Two things." She looked at Sirius (while telling herself not to blush). "While in the process of waking up your roommates, you managed to wake up mine. As a direct quote from the prefect herself, Lily says 'If those boys don't shut their arses right now, I'll give them all a hex that even Snivellus would be proud of,' though I wasn't supposed to tell you that."
James beamed. Of course he had to fall for the one who could give some of the best insults. It touched his heart.
"I didn't wake you, did I?" Sirius asked worriedly.
Hermione smiled. "No, Black. So being the one that was fully awake already, I was given the joyful duty of telling you all to keep it down. Anyways," she looked at Sirius again, "I was up way before you."
"At the crack of dawn?"
"Yes," she said slowly.
"Then you should have come in here!" Sirius exclaimed excitedly. "I was up too. And then we both could have wakened everybody up!"
Hermione would have loved to just sneak into his room and stare into those captivating grey eyes, but as she resolved this morning, no one, especially Harry, could find out what she was thinking… about Sirius. A major part of her brain was telling herself it wasn't real. Why couldn't she ever listen to that voice? "Tempting, but I had some homework to do," she lied, managing a sarcastic tone. She had been thinking deeply about Sirius and the time-traveling all morning. Why?
"Other than congratulating myself on waking up the entire 6th year Gryffindors, what else was there?" Sirius asked.
"Oh, just a message for Harry." Hermione turned to the sodden Harry. "First, why are you wet?"
Harry answered annoyed, "Sirius," when Sirius quickly said, "Peeves."
Hermione surveyed them skeptically. It was hard to pick which story she believed. She decided to stay neutral. "Right, anyway Dumbledore wants us to stop by his office for a quick chat before our classes today."
"All right," Harry said with a nod. "About anything in particular?"
"He didn't say."
"Right," said Harry. "Should we go now or after breakfast?"
"Since we are all awake so early," she glanced at Sirius, he shifted his weight, "we can see him after breakfast."
"All right," Harry agreed with a nod.
"If you wait for us at the bottom of the stairs in a few moments, we'll go down to breakfast with you," Sirius suggested with a smile.
"Make it a half an hour. I'll try to get the others up and ready before heading down." Hermione looked at James when she said the last part. James acted as though nothing was different how she said it, or what she was hinting to.
"Great," Sirius said with a clap of his hands.
Without another word, Hermione spun around and hurried out of their room. But not before Sirius took advantage of her eye contact and gave her a discreet wink, causing her cheeks to change rosy pink. No one else saw this but the two of them.
"Hey Harry," Remus started as he bent down to make his bed, "I noticed you were acting differently to Hermione last night." He paused as he neatly pulled up the rich red covers of his bed. "Why?"
"We just found ourselves better as friends," Harry said slowly, picking his words carefully.
Sirius, who was splashing some cold water on his face to freshen him up a bit more, spun around at Harry explanation. The water from Sirius's face flew off, spraying James in the face.
"I thought we told you to stop doing that last year," James growled. He grabbed the towel from Sirius's hands and dried off his face. He next muttered something along the lines of stupid dogs.
"Er—sorry Prongs," Sirius said meekly but with a smile all the same. It was like the grin was plastered on his face, not that he wanted it off. He was rather enjoying this always-happy feeling. There were only a few incidences that made him feel that way: finding new passageways with the Marauders while exploring after curfew, prowling around at night in his Animagus form (with the others, of course), and when he first kissed Bridget Bell… His heart sank. If he succeed at wooing Hermione (and he did plan to), he would be cheating on his girlfriend. And as one of the Marauder's Codes of Conduct, you can never cheat on a girl, no matter the circumstance.
"Something wrong, Padfoot?" Remus asked lightly as Harry, James, and Peter regained enough energy to have a pillow fight.
Sirius apparently had been staring at the towel in his hands with a faraway look about his eyes. His head snapped up at the sound of his nickname. "Wha—oh, no. Just… thinking," he said in a faraway tone to match his eyes.
A little less than half an hour, the Marauders raced loudly down the stairs (James won) to find the common room empty. They walked towards the center to have a good look around. No girls.
"Either they're still in their dormitory," mused James aloud, "or they left without us." His tone had immediately switched to sorrowful.
"Now, Mr. Potter. Do you accuse me of not keeping my word?"
Hermione was on the last step leading into the room. She had a brilliant smile, one she had passed on to her roommates, who were cheerfully walking down the stairs behind her.
"Shall we then?" James asked smoothly. He held out his arm for Lily.
Lily sighed. "Don't ruin my good mood, Potter," she grumbled. She brushed past him but couldn't help smiling.
For being so early in the morning, there were quite a few people there. Many seventh years were already half-way through eating their eggs and bacon: Frank Longbottom, Alice Toby, Bridget Bell, Spencer Spinnet, and Zach Wood were all seated in the middle of the Gryffindor section. The Marauders sat right by them, as did the girls.
James dove into a conversation with his fellow Quidditch players, talking how they are going to wipe every last smirk off of any Slytherins face next weekend. Lily, Dana, and Freya were talking with Frank and Alice about their N.E.W.T.s. Sirius made it a point to not sit near Bridget, but sat by Remus. Across from them were Saumya and Hermione.
"I'm sorry about waking you up, Saum," Sirius said in a sincere tone.
Remus guffawed. "You apologize for waking them up, while you pretended to snog one of us, sang in our ears, laughed obnoxiously loud, and threw water balloons at us? You haven't apologized for waking us up!"
Saumya and Hermione snickered.
"One, I didn't throw the bloody balloon at Harry, it was Peeves! And two," Sirius explained slowly, "I had meant to wake all of you up; I didn't mean to awake the girls. So therefore I have something to feel sorry about." He turned back to the two girls. "You two understand, right?"
"He has got a point, Lupin," Saumya said through her laughter. They all looked at her; she never sided with Sirius. Actually, Saumya and Sirius usually entered insulting mini-battles while passing each other in the corridor. "However," she continued, "it is Black logic, so we know how accurate that is."
It was Remus's turn to laugh. "Too true," he said mockingly sad.
Sirius glared at them, but had noticed Hermione hadn't said a word, but had looked at him the whole time.
"And what do you think, Mione?" he asked suavely. "Do you think I make any sense at all?"
Hermione snapped her eyes back to his face. "Oh, no. Don't drag me into this. I just got used to you two talking to me again." She hurriedly gulped down her orange juice and reached for the scrambled eggs.
Sirius glanced at her skeptically but didn't say anything.
Remus whipped up another round of talking about classes.
"So Mione." He finished chewing his toast. "What do you think of Professor Smirch so far?"
Hermione gave a heartless laugh. "She's just like my old Potions Master. Now he was the worst teacher I have ever met."
Sirius belched, but pardoned himself as Hermione rolled her eyes in unison with Saumya and Remus. "What was he like exactly?" Sirius asked.
Hermione glanced at the Slytherin table, where Snape had just started to eat. She looked at her friends again with a little smirk. "He was the world biggest git," she spat. Remus and Sirius were taken aback at how angrily she had said that. "He only favored the Sly—a special group of kids. And he loathed Harry just because his parents didn't exactly get along with the professor. And he acts just as coldly as Smirch does." She let out a long, drawled breath.
"Way to let it all out, Hermione," Saumya said sarcastically. "You just don't want to bottle up that anger."
"Well, what Prongs and I have planned for potions today, the lesson should be… more interesting," Sirius said mysteriously with a mad glint in his eyes.
"What are you—actually, I don't even want to know," Remus muttered.
"Better not, prefect," Sirius said, happily chewing on his bacon.
Remus glared at him. "You guys don't make my job any easier, you know that right?"
"Hey," Sirius said, feeling insulted, "we don't aim for you, we just aim for the people who follow school rules too strictly." He snickered.
"And let me guess," Hermione drawled, "school rules are meant to be broken, aren't they?"
"Exactly." Sirius's face wasn't joking. "See Moony, she understands."
"I think she was joking, Padfoot," Remus said warily.
Sirius looked at Hermione strictly. "You can't tell me that you've never broken the rules before."
Hermione thought about it: stealing from a teacher, magic in the corridors a numerous amount of times, the sorcerer's stone trip, time-traveling without educational purposes, helping Harry with the Triwizard tournament, starting an illegal defense group, and so much more. "Maybe once or twice," she answered meekly, not meeting anyone's eyes.
"Uh huh, and I kissed McGonagoll twice," Sirius said sarcastically. "Everyone has to break rules. It's an unspoken rule!"
"So they could break that rule and never break any other rules," Remus said matter-of-fact. "If they didn't break any other rules besides the 'unspoken rule', then they're all set!"
Sirius sighed. "But those are just the sissy people who have no life other than schoolwork," Sirius said impatiently.
Hermione gave a slight "humph" but said no more during breakfast.
"Hey Hermione," Harry called out a few seats down.
"Oh right!" Hermione suddenly remembered their meeting with Dumbledore. "We should be going now." She checked her bag to see if she had everything. "See you all at Potions," she said to the 6th years. She turned and walked away with Harry.
Once they exited the hall, Sirius muttered something to Remus and hurried after them.
Harry and Hermione were guessing at what Dumbledore wanted to talk to them about when they rounded a sharp corner. Something hard slammed into both Gryffindors. It turned out to be two someones.
"Watch where you're going, Potter," Regulus Black spat as he shot up off the floor. He dusted himself off before helping the other Slytherin up. She was short, tiny fifth year but looked as if she could knock anyone out who pissed her off if needed. The young Black looked into Harry's green eyes. His icy blue eyes flickered up to Harry's scar. "Oh sorry," he said sarcastically, "watch where you're going, Thewler."
Harry knew exactly who he was by the perfect black hair. "Why don't you, Black?" Harry growled.
Regulus turned to the Slytherin girl standing next to him. "Ooo, Thewler's got a bad mouth. I think, Callie that we might just have to take five points away from Gryffindor for that."
Harry just noticed the prefect badges on their robes. "Prefects, huh? Wow, there mustn't be any good Slytherins this year if you two were picked."
Regulus growled (just like Sirius) and made to tackle Harry, but Callie grabbed his cloak to hold him back.
"That's right, Snyde, you wouldn't want to get those precious badges taken away. It's really the only thing you're good for," Harry snarled. With that, he grabbed Hermione's arm and dragged her down the corner and away from the stunned Slytherins.
"What was all that about, Harry?" Hermione asked snappishly.
"Didn't you know? That was Sirius's brother, Regulus Black: future Death Eater," he hissed.
Hermione gasped. "Was he at… the department—"
"No," Harry said quickly. He looked up and down the corridor. "While cleaning out headquarters, Sirius told me about his brother. Regulus died the same year I was born."
"Oh," was all Hermione could say. "We should hurry. As we know full well, the headmaster's office isn't too short from here."
"Yeah, you're right. Let's go." They jogged down the hall and slowly ran up the stairs.
As soon as they disappeared, Sirius popped out from behind a statue of Uric the Oddball. He had been waiting there to scare Harry and Hermione, but decided to listen once he heard his brother's name mentioned. Sirius's face was probably at its finest confused moment in his entire life.
"What in the name of Merlin was that all about?"
???
Harry and Hermione stood outside Dumbledore's office for twelve minutes naming any kind of candy they could think of as the password.
"Just let us in!" Harry shouted exasperatedly. He kicked the gargoyle that stood in their way. He regretted it, as he always did, because his toes started to throb painfully.
"Come on Harry, name a few more candies. It's bound to open up soon," she said hopefully.
"All right, er… Fizzing Whizbees, Jelly Slugs, Cockroach Clusters, Droobles Best Blowing Gum."
"You already said that one," Hermione whispered.
Harry glared at her. "Er, Ice Mice, Pepper Imps—"
The guarding gargoyle jumped aside and opened up the wall leading to Dumbledore's office.
"Pepper Imps," Harry muttered while shaking his head. "I'll never understand Dumbledore."
They trekked up to the first stair and waited for the staircase to stop spinning. They walked through the doors to find Dumbledore sitting peacefully at his desk.
"Harry, Hermione, good morning," he said cheerfully. "Have a chair." He pointed his hand to the two Victorian style chairs in front of his desk. They hurried over to them and sat down, anxiously waiting to hear what the headmaster had to say.
"You're probably wondering why you are both here," he said placidly. Harry and Hermione nodded. He smiled and continued. "You're not in trouble, but I felt as if I should ask you how things are fairing in this time for both of you."
Harry answered first. "It's going great! I actually think I'm having more fun in this time than the future." And it was true. No one here knew about his triumph over Voldemort; the only reason anyone had to hate Harry was either his relationship with the Marauders or Harry's attitude, which was fine by him. It was getting old, all the whispering around the corridors, people pointing and goggling at him, and people always asking to see his scar.
"Ah, that's another thing I wanted to talk to you about," Dumbledore interrupted. "While you are here, you cannot, I repeat, cannot become attached to anything or anyone. And try not to get, er, involved with people you will meet in the future. I'm not only saying this as the rules of time-traveling, but also I want to make things easier for you and your peers when you depart from this year." He crystal-blue eyes gazed deeply at both teenagers.
"Now, are you having any troubles? Anything on your minds?" he asked in a less serious tone.
It was silent before a moment before Harry said in a small voice, "Er, professor. My friends here have asked about my parents. What should I tell them? I know nothing of the Thewlers."
"Good question, Harry," Dumbledore said with a wink. "The Thewlers are good folk. They have a son, yes, but he works in Wales inventing new broomsticks. The parents are both alive and work at the Ministry of Magic in the Wizengamot. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?"
They both shook their heads quickly.
His sharp eyes pierced their own eyes, as though he knew something was hidden inside them. He must have seemed satisfied because he then excused them. "All right, off you go to class. And don't forget my warning," he cautioned as they made their way to his door. "Saying the slightest thing will certainly disrupt the entire timeline. Good luck."
A/N: Hey, I AM SO SORRY for not updating for so long. I was at a sleep away camp for a week, so I found it hard to write during that time. This chapter and the next were originally one, hence why it took so long. But as soon as "chapter 10" became twenty-two pages and not even half-way done, I decided to split them up. The next chapter will arrive quicker than all the rest, don't worry! (Actually, it's already more than half-way done!)
And all my reviewers!
Thanks all of you! Mangoes2oo5, dawn1, gamergal20, nexiumchick, Kawaiililkitten, soyamonkey, and puss in boots 119!
Artemisgirl- Something bad will happen to Kyle, but they won't be seeking revenge. The Marauders are above that (they don't sink to Snape's level). Yeah, actually, I never really pictured Harry and Hermione together in the books. I always believed it will be her and Ron, but it fit better like this in the story… Thanks!
Hi Im Crazy- yeah, most people can't picture Remus getting drunk, but it was just so much fun to write him like that! Thanks!
Pieceocake- Duh I'm open to showing I favor Sirius… THE BLOODY STORY IS ABOUT HIM! And see, I think you only read those humorous stories of him, and not any romantic ones because a lot of people juice him up… And there's no way J. K. Rowling would make him love Care Bears! (though it IS very funny) Thanks!!!
Doodler-Girl- I just loved writing about Remus getting drunk. He's totally out of character, but yet he still is in character, if that makes any sense. And yes, I am completely crazy. I actually had a dream about slugs and turtle wax and chicken…
Mane Black- And I loved writing the drunken scene (I had to watch all these drunken movies to finally get it down (PIRATES!!!)) Yeah, Kyle is a jerk, but he won't be appearing too much in this story anymore. And the last line of chapter 10 I just loved. It has been playing around in my head since the beginning. I'm glad you loved it. Next chapter (11) will have some of Sirius's charm, don't worry! Thanks!!
jean jelly bean- I wanted to know the eye colors just to add a bit more detail in my story. Eye colors are a big thing for me. The inspiration came! Thanks!
Blondekat3- There will be mushy scenes, like "staring contests" but the real mushy scenes will be coming around the time of Halloween (which will be soon). These few chapters are the build-up to that time! Thanks!
Dancerchick314- Kyle… what he did… Interesting question. I'm really not exactly sure what he did, just something that made Hermione VERY uncomfortable. Something not appropriate for little kids to read, if that helps at all. It could have been a dare… Thanks!
Eman- Oh my gawd, you rock! You really think my story is that good? hugs you Ah this is so cool! My story makes others feel happy. Thanks soooo much!!!
The 100 original BLAH- Interesting name, very cool. And yes, usually the slimy people go into Slytherin, but remember, everyone has a bad side. And Kyle was acting on a dare so he couldn't back down…
Please review. I don't care if it's flames or you're gushing about my brilliant plots. I need reviews!!! Thanks!