A/N: Another chapter so soon?! Not very on brand for me, eh? I hope everyone is doing well given the state of the world! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please let me know what y'all think of it!!
Chapter 9
September, 9 1977
"Fuck!" Hermione yelled as she tried yet again to brew a mild pain relief potion for her headache. Her head was pounding so hard that she would lose focus and mess the brew up. She knew how to do it, she could recite the ingredients and brewing process in her sleep if she so pleased. She had brewed it hundreds of times during her years at Hogwarts and on the run with Harry and Ron. Had brewed it hundreds of times while still completely human, complete with her human sense of smell. The smell was extremely overwhelming with her new lupine senses and from what Remus told her, it was only going to get worse the closer to the full moon it was.
Her head whipped around at the sound of the Room of Requirement door being opened. Peter's blonde head appeared, soon followed by the rest of his body.
"There you are, Hermione! We were all looking for you, well, James was at first. He wanted to ask you more questions about Harry and Quidditch. The whole 'youngest Seeker in a century' has his head so unbelievably large you'd think it was him instead of Harry," Peter laughed making his way towards her, looking around the room.
It was the library in Grimmauld Place. A large fireplace was in the center of the back wall with a sofa, two extremely comfortable chairs sat in front of it. A large knitted blanket thrown over the back of the sofa between the two. A few Black family portraits hung on the wall above the fireplace, the rest of the walls were her favorite though. Covered in books, from floor to ceiling. She had asked the Room to clear one corner and add a small brewing area so she would be able to work on her potions without having to worry about stray students looking for some alone time in empty classrooms.
"This is… That's Padfoot's father, right? Is this the library in his parents house? How would you know about it?" Peter asked, stopping in front of the fireplace, looking up at the portraits.
"Sirius let the Order use Grimmauld Place as Headquarters during the Second Wizarding War. I spent a lot of time in here reading as many books as I could. Well, the ones that were safe for me to read. Sirius and Remus had to clean out all of the ones that would harm muggleborns if touched by them," she told him, walking to the sofa and patting the seat beside her. He smiled at her and followed.
"So, is the pain relief potion giving you trouble? Moony has always been wretched at potions. Says that the fumes and smoke gives him a headache because of his good old werewolf nose," Peter chuckled.
"Yeah, this is all just… I've always been really good at potions, Pete. Top of my class kind of good and now? Now I cant even brew a simple pain relief without messing it up because of this 'good old werewolf nose'. Since I can't even do that how can I expect to brew Wolfsbane for us for the next full moon? It is such a complicated brew and takes forever so if I were to even miss a single stir at the right time, it could kill us," Hermione sniffled,resting her head in her hands.
Peter sat there for a few seconds before wrapping an arm around her and giving her a squeeze. Hermione sighed and leaned into his embrace, sniffling again.
"You know, I am pretty good at potions. I'm neck and neck with Lily and Snape for top in our year. If you want, I could help you," he muttered.
Hermione looked up at him with slightly watery eyes. After blinking a few times she threw her arms around his neck.
"Really? You'd be willing to do that for me, Peter? That would be amazing!" She laughed, giving him a peck on the cheek.
"Of course! If it actually helps you and Moony stay yourselves while transformed then it's totally worth it. Just show me your notes on it and I'll see what I can do. Also, here. I always keep some pain relief on hand for when Moony gets his random headaches and for when Prongs and Padfoot when they do something stupid," Peter smiled, handing Hermione a small vial full of a blue liquid she could immediately identify as a very potent pain potion. She pulled the stopper out and quickly downed its contents, sighing in relief as her headache began to ebb away.
"You, Pete, are a lifesaver and I owe you big time. I'll gather all of my notes and bring them to you later tonight. Now, what did you say James needed me for?" She asked, grabbing her bag and storing all of her ingredients in there before swinging it over her shoulder, moving to leave the Room with Peter at her heels.
Hermione gathered all of her notes on the Wolfsbane potion before making her way to the boys' room to give them to Peter and to talk with Remus about it. Once outside the door she heard a shushing sound and then a scream of pain.
"Fuck! Merlin, that hurt, Prongs!" She heard Peter's voice yell.
"It's a piercing, mate. It's not like it's supposed to feel good," James laughed, "C'mon, let me do your other one so I can do Moony's".
Hermione knocked on the door with her free hand before opening it and walking in the dorm room.
James was sitting in a chair with Peter on a chair in front of him, holding a needle and there was a glass of firewhisky on the trunk beside them. Sirius and Remus were sitting on one of the four poster beds, Sirius was admiring the side of his head in a hand held mirror and Remus was reading.
"'Mione! Look at what James did!" Sirius said, scooting off of the bed and walking towards her. There were two silver rings in his right ear.
"Oh, don't call me that Sirius, I hate nicknames," she muttered, setting her notes in front of Peter. "Here's the notes for Wolfsbane, Pete. As for your piercings, they're very nice but shouldn't you, you know, have a sober professional do them?"
James looked offended at her words, "As a matter of fact, Ms. Granger, I am a professional. I have done mine and Padfoot's piercings with the precision and skill of a master." At the word 'master' he shoved the needle through Peter's other ear. "And now I've done Wormtail's with the same." He slid the needle through followed by a silver ring. He quickly cast a cleaning and sanitizing charm on the needle before looking at her and patting the seat in front of him.
"Oh, no. That's a hard pass from me, James. I can't believe you're doing this while drinking! Aren't you worried you'll, I don't know, fall over and stab them or something?"
"Oh, love, he's stabbed us several times already," Sirius chuckled, sitting on the edge of one of the four poster beds and pulling his shirt off. He pointed to a rough circular scar under his left collar bone. "This is from the end of last year when I stole Lily's knickers, cast sticking charms on them and threw them over the staircase. They were everywhere! But, when Prongs found his favorite pair stuck to one of the banisters he decided to shift here in the dorm and stick me with his antlers. A bit of an overreaction if you ask me."
"You threw my girlfriend's knickers all over the school, Pads. You bloody well deserved to be stuck with my antlers, you prick," James laughed, motioning for Remus to take his place on the chair. "Plus, we had some dittany on hand from the week before when you and I tried to dodge the Willow since Pete was sick and couldn't join during the moon. Thankfully Pete was already brewing some."
"You four are something else," Hermione laughed, sitting on the bed next to Peter. "So, as I said these are the notes for the potion. Read over them and if it's too much trouble just say so, it's a pretty difficult potion to brew."
Peter flipped through the pages, skimming Hermione's pristine handwriting.
"I believe I can manage it. We just need to make sure that Dumbledore can get the ingredients."
"Wait, Wormtail, you're going to be brewing this Wolfsbane Potion?" Remus asked, flexing his hands at his sides nervously.
"Yes he is. I was going to but as it stands I can't even brew a standard pain relief due to the fumes being so overpowering that it gives me a headache and I can't see straight. Peter offered to try it when he came to find me earlier. From what you've told me and from the pain potion he gave me I believe he is more than capable of doing so," Hermione smiled at the boy who was carefully examining the notes she provided. "You all have to keep this a secret. Thi-this potion is technically stolen. It hasn't been invented yet but since I already knew how to brew it for an older Remus, I figured it wouldn't hurt to do it now."
"Is it really stealing if it hasn't been invented yet?" Sirius looked at her with one eyebrow raised.
Hermione rolled her eyes before looking at Remus who was ridged and still radiating nervous energy.
"Remus, are you okay? You look a bit pale," she put a hand to his forehead. His body immediately relaxed at her soft touch. "You're very clammy as well. Maybe you should lie down inst-" her words were caught off when one of Remus' arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her to him. She heard him breath in deeply through his nose.
"Um, Remus?" She questioned with raised eyebrows. When he looked up at her face she saw amber eyes.
"Moony?" She whispered and he smiled and nodded. "Moony, I need to speak with Remus for a minute. I need to ask him a few questions. Is that okay?" The wolf looked sad for a few seconds before nodding and closing his eyes. A couple of seconds passed before Remus opened his soft green eyes.
"Fuck."