hey all! I'm super excited to get this chapter out! im sorry it took a bit longer than usual! thank you so SO much for everyone that has favorited/followed/comented it really means a lot to me! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
The initial excitement of the ball began to die down and the students' focus fell back onto Quidditch.
At least, it did for James, Sirius, and Marlene.
They would not shut up about it.
Hermione got it, she really did, she was used to constant Quidditch talk back in her time. She knew James played, but honestly, no one told her that his enthusiasm for the sport practically rivaled that of Oliver Wood.
Also, how had she not known Sirius played Quidditch?
She couldn't remember old Sirius ever mentioning being a part of the team and while they talked about it a few times this year he never actually said he played. Hermione just assumed he was super into watching.
In retrospect it made sense, he was always enthusiastic about it and he did send Harry the Firebolt his third year. Besides, Sirius was super fit and rowdy and loud, so he was the stereotypical Quidditch player type. It was just odd, people would always talk about him being arrogant yet this was something he never even mentioned.
Hermione didn't realize she had been staring at Sirius until he met her eyes and winked.
Hermione tried to refocus on the conversation at hand, but it was so easy for her to zone out, they had this same conversation so many times already.
Thankfully, tryouts were that week and Hermione was hoping James would be a bit more relaxed once they had their team picked.
Once Wednesday hit Hermione couldn't resist going to watch the tryouts with Remus, Lily, and Dorcas. She was interested, Harry was obviously an excellent Quidditch player so Hermione wanted to see for herself where he got his talent from. She was also, of course, going to support Sirius and Marlene too.
Earlier that morning Hermione asked Alice if she wanted to watch tryouts with them, but she mentioned that James banned her from any practices because of her "affiliation" with Frank.
She said it as a joke, but honestly, Hermione thought she may have been serious.
As James kicked off into the air with Marlene and the potential chasers Hermione was impressed with his skills. He moved almost effortlessly through the air passing the ball to his teammates and catching it with ease. Hermione could tell he was barely trying, yet still, he was significantly better than every single one of the new tryouts.
He and Marlene worked together in almost perfect sync, it was like they knew what the other was going to do and exactly when they were going to do it.
Hermione glanced over at Dorcas and Lily and saw the two of them looking just as impressed as she felt.
The chasers touched down to the ground and Hermione saw Sirius talking to what she assumed was the group trying out for the beater position.
Hermione turned to Remus, "Have you ever played?"
He gave her a smile, "Of course I've played. With those two as best friends it would be impossible not to. We play at James' house a lot when I visit, but I've never considered playing for Hogwarts, I'm not nearly good enough."
Hermione smiled at him, of course they would make him play. That was a stupid question.
Sirius flew right past them as she turned back to the field. The beaters were broken down into smaller groups and there were multiple bludgers flying through the air. Sirius and James were both flying overhead watching.
Sirius would occasionally swoop down and hit a bludger if it got out of hand. He was also a very impressive flier, he looked so nonchalant and casual while doing it, it seemed that 'relaxed' was his permanent state of being.
The seeker tryouts were going on simultaneously and soon it was over.
The group made their way down to the field. As James, Sirius, and Marlene walked towards them Hermione couldn't help thinking that the trio looked rather intimidating.
All three of them were noticeably attractive and built from Quidditch. James was in the middle talking enthusiastically to the other two while gesturing wildly.
Well, Hermione supposed James would be intimidating if he didn't look like such a goof.
Sparing just a slight glance at Lily, Hermione could tell that she was blushing red as James ran his hands through his hair.
Hermione looked at Sirius. He shot her one of his signature half smiles and she too couldn't stop the heat she felt rising to her cheeks.
The next week went by in a flurry thanks to James, Sirius, and Marlene at practice almost every night. James, of course, wanted to get a strong start to the season and was often heard ranting about how it was their last year so they NEEDED to win the cup.
Spending her week in the library with Lily and Remus was fairly relaxed, the only really notable event that week occurred Thursday in potions class.
"Alright!" Slughorn began, "We're going to have a very exciting few weeks! Next Monday we will begin talking about one of my favorite potions and you will all start brewing it with your partners!"
Slughorn looked much more excited than the majority of the class, "I tell you because this potion takes multiple weeks to brew so Monday's class is very important to getting it right, I want you all to come to class prepared."
Hermione was a little upset when he didn't actually tell them the name of the potion so she couldn't read up on it beforehand. But really, Hermione wasn't worried, her and Remus made a great potion pair so she was sure they would do fine.
"But for now, we will focus on today. Today we will be making, what I consider to be one of the most interesting potions of all time: The Draught of Living Death." Slughorn continued, "This is the most powerful sleeping potion to exist, the drinker will fall into a deep death-like slumber. While it will not kill the consumer, the slumber continues on indefinitely."
Slughorn looked around the classroom before saying, "I want you all to exercise caution. If brewed correctly this potion can be very dangerous. It is also extremely difficult to make, so don't worry if you run into trouble. In all my years of teaching not one student has made this potion correctly. That is, not yet."
Hermione glanced over to the slim, dark haired boy sitting on the other side of the room. It looked like his partner was absent today. Hermione knew how this would go. Snape would brew it perfectly and he would be the only one to do so for another 20 years.
Hermione struggled with this potion years ago and knew that she and Remus would struggle again. She also hated the idea of Snape doing anything better than her.
Not for the first time Hermione wished she let Harry keep the Half-Blood Prince's book.
It may have been helpful while they were on the run, but it definitely would've been nice to get this potion right before Snape did.
"I'll go grab the ingredients," Remus said from beside her, shocking her out of her daze.
She sent him a small smile and nodded as she started preparing the cauldron.
Remus came back quickly and they began working on the potion. The pair worked together so cohesively, each fulfilling their fair share and effortlessly picking up each other's slack. It felt so easy, so normal. Which only made it that much more frustrating when their potion's color stayed slightly off.
"Okay," Remus said, taking his cloak off, "It doesn't look right, I think if we went wrong somewhere it was probably at the Valerian root. I may not have used enough, I'll grab more and see if that works."
Hermione decided to take off her cloak too, the sleeves were starting to get damp from the steam and she didn't want the Draught of Living Death staying on her clothes even if it wasn't made correctly.
She pushed up the sleeves of her blouse just as Remus came back with the root.
He started grinding it and Hermione noticed him glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. Not thinking much of it she started burning wormwood to be combined with the root.
She glanced at Snape. His potion was the perfect shade.
As he stirred the potion his sleeve dangled over the cauldron and Hermione wrinkled her nose. A wet cloak sleeve is one of the most uncomfortable sensations, especially when it's wet with potion.
Hermione looked around to realize that a lot of the other Slytherins still had their cloaks on. She saw James and Sirius shooting glances at the Slytherins and whispering; that's when she realized most of the Slytherins that had their cloaks on were known Death Eaters. In fact, the only one that had their cloak off was Meliflua, Blaise Zabini's mother, the only one Hermione could confirm was never a Death Eater.
They must have already taken the mark.
Hermione glanced back down at their table and remembered the bandage she had wrapped around her left forearm covering her scar.
That must've looked really bad.
She was too absorbed in the potion to even think about that when she rolled up her sleeves; she had gotten comfortable here and was becoming reckless. Hermione completely forgot about the bandage, she couldn't afford to start making stupid mistakes.
This one of course was fixable, she just needed to convince everyone she wasn't a Death Eater, but she needed to be more careful.
Hermione saw the sly glances from some of her classmates but focused on stirring their potion and avoiding their eyes.
Their potion looked slightly better but still not perfect.
"I think this might be as good as we're going to get it." Hermione said and Remus murmured an agreement.
Slughorn came and looked into their cauldron before returning to the front and praising Snape.
After looking at Snape's potion, which Slughorn forced everyone to stand around, the class was eventually released for next period.
Hermione walked to Ancient Ruins with Lily, acutely aware of the tension that hung between her and the Marauders.
She, of course, understood the suspicion, it was a difficult situation. Soon she would take it off and they would know she didn't have the Dark Mark after all. She just wasn't quite ready for those questions yet.
If Hermione hadn't been so eager to get out of the potions room she would have noticed the looks sent between the Marauders after class ended.
The boys left silently as they made their way down the corridor all thinking the same thing.
"Okay, look," Marlene said, falling into step with them, "I know it doesn't look good, Lily and I saw it when we were trying on dresses and we thought the same thing. But we have no reason to believe she plays for the other team."
"Come on, Marlene," James said quietly, "What else could it be?"
"It's not recent either." Sirius said thinking back to that night at the lake, "I saw it weeks ago. I figured she was just injured, but now I know it's not a temporary thing."
Sirius was so frustrated. He felt like they were all just starting to get along. He thought he was finally starting to understand her better. But here they were and he couldn't think of any other realistic explanation.
"Look guys, I don't know either," Marlene said tiredly, "It is weird, I know. I'm not saying we need to trust her and I don't think we should trust her completely yet. But I am saying you lot need to watch yourselves and don't do anything brash. There's still so much we don't know."
With that Marlene and Dorcas strode off down the corridor.
"Marlene is right." Remus said with a certainty that surprised Sirius.
"Come on, Remus," James said quietly, "You know something weird is going on."
"Yeah, of course something weird is going on," Remus held, "But whatever it is I don't think it's malicious."
"What could it be then?" James asked, "That bandage is right where the Dark Mark goes."
"If she's a Death Eater, Remus, that's the end," Sirius said grimly, "We're all planning on joining The Order once we graduate."
They had all been thinking it for weeks, but this is the first time it was said out loud.
"I know, Sirius," Remus said resolutely, "But think about it. We gave her the perfect opportunity to do something cruel that day by the lake and she hasn't breathed a word about it. I know that isn't everything, but that in itself should garner her a little bit of trust from us."
Sirius glanced back to James. Remus seemed sure about that and the boy was usually a good read of character.
"Okay." James said, "Fine. But we do need to figure out what's going on."
Sirius agreed and the sooner they figured it out the better. He thought back to that day at the lake. This didn't make any sense. So much wasn't adding up. His gut told him Remus was right, she was someone they could trust. But every other physical sign was working against them.
He and James walked through the corridor to Divination and the pit in his stomach continued to sink lower the more he thought about her. There was a lot he didn't know right now, but if he knew anything, it was that someone was going to get hurt. He just didn't know who it was going to be.
Hermione didn't know if she was over thinking or if the tension she felt was really there.
She thought the boys, mainly James and Sirius, were acting strange around her. It was possible they thought she was a Death Eater, but also, the shift was just subtle enough that it could very well be her imagination.
But still, there were small side glances and subtle stares sent her way when they thought she wasn't looking.
The next week Hermione and Remus sat side by side in silence as they waited for class to begin.
Hermione's mind was on the project and Remus' mind was on Hermione.
Slughorn announced that over the next few weeks they would be making a potion that was meant to temporarily strengthen memory and protect the mind. It was one Hermione remembered reading about but never had the chance to make.
They began the potion and even if Remus was much better at covering up tension than the other two, Hermione noticed their usual perfect rhythm was slightly off today.
They bumped into each other and got some of the timing wrong. They were usually better than this.
Slughorn said at the beginning of class each team would have to check on their potion every other evening to add moonstone powder.
"I wonder how James and Sirius are going to manage keeping up with the potion every night, with practice and all." Hermione said, attempting to make conversation.
"They won't." Remus chuckled, "I'll probably end up doing it for them."
This weird state of awkwardness continued for the next couple weeks.
Hermione and Remus felt mostly normal, but still, the tension between her and the rest of the Marauders hung in the air at all times.
With less than two weeks left until the ball Hermione felt the nerves creeping in. She had mixed feelings about the holiday and she was nervous to show a bit of skin to the entire school. She was especially nervous to be Remus' first date.
He was so sweet and caring and trusting, she was terrified to think that she would let him down.
Hermione stood over their cauldron one evening stirring it as she watched Remus add some extra lacewing flies to James and Sirius' potion until it was the perfect color. He had some "family issues" earlier in the week so he hadn't been looking after their potion. Although no one asked her to, Hermione did it for him. Even though she wasn't currently close with James and Sirius she figured Remus would end up having to fix it for them later if she didn't.
Once she stirred their potion 15.5 times and Remus lowered the burner on his friend's cauldron they left the classroom.
Hermione had thought about it a lot and she decided the only way to relieve some of her nerves about the ball was to talk to Remus.
So, as the pair walked out of the dungeons and towards the Gryffindor Tower, Hermione took a deep breath and prepared herself for what she imagined would be a rather awkward conversation.
"Hey Remus," she stumbled out, glancing over at him.
"Hey Hermione," he replied, looking slightly amused yet confused at her nerves.
"So, I just wanted to talk to you about the ball…" Hermione continued, wishing that she had put a little more thought into how this conversation would go. "It's just that, um…"
Remus just glanced at her, all traces of amusement gone from his face, replaced with worry.
"Hermione," Remus said, "If you don't want to go to the ball anymore, I understand, it's oka-"
"No, no, no," Hermione cut him off, "That's not it at all, I'm really excited to go to the ball with you actually, I'm looking forward to it."
Hermione sent him a smile and she could see the relief fill his face.
Their footsteps echoed slowly through the corridors as she tried to figure out the best way to say it, "I just wanted to let you know, because I don't want to take you off guard or anything, but I um, I have a lot of scars, and well, they can be alarming if you're not prepared or if you're not used to them. And, I just wanted to give you a heads up so you're not shocked or anything."
Hermione knew that Remus would understand. He was just as, if not more, covered than she was and she knew that at many points throughout his life Remus had these same feelings.
But she also knew he had no experience with scars like hers yet.
Remus froze in his place.
Hermione stopped walking and turned to face him. As her eyes met his she saw not just understanding, but a deep sadness in his green eyes.
Remus stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. His right hand intertwined with the hair at the nape of her neck as his left wrapped around her waist and rested on the center of the small of her back.
Surprised at his actions, Hermione gently wrapped her arms around him.
Remus was hunched down and his head was buried in her hair.
"I don't care if you have scars." He pulled away and looked down at her, "Merlin, Hermione, you're so beautiful."
His thumb gently brushed the hair away from her cheek and Hermione's breath caught in her throat. His eyes shone in the dim corridor light, but it was enough for Hermione to see the intensity behind them. No one had ever said that to her before with such sincerity.
As Hermione stared back at him she was so thankful to have someone that understood, at least to an extent, what it was like to have a body that displayed details too intimate for the public eye.
Remus' hand moved up from the small of her back, brushed over her arm and found a place in the hair on the back of her neck. He gently pulled Hermione forward and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
Hermione couldn't hear anything but her own heartbeat. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the chill that shot through her body.
As Remus pulled away she met his eyes again and smiled.
It was one of the first genuine smiles she's given since coming here. She felt at peace.
The pair made their way back to the common room, Hermione stepped through the portrait and saw the remaining marauders by the fire playing a game of exploding snaps. They must've gotten out of practice early.
Hermione quickly decided that she didn't feel like joining them tonight, so she turned back towards Remus and gently laid her hand on his arm, she said, "Goodnight Remus, and thank you."
He smiled back at her before she turned and walked up towards the girls' dorms.
This interaction didn't go unnoticed by James, of course.
But, James, ever the coy one, didn't plan on mentioning it unless Remus did first.
As Remus hovered by the portrait looking out of place, James wondered what happened.
"Aye Moony," Sirius called out, eying the lanky boy, "you alright?"
This seemed to break Remus out of his thoughts, "Yeah, of course."
Remus was a terrible liar.
"Are you sure, bud?" Sirius continued, moving over on the couch to make room for his friend, "What was that with Hermione?"
James looked back at him, he could tell Sirius was trying to be casual, and to anyone but James, Sirius would have come across as the most casual person on Earth. But James knew his best friend and he knew that Sirius was dying to know what had Remus so frazzled.
"Oh, nothing." Remus said, "I'm going to bed though, goodnight."
The boys issued their goodbyes as they watched their friend disappear up the staircase.
James and Sirius locked eyes. They would just have to wait until Remus wanted to talk.