I know I said I wouldn't be posting anything until my exams were over...cause I'm currently in the middle of them, but, whenever I get frustrated studying, or need to take a bit I've been writing and adding bits and pieces to this time skip chapter.
Which is what it is, a time skip chapter, so the dates are important (they always are lol, but you know what I mean :P)
I'm going to go back to studying and possibly freaking out, but I kind of wanted to do something to take my mind of off everything, and I feel like you guys would probably help with that.
I love you all, and I'm so grateful for all your lovely reviews and the fact that you all seem to enjoy my story a lot. I am really, so, so happy for all of you! Seriously, thank you. I haven't had time to respond to all your wonderful reviews, but hopefully I'll find some time after this week is done, since then the bulk of my exams will be over!
Please review and let me know what you think :)
If you want, you can send me asks on tumblr asking me things you want to know about the story (or any of my others if you read them :D) I'll answer them during my study breaks :)
My tumblr: indiebluecrown. tumblr. com
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, and only the story line and any OC's belong to me.
Thursday, December 13th, 1973
Christmas Holidays
Potter Manor
Hermione was lounging on the couch in their Potions room, watching Draco scribble on some parchment in front of him, across the room where he was sitting at his desk. Which was overrun with tomes, parchment, quills and pots of ink; some of the quills were snapped in half, and most of the pots were empty.
They hadn't changed much in their Potions room since returning home for Christmas break, if anything it was slightly in more disarray than it was normally. The other Marauders knew not to bother the twins when they decide to hole themselves up in their room. Occupying themselves with Quidditch or looking in the library for spells and charms to help with the map for when they went back to Hogwarts.
MIdnight was curled up in Hermione's lap, softly purring as she stroked the length of her cat's body. Sirius frowned whenever he saw the cat, telling Hermione that her cat was always up and about the castle, that he never saw her around the Common room. Hermione had merely smiled and given Midnight a treat.
Then she felt it. She hadn't felt it in years, but she automatically knew what it was. "Shit."
"What? Did you say something, Mione?" Draco asked, finishing off his thought before looking up at her. Quill still in hand, half twisted in his chair, hands covered in ink smudges.
"Shit." Hermione groaned sadly, pouting as she quickly stood up, "I have to go talk to Mum about something. Don't worry about it, you don't want to know."
"Why wouldn't I want to kn-" Draco started, brow knitted together before he saw the back of her as she started walking away, the small red dot contrasting greatly against her casual cream robes. Hermione made a knowing noise as she kept walking, Midnight hanging over her shoulder. Boys.
I can't believe this, I can't even remember when I got mine the last time. That was one of the nicer things of the De-Aging Potion. No periods, Hermione grumbled internally. Then it struck her that she had no idea how Pureblood girls dealt with periods. She'd never asked any of the other girls, and she had always used pads and tampons. The only discussion Ginny and herself had had about it, was that there was a Potion that dealt with the nasty cramps, aches, lethargy, bloating and other symptoms that came every month. As soon as she had discovered its existence, she made sure to use it immediately. Well, I suppose I'll find out soon enough.
Hermione found Dorea in her bedroom, her Mother was rifling through her closet. Hermione paused by the door, and was about to knock when Dorea turned on her heel, and upon spotting Hermione gestured for her to enter.
"You know you can come in whenever you want, sweetie. You don't have to knock," Dorea kneeled down on the ground, moving some boxes that were at the bottom of her closet.
"Mum, it appears that...well, I'm not exactly sure how to say this," Hermione nibbled on her lip, crossing her legs and clenching to hopefully halt the blood was gushing out of her. Maybe Mipsy would be able to get out the stains. Hermione had never been successful in doing so when she'd used stain removal charms on her panties, after those times when her period had surprised her out of the blue.
"Hermione, I'm sure it's nowhere near as bad as you think it is," Dorea said, stopping her search with a huff-clearly frustrated that whatever she was searching for was eluding her. Dorea turned around, still on her knees and looked up expectantly at her daughter.
"I got my period," Hermione grimaced as she said it, petting Midnight who mewed on her shoulder. Midnight then proceeded to slide down the back of her body, landing on her feet and glancing at the two women before heading towards the door with a flick of her tail.
"Oh, Oh." Dorea's eyes widened, hands on her knees as she gracefully got up. "Do you know about-"
"Yes, yes I know about menstruation and contraception and the such like...I'm just not sure what to use as a pad?" Hermione winced as she said the last bit, Dorea smiled gently before taking Hermione's hand and led her towards her bathroom, putting her to sit on the second step that led into the tub.
"Won't I bleed on the tub and-"
"Darling, there are spells that will clean all that right up," Dorea dismissed Hermione's concerns with a wave of her hand, bent at the middle as she opened up one of the cabinets under her sink and it took a few minutes before she found what she was looking for.
Hermione's eyes widened as Dorea pulled out what looked like a plain black panty, with the exception that it looked much thicker than a normal panty. Really? I definitely wasn't expecting that...thank goodness it's not a rag.
"Brilliant witch a few decades back created these, normally they aren't talked about too much in 'polite' society so to speak, since it would make the men uncomfortable," Dorea snorted before continuing. "Before that we used to use rags and had them spelled to vanish the blood at the end of the day. These are far nicer. They're charmed to vanish the blood constantly, but they are still absorbent in case the charm malfunctions for whatever reason," Dorea closed the cupboard doors, taking the three steps over to Hermione and held out the panty. "Now why don't you take a shower, honey. I'll give your robes to Mipsy so she can get out the blood, and then I'll have some clothes and a towel ready for you when you're done," Dorea kissed Hermione's cheek and the girl stood up and embraced her Mother.
"Thank you, Mummy," Hermione said thankfully, tightening her grip on her Mother momentarily before letting her go.
"It's no problem, Mione, now go on. I know how disgusting blood feels running down your legs," Dorea tucked some of Hermione's curls behind her ears before letting her go.
Somehow Hermione didn't feel uncomfortable stripping down in front of Dorea, handing her Mother all of her clothes, stepping properly into the tub; having to walk u. Dorea closed the beige shower curtain and Hermione examined the shower.
The tub was white, but the tiles on the wall were slim, in various shades of dark chocolate browns, light beiges and creams, the shower head was a shiny silver, the knobs against the wall in front of her were extremely detailed. Hermione snorted with laughter when she saw that the one for the hot water on the left was a gold lion with a scarlet eye, the one on the right was a silver snake with an emerald in its' eye. The tub itself was quite wide and deep, the top came just about mid thigh, and she reckoned that all of the Marauders could fit comfortably in it.
Hermione waved her fingers, frowning in concentration as she tried to use non-verbal and wandless magic all at once; she turned on the hot water, stepping under the spray to wash off her body. Her curls heavy as the water began to weigh them down.
She should have figured it was coming soon, but after not having to think about for a couple years, it had simply slipped her mind.
Hermione knew what this meant though, they were getting older and they still hadn't figured out how to save Alice and Frank. Then a thought occurred to Hermione. Thinking about the future she noticed that no one knew about the Potter Twins.
I wonder why that is? Hermione mused, she'd considered it before briefly, an errant thought. It probably means that Draco and I must have done something so no one would remember us, maybe we can figure it out so they don't forget us permanently? Hermione sighed, it was just another thing to add onto the list of things they needed to do, and the less time they had to do it. I guess Draco and I have a lot to discuss.
…
It was the last day of the school year and the Marauders believed that they had all successfully passed their end of year examinations. Hermione found herself spending more time with Alice, Frank and Lily than she did her boys the last two weeks. She suspected it had something to do with Gideon Prewett and James Thomas; the male Marauders wanted to spend as much time with them as possible. The Seventh Years were graduating and that made her kind of sad, she quite enjoyed having them around. What made it worse was that she knew Fred and George would have loved Gideon. As a matter of fact, all of the Weasleys would have loved him. She would make sure to tell the twins about him when she got back.
Knowing what she did about him though, she knew that the two pranksters were not going to leave Hogwarts without a bang.
It was a relatively normal morning, with the exception that they had a bit of trouble with Peter earlier. The small boy had managed to grow a tail in the wee hours of the morning, it turns out he was in the Common Room trying to meditate on his own; he had fallen behind the others and was getting increasingly frustrated with each session that the Marauders had.
Draco, groggy, was convinced he was dreaming when he saw a human sized tail waving about behind his mate when he was shaken awake in the middle of the night. Grumbling about not having anymore sugar quills before bed in the future, he rolled onto his side, back to the smaller boy. Peter bit his lip, Remus was a light sleeper due to heightened senses, with the exception of the Full Moon week; where he was constantly exhausted. Peter desperately didn't want to ruin it all for everyone, so he tried again.
This time Draco sat up, rubbing at his left eye, hair sticking up in every direction. He was currently shirtless, and wearing a black pair of pyjama bottoms, feet bare. He pushed back the sheets and peered at the tail that was moving about in front of him. "Well shit."
Draco tried to think of what to do on his own, not wanting to wake up Hermione; then would come the problem of getting past the charm on the stairs to the girl's dormitories. It took about an hour of talking to Peter and trying to calm him down. It seemed that meditation helped, as did calming, nonsensical stories. Stories that Narcissa told him when he was growing up, of great, remarkable Wizards. She always told him that he would one day become one of the Wizards that Witches told their children about. Look at me now, Draco snorted, glancing at Peter's progress. Former Death Eater and time traveller, what an odd combination...not to mention I'm now a Potter. I wonder what'll happen when we go back, if we go back that is. Does this make me Potty's uncle? Oh I can't wait to see the look on Harry's face when I tell him that, Draco smirked, pushing those thoughts aside and giving Peter his undivided attention.
When the tail finally shrunk down and went away, Peter was exhausted. As anyone would be after going through so much magical exertion in one night. Draco helped him back up the stairs, tucking him in.
The Marauders joked that James was the Mother Hen of the group, constantly reminding Remus to eat, helping Peter calm down when he got anxious, telling Sirius when he had gone too far. Looking down at the brown haired boy that passed out the instant his head hit his pillow, Draco couldn't help but feel like he was just as much of a Mother Hen as his brother. After all, he had been the first person Peter went to.
Draco was quietly telling Hermione about it over a cup of tea at Breakfast, the others too occupied in talking to Frank and Alice to pay them any mind; when it began to rain.
"What in the-" Hermione started, it was pouring in a matter of moments. Then the most wondrous thing happened. Gideon and James Thomas burst into the Great Hall, both with yellow brollies open above their heads, twirling them and dancing their way, together, into the Hall.
"No fucking way," Draco laughed sharply in disbelief, non-verbally casting a water repellent charm on himself and Hermione, tucking his wand back into his robes when he was done.
"Raindrops keep falling on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes
Will soon be turning red
Crying's not for me 'cause,
I'm never gonna stop the rain
By complaining,
Because I'm free
Nothing's worrying me"
The two Wizards sang as they twirled, danced, hopped and skipped. McGonagall's hand was on her chest, Dumbledore looked amused to say the least, Hagrid was clapping along in time to the boy's singing. Soon they separated and they danced across the tops of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables.
"Raindrops keep falling on my head by BJ Thomas," Hermione grinned beside Draco. Obviously he was some Muggle musician, since Draco had never heard that name in his life.
"Mister Prewett! Mister Thomas! Cease this nonsense at once!" McGonagall demanded, getting up from her seat, looking most unhappy and highly unimpressed with the rain.
"As your wish my dear, Minerva," Gideon winked, spinning his brolly behind his head before backflipping off his table and onto the ground in between the tables. Smirking, then turning on his heel, he abandoned his brolly before bolting out of the Great Hall.
"It's been a great run, Minnie! How I shall miss you!" James Thomas exclaimed, winking at his former teacher, following his partner in crime's lead and running across the table for the door.
McGonagall stormed after the two boys, looking irate, hands holding fistfuls of her soaked robes, they were heavy and weighing her down. Her boots clicked across the wet stone, through the little puddles that had started to gather.
"They're bloody brilliant," James whispered. "You know this means we have to top this in our Seventh Year."
"I'm sure we'll think of something, mate," Sirius grinned broadly, throwing his arm around James's shoulder.
"Where's Lily?" Draco whispered to Hermione, watching as the rest of the students decided to go for it and were now messing about in the rain.
"She went off somewhere with Snape. They're having a chat," Hermione said wryly. Her dislike for the boy was clear-especially after he had used a disillusion charm on a corridor, fired a tripping jinx on her from behind, causing her to fall onto a very sticky floor that he and his friends had created. It had taken ages for someone to find her, and her hair had been a mess for weeks. To say she was currently not in favour of befriending the boy was putting it lightly.
She wasn't the same Hermione she used to be, though that Hermione hadn't been all cookie cutter, squeaky clean either (Marietta Edgecombe would attest to that in a heartbeat), and now she was going to get even. Draco felt for the boy whenever she got her revenge; he personally was going to enjoy every second of it.
Lily and Snape were still friends, but they didn't talk about their other friends when they were together. Hermione didn't say anything to Lily when the redhead told her she was going to hang out with Snape. As much as she wanted to, it wasn't her place.
That was how their school year ended, with rain inside the Great Hall, an abandoned yellow brolly laid across the Gryffindor table-the students got their trunks, and headed for the carriages that awaited them to carry them to the train.
Goodbyes were bittersweet when they reached the Platform, Sirius and Remus weren't able to come visit this Summer. Remus's Mother insisted that they go visit their family in Wales, and Walburga sent a howler to Sirius two days prior telling him he had to come home. If he didn't then there would be severe consequences. Peter wished he could, but his family was also travelling that summer. Which meant the Potter children were going to spend two months without seeing the rest of their friends.
On the bright side, Dorea and Charlus were waiting on the Platform with open arms, excited to see their children after having been apart from them for so long.
With torn hearts the Potters said goodbye to their friends, promising to write, Sirius nudged Frank before they left, whispering something to him that made the boy blush. Alice, Hermione and Lily promised to meet up in Diagon Alley sometime before school started back.
Another school year had ended, but it only meant that something new was beginning.
…
"Anyone up for a bit of Quidditch?" James asked, laying down across Hermione's bed, limbs currently entangled with his sister's. Hermione angled her head towards him, shifting so she propped up on her elbows, James's arm thrown across her middle.
"I'm up for it," Hermione smiled, glancing at Draco who was seated in her window seat, jotting something down in the margin of the thick tome he was reading, it covered his entire lap, his legs were extended, ankles crossed.
"Me too, it's been awhile since we've gone flying," Draco commented, closing his book with a satisfying thud. Placing it beside him and swinging his feet to the side so they were touching the floor.
"Hey, did you read your letters from the boys?" Hermione asked as the Potter's got up and made their way towards the bedroom door, James's arm was across Hermione's shoulders, and she was holding Draco's hand. She missed the others, but she was kind of happy that she got to have her boys all to herself. Every night the Potters slept in the same bed, taking up the tradition that they had started years ago now.
"Yea, Remus seems happy since Lyall has been drinking and blaming himself less...I guess something Mum said got through to him," Draco said, reaching out with his free hand and opening the door; then came the task of making their way through the doorway, since no one wanted to untangle themselves from any of the others. Draco went first, then Hermione turned on a side, and she and James walked to their right until they were clear of the doorway.
Ten minutes later they were lazily flying over the Orchards. Continuing their conversation from earlier, even though the wind interfered every now and then, which meant they had to repeat themselves a few times.
"Peter says he's having fun with his parents, " James commented.
"Good, I know his Mother tends to be quite poorly often," Hermione said, her hair was tied up into a high ponytail, and after some pleading with Dorea (it hadn't taken much, Dorea was thrilled to go shopping) Hermione had acquired some muggle wear, which is why she was wearing a sleeveless denim jumpsuit-she had altered it by chopping off the sleeves, and cutting the legs so they came about mid thigh, she was currently barefoot. Draco and James had also gotten some muggle wear, and they were wearing some straight legged jeans and short sleeved t-shirts, trainers on their feet.
"Has anyone heard from Sirius?" James asked quietly, so much so that his siblings almost didn't hear him.
"Last time I got a letter was around the time Remus first wrote, telling us about what it's like in Wales," Hermione responded, brow knitted together.
"Remus grew up in Wales right?" Draco asked, changing the topic briefly, legs extended as he flew.
"Yepp, he was born there. They left not too long after that to move to London, then they went back to Wales after...well...you know. He came back to England a year before we started Hogwarts," Hermione replied, putting her left foot on her broom, letting go with her right hand, turned on a side.
"Getting back to Sirius though," Hermione said, smiling as she heard James's soft humming. "I haven't heard from him in three weeks...do you think we should be worried?"
"His nightmare of a Mother probably isn't letting him send any letters," James snarled.
"Probably," Draco grimaced.
"Do you think we should try writing him again?" Hermione asked.
"Let's give him another week, if we don't hear from him, then I think we try again for sure," James said, voice laced from concern.
Their flight was fairly silent after that, instead they ended up doing tricks, and when they were done they ended up deep in the Orchard. Where they found a natural stream. The grounds were so large, and sometimes they got distracted, and they had forgotten this was here.
When they went back to the Manor, they were still slightly damp from having played about in the stream after they finished lounging under some trees.
Recounting their adventures to their parents at dinner that evening, and Mipsy merely shook her head when she saw the grass stains on their clothes. So far, it had been a pretty good Summer.
…
Monday, September 2nd, 1974
For the first time in years, school started back on the second of the month as opposed to the first, since the prior day had been a Sunday. It had also been the Full Moon, which is why Remus hadn't been on the train, instead Dumbledore had allowed for Lyall to floo in with his son earlier that day; Pomfrey had been awaiting them in the Headmaster's office, and together Remus's Father and Pomfrey carried him to the Hospital Wing.
It was also why James and Sirius had snuck out of the feast a little early-James ignoring his sister's questioning look as he and Sirius quickly got up and hurried out of the Great Hall, no one was paying them any mind, too involved with their conversations. James had tucked his cloak inside his robes, since he knew that Pomfrey was going to try to kick them out when it was time for curfew.
On their way, they heard voices ahead of them, and they froze. James peeked around the corner and saw two girls, ducking back next to Sirius. Who quirked an eyebrow at him.
"Who is it?" Sirius mouthed, pointing at the wall when he did.
"Two girls," James mouthed back, shrugging when Sirius frowned. He didn't know who they were, James silently communicated, Sirius rolled his eyes. Making the decision to round the corner, it wasn't as if the girls were going to tell on them, they weren't in the Great Hall either.
One of them had auburn hair that was touching the ground that she was currently sitting on, she had a startling pair of blue eyes, freckles thickly covering her face, her face a bit chubby, and her expression was frozen mid laugh as she turned to look at the source of the footsteps. The other was a honey blonde, who also had blue eyes, though hers were a deep blue, her hair was short, barely brushing her ears, she was quite pretty, only seeming to be more alluring the more you looked at her. The way she stood indicated that she was definitely not one to be trifled with, her posture impeccable.
"Marlene, look it's those cute Gryffindors everyone freaks out about in my house," the auburn haired girl giggled, with a clap, she stood up, brushing her bottom off.
"Mary, honestly," Marlene rolled her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest, eyes locked on her friends socks that were mismatched, one yellow the other black, pulled halfway up her shins.
"You're in Slytherin," Sirius said simply, once he saw Marlene's tie and house colours.
"Really? I hadn't noticed," Marlene rolled her eyes, "I suppose I'll have to go let my mates know now."
"She's a Hufflepuff," James raised his eyebrows when he joined Sirius, now they were only a few feet away from the two girls.
"They rather like stating the obvious don't they?" Mary tilted her head to the side, pulling a bag of sweets out of her pocket. "Gummy bear?" Mary held the bag out in James and Sirius's direction.
"Are those the muggle sweets of yours I like, or the ones that taste funny?" Marlene asked, trying to peer at the bag curiously.
"You like these ones, you want one, Marly?" Mary turned to hold the bag out to her friend instead.
"You guys are friends?" James asked dumbly.
"Yes, bestfriends!" Mary exclaimed happily, "I would hug Marly right now, but today is one of those days where she doesn't like to be touched," she informed them. Mary turned to Marlene again, "I'll give you double hugs tomorrow to make up for it, don't worry." Mary reassured her friend warmly.
Marlene merely smiled softly at Mary, reaching out and ruffling the smaller girl's hair. Mary was quite petite, whereas Marlene was almost as tall as Sirius.
"Right, did either of you want a gummy bear? They're quite good," Mary held the half full packet in their direction once more.
"Sure, thank you," James said, taking a red gummy bear out of the packet.
"I find biting off their heads first is the most satisfying," Marlene smirked, especially when Mary frowned.
"That's not nice," Mary grumbled, popping a green one in her mouth, whole.
"I'm not nice? Who's the one who hexed that boy the other day because he said my legs looked like twigs?" Marlene asked in amusement.
"He insulted my best friend, he had to know that he wasn't allowed to do that," Mary said firmly, giving Sirius a gummy bear when he stepped forward, tapping his nose with her finger.
Sirius was highly confused by their current situation, the only Slytherins their age they had interacted with were Snape and his friends really, so seeing Marlene with Mary-a Hufflepuff-was a bit disconcerting.
"I'm James Potter by the way, and this is Sirius-" James began to introduce themselves, when Sirius cut him off.
"Sirius Black, charming heir to the Ancient and Noble house of Black," Sirius winked at Marlene, who rolled her eyes.
"We know who you are," Mary stated, popping another gummy bear in her mouth, eyes wide.
"You play Quidditch," Marlene said, gesturing to James, "and you are always pulling pranks and getting in trouble, it's kind of hard not to know who you are."
"Well seeing as you know who we are, and we don't know who you are, we're at a bit of a disadvantage here," Sirius said, combing his fingers backwards through his hair.
"Mary McDonald, Fourth year Hufflepuff," Mary introduced herself, shaking both Sirius and James's hands with sticky fingers.
"Marlene McKinnon, Fourth year as well," Marlene said in an almost bored tone. "I have a question, where are you two off to now?"
James cursed under his breath, loud enough that only Sirius heard. They had gotten distracted from their original objective. James hit Sirius's upper arm, smiled at the girls and then said, "Sorry, Marly, that's classified." James winked at her before striding past her, Sirius blew a kiss at both girls before following suit.
"They are cute," Mary said as they watched the boys leave.
"Yeah, I think the other one is cuter," Marlene shrugged.
"You ever going to talk to him?"
"I feel like I will sooner than I thought I was going to," Marlene told her friend, "if we hurry we can probably get some pudding before the feast ends."
Mary's eyes widened, she hopped up and down for a moment, almost spilling the remainder of her gummy bears, "pudding!" She spun on her heel and began to skip away. Marlene shook her head affectionately, following after her friend.
….
Wednesday, October 23rd, 1974
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry
Minerva McGonagall stood at the bottom of the stairs that went from the Sixth to the Seventh Floor-the ones that led up to the Ravenclaw Tower to be exact-with a grim expression on her face. With the exception that they were no longer stairs, it was now a slide.
The staircases were still moving, but this one and a few others in the castle had been transfigured into slides. There was another way to get to the Ravenclaw Tower, it was just a bit longer; the Ravenclaws however didn't look too displeased at the moment. All smiles as they slid down the slides. McGonagall spotted Emmeline Vance who slid down gracefully, hopping up, throwing her book bag over her shoulder, whilst waving her wand at her frosty blue hair. The hair began to plait itself into two dutch braids starting from the front of her hair and neatly working it's way down.
The school year had been relatively calm so far, no major mishaps. Gideon Prewett and James Thomas had graduated, and she had foolishly thought that perhaps that meant things may end up being more peaceful this year. Oh what a horribly mistaken assumption that turned out to be.
This week alone the Slytherins robes had been charmed to change colours depending on the mood of the wearer; this was after they had gone down to get washed over the weekend. Anyone who ate the Pumpkin Pasties on Monday morning then spoke backwards for the next two days. A corridor had been overrun with Pygmy Puffs; which she later discovered was one Pygmy Puff that had the Gemino charm placed on it. That in itself was quite impressive since she didn't know that one could successfully cast that particular charm on living beings. She of course would never tell that to them, but that didn't change the fact that she was impressed. Now if only they would get all their homework in on time.
"Enough is enough," McGonagall adjusted the brim of her hat, turning on her heel and heading down the closest staircase. It was a Saturday, which meant they were either in the Transfiguration courtyard or somewhere else on the grounds. Despite the fact that the Weather was abysmal at the moment. It hadn't stopped raining for the past week, not letting up at all.
When she finally found them, they were along the corridor by the Transfiguration courtyard. Hermione Potter was seated on the short, stone wall, facing inwards, playing with Remus Lupin's hair. James was standing beside her on the wall, facing outwards, hand outstretched and catching some of the rain. Draco was playfully shoving Sirius who was gesturing to the other boy's hair; which was in an unruly and disastrous state today. Peter was sitting on the ground leaning against the wall, in the midst of his friends silently trying to read a small, thin book. The book looked oddly familiar but she didn't put much thought into it.
"This needs to stop," McGonagall said sternly as she stopped a few feet away from them. Tapping her foot impatiently.
The Marauders all froze and turned to look at her, James let go of the pillar he was holding onto for support and did a backflip off of the wall. Her heart skipped a beat, but thankfully he landed successfully, adjusting his glasses when he did.
"Nice one, James!" Sirius grinned, clapping his mate on the back. Hermione jumped off of the wall neatly, hand moving to grasp Remus's sleeve when she did. She was the only one who looked serious, she grabbed her wand from behind her ear, waved it a few times whilst whispering under her breath. Interesting, McGonagall thought as she watched James and Sirius abruptly turned to face her and were then frozen in place.
"Minnie has something to say, I think you ought to give her the respect she deserves and pay attention to her, boys," Hermione said in a no-nonsense tone. Peter hopped up at that moment and went to stand beside James.
Draco had moved over to the short wall and was now leaning against it, arms crossed over his chest, head tipped to the sky, grey eyes matching the stormy clouds above him.
"I'm placing you all in detention," McGonagall said firmly.
"What did we do?" Remus stepped forward, hazel eyes staring at her in confusion.
"The staircases? They are now slides, not to mention everything else you lot have been up to in the past week. Three weeks detention starting tonight."
"How do you know we did any of that?" Draco asked curiously, angling his head to look at her.
"Well Mister Potter, signing your name is a start, or at least the initials J.P. and S.B. are a sure giveaway," McGonagall pursed her lips, hands clasped in front of her.
She didn't give them a chance to say anything else-silently turning on her heel, with a swish of her emerald green robes, and the sounds of her boots as she moved down the corridor-she was gone.
Hermione slowly moved until she was standing in front of her brother and one of her best mates. She snapped her fingers and James and Sirius were released from the spell she had cast, both stumbling to catch themselves.
"You left your initials?" Hermione asked in a deceivingly calm tone.
"What? Everyone has to know how brilliant we-" Sirius didn't get to say anything before Hermione made a whipping motion with her wand, Sirius thankfully ducked or he would've been subjected to a painful round of stinging hexes.
"You're both ridiculous, we have Quidditch practice every night this week," Hermione groaned.
"Shit, that's right," Sirius's eyes rounded. "Do you think Donovan is going to kill us?"
Even though last year Donovan had tried out to be Seeker, this year knowing Draco was highly skilled and their best chance at winning, he decided to be a Chaser instead. Especially since Draco had caught every Snitch in every game he had played the previous year. Gryffindor dominated in Quidditch and because of them-despite all the points that got deducted for pranks and other incidents-Gryffindor also won the House Cup.
Hermione was still a Beater, James was a Chaser and Sirius had joined the team this year, becoming a Beater as well.
Lily and James seemed to be even more at ends, Lily still thinking James was an arrogant toerag, and he still lambasted her with over-the-top romantic gestures.
Severus Snape and his friends had only proved to get nastier as time went by, Hermione had paused before telling Draco that she saw Snape and his friends reading through some very old, very dark books in the library on several occasions. They called everyone Mudbloods, hexed first year Gryffindors for the fun of it, and it was a daily struggle keeping James and Snape away from each other. Especially after all the incidents that only got nastier and nastier every time.
Montgomery, Prickett and Darwin, those were his mates' last names. They were just as nasty, if not worse than Snape. It seemed that even they drew the line at the company they kept however, since they no longer hung out with the Carrows. Who Hermione saw were growing into the monsters Ginny, Neville, Dean, Seamus, Luna and the others had told her stories about.
Snape however never treated Lily with anything but the utmost respect, which is why Hermione didn't tell her best friend that she shouldn't hang out with him anymore.
That wasn't to say all Slytherins were bad, despite their protests, the boys had befriended a Hufflepuff and Slytherin best friend duo, Mary McDonald and Marlene McKinnon. Who also happened to hang out with Emmeline Vance and Dorcas Meadowes quite often.
Draco sighed, "c'mon, might as well go and ask him if we can practice on our own early in the morning for the next week."
"How early is early exactly?" Sirius piped up, Peter shook his head and trailed behind James as he began to stride off. Hermione, Remus and Draco ignored their grey eyed friend before doing the same.
Sirius scoffed before running to catch up, this week was going to be hell.
…
Saturday, November 30th 1974
The Morning After the Full Moon
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hospital Wing
The boys had fallen asleep after pushing three of the single beds in the infirmary together. At first they were trying to finish up the third floor on the map, they had made leaps and bounds in completing the map since school had started back. They were still leagues away from being completely done, but they were proud of how far they had come.
Soon after however they had fallen asleep, and now Hermione was the only one awake, sitting on a short wooden stool by Remus's bedside. This Full Moon had been particularly rough, and it only made her more frustrated that she was still on partial transformation. Her lack of progress irritated her to no end. She had snapped at Draco the previous evening, only for him to hug her as she lashed out, her frustration was consuming her from the inside out. She felt useless, her skin was so hot, as if a scorching flame was running over, as if there was lava in her veins, pulsing, sliding, ready to erupt.
Draco merely held her and let her get it all out, throwing up silencing charms so the small explosion of emotions that happened in the abandoned classroom they were in couldn't be heard. The outraged screams, cries of frustration bouncing around the room. She knew she was being unreasonable, but it had all been building up and she needed to get it out. To release all the built up pressure before she burst.
Now she was looking at Remus slumbering silently, his head was turned towards her, laying on his stomach, the sheets pulled up to the small of his back. The only clothing he was currently wearing was a pair of navy blue boxers. The fresh cuts across his back were covered in a thick paste that Madame Pomfrey lathered on about an hour ago. Hermione was positive that there had to be a better concoction to help with the scarring, and she made a mental note to look for one-on top of everything else she was trying to do; save Alice and Frank, help Draco re-create the Wolfsbane potion, become an animagus. (Though she did find something in a rather old book the other day in the restricted section that may help with Alice and Frank's problem-she often borrowed James's cloak when they weren't otherwise using it for pranks, to sneak into the library after hours).
Hermione leaned forward and brushed some of his bangs out of his eyes, she didn't stop when his eyes fluttered open.
"Morning, love," Remus smiled weakly, hazel eyes filled with happiness. Hermione swallowed thickly, and she scowled when her heart skipped a beat-Remus smirked when he heard it-that was the problem with being friends or highly attracted to a Werewolf, they could hear when they made you nervous.
"Morning, Remus," Hermione smiled back, letting her hand come to rest on his cheek.
"The others are asleep right?" Remus murmured, scrunching up his nose, one arm was falling off the side of the bed, the other spread across the bed to his right.
"You can hear Sirius's obnoxious snoring can't you?" Hermione asked playfully.
"You're terrible," Remus laughed breathily, wincing after a few moments.
"I shouldn't have made you laugh, you're still in pain," Hermione said apologetically, stroking her thumb back and forth on his cheek lightly.
"Don't feel bad, Mione," Remus said quickly, or as quickly as he could in his exhausted state. "You...you being here helps," Remus blushed as he said it. Hermione didn't know what to say for a moment, breath caught in her throat, so she merely smiled.
"Go back to sleep, love, you must be exhausted,"Hermione urged gently, Remus's brow knitted together momentarily, but within seconds he was fast asleep again. Remus Lupin, what am I going to do with you? Hermione thought, brushing her hand across his cheek once more. What indeed.
…
Sunday, December 8th, 1974
"How's fourth year treating you so far?" Narcissa sat down next to Draco. They were out in the Transfiguration courtyard, the snow was falling gently around them. The leaves on all of the trees were long gone, and the powder was slowly but surely covering the ground and the cobblestones. Surprising there were that many people mulling about the Courtyard today, besides the occasional few students that were making their way elsewhere, Draco and Narcissa were alone.
Draco froze when he felt Narcissa's hand brushing the snow off of his head, he relaxed instantly, having been taken off guard at first. Draco tilted his head towards her and smiled gratefully.
"Peggy Brown...she's been following me everywhere, it's starting to get a little concerning, but other than that good. Our DADA teacher this year is pretty decent though." Draco smirked, "How've you been, Cissa?"
"Honestly?" Narcissa barked out a harsh laugh, pulling her scarf tighter around her neck. "Shit."
"Sorry to hear that...what's wrong?" Draco shifted on the bench until he was facing her, giving her his full, undivided attention.
"I have no idea why I'm telling you this. The only people who know are Lucius and our healer-"
"You aren't sick are you?" Draco frowned, Cissa can't be sick. Mum was entirely healthy the entire time I was growing up, and I know she didn't have any serious illnesses before that. I wonder what's wrong.
He tried to keep his face as impassive as he could after that, but from the look Narcissa shot him for a split second, he was almost positive that she caught his confused look from a few moments ago.
"No, well, the potions sometimes make me queasy, but other than that I'm perfectly fine..." Narcissa trailed off, her line of sight moving to the sky, watching the snowflakes in the sky.
"Then what's wrong?" Draco pressed.
"I'm not pregnant." Narcissa said bluntly.
"I-well-I..." Draco's eyes widened and he scratched his head nervously. Then an arrogant smirk crossed his face, and he leaned back slightly. "When you do have a kid, cause you will, promise me you'll name them after me." I already know that you will...or at least you will if we haven't changed too much by being here.
"No," Narcissa smiled sweetly.
"Aww, come on, Cissa," Draco reached forward and pushed her shoulder gently.
"You're lucky I like you, or you would have lost that hand you know," Narcissa laugh gaily when Draco scowled.
"In all seriousness though," Draco's facial expression had grown grave, but there was still joy dancing in his eyes. "You'll be an amazing Mum, trust me, Cissa." If anyone knows that, it's me, Draco added to himself silently.
"Thank you, Draco." Narcissa patted the boy's hand that was now resting on the back of the bench.
"Lucius and I are probably going to take a break for now, when it comes to trying. I think we need a couple more years just to be married, to enjoy each other."
"Why are you here again?" Draco asked curiously after a few moments, Narcissa pursed her lips before answering.
"I felt the need to visit the grounds again, and plus I might have wanted to see you and tease you about that Gryffindor praying that you'll jump her bones."
"Peggy? Merlin help me, she's persistent I'll give her that." Draco grumbled.
"Oh you poor dear, tell me all about it, I do find your troubled love life ever so entertaining." Narcissa grinned, batting her eyelashes at Draco, who rolled his eyes.
"Truly, there isn't much to tell, Cissa," Draco deadpanned.
"Are you sure about that?" Narcissa arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow, lips twisting to the side.
"At first she was alright, but then she started waiting for me after classes, and keeps trying to sit with me at meals, once she tried to squeeze in between Hermione and I...she never tried again," Draco grinned crookedly.
"That's right, how is your fiery twin?" Narcissa smiled softly, Draco knew that Narcissa had developed a bit of soft spot for Hermione after her wedding.
"Good, she's not working herself to the bone at least," Draco sighed.
"Go on."
"Hermione can get a bit...obsessed sometimes, she never goes halfway. When it gets bad she forgets to take care of herself."
"Well then I guess it's a good thing she has you," Narcissa said gently, sipping up straight.
"What do you mean?"
"You look after her, and from what I've seen she takes care of you. You're a team, and you love each other very much," Narcissa said simply.
Not all love is the same, Cissa. That much I know, Draco said inwardly, but aloud, "We do don't we? I guess we do."
After that the conversation dwindled down to pleasantries, small events that had happened since they had last seen each other. Catching up of things they thought were funny or worth mentioning. Narcissa's comment lingered in his mind long after however, digging its' way in and burrowing deeply into his subconscious. To the point where it popped into his mind at random moments, but he knew that there was nothing to be done about his feelings for Hermione. Not now at least, not whilst they were still in this time, so he tried, he did, to get the thought out of his mind. It didn't stop him from dreaming of a raven haired girl with hazel eyes in the slightest however, not even a little bit.
…
Draco was irritated. In his third year meeting Peggy had been alright, but as time wore on her attempts at flirting only got more intense. He was now able to sympathise with Lily a bit more since Peggy's relentless pursuit for his affection had begun.
Hermione thought it was more than a little amusing. She was the only one he expressed his severe dislike for the Fifth Year to, at least as far as Hermione knew that was. The others teased him about it in the beginning, but they soon learned not to from his murderous glare he sent their way when they did.
"It's bloody ridiculous, everywhere I go, there she is," Draco snarled, flopping down onto the couch the Room of Requirement had supplied him with. Hermione and Draco had started visiting the room more often these days, finding that they needed some time to relieve stress somewhere they could talk freely.
"Give it a year or two and maybe you'll actually want to date her," Hermione teased, sitting down next to him, shifting so her legs were in his lap.
"That's not funny," Draco scowled, reaching out and tickling her sides. Hermione threw her head back and tried to squirm out of his grasp, limbs flailing about wildly.
"Dra-co, st-stop it!" Hermione gasped, taking in large gulps of air, face pinking. Draco stopped moments later, somehow having ended up on top of her, their faces inches apart. The smile slowly slipped from Hermione's face, her hand reached up and she held his cheek. She could hear his breathing, she could see the tiny flecks of blue in his grey eyes. Hermione's heart was beating quickly and she prayed he couldn't hear it.
"What about Marlene? She seems nice," Hermione murmured softly. Shit. Why did I ask that? Merlin, Hermione, why, why? Hermione berated herself mentally, a flash of a particular hazel eyed boy with sandy blonde hair passed through her mind and that was her answer, why she asked what she did.
Just like that the moment was over, and Hermione was grateful and saddened by that all at the same time. Draco slowly pushed himself up, leaning back against the couch, smiling faintly. "Yea McKinnon isn't that bad."
Hermione looked back on that moment months in the future and cursed herself, over and over, and she had no one to blame but herself.
I know this chapter is horrendously long, and you haven't had a chapter this long since chapter 3, First Years Again. Either way, I hope you enjoyed it! We're going to pick up somewhere around the middle of their Fourth Year, and I seriously want to thank everyone for giving their opinions on the time skip, it just felt right.
Love you guys,
Indieblue xxx
P.S. Any theories you have would be incredible to hear, I'm all ears lol :P