Chapter 12: The Slug Club, Again
"Happy Ending" by MIKA.
"Ms. Granger, a word?" Slughorn stopped Hermione in the halls as she headed, without her usual Gryffindor companions, to her morning Arithmancy class.
"Yes, Professor?" Hermione said as she moved off the side of the hallway to speak with him.
"Did Ms. Evans or Mr. Potter happen to mention the Slug Club to you?" Slughorn asked her. Hermione bit back the first response that came to mind: 'Which Mr. Potter?'
"No, Professor," Hermione responded. "What is it?"
"Oh, just a little club I created for some of Hogwarts' most promising, gifted students," Slughorn gushed. "Lily and James are two students who have joined. All the young Black family members are involved too, including your friend, Sirius. You'll probably recognize even more students if you come to our meetings."
"You're asking me to join, Sir?" Hermione asked.
"Of course!" Slughorn said, astounded that she'd asked. "Really, Ms. Granger, why so modest? You've been here just under two weeks and you're at the top of all your classes and the biggest point-winner in your house! You belong in the Slug Club amongst the schools other great students!"
"I suppose I could come, then," Hermione conceded.
"Excellent!" Slughorn said, beaming. "We meet on Friday evenings, after dinner, in my office. You can come right up with your housemates, tonight."
"Yes, Sir," Hermione said. "I should get to class, now."
"Oh, yes," Slughorn responded, "of course. I've kept you much too long. I'll see you tonight, Hermione."
'Well, he's using my first name now,' Hermione thought as she hurried to Arithmancy. 'He kept me too long, and he's trying to keep me longer.'
"Well, it took Slughorn long enough," Sirius laughed when Hermione told her friends about his invitation at dinner.
"Sirius, my second class with him is in two days," Hermione reminded him, laughing along.
"Slughorn keeps his Slug Club radar on constantly, Hermione," James responded. "We were surprised he didn't pick you up before your first class with him." Hermione just smiled. She was first inducted into the Slug Club after her first class with Slughorn in her time.
When Hermione, Lily, James, and Sirius arrived together at Slughorn's office, all the other students Slughorn had collected were already there. Professor McGonagall and Professor Kettleburn, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, were also wandering the room.
"Ah, Hermione, Lily," Slughorn called more loudly than necessary, "just the two ladies I was waiting for. Join me in my stores for a moment, will you?" Hermione and Lily excused themselves from James and Sirius and weaved through the other students in the room, following Slughorn to his stores. They were both a little surprised when Professor McGonagall followed close behind them.
"Do you ladies recognize this potion?" Slughorn asked Hermione and Lily once they were in his stores, handing them a large bottle. Hermione opened the bottle so she and Lily could see the actual solution more clearly, but Hermione recognized the smell immediately.
"Polyjuice Potion," she answered quickly, "but it looks too thin."
"It is too thin for immediate use," Slughorn responded. "It needs to be stored a little longer to concentrate. Well observed, Hermione. Have you brewed this potion before?"
"Yes, Sir," Hermione answered. She couldn't think of any reason why admitting to having made Polyjuice Potion could cause a problem.
"Brewed for one?" Slughorn prodded.
"Three, Sir," Hermione answered.
"Three?" Slughorn asked, impressed. "And in what year did you perform this feat?" Hermione hesitated. "Oh, not that modesty of yours again," Slughorn laughed. "Don't be shy. Was it your sixth year? Fifth?" Hermione shook her head.
"Surely not your fourth year?" McGonagall chimed in. Hermione stared at her briefly. The McGonagall in her time actually did know the truth.
"Second," Hermione finally answered.
"Second year?!" Slughorn said, stunned. McGonagall was staring at Hermione like she'd never seen a thing quite like her. Lily was beaming at her.
"Hermione!" She squealed, hugging Hermione fiercely. "That's incredible! Merlin, you're no witch to be taken lightly!"
"Indeed!" Slughorn agreed. "I was right in requesting your help."
"With what, Sir?" Hermione asked once Lily had released her.
"Oh, that's right," Slughorn laughed, "I haven't asked you, yet. I was hoping I could convince the two of you to use this potion, when it's ready, to transform into each other for a demonstration in class on Monday?" Hermione and Lily exchanged looks.
"I suppose I could," Hermione answered, seeing no reason not to. After all, she'd still be wearing the pin and watch. She'd just have Lily's physical appearance.
"A chance to transform into a witch like this one for an hour?" Lily said, "Of course I'm in!" Hermione blushed slightly. Lily really was a brilliant witch, herself. For her to say such a thing was quite a compliment.
"And does your Head of House consent?" Slughorn asked, looking over at McGonagall.
"As long as they remain with you, in your classroom, until they change back to their true selves," McGonagall said, "yes, I will give my consent."
"They won't leave my sight, Professor McGonagall," Slughorn assured her with a broad grin. As he and McGonagall continued speaking, Lily and Hermione rejoined the other Slug Club students. Lily went straight over to James and Sirius, to tell them about Slughorn's request. Hermione hung back a little, taking the opportunity to examine the crowd in the room more carefully. She didn't see the two girls right behind her.
"You actually agreed to transform into a Mudblood?" Bellatrix Black sneered. Hermione spun around to see her and her younger sister, Narcissa, giggling wickedly. "At least we know not to bother with a Cruciatus Curse," Bellatrix continued more softly. "You're too masochistic."
"Aren't we all, Bella?" A boy's voice asked from behind Hermione. She turned again and her breath stopped. It was Regulus Black. He said something else to Bellatrix and Narcissa, but it didn't register to Hermione. She was stunned by the surprisingly warm, gentle tone of Regulus' voice. Like Sirius, he was also very handsome. His dark, curly hair was a little shorter than Sirius', but very similar. His eyes were deep-set and a captivating emerald green color. Regulus was tall, too. He was closer in height to Remus than Sirius, and he stood a good eight inches taller than Hermione. When Regulus' eyes suddenly connected with Hermione's, her senses jumped back to working order.
"… Part of the job description, you see, to tolerate a lot of pain," Regulus said to her. "It's kind of necessary."
"Need help proving that?" Sirius growled as though in his animal form, coming up behind Regulus with James and Lily flanking him.
"Should we at least warn the bystanders to clear the room, first?" Bellatrix taunted, stepping forward to Regulus' position.
"That won't be necessary, Ms. Black!" McGonagall said, quickly striding forward and stepping between the Slytherins and Gryffindors. "There will be no such display here! Fifty points each from Slytherin and Gryffindor! Potter, Evans, Granger, and Sirius Black, come with me now!" The four Gryffindors followed McGonagall, as instructed. Once they had followed her out of Slughorn's office and up to her own office, she rounded on them.
"Any such display with the marked students here at school is risky enough," she spoke vehemently, "but getting an innocent classmate involved?! You should be more careful—"
"I know about the Order, Professor," Hermione interjected in defense of her friends. "And I confronted some of the Death Eaters on my own, before tonight. Don't blame them, Professor. They were just trying to protect me."
"You know about the Order and the students who became Death Eaters?" McGonagall repeated, somewhat unnerved.
"We told her about the Order, Professor," Lily confessed. "The three of us, Remus, Peter, and Molly told her about it. She figured everything else out herself."
"Really, everything." James said. "In her first couple days here, she singled out the Death Eaters, she knew about the passage under the Willow before we showed her the Map, and she worked out Remus' furry little problem and took no issue with it. We figured, quick as she is to catch on to things, we'd just save her the trouble and tell her about the Order." McGonagall frowned at James, Lily, and Sirius, but she nodded.
"You really are an extraordinary young woman, Ms. Granger," she said, smiling wearily at Hermione. Hermione returned a similar smile.
"Thank you, Professor," she said.
Hermione hadn't tested the two-way mirrors, yet. She chose to do so when everyone else went to Hogsmeade on Saturday. She pulled out the mirror, alone in her dormitory, and focused all her thoughts on Harry and Ron. The mirror clouded over and, a moment later, she could see part of Godric Gryffindor's sword, among other objects. The other mirror was in Harry's bottomless bag.
"Harry?" Hermione called loudly, "Ron? Is anyone there?"
"Hermione?!" She heard Ron's voice call out. "Harry, the mirror!" Fingers touched the glass in Hermione's view. There was a flurry of shadows, then she saw Harry and Ron's faces, barely an inch apart, looking back at her. "Hermione, you're okay! Well, you are okay, right?!" Ron babbled.
"Yes, I'm fine," Hermione said, though her eyes were quickly welling up as she looked at her true, living friends, "are you?"
"Fine," Harry answered. "We had to run a little diversion to keep attention off the Order, but no harm done to us. How's the plan going? Have you met our parents? Sirius? Remus?" Harry's voice grew more anxious with every word.
"Yes, Harry, I've made friends with all but Ron's dad," Hermione said, tears beginning to fall down her face. "He graduated last year, so we haven't met, but I did see Bill. Harry, Ron, they've all been so wonderful to me. They've already trusted me with their involvement in the whole Marauders scheme, and in the Order that they're just beginning to form. They know I know about Remus' werewolf curse, too. I'm still in Gryffindor, by the way, and winning lots of points for the house. A lot of things we practiced with the D.A., in fifth year, are just being covered in some classes now! McGonagall knows that I know about the Death Eaters, The Order, and Remus, so Dumbledore probably knows, too. Oh, and I'm in the Slug Club again."
"What?!" Ron said, "You haven't even been there for two full weeks!"
"What about Regulus?" Harry asked more urgently, "Snape? Any of the Death Eaters?"
"I've met Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Snape, Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Regulus fairly closely," Hermione answered, also becoming more business focused. "They already know I know which students are Death Eaters. Snape also knows I know about his Half-Blood Prince title and his spells. He actually showed me his Levicorpus and Sectumsempra notes, himself. I think I'm really starting to catch their interest."
"And Regulus?" Ron pressed her, "You said you met him. What did you say?"
"Nothing, actually," Hermione admitted. "He came up and spoke to me in the Slug Club, but Sirius, James, and Lily interrupted, then Professor McGonagall came over to break things up and I couldn't really talk to him."
"Oh, no," Ron said, frustrated. "Why'd they interrupt you?"
"Because they're just like you two!" Hermione half-laughed, trying to ease their tension as well as hers, "Ron, do you remember what happened the first time Draco called me Mudblood in front of you?" Ron's ears flushed red.
"Yeah," he admitted.
"Your and Harry's parents, Remus, and Sirius are just as protective," Hermione said. "I just have to find a way to meet Regulus or some of the other Death Eaters alone, so I can actually talk to them for more than a minute."
"Okay," Harry said. "Just be careful. How are your classes going? Are you at the top of the year in that time too?"
"Yes," Hermione admitted, blushing slightly, "along with your mother and father. They really are amazing people, Harry. You're a lot like both of them, in different ways. Lily and I are actually changing into each other in a couple days, in Slughorn's class, for a Polyjuice Potion demonstration." Harry smiled, though he looked pained as well. Hermione was about to say more to him when she heard voices in the stairwell.
"Harry, Ron, I have to go!" She said, "Someone's coming!"
"Okay, bye Hermione. Be careful!" Harry and Ron said together.
"I will," Hermione whispered as the voices drew closer. "I'll get back to you soon!" With that, Hermione threw her mirror into her bottomless bag and shoved the bag back under her bed.
"So, you've heard from Hermione?" Dumbledore asked Harry and Ron. He and Snape were both back inside the Grangers' house to exchange updates with the boys, face-to-face.
"Yes, she contacted us through the mirrors a few days ago," Harry answered. He and Ron proceeded to summarize what their conversation with Hermione had covered. When they repeated Hermione's comment about the Polyjuice Potion demonstration, they were abruptly cut off.
"WHAT?!" Snape shouted, jumping up from his seat. "SHE CAN'T!"
"Why not?" Ron asked anxiously.
"THE PENSIVE PERFUME!" Snape bawled, "IT WILL STAY ON HER WHEN SHE CHANGES INTO LILY! I may not remember her, but I remember that class! Slughorn and the other students will be sitting far enough away, but Lily will be close enough to Granger to sense the potion on herself! She will figure out the cover story isn't real! You have to stop Granger before she takes that potion!"
"How?" Harry asked. "The class is today and we can't be the ones to contact her through the mirrors. Anyone could hear us!" Snape and Dumbledore exchanged alarmed looks, knowing Harry was right. They could do nothing to prevent the slip.
"Let's hope Hermione really has gotten close enough to Lily that she'll tell no one else what she discovers," Dumbledore said wearily.
"Now, class, the transformation can be unpleasant," Slughorn explained as he poured Polyjuice Potion into two goblets and handed them to Hermione and Lily where they stood, at the front of the classroom. "Thankfully, Ms. Granger has already experienced it before, and Ms. Evans has a high tolerance to such pains. Ladies, please extract your hairs and put them in the goblets, exchange goblets, take a deep breath, and drink up." Hermione and Lily both broke off a couple strands of their hair and placed them into the goblets they held. They exchanged goblets, and the bracing glances. They drank the potion quickly. They promptly dropped the goblets and gripped each other's hands instead, as their stomachs protested the treatment in no uncertain terms. Hermione watched Lily's long red hair curl and turn light brown. The girls had to release each other as their bodies shifted and transformed. Soon they were staring at themselves through each other's eyes. Most of the class applauded, Slughorn clapping the loudest of all.
"Well done, ladies," he said before proceeding to point out to the class how each girl remained in her own clothes. He also had each girl describe how the transformation felt, calling the class' attention to how their voices did not change either. Slughorn had Lily and Hermione sit at the front of the classroom to take their own notes, so the class could continue to observe them throughout the full class period.
Hermione noticed Lily looking at her more frequently and strangely than she could make sense of, but she assumed Lily was just very uncomfortable with the body exchange. Hermione also noticed Lily was writing very little in her notes, as though she was confused about what to write. That worried Hermione even more. Lily always took very thorough, articulate, detailed notes. Toward the end of the class, when the effects of the potion had faded and they had returned to their true forms, Lily's unusual behavior continued. If anything, she seemed even more confused, even disturbed, but she remained silent.
"Hermione?" She finally said as they filed out of class with the other students, "Could we talk? Alone?"
"Sure," Hermione said, and she followed Lily to an empty girls' bathroom where Lily immediately locked the door behind them and put a sound ward on the room. Hermione stared at her inquiringly.
"Hermione," Lily said, "when we changed into each other, I picked up on something I know wasn't a side-effect of the Polyjuice Potion."
"What?" Hermione asked, nervous, but still confused by Lily's behavior.
"I was looking at you, as me, and I saw myself as a half-blood witch, transferred here from Beauxbatons, with a pureblood mother I never knew and a father named Inness Granger. the latter dead after a car crash." Hermione's stomach lurched so violently she thought it would break through her flesh and fall to the floor.
"L-Lily, I…" Hermione was desperately pleading with herself to come up with a good defense, but no solution came.
"You aren't who you've been saying you are, are you?" Lily asked, staring at Hermione with hurt in her eyes, "You have some kind of spell on you to cover up the truth, don't you?" Hermione gulped. She was trapped.
"I'm no one you have to fear, Lily," she whispered. "Even though I did lie about where I came from, using a potion you sensed on me, you really can trust me. I can tell you the truth, but you probably won't believe it."
"I believe I can still trust you, Hermione," Lily said. "I do, but I want to know the whole truth. Try me."
"The potion I'm wearing will wear off in six hours," Hermione said. "Things I say will make more sense, then. Could you please keep quiet until I talk to you then, Lily? Please?" Hermione's pleading eyes held Lily's, desperately, until Lily nodded.
"Come with me on my rounds, tonight," Lily said. "James has to go out to the Whomping Willow with Remus and the other Marauders. It's a full moon tonight." Hermione nodded.
Hermione and Lily were seated on a bench on top of the Astronomy Tower, looking down at the familiar animagi running about the grounds. Lily looked sick and she was crying heavily. Hermione told her everything. Starting with what Harry had described to her, about the night when Voldemort had killed Lily and James Potter, Hermione had summarized her story from the beginning: Meeting Harry and Ron, the struggle for the Sorcerer's Stone, the reopening of the Chamber of Secrets, Sirius' imprisonment in Azkaban and the revelation of Peter's betrayal, the Triwizard Tournament, Voldemort's reincarnation, the campaign against Harry, the formation of Dumbledore's Army, Dumbledore's believed death, disproven by his appearance with Snape and the tale of Narcissa's sacrifice... Hermione poured her heart out, confessing every detail. Finally, she explained the Garus Glitch and revealed the reason for all the secrecy: Her own mission to destroy the final Horcrux with the help of Regulus Black.
Lily sniffed loudly when Hermione reached inside her bottomless bag and pulled out a picture of herself, Harry, and Ron, taken by Colin Creevey in their fifth year, when they'd formed Dumbledore's Army. "He looks just like James," she whispered, watching her fifteen year old son in the picture. He was teaching other students how cast a Patronus.
"Except the eyes," Hermione said through her own tears. "He has your eyes." Lily let out a particularly heavy sob at that comment. She grabbed Hermione and hugged her tightly, as though she never wanted to let her go.
"You're amazing, Hermione," she said. "You, Harry, and Ron are all incredible. I love you all, you know. I do here, and I do in your real time, watching over all of you, always…"
"You have no idea just how many people love and miss you," Hermione sniffed. "After all, you're the one who really made our fight possible. When you died for Harry you saved him, and you gave us all a chance." Lily cried even harder.
"I'll help keep the others distracted when you have to be with the Death Eaters, with Regulus," she gasped through her ragged breathing. "I won't tell anyone about you unless you ask me to. I promise. Could you do one thing for me, though?" Hermione looked at her inquiringly. "Let me speak to him?"
Hermione nodded and pulled her mirror out of her bag. "Harry," she said once his and Ron's faces had come into view, "there's someone here who wants to speak with you."
"Harry?" Lily whispered tentatively, though her voice was thick with emotion. Harry just stared back at her through the mirror, seemingly dumbstruck. "Um… I… You see, Harry, Hermione and I drank Polyjuice Potion, and when we changed into each other…"
"I know, Mum," Harry choked out. Lily gasped at the name. "Sorry!" Harry was instantly repentant. "I… I wasn't sure what to call you. Er, Lily?"
"No. I mean, it's okay, Harry," Lilly stammered. "You can call me whatever you want. It's fine. I just… I wasn't…"
"We know you found out about Hermione," Ron interceded for mother and son while they collected themselves. He was a little out of the mirror's frame. He angled himself so his face was more visible and he continued, "Snape said you would. Well, he didn't remember it or anything, but he said that would happen, because he knew what the Pensive Perfume would do." Lily and Hermione both nodded their understanding.
"Thanks, Ron," Lily said softly. "Um… Nice to meet you."
"Er, yeah," Ron said uncomfortably. "Nice to meet you, too, Lily. So… Hermione told you all about us, then?"
"Everything," Hermione confirmed. "I thought it best, once she found out…" She trailed off implicitly and Ron nodded mutely.
"Mum?" Harry asked tentatively, after a long pause. "You wanted to talk to me about something?"
"Nothing in particular, really," Lily admitted timidly. "Hermione showed me a picture of you, and I just… I wanted to see you, myself. I just wanted to talk to you, especially since you and I don't…" A soft sob fell from Lily's lips in place of words. Harry's expression was instantly pained and searching, like he wanted to comfort his mother, but words clearly failed him too.
"I'm not really sure what to say to you, Harry," Lily admitted after a moment. "I'm the same age as you right now. I don't… I'm not sure how to navigate this. I mean, I already love you, believe it or not. After what Hermione told me about all of you, it's hard not to, but… Harry, you look so much like James," she added randomly, desperately trying to find something to talk about. You even sound like him."
"That's awkward," Ron blurted, interrupting. "He's just like your boyfriend—"
"Ron!" Hermione cut him off, horrified by his tactlessness.
"You're eyes, though," Harry tried to cover quickly. "Everyone's always going on about that." Lily laughed softly, the blush roused by Ron's comment slowly fading. A single tear escaped her eye and ran down her pink cheek.
"You know Harry," she said slowly, seeming to consider her words carefully, "Molly has a baby now… Bill… She knows what it's like to have a son at our age. I don't, and this is still so different… You and I are the same age right now, but you're my son. It's strange, and yet…" Lily frowned, searching for the right words to express her feelings. Harry, Ron, and Hermione waited patiently. "It seems difficult for Molly and Arthur, sometimes," she finally continued, "but every once in a while I see this look on their faces… I can just look at Molly and see how fiercely she loves her son, and how protective she is of him. Anyone with eyes can see she would give her life for him, just like I do for you…" Lily trailed off again, strangled by emotion. Hermione hugged her while she gasped for breath.
"Mum," Harry began, looking worried, but Lily shook her head.
"It's strange, but I suddenly understand that now," Lily gasped out, tears running freely down her face. "My age or not, just seeing you, and speaking to you… I can only equate it to ducklings imprinting on their mother, but in reverse. What Hermione told me about you made me love you, Harry, but now…" Lily suddenly let out a loud, heart-wrenching sob. "I'm so sorry, Harry!" She burst out, "I'm so sorry I leave you behind so young! I'm sorry I wasn't there to watch you grow, to really be there as your mother, but you must know how much I love you! I'm sorry Voldemort robbed us both of that, but he was a bloody fool for trying!" Lily screamed in anger and agony. Hermione leapt to her feet and cast a sound ward around them. Lily held onto the mirror as she did so, trying to quiet herself.
"Never doubt how much I love you, Harry," Lily continued passionately. "I'm sure James would say the same thing. You're so strong, and brave, and I'm so proud of you, Harry. I'm proud to be your mother." All awkwardness was gone. Lily was radiant with passion and love. Hermione was dumbstruck and staggered by it.
"I'm proud to be your son, Mum," Harry murmured, his voice ragged with his own passion. "You and Dad are heroes in this time, Mum, but I'd be just as proud even if you weren't. You and Dad risked everything to fight for a better, safer world, and you died to save the life of your child. I'm honored to be that child. I'm honored to be the son of James and Lily Potter." Lily blinked, and a somewhat hysterical laugh bubbled forth from her lips. Harry blinked back, confused.
"Just another name-shock, Harry," Lily explained when she collected herself. She calmed visibly and shook her head to clear it. "You know you all just ruined the surprise of the proposal and the pregnancy." Harry, Ron, and Hermione all laughed. Hermione retook her seat next to Lily.
"No we didn't," Hermione said, smiling softly, "not with the Glitch. As soon as I'm gone, you'll forget all of this. I'm sure Prongs proposing will still shock the hell out of you." That brought on another round of laughter from everyone, Lily most of all, but when the laughter died, the moment became painfully bittersweet. No more words were spoken. No one knew what to say. It would all be forgotten, anyway…