Author's note:

This one's a whopper! My husband just got home from working away for the past three weeks - hooray! This does mean that there'll be a bit of a gap between this chapter and the next one. This fic is pre-planned but not pre-written, so between work, Hubs, our toddler and all the fun things that come with being an adult, I'll have to find a good balance that includes writing.

Don't worry! I'm not going to leave you hanging - but please be patient as I try to be a responsible working wife/mother/adult.

Let me know what you think of this chapter. It's the longest one yet!

Love,
A x

Sunday, 23rd October 1977

It was the sound of manic laughter that woke Hermione in the early hours of the morning. Bolting upright, she drew her stolen wand quickly, pointing it towards the portrait hole as the figure of Bellatrix Lestrange seemed to materialise in the darkness.

Before Hermione could cast anything, a jet of light shot towards her and smashed into her chest, sending her sprawling onto the floor with an agonising scream as the Cruciatus Curse tore her apart from the inside out. She couldn't hear her own screams, or the sounds of her friends waking frantically around her... only the sounds of pure insanity, pouring from the mouth of the witch torturing her.

It seemed to last forever - though it was probably less than 30 seconds - before Bellatrix lifted the curse, allowing Hermione to roll behind the lounge as she caught her breath.

"Awwww, ickle baby Mudblood doesn't wanna pway, hmmm?" she taunted, casting stinging and cutting hexes at the lounge like a predator playing with it's food. "I wonder if your friends want to play instead?"

Hermione choked down the beginnings of a panic attack and launched her shaking body around the side of the lounge, casting hexes and curses so quickly her wand was a blur, not allowing the Death Eater the chance to attack her friends. She'd lost so much, she'd be damned if she would lose them too.

Shocked by the ferocity of Hermione's defence, Bella had little time to do anything more than shield and dodge, but she never lost her wicked smile or the crazy cackles that echoed around the room. Hermione wasn't aware of anything around her, other than the witch in front of her. She knew that if her concentration wavered for even a moment, she'd be dead. She didn't notice the ripped couch or curtains, the small cushion smoking on the couch, or the pile of books that had been knocked off the coffee table that were now nothing but ash. She didn't see or hear her friends around and she hoped they were okay - that someone had gone to get help.

It wasn't until one of her spells finally hit Bellatrix - finally made contact with the exposed skin of her forearm - that she realised this wasn't quite right. The Petrificus Totalus made a smacking sound as it hit Bella's arm, but she exploded. Literally, in a burst of what looked like ash or dirt, she simply disappeared, leaving Hermione crouched between the lounge and the fireplace sucking in air as though she'd been underwater for days.

Finally she saw movement out of the corner of her eye and she snapped back to attention, swinging her wand arm around to point at her next adversary - she'd deal with the Bellatrix conundrum later. Just as another curse was about to leave her wand, Hermione realised with a jolt that her opponent was James Potter. Not just James, but all of the Marauders and Lily were huddled together near the bathroom door.

"Hermione?" asked James cautiously, his wand clenched in one hand as both were raised beside his head in surrender. "H? What's going on?"

"Wha-" she was still gasping for air, shaking like a leaf. "What do you mean? Didn't you see what happened?"

"What do you mean, what happened?"

"I... It was Bellatrix Lestrange, James." Now she was confused... Hadn't they just witnessed the duel? Why were they all looking afraid of her?

"H... there's nobody here but us..." said James gently, edging closer to her as the others looked on. Sirius was standing between James and the others, shielding Remus, Peter and Lily with his body. Lily was tucked into Remus' side as she cried silently, and Remus and Peter were watching with concerned faces.

"Well of course there's not now!" cried Hermione, gesturing to the ruined common room. "I need to find out why my spell did that though... A Petrificus Totalus isn't supposed to make the enemy explode like that..."

"Ex-explode?" James was within touching distance now, and as Hermione muttered to herself about needing to research different immobilising charms, he was able to grab her wand, yanking it out of her hand and throwing it to Sirius.

"Wha-?"

"Hermione, there's nobody here," said James firmly, putting his hands on Hermione's shoulders and looking her directly in the eyes. "There was never anybody here."

"What are you talking about? You can see the damage, right?"

"Yes, but -"

"And what about the Cruciatus? Didn't you see that?"

"Cruciatus!?" James was getting frustrated now. "H, all we saw was you writhing on the ground screaming, and then running around throwing curses at nothing!"

"Nothing?" she asked, starting to panic as she pulled at her hair. "But she was right there! She was laughing at me, and she cursed me just like - like last time. And she threatened to kill you all - well, she didn't say kill, but it was implied - and so I had to fight back and we duelled, obviously, and then I hit her with a Petrificus but she exploded and then I saw you and now we're here arguing!"

James waited for her to finish her rant before he spoke seriously. "Hermione, none of that happened. Not the curse, not the duel. None of it."

"Wh-what? None of it? I... How- I mean, how is that possible?" she started to cry as James wrapped her in a hug. "It was so real... I woke up, I know I did... or, I think I did, and- OH MY GOD!" she shrieked, making them all jump. "Are you okay? I didn't hurt any of you did I? Oh God, oh God, I'm so-"

"H, it's fine, none of us were hurt," said Remus as the others joined James and Hermione in the middle of the room. "We were a bit shocked, still are I think, but we're all okay. No harm done."

"Except to the furniture," quipped Sirius, making Hermione cringe as she surveyed the room.

"I'm sorry," she apologised quietly. "I should have gone back to my room instead of sleeping here. I should have known better."

Lily pulled Hermione from James' arms and wrapped her in a hug of her own. "Do you have nightmares like that all the time?" she asked, sniffling softly.

"Most nights, yeah. They were getting better though, so I'm not sure what triggered this one. It seemed so real," she yawned, suddenly exhausted from the one-sided duel.

"We should go back to sleep," said Lily, checking the time. "It's still a few hours until sunrise."

"I'll head back to my own room."

"What, no H, it's fine -"

"James, it's okay. Thanks though. I'd feel better in my own room," said Hermione awkwardly. "Besides, it's just around the corner, and I probably won't be able to fall back to sleep anyway. There's no point in staying here and keeping you guys up."

James started to protest again when Peter spoke up. "I'll make sure she gets back okay, Prongs," he said, clapping James on the shoulder as he manoeuvred himself to stand next to Hermione.

"Thanks Peter, but it's really -"

"No arguments, H," he insisted, smiling as he flashed her a corner of the Marauder's Map that was in his pocket. "We're not about to let you go wandering about the castle on your own at this time of night. Especially with the current, erm, climate."

Knowing he was referring to the Death Eaters and not in the mood to argue, she agreed. "Okay then, if you're sure?"

The others who had been watching the exchange smirked at each other as Peter nodded and helped Hermione back into her cloak before they headed towards the portrait hole.

"See you later guys. Sorry... Again," she said sheepishly, as Sirius gave her wand back, flicking it around the room to return everything to it's original state before she ducked out the door.

Lily, Remus and James offered up their own goodbyes as Sirius called after them, "Have fun!"

The sound of multiple slaps and Sirius' bark of laughter echoed after Peter and Hermione as they walked towards Hermione's room, checking the map as they went.

The duo made it back to Hermione's quarters with no issue. At least, until it was time to part ways.

"Umm, do you -?" Hermione started to ask, gesturing awkwardly towards her sitting room.

"Huh?"

"Do you want a drink or something?" she asked, thinking 'God this is awkward'.

"Oh! Sure," replied Peter. "Yeah a cuppa would actually be really nice. Thanks."

The pair made their way inside and Peter sat on the small lounge as Hermione puttered around in the kitchenette.

"Cream and sugar?"

"Just cream, thanks."

After a few moments of Peter slyly checking out her rooms ('She gets a private bathroom, common room and kitchen? This is almost better than the Heads dorms!'), Hermione sat down beside him, flicking her wand towards the hearth as their mugs floated over to hover in front of them. They sat quietly as they sipped their drinks, the awkwardness slowly giving way to a comfortable silence as the tea and fire warmed them.

"Do you think you'll go back to sleep then?"

"Hmm? Oh, probably not, no."

"But aren't you tired?"

She snorted. "Exhausted. I have been for months" she explained, shifting slightly so she could get more comfortable, tucking her feet up under her. "It's getting better, but even without the nightmares I'm too paranoid to sleep through the night anyway. I guess I'm still used to taking shifts."

"Shifts?"

"Yeah," she nodded, leaning her shoulder against the back of the couch, and her back against the arm, so she could face Peter as she spoke. "When we were on the run... Things were too scary. I mean, we had some idea who our enemies were, but we still weren't sure who we could trust. If someone had stumbled upon our camp - wards or no - we didn't want to be taken by surprise..." she shook herself out of the memories. "Anyway, we took shifts in keeping watch. We'd usually do 4 to 6 hours at a time and then trade off, although most of the time I'd take longer shifts by accident because I'd get lost in my research or something. Or if I was trading off with Ron I'd let him sleep longer because he always complained the worst."

"That must have sucked."

"It did. Not the lack of sleep, mind. It was the not knowing. Not knowing if someone would find us... If they'd be a friend or foe. Not knowing if our side was winning or losing. Not knowing if the people we loved were dead or alive. Not knowing if we would be dead or alive at the end of it all. Most of the time I couldn't sleep anyway, because of adrenaline. But after a while - when we hadn't been found yet - we got more comfortable, and, well... Then Harry accidentally broke the taboo..."

"Aren't you mad at him for that?" asked Peter, genuinely curious.

"I was initially. I was furious that he could have been so careless," she admitted, realising that this was the first time she'd ever spoken about her experience from an emotional standpoint. She'd always stuck to the facts before, never personalising the events. "But I couldn't stay angry of course. When we were running away from the Snatchers there was no time to be angry. All I could think about was that we were going to die. That the boys - men - I loved were going to die in front of me and there was nothing I could do about it. All I had was my beaded bag... thankfully I'd had time to summon the entire contents of the tent into it, although we lost that tent..."

"Tent? But you had one - we found it!"

She shook her head, smiling slightly, "That was a spare."

Peter just looked gobsmacked. "A spare?"

"What can I say?" Hermione shrugged. "I like to be prepared."

"I'll say," he laughed, relaxing into the lounge as he toed off his shoes and slung an arm around her, although it was actually laying along the backrest.

Hermione swatted at him playfully, leaning into him as she grabbed his empty cup and banished it - along with hers - back to the kitchen.

"You said," Peter started quietly, clearing his throat as he looked at her seriously, "the men you loved... before... What kind of love?"

He knew it was a personal question, but as he gently played with the ends of Hermione's hair, he couldn't help but hope that she hadn't been in love with either of them.

Hermione, knowing where the question was coming from, met his eyes and gave a serious answer in return. "I did say that. I do love them. Harry and Ron. But probably not in the way you're thinking."

"Did you date them?" he blurted out, looking horrified at himself as he did.

"No!" Hermione laughed, resting her hand on his to quell his embarrassment. "No, we didn't date. None of us. I think Ron and I might have explored a romantic relationship if he hadn't left us during the hunt. I was so mad at him for so long... But," she sighed, turning serious again, "it's like I said before... When you're a moment from death, you don't have time to be angry. We did kiss, right before I came here actually, but there was no spark there - for me at least. Any romantic feelings I'd had for him disappeared when he abandoned us, but I did - do - still love him as one of my best friends, despite everything that happened."

"And Harry?"

"Harry is different. He's my person," she said, smiling warmly even as her eyes welled up with tears. She missed him so much.

"Your person?" Peter asked, moving his arm from the back of the couch to rest over her shoulders, rubbing her back gently.

She nodded firmly. "My person. My soulmate. He was my first, well, everything. It's difficult to explain..."

Peter tried to move away, feeling uncomfortable at the way the conversation had turned, but Hermione wouldn't let him. She pushed aside her usual self-consciousness and wriggled closer into Peter's side as she continued.

"He was just everything to me. The one person that understood me, that really got me. He was - is - my very best friend. He knew everything there was to know about me. He was just my person. That's the only way to explain it," she said quietly, letting a few tears leak from her eyes. "For a while there, we were all each other had in the world. I'll never regret what we shared, and I'll always love him - he'll always be a part of me - but I wasn't ever in love with him."

They were silent for a moment as Peter processed what she'd told him. He understood exactly what she meant and he relaxed again, pulling Hermione close as she cried for the friends she missed so dearly. Exhausted and emotional, it wasn't long before Hermione fell asleep in Peter's embrace. Now knowing that she was barely sleeping anyway, Peter didn't dare to move her, and let himself fall asleep too.

When the pair woke again, it was with sore necks and backs, but surprisingly no awkwardness.

"Ugh," Hermione groaned, cracking her back as she stretched. "Remind me to never sleep on this lounge again."

"Never sleep on the lounge again," joked Peter in a gravelly voice, cringing as he shook out his dead arm.

Hermione giggled, feeling happy and relieved to have been able to finally vent her emotions to someone else, without ruining the budding friendship.

"What time is it?" asked Peter, not noticing how Hermione eyed his exposed abdomen as he stretched.

She checked the time, shocked that they'd slept so late. "It's almost 12 o'clock!"

"I love a good sleep in," grinned Peter. "But I really need a shower and some food."

"I can't remember the last time I slept that long, or slept at all after a nightmare! That's almost 9 hours!"

"That's good though right? I mean, you needed a decent sleep. It's a shame it was on the couch though..."

"Yeah," agreed Hermione, secretly thinking that maybe she'd slept so well because she wasn't alone? But that couldn't be right - she'd been with the others in the Head rooms when she'd had that horrible nightmare. Oh well, she'd think about it later. "If only we'd been in the Room of Requirement."

"The what?"

Hermione stopped on her way to the bathroom and gaped at Peter in shock. "You don't know?"

"Know what?"

She started to laugh loudly, gripping the doorway for support. "Oh, oh! This is going to be pure gold!"

"What the he-" he started, shaking his head in amused confusion as Hermione shut herself in the bathroom, still laughing.

A few minutes later, Hermione was still chuckling to herself as the pair made their way down to the Great Hall for some lunch. They'd each used the bathroom and Hermione had changed her clothes while Peter was stuck using cleaning charms on his, but she wouldn't let him go back to the tower to get changed yet.

"We need to find the boys - Merlin I can't wait to see their faces. All of your faces! Ha!"

She couldn't stop giggling to herself, positively giddy that she knew something they didn't. The room hadn't been on the Map of course, but Hermione had thought that was just part of the magic of the castle - that it couldn't be mapped. They made it down to the Great Hall in record time, where Hermione bounced in her seat throughout the entire meal, barely paying attention to the conversation around her. Finally, she couldn't take it any longer.

"Okay, up!" she ordered the Marauders, ignoring their questions as they warily stood from their seats. "Come on you lot, I have something to show you."

The group left the hall, nearly needed to jog in order to keep up with Hermione. She ducked behind tapestries and down secret shortcuts until she reached the place that James and Sirius had found her last month.

"Hermione, I don't know if you know this, but we've reached a dead-end," said Sirius cheekily.

"Oh hush, Sirius. Haven't you been wondering where I came from?"

"Where you came from?" asked Remus. "We know where you came from, H."

"No, you know when I came from," she replied, starting to slowly pace back and forth in the hallway.

"Oo-okay, and what's the difference?"

"Well, dear Remus, haven't you read Hogwarts: A History?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So you'd know that one can't apparate or portkey inside the wards, right?"

"Right."

"So that means I would have already been in the castle when I came here," she said, ignoring the boys confused faces as she told them what they already knew.

"Yes, H, you told us that," said Sirius, starting to become annoyed at not knowing what she knew.

"I know," she stopped, glaring at him for a second before she turned to make her last lap in front of where the hidden door would appear. "But what you don't know, and what I realised this morning that I left out of my initial explanation, is this," she said, as she stepped aside to reveal the handle of a doorway that was beginning to materialise in front of them.

"Sirius, why don't you go first?" offered Hermione sweetly. She was finally going to get her revenge for him calling her Kitten.

With a wary glance at his friends, Sirius drew his wand and stepped towards the new door, trying to ignore Hermione who was shaking with silent laughter as she watched. He gripped the handle firmly, looked down the empty corridor and back to his friends once more, then faced the doorway and gave a hard pull.

"A broom cupboard, H? Really?"

Hermione laughed a loud, delighted laugh, as she grabbed him by the elbow and yanked him back from the doorway, shutting the door as she did. "Not quite, Sirius. Here, let me show you."

"H, I think it's probably best to get whatever it is over and done with, before Sirius loses his mind," urged Peter, amused but just as confused as the others as Hermione began to pace again.

"Oh okay, spoil my fun then. Well, not all of it. Try again Sirius."

With less concern than before, Sirius stepped forward and pulled the door open one more time.

"Merlin's tits!" Hermione laughed loud and long, tears leaking from her eyes at the look of pure unadulterated shock on his face. As the other boys scrambled forwards to poke their heads inside, Hermione pushed from the back, sending the four boys tumbling into the room ahead of her. Once they were all safely over the threshold, she closed the door, mentally asking the room to keep them hidden while they were there.

Still laughing to herself, she faced the boys who were staring around the cavernous space in awe. "So, what do you think?"

"Wha- What do we think!?" blurted James, picking her up in a hug as he spun her around. "This is bloody brilliant, H! Now I can practice all the time! An indoor Quidditch pitch!? This is brilliant!"

She giggled happily as he put her back down. "Well, it can actually be anything you want it to be," she explained, watching the boys faces light up further as they roamed around the room, feeling the magical grass under their feet and wind in their hair. "It's the Room of Requirement. It can change into anything you require."

"Anything?" asked Peter.

"Anything."

"And it's a secret?"

"To most people, yes. But there are a few people who know about it. Myself, for one. I'm sure the elves and the Headmaster know about it too. But in my time it was spoken about by people who had stumbled upon it by accident, and hadn't been able to find it again. We used it for Dumbledore's Army in fifth year."

"This is the training room you mentioned?" asked James, now laying flat on his back on the grass.

"Sure is. As I said, it can change into whatever you require," she shrugged, wishing she had a lounge chair to lay back on and smiling happily when a large sunbed appeared a few meters away, off to the side of the pitch. "Like right now, I require a comfortable place to relax and soak up the sun." She went ahead and sat down, grinning at the boys and their matching looks of excitement.

"This is brilliant Hermione!" exclaimed James, practically bouncing on the spot as a broom cupboard became visible in the corner. He raced over and picked up a broomstick, throwing one to Peter and Remus as well. "Padfoot, here," he called, tossing a broom to Sirius. "You and Wormtail versus me and Moony!"

The boys took off into the air, whooping with glee as they sped around, excited by the sheer magic of the room. Instead of joining the others right away, Sirius turned to a smug Hermione who was watching him from behind some obscenely large sunglasses she had summoned. He barked a laugh - a great, body-shaking belly laugh - and raced towards her, swooping her up into a bear hug. "You win, H. You totally got me!"

"And it was so worth the wait," she laughed back, shoving him towards the pitch when he put her back down. "Just, for the love of Merlin, don't ever call me that ridiculous nickname again!"

"Can't make any promises, love!" he called over his shoulder as he mounted his broomstick and joined his mates in the sky.

Shaking her head in mock annoyance, Hermione settled onto her lounger, unable to wipe the smile from her face.

A/N:

There you have it! I loved writing this chapter. It is a bit of an emotional roller coaster isn't it? Little bit of heavy, little bit of romance, little bit of funsies.

As I mentioned up top, there's likely going to be a bit of a wait between this chapter and the next, but I'll do my best for you. Next up - the Halloween Ball!