.iv.

"But it's pure magic," James protested in confusion. "How are you going to bottle magic?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him challengingly. "Aren't all potions magic in some way or another? A potion is made up of magical properties and certain stirring motions to create a specific magical outcome. A spell is created by a wand which has magical components and must be used in a specific motion to create an outcome as well."

They were on a hillside surrounded by fields of grass. The property was outlined by forest. A half-broken wooden fence ran along the front of the property by the dirt road. There wasn't another house for miles. It was the perfect location for an Order hideout. Dumbledore had specifically asked to have wardings to keep people in as well as out, which had Hermione wondering if the Order was planning on taking some Death Eaters captive in the near future.

"But you're forgetting about simmering times and boiling points!" James exclaimed, his hair a mess as he ran his fingers through it. "And spells can be done wordlessly and wandlessly. How can you possibly take that into account?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You don't think it can be done?"

"Bottling a spell? No," he responded vehemently, "no, I really don't think it can."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I don't mean bottling a spell. I mean creating a potion that would have the same effects as a spell. Think of the possibilities! You're facing an opponent, your wand has been taken and instead of surrendering or failing you throw a potion and bam! They're thrown back with a potion powerful enough to be a reducto."

James' face showed how little he thought of the possibility of such an idea.

"Or!" Hermione continued, refusing to back down. "Your enemy has set up an anti-apparition warding. But you have a potion that will magically allow you to transport out-"

James laughed incredulously at that. "-Oh now you're just being ridiculous."

Hermione stomped her foot. "I am not! I've already begun work on the reducto potion."

James fell silent, his eyes widened. "Really?" She smiled brightly and nodded. James immediately moved closer, absolutely intrigued. "But how? Wouldn't that be difficult? What are your results so far?"

"Oh, would you two quit it already!" Sirius shouted from a few feet away. James and Hermione jumped and turned to him. "No one cares about your hard-on for potions, Prongs. Can you just let Hermione do her job?"

Hermione wrinkled her nose at him. "There's no need to be so crass." She spun around and raised her muggle clipboard and pen up high. Her eyes went back to scanning the property as she wrote down her notes.

James gave Sirius a look and walked over to him. "What the hell crawled up your ass and died?" he asked low enough he was sure Hermione wouldn't hear.

"Nothing. She's just here to do a job and you're distracting her."

James raised his eyebrows, hands shoved into his pockets. He tried not to smile. "You mean I'm distracting her from you."

Sirius glared. "As if I give a shit if that stuck up little twit notices me or not." James kept his brows raised. Sirius let out a sound close to a growl. "Fuck off."

James turned so he could stand shoulder to shoulder with his friend. They both watched Hermione as she seemed to aimlessly walk around the cottage with her clipboard in hand. "What did it say? The letter," James clarified when Sirius didn't respond. "I saw her give you something."

Sirius crossed his arms. "It was from my brother."

James' eyes widened. "And?"

Sirius licked his lips. Something his friend knew he only did when he was unsure and nervous about saying something. "Reggie wants out. He wants to get away before he's dragged into something he can't get out of and he wants my help to do that."

James was silent for a long moment as he took that in. Privately, he was elated. He knew how much Regulus meant to his best friend. Sirius' only heartbreak about leaving was the distance it had caused between himself and his younger brother. "That's wonderful, mate. You're going to do it, aren't you?"

"Of course I'm going to do it," Sirius snapped. James didn't say anything. "I just… he went to Hermione," Sirius finally revealed. "He went to her because this whole fucking relationship means the world thinks I want to marry her and I guess I just realized it means my family thinks that too." He made jokes about his mother freaking out but he hadn't paused to consider the ones who he actually loved. "I mean… what about your parents? Have they said anything?" Sirius continued before James could answer. "What are they going to say when this is all over? I'll look like a real piece of shit, then, won't I?"

James sighed and looked away to the curly-haired witch making her spell. He didn't know if he should tell Sirius his parents had been elated at the news. His mum had practically done a dance around the room. They wanted to meet Hermione, had almost sent her an invitation for tea before James had convinced them otherwise. James didn't think Sirius would find the anecdote at all comforting.

"It'll be fine, mate. The war will end, the truth will come out. Everyone will know it was all fake. You've got nothing to worry about. Well, nothing except that smart little witch who probably knows we're talking about her."

Sirius sighed. "Oh, she definitely does." He nodded at Hermione as she headed back towards them. "Almost done?"

"Almost." She ripped a sheet of paper from her clipboard. It was a diagram of the property she had drawn with runes decorating the perimeter in five points. Dotted lines had been drawn across, showing the pentagram they formed. "James, I need you to go to each of these points and place stones deep beneath the earth right on the edge of the property."

"The stones we gathered earlier?"

"Yes, exactly. Use your wand to engrave them with the appropriate runes. I wrote the spell at the top of the sheet." James nodded as he took the page from her. He turned to the stones piled at his feet and got to work. "Sirius, I need you to cast the spells on the house. This way." She turned and headed back to the cottage, not looking back to see if Sirius had followed.

She pointed him to the door and gave him the spell she had constructed. Sirius frowned as he looked it over. It took him a few minutes to even figure it out. "What does this spell do?"

"It creates three separate but specific keys added into a simple warding. The first allows people to enter and exit freely - Order members. The second doesn't allow anyone access - non-Order members. And the last allows entry but denies the person the ability to leave - for Order captives," she explained.

Sirius' eyes widened. "You - you just made this?"

Hermione looked over his arm at the sheet and nodded. "For the most part. I just used a basic warding I had created before and built off of it."

"And the stones?"

"Secondary warding protection. Spells can be broken down. But runes have to be destroyed and these will be hidden. Dumbledore will remove the memories of where the stones are hidden from each of us. Not even he will know where they are. If someone escapes the house, they won't be able to escape the property."

Sirius stared at her, wide-eyed. "You're brilliant." Hermione beamed proudly. She stepped back and allowed him space to cast the spell. He waved his wand a few times, going through the motions. Hermione stopped him several times to correct his wording or movement. When he'd finally demonstrated it three times without fail, Sirius cast the spell.

There was a deep boom that sounded like the echo of a thunderclap as the wards settled over the small cottage. Sirius' eyes widened as he stepped back. He let out a breath, his shoulders sagged. Merlin, he needed a nap.

"Alright?" Hermione asked. "Warding spells can take a lot out of you."

He waved her off. "I'm fine."

She hugged her clipboard to her chest. "Do you have a response yet?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Did I need one straight away?"

Hermione shrugged a shoulder. "Regulus sort of insisted. We have a meeting set up for tomorrow so I can give him your response." Sirius sighed and rolled his eyes. "You're going to help him, aren't you?"

"Of course I'm going to help him!" he snapped irritably. Hermione pursed her lips at his response. He gestured to her clipboard. "Come on, then." Hermione handed it and her muggle pen over. Sirius flipped the pages up until he found a blank one and quickly scrawled a note.

Sirius couldn't actually do anything for his brother, but he could get him in touch with Alphard. Uncle Al had been disowned by the family for his views on muggle rights. After Sirius had run away, Uncle Al had stepped in. Sirius had often spent part of his holidays with Alphard before returning to the Potters. His uncle had also deposited money into his Gringotts account - more than enough to live off of comfortably for several decades. Sirius hadn't even realized his uncle was so wealthy, but he wasn't surprised - he was a Black after all.

Sirius scanned the letter briefly. He paused then added a final note before handing the clipboard back to Hermione. "There."

Hermione looked down and then back up at him. "Can I read it?" Sirius shrugged as if it didn't matter one way or the other. Her eyes quickly darted back down to the letter. Sirius had set up a time and place for the next Hogsmeade trip, where he promised Uncle Al would be. Hermione didn't know who Uncle Al was but figured he must be some sort of family or close friend. Her eyes narrowed at the postscript. "'Keep your hands off my witch?'"

Sirius smirked and winked. "Got to stay in character don't I?"

"And is that the character of a Neanderthal?"

Sirius stepped closer. His eyes danced across her face as he leaned in to whisper in her ear, "As if you don't like it."

Hermione opened her mouth even though she had no clue what she was going to say. She was saved from having to respond by James' return and his shout of, "Oi! Lovebirds! Save it for Hogsmeade!" Hermione blushed brightly and stepped back as Sirius barked out a laugh.

The way this story was originally set up, each scene was a piece of a whole chapter. I later changed it to each being a chapter of a part. So, we get some weirdly short chapters and sometimes super long ones. I'll post a few in one go like I did today when the chapters are super short.

Hope you're enjoying it! We meet more Marauders next chapter...

xx