The Marauders could hardly sleep at the thought of the young witch in the Hospital Wing. The girl—who nobody would be able to recognize even if her face hadn't been covered in blood—was an enigma.
"What do you think happened to her?" Peter wondered aloud now that they were all back in their dormitory. Remus had just gotten back from his prefect duties of helping the first year Gryffindors settle in, and the remaining boys couldn't wait to begin theorizing.
"It has to be a political move." James declared. "Not just anyone could have done that—and making her show up like that? You can't apparate—"
"Inside Hogwarts, right." Sirius finished.
"But she did anyway." Peter supplied, still a bit stunned at the gore that had overtaken her body. It was not an image any of them would forget soon.
"I wonder if she went to Hogwarts." Remus contemplated. "Maybe a year above us?"
"I hadn't thought of that, but she didn't look like anyone I've seen before." Sirius remarked. "Then again she was—"
"—covered in blood." James finished for him. "Who would want to hurt someone that badly?"
"Do you think she's a criminal?" Peter asked. At the sight of their balked faces, however, he shifted his inquiry. "I mean, do you think she's dangerous?"
None of the boys knew the answer to that. They were all so very curious that their silence was quickly stamped out by plans to investigate.
"We could feign sickness?" James threw out.
"Madame Pomphrey would never believe you." Remus frowned.
Peter pondered a moment. "We could use the cloak and sneak in?"
"That would get us there, but I'm willing to bet the professors will have her under lock and key." Said Sirius. "Come to think of it—it wouldn't even get us there. Don't you remember the last time we all tried to fit under the cloak?"
The boys shared a grin. It was safe to say their last prank that involved the cloak of invisibility hadn't been successful.
"Here's an idea!" James said suddenly. "We could just wait until Remus is in the hospital wing again. That is—if you're alright with that, mate?"
Remus considered it. It really was the only way to get them all in the hospital wing without too much lying and rule breaking. Not that Remus minded those things, he just preferred to spend his evenings reading a book instead of serving out hours of detention. He was a prefect for a reason—he was much better than the others at not getting caught. So, he merely shrugged in answer. "I suppose that would work."
Remus mentally calculated the days until the next full moon. It was only three days away. He sighed heavily, not looking forward to it, even if it did mean answers about the mystery girl.
"It's settled then." James decided. They all decided to turn in after that, unpacking and preparing for the first day of classes. Unbeknownst to them, Hermione Granger was set to wake in a few hours, and she would be met with quite a shock. She had, after all, gone back in time twenty years.