Part (Unsure where I left off)
Apologies for the late update, exams, life, graduation all got in the way. But I am back, and officially school free!
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James ran his hands through Lily's hair, his lips pressed against hers in a sweet kiss. His hands running down to her neck, and her face, gripping them softly, and her hands gripped his elbows, pulling him closer.
Pulling back from the kiss, he gazed into those wonderful green eyes, and his heart beat just a little bit faster.
"Miss Evans, you have been taking my breath away for 6 years, and I still find myself completely captivated by you. Honestly." He whispered against her lips, and she could only blush, leaning her head into his chest and he leaned forward, kissing the top of her head, his nose taking in the familiar scent of strawberries and again butterflies were released into his ribcage, wreaking havoc within him, around him.
"I love you James Potter. Always." And she kissed him once more, before finally pulling away, taking his hands in hers and leading him out of their small alcove and towards the Great Hall.
"Ah, here comes the infamous Gryffindor couple everyone! Who knew Jamie here, could get the girl?" Sirius's loud voice filled the Great Hall and laughter erupted on the Gryffindor table as James passed by his best friend, slapping him upside the head as he took a seat, Lily taking the seat opposite of him.
"At least I have a girl, and a beautiful one at that, so shut it Padfoot. Jealousy is not becoming of you." James grinned, taking a big bite out of his scone.
Remus let out a small chuckle at his friends' banter as they threw pieces of bread at one another, Lily scolding them both and Dorcas and Marlene laughing along.
But his gaze was suddenly taken away from them as he saw a flurry of black hair move towards the Slytherin table, his nose picking up on the familiar scent of cinnamon as she took a seat next to Regulus, her mouth turned up in a smile as she talked to her cousin, her hand resting on his.
Her laughter seemed to fill the Great Hall, and he seemed lost in the calming sound of her happiness, but the sound of Mary plunking herself next to him, a loud huff escaping her lips brought his attention back to reality.
"I cannot stand Ancient Runes, why did I think taking it would be a good idea? My sixth year has been utter shite so far, and having this fecking class first thing in the bloody morning is absolutely horrible." Mary whined, her hand reaching for her goblet of pumpkin juice, she gulped it down, and slammed the cup down dramatically. She leaned into Remus, resting her head on his shoulder, her eyes gazing up at him.
"How do you do it Lupin? How do you stay awake in that god awful class?" she whispered loudly, as if this was the secret she had been hoping to hear for so long and he could only smile down at her, their other friends laughing at Mary's usual extravagant character.
"You chose your career path as curse-breaker, and this is one class that is required. And you're good at runes, so I really don't know why you're so upset." He told her reassuringly and she smiled at him.
"You sure know how to make a girl feel special Lupin." She gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek, one that had him blushing, a force of habit, and one that was hard to get rid off.
He was about to open his mouth to say something, but the owls began flowing into the Great Hall, the Hogwarts students' post clutched in their talons. He watched as everyone received letters, excluding himself and Sirius, whose parents were still not exactly fond of him, and the path he'd chosen to take in his life.
James ripped open the package from his mother, and pulled out a big box of chocolates, his grin wide and Remus rolled his eyes with a smile on his face. James was an utter mama's boy, and he'll deny it till he's blue in the face, but Mrs. Potter was the one woman, besides Lily Evans of course, who could keep James on track and focused.
James began offering them all chocolates, but a cry of agony from the Slytherin table shattered the air in Great Hall, and a silence that was so tense, that a single breath could absolutely destroy it overcame the Great Hall.
Remus's heart dropped as he watched Hermione stand from the table, her face pale and her entire body shaking, and he watched as she slowly fell to her knees, because her body suddenly seemed so weak and he wanted to get up, in fact he thought he did but he didn't move, no one did.
She was gasping for air, her face was turning blue, and her lips were losing color, he could see it from here. She was choking.
Regulus fell to the floor next to her and lifted her body off the ground.
"Hermione, breath my love, breath. Please." He cried, as he wiped her hair off her face, and his body rocking backwards and forwards as he too stood on shaky legs, his face equally as pale.
He quickly walked out of the Great Hall, a still gasping Hermione in his hands, her hands clutching at his shirt, tears clearly streaming down her face, but not a single word leaving her lips. Not a single sound. The only thing indicating just how bad the situation was, was her cry of agony, something completely rare for Hermione, to display such a strong emotion, and so vocally in the midst of breakfast, in front of all the students. This wasn't her.
Severus Snape grabbed at the letter that lay on the table, once held in Hermione's shaky hands, with the familiar Black family logo stamped onto it. A seal that felt heavy in his hands.
His eyes skimmed over the words, and Sirius watched from a distance as Snape dropped his head in his hands and shook his head, before lifting his eyes and looking directly at him. His black eyes looked straight into his grey ones, and he felt like his world was suddenly going to be flipped upside down, because Severus Snape can never just look at him, like he felt sorry for him, that was impossible.
But as Snape stood, and crossed the Great Hall towards the Gryffindor table, his hand firm as he passed the crumpled letter to Sirius, he felt his breath come out short, and he walked out, in search of Hermione and Regulus.
Sirius's eyes were on the letter, and he felt the anticipation and the burning eyes of onlookers on him. His eyes could clearly see the words, but his mind didn't comprehend what they meant. How was this possible?
"No." he whispered softly, his hands now shaking with emotion, tears glazing his eyes and his friends all seemed to swallow heavily, as if they could feel the weight of what news Sirius had to bear.
"Padfoot, what is it?" and Sirius slowly turned to James, his eyes suddenly so red, that they contrasted greatly with the grey irises that shone underneath those black lashes, and that shaggy black hair.
"My grandfather…he's passed away. Oh god, he was one of the few family members, regardless of the blood purity thing, that still sent me letters even after my mother banished me off that fucking wall. He's gone." Sirius kept muttering to himself, the words 'he's gone' so loud in the still very quiet Great Hall.
"Padfoot, I'm so sorry mate. I know that you loved your grandfather." James whispered, and Remus and Peter along with many others also offered their condolences.
"And no one even bothered sending me a letter. The fucking bastards. He was my family too! Regardless of everything, he was my fucking family!" and he smashed the goblet on the ground, his face darkening with hatred and anger at the ignorant bitch that went by the name of Walburga Black. The hag couldn't even send a short message announcing the death of one of his favored family members because of her ignorance and her obsession with all things pure.
"Fuck. Hermione was so close to grandfather Pollux, those two were inseparable, regardless of whether she was 5 years old, sitting on his lap as he told her stories, or now, when she tells him of her classes and he listens to her. Those two were so close. Fuck, she's probably not handling this well. Well clearly she isn't. I need to go speak to them, be there. Oh Merlin." Sirius was quickly leaving the Great Hall, his mind racing as he bound to the Infirmary, thinking that, that was probably were Regulus took her.
The Great Hall remained silent, until slowly people returned to their meals, but the conversation never strayed from the odd and rather rare moment in which Hermione Black was not composed and held together, a moment in which she unwillingly and completely showed emotion, so strong and so raw. People were afraid, people were confused, and people were shocked but no one dared say a word too loud, in fear that the Black girl would return with a force of anger and destroy them all.
Theodore Nott soon stood from the table, quickly walking out of the Great Hall, to make sure that his girlfriend was okay. He was frozen at the way in which she collapsed on the ground, but knew better than to approach her in such a circumstance, when she only required Regulus, and Regulus alone.
Remus was completely frozen, still standing, and only sat down when Mary slowly tugged on his arm, bringing him back to reality.
"Holy shit." It was Peter that spoke the words that plagued everyone's minds. The boy with the watery eyes examined the rather disturbed look on each of his friends faces, and opened his mouth to say something comforting, to say that Sirius will eventually be okay, and that Hermione will be too but nothing came out. He beat himself up for his moment of silence, for his lack of ability to comfort his friends.
"Poor Hermione, I mean Sirius was close to his grandfather, but you heard what he said. That man probably meant the world to her, and their family isn't exactly the closest. I can't begin to imagine the pain she's feeling right now." Lily muttered aloud, and James grabbed her hand, placing a delicate kiss on it as a form of comfort.
"We should go see how they're doing. Hermione has always been like a little sister to me, regardless of the moments where she pushed us away. And this is the least we could do for Sirius." James spoke finally, and they all agreed with a nod of their heads, and the group of friends stood up and left the Great Hall, making their way to the infirmary, where they assumed Regulus had taken Hermione earlier before.
Walking into the infirmary, they were frozen in shock at the sight of Hermione throwing things, blasting things with her wand, her eyes darkening into an almost black color, and her body shaking with rage as she shot one spell after the other, assaulting the hospital bed across from her.
Madam Pomfrey was having an absolute field day, running around and trying to restrain the girl without getting caught in her line of fire, while also trying to put out the actual fire that the bed was currently being engulfed by.
Regulus sat by idly, not bothering to calm her down, because he knew that this was necessary. Hermione had been holding in a lot, with the rise of Voldemort, the decisions they had to make very soon, and now the loss of their beloved grandfather was enough to drive anyone to madness.
Sirius also watched with a pained look in his eyes, and hadn't noticed his friends approach him, until he felt a hand grasp his shoulder and realized that James was offering him an odd form of comfort that he both needed and yearned in this very moment.
"Shouldn't anyone stop her?" Mary wondered loudly, and Theo turned to look at her, a hollow look in his eyes.
"No. Not if you want to be killed. She's been like this for the past five minutes, and at this point, any kind of emotion is better than the silence." Theo muttered, his eyes looking at his girlfriend, his heart skipping a beat as he watched the silent tears escape her eyes, as she continued to mutter to herself, throwing curses at the wall, destroying the infirmary.
"Oh somebody do something please!" This was Madam Pomfrey, her hands pulling at her hair as she continued to put fire after fire out, but failing as Hermione lit it up once again.
"We apologize Madam Pomfrey, but Hermione won't get better until she lets it all out. Please, just let her do it. I'll clean the mess up afterwards." Regulus pleaded quietly, and the nurse only shook her head before turning around and shutting herself inside her private quarters.
Hermione finally calmed down, the sound of wood splintering and the smell of burnt cloth suddenly vanished as she stood on her designated bed, and looked around at the people who stood in the room. It was as if she had only just realized who they were, and why she was there.
Her eyes were void of any emotion and her face was pale, and was grim. She turned to look at Regulus.
"Ils l'ont emmené de nous." Her voice was loud and clear, and it bounced against the walls of the infirmary. Regulus looked at her with wide eyes, and Sirius also seemed to be caught in the words she spoke, the others in the room shocked to know that Hermione could speak French, and also confused as to what she could've possibly said.
"Toujours purs mes cousins, ou nous allons brûler dans sa colère." She spoke these in a harsh whisper before jumping off the bed, and leaving the infirmary. Leaving behind a stricken Regulus, a confused and fearful Sirius, and curious crowd of Gryffindor's.
"She's very upset, and I think—I think I'll leave her to her own devices because she seems to be harboring a lot of strong emotions that could be channeled into her magic, and I would rather not have a severed arm." Regulus muttered, before also leaving the infirmary and returning to the Great Hall, knowing that Hermione will be somewhere on the school grounds, roaming around and drowning in her thoughts. He'd be sure to comfort her once she was ready to be held, but he knew that if he tried to smother her with broken promises and false hope she would only grow angrier.
It seems almost silly to be so upset about the loss of a man who was so old, and who was cold to many. But his love for his grandchildren, regardless of the fact that he held the Black family name, and regardless of his desire for blood purity, was strong. Pollux Black and his dear Hermione were inseparable, and this loss will only continue to weigh down on her as their lack of options and the heavy darkness continue to loom over them like a shadow.
They didn't mention how their grandfather had passed, but Hermione seemed to be adamant that someone had taken his life. No one, not even Death himself was strong enough to defeat the great Pollux Black.
Meanwhile, the silence in the infirmary was almost deafening, until James looked at Sirius, the curiosity being too much to bear.
"What did she say Padfoot?" he muttered in a low voice, and Sirius seemed to be brought back to the current time, his eyes finding the familiar hazel of his best friend.
"She—she said that he had been taken from us, and she stated our family motto of 'Always pure', she said that it was important to remain that way because we will burn in their wrath if not." Sirius mumbled, translating Hermione's French word for word, his heart and gut wrenching in an almost painful way.
"That's…dark." Mary stated, her eyes taking in the cold atmosphere of the room.
"Trust me when I say, it is important to listen to what she said. You lot may think that Hogwarts will always protect you, but you're wrong. There is an evil that is beyond these walls, beyond the feud between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and beyond silly terms such as 'mudblood', it's important you understand that. It's important for you to know that there are times were there is no choice." Theodore Nott spoke from the far end of the room, his eyes burning a hole in the floor as he glared at it.
The others seemed shocked by his admission, because for all purposes Theodore Nott was a proud pureblood, from an ancient family that held similar beliefs to the Blacks and the Malfoy's, however his confession only seemed to stun the others because his admittance that the rise of a Dark Lord was evil, and that it was important for them to stand together. They were confused, they didn't understand and before they could question him, to ask him whose side he was really on, he walked away, leaving them standing there in wonder, and in fear of what was coming.
Would they survive this? Remus felt himself get lightheaded as he realized that it was a great possibility that they would not.