Hermione couldn't say that being carried by Sirius was completely unpleasant. Of course, it was absolutely humiliating and she wanted to kill him every 5 seconds, but a least she didn't have to worry about betraying her secret that she knew the way to Hogsmeade all along. And the view...
No. She had to stop thinking about Sirius. Sure, he was a Quiddich player, a Beater at that, so he had to have a great physique, but still... There was no way in hell it would be enough to convince her that falling for him would be a good idea. Even if his thumb caressed her thigh in small circles, making her brain very fuzzy and unable to focus.
Hermione sighed and decided to speak up:
"You can put me down, you know. I'm not going to run away"
"Oh, but Kitten, I like having you on me", Sirius chuckled and bounced her up, causing her to grab his leather jacket in an act of panic.
"Stop doing that! I'm not a bag of potatoes!"
"Definitely. Potatoes don't wiggle like that", James laughed and Hermione sent him a murderous glare.
If only she could reach her wand without risking falling down... James would have the chance to learn more about potatoes from a first person point of view.
"Prongs, stop making her angry. She gets all tensed up and it really makes it hard to carry her", Sirius said and James giggled happily.
"Then put me down, you idiot!", Hermione yelled, making Sirius sigh.
"I'm going to put you down when we get to the passage"
"What passage?", she asked instantly, trying to sound as curious as possible.
"How did you think we wanted to get inside Hogsmeade? Walking out through the castle's gate is rather impossible, without anyone noticing"
"I didn't think about it at all! I have no idea how that school works", she snorted and relaxed her muscles, burying her face in Sirius' jacket.
He smelled really nice. So nice, that it was actually very easy to forget about her earlier decision to be tough and not let his charm get to her. She jerked her head up when a giggle reached her ears.
Remus Lupin stared at her with a knowing glance that made her blush furiously and furrow her brows angrily. He didn't seem to care and smiled at her gently. Oh great... Not only was she having troubles with keeping Sirius out of her head, now she would also have to worry about Remus and his ludicrous ideas. She knew more than well that convincing a werewolf to change his mind about something was a really painful and long process, which wasn't very optimistic.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Sirius put her down and grinned at her. That man hadn't even broken a sweat, although he carried her for a really long time. 'Guess that's what being a Beater would do to you' , she thought to herself and scowled. It really was quite impressive, actually, but Hermione decided that she was too much offended to praise his fitness.
"You're never going to do that again, if you want your limbs to stay attached to your body", she threatened angrily and sent him a glare that probably would put even the Basilisk to shame.
"Yeah, yeah... Although I must say, having my limbs attached to your body was actually really nice. You have really great physique, you know. You work out a lot?", he asked completely seriously and Hermione flushed.
What was she supposed to say? 'Oh, yeah, you know... I've spent my entire summer being dragged through the mud by Alastor Moody. You heard of him?'
"She's more into brain exercising, Padfoot", James giggled. "And besides, you were supposed to carry her, not feel her up"
"Why can't I have both?", Sirius asked stretching out his arms and grinning contently.
"Fuck me", Hermione swore completely unlike herself and scraped her head with exasperation.
He made her crazy sometimes.
"Be careful what you wish for!"
Sirius' laughter was enough to send her over the edge. She grabbed her wand and flicked it, making Padfoot fall silent, despite his opened mouth. When he had realized that no sound was coming out of it, he pouted and looked at her with puppy eyes. Her resolve almost broke, but she decided to stay tough.
"Stop pissing me off! I know spells far worse than this one and I won't hesitate to use them! Unless you promise to behave yourself and stop laughing at my expense, you're going to get silenced every 5 seconds!", she stated and then finished the spell after seeing him nod in agreement. "And now, where are we going?"
Sirius looked at her dumbfounded, while James tried so desperately to stop himself from laughing, that his face got red, while tears kept rolling down his cheeks. Remus must have seen that and decided to take the lead, along with Peter, whose face was lit up with amusement. Hermione decided to follow them without sparing Sirius and James a second glance. Unfortunately, that didn't mean that her ears stopped working.
"Bloody hell, she's so hot. Reminds me of a hellcat", Sirius whispered, making James hiss.
"She can hear you, you idiot"
"It's not like she doesn't know that, I've already told her"
"STOP TALKING!", she yelled and started to walk faster.
They could be so infuriating that she wanted to scream sometimes. Sure, they had also been hilarious, but right now, she felt the urge to suffocate them with her own bare hands. What the hell happened to her? She used to be described as calm and sweet, even in the times of war. Ron had outright told her one day, that her kindness and gentleness were one those things that captured everyone's attention immediately and now she could barely recognize herself.
It scared her. She didn't know if her behaviour had been caused by stress and the situation she found herself in or maybe was it something completely else. Time Travelling has been a mystery, as there was no safe way to research it. Going back in time must have had its repercussions, and Hermione went back a really long time. What if she was changing, because she was slowly forgetting who she was?
That thought made her so uneasy that she could hardly keep a straight face. If she was to forget everything that happened, how could she save the world? After all, the future version of herself had no longer existed, making her theory very likely... Had Dumbledore known it could happen? Honestly, what was that man thinking? He was supposed to be brilliant and know better than to pull a stunt like this one, making Hermione stuck in completely different time, with that boiling anger and fear and with a terribly sexy Sirius Black who started to be impossible to ignore. What the fuck was she supposed to do?
"Hermione? Are you okay?", quiet voice belonging to Remus reached her ears and she looked at him with a forced smile.
No. She wasn't okay, not to the least. She wanted to scream, cry and vomit at the same time, but she wasn't going to tell him that, right?
"This week's been tough for me, Remus. I am angry all the time, I feel murderous towards everyone and that's scares me, because it's not really like me", she answered deciding that telling him part of the truth wouldn't hurt.
"Hermione, honestly I'd be surprised if you felt okay. From what I know, changing schools must be hard on its own and... Well, you didn't do it without your reasons, yeah?", he asked gently, making Hermione bite her lip with sadness.
"Yes"
"I'm not going to ask you about those, as I believe you'd tell me if you were ready to talk about it. But whatever happened, I truly think that it justifies all the feelings inside of you. It must be hard to see everyone staring at you and calling you a badass, while the only thing you want is to turn back time", he whispered and Hermione looked at him with astonishment.
How on Earth could he know that? It was so true that it almost made her fall apart, but she knew better than to start crying in front of James, Sirius and Peter. She was sure that they were listening, as no sounds were coming from behind her. It made her feel very vulnerable and she wasn't sure if that was something she should be happy about. Letting them in would have a tremendous impact on her course of actions and would solidify their place in her life, making it irreversible.
She would fight hand in hand with them, she would help them get through the worst times, she would become part of Harry's life. They would remember her, making it impossible for her to disappear after her mission was complete. Did she really want that? Was she ready for it?
"My parents have died to protect me", she whispered quietly. "Blood purists weren't exactly happy with them having a child, especially that they were both pretty powerful wizards and clearly passed it onto me. While I was safe at school, they were hiding most of the time. But before the end of the fifth year, blood purists managed to kill them, forcing me and a couple of my friends to go into hiding. We managed to survive almost an entire year, but then our luck run out and they'd found us. I was the only one to survive", she explained, her voice hollow.
The story was not entirely true, although very close to some parts of her past. Nonetheless, saying it out loud hurt like hell. Unconsciously, her fingers started to rub her scar, while a single tear rolled down her cheek and disappeared in her smooth curls.
She felt an arm encircling her waist and pulling her closer to a warm, familiar body. She had no doubts that it was Sirius who hugged her, as the cool material of his jacket came in touch with her cheek.
"Those fuckers", he murmured in her hair, his voice sounding strained. "I'd kill them with my own bare hands, kitten. I'm so sorry they did that to you and your family"
No one seemed to be surprised to hear Sirius' words, although he seemed more than moved by her story. Hermione understood that. Coming from the Black family, he was schooled and trained to hate people like her and her parents. He decided that he'd rather be a bastard than a part of something so vile and despicable. Nonetheless, she was entirely sure that each report of crimes against Muggleborns touched him on a very personal level, as he knew that it might have been his family's doing.
She hugged him back, with all she had. Words couldn't describe how much pain she felt and how much she appreciated his embrace. Even though couple of minutes ago, she was thoroughly pissed at him, right now he made her feel like she had actually been wanted, like she belonged here despite being new and foreign.
Suddenly, James joined their embrace, followed by Peter and Remus. It was too much for her to take, so she started sobbing, letting all the pain and sorrow drain from her body. She cried and they held her, taking away all of those pent up feelings that made it impossible to function.
In that exact moment, she realised that even if her memories would fade away, she still had the chance to regain everything she'd lost and that thought was something that she wanted to hold on to forever.
"Listen, you have to be very quiet. The end of this passage leads to Honeydukes, so we have to be very careful. If anyone sees us, we're going to be in for a lot of troubles", Remus warned her, making Hermione bit her bottom lip.
Everyone must have thought that it was a sign of anxiety, but Hermione could barely contain her laughter. After they had finally broken their embrace, her mood improved tremendously, making her actually excited for the trip, even if the boys gave her a chance to back out. And right now, she couldn't stop herself from squirming excitedly, as she decided to pull a prank on them.
"Guys, I'm really terrible at being deceptive and quiet. I'm not sure that this is a good idea", she tried to convince them that it might turn out really bad, but they seemed to ignore her warning.
"No worries, love. I'm sure it will be alright. They probably don't have much clients as of now, it's not even noon", Sirius waved his hand and Hermione nodded timidly.
"How are we going to leave the basement without anyone seeing us?", she whispered and the boys exchanged amused looks.
"Ah, well, that passage is not the only one of our secrets", said James and pulled the Invisibility Cloak from his bag, making Hermione gasp.
"Is that an...",
"...Invisibility Cloak? Yes, it is", James finished her sentence and grinned widely.
"You know how rare they are? And still, they don't last forever. The charms put on them are usually very unstable..."
"Oh, but this one is special! As far as I know, no spell has ever been placed on it. The material it's made of is unique"
Hermione looked at him with her brows furrowed, trying to decipher whether James knew about the Deathly Hollows. He seemed very proud of the cloak, but her stare didn't make him uncomfortable even in the slightest. She decided that he wasn't aware of the cloak's origin, otherwise he wouldn't be so quick to show it around.
"Incredible", she stated and nodded with acknowledgment. "But still, I highly doubt that we will fit underneath. You guys are way too tall, there's no way that the four of you will be completely covered, not speaking about the fifth person. Wait. Where's Peter?", she asked and looked around.
Of course, Hermione was completely aware of the fact that Peter decided to stay behind them and transform into his rat form. Even though, she was very interested in how the boys would explain his absence.
"Yeah, he must have forgotten something from the castle. I'm sure he's going to catch up. We'll get him later, he'll probably be waiting", Sirius shrugged and send James and Remus suggestive glances.
The boys took his clue and nodded eagerly, making Hermione want to roll her eyes. Seriously, how could they think that she wouldn't find it suspicious? Especially taking their nicknames under consideration.
"Alright", she said, but looked at them intently, forcing them to shift anxiously.
A minute later they started to climb the ladder, one by one. James went first, hidden underneath the cloak, Sirius and Remus followed him almost instantly. Hermione grinned widely and started to walk up, until she reached the hatch and pulled herself up. The boys tried to pull her underneath the cloak, but she dodged their hands and started to walk around the basement.
"What the hell are you doing?!", hissed Sirius, panic lacing his voice.
Hermione smiled sweetly, looking in the boys direction and then she accidentally knocked down a can that stood on top of the wooden case. Almost instantly, the owner of Honeydukes run down the stairs with his wand raised.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck...", she heard James' panicked voice and couldn't help but to giggle.
Ambrosius Flume descended the stairs and pointed his wand at her, ready to fire a spell. His expression changed instantly when he realized it had been her. A huge grin graced his lips as he stretched his arms out, wanting to embrace her.
"Hermione, my dear! What on Earth are you doing here?! I shouldn't have told you about the passage, I know I shouldn't", he laughed, hugging her briefly.
"Sorry, Mr Flume. I have been feeling so lonely and stressed out that I couldn't stop myself. I can go back, but I promise to behave myself. It's not like anyone knows me here well enough to figure out that I should be at school!"
"Of course, of course... You know that I have troubles saying no to you, after how you've helped us this summer!", the man chuckled and Hermione looked at him with gleaming eyes.
"Actually, do you mind if a couple of my friends go with me? It would mean the world to me, and I promise not to do that ever again"
"Are they here?", he asked, looking around carefully. "I can't see them"
"Boys, show yourselves!", she chirped sweetly and soon, she was standing face to face with very angry Marauders. "There they are!"
"Oh, Hermione! Don't tell me you're friends with that lot. They make my life hell!", Ambrosius said laughing and Hermione giggled.
"That makes the two of us. They are still very likeable though!"
"That they are. Keep an eye on that girl here, would you? I'm going to tell the Headmaster all about your unsupervised visits in Hogsmeade, if something happens to Hermione!", he threatened but a smile was still plastered on his lips.
"Sure thing", murmured James and sent Hermione murderous glance.
Soon, they were all outside Honeydukes and the Ravenclaw looked at the boys with pure happiness.
"WHAT THE FUCK, KITTEN?!", Sirius yelled at her as soon as the door had closed behind them.
"I'm sorry, I just... Couldn't stop myself", she laughed, not feeling guilty at all.
"Merlin, I have almost shat myself, you bloody minx!", James added angrily and ruffled his hair. "Do you have any idea what would happen to us if we got caught? Moony would lose his Prefect badge, me and Sirius would be banned from Quidditch. Oh, and we could have been expelled!"
"No, you couldn't. I know everyone at Honeydukes, I've worked there all summer. They wouldn't rat me out", she shrugged and the burst out with laughter. "I wish I could have seen you faces when I knocked that can down"
"Hilarious. You scared the shit out of us", Sirius sighed, looking positively disturbed.
"And it serves you right, breaking rules like that! It could be dangerous, what if something happened to you?!", she scolded him and shook her head.
"You'd be worried about us?", Sirius asked, his usual grin returning to his face.
"Of course I would, you idiot! Next time you're going to pull a stunt like that, you're going to be twice as careful!", she stated and then corners of her mouth twitched again. "Besides, you have no idea how hilarious you looked"
And then she started to laugh once again, tilting her head back as her vibrant voice echoed through the air. Even with her joyous outburst, she couldn't help but notice Sirius' expression soften, as he looked at her with pure amazement. And boy, how great it felt.