Hermione couldn't believe she was sitting on one of the stands, watching James and Sirius fly around on their brooms. She had never gone to Quidditch practices, not even for Harry and Ron. Try-outs were a completely different thing, but she highly doubted that she'd agree to sit through them if it was snowing outside.

"Who practices Quidditch in a weather like this?", she growled to herself, making Peter chuckle.

"Gryffindor, as you can see", he answered with a smile and rubbed his hands together, trying to warm them up.

She took out her wand and pointed it towards the boy. Before he could react, she casted a warming charm, making him visibly relax.

"Thanks"

"No need. It's only temporary", she scowled in response, wishing that things were different. "Bloody hell, they're stupid"

The Gryffindor Team kept practicing, although it seemed completely pointless, as no one could see a thing because of the snowflakes that kept falling down from the sky. Hermione was sure that if they didn't stop in an hour or so, she would look like a particularly fluffy snowman.

"It's their passion", shrugged Peter and bit his Chocolate Frog, before it could have escaped. "But yeah, they're stupid"

She couldn't help but chuckle at his words. Peter seemed to be a completely changed man in comparison to the boy she'd met on the train. He was shy and quiet most of the time, but there were moments when he simply couldn't stop talking. Hermione found herself enjoying his company immensely, as he clearly opened up to her during the semester. He was a good friend. No matter how did he end up in her times, right now he was just a boy, exactly like the rest of the Marauders.

"I'm afraid we're even worse than them. I mean, we're sitting here willingly", she muttered, pushing her thoughts aside.

"You know how petty they can be. Sirius would probably whine about it all the time, if you decided not to show up"

Oh yes, that was undisputable. He would keep looking at her with his best puppy eyes and her heart would clench painfully. Puppy eyes seemed to be his secret weapon and Hermione couldn't say that it surprised her. After all, he was an Animagus, a dog for a fact.

The Ravenclaw looked at Peter carefully. She knew more than well that Sirius hadn't been the only one to master transformation into an animal. Actually, the girl was sure that even if she hadn't known about it before, figuring it all out wouldn't be that difficult, especially with Remus' monthly disappearances. She was getting tired of hearing the same story over and over - his mother was feeling worse and he had to take care of her. Seriously, those boys were pretty brilliant! How come that they weren't able to come up with more plausible excuses? Not mentioning this weird correlation with lunar phases, that no one seemed to notice.

It was a miracle that Remus' secret was still a secret. Hermione started to think that she had to just outright tell them that she was fully aware of Remus' furry problem and then help them conceal it better. The story about Snape following Moony to the Shrieking Shack, after Sirius had decided to teach him a lesson haunted her mind far more often than she let on.

Maybe it was time to step in? Peter was probably the one to pester, if she wanted to hear the truth. Neither Sirius nor James were as likely to crack under pressure as Wormtail. After all, he was never the one to lead, as he had admitted himself. Hermione took a deep breath and said:

"Where's Remus?"

Peter looked at her, slightly disturbed, but collected himself pretty fast. He shrugged, offering her a sad smile.

"Oh, you know... His mother is sick again. Poor Remus, Hope is such a great person", he sighed in response and Hermione felt mildly impressed with his acting skills.

Well, after saying that sentence so many times, he had to learn how to act it out, yeah?

"Is she a werewolf?", she asked bluntly, making Peter let go of his Chocolate Frog, which decided to commit suicide and jumped off the stand.

"A we-werewolf?", the boy squealed, forgetting about being confident and secretive. "Why would you think so?"

"Well, Remus is helping her every full moon. It's a strange coincidence, don't you think?"

Hermione knew it was wrong to enjoy Peter's panic, but she had a really hard time fighting down her amusement. His watery-blue eyes were so wide, that they reminded her of those belonging to the House Elves, as he kept staring at her hysterically.

"Maybe? I-I... w-wouldn't know"

The Ravenclaw averted her gaze, sighing deeply. There was no need to torment him anymore. She just had to cut the chase and be out with it.

"Don't bother, Pete. I actually know about Remus, I've known for a while now"

Wormtail looked at her with guilt shining in his eyes. She wasn't sure if he was feeling this way because he didn't manage to protect Remus' secret or because he had been lying to her the entire time, along with everyone else. Hermione smiled at him gently, trying to lighten up the mood a bit and the boy relaxed slightly.

"You really know? How?"

"Peter, I hate to break it to you, but you're not exactly super secretive about it. Maybe people aren't interested in Remus' life and they are believing your story about his mother, but I care about him. It's not difficult to see that he seems to get weaker and weaker, accordingly to the lunar phases. And on the full moon, you all disappear from the castle", she rolled her eyes, keeping the smile plastered on her face.

"How would you know that?!", he asked with suspicion, making Hermione giggle.

"After each full moon, James is trying to eat his oatmeal with a fork and Sirius never shows up at breakfast, because he prefers to sleep in. And you... My guess is that you're staying with Remus at the Hospital Wing, making sure he's okay"

Peter blinked a couple of times and then blushed. She didn't need any confirmative aside from the look in his eyes, so she smiled tenderly and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Pete. I've known for a long time and I'm not going to tattle. I just... I worry about Remus, same as you do. And since I'm not an unregistered Animagus, I figured I had to ask you about it eventually"

"You know about that too?", the boy was clearly surprised, his jaw almost hitting the pile of snow that gathered at their feet.

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs...", she rolled her eyes with amusement. "Yeah, it was easy to figure out, which is why I have never asked you about where your nicknames came from. Besides, that time at Hogsmeade... You transformed into your animal form, didn't you? I hadn't thought anything of it then, but when I started to wonder about Remus, it felt like the missing puzzle. If those things weren't enough, it's basically impossible for you to join him on the full moon, while being human. He'd kill you without hesitation"

"Blimey, you're brilliant", he gasped and shook his head. "I wish I had a brain like yours"

"To be honest, I think you just need to believe in yourself a bit more. You're a capable wizard, Peter. But that's a subject for a different talk"

The boy blushed and rubbed his temple, trying to hide his embarrassment. Hermione bit back her chuckle and looked towards the pitch, where the players had been doing their best not to kill themselves. Apparently, James was the best at it, as he was currently sitting on his broom without any movement at all, probably because he was falling asleep. She spotted the Gryffindor's captain flying towards him and waving his hands frantically, forcing James to move.

She grinned and looked back at Peter, who seemed to be deep in his thoughts.

"So, how is Remus?"

"Oh... He's good. Yesterday was quite calm. Moony seems to like the snow, you know? He keeps playing with it all the time", Pete chuckled in response and Hermione joined him at once.

Her first meeting with Moony didn't go so well, but still, picturing him having fun with the snowdrifts was certainly entertaining.

"You're such amazing friends. Not many would go through all that effort just to be with their friends on one night"

"He doesn't deserve being all alone during the full moon", Peter said quietly and Hermione nodded eagerly. "He doesn't deserve being a werewolf. Remus is the kindest person I've ever met. It wouldn't feel right to leave him alone"

"No. It wouldn't. Which is why I want you to know that I'm willing to do everything in my power to help him", she stated firmly, making Peter look at her sadly.

"There's no cure for lycanthropy"

"Doesn't mean we can stop looking for it, yeah?"

To her surprise, Peter fell quiet for a minute and then hugged her.

"He was so worried that you're going to find out and turn your back at him. We told him he was talking nonsense, but he's way to insecure to just trust us on this. I am so glad that we were right and Remus was wrong"

Hermione smiled and returned his affectionate gesture with ease. They stayed like that for a minute and then broke apart when a Bludger flew right over their heads.

"Oi! Wormtail, That's my girl you're snuggling!", Sirius yelled at them, looking furious. "Do that again and I'll knock you out!"

Hermione glared at the Beater murderously, while Peter distanced himself from her, not wanting to piss Sirius off even more.

"Black, get back to the game, you lazy wanker!", the captain yelled so loudly, that even Hermione and Peter could hear him. "Instead of sending the Bludgers towards the stands, you could try to wake up Potter!"

James jerked up his head and looked around with suspicion, trying to figure out what was going on. Hermione couldn't help but chuckle, her annoyance evaporating in an instance.

"Fine. No need to get all worked up", Sirius yelled back and steered his broom away from the stands.

Both Hermione and Peter laughed at his behaviour and shared amused glances.

"I'd never thought I am going to see him that jealous, you know?", Peter asked with a timid smile, making Hermione blush a little. "Especially over me"

The boy chuckled, surprising her once again with his light attitude towards himself. She had always pictured him as someone who hated being in the shadows, who truly despised being worse than Sirius and James. Sure, he wasn't as handsome as Sirius, nor as charming as James, but she couldn't say that he wasn't interesting.

"Sirius considers you to be his brother. He and James have a special bond, but it doesn't make you or Remus any lesser. He considers you an equal, you know that, right?", she asked worriedly and Peter shot her a wide grin in response.

"I'm not like them, Hermione. I appreciate that you're trying to make sure that I don't feel bad about it, but the fact itself quite undeniable. I'm bland in comparison to Sirius or James, or even Remus. It used to bug me, a lot", he admitted and furrowed his brows.

"Why doesn't it bug you right now?"

Peter blushed crimson red and looked down to his feet. He seemed to be fighting with his own thoughts, but finally, he sighed and met her gaze.

"It had a lot to do with you", the boy finally murmured, making Hermione gasp in surprise.

She was too flabbergasted to speak and she really hoped that Peter wouldn't take it the wrong way. It seemed, that he was more interested in getting himself together than watching her reaction and Hermione was glad for this.

"I told you that Remus is one of the kindest people I've ever met. But so are you, Hermione. I know that your past has truly been awful and honestly, I'd probably give up if I were you. But you smile and try to live your life, not worrying others, not wanting to burden us with your troubles, even though we would be glad to carry them with you. And it made me realise something very important"

"What is it?", she asked quietly, trying to blink away the tears that appeared in her eyes out of nowhere.

"I've learned that life is not just. That I can't be waiting for it to give me something, to fulfil my dreams. Sirius and James get that, as they are trying to do everything in their power to gain what they want and I can't blame them for that. I can't listen to people who offer me greatness in exchange for something, that I should be aiming to achieve all by myself. Because life simply doesn't work that way"

Hermione bit her lip and flung herself at him, hugging him tightly.

"I'm so proud, Peter. You have no idea, how worried I was that you're going to let all those negative thoughts get to you and force you to make a terrible mistake. I want to you know that no matter how bad you feel, I'm always here for you. Don't go looking for help somewhere else. No one will help you better, than the people who love you", she sobbed into his ear, not being able to stop herself.

"Thank you, Hermione", he sobbed back, hugging her with all he had.

Another Bludger flew over their heads, making them jump up into the air.

"What the fuck, Peter?!", Sirius yelled once again, flying closer to the stand with fury painted on his face.

It took him a moment to assess the situation, but when he finally did, his brows furrowed with suspicion.

"And why the hell are you both crying?!"

Hermione met Peter's gaze and then they started to laugh simultaneously.