"They are up to something," Sirius muttered in a grim tone, forcing Hermione to look up and follow his gaze.
Mulciber and Avery were talking to each other quietly, their expressions serious and full of tension. She had seen that exact look on Sirius and James whenever they were planning a big prank, but this time, she felt shivers running down her spine.
"They are always up to something," she said warily and he shot her an angry look.
Hermione couldn't blame him for being so angry. Actually, she understood him all too well. How could she not, when the Slytherins had managed to walk out of this entire situation without as much as a scratch and she had nearly died? That feeling of injustice accompanied her all the time, wherever she went and there was nothing to be done about it.
Injustice wasn't the only feeling that seemed to follow her everywhere. Even looking at Mulciber and Avery made her insides twitch with fear, as her palms started to sweat uncontrollably. She was scared. Hogwarts was supposed to be safe, to be that one place where nothing could happen to her, but Voldemort had managed to train his future servants well. If they couldn't do anything to stop them without breaking the law, what else would they come up with?
Her gaze travelled to the boy sitting next to Mulciber, who listened in on the conversation, but didn't participate in it. Her friend. Her failure. A shot of pain hit her heart, just like every other time she looked at Severus Snape. She could almost feel all those spells he had cast upon her, she could almost feel the torment he had brought her that day and it made her sick to her stomach.
Why didn't they kill her? That question bugged her even more than Severus' betrayal. Hermione knew that her wounds were serious. If the Marauders hadn't found her, she would undoubtedly bleed out. Still, the Slytherins had left before anyone came to save her. Had they known that help was on the way? Or was there a different reason for leaving her on that corridor, injured and bleeding, but not dead?
"We can't just let them do this." Sirius' words forced her to avert her gaze from Snape and to stop thinking about the past.
"We don't even know what 'this' is," she said and shook her head. "There's no way to stop them, Sirius. I tried to outsmart them, I tried to destroy their plans and look what happened."
She didn't have to remind him of that. Not after catching him staring at her with a haunted look in his eyes way too many times. Just as she had every right to feel scared after being beaten, so that he had the right to worry about his girlfriend.
"I know, Hermione. But it still doesn't mean we can simply give up. I don't like their whispers and smug looks."
"Neither do I. It's just hard to do something when you don't have even the slightest clue about their plans," she said and Sirius sighed, clearly defeated.
"Every time I look at them I'm afraid that they're planning something to hurt you again. You or..." His voice broke off, but Hermione knew what was on his mind.
Her or Peter. She almost smiled at his slip, but it was still too early to try and convince him to change his mind. He had to come to this conclusion on his own, without her constant efforts.
"It scares me too," she admitted instead and grabbed his free hand, caressing his skin with her thumb. "But there is no way they will catch me all alone again. And if you're going be with me, they don't stand a chance."
Hermione didn't even lie. Sirius and James wanted to be Aurors and, in their cases, it wasn't just a whim. They moved well, they were quite fast and they had no problems with coming up with various solutions and battle strategies. Years of planning pranks must have taken its toll on them, as Hermione had to admit that they were getting really hard to beat. Sirius and James were made to fight, whereas she had to work hard to become even decent at it.
"Aren't you two sweet?" Lily cooed and joined them at the table, smiling widely.
She seemed to be in a great mood recently and Hermione suspected it had something to do with James' good mood. Of course, both of them didn't want to talk about it, so Hermione was willing to let that matter slide for now. She had already known that sooner or later, the two of them would end up together.
"Yes, we are," Sirius replied with a grin and kissed Hermione on the cheek and Lily rolled her eyes at that unnecessary sign of affection.
"Too much sweetness makes you want to puke, you know?" she muttered, making Sirius snort in amusement.
"Is that what you've been telling James lately?"
At his words, Lily blushed a crimson red and tried to glare Sirius to death, which, obviously, didn't work a bit.
"Potter is too dumb to understand anything. There's no point in explaining this to him."
"He's not dumb. You can ask that fifth year, Olivia Barnes. He's been tutoring her in Transfiguration and she says he's actually pretty smart," Sirius said and shrugged, but Hermione knew that his every word had been carefully chosen.
Judging by the look on Lily's face, he had managed to capture her attention. The girl blushed slightly and tried to act like she didn't care about James spending time with some other girl, but she failed miserably.
"Well then, she's probably dumb too," she muttered and Hermione fought the urge to chuckle. "Why would she even ask him?"
"James can be a very good teacher when he wants to," the Ravenclaw said and smiled, when Sirius squeezed her hand lightly, appreciating her effort. "Also, he's kind of cute. At least that's what the girls say."
Lily looked at her breakfast with a scowl and Hermione knew that their little scheme to make her jealous had worked perfectly. Maybe it was a little cruel, but her friend needed to stop being in denial. If Hermione could have gotten past her doubts, so could Lily. Life was simply too short to keep lying to yourself.
The weather was perfect for a trip to Hogsmeade; the sun shone bright and the temperature had finally risen to a level of pleasant warmth, allowing the students to fully enjoy their trip. Hermione felt actually grateful for that distraction. The exams were coming their way at an incredible pace and she wanted nothing else, than simply be able to get some rest, away from the castle. Of course, she had already passed those exams in her own time, but seeing nerves on everyone's faces made her stressed and anxious. The atmosphere of constant tension and panic seemed to be influencing everyone in the castle, including even James and Sirius.
When Sirius had asked her to go to Hogsmeade with him, she gladly agreed, surprising him completely. He even expected her to take some books with them, but she had no intentions of doing so. Hermione just wanted to enjoy her free time and have a proper date with her boyfriend. Maybe they would even be able to find a secluded place and...
No. She had to stop thinking about that. Not only because it was a reasonable choice, but because there was no way she would be able to concentrate on her exams, if Sirius was constantly on her mind. His lips, his hands roaming over her body, touching her everywhere and...
Merlin, she had to stop that! What was the point of tormenting herself?!
"I bet you're having some naughty thoughts," Sirius whispered into her ear, hugging her from behind and making her shiver with excitement.
"Of course I'm not!"
"Liar." He kissed her neck lightly and she blushed, looking around frantically.
They were standing on a nearly empty courtyard, as most of the students had already left for the village. Still, some of them stayed behind and she didn't fancy someone seeing them act so intimate.
"Stop," she pleaded and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "There are people around us."
"Why don't we ditch them, then? Maybe we could ditch Hogsmeade too?"
That guy was going to be the death of her. It took everything she had to say no to him, but she knew she had to. Hermione really wanted to go to the village and pretend to be normal, at least this once.
He must have noticed her sudden tension, as he spun her around, smiling gently.
"I know you want to go, love. I'm just joking," he said and she shrugged.
"I can't say I don't want to ditch Hogsmeade too," she replied and then sighed. "It's just that with everything that's going on, we don't have the chance to just pretend to be normal. I kind of miss that."
Sirius grinned widely and tugged a lost strand of her hair behind her ear.
"We're not normal, Hermione. We're smart, beautiful, funny... People get jealous just by looking at us."
Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head with amusement. Sirius could use some modesty from time to time, but she had no intentions of scolding him today. She simply grabbed his hand and said:
"Come on! We're already way behind everyone else. Why do you always have to be late?"
Padfoot didn't answer, but he laughed out loud and followed her to the village.
"Sirius!" Madame Rosmerta squealed in delight as soon as they had entered the Three Broomsticks.
Hermione remembered that her boyfriend seemed weirdly familiar with that woman the last time they decided to come here, but she was far from being jealous.. Rosmerta couldn't be blamed for taking a liking to him, just as Sirius couldn't be blamed for flirting with her. She was a beautiful woman, after all.
"Rosie! It's nice to see you!" Padfoot said and smiled brilliantly, making Hermione want to roll her eyes.
Always the charmer, she thought and stepped out of his shadow, making Rosmerta gasp in surprise.
"I'll be damned, you're still with him?!" she yelled, making everyone look their way with curiosity and Hermione smiled shyly. "You should be given a medal, sweetheart! To tame that wild lady-killer... That's very impressive!"
Sirius sent Rosmerta a glare, while Hermione chuckled with genuine amusement.
"Oh, it wasn't so difficult. Deep down, he's a good boy," she chirped, making Sirius even more flustered.
The pun was obvious and she knew that her boyfriend would probably be mad at her for making a dog joke, but seeing his expression and hearing Madame Rosmerta's laughter was totally worth it.
"Yes, he's probably good at many things," the woman admitted and Hermione blushed a crimson red, while Sirius stopped glaring at them both, smiling proudly instead. "Anyway, I'm serving you a Butterbeer on the house. It's the least I could do!"
"Thank you, Rosie!" Sirius said and Rosmerta raised her eyebrows.
"I was talking to your girl, lad. You're still paying."
With that, she turned around and walked away to the bar, leaving Sirius speechless. After a moment, Hermione realised that he had no intentions to move, as he was still mad at this raging injustice, so she dragged him towards one of the free tables.
"Good boy, huh?" he muttered, once they sat down and Hermione shrugged.
"Sorry, I couldn't stop myself."
"Well, your cute little blush at Rosie's comment made it up to me," he stated and leaned in, stealing a kiss from her.
"Why do you still like me blushing? I do it all the time," Hermione asked and propped herself on the elbow, while Sirius grinned.
"You don't, Hermione. You blush only when I'm around and that's incredibly enticing."
Just like that, they were back to the atmosphere from the courtyard, full of heavy tension. She fought the urge to bite her lip, as she knew it wouldn't do anything to lighten up the mood. Sirius might have found her blush enticing, but this was something that drove him mad.
"We could have ditched Hogsmeade," he said after a moment of silence and his voice was lower than his usual tone.
"We could have," Hermione agreed and sighed, closing her eyes.
She never pegged herself for a hormone crazed teenager, but lately, it had been hard to think about anything else. Maybe she could blame it on the stress? Maybe her body wanted to find a relief in some way? Whatever it was, Hermione started to be sick of that constant need, coursing through her body.
"Here's your Butterbeer." Rosmerta forced her to open her eyes, as she put the bottle in front of her with a warm smile.
The bartender must have noticed that tension between them and she sent Hermione a knowing look, before she shuffled away, clearly amused. Sirius, on the other hand, looked at the Butterbeer with weird and completely inappropriate longing that made Hermione giggle.
"What?" he asked in response to her sudden display of joy and she shrugged.
"I'm glad you don't look at me that way, because it would be really hard to sit here," she said and he blinked a couple of times, before snorting in amusement.
"You don't have to tell me that," he laughed and took a sip out of his bottle.
They didn't have to talk constantly to feel good in each other's company. Hermione appreciated that side of their relationship, as she rarely had the urge to babble. To others, they must have looked weird or even suspicious, but it didn't matter.
"What are your plans for the summer?" Sirius asked after a while and Hermione blinked in surprise.
Most students couldn't wait to start their holidays, but she hadn't thought about it at all. Sirius' question was incredibly valid. She had to do something, right?
"I... I don't know. I'd come back home, but... I don't have a home."
Suddenly, her previously good mood evaporated, as a grim expression settled on her face. Last year, she had been suffering too much to care about anything. Her whole body hurt, as the memories of her friends made it impossible to feel anything, but pain. Now, everything was different.
"You can stay with James and I..." Sirius offered quietly and Hermione smiled with sadness.
"I probably shouldn't. It's one thing to explain my past to you, but James' parents? That's completely different" she said and sighed, rubbing her forehead tiredly. "Dumbledore will want me to stay at Hogwarts, to keep me close."
"James' parents are great, love. They would understand everything," Sirius tried to convince her, but Hermione shook her head.
"The less people know, the better. I don't want to risk their lives as well."
Before her boyfriend could have answered, the door to the tavern opened with force and Ewan ran inside, clearly distraught. Leslie was hiding behind him and her face was so terrified that Hermione jumped to her feet instantly.
"Death Eaters are in the village!" Ewan shouted, causing everyone to gasp and yelp in fear. "Run! Run before they get here!"
Hermione made way to her friend as fast as she could, not caring if Sirius followed her. Ewan spotted her and he rushed in her direction, grabbing her arms and shaking her slightly.
"We need to go!"
"Wait, what's going on, Ewan?!" she yelled and tried to fight his grasp.
"Death Eater started to appear out of nowhere. They are marching that way, chanting like a bunch of lunatics and killing everyone they meet! It's not safe!"
Hermione opened her mouth in shock, as her mind started to spin at a rapid pace, trying to come up with solution. Sirius had other plans, as he grabbed her arm with force and pulled her closer to him.
"We're getting out of here, now!" he ordered and Ewan nodded, doing the same thing to Leslie, who was too terrified to do anything about it.
"Hermione... The girls are out there," she muttered with a trembling voice and Hermione felt her heart sink.
Her roommates... Her precious roommates... She couldn't simply leave them here! She had to do something! Not wanting to waste another minute, she freed herself from Sirius's hold and ran outside, ignoring all the screams coming from behind her back.
She made a promise to herself that she was done with suicidal missions. Turns out, she really was a big, fat liar.