As it turns out, professors do not need to be onsite to know who the culprits of a fight are. Lily finds them a few hours later in the common room to relay the message that they are all summoned to Professor McGonagall's office.
"This instant," she specifies when none of them stir.
Hermione's stomach is a tight knot of dread as she and the boys make their way solemnly to Professor McGonagall's office. She doesn't regret hitting Snape - she has been dying to for five whole years now – but her throbbing knuckles reminds her painfully of the reality of the situation. She should have called a Head student or a Professor instead of taking matters into her own hand. And hexing that other Slytherin boy was completely out of line, although she can't say that she regrets having done so.
Professor McGonagall is in the process of writing a letter when they enter her office. She lets them stand awkwardly and nervously before her desk while she finishes her letter. Hermione can tell from the stiffness in her face that she is very angry.
Eventually, she signs the letter and puts the quill down, setting the parchment aside to let the ink dry.
Predictably, she lectures them about a student's responsibility to alert the authorities of discord. Eventually, however, she turns her attention to Hermione.
"I am especially disappointed in you, Miss Granger," she says in that soft voice laced with feeling that only Professor McGonagall can do so well. "All your teachers have spoken so highly of you. Achieving outstanding results on your O. , diligently catching up on your work, and attentive and respectful in class. And yet the few witnesses smart enough to step forward named you as the chief instigator of the retaliation against the Slytherins. Whatever they may have done, Miss Granger, you are not a Prefect or a Head Girl and you were in no position to deal out punishment the way you did."
Hermione's eyes feel hot and pressurized but she won't let herself lower her gaze or let her nerves get the best of her emotions. She meets Professor McGonagall's look fully and only takes a moment to assure herself that she is in full control of her composure. She is ready to confirm everything and accept her punishment.
"It wasn't Granger," James says before Hermione can even open her mouth. "I cast the spells."
Everyone's head turns to James and Professor McGonagall looks thrown off in surprise for a few moments. "It is very gallant of you to save your friend from detention, Mr. Potter, but the witnesses-"
"The witnesses look up to me," James interrupts Professor McGonagall. Hermione wonders how many students have ever dared do such a thing. The list must be a small one indeed. "I'm the Quidditch Captain, no one wants to see me in detention with the new season coming up. Granger's the perfect scapegoat, the new student who has no one to take her side. But she's my friend and I won't let her take the blame for retribution I distributed, and would all over again."
Hermione is at a loss. Should she speak up and deny it, a position that would no doubt result in the both of them getting detention? McGonagall clearly looks skeptical at this unexpected confession and Hermione can't blame her. She herself is torn between if James is trying to act gallantly, or if he just wants the glory surely associated with Hermione's actions. She did incapacitate two Slytherins and scare of the lot of them, single-handedly, after all.
The moment for Hermione to speak up passes, however, when Professor McGonagall decides not to call James' bluff. None of the Slytherins must have admitted to having been beaten off by a girl and since James is quite popular, Professor McGonagall has reasons to doubt the validity of the confessions she heard.
Besides, they're not a Wizengamot trial here, and why would Professor McGonagall give herself the extra pain of interrogating them all and forcing a confession if James is giving himself up?
"Very well. Fifty points from Gryffindor for your rash actions, Mr. Potter, and for your friends' poor judgments in not notifying a professor. You may leave now," Professor McGonagall nods to the four of them. "Mr. Potter, you will stay here while I think about the terms of your punishment."
Hermione wants to hang back and apologize to James for having put him in this situation, but she knows she can't say anything that Professor McGonagall won't overhear. James turns to her when Professor McGonagall looks away a moment and he grins and winks at her.
Hermione feels her face heat up suddenly and she understands. James isn't protecting her or claiming the glory for himself. This is just part of his plan to make Hermione like him more. She feels like a fool as she storms out of the office because it's actually worked. That cunning, little…
Hermione has only just closed the door to Professor McGonagall's office when Sirius rounds on her. No doubt instinctively, Remus takes a step closer to Hermione so that he's standing half-way in front of her and between her and Sirius.
"Good job getting James into trouble," Sirius snaps at Hermione over Remus' shoulder.
"I didn't ask him to do anything," Hermione snaps right back, not about to let Sirius bully her into feeling guilty about something she had no control over.
"James knew what he was doing, Si, you can't blame Granger for that," Remus says. He speaks softly and calmly, like he's verbally trying to reach out and pat Sirius soothingly on the back.
It doesn't seem to work. If anything, Sirius just looks more worked up and annoyed. He turns his gaze from Hermione to Remus and this time, Hermione is scared.
There's so much intensity in his gaze – so much anger, so much… jealously? – and from the way his jaw muscles visibly twitch Hermione is terrified that he'll actually punch Remus.
Thankfully, he does no such thing. Instead, he turns back to Hermione. "He would have done the same for any one of us. Don't go thinking you're something special." Then he spins around and stomps off, Peter scrambling after him as always.
Hermione gasps for breath. She hadn't even realized she'd been holding it and now she pants to fill her lungs. Sirius can be seriously terrifying when he's jealous, Hermione thinks.
Remus puts a hand on her back. "Are you okay? Sorry about Sirius. He doesn't know how to control his temper."
Hermione shakes her head. "It's fine. I can hold my own."
Remus gives her one of those rare half-smiles of his. "You know, Sirius wasn't completely wrong. James would have done the same for any of us, meaning his friends. If you weren't anything special he wouldn't have taken the blame for you."
Hermione tries not to feel so happy at what Remus says. She doesn't want to want James to consider her anything special. She doesn't want to come between Sirius and Remus. And yes, it seems that on both counts she's not getting what she wishes.
She lets Remus accompany her back to the common room where they quietly get started on some neglected homework. Her suspicions have solidified into certainties and Hermione knows that the time for her and Sirius to have a talk has come.
Hermione tries to stay up and wait for James to return from detention, but she falls asleep on the couch. Lily wakes her up when she returns from her Prefect duties and Hermione decides to just follow her up to bed.
The next morning, James looks like he's about to face plant into his hash browns he's so tired. He doesn't mention detention at all until Hermione finally asks him about it, but he brushes her off.
"I'm not the type to sweep and tell," he tells her with a sleepy grin, and Hermione isn't sure if that's a bad pun on him trying to sweep her off her feet, or if Professor McGonagall had him sweep somewhere the Muggle-way.
Honestly, she could think of worse detentions than that, if that was the case. She seemed to recall a particular time in the Forbidden Forest….
"You should have a called a professor, is what you should have done," LLily tells them all reproachfully. Hermione knows she's just doing her duty as a Prefect, but Hermione's not sure she would have said the same if it had been Harry who had been the one to hex Draco's stupid grin off of his face or something.
"I know, but you should have seen what they did to Dorcas… I just lost it!"
Lily nods slowly. "She was in quite a state last night."
Sirius jumps up from the bench. "I'm done eating." He turns to James. "I'll see you at the Quidditch pitch."
Hermione looks over at Remus, who goes on eating his breakfast like this a normal occurrence, and she sighs as Sirius leaves the Great Hall. What a mess.
"I'm done as well. I promised Madame Pomfrey I'd be there early this morning."
"I'll come with you," Hermione says, standing up. "Do you want to come with us, Lupin?"
"I'll keep researching. You never know what may turn up."
Hermione sighs. He sounds so dejected, but Hermione knows she won't get a chance to talk to Sirius today when he and James have Quidditch practice. She needs a plan for getting Sirius alone.
The hospital wing is quite a sight. The smell of human sickness is strong, despite the odor charms Madame Pomfrey must be casting, and seeing her fellow students twisting and turning in the little hospital beds makes Hermione want to cry.
"At least the vomiting subsided two nights ago," Lily tells Hermione as she shows her where they have to wash their hands and get the supplies.
Other than the sick students, there are only two other students with Madame Pomfrey tending to the patients. It's early Sunday morning, so even the Prefects don't have to be at their duties so early. Madame Pomfrey has damp cloths flying all over the room, from one patient to the next. When she sees Lily she gives a small cry of relief.
"Oh, thank goodness, you're here! They haven't worsened overnight but they just won't stop shivering. Take the warm cloths and try to bring their fevers down. Maybe try talking to them, too? Some human contact might do them good." She spares a moment to give Hermione a small smile of gratitude or acknowledgement and then she's hurrying back to the patients.
Hermione and Lily each take a cloth and a bowl of already cool water and head to their first patients. It's hard work tending to all of the sick students. Although the more violent symptoms have subsided, they still look clammy and keep shivering. Hermione wonders if they even hear her as she struggles for subjects to talk about to them. Other than a few girls she recognizes by sight Hermione doesn't know any of them and she sure as heck doesn't know what to say.
Finally, she falls into a sort of routine. She begins by pressing the damp cloth to the girl's forehead, then cheek. Then she casts a levitation spell so she can quickly change the bed sheets. After that she sits by the bed for a few minutes telling the girl about how their classes are going and the new spells they're learning and their latest essay assignments. She tells every girl more or less the same thing. None of them contribute to the conversation anyway and Hermione doubts any of them can overhear her over their teeth clattering loudly.
It's hard work, even with the use of magic at her disposal, and Hermione hadn't realized how many students had actually fallen sick until she sees them all lined up in beds like this. It's disheartening to know that she can't do more for them.
Lily and Hermione take a break after the first couple of hours. They sit in the hallway and munch on a piece of chocolate Madame Pomfrey keeps in her cupboards.
"It was nice of James to take the blame for you," Lily says as they pass the chocolate back and forth. Hermione can hear in her voice that she doesn't entirely think so. "Just… be careful. He's a smooth guy and he'll do anything to impress you."
Hermione knows Lily is talking from experience. After all, hadn't James had his sights set on Lily before Hermione arrived? Hermione wonders if Lily really does feel as relieved as she pretends to be for James to have shifted his attentions elsewhere, or if she feels discarded.
"I told him we should just be friends." It's not a lie, just a half-truth and Lily looks at Hermione sideways, like she's calling her bluff.
"Just as long as he knows friends is the last-stop destination. If you're not unrelenting in your stand he'll always push for more."
Hermione blushes, knowing Lily is completely right. She breaks off a piece of chocolate and pretends to be too caught up nibbling to answer.
Hermione feels Lily turn her body toward her more than she sees it, though she does see her move blurrily in her peripheral vision.
"Oh my God," Lily hisses. "Oh my God!"
Hermione doesn't know why Lily is suddenly whispering. There's no one else in the hallway and with the noise the girls are making in the infirmary it's not like anyone inside will overhear them, even if they talk normally.
"You already like him, don't you?"
Hermione already knew her face was red but now she can feel it burning. She wants to deny it but the thought barges through her mental censor faster than she can catch it. Yes. I really do. Out loud, she says, "I think he makes a good friend. Whatever he may have done in the past," Hermione continues on quickly, seeing Lily opening her mouth indignantly, "I think he's a good person."
Even though now she's finally admitted the truth to herself, Hermione gathers up her tenacity, as James had put it, to never give in to these feelings. She has to remember what's at stake – the Wizarding world's future, her future, her best friend's very existence! Possibly even her own. Hermione thinks back to the troll in her first year and how Harry and Ron were the ones to save her. But, without Harry, who knows what would have happened?
"Maybe." Hermione is surprised that Lily doesn't start on a rant about how James and his friends are no-good scum. "He does seem to have changed, matured somehow, I'll give you that. But I just don't want to see him hurt you when he turns his fancy on the next new girl at school."
Hermione chews the inside of her lip thoughtfully and nods. "I know. That won't happen." It's a promise more to herself than to Lily, but thankfully they leave it at that. They crumple up the empty chocolate wrapper and throw it in the bin on their way back to the infirmary to help Madame Pomfrey feed lunch to the girls.
Hermione is surprised to see James show up at the hospital wing a few hours later. With the little amount of sleep he got last night she thought he would have been thrilled to rest the afternoon away.
"Quidditch got me riled up," he says when Hermione and Lily look up, surprised to see him of all people standing there. "Slytherin has the field booked now, so there's not much recon to be done on our part. But I thought I'd come and help. Be useful."
Hermione and Lily share a look but then Lily rolls her eyes and heads off to refill her bowl of water. Hermione has her patient levitated – they're sweating so much their sheets need to be changed several times a day – and is about to start stripping the bed of the sheets.
"Here! I'll do it," James volunteers, and Hermione has to stop from laughing. James Potter could sure be charming when he set himself to it. She can see how Lily eventually falls for him – and still has to, Hermione reminds herself, though now the thought is accompanied with a jealous stirring in her heart.
Hermione forces herself to be nice but a bit short with James. She avoids all eye contact for too long and makes sure that James can't 'accidentally' brush their fingers or arms together. Still, despite her best efforts to keep James at bay, Hermione still feels as aware of James' presence as if they were making eye contact and brushing fingers 'accidentally.'
When she sits down to deliver her usual prep-talk to the patient, James stares at her aghast.
"Is this what you've been boring these girls with?" He shakes his head and then buries it in his hands in mock horror. "No wonder these girls aren't getting any better! You're giving them every reason in the world to stay in here! Here, let me." James accios himself a stool and places it much too close to Hermione. Hermione tries to move her stool over, but she can't without colliding into the side table. So she listens as James tell his own stories, of the Quidditch tryouts and the hilarious events at practice today, like how the Snitch flew right into the Seeker's ear and then she was too disoriented to even catch it.
At dinnertime, Madame Pomfrey finally shoos them out of the infirmary. The evening Prefect group will be up to help her after dinner, and by that time most of the patients have already started drifting off into uneasy sleep.
The three of them walk to the Great Hall together and there's a strange sort of companionable atmosphere. Lily and James are actually having a conversation about Quidditch that doesn't involve biting sarcasm or personal taunts. Lily is actually talking to James like he's a person she tolerates and James is too keen on talking anything Quidditch to push her buttons.
At one point though, James looks over at Hermione. Their eyes meet and Hermione's heart bursts into a thousand butterflies desperate to flutter out of her chest. She quickly looks away but she knows she's given herself a way.
James looked like a sphinx ready to pounce.