I do not own any of these characters. They all belong to J.K. Rowling. Parts of this chapter belong to OTP, not me.
A/N: This chapter has been greatly postponed, I'm sorry guys! I was going to update earlier than this, but I was at a friends choir concert one night, and then the next night there was a storm and the power went out and all that I had typed beforehand got deleted because I hadn't bothered to save it. My updates might be a bit spaced out more than they usually are because my sister and her boyfriend are moving back in and well, I'll end up having less time on the computer. I'm not too happy about it all, but I can't do anything, my mom will kill me if I object. I'm also going to be spending the next day or two moving things in and out of the house, so I'm going to bee way too busy to get on the computer. So… I hope you guys understand! ;-; I also hope you all enjoy this chapter, this is coming from a sleepy mind tonight. It has minor OTP scenes or, scene, whatever, I don't remember, but yeah, just letting you know. - Min
Evil Cat Hater: Lol, I'm glad that my typing can be followed. Sometimes, I feel when I type that my dialog is a bit… confusing. You can ask more questions if you want, but it depends on what they are if I'll answer them. If you aren't too sure about something, just ask and I'll either point out what it means or is, or I'll just tell you that it'll appear in a later chapter.
Milo: There will eventually be a confrontation between Remus and Snape, but that is to be expected. I know how you feel about 'Snape and Hermione' but the way this fanfic is going to turn out, I'm going to leave it as a Remus/Hermione coupling. There might be a few future scenes that will induce a 'more than friendship' between Severus and Hermione, I will tell you that, but it won't last long, if I do decide to do that. I know it sounds a bit mean the way I'm putting it, but you'll just have to continue, I guarantee you'll like it. PLEASE, NO ONE KILL ME FOR MY CHOICES FOR THIS STORY! I'm sorry if anyone feels offended by my writing, but this is how I'm doing it. I mean, of course, you're going to have to have some competition for that school romance melodrama. And to answer the last question, Milo, she will try to stop him, but lets just say, she's a bit late.
Wally4ever: I'm glad! I'm sorry about the homework, I remember when I had to do loads of book reports and algebra. Ugh, never my type of work; honestly. I preferred Geometry over Algebra, it was a lot easier. Especially with fractions. Blah. Horrible stuff there. What show did you miss? Anyways, I'm updating now, so please, don't kill me for having this a bit late. You're a great reviewer!
To all of my reviewers: You guys are amazing. I love your reviews, they make me happy; that's saying a lot too. Every time I read a new review, it encourages me to write more of my story. Anyways, thank you guys so much. Now, on with the story!
They ran, quietly as they could, past the shimmering bell jar where the tiny egg was hatching and unhatching, toward the exit into the circular hallway at the fat end of the room. They were almost there when they heard something large and heavy collide with the door Hermione had charmed shut.
"Stand aside!" said a rough voice. "Alohomora!"
As the door flew open, Harry, Hermione, and Neville dived under the desks. They could see the bottom of the two Death Eaters' robes drawing nearer, their feet moving rapidly.
"They might've run straight through to the hall," said the rough voice.
"Check under the desks," said another.
Harry saw the knees of the Death Eaters bend. Poking his wand out from under the desk, he shouted, "STUPEFY!"
A jet of red light hit the nearest Death Eater; he fell backward into a grandfather clock and knocked it over. The second Death Eater, however, had leapt aside to avoid Harry's spell and now pointed his wand at Hermione, who had crawled out from under the desk to get a better aim.
"Avada --"
"NO!" Hermione sat bolt upright in her bed, drenched in cold sweat. Her breathing was heavy and ragged and her head pounded severely.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Said a groggy voice from the bed beside hers.
"N-Nothing." Hermione said, putting her head in her hands as she tried to calm her breathing.
She'd had that dream again; the dream of the Department of Mysteries. That dream was her most frequent one, but no matter how many times she relived the memory, she still couldn't get over it. She'd always been afraid of the killing curse, Avada Kadavra. It could simply kill her, just like that, and she wouldn't know what had hit her.
Hermione wrenched her sheets and blankets off of her. She peered at the clock beside her bed and read that it was 4:14 a.m. She slipped off of her bed and shivered, the cool air of the room hitting her flushed skin. Looking around the room, the girl saw that Lily had fallen back asleep after her scream, her head poking out from under the top of her comforter.
The brown haired girl stepped to her trunk and picked out some clothing to wear that day; a red halter top and black hip huggers. She then went into the bathroom branched off of the dormitory and turned on the hot water for her shower.
Examining herself in the body length mirror on the back of the door, she noticed that she looked older than before, as if something had dragged her from her childhood maturity to a more adult maturity. Harry and Ron would be furious at the thought of her being more mature than she had already been. Though, the others had grown up to.
With a heavy sigh, she stripped off her clothing and hopped into the shower, the hot water and steam making her nightmare and worries fade away to the back of her mind.
After she was done, she used a absorbing charm on her hair to dry it, then she used another charm to make it straighter. It fell in long, wavy, brown curls, almost like it had on the night of the ball. Looking at her appearance in the mirror, she smiled approvingly, then exited the bathroom.
It was almost five a.m. now and the other girls were just waking up. Lily was sitting up in bed, eyes still closed though obviously awake as she yawned loudly. Alice was stretching in her bed, and Erica was already pulling out her clothing for the day.
"Morning, 'Mione." Lily mumbled as she rubbed at her eyes.
"Morning to you too, Lily." Hermione smiled at her, then sat down at her bed, pulling on a pair of black sneakers.
"What was with--" She yawned again, "you yelling earlier?"
The other girls face flushed slightly and she mumbled, "It was nothing, just a bad dream…"
"Oh, sorry." Lily said, pushing herself off of her bed and flopping down next to Hermione. "Do you have a lot of--" Another yawn, "bad dreams?"
Hermione nodded slightly, looking away from the girl. "It's no big deal though."
Hermione could almost feel Lily frowning at her, but she didn't say anything. When Lily stood up a few minutes later to go get dressed, Hermione busied herself by gathering her school books and putting them in her bag.
She didn't want to draw any attention to herself by making a deal of her nightmares. That was the last thing she wanted. She remembered how when Harry had his visions, the whole school had spoke behind his back constantly. Hermione shook her head, reminding herself that things like that wouldn't happen to her; she wasn't famous as Harry was.
"So, Hermione, how do you feel about starting classes for your first time at Hogwarts?" Alice called out across the room as she stuffed a book in her bag.
"Oh, I'm excited, actually. I can't wait to see how classes are in this ti-- school." She cursed herself for almost saying the wrong thing.
"You'll like it here. The only class you might dislike is Potions, but you'll live through there. Professor Baker is a fair man, surprisingly. You'll love Flitwick and McGonagall though. The Defense professor is a good man too, though he's a bit on the leisurely side and lets most people get away with things." Alice provided, slinging her bag over her shoulder as Lily did the same.
"I imagine I will enjoy it here." Hermione mused, knowing full well she would approve of most of the teachers. "Well, you guys ready to go to breakfast?"
The other three girls nodded and they headed to the door. As they entered the common room, they saw that not too many people had awakened yet, or weren't down in the common area. The girls led Hermione out of the common room and to the Great Hall where they took seats at the end of the table, though Alice branched off after seeing Frank sitting with a group of his friends. Hermione smiled as she watched Frank kiss Alice on the cheek as she sat down next to him.
"They look like a great couple." Hermione smiled, pulling a plate of bacon towards her.
"They are. Alice has been in love with that guy for as long as I can remember." Erica laughed.
"Yeah, I'm just glad they're finally together. I hate when two people are so obviously in love but wont admit to it." Lily said absentmindedly as she took a bite of her pancake.
"Oh yeah?" Erica mused, watching her redhead friend. "I could say a few choice things about that."
"Oh, shut up, Erica." Mumbled Lily as her face turned the shade of her hair.
"Come on, it's obvious that you like James. Just admit it already." Erica rolled her eyes and Hermione grinned as she took a drink of her juice.
Lily gave her friend a look, but Erica just waved it off. "Fine, whatever you say Lily. It'll come out soon, you just wait."
Lily looked embarrassedly at Hermione, who's eyes were shining with laughter. Lily just blushed more and looked down at her food and began eating in silence.
Minutes passed and the girls ate, though Lily kept glancing at the doors they had come through. Hermione knew she was anxious for James to come to eat breakfast, not to mention get his letter.
Lily didn't have to wait long, because soon, four groggy Marauders stumbled into the Great Hall, yawning and obviously not fully awake. They evidently hadn't taken very long getting ready because Sirius' and James ties were on lopsided and their robes were rumpled up.
They spotted the girls sitting down at the end of the Gryffindor table and slowly trudged over to them. Sirius flopped down on the bench next to Erica, James sat next to him, Remus sat down on Hermione's other side, and Peter sat down next to Lily.
"Morning 'Mione.'Lo Lily, Erica." Remus said as he looked sleepily down at his empty plate.
"Good Morning, Remus. Tired?" Hermione asked as she continued to eat her breakfast.
"Yeah. A bit. I'm not much of a--" He unsuccessfully stifled a yawn then continued, "morning person."
"I noticed." She laughed and then she spotted the morning mail coming. "Mail's here."
Lily looked up quickly and scanned through the owls, then spotted one coming straight over to them. She recognized the owl as the one she had sent to James then looked down at her plate as if it were the most interesting thing around.
Hermione watched as the owl flew down and landed on James' shoulder. It stuck its leg out, demanding he take off the parchment attached to it. James' looked at it quizzically then took it and the owl flew off.
"I wonder who this is from." He mumbled. "It isn't mum or dad, they would have addressed it."
"Just open it up and read it." Sirius said, looking over his friends shoulder.
James just shrugged and unrolled it. He looked at the bright green handwriting suspiciously then read it. The further he read, the wider his eyes became. When he finished, Sirius let a wide grin spread across his face and he said loudly,
"Looks like James has a secret admirer."
"We could have guessed that." Remus supplied as he took a bite out of his toast. "He has a lot of 'secret admirers.'"
"Listen to what it says!" Sirius said loudly, taking the letter away from a shocked James. "'Dear James, Oh, how I wish I could tell you this in person, but I'm too shy and scared to do so. Being the person I am, I could never confess anything like this to you in person, not yet anyway. What you are about to read, are the feelings of a lonely girl. James, I want to confess to you the love that I hold in my heart for you, and only you. I long to hold you in my arms, and for you to accept me as I am, and not what you think of me, or what other people say about me. I wish to be the one holding your hand while walking down corridors, and the one that you look forward to seeing every day. I could only hope to be the one that puts a smile on your face. I want to be the one that you would share your secrets with. I love your smile, your humor, the way you are. Everything about you puts a smile on my face. If only you knew who I was and saw me in the same way…"
James was extremely red in the face, and Lily had made it so that her hair fell over her own face, concealing her features. Peter was staring at the letter in awe, and Hermione was trying desperately to keep a straight face. Sirius was having fun now, teasing James who only turned redder.
"Sirius, shut up."
Remus was looking thoughtfully at James, then saw Lily, who's face, even through her hair, could be seen as the same shade of her hair. He looked at Hermione, who grinned innocently then her eyes darted over to Lily, and Remus grinned too.
Hermione looked over at James, who still had Sirius pestering him. She rolled her eyes, then shot at the other dark haired boy, "Sirius, leave him alone. I don't think you'd like someone doing that to you."
"But Hermione, this is James! This is priceless!"
"I don't care. Unless you want me to hex you to next week, I'd leave him alone." She narrowed her eyes, getting the point across to the boy as he shut his mouth immediately.
The rest of breakfast was quiet and awkward, though the majority of the group kept giving Lily and James either curious looks or amused ones.
About fifteen minutes before they had to go to class, Professor McGonagall walked over and handed Hermione her schedule.
"I'm looking forward to seeing you in class, Miss Granger."
"I'm looking forward to it also." Hermione grinned. McGonagall nodded approvingly, then walked away.
"I think we should go ahead and head on to class." Hermione said, eyeing her schedule. "At least I do. Double Potions, first day. I wouldn't want to be late."
"Yeah. We all have to go to potions." Sirius made a face. "Not to mention, we'll be with the Slytherin's."
Hermione rolled her eyes again. "Come on Lily, you can show me the way to the dungeons."
"Okay." Lily hurriedly got up and almost dragged Hermione out of the Great Hall, leaving the boys and Erica to catch up.
When they were out of earshot of the Marauders, Lily squealed exasperatedly. "I think that was a bad idea!"
Hermione laughed. "Nonsense. It's going to work."
"How do you know?"
"Trust me on this one. I believe Remus knows that it was you who sent it, I mean, you were blushing so much, I'm surprised the others didn't see, but if he does know, then he'll definitely make sure that James replies to it." Hermione said matter-of-factly.
"Remus knows!" Lily cried, covering her face with her hands. "This wasn't how it was supposed to go!"
"Remus wont say anything to anyone though. He's a good person, he'll keep your secret." She said to her friend reassuringly.
"You think so?"
"I know so."
"Alright. I just hope he doesn't let anything slip…" She trailed off, looking behind her as if expecting to see them jump out at her.
"He won't. Now, come on. Lets hurry up."
On the way to the dungeons, they saw a lot of Slytherin's. They all gave them dirty looks, but Hermione and Lily ignored them. When they got to the potions classroom, there weren't many people in there yet. Hermione wasn't surprised to see Severus sitting in his chair with his stuff already out. She gave him a warm smile, and he nodded to her in response.
It might not seem like a friendly way to greet one another, but they both knew what it meant to them. Hermione was glad that Severus was friendly with her, and she was glad he didn't hate her like his future self did. It was surprising to her at how much she felt like she should be his friend. I can save him from his future… I know I can, even if I'm a bit late, I can make sure nothing too extreme happens.
Her and Lily sat down at the table beside Severus'. It was near the front but not exactly. There were two tables in front of each of their tables. Hermione took out her potions book and a piece of parchment and her quill. Lily followed suit, and they waited for the rest of the class to file in.
In about ten minutes, the whole class had settled in their seats and were talking happily to one another, though the Slytherin's kept giving the Gryffindor's looks. Hermione just smiled at each of the ones that looked at her with distaste and threw them slightly off with her action.
James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter trooped into the room loudly; it was a wonder that they hadn't gotten in trouble. Sirius was laughing so hard his face was red with the fact that he didn't have enough oxygen in him. James was scowling at his friend and Remus was shaking his head at both of them. Peter was tagging along in the back, unsure of himself and of going into the room full of Slytherin's.
They saw where Lily and Hermione were sitting and James scowled when he spot Severus at the table next to them. It was obvious that he didn't like that arrangement, so him and the other boys took seats behind them.
Hermione rolled her eyes and glanced at Lily who seemed to be annoyed also. Lily looked at Hermione and was about to turn around and tell the boys off when the door flew open and everyone became silent.
She watched as a tall, blonde haired man strode into the room, his robes billowing behind him. Hermione was surprised to see that such a young man would be considered a Professor. He had to have still been in his twenties, younger than Professor Lupin had been when he was hired for the Defense job in her time.
The Potions Professor was young, with blonde hair that hung down to his shoulders. His face was pale, his eyes were a startling blue color, and he spoke with a cool, calm voice. He didn't seem to be like her former professor, who favored the Slytherin's. Hermione had a feeling that she might actually like this teacher.
She watched Professor Baker stride over to the front of the room where a blackboard was. When all eyes were on him, he cleared his throat and said, "Today, we will be learning about the Draught of Peace. Can anyone tell me what it does?"
A few hands went up, including Hermione's, Lily's, and Severus'. Professor Baker called on Lily.
"The Draught of Peace gives the drinker a feeling of peace and well-being, but if overdone it can put the drinker into a deep or even irreversible sleep." She replied simply.
"Very good. Today, you will be brewing this potion with a partner of your opposite house. I will split you all into pairs." He waved his wand at the board and instructions appeared on it. "As you see, instructions are on the board. Now, I'll begin to partner you all up."
Baker split the students up into groups until only Hermione and Severus were left. He looked at them for a moment, thoughtfully, then he told them to pair up. Hermione had no objections and Severus seemed not to mind the rearrangement.
James leaned over towards here and whispered, "I wouldn't trust that slimy git if I were you."
"I'll trust who I want, James. Just mind your own business." Hermione snapped, picking up her stuff and moving over to the table that Severus had been sitting at by himself.
He moved his books aside to make room for her and she smiled. "Morning, Severus."
"Morning." He mumbled back, picking up his quill and began scribbling down the instructions for the potion.
Hermione copied down the instructions also and began preparing for the potion. Severus joined her and soon they had the potion already halfway made.
"You're actually good at potions. I'm surprised. Not many people can do things right in this class." Severus mused.
"Well, I've always been okay at potions. I'm not the greatest though. I'll never be as good as you." She told him, adding powdered moonstone to the potion.
Severus looked at her, his eyes slightly wide at her compliment. She just smiled at him again, then returned her attention to the potion.
The next thirty minutes passed and they had their Draught of Peace finished. Hermione put some of the potion in a vial and then they cleaned up. Severus took the potion to the front of the room and placed it on Professor Bakers desk where he nodded approvingly while Hermione caught the look that the Marauders were giving her; a mixture of shock, anger, and suspicion.
When Severus sat back down, Hermione decided to strike up a conversation. "So, what class do you have next?"
"Transfiguration." He said quietly. "You?"
"I have Defense."
"You'll like that class." He told her. "The teacher there actually knows what he's doing."
Hermione laughed quietly. "I'm glad to hear that. My last defense teacher at my old school was… horrible. She made us read from a book and wouldn't let us do any hands on activities. It was awful."
Severus snorted slightly and Hermione was amused. He then said, "Well, that must have been a whole waste of a year if you couldn't do anything for Defense."
"Not entirely, no." She replied. "My friends and I made a thing that would resemble a type of… club, or group. We called it the DA and my best friend was the teacher. We learned loads from him, so it wasn't a bad year."
"You pretty much trained yourself?"
"Yes. It wasn't too hard. We learned a lot of defense spells, I even mastered my patronus." She said halfheartedly.
"You know how to make a patronus?" Severus asked, shocked.
"Yeah, I do." She said proudly.
"That's advance magic, though…"
"Well… Harry thought it would be best if we learned a few of the more complex spells because… because, well, we weren't exactly in the safest… place." She said carefully, thinking through her words before she spoke them.
"Not the safest place?" He inquired.
"Dark wizards were everywhere." She said quietly.
"Is that why you transferred here?" He asked just as quietly.
"Yeah, it is…" She said, more to herself. It was partially true, because Malfoy had been considered to be on the dark side.
Severus was about to ask something else, but Professor Baker interrupted them. "Okay, class is over. Put some of the potion that you do have done in a vial and set it on my desk before you leave the room. I also want a foot and a half essay explaining the uses of this potion. It's due in a week. Class dismissed."
With that, everyone hurriedly got up, not wanting anything else to do with the people they had been partnered with. Hermione though, wasn't in a hurry. She packed her things alongside Severus, then stood up.
Before Hermione left the room though, Severus stopped her. He looked around hesitantly for a bit, seeing if anyone was in hearing distant, then he asked, "Hermione, would you like to go with me to Hogsmeade next weekend? Just as friends?"
Hermione was stunned by his question at first, then a smile spread across her face. "I'd love to, Severus."
He looked both shocked and relieved. He gave her a small smile, then slipped from the room, Hermione following behind him at a slower pace, reflecting what Severus had just asked her. She was actually quite shocked he'd asked her, but she did want to get to know the younger Severus more. The girl hurried along after a moment, seeing that Lily had stopped up at the corner to wait for her.
"What took so long?" She asked, tapping her foot impatiently.
"I was talking to Severus." She shrugged.
"What were you talking about?" She replied suspiciously.
"He just wanted to know about Hogsmeade next weekend."
"Oh, well, okay. Follow me, we have Defense next." Lily smiled, then dragged Hermione up to the floor where the classroom was located.
They entered the room and Hermione was pleased to see that it looked similar to what it had when Professor Lupin had taught them. There were shelves that lined the walls, holding what looked like cages. Hermione wondered what where in the cages, knowing it had to be some type of creature.
Lily noticed her looking and smiled. "Professor Ian likes to introduce the class to some of the simpler creatures that we might have to face in our lives. He's a fantastic professor, really. Knows a lot of stuff and he's popular with the students."
Hermione took a seat in the front and Lily sat with her. Lily told her of some of the past lessons. Hermione noticed with disappointment that they hadn't covered a great number of creatures they had. Dementors, Boggarts, and werewolves were some of the few that she knew they hadn't introduced. When Hermione asked about it, Lily smiled broadly and said that they would be learning about boggarts that day.
Hermione frowned a bit but shook off her nervousness. She had already gone up against a boggart before, but she wasn't sure what it would take form as now. She'd seen so much in the past few years that a lot of things terrified her.
Lily noticed her edginess and patted her on the shoulder a bit. "It'll be fine."
"Thanks." Hermione put on a smile, though she felt like anything but smiling.
After a few minutes, more students came into the room. The Marauders were practically the last ones in and Hermione figured that they always came in right before the bell. They all took seats in the back and Hermione caught some of their conversation on their way down the row.
"Well, if I were you, I'd respond to her. You never know who it might be. It could be some hottie." Sirius' was saying to James.
"But I don't want a hottie. I want…" He trailed off, and the others obviously knew what he was getting at.
Remus spoke up, "James, just give it a chance. I have a feeling you wont regret this."
"How do you know? This could be a joke!" James cried out indignantly.
"Trust me, James." Remus said in a serious voice.
Hermione didn't hear anymore of their conversation because just at that moment, the door opened and the Professor walked in.
He looked to be in his late thirties, his brown hair streaked with wisps of grey. He had a kind face, his brown eyes dancing with life as he looked over the class. He clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"Good morning class. I hope you all had a great weekend." The class murmured their yes's and no's. He nodded and then looked at Hermione. "Ah, yes, it seems that we have a new student with us. Hermione Granger, I believe?"
"Yes, sir." She smiled at him.
"I'd like to welcome you to my class, Hermione. I hope that you enjoy it here, I try to make the class as interesting as I can. I remember when I was your age, I didn't like it much when all my teachers did was lecture and appoint notes and essays." His eyes were sparkling with merriment as he watched her.
Hermione could only smile. He reminded her so much of her third year professor. "I heard we were doing boggarts today?"
"Ah, you heard correctly." He looked thoughtful for a moment then he clapped again, getting the classes attention once more. "Today, as Miss Granger has pointed out, I told you we would be messing with boggarts today. I'm pleased to say, I was able to get Professor Flitwick to let me erm, use the boggart that he had found in his cabinet."
"That's great!" Sirius said loudly. "Can I go first?"
"Calm down Sirius. Everyone will get a chance to go against the boggart but right now, I'd like to go over a bit of information. What is a boggart?"
Hermione and Lily both rose their hands simultaneously. Professor Ian looked at Hermione, then called on her. "Hermione?"
"A boggart is a shape shifter that prefers to live in dark, confined spaces, taking the form of the thing most feared by the person it encounters; nobody knows what a boggart looks like in its natural state. A boggart appears to feed on the emotion of fear rather than simply deploying this ability as a defense mechanism, hence its classification as a Dark creature." Hermione recited from her memory.
"Very good, Hermione. Now, Lily, would you be able to tell us the spell that would be used against a boggart if you encountered one?"
"The accurate incantation to use against a boggart is, 'Riddikulus.' The Riddikulus spell is a simple charm requiring force of mind. The spell requires the caster to visualize his or her worst fear in an amusing or humorous form while reciting the incantation. When performed correctly, this forces the boggart to take on an appearance which will inspire laughter that forms as an efficient defense against the creature."
Professor Ian beamed at the two girls in the front row. "Twenty points to Gryffindor for both of you. Now, I want you all to picture your worst fear in an amusing state. I'll give you all a few minutes to focus."
The class began whispering to one another when Professor Ian turned his back. Hermione sat in her seat, thinking desperately through her mind for what would be her worst fear. She thought of first of her friends dying; that wasn't it. Her family dying, perhaps? No… not it either. She racked her brain, then something popped up and she paled.
"Alright! Now, everyone, stand up and line up over here." Professor Ian motioned for the class to move.
Everyone filed excitedly to the front of the room and the older man waved his wand at their desks so that they all squished together at the back of the room. When there was enough space to work with, he flicked his wand at a cabinet in the corner of the class to make it hover over to the center of the room.
The class murmured in excitement when it rattled slightly, and a few girls gave out nervous squeaks. Lily looked as if she would cry, but Hermione hardly noticed. She felt her knees become weak as she stood a bit ahead of the halfway point of the group. She gulped as the professor motioned a girl from the front forward.
"Alright, Janice, class, repeat after me. Riddikulus!" The class said the charm loudly and then the professor nodded. "Alright, I'm going to release the boggart, Janice, and when I do, you imagine clearly what your worst fear would look like in a humorous scene. Okay, one… two… three!"
He flicked his wand at the door of the cabinet and it shot open. Hermione was amused to see a large dog that reminded her slightly of the grim appear. It was snarling ferociously at the girl and she gave a small squeak before she said the spell, causing the dog to appear in a bright pink tutu. The class burst out in laughter at the dog who stopped in a confused way.
Professor Ian motioned for the boy behind Janice to step forward and when he did, the dog transformed into a giant leech. Girls shrieked and the boy paled visibly.
"Go on, Jared!" The professor encouraged.
The boy lifted the wand, shouting the incantation. The leech suddenly sprouted elephant ears and turned a bright yellow color. Everyone laughed as the ears flapped uselessly on what they guessed was the leeches head. The next few people went up, and the boggart was beginning to get extremely confused.
Lily was before Hermione, and when she stepped up towards the boggart that was currently a large fluffy caterpillar. When she stepped up, her eyes widened when it transformed into a Hellhound.
Hermione breathed in as she saw the three headed dog. This dog looked almost like the one that her, Ron, and Harry had gone up against in their first year, only this one was black. Lily looked horrified at it and froze in her place. The hound-boggart advanced on the girl, and Hermione did the only thing she knew to do; jumped in front of her new friend.
Knowing what she would see, Hermione froze instantly as she watched the boggart slowly shrink to the size of a human. It turned into a boy with untidy black hair, vivid green eyes, wire rimmed glasses, and a lightening bolt shaped scar. The boy watched her with his eyes narrowed.
Hermione gulped as the class behind them murmured and she vaguely caught what they were saying, "That looks like James Potter!" "Is she afraid of a Marauder?" "That's not James, look at the eyes!" "The scar!" Suddenly, before Hermione could even think to respond, the boy began to transform into something that she knew would be terrifying; both to herself, and the others.
The form of Harry changed slowly at an agonizing pace. The body grew taller, paler, and his eyes changed from jade to crimson. His lips thinned to a pale lipped sneer and the boggart flexed in long, skinny fingers. His hair became transparent, and Hermione was soon looking at the future Lord Voldemort. His face thinned remarkably and gave him a gaunt look. His snake-like eyes locked onto Hermione's and she felt as if her very soul were withering at his gaze.
The class behind her gasped and a few girls screamed loudly. Hermione was faint, staring into the eyes of the one person she wished to never see in the past. A cold, cruel cackle escaped the thin lips of the boggart Voldemort. Hermione felt fear rise up in her chest and she wanted to scream. Harry had faced him many times, but Hermione wasn't ready for this. Even if it was a boggart, just the image of the man frightened her to a large extent.
As the boggart Voldemort laughed his cold, piercing laugh, she felt herself shiver involuntarily. The shuffle of the class behind her could be heard as they moved away, though the girl could only vaguely hear it. All Hermione's mind would allow her to think was, "Harry turned into Voldemort."
"No…" Hermione said weakly. Her eyes watered and the boggart advanced on her, its long, black cloak sweeping across the tiled floor. Professor Ian was in as much shock as anyone and hadn't made any move to stop it. She looked desperately at the boggart Voldemort, then she closed her eyes tightly, feeling the thin, bony fingers grip her around the neck of her robe.
"Tsk tsk, Granger. I'd have thought better of you. After all you've been through, you're scared of a mere mannequin of me." He let out a low chuckle, pulling the girl closer to him and Hermione opened her eyes wide, fearing that the boggart-Voldemort might reveal something about her that she wanted to keep to herself.
"No." She said shakily.
"No? After nearly killing that dear friend of yours; Ginny, torturing and attempting to kill Harry, killing that Cedric boy, and being the cause of Harry's Godfathers death… I'm surprised you're not one bit scared. Most would be on their knee's, begging me to let them go." He sneered.
"I would never beg anything of you." Hermione spat angrily and felt his grip tighten; unaware of the people in the room who were deadly quiet and were listening to them with fear and fascination.
"Is that so? I guess you're right, mudblood. You've been around danger enough in your life. I daresay, the whole sorcerers stone stunt was something I hadn't expected, along with the Department of Mysteries affair. Nearly being killed by a basilisk didn't even keep you from prodding into business that wasn't yours."
"All of those incidents were because of you." She snarled, sounding braver than she felt. "You're a pathetic excuse for a halfblood, Tom."
As she had feared, using his muggle name had caused fury to flash in his eyes. His grip on her robes was now cutting off her oxygen and she gasped loudly. Then, with embarrasment and anger, she realized that this wasn't the real Voldemort. This was only the Voldemort that she feared.
Her eyes narrowed and she pointed her wand at the chest of the boggart. She struggled to take a deep breath, then managed to shout out, "Riddikulus!"
The boggart Voldemort stumbled back and with a loud scream, a bright light expanded from his chest, outwards until his whole body was enveloped in the blinding radiance. With a shrill, nonhuman shriek, the light burst forward, and knocked Hermione back onto the floor.
When Hermione opened her eyes after a moment; her vision was blurry and unfocused, but the boggart was gone. Before Hermione could even catch her breathe, the room around her exploded with voices.
"Did you see that!"
"Who was that?"
"She said his name was Tom-"
"Did it say she was nearly killed by a basilisk?"
"What was the deal with the Department of Mys-"
"ENOUGH!" A voice shouted over the students. They all quieted down to see Professor Ian hurrying forward towards Hermione.
She looked at him unfocused for a moment. "I'm sorry Professor."
"Hermione, are you okay? I'm sorry I didn't do anything, I was just shocked to see the--"
"Don't worry, I was being foolish. I should have used the spell before it got out of hand." Hermione muttered, then made to get up but stumbled greatly.
"Hermione, it's okay. Sometimes, when we're too scared, we forget what we are supposed to do." The professor told her kindly as he helped to steady her on her feet.
"Professor… can I go to…" She trailed off, her mind foggy, "the hospital wing?"
"Of course, of course. Someone, give her some help over here." James, Sirius, and Remus quickly stepped forward. "Take her to the hospital wing."
Sirius slipped a shoulder under her left arm and Remus did the same to her right. The three boys helped Hermione out of the room and down the hall, but Hermione couldn't cooperate well.
Her mind was reeling and she couldn't see straight. She figured it was mostly the cause of shock. She was hardly aware of her feet leaving the floor as Remus picked her up and began carrying her to the hospital wing.
"I'm sorry guys." She said numbly.
"Sorry for what?" James asked, kindness evident in his voice.
"For being such an inconvenience to you guys."
"Don't worry about it, 'Mione." Sirius said, looking down at her.
"But I do worry…" She said groggily and closed her eyes, "I worry about… everyone… I don't want him to turn into him.. I don't want…" Before Hermione could finish what she was going to say, she felt herself falling into the pitch black blanket of unconsciousness as it wrapped itself around her body, beckoning her to sleep in its harbor-like depths.
Meanwhile, Remus stared down at the girl in his arms. She was mumbling, "I worry about… everyone… I don't want him to turn into him.. I don't want…" With a small sigh, the girl became limp in his arms.
"Is she okay?" James asked nervously as they neared the hospital wing.
"She's unconscious." He said quietly, looking down at the paled face of the girl he was carrying. She looked frail and broken in his arms, her breathing slightly ragged.
"What do you think all that was about back there?" Sirius asked even more quietly. "Who was that guy? Who was the other boy who looked just like James?"
"I have no idea…" James said incredulously. "That wasn't me.. There where slight differences between the two of us. I just don't understand though."
"Me neither." Remus said as they walked into the hospital wing.
Madam Promfrey was bustling about the room, organizing random things. She looked up when they entered and her eyes became large when she saw Hermione in Remus' arms.
"What happened here?"
"Well, we were in Defense when she erm… went up against a boggart and after the encounter, she couldn't stand on her own, then on the way here, she fell unconscious." Sirius said timidly.
"Bring her here and sit her on the bed." The nurse ordered and bustled off to her cabinets.
Remus lay Hermione down on one of the many beds in the room. When Madam Promfrey came back, the boys decided to sit down a bit away in some spare chairs. They sat, huddled together and began to talk.
"So… what do you think that boggart meant when he said something about her friends being nearly killed, killed, or tortured?" Remus asked hesitantly, his eyes darting from each of his friends faces.
"I have no clue… Do you actually think that stuff is true though? Hermione hasn't shown us any signs of being…" He trailed off and something dawned on his face. "Remember when she had came into the common room in tears? When we tried to comfort her, she said something about memories. Do you think she was upset because he had been thinking about the… the deaths of her friends?"
"That might be it… though, if I had ever encountered a guy that looked like that, I'd be having nightmares for years." James said sourly, shaking his head.
"I agree. But.. What was that whole thing about the Department of Mysteries? That place has like… high security. There's no way she could have been there." Remus said, thinking hard at that.
"Who knows. Maybe we should ask her when she wakes up…" Sirius looked over at the bed, only to see Madam Promfrey bent over her patient.
"I don't know… maybe bringing that up right after that incident will make her… upset again." James frowned, also turning his gaze to the girls bed.
"Yeah…" Remus murmured.
There was just something about Hermione that he didn't understand. She was different from everyone else, sure, but there was an aura around her that clearly stated that she didn't belong there. She was… diverse from the others he'd been around all his life.
"Hang on, didn't she also say that night that if she told us anything, it might be dangerous?" Sirius suddenly asked.
"She did." James replied, looking at his friend. "Do you think it has anything to do with that scary git?"
"It might." Sirius whispered. "I don't know about you guys, but I want to find out more about this. What if she's in danger?"
"Then… we'll just have to help out as best we can!" James said a little too loudly, earning a scowl from Madam Promfrey.
Remus was quiet for a moment. "Lets just hope we do the right thing and don't screw anything up for her more than what she's having to deal with…."
A/N: Okay guys, I hope you like that chapter. I made it a bit longer than my others, just because I haven't updated in a while. I'm not too sure about it though, I didn't too much care of how the beginning turned out. I tried to type this in a hurry, so I didn't have much time to reflect on how to type it out. I'm sorry about that, if I have any spare time I'll try to fix the chapter up a bit. Please review, telling me what you think. - Min