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Chapter 4

Hermione did not tell Lily or the boys about her run-in with Malfoy at the Hog's Head. She was afraid they would confront Ferret Sr. and land themselves in hot water. She didn't want any more trouble from that disgusting excuse for a pureblood. Hermione couldn't ever remember feeling so out of control as she did in that room. Getting swept back to the past was "swish and flick" when compared to the Death Eater. Not even the battle at the Department of Mysteries had left her feeling so terrified. The adrenaline and nerve she usually felt when faced with danger had melted under the lascivious glare of Malfoy. Lucius had frightened her far more than Draco ever had. She had little doubt he would feature rather heavily in her nightmares from now on. She was also uncomfortable being in Snape's debt, and she knew the boys would not have seen him as a hero. No doubt they would view the whole thing as an elaborate set-up, with Snape as the orchestrator. They did not need much prodding to go after Snape. No, this was definitely information she would keep to herself. She doubted she would even tell Harry or Ron when the time came. The humiliation of being caught unarmed was almost as bad as the fear she had felt. As for Snape, she had no idea how he felt about the situation; he treated her with the same sneering indifference as always. She was still concerned that he had been following them in Hog's Head. His attentions towards Lily could not be a good thing, but as long as he left her alone and the boys remained unaware, she would leave it be. She would simply have to keep a closer eye on him.

The next two nights were still full moons, so Hermione was able to study and spend time with Lily. As the girls got closer, Hermione's guilt complex got bigger. It killed her to know that she was powerless to save this extraordinary girl. Although Hermione was focused on returning home, she was also reading into books that might give her an idea on how to save her new friends. Unfortunately, there were surprisingly few books on time travel in the Hogwarts library. Hermione refused to give up, but she was becoming more and more resigned to their fate. There just seemed to be nothing she could do. Hermione also used the boy-free evenings to try to clear her head of thoughts of Remus. She had seen little of him since Friday; he used the days after his transformations to rest and regroup. She was troubled by how much she missed him, how used to his company she was becoming.

The boys were in high spirits after their full-moon adventures. Tuesday evening the moons were behind them and they were eager to recount their mischief and spend time with Lily and Hermione.

"And then Prongs ran straight at the centaur!" Peter told them eagerly. "I was sure they were going to kill him!"

"Merlin, James," Lily said, sighing. "I need to you actually live a little bit longer."

"Ahh, they're total bullies," said James. "Our forest, blah blah blah. I'm not scared of them. In animagus form, anyway."

"You told us to avoid them the other night! Hypocrites, all of you. You're lucky they don't tattle to Dumbledore or Hagrid," said Hermione.

"Nah, they don't like to get too involved in our business," Remus said. "Plus I think they're a little wary of me. We avoid them when we can, of course."

"Of course."

"Let's not bore the girls anymore with tales of our debauchery," Sirius said, winking at Hermione. "Ladies, we are yours again. I know you missed our time together, but fear not - you have a whole month of uninterrupted Marauder time in front of you,"

"Great, Padfoot," Remus sighed. "Now you'll have them hiding for the next month. Hermione, don't listen to him. You can have one hour without us every other week."

She smiled, meeting his eyes. She found herself staring into them more than was probably wise. They were just so warm and inviting, it was hard to look away sometimes.

"Speak for yourself, Moony," said Sirius. "I plan on shrinking Hermione so I can keep her in my pocket all the time." He winked at her. Clearly, her reluctance to flirt back with him had little to no effect on him. If anything, it made him more brazen. Hermione wondered more than once if Sirius really had any interest in her or just teased her to take the piss out of Remus. Was it a game? She found it hard to believe that such close friends would ever argue about a girl. Hermione could only guess at his motivation. Of course, it was entirely possible, she supposed, that the shift in time had given her a bigger opinion of her charms than was warranted. Hermione was not entirely innocent. She had enjoyed Viktor Krum's attentions and shy kisses and had blatantly used Cormac McLaggen to make Ron jealous. So far, she and Ron had shared only one mind-blowing kiss, and she was very much looking forward to the next one - if there ever was one. So while she was not a complete novice when it came to boys, she was hardly experienced. More than anything, she was confused. Was she misinterpreting the friendly attention she was receiving? She thought of Lily's advice when James spoke again.

"Hermione, I think you slipped some Amortentia into Padfoot's pumpkin juice," he said. "I thought old Slughorn only gave out his best potions to Lily. Did you charm him, too?"

It was not possible for Hermione to be any redder. Peter and James were laughing openly at her, Lily was smiling faintly and Remus had a completely uncatagorizable look on his face. Sirius nodded.

"It's true, Prongs," he said. "I've been bewitched. No pun intended. Our dream lady has stolen my heart."

Hermione could not speak. The longer she sat there looking mortified, the more hilarious James and Peter seemed to find the situation. Sirius's predatory smile got wider and wider.

Lily finally came to her defense. "Knock it off, Sirius. Hermione's used to French boys. They romance with poetry, moonlight and roses. You're coming off like a complete ass."

"Oh, settle down, Evans," Sirius said. "You know Moony has the market cornered on moonlight. Besides, Granger knows I'm just kidding." He winked at her again.

"Right," Hermione said. "I have to go now."

"Hermione!" James protested. "C'mon, don't take Padfoot so seriously."

"Difficult, when that's his name," Hermione mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing," said Hermione. "It's fine. Whatever. I know he's teasing. I wish I could figure out when I warrant a Hermione, and when I just get a Granger, though."

Sirius smiled and shrugged. "You never know how the mood is going to strike me. Would you prefer Miss Granger?"

"Yes, and curtsey when you say it," said Hermione. Her cheeks had cooled, but she was still embarrassed. Had he only been teasing this whole time? Granted, he had been a little over-the-top, but she had assumed if she showed any interest he would have jumped on her. Thank God she hadn't responded to any of his advances. She would have looked like an idiot. She certainly hadn't had these problems in her real time. She shuddered to think what Harry and Ron would think if she told them she had been propositioned by "Snuffles." She doubted their reaction to Professor Lupin would be much better. What would Tonks think? God, she had problems. "I really do have to go, though."

"Hermione, don't go just because Padfoot has no couth," said Remus, finally speaking.

"I'm not," she said. "I know what he's like. Remember, I had a long time to get used to Sirius in my dreams." Peter let out a loud wolf whistle, and even Sirius blushed for once. "Anyway, I'm going to the library. I need to look some things up for Dumbledore."

"More theories?" Remus asked. He was not smiling.

"Something like that," she said. She rose to her feet and left the common room, still discomfited from the discussion. She would not make the mistake of believing Sirius again.

"Padfoot, you asshole!" Remus shouted as soon as she was out of earshot. "Why are you being like this?"

"Moony, I told you, if you don't go after her, I will," said Sirius. "You like her. Do something about it."

"I don't trust her. Not yet," said Remus.

"Who exactly do you think she is, Moony?" asked James. "I admit, her story is far-fetched, to say the least. I just don't think she means us any harm. Do you remember how surprised she was when she saw us? She probably did dream us up, or had a vision or something. I like her, Moony. Lily likes her. Wormtail likes her. Sirius would bang her. He'd also back off, if you told him to."

"That's not my place to do so," Remus protested. "She's not my girlfriend."

"She could be," said Sirius.

"Then why are you chasing after her?" he finally exploded. "If you think I like her, why are you always flirting with her? I can't compete with you, Padfoot."

Lily looked distinctly uncomfortable. It was ludicrous to her that they were fighting over a girl they barely knew. It wasn't that she didn't think Hermione was good enough for them; she did. She actually thought Hermione and Remus would make a great couple. Lily just didn't know how long Hermione was planning on staying at Hogwarts, or what she had planned. She was pretty sure Hermione had never mentioned Ron to the boys, either. She didn't know what to do with that information.

"You only think that you can't," Peter said. "Plenty of girls like you, Moony. You won't get too close to anyone because of your furry little problem."

"What am I supposed to do? Raise puppies?"

"Hermione already knows your story, Moony," Sirius said. "Don't you see? That makes it perfect! She knows you're a werewolf, and it doesn't bother her. She's smart, pretty, funny - what more do you want?"

"I don't want to feel like I'm being lied to every second of every day," said Remus. "We've known this girl for three weeks. Suddenly she's our best friend? I think we're getting too close to her."

"I think you're afraid of getting too close to her," Lily said. "I don't know what your feelings for Hermione are, and I don't know how she feels, either. I think its possible that there could be something there. Obviously the way you're acting around Sirius gives you away. She's at a new school, caught in an odd situation. We're strangers to her, but she feels like she knows us."

"She doesn't," Remus said.

"No, she doesn't," Lily agreed. "But she wants to. If you want her, you're going to have to give in a little bit. If you don't, Sirius should feel free to snatch her up."

Remus felt like they were all ganging up on him. He had never felt about a girl the way he did for Hermione. His life had made him leery of new people. When he came to Hogwarts, he was scared and isolated, and he had envisioned seven long lonely years. When James and Sirius, two bright, popular wizards, had befriended him, he felt reborn. Shy, eager-to-please Peter rounded out the group, and the boys brought out the best (and worst) qualities in each other. The Marauders' friendship meant everything to him. They completed him, gave him an identity separate from 'werewolf.' When James finally convinced Lily to date him, Remus had been both relieved and jealous. He knew James was over the moon for Lily, and she was a kind, brilliant witch, one he was grateful to know. On the other hand, Remus's lupine nature made it impossible, from his standpoint, to pursue any sort of romantic liaisons of his own. Hermione was the first witch who really made him rethink that decision. Her wild, caramel colored curls and bottomless eyes had featured rather heavily in his own dreams lately. He didn't think he was crazy to imagine she felt something for him, too.

"Moony," Sirius said quietly. "I really only flirt with Hermione so you'll get mad and go after her. A little passive-aggressive, I grant you. We all think you two would be tops. I agree you should proceed with caution, of course. You're right, we barely know her. Here's your chance to change that. I will pursue her if you don't, though. She's super-cute. If I have any inkling you're not going to make a move, I'll finish what I started in the Forbidden Forest."

"Is that blackmail, Padfoot?" Remus asked, incredulous.

"Maybe."

"Merlin's balls! What are you guys doing to me?" Remus yelled, throwing up his hands.

"We're getting you a lady friend, Moony," Peter replied. "Even I've had the odd Hufflepuff. Making out with that Ravenclaw during Truth or Dare does not constitute a love life. You're going to need a date for Lily and Prongs's wedding, after all."

"Shut up!" Lily and James screeched, both looking ridiculously pleased despite their protests.

"Oh, it's happily ever after for you two," Peter said, without a trace of irony. If Hermione had still been in the room to hear that, it was very likely she would have gone over the edge and revealed all. Instead, Lily and James smiled dopily at their friends. They still believed in fairytales.

"Back to Moony," said Sirius. "We already know these two will be having pretty little antlered babies soon. We need to focus on Professor Moony and Hermione. I'm telling you, you're operating within a time limit. I can only hold off for so long. I could have puppies too, Moony." He smirked.

"Lord above," Remus sighed. "If I do ask her out, I want you to stop with the perverted comments, Padfoot."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Sirius said. "I'll definitely cut back, though."

"What's it going to be, Moony?" James asked.

"Fine!" Remus said, throwing up his hands. "I'll ask Hermione out. Tomorrow."