Hanging by a moment
Chapter Five – Living in a Hurricane
"Well look at you two!"
Hermione groggily opened her eyes to the four grinning faces of the Marauders. It took her a minute to realize what the hell was so amusing until she realized how oddly comfortable she was. It was then she realized she had fallen asleep in the crook of Draco's arm.
Everything from the previous night seemed to hit her like a hurricane. Laughing, crying, and then finally kissing Draco, who was still sleeping soundly despite the sheer amusement that was radiating off the four boys. Hermione could swear she heard the pure giddiness.
"Morning." Hermione said with a sleepy smile. "So you caught us and our sordid snuggling."
"Snuggle?" Draco was starting to come to. "Very comfy."
Hermione giggled, and with that Draco became more coherent. His eyes widened at the sight of her still curled up against his chest and looking up at him with her big brown eyes.
"Hermione?" He looked at her, as if unsure how she was feeling today about the previous night's activities.
Hermione considered the situation for a moment. How long had it been that she had fallen asleep in someone's arms? The last time she had such close contact she, Harry, and Ron where hiding out in tiny tent on the muggle countryside. They fell asleep wrapped around each other in a way only three people who loved each other very much could. That night they were attacked, and while Hermione was a brilliant witch, she was caught before she could get away. In the confusion Harry and Ron had left her behind, figuring she was already ahead of them. It was later on that day Draco Malfoy personally locked her up in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor.
Hermione was still staring at Draco intently, and apparently it was making the men in the room very uncomfortable, as she heard someone clear their throat.
"Erm, well." Sirius said as he grabbed Remus and James by the elbow. "It looks like you two have some unfinished business. We'll just be heading down to breakfast now. It's a Hogsmeade day, want to meet us later at the Three Broomsticks?"
"Sure." Hermione said, still not taking her eyes off Draco. "We'll see you later."
The Marauders left through the portrait hole and Hermione and Draco now had the common room to themselves.
"Hermione?" Draco asked tentatively. "Are you okay?"
Hermione didn't answer for a couple long moments. "That was the best night of sleep I've had in a very long time, Draco." She replied.
She saw the beginnings of a smirk pull at the corner of Draco's mouth, and she felt the need to shut him down just a little.
"I slept in the middle of Ron and Harry the last time I slept so well, later that day you threw me in a cell."
The shadow of a smirk disappeared.
"But there's a reason you're in my life now." Hermione continued. "I used to believe that there is no use crying when people leave your life. When Victor and I broke up, when my parents died, when Harry and Ron died…I always figured that there was a reason that someone didn't make it to my future. I honestly thought one of those major reasons was you, Draco. You and Voldemort and all those evil death eaters. I hung my blame and sorrow on each one of you, but I don't anymore, not after this. Through all this I learned why none of them fit into my future. Would you like to know what I've learned?"
Draco looked as though Hermione was slapping him over and over again and all he could do was nod silently.
"I've come to realize that none of them would have been any help in my future, which ironically is the past. It had to be you, Draco, to help me change the world. If Harry had defeated Voldemort back in our time that would have been wonderful, but we're stomping out the evil at its core. If it turned out the way I originally wanted it…Harry killing him, there would still be bitter death eaters running around. How many future death eaters have we swayed in our time here? I don't think I could have accomplished it all without you. You finally broke through those ridiculous concepts of muggleborns and pureboods, and that means everything, everything to me, Draco. You have somehow fit into my future in a way no one could have."
Draco just looked wordlessly at the woman still laying in his arms. It was like she belong there. She did belong there. It took the fall of the wizarding world to make him realize it. He didn't see her as a mudblood witch anymore; Hermione Granger was simply beyond words.
"Draco?" Hermione asked. She wondered if that was all too much for him to hear so suddenly.
"I just…" Draco trailed off. "I just wasn't expecting that." He finished.
Hermione smiled. "Remember when you asked if things would be much different between us if we get through this?"
"Yes." He replied.
"Well, I really, really hope it continues in this direction." Hermione lifted her head up and kissed him once more on the lips.
Hogsmeade village had not changed over the years. It looked exactly as it did in Hermione and Draco's time as it did right now as they made their way into the small town. Hand in hand they had been discussing the best way to go about dropping the bombshell they had planned for the Marauders and Lily.
"Why don't we just come out and tell them?" Draco suggested. "They like us, so it's not like they're going to curse us as soon as we tell them we're from the future."
"I think it's probably the best thing we can do." Hermione answered. "But we need to do it without Peter around, since we don't know where his loyalties lie right know."
"Have you thought about telling Snape as well?" Draco asked. "I know he is not a death eater yet, but I can't say for sure how deep he is in."
"I think Snape could potentially have some valuable information for us." Hermione replied. "Tell me, do you know if his father was a death eater? Snape mentioned he is a particularly nasty man, but he's away on business often."
"Snape's father doesn't really make it to the war." Draco said absentmindedly. "I don't know exactly what happened, but I think he was murdered."
"Murdered?" Hermione replied, surprised.
""Yes." Draco said in a clear voice. "I think he was the kind of man that made a lot of enemies, like my father. The only difference is that Lucius strikes fear and then offers some coins. Snape's father just tried the money approach. That doesn't really work when you get into the messier wizard circles."
"Poor Severus." Hermione sighed sadly. "Sometimes I just cannot wrap my mind around how much death there is around us right now. Half the people we talk to on a daily basis end up being casualties of war, or related to casualties of war."
"That's how we can keep our perspective." Draco said with a weak smile. "We want to keep these people from dying, so that our time will not be filled with so many ghosts."
Hermione smiled back at him. "That's a good way to look at it." She said, "Now, as far as how we're going to break the news to the Marauders…Draco, have you ever practiced turning into an animagus?"
"Yes," Draco replied. "I turn into a falcon, you?"
"We all had to master it in the order," Hermione said with a hint of pride. "I turn into a cat, like McGonagall. Let me tell you, it's a much better experience to use animagus to turn into a cat than it is to use pollyjuice potion." Hermione grimaced at the memory.
"Pollyjuice isn't for animal transfiguration." Draco said with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't I know it," Hermione said with a laugh. "Anyway, the boys are all unregistered animagus, except for Remus of course. "I think we can use this to our advantage."
"Potter's dad was an animagus?" Draco asked with surprise. "I didn't know that. They're a little young now, aren't they?"
Hermione grinned. "Well, you know Remus is a werewolf, right? Well once Sirius, James, and…Peter found out they wanted to help him, keep him from being lonely and keep him on track during the full moon so they taught themselves. Remus told us that James and Sirius really were brilliant students, and they helped Peter to learn," Hermione said Peters name as though it were an expletive. "James turns into a stag, Sirius turns into a dog and Peter-"
"Turns into a rat," Draco finished. "How fitting."
"You knew?" Hermione asked.
"I've seen him change a few times," Draco said. "He could fit into small places, which made him a decent spy. Voldemort never really gave him anything important to do, however."
"Because he's a coward and a sneak," Hermione said angrily. "He cannot be trusted by anyone."
"Too right," Draco said absent mindedly. They had made it to the entrance of the Three Broomsticks and could see the four boys through the window, a few extra butterbeer glasses scattered over the table already.
"Hello!" Sirius was the first to spot Hermione and Draco as they entered the crowded pub. The four boys had flushed faces from the rounds of butterbeer in the warm environment. They were all smiling at one another when Hermione and Draco pulled up some seats to the creaky wooden table. Hermione noticed with a tug at her heart that it was the same table she and Ron hid Harry under in their third year. Ironically that was when they first started to make the connection between Harry's dad and his childhood friends. Hermione could practically feel the hole in her heart that her two best friends had left.
"So, everything alright?" Remus asked cautiously.
"Perfect," Hermione said in what she hoped was a happy tone.
"Looks like we have another budding Gryffindor romance blooming!" Sirius said with a bark of a laugh. He looked particularly gleeful as he elbowed Draco in the ribs. Draco tossed him a quick look of surprised contempt, which melted oddly into a smile on his pale face. Hermione smiled as she watched him.
James was next to thud Draco on the back. "Lily should be here soon as well," he said happily. "Then the whole gang will be together."
"Actually James," Peter said quietly from the corner, "I must get going. I have a study session with Bolstrom and Marcy."
"Spending a lot of time with them, eh Peter?" Sirius winked at him. "Sure there's something you are not telling us?"
Hermione and Draco exchanged glances. They heard the innuendo in Sirius's playful tone, but they both wondered if it wasn't something a little more sinister than a study date.
"Mind your own business, Sirius," Peter retorted. He let his chair scrape against the stone floor and left without another word.
"Has anyone else noticed he has been acting peculiar this term?" Remus said in his low, cautious voice once Peter was out the door. "I mean, he has always been quiet, a little odd, but he is becoming a bit…harsh."
"Maybe girl problems?" Sirius asked, his one track mind kicking in. "He has been spending a lot of time with Marcy, maybe Scott Bolstrom is battling for her affections?"
"Marcy has been steady with Justin McFall since fourth year, I don't think it is a romance issue," James said with unusual insight. "I think it is something bigger."
"Hello everyone," a pleasant voice came from the doorway. Lily had arrived. James immediately jumped up and found a chair for her and called over another butterbeer. Lily just smiled and kissed him. "What did I miss?"
"We're trying to figure out the cause of Peter's odd behavior lately." Remus replied. "We are not coming up with much."
Draco shot a glance at Hermione who gave a curt nod. "We think we may know what is going on with him," he said to the Marauders. "But you might think we are…a little crazy."
This caught their interest in a flash. "What do you think?" Sirius asked.
"We need to go somewhere private." Hermione said. "Can we go to the shrieking shack? I know Peter won't think to look for us there this time of the month."
Remus and James both simultaneously spit out their butterboor and Sirius and Lily stared at Hermione with their mouths open.
"What do you know?" Sirius demanded.
"I know a lot about you all," Hermione said mysteriously but kindly. "Now I think Draco and I let you know a little bit about ourselves."
(A/N) Chapter 5 and 6 started out as one chapter, but it got to be so much longer than the others I had to cut it in half. I hope it doesn't seem to awkward, but hey! Two chapters! Things are about to get interesting!