This chapter is dedicated to my friend Hayden, because without him, the walk from the stairway to fourth period and then to lunch would be silent.
Alright, so this whole chapter is henceforth unplanned, unlike a few of the others before were. Some stupid crap might happen. It won't be my fault.
Disclaimer: I own the plot and all the actions that happen in the chapter. (AKA – too tired to think ahead.) But can you spot the Titanic reference?
Lily,
I'm sorry that I'm sending you an owl – the most un-Muggle thing that your sister will have a chance to gripe about – but something just happened about a week ago that I can't talk to anybody about. Fred and George would flip and anybody else would tell, so I'm praying that you'll take pity upon me and keep all of this secret and not make fun of me for it. In fact – burn it once you've read it. Please.
I…maybe might've kinda kissed Remus…
And really really really liked it.
Sirius had sent him some chocolate spiked with love potion or something and sent it to him, and he gave me a piece and he ate one and then we looked at each other and then…kissed.
Very romantic, huh? But the kiss was…it was just…and now we swore never to speak of it again and not let it ruin our friendship but…it's just not…I can't….
Aaaauuugh, Lily, help me!
Forever in Your Debt,
Hermione
"AAAAAAAAAAH!"
"Lily?" Helen Evans rushed to the staircase, ready to fling herself up the stairs and help her daughter.
"I'm fine, Mum!" Lily said, pounding down the stairs and grinning, "Completely fine, it was just a letter Hermione sent me."
"Oh," Helen sighed and put a hand to her heart to calm her nerves before arching an eyebrow at her, "About what?"
"Well, you know Remus?" At her nod, she continued, "It turns out that they kissed!"
"Aww, Sweetheart, that's great," she grinned, "So are they together now?"
Lily sighed in frustration, "No, they're not. They swore not to bring it up or let it come between their friendship, but she's starting to feel something for him."
"Oooh," she put a few fingers to her chin, "Now what?"
"I'd love to lock them in a closet together, honestly, but they're both too bashful to even do anything," she snorted.
"Now that's immature," Petunia said from the doorway, frowning at her sister, "Look, Lily, you have to play with their interests. What's something that they both like?"
"Err…books – and chocolate," she said, turning to her sister and feeling a little nervous about her help.
She pursed her lips and frowned at her, "I'll write something up and get back to you. In the meantime – want some hot chocolate?"
Lily and Helen shared surprised glances before Lily answered, "Err – sure."
Helen smiled as she watched Petunia go to fix up the hot water, then heading towards the front door once it rang, excepting Christmas carolers. Instead, she got two tall, twin redheads smiling down at her.
"Hello," Fred said politely, "Does Lily Evans live here?"
"Oh," Helen blinked, "Err – yes, she does. Please, come in."
"Thank you," George answered for them as they stepped inside, grinning when they saw a gaping Lily.
"Fred! George!" Lily rushed forward and hugged them both, "What are you doing here?"
George laughed, "Well Lily, we're actually here to talk to you about something serious."
Lily gasped and jerked away from them, "She told you!"
They blinked at her as she realized slowly that he had said 'serious' and not 'Sirius.' They narrowed their eyes at her and she grimaced.
"Who told us what?" Fred asked with a frown.
"Marlene," she lied, "I thought she told you two something about Sirius before me. Sorry. Go ahead."
They shared glances before turning back to her with smiles back on their faces.
"Listen, Lily," George began, "You know how we told you about our shop, right?"
"Yes," she nodded.
"Well, we've saved up enough money," Fred beamed.
"We're moving in once winter holiday is over – we asked Dumbledore and already took our N.E.W.T.s. That's why we've been gone so much – studying and all that."
"And?" she asked.
George laughed, "You wonder about our grades and not our shop?"
"Rude you are, Lily Evans!" Fred grinned before sobering up, "We passed with grades that Hermione will be proud of."
She beamed, "Wonderful! Now what about the shop?"
"We've got a few products ready, working on some more, and we've got a shop already."
"Oh, where?"
They grinned at each other before turning to her, "Hogsmeade."
"We wanted to be close to the lot of you, and this way you all have reasons to hang out with us once a month," George said.
She grinned before frowning, "Why are you telling me this?"
Fred sighed, "We just…needed somebody to know."
"In case something happened," George supplied, "And we wanted it to be a surprise for Hermione….We want her to live with us until she gets her own place."
She absorbed this, the whistle of the kettle startling her back into reality. She blinked before releasing a breath, "I won't tell her. I'll miss you both."
"We'll miss you too, Lily," they with smiles before heading out the door with a wave and 'Merry Christmas.'
Remus was stretched out on the couch, playing with his quill as he watched Hermione pace back and forth, a book in her hand as they waited for their friends to come back from the holiday. Fred and George had stowed themselves away in the dorm room, saying that they had something important to do. Sirius was in the corner, playing Exploding Snap with a fourth year.
"Listen to this," Hermione said, pulling Remus from his own thoughts, "The werewolf is found worldwide, though it is believed to have originated in northern Europe - "
Remus paled noticeably, and Sirius' eyes jerked up from his game to meet his.
"They make it sound like they're not even people," she scoffed before continuing, "Humans turn into werewolves only when bitten. There is no known cure to lycanthropy, but potion-makers are working on developing a potion to alleviate the worst symptoms. Once a month, at the full moon, the otherwise sane and normal wizard or Muggle afflicted transforms into a murderous beast – "
"Or it could just want to play tag," Sirius grinned at Hermione, making her stop and smile at him, although she rolled her eyes, "The others could just be playing it wrong."
She chuckled before continuing, her eyes back on the pages as she turned to face Remus, "Almost uniquely among fantastic creatures, the werewolf actively seeks humans in preference to any other kind of prey." She closed the book and frowned at the red cover before tossing it to the couch, "Well, that just has to be the biggest load of rubbish I've ever heard."
"What?" Sirius and Remus both asked, looking at her as if she'd proclaimed to being a one legged French prostitute.
"I happen to know – er, knew – a werewolf, and he was the nicest person I've ever met," she informed them, "Harry, Ron and I were lost once in the woods and he found us. He was terribly nice, but nearly a century old."
"Oh, really?" Remus cleared his throat and wouldn't take his eyes off the quill, "That's, err – but don't you think that most of the werewolves are mean and nasty and all that?"
"Only ones like Fenrir Greyback," she snorted, "He had terrible breath, by the way."
Remus shot up, staring at her, "You met – actually met - Fenrir Greyback?" He was close to having a heart attack, "And got close enough to actually smell his breath?"
"Well, if he's attacking you, then yeah," she said before looking at both his and Sirius' shocked expressions. "Guys, I've been through a lot. It's no big deal."
"No big deal?" Sirius repeated before yelping as one of his cards exploded in his hand, "You could've died, or been a – "
"Hermione," Fred frowned at her as he and George stood on the last step of the staircase, "What have you been telling them?"
"Just Fenrir Greyback," she shrugged.
"Nothing more?" George arched an eyebrow.
"No," she frowned at them, "What? I told Ginny and – "
"But that was Ginny, Hermione," Fred frowned, "You can't just – "
" – what were you thinking?"
" – trying to rat us out or - ?"
" – They don't need to know that, so just keep your mouth shut," George ordered, ending when he and Fred crossed their arms over their chests.
She snorted and rolled her eyes before a camera lens was shoved in her face. She blinked and took a step back to see that Frank was taking her photograph.
"Aah, Frank no!" she covered her face with her hands, backing away from him, "No, no photos!"
"Aww, but Hermione!" he whined, pouting as he lowered his camera, "I've got pictures of nearly everybody else except you and the twins! Which reminds me – " He whirled around and started taking a photo of Fred and George, who grinned and waved at him.
"Whoop!" Marlene laughed as she jumped down next to Hermione, Alice coming in on the other side to pull her hands away. Hermione groaned but smiled anyway as Lily jumped in at the bottom, laughing and smiling as she crossed her legs. James catapulted himself in, laying in front of Lily and grinning at her before grinning to Frank. Sirius appeared next to Marlene, making her glance up at him and shake her head before trying to keep Hermione in her place. Remus stood up and waved at Frank before attempting to leave, only Hermione tugged him back with the promise that if she had to get her picture taken, so did he. Fred and George appeared behind the girls, still waving and grinning.
Once the picture was done, James hopped up and helped Lily up as well, bowing to her once she was up. She rolled her eyes but smiled and turned to Hermione.
"How was your holiday?" she asked, smirking a little at her.
She gave her a quick glare before grinning back, "Fine. How was yours?"
"Fine."
"Great."
They shared looks, Lily smirking and Hermione daring her to say anything.
"So, anyway, I'm starving," Frank said as he stowed his camera in his bag, "Breakfast?"
"Yeah," the group chorused as they headed downstairs, pausing when they noticed that Fred and George weren't there.
"Aren't you coming?" Alice asked.
"Oh, we'll catch up in a minute," Fred assured them, "We just want to grab something really quick."
"Alright," Marlene shrugged, leading a suspicious Hermione out the door.
"Ready, Gred?" George asked, grabbing his broom and tossing him his.
"Ready, Forge," he nodded.
"Where's Fred and George?" James asked, twisting in his seat to look at the doors, "They should be here by now."
"I don't know," Lily shrugged before jumping when a loud BANG was heard.
Hermione paled as she saw a firework whizzing through the Great Hall, "Oh no, not again…."
Remus blinked and turned to her, "What do you mean - ?"
There were more bangs, and soon more fireworks. Students laughed and pointed out their favorites as they lit up the ceiling.
Hermione jumped up from her seat and ran towards the doors, making Sirius call out, "Hermione! Where are you going?"
"Fred! George!" she yelled once she got in the entrance hall. The two floated down to her and grinned.
"Wotcher, Mione," they grinned.
"And what the bloody hell is all this?" she growled, gesturing to a firework.
"Why, that Hermione, is a Catherine wheel," Fred pointed out before wincing at her expression.
"Look, Hermione, we're not trying to get expelled – we're done here anyway," George told her as the Marauders, Marlene, Lily, Alice and Frank made their way to them.
"What?" James asked.
"We're done – we took our N.E.W.T.s and passed. We're opening our shop in Hogsmeade," Fred answered.
"We just wanted to go out with a bang," George chuckled.
"YOU'RE LEAVING?" James screeched, his eyes big and he clutched at his hair, "B-but – Beaters! Spring! We need you!"
"Well, we heard Lily was fairly good at beating things," Fred smiled at the redhead.
"But, Fred, I can't fly!" she protested.
"Learn," George told her before stepping closer to Hermione, "Mione, look…."
"No, no I won't look," she frowned at them, "You're leaving me, when I need you!"
"Hermione, we're only going to Hogsmeade," Fred pleaded, "Don't be mad."
"Mad? Mad? I can't make sure if you're alive from Hogsmeade, Fred! You know what? Just – just - !" she gave a growl and ran off, going down the staircase and leaving their sight.
"She's mad," Fred and George said together, wincing.
"Don't worry, we'll calm her down," Alice said before stepping up to Fred and hugging him, "Stay safe, keep us updated."
"There's only so much the Prophet lets us know," Sirius sighed.
"Why do you think we're leaving now?" George asked him worriedly, "We have to know what's going on out there."
"It's killing us," Fred sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Well, we'll go find Hermione and calm her down," Lily said, ushering the girls and Frank down the staircase. James, Sirius and Remus were about to do the same when Fred stopped them.
"Listen," George started, "We're leaving, but Hermione – "
" – is still a stubborn, hard-headed witch that – "
" – happens to be our little sister. We – "
" – want you three to watch over her and take good care of her and – "
" – keep her safe. Merlin only knows what, she, Harry and Ron did behind our backs, so – "
" – keep a good eye on her. She's going to keep getting worried as the year goes on, so – "
" – keep her calm as much as you can, and make her laugh as often. She's – "
" – a handful, but – "
"- we still love her," they shrugged as the Marauder's heads spun from looking from Fred to George and back.
"Don't worry," James smiled, "We'll take care of her."
"As much as we can, anyway," Sirius shrugged before seeing their confused looks, "What? Have you not seen her mad?"
"Ooh," Fred and George hissed and leaned back, "Yeah."
"What'd you do, Padfoot?" James sighed, looking at him tiredly.
"We'll tell you later," Remus and Sirius told him.
"And look, about the Beater thing," Fred started.
"Actually ask Lily about it. Make her fly and she'll do great at it," George told James.
"Yeah – remember when she beat the Bludger with that book?" Remus smiled, "Imagine what she'd do with an actual bat."
"But what about the other position?" James asked.
"Ooh!" Sirius jumped up, "I'll do it! Jamesie, Jamesie, pick me, pick me!"
"There you go," Fred grinned. "A willing vic – I mean, volunteer."
"Alright, but don't think I'm going to go easy on you, Padfoot," James narrowed his eyes at his friend.
"Hoo-RAY!" Sirius jumped up, making everyone chuckle. They stopped when they saw Hermione trudging up the stairs, looking sad before she ran to Fred and George and hugged them both.
"I'm scared, guys," she whispered to them as tears trickled down her face.
"We know," Fred soothed, petting her hair as George rubbed her back, "We'll write you every week."
"Twice if you want us to," George smiled.
She laughed, "Once is fine." She was silent again before she buried her nose into George's shoulder and murmured, "I feel like you're my real brothers."
"We know," they said together, "And you're our little sister."
They pulled apart and Hermione wiped at her eyes with her sleeve, feeling a different hand rubbing her shoulder. She looked and saw that it was James, who was smiling at her.
"They'll be fine, Hermione," he told her.
She sniffed, looking at Fred and George. "I know. They're them."
"You – did – WHAT!" James jumped off his bed, halfway to Remus', who was scooting as far back as he could from his friend.
"I might've – err – kissed Hermione…via spiked chocolate…and blamed that chocolate on Padfoot."
"Okay," James rubbed his temples, glaring at the floor, "You did three things you never do. You pulled a prank on your own, blamed somebody about it, and did it for your own personal gain."
"I'm so proud!" Sirius sobbed into Peter's shoulder, who looked startled.
"Was she any good?" Frank asked from his bed post. James gaped and whirled his head around to him. "What?" he asked indignantly, "I'm only curious!"
"Alice would totally kill you, mate," Sirius grinned at him, giving Peter time to scoot quietly away. "Kudos. But – was she?"
"I don't want to hear this," James moaned as he trudged back to his bed, burying his face in the pillow and folding it to cover his ears. "I'm not hearing this – I refuse to hear this!"
"Oh come on, mate," Sirius snorted, "What's your problem?"
"The problem is – Hermione is like a little sister to me now," James told him.
"I thought you weren't listening?" Sirius smirked at his glare.
"Err – isn't Hermione our age?" Peter questioned.
"Well, yeah, but she's so small, y'know?" James gestured with his fingers the size of an inch before waving it away, "But I don't want to hear any of that."
"What do you want to hear then?" Sirius asked.
He glared at him, "If you're serious about the Beater position."
He snorted, "Of course I'm Sirius. And I'm not joking about the Beater position either."
He glared even more at him, clenching and unclenching his fists as he did before walking out the dorm, muttering about Head duties.
"You're late."
Lily panted as she skidded to a stop in front of James, huffing and puffing as she leaned over to tie a shoe and catch her breath.
"Girl – time," she wheezed, "Lost – track – of – time. So – sorry."
He arched an eyebrow and grinned at her, "What was the girl time about?"
She cleared her throat and stood up, still panting slightly, "Something that happened with Hermione."
The eyebrow went higher up, "And Remus?"
She blinked, "He told you?"
"Yeah. And I'll tell you something else – Padfoot didn't spike the chocolate. He did."
"No," she gaped at him, "Oh she'd kill him!"
"Probably why he didn't tell her then," he said as they began their rounds, walking down the hallway.
"Is he insane?" she shook her head, "You don't do that to girls. I don't care who you are or how smart you normally are – you just don't do that."
James snorted, "He's been hanging around Sirius too much."
She laughed before noticing that he was quiet again, looking at her out of the corner of his eyes. "What?"
"Look, Fred and George left and I've got a Beater position open," he stopped walking and faced her, fists on his hips, "Sirius is taking one, and I know his style enough to know that it'll take somebody pretty damn good to match."
"Alright," she stared blankly at him.
He took a deep breath and looked her right in the eyes, "I want you as the other Beater."
She blinked, "What?"
"C'mon, Lily, you're good! We just need to get you on a broom and see you fly – which we can do with a few good warming charms in the field next week and – "
"Will you help me?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Wha - ? Err, yeah, but why - ?"
"Then I'll try it," she then frowned, "But if you let me fall and break something, so help me, James Potter, I'll kill you."
He grinned before picking her up and spinning her around, making her demand to be put down through her laughs.
"You're brilliant, Lily Evans!" he laughed before setting her down and acting without thinking.
He kissed her.
Dun-dun! Haha! So, will our fair Lily accept James' affections at last, or will this send her straight into a confusion where only her friends can pull her out? And what of Remus, Hermione and Sirius? How will they act? And of Fred and George, who have set out on their own?
Well, answer! I don't have all day you know! (Also – I will probably be inactive for a week or so. My play is coming up – so excited, yet unprepared, and anxious and nervous and I also kinda just want to get it done. Week after next, eek!)
(By the way, the werewolf Hermione was talking about was one she met during the hunt for Horcruxes or something. Not Remus. i.e. - "He was terribly nice, but nearly a century old." She'd never talk about Remus like that. So just assume that she's forgotten all about Remus being a werewolf - it'll happen eventually, just make it now.)