Chapter 8: End of Second year
Everyone was watching Hermione with rapt attention.
"Professor, you can't possibly think Harry was doing this?" James turned to McGonagall.
"I'm sure I don't Mr Potter, however with him turning up at the wrong moment every time, I'm sure Albus would have wanted to speak to him." She explained.
"In Professor Dumbledore's office he saw the Sorting Hat. It told him he would have done well in Slytherin, which unnerved Harry a bit." Hermione continued with the story.
"It would do that to me too." James shuddered.
"He then saw Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, catch fire." Everyone groaned.
"Our poor son. He really does get in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even if the Professor knew he hadn't done anything it just looks bad." Remus said, shaking his head.
"Professor Dumbledore came in and explained about Phoenixes and then Hagrid came running in to try and convince the Professor that Harry was innocent."
"Aww, bless Hagrid." Lily smiled.
"Professor Dumbledore said he didn't think Harry was behind the attacks, so Hagrid went back out and Dumbledore asked Harry if he needed to tell him anything. Harry didn't want to admit to hearing voices,"
"I wouldn't either." Sirius commented.
"So he said no. People were now getting really worried after Nick's attack and they mostly thought it was Harry. Thankfully Fred and George treated it as some kind of joke and kept making jokes about how Harry was nipping off to the Chamber for a spot of tea and stuff."
"I love those twins." James chortled and Sirius grinned down at baby Harry.
"Me too." He chuckled.
"Christmas was really fun at Hogwarts. I got to see all the decorations on christmas day for the first time and we had plenty of snowball fights with the Weasleys. Fred and George stole Percy's prefect badge and changed it so it said 'pinhead'."
James, Sirius and Remus burst out laughing. Dumbledore looked on with an amused smile and even Lily was fighting a smile.
"Those two are the best." James grinned.
"Almost marauder material." Sirius agreed.
"don't tell them that." Hermione advised.
"Why not?" Sirius asked.
"They practically worship you." She laughed.
"Oh no! Now you've done it." Lily groaned as James and Sirius exchanged delighted smirks. McGonagall put her head in her hands.
"What did I do to deserve this." She moaned.
"That night I put some sleeping draught in a couple of cakes and Harry and Ron waited for Crabbe and Goyle to leave the Great Hall. They then left the cakes for those two to find and they stuffed their faces, making them fall asleep."
"Never, ever get on 'Mione's bad side." Sirius said, looking impressed and wary. Hermione grinned at him.
"They pulled out a couple of hairs and stole their shoes. We all took the potion but only Harry and Ron went to interrogate Malfoy."
"What happened to you?" Sirius asked, looking concerned.
"The hair I got wasn't a human one. I accidentally used a cat hair and was stuck with a furry face." She explained grimly. James tried desperately not to laugh but the image was just too funny. Hermione and Lily glared at him and he hastily tried to turn it into a cough.
"Smooth mate." Sirius muttered, grinning.
"Anyway, Harry and Ron found out that Malfoy wasn't the heir of Slytherin and he didn't know who was. When they came back, they convinced me to go to the hospital wing and thankfully Madam Pomfrey didn't ask any questions so we didn't get in trouble for making Polyjuice Potion."
"Incredible." Remus said.
"One day Harry and ron heard Filch yelling about something so they went to see and Myrtle had flooded her corridor again."
McGonagall let out a snort of exasperation. "We really need to do something about her, Albus." She sighed.
"Myrtle told them that someone had thrown a book at her."
"Fifty points if they got in through her head." Snickered Sirius. Lily glared at him while James chuckled.
"So, naturally, Harry goes and picks the book up. It was blank. He saw it had belonged to a T. ."
Dumbledore's head snapped up, a grave expression on his face.
"What is it Albus?" McGonagall asked.
"Not many people know that Lord Voldemort's real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle." Dumbledore informed them gravely. The marauders, Lily and McGonagall let out gasps of both understanding and horror.
"So why is his blank diary floating around Myrtle's bathroom?" Asked Sirius.
"That is a good question Mr Black." Dumbledore said. "But I am sure Miss Granger will provide the answers we need." He nodded to her and she swallowed.
"I tried to see if there was any hidden writing, when Harry showed it to me, but there was nothing. Ron and I thought he should just get rid of it, but he didn't. Unfortunately it was soon Valentines day, and Lockhart had a surprise."
"Oh no!" There was a collective groan.
"The Great Hall were covered in pink flowers with confetti everywhere. It was horrible. Lockhart suggested at breakfast that people could ask Snape to teach them to make love potions."
James and Sirius snorted with laughter. Lily and Remus exchanged amused smiles.
"He had also organised dwarves to dress up a cupids and carry singing valentines."
"Let me guess, Ginny sends Harry one." James grinned. Hermione nodded. "I got one of those one year, but not from a dwarf."
"Oh yeah, wasn't that the Ravenclaw bird?" Sirius laughed.
"No, she sent me the spiked firewhiskey. The valentine was from Gabrielle Jefferson, Gryffindor. She ended up with Darren Brown" James told him. Hermione almost choked as she imagined Lavender sending Ron a valentine.
"The dwarf caught up with him in a corridor, right in front of Ginny and Draco Malfoy."
The marauders all groaned.
"It ripped his bag as Harry tried to get away. Ink went over everything. The dwarf delivered the valentine and finally let Harry go. Malfoy had picked up the diary."
"Awww, come on 'Mione. You gotta tell us the valentine." James groaned.
"Please." Sirius said, making a pleading, 'puppy' face. She looked at him for a second and then relented.
"His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,
His hair is as dark as a blackboard.
I wish he were mine, he's really divine,
The hero who conquered the Dark Lord." Hermione recited with a grin. Everybody roared with laughter. James and Sirius were rolling around on the floor and Remus was holding his sides.
"That's... bloody... brilliant." Sirius gasped through his laughter,
"Anyway," Hermione said in a loud voice, trying to continue. "Malfoy picked up the diary and taunted Harry. Ginny looked horrified and Harry used the disarming spell to get the diary back off Malfoy."
"That's my boy." James beamed, ruffling the baby's hair proudly. Lily scowled at him.
"We finally got to Charms and Harry noticed that, although ink had splashed over all his things, the diary was still clean."
Abruptly everyone stopped laughing.
"That night he put a spot of ink in the diary and it faded away, like the diary was soaking it up. So he wrote his name in it and then more writing emerged, someone was writing back."
"Harry stop now." Remus ordered, looking unnerved.
"Yeah Harry, stop drooling." Sirius addressed the baby, smirking at Remus. "Oh, you didn't mean this Harry?" He asked innocently.
"Idiot." Muttered Lily.
"The writing was from Tom Riddle. He told Harry about when the Chamber had been opened before. He offered to show Harry what happened fifty years ago. Naturally Harry agreed."
"Of course he did." Lily sighed in exasperation. "Who wouldn't agree to go into a random, unknown person's memory of catching the person who is supposedly still hunting muggle-borns at Hogwarts?" Hermione paused. This wasn't really her story to share. But unfortunately it was the main reason they had found out where the Chamber was.
"What is it 'Mione?" Sirius asked, noticing her hesitation. She shook her head and carried on.
"Harry was taken back into a memory. He saw Tom Riddle asking to stay at Hogwarts over the summer holidays but because of the Chamber, the headmaster said he couldn't. He went down to the dungeons where he saw Hagrid keeping a pet acromantula. He framed Hagrid as the heir of Slytherin."
"So that is how he got expelled. The scum bag framed him for his own dirty work?" Remus growled. Hermione nodded weakly.
"Blimey, no wonder Hagrid doesn't talk about it." James said.
"That's awful." Cried McGonagall and Lily.
"We didn't want to believe that it was Hagrid, but given his affection for monsters and believing them not to be dangerous, it was possible." Hermione said sadly. James and Sirius nodded sympathetically.
"He really doesn't help himself sometimes." Lily sighed.
"Well we agreed not to ask him anything unless there was another attack, because they seemed to have stopped. The mandrakes were nearly ready so those petrified would be ok."
"How would they feed the potion to a ghost though?" Sirius enquired. Everyone looked thoughtful.
"I never asked." Hermione said. "A little while later somebody raided Harry's dormitory and stole the diary."
"The heir of Slytherin." Sirius exclaimed.
"But it would have to be a Gryffindor." Lily pointed out. "Nobody else knows the password."
"Oh." Everyone looked worried.
"But no Gryffindor would attack people." James stated.
"Maybe they were made to. The heir threatened them or something." Sirius suggested.
"It's possible." Lily allowed.
"Just before the next Quidditch match, Harry heard the voice again and I worked out what it was, so I ran off to the library."
"Alone?" Asked Sirius, worry on his face. Hermione nodded.
"What was it?" Remus asked.
"I'm sure you will find out." Hermione grinned.
"You're so mean." James complained.
"Unfortunately the match was cancelled, because a Ravenclaw prefect had been attacked. And so had I." Hermione said in a small voice.
"No!" Yelled Sirius and Lily together.
"Another double attack." Remus groaned. McGonagall and Dumbledore exchanged worried glances.
"The diary." Muttered James.
"What?" Sirius asked.
"It must be the key to the Chamber. Think about it. The attacks seemed have stopped after Harry found the diary. As soon as it's stolen there is another attack." James explained. Lily looked both horrified and impressed.
"Wow Prongs." Remus said. "You do have a brain." James stuck his tongue out.
"So Harry and Ron went down that evening to talk to Hagrid, under the Invisibility cloak. Before they could ask him anything, someone else knocked so they had to hide. Professor dumbledore came in with Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic." Hermione said the name with distaste.
"That idiot became Minister?" Sirius gaped. Hermione nodded grimly.
"He came to take Hagrid to Azkaban for the attacks."
"What?" Everyone exclaimed in horror.
"But he is innocent." Breathed Lily.
"They have no proof." Growled Sirius.
"Fudge wanted to be seen doing something, he didn't care if it was right or not." Hermione told them flatly. McGonagall narrowed her eyes dangerously.
"Then Lucius Malfoy came in saying the governors wanted to suspend Professor Dumbledore."
"WHAT?!" This cry came from McGonagall.
"So give free reign to the heir of Slytherin?" Spat James.
"How many did he threaten and bribe to make them agree?" Sirius asked with a scowl.
"All the others." Hermione told him. Everyone glared. "Anyway, as he left the Professor said 'Help will always be given at Hogwarts, to those who ask for it.'"
"Helpful advice, as always Professor." Lily grinned.
"And Hagrid told them to follow the spiders." Hermione grimaced.
"Not so helpful, or as pleasant." James shivered.
"This confused the boys. The next day, in Herbology, Harry saw a trail of spiders leading straight into the Forbidden Forest."
"Oh no!" Lily gasped.
"Not again." Groaned McGonagall.
"In DADA, Lockhart was being...well himself and the boys decided to go and follow the spiders that night. The took Fang, and in the Forest they found the old flying car."
"Cool." James exclaimed.
"They got caught by giant spiders and taken to the leader of the colony. The same spider that Hagrid had been raising in the castle all those years ago."
"Oh God. It must be huge by now then." Remus groaned. James looked like he was about to be sick.
"Yes. Hagrid had hidden it in the forest and found it a wife. There is now a huge colony of gigantic spiders in the forest." Hermione informed them. Everybody except Dumbledore shuddered.
"How on earth did they get out alive?" Lily asked.
"It was a friend of Hagrid, maybe it let them go." James said, hopefully.
"Aragog told them that the monster in the castle was one spiders feared above all others and that Aragog himself had been blamed for the death of a girl. Last time a girl had died when the Chamber was opened. Her body was discovered in a bathroom."
"Myrtle!" Gasped Lily.
"Aragog got tired of talking and told all his children to kill Harry and Ron. Thankfully the car came back in time and rescued them."
"Oh thank goodness." McGonagall said. "Those boys have guts." She added, shuddering at the idea of facing hundreds of monster sized spiders.
"They certainly do." Hermione smiled.
"Doesn't everyone?" Sirius asked with a grin. "They are kind of essential to live." Lily hit him with a pillow.
"When they were back in the dormitory, Harry also worked out that the victim was probably Moaning Myrtle. But now the teachers were escorting them to class and they weren't allowed anywhere after class except their common room, so they had no chance to question Myrtle. Until they were being escorted by Lockhart."
"Git." Muttered James.
"Harry and Ron got him to leave them early and so they snuck off to the bathroom, but they got caught by Professor McGonagall. She was about to tell them off when Harry told her they were going to visit me and she let them go."
"Awesome." Sirius and James cried.
"You let them get away with so much more then us." James looked accusingly at McGonagall.
"She did take 150 points off Gryffindor last year." Remus pointed out. "She never did that to us."
"True." Sirius admitted.
"When they came to see me, they found a piece of paper in my hand. Harry got it out and it told them exactly what I had worked out. The monster in the Chamber was a basilisk."
"Of course." Breathed Lily, looked horrified. Remus and McGonagall looked like they might be sick with worry.
"Which is why only Harry could hear it, he was a Parselmouth."
"They kill by looking in the eye. So how was everyone only petrified?" Remus asked.
"Justin saw the monster through Nearly Headless Nick, but as Nick is a ghost he can't die again. Colin Creevey saw it through his camera, the film was burnt but he was only petrified, Mrs Norris only saw its reflection. Myrtle had flooded the bathroom again that night. The Ravenclaw prefect and I had been using a mirror to look around corners because I knew what the monster was now. I warned the first person I saw."
"You were all so lucky. I can't believe that none of you died." McGonagall said.
"I had also realised that it must be using the pipes to get around which is why Harry kept hearing the voice all over the place. It was inside the walls. The boys figured out that the entrance to the Chamber must be in Myrtle's bathroom."
"My son is so damn smart." James said proudly, looking down at Harry.
"And he has really clever friends." Sirius put in.
"So he is just like me then. Smart and has smart friends." James finished.
"Thanks Prongs." Sirius grinned.
"I meant Remus." James shot back quickly. Sirius pouted.
"They decided to go to Professor McGonagall."
"Thank goodness." Said Lily.
"But as they waited in the staff room there was an announcement for everyone to return to the common rooms and all teachers to the staff room."
"Not another attack. Not now." Remus groaned.
"So Harry and Ron hid in the cupboard and listened. Ginny had been taken into the Chamber itself." Hermione told them.
"No!" Gasped McGonagall.
"But she is a pureblood." Sirius pointed out.
"She is only a first year, that poor girl." Lily moaned softly.
"Lockhart came in, and all the Professors told him he should search for the monster because he had been boasting he knew where the chamber was. They just wanted to get rid of him."
"Good riddance" James said.
"So that night, Harry and Ron went to find Lockhart, to tell him exactly where the Chamber was and they found him about to run away. He confessed that he had not done anything in the books, just tracked the people down, got their memories and then wiped their memories, taking all the credit."
There was a collective gasp.
"That's awful." Lily cried.
"How dare he." McGonagall said in disgust.
"He tried to wipe Harry and Ron's memories but Harry disarmed him."
"Go son." James cheered.
"Yes, good one Prongslet." Sirius laughed.
"They took him to the bathroom and Myrtle told them how she died. Harry opened the Chamber and they went down. In the Chamber Lockhart stole Ron's wand by pretending to collapse and then tried again to wipe their memories. But Ron's broken wand backfired and the spell hit himself."
"About time." James and Sirius cried.
"He caused the rock to fall between Harry and Ron so Harry had to go on alone."
"Even his last act is to make Harry's life even more difficult and dangerous." Lily scowled furiously. She huddled closer to James, worried about what was coming next.
"Don't worry Lils, you know he makes it through this alive." James whispered in her ear, even though he was scared himself.
"So Harry went on alone. Ron stayed shifting rock so they could get back through. Harry found Ginny unconscious at the bottom of a statue of Salazar Slytherin. Harry then saw the actual memory of Tom Riddle, becoming more solid by the second. Not quite a ghost, but also not alive."
Lily and Remus shuddered.
"He told Harry that it had been Ginny opening the Chamber."
"No way!" Sirius exclaimed.
"She can't have. That is way beyond a first year." Lily said.
"She is in Gryffindor though." James put in.
"She was possessed by the diary. She had poured out her feelings into the diary and he had written back pretending to be sympathetic. She poured her soul into the diary, and it started putting a bit back. Ginny had realised what was going on and tried to get rid of the diary. Until then Harry found it and Malfoy made it clear that Harry had it. She didn't want it telling him that she was opening the chamber so she stole it back."
Everyone watched Hermione, disgust on their faces as well as horror.
"This is just sick." James said, voicing the thought for everyone. Hermione nodded.
"He then told Harry exactly who he was. Tom Marvolo Riddle can be changed into I am Lord Voldemort. Harry then told him he wasn't the greatest sorcerer in the world and that it was actually Dumbledore."
Dumbledore looked surprised and then he beamed down at the baby in Sirius' lap.
"After he said this Fawkes showed up."
Dumbledore's smile broadened.
"And gave Harry the Sorting Hat."
"What on earth does he need that for?" Asked Remus.
"Riddle then released the basilisk."
Lily gasped and James tightened his arm around her. Sirius had stopped playing with Harry to watch Hermione intently.
"Fawkes punctured the eyes of the basilisk so Harry could now look at it. He also found the Sword of Gryffindor in the Sorting Hat."
"Wow." Gasped Lily, looking up from James' side to gape at Hermione.
"With it, he stabbed the basilisk in the roof of its mouth and killed it."
The room erupted in cheers.
"But the basilisk still managed to pierce his arm with a fang."
The cheering stopped.
"But Fawkes healed him with phoenix tears. He was fine. Harry then stabbed the diary with the basilisk fang and the memory of Riddle vanished. Ginny then woke up."
"Oh thank goodness it's over." Lily said weakly.
"He did it. My son killed a basilisk at the age of 12." James breathed, in the same weak tone as his wife. "And he beat Voldemort again."
"Prongs, your son is the best." Sirius beamed. He and James started a victory dance in the middle of the room while baby Harry clapped his pudgy fists.
"Young Mr Potter is certainly a miracle worker." McGonagall agreed.
"Harry took Ginny back to Ron, who had cleared enough space for them to get through. Fawkes flew them all back up the passage and took them to Professor McGonagall's office. Mr and Mrs Weasley were waiting and were obviously relieved to see Ginny alive. Harry had to explain what had happened. The Weasley's went up to the hospital wing with Ginny, except Ron. Professor McGonagall went to the kitchens to tell the house elves to get a feast ready."
"Awesome." Sirius grinned as his stomach rumbled. The noise made Harry giggle.
"Harry then explained how Lockhart had lost his memory and he got sent to St Mungos. Professor Dumbledore gave Harry and Ron 200 points each for Gryffindor."
James and Sirius let out loud cheers. "Wicked!" THey cried together.
"Honestly, it's like you are encouraging them to get into life threatening situations." Lily sighed, looking at Dumbledore.
"The professor then explained to Harry why he wasn't like Riddle. He had chosen Gryffindor even though he had been told he would do well in Slytherin. He then showed Harry the sword and that it was Gryffindor's. Harry then went down to the feast and Professor Dumbledore wrote to get Hagrid out of Azkaban."
"About time." Remus huffed.
"At that moment Lucius Malfoy came in with Dobby, angry that Professor Dumbledore was back."
"Dobby was Malfoy's elf?" Sirius asked. Hermione nodded.
"Wow." He said.
"He explained that as soon as Ginny had been taken into the Chamber the other governors confessed to being blackmailed and wanted Dumbledore back immediately. Harry then realised why Ginny had had the diary. Malfoy had slipped it inside one of her school books when they met in Diagon Alley."
"The sick bast..." James spat.
"Mr Potter, mind your language!" McGonagall exclaimed loudly, although she looked like she agreed.
"How could anyone do that to an innocent child?" Lily asked, looking horrified.
"That's goddamn awful." Remus growled. Even Dumbledore looked angry.
"Malfoy then left and Harry asked to borrow the diary. He then stuffed it inside his sock and ran after Malfoy. He gave it to him and Malfoy threw the sock away. He saw the diary and got angry. He was about to attack Harry when Dobby stopped him."
"What?" Lily asked. "How could he stand up to his master?"
"The sock." James beamed. "Malfoy threw the sock away, if Dobby caught it then it counts as him being given clothes. Which Harry knew. He was thanking Dobby."
"Awww." Lily cooed.
"Thanking him for what? Getting him locked in his room? Stopping him getting through the barrier? Breaking his arm?" Remus pointed out.
"Harry did make Dobby promise to stop saving his life." Hermione added with a grin.
Everyone chuckled.
"Harry and Ron's points won Gryffindor the house cup again. End of year exams were cancelled as a school treat. Everyone who was petrified came back at the feast. I was delighted to find out Harry and Ron had solved it. Hagrid also came back, his name being cleared."
Everyone cheered at this.
"On the way back Ginny told us that Percy had got a girlfriend so the twins were able to tease him plenty."
"I love those guys." James grinned.
"Harry gave Ron his number so they could talk on a telephone over the summer as well as write."
"Good plan." Lily said.
"He won't be able to use it properly." Remus grinned.
"And that is the end of our second year." Hermione announced.
"Thank goodness. How about a nice peaceful year now?" Lily asked hopefully. Hermione grimaced. This next year was going to be awful. Lily studied her expression and sighed. "I'm guessing not then."
"Actual danger wise it wasn't too bad." Hermione admitted. "No basilisks or giant spiders anyway." She managed to grin.
"No Voldemort possessing people?" James asked.
"Nope, none of that either." Hermione told them. They all looked relieved.
"I think it's food time." Announced Sirius.
"It's always food time to you Padfoot." James told him with a grin.
"True." Sirius admitted, returning the grin.
"You two will be the death of me." Lily groaned, getting up and heading to the kitchen.
"I'm going to put Harry down for a nap." James said, picking up baby Harry. The professor's excused themselves to check on Hogwarts. Hermione sat in her chair thinking about their third year. She would have to take wands away, she decided. Otherwise they might go and find Pettigrew now before they made any plans. Sirius watched her curiously.
"Something wrong 'Mione?" He asked.
"Just thinking about the next year." She told him.
"Is it that bad?" Remus asked.
"Pretty bad." Hermione admitted quietly.
"They can't be in worse danger?" Sirius asked in disbelief.
"It's not so much the danger." Hermione said, though she was talking to herself and didn't mean for Sirius to hear.
"Then what is it?" He asked. She looked up, annoyed with herself.
"You will find out when I tell the story." She said, smiling slightly. Sirius and Remus groaned. Sirius eyed her shrewdly.
"Are we about to find out why Harry couldn't come and live with me?" He asked. Hermione looked startled.
"No." She told him softly. "That doesn't get explained until much later." She added sadly. She missed Harry and Ron. Retelling all their adventures made her miss them more.
"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, concern on his face.
"I just miss them. Harry, Ron, Ginny, all the other Weasleys." She admitted.
"It must be hard, leaving them behind. I say it again, I definitely see why you are a Gryffindor not a Ravenclaw." Sirius smiled at her. Hermione gave him a weak smile in return. Remus was nodding. Then excused himself to help Lily in the kitchen.
"I just...thinking about everything we did, it makes me miss them more than if I was just separated." SHe muttered sadly.
"The stuff you guys did was unbelievable." Sirius grinned. "I can't believe you three made it alive and not expelled."
"Me either." Smiled Hermione. "We had several close calls."
"You just finished second year and you've already had more than most people do in their whole lives." Sirius pointed out. Hermione chuckled. Sirius smiled to himself. He wasn't tactful the way Remus was and he was happy he had managed to make her smile.
"It's just..I'm worried that my Harry and Ron won't exist anymore. We were all shaped by what we went through. Now neither of them will go through it, so it will just be me. I don't want to be alone." Hermione confessed, a tear trickling down her cheek.
"You will never be alone." Sirius told her firmly. He came over beside her and put his arms around her. "Now we all know what you have been through. I know it's not the same as living it with you, but we do understand. And I doubt Harry and Ron will change too much. A lot of Harry's traits come from his parents, and clearly they aren't going to change." He added with a chuckle.
Hermione gave a weak laugh, which was muffled by the fact that her head was buried in Sirius' shirt.
"As for Ron, well he will still be raised the same way until he is eleven and with Molly as a parent, I can't imagine him turning out much different." Sirius added. He has limited experience with crying girls and normally kept away, but he couldn't help wanting to cheer Hermione up.
"So, third year next." Said James, coming back into the room. He stopped when he saw Hermione's buried in Sirius' shirt. He beamed. His son's friend was very cool and he could see how much Sirius cared about her, even after just a few days. He had never seen his friend like this with a girl. Normally, to Sirius, it was a bit of fun and nothing else. But he truly seemed to care for 'Mione. At that moment, Hermione sat up, having heard James' voice, and blushed.
"Harry asleep then?" She asked. James nodded, still smirking. "Mind if I go and see him?" James shook his head and Hermione left the room.
"Nice one mate." James grinned.
"Shut up. She was crying and I was trying to help." Sirius told him shortly.
"i mean it. You could definitely do a lot worse." James told him. "Especially if she is stuck here. That's got to be hard on her."
"It is." Sirius told him what Hermione had said in an undertone. James looked sympathetic.
"Exactly mate. She needs us. Her real friends are only babies so we will have to take their place."
"What if she doesn't like me?" Sirius murmured. Normally he would never in a million years have confessed to James that he felt this way, but he didn't have many other options. To his credit, James didn't laugh at him.
"Really mate? She just had her face buried in your chest? If she didn't like you I doubt she would be doing that." James told him. Sirius grinned.
"Don't tell Moony. He will never let me hear the end of it." Sirius warned him but James only smirked.
"I make no promises Padfoot." James told him. Sirius glared at him as James went into the kitchen, grinning cheekily. "Hey Moony." He called.
"Shut up!" Sirius hissed.
"Yes Prongs?" Remus called amusement colouring his tone. Sirius suddenly remembered his wolfish hearing and that he now probably already knew what James wanted to say.
"Sirius is in looooooove." James called in a sing song voice.
"Shut up. She might hear you." Sirius growled, he started wrestling with James. They play fought until Lily came in with food.
"Did I hear that correctly Black? You love 'Mione?" Lily asked him with a grin.
"None of your business Potter." Sirius told her.
"Don't be rude. Especially to people who give you food." She warned, holding the food out towards Remus instead.
"You're right, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Sirius cried, reaching for the sandwiches. James and Remus laughed. Hermione came back into the room, looking happier than before.
"Why is Sirius begging for forgiveness?" She asked, now looking amused.
"He was being rude, so I wasn't going to give him food." Lily explained with a grin. Hermione laughed.
"I used to do that to Ron as well." Hermione said. Sirius looked up. Was there more to her and Ron than just friends? No, he was being stupid, he thought. They all ate with gusto and then sat back in their chairs.
"Are we going to start your third year today?" Lily asked Hermione.
"We should. The sooner the better." Hermione told them. They all sat down eagerly.