Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters. Everything belongs to JK Rowling, and I'm merely allowed to play around with them. No copyright infringement is intended.

Yay another chapter! Thirty two and still rolling! :) This chapter's title comes from the name of a song by Maroon 5. If you guys know it, you should know a bit of what happens in it. I know right, I'm a Bon Jovi and a Maroon 5 fan... Not to mention Team Starkid. :p On with the story.

Chapter 32

-o-O-o-

'Keep calm, Hermione. No one knows it's you. Everybody thinks you're dead. Absolutely nobody is suspicious.' Hermione repeated that sentence so often in her head one would think she might end up believing it. However, she didn't.

So she just gulped some soup down as the newly arrived students chatted animatedly about their holidays. It felt strange, to her, sitting at the teacher's table, in the Great Hall, seeing that, less than a year earlier, she had been at their level.

Regulus, on the other hand, didn't seem nervous at all. If he was, he was hiding it very well. She scanned the Hall and the students. Most had been in school with her, sometimes barely a year below.

When Dumbledore had introduced the new teachers and she had heard the students clap, she had felt rather faint. It was nothing compared to now. So when Dumbledore declared the meal over, she stood up as quickly as she could and almost ran to her quarters.

As she stepped inside, breathless, she cursed Dumbledore for having them placed on the seventh floor. She quickly removed all her camouflage charms and stood there, motionless, for a couple of minutes. Then Regulus came in and removed his charms as well.

"That didn't go as well as I though it would." she said, not turning around to look at him.

He placed his hands on her shoulders and massaged them softly. "I think it went well." he whispered in her ear.

She moaned slightly as he wiped all traces of stress away from her body. "It could have been worse." she agreed reluctantly.

He kissed her neck softly. "We could have been discovered." he said, sending shivers up and down her body. "We could have had worse jobs, too."

She nodded. "I've got twelve hours of class a week. You?"

He laughed a little. "Ten." he said.

"That's unfair!" she replied, faking anger.

He smirked. "I only do two hours per class, and I've only got one of each year, minus first and second years."

She huffed. "I've got them all, from first to seventh year, two classes each, except for the last two, where I only have one. I get them one hour a week." she explained.

Regulus laughed a little. "That's twenty two hours for the both of us… Severus has thirty six on his own."

"Serves him right." she said. "That greasy little git…"

Regulus shook his head. "You shouldn't insult people's best friends like that." He spun her around so she could face him. He was smirking. "Maybe I should teach you a lesson…"

As his hands sneaked around her to pinch her backside, she smiled playfully. "Please do."

-o-O-o-

"I think it's all linked." Remus said, one day, as he was buttering a piece of bread, while Sirius and he were having breakfast in the latter's flat.

The other, still half asleep, looked at him with tired eyes. "Excuse me… What?" he asked, his voice slurring slightly.

"The murders." Remus explained. "I think they're all linked. That it's the same person who killed all these people."

"Of course it is, Moony." Sirius groaned. "It's Lord bloody Voldemort."

The other shook his head. "No, it's a Death Eater. One Death Eater in particular… Although why, I don't know."

"Wait a second." Sirius said. "Which murders?"

"Marlene." he explained. "Mary. Hermione and Regulus…"

"These two weren't killed." Sirius groaned. "They killed themselves."

Remus shook his head again. "It seems way too fishy to me." he said. "Hermione was clever. Regulus was clever. They wouldn't kill themselves."

"Well how do you suppose they died, then eh?!" Sirius bellowed, slamming his fist on the table and spilling some of his tea.

Remus remained calm. "I think they did that mission… Whatever they wanted to do…"

"There was no mission." Sirius groaned, stabbing a piece of bread multiple times, like a child playing with his food. "There were just two deaths."

Remus sighed. "Neither of them would've been stupid enough to die for nothing. Both of them would have wanted to die doing something good. Or at the very least useful. It was a mission. I believe that Regulus set it up, believed he would die if he did it alone, Hermione came over, they succeeded, prepared to go home but were murdered."

"But why, huh?" Sirius asked. "A guy has to have a motive for killing somebody! He can't just kill them for the fun of it! That's disgusting…"

"Unless there is a spy in our ranks." Remus whispered. "If there was a spy, and Regulus and Hermione found out who it was, so he killed them… And he was the one who set the mass murder up, so when Marlene investigated and found out who it was, she was killed too."

"And Mary?" Sirius asked. "Why was Mary killed?"

Remus' eyes darkened. "I believe that was cold blooded murder, only done to prove a point." He turned to Sirius. "Believe me, if I catch that person… He's gonna wish he'd never been born."

-o-O-o-

Regulus awoke somewhere in the middle of the night, not remembering anything about the dream he had just had. He stretched slightly and tightened his arms, finding out he was holding Hermione's naked frame close to his chest. His heart swelled, and suddenly, he had an idea.

He slipped out of bed, pulling a pair of boxers on as he went, and grabbed his cloak, before walking back to her. He crouched down in front of her peaceful face, watching her eyes move from beneath her eyelids in the moonlight. He reached out a hand and caressed her creamy white cheek, smiling at her absolute beauty.

She moved a little, scrunching up her nose, before she stretched and yawned and opened her eyes. "Regulus?" she asked groggily.

"Shhh…" he whispered, stroking her cheek again as she tried to sit up.

"What's wrong?" she asked, stretching over to switch their side lamp on.

He smiled and pulled his cloak closer to him, a hand slipping in his pocket. "Nothing's wrong baby." he said. "I just wanted to tell you I love you."

She stared at him through a curtain of curly hair, confused. "That's it?" she asked. "You woke me up at," She glanced at the alarm clock. "Half past two, to tell me you love me?"

He smiled and shook his head. "I also wanted to tell you I am never going to walk away from you, ever again." He bent down on one knee. "I love you so much, I can't think straight. If you would do me the honour," He slipped his hand out of his pocket and pulled out the black velvet box. "Of becoming my wife… I'd be the happiest of all men of the entire Earth." He flipped the box open, revealing the ring he had bought a week earlier.

She stared at him, then at the ring, then back at him again. "Are you…" She gulped. "Are you serious?"

He laughed a little. "Actually, I'm Regulus." he joked, but then got his face straight again. "But if you're talking about getting married, I am definitely serious. In fact, I'm dead serious." They waited for a couple of more moments before he cleared his throat. "So," he said, slightly nervous now, due to her lack of answer. "Will you?"

There was a blur of colour and suddenly Regulus found himself being hugged so tight it was as if his life depended on it. "Yes!" she squealed into his bare shoulder. "Yes I'll marry you!" She was rather loud considering she'd only just been woken up.

He felt his shoulder getting wet and, sure enough, when she pulled away, she was crying. She sniffed a little and wiped some of her tears away, and he gave a short laugh. "Well," he declared. "I'm certainly glad that's sorted out."

She laughed too, and he took her left hand to slip the ring on. She watched it glint in the lamp light and whispered: "It's gorgeous."

He cupped her face and whispered back: "It's nowhere near as gorgeous as you are."

She kissed him softly and pulled him back into the bed, his cloak discarded. He turned the light off and she whispered: "I love you. I love you so much."

He held her close and answered: "I love you too."

He buried his face in her hair as she did the same with his chest, but just as they were about to fall asleep, she whispered: "Regulus?"

"Hmm… Yeah?" he answered.

She waited a couple of seconds before continuing: "I'm never gonna leave this bed."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Me neither babe." he answered. "Me neither."

-o-O-o-

"Will you, or not?" James asked for the umpteenth time that night.

"I…" Sirius stuttered. "I don't… I guess… Oh!" he exclaimed. "I've got a much better idea!"

"What?" Lily asked, putting her mug of tea down on the table.

"We'll make Peter the Secret Keeper!" he revealed.

Lily choked and James spat out all the tea he had put in his mouth, and all of it ended up in Sirius' hair. "Excuse me… What?!" James asked for confirmation.

"It makes perfect sense!" Sirius said, wiping out all traces of spit from his beautifully messed up raven locks. "Peter is Secret Keeper, Voldemort thinks it's me, I get kidnapped and tortured, but your secret is safe!"

They stared at him for some minutes until James answered: "That is the looniest, craziest, riskiest idea you've ever had, Padfoot." he said. "… I like it."

Sirius smiled at his best friend, while the only girl present in the room spluttered out: "Are you nuts? You're going to get us all killed!" she yelled.

Sirius shrugged. "That's only if they discover the ruse." he said. "But who would have though I had come up with it, let alone agreed to it?"

James nodded. "True, since everybody knows how much of an egocentrically hair-obsessed idiotic freaky loud little bastard you are."

"Gee, thanks for the ego boost, Prongsie, I needed it." Sirius replied sarcastically.

"Not to mention that you smoke, you drink, you whore around, you cheat…" James counted them off his fingers.

Lily continued: "You lie, you break, you boast…"

James was still counting: "You're bipolar, maybe schizophrenic, you have issues, you smoke weed…"

"Wait a second!" Sirius interrupted them. "I do not smoke weed!"

James arched an eyebrow. "Really?" he asked. "How about that time in sixth year when you were laughing like crazy for no reason and Moony found a bag under your mattress labelled, I quote: 'Padfoot's Pot'?"

"Oh…" Sirius said, looking slightly offended and ashamed. "Oh, yeah…"

James rolled his eyes. "The point is, Paddie, everybody will believe you are the Secret Keeper. Your plan might actually work." He smiled.

Sirius grinned too. "Admit it, I'm brilliant." he said, turning to his almost sister in law.

Lily sighed. "Whatever makes you happy, Sirius." she gave in.

James straightened his glasses and declared: "Well, it seems as if a trip to Hogwarts is in order."

-o-O-o-

The Dark Lord was pacing the floors of Malfoy Manor, his servants cowering under his glare. "I will kill the Potter brat." he was repeating. "… I will kill him, and then I will be invincible!"

Lucius felt something poke his rib and turned around; it was Severus. "Sorry," he whispered. "I just got there. Did I miss something?"

Lucius shook his head, although barely perceptibly. "Just some more rambling about that damned prophecy." he said.

"I will kill him, do you hear me?!" the Dark Lord yelled, his high voice echoing around the rich stone walls. All of the Death Eaters nodded and murmured in agreement and their master, contented, went back to his self talking.

"How long has he been going on?" Severus asked the blond man next to him.

The letter shook his head. "At least two hours. Once in a while he yells, I think it lakes him feel better."

Severus nodded. "Out!" Voldemort called out suddenly. As all of his servants scrambled up to leave the room, he giggled like a maniac. "Kill Potter!" he yelled, spreading his arms and still laughing. "Kill Potter!"

The two friends slipped out of the room as fast as they could, before looking at each other. They didn't need words to know what the other was thinking. They were both thinking the same thing: 'The Dark Lord is crazy.' And, somewhere in the deep recesses of their minds, they were thinking: 'Why didn't we notice before?'

-o-O-o-

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