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The next two weeks flew by and Hermione soon found herself helping Lily pack up for the holiday break.
"Would you come visit?" Lily asked as she double checked which text books she was bring home. "I know you and McGonagall need some family time, but I would love to have you over for a day or two at least. Maybe you can come a few days before the Potter's party and we could go shopping for dresses?"
Hermione smiled brightly. Having two boys as best friends had scaled back her girly antics; especially since Ginny was very much a tomboy at heart. "Sounds perfect. I'll ask Aunt Minerva if it's alright later today."
The two girls gossiped and laughed with their other dorm mates as they all collected and organized their belongings for their trips home. Hermione said goodbye to all the girls as they finished rounding up their last few items. She ventured downstairs and found James, Remus and Peter seated around the fireplace discussing which teams they believed were going to make the Quidditch World Cup this year.
They all greeted her and mentioned how much they would miss the blonde over the break; but they were excited that she had agreed to put up with the lot of them over New Years. Hermione was still a bit hesitant to expose herself to more people who could potentially recognize her in the future; but she continuously repeated future Remus' words of 'live your life' as she smiled and nodded her head.
James directed Hermione to the boys' dorm when she asked about Sirius' whereabouts.
Hermione found Sirius digging through his trunk and flinging things around the room. "What did you lose, Sirius?"
The long haired Marauder turned and flashed her a huge smile, "Nothing I can tell you about I'm afraid." Sirius chuckled as he resumed rifling through his belongings.
Hermione tiptoes around the fallen debris and settled herself onto Sirius' bed, "Secrets, Mr. Black? I thought we didn't have secrets?" She wore a wicked grin when Sirius met her eyes.
"Not a secret, a surprise. James gave it to me a few days ago so that I could lend it to you…" Sirius's voice became muffled as he positioned half his body under the bed to check if the item had slipped under there. "HA! How it ended up here, I've no bloody idea…" He finally stood up and faced Hermione holding out a little rectangular mirror.
It was dusty and cracked in one corner; Hermione wasn't quite sure what to say. Sirius began laughing at her confused expression, "It's a two way mirror. This is actually James', but he said we could use them over break since I won't see you for almost two weeks."
Understanding dawned on Hermione and she smiled with appreciation, "That was very sweet of him. What about James and Lily though? Couldn't they use them?"
"Well, James is actually going over to the Evans household next Friday to 'meet the family' and have supper with them." Sirius chuckled, "He's terrified. But since he'll be seeing Lily more than once over break, we get to use the mirrors."
"I see," Hermione examined the mirror again, thinking about what kind of spell could have been used to make such a remarkable item.
"You know," Sirius took the mirror from Hermione's hands and placed it on the bedside table. "I don't think having pretty blondes on my bed is a very good idea." He took Hermione's face in his hands and kissed her; all thought left her head and she forgot her planned retort.
Hermione moaned into the kiss and drew her lips back, "That's entirely unfair, Sirius. I had a really good answer for that remark."
"Likely story, Blondie," Sirius silenced her again with a searing kiss that sent a flood of warmth all the way down to her toes.
Hermione settled back into her private room in McGonagall's chambers. None of the other seventh year girls were staying over the holidays, so she didn't feel inclined to stay in the big empty dorm. She and Minerva fell into their routine that had developed over the summer; breakfast together in Minerva's apartment, reading and class preparation separately, lunch in the Great Hall, tea in McGonagall's office, then dinner and conversation until bedtime. It might have seemed mundane, but Hermione reveled in the simplicity of it. She had missed spending time with her 'aunt' and this holiday break was more than making up for their busy time apart.
The only activity added to the agenda was talking with Sirius. This usually happened right before bed; and the length of the conversations depended greatly on how much sleep either of them had the morning before. The topics of conversation could range from complaining about N.E.W.T.s, to describing the trouble that Sirius and James had been causing, to Hermione describing something interesting from her book of that specific day.
They had an extended conversation that Friday, while Sirius waited for James to return from Lily's house. The subject that night had ended up on countries they wanted to visit.
"What about China?" Hermione pondered, "I would love to see their New Year's festival. They're supposed to be spectacular."
"I suppose, but all their quidditch teams are rubbish." Sirius had the urge to see a quidditch match on every continent, which was skewing his opinions of the different countries Hermione was suggesting. "What about Australia?"
Hermione turned away from the mirror to hide her shadowed smile, "Yea, I've heard great things about Australia."
"You alright, Blondie?" Sirius could hear the sadness in her voice.
"Fine, just missing my parents. First Christmas and all…" Hermione waved her hand in front of the mirror, dismissing the subject. "Anyway, do you know when James is supposed to get home?"
"Not sure…" Sirius turned as someone knocked on his door. "Right, I'll be down in a minute." He turned his attention back to Hermione, "Sorry, I have to go. James just got back and his mum asked me to go downstairs and talk to him. I think somethings happened."
"Oh, ok. Let me know if I can do anything to help," Hermione began to worry about Lily.
"I'll talk to you soon. Bye, Love."
The mirror now reflected Hermione's slightly gapping mouth, did he just call me Love?
A half hour later, Hermione received an owl from Lily. The note was brief and in broken sentences.
'Dinner went horribly. Petunia wont' speak to me. Sent James home. Could use a friendly ear.'
Hermione changed out of her sleep clothes and quickly threw on a pair of jeans and a thick sweater; she also collected her purple beaded bag and placed the two way mirror into its depths. She explained to McGonagall that she needed to see Lily immediately and asked if Minerva would mind if she wouldn't be back until late tonight or tomorrow.
"No dear, that's fine. Is there anything I can do?" The professor always had a soft spot for Lily Evans, and was concerned.
"I'm not sure. I'll let you know when I can. Do you have the Evans' address?" Hermione pulled on the winter coat that Lily had given her and Minerva fastened a maroon and gold scarf onto her 'niece's' neck.
"There you are, be careful."
"Of course, Aunt Minerva," Hermione hugged the older woman before she rushed out of the portrait hole and jogged all the way down the grounds to right outside of the Hogwarts gates. She pulled out the little piece of paper that McGonagall had slipped into her hand and memorized the numbers and words. Hermione closed her eyes, turned on her heal and mentally repeated the address.
Pressure squeezed on all sides of Hermione's body as she apparated; it made her stomach and lungs contract uncomfortably, and she felt a headache begin to form on the side of her compressed head. When her body finally popped in front of Lily's house, Hermione took a long deep breath and attempted to clear her head of the painful fog.
It was late at night, so Hermione had not been concerned with being seen by onlookers. It was almost ten o'clock and the family neighborhood that surrounded the Evans house appeared quiet; only a few cottages had lights that remained on. But Lily's house was a bright beacon, with almost every light in the house illuminated.
Hermione remained in the shadows as she registered that there was yelling coming from within the home. Someone was shouting about 'magic' and 'freaks.' Then suddenly, the front door banged open and a fairly large man lumbered down the porch steps, his neck was a horrible puce color and his face contorted in disgust. A tall, lemon faced, frail looking young woman followed the man down the stairs and into a fancy looking car. They drove off without even a glance backward.
Hermione had never met Harry's Aunt and Uncle, but she was fairly certain that the unpleasant looking people who had just stormed off were them.
Lily's shadow could be seen slowly walking down the hallway, coming to close the forgotten door. Hermione walked up the stairs; her eyes fell on the sad shell of her friend.
Lily looked terrible. Her eyes were puffy, her nose was red and her sleeves were wet from wiping away tears. She saw Hermione in the doorway and burst out crying again.
Hermione rushed forward to console her, "What happened, Lily?" It was gut-wrenching to see her brave, quick tongued friend completely in shambles. Hermione guided Lily into the house and sat her on the bottom of the staircase, just a few steps back from the front door. She closed the door and took a seat beside the redhead and wrapped a comforting arm around Lily's shoulders, just allowing her to expel all the tears before Hermione asked her question again.
A tall man with strawberry blonde hair and a sad expression approached the girls; Hermione stood and briefly introduced herself before returning her attention to Lily.
"I'll be in the kitchen, tending to mum, if you two need anything." The poor man's voice sounded crushed.
When Lily ran out of tears, she pulled away from Hermione and leaned her head back on the wall next to the stairs. She tried to smile at the blonde, "You didn't have to come. I was hoping you would ring or something."
Hermione tried to interject some humor into the sad air, "Well I don't know your telephone number and who knows how far outside of the wards I would have had to walk to get a phone that worked. I mean, really? You wanted me to call?"
This seemed to coax a smile smirk to the redheads face, "Yes, well I try to be very muggle when I'm at home. Not supposed to use magic outside of Hogwarts and all, right?"
"Well we are of age, so the ministry can't track us anymore. But it's probably the smarter bet to not expose yourself." Hermione chewed on her inner cheek as she plucked up the courage to ask the question again, "What happened, Lily?"
Thankfully, Lily didn't crumble into tears this time. She shook her head, "It's entirely my fault. I shouldn't have pushed my family and James into meeting so soon. I knew that Tuney wouldn't like him, but I was hoping that everyone would be civil."
Hermione remained silent, allowing Lily to continue her story without interruption.
"We went to a little French restaurant down the street; it's my family's favorite. It's not too fancy, has somewhat of a homey feel to the place. James came here first to meet my parents, he was perfect; polite, charming as always. He didn't even look nervous." Lily paused to dry her face of lingering tears.
Hermione conjured a box of tissues and held them out to Lily.
"Thanks. Well we drove to the restaurant to meet with Petunia and Vernon. They hugged and greeted Mum and Dad fine, but then they approached me like I was a stranger to them. Then both of them treated James and I like we were foreigners or something. Every time I spoke, Tuney began speaking over me. When I tried to compliment her on something she had chosen for her wedding, she flat-out ignored me and asked Vernon something about trout."
Lily hiccupped and covered her mouth. Hermione offered the girl her hand and Lily grabbed it and squeezed; as if she was unintentionally trying to relay her pain.
"Well, James was livid. He couldn't understand why I wasn't standing up for myself. He's so used to me biting back at people. But she's my sister…"
There was a brief pause as Lily took some deep breathes to steady her voice again.
"James began talking to Vernon, trying to distract him. I think he was hoping that if Vernon was preoccupied, Petunia would have less of a chance to ignore me. But that backfired almost immediately. Vernon thinks very highly of himself, so he began bragging about his new car and the promotion he's in line for at work and how much more money he should be getting with the new position. And James tried to keep his competitive streak in check, but Vernon kept pushing… so James began saying how he would never have to work if he didn't want to because of his family's fortune. He bragged about how well he could support a family whenever the time came, and Vernon just lost it. There was lots of yelling and cursing; the restaurant asked us to leave."
Mum insisted that everyone come back to the house to settle down and make peace; she hates when Tuney and I fight. But when everyone got back here, it just escalated. Petunia began yelling at me about how I'm a freak and how disappointed she was that my mother and father let me date "one of them." That's when I had to send James home; I practically had to push him out of the door. I begged him to go before it got worse."
Then Petunia screamed that I wasn't allowed to be in the wedding anymore and how she even rather I didn't attend at all. She proclaimed how happy she was to find Vernon and how wonderfully normal he was. She couldn't stop gushing about how overjoyed she was to get away from our strange family. And then…she just left."
Hermione squeezed Lily's hand trying to offer some kind of reassurance.
When Lily was ready to move, she led Hermione into the kitchen where her parents still sat quietly mourning the departure of their older daughter. Mrs. Evans was about Lily's height and build; she had dark auburn hair and the bright green eyes that Hermione knew very well. The woman got up and silently hugged her younger daughter; she gently shook Hermione's hand when introduced but said nothing as she retired for the night.
Mr. Evans spoke softly to the girls and offered to set up the guest room for Hermione; she declined saying that she could take care of it herself. Lily's father nodded and went to bed as well.
Lily and Hermione didn't speak much after they climbed the stairs to the other bedrooms. Lily collected an extra blanket and pillow for Hermione and set it on the guest bed. But before she went to crash into her own pillow, Lily asked, "Would you mind coming with me to find a new dress for Tuney's wedding tomorrow? It's the day after boxing day, so I won't have any other chance to do so."
"Of course," Hermione hugged her friend one more time.
After Lily left the room, Hermione pulled out the two way mirror, "Sirius Black."
Sirius' somber face filled the reflection, "There you are. I tried to call you three times, where were you?" Sirius noticed that the surrounding room wasn't Hermione's, "I guess, where are you, would be a better question."
"I'm at Lily's house. She's badly off. How's James?"
"He's fuming. His mum almost had to sedate him. He seems alright now, but I think his dad might have slipped him something anyway." Sirius looked wary.
"Well, you both need to try to get some sleep. I want you to meet us at Diagon Alley tomorrow morning, around ten? I think Lily could use some time away from her house." Sirius agreed and smiled sadly as they said their goodnights.
Diagon Alley was bustling.
It seemed like every witch and wizard in London had left their holiday shopping until Christmas Eve. But the chaos was actually welcomed by Hermione; she was hoping that it would offer some distraction and an escape from Lily's sadness.
The two girls walked through the heavy crowds of people, arms linked so that they would not be separated. Hermione turned to find Lily smirking at the labyrinth that had formed around them, "This is absolutely mad. How many people do you think are out here?"
Hermione released a relieved chuckle, "All of England, it feels like."
The girls walked toward the little tea and coffee shop by Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour; and outside of the shop they found a very anxious looking James and Sirius.
Lily's face broke into a wide smile, "James!" He hugged her tightly as she threw her arms around his neck. They spoke quietly; both apologizing for how terribly the previous night had played out.
Sirius tugged on Hermione's hand until she was wrapped in his embrace, "Good thinking on the meet up, Meddler." He beamed down at the witch in his arms.
"I just hope it's enough to get her through the wedding," Hermione was skeptical but hopeful that James could step up and assume a mature mantel for a few nights.
"And additional bonus; I get to see you," Sirius craned his head down slightly to plant a fleeting kiss on Hermione's lips. He pulled back to find her smiling contently.
The rest of the morning was dedicated to finding Lily a new dress; which turned out to be extremely difficult because everything she tried on looked spectacular on her. Lily insisted that she couldn't upstage her sister or upset her any further, so Lily continued to search. In the end, Hermione pulled the first dress that Lily had tried on and forced her to buy it.
"I refuse to let you become a doormat for that sister of yours. This dress is perfect; the dark green is formal but not flashy and looks good with your hair, the high neck covers everything and it's not very clingy. Just wear some black shoes and you'll be fine." Hermione pushed Lily toward the cashier and turned around to find James and Sirius smirking at her. "And what do you two want?"
James bust out laughing as Sirius stepped forward to calm Hermione down. "You know… you're kind of attractive when you're barking orders," he whispered into her ear.
All Sirius received in return was a stern glare.
The two couples decided to grab a quick lunch at the Leaky Cauldron before they had to part ways and return to their respective 'homes.' Lily seemed in better spirits as she said good bye to her friends and exited the pub the muggle way, to take the tube home.
James gave a tight hug to Hermione, "Thanks for helping her." And he walked to the back of the alleyway to wait for Sirius.
Sirius wore his classic mischievous grin as he entwined his fingers behind Hermione's back, "You are brilliant, did you know that?"
"I've been told once or twice," Hermione smiled as she kissed her boyfriend tenderly.
Sirius moaned into the kiss, "I really hate that I'm not going to be able to kiss you for another week."
"You'll live," Hermione said brightly as she pressed her body into Sirius' just enough to make him moan again.
"That is not fair," Sirius whispered into Hermione's ear, making her skin tingle.
"Merry Christmas, Mr. Black," Hermione's voice sounded lyrical. She kissed his cheek and took a step away to apparate back to Hogsmeade.
Woohoo! Can't believe we're getting close to 30 chapters. Eek!
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Love, Misha