Chapter 62: Monday, January 19, 1981

"A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends."

-Baltasar Gracian


Remus' leg bounced nonstop beneath the table, his hands fidgeting with the hem of his jumper and he twisted back and forth in his seat. Hermione laid a hand on his forearm, giving him a questioning look as he began drumming his fingers against the table. She knew it was the moon, it was only a day out and Remus was generally either restless or dead on his feet this close toit, but it seemed to be more than that. He kept looking over his shoulders and his nostrils would flare every so often.

Finally, Hermione leaned over to whisper in his ear, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine."

"You're bouncing like mad," she said. "Are you sure?"

He sighed, his eyes scanning the room again. "Er...There's a lot of tension in here. It's making me antsy."

Hermione nodded in understanding. He wasn't wrong. The tension in the meeting was thick as treacle today, everyone waiting on pins and needles to see why they had been called in on a Monday instead of the usual Thursday. Even James and Lily had been told to come, although since her parents death a few weeks prior, Lily had refused to not be a part of the meetings as long as she could safely be here. James agreed there was no pressing reason that they should not be allowed to attend the meetings, if that was the only place they went to. Even their Floo had been disconnected and Moody had come to apparate them both here, along with Harry, himself.

Harry was currently sleeping on James' chest and soft snores emitted from his slackened mouth. Everyone had been thrilled to see him—with James and Lily not leaving their house since his birth, no one had seen much of little baby Harry. Despite the excitement over the infant, things had settled and everyone seemed to be on edge again.

Finally, Dumbledore arrived with a soft pop from outside and swept into the room. His eyes roamed over the obviously curious but nervous Order members, and Hermione felt the room calm a bit. His eyes, which had been dulled for the last several meetings, seemed to sparkle again, a glint of a secret that only he knew, bringing him back to his lively self. The room seemed to visibly relax, but as the Headmaster began to speak, Hermione felt herself tense even more. Albus Dumbledore with a secret was never a good thing… And lately his secrets seemed to lean toward sending people she cared about on dangerous missions.

"We have been given the gift of insight," Dumbledore said, his hands clasped before him. "With this will come some uncertainty, I am sure. But rest assured, I am absolutely certain that this will only benefit our resistance as we continue to collect allies from all sides."

"What is he on about?" Sirius whispered across the table to James.

James gave a weak shrug, trying not to disrupt Harry's sleeping form.

"Psst! Moony! Moony! Do you smell it too?" Sirius hissed, "It smells familiar, doesn't it?"

"What's he talking about?" Hermione asked, her voice a murmur into Remus' ear.

"There's a scent, like a…a familiar magic. I can't… I can't explain it, I don't know… But I know it." Remus said, his brows pulled together as he tried to work out the scent.

"...I know this will come as a shock to many of you, but I ask only that you try to understand and if not understand, then accept, that I believe this is the best decision for us all," Dumbledore continued.

Hermione could feel Remus tense next to her, Sirius' eyes slowly dragged to Dumbledore's face, narrowed as he scrutinized the ancient man. Hermione glanced at Lily, sat directly next to her, and saw her eyes wide with curiosity. James, on the other hand, barely seemed to be paying any attention at all. He was staring down at Harry, running fingers through his mess of raven hair and humming to his son. It would have been a sweet moment, Hermione thought, had the entire room not gone completely cold when Dumbledore stretched a hand, beckoning someone forward from the other room.

The moment Severus Snape entered the room, there was a collective gasp. He stood beside Dumbledore, obsidian eyes squinted to slits against his pale, sickly looking skin. His thin lips were pressed in a firm line, but somehow, he still looked utterly disgusted. Even at twenty one years old, he had an air of arrogant superiority that seemed to float around him. His thick, greasy, black hair hanging in curtains around his face.

"Oh, fuck off!" Sirius said, jumping up from his seat and pulling his wand. He seemed almost as if he were laughing, but the edge to his voice was dangerous.

James had also gotten to his feet, Harry sleeping on his chest and all, as he brandished his wand and stepped in front of Lily, purposefully moving her chair back a few feet so he could wedge himself between her and Snape.

"James! The baby!" Lily hissed.

"He's fine!" James said, "He should see what happens when you-

"He's an infant!" Lily said, furiously.

But James was pressed so tightly against her, she could not move to stand up. Remus had gotten to his feet and was now staring at Snape, with more hatred in his eyes than Hermione had ever seen. He didn't point his wand, instead he loomed over the table looking every bit of the dangerous werewolf he claimed he was; as if he were waiting for any moment to lunge forward and rip Snape's throat out. The three Marauder's were not the only ones to get to their feet, questions or anger on their face. Hermione stood, albeit for a very different reason. She placed a hand on James' arm and he ripped his mutinous gaze from Snape, his breath coming in angry pants.

"Let me have him," Hermione whispered, gently tugging Harry away from James. "Before you do something you regret and get him hurt."

"Thank you!" Lily said, her voice shaking with anger.

Dumbledore held up a hand, his lips quirking up a bit as he looked around the room. "I understand there is some… unsavory history between many of you and Mr Snape. But I assure you, Severus will be instrumental in our efforts."

The other dozen or so adults at the table acquiesced, putting away their wands and taking their seats. Many gave a terse nod toward Dumbledore and Snape, still looking uncertain but trusting Dumbledore's judgement. James, Remus, and Sirius however, remained on their feet looking between Snape and Dumbledore with varying degrees of severe contempt.

Hermione held Harry to her chest, maneuvering back into her chair and reaching up to place a hand on Remus' arm. His skin was hot to the touch, scorching beneath her fingers as it always was the day before the Full Moon. She knew his emotions were running high, that every instinct inside of him must be telling him to attack, but she also knew that Dumbledore was right. And while Snape had wronged every single person in this room at some point, herself included, he would be contributory to the downfall of Lord Voldemort himself. Nevertheless, the anger buzzed from Remus' skin like static electricity and a low growl set in his chest as he tensed beneath her touch.

Stupidly, Snape smirked, his eyes landing on the contact between Hermione and Remus. "Guard dog has finally been given a leash?" He hissed, his voice full of venom.

Remus shifted, blocking Hermione from view. "Don't fucking worry about her."

"Keep your slimy mouth shut, Snivellus." Sirius spat, forcing Snape's line of sight to him.

"Black," Snape said, purposefully straightening his back. "See you haven't changed at all. Still running your mouth and sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."

"Ha! Like you're one to talk with that greasy beak of yours! I may run my mouth but at least I didn't brand myself for a Dark Lord. You don't belong here, go run along and play with your potion's set."

Finally, Lily shoved her way up from the chair she was in, fighting past James to stare at Snape. "You shouldn't be here," she said, her voice colder than Hermione could ever imagine it being. "You don't deserve to be here."

The stony look on Snape's face broke, if only for a moment, and Hermione could see despair flash across his features before he quickly schooled himself and readjusted his footing, looking down to straighten his sleeves. "We'll see about that," he mumbled.

Lily scowled and stormed out of the room, her shoulder smacked hard into Snape as he stepped in front of her, an effort to keep her from leaving. The front door slammed shut and everyone seemed to flinch at the sound, even Harry let out a soft whimper, his head moving about on Hermione's chest. She rubbed slow circles into his back and kept her eyes on the three men who were still on guard, clearly not willing to concede as easily as the rest of the Order.

Hermione sighed, getting to her feet. "I'm going to go check on Lily."

"I'll go-

"No, James. I don't think you should," Hermione said. She shifted Harry away from her, handing him back over to his father. "Just don't do anything stupid okay?"

James looked down at Harry, pressing a kiss into his mess of hair, "Yeah."

"Dumbledore trusts him," Hermione reminded James, Remus, and Sirius. "If Dumbledore trusts him, there's a good reason for it. Try to keep that in mind, okay?"

It was Remus who seemed to catch on to what she was trying to say, "You knew…?"

"I'm going to check on Lily," she repeated.

When she stepped out onto the porch, she was met with the freezing January air and the sound of Lily's sniffles as she sat on the step. Hermione sat next to her, wrapping her arms around her and propping her chin on Lily's shoulder.

"He was my best friend," Lily said. "Since we were kids, even before Hogwarts. I would have done anything for him. And then he went and… He became one of them."

The level of betrayal and pain in Lily's voice was palpable and Hermione responded by squeezing her a little tighter. She knew how hard it was to see past that feeling of betrayal, to have someone you know and love turn their back on you. A few miserable months in the tent with Harry after Ron had left came to mind and Hermione quickly stamped it down. She had felt betrayed that day, those months, but Ron had come back to them.

"Perhaps he just needed a good reason to come back?" Hermione whispered.

"I don't care what his reason is!" Lily said, although some of the anger had dissipated from her voice. "There are some things you just can't make up for! Becoming a Death Eater is one of those things!"

Hermione heard the door click behind them and when she twisted around, she was shocked to see Severus Snape standing on the other side of the door, his mouth pressed into a thin line and his eyes bright with something Hermione couldn't quite read.

"Lily…"

Lily and Hermione both stood, turning to face him. Lily folded her arms over her chest, her jaw set tight, "What do you want, Severus?"

"Please, I just want to talk."

"I don't want to talk to you," she spat.

"Please, I just… I have some things I need to tell you. If you'll just let me have a minute alone-

"Anything you want to say, you can say in front of Hermione."

Hermione shifted her weight from foot to foot, feeling uncomfortable as she stared at the younger version of her potion's professor. A man that had gone out of her way to make her feel small and insignificant during her school years, but had held such responsibility on his shoulders. She would never find it in her heart to forgive him for the way she and her peers were treated, but she could try to show him a little compassion now. And maybe, that would trickle over later.

Snape eyed Hermione curiously for a long moment, his inky dark eyes scanning her before he sighed in defeat. "Don't you see, Lily? You're in danger! Your… your family is in danger! I only want to help!"

"I am perfectly aware of the dangers I am in, no thanks to you and your beliefs. And you will never utter a word about my family again, do you understand me? You stay the hell away from all of us! I don't even want you to so much as look in my son's direction, is that clear?"

"Lily, please I—

"I said is that clear?"

Hermione was shocked to hear the fierceness in Lily's tone. The cold disregard for Snape's feelings toward what she was saying was certainly not like her. Hermione's eyes moved between Lily and Severus, Lily opening her stance a bit more, her chin raising as if daring Snape to defy her. Finally, Snape's head bobbed a few times, his eyes dropping down to his shoes and his mouth twisted off to the side.

"Yeah," he said. "I understand."

"Good."

With that, Lily stepped around Snape and moved back into the house, where Hermione could hear the voices raised, Sirius' coming through the loudest, though that was hardly a shock. Hermione stepped forward and put her hand lightly on Snape's forearm, gaining her a slightly disgusted albeit curious look from him.

"I'll talk to her, if you'd like."

He yanked his arm away from her, as if her very touch burned his skin. "I don't need your help."

Hermione shrugged, moving past him and twisting the handle to push the door open. "Suit yourself."


"Who the fuck does Dumbledore think he's kidding?! Why the hell would we welcome snivellus with open arms? It doesn't even make sense!" Sirius complained from James' kitchen as he poured mugs of tea for everyone.

"Stop shouting about it, you're going to wake the baby and then Lily is going to be upset again!" James tutted, "It's Dumbledore. He's always got a reason, we just need to trust that he knows what he's doing."

Sirius scoffed, "I fail to see how I'm supposed to just work alongside a bloody Death Eater! Maybe I should just owl dear old mum and see if she'd like to just take me back in! May as well if we're going to be consorting with them!"

Hermione listened as Sirius continued to debate Dumbledore's reasoning with James. She stared down at Remus, whose head was in her lap, eyes shut tight as he attempted to rid his headache. She pulled her fingers through his hair and hummed softly, lost in her own thoughts. Had she known that Snape was present for Order meetings this time around? Would everyone assume the worst of him? He did help write those terrible potions and curses and…

He helped write the potions.

Her hands stilled in Remus' hair as she lost focus on the conversation between James and Sirius. Her brows pulled together as her mind tried to work through it…

If Snape had written the potions, he would know the countercurses. This was the entire reason she had come to this time, to find an antidote or a cure or anything to get her out of this alive and in her own frame of mind. And while she had begun to deconstruct the curses in an attempt to (at the very least) figure out something that could slow them down or heal someone who had been hit with one of the less lethal ones, having Snape here would be beneficial.

She needed to meet with Snape. She needed to get him alone and go over the curses. Perhaps, if she explained that she was cursed and on a timeline, he would work with her to come up with something that would help. After all, she and Draco were skilled with potions, but Snape was a Potion's Master.

"You've thought of something." Remus said, his eyes cracking open to look up at her.

Hermione looked back down at him, a small smile on her face, and she nodded. She shoved his hair back from his forehead, her smile fading as the heat of his skin hit her palm. "You're burning up."

He shrugged, "Full moon less than twenty four hours. You know how it goes. What have you figured out?"

"Nothing, yet."

Remus cocked an eyebrow up and narrowed his gaze, "But..?"

She leaned forward, kissing the tip of his nose, "I might know a way that Severus Snape can be useful to the Order."

When Remus and Hermione made it back to their cottage and Remus had turned in for the night, Hermione sat at the table and wrote two letters. The first was to Andromeda, to request another meeting to work on the barriers in her mind. It had been a while since she had needed the help, the memories seemed to leak from the depths of her mind freely, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that there was something missing. Some important piece of the puzzle that she couldn't quite place that remained just out of her grasp.

The second letter was to Dumbledore. She asked for a meeting, to set up a small conference between herself and Severus Snape, so that they may come to an agreement and work together on the contents of Dolohov's journal to deconstruct the curses and come up with real antidotes. Something they could use before they lost anymore Order members or before she had to return to her own time. Or perhaps… A way to break an Unbreakable Vow.

Hermione knew it was risky to meet with Snape and work with him on antidotes and counter curses, but hadn't that been the plan all along? To find Snape. That's what Draco had told her to do, but it was her idea to build a relationship within the Order, her ideas that pushed her to believe that Remus, Sirius, James, and Lily may have information that didn't get passed on. She had been wrong, of course, but maybe Draco wouldn't be. Maybe Snape was her best option…

She rolled the parchment up and sealed it, deciding that in the morning she would borrow James' owl to send them off. Standing up from the table, she stretched her arms over her head and gave her back a twist, wincing as her spine cracked loudly. As she turned to push the chair in, she nearly screamed, jumping a foot from the ground and grabbing her chest as a large, brown rat scuttled across the floor. She quickly jumped over to the back door, opening it up and shooed the rodent from the house. As she watched it scurry away and into the muddy grass, the overwhelming feeling of Deja Vu consumed her again, and she realized that she was definitely missing something.

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a/n: Happy Thursday! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know in the comments?

See you on Thursday!

xo