Moony had finally quieted in Remus' mind. He could sleep, and recover from his transformation. Glancing around the room before he drifted off, Remus saw a pile of large bones. That would be the half a cow Hermione managed to get and place down here for Moony's meal. He didn't think anymore as sleep had finally claimed him.
Sirius woke with a start just as Hermione was unlocking the door and removing the wards from the basement door frame. He watched as the door slid open and Hermione slowly made her way down the stairs.
She first checked on Remus, who was curled up on the bed Hermione had insisted she repair when Remus brought her down a few days earlier, his nude body shivering from the slight chill in the basement. She smiled softly as she covered his modesty and repaired the clothes that had torn during the transformation, folding them neatly and setting them on the table beside the bed. She then turned to James, being the closest to Remus. With a few waves of her wand, his clothes were also repaired, as well as healed the cuts and scratches he had from keeping an irate Padfoot in the basement after Hermione's patronus told them what was happening upstairs.
Finally, she turned to Sirius, again repairing his clothing, healing wounds and making sure he was covered. Then, not realizing he was awake, she brushed his hair off his face and whispered, "It will be different this time, Siri. I'm going to save you all or die trying. It'll all be different," she sighed, and made her way back upstairs, to check on Moody.
Hermoine made a stop in the kitchen to prepare Moody a light breakfast and tea before heading upstairs to check his wound and make sure he ate something, so the pain potions she was going to give him wouldn't make him lightheaded.
"Good morning, Auror Moody," she said, smiling softly, as she opened the door. "I've brought you breakfast and tea, unfortunately, I have to check your wounds before I can give you any pain potions."
"'S ok, lass," the auror said hoarsely. "Charlus tol' me a lass saved me life. Thank you."
"Not necessary, sir," Hermione said, changing the bandages on his leg. "It meant a lot to me to save you, even if I couldn't save your leg. Besides, Dorea helped me a lot."
"You're the one Albus tol' me about then?" Moody said, wincing as she rewrapped his leg. "The one tha's goin' to change what happened in her timeline?"
"I am," she replied sighing. "I think I've already begun, and I didn't even realize it. Eat, and I'll tell you."
Moody picked up the plate from the bedside table and ate slowly, waiting for Hermione to start talking. She spoke about all the people that were protecting the Keep the night before, people that Remus had never mentioned to her before, about Peter's betrayal coming four years earlier than before, about Bellatrix and the Lestrange brothers being arrested, everything.
"Am I doing the right thing," she finally asked. "I mean, is it right to change what's happened, Auror Moody?"
"Firs' of all, call me Alastor, or Al, all my friends do, and you, lass, are definitely a friend now," he began, taking a sip of tea. "The way I see it, Pettigrew betrayed you, he's in Azkaban, unable to harm anyone else. Ye saved lives last night, lass. As for me leg? I was probably gon' lose it sooner or later, rather lose it when someone who can fix me up is close by."
Hermione chuckled. "Once you've healed enough, I'll create a prosthetic for you, so you can still work. By the way, the Alastor Moody I knew had two wooden legs."
She left after giving the auror the stronger pain potion with orders to rest, and ventured downstairs, where she heard raised voices.
"The rat betrayed Hermione!" James was saying loudly to his parents. "If you hadn't showed up with the Order, we could have all DIED!"
"Magic, as well as the Wizengamot, will punish him Jamie," Hermione said softly. "Remember the oath? I underexaggerated what would happen."
"Did you just call me Jamie?" James asked, wide eyed.
"I did, I nickname everyone I care about," Hermione said, smiling at him. "You protected my cousin and took care of him during one of the worst things that could have possibly happened during his transformation. For that, you're my family, Jamie."
"You called me Siri this morning," Sirius said softly.
Hermione nodded and smiled sadly at him. "I did, I'll explain everything I said later, just the Marauders and me, okay?"
"You're a Marauder, Mione," Remus said huskily from the doorway. "Remember my first letter to you?"
Hermione nodded, giving Remus her seat. "Anyway, the oath. Remus and I talked before you lot came over the other day. We worded the oath so that it didn't seem like an unbreakable vow, but it was a form of one, one not seldom used anymore."
Dorea gasped. "Don't tell me you used the Luramentum de Consectariis Tortuosis?"
"What's that?" James asked as Hermione nodded to Dorea.
"The Oath of Tortuous Consequence." Remus replied. "Hermione was adamant a betrayal would come from Peter, she just didn't know when or who. It acts as a delayed Unbreakable Vow. Peter will slowly be driven to madness by Fate until he's ultimately a shell of who he was. I didn't want to go through with it, but Hermione saw something that made her insist, and she finally convinced me."
"What convinced you?" Sirius asked, reeling.
"After Hermione told you all everything she knew about you that she possibly couldn't, she looked us all in the eye, right?" Remus began and James and Sirius nodded. "She was brushing your shields, testing you. Peter's were stronger than yours and James' combined. We spoke through Occlumency and she convinced me that Peter wasn't to be trusted, no matter what. It took a lot of convincing the wolf that his pack mate could handle the traitor, but he believed me in the end too."
"Moony sees me as pack?" Hermione asked, amazed.
"Moony loves you, he knows you're not mate though," Remus said, smiling. "He sees you as Beta of his pack, you prepared his meal, you protected his mother and the rest of his pack. You healed his ally, Moody. You're just as important, if not more important to Moony than Padfoot and Prongs."
"I'd resent that if I wasn't so," Sirius began, a huge yawn interrupting his sentence.
"That's it, the four of you, up to bed," Dorea ordered. "Yes, you too, Hermione. I will check on Alastor in a few hours, you all need to recover from last night, as I'm sure all of us will be doing as well. Hope, do you have the room for all of us?"
"I do, you know where James usually sleeps? Remus transformed his bed to be big enough for the four of them," Hope said, smiling tiredly. "You can take James' room, Alastor is in what was Peter's room, Kingsley, you can take Sirius' room at the end of the hall."
"Why did Remus enlarge his bed?" Charlus asked. "Don't they all have rooms?"
"They do," Hope replied. "The first night they all met, they fell asleep talking. I checked on them when they got suspiciously quiet. When I checked on them, Remus was on Hermione's left and James on her right, Sirius was at the foot of the bed, Hermione's legs tangled with his. They formed a protective bubble around her, even sleeping."
"Peter was here that night," Dorea said, thinking. "They all Flooed from our home."
"Peter was sleeping in the desk chair," James said, around his yawn. "I thought we didn't want to move him because he wouldn't go back to sleep. Remus and Sirius were keeping him away from Hermione. Sorry, I just came down to get Hermione's bag, she can't sleep without it being in arm's reach, she said it's because of what she went through before."
Smiling at her son, she handed him the bag. "Get some rest, James, all of you."
The adults talked for another hour before they too retired upstairs. Hope and Dorea peeked into Remus' room, and what Hope had described earlier was seen again, James on one side of Hermione, Remus on the other and Sirus' head on Remus' hip, his legs draped over toward James' side, with his legs touching Hermione's.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say Hermione and Sirius are closer than she is to James," Dorea said, whispering.
"I overheard Hermione and Remus talking," Hope said, closing the door. "The Sirius of her previous timeline told her of a woman that came from out of nowhere, turned their lives upside down, and disappeared when Sirius was in Azkaban. That Sirius was in love with her. This Sirius, though? I can't be sure yet, but maybe he'll fall for this Hermione too. Only time will tell, Dorie."
Dorea smiled at Hope, wishing her goodnight, and followed Charlus down the hall to take a nap, in the room beside Alastor's, after casting an alarm charm on Alastor to wake her if he needed anything.
Hermione and Sirius woke first, well, Hermione did, her foot accidentally connecting with his kidney woke Sirius.
"Shit, Siri, I'm sorry!" she whispered, so as to not wake her cousin and friend still sleeping. "I need the restroom, but afterwards, we can talk in the library."
Sirius nodded and followed Hermione downstairs when she was done in the restroom.
"About Reg," he said, voice shaking.
"He betrays Voldemort," she blurted out. "He steals a Horcrux and tries to destroy it. It'll happen any day now."
"What?" Sirius asked, breathless. "Are you sure?"
"I am," she said nodding fervently. "Voldemort hid the Horcrux in a cave, Regulus steals it."
Sirius pulled Hermione into a tight hug. "I'm going to write him."
"Be careful how you word it!" she warned.
"Walburga's been intercepting my letters for years," he told her. "We came up with a way to hide the real message, only Reg can read it."
"Wait, Siri," Hermione said, reaching for his arm. "Regulus has been brewing Remus' Wolfsbane for extra credit, he can't access all the ingredients during the summer. I have them all, invite Regulus here, under the guise of helping me."
He ran back to Remus' room to grab his parchment and was still scribbling on the parchment furiously when Hermione came downstairs twenty minutes later, after taking a shower.
James ventured into the dining room fifteen minutes after Hermione, his glasses askew, and his hair an even bigger mess than she'd had ever seen Harry's.
"Jamie, did you even bother looking in a mirror before you came down here?" she asked, laughing.
"Nope, I'm hungry," he said, plopping down in a chair. "Besides, I just slept better than I have in a long time, I can look disheveled if I want to."
Hermione conjured a mirror and levitated it over to James. "Really? What would Lily say if she saw you like that?"
James shrugged and dug into his lunch that Hope set in front of him. "It doesn't really matter that much to me anymore."
Sirius' head snapped up at that. "Wait," he said, eyeballing James. "You're telling me you don't care what Evans thinks about you?"
"Yeah, why?" James asked. "I think what happened yesterday is more important than trying to win Evans over, don't you?"
Sirius and Hermione shared a look and returned to their food.
Once they were done, Hermione started making another plate.
"If that's for Moony, I'd put it under stasis," James said, placing his plate in the sink. "Moony has to check that everyone is ok after he transforms back, but after that, he'll sleep for a day or two."
"Thank you, Jamie," Hermione whispered, charming the plate to stay fresh. "I've never been with him when he recovers."
"You've seen him transform though?" James asked, softly.
"I have, third year," she began. "Remember when I told you Harry and I used a Time Turner to save Sirius? Moony got out of the shack. There were two Hermione's at the time, and I howled to distract him from the other Hermione and Harry. It worked."
"Bloody Hell," James murmured, hugging Hermione before heading up to take a shower.
The three teens decided to entertain themselves while they waited for Remus to wake.
"Jamie?" Hermione suddenly said. "I know we planned on going to Potter Manor next week, but as soon as Remus can travel, I'd like to go."
James nodded, standing from the couch he was stretched out on, and set his book aside. "I'll go talk to Mum and Dad, they don't want to leave here unless it's with all of us, Hope included."
She smiled as he left the room, her attention turning to Sirius. "Siri?"
He raised his eyes from the letter he was reading. "Yeah, Mione?"
"Everything okay?" she asked, standing and stretching. "You've been reading that letter for half an hour."
"It's great actually," he replied, handing her the letter. "You decode it the same way as the map."
Raising her eyebrows, Hermione used her wand to tap the letter and speak, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
The words transformed, her eyebrows shooting even further into her hairline.
Sirius,
I'm so glad to hear you're safe, even at home, all Walburga can talk about is how proud she is of Pettigrew, how he finally got some friends worth having. She's irate that cousin Bellatrix, her fiancé, his brother, and cousin Narcissa's betrothed were also detained. I, of course, was giddy with happiness, but didn't dare show it.
Walburga has also mentioned the mysterious Hermione to me, how she heard about her, I have no clue, but she's piqued Mother's interest. Speaking of Hermione, you mentioned that she has all the ingredients to produce Wolfsbane, and I would be honored to help her brew it for Remus, given the ingredients are of the highest quality required by that specific potion.
Mother has been inquiring about getting the traitor and his cohorts freed pending their trial, with no luck. Remus being the last of the Lupins, and the fact the Potter and Black heirs (and Mr. and Mrs. Potter) were present, it seems they are to remain in Azkaban until their trial.
You mentioned that Remus and Hermione used Luramentum de Consectariis Tortuosis on Peter, given the severity of the events that followed him breaking the oath, Pettigrew may be a drooling mess before he ever faces trial, Fate is cruel that way, however deserved it may be.
I've managed to convince Mother that I will be joining the Notts for the rest of summer break, I will Floo to their home tonight (they are holidaying in Crete, and only told me for fear of Voldy commandeering their home for his new headquarters, and I'm keyed to their wards), and will immediately Floo to Lupin Keep upon my arrival. In the case my presence is detected, I will simply tell the Notts that I left a book in their possession and simply wished to retrieve it. They will believe me.
I will see you by seven o'clock tonight, dear brother.
Your little brother,
Regulus.
"This Regulus is very different than from what I remember," Hermione said, looking up at Sirius. "In my old timeline, you and he never made amends, and you went through the Veil before we learned that he was on our side all along."
"Reg and I were always close," Sirius murmured. "Reggie's a better actor though, so he stayed with the hag that birthed us when she became a purist zealot."
"Wait, Sirius, I remembered something Harry and I stumbled upon while cleaning out Grimmauld after you were gone," she suddenly said. "I put it in my bag! Accio bag!" She dug through her bag for quite a while, seemingly emptying an entire library onto the table. "Here it is! 'Though unproven, the births surrounding your children have been called into question. There are no records of a Walburga Black ever being pregnant, much less given birth in nineteen fifty-nine or nineteen sixty-one. You are to produce proper documentation to the ministry no later than Monday, August first, nineteen seventy-seven, or the children will be removed from your care and placed with whom so ever the paternity and maternity tests show is the children's true family.'"
"We'll need to talk to Reg when he gets here," Sirius said, full of wonder. "You're telling me Walburga may not be my mother?"
"We could never prove it though, Siri," she said, calmly. "We had no access to your body, since you went through the Veil, and Regulus was either turned into an Inferus in the cave or eaten by them."
"When Reggie comes, I'll have Ma P run the test," Sirius said confidently. "She was a healer before Prongs was born, she worked in the labor, delivery, and infant ward. She knows the spell, I'm sure of it.
Hours passed, and Regulus finally arrived, with Sirius, James, Hermione, Dorea, and Charlus waiting for him.
"Why do I feel as though you lot are about to change everything I've ever known?" he asked, placing his bag on the floor before his big brother tackled him in a hug.