Beta love to CarbConnoisseur.
Hermione flooed into Minerva's office, one hand anchoring the dragonet on her neck, attempting not to feel overwhelmed with the task in front of her.
"Hermione!" Minerva smiled as she looked up from her paperwork, focusing on her niece. She hadn't seen her since Christmas, and if she was honest, she had missed her. Privately vowing to make time going forward, she continued. "You look well. Although your necklace looks strangely alive. Where did you get it? The detail is exquisite."
Stifling a laugh at the look of fascination on her aunt's face, Hermione manoeuvred Nuri off her neck, allowing the dragonet to curl up in her palm, enjoying the way Minerva's jaw dropped. "Technically she's from Saul," Hermione admitted.
"It's real?" Minerva's voice rose several octaves.
"Very much real," Hermione agreed. "Her name's Nuri."
"Of course it is," Minerva replied faintly. "Do I want to ask how you came to be in possession of the smallest dragon I have ever seen?"
"Oh. I was in the right place at the right time?" Hermione shrugged. "She decided to keep me and here we are."
Minerva closed her eyes for several minutes before letting out a slow breath. "Right. Of course, that makes perfect sense."
Hermione snorted at her tone. "Can't we just blame Unspeakable experiments and leave it there?"
"Probably best dear," Minerva murmured, reaching a hand out to stroke the dragon. "Do not let Hagrid see her or he'll have her stashed in his beard or some such nonsense to ensure he gets to keep her."
Hermione grinned. "Oh, I know. It's fine. She sings, so I'd find her eventually."
"She sings," Minerva snorted before she began laughing. "Of course she does. Is this what you meant by your life never quite being normal?"
Hermione shrugged, relocating Nuri back to her neck. "I mean, I think I'd take a tiny dragon over murder attempts any day of the week. But maybe a bit. On the plus side, Charlie Weasley now thinks I'm the coolest person alive." Hermione grinned. "It's quite nice given how much I idolised him as a teen. He was bloody awesome. All fearless and muscly and yet unbelievably compassionate towards all magical creatures. Like a giant teddy bear… with teeth."
Minerva blinked before she laughed again. "A giant teddy bear with teeth," she repeated dryly. "Of course."
"It made sense in my head," she muttered.
Not bothering to hide her amusement, Minerva waved her into a seat. "I have a schedule here for the next several weeks. I've made it two days as you asked, and if you're open to it, duelling practice can be mixed and if needed can include another evening or two."
Hermione nodded, taking the parchment. "So Sirius, James, Remus, and Lily today? And then Amelia Bones, the Longbottoms, and Snape tomorrow. How exactly is that fitting in?"
Minerva eyed the parchment. "Miss Evans is willing to give you the hour before breakfast, hence my request that you be here so early. Mr. Black and Mr. Potter mentioned sharing a period. And Mr. Lupin has a free period before lunch. If you are willing, they've consented to duelling following the last class before dinner. Of course, you are welcome to remain for dinner and continue afterwards. Tomorrow, Miss Bones before breakfast, Mr. Snape directly before lunch, and the Longbottoms, as you so delightfully call them, the period after lunch and then before dinner, with duelling following the same schedule as today."
Hermione hummed. "All of them at once?"
"If you want," Minerva agreed, "although perhaps you might be better to consider splitting them. Mr. Snape is going to be a problem."
"Severus is going to be the problem or him being there is going to be the problem?" Hermione queried pointedly.
"In all honesty, probably both," Minerva sighed. "It wouldn't be a group I would personally put together."
Hermione hummed. "Their options are behave or leave."
"Do you think that will work?" Minerve asked, looking at her intently.
"It's going to have to. I won't put up with bullying from anyone."
"Very well," Minerva sighed, clearly weighing up whether to say what was niggling her. "You disapprove of our approach," she said finally.
"Unquestionably," Hermione agreed bluntly.
"Do I want to ask?" Minerva retorted, sounding resigned.
Hermione kept her mouth shut for several minutes. "I… Slytherin automatically equals Death Eater," she said finally. "Obviously there are many from that House, but I have to wonder if they had somewhere to go, if they had somewhere safe, whether some would not follow in their families' footsteps. As it stands though, they know that they won't be listened to. Along those lines, bullying, especially from Gryffindor, appears to be accepted. Conversely, blood purity issues also appear to be ignored. Students aren't safe. Remus once told me what happened to Mary MacDonald. And, more tellingly, what didn't happen to the group that attacked her. By the same token, Snape is often targeted four to one and it's written off. Sirius tried to murder him using Remus for god's sake! And while I don't believe for a moment he thought that through and actually wanted to kill him, there was no thought to how fucking traumatised Snape was by it, nor was Sirius punished anywhere even close to the level he should have been. On top of that, Snape has been so unsupervised that he's had the time and opportunity to create a spell that only he knows the counter curse to. It can kill you. In my time it was no better. It's… none of it is ok. As much as I understand sorting students, there's no attempt to break down the barriers it automatically creates. Lily and Snape being friends should not have been so damn difficult. House prejudice is a real issue and the professors feed it. It's just… sad. Who we are at eleven is not who we are for the rest of our lives, and most of us have traits of all of the houses."
Minerva blew out a long, slow breath. "How long have you been bottling that up?" she asked curiously.
"Honestly? Years. Probably since around the time Professor Dumbeldore allowed the Great Hall to be decorated in Slytherin colours and then awarded Gryffindor just enough points to ensure we won seconds before he awarded the House Cup."
Sweet Circe," Minerva muttered. "That sounds…"
"Exceptionally cruel?" Hermione offered.
"Yes," Minerva sighed. "It does seem spectacularly cruel. Perhaps it's time for some changes."
"Like standardising house points? And implementing and following through on a bullying policy?" Hermione pushed.
"Like that," Minerva agreed, looking both irritated and amused.
Hermione hummed. "Good luck getting that around Dumbledore," she muttered. "Where am I meant to be meeting Lily?"
Minerva arched a brow pointedly. "You think I'm not a match for the Headmaster?"
Feeling the smile tug at her lips entirely against her will, Hermione shook her head. "Perhaps not if you put your mind to it."
"Quite," Minerva replied briskly. "Miss Evans is waiting in the fourth classroom on the second floor. It's two down from the Defence classroom."
Hermione nodded. "Let's hope she has coffee," she muttered as she saw herself out of her aunt's office, privately wondering if she should have kept her mouth shut.
"Miss Moody!" Lily smiled up at her despite how tired she looked. Textbooks and sheets of parchment covered most of the available desks, grouped by a system that seemed to make sense to Lily, but which Hermione couldn't make head nor tail of at first glance.
"Hermione, please," she smiled in return. "Thank you for meeting me, Miss Evans. I can't imagine this is what you want to be doing this bloody early."
Lily snorted but shrugged. "Lily," she corrected. "And would before lunch or dinner have been much less traumatic than this morning? Probably. But it's good revision and from the way Potter and Black came back from Christmas muttering about duels with the Director of the DMLE, I gather you've been practising. Given the… conflict, I want to learn as much as I can."
Hermione hummed. "Seems sensible," she replied lightly.
"So, were you really duelling the Director the DMLE?" she checked, easing back in her seat to watch Hermione. It reminded her uncomfortably of Harry when he was determined to work something out.
"Ugh. Yes," Hermione huffed. "Although probably not exactly the way they're telling it." Lily snorted when she caught Hermione's muttered "Ridiculous boys!"
"So what did happen?" she probed.
"My father thought I could do with a way to work off my embarrassment after my grandmother strolled into the duelling room and started talking to the Prewett twins."
Lily paused, tilting her head. "That made no sense, you know."
Laughing, Hermione sat down in the seat beside her. "I know. I was there."
"That's not…" Lily started before she sighed. "You're not going to elaborate are you?"
"And give away all my secrets?" Hermione quipped.
"Very well. We'll start here. Tell me what you know about the 1482 Goblin rebellion?" Lily huffed, rolling her eyes before shoving a sheaf of notes into Hermione's hands.
"Ulric the evil?" Hermione grumbled, continuing sarcastically. "My favourite."
Biting back a laugh, Lily gestured grandly. "From the beginning if you please," she commanded, ignoring Hermione's huff before she began talking.
"I don't think you're going to need too much help," Lily confessed, chewing on her bottom lip when Hermione finally took a breath.
"Oh?" Hermione's head shot up from the notes she was reading.
"You know this. Don't pretend," Lily accused.
"Some of it," Hermione agreed. "Most of it, probably. I wasn't sure though. I have no idea what the curriculum looks like here."
"Fair point," Lily conceded before she hesitated.
Hermione raised both brows, watching her pointedly. "Yes?"
"Ugh. I… I know that duelling was dependent on tutoring…"
"You think I'd refuse if it was decided I didn't need the subject?" Hermione sighed, suddenly understanding her unease.
"Well, there's no reason…"
"Other than the war, a sense of responsibility and the urge to see as few dead as possible?" Hermione cut in dryly. Lily flinched.
"Right well… I didn't want to assume."
Hermione sighed. It was too damn early for this. "Look. I promised duelling, and I won't go back on that, regardless of whether it's decided I no longer need tutoring in specific subjects. In all honesty, not being up at five to come here sounds delightful." Lily laughed, some of the tension leaving her as her shoulders dropped. "However," Hermione continued, "I don't actually know anyone here."
"Except the Prewett twins," Lily cut in impishly.
"Yes well, the less said about them the better," Hermione muttered.
"Oh, I don't know. I remember them being… rather pleasant to look at."
Hermione's jaw dropped before she laughed. "Oh my dear god," she gasped as it hit her that this was her best friend's mother. "That's… that's… no! Oh, absolutely not."
"You don't think they're attractive?" Lily checked with exaggerated innocence, noting the flush on the other girl's cheeks.
"Perhaps if they were silenced," Hermione conceded before a slow smirk travelled across her face. "In fact, I might just do that next time I see them."
"See them often then?" Lily probed, sounding intrigued.
"Ugh. Yes… No. It's," Hermione stumbled over the words. "Fabian is due to bring his nephew Charlie to see me at some point this week."
"Ok," Lily replied slowly, clearly not understanding where she was going with this.
"Oh. Charlie is dragon mad," Hermione shrugged, untangling Nuri from around her neck.
"That's a real dragon!" Lily's voice rose several octaves as Nuri opened an eye sleepily, giving a reptilian yawn before standing on the palm of Hermione's hand. "Oh, my god."
"Her name's Nuri," Hermione stroked down the dragon's spine, smiling as she arched up into her like a cat. "Actually, it's probably time for breakfast, isn't it sweetheart," she cooed, rubbing the side of the dragon's face with her fingers. Nuri let out a few happy little notes.
"Oh!" Lily breathed, as the sound filled the classroom. "May I?" She reached out a tentative hand, stroking the dragonet gently. "How on earth do you have a dragon?"
"Unspeakable experiment," Hermione shrugged, reaching for Lily's hand so she could drop the dragon into it.
"Oh, she is adorable!"
"Isn't she?" Hermione grinned, watching as the creature extended her wings to stabilise herself on Lily's hand before attempting to balance up her forearm.
"Were you making an actual point before?" Lily asked as she reluctantly handed Nuri back, gathering up her things.
"Before?" Hermione frowned. "Oh! Yes. I was going to point out that I don't really know anyone here and that even if I don't need continuous tutoring, it might be quite nice to actually talk to some people who aren't family or miles older than me."
"You have no one?" Lily checked, sounding horrified.
Hermione sighed. "I appear to have acquired Pandora Carrow, which is… both rather sweet and utterly baffling."
"I don't know her," Lily confessed.
"No, there's a few years difference," Hermione replied. "She was a Ravenclaw, but she left here two years ago? Three? I'm not sure. I'm meeting Marlene McKinnon this week, but I've only met her in passing. I was winding Fabian up and ended up dancing with her at a ball at New Year."
Lily snorted. "Of course you did."
"He needed to be taken down a peg or two," Hermione muttered. "Thinking women can't comment on what they find attractive."
"What?" Lily asked, baffled.
"Oh, he was commenting on the attractiveness of guests ah… attributes. I merely paid him back in kind. And truly, Marlene Mckinnon has amazing boobs."
Lily stopped walking to stare at her before she began to laugh. "Good God, you are not what I was expecting. Marlene was a Gryffindor, you know?"
"I didn't," Hermione shook her head.
Lily hummed. "She graduated last year. Now that you mention it, she does have amazing boobs."
Laughing, Hermione followed her along the corridor. "Yes, well, other than those two, there's Caradoc Dearborn, and then my cousin Alex and his girlfriend, but technically they come under the heading of family. And if I don't leave the house occasionally, Uncle Charlus is going to have me drowning in legislation or my father will have me half dead in a duel."
"What about your friends from… before you came here?" Lily asked gently.
Hermione closed her eyes briefly. "They… none of them survived the attack."
Oh! Oh Hermione," Lily gasped. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean…."
Hermione shook her head abruptly. "I know," she cut her off. "And maybe one day I'll tell you about them but… but not today. Come on. I need breakfast. And coffee. Lots of coffee."
Watching her warily, Lily nodded, silently hooking her arm through Hermione's as they walked to the Great Hall.
"You'll come and eat with us?" Lily checked as Hermione seemed to pull back at the doors.
"Oh. I… Yes?"
"It's not a trick question," Lily laughed. "Come on. I'll introduce you to some people."
"Miss Moody!" Sirius crowed, making every eye in the room turn to her.
"Mr. Black," she replied. He shivered exaggeratedly.
"You have the same tone as Minnie when you do that," he grinned up at her wolfishly after a pause. "I love it."
"Thank you Remus," Hermione smiled when Remus cuffed him on the back of the head without looking up from his breakfast.
Sirius pouted. "You'll give in to my charms one day, Miss Moody."
"I absolutely will not," Hermione retorted, making Lily laugh. A dark-skinned girl who had been watching them from across the table stood, walking around it, holding out her hand.
"Dorcas Meadowes," she greeted with a grin. "Come and sit with us. Anyone who can put Black down like that is someone I need to get to know. Immediately. I saw you when you visited Scrimgeour's class, of course, but that wasn't exactly conducive to conversation and you appeared to disappear after the last one."
Before Hermione knew what was happening the girl had pulled her around the table and into the seat next to her. Across the table, Lily was smiling. Next to her Alice Fawley smiled sympathetically. "She has that effect on people. You get used to it."
Hermione knew she looked startled. Further down the table it was clear that both Remus and James were laughing at her.
"Do you?" she asked, sounding bewildered to her own ears.
"We'll be best friends before you know it," Dorcas grinned, patting her shoulder.
Hermione looked at her incredulously before she began to laugh. This was so patently absurd. Her nerves were fried from spending the morning with her best friend's bloody mother and now, now she was here, surrounded by living ghosts.
"I think you might have broken her, Cassie," Lily whispered.
"Nah, she's fine," Dorcas dismissed with a lazy wave of her hand. "It was probably just the early morning." She turned to Hermione as her laughing started to calm. "Now then new best friend, how exactly does one go about getting invited to these exclusive duelling lessons?"
"Cassie!" Lily hissed, sounding mortified.
"What? I won't hold it against her if she says there's no way in, but it was worth asking."
Lily groaned, her head thunking onto Alice's shoulder.
"How are you at running?" Hermione queried.
"Running?" Dorcas repeated with a frown. "Why would I need to run?"
"It builds stamina, which in turn helps your casting, as well as your ability to duel for longer."
The girls froze, clearly considering that. "You make an interesting point," Dorcas conceded. "However, I've never ran anywhere in my life."
Hermione hummed, nodding. "My father insists I run daily. I could do with a partner because quite frankly, I despise it and anything that makes it even remotely less horrific can only be a good thing. And as we appear to have a barter system going with the duelling lessons…."
"Ah," Dorcas nodded. "And that would work with me being here, how? I assume you're not staying."
"Nope. However, I do have floo access via Aunt Min so three times a week? You can pick your days but it'll be morning. So actually, unless we're running at five or I manage to drop arithmancy tutoring, it can't be Tuesday and I don't fancy weekends."
Dorcas groaned. "Fuck, that doesn't sound fun," she whined. "It definitely helps?"
"So I'm told," she shrugged.
"Ugh fine," Dorcas muttered. "At least you didn't suggest weekends."
"Wonderful. We're meeting after dinner."
"All of us?" Lily checked, sounding surprised.
"I don't know how else to work it," Hermione admitted. "I thought I'd see if Aunt Min or Scrimgeour would come and help the first time until we see where the weaknesses are. You're not all going to be good at the same thing."
Lily hummed, nodding. "Do you plan to include the spells you used in class?"
"If you want them. Maybe consider what it is you do want."
"A Patronus," Alice blurted. "I want to learn how to cast a Patronus. Can you?"
"Yes," Hermione sighed.
"Wandless magic," Lily declared. "I can… well, I can but it's not as strong as yours. You didn't even blink when you lost your wand in class."
Hermione fidgeted uncomfortably. "I practiced rather a lot," she muttered.
"Right, so wandless magic, Patronuses," Dorcas paused. "What about that moving about you do? You don't seem to even think about it."
"It's how I was taught," Hermione shrugged.
"Wonderful," Dorcas grinned. "Now, if we could just convince McGonagall to teach us how to become animagi, we might actually survive this war."
Hermione shuddered, forcing herself to redirect her attention. "Why won't she teach you?"
"Ugh, lack of focus, apparently."
Hermione nodded, biting back a laugh. "Did she teach you, being your Aunt and all?" Alice asked with interest.
"Yes," Hermione nodded. "Recently."
"What are you?" Lily asked intrigued.
"An otter."
"That's… not at all what I was expecting."
"It's my Patronus," Hermione shrugged. "It made sense."
"Huh." Lily still looked surprised before Nuri made her presence known, yawning, and letting out a little contented squeak.
Alice's jaw dropped and Dorcas turned to face her. "I could have sworn your necklace just yawned," she said faintly.
"Ah," Hermione paused. "Well… technically, it did."
"Your necklace actually yawned?" Dorcas demanded as Lily began to giggle.
"Wait until it needs to be fed," she muttered before spying a tiny bowl no one had noticed. "Which might be sooner than you think. Did you know that was there?"
Hermione followed Lily's finger. "Oh! No. I was expecting to have to go down to the kitchens." She unwrapped Nuri, summoning the bowl of meat. "Do you want some breakfast sweetheart?" she cooed, sitting the dragonet next to the bowl. Silently she vowed to go and thank the elves later. They always knew. Nuri worked her way steadily through her breakfast, oblivious to the stares she was getting.
"Miss Moody, is that an actual dragon?" Alice asked, sounding strangled.
"Hermione," she corrected. "And yes."
"Of course it fucking is," Dorcas muttered. "How in the name of Merlin's saggy left tit did you get your hands on what appears to be a shrunken and tame dragon?"
"Oh. Unspeakable experiment," Hermione shrugged. "I was in the right place at the right time."
"Of course you were," Dorcas muttered. "And ah… given the climate, you didn't consider that drawing attention to yourself was a very bad plan?"
Hermione looked at her in surprise, catching the look of concern on the other girl's face. "Dorcas," she began softly. "If they're coming for me, then they're coming for me. Do you honestly believe that the Slytherins wouldn't have reported home that the missing daughter of Alastor Moody had miraculously resurfaced?"
"Well no, but…"
"I won't be anyone other than who I am. I won't pretend. And if they're coming, then they'll come. And anyway, Nuri cries when I try to leave her and it breaks my heart."
Dorcas snorted, her face still scrunched in concern as she stroked the dragon. "She really is adorable isn't she?"
"Yup," Hermione agreed, watching the dragon fondly. "And who knows, maybe the experiment will fail and I'll end up with a fully grown, properly sized dragon. No one's coming for me then."
Dorcas' jaw dropped before she began laughing. "Merlin, if you can teach her to defend you, then regardless of size, a protective dragon might just be a deterrent. Also, for the love of Morganna, call me Cassie, only my grandmother calls me Dorcas."
"Mya." Hermione held out her hand, smiling when the other girl shook it. Ambling back towards her, Nuri sang.
"Aww," Alice cooed. "Now I understand why her crying makes you so sad."
"Her… Hermione!" James' startled voice called down the table. "Is that a dragon?"
Hermione grimaced as the Great Hall went silent. "Well, would you look at the time? I had better go and do some studying."
The girls' laughter followed her out of the Great Hall.
Hermione hid herself inside the Room of Requirement until the hour before lunch, practising manipulating flames until she was almost exhausted. Helpfully, the room had managed to conjure several books on rituals and elemental magic that had been fascinating and definitely required further reading. Reluctantly leaving the relative safety of the room, she headed back down towards the classroom she'd met Lily in earlier, assuming that was where she was meant to meet Remus.
He arrived five minutes after she did, looking far too amused. "So. You now own a dragon?" he grinned. "As if you weren't deadly enough."
Hermione groaned. "Yes, yes, very funny. It's not my fault that she wouldn't let me leave!"
"Oh, of course not." Remus agreed seriously. "This sort of thing happens all the time."
"Shut up," Hermione muttered. "Or I'll set my pet dragon on you."
Remus snorted before he began to laugh properly. "Sure you will. Can I see her?"
Rolling her eyes, Hermione took Nuri from her neck and put her on his shoulder. His eyes blew wide. "You… you can't…"
"Hush, you'll disturb her. Turns out all baby dragons do is sleep and eat."
Remus whimpered. "And when do they learn to breathe fire?"
"We have no idea," Hermione shrugged. "Now, Defence?"
"Hermione!" he whined. "You put a dragon on my shoulder! I can't concentrate on Defence!"
"She's been around my neck all day and I've managed," she replied, working hard to keep the amusement from her face.
"How?" he demanded.
"She's like a breathing scarf, to be honest. It's nice," Hermione shrugged. "Put her on your knee if you're worried about her falling."
"I'm worried about her deciding I look like her next meal!" he exclaimed, sounding more panicked than she'd ever heard him.
"Don't be ridiculous Remus," she dismissed. "You'd feed her for a year given her current size. At least let her grow a bit before you become hysterical."
He whimpered, but cautiously moved the dragon onto his chest, looking like he couldn't believe what he was doing. Nuri gave a happy croon.
"See, she likes you. You'll be fine," Hermione grinned.
"She sings?"
"Yes. Manipulative little beast. She can transfer feelings with that noise."
"Oh," Remus whispered, cuddling the dragonet closer. "Well then. She really is rather cute."
"I know. I get the impression she knows too," Hermione sighed.
He laughed, finally relaxing. "So. Defence… shall we start with creatures?"
Remus stretched an hour later, careful not to dislodge Nuri from where he still had her cradled to his chest. "Lunch?" he checked as Hermione stuffed parchment into a bag she'd had to conjure.
"Ugh, yes please. I'm starving and I've barely done anything!"
"What did you do after breakfast?" he asked curiously as he stood.
"Oh, I'm working on controlling fire. And learning about rituals. I had no idea they were a thing, but Saul is insisting that I learn."
"Controlling fire?" Remus frowned.
Grinning, Hermione held out her hand, allowing her blue flames to appear. "It's how I ended up with Nuri. I get to decide whether or not it burns. Actually, technically I get to decide who it burns, but it's time consuming."
"I'm sorry what?" Remus replied, sounding strangled.
"It's… I'm not sure how to explain it. I can ask it not to burn you, but if anyone else walked in and touched it it would burn them because I hadn't explicitly asked it not to. I need to work out how to make that process quicker."
"Hermione… that's not possible!"
"Touch the flames, Remus," she ordered. He looked at her like she was insane before cautiously extending a finger, clearly prepared to snatch it back as soon as the fire burned. He looked gobsmacked when that didn't happen. "Now put a piece of parchment in it."
As if on autopilot, he did as he was told, his eyes widening to the point that they had to be painful when the parchment began to burn.
"That's, that's… Sweet mother of Merlin," he gasped. "Can you teach me?"
"I don't know," she admitted." It's not… I don't use a spell. I've been able to make the flames for as long as I can remember. I'm meeting Perenelle Flamel tonight in the hopes she has some answers. My grandmother mentioned elemental magic."
Remus let out a long slow breath. "Right," he nodded. "That… that makes a surprising amount of sense. Of course, it's not something covered at Hogwarts."
"Why is that?" she asked curiously.
"It's thought to be uncontrollable. There have been reports of people tempting the elements and then being consumed by them when they can't handle the power."
"Oh," Hermione whispered. "That's… rather terrifying actually."
"Just a little," Remus agreed. He paused, seeming to consider his next words. "I… wouldn't flaunt that skill, Hermione. It's beyond unusual and Professor Croaker indicated that you're already at risk."
Hermione sighed. "I know. Cassie advised caution at breakfast. And I understand the concern, truly. But I spent… years pretending to be something I wasn't. I let people buy into a facade so that no one would look beyond the surface. And they came for me anyway. I won't live like that again. I won't pretend that I'm anything other than what I am."
"And no one's asking you to," he replied softly, concern clear on his face. "But if you're already at risk, maybe don't invite more. I don't doubt that you're more than capable of looking after yourself, but Mr. and Mrs. Potter and Alex, they adore you. They'd be devastated if anything happened to you." He smiled suddenly. "And if you weren't here, who else would keep Sirius' ego in check? Don't abandon me to that impossible task on my own."
Hermione gave a huff of laughter, before wrapping her arms around him. "Alright, I'll be more… circumspect."
He patted her awkwardly on the shoulder until she released him, his cheeks slightly pink, "Good. Now lunch?"
"Lead on Mr. Lupin," she gestured grandly, making him laugh.
"Fine, but I'm keeping your dragon."
"What? No!" Hermione gasped as he darted out the door before she gave chase. "Remus Lupin! You come back here with my dragon!" she screeched, ignoring the stunned looks of the students milling in the corridors.
Remus was breathless and laughing, looking younger than she ever thought she'd seen him when she reached the Great Hall.
"Alright there, Miss Moody?" Remus grinned, Nuri yawning on his chest.
"You stole my dragon!"
Remus glanced down at Nuri. "She doesn't appear to be objecting," he shrugged with an impish grin, hand feeding the dragnet a strip of meat.
Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Let's see how well you do when she cries," she muttered before striding down to the other end of the table and sitting down next to an amused looking Alice.
It took all of five minutes after Nuri had finished eating before the sad little notes started. Hermione almost laughed at how quickly Remus moved, depositing the dragon into Hermione's outstretched hands, ignoring her smug look.
"It makes me want to cry," he muttered. "Why does it make me want to cry?"
"Because she's a manipulative little beastie?" Hermione offered, laughing as she snuggled Nuri to her. "I did try to warn you."
Remus snorted. "Not very hard," he muttered, before going back to finish his lunch.
"You seem to know Remus reasonably well?" Alice commented idly.
"Oh. Charlus and Dorea Potter, James' Aunt and Uncle, are my godparents. We spent some time together over Christmas when I was visiting." Hermione shrugged.
"And you managed not to murder Black?" Dorcas muttered.
"Well, I get to fire spells at him later and can legitimately call it a duel. I decided it was worth waiting for."
All three girls gaped at her before they began to laugh. "I cannot wait to see Black handed his arse," Cassie sighed dreamily. "It might make my year."
"Oi Moody!" James called as the bell went, signalling the end of lunch. "Our turn now!"
Hermione sighed at his smug look, noting Sirius' grin. It was going to be a long period.
"Very well," she agreed.
"Now, Miss Moody," Sirius grinned, hooking his arm through hers, before talking loudly. "Don't you worry if you're not as talented as we are. Not everyone can be this good. We'll make sure you know enough to pass."
"She's going to murder him," Remus muttered to Lily as they passed.
"Is it wrong that I'm hoping she saves it for later so we can all watch?" Lily replied.
Torn between amusement and hexing the smug look off Sirius' face, Hermione smiled sweetly, channelling Pansy at her most vapid. "Oh Sirius," she cooed. "Whatever would I do without you?"
He had the sense to look wary. "I was joking," he mumbled, his eyes darting as if expecting a hex.
"Don't be silly," Hermione beamed up at him. "I couldn't possibly be as good as such a strong man like you."
He went from wary to downright terrified. "That's… that's not quite…." He seemed to slump. "You're going to hand me my arse tonight aren't you?"
She snorted. "Of course I am," she agreed, ignoring the sniggers behind them.
She made it to just before dinner without murdering anyone. Sirius and James had been surprisingly intelligent. She'd known, of course, that they were likely to be exceptional at Transfiguration. There was no way they'd have been able to become animagi at fifteen otherwise, but James' charms ability had been a pleasant shock, especially once it became clear that he could settle down and pay attention to a task.
Now though, she had to face all of them and attempt to teach them something. This wasn't her forte. This was Harry's. She might have written the lesson plans, but he had been the one to patiently guide them all through them. Merlin, she had no hope of doing him justice.
Before she could talk herself out of this, she realised Rufus Scrimgeour was waiting for her, exactly where she'd asked him to be on the seventh floor, right in front of the Trolls attempting ballet and he'd spotted her.
"Miss Moody!" he grinned. "I gather you've accepted a job with us!"
"Looking at laws, not in the Aurory," she shot back.
"Ah but closer… I'll get you yet Miss Moody. I'm sure your father would agree."
Hermione snorted. "Are you joking? My father would prefer to conjure me into a bubble and never let me out of the house."
Rufus' jaw dropped before he began to laugh. "Merlin, would he really?"
"He's not a fan of me considering putting myself in danger," she replied wryly.
"Damn. I'll have to find another ally then! Now, what's your plan for tonight?"
Thinking back to Harry. "I thought I'd have them run through all the defensive spells from first year. It gives me a baseline. I'm also going to ask what they want." She shrugged. "Lily requested wandless magic, Alice wanted patronuses, and Remus mentioned disillusionment and cloaking spells. James and Sirius just want to practise. I'm sure there was one more," she frowned.
"It'll come back to you," he shrugged.
"Movement!" she exclaimed triumphantly.
He snorted. "Right then. And will you include your strange brand of non-defensive spells?"
"If they want them," she shrugged. "Anything that's a surprise is worth them knowing. I set robes on Uncle Charlus. Did he tell you? They got caught in a Ventus… it was rather amusing."
"No, he did not," Rufus laughed. "Tell me you won?"
"No," she scowled. "Next time. Dad upped my training and is no longer taking it easy on me. The Prewett twins have offered to help me practise so I have a different style to work with. Alex intends to help and I believe he said he'd drag Kingsley."
"Bloody hell," Rufus muttered. "That's quite a collection. Might I suggest approaching Stephanie Jarvis?"
"Who?" Hermione frowned.
"Stephanie Jarvis. She has two years of experience on the twins, vicious little witch. She's had to work twice as hard to prove herself to the arseholes. I'm sure you've noticed that women tend to be scarce in the Aurory. There are a few, but it's not common. It makes the ones we do have deadly."
"Why?" Hermione frowned, realising he was right.
"Because the wizarding world is antiquated?" Rufus shrugged. "Because desk duty for an Auror is difficult longer term and pregnancy makes field work even more challenging?"
She scowled. "Surely there's ways around that?"
"Not as many as you'd think," Rufus shrugged. "Stray spellfire can harm a babe in the womb and understandably most don't want to take the risk. Of course, not every woman wants children, but so far, in my experience, most do. Whether that's because they actively want them or it's expected of them, who knows. Regardless, the women tend to work twice as hard, and as a result, they tend to be far more dangerous than any other Auror. Stephanie Jarvis has had her eye on your father's job since she started, with another five-year plan to ensure she gets your Uncle Charlus'. I imagine she'll succeed one day. So ask for her. Training with her might be interesting."
"You realise I'm not actually an Auror?" Hermione countered. "I can't just demand one of them trains with me."
Rufus snorted. "I'll send an owl, but I imagine Steph will adore you. She has a thing for vicious witches and has spent the years since she graduated attempting to persuade the Headmaster to allow her to come and talk to the seventh year girls in the hopes of tempting them into the Aurory, or at the very least maintaining a level of self-defence."
"Why has it been turned down?"
"Because Dumbledore won't allow it," he replied honestly, watching her face.
"But why?" she demanded with a look of indignation.
Rufus shrugged. "Who knows.? Why does the headmaster do anything?"
Hermione hummed, her mind whirling. "I wonder if we could commandeer a Hogsmeade weekend," she murmured.
Keeping his mouth shut, Rufus grinned, knowing he'd played his cards exactly right. This little witch was going to shake things up nicely and he very much intended to be part of whatever group she finally amassed to help her do it.