Chapter Eight: Strange Bedfellows
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Sunday, September 25th
1977
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If every time she drank she ended up in a different bed, perhaps the key to getting out of here was getting properly plastered every night. Hermione woke up and squinted into the bathroom, the door ajar as Potter washed his face. It wasn't a scene she was unused to, honestly, she and Harry had often spent nights together in the aftermath of the war. It helped, sometimes, to sleep next to someone who, at the very best, would spend a good night in your presence, and at the very worst, at least share in your nightmares. But for all their sleeping together, it was just that. Sleeping. Sometimes snuggling, sometimes screaming, usually Hermione being woken up by a sleepy, grinning Harry claiming he had been choked to death in his sleep by the Giant Squid's tentacles while spitting her hair out of his mouth. Nothing more than needing another comforting presence. Of course, that hadn't happened in months and this wasn't Harry, it was James. Not to mention she wasn't being teased into the kitchen for breakfast but rather forced out of the bed in search of Sober-Up.
"Hnngh," she croaked, apparently not able to formulate words yet.
"Drawer in the nightstand," James called back, appearing shortly after. Hermione openly stared, at first because she mistook him for Harry, and then because he was clearly not done getting ready, considering he was lacking a shirt. Perhaps she really should take up Quidditch, if that's the kind of body... She blushed and looked away, but not before James raised an eyebrow at her. "Alright, Evans?"
She downed the potion she had retrieved and leaned back against the headboard. "How bad was last night?"
"For me?" James asked, rummaging through his wardrobe. "It was going fairly well until the Head Girl decided to have a meltdown."
"Shut up, Potter," she grimaced. Couldn't he see she was suffering? Did he not have one iota of sympathy towards her?
"I'm sorry, what did you say? Did you want me to let some light in?"
"Tosser," she said, throwing the blanket back over her head.
"So you mentioned, along with all the other nonsense you were going on about." He was paying her very little attention, instead thumbing through a collection of expensive looking ties that were all essentially the same. He did not, fortunately, open the curtains.
"What kind of nonsense?" she asked wearily.
"That I was anything less than your knight in shining armor, mostly." There was the slightest of smiles on his face when Hermione threw a pillow at him, but he quickly returned to his previous impassive expression.
"Look, next time you need a good cry, make sure one of your little Golden Trio is well enough to take care of you, okay? Or at least give me your bloody password," he said, all business again. "Alice and Mary are coming down in a bit, can I trust you not to become entirely hysterical before they get here?"
"I got drunk, Potter, I'm not unstable, and on that note, I don't appreciate what you're suggesting. If it were Sirius getting pissed the last thing you would call him is hysterical." Hermione had been doing a lot of SPEW research as of late. She was still irritated, but pleasantly surprised when James, instead of interrupting her, looked thoughtful, if for only a moment.
"Maybe not, but the last thing I need is Mad Mary and Fucking Fortescue beating down my door because the Gryffindor Princess got her feathers ruffled."
Hermione was aghast. "You…you! You areso rude! How can you possibly be this unpleasant so early in the morning?"
"An acquired skill, I assure you." He picked up his bag and made to leave before taking one last glance at her, still in his bed. "Drink some water, will you?" he asked, gesturing towards the pitcher on the nightstand. "We've got a meeting for the ball tonight and I do not want to head that alone."
"The ball?"
James shot her a wry smile. "You didn't hit your head yesterday, did you? October's just around the corner."
"Stating the obvious, thank you." Hermione grumbled.
"One of many talents, on top of Quidditch." James tugged at his collar. "Look, I am sorry I embarrassed you at the game, Lily," he said suddenly, eyes anywhere but on her.
"It's alright," Hermione stammered, flabbergasted by the change in demeanor. He gave a curt nod before heading out the door, leaving her to try and make sense of their interaction. Why was James so hot and cold? Well, more cold and lukewarm, but he had let her sleep in his bed and he called her friends so he couldn't be all bad. Plus, he was Harry's dad. He had to be more than this!
She might not be able to figure out the enigma that James Potter seemed to be, but, at the very least, she could move from his bed. But his sheets were so luxurious and the shades did such a marvelous job at keeping out the sun, perhaps she could just lay here and let everything crash and burn around her. Unlikely, of course, considering Mad Mary and Fucking Fortescue were due to be tossing her out of bed like the good friends they were any minute. For the moment, though, she sighed, letting her head hit the pillow once more. It smelled of soap and smoke and something earthy she knew she recognized but couldn't quite pin down…
Foreign, yet familiar.
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[James' POV]
James groaned, leaning up against the parapets on Gryffindor tower to face his friends. The spell he and Peter had casted promptly ended, transfigured tentacles turning back into branches and falling into the Lake with an innocuous plop. The fifth years below looked at each other in disbelief.
"Alright there?" Remus asked, looking up from where he was practicing turning a Snitch into a particularly vengeful type of bird.
"I dunno, this just isn't cutting it for me," he replied glumly. As Head Boy, James had been corralled to the back of all Marauder action, much to his chagrin. These little pranks, as harmless as they were, should have been freeing.
"Evans?" Remus asked knowingly.
"Evans." He confirmed. "She's been all out of sorts lately, and it's driving me mad."
"Well, she has been acting kind of strange. Haven't seen her around in a bit, actually."
"Not even for…" he trailed off.
"Nope. Don't let Sirius hear you complaining though. You know how he feels about it." Remus said, gesturing towards the sky where Sirius was zooming towards them on his broom.
"What are you lot doing sitting around for? Don't we have some energy to burn? Unless Moony's already gone to see Evans."
James paled involuntarily at her name, and Sirius shot him a sharp look. "You haven't been on about her, have you?"
"Of course not," James scowled. "Ask him."
Remus nodded silently, and Sirius narrowed in on Peter.
"Petey. My friend, my rat, my number one sneakster," Sirius said, twirling his wand. "You'd tell me if these two were in cahoots, wouldn't you?"
Peter scoffed. "You're always in cahoots without me."
That was all the conformation Sirius needed. He groaned theatrically, shaking James by his shoulders.
"I thought we were done with this, mate!"
"We are, she's just been acting completely barmy lately."
Remus snorted. "You do know that happens sometimes when people get intoxicated, don't you James Dearest?"
"I know that," he scowled at Remus who chuckled silently. "But she was crying." This shut his companions up rather quickly.
"Crying, I believe," Remus remarked. James had teased her to tears countless times. Plus, Severus never failed to be able to set off her waterworks. "But to you?"
"I know! It was terrifying. I thought fifth years were hard to deal with, but a crying Evans…I couldn't even fucking sleep because I thought she had been cursed or poisoned or something."
"You watched her sleep all night?" Peter asked.
"It wasn't like that! She kept yowling and moaning, it sounded like she was being murdered!" It had really been a terrible night. He thought about binding her limbs to the posts so she would stop thrashing, but knowing his luck, it'd be the precise moment she got up. Instead, he kept a silent and miserable vigil over the Head Girl, trying to make sure she wouldn't give herself a black eye.
Sirius was quiet for a long time. "I'm glad you could help her out, mate, but are you really going to go running back to her every time she cries?"
"I did not go running back to her," James scowled. "I'm over it, remember?"
"Then prove it." Sirius said, shaking his head. "If you want to waste your last year pining over a girl who has made it very clear she's not interested, fine. Your Mum will do a wonderful job picking out a marriage contract for you. Maybe that Greengrass girl?"
James winced. He was over Lily, he was! Any decent human being would have been worried about her last night. Of course, Lily had never extended that title to him, had she? He was silent for a moment, looking over the grounds. "Do you know if Marlene has a date for Hogsmade yet?"
Sirius whooped, hitting him on the back. "Atta boy, James!" he cried, and Remus and Peter gave him a polite round of applause.
On top of being Sirius' beleaguered makeshift legal advisor, Marlene was fit and nice enough. Plus, she had a penchant for explosives. Two birds, one stone, James supposed.
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Monday, September 27th
1999
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[Draco's POV]
He should have taken Blaise's offer. He should have just given up his magic for a bit and high-tailed it to the continent instead of serving his probation at Hogwarts. He closed his eyes, imagining he was in Blaise's cushy villa, drinking Limoncello and making fun of the muggles on the marina below. Of course, that wasn't an option for him, not really. He needed to get an education and start rebuilding the Malfoy name or some shite, but still. At least he wouldn't be here, at the Hogwarts library, afterhours with the bushy-haired-bane-of-his-academic-existence and her new side kick. Padma, he had to admit, was much more palatable than Weasley. She and Parvati were widely accepted as the prettiest girls in their year, and Padma, at least, seemed to have a brain to boot.
"What about this one?" Hermione whispered from up ahead. The three were perusing through the Restricted Section after Draco explained that books they were looking for probably wouldn't look like they were on the subject.
"Put that down, Granger!" he hissed, stumbling over a stepping stool as he snatched it from her. "You can't just pick these up willy-nilly. For Salazar's Sake, it's a wonder you didn't end up poisoning yourself in the woods."
Padma snorted audibly from a shelf over.
"Watch it you two, I have put a woman in a jar before and I will do it again."
"You did what?" Draco asked, shocked. She shot him a smug smile that looked like it belonged on someone more like Daphne Greengrass than Gryffindor's resident work horse. "Fucking Dumbledore," he cursed. That barmy old man was probably laughing in his grave, right now, three out of the four houses working together to get a present done for Potter's wedding. Granger wanted to recreate the wards his mother had cast and had somehow decided on his unfortunate soul to help. Although a part of him recoiled at the thought of having to work with them, he was simply too tired to maintain the acidity necessary to carry out the hateful diatribe he had grown up on. Plus, they were much smarter than Crabbe and Goyle. It would be good to keep his mind busy, even if it was at Granger's request. At least she wasn't shaking in her shoes whenever they crossed paths now.
"If these books are so terribly dangerous, why are they around, anyways?" Hermione asked, a rather dumb question, in his opinion.
"Have you forgotten, dear Hermione, what lengths I had to go to get us here?" Padma appeared around the corner. They put Padma in charge of getting them access to the darkest books the library had, since Draco was in no position to be making waves and Hermione was too much of a Gryffindor to do it well. "It's not like they're ours for the taking. Or, they weren't supposed to be."
"You never did say how you got us these keys," Draco said, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
"Do you really want to know?" Padma flipped her hair and smirked.
"What, you think I can't handle your sneaky little tricks? Do you have any idea what constituted as acceptable in my house?" Who was this little Ravenclaw brat?
"Nothing impressive, if you still haven't run the diagnostics in that book. Honestly, how did you survive living with the Dark Lord?" Hermione spat, coming to her friends defense faster than he could blink. Draco heard Padma intake a sharp breath, and for a moment, there was complete and utter silence.
There was a flash of confusion, and then rage. Who the fuck did Granger think she was, talking to him like that? On that note, when was the last time anyone at this school bothered to talk to him at all? He looked at her, anger giving way to curiosity. And then, surprising even himself, he laughed.
"Powerful women," he answered finally, thinking of his mother. "Powerful, sneaky women who were looking out for me."
Padma and Hermione looked at him with identical expressions akin to tenderness and he scowled.
"Keep looking, will you? I don't know about you but I'd like to be out of here before dawn."
.oOo.
They found what they were looking for just before the sun-up, so the two tired girls would hear none of Draco's whinging. Well, it was more grumbling under his breath while he alternated between antagonizing his partners and ignoring them completely. He reminded Lily of him. That was one mess she was all too happy to leave to Granger.
"Shall we see if the Room of Requirement is still around?" Padma asked, bleary eyed and still beautiful. The three had snuck back out of the library and were trying to decide where to read the book Draco picked up.
Draco stopped and paled, a considerable feat given his already frost countenance. Lily wondered what she had missed. Padma looked horrified and apologized until Draco waved her off.
"We'll use my room," he said once he found his voice.
"And how is that any less suspicious than going to either of our dorms?" Lily asked. The last thing she wanted was for Harry or Ron to realize something was off, so they had to be sneaky. "Won't your roommates think it's strange?"
Draco glared. "I don't have any roommates right now, Granger. As long as you two can get through the Common Room with your cloak, you'll be fine." Padma was thrilled by the idea of finally seeing the Slytherin quarters, but Lily wasn't ready to let it go.
"You mean you're the onlyone who's returned?" Did he really have nobody, then?
"Of our year, yes. That's exactly what I mean. Now are you done asking stupid questions?" He stalked ahead towards the dungeons and Padma grabbed her by the elbow.
"He is not a house-elf, do you understand me, Granger? I saw that look. We have to play this by ear or he'll run," she hissed.
"Of course, Padma," Lily replied, bewildered. A house-elf? Did she think she was going to boss him around in his own room? What kind of person was Hermione?
"Well come on then," she said merrily, stepping into the dungeons. "Pull out Potter's cloak, will you? I'm dying to see what it looks like in there."
Draco gave them the okay to enter. It was still early, so nobody was in the Common Room.
"You live like this?" Padma asked, not bothering to hide her horror at the dark, uninviting room. Lily had to agree with her. No wonder Sev was so miserable all the time.
Draco turned back to them and rolled his eyes. "Calm down," he said, waving his wand. "Precautionary measure. Slughorn did a bit of redecorating during reconstruction. I forget you can't see what we do."
In a blink of an eye, the room had changed. The dark wood floors became marble, the low leather sofas luxurious chaises. Chandeliers sprouted from the ceiling, dazzling the room in reflections of crystal. It lacked the hominess the Tower had, of course, but it was opulent and impressive. Padma whistled under her breath.
"Old Slughorn must have a contractor friend," she whispered, looking at the gilded ceiling.
"He does, actually," Lily said with a grin. Slughorn had always said it was important to keep business cards in your back pocket. He clearly made good on his connections.
"Yes, well, unless you want to keep dawdling, you can explain to him why you're here yourself," Draco hissed, ushering them into his room. It was not unlike the rooms the Gryffindors shared, except in that it was eerily clean, the room made for seven being used by only one.
"Am I standing where Pansy Parkinson once stood?" Padma asked, making a face. Draco looked at once horrified.
"At least let me put up the bloody silencing charm before you decide to say something so vile," Draco said aghast.
Lily frowned. "She's a person you arsehole. Don't call her vile."
Padma shook her head. "You weren't here that last year, Hermione. Trust me. Vile doesn't even start to cover it."
"Fine. Do you know what is vile? This book," Lily said, pulling the heavy tome from her bag. "Is this really human skin?" she asked, holding it away from her and wrinkling her nose.
"In Hogwarts? Absolutely not. This is by no means an original. Reprints are usually watered down, so hopefully we'll still find something helpful." Padma said, examining the spine.
"We had better," Draco called from where he was rummaging through his wardrobe. He came out with a pair of dragon hide gloves and what looked like Chemistry goggles. "Because I have no intention of doing this with you lot again." Lily and Padma only exchanged a look. It's not like he had anywhere else to be.
"So, not to question your expertise on all things dark and dastardly, but how do we get a book about the Unforgivable to tell us about Blood Wards?" Lily asked.
Draco shot them both another disgusted look. "Put these on," he said, tossing them the goggles he had replicated from his own. He flipped the book open to the middle page (the first chapter on Imperius, by happenstance) and muttered a spell under his breath.
"Idiots," he said aloud. "How do these even get into the castle. Same fucking way they let Riddle in, I suppose." He rolled his sleeve up and pricked himself with his wand, drawing a gasp from Padma. Lily had been expecting this, of course, use blood to learn about blood wards, but Padma looked slightly ill.
"Are you alright?" Lily whispered, leaning over. The girl nodded mutely, unable to tear her eyes away from where a single drop of blood rolled down Draco's pale skin.
"Contens revelare," he cast when his blood hit the pages, sizzling as hot black ink splashed back up at them. One by one, the words in black disappeared to be replaced by ones in red.
"Amazing," Lily whispered in wonder. "How do you know how to do that?"
He shot her a grim grin. "Junior Death Eater Duties. It's not exactly the most comforting sensation," he said through gritted teeth. Lily grabbed his arm from where he had put it behind his back and gasped. Much to her horror, the slow forming words on the page were also being cut into his skin. In an instant Lily had knocked his wand out of his other hand. Padma shot up and left the room.
"What are you doing Granger?" Malfoy asked crossly as the few words in red began to disappear.
"Have you gone mad?" she screeched, casting a numbing charm of her own design on his arm.
"Obviously not, seeing as how it was working—"
"I don't care if it was working, Mother of Morgana!" Lily exclaimed, tearing up the ends of her robe to tie around his skin, lest charms not work on the small, but insidious open wounds.
"Are you squeamish?" Draco asked incredulously, and Lily shot him a look. Padma ran in shortly after, kneeling by Draco who still looked bewildered at the fuss being made about him.
"Is that safe?" Lily asked, eyeing the bubbling green concoction in the vial Padma held.
"Obviously," she said, opening it with her teeth and spitting the cork out towards Lily as if offended. Lily sat back on her heels, watching the scene in a morbid fascination. Padma had gotten the scarring under control in minutes, bandaging him back up. After she was sure Padma had done all she could do, Lily thwacked him upside the head.
Of course, she never made it, because Draco had her wrist pinned above her head in a flash, face twisted and eyes wild, not so much angry as he was…scared? Lily shot Padma a look, and the dark haired girl grudgingly returned her wand to her hip.
"I don't know who you've gotten on with so far," Lily said, trying not to wince in his grasp. "But this," she gestured towards his arm with her free hand, "is not okay. We don't hurt ourselves, or each other, for that matter, for a side project."
Draco released his grip on her carefully, eyeing the red spots that were blooming on her wrist before sweeping out the door.
.oOo.
"Well he's not a fucking house-elf!" Lily huffed, flopping onto the bed she assumed was Draco's. Padma stood up and walked to the grand windows where the glass was the only thing separating the dungeons from the Lake.
"No, not exactly. You can't quite knit him a hat to free him from his demons, can you?" She turned her attention back to the window and gasped. "Are those plants or Mer-People hair?"
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Tuesday, September 27th
1977
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Hermione sat at breakfast, the only other person on their end of the table so far being Frank, as he always set their runs to obscene hours of the morning. She was surprised when a dark eyed owl swooped in before the rest of them, dropping a package unceremoniously onto her lap.
"Frank, you haven't sent me anything, have you?" she asked, and for a moment, he looked terrified.
"Nice try Lily, your birthday is in January." If there was anyone who embodied goodness as well as Frank did, it could only be his son. Granted Neville tended to do it with a little bit more personality. Frank was, so far, basically a good natured moral compass. Then again, she thought, war certainly did take a toll on her morals, who knew what he would be like a year from today? Certainly not as pure as he seemed to be now. You couldn't be, not for the Greater Good. She forced herself not to look up at the Head Table into those familiar twinkling eyes (that wouldn't even blink before slipping her Veritaserum to find out all she knew) and turned her attention back to the package.
She untied the twine hesitantly, tearing off the packaging to reveal a simple white box. In it were two stunning silver compact mirrors, an intricately forged pattern of vines and flowers made of gemstones swirling along the edges. The middle was simply melted metal where she assumed a House Crest had been blasted off. She opened one carefully, nearly crying in relief when the stones on the other began to heat up and glow.
"Heard you were homesick" was all the attached note said.
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A/N- Oh James, what is Hermione supposed to do with you?
[Ai Yaah: Thank you! I try so, so hard with the characters omg. Alice is one of my favs, too!] [reisa: YOU are everything. Goodness your reviews make me so happy! As for your questions, feel free to assume Peter is up to all sorts of shady things. Hermione is currently in beast-mode, having experienced what she has she knows how to function in high stress situations. Lily, not so much.]