Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling. All characters, places, descriptions, etc. (unless original and created by me) belong to her.

Summary: It was a small pack, of course, just the five of them, but together they were something wild. Hermione finds herself in the Marauder's Era with four new best friends.

A/N: Enjoy! Let me know what you think - Reviews are the best food for the muse!

(And to the guest reviewer who said they followed me on twitter - Hi! Thank you so much for your words. It means the most!)

Chapter 63: Causa Latet, Vis Est Notissima*

21 August 1978

The Shelter

Hermione sat at the table, tea in one hand as she watched Remus move about the kitchen. He poured himself another cup of tea while fixing one up for their missing roommate, grumbling to himself before stopping to yell up the stairs.

"Padfoot, you're going to be late!"

Hermione smirked into her tea.

"It's his first day," Remus continued. "You'd think he'd actually want to be on time for once in his life."

"Remus, you are such a mother hen sometimes, you know that right?" Hermione smiled. "I think it's sweet you worry so much about him."

"You worry about him, too," Remus rolled his eyes before slumping into the chair beside her. His eyes slid to the clock on the wall. "His tea's going to get cold."

"No time for tea, Moony. Merlin, it's like you're trying to make me late." Sirius swept into the room. Hermione almost dropped her cup. He was—He looked—

Merlin, but he was a man.

There was no other way for Hermione to describe what she was looking at as Sirius and Remus' voices carried on around her. He was wearing a dark red suit. The color that would come to Hermione later would be oxblood, and she'd blush at realizing that she'd been thinking about Sirius all day. His dragonhide shoes were black and neatly polished. He wore no tie and the crisp white shirt he wore was unbuttoned just enough to be professional but relaxed. His hair was brushed back out of his eyes. His grey eyes that were now fixed on Hermione. She swallowed.

Sirius' lip quirked up, and he winked at her before apparating on the spot, leaving Hermione to stare at the place he'd vacated, blinking slowly until the rush in her ears faded and Remus' laughter pulled her attention.

"You know you've seen him in a suit before."

"I know that." Hermione blushed and kicked out at Remus' legs. "But he just—I mean…" It was true. She'd seen Sirius in a suit before. Last Christmas, then again at James and Lily's wedding just a month before, but this was different. And then it hit her. It wasn't just the suit, but the man inside. "He looks so grown up."

"Well I'd hope so. I mean, first day of work and all, you'd want to put in some effort." Remus continued on, getting up to clean up the kettle and the mess he'd made as if Hermione's world hadn't just tilted on its axis. "So, what are you up to today?"

"I—" Hermione just blinked dumbly. Remus chuckled.

"Okay, well, I got yet another rejection letter, which is great because we don't even need wood for the fireplace at this point."

"Oh Remus," Hermione began.

"No, no, it's fine. I mean it's expected, right?" He shrugged. "Anyway I wrote to Dumbledore, and he's agreed to meet with me this morning. I'm hoping maybe he'll have some ideas or advice or something."

Hermione bit her tongue and took a sip of her tea.

"You're more than welcome to join," Remus sat back at the table with her, his eyes so open and warm. "I was going to head up to Hogsmeade in a bit and then walk to the castle. I'm sure if he's willing to meet with one werewolf, he'd be happy to meet with two."

"No, no. Let's see if he can help you before we start inundating him with every werewolf in Great Britain." Hermione smiled and patted his hand. Then a thought dawned on her. "But, I'll join you in Hogsmeade if that's okay. I think I'll stop in and say hi to Ben."

"Yeah," Remus stood and nodded. "Sure, of course."

"Great! Let me owl him a quick note and let him know I'm stopping by."

"Take your time, Pup. We'll leave when you're ready."

"Thanks, Professor." Hermione hugged Remus quickly before heading up the stairs to pen a letter.

To: 12 Grimmauld Place

From: The Shelter, Yorkshire

Heading to Hogsmeade in an hour. Do you have time to meet me? Tomes and Scrolls?

- H

Tomes & Scrolls, Hogsmeade Village

"Hermione! A sight for sore eyes." Ben swept her up in a big hug. Hermione laughed as her feet lifted off the floor. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?"

"Remus had some business in town, and I figured I'd tag along. Haven't been to a bookstore in a minute or so."

"You say that, but I know you came just to see me," Ben laughed as he released her from the hug. "But you've come at the perfect time. I've just put on a kettle and we've got a load of old books to sort through."

Hermione practically vibrated where she stood. She smiled at him. "Ben Goldstein, you know me so well."

Minutes later, Hermione found herself sitting at the small table at the front of the shop with Ben, a warm cup of tea, and a beautiful leather-bound book on wizarding law.

"You know the point is to catalogue them, not read them?"

"How you manage to get anything done surrounded by all these books is a mystery to me," Hermione said as she tore her eyes from the pages. "I mean I'm not even particularly interested in—" She looked back down. "—the disposition of cursed and enchanted items through magicis corpus trusts, but come on. How can you not be distracted?"

"It's all due to the herculean strength of my will," Ben smirked. Hermione laughed, shut the book, and glanced at the door. "Ok, speaking of distracted, that's the fifth time you've looked at the door? Are we expecting someone?"

"Sorry, sorry," Hermione winced. "Actually yes, a friend may be meeting me. I told him I'd be here."

"And you thought you could use my shop as the backdrop for your sordid rendezvous, did you?" Ben smirked, and Hermione swatted him with one of the books. Gently, of course, she didn't want to harm the pages.

"Oh, shut it. No, it's nothing like that. Well, not exactly. It's-it's Sirius' younger brother." Hermione rolled her eyes as Ben's smile grew. "You are such a gossip! No, it's just—They have a tough relationship, and I'm trying to be there for Regulus."

"I'm just giving you grief, Hermione." Ben stood from his seat and picked up a few of the books. "That's kind of you, though."

"Yes well, it is a bit of a secret, so don't go running off to tell Sirius any time soon."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Ben shifted the stack of books to one hand and squeezed her shoulder. "Your secret's safe with me."

"Thanks, Ben." Hermione smiled and pulled over another book to catalogue. Ben hummed in response before winding his way through the stacks. Hermione fell quickly into the pages of the book she'd chosen, not noticing the faint chime ringing out or the footsteps approaching.

"You look like you're in your natural habitat."

"Regulus." Hermione's heart lifted at the sight of the young man. She stood to hug him, pulling him to her tightly. Over his shoulder, she met eyes with Ben who nodded and motioned that he'd give them some space. Hermione nodded back and pulled away from Regulus, holding him at arm's length to look him over.

"I'm fine, Granger." His voice sounded tired, but he looked well.

"Just making sure."

They stood there together, amongst the rows of books and the dimmed lighting of the shop. It felt familiar in a way, like they were back at the library in Hogwarts, but it was different now. It had changed like they had. Hermione pulled Regulus away from the door, back in to the table she'd just left. They didn't sit, but Regulus put a hand on the back of a chair.

"I'm sorry I haven't written much—"

"No, that's me as well. Thing have just been—"

"Busy, I know, but still—"

"I know, but honestly I'm just glad when I do hear from you, and—"

"It'll be easier when I'm back at school. Believe it or not less prying eyes."

"Yes, actually I had a thought about that—"

The bell above the door dinged as someone new entered the shop. Hermione tensed before taking in a breath. Not Remus. She turned to the door.

"Ah Лев, I thought I saw you run in here."

A young man entered, clearly a friend of Regulus' by the way he was approaching with a smirk and an extended hand. He had dark hair, darker eyes, and an even darker edge to his voice. Russian perhaps? Hermione watched him claps arms with Regulus. She suddenly regretted not inquiring as to who Regulus was friends with outside of herself. Did she know this young man?

He turned from Regulus then and seemed to notice she was there. Hermione clenched her jaw. She'd bet anything he was a Slytherin as well, and she could only guess at how this interaction would continue.

"Ah, my apologies, Miss Granger, hello." He looked her up and down before frowning slightly. "You know, I have been wondering. Are you scorpion or frog?"

Hermione's brows furrowed in confusion. The young man stepped closer. There was something familiar there, but she couldn't quite place it. She knew him from her present, surely, but how? He raised an eyebrow and took another step. Something deep in her chest twinged, like a memory of pain, and his eyes widened before his face broke out in a dangerous smile.

"О нет, я вижу." He lifted a hand as if he would touch her, but thought better of it. "Ты говоришь птичий язык."

"Toshka," Regulus pulled his friend back by the shoulder. "Enough, okay? Give me five minutes and I'll meet you outside."

Antonin kept his eyes on Hermione.

"Toshka." Regulus repeated himself sharply, finally getting Antonin to tear himself away.

"Да. Yes. Yes, fine, okay. Five minutes, Лев." He clapped Regulus on the back and turned to Hermione before leaving. "Goodbye for now, Птичка."

Regulus and Hermione stood side by side as Antonin Dolohov exited the shop, whistling quietly as he left a heavy tension in his wake. Hermione looked at Regulus and raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry about him," Regulus winced.

"That was interesting."

"Well, yeah, that's Antonin for you. He's always been a bit strange, but he means well."

"Antonin…" Yes, that was familiar. How did she know him?

"Dolohov. Antonin Dolohov." Regulus hurried in his speech. "But don't worry about him. He's harmless, I swear. Well, relatively. But he likes you. Er, well, his exact words were that he thinks you keep me from wallowing."

The rushing in Hermione's ears drowned out everything past the name. That name. Dolohov. She brought a hand up to her chest where a faint starburst of purple magical residue still stained her skin. That man had tried to kill her once. No—she remembered, after the wedding, too—twice, he'd tried to kill her twice. The rushing swelled.

But here he seemed so, so sane and normal and weirdly happy to see her.

A hand on her arm brought her back.

"Hey," Regulus searched her eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Hermione shook her head. "Sorry, lost in thought for a moment."

"So, what did you want to talk about? Do you want to go to the Shack again? I can shake Antonin."

"Right, no, sorry," Hermione began, chancing a glance out the window to the street outside. "I actually can't stay long. I came with Remus and-and he'll be able to smell you on me."

"Oh, right," Regulus bit his lip and thought for a moment. "We could go to Puddifoot's? Cancel out the smell?"

Hermione's nose crinkled at the thought of the heavy perfume and scents of the tea shop, but she couldn't help but laugh.

"Regulus, do you really think people wouldn't talk if they see the heir to the Noble House of Black at Madam Puddifoot's?"

"Fuck, I didn't even think of that."

"It's fine. I didn't intend to keep you long anyway. I just wanted to give you something." Hermione dug around in her beaded bag and pulled out a galleon she had set aside. She held it up to Regulus, but pulled back before he could take it.

"It's not a real galleon," she started to explain. "It's fake, but charmed. It's modified with a protean charm. I have one, too. There's not a whole lot of room, so short messages will work better. But, it should be a bit easier than using owls."

"This is brilliant, Granger." Regulus smiled wide, and Hermione couldn't help but return it.

"It's really not all that much, but thank you. And sorry for dragging you out here for nothing. I suppose I could have just owled it to you, but it's just—It's really good to see you, Regulus."

Regulus pulled Hermione into a tight hug. It only lasted a second before he pulled back away.

"Don't want to stink you up too much." His smile had soured a bit. "It's good to see you too, Granger."

"You're alright? Everything considered?"

"I'm doing alright. You?"

"Same."

"Is he—I heard about Mr. Potter. Is he okay?"

"He's…" Hermione tried to smile. "Sirius is better. He really loved him. It's been tough, but—"

"But he has you."

Hermione reached out for Regulus' hand, squeezing it tightly as she pressed the coin into his palm.

"Take care of yourself, okay? Anything you need, I'm there. No questions asked."

Regulus nodded, pocketed the coin and headed to the door.

"Bye Granger."

"Bye Regulus."

Hermione stood by the window and watched him walk out onto the street, rejoining Dolohov who had been waiting patiently across the road. The Russian met her eyes through the glass and waved, a genuine yet cryptic smile on his face. Hermione waved back with one hand and gripped her wand tightly with the other, wincing slightly as the phantom twinge returned to her chest. She'd have to keep an eye out for him.

27 August 1978

The Flat above Ancient & Antiquated

They were running late, which was usual for them, but they hated being late for Sunday dinners. And tonight, Peter was finally having them over to his flat above his father's shop. Hermione felt weirdly nervous about the whole thing but chalked it up to residual wariness from her encounter with Dolohov at the beginning of the week. She hadn't seen or heard from the man since then, but Regulus had passed on a message through their twin coins a few days later.

A.D. says hello.

Hermione wasn't sure if Regulus had shared the magic behind the coins with Dolohov, and it worried her a bit. But as much as she wanted to chide him on exposing their friendship, she didn't want to take anything away from him. Instead she'd been left to worry about what it meant that Antonin Dolohov knew who she was at this time.

Remus had returned from meeting with Dumbledore half-way between hopeful and confused. It turned out the Headmaster had been happy to help, but not as clear in the details of how exactly. But Remus had faith in the man, and Hermione remained silent.

Sirius had returned to the Ministry every day, each morning passing Hermione and Remus in the kitchen to see him off. It was a quaint little ritual and they each loved it for their own reasons. Despite the flutters of the first day and to Hermione's chagrin, Sirius didn't don a suit for the rest of the week as the Auror Office put its new recruits through vigorous training. Training which left Sirius absolutely knackered upon his arrival home, but awake enough to share the day's most amusing stories as the residents of the Shelter gathered in their little library.

The rest of the week had run like clockwork, Sirius leaving and returning to the Shelter like the bird of a cuckoo clock. But as the weekend rolled around, a comfortable chaos resettled over the home. Hence, of course, why they were running late.

"I'm telling you, Moony," Sirius was saying as they knocked on the door to Ancient & Antiquated. "The food at the Ministry—the pastries alone!"

"See this is why I'm not convinced he actually works when he leaves," Remus whispered conspiratorially to Hermione. "Looks to me like he's been putting on the pounds rather than earning them."

"Oi, I'll have you know the only weight I've gained has been muscle, pure muscle, Moony," Sirius laughed before stepping back from the threshold. He looked up to the open window a floor above. "Oi, Wormtail, you've got three hungry vagrants waiting on your doorstep."

The trio waited for an answer. Lily's laughter drifted out the window into the open air. Hermione smiled and pulled out her wand.

"Oh honestly," she stepped back and extended her hand, sending bright red sparks to burst in front of the window. Her companions laughed as a stream of expletives followed from the occupants above. Seconds later, Peter stuck his head out.

"You're late!"

"Mate, we've been here ages," Sirius shouted. "You've left us out in the cold!"

"Well why didn't you call up?"

Sirius threw up his hands, and Remus laughed. Hermione waved at Peter, who smiled brightly down at her.

"Calm down, you nutter. I'll be down in a mo'." Peter's head disappeared from view, and moments later the door opened to reveal him once more. "Well come on you lot, James and Lily'll have finished all the booze if you don't hurry. Come on, come on."

The trio followed Peter inside the shop, letting him lead as they wound their way through the aisles. Hermione, who'd never been inside before, kept her head on a swivel, taking it all in. It was organized well and quite clean and bright for an antique store. But still that feeling of uneasiness grew within her even as she followed her friends upstairs.

With each step, Hermione began to feel less and less at ease. Was this because of Dolohov? Still? Was it because of Peter? Or was she just over-reacting? Had she eaten anything today? Was it as simple as that? Lost in her thoughts Hermione didn't realize they'd stepped into the little flat until she collided with a body.

Hands found her shoulders to steady her and a face moved in front of her eyes. Messy hair. Lopsided grin. Glasses.

Glasses?

"Harry?"

"What?"

"What?" Hermione blinked at James as her brain short-circuited.

"You said something."

"No, I didn't."

"What, yes you did."

"No, I—You have glasses?"

"Ugh," James groaned playfully and turned to look at Lily laughing behind him. "You said they weren't that bad."

"They're not!"

James turned back to Hermione. "Auror training," he explained. "Turns out my eyesight's the only thing keeping me from true perfection."

Lily snorted into her wine glass behind him.

"Right," Hermione desperately tried to regain control of her thoughts. The frayed rope in her mind was flailing hopelessly in the wind. "They-they look good. I think they suit you."

"Hear that, Lil, someone thinks they look good."

"I never said they didn't, you idiot."

James winked at Hermione and pulled her in for a quick hug before leaving her side to antagonize his wife.

"Thought you'd enjoy that," Sirius said as he sidled up to her. "It's been hell keeping that a secret, but I figured the visual is better." He held a glass of fire whiskey in one hand and offered Hermione a glass of wine from the other.

"No thanks, I'm good actually. Don't know if I'm coming down with something, but my stomach's feeling a little unsettled."

"You too?" Sirius' brows furrowed. "Moony's not feeling too hot either. Werewolf thing? There some weird eclipse coming up or something?"

"Hmm, maybe," Hermione muttered. If Remus was feeling ill as well, maybe it wasn't some weird intuition thing.

"I'll ask Pete to put a kettle on. Maybe some tea'll help you all out." Sirius nudged her side before wandering into the kitchen, giving Hermione time to take in the rest of Peter's apartment.

It was small, a bit cramped, but it suited him. He'd spellotaped quidditch team posters to the wall alongside some photos of the group from their years at Hogwarts. Hermione peeked her head into Peter's bedroom, smiling to herself at the hastily made bed. There was a small office, too, just off the kitchen. Peter had set up a little desk with books and papers and seemingly random little items piled high. Hermione felt another wave of nausea fall over her and stepped into the room to collect herself. A moment perusing books was sure to calm her.

A few titles she recognized from her own studies. A few were new to her, and a few she made note of to check out on her own. It was clear that Peter was studying relics, and old ones at that. Some of these books referenced artifacts that would have been found in the 10th century.

"Honestly it was a toss-up between you and Remus, who'd escape in here first."

Hermione turned to see Peter standing in the doorway, a cup of tea in hand. She closed the book she was inspecting to take the cup from him.

"Thanks, Peter." She took a sip. Earl grey with a touch of honey. She smiled and followed him back toward the kitchen. "Sorry, I've been feeling a bit peaky, but I think this tea is already helping."

"Oh it's no bother. You're welcome over anytime to check out my books."

"Oh, is that what we're calling it now?" Sirius walked by the pair with a pile of plates in his hand. Peter and Hermione looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"How long before the DMLE realizes they've hired an actual child?" Peter raised an eyebrow and smirked. Hermione laughed and fell into his shoulder. The two of them rejoined their friends around the dinner table, passing plates and cutlery as they set the table. Feeling uneasy or not, Hermione was happy to be amongst friends.

Ten minutes. She'd counted. It had taken ten minutes before the conversation turned to war and Hermione started having flashbacks to her fifth year at Hogwarts. James' new glasses certainly didn't help matters.

"—wanting to do something to help, but Frank says orders come straight from Dumbledore himself."

"Patient. He said to be patient. As if that's the most important thing during war."

"Well, I wouldn't say we're at the point of saying it's definitively war, are we?"

"Seen the post today, Pete? Two more missing, presumed dead. It's war."

"Okay, okay, calm down, Padfoot. What else did Frank say, Prongs?"

"Well, the patience bit. And then he said Dumbledore probably wanted us trained up a bit first with the Aurors before he sends us out on missions."

"Missions?"

"What about the rest of us?"

"Yes, missions. And I dunno, maybe he's planning on having you all do strategy or triage or something?"

"I mean, fair, that's kind of the idea I got when I talked to him."

"Oh you've talked to him, too?"

"What?"

"Yeah on Monday. Went up to the castle for a bit."

"Right, he came round the shop about Wednesday or so."

"Oh cool."

"Okay, everybody shut up." The overlapping chatter stopped and the whole table turned to James. "Remus, Peter—Merlin's bloody ball sack, why have you let me prattle on when you two've actually talked to the man?"

"Mate," Peter chuckled before taking another bite of food. "You ever try to shut you up before?"

"Ha bloody ha. Moony, spill."

"I mean there's not much to say, mate," Remus sighed and leaned back in his chair. "It's not like I met with him to talk about fighting Death Eaters. I'm trying to find some fuckin' work." James winced, and Remus leveled him with a stern look before continuing. "Dumbledore knows what he's doing. Hell, he's already done this before with Grindlewald. He's a strategist, okay, so that means sometimes patience—yes, patience, Pads—is better than running in with no plan."

"Remus is right," Lily leaned over to put a hand on James' arm. "We have to trust Dumbledore knows best. He'll know the right timing for us to get involved. He's probably gathering as much information as he can before he plans a big strike or something."

"Which is basically what I got from him," Peter chimed in. "He kind of just showed up at the shop, and I got to asking him about plans. Chided me a bit for bringing up Order business in public, but it was just us in the store at the time so don't really know what he was on about."

"So nothing new?" Sirius leaned around Hermione to look at Peter.

"No, I mean—" Peter stopped abruptly and smacked his forehead with his palm. "Oh I'm an idiot. I completely forgot. Sorry, I was so caught up in getting ready to host dinner, it must have slipped my mind." He speared his plate and took a bite. The rest of the table stared at him.

"Wormy, you're killing us." Remus shook his head.

"Oh, right." Peter finished chewing and swallowed his food. "So Dumbledore stops by, right? And it's a bit weird for him to show up, but anyway, he's here and asking about me and what I'm up to now. Which was strange 'cause I was literally working at the time, but it's Dumbledore. He's a bit weird all the time. Anyway, I told him just as much and asked about the Order and he chided me, like I said. But then—"

Peter paused to take a drink of butterbeer.

"Then, he mentions he's trying to learn as much as he can about You-Know-Who. Well, he actually said Vol—the name, but you know what I mean. He's trying to learn about You-Know-Who and his followers. And I asked him if he knew who they all were. I mean, it's kind of obvious with some people, but there's probably more out there we don't know. Right, 'cause it's not like evil people are just walking around saying hey, I'm evil."

"The point, Pete?"

"Right, okay, that's when I asked if there was anything I could do. Said all types of people stop in the shop. Here's the bit I forgot—the Lestrange brothers came by a while back and I'd bet my last galleon they support You-Know-Who."

"The Lestrange brothers?" Hermione's eyes widened. Oh, they were definitely Death Eaters. "What did they want with you?"

"Nothing unusual," Peter continued. "They've been clients for years. My dad's done a bit of dating and tracing for old Pureblood artifacts. Sometimes families get in fights over who really owns what. They brought in this like gold goblet a while back and wanted to make sure I hadn't sold it, which was honestly just insulting. I know I just started working, but I'm not an idiot."

"Who cares about a bloody cup," James interjected. "What did Dumbledore say?"

"Ha, he basically said the Lestrange brothers were all talk and essentially harmless," Peter laughed at the memory. "But he did say, based on who some of our clients are, it wouldn't hurt to maybe make note of suspicious characters coming through. Especially if they bring in anything cursed."

"Well, well, well." Sirius reached behind Hermione to clap Peter on the back. "Look who's got their first Order mission."

Peter rolled his eyes at his friend, but his smile betrayed a sense of pride. Hermione looked at him, trying to see if something had changed. The Lestrange brothers stopping in the shop? Was this it? The start? Merlin, it felt like she was missing something that was right under her nose.

Hermione spent the rest of the meal lost in thought and trying to eat and drink despite the unrest she felt in the pit of her stomach. Across the table, Remus looked likewise affected which calmed some of Hermione's anxiety. It was surely nothing. This would pass. She tried to push it all aside and just enjoy her time with her friends.

And sure enough, as the night ended and Hermione and her boys left Peter's flat, she instantly felt better.

A/N: *The Cause is Hidden, but the Result is Well Known

Лев – Lion

"О нет, я вижу." – "Oh no, I see."

"Ты говоришь птичий язык." – "You speak the language of the birds."

Да – Yes

Птичка – Little Bird/Birdie