A/N: New chapter for this story finally! I am itching to write the ending I am so excited about, but unfortunately for all of us, that is still some time off. For now, please enjoy this new, albeit shorter, chapter.
-oOo-
Alastor Moody left the Hospital Wing and stormed out of the castle. He refused to use the Floo to make his way to Potters, he would do something rash if he even looked at Dumbledore. He also didn't need the wizard asking him anything about the case or knowing he was going to the head of the DMLE. Moody felt the cool October air hit his face as he exited the Entrance Hall doors and strutted through the grounds to the gates. He ripped the gate open and took a deep breath, he couldn't Apparate in this state. Breathing in the frigid air into his lungs, he closed his eyes and released the air slowly. Finally feeling more centered, Moody spun on the spot and Disapparated.
Charlus Potter, a wizard with messy untamable black hair, hazel eyes, and a trimmed salt and pepper beard, was sitting at his desk in Potter Manor when he was alerted to a visitor. The moment Moody arrived on the edge of his property, the wards of Potter Manor allowed Charlus to know a witch or wizard was near their property, had it been a muggle, they would have suddenly remembered a forgotten appointment and left immediately. Knowing that one of his House Elves would have informed him if the visitor was a threat, Charlus Apparated at the gate and saw Moody. Even with his house elves' assurance, he still performed his security checks on his best auror and invited him in. As Moody entered the property, Charlus immediately noted his friend's sour mood.
"Alastor, what happened?" he asked, speeding up his pace to remain level with Moody. The auror was angry and had a destination in mind before he spoke. Following behind Moody, Charlus determined they were heading to his office, specifically his collection of whiskeys.
Moody stalked up to the decanters of various liquors and poured himself a large glass, downing it in one go. Charlus' eyebrows raised, he had never seen his friend this hackled, not since he had had to deal with the aftermath of his partner's wife's murder, a brutal and horrific homicide that led to him having to arrest his partner.
The auror gulped the liquor, the warm burn first hitting his tongue and moving down his throat to his stomach. The burn felt like a kickstart to his brain, he had gone numb after seeing Hermione's torture. He had seen awful, horrific acts in his time, but witnessing it happening to a sixteen-year-old girl, for what? Why did they do it? Why did they let her go? It had ended with Greyback coming forward, yet she had no werewolf bites or claw marks, had Voldemort changed his mind? Why would he have allowed her to live? Did they think she was dead and had left her outside Hogwarts as a message?
Alastor Moody would need to speak to Hermione alone, without the meddling headmaster. He could tell she had raised her barriers; she had wanted Black there, so they were raised for another reason and Dumbledore was the only additional member. Moody thought about how much she had revealed to him in the short times they spent together over the summers. He had been impressed with her knowledge, though he had the feeling she always held back, that she knew and understood more but reserved herself for some reason. He watched her deliberately muck up wand movements when he would teach her a new spell. While they would never perform it, with her being underage, he would teach her just the movement and he could see the caution in her eyes, he could see her calculating each movement with precision. He had told her that a harsh life only builds up the ability and strength one has for later in life, providing a lesson for the future. He knew of her past, her parents, she knew he knew, so they never had to discuss it, it was just something that brought her to the Inn. Together they would discuss defence and offence, the best spells to use in a duel, and he had been so excited for the day she was of age, and they could practice, and he could see her abilities.
Now, he felt like he had failed her. If only he had found a way to allow her to use magic because she was living alone. A Muggleborn, underage, living under his care, and he had allowed her to be abducted. He should have asked her if she wanted to live in his home, he had no restrictions like Minerva. He hadn't asked though, because he knew a teenage girl would want her privacy, would want to see her friends freely, the friends he had only just learned had abandoned her.
Moody would need to speak to Crouch about his son, and what changes he had noticed. He was already aware of Black's position, the family he came from, and the likelihood of the youngest boy turning and joining the ranks.
He wished he had asked, forced her to live with him, he had assumed she would hate living with him, being an old paranoid, workaholic auror, and now she had suffered for it.
"Alastor?" Charlus' voice broke through his thoughts. He had forgotten his friend was even there, how could he tell Charlus? His son was barely older than Hermione, no father should hear of the horror a child experiences, even if it isn't their own.
"Charlus," he greeted gruffly, pouring another glass for himself and one for Charlus, handing him the glass.
"Why are you so enraged, old friend?" Charlus asked, concern lacing his voice. He sat at his desk and nodded to the chair across from him for Moody to sit in.
"You know the case I've been working on?" Alastor finally spoke after a long silence as he thought about what to say to the Potter patriarch.
"Yes, the Muggleborn that was left outside Hogwarts," Charlus responded.
"Did you know that I've been keeping an eye out for her for the past four years?" Moody asked, stunning Charlus, he had not been aware, "She has these gods-awful parents, who stopped caring for her the moment her magic appeared. She looked after herself, fed herself, and worked a job to pay for her food, her parents wouldn't even speak to her. When Hogwarts started, she just left, leaving a note telling her parents that she was invited to a prestigious school. When she returned, they locked her in her room, starved her, and told her she would never return to school. Minerva was aware of her situation and worked to rectify it immediately.
"Albus tried to put a stop to her intervening, informing her it was not a teacher's place and that it was inappropriate. Hence, where I came in. Every summer I would visit her every few weeks, check on her, and make sure she was okay and keeping to herself, not causing trouble. I learned over the years that that girl is brilliant, more than anyone even realizes. When she was taken, it was horrible. I thought maybe, maybe her parents took her back. Maybe they were tired of the rules we implemented on them for her to visit every summer for one week.
"I checked on them first, the house was a bloodbath. The people who took her, had fun with her parents before they even found Hermione. As much as I hated them for the treatment of that wonderful girl, no one deserved what they went through. I thought it had been magical means of torture but after seeing Hermione's treatment I can't help but wonder if they used muggle means," Moody spoke in a low voice.
"Muggle means? What makes you believe they would do anything so depraved?" Charlus asked, the colour draining from his face. He knew these dark wizards were lowering themselves to perform disgusting acts, but using muggle means of torture when they are so anti-Muggle, is a disgusting irony.
"She woke up Charlus, Hermione woke up and she couldn't even repeat what happened. She shared her memory," Moody whispered, Charlus' eyes widened slightly at the tone of Moody's voice. He was truly shaken by what he saw.
"Alastor, if it is too hard to repeat, I understand," Charlus comforted his friend. Moody threw back the remaining whiskey in his glass and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"No, I need to discuss this with you professionally. I need you to watch the memory, I need your opinion on my thoughts. I also need to talk to you about something that you must promise will go no farther than the two of us," said Moody seriously. Charlus assured his friend that he would, of course, watch the memory and assist him in any way, he could trust him with anything.
Moody removed a vial from his pocket and added the silver substance to Charlus' pensieve and waited for the head of the department to view Hermione's memory. When Charlus returned he immediately went to his decanters and poured himself a large glass and drank it in one. He was pale and walking unseeing toward his desk. The auror waited for his friend to gather his thoughts and pull himself together, the memory had shaken the wizard as much as it had Moody.
"How is she alive?" was the first question out of Charlus Potter's mouth.
"I have no idea; I have the same question. As well as why? Why target her?" Moody thought aloud.
"Based on what I have learned from Sirius, she was close with his brother and Crouch's son," replied Charlus.
"Yes, however, the youngest Black has not been her friend this past year. Heard from some colleagues that Walburga and her son caused quite a scene in Diagon last summer yelling at Hermione, seems the Blacks finally got one son to listen to them," Moody explained, "Crouch is who I want to talk to, his son didn't visit her once, hear he's spending time with some of the darker family's children."
"You will need to speak to Hermione again and find out if she knows why they let her go or if they indicated why she was there. We did only see the torture, perhaps they said something before the curses started?" Charlus spoke, his fingers running through his beard.
"That was my thought, however, that is where we come across a problem," Moody started, "Albus is concerning me."
"Albus Dumbledore? Alastor, I knew you were paranoid, but this is Dumbledore, how can you be suspicious of him?" laughed Charlus.
"I wouldn't say I am suspicious of him, but I am concerned about his recent decisions," replied Moody darkly. Charlus scoffed and asked what Moody could mean, "Minerva admitted to me that she was concerned that Albus was not simply being unhelpful in helping Hermione with her home and school concerns, but actively working against her. I never could have believed it until I watched his reaction to her disappearance. He brushed it off and said that it was unfortunate, but it was obvious due to her blood status and previous relationship with the younger Black that she had gotten herself in trouble. When they did find her, dumped outside Hogwarts like nothing, he wanted to ship her to St. Mungo's without informing the Aurors and without protective detail. Charlus, explain to me why the man that leads the so-called light side disregarded a tortured sixteen-year-old girl?"
Charlus looked disturbed at Alastor's words, he had been hearing concerns from James and Sirius for years about Death Eaters in the school, and children recruited, and he had disregarded them because Albus Dumbledore would never allow it. He would put a stop to it, either by protecting the children from such a fate or removing them from the school to protect the innocents, such as his son. He and his wife had worked so hard to spare James from the darkness that was the pureblood ideology and criminals he rounded up for his work.
"What do you suggest?" asked Charlus.
"You know as well as I do that Albus is going to increase his recruitment for this group he has suggested, the Order of the Phoenix, he's calling it," said Moody rolling his eyes at Dumbledore's dramatics, "We cannot simply question him, he hasn't had decisions questioned in decades, everyone just listens to the man. I say we follow his lead for this group, join and take these Death Eaters down, while also watching him. Keep an eye on his decisions and if we disagree with his judgement then we will discuss how to go about it."
"We would need to be careful, we cannot cause strife within our ranks, Alastor," warned Charlus.
"I am not saying we go against Albus; I am simply saying that we do not follow his word blindly. If my gut tells me his plan is not good, I will be finding a way to prevent him from endangering our people based on his bias. My gut is telling me that he allowed a Muggleborn teenage girl to be tortured and left for dead because she befriended a Death Eaters child. He may have opened his arms to your son's best friend, but he did not extend the same kindness to Hermione."
Alastor tossed back another two fingers of whiskey, slammed his glass on the table, and stormed out of Charlus' office. The Potter patriarch drank back his whiskey as he contemplated Moody's last words. Sirius Black had been like his second son for six years, he brought such joy and happiness to his James, the house livening up every summer and Yule holiday when both boys would be here. His wife adored the noise, they had always wanted to give James a brother, but they had spent nearly fifteen years trying to conceive him alone. They had taken Sirius in after James had let them know about the Howler that told Sirius he was a disgrace to the Black family name, an embarrassment to his mother and father. Dumbledore had even visited to check on Sirius, telling him that he was proud of the Gryffindor for standing up for what was right and breaking away from his family's pureblood ideas.
Hearing that the same man had dismissed a Muggleborn for fraternizing with the younger brother of Sirius left him unsettled. He couldn't imagine the wizened wizard being so callous to the girl, she had tried to see something good in the boy that had not been there in the end. Also, from reading James and Sirius' letters they had been concerned about her, they knew her and cared enough about her condition to reach out to him. They were very interested in the investigation and what had happened, he had read about her injuries and had felt sickened at the thought of them seeing her in such a state.
He stood up from his chair and left his office to find his wife, she would certainly want to know about this development. Dorea Potter had been a Slytherin and a Black before marrying Charlus, she knew how her family worked and she knew how to be cunning and manipulative when she needed to be, thus he ran a lot of his thoughts and ideas through her. He found her sitting in the sitting room writing a letter, most likely to their son, she missed him dearly when he went to Hogwarts every term.
"Dorea, my love," he greeted her, sitting at her side and kissing her neck. She shivered at his touch bringing a grin to his face, after thirty years of marriage, she still reacted strongly to his touch.
"Charlus," she smiled back, her grey eyes shining brightly at him. She turned back to her letter and signed the bottom, 'love from your loving mother', he had been right about her writing James.
"Alastor just stopped by," he told her, she placed the letter in an envelope, signed it for James and Sirius, and called for the family owl, Feathers, named by a five-year-old James. Once she had sent the letter off, she turned to Charlus, and he explained Moody's visit. When he told her Alastor's theory that Albus essentially left Hermione McCallister for dead due to her past friendship with Regulus Black, her eyes flashed in anger.
"Alastor believes that Albus' prejudice against Slytherins and Death Eaters had him neglect a teenage girl?" she hissed through her teeth, "I always did question the decision to make him headmaster. He abhorred Slytherin as a teacher, how they could elect such a biased professor to run the whole school."
"You never did like the man, did you?" Charlus smiled at his wife.
"I may respect him for his role in defeating Grindelwald, but I do not believe in ever falling behind the power of one man," replied Dorea, "If Alastor believes that he is making questionable decisions and holding grudges against the children of Voldemort's followers, then we must keep an extra eye on the ones he ignores. This Hermione McCallister, the poor girl, has been mentioned in many of James and Sirius' letters, we will just have to invite her here to stay over Yule. Albus will not dare question my decisions," smirked Dorea.
Dorea may have married a Gryffindor, a sweet man like Charlus, but she still remembered every lesson her mother and father taught her. The main lesson being to never trust anyone entirely, everyone has a motive, and it was their duty to discover it. Dorea was an expert at discovering people's motives and secrets, she kept the information she learned close to her chest to be used at the right moment. When it came to Albus Dumbledore, she was very aware of his dark secrets, his desire to end Grindelwald, not for the people but for selfish reasons, had removed her rose-tinted glasses concerning the headmaster. She knew now that he was just as manipulative and selfish as the next wizard, especially the power-hungry ones, and he had expertly worked his way into the three top positions in Wizarding Britain.
While many would believe Dorea had no connection to Hermione McCallister, not one that would lead her to protect the girl the way she intended from this moment on, they would be wrong. For Dorea knew, from reading the many letters she had received from her boys at Hogwarts, that Sirius Black cared deeply for the girl.
-oOo-
Albus Dumbledore stormed up to his office above the griffin statue. He was furious, the little chit had proven to be useless and had somehow caused friction between him and Alastor Moody. How did he even know the girl? He had acted so familiarly with her!
Dumbledore dropped into his chair behind his desk and put his fingers to his temples. He had learned absolutely nothing; the entire memory had given him no clues as to what was happening. Dumbledore was not an ignorant wizard; he had been watching the girl for years. She was smart, closed off, friends with two purebloods, and powerful. He had disregarded her in her first year, the girl had befriended a Slytherin, and he had watched that happen every few years, but they always grew apart, Lily Evans and Severus Snape being a perfect example. However, after learning that Minerva had involved herself in protecting her from neglectful parents, he started to watch her more. He had tried to prevent his deputy headmistress from involving herself, he had tried to do so with Tom Riddle and that had turned out disastrously. Once she returned for her second year, he kept a closer eye on her, she had a strong mind that he could not break through casually as he did with other students. Her exam grades were phenomenal, and he watched her perform magic with minimal difficulty.
The young witch had concerned him.
He did not need another Tom Riddle on his hands.
When Alastor had come to him and advised him that McCallister was missing, internally he had rejoiced. He knew it was wrong to wish ill will on a young witch, let alone his student, but her disappearance would prevent him from having to be concerned about a dark witch rising.
After she had been found outside the castle, he had been furious with Hagrid for not informing him immediately, he had to find out after Minerva. The headmaster had tried to send her to St Mungo's, he knew known Death Eaters worked there and would have reported back that she had survived, and they would have neutralized her. Unfortunately, Minerva and Alastor, and even Pomphrey, had adamantly refused and for her safety, she should remain in the castle.
Hoping she would just never wake; he had not concerned himself with her often after that. He had visited a few times to appear like the concerned headmaster while just confirming she was still not awake. He had been surprised seeing Sirius with her, he had not thought they were even aware of each other. Sirius' concern for her was worrying, Sirius was already from a dark family, and he had been so ecstatic to see him remove himself and join their side, Hermione McCallister could ruin all of that.
His hope that she would remain asleep was in vain as she did wake up, she woke up and she did not like him. Her animosity against him had been surprising, had she been conscious of everything happening around her in her coma? Did she hear him say that he wanted her removed from the castle? He didn't believe that was it, no, it was something else that caused her disdain.
When he had walked in after learning that she had awoken, Dumbledore had hoped that her state would have left her mind exposed, yet it had been just as impenetrable as before. He had even tried looking directly into her eyes and had failed, she was much stronger than he had ever anticipated, especially for being a Muggleborn.
Watching her memory had unsettled him, he had taken her for an ally of the Death Eaters, to the Black family. Yet, her torture and subsequent offering to Greyback, pointed towards her being an innocent Muggleborn, targeted for something he had not determined yet. He thought maybe it would have been torture intended to force the dark mark on her but that had not been the case. He needed to observe her much closer following this event, specifically this development with the older Black.
Dumbledore was convinced that Hermione McCallister was hiding many secrets and power and if she was getting close to Sirius Black it was only a question of which way would they turn. Would he sway her to the light, against her old best friends that he knew for certain were marked Death Eaters, or would she sway him to rejoin his own family?
-oOo-
The following morning Hermione woke to find Sirius sitting beside her once more. He looked like he barely slept, sitting in almost the same position as the previous night like he had never left, but he had, she had watched him leave. What she didn't know though, was that not even an hour after Sirius left, he had returned. He had been unable to sleep in his dorm and needed to be close to her, so he had made his way back to the hospital wing and closed his eyes for a short time beside her.
Hermione still felt conflicted inside, she had two lives in her memories now, but she still felt like Hermione McCallister. Learning about Hermione Granger had been interesting, it had given her an explanation behind her magic and why she felt drawn to certain people. Yet, Granger had been such a stick in the mud at times, angry at Sirius Black and those Weasley twins for pranks and jokes, while she just disliked the pranks that bullied others. Granger was also affectionate and surrounded by love, while all she had experienced was loneliness and abandonment.
'Oh, let's not forget the fact I fancy Sirius, and Granger saw him as an irresponsible man-child,' Hermione thought to herself as she looked at the devilishly attractive wizard.
The wizard taking over her thoughts opened his eyes and returned her stare.
"Good morning," she greeted Sirius quietly. He gave her a groggy but large smile that lit up his face.
"Hello, love," he replied, stretching his arms above his head. Hermione's eyes were drawn to Sirius' shirt rising, exposing his navel, as his arms raised, giving her a view of the dark hair located there. She quickly looked away, a blush rising to her cheeks at both his words and her view.
Sirius' grin turned into a smirk when he saw the red moving up her neck and cheeks, he had thought McCallister could never be interested in him. Between her blush at his words and the way her eyes darted to his stomach, this was a good start.
"You ready to be discharged and get out of here?" he asked.
"I guess, not looking forward to the staring," she admitted, her hands fidgeting with her blankets.
"Don't worry about them, you'll be with me and the other Marauders today, no classes according to McGonagall," replied Sirius, comfortingly.
"I'll be fine," she said quietly. Sirius had told her that he missed her, that was why he was at her bedside, and he had told her, just last night before he left, that he would be there for her whenever she needed him. But she wasn't going to hold him to that.
She had lost too many people already that broke that promise.
Granger hadn't though. Granger had friends that stuck by her and fought with her to the end. Harry had been inconsolable when she died.
Therefore, Hermione was still feeling confused, and she felt like she needed alone time to organize her thoughts.
"I told you, Princess, you are stuck with us today," Sirius said teasingly. He didn't want her to go off on her own, didn't want her isolating herself. No, he wanted to spend as much time as he could with her, especially now that she was being discharged. He didn't want any of the Slytherins to send her back to the mediwitch's care.
"Why do you call me that?" Hermione asked him suddenly. His smile faltered at her question, he didn't know why he called her it, it just fit.
"It's just a pet name, Hermione," he replied with a chuckle, "I give them to my friends."
"Oh, is that why you call Potter, Lupin, Pettigrew; Prongs, Moony, and Wormtail?" she asked with bright eyes. She bit her lip to hide a smirk, she knew exactly why they had names, but he didn't know about Granger. He thought she was just teasing him for the names he came up with his friends.
"Exactly," he smiled back at her, "Do you know what they call me?"
"Hmm, I think I heard them call you Snuffles once," she laughed. Sirius stared at her in shock, his eyes wide at her making a joke. She had never made one around him, she had never laughed around him. It was a beautiful sound, one he hadn't heard since before she took her OWLs before the summer. It was the best sound he could have ever heard from her, especially after thinking she would never wake again.
"Snuffles?" he gasped dramatically, "Do I look like a Snuffles to you?!"
"I mean, you did cry over a paper cut," she replied, also remembering the last time they laughed together. To Hermione, it felt like a lifetime ago, yet it felt like yesterday. Between a coma and reliving her entire life and Grangers, the concept of time was still extremely muddled for the witch.
"Oh, now you've done it, Princess," he growled, moving toward her, and tickling her stomach lightly. She was laughing, crying for him to stop, that he was a big, brave wizard that doesn't cry, especially over papercuts.
They were interrupted by Madame Pomphrey entering the curtained-off room to perform a final diagnostic over Hermione. She deemed the witch in perfect health and to return for dressing changes and any concerns. While they had closed her scarred arm with Lily's stitch suggestion, Hermione still required a bandage to cover it until the stitches dissolved. Sirius left the room while the mediwitch helped Hermione change into her jeans and blue jumper, her old clothes looking loose on her frame. Hermione looked at herself in the mirror and grimaced, she hadn't seen herself since before the summer. She had lost a significant amount of weight, her skin was pale and drawn, her eyes were dull, and her curly hair was a complete disaster. How Sirius sat and spoke to her every day, she had no idea. It also reaffirmed her belief that Sirius could never reciprocate her feelings. She had seen the witches he had spent time with, and she certainly wasn't up to his standards before she was captured, now look at her. She had an arm that made him flinch every time he saw it.
Once she was dressed and ready to go, Sirius returned and promised Madame Pomphrey, again, that he would look out for her. Together they left the hospital wing and down the corridor.
"Do you want to come to Gryffindor tower with me?" he asked hopefully, "You see, the boys have been worried about you as well, Lily too."
"Um," Hermione thought about it, Granger wanted to connect with these people, be closer to Harry's parents, and she wanted to save them from that future she saw. That meant that she had to spend time with them, not that being near Sirius was much of a chore, she was learning. She was about to give her answer when she realized something Sirius had said, "Wait, did you just call her Lily?"
Sirius was surprised at her perceptiveness; had she been watching him as much as he watched her?
"Yes, her name is Lily Evans," Sirius replied dismissively.
"No, you don't call her Lily. You call her Evans. Like you call me McCallister, but you have been calling me Hermione since I woke up," Hermione stopped walking and turned to look up at him with a frown.
'What else is expected from the bright witch,' Sirius thought resignedly.
"I think you'll find I call you Princess," he smirked, trying to distract her from the question. He called her Hermione because he wanted something more with her, what James wanted from Lily, and the two boys realized you cannot woo a witch by calling her by her surname. They also used the pet names that they came up with, which were originally to rile the girls up and had evolved into affectionate pet names. While he called Hermione, Princess, James called Lily, Spitfire.
"Sirius," Hermione said slowly.
"What, Princess?" Sirius grinned, "You just called me Sirius, not Black." Hermione squinted her eyes up at him in a glare and turned around, storming away from him. He barked a laugh behind her and followed, running to catch up to her, throwing an arm over her shoulder, "Come on Hermione. I'm just teasing, I'm sorry. I called her Lily because this year seems to finally be Prong's year. She is tolerating him," he leaned down to whisper in her ear. She shivered at the feeling of him whispering in her ear, at the weight of his arm over her.
"You're joking," she replied, pushing him off her with a huff. Sirius would not be deterred though, he simply chuckled and stepped back beside her, returning his arm to her shoulders. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest but left his arm where it was.
"Nope," he said, popping the 'p'. "There is a five galleon bet that he asks her out for the next Hogsmeade visit and she says yes."
"I'll take that bet, raise you to ten that she says yes and that's it," Hermione replied. She knew she was cheating; she knew this was the year James and Lily got together, followed by a summer wedding next year, and then baby Harry conceived before the year ended.
"Woah, Princess, that's a risky bet," Sirius replied in surprise, no one was taking the bet. Everyone just assumed Lily was tolerating James but wasn't interested. Even Sirius thought that James needed to wait longer, he was sure Lily was still going to say no, no matter how much she was warming up to his friend. Hermione had just woken up from a coma after being tortured, hadn't even interacted with his friends except to scream at them with Lily, and yet she was convinced Lily would say yes?
"Not at all, Evans is interested," Hermione said with a casual shrug. Sirius stared down at her incredulously, "Merlin, you boys are completely oblivious. She's liked him since last year, the witch was just stubborn. I always ran into you and yelled at you, she sought you boys out," she said rolling her eyes. Hermione McCallister hadn't seen it, but looking back on it with Granger's memories, it was incredibly obvious. Also, from Granger's perspective, if she thought back to all the interactions McCallister witnessed between Lily and James, she would say Lily liked James a lot sooner than she would care to admit. Probably before losing Severus Snape.
"I'll believe that when I see it, Princess. I lived in the same house as that witch for the last six years and I am telling you, she has hated us since the beginning," Sirius smiled, "I like your confidence for Prongs, though."
They continued walking, Sirius' arm around her shoulder until they reached the Gryffindor common room. Sirius didn't even realize that he was guiding her toward it, but he knew Hermione didn't know where the entrance was, so he must have. Hermione, though, scolded herself for leading them to Granger's old house, she wasn't supposed to know where the common room was at this time. Thankfully for her though, Sirius did not notice.
"Welcome to the best house in the castle!" Sirius announced loudly, before the Fat Lady. Hermione would have made a joke about his certainty of that but refrained. While Hufflepuff wasn't a bad house, it wasn't exactly notable at this time. Granger had watched a Hufflepuff become Triwizard champion, a handsome wizard, but she had also met some exceptionally pompous Hufflepuffs. Ravenclaw, she had learned, was a harsh house to be a part of, she was ostracized for her intelligence and quiet personality, and Granger had watched as Luna Lovegood was cruelly targeted for being different. And Slytherin was self-explanatory, neither of them had good associations with the snake house in the past. Therefore, Hermione stayed silent when Sirius declared Gryffindor the best house, and as Granger agreed, she smiled at Sirius.
"Inviting a Ravenclaw into the lion's den, Black?" the Fat Lady asked the wizard. He simply smirked up at her and gave her a wink with the password, even the portrait couldn't resist the Marauder's charm. Hermione rolled her eyes again and allowed him to take her hand and lead him into the common room. It looked exactly as Granger remembered, the only changes being the condition of the upholstery, having aged over the years.
Sirius and Hermione were barely in the room when a body slammed into Sirius.
"Padfoot!" yelled Remus, so excited he missed Hermione standing there. None of the boys had seen Sirius the night before, he had come to bed so late after Hermione woke up, everyone had been asleep, and he had left before they even woke up. They didn't know that his witch was awake.
'His witch?' he thought. He liked how that sounded, nodding to himself, glancing over at said witch, he knew it was true. She was his. He felt a sense of rightness set in when he thought that. Now he just had to convince her. He was pulled from his thoughts by Remus, once again yelling his name, emphasized by a smack on the back of the head.
"What?!" he snapped, looking at his friend for hitting him.
"Look!" the werewolf Marauder replied, staring wide-eyed toward the window. There, sitting on the cushions under the window, sat James Potter and Lily Evans. Kissing.
"What in the actual fuck?!" he gasped, staring ahead at something he never thought he would see. James Potter had convinced Lily Evans to say yes.
"I think that will be ten galleons," a voice spoke behind them. Remus turned around, his one arm still wrapped around Sirius when he jumped on top of him and stared at the person who spoke. There stood the girl that his other best friend had become attached. Did two miracles just happen in one night?
"McCallister?" he yelled out in shock, catching James and Lily's attention.
The couple jumped up and stared at the younger witch, their eyes wide at seeing her awake, and in the Gryffindor common room of all places.
"I think I've had too many surprises today," sighed Remus, "I need chocolate."
-oOo-
A/N: I hope you enjoyed.
FYI no disrespect to Hufflepuff. I, myself, am a proud Puff, however from Hermione's point of view...we really haven't done anything to use it against teasing Sirius. If this was a Hermione Granger story, I likely would have made her tease back about it but with it being Marauder time and she is in Ravenclaw...not much to work with.
Anyways, please enjoy, favourite, and review.