Soft chattering woke Hermione. Her head felt heavy, like a vise was putting pressure on all sides of her skull, but it wasn't pounding anymore. The room around her seemed dimmer, the light diffused throughout the space much more gently than when she had woken earlier. For a moment she shut her eyes and listened to the voices on the other side of her curtain, recognizing Sirius immediately and then the other Marauders. There was another voice that cropped up occasionally as well. It reminded her of watching Inspector Morse with her mom. It had a well-bred and carefully enunciated quality that wouldn't be out of place monologuing the results of a case. She listened to it for a while, drifting in and out of a doze until she just couldn't sleep anymore.

When she sat up vertigo hit her, making nausea tighten the back of her throat. She must have made some sort of noise because the curtain was pulled back to reveal Remus' concerned face.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" He asked, reaching out as though to steady her.

"Ugh, yeah. Just a little dizzy," she rasped, her throat was still raw.

Remus nodded in understanding as he helped her stand when he saw her trying to get up. He steadied her with an arm across her shoulders as she made her way out of her small enclosure. Leading her to a seat that was out with the others, he had her sit.

James popped up from his seat and grabbed a blanket to wrap it around her shoulders. He frowned a little as he looked her over and placed the back of his hand on her forehead.

"How's your fever? Are you feeling any chills?" He asked, scrutinizing her red nose, his hazel eyes going a little crossed.

She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her at the look on his face as she swatted his hand away. She quickly moved her hand to cover her mouth and turned away from him when her laughter irritated her throat and set her coughing.

It alarmed the boys around her as they all seemed to start and move toward her. Remus patted her back, trying to soothe her fit.

She waved them off. "I'm fine. I promise. It's just a cold." Her words did nothing to comfort them apparently, as they continued to hover. "Are you okay, Remus? You look like you could use a lie in," she asked, glancing up at his pallid features.

He smiled down at her, his baby-blues crinkled up but it didn't hide that he was clearly still recovering from the full moon. "I'm alright, Hermione. I just stayed up too long working on homework," he lied.

She just nodded, not calling him out on the falsehood and went about looking around the room, finally taking notice of the other infirmary occupant.

She knew immediately that he was Regulus Black. It felt like the air had been sucked out of her. He was handsome – of course – with his shiny black hair and trademark grey eyes. He was slighter than Sirius, thinner, with a more delicate bone structure and leaner muscle, and a sharp cynical gaze. He stared at her analytically, like he was weighing her components before determining her value.

This boy would die a hero and no one would know until nearly two decades later and after nearly everyone who he loved was dead and gone. He would struggle with his morality with no one to help him or encourage or guide him, surrounded by those that would slit his throat for mere thought that the ideology he was raised on could be wrong. Yet he would act on his convictions even without support or anyone backing him but a loyal house elf.

She swallowed, letting the sore grittiness of her throat pull her out of her thoughts. She gave him the warmest smile she could as she introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Hermione," she croaked. "You're Sirius's brother right?"

His eyebrow rose, but nodded after a split second. "Yes. I'm Regulus Black. I'd ask how you knew, but I think the family resemblance speaks for itself," he drawled, confirming that he was the other voice she had heard.

"It's nice to meet you," she tried to inject as much friendliness into her tone as her creaky voice would allow.

His other eyebrow rose to meet the other. "Is it now?" He asked cryptically.

Her smile slipped for a moment, his somewhat standoffish demeanor threw her. She wasn't sure what she was expecting from him. He was currently a pureblood heir, much like Malfoy had been. Though, he seemed keener than Malfoy – more calculating. It was surprising to see from a fourteen or fifteen year old boy.

She changed topic, turning towards Remus and James – who were hovering like mother hen's once more.

"Where are Sirius and Peter?" She asked them, honestly surprised to see them absent, given that Sirius would normally be the first to reach her side.

"Getting lunch for all of us," answered James, pulling a chair to sit closer to her. "We were going to wait until you woke up, but we were all getting pretty hungry."

"Do you have anything you specifically want to eat?" Asked Remus. "I can run down to the kitchens and intercept them before they finish up. They just left a minute ago."

She shook her head quickly. "No, no. It's fine, I'm sure whatever they bring back will be fine. I'm not even that hungry " she reassured him, but winced a little, her throat reaching a breaking point.

"Oh! I think Sirius was supposed to make you a special tea when you woke," exclaimed James, springing up from his seat and heading over to a tea service on the matron's desk. She tried not to laugh at his concentrated face as he read over various jars of different tea blends. He eventually called Remus over to help him and they both ended up standing over the teas trying to determine the correct one.

She caught the sound of a snort from the other occupied bed and looked over at Regulus. Except for a particular glint in his eye there was no sign that he had laughed at all. He caught sight of her observing him and turned his eyes to study her as well.

She wondered what he saw in her disheveled state. Her hair was probably a birds nest and her nose was likely red with congestion – she was an unimpressive figure at the best of times, even when she wasn't ill. His grey eyes – a shade darker than Sirius', she noticed – rolled carefully over her, stopping here and there cataloging points of interest. Notably the thin silver-red scar on her neck, and the bandages on her arm. Her chest was covered, keeping the gold, glittering time-sand embedded in her skin hidden from prying eyes.

"You are new to this school, yes?" He asked softly. It still surprised Hermione, as she hadn't expected him to speak first.

She nodded, using her sore throat as an excuse to not answer more than she needed to.

"Hm…" He hummed contemplatively.

He seemed like he wanted to ask more but refrained. Either from a place of mercy for her poor vocal cords, or because they were barely acquainted enough for the question. She could see the cunning glint in his eye, typical of Slytherins, but she wasn't quite sure if it made her feel uncomfortable or not. He was a hero in her mind but she also knew at this time she couldn't be sure of where his allegiance lay. Was he ever fully convinced of pureblood superiority? Or did he just go along with the doctrine out of self preservation? But she knew that they would need to be a lot closer for her to even consider psychoanalyzing him.

"Hey! 'Mione," called James from across the room, making her jump a little. No one but Ron had ever used that nickname, and coming from him it had always felt awkward. Oddly, when it was spoken so casually from James it felt like an actual term of endearment and made her chest feel warm with affection. "Do you remember which tea you drank?"

A cup of lukewarm water was shoved into her hands after she grimaced in pain trying to clear her throat to answer. She glanced up to see the slate grey eyes of Regulus, his long fingers still grasping the cup in wait for her fingers to take their grip. She took the cup with a nod of thanks and taking a few sips. His guileful eyes slipped from hers like a snake slipping from a drain. Hermione suppressed a shudder at the thought and turned her attention to James' tea quest. She described the flavors to the best of her ability, and before long they had settled a hot cup in her hands, the menthol from the herbs steamed up to open her sinuses and clear her foggy head.

She listened quietly as James and Remus chatted as she sipped her honeyed tea, feeling a little more human. They were talking about past quidditch matches, clearly trying their best to include Regulus in their discussion. It made her smile into her mug.

Before too long the double doors opened and Sirius and Peter came in, their arms full of food containers.

"Hermione! You're up," exclaimed Peter with a grin. His round cheeks puckered up under his eyes endearingly.

Sirius discarded his arm load and hurried over to her. He kneeled in front of her and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead.

"Are you feeling okay, Kitten?" He asked urgently. "You're not light headed are you? Or in any pain?"

She smiled at him gently and grabbed his hand, drawing it from her face. "I'm fine," she rasped, quietly looking into his concerned silver eyes. Dark strands of hair came loose from his tied back hair, brushing his defined jaw handsomely. "James and Remus made me some of that tea with honey, it's been helping." She thumbed the back of his hand soothingly. He really was a worrywart.

He continued to look at her skeptically, before he conceded and stood up. He gathered up a container and pulled up a side table for her, setting out a meal of soup, bread, and some fruit.

She raised her eyebrows at him, quirking her lips in an amused smile. "Chicken soup?" She asked humorously.

He cracked a smile. "Not my idea, promise," he swore, hand over his heart. "Pomfrey already put in an order with the elves, we just had to pick it up. But I did remember to snag you some chocolate cake, to ruin her perfectly balanced meal plan for you."

She coughed out a laugh at the same time Remus splattered indignantly, sitting up from his seat. His eyes were wide and his mouth agape for a moment before he regained his bearings.

"Excuse me, you better have brought some of that cake for me or else you should sleep with one eye open tonight!"

The earnestness of his threat nearly had Hermione choking. Sirius tapped the mug in her hands to remind her to drink some of the tea, clearing a bit of the phlegm that had gathered during her relentless giggles.

"Moony, I promise no one would dare forget to bring you your fair share of chocolate," Sirius said, appeasingly. His hands came out in the universal hand sign for calm down.

Peter scurried over to the table and started handing out lunch. The cake was revealed before everyone had even started on the more nutrient-dense portion of the meal to assuage the suspicious side-eyeing Remus was giving Peter and Sirius. It was a small, chocolate layered round cake with a fudgy icing spread all over. The elves had deemed it more efficient to provide a whole cake, given their own experience feeding hungry teenagers, as well as their personal dealings with the werewolf.

They all ate, the real food almost completely overlooked by the boys as they chatted about useless things. Hermione contentedly listened to the conversation, letting the ridiculousness of their discussion over which of the teachers they speculated were secretly having an affair amuse her.

"You didn't see the way Professor Batts looked at Professor Sprout when he came in for some fresh assam," Peter argued his point. Folding his arms over his chest, his plate of cake in one hand and his spoon in the other.

"I don't know, Pete. It doesn't seem like he has a thing for her to me." James sat in his chair backwards, eating a piece of cake over the backrest. "I never even see them sit next to each other at the high table."

"We'll, I'm the only one who takes both Divination and Herbology, and I see Professor Batts visit the greenhouses more often than even Madame Pomfrey," sniffed Peter authoritatively. He shoved a cookie into his mouth from a stash he brought along with lunch.

"To be fair, you said Batts has been on a tea leaf reading kick since the beginning of term. He has every grade working on it, " pointed out Remus who was sitting cross-legged on the floor with the cake tray in his hands, unashamedly working through the remaining third of the chocolate confection.

"Why do you think he's been on a tea leaf reading kick?" Sirius asked. He eyed her empty soup bowl as though making sure she finished her carrots before handing over her slice of cake. "It's clearly because he needs an excuse to see her more frequently." He stood behind Hermione's chair, detangling and plaiting her hair into thick dutch braids, while she sucked chocolate icing off of her spoon. His own cake was laying on the side table waiting for him. Though the way it was being ogled by a pair of blue eyes from the floor, Sirius might not get a chance to eat his share.

Regulus, who was nearly as silent as Hermione, watched the conversation like a tennis match. His cake was sitting half eaten on his bedside table.

"Is this really what you spend your time discussing?" He asked incredulously.

"Oi! And what do you discuss with your compatriots in the dungeons? Hypothetical political stratagems?" Asked James with mock defensiveness. "How droll!"

Regulus went an odd sort of pink, which set the Marauders off into uproarious laughter.

"Wait," James wheezed holding out his hand, still clenching his spoon. "Are you serious?"

Regulus groaned already knowing what was coming as soon as the words left James' mouth.

"I know we look alike, mate," Sirius said, his shit eating grin evident from his voice behind Hermione. "But I'm clearly Sirius and that's Reggie."

James and Regulus simultaneously chucked their spoons at him, making Sirius laugh and duck to cover Hermione to prevent their bad aim from hitting her.

Despite her cold, and the achy feeling that persisted in her bones even after taking her pain medication, Hermione felt lighthearted for once. That afternoon had been so hopeful for her. Most of the time she spent with the Marauders was fun and blithe but from what she remembered of the stories that Professor Lupin and Sirius had told her, that wasn't unusual. What made a difference was the look of hope Sirius had on his face when he was interacting with Regulus.

She couldn't remember Sirius talking about anyone in his immediate family with any degree of fondness, but anytime he mentioned his little brother there was a note of melancholy behind that acerbic tone of his. Like underneath the bitterness was a man who regretted the estrangement of a beloved.

She rolled over and looked up at the moon beams that hit the vaulted ceiling, tugging the blanket up over her neck a bit more to shield her from the chilled air of the Hospital Wing. Despite the pleasant mood she still felt a little uncomfortable being left alone with the younger Black sibling. But Regulus' presence restricted Sirius from sneaking back in to watch over her, though she wouldn't be surprised if he and the others were keeping an eye on things via the Map.

She could hear him shift in his bed and wondered if he was also lying awake thinking about the day he inadvertently spent with his brother and friends. A part of her wanted to pick his brain about it, to try and gage what kind of work needed to be done to save him, but the other part was overtly aware of her disadvantage in the situation.

She sighed, pressing the back of her wrist into her forehead as she stared up. She jumped a little when his voice floated over to her.

"You're awake?"

It was more of a statement than a question but she still answered.

"I'm awake."

The sound of bed clothes being pulled back, bare feet padding across the stone floor reached her before her curtain was opened and Regulus was standing in front of her, his arm still in its sling. She sat up quickly, conscious of the vulnerability in her prone position.

"Mind if I sit?" He gestured to the end of her bed.

She shook her head and he sat at the edge of her mattress. He watched her for a moment, like he had earlier in the day.

"I can't figure it out," Regulus mused.

She quirked an eyebrow at him, silently asking him what he meant.

"I mean, you show up out of nowhere and suddenly Sirius and his friends are at your beck and call," he explained, perplexed. "Crouch mentioned how they acted like enraged hippogriffs just 'cause he got a bit short with you, but I couldn't quite believe that Sirius could give a damn about anyone besides his posse, let alone a girl that showed up in the school out of nowhere."

He scoffed a little at the end. His derisive and blasé tone irked Hermione but she held her tongue. There was a lot of hurt between the two boys and it wouldn't do anything to help bridge that divide if she became antagonistic.

"I don't know what you mean. From what I've seen Sirius gives plenty of damns about others," she answered, trying to keep an unconcerned and genial tone to her voice.

Regulus snorted, a surprisingly undignified and inelegant noise to come from the heir. He opened his mouth but closed it again and seemed to think better of whatever was on the tip of his tongue. He sighed and scratched the back of his neck. It struck Hermione how different the two brothers were. While Regulus weighed his words out carefully, Sirius would have spoken reactively when talking about or around a personal wound.

"I guess we can chalk it up to different experiences," he conceded. "But if I were you, I wouldn't trust someone who abandoned their family to stick with me." He tapped his foot on the floor, the soft pat pat from the stone was the only indication of his agitation.

She crossed her arms, unintentionally drawing his eyes to her bandaged arm. His eyes lingered on it, curiosity seemed to brighten his eyes, but he once again didn't ask. She cleared her throat, the painful scraping sensation in the back making her wince, but she succeeded in drawing his gaze away from her scarred arm.

"I wonder who abandoned who first," was all she could think to say.

It almost looked like she had slapped him. His surprised eyes made her heart ache. She couldn't be sure in the moonlight, but she thought tears may have sprung up into his eyes. As intelligent as he was, he was only a child. There were harsh truths about his family, about what his brother had to go through – about the cruelty of his family – that he might not be able to fully comprehend. Regulus was everything a pureblood heir was supposed to be, even if he had his own thoughts and moral conflicts, he was clearly capable of internalizing them. Sirius' own differences were ousted as soon as the sorting hat touched his head.

"It might not be my place to say this, but it meant the world to Sirius to spend the day with you and his friends. I know he loves you very much," she said, now quite sure it wasn't the moonlight playing tricks on her as she watched him turn his head to hide his face.

"Well, you already seem to have your opinions settled," he said flatly getting up and moving towards his own cot.

He turned briefly, right outside the divide in the curtain, his eyes pale in the moonlight. "Because you are my brother's friend I will warn you, your sudden appearance has become a hot topic among some of my housemates and the fact that you sleep here has become apparent to them. I don't know if that's something that should concern you or not–" they don't know your blood status – "but I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to…investigate."

A trill of fear shook her spine. It shouldn't be shocking that people knew where she was sleeping, it wasn't exactly being hidden, but the fact that it had become a point of interest among the Slytherins had her unnerved. The look that Snape had given her in the Great Hall hadn't just been her paranoia.

They were curious about her.

"Goodnight Hermione."

The curtain swayed shut and his bed sheets rustled as he settled in for the night. But all Hermione could hear was the pounding of her heart between her ears.