"I'm so glad you're better!" Peter hung around Hermione's neck excitedly as they walked to potions class.
"Okay Pete, that's enough," Sirius said, wrapping an arm around the front of Hermione's shoulders to shove Peter off of her. She had only just been released by Madame Pomfrey after three days of being cooped up in the Hospital Wing. She wasn't fully recovered but she – along with the four Marauders – had wheedled the nurse into agreeing to let her attend classes again with the promise of not doing anything strenuous.
James snorted behind them, making Sirius turn to glare at him.
"So, the only person who can hang on to her is you?" He asked blasé, pulling Hermione out from under Sirius' arm.
"Hey, I'm not a doll to be passed around you know!" Hermione complained, ducking away from James' hand. She couldn't help the smile that was pulling at her cheeks, reveling in the easy comradery.
Sirius let his scowl drop, not able to stay annoyed. Hermione looked happy. Her cheeks were still flushed from her cold, and she sounded a little nasally, but she was walking on her own two feet and joking with their friends. Often she seemed worlds away and an air of melancholy and trauma would fluctuate around her, and all he could do was sit beside her. He had grown used to seeing her mask, the one that she put on to hide her fear and grief. But for the moment she seemed happy and that made him content.
"The sooner you accept your fate the better, Hermione," Remus intoned with a laugh as she ducked out from under James' arm again.
Sirius shrugged her bag higher onto his shoulder and carried on towards the dungeons. Keeping a close eye on Hermione. There was an unspoken rule not to let her walk at the edges of their group, but she was flitting about avoiding James and Peter's arms.
They arrived to class before the doors opened since they had collected Hermione early and brought breakfast to share in case Pomfrey couldn't be reasoned with. So they set up against a wall with a portrait of a boatmaker and waited for Slughorn to make his way from the Great Hall to let them into the potions lab. There were a few other students milling around. A few Slytherins hovered by the door, their eyes flicking over to them periodically as they whispered to each other. Their low voices were oleaginous, siphoning paranoia into Sirius' mind
Sirius eyed them, ignoring the others chatting around him until he felt a tug on his hand. He looked down to see Hermione's worry tilted mouth.
"You okay?" She asked, squeezing his hand as though to comfort him. Maybe she didn't realize that she was the reason for his concern.
"Yeah," he said, flicking his eyes up to meet the Slytherins. They were staring out right now, slimy smirks decorating their faces like they knew something. "Yeah, I'm alright, Love."
She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes immediately finding the group, and looked back up at him. Her amber eyes were a little uncertain but she smiled at him anyway.
"It's okay. They're not going to do anything here, of all places," she reasoned.
Sirius wasn't so sure he agreed. The longer she had their attention the more he regretted having Hermione leave the safety of the Hospital Wing. But, she wasn't truly safe there either, was she? Regulus had let her know that the Slytherins knew that she slept there and had started to grow curious about her. Because of this Sirius had taken to sleeping over in the infirmary. The fact that he didn't have to hide from Pomfrey anymore was helpful in that regard, and she seemed to be accepting of a guard dog by Hermione's bedside, even if she didn't accept teenage boys.
He didn't respond as Avery and Snape walked by, and he felt Hermione jerk, flinching away slightly, before curling in closer to him.
Remus casually slid over and leaned a shoulder against the wall, effectively blocking Hermione's back from their line of sight. Although he, and the other two of their group, had no idea why Hermione seemed unnerved around the hooked nosed teenager, they didn't question the need to put their guard up.
"Maybe we should ask Reggie to keep an ear open for us," James suggested, in a low voice. "I don't like the way they've been watching 'Mione lately."
"Do you think Regulus would be willing to keep an eye on his housemates and report back to us?" Remus asked skeptically.
"I don't know," Sirius said with a frown.
He knew in the grand scheme of things Regulus was on their side, but not when that turning point happened. Was it only after he found out about the Horcruxes? Or sometime before? Merlin, he wanted to trust his brother, but more than anything he wanted to keep Hermione safe.
"Pete, what do you think? You spend the most time with him since you tutor the fourth years," James asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"The Slytherin's typically don't chat about much more than school and Quidditch for me to know," Peter said, tilting his head a little into a thinking pose. "Reggie is especially quiet unless Quidditch is involved."
At this point most of the class had shown up, including a certain redhead and her friends. Sirius cringed at the sight of Marlene. Even though they had most classes together, it didn't stop the unpleasant gut clench he felt around her. Most of the guilt he had regarding their relationship had dried up after she had verbally degraded Hermione. Now there was just a vague sense of dread and annoyance when she was nearby.
To his surprise, and the surprise of his friends, Lily hesitantly walked over to them. James was practically vibrating next to Sirius in excitement.
"Hey Lily!" He greeted enthusiastically at her approach.
"Potter," she said flatly. She pursed her lips as though she was trying to hold something back.
"Did you need something?" Sirius asked, he meant to keep his voice flat but given the pinch on either side of him and the glares from both James and Hermione, he didn't keep all of his animus to himself.
Sirius noted over Remus' shoulder that Snape's attention was now fixed on the redhead. He was sneering outright at the interaction. He probably couldn't stand Lily talking with them.
"I…uh…I wanted to know if Hermione wanted to join our group today," she said looking a little chagrined as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, glancing at Sirius for a moment before looking back at Hermione.
Although he and Lily had their differences, Sirius didn't doubt that she was acting out of goodwill but when he glanced at the other girls, he could see Marlene's sour expression. He didn't want Hermione going near the blond. He knew that if push came to shove, Hermione could take care of herself; but he didn't want to put her in a position where she had to protect herself in the first place. She had done enough of that for a lifetime.
"I appreciate the offer, but I don't think I'd be a welcome addition to your group," Hermione answered, not unkindly.
Lily's ears turned pink at the observation, and she grimaced a little. "No, I'm sure it'll be fine. Alice would be happy to have you join, and I'll make sure Marlene doesn't say anything. I'm sure you'd get along if you can give her a chance," Lily countered. Sirius was surprised at how insistent she was, but at the same time he knew she wasn't an ill natured person and probably wanted to make up for her past behavior. "Besides, we'll be working in pairs and there are only three of us and five of you," she reasoned, finally.
Hermione's eyebrow rose a bit and she bit her lip in thought. "You're right. The numbers are uneven," she admitted, but then reached around Sirius and grabbed James by the tie and pulled him forward. "Why don't you take James as a partner instead. He'd love to work with you."
Sirius, Remus, and Peter burst into laughter as James looked between Lily and Hermione wide eyed. Hermione had a small victorious smirk on her face.
Lily's mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish and before she could protest, Slughorn waddled down to them, grinning happily.
"Well, what an excellent breakfast this morning! Shall we get started?" He said, cheeks a rosy red.
Hermione grabbed Sirius' hand and dragged him into the classroom ignoring the floundering Lily, the elated James, the glowering Snape and his plotting housemates. Sirius followed her with nothing short of awe. Years of plotting had never gotten Lily to share more than the same classroom together with James but, in the span of one conversation Hermione had trapped her into working an entire class period with him.
Something in his chest flipped.
What would have been a boring potions lab, turned into a small spy operation. While Hermione and a bilious looking Remus actually paid attention to the instructions, Sirius and Peter were busy keeping an eye on the pair a few lab tables away.
Sirius was pulled away from watching James almost make Lily laugh by an elbow to the ribs. He turned to Hermione, who was looking up at him with a mildly annoyed expression. His eyes left hers, being drawn to the frizzy mess the steam from their cauldron made of her hair. It looked like cotton candy. He wanted to touch it. He lifted a hand, intent on playing with the ends.
"Oof!"
Hermione whacked him in the stomach. Not hard enough to hurt but enough to surprise him.
"Are you paying attention now?" She asked. Her bottom lip pouted adorably as she frowned at him. Sirius had to work hard to not get distracted again.
"Yes, yes," he appeased. "Who put extra spunk in your pumpkin juice this morning, Kitten?"
She ignored him and put one hand on her hip. "I asked if you could go get us the mink musk and the peppermint oil from the supply closet. Please?"
He grinned at her and pulled a curl, letting it go to watch it spring back up. "On it," he said before shuffling off to the supply closet.
His good mood was instantly sucked dry when he reached the store room and was greeted with a head of greasy black hair. Snape was rifling through a box of dried rat tails, carefully inspecting each one.
"You almost done?" Sirius asked, crossing his arms and sniffing like he smelled something bad. Which, to be fair, the combination of odors from the potion ingredients and the steaming room of bubbling cauldrons couldn't be called pleasant. Add to it the unwashed stench of the slippery snake in front of him, the aroma became quite noxious.
Snape looked over his shoulder at him and grimaced as though he was seeing a particularly grotesque flobberworm.
Ironic, Sirius couldn't help thinking.
"Unlike you, Black, I care about the quality of my work," he snipped, leaning back on his heels. He turned an eye to give Sirius a stultified glare.
"Clearly," Sirius said with a roll of his eyes. "You care so much about the quality of your work that you don't give a damn about if everyone else can even finish theirs." He pointed his thumb behind him, directing Snape's attention to the three or four students that had lined up behind him.
The sallow skin of Snape's cheeks turned puce, but he stuck his hawkish nose in the air anyway and went back to carefully inspecting each tail.
"Why should I care about how anyone else does?" He sneered. "It's not like the quality of their work will improve if I do."
Sirius sighed and shouldered his way into the store room anyway. If Snape was going to play it that way, he didn't feel the need to be considerate of someone who would eventually become a murderer and child abuser. He reached for the vial of mink musk but "accidentally" tipped it over. The loose stopper prevented it from being a major spill but some dribbled off onto Snape's already pungent head.
"Whoops," Sirius said, righting the vial. He reached over and grabbed the peppermint before turning to leave. "In such a tight space you can't help but knock elbows." He stepped out, ignoring the cursing from the boy behind him.
He slid into his spot next to Hermione, whose hair had grown in volume even more in the time it took for him to retrieve their ingredients. He set the vials down in front of her and reached up to gather her heir.
She jumped a little at the contact, her concentration on her work made her unaware of his approach. "Why took you so long?" She asked.
He twisted her hair up and gently pried her wand – that she had unconsciously snapped up when he startled her – from her clenched hand. He carefully threaded her wand through the bun he made, securing her hair into place before he leaned against the edge of the table. He placed a soothing hand on her low back, thumbing circles into her spine.
"Snivillus is being a pain in the ass," he said, watching her relax. She unstoppered the peppermint oil and tipped a drop out onto her finger. She reached across the table and swiped a green looking Remus under the nose before she leaned back into Sirius' hand.
"Hermione! What –!" Remus started, recoiling from the unexpected action.
"Take a couple deep breaths," she instructed as she dropped another dot onto her index and smeared it onto her upper lip.
Remus did as instructed, looking confused until his pinched eyebrows softened. His mouth opened to ask, but Hermione was already explaining.
"Peppermint is known to help with nausea. It's also a vasodilator so it'll help keep your airways open so you don't get a sinus headache," she explained, returning to the potion and picking up the mink musk. She curled her upper lip to press against her nose as she opened the rather violent smelling liquid. Sirius couldn't help but find it was rather endearing.
Peter rushed to grab the peppermint oil. He quickly followed suit, and applied a generous amount before passing it to Sirius who to be quite honest was feeling a bit nose blind at the moment. But as soon as he did and took a deep breath he realized how foggy headed he had been.
"Whoa!" Remus exclaimed wide eyed. "How did you know to do this?"
"It's an old muggle remedy," she said with a shrug, stirring her cauldron in a zigzag pattern. "Peppermint has something called menthol in it, we've been using it in a number of ways for millennia for various ailments."
"Huh. Really? I thought muggles used those white things that they swallow when they are sick," said Peter looking at Hermione with interest.
Hermione nodded. "Most medication comes from studying the chemical reactions of various plants, and other organic matter, have on the body, and then artificially producing it in a laboratory. It's not all that different from herbology and potion making," she explained, squinting at the shifting yellow hue of their potion.
Sirius had taken to resting his elbow on the work table and had moved on to absently playing with a stray curl by her nape. He liked hearing her explain things. It seemed so natural to her. He was also happy to see Remus looking more relaxed in a potions lab than he's ever seen him. Normally, they would take over the potion making so Remus could just focus on getting through the time spent in the smelly classroom without getting sick.
He glanced over to check on James and was pleased to see both he and Lily had gone pink. Lily looked embarrassed, like she was trying to stay upset but James just grinned rapturously at her as she lectured him.
Sirius couldn't stifle his laugh.
"They're so cute!" Peter cooed, holding his chin in his hands, watching the pair.
Remus craned his head to look. A mischievous smile split his face. "Nearly six years of effort and he's finally making progress," he observed. "I wonder how he's going to screw it up?"
"Oh hush!" Hermione chastised. "Leave them alone."
Sirius nodded but kept watching his best friend interact with the girl of his dreams. He'd have to work hard to get along with Lily if James ever convinced her to go out with him. Although they were best friends – brothers – he didn't think he would win out if it came down to him or Lily.
He felt Hermione's hair cut into the circulation of his finger, prompting him to relax his grip a little on her curl. He felt rather than heard her sigh, as though she had been bracing herself against his grip.
Guilt stabbed him in the chest and he started to withdraw his hand.
She must have noticed his change in demeanor because she snagged his retreating fingers and gave them a gentle squeeze. She didn't say anything, but he somehow felt as if she knew something of what was inside his head.
Although he knew she had known him as an adult, had even seen some of her memories of their time together; there were moments like this where it was startlingly evident that she really knew him. More than just a casual friend. It was what drew him to her, what made him want to devote himself to her and dote on her.
He let himself be mollified and settled their hands on his knee as he watched her stir their potion. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Snape finally slink out of the supply closet.
"Geez, it really took him forever to pick out a rat tail," Sirius said off handedly, his upper lip curling in disgust which wafted some peppermint into his nose. His thumb was absently stroking the back of Hermione's hand as he watched Snape sit down, the Slytherins at the table all recoiled away from him, holding their noses as the scent of the mink musk hit their senses. He couldn't help the chuckled he let out at the success of his small, petty prank.
"Rat's tail?" Remus asked, looking up from his work in confusion. "This potion doesn't call for rat's tails."
"He could be trying to make improvements to the potion. He's done that before. Or he could be doing something entirely else," Peter chimed in. He looked a little peaky at the mention of rat's tails. "He is the top of the class, maybe Slughorn assigned him something more advanced?"
"Could be," Sirius conceded, though not convinced.
"But isn't it odd that Slughorn would let him keep working with Mulicber and Avery? They barely got their OWLs in potions last year," Remus rebutted, a glower had begun to form on his face.
Normally Remus stayed moderately neutral on Sirius and James' feud with Snape. He'd only participate with pranks on the slimy git when directly asked and never instigated them himself. Lately, though, Remus had an aura of restrained hostility when Snape or other Slytherins were nearby. It wasn't really any wonder why, it was just the same as when they all had unconsciously agreed to flank Hermione when walking down the castle hallways.
"Doesn't the professor check our work at the end of class?" Hermione pointed out. "He wouldn't do anything that would get him caught in class."
Both Sirius and Remus frowned and looked at each other.
"We're not likely to find out what they're doing just by speculating," Peter reasoned, his cheek smooshed against his palm. "You can ask him, or do some investigating."
Sirius and Remus nodded. There was no way they were going to ask Snape directly, but they could do some snooping.
"Is there any way I could dissuade you from whatever it is you're planning on doing?" Hermione sighed, turning to look at Sirius. The low light of the dungeon and the flickering flame underneath their cauldron turned her eyes glossy. Like two topaz.
Sirius cleared his throat. "Probably not!" He said, trying to shake off whatever mood had struck him. "Quick, what's a question I could ask Slughorn?"
"Ask him how fine we need to grind the bicorn horn," Remus supplied quickly.
"I'm guessing you actually are wondering?" Peter said, clearly amused.
"Say what you want, an honest excuse is better than a random one," Remus said, sniffing indignantly. His face recoiled in disgust and he reached for the peppermint oil again.
Sirius shook his head and stood up. He casually walked past the other workstations giving a curious look at each one. Most had a similar peachy-yellow color as Hermione's potion, but a few were more orangy or red. He wanted to sneak a closer look at Lily and James while he was at it, but they were on the opposite side of the room, and he was apprehensive about getting close enough to get trapped into an unfortunate conversation with Marlene. The blond hadn't stopped shooting daggers at him or Hermione the entire class.
He glanced down as he passed Snapes table, trying to note anything relevant. The first thing Sirius found was that the potion in question was a seafoam green, the contrast was stark compared to the various warm toned hues of the other potions in class. Meaning that Snape wasn't making alterations to the assigned work, but instead making something completely different.
Slughorn was known to give different assignments or provide special permissions to his top potioneer students, so it wasn't surprising that the professor hadn't said anything about it. But that doesn't mean that Snape wasn't making something for some nefarious purpose.
Without missing a step he made his way to the professor's desk and made his inquiries, not paying super close attention to the answer as he tried to think about what potions were that sort of color. As he headed back he took another glance trying to decipher any potion ingredients that might clue him in. Besides the rat's tail there was some sort of grassy ingredient.
Avery sent him a mocking leer as Sirius passed by. In response, Sirius waved his hand in front of his nose.
"Ugh, I can't believe how bad this part of the room smells!" He let his eyes slide over their group contemptuously.
He made it back over to Hermione, Remus, and Peter and sat down. They looked at him expectantly.
"It's a pale greenish color," he provided. "There weren't many ingredients left on the table besides the tail and some sort of grass."
Hermione caught her chin with her thumb, her index finger pressed against her lips and tapped.
"Green isn't exactly an uncommon potion color," she said, contemplatively.
"Those potion ingredients will narrow it down a little bit, but they're common enough that we're unlikely to be able to pinpoint the exact recipe. Also, the potion might not have the same color at its end result," Remus pointed it out, even as he started flipping through the index of their textbook.
A moment later Slughorn announced that the class was about to end and to clean up and properly store their half finished potions until their next class. Sirius watched Snape to see if he was following the same instructions. The other student placed a soft cover over the potion rather than bottled the mixture, indicating that the potion needed time to aerate. Sirius added that to what they knew about the potion.
Sirius was swinging Hermione's bag onto his shoulder and picking up his own when Lily and her entourage walked past them on their way out of the classroom with her face rubescent. She looked thoroughly discombobulated.
James caught up with them with a dopey, glazed look in his eyes.
"'Moine, you are truly spectacular!" He praised as he grabbed her and hugged her head to his chest. "I owe you a million!"
Sirius felt a sense of deja vu as he pried James' arms off of Hermione. The bespectacled boy was pressing obnoxiously loud kisses into her hair as Sirius tried to fight him off of her.
"I take it, that it went well?" Remus asked as he walked ahead of them, not paying attention if they were following or not.
James let go of Hermione to gush about into the werewolf's ear about his time with the redhead. The sudden slack on her body had her stumbling into Sirius. He caught her, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, letting the lingering scent of peppermint wash over the the niggling smell of less pleasant potion ingredients that percolated into their clothes and hair.
"Oh no," Peter sighed from next to them. His expression was that of someone watching a train wreck.
"I thought Sirius was the one who needed a leash," said Remus in dismay.
Sirius felt Hermione choke on a laugh from under his arm.
They were near the Front Hall, James had decided to catch up to Lily. He grinned in a way that only a teenage boy with a grand idea could grin. As he skidded in front of her, he conjured a red rose and knelt before her, holding out the rose like some medieval knight presenting a token to his lady.
"Lily Evans! Will you go out with me this weekend?" James asked. Loudly.
The congregation of students around them burst into laughter and giggling, as well as a few wolf whistles and cheering. Sirius laughed along even as he lamented all the progress his friend had just made going down the drain. It wasn't an unusual display from James, who had been making similar exhibitions of his adoration since third year. Regardless of how poorly they were received.
Remus palmed his face and shook his head as Peter looked up at the ceiling as though in prayer. Hermione watched with a slack jaw, looking like her brain had screeched to a halt as she tried to process what she was witnessing.
"Why you! You-!" Lily shrieked in mortification, her face first went bloodless then to a beet red in rapid succession. "You TOERAG, Potter!" She covered her cheeks with her hands. In a fit of accidental magic, the rose jerked from James' hand and shot up his nose. It knocked him over onto his butt, his hands automatically flew to his nose as he yelped in surprise and pain.
Lily's cheeks went white again when she saw the blood starting to drip from James' nose.
"Oh! Merlin! Are you okay? James are you alright? God, I'm so stupid. I didn't mean to. Oh god!" Before Sirius or any of their friends could move to help, Lily was helping James stand, pulling out a handkerchief and holding it to James' nose – with the rose still sticking out of it like some weird growth. "You need to get to the Hospital Wing," she said, her eyes tearing up in guilt.
Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Hermione all watched as James was carted away. The stars in his eyes conveyed to them that he was nearly oblivious to the blood currently ruining his shirt.
"I asked him to let me know when he was going to ask her out again," an annoyed voice nearby.
Sirius looked over his shoulder to see Regulus coming from the opposite direction, with an irritated expression on his face that was only betrayed by the twitching of his pursed lips.