Chapter 3
It felt as though summer vacation had hardly begun before Hermione was packing her trunk for Hogwarts again. The summer had mainly consisted of consoling Lily after Petunia had been more cruel than usual, laying in the soft plush grass while talking with Lily and Severus, writing letters to her friends from Hogwarts, and sneaking away whenever she could to continue her planning on defeating the dark lord. It had come to a point where she had hundreds of rolls of parchment all tucked away in her sock drawer. No matter how many words she scribbled onto paper however, she still felt no closer to reaching her goal. On the contrary, she only felt incredibly overwhelmed with all she had left to do. And being around her loving and warm family only made her wish she could disappear into this life and that she, even for a moment, could pretend that nothing bad would befall the world and that she was nothing more than a normal twelve year old with a light heart and youthful soul. But her soul was forever burdened by the horrors of her past life, ones she could never forget, and that's what kept her up to the wee hours of the morning, furiously recording new theories on where the diary and cup might be.
So yes, summer had gone by rather too fast for Hermione's liking, but there wasn't much she could do about it as the night before she was set to board the train was upon her. Lily had found herself in her sister's room, sprawled out across the bed sheets, her wild red hair fanned out along the pillows. Hermione was still packing all her things as Lily was voicing all her worries for the new school year.
"Do you think those boys, James and Sirius, will still be cruel to Severus?" Lily pondered, looking over at her sister who was currently folding her new school robes. Hermione could only shrug at her twin. Upon her silence, Lily continued, "I don't care what Sev says, if I see them picking on him, I'm going to say something.
To this, Hermione sighed. "You know he'll only get mad at you," She reminded her.
"Which is absolutely absurd. If he wants them to stop why won't he accept my help?" Lily questioned in return.
"He has too much pride," Hermione simply replied.
"I just wish those boys would stop. It beats me how someone as nice as Remus can be friends with them," Lily mused.
Hermione looked to her sister now, somewhat surprised by her words. She hadn't remembered Lily mentioning anything about Remus before. In fact, Hermione had heard little of Remus at all in her first year. He seemed to remain under the radar and of course Hermione knew why, but it still managed to fill her with uncertainty. She desperately wished to become Remus's friend, but felt rather unsure how to approach him.
"Remus?" Hermione asked, her attention now fully upon her sister, her robes forgotten.
"Yes, you do know him right? He's the tall one in our year in Gryffindor. I spoke to him a bit last year. He was rather nice to me and I would like to consider him a friend, but towards the end of the year I started to see him more and more with Potter and Black and that other boy--Peter," Lily explained.
Hermione shrugged, "Well they can't be all bad then, if Remus is friends with them?"
Lily seemed a bit stumped for a minute and struggled to find an answer. "It doesn't take away from how cruel they are to Severus, not even in the slightest," She finally settled upon.
It would take a few more years, it seemed, for Lily to grow to like James, no matter how hard Hermione tried to speed up that process. So, Hermione simply nodded to her sister before turning her attention back to packing. There was not much Hermione could do towards the plan this year either. As it was, she was still a young girl with little influence over the workings of the world. It could only be when the First Order of the Phoenix would be assembled that she would be of any real use with her extensive knowledge. But that was far off in the future and too close to the deaths of James and Lily. She was going to have to find the Horcruxes before then. She was going to have to make Voldemort mortal so the Order could have even the slightest chance of killing him. At times, Hermione could scream with all the troubles that laid on her shoulders and ask whatever driving force had done this to her, had placed the fate of the world in her small hands, if it could kindly point her in the right direction. But there were no answers for her, only the vast feeling of isolation. It was only her. It was all up to her.
The next morning, when the Evans twins raced to the departing train, hopping on at the last second (Petunia had gotten into a rather nasty fight with them and it had made them late), they could not find Severus at all. It had been agreed that they would meet each other on the train to share a compartment, as they had done a year prior. But no matter how hard they looked, he was nowhere to be found.
"Oh, you don't think he's missed the train, do you?" Lily asked, unable to hide her worried tone.
But as Lily had just begun voicing the words, Hermione spotted a boy with familiar long, dark hair and a pointed nose. "Oh," She whispered as soon as she recognized the boys he was sitting with. He was in his own compartment, sitting across from two boys with terrible sneers and green robes.
"Oh," Lily reiterated once she followed Hermione's line of vision, "He's found his own friends it seems."
Hermione could only nod. He was with Avery and Mulciber. Lily and Hermione had already heard some terrible things about them, but as Severus had already made friends with the boys, there wasn't much they could do to persuade him otherwise. Besides, maybe it was good making friends of his own. After all, Hermione and Lily had found themselves an entirely new group of friends, one that did not include Severus (as he was always quick to point out). It was only fair. Still, Hermione knew all too well of the terrible path these friends of Sev's would lead him down.
"Oi! Hermione! Lily!"
The two twins whipped around to find a tall and lanky blonde-haired girl waving wildly at them. Hermione quickly recognized this to be Marlene McKinnon. It seemed she had hit a growth spurt over the summer. She now towered over both Lily and Hermione, who were stuck at a height of 5'0" and had sadly grown little over the summer.
"Marlene!" Lily exclaimed happily in reply. She rushed to her friend and threw her arms around her to envelope her in a rather large embrace. Hermione followed closely in pursuit and gave Marlene a hug once Lily pulled away.
"I thought I recognized the bushy hair," Marlene joked, affectionately tugging on a piece of Hermione's hair, causing Hermione to scowl. This led a boisterous laugh to erupt from Marlene's mouth. "Lighten up there Mione, I was only kidding. Now c'mon- Mary, Dorcas, and I have saved a compartment. We've been waiting for ages for you two to show up."
Together, Lily and Hermione followed the tall blonde as she led them down a series of compartments until finally, she tugged them into one where Dorcas sat reading and Mary sat brushing her hair. Upon their arrival, however, the two girls stopped their activities immediately and threw themselves up to greet their friends. After a few minutes of bubbled laughter, gushy 'hello's, and warm hugs, the five girls found themselves settled into their seats as the train chugged it's way off to Hogwarts, merrily recounting their summers. It was another moment that filled Hermione's heart with such nostalgic memories of her train rides with Harry and Ron. No longer would she be able to accompany her two greatest friends on their journey to another year at Hogwarts, but as she looked upon the four girls who's hysterical laughter at another one of Marlene's jokes danced around the compartment, she found the thought no longer caused her as much anguish as before.
Hermione truly hadn't meant to be late to her first lesson of the year. It was just, she believed she had found a lead on the cup and had stayed up all night to mull it over in her mind, but it wasn't until 4 in the morning that she realized the theory to be inconclusive. Then and only then, had she finally allowed her heavy lids to shut. And now they had reopened 10 minutes past the starting of class. She rushed to get ready, cursing herself for having wasted so much time on such a pointless effort.
By the time she was racing into Defense Against the Dark Arts, everyone was already settled in their seats and the lesson had begun. Hermione gulped as Professor Thorne, a rather tall, slender, and strict older woman, shot her a pointed glare.
"There you are, Ms. Evans, a whole 20 minutes late to my first class of the year. How very disappointing. I hope this is merely a mistake and one you will not bear to repeat. Now please, take a seat," the professor instructed.
Hermione's face beamed the color of her robes as she searched for a spare seat. Even if she was a new Hermione, she was still condemned to her habits of old that instructed her to always strive to please the teacher. Now, she felt only ashamed she had disappointed Professor Thorne so. As she searched, she caught the apologetic faces of her friends, all sitting with one another with not an empty seat in sight. She lowered her brows at them at them. How could they not have woken her up and allowed her to be so late?
Finally she found the only unoccupied seat beside her old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin. She sat down tentatively beside him and he spared her a small smile before quickly glancing away. It felt odd to know that in this life, Remus hadn't even met Hermione. In her old one, he was her teacher, her mentor, her friend. And now, she was merely a stranger to him. These double memories were enough to give her a headache. It was like looking at one's reflection on the surface of water, your own image bears resemblance but the reflection around is distorted, unknown, a completely different world entirely.
It was odd to see Remus this way, so young with not a hint of gray. He was shorter than before, of course, and he had a youthful face free of worry lines. In fact the only feature that served as testament to the Remus the old Hermione had know was the set of scars from his werewolf attack. His beautiful, kind face, marred by the creature he was cursed to become.
Professor Thorne carried on with the lesson. They were learning the proper defenses against a Red Cap, and Hermione had to hide her smile. She had learned this all before from the boy sitting right beside her. But nevertheless, she listened and scribbled notes dutifully to carry on the mirage that this was her very first lesson on such creatures. When the lesson was almost at an end, Professor Thorne turned away from the board and addressed the class.
"Now, for your first assignment, I would have you working in pairs. Turn to the person beside you, they will be your partner--" Hermione and Remus looked at one another and shared another small smile "--As Red Caps are most dangerous to those on their own, I will have you first working in pairs before you endeavor to fight one on your own. With your partner, research ways in which you may repel a Red Cap and select one to have prepared so that you may both demonstrate for me next class. That is all, class dismissed."
As Hermione began to collect her things she turned to Remus, grateful to have him as her partner. Not only did it mean they would undoubtedly get a good grade, but it also meant she would have an excuse to speak with him.
"We should meet," she began," in the library some time to research and all. Oh, I'm Hermione by the way." She then stuck out her hand, but the way Remus glanced at it made her feel insecure. Whatever doubts he might have had, he shook it nonetheless.
"Right, I know who you are," he said with an apologetic smile and she felt stupid, which was not at all a welcome feeling for Hermione. Of course he knew who she was, they're in the same house for crying out loud.
"I'm Remus," he added which made her feel a bit better that he also felt a need to introduce himself.
"Right," Hermione echoed, "so when should we meet for the library?"
"What about Thursday?" He suggested, "at 3? I should be free then."
"That works!" Hermione agreed a little too enthusiastically for her liking.
Remus smiled but before he could say anything more, three boys found their way over. Hermione quickly recognized them as James, Sirius, and Peter. James hadn't changed much from last year, only that his hair had managed to get all the more messier (it made Hermione smile to see how closely he resembled Harry). Sirius, however, had grown in height and was sporting a new smirk that didn't quite suite a childish face, while Peter, Hermione noticed, had grown only in width, but Hermione didn't like to look long. The sight of him was a revulsion in itself, a mere echo of the traitor he would soon become.
"Oi, Remus, let's get a move on," James called, "stop flirting with Evans 2.0 over here."
Hermione wasn't as insulted by the insinuations of flirting than she was by the nickname. "Evans 2.0?" She repeated, bewildered.
"Well we can't exactly call you Evans now can we? Then we'd get you confused with Lily," Sirius explained.
"Why don't I get to be Evans? How come I have to be Evans 2.0--" But then Hermione caught herself.
"--You know what," she said, pulling her bag over her shoulder, "this isn't even worth arguing over, I have class to get to. Good bye, Remus, see you Thursday."
Remus offered her a small wave while James laughed as Sirius called, "Try not to be late to this one!", causing Hermione to stalk out the door.
Sure, James and Sirius would become great men, but in their adolescence they were nothing short of annoying. What served as the primary aggravation to Hermione, however, was the fact that she was actually annoyed by the nickname, but c'mon Evans 2.0, was there really nothing better they could come up with? She was so lost in her thoughts, she almost ran into her friends who were waiting outside for her.
"I'm really sorry, Hermione," Lily said immediately, truly looking apologetic. Lily knew how important studies were to Hermione. "I should have checked to make sure you were awake, but well . . ."
"You're always the first of us up anyway," Marlene cut in, "I never thought I'd live to see the day Hermione Evans was late to class. I mean, how can you even face yourself in the mirror, you monster?!"
"Stop it!" Hermione cried causing Marlene to laugh all the more.
"Ignore Marlene," Mary instructed, "we just assumed you were already awake, that's all."
"Yeah, it wasn't until we reached class that we realized our mistake but by then it was too late," Dorcas finished.
Hermione glanced at their faces, they all appeared to be telling the truth which made her feel a bit better, despite the chesire grin still gracing Marlene's face.
"Alright," she gave in, "I guess I believe you. It's my fault anyway, I was just up late reading."
Marlene rolled her eyes, "Of course you were."
And with that the five girls hooked arms and headed off to their next class.
Hermione went through the next few days making absolute certain she didn't sleep in. She couldn't afford anymore sleepless nights wasted on inconclusive theories. The only thing she could do now was focus on obtaining an object that would destroy horcruxes, then she could begin her mad hunt for them. She knew she was going to have to venture down into the chamber of secrets and collect venom from the basilisk. The only part she wasn't sure one was whether to attempt to take a fang as well, or search for a weapon made of goblin-wrought silver, or simply try injecting the horcrux with the venom. Taking a fang seemed too risky, finding a weapon of goblin-wrought silver for an affordable price too rare, and she had absolutely no idea if simply injecting the horcrux with with venom would actually work. All in all, she was entirely in over her head. Unless of course, she could get her hands on the sword of Godric Gryffindor, she wasn't sure what to do. Fiendfyre was always an option, but Hermione shuddered at the thought. Even with her skill, she doubted she could control it.
On top of trying to save the world, Hermione also had to keep up with her studies. Which meant meeting with Remus on Thursday at 3. As promised he was already there when she arrived. He was sitting at an open table, the seat beside him saved by the placement of his bag. Hermione quickly made her way over to him.
"Hello," she greeted.
He smiled in reply and gestured to the textbook he had out. Already he had flipped to the section on Red Caps. Hermione marveled at the fact she finally had a partner who was prepared to put in as much effort as she. Ron and Harry were helpless in that category of course.
"Now, I've been reading," Remus began, "and there are a number of hexes we could try."
And so they delved right into their project, flipping through the pages of their textbook and consulting other sources as well. They found various methods, but they would need one that performed the best job. Finally, after great debate and intensive intellectual conversation, they decided upon the beautification potion that would no doubt cause the creature to be disgusted by their own beauty. This, of course, would mean they would need to brew the potion themselves.
"I'm sure if we asked Slughorn he would be more than obliging," Hermione suggested. Over the past year, she had become a favorite of Slughorn's. It also helped that she was Lily's twin, whom he seemed to favor above all others in their year. "We can ask him tomorrow when we have his class."
"Yes then hopefully we'll be able to complete it over the weekend and have it ready for Monday," Remus added and Hermione grinned. It was a nice change for once not to have someone moaning over the notion of work over the weekend.
With all the essentials decided, they felt it best to call an end to their library session and began to collect their things. Together, they departed the library and headed towards the Gryffindor common room. At first they walked in silence, but before long, Hermione felt a pressing thought weighing heavily upon her mind, something Lily had brought up during their discussion before they had left for the new school year. Hermione couldn't fight the urge she had to voice it.
"Er, Remus?" She began.
"Yes?" He replied in question.
"I've been wondering and-- I don't mean to sound rude but . . . your friends, James and Sirius, and then Peter . . . I just wanted to know . . . Well it's just that you're so different from them I was wondering how . . . you know, how . . ." Hermione could feel the redness creeping up the blossom of her cheeks. She had begun to regret even attempting to ask.
"You were wondering how we became friends," he finished for her.
"Er-- yes."
He didn't seem angered by the question. On the contrary, he seemed rather amused. There was a smile growing upon the corner of his lips hinting so.
"You're not the first person to ask that, actually. I think Professor McGonagall has asked me that at least twice."
This made Hermione feel a bit better and she even laughed at the fact. Of course McGonagall would wonder at it. They'd only been at Hogwarts for hardly over a year and already James and Sirius had gotten themselves into enough trouble to rival the Weasley twins with their various pranks and general nonchalance over school rules. Peter always tagged along, but Remus somehow managed to avoid the worst of trouble, setting him apart from the group. Although Hermione didn't doubt they were the best of friends, she couldn't help wondering as Lily had, how Remus had even befriended them in the first place.
"Honestly, everyone seems to think the worst of them, but they're not bad. They're my best friends," he said, smiling, "I was sort of alone when I first arrived at Hogwarts, I didn't know anyone. But then I got into Gryffindor and the first night we were in the dorms, James, Sirius and Peter, they introduced themselves. They didn't have to talk to me, but they did. And then they began inviting me places with them and well . . . included me. Before I knew it, they were my friends."
Hermione had forgotten Remus was only 12. She felt so old herself, having experienced so many years, but Remus was only on his twelfth one. He was just a young boy, hiding a great secret that would alienate him. She remembered what the older Remus had said all those years ago, back when Hermione herself was only 13. "For the first time ever, I had friends". The words rung somberly in her ears. She couldn't imagine what it had been like, all those years, having one's childhood stolen away from them because of one bite. He must have felt so lonely, having to hide himself away, lonely and scared. And then he was able to come to Hogwarts and these young boys just walked right up to him and accepted him into their lives. Hermione felt a new love blossom in her heart for James and Sirius.
She turned to Remus, smile upon her face. "They sound amazing, Remus," she told him.
"Yeah, they are, just don't tell them I said so, okay?"
And Hermione laughed, a good merry laugh that made her head feel light.
"You're secret is safe with me."
Together, Remus and Hermione, stowed themselves away on Sunday morning, brewing the perfect beautification potion. All the while, Slughorn stood over them and added a few pointers, but mostly complimented the fine attention they paid to their potion.
"Marvelous, absolutely marvelous work Hermione. Oh and Remus do pay careful attention to chopping the dried Lady's Mantle, the potion is just about ready for it," he commented.
It felt as though they were participating in a lecture of his class, but they endured his many critiques for at the end, their potion came out splendidly. Slughorn tasted a drop of the potion himself just to check and the pimple upon his chin vanished at once. He smiled gleefully at the both of them.
"I do believe this will work well against the Red Cap come Monday. I wish you both the best on your endeavors, and if you do receive top marks, I would appreciate you mentioning my assistance to Professor Thorne, don't want you to take all the credit," he said with a wink.
"Will do, Professor, thank you!" Hermione called as she and Remus prepared to leave, the beautification potion secured in a phial with a cork.
"No trouble at all and oh, say hello to your sister for me, Hermione, she's a rather promising young witch," he added.
"Of course," Hermione replied and at last, they were able to leave the potions classroom.
It made Hermione smile to think Professor Slughorn admired Lily's skill. For the past year, Hermione had observed how well Lily performed magic. She was a natural, a promising witch indeed. In the coming years, she would become a force to be reckoned with. And what shocked Hermione so was how greatly she cared for her sister. She felt prepared to put herself in front of any danger that may befall her twin and what hurt so great was to know the fact that danger would befall Lily if Hermione didn't put a stop to it. Her twin, no matter how valiant she would undoubtedly become, would be stolen from the world at the young age of 21 by the dark lord himself. Tears, at once, began to form in her eyes.
Remus, ever observant, noticed this immediately.
"I'm sure it must not be easy," he said, "having a twin. You must always be compared to her."
"What?" Hermione asked, taken aback. He thought she was upset over envy for her twin and the thought made her smile. If only her problems were as trivial as a sibling rivalry.
"Oh no," she replied at once, with a laugh before she could stop herself, "no, Lily is an amazing witch and being compared to her doesn't really bother me. We are twins after all, if they say she's talented that must mean I am as well."
Remus smiled and even gave a laugh, which Hermione suspected to be forced. "It's just-- you did seem a bit annoyed when they called you Evans 2.0."
To that, Hermione waved her hand. "Oh yeah, well I mean it's such a sad little nickname, they hardly put any effort into it at all. I thought James and Sirius were supposed to be clever."
And Remus truly laughed this time. "Yeah, I thought so too, but they are constantly proving me wrong."
It felt nice, sharing a laugh with Remus. She only hoped this meant they had become proper friends, now. It would be all the more nicer to actually get to spend more time with Remus. She thought so dearly not only of who he was now, but also the man he was to become. Before they could say anything else, however, his three friends popped out of the darkness of a corridor off to their right, successively scaring both Hermione and Remus. In fact Hermione had jumped in her spot. Remus, however, who was used to the antics of his friends, recovered quickly.
"What are you lot doing here?" He asked, smiling despite himself.
"Looking for you, of course," James answered, "you've been gone all morning."
"I told you, I had to work on the project for Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Ugh," Sirius groaned, "I didn't think you actually meant it. Who does work this early on a Sunday?"
"People who actually want to pass their classes," Hermione rebutted before she could stop herself. She couldn't help it, the thought someone could care so little for their studies tortured her.
James raised his eyebrows and answered with a quick laugh while Sirius looked hardly bothered. However, Peter stood with eyes wide. Apparently he wasn't use to people talking back to Sirius.
"Oh Evans 2.0, you didn't seem to care so much about passing your classes when you arrived so late to Defense Against the Dark Arts. At least we, good students here, actually bother to show up on time," he replied.
Hermione's face burned crimson in anger, last Monday still a sore point in her mind. Being late to class was simply not in her DNA, no matter how altered. She could wring Sirius's neck for having brought it up.
"I've shown up late to class once!" She exclaimed before she could stop herself, "You've shown up late countless of times!"
"Keeping tabs on me now, are you? Some would say that means you fancy me, other Evans," he replied.
"Oh you're--you're infuriating! I don't fancy you in the slightest, and enough with the terrible nicknames!"
"I wouldn't have to bother with the nicknames if your name wasn't so dreadful to pronounce," Sirius quickly retorted.
"Well pick up a dictionary and learn proper pronunciation of the English language then!"
And with that, Hermione found herself storming off, determined not to allow Sirius the last word. The last things she heard before she rounded the corner were Peter's and James's sniggers and Remus's words, "lay off her, will you?". She couldn't believe how being in the presence of Sirius for only a minute could cause such anger to birth from within. These boys were nothing short of nuisances in their youth, aside from Remus of course. She now recognized why Lily had no interest in James at the moment. But what Hermione couldn't wrap her head around was why she was so angry. She was a dignified, collected, and bright witch so why was she getting so flustered by one argument? Perhaps it was the fact that despite having so many experiences wrapped tight in the great brain of hers, she was still reigned to the young body of a twelve year old, subject to its many hormonal imbalances and shortcomings. Nevertheless, she had to move on from such trivial matters. She had more important things to worry over.
The second year at Hogwarts chugged along. Hermione and Remus received top marks for their beautification potion and Professor Thorne was so impressed, she managed to forgive Hermione's past transgression of arriving late to class. Much to the pleasure of Hermione, the project had proved a foundation to her blossoming friendship with Remus. They now talked outside of the classroom and even Lily was beginning to converse more with him as well. Of course, however, this meant Hermione had to associate with the rest of his friends as well. Peter was tolerable when she could ignore his future betrayal and James was alright at times, but Sirius was more determined than ever to push her buttons. For whatever reason, he delighted in causing Hermione to storm out of rooms. Hermione had noticed, much to her displeasure, it was quickly becoming a favorite pastime of his. She couldn't wait till he grew out of this intolerable phase.
As things improved with Remus, matters with Severus suffered. He was growing closer and closer with Avery and Mulciber with each passing day. The closer he grew with them, the more Lily and Hermione heard of their terrible ideologies. They were no friends that would promote the idea of tolerance to Severus, but rather argue against it. Eventually, the twins agreed it was time they broached the subject with their dear friend.
"Sev," Lily prodded one fall evening as they walked across the school grounds, "we've been meaning to talk to you, Hermione and I."
"About what?" He questioned.
"Well, these friends of yours, Avery and Mulciber, we haven't been hearing the most positive things being said about them," Lily continued.
Severus scrunched up his nose. "And what exactly, have you heard?"
For the first time, Hermione heard the familiar drawl in his words that reminded her so greatly of his older counterpart. It was a haunting similarity, one that sent a chill up her spine. It terrified Hermione to think he was already on his way to becoming the man who would soon be known as a death eater along with his newfound friends, Avery and Mulciber.
"Just that they don't particularly approve of people like Lily and I," Hermione attempted to help her sister, "You know, muggle-borns and all."
To this, Severus pursed his lips. It was a truth even he couldn't deny. Hermione feared he was already beginning to agree with them which was a fallacy in itself as he had two muggle-born friends. How could he hate the majority, but still care for some? By doing so he would have to admit the fault in the idea that all muggles and muggle-born alike were inferior. But alas, hatred is a blinding emotion that doesn't desire reason as its friend.
"Why are you suddenly so worried about my friends? Maybe you should worry about your own," He artfully redirected the conversation.
"There's nothing wrong with our friends!" Lily quickly defended them, "Mary, Marlene, and Dorcas are all wonderful people!"
"I'm not talking about them," he hissed, turning to direct his attention to Hermione now, "I'm talking about the friends you keep, James Potter and that little posse of his he drags around."
Hermione laughed. Posse? He didn't understand James Potter's and his friends' dynamic in the slightest. This, however, was not the reaction Severus was looking for.
"You don't deny it?" He spoke as though she were being interrogated for murder.
"I do deny it. They're hardly my acquaintances. I'm only friends with Remus," she replied.
"But I see you in the hallways with them!" He cried. Hermione's nonchalance over the matter proved an aggravator.
"If you've seen me in the hallways with them then you must have seen me storming off as well. I'm telling you the truth, I only consider Remus as my friend," Hermione further defended herself.
And that much was true. At least in this point in her life, she considered neither James nor Sirius, especially not Peter, as her friend. They were more a thorn in her side if anything.
"As if Remus is any better than them!" Severus roared, "There's something odd about him, he's always 'ill' and is disappearing constantly. He's hardly in class and the teachers just let him get away with it!"
To this, Hermione had to hold her tongue. Reacting aggressively would only further drive Severus to the truth. She had to be careful where she tread, so as not to reveal Remus's secret. Lucky for her, Lily was the one to speak up.
"That's not fair, Sev, you can't fault him for his illness."
"But do you even know what his illness is?" Severus pointed out.
A silence fell over the group. Hermione and Lily shared glances while Severus stood gloatingly in his triumph. A few moment's more and Hermione found she couldn't let him get the better of them.
"It's none of our business and not that it matters, anyway. Whatever James Potter and his friends do, it's nowhere near as bad as being Volde--" she caught herself, but not before Lily and Severus shot her alarmed looks, "-- You Know Who sympathizers."
She could curse herself for being so reckless, but it was merely the heat of the moment. In the future, she was going to have to be more careful in not allowing her past identity slip through. She was Hermione Evans in this time, not Hermione Granger and a twelve year old school girl would not be comfortable with speaking Voldemort's name. Luckily, Lily and Severus were able to move past it.
"It's just what their families believe, not them," Severus replied.
But he didn't sound entirely convincing and Lily and Hermione were not so easily fooled. Nevertheless, the worst of the argument had passed. Severus seemed eager not be angry with Lily anymore, but he still sent sideways glances Hermione's way. It seemed Hermione was beginning to fall out of favor in Severus's mind and that was not at all a hopeful prospect. It would only make it easier for him to cut off ties with them in the future. At least he loves Lily, she thought glumly, but even that was not as comforting a notion as it would ultimately not stop him from joining the army of the dark lord.
Time passed and Hermione was desperately trying to cling on to its passing. In late fall, she sat in the stands of the Quidditch pitch watching as Marlene tried out for the Gryffindor team. She was a talented flier, no doubt about it, but Gryffindor already had a solid team. The only second year they allowed on the team was James Potter to fill the position of Chaser. Although the captain, Fred Hillary, did suggest that Marlene try out again next year, when there'd be more spots.
Marlene acted unbothered as Hermione and the rest of the girls did everything to cheer her up. Despite her best pretensions, the girls could see right through their friend's false mask. She was thoroughly disappointed, she had been practicing for those tryouts all summer and fall and for the next few weeks, her disappointment showed. She was making far less jokes than before, laughing far less, and was actually focusing on her studies for once. The girls were more than worried and tried all they could to help.
Mary offered to cut Marlene's beautiful long locks as Marlene had often talked about doing, but the idea wasn't enough to entice Marlene out of her bad mood. Dorcas attempted to help Marlene with her workload, but having her astronomy essay almost entirely written for her still didn't bring a true smile to her face. Lily suggested that they go and visit Hagrid at his hut as Hagrid was an odd favorite of Marlene's, due to his funny accent and various pets, but Marlene couldn't be bothered to leave the Gryffindor common room. Hermione even swallowed up her pride and asked of Sirius and James to steal into the kitchens to locate Marlene's favorite dessert, Treacle tart, but even the scrumptious smell of the delicious food proved a failure in brightening the light in Marlene's eyes.
The girls struggled until at long last, during the first snowfall upon Hogwarts grounds, they heard Marlene's true laugh ring. It was in between classes, as the many students trudged through the quickly accumulating layers of snow that Marlene returned to herself once again. Lucius Malfoy, currently a 6th year, had immediately become an enemy of Marlene's as last year, as a Slytherin Prefect, he had given Marlene an unjust detention for sticking up for a fellow Gryffindor against a Slytherin bully. But since Marlene had used a hex against the bully, Lucius saw it in his right to give Marlene the detention. However, karma was served on this fateful winter day when attempting to walk across the grounds, Lucius slipped on ice and consequently fell on his bum, preceding to slide down the snow until at last he was met with the whomping willow that did not take so kindly to his intrusion. They had never heard Marlene laugh so hard before, they feared she might burst a lung.
From then on, Marlene was back to her usual self and the girls were ever so grateful.
After the conclusion of winter break, time at Hogwarts drifted rather quickly. The spring blossomed with fervor after the long winter months and then gave way to the sweltering days of impending summer. Hermione had to throw away all plans of saving the world just so she could pass her exams. Next year, she swore to herself, next year she would enter into the dreaded chamber of secrets and until then, she would plan furiously to ensure nothing went terribly wrong. But for now, she could enjoy the laughter of her friends, ignoring the clock ticking down in her mind reminding her she had only so many years left to fix it all. She worried over whether those years would be enough.