::drunken slur:: Ya know somethin? I love you guys, I really do. All theeze great reviews, I gots to love the love that I'm gettin from yous guyz. Thanksh sho much. A ROUND OF BEERZ FOR ALL MY MATES!
Ok, no more drunkenness, let's get down to business. What I said above, I mean it. All the people that have been reviewing, I really appreciate the wonderful feedback you leave me. Without it, I have no doubt that I would've abandoned this story a long time ago.
Oh and one other thing, Harry and Hermione are going to be in the past for AT LEAST 2 more chapters, not including this one. That's the bare minimum. SO PLEASE, stop with all the 'I hope they get back to the future soon'. It will happen, but you'll have to wait, there needs to be time for things important to the plot to happen while they're in the past.
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Chapter 12: Developments
The next day Harry awoke to the sun shining through the closed curtains of the king-sized four-poster in the Head Boy room. Hermione had blatantly refused to let Harry go to sleep on his own, and insisted that they spend the night together. Turning over, he saw her lying in bed, eyes wide open, staring at him.
"Morning," she said in a very dreamy voice.
"Morning to you too," Harry replied with a smile. "To what do I owe the occasion of that beautiful gaze of yours?" Hermione blushed.
"Just thinking about how lucky I am to have you," she said with a smile. Harry scoffed.
"Please, I think that if anyone's lucky around here, it's me."
"Maybe we should just say that we're both maddeningly lucky to have each other, and leave it at that," she said grinning.
"I can accept that," Harry replied embracing her. The two of them laid there in each other's arms until there was a knock on the door.
"Hey you two! Get up we've got classes!" shouted the voice of James through the door. Remembering that it was a Monday, Harry sighed, and to his surprise, his sigh was echoed by Hermione.
"What's this?" he asked playfully. "Hermione Granger sighing at the thought of classes?" She took her pillow out from under her head and hit him with it.
"No," she replied. "Hermione Granger sighing at the thought of not being able to spend all day in bed with Harry Potter."
"I'm sure lots of witches feel that way, if it makes you any better," Harry said with a coy smile. Hermione just grinned at him.
"They can bloody well pleasure themselves thinking about you if it makes them feel any better," she said. "As long as I'm the only one who ever gets to be in your bed."
"Don't worry," Harry said. "You will be."
"Guuuuuuys," whined James. "Come on! McGonagal will have our heads if we're late!" Laughing, Harry and Hermione got out of the four-poster and put on their clothes for the day. Joining James, Lily, and the rest of the Marauders for their Transfiguration lesson, they headed towards McGonagal's classroom, having already missed breakfast.
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A few weeks passed and nothing out of the ordinary happened (with the exception of the visit that Dumbledore gave Harry and Hermione one night telling them about how the Order was getting closer to locating Nicolas Flamel). One night, they were all gathered around the fire in the common room, when James spoke up.
"Harry," he began. "Sirius, Remus, Peter, and I have been doing some talking and we want to ask you a question."
"Shoot," Harry said from his sprawled out position on the couch, Hermione snuggled up next to him.
"We've been thinking, you being my son and all, how would you like to become a Marauder?" Harry nearly fell off the couch at being asked this.
"Hey!" said Hermione indignantly as she was forced to put a hand on the floor to keep herself from being knocked off the sofa by Harry's sudden movement.
"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "Me?" he asked returning his attention back to James. "A Marauder?"
"Well naturally you'd have to undergo a uhh....what's the word I'm looking for here?" he asked.
"Initiation?" suggested Lily from her seat in James' lap.
"Yeah, that's it," he said snapping his fingers.
"Like what?" asked Harry skeptically.
"Well we understand that you might not have a lot of time left here," said Sirius. "But we were really hoping that you could become an animagus, you know, so we could formally induct you and all." Hermione gave a very un-ladylike snort at this.
"Please," she said. "It takes years to master an animagus transformation. I certainly hope we're not going to be stuck back here for THAT long."
"It shouldn't take you years," said Remus. "We started in our second year, and finished in our fifth. Being in your seventh year, you could probably work it out in three or so months."
"Yeah," said Harry thoughtfully. "It doesn't sound like a bad idea."
"Harry, I don't know," said Hermione. "Learning to become an animagus takes a lot of skill, patience, and commitment, not to mention that the results can be deadly if you make a mistake."
"Well it's like I say," said Sirius. "Everything that has any fun in life, contains some form of danger, in one way or another."
"You really think I could manage it before the Christmas break?" asked Harry, his curiosity now piqued.
"Without a doubt," said Remus. "Besides, you seem to have a bit more skill than most of the other people here, some teachers included."
"Still though," interjected Hermione. "What if we have to go back before we finish?"
"We?" asked Harry.
"Of course 'we', silly," Hermione replied. "If you're becoming an animagus, there's no way I'm letting you have all the fun by yourself." Hermione and Harry looked at each other, then looked at Lily.
"What?" she asked.
"What do you think about all of this?" Hermione asked. Lily shrugged.
"I think it's a good idea actually," she replied. "What with the prophecy and all, it might help."
"It's settled then," said James. "We'll start tomorrow at seven in the Room of Requirement." No noises of protest were made, and having settled that particular issue, the group began to talk about their own personal matters at hand amongst themselves.
At last, everyone grew tired and Harry made to go up to the dorm, but was stopped by Hermione.
"Can you stay with me tonight?" she asked.
"Sure," replied Harry, re-routing himself towards the Head Boy room. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," said Hermione. "I just want to be with you." They opened the door to the room and lay down on the bed after locking the entrance.
"Any particular reason?" asked Harry with a sly grin.
"Can't a girl be with the man she loves?" asked Hermione while straddling him. Harry grinned.
"Any time you want," he said as she leaned in to capture his lips.
About forty-five minutes later, the two of them lay there in the other's arms, sweaty, and extremely sated. They stayed in that position looking at each other for a little while until Harry heard Hermione say something. "Sorry?" he asked. "I didn't catch that." She looked at him in a confused fashion.
"I haven't said anything Harry," she replied.
"Huh?" he asked looking at her. "Nonsense, I distinctly heard you say something."
"Honestly Harry, why would I lie about something like that?" Hermione retorted. Realising that he must have simply been hearing things, Harry shrugged and kissed her softly on the forehead.
"Sorry, must've been the wind or something then.."
"It's ok," she replied staring longingly at him. Harry gathered Hermione into his arms and the two of them resumed their enjoyment of simply being with each other. Harry let his mind wander, and a few minutes later he again heard Hermione say something.
"Hmm?" he asked. Hermione's brow furrowed.
"What?" she asked.
"What, what?" Harry replied. "Didn't you say something?"
"Honestly Harry," Hermione said in a disapproving tone. "Stop playing around." Harry thought this was getting exceedingly strange. Twice now, he had heard Hermione talk to him, yet she claimed not to have said anything. Suddenly, an idea struck him.
"Hermione, concentrate really hard on something," he asked her.
"Why?" she asked.
"Do you trust me?" Harry replied. Hermione bit her lower lip in confusion but nodded all the same. "Then just think of something. Please."
"Okay..." she said heavily. Harry stared right at her and suddenly found that he could hear Hermione talking to him, only her lips weren't moving.
'Whatever's going on, I hope he figures it out soon,' she said. Harry's eyes widened in realisation.
"What is it?" she asked, now speaking to him through her mouth.
"I...wow," he said with a chuckle. "We should go and see Dumbledore. Now, preferably."
"Harry what's going on?" Hermione asked as he got out of the bed and began to dress.
"Not now," he replied. "Trust me on this one, I think it will make much more sense if he can explain this to us."
"Explain what?" Hermione asked getting frustrated. "Honestly, Harry, are you feeling-" but she was cut off when Harry planted his lips on hers.
"Everything's fine," he reassured her. "This just merits investigation."
"What around here doesn't?" she muttered while getting up. After getting dressed, the two of them made their way to the headmaster's office, and when they reached the landing, Harry knocked and entered.
They found the headmaster sitting at his desk reading over some papers, and he looked up and smiled when he saw who it was.
"Ah, Harry, Hermione, I daresay something extraordinary has happened?" Dumbledore asked upon seeing the look of joy on Harry's face, and the look of confusion on Hermione's.
"Well sir," Harry said. "I was with Hermione just now, and...and I think I read her mind." Hermione stared at him as if he had gone bonkers.
"Really?" asked the headmaster standing up. "Without the use of Legilimancy?"
"I think so," replied Harry. "I didn't use any spells or anything, if that's what you mean." Dumbledore nodded and beckoned for Harry and Hermione to move closer.
"How could you read my mind?" Hermione asked Harry.
"There are several ways," answered Dumbledore interrupted. "But I think it would be better to perform a practical test before we jump to conclusions."
"What kind of test?" she asked skeptically.
"Nothing dangerous I assure you," responded the headmaster. "I want you to think of something very specific. Then we'll have Harry try to tell us what exactly it is you're thinking of."
"Ok," said Hermione doubtfully. "Now?"
"Whenever you're ready," said Harry. Hermione nodded and thought hard of the one thing she hated Harry doing the most. Harry looked at her for a minute, then let out a laugh.
"Honestly, Hermione, I thought you said you would try to enjoy quidditch for my sake," he said with a grin. Hermione's eyes widened as that was exactly what she had been thinking of.
"I take it, that Harry's assumption was accurate, then?" asked Dumbledore with his trademark twinkle. Gulping Hermione nodded. "How very interesting."
"Professor?" asked Harry. "Does this mean that I can read minds?"
"No," said the headmaster after careful consideration. "It's possible, but I doubt that is the actual reason."
"Then what?" asked Hermione.
"Well..." said the headmaster with a slight tinge of red on his cheeks. "Have you heard of the Phasma Mentis Theory, Miss Granger?" At this, Hermione's cheeks grew pink and she quickly looked away from Dumbledore.
"What?" asked Harry. "What is it?"
"Well it justifies itself from part of the Greater Soul Theory," said Dumbledore, "Which says that all living things on this planet can be fully complemented by something else."
"The souls of all living things fit together like puzzle pieces," explained Hermione seeing the look of confusion on Harry's face. "How well they fit depends on the people that are trying to make them connect."
"The point is that Phasma Mentis bases itself on the theory that when two forms of life who statistically fit perfectly..." the headmaster paused here to think of a suitable phrase. "...prove their love to one an another -" Harry's cheeks grew exceedingly red at this. "- a rarity might occur in which the actual thoughts of each person are conveyed to the other."
"So what you're saying is that when Hermione and I..." Harry made movement with his hands to try to get the point across. "Our thoughts actually merge?"
"That's the general gist of it," said the headmaster with a brilliant twinkle. "Of course I've never seen it happen in real life, I've only read of such things-"
"But wait, this wasn't the first time it's happened," Harry interrupted. "It happened in the Great Hall on the first day of classes too, and I'm pretty sure we had been separated in that way for several hours."
"You don't need to be in the middle of, or have just finished your business in order for it to happen," said Hermione. "It's just stronger at those times. After you've done it once, it's like part of each person is etched into the other, thus establishing and maintaining the connection."
"Quite right, Miss Granger," said Dumbledore. "Well, this is certainly a surprise for me, I can only imagine what must be running through your heads. Is there any thing you would like to ask?"
"Professor," Hermione said. "Why is it that only Harry could hear my thoughts. Why couldn't I hear his?"
"To be honest, I'm not quite sure," replied Dumbledore. "From what I've read, couples usually have to develop this skill before they can even progress to the point of being able to hear each other's thoughts, let alone communicate silently. The surprise comes from that Harry can hear you, not that you can't hear him." Harry scoffed at this.
"I've got a thought as to why," he said grimly. "Maybe all those times that I've listened in to Voldemort got my senses tuned, or something."
"You can listen in on Tom's conversations?" asked Dumbledore with intrigue.
"Not intentionally," replied Harry. "Usually it's only when I'm sleeping, but it's happened once or twice while I've been awake."
"How is this possible?" asked the headmaster curiously. Harry pulled back his bangs to reveal the infamous scar in response.
"My second year, you told me that he transferred some of his powers to me when he gave me this scar," he said. At this, Dumbledore held up his hand.
"Do not disclose any more information than that," he said. "Don't forget, I cannot know too much about the future, lest we have a paradox on our hands."
"What's a parabox?" asked Harry.
"Paradox," said Hermione correcting him. "It's when the past and the future argue with each other and bad things happen, to put it bluntly."
"Ah," he replied.
"Well this has been a most curious evening," said the headmaster. "And I feel that you are quite correct, Harry. It wouldn't even surprise me if something similar to that which has happened between you and Hermione, has happened between you and Lord Voldemort, only on the opposite end of the spectrum."
"You mean hate instead of love?" she asked. Dumbledore nodded.
"Indeed, and because Harry's been experiencing it for...how long Harry?"
"Seven years," he replied. "I could start to feel his emotions through my scar in first year."
"Seven years," the headmaster continued. "I daresay Harry's abilities to process the information of another person's mind are much more developed than your own, Miss Granger. But don't worry, with practice you shall eventually be able to communicate freely with each other without the need for speaking."
"How do we practice something like this?
"Read a book called Spirit Theory," replied Dumbledore. "Having no experience in it myself, I can't really help you. This book should be able to assist you in more ways than one, however."
"More ways than one?" asked Harry. Instead of replying, the headmaster simply winked through his twinkling at Harry. He and Hermione looked at each other in confusion before Dumbledore spoke.
"Well, it's getting late, perhaps you should head back to your dorms," he said. "I advise keeping quiet though, Peeves will have a fit of joy if he finds two students like yourselves wandering about this late at night." Harry and Hermione grinned and bade goodbye, walking out of the office down into the hallway below.
"Well that was certainly enlightening," said Harry. "Hey, where are you going?" Hermione was walking in a direction that led to the library, not the tower.
"I'm getting that book right away," she said. "I don't like you being able to read my thoughts, and having me be completely at your mercy."
"What if we get caught?"
"As long as you stop asking me questions and keep quiet we should be fine," she replied with a grin.
"Ron and I have really had a bad influence on you," Harry whispered as they got to the library and sneaked in. Hermione quickly found what they needed and they set back off towards the tower, but stopped on the fourth floor at the sound of voices, moving closer to them.
"Against the wall," Harry whispered urgently. "Now." The two of them pressed into the wall next to two suits of armor just as three students came around the corner, one of which Harry knew.
"Peter..." he growled in a whisper.
"I d-don't know, I-I-I really don't think I should..." Peter was saying. The other two stopped dead in their tracks, halting Peter as well.
"You don't think you should?" one of them let out in a low hiss. "And why is that, may I ask?"
"Well, it's not being very loyal to James, and Sirius, and Remus -"
"Who cares about them?" said the second person interrupting him. "All you ever do is lurk in their shadow, and they don't give a damn about you."
"N-No, they're my friends," said Peter stuttering.
"Friends don't let their friends wallow in their wakes unnoticed. Join us, and we'll give you what you want."
"No." replied Pettigrew who was shaking by now. The two students pushed him into the wall and held him there as he whimpered.
"You will join the Dark Lord, Pettigrew," said the first one again.
"Never," spat Peter, who was still shaking. "Just wait until James and Sirius hear about this, they'll curse you into next year -" He was interrupted by the loud thud of one of the student's fists connecting with his left cheek.
"You tell them," the second one said. "And I promise you, Bertha will die a most unpleasant death." Peter's eyes grew wide at this.
"Y-You wouldn't," he said through gritted teeth as a tear made its way down his cheek. The two students pinning him to the wall laughed.
"You know we would, and we will if you tell anyone about this," the first one said again. "We'll let you go now. Go back to your tower, and think about your priorities." With that, the two unknown students stalked off in the direction of the Slytherin common room, leaving Peter leaning against the wall, still shaking. He stood there for a few minutes, then without a word made his way back up towards Gryffindor Tower.
Harry and Hermione emerged from their hiding spots after they heard Peter's footsteps fade away.
"My god..." whispered Hermione. "Harry, what do we do?"
"We find out who Bertha is," he replied simply. "Obviously we can't go trying to change the future, so the best we can do for right now is to find out who it is that Pettigrew cares so much for." Hermione nodded and walked back to Gryffindor Tower. Upon entering the common room, they found it deserted, and walked back to the Head Boy's room.
"He probably went back up to the dorm," said Harry laying down on the bed after getting undressed. "Bertha. The name seems vaguely familiar..."
"I don't know of any Berthas off the top of my head," Hermione said lying down next to him.
"I've definitely heard the name before; maybe Remus mentioned the name to me once."
"Well we'll worry about all of this later. We have our own issues to deal with right now," Hermione said with a grin.
"Yeah, about all of that," started Harry. "Because this is happening, does that mean -" he was cut off by Hermione smiling and nodding her head.
"It means that we're meant for each other," she said snuggling close to him. "That we always were."
"Well I didn't need any bloody telepathy to tell me that," Harry replied with a smug grin. Hermione smiled.
"It's nice to have it confirmed in such an absolute way though," she said running a hand though his hair.
"Now all we need to do is get married," Harry said half-joking. Hermione looked at him and he got the distinct impression that this sounded like a good idea to her all of a sudden. "I was kinda kidding, you know."
"I know," Hermione replied. "But it's nice to hear it." With that the two of them drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
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The next evening Harry and Hermione met Lily and the Marauders in the Room of Requirement for their first lesson on becoming animagi. Much to Hermione's delight, the room was in the form of a study, books on advanced transfiguration lining the walls, and several large oak desks spaced evenly throughout the room.
"Sorry to disappoint," James said. "But unfortunately most of the work we'll be doing is reading and such."
"Not at all," said Hermione who was already browsing the titles of the books on the walls.
"Indeed," said Remus. "We've got all the books you need right here, Hermione," he added seeing her start to pull some out of the shelves.
"Oh these are just for my own perusal," she said putting them on one of the large oak desks.
"Don't you have more important things to read up on?" Harry whispered into her ear.
"Please," she said. "That book isn't even that big, I'll read through it in two days." Shrugging, Harry turned to Lily who was off in a corner reading a book on charms.
"Aren't you going to join us?" he asked pointedly. Lily looked up at him.
"No," she said simply. "There's really no need for me to learn, now is there?" she asked. Sirius looked up at this.
"Why not? Being an animagus can always be of use," he argued. Lily just shook her head.
"I'm not wouldn't need any self-transfiguration help, even if I did want to do it," she said simply.
"Isn't that the truth," James muttered with a smile. "Well come on, you two have got some reading to do!" With that he thrust a book entitled 'The Art of Animagi' into Harry and Hermione's hands. "It's not that large; read the first two chapters, and get back to me." With that he walked off to the other side of the room where the Marauders had started playing a game of what looked to be muggle dodgeball, the only difference being that they were using the room to throw the balls and move out of the way.
James had been right; it only took Hermione ten minutes to read the first two chapters, and Harry only five more than she. When they were done they called out to James and the four of them walked back over to Harry and Hermione, sweaty and exhausted.
"How tired can you be?" asked Lily from her seat. "Honestly, you were using your minds to move, it's not like you were ACTUALLY running all over the place."
"It's mentally exhausting," said Sirius.
"Well you make a valid point," said Lily with a smirk. "I imagine that even thinking must use up a majority of your brain power."
"Ha ha," said James sitting down next to Harry. "So, you understand what it is you're trying to accomplish?"
"I think so," said Harry. "Though I'm not entirely sure what the book means by letting go of your mind."
"It's simple really," said Remus. "You have to make your mind believe that your physical properties don't exist, that you are, in fact, something else. After the first time, it's easy because you know what you're going to turn into."
"Yeah, about that," said Hermione. "We have absolutely no choice as to what we're going to become?"
"None," said James. "Look at Peter, you think he'd have wanted to be a rat?" Peter looked at the floor and shuffled his feet at this. "No offense of course."
"None taken," he replied in a low voice.
"All right," Harry said. "So what do we do?"
"The best way to start is to imagine that a part of your body doesn't exist, " Sirius said. "I know it's easier said than done, but it's doable. Try your hands." Harry closed his eyes and screwed up his face in concentration, but nothing happened.
"Anything?" he asked opening his eyes. James shook his head.
"You're not going to get it on the first try, Harry. It takes a lot of practice, and - bloody hell!" James' expression turned into shock as he saw Hermione standing there, eyes closed, her arms seemingly transparent.
"What the? How did you do that?" Sirius asked. Hermione opened her eyes and her arms returned to their normal opaque color.
"Well, that's really not as hard as it seems," she said with a bright smile. All of the men in the room were staring at her intently. "Honestly, it isn't. After all, if this is one of the parts of becoming an animagus, it has to be possible, doesn't it?" There was silence in the room for a few seconds until Lily let out a small chuckle.
"Pay up James," was all she said from behind her book. James turned with his mouth open, and fishing in his robes, pulled out a galleon and tossed it to her, which she caught easily. "Told you she'd do it."
"But that-that's unreal," he said turning back to Hermione. "I mean, no one ever gets that far on their first try."
"Well, I did, so I guess we'll just have to move on then, won't we?" she asked. "What's next?"
"Well I suppose you could try to make your entire body take that form..." said Remus softly. Hermione shrugged and closed her eyes again. A few seconds later, her body started to become a paler color, and slowly shifted to spectral.
"That's bloody amazing," said Sirius in a whisper. "Now think about animals, just run through a list of them in your mind, and when you touch the one you're supposed to be, you'll turn into a -" but Sirius never finished his sentence because Hermione had just disappeared and been replaced by a small, brown, long-haired cat.
"You have got to be joking," said James, eyes wide. The cat looked curiously up at the five of them, then down at itself. Harry squatted down so he could see the cat eye to eye.
"Hermione?" he asked incredulously. The cat purred and pawed at his cheek before jumping into his arms. "Whoa," he said standing back up cradling her. "You're not very light as a cat."
"Would you prefer me this way?" she then asked after changing back into her human self. Harry let out a groan as he nearly toppled over from the sudden increase in weight. Setting Hermione down, he looked at her with an expression of awe.
"And here I was, reading all this hype about how it takes years to become an animagus," Hermione said brushing herself off.
"One night," Remus was muttering. "It took you ONE night to master an animagus transformation."
"Well, I had done a little reading on the subject," Hermione admitted.
"Still though," James said. "I think it's a shame we're not doing this the legal way; you'd probably get on the front page of the Daily Prophet for setting a record." Hermione blushed and looked at Harry.
"Well?" she asked. "Do you plan on trying anytime soon?"
"I did try," Harry said. "But I couldn't do it."
"Nonsense," Hermione said. "Of course you can do it, you just need to know that you can."
"Like back in third year with the patronus?" asked Harry.
"If that's what you want to compare it to, sure," she said.
"Can someone tell me what you two are talking about?" James asked tapping his foot. Harry smiled and turned to him, but instead of giving an answer, simply pulled out his wand.
"Expecto Patronum," he said, and the great white stag leapt forth and looked around for a sign of a dementor, before giving a paw at the ground and disappearing.
"Dear god," said Sirius in awe. "James, that was you!"
"My patronus is a stag," said Harry putting his wand away. "You, in fact," he added, talking to James. "Back in my third year there was a case involving some dementors and a time-turner. Best if I don't go into all the details, as it's a rather long story. I expect that year could probably have filled up a 400 page book, if someone were to write about it," he added with a grin. James let out a chuckle.
"Well, I don't expect that you'll get it right away, Harry, but just keep practicing every night, and you should be fine," James said with a grin. "Masters an animagus transformation in one night...and I thought I had seen it all...." he muttered.
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The night after the first session in the Room of Requirement, Hermione had transformed into a cat and sneaked into the boys dorm to sleep with Harry. Needless to say, he was a little surprised when a big ball of fur pounced on his chest while he was sleeping, but he appreciated it all the same.
A few weeks had passed since then. After that first night, Harry and Hermione had agreed that while they were developing their speechless communication, it would be better for them to be together as much as possible. They had told the Marauders of this, with flaming cheeks, but instead of ridicule, they received 'wows' from the group and were encouraged to take this ability further. James had said that it would be a great asset for a Marauder to be able to talk to someone without the need to speak; he had already been caught numerous times passing notes to Lily in Transfiguration.
Finally, one night, only Harry, Hermione, James, and Lily were left in the common room, as the other three Marauders had gone down to the Room of Requirement to see if it was possible to get the room to supply them with firewhiskey.
"James," said Hermione. "Do you know anyone named Bertha?" James thought for a moment.
"A couple," he said after some consideration.
"Any that would have anything to do with Peter?" asked Harry. James and Lily nodded.
"Yeah," Lily said. "Peter had, still has, I think, a very large crush on Bertha Jorkins. She graduated from here two years ago, but I think he stays in contact with her."
"Are they dating?" asked Hermione.
"Not that we know of," said James. "I think they're just really good friends, although sometimes I get the impression that Peter still wants more than friendship." Harry and Hermione nodded solemnly, but the conversation was prevented from continuing further when the portrait hole banged open and cheers and whoops of joy were heard coming from Sirius who was holding two large amber bottles above his head.
"I can't believe we didn't think of that sooner!" he yelled tossing one to James.
"Blimey," he said looking at the bottle as if it were a priceless treasure. "It actually worked?"
"You bet!" said Sirius. "And trust me, it's excellent stuff. We've already had a little." It was then that Harry noticed Peter swaying slightly, being supported by Remus.
"How much?" asked Lily angrily. "You've been gone, what, ten minutes and you're already drunk?!"
"Nah, not drunk," said Peter with a smile. "Just drunkenly happy."
"Well come on!" said James summoning shot glasses with his wand. "It's about time we had a celebration around here!"
"And just what are we celebrating?" asked Hermione, arms crossed.
"Why you two of course!" said James pouring the smoking liquid into each of the one-ounce glasses. "We haven't properly celebrated your engagement yet!"
"Engagement?" asked both Harry and Hermione simultaneously.
"Relax," said Sirius. "We know you're not engaged, but ever since we found out about the fact of how you two are just sooo perfect for each other, we've decided a little celebration is in order! Especially since it's inevitable that you two are going to end up married, and we're not going to get to party then like we can now."
'How true that is...' Harry thought while Hermione looked disapprovingly at Lily.
"What?" she asked. "I couldn't have stopped them even if I wanted to. I admit, I'm a little keen on this stuff myself," she said downing her glass. Harry couldn't help but chuckle.
"Just make sure you keep away from it while you're carrying me," he said raising his glass before emptying the contents into his stomach.
The celebrating continued on for about an hour. There were several Gryffindors who passed by the scene who James and Sirius tried to get to join them, but Hermione flat out refused. It was bad enough that they were consuming alcohol on the school grounds, but they sure as hell weren't getting anyone else drunk, at least not on her watch.
After one of the bottles was gone, Hermione called a halt to the action. Having only had two shots herself, she was the least inebriated of the seven of them. Convincing James to put the other bottle away for some other time and saying a quick goodnight, she helped Harry to the Head Boy's room where she muttered a quick sobering spell.
"That's a useful one," he said, shaking the cobwebs from his head.
"You'd do well to remember it," Hermione said disapprovingly. "That is, if you're going to leave me by myself to go out drinking with the boys when we get back home." Harry walked over to her and put his arms around her waist.
"I'd much rather stay here with you," he said lovingly. A mischievous grin appeared on Hermione's face.
"You'll have to catch me first," she said. Without warning, she quickly changed into a cat and ran under the bed.
"Awww, no fair!" Harry complained ducking down to see Hermione staring back at him with what he swore was a grin on her face. "Please come out from under there." Hermione slowly sauntered out from under the four poster and simply gave a very cat-like stretch before hoping up onto the bed and curling up on one of the pillows.
"Well I was hoping we could talk about what we learned tonight, but if all you want to do is sleep..." Harry said. Hermione instantly turned back into her human form and sat up.
"You know who Bertha Jorkins is then?" she asked. Harry nodded solemnly.
"I remember her from my fourth year..." he said thinking. "...wait...she was the one that went missing because Voldemort killed her."
"Ohhhhhh, yes I remember now, there was an article in the Prophet about her going missing," Hermione said.
"It doesn't add up though," Harry commented sitting down next to her on the bed. "I mean, Peter handed her to Voldemort over the summer after our third year. He watched Voldemort torture information out of her, then kill her. It doesn't make sense why he would care about her now, he certainly didn't care about her then."
"We obviously don't know enough right now, Harry," she said. "Maybe we could ask him sometime?"
"...Eh, it'd be tough not to get him suspicious that we're on to him slightly," he said. "But on the other hand we might be able to convince him that Lily and James had mentioned it in side conversation."
"Well whatever we do, we should do it soon," Hermione said. "What with Dumbledore and the Order getting closer to finding Flamel, we may not even be around here that much longer." Harry nodded.
"Then how about we stop thinking about this for the time being and concentrate on trying to get your mind tuned to mine?" he asked with a sly grin. Hermione regarded him carefully.
"Do you really mean that, or are you just trying to get in my knickers again?" she asked playfully. Harry pulled her close and nuzzled the crook of her neck.
"A little bit of both," he said with a grin. With that, Hermione waved her wand and the lights in the room were extinguished.
=====
The next day Harry and Hermione awoke, and made their way down to the common room, to find the Marauders and Lily waiting for them.
"Morning you two," said Lily smiling. "We were wondering if you were ever going to get up." It being a Saturday, they had all slept well past breakfast. "Well, come on, we should get something to eat from the kitchens so that we're not starving until the feast."
"Feast?" asked Harry. "What feast?"
"It's Halloween, remember?" asked James.
"Oh," said Harry, having completely forgotten, that today, was indeed, All Hallow's Eve.
"Harry, you okay?" asked Sirius, seeing Harry become lost in thought.
"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine," he muttered.
"James, Lily, perhaps you could come with us on a walk?" asked Hermione.
"Sure," said James. "You guys don't mind, do you?"
"Not at all," said Remus. "We were heading down to the kitchen to get food anyways." Sirius and Peter nodded and they set off, leaving the two couples standing there.
"So, where are we going?" asked James. The two women looked at him as if he had no tact, but before they could say anything, Harry spoke.
"The tree." Hermione didn't need details to know which tree Harry was talking about, so she silently took his hand, and the two of them walked out of the common room, followed by James and Lily.
They arrived at the tree by the lake a few minutes later, and the four of them sat down in its shade.
"Harry what's wrong?" asked Lily.
"It's hard for me to explain..." said Harry. He and Hermione both knew why he was being like this, but it wasn't that easy to put into words. Especially to James and Lily.
"Did something happen?" asked James. Despite his mood, Harry forced a smile at this.
"More like something that's going to happen," he said sadly.
"Oh..." said Lily covering her mouth. "You mean that -"
"Yes," Harry said cutting her off. "On Halloween night, three years from now, Voldemort will come and kill you two." James eyes widened as he finally realised what the problem was.
"Blimey," he said. "No wonder you've been acting strange since you found what today was."
"It hasn't affected me like this before," said Harry. "I guess being here with you...it's made me feel like I have a family again, and I know that eventually I'm going to have to go back to a future in which I have none." Lily put an arm around Harry and gave him a squeeze.
"Listen," she said. "I'm sure, that no matter what happens in the future, that James and I will always be looking down on you, making sure you're safe."
"I'd like to think that was true," Harry said. "But somehow I feel that Sirius wouldn't have died if that was possible." James eyes grew wide and he stared at Harry after hearing this. "Oh, well..um..."
"Sirius is dead?" whispered James. "How? When?"
"He died at the end of our fifth year," Hermione said. "In a battle against Voldemort's best death eaters." James grew pale at this.
"So you mean to tell me, that the only Marauders who are still alive in your time are Remus and Peter?" he asked.
"...yes," said Harry after some hesitation. Lucky, James didn't notice and buried his face in his hands. There was silence for a moment until they heard a sniffle, and were extremely surprised to hear it coming from James.
"James?" asked Lily.
"I'm sorry," he said wiping his eyes. "But hearing that I failed to protect Sirius, and you, and Harry, it kinda gets me down a little."
"You didn't fail any of us," said Harry. "You dueled bravely with Voldemort trying to save Lily and me. But we both know that no one survives once he decides to kill them. As for Sirius, well, it's a long story, but I was more at fault in that case than you were."
"How so?" James asked, but before he could respond, Hermione put her hand to his mouth.
"Harry, Sirius' death was not your fault," she said. "Stop saying it." Harry nodded and she removed her hand from his mouth. "Harry, I, and four others fell into a trap at the Ministry of Magic. Sirius tried to help save us, and was killed in the ensuing fight."
"I see," said James slowly.
"I hope you don't think any less of me," said Harry hanging his head.
"Not at all," said James with a smile. "It just pains me to know that you have to witness so much death at such an age."
"It hasn't been the best of experiences for me either," said Harry glumly. There was silence for a little while, until Lily spoke.
"Well, I'm going to head back in, I'm getting a little hungry," she said. "James?"
"What?" he asked in confusion. Lily gave him a look. "Oh, right, I'll come too. See you guys later then."
"Bye," Hermione said as they walked off. When they were gone, she slid over so she could lay down in Harry's lap. "You ok?" she asked, looking into his eyes.
"No," Harry replied honestly. "But I'll get over it." 'At least I hope so,' he added as an afterthought.
"Don't worry," Hermione said. "You will."
"I will what?"
"Get over it."
"I just said I'll get over it," Harry said, confused.
"I heard that little sentence you mumbled afterwards," Hermione said accusingly. Harry stared at her then a smile crossed his face.
"Hermione," he said cupping her chin. "I didn't say that out loud." Hermione's eyes grew wide at this.
"You didn't?" she asked with a smile. Harry shook his head.
"Tell me what I'm thinking now," he said. Hermione looked at his eyes intently, then a smile appeared on her face.
"I love you too," she said straddling his legs. A huge grin broke out on Harry's face.
"Well, this is a very interesting side-effect of our relationship," he said. "Reading that book must've paid off. James and the rest are gonna be quite proud."
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Well that's all for this week folks. Sorry it's not more interesting than that, but the writer's block was EXCEPTIONALLY bad for this chapter. I think maybe I'm going to have to limit Harry and Hermione's adventures in the past to two more chapters, although I'm desperately hoping for three or four. I'll leave you with one parting thought, and that is you can expect a quidditch match next chapter. ;)
Until then, may all your ships be happy, and all your fics be fluffy!