Werewolf in Disguise

This chapter is for my loves: AthenaMalfoy, Northstar, and HPlover 29. TY guys!

Saturday finally came and the group couldn’t wait to go into Hogsmeade. James and Lily would be going off on their own for while as would Remus and Hermione. Sirius would be hanging out with his date, Missy, but he refused to go anywhere ‘cheesy’ and Hermione suddenly felt sorry for the girl. It would be nothing but Honeydukes and Zonko’s for her today. The three couples agreed to meet for lunch in the Three Broomsticks around noon, and stick together for the afternoon. Peter was spending his day in detention with McGonagall, once again.

The early April sun was shining down on them and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The full moon was coming in a few days, but Hermione and Remus refused to think of it right now. Their romps around the grounds and Hogsmeade were fun, but the transformation was still really hard on Remus, and even harder on Hermione to watch. She also hadn’t told anyone else, aside from Lily and her boys, what had happened by the lake either and only Lily and Remus knew what really happened. Walking into Hogsmeade the couples said goodbye and wandered in separate directions. After restocking Hermione’s supply of quills and parchment, they decided to go to the bookstore.

“The bookstore awaits, milady,” Remus said bowing down to her as he opened the door.

She giggled and said, “Why thank you, good sir. Would you care to join me in this most marvelous of adventures?”

“I would be most honored, milady, for the chance to bask in the wonder that is your beauty,” he replied grinning as he ducked the hand headed for his shoulder.

“Come on you twit, let’s go find that book you wanted,” she said laughing at him.

“Twit, eh? Fine, you nutcase, let’s get going,” he said, continuing their playful banter. They exchanged words and playful insults back and forth until James walked up to them carrying Lily’s books.

Laughing at both of them James said quietly to Hermione, “You know Gyps, you could always use the “w” word, it’s what I do. Otherwise he always wins. Um, actually, no,” he said as realization dawned on him, “you couldn’t use it, but hey, it works for me.” Laughing as Lily smacked his arm, the two walked away hand in hand calling, “be seeing you in an hour” over their shoulders.

“Yea, he could have given me something I could have used. James never is very helpful is he?” she said smiling at her friends retreating backs.

“Naw, not very often. He has changed quite a lot here lately though. He and Lily have been using our Room if you know what I mean,” Remus said, looking slightly affronted at the thought of sharing the Room of Requirement.

“How did you know?! Did he tell you that?” Hermione asked angrily. No one knew but James, Lily and Hermione, or so she thought.

“Well, no, I didn’t know,” he said with a huge grin breaking out over his face, “but I do now. Thanks love. And don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul what you told me.”

“I didn’t…Oh Remus,” she said sighing. “Isn’t it great?! They really are so in love, I’m glad to see them finally happy.”

“My too, love. They’re almost as in love as we are!“

They walked out of the store, trying to decide what to do with the half an hour they had left to kill. Remus wanted to go to Honeydukes, so they headed in that direction. Suddenly they saw several students running their way. Remus stopped one of the younger ones and said, “What’s going on?”

The boy looked frightened and shakily said, “Death Eaters! Here, in Hogsmeade! They said You-know-who himself would be here. We have to get back to the castle.”

Hermione immediately drew her wand to jump into the action. “Go tell Dumbledore! Don’t stop until you get there and talk to no one else, do you understand me?” He nodded his head quickly and ran off.

Hermione took off running in the direction the boy had came from. Remus was by her side panting as he said, “Hermione, what the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?! You can’t go fight Death Eaters, go back to the castle.”

“Remus, you’re either with me or not, but I’m going. I don’t know what’s going on, but it just feels, I don’t know, natural, that I run in and do something.. OH NO! LILY!” she screamed as she ran faster. When Remus looked up, the sight that met him chilled him to the bones. James and Sirius were fighting with several Death Eaters, Sirius laughing at them and James looking worriedly around for Lily. She was fighting one Death Eater when another came up behind her unnoticed. He pointed his wand at her back and stunned her. When James saw this he went deathly pale. The short distraction gave the Death Eater he was dueling the chance he needed to disarm James and knock him out. Sirius and the other Death Eater continued to duel and trade insults, not paying attention to what was going on around them.

They were dragged to the middle of the fight and laid together. The Death Eater that stunned Lily dropped both their wands and it appeared as if he were waiting for something, or someone. Hermione, seeing what was going on, stopped Remus and drug him into the nearby alley.

“Right Hermione, you stay here and I’ll be right back. Don’t move and stay safe.” Remus was saying until Hermione glared at him and interrupted.

“Remus, shut up and listen to me. There are only five Death Eaters and two of us, three if you count Sirius. Dumbledore won’t be here for at least ten minutes and by that time, it could all be over. They have our best friends Remus, and I’m not going to sit in some alley waiting for Merlin’s sake. Now, we split up and, with Sirius, form a circle with the Death Eaters in the middle. The one with James and Lily, I’ll stun first. He’s distracted and won’t see it coming. Then we take on the rest and get our friends back.” At this she said, “Stay safe” and left to join the battle. She still couldn’t understand why this felt so right to her, but shook off the worry as she sent a silent stunner towards the Death Eater.

She turned to take on another, when the two remaining Death Eaters turned on her. The third was dueling Remus and the last one was being toyed with by Sirius. Hermione rolled her eyes and said, “Hello boys, care to play?” She wanted to get a feel for who she was fighting and knew that getting them to talk was the easiest way. She did not however, hear the pop and see the new addition to the ‘party’.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here. A little slip of a girl taking on the two of us?” the first Death Eater countered. “You’ll be gone in no time,” he was obviously the leader of the two. With a silent stunner, Hermione hit the second one in the chest, sending him to the ground.

She then smiled at the first and said sweetly, “well, now it looks like just you and me, what do you say, shall we?”

“Of course, girl, are you prepared to die?”

“Oh, I’m not worried about death, are you?”

He suddenly shouted a curse she had never heard of, but she blocked it easily and the dueling started in earnest. After only a few minutes, all three Death Eaters stopped and turned. Hermione, taking advantage of this, knocked hers out cold and then looked to see what had caught their attention. The other two Death Eaters were kneeling, Sirius and Remus were standing, very pale, and staring at the middle of their makeshift circle. When Hermione looked to James and Lily she gasped, but instinctively drew back around another building.

She peered around the corner and watched. Standing in front of her two best friends was Lord Voldemort himself. He was smirking at them and laughing. Then his controlled and evil voice could be heard saying, “I don’t usually take Mudbloods, into my circle, but I’ve heard of you, Lily Evans. You and your new friends, and make no mistake I will find the other two, are quiet the team. You are all highly intelligent and could be of some use to me. If not use, then fun for my followers, when we find the other girl.”

James struggled to stand, looking murderous and screamed, “NEVER! Don’t you dare touch her.”

“Well James Potter,” he said cruelly, “I see you need to be taught manners. No one speaks to me, the Dark Lord, in such a manner. Crucio!”

James’ scream reverberated loudly in the deadly quiet street. Others had stopped to watch, but no one dared intervene, and most were hiding inside the shops. Voldemort then turned back to Lily, leaving James shaking on the ground, and touched her cheek with his wand, “what do you say girl, join me and you both live. Defy me and you will die.”

“We’ll never serve you, I’d rather die,” she said defiantly.

He pointed his wand at James again, “Crucio” he said cackling. Hermione knew she had to act and stepped forward. Loudly she said, “You know, Voldemort, I don’t think little boys should be allowed to play with such toys.”

The effect was immediate. All eyes snapped to her and the curse was lifted off James. She spared him a quick glance to make sure he was still alive and then looked back to Voldemort.

“So, there you are my pet. No fear of my name, I see. Courageous as rumored. I have been looking for you for quite some time, did you know that?” Voldemort said after turning around to face her.

“No,” she replied with an air of indifference as she moved so that he would concentrate fully on her and not her friends. “But as you very well see, I am here now. Is there something you wish for me to help you with?”

He seemed amused by her tone and sneered at her. “Oh yes, there is much you can help me with. You see, your friends and I were just discussing the benefits of having you three join me, and” he paused for effect, looking back at James, “the consequences of refusing.”

“Well, I can personally see no benefits, unless one would actually want to call you Master and kiss your feet, which I, of course, do not. As for consequences, it’s very manly of you, very brave,” she spat, “to curse a person with no means of defense, as their wands lay behind them. There are however, many things far worse then death. As you see here,” she said showing her wand, “I am perfectly capable of defending myself. So, let them go and you face me. They’ve already defied you once and they’ll be of no use to you now.”

Hermione could hear the others telling her to be quiet and asking what she was doing. Only Remus seemed to understand as he slowly crept forward, grabbing their wands and motioning for Sirius to grab James, while he got Lily and apparated them out of harms way. James was still suffering the effects of the curse and Lily was in shock to the point immobilization. Suddenly two loud popping noises could be heard and all four were gone.

“WHAT?! YOU?! You will pay for that mudblood. How dare you? Do you think you are above me? The darkest, most powerful wizard of all time?” Voldemort’s temper was rising along with his wand, which was now pointing at Hermione’s chest.

“You’re not you know,” she said, much more calmly than she felt. She was hoping to get away now that her friends were safe. She knew there was no way she could duel him and come out alive, but she had to buy time for the others and the strangers on the street. Now however, she was really getting worried for her own safety.

“I’m not what?” he asked, thoroughly confused.

“The most powerful wizard of all time. Albus Dumbledore is and you come in a pathetic second at best.” As she said the words she knew she had went too far. She could see the look of fury cross his face. He was more scary to her in that moment then anything else she could remember having ever seen.

There was a loud noise, like music, that seemed to come from no where. At lease it sounded like music? What could that be? Both her and Voldemort looked around for the source of the sound. It had a very calming effect on Hermione and she instantly saw the flaming bird flying closer to her head. She didn’t know how she knew what to do, but, like instinct, she reached her hand up and grabbed his tail feathers. She felt a searing pain in her side and then, with a burst of flames, she disappeared.

Hermione woke up to muffled voices and a foggy head. This was becoming too common for her tastes. “You’re awake, oh thank Merlin, Hermione I was so worried about you.” She heard his sweet wonderful voice and felt his hands, one held hers tightly and the other was brushing her forehead. The muffled voices stopped and she could see the fuzzy outline of someone else nearby.

“What happened? Why is everything so fuzzy? Remus?” she asked looking in his direction, but a voice from her other side answered her.

“Welcome back Miss Granger, you gave us all quite a scare. The fuzziness should be going away as we speak, but you need to lay very still,” with these words she could feel her head clearing and her mind working overtime.

Lily and James!! She sat up suddenly as she said, “Volde…OW!” and lay back down.

“Now Miss Granger, what did I just say to you child?” She could now clearly make out Dumbledore’s voice and the lack of amusement it held.

“My side, what happened to my side?” She asked, as she looked down at her blood soaked skin.

“Fawkes came to you and brought you back here. However, before you two could disappear, it appears you were hit with a badly aimed severing charm. We can’t fully heal your side until we figure out the curse, so you must be still,” Dumbledore explained, stressing his last two words and looking at the phoenix perched on the bed.

“Fawkes?” she asked. “Oh yea, Thank you Fawkes, you saved my life. I think the aim of the charm was to sever my arm as it touched him, not cut my side.” She sighed as she gently stroked the bird. He then flew over and landed on the bed by her side, tilting his head slightly. Hermione felt heat inside her abdomen that stretched up and out. When she looked down, she saw her wound closing before her, and everyone else’s, own eyes.

“Thank you again, Fawkes. If I can ever repay the favor, just let me know,” she replied, stroking his head again, before laying back down.

“He seems to feel you will more than repay the favor. Mmm, very curious indeed. So, Miss Granger, just out of curiosity,” Dumbledore began, his eyes on her exposed abdomen. “Do you have any recollection of this particular scar?”

Hermione blushed slightly, realizing where everyone was staring and how much of her was exposed and remembering Remus tracing that scar just last night. “No sir, I don’t,” she mumbled.

“Very well,” he said smiling, a smile that, Hermione noticed, didn’t quite reach his eyes this time, as he pulled the sheet up over her exposed flesh. “Do you feel like a rest, or perhaps a shower?’

Hermione laughed at this, “Always the mind reader, aren’t you, sir? I would love a shower, and perhaps a change of clothes.”

“I will inform Poppy to allow you to leave then. Oh, and Miss Granger,” he added, his new smile reaching his eyes.

“Yes sir?”

“Do try to stay out of trouble if you will. Instead of innocent pranks and such,” he said, sending a smiling glance at the Marauders, “your kind of trouble is a bit more than an old man like me can handle very often.”

“Yes sir,” she said, sending him a mischievous smile and placing a hand over her heart, “I’ll do my very best sir, I promise.”

At this he just chuckled saying his farewells and going to find the medi-witch. As soon as he left however, Hermione was met by four very angry and upset faces, staring right at her. “What?” she asked innocently.

“Don’t you ‘what’ me, Hermione. That was the dumbest and most dangerous thing I have ever seen! Why did you do that?”

“In case you didn’t notice, Lily,” Hermione began, trying to reign in her own anger, “Voldemort was getting ready to kill two of my best friends and would have followed with two more.”

“That’s another thing,” said James, “how is it you seem to know so much about him, how to taunt him and all. I could never have done it. Remus told us what you did and Dumbledore had to threaten to stun him to keep from going back after you.”

“Yea,” piped in Sirius, who had, up until this point, been rather quiet, “He said you immediately came up with a plan and went into action. Like this came normal to you or something. Geese Gyps, it makes us wonder who you really are.”

“Professor,” said Hermione quickly, making everyone spin around like they were in trouble, “Do you know if they got away?” She already knew the answer, but was hoping she was wrong.

“Yes Miss Granger they did. I knew when Fawkes left to go to you. You must have showed me great loyalty to bring him to you though and I thank you. However, I was too busy trying to restrain your friends here and calm the whole of Hogwarts to leave. They would have apparated as soon as you disappeared. I daresay a few are very unhappy with their punishment for allowing you to disappear right from under Voldemort’s very nose. Also Miss Granger, I think it would be acceptable to allow your friends here in on your secret. They will undoubtedly figure it out soon enough anyway, and if I’m not much mistaken, I think your time here may be very limited.”

At these words, Dumbledore walked away and tears formed in Hermione’s eyes. Limited? Did that mean…? Was she really going home soon? Did she even want to go home? She knew the answer to that one, although she didn’t want to go, she would have no choice in the matter and had to leave.

She slowly began telling the others of her first discussion with Dumbledore and Remus. They started speaking at once and Hermione noticed Remus’ hand tighten on hers. This simple moment broke her resolve and she burst into tears. Remus sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms, holding her lovingly.

“So that means she’s going to leave us soon?” Lily spoke up

When Remus nodded Hermione sobbed loudly, “and you won’t even remember me. It’ll be like I never existed to any of you, but I’ll be forced to go through life, remembering you and missing you all.”

“Oh Gyps,” said Sirius as he sat on the other side of her and wrapped his arms around her too. “We could never forget you, you’re our little sister and we love you too much. Not to mention, you‘re still moving in with us when we graduate!” They all agreed with Sirius, but the mood stayed depressed.

James finally spoke up from his place at her waist across from Lily, “Well, we don’t know how much time we have, so lets make the best of it. Let’s get you cleaned up, then go do something, It’s still the weekend after all.”

“Wait!” Lily cried. “Hermione, this makes no sense. If you’re from a different place, how would they know about Remus? I don’t think we should be thinking of where you could be from, but when you could be from.”

“Wow! Lily, you really are smarter then anyone I know,” said James lovingly. “That would explain how she knows Hogwarts so well, almost better then us. And why you thought we were familiar to you, if you know us in your time, then maybe we would seem familiar, even without your memories.”

“Right,” said Sirius grinning, “so that means, when you leave here, you’ll just go right back to us! And we’ll remember you then. Only, if it’s in the future, then we’ll be older and you’ll still be 18? That’s weird.”

“Not nearly as weird as Moony being older and shagging an 18 year old,” said James, breaking down in hysterical laughter. “Way to go, Moony!”

“Remus, he’s right,” said Hermione, looking very worried now.

“It doesn’t matter Hermione, I’ll love you in this time or the next. I’ll always love you!” As Remus said this, Hermione kissed him lovingly on the lips. The kiss soon deepened and they forgot about their friends around them.

“Cough, Cough, Gross, Gross,” they heard Sirius say. “That’s my sister you’re snogging!“ Then they both screamed and jumped away from each other.

“James Potter I am going to kill you!” Hermione yelled and took off chasing James in the Hospital Wing.

“Hermione, my sweet, you have to catch me first. With my great Chaser skills, I can get around you eas…..” James’ comment was broken off as he started falling and came down hard on his arse.

Everyone doubled over in laughter and Lily said, “What were you saying, love? Something about getting around Hermione?” She then bent over to help him up.

“Lily, love of my life, will you kiss it and make it better?” James asked, rubbing his hurting backside.

“Absolutely not. Now, Hermione, that was priceless! Nothing can get the great James Potter, or wait, the great James Potter, taken out by a bedpan!” Lily was laughing so hard now she had tears streaking down her face. Always one for a laugh, even at his own expense, James soon joined in.

After everyone calmed down, they took Hermione to get cleaned up and then headed down to enjoy their weekend. Each trying desperately to forget that she would be leaving them soon.