Brown Eyes

Chapter 6: Expectations

For a few moments Hermione stared blankly at the Gryffindor table, her mind focused completely on the riddle the old hat had given her. It hadn’t been very informative and it didn’t make much sense.

What did her personal life have anything to do with the changes that needed to be done in this time? Was she supposed to find love here with Sirius? She made a face. ‘Meant to be or not. He is not sticking his dirty tongue in my mouth.’ Professor McGonagall gave her a disturbed look that made Hermione think she may not have spoke in her head as she originally thought.

Hermione shuffled quickly to the Gryffindor table where they were still clapping heartily. Blue-grey eyes followed her stiff form with intrigued interest. He had plans.

She looked around trying to determine where to sit. James was enthusiastically waving her over, everyone was watching him oddly. He wasn’t paying Lily any mind. The other’s were slightly suspicious of Hermione; she had done what no other girl had been able to do. She redirected Potter’s attention from his “Lily Flower” in less than 24 hours.

But since Lily didn’t look the least bit upset, everyone else followed her example and dropped it for a more important topic: Breakfast.

Hermione sat cautiously between James and Sirius, smiling timidly at Remus and Lily who sat across from her. She looked around for Peter, but he was no where to be seen. She could have sworn that he hadn’t turned to the dark side yet. Hermione still felt she had time to redirect Peter’s energy somewhere more less evil.

Remus noticed her looking around, “Where’s Peter?”

“Oh.” Sirius began loftily. “He said that he was going to skip breakfast and get some more shut eye. He claims he staid up late doing homework. I just think he was with that Hufflepuff girl again; they’ve been spending an awful lot of time together.” Sirius grinned wickedly.

James mumbled something about charming turds; Lily glared at her food sternly and Remus pretended to be in a deep conversation with his spoon. They seemed to be getting along well; so far, Remus had talked the spoon into going into his mouth, but before he could close his mouth the spoon zoomed away quickly in fright and food splattered his face.

Sirius laughed heartily along with James, who gave up his muttered in exchange for some humor. It didn’t last very long as Hermione and Lily were trying to console and clean Remus off. He sat back and let the ladies coddle him.

“Shouldn’t we make sure he’s up? Don’t your classes begin in like ten minutes or something?” Hermione asked.

“Don’t worry Mya; why don’t we go together and make sure he’s all ready?” James offered sweetly and gave her a crooked smile.

Hermione blushed pink, causing James’ smile to widen to the full capacity. They noticed how often Hermione turned pink when James was around, and he always had a slightly nervous and anxious expression plastered upon his own face.

Hermione nodded so James stood up and grabbed her hand in what he believed was an inconspicuous way. In actuality everyone in the entire room saw. Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled madly, and McGonagall’s nose went up in disapproval.

“What exactly has got you so excited? I thought we already determined that Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans needed to be together in order to defeat You-Know-Who.” She sniffed indignantly.

“Of course Minerva, but did you not hear that a new prophecy had been made a few hours before the arrival of Ms. Granger.”

She shook her head absently. “Honestly Albus I’m starting to believe what everyone says about you. You are truly going senile.”

“Now, now Minerva, dear. The prophecy about Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans could take years, while the one yesterday was about our Ms. Granger.

‘The Goddess of Athena rises again.
She comes with a destiny not known to many.
Only she can defeat what others cannot.
She holds the knowledge to break what can’t be broken.
With the love of her other,
She will fix what was broken and find what was lost.
The other must not play through,
Or consequences will arise and chaos will ensue.
She comes three strikes from this time.’

It is important she fulfills her destiny. She is the one who will save us all.” Dumbledore’s eyes were no longer twinkling - he looked devastated. “I would take her destiny from her if only to save a child. She is too young to face what she will face, but I strongly believe that she knows exactly what she’s dealing with.”

“But Albus, how can you be sure it’s her?”

“Three hours later, three extra strikes upon the clock bell is exactly when our little guest dropped unexpectedly in the dungeons.”

“That isn’t enough valid evidence Albus, you know that. You can not place such faith on your assumption.”

“Who is Athena?”

“The Greek Goddess of Wisdom, but what does that have to do with Mya?”

“Have you looked at her yet?”

“Of course Albus, we all have.”

“No, Minerva, my dear. Have you looked at her magic and the swirls that encircle her head?”

She shook her head.

“Do it and tell me what you see.”

McGonagall focused her energies entirely on Mya and she was forced back with such a force that she physically moved. “What was that?”

“I told you to look at her, not ‘look’ for her. That was her magic; it felt threatened and attacked. Look, she’s back already. Now look.”


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Hermione and James walked quickly to the Gryffindor common room because they wanted to get back to the Great Hall before class started. Hermione still needed her class schedule from Professor Dumbledore. They skidded to a stop in front of the fat lady.

“Password.” She giggled distractedly as her best friend whispered something into her ear.

“Destiny.” Hermione found irony in the password. Her whole reason for being at this time period was because of her destiny.

James ran up to the boys’ dormitory as Hermione waited at the bottom. James came down with a disheveled looking fat boy, whom Hermione assumed to be Peter. His blonde hair laid flat upon his rounded head, while his pudgy fingers gripped his book bag tightly.

“Peter, I would like to introduce you to Mya, the girl that dropped in on our potion’s lesson yesterday. Mya this is Wormtail, the last and final marauder.” Hermione held herself on a short lease. She had a strong urge to knock him upside the head. The only thing holding her back was the fact that he wasn’t evil yet and that she had a chance to make him into a better person.

“It’s very nice to meet you Peter; as James said, I’m Mya.” She grasped his hand in a strong firm grip. Hermione stared him straight in the eyes making sure he believed that she knew him, that she understood his pains and his weaknesses. James looked between the two, not sure what he was missing.

Peter’s pallor changed to a pasty white and perspiration dripped visibly from his brow. She got him; he was exactly where she wanted him. Confused, he didn’t know how much she really knew, and if she was willing to help.

Hermione smiled brilliantly and his stance changed very little. Peter gulped one last time before he finally released his white knuckled grip on her hand. She flexed her fingers by her hip, out of sight of the two boys. “We came up to get you before classes begin. Breakfast is almost over.” Hermione answered.

Peter nodded. “Thank you. I would have slept through the first few classes; I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

They started to walk back to the Great Hall as they talked about Peter’s almost sleepless night, Hermione leading the group with her speed walking. She may have wanted to make sure Peter became a better person, but today was not the day to start. Hermione just didn’t want to be late.

As Hermione walked fast, James walked behind her, watching her hips sway with her quick purposeful stride. He found himself getting lost and wishing he could be the guy that got to hold her close, the guy that got to look at her and think, “I’m hers and she’s mine.”

“… Fortunately my mom is okay,” Peter finished as they entered the great hall.

James was startled; he had just missed Peter’s entire conversation. He tried to determine what exactly he missed, but no matter how much he pulled at his brain cells all he could see was the gentle sway of Hermione’s hips.

“James?”

He looked up to see Hermione looking at him oddly. “Yes, Mya?” He loved to say her name; it was a possessive feeling, like she was his. If he was honest with himself, he would see the irony in his situation.

He would notice that his thoughts were no longer centered on Lily, that his thoughts were now only on Hermione, or the woman he knows as Mya. James couldn’t restrain himself, but he was different. With Lily, he felt he had to act like someone else, like he had to be someone else. With Hermione, he could be himself, but he had the nervous jitters and the anticipation of what was to come.


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As Hermione talked to her friends Minerva looked at Hermione’s magic; it didn’t take much looking. She practically glowed with it, but it looked like some of it was hiding just beneath the surface.

“Albus, that’s impossible. She possesses more magic in her hand than you have, and you contain a lot of magic energy. What do we do? This does not prove she is the goddess Athena, but it certainly makes a good argument. How do you know that James is her other if you believed that he was for Lily?” She glanced inconspicuously at the Gryffindor table where Hermione stood.

“We do nothing Minerva; we must let it happen in it’s own time. I believe I was looking at the wrong marauder. I just believed it was James because of his not-so-subtle obsession.” Dumbledore gestured to Lily and Remus’ clasped hands under the table. Minerva smiled; worry still etched into her forehead.


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Hermione tapped James’ shoulder impatiently with a hint of a blush staining her cheeks, “You looked lost, but I have to go, remember.” she gestured towards the head table. “For my schedule, so I’ll just meet you guys in class.” Hermione waved to everyone and walked swiftly towards the head table.

“You’ve got it bad my friend,” Peter mumbled to James. “You couldn’t take your eyes off her the entire time I was speaking to you; I bet you don’t even know what I was talking about.” Everyone laughed at the stricken look upon his face, except Sirius’ smile and laugh sounded a little stiff.

The two boys watched Hermione longingly as she talked animatedly with the headmaster. Remus, Lily, and Peter looked at one another. Life was about to get a whole lot more tenser; it was in the air. You take one look at James and Sirius, and you could see they both wanted Mya, but whom did Mya want was the question on everyone’s mind.


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It had been a twenty-four hours since his death, twenty-four hours since he realized who Hermione truly was, twenty-four hours since he began to think about what he wanted in life. He was still confused. Harry found himself thinking about life as Hermione as a mother and it sounded wonderful, but than he began to think about everything he’d lose.

He would lose Hermione as best friend, but he’d have Ron and Neville still. The only difference in his life would be Hermione as a best friend or Hermione as a mother. That meant Ron and Neville as friends or a completely different array of friends. Harry would still have them in his lives but they would be more like family than people he could talk to about guy stuff.

Harry sighed. “Where are you Hermione? I need you to help me; without you, I have nothing. But how do I want you?” His head dropped into his hands.

No matter how many ways he spun it, he ends up exactly where he started: with more questions than answers. For the most part he had been avoiding everyone, and with Dumbledore’s permission he got to miss
classes for the day.

Harry was startled when his head began to pound and his vision blurred. He grabbed his head in pain; the pounded just wouldn’t stop. Harry rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. It was a no go. Suddenly his mind began to flash.

Images began to flash through his mind; he saw the marauder’s poking fun of James’ new obsession. James couldn’t stop talking about Hermione, and that brought a smile to Harry’s face. Harry saw the beginnings of a triangle between Hermione, his father and his godfather. He noticed how Hermione would blush around James, but tended to pull back when Sirius came onto her. Harry saw the closeness between Remus and his ‘mother’ Lily; they appeared to be romantically involved.

The images stopped as abruptly as it started. He could see that Hermione was extremely hesitant about James, probably because she thought that he wouldn’t exist if she got close to James. She probably didn’t want Sirius because of his reputation with woman that he and Remus used to talk about when they thought everyone was sleeping.

Sirius had called it the good old days, the days before Wormtail’s betrayal and Azkaban. The stories seemed to calm Sirius down, brought him back from the darkness that wanted to consume his very soul.

As he contemplated his situation he didn’t notice the person that flooed into the head’s common room. He was startled from a tap on his shoulder. Harry jumped in the air, his wand held high to defend himself. Stupefy ready on his lips.

Remus stood before him, looking more haggard than ever, he was breathing hard and looked as if he hadn’t eaten in days.

Harry stood up hesitantly. “Remus?” he stuttered out of his dry lips.

Remus looked up, his eyes a feral gold, shining in the shadows. His lips curled over his teeth, Harry didn’t know if Remus could comprehend what he was saying.

“Remus?”

In a flash of light the flames of the fireplace burst up, Dumbledore appeared looking slightly ragged. He looked straight at Harry’s shocked face and followed his gaze. “Harry, I need you get behind me right now.”

Harry listened to his instruction without hesitation. “What’s wrong with Remus? I’ve never seen him like this.”

“Hermione’s disappearance took the only link to his past he had left. He can’t handle the change. Remus’ werewolf takes control when he is experiencing strong emotions. Since your ‘death’ you are a link to both Hermione and James; he needs that right now,” Dumbledore explained calmly while his eyes never strayed from Remus.

Harry watched as Remus worked to gain control of his mind. You could practically see the internal battle that was going on, you could see that Remus was winning over Moony, but Moony had his moments of fighting back and he played dirty. A few more minutes past before Remus gained full control of himself.

Harry stepped from behind Dumbledore cautiously and extended his arm to Remus. “Remus? Are you okay?” Harry’s hand finally landed solidly on Remus’ shoulder and he visibly shuddered. Remus looked content, that was enough to control Moony and bring Remus back.

Dumbledore watched in amazement, having never seen this type of reaction from canine senses to human touch. It was like Harry’s scent and feel made everything better. It got Dumbledore thinking maybe it had more to do with just the connection to both James and Hermione. They say that werewolves could sense things that most humans overlook; maybe time was one of them. Subconsciously Moony understood the changes and couldn’t wait for them to happen. Outwardly, Remus remained in the dark and confused at his canine’s reactions.

Remus watched Dumbledore bemusedly, as if he didn’t know who he was or if he posed a threat to either him or who he determined was kin. “Remus, are you there?”

He looked up once again and nodded solemnly. “Did I hurt anyone?” At Dumbledore’s hesitant response Remus’ face dropped to one of anguish.

“No, you just caused quite a scare from some of the students. They weren’t expecting your major change in temperament.” Dumbledore’s twinkle shined brightly, taking some of Remus’ pain away.

“What exactly happened? I mean one minute you told me about Hermione’s disappearance and they next I freaked. I couldn’t control myself, but it doesn’t make any sense since I knew she would be leaving.” Remus rubbed his temples trying to shift through the mess in his head.

Dumbledore didn’t think it was necessary to tell Remus what was to come, “Well it seems as if Harry’s presence calms you, so it would be a good idea to stick close to one another.”

The two nodded, but both more confused than ever. Harry’s mind was trying to stop whirling around because every now and again it seemed as if time wanted Harry to know that Hermione and his dad was fine. He would get a glimpse of what they were doing. While Remus got an overload of information that he couldn’t handle, so it gave his werewolf more control.

“Harry, I was hoping you could tell us the situation between Ms. Granger and your father?” Dumbledore’s gaze narrowed on Harry.

He gulped. “Well, right now both my father and Sirius likes her, but it seems as if Hermione prefers my dad.”

The normal twinkle in the headmaster’s eyes dimmed, “This was what I was afraid of. Mr. Potter, times will be tense; this wasn’t a good time for the marauders.”

“What do you mean? What’s going to happen?”

“I can not tell you at this time; this is something you need to see on your own, but I will warn you that you will not like what is to come.”

Remus looked as if he wanted to say something but kept his mouth shut; he too wanted to know. Remus felt something painful in his chest as Dumbledore spoke, but he could only go on his feelings. He could feel how restless Moony was at the thought, making his heart just that more heavy.