Chapter Text
Hermione wakes up to a light shining brightly in her face. Confused, she sits up and when she adjusts she sees her head of house standing over her.
“Ms. Granger, Ms. Patil, Ms. Brown, please get up and come with me at once.” McGonagall said to the girls, “Please just throw on your robes over your nightclothes we do not have time to dawdle. Go downstairs and wait in the common room. Stay Together.”
Hermione hurriedly throws on her robe and looks to her roommates, they wear matching shades of exhaustion and confusion. They walk down into the common room and see Gryffindor sitting around waiting for instructions. Percy is near the portrait hole making sure nobody leaves. Once everyone is down in the common room, Professor McGonagall comes down the steps.
“We have reason to believe that Sirius Black is in the castle. For your safety, we are moving down to the Great Hall while the castle is searched. Please buddy up and follow your prefects downstairs. Do not wander, it may have grave consequences.”
Hermione turns to see Ginny holding out her hand, and they walk together to find Harry. Once they are with Harry and Ron, they follow their fellow Gryffindors to the Great Hall. Hermione sees cots lined up against the walls, and goes to claim some for the night. After they find a good spot right under the large stained glass windows, she looks around to see her friends accounted for. Once she sees all of the Gryffindors she moves to look over Slytherin, but she can’t find Theo or Adrian. Spotting Blaise, she briskly moves to him. “Blaise, where are Theo and Adrian?”
“Hello, princess. I didn’t realise you cared where Theo was.” He said, giving her a once over.
“What? Of course I do, he’s my friend.”
“Anyway, I’m not sure. He and Pucey had to run back to the common room for something.”
Hermione’s eyes widen, Theo can’t possibly be out and about in the castle right now. It’s immensely dangerous for him, what with a mass murderer running amok. Just as she is turning to go alert Snape about his missing students, the doors open and Theo rushes in with Adrian in tow. Unbelievable! He could have been killed. Hermione storms right up to him and points her finger at his chest.
“Theodore Nott! I cannot believe you would be out in the castle alone when a lunatic is on the loose! Honestly! What in Merlin’s good name were you thinking? I was absolutely worried sick about you.” She then throws her arms around him and lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. He hugs her back, and before she has the good sense to let go someone lets out a cough.
“By all means, Granger, I could’ve been hurt too!” Adrian says with a cheeky smile. Hermione gives him a false punch in the chest and hugs him as well.
“You, Pucey, are in so much trouble.” Stepping back so she can look at them, she continues, “Well? What was so important that you risked your lives?”
Sheepishly, the boys look at each other and then Adrian holds up a bag from Honeydukes. Hermione rolls her eyes and motions for them to follow her. Making her way through a sea of students, she finds her friends.
“I’ve found them. They went back for Honeydukes! Honestly, I thought having Harry and Ron would be it for me. It seems Morgana has other plans.” Hermione plops down onto her cot, “Well? Sit!” She looks pointedly at the two Slytherins, then gives a warning look to her housemates daring them to say a thing.
The Gryffindors have become used to the gaggle of Slytherins that follow Hermione over the past few weeks. Hermione is pleased to see they are starting their own conversations, and she does not have to force anything. While the students are being counted by professors, Hermione looks around for Professor Lupin, but doesn’t see him. Assuming he is on the lookout for Sirius Black, she turns back to her friends. Once the students are accounted for, Snape enters the Hall, whispers to Dumbledore, and the older man nods. Being too far away to hear anything, Hermione turns her attention to the windows. The candles are starting to extinguish, and it’s time for sleep to claim them again. Just as Hermione is floating away, she swears she hears a howl.
****
The next Thursday, the boys are anxious to get to Defense Against the Dark Arts, so they can ask Lupin about the search for Black. Once she is settled in with her wand out (best to be ready for a practical demonstration) Professor Snape walks in and snaps, “Wands away! Take out your books and turn to page 394.”
This makes no sense, they aren’t meant to start this chapter for weeks! Turning to her potions professor, she attempts to inform him of the mistake. Hermione hears Harry arguing somewhere in the background of her thoughts, good on him , she thinks, finally showing some initiative in the syllabus. Once Snape has docked points from Hermione, she thinks she’d better just pay attention. There is just no getting through that man, honestly, does nobody here care for lesson plans? She could probably plan this course better than her past instructors, actually, she might just do that over the holidays for a little fun.
Why in the world is Snape having us focus on Werewolves? Not that Hermione is complaining about learning of the creature. Only, Professor Snape is usually well organised on lesson plans. Wait. Why is Hermione not focusing on the apparently missing Professor Lupin, she remembers looking for him on Halloween but not finding him. It seems her DADA professor has been missing all week! Tuning back into the lesson, Hermione saves these thoughts for after class.
Snape sets their essay, so naturally Hermione heads to the Library straight after class. Finding everything she can on Werewolves, she gets a prime spot near the restricted section. As she begins her reading on a chapter about recognizing werewolves, two of her thought trains are starting to merge. Just as she’s getting to a testimony from a woman who’s neighbour was a secret wolf, things are officially clicking. Just here the passage says, “All of his robes were ragged, as if they were being torn and sewn together”. This makes Hermione think of Lupin’s patchworked robes. Putting the book down, Hermione clears her thoughts and lays out the facts. Dumbledore would certainly never hire someone who he believed to be dangerous for the students to be around. But, he did allow dementors to be at Hogwarts. Has Lupin been missing since the full moon? Yes. This could also just be a coincidence, she will have to do a small amount of recon. Picking her text back up, Hermione sets to work on the essay.
The following Monday, Hermione is again anxious to see Professor Lupin in class. Scarfing down her lunch, she makes a break for the DADA classroom. Walking in, she sees her professor at the front of the room, writing on the board. When he turns around, Hermione is quick to join him in front of the board.
“Professor, I was hoping you could just quickly look over my essay before I turn it in. Unfortunately, Professor Snape wasn’t keen to answer my questions last week.” She gives her most convincing smile to Professor Lupin. He gives her one in return, pointing up to his office, he says “Of course, Miss Granger, please I’ll be in my office shortly.”
This is it, Granger. Shape up , she thinks to herself. Taking a seat across from his desk, Hermione pulls out her rolled up essay and a few of the texts she used as sources. Looking around the office, she notes a few creatures in tanks. Professor Lupin doesn’t seem to have many personal items, but as she turns her head to the other side, her eyes go wide. Hermione doesn’t think she has ever seen a larger private library. Her professor seems to have hundreds of books stuffed onto the shelves that run the length of the office. Getting up, as if being pulled by the literature, she runs her fingers across the spines of the books. Both muggle and wizard authors, she notes. She was so immersed in the sight before her, she didn’t notice her Professor come in until he gave a small cough.
“Oh! Sorry, professor. I’ve just never seen such a large collection before, outside of a library of course. Oh! You have Austen! Jane Austen! Not even muggles tend to read her these days.” She continues gaping at the shelves, not caring how she sounded.
“Please, Miss Granger, no apologies. I’ve been considered quite the bookworm in my days, I believe I started my collection the day I left for Hogwarts.” Lupin said, with a far away look in his eye. Deciding to let him stir in his memories, she moves to the instructional texts. Instinctually, her eyes draw her to a few reference books on dark creatures. Remembering her original plan, Hermione tears herself (albeit painfully) from the shelves.
Moving back to the desk, she lets out a cough to alert Professor Lupin. He pulls out of his daydreams, and joins her across his desk. Pulling her papers to himself, Hermione watches as he reads over her essay in interest. Quietly, she waits until he looks up to start with her questions. When he does, he holds up a hand to stop her train of thoughts.
“Miss Granger, this essay is far above what I would expect from even a fifth year, well done. I’m not sure what questions you could have for me.” He gives her a smile, looking thoroughly interested in what Hermione has to say.
Smiling at the compliment, she begins her line of questioning. “Well sir, I only wondered about the portion on the aftermath of a full moon, in the fourth paragraph. Unfortunately, there wasn't much information in the library about what happens after the transformation is complete.” Hermione looked expectantly at her professor, hoping to glean some information from him.
Professor Lupin looked at her thoughtfully, and she could almost hear the gears turning in his mind. “Yes, I suppose that most wizards are quick to leave harm's way, so the transformation back is hardly ever recorded. From my travels, I’ve met a lone wolf or two who refuse to write their experiences down in fear of being outed by the ministry. Can’t say I blame them, myself.” Hermione thinks that if Professor Lupin looks any harder at her, she might combust. Instead, she keeps her head calm and crafts a reply.
“It’s so unfair, I don’t see how they are any different from us, professor. Please, excuse me for speaking so frankly, but from what I’ve read of werewolves in the ministry it’s all being handled wrong! This woman, Umbridge, is passing the most heinous legislation! I’m sure I could get an E on my essay if only they would give us more information.”
“Miss Granger, you may speak freely here. I understand your frustration with the ministry, and Madam Undersecretary certainly does not have my favour. As for this essay, I can assure you it’s E level work.”
Well, Hermione certainly wasn’t going to crack this nut. She supposes that thirty years of practice will have given him an edge. Still, she smiles at her professor. “I understand. Thank you for looking it over, professor. I’ll go set up for class.” With that, she grabs her things and moves to the classroom where some of her friends are filing in.
She goes over her conversation with Professor Lupin in her head during class. Being careful to not get too lost, she takes down her notes. She might have to do some extensive library work tonight. Before she knows it, Lupin releases them and she heads straight for the library. She drops off her returning books with Madam Pince and finds her favourite table. Hermione sets her stuff down and moves through the aisles for any texts that might catch her eye. Once her arms couldn’t possibly carry any more, she drops them onto her table with a thud.
Hermione sits and arranges her books carefully. Once she is digging into her latest charms assignment, she sees someone sit in her peripheral vision. Looking up, she smiles at Theo. He returns the grin and Hermione feels a flutter in her stomach. She hasn't seen him much since that night in the Great Hall, and it’s most unlike him to not check in with her.
Still smiling at him, she sets down her quill, “Hi, Theo.”
He began pulling out his books and parchments. “Hey, Granger.” His voice was flat, which made her frown. Had she done something to upset him?
She put her hand on his arm, “Is everything okay? I haven’t seen you in a while.”
Theo shrugs off her arm, she can’t hide the hurt that crosses her face and chest. He doesn’t look at her when he speaks again. “M’fine. Been busy.”
Hermione just knows that he’s lying to her. But why? “Theo, really. What’s going on you’re obviously upset.”
At this, he stands quickly. She flinches away, but he doesn’t soften. “GAH Granger can’t you just leave me alone? Seriously, I'm not some pet project Slytherin for you to play with.”
What is he meaning right now? She hasn’t done anything wrong, and before she can stop it the rage bubbles up. Something happens that has never happened before. Hermione Granger yells in the library. “YOU ARE MY FRIEND, THEODORE.” Realising her volume, she brings it down to an angry whisper, “I’ve done nothing. Nothing to you. How dare you sit here and treat me like this for showing that I care about you.”
Not caring for the books she was planning on checking out, she stays locked in a glare with Theo. She grabs her bag and storms out of the library. What is it with Slytherins in the library? Hermione tries to comprehend all of what Theo just said to her, but it doesn’t make any sense. Of course he’s not some pet project, she thought they were getting on really well. Any feelings of friendship, and the smaller feeling of something more, were squashed. Hermione sped up on her track to her dorm, and ignored all calls of her name along the way.
For the rest of the week, rumours spread about a crying Hermione Granger running through the halls. Then, they noticed her purposefully ignoring Theo Nott. Crazy stories ran wild through the weekend about what happened between the unlikely friends. Hermione pretended not to care, until her friends finally got her to open up.
She was watching Ron and Harry play a barbaric game of chess, while Fred and George retold their latest prank. Next to her on the sofa, Ginny was plaiting Hermione’s hair. This was the first time since her big fight with Theo in the library that she felt in good spirits. After the twins finished their story, she laughed with the group. Harry looked over at her with a soft smile.
“I’m glad to see you laughing, Mi. Do you want to talk about whatever happened this week?” Harry said, keeping his comforting smile.
At the turn of conversation, Hermione was suddenly uncomfortable with the eyes being on her. “No, Harry, it’s okay. Thank you, though.”
Fred gave her a disbelieving look, and moved to sit on her other side. “What can we do? I hate to see you so upset.”
She turned and gave him a smile, “Really, Freddie I’m okay.” She rests her head on his shoulder, finding comfort in his warmth.
“I understand, we’re here for you.” He said, resting his chin on her head.
Hermione manuverd her head around and looked around at her friends, who were all looking at her with great concern. Feeling comfortable, she decided to tell them the truth. “Theo and I had a fight. I’m not sure what happened but he yelled at me and said that he wasn’t my ‘pet project’. I have no idea what would give him that idea.”
“I knew hanging out with those snakes was no good, Mione! I’ll kill him.” Ron growled out, already standing. “How dare he yell at you.”
Standing to block Ron’s path, Hermione defended Theo, “Ron stop! I’m sure I’ve done something to upset him, I just don’t know what.”
“Maybe you should try again to talk to him, Hermione.” Ginny suggested, while simultaneously motioning for Ron to sit down.
“Yeah, maybe. Thank you guys for your advice.” She said while walking towards the dormitory stairs, “I’d better get to bed. Goodnight.” Hermione proceeded to her dorm, where she was left to ruminate before finally falling asleep.