Trying to Change Fate 4th year, part 3

The Christmas holidays had passed pleasantly for the Potter family, but they all noticed that their Hermione seemed unusually distracted. She would disappear for hours during the day, and James and Sirius were completely unable to find her. Her face was pale and her eyes looked odd. During the holidays, there was another strange meeting that the children were not included in. James and Sirius were hovering near the meeting room swathed in the invisibility cloak trying to eavesdrop. They could hear yelling, this meeting was far more lively than some of the previous ones. If only they could figure out what was going on. Hermione watched them from up above where she was leaning against the railing. She sighed. I know what's going on, but how do I make them listen? Hermione went back to Hogwarts with a heavy heart, dragging her feet.

"Right, where is my sister?" James muttered in irritation staring at the map.

"You know, I'm starting to look back fondly on the days when you used that to stalk poor Evans," Sirius drawled from his bed.

"I'd like to see how you would feel if you had a sister in Hogwarts with a Malfoy on the loose," James snapped at him.

"James, we need to work on the animagus spell," Peter reminded him. James sighed.

"Fine! Let's just do that while my poor sister is being defiled somewhere in the castle," James groused. "Don't think about the fact that she is covered with Malfoy germs even as we speak."

"I hardly think that Malfoy's defiling her," Remus said dryly from behind a book. James snorted in disbelief.

"Show me," whispered Hermione after she dragged Lucius up to the astronomy tower. He rolled up his sleeve and there is was, ugly and malevolent, forever marring him. She felt her stomach roil and she hurried to a waste bin where she lost her dinner. He was next to her in an instant, stroking her back.

"I had to," he said helplessly. She looked up at him, and she thought of Regulus and Severus.

"Severus will be next, and after him Regulus," Hermione said sadly. Then a thought occurred to her. "Lucius, you must help them. They, too, will have no choice. You must protect one another."

"Hermione," he said with a slight frown. "I don't know if I can do that."

"Why not?" She asked acidly. "You'll all be Death Eaters together. Aren't you allowed to look out for one another?"

"We won't be able to see each other anymore," Lucius said in a detached voice. "I'm supposed to denounce you as a blood-traitor."

"I see," Hermione said stiffly. Lucius looked at her and for one minute, he let down all his guards. There was true pain there, regret, and something she couldn't quite name.

"I really did like you," he said slowly, blinking rapidly. He was crying. "Now, I'll never know…"

"Kiss me," Hermione demanded. "One last time. Just, kiss me."

Lucius kissed her tenderly, sweetly, treating her as though she were spun glass. His knuckles stroked her cheek gently, and his strong powerful arms came around her, held her. He pressed feather light kisses across her brow, the tip of her nose, her jaw. He kissed each one of her eyelids. She felt tears trickle down her cheeks. This boy who was so uncertain, so scared—who reminded her of Draco—had been forced to make choices that would drastically affect his future. She wept for that boy, and for the broken man he would be one day. Her heart felt like it was breaking in her chest. Lucius tried to hold her, but she pushed him away.

"No!" she cried. "I'm a blood-traitor, now, remember?"

She ran as fast as she could, stumbling down the stairs. Malfoy didn't follow her (he could no longer be Lucius…not anymore), and she was glad. Safe. She needed to find somewhere that was safe. She tried to get herself under control. She managed to stop crying and she scrubbed her face in the bathroom. She looked incredibly pale and drawn. She nodded at herself. Good enough. She hurried to the Gryffindor Tower. The commons room was moderately full, and several people looked up in surprise when Hermione ran up the stairs to the boys dormitory. The Marauders all looked up in various stages of surprise when their door burst open.

"Hermione?" James asked in surprise. "What's wrong, you look…er…"

"Jamie!" Hermione wailed and threw herself in his arms sobbing. His arms automatically came around her and held her. He looked at the top of her head in confusion.

"Er, so," James said cleverly. Hermione sobbed brokenly on his shoulder.

"Did somebody hurt you?" Peter asked cautiously. The other Marauders looked at him like he was an idiot. Who on earth would dare harm one hair on Hermione Potter's head? If the Marauders didn't beat them into a bloody pulp, Hermione was completely capable of hexing them to next Halloween.

"You didn't see James' grades, did you?" Remus asked cautiously.

"Hey!" James snapped.

"It was Malfoy, wasn't it?" Sirius asked suddenly, his face coldly furious. The crying became louder, which the boys took as a yes.

"He didn't defile you, did he?" Peter asked in fascination. James stared at Peter with disgust. Hermione choked on a sob and raised her head.

"Where you dropped on your head as a baby?" she asked in a watery voice.

"You know, that would explain a few things," James said coldly as his arms tightened around his sister. "Was it Malfoy, My Own?"

"Y-yes," she shuddered against his neck.

"Did he touch you?" James asked icily. She shook her head against his neck.

"N-no. He…he…called me a b-b-blood-traitor, and said," she hiccupped.

"I can guess what he said," Sirius growled his face darker than Hermione had ever seen it. He sat next to James and put his arms around Hermione as well.

"I can't," Peter said with a frown. Hermione tried to sit up, and James and Sirius had to move back to give her room. She tried to catch her breath.

"We're not seeing one another anymore," she said in a thick voice to Peter. James did not dance around the room, high-fiving his friends, and for that Hermione was truly proud of him. She knew he detested Malfoy with the fiery passion of a thousand suns, which in the Marauder book ranked a tiny bit higher than Snape, but not by much.

"Oh," Peter said thoughtfully. "Well, um, I'm sorry then."

"Thank you," Hermione said with great dignity. She looked at James. "Can I sleep here with you?"

"Yeah, of course, my own," he said quietly, his face thoughtful. "But, um, perhaps you should take a bath, or a shower. It might help calm you down."

Hermione nodded and left the boys dormitory. After she descended the stairs, and they could no longer see her black curls, Sirius turned back to James.

"And you got rid of your sister why?" He asked with a smirk. James turned to Sirius and his face became a mask of rage.

"I'm going to kill him," James hissed, his fists clenched.

"James, you promised Hermione," Remus said quietly. James glared at his friend who shrugged. "Well, you did."

"I'll help you," Sirius said, and that dark look was back in his eyes, turning his grey eyes to a dark steel.

"You can't do that. You promised her," Remus tried again. James snarled at his friend who blinked in surprise. Sirius looked at Remus and shook his head.

"You…you wouldn't really kill Malfoy, would you?" Peter squeaked nervously. James snarled again, and Sirius rolled his eyes at Peter.

"Peter, shut up," Sirius drawled and threw a pillow at the smaller boy.