The Light

Chapter 42- The Operation Part 2 (oh deer, OH DEER)

"Don't look so smug," Remus said.

Hermione was sat at the table, eyes locked on the dancing couple, lips curled softly. Beside her, Remus was eating spotted dick, something he had grudgingly accepted for desert, and he had sighed that Sirius was going to be far too pleased this Christmas.

She looked at him, eyes wide. "I'm not smug."

"Yes you are," Remus raised an eyebrow. "I can feel it coming off you. It's suffocating."

She shot him an exasperated look. Hermione said, "I'm not! I'm just happy." She swallowed. "And slightly nervous."

Remus frowned, his mouth full of cake. He cocked his head, silently questioning her.

"What if-?" She broke off. "What if us interfering doesn't help them? What if the potion runs out and they hate each other again?"

Her stomach fluttered. It was so much more than meddling for an hour. It was so much more than a prank, or a plan or an operation or whatever Sirius had decided to call it! These was Harry's parents! Hermione felt herself falter. Watching as James twirled Lily out, and they both laughed before curling into one another again, she thought about how, here in front of her, at the Christmas ball of 1977, Harry's existence was a crackling possibility; a flicker of the future. She wondered whether this was where Harry Potter truly began; at a ball where two teenagers danced, forgetting everything but one another.

Remus finished chewing, eyes boring into her, and he said earnestly, "I've known them both for seven years now. I've watched James love her for four. I will never see two people more meant for each other than Lily and James."

Hermione nodded. There was something about the way he said it, maybe the underlying softness that was always present in his voice or the conviction in his eyes, that had her believing it too.

She tore her gaze away, just in time to see a grinning Sirius bounding through the doors. The top few buttons on his shirt had come undone and he was a sweet pink. He sought them out, eyebrows quirking when he found them, and made his way over.

"I tell you, that Bernie boy is one hell of a-" he stopped. "Is that spotted dick?"

Remus closed his eyes. He looked to be in pain.

Hermione watched, biting back a smile, as a gleefully manic grin broke across Sirius' face. His arms shot up, pumping the air and he announced, finger pointed in Remus' face, "I told you! I told you that one of these days they'd have to serve spotted dick! They'd simply have to!"

"Alright Merlin, let's not get too carried away," Remus replied sarcastically, smacking Sirius' finger away. He pushed his bowl forward, pudding half-eaten. It seemed his friend's gloating had satisfied his appetite.

Sirius sobered up, sitting down and pulling the bowl towards him. He looked at Remus. "Are you done?"

When he nodded, Sirius dived into the sponge cake, still evidently ecstatic. Then his expression froze. His mouth opened and the mush that was the spotted dick tumbled out of it. He shook his head. "That was not what I expected. That was not nice."

Hermione wrinkled her nose, swatting him. "That's disgusting."

Having been wiping at his tongue with his napkin, Sirius pulled a face and said, "Speaking of disgusting, how're the lovebirds?"

She nodded in their direction and said quietly, "You tell me."

His eyes followed and she noticed his entire face soften slightly, the tips of his lips curl upwards. Then, he cleared his throat and said, "I told you it would all work out. My plans always work out."