Hero of the Story || James Potter x Hermione Granger Fanfiction

39 | we were amateurs at war - part i

xxxix.

we were amateurs at war – part i

(Mars by Sleeping at Last)

__________

January 6, 1979

Hermione felt a wave of déjà vu as their doorbell rang whilst Peter brought her trunk downstairs.

"It's them, isn't it?" she asked, frowning at Peter's hair.

"I didn't invite them," he said with a deep sigh. The doorbell rang once more. "I'll get it."

The brunette tugged her trunk down the last few steps and entered the living room. She weakly smiled in greeting when James, Sirius, and Remus walked inside the house. Seeing that it was a Saturday, none of them were in their work clothes. Sirius was still wearing his beloved leather jacket, while James and Remus were in their casual robes.

"Last term at Hogwarts," was Sirius' greeting. "Excited, Whiskers?"

She swallowed down a retort about it being pointless to go back to Hogwarts now that they were at the peak of war. Instead, she managed to reply with a soft, "Yeah."

James was instantly beside her, his warm hand enclosing around hers.

"We're not taking the car this time," Peter announced, pulling Hermione's trunk away from her.

"We're not?" Sirius looked very disappointed.

"Peter has to help mum with something today," Hermione replied as she walked out of the door, the Marauders closely following behind. "We're going to Apparate."

Seeing that she already had her license to Apparate, Hermione didn't ask for James' permission as she grabbed onto him. They reappeared almost immediately at the Apparation point a few blocks away from King's Cross, hidden from the throngs of bustling commuters, Muggle and Magic alike.

"A little warning next time, Hermione," James complained as their other friends soon materialised.

"Sorry," she quipped. "I'm going to be late."

"It isn't eleven in the morning yet, Hermione," Remus piped in.

"I have a meeting with MacMillan and the Prefects in a few," she said, her lips curling into an annoyed frown. "Something about the Prefect patrol schedule. Honestly a waste of time, if you ask me."

She ignored how they exchanged glances over her shoulders, eyebrows raised up to their hairlines.

Hermione's sour expression softened into petulant resignation. She knew she had been on edge ever since they'd come back from the Potter Manor. Dumbledore had sent her a letter just this morning reminding her again that she should focus on her NEWTs and Head Girl duties for the remaining months. He explicitly emphasised that he was banning her from receiving any news from the Order, lest it would trigger her into another mission that could endanger her life. She wasn't allowed to ask questions - from her brother and the others, effectively leaving her in the dark. Unless, of course, Dumbledore deemed something was important for her to know. Bitterly, she knew Regulus would have more knowledge than her, now that Dumbledore was going to train him in order to become a spy for the Order.

They silently meandered through the busy station and crossed Platform Nine and Three Quarters. There were still a few students around, seeing that they were quite early. She spied the Head Boy climbing inside the train, however. And so, with a quick murmured goodbye to the other four, she snatched her trunk from Peter's grip and pulled her hand away from James.