Why We Fight

Part 23:
The Girl in Question
(Tuesday, September 6, 1977)

"Did you get it?" Draco asked, examining James as he entered the Head Boy's room.

"Lacewing flies, leeches, bicorn horn, knotgrass, fluxweed picked at the full moon, shredded boomslang skin," James said, depositing the ingredients in front of Draco as he said them. He sat down in front of Draco as the blonde began adding the ingredients.

"The flies need to be stewed for twenty-one days for maximum potency," Draco said.

"Where'd you learn this?" James asked.

"Most Potente Potions," Draco answered.

"Oh, right, never did care much for Potions, Flaherty is not easy to get along with."

"You don't have to tell me that," Draco said distractedly. He did a double-check of Most Potente Potions, making sure that everything was in its proper amount and consistency. "You're certain you've got the proper ingredients?"

James stared at Draco. "Well, the little bottles had these little pieces of paper on them called 'labels.' And the labels had these things called 'words' and the words told me that they were the proper ingredients," James said deadpan. Draco gave James an irritated glare and made a triple-check.

After a half hour of Draco examining the book and quadruple-then-quintuple-then-sextuple-checking the ingredients to make exactly certain they were what they claimed to be. Draco even compared the ingredients' appearance to the images in an encyclopedia of Potions ingredients and, by this time, James was really annoyed. "For the love of Merlin!" James cried, dropping the lacewings into the stewing solution. Draco glared at James. "So, you're sure this will work?"

"Of course," Draco said. "It can fool anyone and, at the Halloween Masque, we can tell Lily the truth."

"What if she hates me?"

"Then you're out of luck," Draco said with a little smile.

"Oh, thanks..." James said. "You're a load of help."

"You want me to build up your ego uselessly. I'm not going to hold your hand and tell you that everything's going to work out right. You have to make Lily like you by yourself," Draco stated.

"Fair enough," James said. They stowed the ingredients and the stewing lacewing flies into a safe corner of the Head Boy's room out of everyone's view.

---

At breakfast, Hermione stared at her memory-sharing potion notes with a renewed vigor. She had to find out how to fix what had been done. She really didn't want to end up like the girl Lily had told her about. It would be way too confusing to actually meet Harry when he was -- would be born -- born. To be around when she, herself, was -- would be born -- was another thing she wondered about. She winced as she thought of all the possible things that could have changed in the four days she and Draco had lived in the past. Every word she said, every thing she did had an impact on the future. It was like a pebble being thrown into a still pond and the ripples spreading out to where they would never have gone. Guilt wracked her at the thought of all the things she had done that could have changed something.

Severus sat down beside her heavily and Hermione looked up from her pink-splattered notes. "Hello, Hermione," Severus said. The brunette frowned. Severus looked much paler than he had when they'd first met in the past.

"Are you okay, Severus?" she asked. "You look really pale."

Severus stared at the girl, amazed by the worry in her voice. "I'm fine. I guess I just caught a bit of something."

"Maybe you should go to Madame Pomfrey's?" Hermione suggested.

"I'll be fine," he replied. He looked at the pink substance coating her notes. "What happened?"

"Oh," Hermione said. With a quick Scourgify the pink mess was gone. It was interesting that the only things that bore a hint of what had happened to Draco and her were the notes on the potion. "I'm not really sure."

Severus nodded. "You never answered my question," he said.

"I don't know what happened," Hermione repeated.

"Not that one. Do you want to go to the Halloween Masque with me?" he asked.

"I thought I answered that one," she mused.

"You didn't. You started talking about Narcissa," he said.

"Oh," Hermione said with a little blush. "Yes, Severus, I would love to go to the Halloween Masque with you." Severus gave her a smile, a warm friendly smile. It was unnerving to see the grin on her future professor's face.

"Good," he replied. She tucked the notes back into her satchel. Maybe they could wait, after all. At least, until the Halloween Masque.

"Lily told me about the, uh, project in Potions," Hermione said.

Severus scowled and glared moodily at his breakfast. "What about it?"

"Why do you dislike her so much? She's been really nice to me," Hermione said.

"She's a Mudblood," Severus said scathingly.

Hermione glared at him. "And what's so wrong with that? What makes a pureblood better than a half-blood or a Muggle-born, for that matter?" she exploded. "Why is blood so important? Lily is as good at magic as you are, if not better." She suddenly paled as she realized why she was so upset. She was tired of Draco and how he reacted because of her blood. Her eyes widened and she quickly left the Great Hall.

Severus stared after her. Hermione always seemed so mild-mannered and quiet and now this?

---

Sirius Black noticed Hermione's distress as she made her way out of the Great Hall. He turned to Remus. "I'll be right back," he said, standing up and following after.

"He is never going to give up, is he?" Peter inquired. Remus barely heard Peter's comment. He was too busy trying to figure out who had been helping Draco with his tasks. If he could prove that someone else had been helping, maybe he could end up getting James to reconsider. He suddenly had a realization, sent a look at the Slytherin table to find Snape sitting by himself and looking bewildered.

---

"Hermione! Wait," Sirius called. Hermione turned around to look at Sirius.

"I don't need this right now," Hermione muttered under her breath. And so he could hear her, "What is it?"

"What happened back there?" he asked.

"Severus and I got into a little discussion," she said.

"Oh, really?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, really," Hermione said.

"I could kill him for you, make it look like an accident," Sirius suggested. Hermione fought back the urge to smile.

"That's really not necessary," Hermione said. "It was just a little misunderstanding. Are all purebloods thick?"

"I'm a pureblood."

Hermione smirked slightly. "So, they are," she said. Sirius looked at her with mock indignation.

"And anyway, Snape's not a pureblood," Sirius said.

"He's not?" Hermione asked.

"No, his mum's old money -- pureblood -- and married an incompetent Muggle-born," he said. "Who might as well have been a Muggle."

"So he's a half-blood. He told me that his family -- the Snapes -- was, you know, an upstanding pureblood family. I thought that..." She trailed off.

"No, that would be the Princes," Sirius said. "His mother's family. Not all Slytherins are purebloods. I mean, you're not a pureblood."

"But I'm not a half-blood either," she admitted. "Truthfully, I can imagine that the Slytherins would kill me in my sleep if they were to find out about my bloodline." She pushed a curl behind her ear. There was a long, pregnant pause.

"So what's your story anyway?" he asked.

"I told you, remember," Hermione said.

"No, you told me about a mountain troll and a dance with Draco, nothing really about yourself," Sirius said.

"Oh..." Hermione said. "I also told you about my parents and sister."

"Tell me about your friends...um...Harry and Ron, right?"

"Yes. There's really not much to tell about them."

"You're as mysterious as you are pretty," Sirius stated. Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm serious."

"And I'm Hermione," she said. It was Sirius's turn to roll his eyes.

"You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen," he said.

"I bet you tell that to all the girls," she replied.

"Only the ones that really are," Sirius stated. He moved closer and Hermione's eyes widened. Then it happened. Sirius kissed her, barely a brush of the lips but it made her stomach do flips.

---

"Remember, you have to act like you're my girlfriend," Draco said. "We have to be comfortable with one another."

Lily sighed. "Or we can just hope that Narcissa transfers to Beauxbatons."

Draco looked depressed. "I'm not that lucky," he said. "You have no idea how awkward this is for me."

"For you?" Lily cried.

"And, well, you too," Draco said. He took a deep breath and hoped the entire ordeal would be worth it. Then he saw something he'd never forget. His eyes widened in shock. "Is that...?"

"Hermione," Lily finished, staring at the scene before her. There Sirius Black was kissing Hermione de Lioncourt. At the sound of her name, Hermione shoved Sirius away. Her face was a brilliant red color and Sirius looked startled. Draco bit back a laugh at the expression on her face.

Hermione raced away. "Oh, what a woman," Sirius murmured, grinning stupidly. He headed toward the Great Hall, whistling softly.

Lily looked from Sirius to Hermione's retreating form. "Well, that's just weird," she said.

---

Hermione slumped into a chair hidden deep in the library and immediately withdrew the notes. Her hands trembled as she tried to make out the words. Even with her immaculate handwriting, Hermione couldn't seem to decipher the words. She was way too confused. Why on earth was this happening? First Lucius, then Sirius, then Draco. Draco Malfoy, the boy who had made her life at Hogwarts miserable. Okay, so her relationship with Draco hadn't always been the way it had become. It was a lot different almost five years ago.

There was a time when they were actually friends. The time that they had been friends had barely lasted two months, but they had been friends once in their first year. She had realized that he was actually her academic equal and the two of them had spent a great deal of time in the library reading books and talking about their classes and what could be done to make them better. Hermione frowned. She hadn't thought about that for a long time. That, once upon a time, she had considered Draco Malfoy her closest friend.

That all ended on Halloween 1991 when Draco received his monthly treats from his mother and a letter that told him Hermione was a Muggle-born and he shouldn't fraternize with her. Of course, Draco immediately called off their friendship and went on to make the rest of the years miserable. That, combined with the hurtful comments from Ron, had sent her to the girls' bathroom when the troll attacked.

She was so deep in thought; she didn't realize that she was no longer alone. "Hermione, can I talk to you for a while?" a voice came. Hermione whipped around to find Remus. She sighed. What now?

"I don't see why not," she replied.

He nodded toward the empty chair across from her. "May I?"

"No one else is." Remus sat down and looked at her with his blue eyes.

"I need to talk to you about Draco," he said.

"What about Draco?"

"I know you've been helping him."