[A/N: Enjoy this chapter, folks...there maybe a possibility I'll be updating less frequently, since I'm busy with other stuff on Mugglenet Chat and school is starting soon...don't worry, I will definitely continue to write though, although not as much :) Also...I've hit 650 reads! Thanks so much to everyone who's stuck with me throughout this fic!]
The trip to Hogsmeade came quickly, much to the students' delight. On the morning of the event, Remus woke up to the strong scent of cologne. Coughing, he sat up and his eyes fell upon the source of the smell - James. He stood in front of the mirror, muttering a constant stream of spells and pointing his wand at different areas of his face and body with each one.
"Prongs...what the bloody hell are you doing?" he cursed.
"Sorry, Moony," James replied, turning around sheepishly, "I'm just trying to make myself presentable for Ginny."
"You're going with her?"
"Yeah I am," replied the other Marauder as he turned back to the mirror.
"Wicked," was Remus' muffled reply as he pulled on a shirt. "So, where's Draco?"
"Went down already."
"What about Wormtail?"
"Probably off with his girlfriend again."
"Padfoot?"
"No idea. He said he was going downstairs early because he had to meet with his date to Hogsmeade about something."
Raising an eyebrow, Remus returned to putting on his clothes and robes. Once he had smoothed out the wrinkles that had settled overnight, he went over and stood next to James to survey himself in the mirror. Wincing at his not-so-neat reflection, he attempted to smooth down his hair with one hand.
"Getting ready for your lady friends?" asked the mirror in an amused voice.
"Yes," chorused the two boys. A few more minutes passed in silence as the two continued to ready themselves. At least, Remus said, "I think we're ready to go now."
"Wait...one last...."
"No," he answered firmly, tugging at James' robes. "You've had enough time in front of the mirror."
James finally relented his position in front of the mirror, and followed Remus out of their dormitory. "Are you sure that I look okay?" he asked his friend worriedly.
"Stop acting like a girl, Prongs. I bet Ginny isn't even spending this much time on herself," was Remus' sarcastic reply.
He was, however, very much wrong for as he said these words, Ginny stood in the girls dormitory in front of the mirror with 15 or 20 different lip glosses spread out on the desk in front of her.
"Which one?" she asked Lily and Hermione for the 9th time that morning. She held one tube of lip gloss in each hand, and was looking from one to the other in perplexity.
"Ginny," started Lily patiently, "I thought we already decided on the clear one."
"Multiple times," added Hermione. She sat on the bed behind Lily and Ginny and watched them with an amused expression on her face. She never had been one to try out the makeup thing, but now Lily turned around and began to press her to try some of it.
After much encouraging and begging, Hermione sighed and gave in. Grabbing one of Ginny's tubes of lip gloss, she dabbed some on her lips and surveyed her reflection. Not half bad, she thought smugly. Bravely, she also applied some mascara and - wonders of all wonders - blush.
"You should wear makeup more often, Hermione," said Ginny's voice from beside her.
"Thanks," replied Hermione with a smile.
She then backed off and let her friends resume their frantic readying for the trip. She knew that Lily was going with Draco, and that Ginny was going with James. Oddly enough, Hermione no longer found it awkward or weird that they her schoolmates were with people from the past. It seemed so natural to her - like they had lived their life in the time period they were currently in.
Lily's voice telling her to follow them downstairs snapped Hermione out of her thoughts, and with a nod, she climbed off of the bed and trailed the two redheads downstairs.
When they reached the Great Hall, each of the girls saw to their happiness that their dates were already sitting at the table waiting for them. They walked over and sat down next to the boys, and the group promptly began to excitedly discuss their trip.
A few minutes into their breakfast, they were interrupted by the caretaker Wimble's announcement that the students going to Hogsmeade would need to depart in 10 minutes. Sirius joined them with a pretty, blonde Ravenclaw at his side as they began to stand up and pull on their cloaks.
"Hey Dierdre," said Lily with a smile at Sirius' date.
"Hi Lily," she responded. The girl looked positively ecstatic at the idea of going to Hogsmeade with the most sought-after bachelor in their grade. Sirius, on the other hand, was completely ignoring her and staring at Hermione (who did notice, as she was engaged in a conversation with Remus about the history of The Three Broomsticks) instead.
James and Ginny followed the group outside. As they walked, James held Ginny's hand loosely in his and the two chatted animatedly about what they would do once they reached the village.
"I want to check out Honeydukes sweetshop," said Ginny. "I've heard that it has the biggest range of magical sweets in all of Europe."
"It does indeed," replied James with something of a proud air. "It's the best store in Hogsmeade - just wait till you get there, you'll love it."
"This way, students," yelled Wimble as he held up his wand and shot out red sparks from the tip of it to let them know where he was. With all of the students gathered behind him, he lead them to the carriages, where groups of four climbed into each one. James, Ginny, Draco, and Lily settled into one of them, and Remus, Hermione, Sirius, and his date got into another.
Once the bumpy carriage ride to the wizarding village was over and all the students climbed out, the Marauders along with the trio from the future headed straight to Honeydukes. Hermione recalled the other night's events in the shop, and couldn't help but give Sirius a knowing look which he returned.
After the group had considerably emptied their money bags on jelly slugs, chocolate frogs, and fizzing whizzbees, Sirius and his date stated that they were going to Zonko's and promptly departed.
"I want to go look at the bookstore here," Hermione told Remus.
"Okay...do you guys want to meet at the Shrieking Shack in 2 hours?" Remus said to the group.
"Sure," they chorused back. "Have fun," Ginny added.
"Will do," replied Hermione. She and her date said good-bye to their friends and left.
As they headed towards the book shop, Hermione asked, "So what do you usually do in Hogsmeade?"
"We usually hang out at The Three Broomsticks, which is a pub. You've had butterbeer, right?"
"Yeah," Hermione replied. "It's good."
He nodded in agreement. Moments later, they reached a shop called "Bronko's Books" and entered it. Soon enough, they both became deeply engaged in the books each had picked up.
"Hey, I'm going to go explore the rest of Hogsmeade," Hermione said after about an hour. She put down her book and added, "Stay here and finish your book. I'll be back in half an hour or so."
Remus nodded slightly to signal that he had heard her, but continued to read on without looking up. Hermione smiled to herself, then turned around and headed out into the chilly autumn afternoon.
As she strolled down the streets of Hogsmeade and took in the familiar surroundings, she noticed Sirius sitting on a bench. He was reading something, and was not accompanied by Dierdre.
"Hey Sirius," she said, walking over and sitting down next to him on the bench.
He looked up at her and gave her a charming smile. "Hey Hermione."
"What are you reading?" she asked curiously, gesturing at the book he held in his hands.
"Oh nothing...just some school reading I had to get done. Dierdre left to go meet with some of her friends, so I'm waiting for her to come back."
"Oh okay." Silence fell between them following this remark as Sirius turned back to his book and Hermione settled back to watch passerby. Although she thought he had resumed his reading, Sirius was actually, at the moment, plotting his next move.
"So, what's Moony doing leaving a pretty girl like you all alone to wander around in Hogsmeade?" he said casually, looking up.
Hermione blushed and responded, "He's reading something in Bronko's."
"Ah well, I suppose you must be very lonely then," he said. He put his book down and scooted a little closer to her to look her in the eye.
"Erm...well not really..." she started to say. Before she could finish, however, she realized too late that his lips were touching hers and that she was kissing back. I can't do this! her mind cried in alarm as she instinctively moved closer to Sirius, Why am I kissing Sirius? I'm supposed to be here with Remus. Oh God, pull AWAY. Her body, however, was telling her otherwise and was unfortunately overruling her mind.
Suddenly, she heard someone behind her say, "Hermione?"
Hermione quickly pulled away and turned around to see who it was. Her heart sank when she realized that it was Remus standing in the middle of the street with a shocked and hurt look on his face.
"Remus...I'm so sorry...I didn't...it just..."
"No, I understand," he said coldly. "Hope you two enjoy the rest of your time here." He then whipped around and soon got swallowed up by the crowd of happy students.
[A/N: A few words I just felt like saying as I re-read over the chapter: Poor Remus :(]