A Lion in a Cage
By Sashi Mizumoto
A/N: Well, I finished reading ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ in nine hours. This was definitely my favorite book of the series so far, worth the wait. If you have finished it however, you will know what happens with Remus at the end (I will say that he doesn’t die though). I was so immensely angry at this; I screamed and cursed for about 15 minutes. He was, sadly, not in the book much. That really disappointed me. I think that was actually one of the three things that bothered me the most about the book. The other two problems I had were just with pairings. It did somewhat inspire me to write, though a lot of what I have written now contradicts with the book, but that is why it’s a fanfiction, right? I am happy to say that Remus appears in this chapter, so I hope this will make people want to actually read this one.
Dedication: To my good friend Laura, whom couldn’t stop screaming about the fact that Sirius is dead, and who I enjoy singing the entire ‘Phantom of the Opera’ soundtrack with.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, I would have changed Remus' role in the sixth book and I would kill off someone who interacts with him near the end.
CHAPTER 2
Hermione could feel her hands shaking and she looked up in utter despair at James. “You can’t be James! He’s...” Hermione stopped herself as she realized that she all most had let James’ death slip from her mouth. If in fact she was back in the time of James Potter, she could not reveal that he was dead. If she did, there would most likely be dire consequences. As she had told Harry in their third year, when they had been rescuing Sirius and Buckbeak, “Bad things happen to wizards who mess with time”.
James looked at Hermione with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. “James is what, hmm?” Before he could press any further, however, a girl with bright red hair stepped forward, seemingly towering dangerously over James. “James Potter, if you keep bothering this poor girl, I will never help you with any homework again!” Hermione looked up, shocked that the girl’s statement sounded so much like something she would say to Ron or Harry. As Hermione looked at the girl’s eyes, she quickly figured out who this girl was. ‘It’s… it’s Lily! Her eyes! They really are exactly like Harry’s!’ Lily lightly pushed James away and extended her slender and pallid hand to Hermione. “Hello, my name’s Lily! Lily Evans! And that stupid bloke over there is James, as he so kindly said earlier.” Hermione accepted the hand and stood somewhat shakily. Looking as though she would fall at any given second, Lily motioned for the boy behind her to come forward and help Hermione stand.
Hermione felt a pair of arms twirl their ways around her torso and she let out a small noise resembling a squeak in shock. She turned only to be met with a cocky smile and dark but glimmering eyes. Lily sighed in exasperation and hid her face in her hand. “That is Sirius Black, the playboy of Hogwarts. Honestly Sirius, can’t you keep your hands off girls for two minutes?” Sirius looked up at Lily and smirked, pushing a long piece of black hair out of his face. “The only girl I could keep my hands off is you. You’re just plain creepy.” Lily glared angrily at Sirius before sharply turning away from him and smiling at Hermione. “Hopefully you’ll just learn to ignore him.” Hermione looked back at Sirius and realized that up close, he was quite handsome. His eyes seemed to glow with excitement, and he had long raven colored hair, which he kept tied in a loose ponytail. A somewhat scheming smile seemed to be plastered to his face, which worried Hermione a bit.
“And this boy is Peter! Peter Pettigrew! He’s quiet, but he’s a very kind boy.” Hermione turned and looked down at the boy before her, surprised at how much shorter he was than her. When she thought back about all he had done, she couldn’t picture him as a murderer. He was so timid and little; he looked too weak to even TRY to kill someone, let alone actually do it. She resisted the urge to squirm out of Sirius’ arms and attack Peter now so he would be out of the way later. Hermione instead smiled at him and Peter blushed and hid behind James.
“Let’s not forget Remus! Remus Lupin, you put down that book for once and come say hello!” Hermione looked to see the younger Remus Lupin, sitting underneath a tree about three feet away with a tree in front of his face. His hair had no gray, and was instead a warm honey color. His brown eyes looked at Hermione with mild interest and he closed his book, which appeared worn and dog-eared. As well as thick. Very thick. This impressed Hermione, though she realized that she shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. He flashed Hermione a gentle smile and she couldn’t help but give him one as well.
Lily looked back at Hermione and her tone of voice changed to a more serious one. “Now that we have introduced ourselves, why not tell us who you are?” Hermione looked back at the five pairs of expectant eyes, eyes of people who wanted to know the truth about her. She decided she wouldn’t entirely lie, but she would not tell the entire truth either.
“My name is Hermione Granger. My family has just moved and I was transferred to Hogwarts from Beauxbotons. I am in seventh year, and I have gotten my robes from Professor Dumbledore. However, I still need to get my textbooks. I hope that they can be ordered from Flourish and Blott’s. If there are any other questions, I would please like to go rest. But first, I need the password for the Gryffindor common room.”
The group of friends pondered for a second, thinking over any questions that they may have had for her. Remus was the first one to speak. “How did you know James’ name?” Hermione had already had an answer for this; she was not surprised that Remus had been the first one to think of this. “Professor Dumbledore told me to look for James. He described him to me, and I guess I just assumed it was him.” Hermione thought it sounded like a lame answer, but it seemed to pass well with the group. Lily was the next to ask. “Hermione, why don’t you have a French accent? Were you born in France or what?” Hermione thought this was a little bit trickier, but she still came up with a quick answer. She was just glad she was smart. “We moved there a few years ago, before I discovered I was a witch. I was born in London. However, we had to move back here recently because of my father’s job. And yes, I am Muggleborn.” Lily smiled and nodded happily at Hermione. “Well, I guess I shall be your official guide of the school! Come on, I need to take you to the common room. Are any of you coming with us?”
James shook his head and pointed towards the Quidditch field. “Sorry Lily, I need to go practice. It’s never too early to start practicing!” He ran to the field, waving heartily to his friends. Peter nodded at Hermione before tailing after James. Lily shook her head, a sympathetic smile on her face. “Peter’s always following James. It’s almost like a kitten following her mother.” Sirius smiled while keeping his grip around Hermione. “I guess I’ll come with you guys. I don’t have anything better to do. What about you Moony?” Remus shot a cautious look at Sirius before smiling and nodding slowly. “I’ll come too. I want to start reading that new book I ordered. It’s called ‘Hogwarts, A History’. It looks really interesting.” Hermione smiled. ‘Hogwarts, A History’, had always been one of her favorite books. Thinking back, she realized that it probably would be published around this time.
Lily pulled Sirius’ arms away from Hermione and took her hand, leading her to the Gryffindor common room. Sirius and Remus followed behind, talking in hushed voices. Thankful that Lily had turned away from her to look forward, Hermione quickly ripped off her Head Girl badge and stuffed it into her pocket. She had noticed earlier that Lily was also sporting a gleaming badge, and she knew that she would be bombarded with questions if someone had acknowledged it.
The four people soon reached the front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. Hermione could feel her heart beat as she remembered what had happened to her earlier. 'That's right... We fought Draco and the others here, didn't we? Harry, Ron...' Thoughts of what had happened flashed through her mind in an almost random order. Hermione didn't even see that Lily was gone until she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned to see Remus and Sirius behind her, Sirius with a confident grin, and Remus with a shy and withdrawn smile.
“After you my lady!” Sirius held out his hand to help her into the common room, but Hermione just rolled her eyes. To her, he was exactly what would happen if Ron and Harry were put together. And so far, it wasn't much of a good idea. Hermione passed by Sirius quickly and entered the Common Room. To her immense surprise, it looked almost exactly the same as in her time. The only noticeable difference was that her favorite chair, a large one near the fireplace, was not yet there. Lily, Remus, and Sirius came in after her, and she smiled happily at them. Lily grabbed her by the arm and grinned quite cheerfully. “Here Hermione, let me show you where the girls sleep. We have to be careful that the boys don't follow us though!” Sirius let out a hearty laugh as Lily's gaze landed on him.
“I don't know what you're worried about Lily. I wouldn't DARE look at you. You scare me too much. “ Sirius stuck out his tongue as he narrowly avoided a fierce smack on the head. “What about Hermione?” Sirius thought for a moment before answering. “Well, naturally I would want to see! She's new! And I'm curious!” This time he could not avoid the well-aimed hit that Lily threw.
“Sirius, you're a prick.” Sirius stuck out his tongue playfully. “And you're a bitch, but you don't hear ME whining about it.” He ran up to the boy's dorm before Lily could have the chance to hit him again. When Lily turned around, she was slightly surprised to see Remus and Hermione engaged in a conversation.
“Jeez, those guys play the wildest pranks on people! I wish I could have seen it!” Hermione laughed and Lily didn't have the heart to drag her away from this obviously pleasant conversation. Instead, she sneaked away up to the girl's dormitories, leaving Hermione and Remus alone.
“So Hermione, what books do you like to read?” Hermione only stared at him as though this was the most obvious question to answer. “I pretty much like to read everything. You might think this is a little bit weird, but I also love to study. I'm so excited for the NEWTs!” Remus chuckled at Hermione's enthusiasm and she smiled, trying to push away her embarrassment. “Sorry, I do sound weird don't I? At least, Ron and Harry think I am.” Her mind seemed to stop as she realized that she had said those names aloud. She hadn't been here that long and already she had mentioned things she shouldn't have. Remus, not knowing who she was talking about, only tilted his head curiously.
“Who are Ron and Harry? Friends?” Hermione felt a deep pain in her heart, but she ignored it. Hermione looked up at Remus and smiled. “Yes, they're some old friends of mine. I miss them a lot, but I don't really get to see them anymore.” Remus decided not to press Hermione for anymore information. Even the most insensitive person could see the small flicker of heartbreak in her eyes. Lily, who had sneaked back downstairs to check on Hermione, saw the ever rising tension between the two and decided to move the subject to a happier place.
“Well, Halloween will be here soon! Are you fond of Halloween Hermione?” Hermione silently thanked Lily for moving the conversation along. She smiled and nodded. “Yes, Halloween is always such a nice holiday. All of the good food I always have and the beautiful decorations! Do they have these here at Hogwarts too?” As Lily took Hermione up to the girl's dorm, Sirius took a quiet step down the stairs, turning his head and making sure that they were both gone before talking to Remus.
“Moony, I've made up my mind! I'm going after her!” Remus turned his head curiously, not fully understanding what Sirius had meant. Sirius, seeing the confused look on Remus' face, explained it to him. “I'm going to make Hermione my girlfriend! She's so cute! And she's smart, so she'll be able to help me with my homework!” Remus shrugged indifferently, but he was annoyed that Sirius would go after a girl for such idiotic reasons. 'Yes, intelligence and beauty are nice, but her personality is the best thing in a girl', Remus thought. 'I hope Hermione isn't the kind of girl to fall prey to Sirius. No, she's too smart for that sort of thing.' “So, how are you planning on doing this Sirius?” Sirius looked at Remus and smiled.
“What do you think I'll do Moony?” Sirius licked his lips and winked and Remus rolled his eyes. He decided then that he had better things to do and he went up to his room. Sirius followed, talking excitedly about how he would win Hermione over. Meanwhile, Hermione and Lily were discussing Halloween in the girl's dormitories.
“Personally, I think the boys are planning some sort of prank for Halloween. But we can just ignore them and have our own fun! We can eat some of the good pastries, and laugh at dinner, and help each other with homework!” Hermione smiled and nodded. She felt grateful at this point. Yes, she was separated from Ron and Harry, and she wasn't even sure if she COULD get back home. But if she had to be stuck somewhere else, at least she was stuck in a time and place with kind people and new friends. She was glad that she had the opportunity to meet Lily and James and Remus and Sirius. Peter did bother her, but she just couldn't see him as a murderer. She knew that it could have turned out much worse. She could have gone back to the time when Voldemort was in school, or when Voldemort had gained power and had killed the Potters.
'It could have been much worse,' Hermione thought. She was pulled out of her stupor when Lily pushed a book in front of her. Hermione looked at Lily curiously before picking up the book and flipping through its pages. It turned out to be a photo album of Lily's years at Hogwarts. When she saw Lily as a first year, she smiled. Lily had huge teeth like she had and horn rimmed glasses. “You were so cute Lily!” Lily laughed and turned the page. “Just wait until you see the guys.” When Hermione looked down, she almost burst out laughing. Sirius had a bowl haircut, James was pudgy, and Peter was...well, Peter. The only one who seemed to look even remotely handsome was Remus. He was the tallest one as well as the thinnest. To Hermione, he almost looked sickly pale. She squinted and noticed that he had had light freckles. Lily turned the page and showed Hermione various events, such as Quidditch games and holidays like Halloween and Christmas and Valentine's Day. Lily blushed at a particular picture when James had gone around wearing nothing but a Cupid outfit, following her for the entire day. Hermione laughed and Lily smacked her playfully, blushing. Before she had a chance to tell Hermione more anecdotes, there was a knock on their door. Lily stood up and walked to the door cheerfully. Sirius and James burst in with Remus and Peter in tow. Hermione thought about the charm back in her time, when the stairs would push away any boy who would try and come in. She concluded that it must not exist yet.
Sirius came over to Hermione and sat with her, looking down at the book she and Lily had been going through. He smiled up at her. “Do you have any pictures of yourself as a child? I bet you were really cute.” He flashed her a gorgeous smile and Hermione couldn't help but blush slightly. Sirius smirked and shouted, “I think Hermione's got the hots for me! She's blushing!”. Everyone turned around and stared at Hermione, who only blushed harder. Lily chuckled and smacked Sirius away from Hermione.
“Sirius, I think you like teasing her. Maybe you're the one who likes her!” James hooted and Sirius punched him in the arm. Peter just stood there, eating a cracker and Remus shook his head, embarrassed. He looked up and saw Hermione waving for him to come over. While Sirius and James were fighting, with Lily trying to get them to stop, Hermione wanted to talk with Remus about the pictures.
“You know Remus, I've been looking through these with Lily and so far you're the only one who looks normal!” She smiled while an insulted 'Hey!' came from Sirius, who was now wrestling with James while Lily just watched with Peter. Remus smiled at Hermione. “I guess. I was the tallest until fifth year. Then for some reason, Sirius suddenly grew about five inches.” Hermione nodded, curious to know everything about the Marauders. He started to tell her about a Halloween when Sirius had hidden himself in a pumpkin and popped his legs out of the bottom and ran around, making it look like a walking and talking pumpkin, when Sirius suggested that they sneak down to the dungeons and meet some of the school ghosts, maybe even find some new secret passages. Lily, Hermione and Peter seemed to be the only hesitant people.
“Lily my dear, I'll protect you, I promise!” James wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she sighed and kissed him on the cheek. Sirius, thinking that this would be a good idea to the beginning of his romance with Hermione, decided to try the same. Only the results weren't as pleasant.
“Hermione my dear, I'll protect you, I promise!” Sirius wrapped his arm around her shoulders only to have Lily smack him over the head with her Transfiguration book. He rubbed his head and glared angrily and Lily who only smiled innocently. Hermione smiled. “I guess I'll go. But if we get caught, I'll say you put me under the Cruciatus curse, ok?” The group smiled and nodded in agreement. The only one left to convince was Peter. He flat out refused though. He was afraid of the dark. Besides, he had homework to work on. The group decided to let him go and work.
Hermione stayed up in her room while everyone else went to their classes. She would just have to wait until she could get a chance to go see Dumbledore by herself. Perhaps tomorrow night. She would've gone tonight, but then they went and invited her to go with them to the dungeons. She wanted to find out about her classes, but she especially wanted to be with her new friends. She spent most of her time reading books in the common room. She had just finished reading an article about witch burnings in Salem when someone came into the dormitory. Thinking fast, she hid underneath the sofa she had been sitting on, taking the book with her. She peeked out from underneath and saw a slightly younger Professor McGonagall scanning the room with eyes that reminded her slightly of a hawk's. She closed her eyes tightly and curled up gently, trying to make herself as small as possible. Professor McGonagall only stayed for a few minutes before leaving though. Hermione listened for footsteps for a few more seconds before crawling out from the bottom of the couch.
“What was that about?” Hermione thought about it for a moment before shrugging. She would think about it later. Right now, she had other things to think about. Like tonight.
The group came back later, along with many other students. Apparently, Lily, as Head Girl, had explained Hermione's situation to everyone so Hermione wouldn't have to trouble herself with it. Hermione thanked Lily, grateful that she wouldn't have anything else to worry about. James gathered everyone together and they went upstairs. Since James was somehow Head Boy, he had his own room where he knew they wouldn't be disturbed. He closed the door and looked at everyone else seriously.
“Now Hermione, since you're new to the group, you probably didn't know about this. But I have access to something very rare as well as useful.” Hermione instantly knew what he was talking about, but held her tongue. She couldn't let him know that she knew about it. “I have an invisibility cloak.” To prove this, he took it out of his trunk and flourished it royally before actually putting it on and disappearing. Hermione faked shock and everyone smiled. For some reason, Hermione was struck with a sudden pain in her heart. Perhaps she was thinking about how she, Ron, and Harry used to sneak around Hogwarts with that very same cloak. And then thinking about Ron made her feel even worse. He had told her of his love for her right before she disappeared. And they were probably in horrible danger. Or even dead.
Hermione had always thought reasonably about things, but she couldn't help but feel depressed after thinking about these things. Hermione looked up and smiled. “That's amazingly beautiful James.” James smirked and held out the cloak to her. “Would you like to try it?” Hermione looked down and nodded. However, she did ask him something. “Can someone help me? I'm a little nervous about going alone.” Immediately, Sirius volunteered himself. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders again and he took the cloak from James' grasp. He wrapped it around themselves and looked at her. She smiled up at him and he decided to be braver than he had ever been before. 'God, Remus' transformations are no where near as scary as this,' Sirius thought. He bent down and kissed Hermione tenderly on the cheek before pulling off the cloak with a quick arm movement. Hermione blushed a bright red and Sirius smirked before handing back the cloak to James and sitting down. Hermione just stared at nothing for a few moments before sitting down. Lily looked at her curiously before shrugging and talking animatedly with James. Remus sat down next to Hermione and talked with her though Hermione was only half listening.
'This is NOT what I needed. Ok, the important things first. Ron and Harry are in trouble and I need to figure out a way to get back. We're all going out tonight. Professor McGonagall came in. And I need to find time to talk to Professor Dumbledore. God, how am I supposed to handle all of this at once?'
END OF CHAPTER 2
A/N: Well, this always happens. It always ends up so much more differently than I had it planned! I hope you're enjoying this so far. Sorry it took me such a long time to update. But that's because I've been writing out future chapters! There will at LEAST be an update once every month. Some months it might even be more than once. I dunno, it depends on how I feel and if I even get like, any reviews. You know, I take the time to write it man. XD I could at least get a review. Oh well, I don't control your brains. Please enjoy the future chapters.