10

3,778Chapter 10: Lampreys All of Them

Chapter 10: Lampreys… All of Them

"You're staring at me, Master," Hermione said softly as she looked up from a pile of transfigured wolf figurines.

Minerva smiled as she brought over some tea and set it down beside her apprentice. "Time to take a break, Apprentice," she said with a warm grin. "If you can pry yourself away from the finite details of the wolf."

Hermione grinned. "I sorted the turn-ins for your first and second class, Master, and I filled out that oddball questionnaire sent from the Daily Prophet. I left it on your desk for you to burn… er check over."

Minerva huffed. "Burned more like, assuredly. The horribly claptrap that paper has been writing since Rita Skeeter charmed her way into their service. She stole one of my books before she left, did you know that?"

"Which book, Master?" Hermione asked.

Minerva sipped her tea. "Animagus Form and Function," she replied after a time. "It was an outdated copy, so I didn't make a big stink, but of all the books to steal."

"So she'll try and become an animagus, you think?" Hermione asked.

"Most likely," she said. "There is enough there to get her there if she is tenacious, and well… she was that in all my classes, but while she was great in Transfiguration, there was something always off about how she went about things. She was only as good as she needed to be."

Hermione tilted her head and nodded.

"Uninstructed animagus studies can take years to perfect, I fear. Even dedicated students can find it more hard than they think it will be. The idea, of course, is simple, but the execution is delicate. So many things can go wrong before they go right. I learned from my old Master. It took me about half a year to perfect my form under his guidance. I knew what I was to be within the first week. I saw it clearly. It took months, however, to make the full switch. Once you get it, though, it is yours forever. Effortless and freeing. There were a couple of students that self taught themselves when I was still a student. They were very passionate learners. It took them a few years, but they did make their changes, but to this day Duncan requires a wand to make the change, and Victoria required the wand to return. Gamon, the stubborn man, he turned himself into a bongo. The Ministry and St. Mungos tried hundreds of spells and treatments to turn him back, but he was trapped. What was really horrible is that we had offers from about 20 zoos across the world for him to be in their endangered species breeding program because someone leaked out pictures of him…and Muggles, well, they didn't know he was actually a wizard.

"My old Master said if they truly wanted to learn, they could have come to him, but they were stubborn. They wanted to do it on their own with no guidance, and sometimes the price is too high. Others make the mistake of not registering themselves, and end up in a world of suffering from the registry, none of which is worth the trouble."

"Why is it that you think learning from books makes it harder?" Hermione asked.

"A true animagus exudes a sort of calming influence on the would be animagus. If offers a type of guide that isn't with words or something you can truly teach. It's like…" Minerva stared off for a moment. "It's like a young bird learning to fly. The potential is all there, but just because you have the wings doesn't mean you can use them, right? The Master gives the student a bit of themselves to help them along and help them back. Like a road map or a safety net. That is why students studying to be animagus usually do so meditate and study with their Master. All of it helps."

"And without it, it can take years?" Hermione asked.

"Often more," Minerva said with a nod. "Not for lack of trying, mind you. It's not about dedication either or any amount of cleverness. It's about being exposed to the energy of a stable animagus to hasten the process. I try to explain this stuff to the third years, but they always focus on the part about becoming something else and then glaze over the part that says hard work and dedication."

Hermione sipped her tea. "Would you teach me, Master?" she asked.

Minerva smiled. "Curious are you?"

"Very," Hermione answered.

"Well, normally students don't learn about them until third year, but I hardly think are aren't ready for such things. If you wish to learn, I will teach," she said with a smile.

Hermione nodded. "Thank you, Master."

Minerva passed a biscuit. "You are welcome, Hermione."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Potions class, as was expected, was its own little drama mill. Drama of the explosive kind. There was the "cauldron blowup" explosions, and there was the "House vs House" explosions.

Hermione shook her head. Friendly competition was one thing, but sometimes she just wanted the entire House rivalry to go away. It wasn't like anyone was truly only of their house and never shared traits with the others. Herself as the Gryffindor Slytherin, for example.

Slughorn, in an attempt to create a better environment, paired each House with another House. Sirius was paired with a shy girl from Slytherin, and he was turning on all the Black Family charm. Potter and Pettigrew were looking at Sirius like he had grown a second head, but her twin ignored them or didn't see them at all. He was busy, after all. Important socialisation was on the line.

Hermione facepalmed. Poor girl.

Hermione was teamed with James Potter, and a part of her fought down the impulse to set herself to flames out of spite.

Harry would appreciate it if she didn't murder his father before he was even born. She had to remember Harry. Sometimes, and it wasn't that she forgot Harry by any means, but the pangs when she missed her childhood friend were no longer the sharp stab of displacement when Hermione Granger clashed with Hermione Black.

Looking at James Potter, she saw Harry in many ways, and that was what made it so hard. Harry was a caring friend, and while he had his moments of self-righteousness as the Chosen One, he was not his father. He was her loyal friend, and she genuinely missed the messy haired wizard when her world calmed down to a dull roar or when she looked at James Potter and saw Harry's face staring back at her.

Severus, however, was sitting with Remus. Remus looked quite shy beside him, which caused Hermione to smile at the irony. The older Lupin and Snape had always had a veiled sort of formality about them, but Lupin had always known "what to say" in the face of Snape's rancor.

It was amusing, when she thought about. Circumstances had her calling the elder versions of her peers by their last name. Professor Snape. Professor Lupin. The both of them sitting together in potions class with Severus looking quite disturbed considering the last time he had seen Remus, the boy was in his skivvies and turned into a werewolf in front of him. Remus, on the other hand, looked even more disturbed that the Slytherin friend of his House-mate Lily was his lab partner. Lily at least smiled when doing potions. Severus… not so much.

The day's potion of study was the Herbicide Potion, and Slughorn read off the instructions to the class first, and the told each team to go fetch the proper ingredients.

James hauled out his cauldron and thumped it onto the desk and then leaned back in his chair. He said nothing, but he wasn't moving to help with the ingredients either.

Hermione shook her head and went to the storage shelves. Normally, Severus and herself split the list down the middle, but she knew she wasn't getting any help from her "partner" on this particular day.

She took the lionfish spines carefully out of the jar and placed them in her container, measured out some of the standard ingredient mixures, grabbed a tube of Horklump juice, and crinkled her nose but grabbed a jar of Flobberworm mucus.

Walking back to the shared desk, she sat down, arranging the ingredients. She counted out four lionfish spines and tossed them into her mortar, smashing them into a rough powder with her pestle. She measured out 2 scoops of standard ingredient mixture and tapped it into the mortar as well, crushing it as well. Scooping out 3 measures of the powder in her mortar, she spooned it into the simmering water. Eyeing James' cauldron, she waved her wand over the potion and set a timer for around 45 minutes and sat back to wait.

She cast her eye over to Severus, who was restraining himself from twitching as Remus was measuring in his three spoons of the crushed mixture into the cauldron. He paused just long enough after that Severus snapped, "Wand."

Remus looked sheepish and waved his wand over it as Severus flipped over the timer hourglass.

Hermione shook her head at Severus, flicking her head at him. She smirked at him. She knew, and she knew Severus knew that Remus wasn't a potions idiot, but Severus and Hermione had developed a rapport, method, and habitual order or "how things were done" and poor Remus was unaware and unpractised. It wasn't his fault, but Severus was making the poor werewolf second guess himself by the power of his facial expression alone.

"Play nice," Hermione mouthed to Severus, lifting an eyebrow.

Severus curled his lips but mouthed, "Fine."

Lily looked up shortly after Severus did as her partner flipped over the timer hourglass as well.

A cauldron rumbled and students hit the deck as potion bits went flying in all direction. When Hermione looked up from where she had hidden herself, Frank Longbottom was looking very sheepish from the back of the room. Well, at least she knew where Neville got his propensity to make potions explode. Frank's lab partner was covered in red goo, and she did not look remotely happy.

Slughorn walked over to help with clean-up.

"Did you have any open cuts, Ms. Stemwinder?" he asked with concern, checking her over. "Oh good. Good. The lionfish spines can be troublesome all on their own, but mixed… well it's best you not get any in your wounds. Carry on from the beginning, Mr. Longbottom."

The timer on the desk was trickling out, and Hermione eyed the cauldron just as it started to shift colour. Perfect.

"Two measures of horklump juice, if you would please, James," Hermione said softly. It was his turn to work on the potion.

"I don't cooperate with snakes," James said curtly, leaning back in his chair.

The potion was bubbling perfectly. Waiting too much longer and it was take finesse to recover. She glared at James, and measured in the quantity of Horklump juice and adjusted the flames.

"Ten seconds for the Flobberworm mucus, James," she said.

He turned his head away, not even looking.

Hermione gritted her teeth, measured out two blobs of mucus from the jar and added it to the cauldron.

She removed it from the heat, stirred carefully four times in a clockwise direction, and then waved her wand over it, watching the potion to a vibrant emerald green. She held up her hand to summon Slughorn from the front.

"Ahhh, Miss Black," Horace said with a smile. I see you've completed the potion. Very nice colour. Even texture. Distinctive scent. Excellent work. Five points to Slytherin and Gryffindor for being the first done with a viable potion. Please bottle it up and place it on my desk. I'm sure Professor Sprout will appreciate your hard work."

"Yes, Professor," Hermione said with gritted teeth. James Potter had just mooched five points to his house for doing absolutely nothing.

"You could at least bottle the potion and take it to Slughorn's desk, James, seeing as you didn't do anything else," Hermione hissed.

"No, I don't think so," James said. "Servant's work, after all."

Snickering from further back in the room needed no visual to know who it was. Hermione clenched her teeth, fire flickered across her eyes, filling her grey irises with flames.

"Want me to take your potion up with ours, sis?" Sirius's voice asked as he approached. "The wondrous Lady Heather and I succeeded in our team effort." He winked towards his blushing lab partner.

"How can you even pretend to be polite to a snake?" James admonished him, winning a scathing glance from Sirius.

"If you haven't noticed, James," Sirius said darkly. "My sister just brewed your entire potion by herself while you twiddled your thumbs and reading comics covered by the wrong book cover."

James made a disgusted face. "What are you going to do? Tell him? Lose points for your own House?"

"I don't have to," Sirius said, opening his hand for Hermione's potion. He carried the completed potions to Slughorn's desk and returned to his lab seat.

Horace, having heard the entire altercation, stared at James from his teaching desk. "Mr. Potter," he said grimly. "Tonight you will be serving detention with me where you will join me for remedial potions and we shall discuss the meaning of teamwork."

James mumbled something.

"What was that, Mr. Potter?" Horace asked.

"I said, yes, Sir," James grunted.

Horace glared, but went back to grading some papers as people got up to carry their finished work to the front.

"Miss Black, would you mind staying a moment?" Horace said after he dismissed the class for the day. "I have something to give to your Master."

"Of course, Sir," Hermione answered.

Horace was scribbling on a small scroll, rolled it up, sealed it, and handed it to her. "There you go, Miss Black. Sorry to hold you over."

It's not a problem, Sir," she said with small smile.

Sirius was waiting for her by her desk. He leaned down and picked up her bookbag and nodded to her. "Sorry about that mess, sis," he said with a sigh. "I swear to you, he's not always like that."

"Just to snakes," Hermione said with a sigh.

Sirius shook his head. "I wish he'd get his head out of his arse, and I wish you could see he isn't always a prat."

Hermione took her turn to shake her head.

Sirius handed her her bookbag. "Ow!" he said suddenly, dropping her bag into her hands. He cradled his arm where a lionfish spine was sticking out of his harm. The surface was covered in a dark emerald green of the pesticide potion.

Sirius teetered, attempting to brace himself on the nearby desk, but slid forward into Hermione.

"Professor Slughorn!" Hermione yelled as her twin gave a low groan and slid to the floor.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sirius woke slowly with a groan, wincing as the overabundance of white assaulted his system.

"Don't move too suddenly," a male voice said. "Madam Pomfrey had to bind your arm to extract the venom, and she gave you a hefty dose of Antidote Against Uncommon Potions. The side effects are… nausea and vertigo."

Sirius grunted, trying to focus. Familiar dark black tresses were draped over his belly. He moved his hand to stroke his twin's hair.

"She's been at your side since you fell," the male voice said again.

Sirius tried to focus. "Wha…t… what got me?" He felt like his tongue was laying out in the desert sun.

"Lionfish spine, dipped in herbicide," came the reply. "The good news is that it wouldn't have killed you, but you may have wished it did. The pain from lionfish venom is… notoriously horrible."

Sirius tried to at least not see six of everything and felt quite accomplished when he saw only three of said things. He turned his head to the side and saw three swirling black haired masses. "Euugh," he said, feeling ill.

A bucket appeared in front of him, and Sirius gratefully and very embarrassingly hurled into it.

Footsteps approached from somewhere in a rapid cadence.

"Oh dear, Mr. Black," Pomfrey tutted. There was a rustling, a warm cloth cleaned his face, and the bucket was cleaned and placed nearby again. "Thank you, Mr. Snape for assisting him."

Sirius heard a grunt for a reply.

Hermione finally stirred and she looked up at him. "Canis," she murmured as she embraced his torso with her arms and smashed her face into his ribs.

Sirius, still whoozy, patted his twin soothingly. "Takes more than an angry fish spine to take me out, sis," he murmured.

"I'm going to take you out if you scare me like that again," Hermione muttered into his chest.

Sirius laughed, winced in pain, and stifled the impulse.

"Well, now that you are awake, I need to run some tests on you, Mr. Black. It is past visiting hours, Miss Black. I normally do not allow visitors here after hours, so now that you see that your brother is well, I must ask you to return in the morning and let your brother rest," Madam Pomfrey said sternly, but not so unkindly.

Hermione inhaled and nodded. "Yes, Madam Pomfrey, thank you."

She got up slowly, squeezing her brother's hand gently.

"Shoo!" Sirius groaned. "You're so smothering when you fret."

Hermione tched but smiled down at him.

Severus stood to join her, and the pair glided out of the hospital wing, their robes flickering in the air behind them.

Poppy pulled the privacy curtain over. "That's quite a sister you have there, Mr. Black," she said softly. "She refused to leave your side until you woke up."

"She has the tenacity of a lamprey," Sirius groaned, feeling slightly better but still seeing multiple Pomfreys. "I suppose it runs in the family."

Poppy smirked as she ran her wand over him. "Well stick those rows of teeth into this bed and stay here, Mr. Black. We'll make sure you're right as rain soon enough."

Sirius sighed softly. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Good boy," she said kindly. "Your vitals are much improved from earlier, but no funny business. Sleep will do you some good."

Sirius nodded in acquiescence. "I will."

Poppy drew his covers up and patted them down. She walked away, pulling the curtains around his bed to give him privacy.

Sirius stared up at the ceiling. When he woke from his ordeal, it had been his twin and her House mate that had sat at his bedside vigil. His House mates, however, had been no where to be seen. It was that thought that stuck in his mind as sleep claimed him.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Dear Mother and Father,

Sirius was brought to the hospital wing due to a misplaced lionfish spine that was stuck to my bag during potions. He picked up my bag to carry it for me and was inadvertently stuck by it.

Madam Pomfrey assures me that he will make a full recovery, but I am sending this letter in the case word gets back to you and the stories are too grand to be believed. I know how much you hate inflated gossip.

Professor Slughorn has also assured me that he will report the incident to the Headmaster, and if there was a malicious culprit, punishment will be given to the one who did it. My Master wishes me to be more careful, for now, and not travel alone if I can help it. It was because I was not alone that Sirius was helped in time to prevent excessive pain or suffering. Part of me thinks this is a bit too much fuss, as I doubt there a plan to assassinate me at Hogwarts, but I will respect my Master's wishes.

My eyes are growing heavy, and I must sleep. My apologies for the late night owl, but I did not leave the hospital wing until I was sure my brother woke again.

My best to Regulus. Please do not let him worry.

Sincerely,

Hermione (her seal, the phoenix)

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: I don't really plan to have Sirius repudiate his mates, but he may temper his friendship with his male friends with a healthy dose of caution after this incident, yes? Maybe an obligatory throwing of them against a wall and reading of the riot act. Heh. Not sure how that is going to go, to be honest. My brain isn't done threatening my life over all the things I've totally avoided doing today! *eyedarts*

This chapter was quick because, for those of you who remember me from Looks, it's time for name that animagus.

For those of you dutifully following, do you think Lily should be brought in on the animagus idea? Become friends with Remus as well? Maybe not be an animagus but still be a supportive friend for him. Do you think she could keep that secret? Would she know well enough to keep it secret, or would her obliviousness to how serious it was to be caught get her in trouble? I have to wonder if it's really in Lily's personality to be an animagus or if it was all about timing that she never really got to know the Marauders until late (and long after the falling out with Severus.)

For those of you who think she should be an animagus, what do you think her form would be? Would be she like her patronus, the doe? Or is this Lily going to be someone different thanks to Hermione's influence and perhaps be something altogether different?

This is where you guys get to ring in and have a voice in the outcome. As usually, I can't guarantee what I see will be used, but if your suggestion comes with a good reason, who knows, you might get to see it, eventually!

Thank you all for the supportive reviews. They made my weekend after being a little depressed over the death of Leonard Nimoy. The man was my hero growing up, and I can't help but think the world is a lesser place without him in it.