"Well, when she was brought into my office, Miss Edgecombe had a terrible skin
condition, you see. It seems that purple pustules had broken out on the poor girl's face,
spelling the word 'SNEAK' across her forehead."
Almost instantly, unable to contain themselves, Sirius and Remus burst into
laughter.
It had taken at least ten minutes before Molly's scolding was enough to stop them
from laughing at the expense of some poor, unsuspecting Ravenclaw—because of course she
turned out to be a Ravenclaw. In the end, Remus and Sirius still excused themselves from
the table while the rest of the Order tried to figure out what to do next now that Albus
would no longer be at the helm of Hogwarts for the time being.
Out in the hallway, Sirius was wiping tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes.
"She's coming back to us. Sneak. Can you imagine?"
"I can remember." Remus sighed happily, feeling slightly terrible that his own joy
came at the expense of a young girl. "Merlin, I can't believe that I forgot how absolutely―"
"Slytherin she could be?" Sirius finished the sentence and then laughed again.
"Oh, that poor girl." Remus chuckled softly and shook his head. "You think
Hermione's still Hermione enough to lift the curse?"
"For selling out Harry?" Sirius shook his head. "That Edgecombe girl should get
used to wearing fringe for the rest of her life. My witch is relentless when it comes to
defending those she loves."
April 27th, 1996"Do you think we should start planning for it?" Sirius sat at the kitchen table staring
down at his cup of hot chocolate, which he was certain Remus made with a cheap brand
even though he had the good stuff hoarded away in cauldrons around the house.
"Planning for what?"
"Mia."
"Hermione," Remus habitually corrected.