Prologue: October 31, 1981
Hermione Evans stood shivering as she held a baby in her arms. Magic, ferocious, pure, wild, insidious, swarmed around the pair, slowly but steadily settling into the baby.
She looked at the spot, the spot where Hermione Granger had once stood and shut her eyes against the anguish threatening to crush her.
She had to do this. She was fulfilling the timeline. She was fixing the future. She was saving Harry.
Her eyes snapped open and she gazed down at the baby in her arms again.
"It's for the greater good." She repeated it in her head like a mantra yet it did nothing to deter the guilt.
She had to find the strength to continue. The hardest part was already done. She had already…she had already killed; it was too late to go back.
She rocked back and forth and waited for the magic to finish melding into the baby. She watched the baby glow, sleeping none-the-wiser as the baby's soul was being corrupted, enhanced, split.
Then, rather abruptly, the magic in the air faded and the baby's eyes snapped open, unnaturally aglow, and let out a bird-like wail.
Hermione acted quickly, placing Hermione Granger's necklace around the baby. Once done, she gently placed the baby inside the wicker basket on the stoop and once more reached for the necklace.
She turned the hourglass just as Hermione Granger had directed. In a flash, the baby was gone and Hermione Evans was left alone on the stoop of her childhood home.
She hadn't realized she was crying until a sob escaped her, sounding like a wounded animal.
She felt close to breaking down but took deep breaths to push down the urge. Her mission was not over yet.
20 Years Earlier…
A loud clapping sound had the house shaking. Monica Evans jolted in fear out the sound, startling the infant she had been breastfeeding. Little Lily immediately started wailing in her arms, and Monica cooed and rocked the baby, trying to get her to settle.
"Shhh, shhh," Monica crossed over to the window to check outside. She was startled to find no storm wailing outside but rather, quite the opposite; it was a perfectly calm night, there were even fireflies lighting the grounds majestically. What had caused that sound then?
Monica frowned, trying to quell her nervous energy. She wanted to call her husband but knew better to disturb him when he was working. Sometimes she wished she never married Robert. His job as a police officer had him working all sorts of long wretched hours and she needed him here with her and their two kids.
"Mummy?" Monica turned away from the window while fixing her frown. Her eyes fell onto her eldest daughter rubbing the sleep from her eyes, blonde hair rumpled and looking adorable in her nightgown.
"Oh, baby, did that noise wake you?" Monica asked, placing a sleeping Lily back into her cradle before herding Petunia away. She didn't want to wake the baby again. Clipping her baby monitor to her hip, she moved with Tuney back over to her room.
"Mummy, there's someone crying outside." Monica stopped at her daughters' words, goosebumps prickling over her skin and the unnerving statement. She gently turned her daughter back toward her.
"What did you say?" Monica asked, pasting on a smile to her face despite her fear.
"I can hear something crying outside the window." Monica's heart leaped again but she forced herself to calm down.
"Okay baby, Mum will come with you to hear it too." They moved, clasping hands, back to Tuney's room and instantly heard it. Something was crying from the front her their house.
No, not something. A baby.
"Oh goodness," Monica breathed, trying to see the front stoop from the window of her daughter room with no luck.
"Mum?" Monica turned her head back to Tuney.
"It's okay, darling. Go back to bed, okay? Mummy has it taken care of." And then, without waiting around to make sure Petunia listened, Monica crossed the room, gently closed the door and flew down the stairs, heart in her throat. She rushed to the door and peered out the peephole to find nothing but an empty expanse of darkness beyond the light of the stoop. She could hear the baby crying.
In no time at all, she opened the door to find a baby, no older than her youngest baby, wailing in a little wicker basket.
Without a second thought, Monica leaned down and picked the baby from the basket, her heart crying on behalf of this poor child.
"Shhh, shh," she cooed as she held the child and suddenly the baby did. Monica watched as that face morphed from distress to content and raised her hand so the baby could latch onto her finger.
The baby raised her wide brown eyes to hers and everything clicked.
"Hermione, my darling girl," she whispered with a smile, feeling whole. "Welcome home."
Chapter 1: Duplicity
Her hands cut through the water with precision, taking perfectly concise breathes after a few strokes. Her vision was filled between the different hues of green and blues of the lake water and the clear blue sky when she drew breath. Her whole world was so beautiful in these moments, so clear-cut. That's why she loved swimming and was the best in her age group because when she loved something she put her whole self into it.
Her pace slowed as she reached the lake shore until she could stand. She then waded her way through the water, huffing as she caught her breath, her eyes wandering around the forest edge. A frown came over her face as she walked across the floor, slipping on her sandals on the way and still drenched from her swim.
She came upon the trees not so far away when she spotted two other girls in the distance, an air of secrecy about them as they huddled together. Her frown deepened as she knew immediately what those two were up to. Stomping over, she glared at them as they turned their faces to her, unfazed by the stormy look on her face.
"What do you think you're doing, Lily? Mum and Dad said-" The brunette began.
"Oh, bugger what Mum and Dad said! Go on Lily! I want to see you do it." Excitement was evident in the blondes face as she stared at the red-haired girl who held a small flower bud in her hand. Keeping her head bent over her hand, the redhead did not respond, merely stared with enchanting emerald eyes.
"And if someone sees? Then what, Tuney?" The brunette retorted sharply, glaring heatedly at the taller of the three with crossed arms.
"No one comes in here Mione! It's too close to the drug addicts, stop being such a scardy cat!"
"Don't call me that! I'm just-" Words died on the brunette's lips as she stared at the fully bloomed flower in Lily's hand. The blonde turned her pale eyes on her as well before squealing as the flower started slowly levitating higher before them.
"Wow! How are you doing that, Lily?"
A twig snapped, immediately making the three jump. Reacting quickly, the brunette reached out and crushed the flower in her hand before standing in front of her sister and facing their intruder.
Heart pounding with dread, she fixed her eyes on a boy. He looked quite pale against the dense background of brown, his black lanky hair an even more striking contrast. He looked rather skinny in his oversized dirty ripped clothes, and the dark circles under his eyes emphasized his unhealthy look. In fact, for one outrageous moment, he looked like a ghost.
His unfortunate state hardly mattered, however, not when he just saw their terrible secret.
"Who are you?" The brunette demanded roughly, meeting his dark deer-in-the-headlights eyes fiercely.
"I-"
"What do you want? What are you doing here?" She took a step toward him making the boy immediately step back.
"Nothing!" He gasped out before he turned and started running unexpectedly.
"WAIT!" Hermione cried out with sudden fear just as the boy fell quite spectacularly with a loud exhalation of air. Petunia immediately burst out laughing at the hard fall; Hermione just gaped, relieved that he had not gotten away. Lily sprang into action, running over to the fallen boy. Hermione gazed after her sister in shock for a moment before turning to Tuney and slapping her arm, sharply ending her laughter.
"Oi, what did you do that for?" She asked her angrily.
"It's impolite to laugh!" She responded before she trudged after Lily at a much more subdued pace.
"Are you alright?" Lily asked as she bent and helped the boy up. Shaking his hair back from his face the boy opened his mouth to respond before his eyes fell on Lily. They widened almost comically at her beauty, making his mouth shut with an audible snap. Hermione rolled her eyes at his reaction to her sister and scoffed meanly. His dark eyes fell to her with notably less awe. Crossing her arms, Hermione met his stare before speaking.
"You can't tell anyone what you just saw!" She ordered as he finally detracted himself from Lily. Lily shot her an impatient look.
"Of course I won't tell anyone. It's illegal to tell muggles about magic." His tone suggested that Hermione was slow for even stating this. It irked her, she hated being talked down to. She opened her mouth to hotly respond when Lily interrupted.
"What are muggles?" She asked making him turn his focus back to her.
"They're non-magic folk, like your parents."
"How do you know if our parents are muggles?" Petunia asked with a hint of bitterness, crossing her arms.
"Well if they were magical then you all would know this already like I do."
"So your parents are magical, then? That is so groovy! Do you think they would help me? Teach me more?" Lily asked turning the full force of her bedazzling smile onto the boy. Predictably, he looked quite besotted staring at her.
"Only Mother was a witch and my dad is a muggle. She left a long time ago so she can't help and wouldn't even if she could, but when you turn eleven you'll get a letter from Hogwarts and then you'll have Professor's that will help you."
Lily positively glowed with excitement as her eyes first met Hermione's as if to say- Did you hear that?- and then turned back to the boy.
"What is your name?" She asked wearing that sweet smile that had adults fawning and children vying for her friendship.
"Severus." He smiled a closed-lip smile, tentative and undoubtedly rare.
"Well I'm Lily, that's Hermione, my twin, and our older sister Petunia."
Severus's eyes flicked back and forth between the sisters before lingering on Hermione and then back to Lily. "You guys don't look alike."
Hermione rolled her eyes, as heat suffused her skin. She was used to people commenting unfavorably on the differences between herself and Lily, yet, no matter how many times it happened it still smarted.
"We're obviously fraternal twins which I would have thought you would realize since you seem to know so much." She smirked at his affronted expression that quickly morphed to anger. Lily shot her another look to which she ignored.
"I did realize that— I was just saying."
"Do you make it a habit to state the obvious, then?" she asked condescendingly as Lily swirled to face her fully with her hands on her hips.
"Hermione, stop it!" She hissed in that self-righteous way of hers that irked Hermione to no end even though it was a shared trait of theirs.
"I'm not doing anything! Aren't you the one forgetting that he saw what you did, Lily? How do we know he won't go telling others? And the stuff he said— do you honestly believe him? He's-"
"I can prove it!" Severus interrupted hotly, glaring at Hermione now. Both girls turned to him fully one with skepticism and the other with barely contained enthusiasm.
"Let's see it then!" Petunia encouraged eagerly.
"Yes, please, I would love to know more." Lily chimed in. Hermione watched as his expression turned from defiant to suddenly nervous.
"You'll have to wait here, it will take me a bit to get the stuff-"
"No way," Hermione immediately cut in, "We're coming with you. I don't trust that you're not just lying to us." His jaw ticked as he glared at her again but she stubbornly stood her ground. For a moment he looked to be debating with himself, his eyes trailing from her back to Lily, clearly wanting to not disappoint her.
"No, no," He said shaking his head, "you can't come with me."
"And why not?" Hermione demanded as Lily huffed at her. "If you're not lying-"
"I'm not lying!" He bellowed making the girls jump and some birds fly away. He looked properly ashamed after his outburst, turning his dark eyes onto Lily apologetically. "I'll be right back!" Then he took off again, through the woods. Hermione gaped at him for a second before snapping her mouth shut.
"That's it, I'm telling mum and dad! If he tells someone we could really be in for it."
"What is the matter with you?" Lily, looking exceptionally pissed off, screeched at her. "You shouldn't have been so mean to him! He didn't do anything-"
"I wasn't being mean! I was trying to protect us! Mum and dad told us we had to try not to do magic in front of anyone again and now look at what you did! Do you even realize what you've done?"
"But of course, you do right? Oh, please, please, oh wise one, tell me what is it that I have done?" Lily mocking sarcastic response made Hermione's anger boil over. Glaring at her sister, furious energy rolled off of her in waves, causing sparks to emit from her hair to singe the ground. Lily didn't back down from her twin, however, and met her glare right back. Petunia backed up, worriedly looking between her two sisters and had a mental image of two lionesses facing off.
"Hermione, Lily, calm down."
"This is our chance to understand what is happening to us and you've probably ruined it!" Lily hissed.
"I've ruined it? Don't be daft Lily! Mom and Dad have been looking into what's occurring to us for years now and they've never found anything! Do you really think that some boy will just suddenly have all the answers?" For a moment Lily looked uncertain and Hermione latched onto that doubt. "Think about it Lily, if what he said was true, don't you think there would even be a hint by now?" She was surprised when instead of agreeing a fire seem to blaze in her twins green eyes.
"That's just the thing, isn't it? We are the hint, Hermione! What we can do, we are the evidence!" For a moment Hermione couldn't even speak as she stared at her sister.
"Lily…" She trailed off, unsure what to say.
"See? You can't deny that Hermione!"
"Okay, okay," she said in acquiesce with a slow nod, "Then what do you think they'll do to us? Since we are the evidence and we can't be the only ones, what happens to them? What's happened to all the others?" She asked, keeping her eyes locked on her's, telling her with her eyes what she wasn't saying with her mouth.
"We can't all be hidden away, there would have been someone who spoke out before."
"So, you think they've been killed off? Really?" Lily asked rolling her eyes.
"No! I'm only saying that we have to be careful until we know all the facts!"
"That's what I was trying to do Hermione! I was trying to get the facts and then you were being your usual self and now-"
"That boy doesn't have the answers Lily!"
"How would you know? You just kept going on, jumping down his throat!"
"Calm down you two! I'm not going to say it again!" Petunia suddenly piped in, looking at them with disdain. "Arguing with each other isn't going to solve anything!"
"Petunia, you agree with me, though, right? You know Lily-"
"Petunia would agree with me that you are making a much greater deal of this then you need to!"
"I don't care either way! I've had it with you two! I'm leaving!" Immediately, the two started protesting, Hermione reaching out and grabbing her older sister to stop her departure.
"No, don't go Tuney!"
"Yeah, we'll stop! We'll stop!" Reluctantly, Petunia halted with an almighty sigh.
"Fine but I mean it! You two better stop!" They nodded just as Severus reappeared at a distance. It did not escape Hermione's notice that he was returning from where addicts were notoriously known to live by.
"He came back!" Lily said, bounding forward to meet him. With a huff, Hermione followed after with Tuney racing ahead to join Lily.
"Wow! What is all this?" Lily asked, staring at all the odd items in his hands. Severus laid said items down onto the ground as he tried to catch his breath.
Hermione gazed down and felt instantly drawn to the smattering of books and newspaper's as Lily reached out to grab a tiny bottle, reading the label and Petunia grabbed an old photo.
"Essence of Murtlap? What is that?" Lily asked. Severus reached out and grabbed the bottle and then rolled up one of the sleeves of his overly large shirt, revealing a cut on the elbow. Dipping his fingers into the bottle he smeared a generous coating of the slimily looking solution onto his wound.
Eyes wide, they watched as the cut instantly healed without even leaving a faint scare. He raised his head and a small smirk played on his lips at their gobsmacked expressions.
"There are spells that can be used for a small cut like that. Essence of Murtlap is normally used to treat other things like cursed boils and the like."
'Boils?' Petunia mouthed at her, looking disgusted.
"And this?" Lily asked eagerly, holding up a bottle labeled Skelogrow.
"It helps with broken bones. That is dittany, which helps with cuts among other things and that is a dreamless sleep potion which helps a person get at least eight hours of sleep without interruption. There's a ton of other potions too! My mother was a potions master, she once made something really hard to make called Felix Felicis, which is liquid luck. Makes the drinker extremely lucky for a while—that was really great! She let me have some and it was…" He trailed off with a smile as Lily hung onto every word.
"It was?" she prompted making Severus come back before his cheeks tinged pink.
"Er, it was really great. Everything went my way that day. What else…oh theirs a potion to turn the drinker into someone, anyone, else and…"
Hermione sat down, head bowed as she listened to her sisters and him going back and forth but it sounded from a distance to her, her mind reeling as she finally came to terms with all the stuff around her. She opened the closest text called Advance Hexes and Curses and skimmed through all the pages, before picking up another and another. She then reached for one of the photographs and saw that it moved, actually moved! A woman that looked remarkably like Severus walked up to a podium and excepted some sort of reward as the camera's flashed and she shook the hand of some old man in a large hat. She then grabbed the paper and read the Daily Prophet, finding more moving pictures and bold headings labeled, New Minister of Magic! Albus Dumbledore Declines Post Again!
"You didn't make it up," she whispered, her heart pounding.
"What?" The boy asked sharply. Raising her head, Hermione stared with wide eyes at him.
"You didn't make it up!" she repeated with shock as he scoffed at her.
"I told you I didn't!" He huffed. Hermione, feeling wretched, shocked and overwhelmed, reached out and grabbed his hand, giving him a gentle squeeze. He gazed at her wide eyes as she met his look with dead seriousness.
"I'm sorry, I…I was wrong and I'm sorry. Please— please— tell me everything!"
.
.
.
"Please, Severus, pretty pleaseeeee!"
Hermione ran a hand down her face as Severus groaned.
"He already told you no, Lily!" she hissed, completely fed up with her sister.
"Keep out of this Hermione! No one was talking to you anyway!" the quick-tempered redhead snapped back. Hermione's eyes flashed as she stood from her reclined position against a tree, her book tumbling to the floor. "Oh no," Sev grumbled.
"I don't care if you weren't talking to me! You're being annoying! He already said he wouldn't take us and I don't blame him! It's dangerous and we have no idea what we are doing!"
"Ugh! I am so sick of you always going on about this being dangerous and that being dangerous! How are you ever going to live your life if you're too scared to actually live it!"
"I'm not scared, Lily! I just don't see a need for us to go when he already told us we're going to get to go when we get our Hogwarts letter! Why can't you just wait until then? It's not like we could even buy anything if we do go now anyway!"
"I don't care if we don't get to buy anything! I just want to see it!"
"You're being da-"
"I'll do it." Hermione and Lily froze, turning there head to stare at Severus. He shifted his feet, looking unsure before flicking his eyes up to Lily's slow smile blooming on her face. That smile seemed to strengthen him as he nodded to himself resolutely. "I'll do it." he repeated in a much stronger voice.
"Sev-" Hermione started before again she was cut off as Lily launched herself at Sev, making them both topple over onto the ground.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lily squealed from on top of Sev, who was turning an alarming shade of red. Hermione frowned a familiar old tightening in her chest making her look away from them for a second with her hands clenched.
"Okay, get off of him now Lily, he can't breathe." Hermione said making Lily look down before quickly releasing him.
"I just…I am so excited!" They smiled at one another but Hermione could see the difference between the two smiles, Lily's held pure affection, Sev's held pure devotion. Hermione's frown deepened.
"It would be useless to try to talk you out of this, wouldn't it?" She stated more than asked. Lily beamed at her.
"Yep! We're going! When can we go Sev?"
Three hours later found the three standing before a large brick wall.
"We're going to be in so much trouble if mum and dad find out." Hermione said as Sev started tapping the bricks.
"Petunia is covering for us, we'll be fine." Lily responded, brushing her concern off flippantly. It took him two tries but Sev finally got it, coming to stand back between the girls as the wall shifted and morphed to unveil the world beyond it.
Lily reached out for his hand first and Hermione, spotting this, mirrored the action, ignoring the flickering inquisitive look Sev sent her way.
Then together they entered.
Hours later, Hermione placed her book onto her nightstand and gazed over at her sister laying on the bed across from hers. Oblivious, Lily continued to absentmindedly chew on her chocolate frog as she read Witch Weekly, candies and other treats scattered on her bed. Spoils from the trek they made today. Lily had successfully charmed her way through Diagon Alley, merchants gifting her, and by extension them, with sweets and butterbeer, one even gave her a free quill. It had been impressive— Hermione figured that Sev must worship her more even now.
She idly wondered what he was doing right at that moment. Was he safe and eating his treats too? She knew in her heart of hearts that no matter what he was doing he was probably thinking about Lily as he did it… he was always thinking about Lily.
She flipped and turned her back onto her sister.
"Night, Hermione." Lily called before switching off the light.
"Goodnight, Lily."
.
.
.
"Girls! Get up!"
Hermione crossed the room and opened the door.
"We've been up, mum!" she called back down. And indeed they had been, for most of the night in fact.
"I just can't believe it! We're finally going!" Hermione smiled at Lily and dragged her school trunk over to the door. "Oh, wait, I'll help you."
Together, Lily and Hermione carried their trunks one at a time down the stairs to the front door.
At breakfast, her parents kept up a constant stream of conversation, sad and happy for their daughters, Petunia chiming in but otherwise acting aloof.
"Sev is late." Hermione said, gazing at the clock.
"He'll be here soon, I'm sure." Lily responded as she washed her plate
Not even five minutes later the doorbell rang making both girls run eagerly to the door. Hermione got to the door first and opened it with a beaming smile, Sev offered her a smile in return before red launched at him.
"Sev!" Lily cried as they hugged tightly. "Can you believe it! It's the day! It's finally the day!"
Hermione didn't hear his response as she reached out and pulled his old battered trunk inside as Lily pulled in Sev.
"Have you had breakfast yet?" Hermione asked, interrupting Lily's constant stream of excited conversation.
"Yes-"
"Liar," Hermione cut in with a small smirk as he just rolled his eyes at her.
"Why ask then if you're just going to force me to eat?"
"Because that's what we Evans do; we force Severus' to do things they don't want to do." Lily said with a teasing smirk, nudging him playfully in the shoulder. Sev smiled that Lily smile, as Hermione deemed it since it was a smile that he only ever directed at Lily.
They walked back to the kitchen, the rest of the family greeting Sev enthusiastically. Her mother gestured to the empty seat already fixed with food saved just for him. After all, Sev hadn't been considered a guest for a long time, he was already family to the Evans.
An hour later, all of them were standing before the train to Hogwarts with gobsmacked awe. Her mother cried as she said goodbye, kissing and hugging them all, making Sev pink with embarrassment. Petunia, acted like a dark cloud was over her head the whole time but stubbornly maintained her aloof front. Their father, the big softly, was probably the worst of them all, squeezing and hugging them to the point of embarrassment. When they finally got onto the train, all three of them stayed waving at the window until the station pulled away and out of sight.
With an almighty sigh, Hermione turned away from the window to face her sister and Sev.
"I hope they can make it out of the platform alright. Can you imagine if they get trapped in there because they're crying too much to find their way out?" Lily chuckled as she grabbed her stuff and lead the way to find a compartment. She stopped at the first one that had two boys their age in it.
"Hello, may we sit down with you two?" she asked politely. Hermione peeked over Sev and Lily's shoulder to see one boy with glasses notably closing his mouth before he scrambled to clean up the mess of candy he had made on the seat next to him.
"Sure! Sit!" He answered as they came in, Lily taking a seat next to the glasses boy and Severus taking a seat across from her. Hermione glanced over at the other grinning boy with grey eyes sitting across the glasses boy before she took a seat next to Lily. From this spot, she had the perfect a perfect view Sev's face as he picked on the dirty sleeve of his shirt.
"I'm James, by the way, and that's Sirius." James introduced rudely pointing at the pretty looking boy across from him. Lily beamed at them both.
"I'm Lily, this is my twin Hermione and our best friend Severus." Hermione smiled awkwardly as the two boys looked her over.
"Wow, you two don't look alike at all! Most magical twins are identical." James said, blinking owlishly from behind his glasses. Hermione huffed, eyes flashing and opened her eyes to speak but before she could Sirius spoke.
"I think you're wrong, mate, they look almost nearly identical. Same shaped eyes, nose and mouth. It's just the hair and eye color that different, really."
Hermione's face became infused at the boys' comment and the feel of their eyes on her. It was the first time a stranger had said that.
"Huh, I still don't see it." James responded, blinking owlishly from behind his glasses before turning his attention to Lily. "Anyway, how did you three meet? Unless, are you related to them— er, what did you say your name was again?"
"Severus," he answered though it sounded more like a growl. Hermione eyed Sev and could already see that this wasn't going to end well.
"We wouldn't be related to anyone else here. Lily and I are muggleborns. Sev just happened to live near us. He's the one who told us about magic."
"Wow, that's right groovy, that is! Mother would go mad if she knew I was even looking at you guys! Do you think once we get to Hogwarts we can take a picture together, that way I can owl it to her tonight? With any luck she'll get it by morning and choke on her breakfast when she sees it." Sirius laughed at the mental image, not realizing the effect that his casual words were having on the other occupants.
Lily looked fit to blow a fuse as she glared at the laughing boy, which only got worse when James started chuckling beside her.
"So your mum is one of them, then, is she? My family is blood traitors since we Potter's don't believe in any of that cadswollap. My mum comes from a family like that, though. They even blasted her off the family tree for marrying my dad."
"Sounds like something my family would do, what's her name?"
"Dorea, she was a Black before she married my dad." Sirius howled with laughter causing the rest to look at him strangely as he gasped out some words.
"That's my great aunt! We're bloody cousins, Potter!"
"Why is that so funny?" Hermione asked interrupting their laughter "Most pureblood are related in some way, after all, since there isn't a great number of them. And the Black family is part of the Sacred 28, I believe, right, Sev? So, of course, you're gonna be related to anyone whose pureblood in some way." The two boys blinked at her, James' face becoming chagrined at having to justify his amusement.
"Yeah but-" He started, then shrugged lamely.
"How do you know the Blacks are part of the Sacred 28, anyway? You did say you are a muggleborn right?" Sirius asked as Hermione immediately looked at Sev.
"Sev, of course. Sev's mum is a pureblood and she had a lot of books and things about that stuff."
"And you actually read them?" James blanched as if the idea of reading was absurd and unusual.
"Merlin, that's like another form of torture for me. I hate all that blood purity shit." Lily's head snapped over to him at his words, her expression a perfect depiction of defiant anger.
"You could have fooled me," she hissed making Sirius's jaw drop, "wanting to take pictures of us like we're some sort of animal in a zoo!"
"I only meant it as a joke to tick off my mother!" he replied hotly, obviously not liking being labeled as blood supremacist.
"Well, it's not funny! How would you like it if I said I wanted to take a picture with you and send it to my parents so they can ogle at the freaky wizard!"
"Go ahead, It would give me a right laugh!"
"You're just an idiot!" She bellowed before abruptly getting up and stomping off. Not a second later Sev was off and out following after her.
Silence reigned in the wake of their departure as the remaining three just stared at the door.
"Your sister is bloody mad." Sirius said, making Hermione turn her eyes back on him. With a sigh, she shook her head.
"No, Lily's just really sensitive when it comes to this. She didn't realize that there would be people who wouldn't like us just because we're muggleborn and she's not used to not being liked. Now she's overly defensive about it." She understood this well about her sister since she too reacted overly defensive to anyone mentioning her looks compared to Lily's. "I, on the other hand, do not care so long as I get to learn magic."
"You're definitely a Ravenclaw." James said as Hermione just shrugged.
"Probably. What house do you think you'll get into?" She asked prompting James to smirk and shift his shoulders back, practically beaming with pride.
"Definitely Gryffindor! All Potter's get sorted into Gryffindor. It's in our blood."
"That's not true in the least. The house sorts you on your characteristics but ultimately its a choice." She stated matter of factly, surprised when Sirius suddenly launched toward her, reaching out and grabbing her shoulders to look at her square in the eye.
"What do you mean?" he asked frantically, eyes bright with hope.
"Whoa, calm down. I meant just what I said— you can choose what house you're sorted into." she said slowly, with a frown as he removed his hands.
"Oh thank Merlin!" he cried, falling back dramatically onto the bench. Hermione gave him a queer look as she ran a hand over the shoulders of her shirt to smooth down the creases he created. "I thought I was done for."
"What do you mean?" James asked as Sirius just basked in his relief.
"Well, like the Potters have always been sorted into Gryffindor, the Blacks have always been sorted into Slytherin."
"I take it then that you don't want to follow in your family's footsteps?" Sirius frowned as if she suggested he'd like to eat animal dung.
"I hate them. I don't want to be like any one of them! They're all barmy, they are."
"Yeah, mate. You better ask the hat to sort you into Gryffindor-"
"It's not the house's fault if your family is mad! That would be ridiculous! There is nothing wrong with being sorted into Slytherin!"
"Listen, er, what did you say your name was again?" James asked.
"Hermione!" she and Sirius responded at once, her with indignation and him with a matter-of-fact tone.
"Right. Now, there are some things you ought to know that only someone who grew up in the wizarding world understands," James started, not noticing at the alarming vein throbbing on Hermione's temple with her rising anger. Sirius however did and found himself shrinking back from the fury pouring off of her in waves.
"Oh, really? So tell me, Potter, what is it that my feeble muggleborn mind does not understand?" she bit out waspishly giving James pause.
"Look, I don't mean that in a bad way. There are just some things that are understood in our society. One— Hogwarts is the best Wizarding school in the world, no if and or buts and two," here he paused dramatically making Hermione's eyes roll. "Slytherins are evil." Hermione snorted just as Sirius nodded as if that is a solemn truth.
"Do you honestly believe that? Merlin was in Slytherin, did you know? Is he an evil wizard now?" James just shrugged. "There are a few good apples but most of them are evil."
"Salazar Slytherin even left a monster in the castle to pick off the muggleborns." Sirius chimed in, "My dad says he knows what it is since he was in school the last time the monster was loose but he only says that when he's bragging to his mates."
"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked as the two boys looked at each other, then her with nearly identical twin smirks. She gave her best glare in answer, crossing her arms.
"Don't tell me you don't know."
"Not in one of your books, is it, then?" They teased.
"Will you two just-" Her words were cut off when Lily came barging back in, still looking furious but now glaring down at Hermione.
"What are you still doing here?" Lily bit out unkindly as the other two boys in the compartment shot her annoyed looks.
"Oi, what's that supposed to mean?" James asked to which Lily ignored. Hermione sighed meeting her twin's eyes blandly.
"I'm talking to them Lily, and you should too. I think you'll want to hear this." Lily immediately scoffed.
"I don't want to hear anything they have to say, especially this one." She said jerking her thump at Sirius.
"Well I don't-" Hermione quickly interrupted Sirius before an argument could break out. She didn't want them to get sidetracked from the subject.
"I'm not going until I hear what they were going to say so either sit down or leave, Lily." Her twin huffed and seemed for a second as if she would just turn right back around, instead, she took a reluctant seat beside her so now Hermione was in the middle with Sev once again across from her. She met his eyes and gave an eye roll over Lily's behavior.
"Continue with what you were saying." She said, turning back to the two boys.
"I don't really want to tell you now with her in here!" Sirius hissed making Lily snap to attention and open her mouth.
"James you tell me then. What is this about Slytherin's monster. You seem to know more about it anyway." She said quickly, deterring another bout of arguing. Sirius huffed but spoke before James could.
"Back when my father was in school, he said that the heir of Slytherin opened something called the Chamber of Secrets that holds a monster. All I know other than that is that a muggleborn girl died because of it."
"See? See? I told you Slytherin's are evil!" James blurted out as Hermione inwardly cringed, shooting a glance at Sev. He looked royally pissed at James words, his dark eyes burning with fury as he glared at the boy. If looks could kill James would be six feet under.
"There's also never, and I mean never, in all the years that Hogwarts has been open, has there ever been a muggleborn sorted into Slytherin." Hermione tried not to feel so shocked at his words yet she just couldn't believe that there had been not a single muggleborn sorted into Slytherin. Lily's jaw dropped at the revelation as Sev's jaw ticked as he clenched his teeth.
"That can't be right," Hermione said, quickly running through all the texts she read on the subject of Hogwarts and the sorting ceremony in her mind. "There's got to be a discrepancy somewhere. There's no way that there wouldn't even be a single muggleborn sorted into Slytherin. The school has been open for thousands of years."
"No, I promise you, there has never been a muggleborn sorted in there. Just ask the sorting hat if you don't believe me." Hermione frowned, unable to retort. She was dying for a library, she needed to get her hands on previous student records and check if this could really be true.
"Some think that Slytherin put a curse on his house to make sure no muggleborn would ever get sorted into it."
"But why?" Lily suddenly broke in, obviously upset to hear such a thing. "Wouldn't someone as cunning and ambitious as Slytherin see that denying an entire group of people will only hurt it?"
"No, because Slytherin's are evil and bloody mad." James said again in that matter-of-fact tone. This time when she turned her gaze back onto Sev, he didn't meet anyone eyes, just clenched his fists as stared down at everyone's shoes. It wasn't long after that they were told to change into their robes since they would be arriving soon. A new bout of nerves encompassed the compartment, the only one at complete ease being James. He chatted non stop to the compartment at large, much to everyone else annoyance.
Hermione stared contemplatively out the window as the train moved, and was the first to see the castle flash through the trees. She sucked in a breath at the brief majestic sight before the dark dense forest cut it from view. She stared at it with a racing heart and nearly fell out of her seat when she saw dark shapes weaving through the trees. Centaurs, her mind supplied as she made out their impressive forms in the darkness. She also recalled reading that a herd lived in the forbidden forest in Hogwarts: A History.
She nearly jolted out of her skin when a small, smooth hand reached out to hold her own. She turned her eyes onto Lily who looked at her with awe and nervousness.
"I can't believe it, Hermione, we're almost there." And indeed they were, she could hear the sound of the tracks slowing down, preparing to stop. She smiled at her sister, her chest erupting in a newfound sense of excitement.
She looked to Sev to find him smiling at them and she felt tempted to reach out and grasp his hand too. When the train came to a full stop Hermione felt sure that her heart was going to explode out of her chest. Lily practically vibrated with excitement by her side. She moved in a dazed sort of motion, things happening too fast for her to keep up. Rapidly talking students swarmed all around, their faces adamant as they spoke. She breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of pine forest and the sea. Senses overloaded, it was Lily's hand that anchored her.
"Fir' years over 'ere!" A booming voice cried, thundering footsteps following. Hermione glanced about to find a giant fellow walking just a short distance away, holding onto a lamplight. She moved toward him, Lily and Sev moving with her as they battled upstream against the sea of students, hissing out pardon me's as they went. She stopped before what had to be the tallest man she'd ever seen, however, he did not see her.
"Hello! Sir! We're first years!" she bellowed over the noise, finally drawing his attention.
"Hoho! Follow me then, that's righ'! o'er to those bout's o'er there."
The trio made their way over to the boats and hazardously climbed in. Once seated Hermione could not resist dipping her hand in the water.
"Wow, would you look at that. It's like something out of a fairytale." Lily breathed in awe as she stared up at the castle. Hermione nodded her head just as Severus let out a sigh. Hermione turned her eyes on his side profile to scrutinize him.
"What was that sigh for? We're about to enter the castle you've been dreaming about for most of your life. What could you possibly be upset about?" But even as she asked the question, she was already formulating the answer. Its Lily, he knows that they're sure to be separated. Confirming her thoughts, she watched Severus shoot a forlorn glance at Lily before gazing back at the castle.
She felt determination watching him. She didn't want to leave Sev alone and she wouldn't.
She reached out for his hand, eyes on the castle ahead. She could feel his eyes on her profile but did not turn to meet them. Eventually, he squeezed her hand back.
When the finally reached the other side of the lake, Sev quickly snatched back his hand and moved to help Lily off the boat. His effort was unnecessary as James got to her before he could and gallantly held a hand out to help her out. Hermione watched Sev's face drop as she climbed out unassisted.
Without waiting for any of them, Hermione merged in with the group of first years waiting before a stern looking woman with a large and pointing hat.
"First years, line up in two lines!" She ordered in a thick Scottish accent. Hermione stepped behind a tall dark skinned boy and waited for the next orders. The professor waited, peering over her glasses to the students standing attentively before her.
"You two back there," She called brusquely, eyes narrowing. "You're holding up the queue with you dawdling! Get in line at once!" Hermione turned to head to watch James and Sirius paste on faux contrite faces as they got back in line.
"Very good, now we're going to go inside where you lot will be sorted into your houses. Follow me."
Obediently, they followed and Hermione finally got her first glimpse inside the castle as they waited in a huge hall lined with moving portraits. Hermione gaped in wonderment. She gasped as she spotted the founding fathers unmoving portraits.
She leaned without looking, toward the person standing to her left. "Those are the founding fathers!" She whispered exciting, unable to contain the flow of information.
"They don't move anymore, but they used to talk to the students and tell them about the houses but in 1803 there was a fire that destroyed the original portraits so Headmaster Prince commissioned a world-famous muggle artist to recreate the painting. Unfortunately, no magic could restore them back into animated portraits. It's such a shame. I read all about it in Hogwarts: A history." Her gaze remained fixated on the grumpy looking expression on Salazar Slytherin's face and wished that she could ask him the questions whirling through her mind. She turned her eyes for the first time onto the person beside her only to find that person engaged in conversation with a girl behind her. The kept shooting her glances and giggling and Hermione realized that she had just made quite the fool of herself, talking to no one.
Blushing, she turned away and fixed her gaze to the front, not making eye contact with anyone and waited for the professor to return. She realized then that she hadn't even noticed the professor leave. She cursed her inattentiveness, wondering what information she might have missed due to her musings.
Luckily, the professor returned quickly and ushered them into the most extravagant hall she'd ever seen. Awed, Hermione gazed with wide-eyed wonderment at the ceiling reflecting the night sky and the floating candles. She felt a hot rush of greed at that moment; she wanted to be able to charm ceiling like that, wanted to spell items to float, wanted to wield that magic, wanted all the magic.
Her eyes turned to the staff table and narrowed in on the sight of the formidable and powerful Headmaster. Her mind reviewed everything she had learned about him. Disgraced pureblood royalty, the headmaster rose to fame for his role in defeating Gellert Grindelwald and his discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood. However, gazing at him, Hermione felt a sharp and completely unwarranted feeling of distrust and wariness. She knew there was more to the Headmaster and vowed to discover it. She would not be an ignorant student under his tutelage.
Her eyes were abruptly drawn to a hat placed onto the stool next to where the Scottish professor stood when it bellowed at a long song. Hermione listened carefully to its message that urged house unity and, oddly, love.
When the song ended, the hall broke out into cheer that was quickly quelled when the professor began calling out names.
Hermione watched as one by one the students' were sorted into houses and took a tally on how many students were sorted into certain houses. Hufflepuff seemed to gain the most students with Gryffindor a close second, Ravenclaw third and Slytherin abysmally last. Only one person had been sorted there; a boy by the name of Francis Greengrass who wore a perpetual scowl on his face. She watched Greengrass as he took a seat at the Slytherin table and was immediately settled into the fold, his scowl sliding into an easy smirk as he nodded at a few others at the table.
"Evans, Hermione!" Her eyes shot forward at the sound of her name and she maneuvered between the other first years to the front of the hall.
Her heart wildly hammered in her chest, threatening to break through her sternum and fly away. She took a deep breathe while her back was still turned from the crowd and fixed her eyes on the hat. The hat hmmed and hummed at her approach and she straightened her spine at the perusal.
She carefully sat on the stool and waited to feel the weight on her head, keeping her gaze raised on the ceiling so as to make no eye contact.
"Ah," A voice spoke in her head, startling Hermione despite her suspecting this would happen. "What an intricately compartmentalize maze." She felt a force tilt her head to the slightly to the side in confusion. "You have a thirst for knowledge that is unquenchable and infinite mirroring Rowena Ravenclaw herself. Yet that thirst comes from a need wrought with greed and ambition to have your intelligence viewed as superior, characterizing you greatly as Slytherin. You fear inferiority and brace yourself to face it head on, displaying unparalleled bravery like a Gryffindor. And then in the vestiges of your complex character you have a purity stemmed from a loyalty to those you love that is a force to behold, marking you as a potential Hufflepuff. Now, the question is, since you are illegible to be sorted into any house, which house will help you fulfill your maximum potential? Hmm, very complicated…
There was a split second of silence where Hermione stewed in nervous anticipation when she felt an odd tingling sensation in her head, specifically in the area she knew to be the hippocampus. "What is this?" She heard the hat muse and then the tingling sensation turned into pressure.
Hermione screamed as her mind was split apart. She felt pain, searing excruciating pain down her back and in her head. Memories invaded at an unstoppable speed, threatening to crush her. Faces she did not recognize swarm before her like a film put in fast forward, snippets of conversation in soothing familiar voices rang in her ears, emotions, consuming and rare overwhelmed her.
She wanted it to stop, she couldn't handle all of these sensations at once! She needed it to stop! Stop! STOP!
.
.
.
She was eight and crying in her mother's arm.
"Darling, Emily is just insecure, you don't need to take her words to heart." Her mother soothing wiped away the tears pouring down her face.
"But, when she called me an ugly bucktooth suck up, everyone agreed with her mum!" She cried.
"Oh, honey." Her mother sighed and then her father came in, his smile revealing perfectly white and large buckteeth.
"Us Granger's are notorious for being bucktooth suck-ups and proud of it! You keep on the family legacy, love and don't listen to those little wenches—"
"David!" Her mum hissed, despite the quirk of her lips. Hermione smiled at her parents' antics.
.
.
.
She sat up with a gasp, taking her first breath of air in 23 days.
"Basilisk!" She cried, eyes wide and body trembling. She blinked as she finally came to her senses to find Madam Pomfrey standing before her with a pitying expression marring her matronly face.
"It's alright, Miss Granger. The basilisk has been killed."
"Harry, Ron?" She asked, her brain still trying to come to terms with her surroundings. She gazed around for her best friends, pushing down the disappointment that they weren't by her bedside.
"Miss Granger, I'm sorry that your friends aren't here but they are actually attending the end of the year feast. I—"
"End of the year feast?" Hermione asked with wide eyes. "That can't be. That would mean…"
"Yes, you've been petrified for quite a while, Miss. Granger."
She slumped, losing whatever adrenaline was driving her until that moment.
"Here, drink this." Madam Pomfrey ordered, handing her a vial. Hermione numbly did as instructed and was hit with a rush of energy again. "It's a pepper-up potion. Now, if you'd like, you can still make it to the feast before its over."
.
.
.
She watched with her heart in her throat as Harry refused to let go of Cedric Diggory's dead body. His sobs tore through her and she yearned to fly over to his side. She felt a hand clasp onto her own and turned her head to meet Ron's cerulean eyes.
.
.
.
She watched as if in slow motion as the spell, a beautiful electrifying purple, collided with her body.
"Oh!" she exhaled in surprise just before the pain registered with the rest of her. Before she could even scream her agony, she abruptly lost all consciousness.
.
.
.
She felt the ground fall away from her feet. Hagrid clutched Harry's lifeless broken body while sobs wrecked through his great hulking massive frame.
"No!"
No, this couldn't be. Harry could be dead. She wouldn't allow it! Not after everything that they had been through!
Dumbledore had been wrong if he thought this was the solution. Harry was not a martyr for a greater cause; Harry was the most amazing, optimistic, brave and pure wizard alive. He couldn't die, not like this.
Dumbledore was wrong and she would show him! She would not allow this to happen! Not Harry!
.
.
.
She gazed at her mirror image.
"You know, in my third year—"
"I know," Her other self said and Hermione stopped because of course she knew. She was talking to herself after all.
"Bad things happen to those who meddle with time." They both said at the same time. Hermione smiled sardonically. Her eyes then fell to the baby in between them.
"It's all for Harry. I…I love him more than anyone." She confessed, eyes watering with the onslaught of emotion. She was scared, though she never would admit it.
She turned her eyes to her doppelgänger. "I wish I could know you like you do me…Are you happy?" She asked needing the distraction. For a moment her other self looked lost and anguished.
"I will be when its all said and done." Hermione nodded. No more stalling.
"I'm ready."
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.
Hermione came to consciousness slowly. She felt, thankfully, no pain, if anything she felt well rested and energized. There were no voices and she felt no presence monitoring her; another lucky happenstance.
She opened her eyes and sat up in her hospital bed. A wave of melancholy hit her and she allowed herself a moment to imagine that Harry and Ron would come through that door any second to sweep her up in a hug and ask about her well-being.
She knew that in reality, that would never happen.
She took a deep breath before she rose from her bed, assessing the lack of strength in her legs. She moved to the window and appraised the height of the sun in the sky.
She determined a couple of things. One, she must have been out for more than a few days, judging by the struggle she felt to even walk. Two, it was mid-afternoon, probably lunch time.
"What in Merlin's name are you doing?" Madam Pomfrey's voice was shrill with outrage. Hermione gave a long-suffering sigh as she slowly turned to face the woman. "You should not be out of bed!"
She fussed over Hermione, coming over and offering her arm to help Hermione slowly trudge back to bed all the while bemoaning about Hermione's state.
"You really know how to make a first impression! Screaming bloody murder during the sorting ceremony of all things! Do you know what you did? I can't for the life of me even understand what happened. You actually glowed and you…well perhaps it's better for you to see for yourself. I just don't understand…"
Hermione sat quietly as Madam Pomfrey went on while performing all sorts of diagnosis charms.
"You seem to be alright now. I told the Headmaster I would alert him when you woke but, of course, I wouldn't contact him if you weren't fit to speak yet. Your results come back all clear, however, so I suppose I have no choice but to floo call him now. You stay right here, do you hear me? Don't you move muscle!" Hermione nodded and watched Madam Pomfrey sweep away with a flourish of her skirts.
She kicked her legs back up on the bed and sat back, waiting. She kept her mind purposefully blank, only allowing the most mundane of thoughts to surface like what she would like to eat for lunch and what Lily and Sev might be doing without her.
It wasn't long before footsteps broke the silence. Hermione fixed a polite smile on her face as Dumbledore approached. She noted the presence of the sorting hat in his hand.
"Miss Evans, I am so glad to see you awake. You have had many visitors eagerly awaiting your return to consciousness; they'll be so glad to hear you are well."
"Thank you, Headmaster." She responded
"Are you aware of how much time has passed since the sorting?" Hermione shook her head. "Alas, now I must be the bearer of bad news. You have been unconscious for nearly four days. As you already know, classes have started and you have yet to complete your sorting."
Hermione nodded, her eyes falling to the hat in his hand.
"Before we get to that, I need to ask you what you can recall from the sorting ceremony."
"Haven't you talked to the hat?" Dumbledore eyed her from over his square glasses.
"Yes, I have talked to the hat but I'd like to hear the events from your perspective." Hermione positively abhorred that ersatz congenial smile he gave her.
"I'm so sorry, Headmaster but I can't remember." Dumbledore peered over his half-moon spectacles at her. Hermione kept her face tight with worry.
"That is quite alright. My understanding of the events is the sorting hat found a barrier inside your mind. When the hat broke the barrier, it caused a magical surge that was too much for your body to handle."
Hermione clenched her hands together, eyes falling to her lap.
"Why was there a barrier in my head? Who would do such a thing?" Voice shaky, face ashen, she turned desperate and scared eyes to the Headmaster. "What does this mean?"
"As of yet, we don't know but you will be under observation till we are sure."
"What am I supposed to do in the meantime? I can't possibly remain in the hospital wing; I just started here and I haven't made any friends yet or met my professors or—"
"Let me put your mind at ease, Miss. Evans," Dumbledore interrupted, reaching out to pat her hand reassuringly. "You will still be attending classes, in fact, you are free to act in any way you feel fit. However, for a time, you are to come back here after dinner so that Madam Pomfrey may run a serious of tests and remain here to sleep."
"Oh," Hermione responded, eyes disappointedly lowering.
"Don't worry, it is only temporary and Madam Pomfrey will make sure you will want for nothing. She's under firm orders to tuck you in at night too." Hermione giggled. Dumbledore gave her an answering grin before he held up the hat. "Now, how about we get you sorted?"
Hermione sucked in a deep breath and nodded. Dumbledore leaned over and gently lowered the hat onto her head.