Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all its characters belong to the wonderful J.K Rowling.

Universe: Mostly the marauders era

Time period: Just after The Order of the Phoenix

Rating: M for language, possible scenes of violence and the depiction of sexual scenes later on

The Time Of Our Lives

Chapter 1

Hermione had been tossing and turning on the uncomfortable hospital wing bed for what seemed like hours. After their little adventure in the department of mysteries, Madam Pomfrey had made everyone spend a night at the hospital wing. Well, she was in for a little more than just one day because Dolohov's curse had rendered her quite weak. She winced slightly as a sudden streak of pain shot up her ribs and she rubbed the spot gently as she stared out of the window to distract herself. It was past three in the morning and sleep still evaded her. One glance towards the dark sky told her that today was the full moon. She wondered how her former Defense Against The Dark Arts professor was faring tonight, given his lycanthropy.

Hermione had always been an extremely smart and talented girl. She depended mostly on logic and it helped her grasp things which often slipped past others notice. She had a keen eye and her observational skills were hardly matched by anyone from their year at Hogwarts. She had been the first one to figure out Remus Lupin's condition and had it been any other case, it would have annoyed her a bit. It seemed to her that the other people around her had a knack for ignoring glaring facts which were quite obvious, really.

She had also been the one to point out to Harry that Voldemort's vision could be a trick to lure him into the Department of Mysteries but given their current circumstances, she was hardly in a position to say 'I told you so'. Throughout her life, sense and logic had been her best companions and it annoyed her to no extent when people didn't care about evidence and facts. Harry had acted purely on instinct and had been overwhelmed by his emotions and despite her stark disapproval; she had followed him to the Department of Mysteries without further argument. Needless to say, the whole ordeal had been catastrophic and…

Her eyes fluttered shut as she inhaled deeply and tried not to think about it. About him. She turned her face away from the window and her gaze fell upon Ginny. Madam Pomfrey had given her potions for the pain in her ankle, which was slowly mending and had decided to keep her overnight for observation. She was curled up in a tight ball and her breathing followed a relaxed, rhythmic pattern indicating that she was in a state of deep sleep. Opposite Hermione's bed lay the blonde haired Ravenclaw, Luna Lovegood. She hadn't sustained any major injuries either except for a few cuts and lacerations of her face and arms and even though Hermione didn't agree with Luna's views, she was nonetheless relieved to know that she was alright. On her right side were the boy's beds, separated from the girls by a thin partition. The curtain wasn't drawn over fully and she was able to make out Ron, Neville and Harry's silhouette in the dim light case by the full moon.

Harry…

She gnawed at her bottom lip as she gazed at his sleeping form. It wasn't natural sleep. Madam Pomfrey had literally forced down vials of calming draughts and dreamless sleeping potions down his throat to calm him down. Her mind drifted back a few hours as she recalled the state Harry had been in when a very grave headmaster had escorted him in. Hermione had been a bit groggy from all the pain killing potions she had taken and she had regained consciousness just a few hours ago. The place where Dolohov's curse had hit her felt like it was on fire and the right side of her ribs throbbed with pain.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Harry thundered and golden-red sparks had shot out from the end of his wand, which was tightly clutched in his right hand. His hand was shaking and the knuckles had turned white as bone. The headmaster looked helpess and he tried to reason with Harry but to no avail. Harry kicked a small bedside table in his rage, knocking a variety of healing potions in crystal vials to the ground. They smashed into tiny little pieces as soon as they hit the cold stone floor, staining it in a variety of colours from the potions.

"Harry-" Professor Dumbledore began, only to be cut off by Harry again.

"Don't." He replied in a dangerously calm voice. "You knew…" His voice shook as he took a step away from Dumbledore. "You bloody knew it all along! You chose to ignore me throughout the year, you put that greasy git in charge of teaching me occlumency-" Harry let out a hysterical laugh and it scared Hermione. She had never seen Harry act like this before. "YOU COULD HAVE DONE THINGS DIFFERENTLY! HE DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!"

Hermione shot a horrified glance at Ron, who was still under the influence of a sedation potion. He had been badly hurt by the brain like creatures which had attacked him in the brain room. Luna was watching Harry with a vacant expression like him having a shouting match with Dumbledore was nothing out of ordinary. Neville was cowering at the corner of his bed and Ginny-

"Harry, you need to calm down." Ginny said from her bedside with a look of frustration on her face at not being able to get up due to her broken ankle.

Harry ignored her. Despite the pain she was in, Hermione made an effort to rise up. Harry was clearly in a lot of anguish and she had to stop him before he did something stupid-

"What on earth is going on in here?" Madam Pomfrey rushed out of her office with a wand in her hand just as Hermione was about to intervene. "Mr. Potter! What in the name of Merlin do you think you're doing? This is a hospital!"

"Stay out of it." Harry glowered at her, clearly not thinking straight. Madam Pomfrey straightened up and narrowed her eyes at Harry. "I know you're going through a lot Mr. Potter but I would not tolerate students taking up that tone with me. Sit down and let me have a look at you."

Despite himself, Harry calmed down a bit and even seemed a bit ashamed as he turned his eyes towards the floor. It was like Madam Pomfrey's words had broken the spell and brought him back to reality. Professor Dumbledore had a few words with Madam Pomfrey before he exited as Harry slumped down on an empty bed between Hermione and Ron. Madam Pomfrey bustled around as she assembled various potions for Harry. Hermione recognized the Calming draught and a small vial which contained dreamless sleep potion for twelve hours of unbroken sleep.

"Take these, Mr. Potter." The medi-witch held out two vials for him and for an instance Harry looked like he would object but after a moment, the mutinous expression faded away only to be replaced by resignation. He sighed and gulped the potions down in one go. Satisfied, Madam Pomfrey nodded at Harry and Hermione noticed a glimpse of sadness on her face as she patted his shoulder realized at that moment that he…Sirius probably had been a frequent visitor to the Hospital Wing back when he was a student given his reckless nature.

Poppy Pomfrey made her way towards Hermione and summoned a kit of potions which were exclusively made for treating injuries from dark magic.

"How are you feeling, Miss Granger?"

"A bit groggy and my ribs hurt but apart from that, I feel okay I think." She replied as she gulped the bitter potions down and tried not to gag.

"Performing dark magic on students…what else is to be expected from these death eaters…?" Madam Pomfrey muttered to herself as she collected the empty vials and vanished the spilled potions from the floor where Harry had knocked them down. After checking on Ron one last time, she switched the lights off and retired to her office-room for the night. Hermione's head jerked to the side as she heard a gut wrenching sob escape Harry's lips. She watched helplessly as she broke down and hid his face between his hands, curling up into a tight ball on the bed. Tears formed in her as she witnessed his state and beside her, she heard Ginny sniffle as well.

One vial of the Calming Draught was simply not enough to take away the pain of a dead Father figure.

Ron's sudden snore brought her mind back to the present. He mumbled a string of words which suspiciously sounded like something straight out of Luna's fantasy world before he drifted back to sleep. The effect of the pain killing potions was wearing off and Hermione's discomfort was growing. She bit her lip as the pain reached unbearable levels. Madam Pomfrey had said that the dark curse had damaged her internal organs and would have certainly killed her had Dolohov uttered the curse verbally. Thankfully, the damage was not beyond repair and in a week's time, she would be back on her feet.

Hermione fumbled for her wand on the bedside table but she couldn't find it. After a bit, her hand finally hit something and before she could catch it, the wand cluttered down onto the floor and rolled away from her bed. Hermione groaned and threw her arm over her eyes in frustration. She had wanted to summon some pain killers from Madam Pomfrey's store but the wand was out of her reach and her inability to get up rendered her unable to do so.

"Here." Her eyes flew open and she saw that Ginny was standing beside her with a vial in her hand. "Ginny? You ankle…?" Hermione asked her, feeling concerned.

"Completely healed." The red headed Weasley smiled at her as she did a little twirl as demonstration.

"You're a life saver." Hermione muttered as Ginny helped her sit up. She gulped down the potion as if it was water and didn't mind the bitter taste as instantaneous relief coursed through her body, relieving her of her pain.

"Do you mind if I sit down for a while?" Ginny gestured to the edge of Hermione's bed "I can't sleep."

"Not at all." Hermione replied as she slumped back against her puffy pillow "I can't sleep either."

"What a day, huh?" Ginny said wryly as she hopped up onto the bed and brought her knees to her chest while looping her arms over them.

"It was…I don't know…" Hermione fumbled to find the right words but for once, she couldn't come up with anything.

"Catastrophic? Horrifying? Tragic?" Ginny helped her by throwing in some.

"That about sums it up." Hermione mumbled.

"I've never seen Harry so broken down." Ginny said as she shot Harry's sleeping form a worried glance. "Earlier, it looked as if he was ready to tear Dumbledore's throat out. There was this strange, maniacal gleam in his eyes…"

"I know." Hermione agreed, for once ignoring Ginny's use of Professor Dumbledore's name without the title of respect. "I wonder what happened in the headmaster's office."

"I think he is very distraught over Sirius' death and he is looking for someone to blame. " Ginny replied as she rested her cheek on top of her knees. "Not that I blame him…I would have been the same if I were in his place, if not worse."

Ginny's use of Sirius' name made Hermione wince a little but the she didn't notice and instead kept her eyes locked on Harry. Although they had never interacted much, Hermione had always been a little intrigued by Sirius. She had wanted to help him since the very beginning when they had come to know about him being not guilty of Pettigrew's murder. At first glance, Sirius seemed to be a figure straight out of Hermione's nightmares. He was reckless, highly irresponsible and took uncalculated risks. As far as she knew him, she had observed that Sirius had always seen Harry as his long lost friend James while Harry admired and loved him as a father figure. While Sirius had tried to look after Harry as best as he could, his careless and impulsive attitude had rendered him unable of doing so, even if he wanted to. The main reason Harry had bolted off to the Department of Mysteries without a second thought was because he knew that Sirius was epitome of recklessness and it was highly possible that he had ventured out and got himself caught by Voldemort's followers. Since the beginning when she had first come to know Sirius, she had felt herself dangerously drawn to him for some reason. Despite all his negative qualities, she strangely found herself admiring him in a way. Hermione had always been the one to follow rules. She had always been the model student and a source of inspiration for others. She knew that she could get a bit bossy and uptight at times but these features were a part of who she was and she embraced them with full vigor. Sirius was the polar opposite of her and had no regard for any sort of rules or regulations. Soon, Hermione had found herself grudgingly admiring his freedom and open mindedness. She had genuinely felt sorry for him when he had been forced to stay inside Grimmauld place even though it was for his own good. Sirius simply wasn't one to sit around and watch others do stuff. He was a man of action.

Moreover, there was a thing which deeply disturbed her in regard with Sirius. The man felt somehow familiar to her but she couldn't place her finger on how and why. What was it about him that had intrigued her so much? Whenever she thought about him, it always felt like a half remembered dream…

She shook her head to clear it. Her thoughts clearly weren't making sense and all the potions she was taking were messing with her head.

"-I really hope that all these calming potions have some effect on Harry and help him cool off a bit. I really don't like seeing him in this state." Ginny's voice broke through her thoughts and brought her back to reality.

"Yeah." Hermione sighed, "Me too, Ginny."

"Well." Ginny hopped down from the bed and stretched like a cat, "I am off to bed. If you need something, just holler okay?"

"Okay. Thanks Gin."

"Don't be stupid, Hermione." Ginny rolled her eyes as she sauntered off to her bed and plopped down on top of it. "Night."

"Goodnight." Hermione replied. Within minutes, Ginny was snoring.

Hermione let out a frustrated sigh as she stared at the high ceiling of the hospital wing. What was wrong with her? She was physically and mentally exhausted yet sleep was miles away. Unbidden thoughts kept attacking her mind like a pack of canaries. Since she had never lost somebody dear to her, she didn't exactly know what Harry was going through but she knew that he was hurting a lot. The mere thought of losing her parents made her want to cry and Harry had already lost them even before he had a chance to know them. Sirius had come into his life like a ray of hope but before long, he was gone too.

The thought hurt her more than she had anticipated and her eyes filled up with tears. Harry's godfather, his friend, his Father figure was gone. Lost permanently. She closed her eyes and begged for sleep to come, hoping against hope that it will all turn out to be a nightmare. That they will wake up in their dorms in the Gryffindor tower and go attend their classes like usual. That Sirius would be safe and sound at Number twelve, Grimmauld Place. She wished that she could do something. After all, she had saved Sirius once along with Harry in their third year by going back in time…

She shot up in her bed, ignoring the pain that shot through her rib area as her brown eyes grew wide as her breathing sped up. No…no this was a different scenario…Sirius was dead and he simply couldn't be brought back to life.

Or maybe …just maybe.

She ran her fingers through her tangled, bushy hair as a thousand ideas flooded her mind. Each and every one of them required meddling with time in a very dangerous way that could probably get her killed. Or worse, expelled if caught.

"Harry?" Remus Lupin's voice woke Hermione up. She shielded her eyes from the blinding sunlight that was pouring in through a window directly above her bed. Judging from the position of the sun, she could tell that it was past noon.

"Professor Lupin…what are you doing here?" Harry croaked out as he clumsily pushed his glasses back on to his face. He had clearly just woken up along with Hermione.

"I am sorry, I didn't want to wake you up but I wanted to make sure that you were fine after…yesterday. And, it's Remus." He reminded Harry gently, having retired from his position as a professor long ago.

Harry remained quiet as he sat up in his bed, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. Ginny and Luna's beds were empty beside her and Neville was having his breakfast in his bed, silently observing the scene with nervous eyes. Ron was still unconscious but Madam Pomfrey had assured them that he needed to rest and would stay like this for a day or two.

Hermione groggily sat up and glanced at Remus. He looked worse than she had ever seen him. His eyes had deep shadows beneath them and his skin had an unhealthy grey pallor to it. His robes were patched and frayed at various places and his almost grey hair looked limp and lifeless. She bit her lower lip when she noticed that his eyes were red rimmed and bloodshot.

"Ah, good morning Hermione. How are you faring?" Lupin asked when he noticed that she was awake.

"I am better, thank you. I am sorry but you look awful, Remus." Hermione admitted as she clasped her hands together. The werewolf threw her a wry smile as he shook his head. "Yesterday was the full moon, you should be resting." Hermione added with a touch of bossiness.

"It's been very hard…" He began but stopped speaking, not knowing how to continue. He cleared his throat and Hermione quickly changed the subject as a shadow passed over Harry's face. She doubted anyone wanted a repeat of yesterday.

"God, I am hungry. I wonder when Madam Pomfrey will let us out."

"When you have completely healed." Madam Pomfrey's voice came from behind her and Hermione's face went red. She noticed that the medi-witch was levitating two trays of foods in the air and her stomach growled at the mere sight of food.

"There you go, Miss Granger." Madam Pomfrey set a plate on Hermione's bedside table. She made a face when she saw her food consisted mostly of porridge and some apple juice. She detested porridge.

"I am not hungry." Harry replied when Madam Pomfrey urged him to eat. She sighed and shook her head.

"As you wish, I'll just leave it here then." She turned to Lupin, "Hello Remus, I don't see you around much these days."

"Poppy." Remus nodded his greeting and smiled at her, choosing not to reply to her latter statement.

"How are you faring?" Madam Pomfrey asked, worry etched in every line on her face. "You look-"

"Awful, yes. Hermione already pointed it out." Remus replied in a tired voice.

Hermione blushed in embarrassment and ducked her head low. She reached for the goblet full of apple juice and took a sip, relishing the feel of the cool juice going down her parched throat.

"Are you taking your potions every month?" Madam Pomfrey pressed him.

"I can't afford them anymore, Poppy. You know that." He replied as he kept his eyes fixed on Harry. "Our position is worse than ever." Hermione didn't need to question him about who he meant by 'our'. The discrimination against Werewolves was worse than ever and it was nearly impossible for them to hold a job these days with the growing unrest.

Before Madam Pomfrey could reply, the doors opened again and Professor Dumbledore came in. Hermione shot Harry a nervous glance but he looked more ashamed than angry.

"Ah Remus, Minerva told me I would find you here." He said as he conjured a chair for himself and Remus both. "Sit down, please."

"Thank you, Albus." Remus nodded.

"Professor I-" Harry began but hesitated for a second. "I am sorry for my behavior last night." He finally managed while he stared at his shoes like they were the most interesting thing in the world.

Dumbledore smiled at him benevolently and Hermione let out a relieved sigh. It was going to be alright.

The week had gone by fairly quick. Hermione had visited the restricted section of the library by "borrowing" Harry's invisibility cloak after she had been given the leave from the hospital wing. She had scoured through each and every book about time travel and the veil through which Sirius had fallen. She recoiled at half the things which were written in them and most of them contained strange rituals and required ingredients which were impossible to obtain. The methods were not even verified and she had no proof that they even worked. Not to mention, all of them had branches in extremely dark magic and required breaking more than a dozen rules and regulation set by the Ministry of Magic.

She had been reading a book the night before they were scheduled to depart for London by the Hogwarts Express and she was almost ready to give up, dismissing her idea as stupid –not to mention extremely dangerous- when she came across a paragraph in a dated copy of A Hundred and One Magical Mysteries.

Known Methods of Time Travel:

(1.) Time Turners: Authenticated by the Ministry of Magic. Illegal or inappropriate acquisition/use of Time Turners without being registered with the ministry can lead to a sentence in the Azkaban if caught…

"I already know that." Hermione muttered, a bit annoyed as she turned the page.

(2.) Temporal Fields: Not a recommended method for time travelling. Although a Temporal Field can be created by anyone in a possession of a wand, it is not known to work since sending one's consciousness back into the past has not been possible except for when he or she dies. Consciousness as a whole is unable of residing in two bodies at the same time unlike the soul, which can be easily split by using various means. (Not recommended either). A brave few had stepped forward in the recent past (Name will not be provided due to maintain confidentiality) and have given up their lives to test out this hypothesis…

Hermione shuddered as she read further, appalled by the number of people who had attempted this method and had probably failed since no evidence existed of its success.

"This was a bad idea. I shouldn't even be researching about this stuff." She muttered even as her eyes shifted to the third and last method.

(3.) The Tempus Revocatas Ritual: Currently undergoing extensive research in the department of mysteries. Not much is known about it except that it is highly dangerous and requires an extremely good knowledge about ancient runes. There have been a few success stories but most wizards who have attempted this elaborate ritual have been lost in a time storm and have been never heard from again. Due to the complicated nature of this project, names cannot be provided.

Time travel is a field of magic which is highly dangerous. Meddling with time can have unknown and even disastrous results. The person who intends to time travel can do it through two methods- Time Turners and The Tempus Revocatas Ritual. The second method is highly dangerous and not at all advised as it can lead to catastrophic events and even death. A twin of the Veil in the Death Chamber exists and is undergoing extensive research in the Department of Mysteries. It has been known to act as a two way portal for time travel when enchanted with the Tempus Revocatas spell. Ongoing research still hasn't figured out how this archway acts as a link between the past, the present and the future but those who have been known to try have either died or have been caught up in a time storm, ending in places (be it the past or the future) that no one has been able to figure out. There have been a few success stories but we would strongly suggest the reader not to indulge into this ritual as it has not been approved by the ministry and is banned in most wizarding societies. Using illegal spells and rituals can lead to a life long sentence in Azkaban…

Her heart was hammering in her chest by the time she stopped reading. "What?" Hermione whispered as she turned the page but she couldn't find more information on the dual nature of the veil. She slammed the book shut in disgust as her mind started whirring with ideas.

Something about this ritual appealed to her and for the first time in her life, she found herself ignoring the warning strewn throughout the book. She did have a good knowledge of ancient runes…

Hermione was intrigued by the existence of a twin, time warping archway to the veil through which Sirius had passed into the realm of the dead. Locating it among the dozens of rooms in the department of mysteries would be quite a task, however. She quickly opened the book again and waved her wand over the page, creating a copy of it and stuffing it in the innermost pocket of her robe. She needed to do more research on this specific ritual which turned the veil of death into a time portal. She had already exhausted her options in the school library (not to mention how many rules she had broken in doing so.) and only one option came to her mind. Knockturn Alley.

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