Hermione Granger was sitting in the library of number twelve Grimmauld Place her usual place to find comfort. The war was over and they had won, but at a very high price. Sirius, Dumbledore, Ron, Mad- Eye Moody, Tonks, Remus, Severus, Percy, Charlie, Fred, George, Kingsley, Neville, Luna, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ginny and in a way, Harry as well. Harry really did not get over all the losses and became a sort of zombie. She and Harry moved into Grimmauld Place and tried to move on with their lives as best that they could. They kind of fell into a relationship to ease the pain of their loss, Hermione fell in love but she knew that Harry probably did not feel the same, but she could not leave him. This night she decided to organize books that Sirius thought to be too dangerous to own. Sirius said once that they where dangerous books in there that needed to be disposed of even Snape agreed. If two sworn enemies agreed on something then it must be a credible point. Besides she thought it would be a perfect project to do to keep her mind occupied.
She often thought of Sirius in this house, the house that he gave to Harry. He would always be around watching and sulking, sometimes watching her intently with such intensity it frightened her at times. Not that she thought that Sirius would ever hurt her. Sirius had a way of making things intense when she was tense already and that did not help. That in itself was confusing as it was but her confusion grew when she heard Sirius and Remus talking two nights before Sirius's death. "It is Hermione; I know it is, Moony. But how could it be, she died twenty years ago!" "Keep your voice down, Padfoot! You are going to frighten her more than you already are! I can't say it is her and it isn't! Stop asking me!"
Hermione ran upstairs to her room thanking the gods for Orion Black's paranoia in security measures that included blocking the senses of a werewolf.
Come to think of it Sirius, Remus, Severus and even Peter Pettigrew and Lucius Malfoy all looked at her oddly, at times as if they where looking at a ghost. The very first day that she met Mr. Malfoy in the bookstore he looked at her gave her a smirk and a small bow. The night of the welcoming feast she saw the look that Professor Snape gave to Harry then he looked straight at her with a mixture of surprise, sadness, anger, and loss. Before it registered that it was directed at her he turned away and continued to talk to Professor Quirrell. One day she was on her way to give a paper to then Professor Lupin she heard a rather odd conversation: "I see you looking at Miss Granger. Not very appropriate, Lupin, she is a student. It certainly makes a person wonder doesn't it? Is she as innocent as she appears to be or is she like that brunette harlot on the loose back at the time when we were at school causing all sorts of trouble?" with a tone that was a mixture of hate regret and taunting.
She never saw Professor Lupin so angry or struggling to keep his composure. "That is enough, Severus! Do not dare talk about her like that!" before he got control of himself again. "Thank you for the wolfsbane. Wonderful potion isn't it? It would be a shame if someone would not take it and have terrible things done to him?" Hermione ran to her dorm and avoided them the best she could for the rest of the week. The night that Peter, Remus, and Sirius confronted each other at the Shrieking Shack Sirius looked at her as if there was something about her like there was no one that could compare. He was about to say more before Remus stared the interrogation of Peter and Sirius threw himself into the task that he had come for originally. Peter even looked at her pleadingly like she was the only one in the world that could or wanted to save him. Those odd occurrences were never answered; they all died before they could explain.
She sighed. It was getting late she should probably go to bed. It was a good thing she changed into a nightshirt before she started one less thing to do. As she was getting up she knocked over the tea she was drinking. As she was picking it up her arm had hit something and she heard a click and a bookcase swung open to reveal a secret room. As she entered she noticed that it was full of things of a woman that was left here so long ago. It was like a shrine was built for this woman, a nameless faceless woman. The strange thing is that she saw no photos of her. She did find pictures of Sirius, Remus, and who she assumed to be James Potter and Peter Pettigrew. That was odd. Why would this be locked away? She then saw a gold ring and a strange black book. While still holding ring Hermione picked it up the black leather bound book to study it. As she did she felt like her body was tingling as it would using a Portkey.
The rest was as though she was in a dream….
Hard wooden floor…gold and scarlet draperies…. voices of friends long gone.
"Lily looks as good as ever eh Prongs? Perhaps this year will be your year" said the unmistakable voice of Sirius.
"Bloody Hell Padfoot what exactly do you put in your trunks anyway? It feels as though you stuffed your motorcycle in here," said the unmistakable voice of Remus
Then "Bloody Hell! Prongs, get Madame Pomfrey!"
And arms pulling her and scooping her up and then darkness
