Hermione was glancing around her room at other signs that things had changed. Pictures on her wall were no longer haunting memories, but beautiful ones. Ginny and Harry in Paris, Fred with a surf board in hand on the beach and even a newer picture of Remus and Sirius at Christmas one year. They were framed and tenderly cared for.
This all baffled her and she dug through her nightstand for all the things she held dear. Hogwarts a History was there, but her photo album of the loved ones who died during the battle was gone. She wasn't sure if she actually brought everyone back, but how could that be? If she did, then are the deatheaters that died during the battle, back as well? Hermione was nervous now and couldn't shake it. What was changed, what wasn't changed? How was she supposed to catch up in a short amount of time?
Remus was coming up the stairs and she could smell that he was anxious. "I am coming up," he called out to her and she smiled.
He stood at her door and saw she was dressed and digging in her drawers. "I am just grabbing a few more things," she told him and he stood there.
She giggled and smiled. "You can come in," she invited him and he blushed lightly.
Hermione finished with her bedroom and went to the room next door which was her office. She opened the door and screamed in horror. None of her work was there! No pages on the walls nor dirty quills. There were scratches and scorch marks all over the room and it seemed a dark and depressing room. The only thing in this room was an potion station and a leather bond book.
"Where is it all?" She cried running into the room.
Remus was behind her and she turned to him. "Remus, all my work is gone!"
He gazed at her sternly. "Hermione, all your work on the cure is at my home. You rarely work at home."
The young witch was baffled at first and then it hit her; without needing to research how to change things it gave her time to find a cure for her Lycanthropy. She felt rather relieved and it made her feel much older than she was in that single moment. She spent eight years trying to figure out how to change the world. Even if no one else knew she did, she had to have changed something.
"Remus, it is half passed nine." Sirius shouted from down the stairs and Remus nodded.
"We can always come back for more things, Hermione." The older werewolf spoke gently and Hermione nodded.
"Do I look messy? I don't want Teddy to think I am ill." She replied as she shifted under Remus' arm.
He chuckled and shook his head. "You are worried that my eight year old is going to judge your wardrobe?"
She blushed and nodded. "I know that he's smart like his dad. If he sees it, he can process it."
They were closer than he intended them to be. Remus knew a few things about this 'new' Hermione. One thing he was most certain of was she was clueless to any of her personal relationships. The woman he saw before him was not bitter. She was not disgusted by life and its inconveniences. This woman was not their Hermione.
Remus let Hermione go in front of him down the stairs while he was thinking to himself. She looked around at the blankness of her home and sadness crept up on her. She spent eight years just held up for no reason; that didn't seem like she enjoyed life at all.
She was in the middle of a heavy thought process when Sirius snagged her in his arms. "Well, m'lady, time to go!" He declared and Hermione was bright pink.
"Sirius I think you need to give her time to catch up. She seems a little confused today." Remus uttered and Sirius glared at him.
They had a silent conversation before the animagus released her and she glanced between the two of them. Hermione felt clueless as to what was all their dynamics and it made her tense. If this was just the tip of their relationship, then what went on for eight years while she was learning to deal with her Lycanthropy?
Her head was swarming with alternatives and possible memories that happened without her knowledge. She was overwhelmed in a sense that if she did indeed bring everyone back, then she had eight years of learning what went on. What secrets she knew that she no longer does. All of the intimate and precious moments that were no longer hers, or at least no longer hers in a sense that she was the new reality of Hermione Granger.
That was another thing that she wondered. What happens to someone who doesn't remember the last eight years of their life? She had all of these theories in her notes and now... she was lost in the thick of it. Hermione Granger not only was in the dark about this new reality, if it wasn't a dream, but she also had no clue to what extent was changed.
Remus noted her silence and pensiveness while they left her apartment. He watched her closely, as if she was bound to do a trick or claim it was all a cruel joke. There was no flaw in her attitude. No snag on the reality of her being clueless to her life. This woman was completely convinced she did not live the life she has been for eight years. The older werewolf was watching closely for anything possibly threatening while he welcomed her into his home.
Hermione smiled brightly as she looked at Grimwauld Place for the first time in years. It was bright and lively, unlike the last time she was here. She glanced around and touched the different pictures and paintings on the wall with tenderness. So much wonderful life was put into this place it made her fill with warmth.
"So where is Nymphadora?" Hermione uttered simply and turned to the marauders.
Remus frowned and shook his head. "Hermione, she got sick after the battle. She is at St Mungos still. You don't remember that?" Remus whispered and Hermione paled.
"What did she get sick with?" Hermione asked, shocked and dismayed by this.
Sirius cleared his throat and sighed. "A curse in the final battle hit her head and scrambled her memories. She believed that we all died and we were all in limbo..." Sirius trailed off and Hermione placed a hand over her mouth.
That disturbed her and made her remorseful that Tonks was suffering like that because of her actions. She pushed down her guilt and sighed.
"Daddy?" Teddy came down the stairs and Hermione gasped.
The boy caught her in his sights and beamed before running up to her. "Mione!" He shouted and she went to her knees just in time to encircle him in a hug.
"Oh my! You are so big since the last time I saw you!" Hermione cried as a tear went down her cheek.
Teddy looked up at her with a frown. "Mione, it has been only a week since I have seen you. Are you feeling well?" He asked her and she giggled.
"I just am so happy to see you! I bet you didn't know that I love you so much!" She murmured and Teddy's hair turned a bright pink.
"I love you too, but Mione, are you hungry? I was thinking Uncle Sirius could make us some of that bacon you really love." Teddy whispered in her ear and she grinned.
"I think that sounds great!" Hermione exclaimed, standing up and smiling at the men behind her. "Breakfast and some tea?"
Sirius smiled and nodded. "Come on, Teddy. I want to hear about that wild dream I know you had last night."
Teddy gasped. "How did you know, Uncle Sirius?"
They walked into the kitchen, leaving the werewolves to stare at each other. "I am not sure you know this, but you never used to give very much affection or love to my son. That was the first time in his life that you expressed any joy in seeing him." Remus paused and stepped closer. "That was the first time I have ever seen you happy about anything in eight years."
Hermione's blood ran cold. "Remus, I know this seems odd for me to say, but I am sorry for how I have been. I woke up today a different person."
Remus nodded and cleared his throat. "This person you are, I like her. She shows love and affection that the Hermione of yesterday lost after the battle."
There was almost a thickness to the air and Hermione started to tear up. "Remus, if this is real, I need my memories. I have none of them."
Remus took her in his arms and she sobbed on him lightly. "I know, just remember, you are with family now. We will help you." He reassured her and she glanced up at her.
"This was the whole reason I worked so hard, I needed you all back." She whispered and Remus smiled.
"We needed you back too, Hermione." He replied and kissed her forehead. "Let's go have a bit of tea and see what my son is up to, hm?"
Hermione nodded and she hugged Remus tightly before letting him go. If this was really a dream, she hoped she didn't have to wake up. All that hard work and to dream something so real that she couldn't stand to leave this place... well that would be cruelty.
