PROLOGUE

He woke up to a dull throb on his right arm and sunk deeper into the pillows. Relief washed over him for another moon had come and gone and the familiar scent of medicines over powered his senses along with something fragrant.

His eyes snapped open and instantly he turned towards the smell. Beside him lying on another bed a mere three feet away was Hermione! She was covered in clean sheets up until her neck and her face had a deep gash across her left cheek. There was a bandage wound around the major portion of her head and the little skin that he could see looked pale and white as sheet.

"Poor girl" The voice of the matron said from behind him and he turned his attention away.

"I didn't-" he began but madam Pomfrey shook her head sadly.

"We didn't know if she would really live, we could have lost her any time and so there were no announcements made. I do understand why everyone thought her dead….its a miracle she's made it this far." The woman said as she checked the broken arm and a couple of other mild gashes.

They had already figured out that much but the part that truly shocked Remus was that she looked so young. In fact she looked pretty much their age.

"How – how old is she?" he asked after a moments pause.

"I don't know…" was the gentle reply. "She hasn't been awake much for us to know anything about her." He could only stare silently.

"Anyway Remus, you should get some sleep, your arm needs an hour or two to set and you need your rest" the woman continued sternly, before handing him a sleeping potion.

He took it with a grateful smile and slumped back into his bed. His eyes and thoughts staying on the girl by his side until he finally drifted off into fitful slumber where he had dreams of Hermione being chased across a dark alley.

As he followed her helplessly, he saw at least a dozen men on her tail, all of them sending out a colorful stream of curses. Most of them missed but with each turn she began to resemble the mangled girl that had arrived in Hogwarts.

The resident werewolf of Hogwarts was soon startled awake though and he noticed the girl - Hermione - had tried to stand up.

She was lying on the floor, the sheet covering her had fallen off and every inch of her body was covered with cuts and bruises. What really caught his attention though were the words etched into her arm. The carving that declared her a mudblood made his blood turn cold.

As he stared in horror, he saw Madam Pomfrey rush to her and cover her up again. But the image was stuck in his mind and Remus suddenly lurched forward, throwing up heavily.

"Where am I?" He heard a weak voice ask and he glanced sideways to notice that she was being put into her bed again.

"This is Hogwarts dear" The matron answered kindly and Remus noticed the girls blank stare with no sign of recognition.

The matron who also seemed to notice that the girl did not know of Hogwarts straightened up again and offered to fetch her some clothes and medicine before having the headmaster down to speak to her.

He watched from the side as the girl remained in her bed, unresponsive and obviously still in pain and highly confused. Her eyes strayed to him once but the matron was back again to distract her with a simple robe in one hand and a potion in the other.

"Drink this up, the headmaster should be down momentarily" The older witch said kindly.

Hermione took it hesitantly and choked on the vile tasting potion before starting to cough.

"Its okay dear, you are okay" The older woman soothed, patting the girl's back as she sat beside her.

Remus knew he should look away, especially when she was trying to get her robe on, but he found he simply couldn't avert his eyes.

"Mr. Lupin, you need to breathe" A new voice said and Remus who hadn't realized he was holding his breath inhaled deeply as he stared at the headmaster. The man smiled kindly at him as he approached and Remus noticed him flick his wand, clearing up the mess he had made in an instant.

While the current headboy flushed with embarrasment, the girl on the bed gasped and shrunk back.

"How - how did you?" She asked staring at the wand with a mix of shock and fear.

If Remus's jaw wasn't already hanging loose, it would have dropped then. Dumbledore, who seemed better at covering his surprise turned calmly to the girl. There was no doubt she was a witch, the words on her arm were proof of that but it seemed like she didn't know that anymore.

"It was only a small trick, illusion dear" He said, not wanting to scare her with magic immediately.

"But-" She began only to gasp again.

The headmaster had discreetly used his wand again and the floor looked like the sick had never been cleaned away in the first place.

"Do you remember what happened to you?" The headmaster asked her kindly after a short pause.

There was silence. Hermione was frowning as if trying to remember but it didn't seem to be working and finally she shook her head in a negative.

"What is the last thing you remember miss-?" He paused questioningly.

The girl only stared and Remus felt his throat go dry as he realised she didn't know her own name.

"Granger, Hermione Granger" He said, surprising everyone, himself included.

She turned to him then, her brown eyes looking into his with confusion. Dumbledore chose wisely to not ask how his student knew her name - not yet anyway - and turned back to the girl again.

"Do you remember anything at all Miss. Granger? Can you tell me anything that comes to your mind?" He questioned gently.

She turned back to the silver bearded man and for a long moment, Remus thought she wasn't going to say anything. But his heart truly stopped when she whispered softly.

"Sirius" She said "I need Sirius"

This time even Dumbledore seemed startled into surprise and Remus stared at the girl in utter bewilderment. It seemed though that she was just as surprised as the others.

"Black?" Madam Pomfrey questioned, equally stunned. Hermione cocked her head and turned towards the woman, seeming unsure.

"Can you tell me about Sirius?" Dumbledore asked after having regained his composure and Remus waited with bated breath, wondering what was coming next.

"I - I don't know. I think - he's - he's a dog" She said quietly before turning slightly towards the medi-witch and continuing doubtfully "A big black one..."

Remus gulped. How - what just - He didn't - oh Merlin...

And just like that, the world shifted again. Wizarding history was about to be rewritten another time.