DISCLAIMER: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, not I.
May second, nineteen seventy-nine was shaping up to be a rather ordinary day. The sun shone golden and warm down onto the grounds of Hogwarts, where a group of young students were lounging beside the Black Lake. One boy, his skin marred with scars and his sandy blonde hair falling into his brown eyes slightly, sat beneath a large oak tree, his nose in a book. Another boy, rather rotund, with runny blue eyes and an extraordinarily large set of ears, was being mercilessly teased by a third boy, who had long wavy black hair and piercing grey eyes. Their antics were being watched fondly by a fourth boy, with black hair that looked as though it had never seen a comb before, and hazel eyes filled with laughter, who had his arms around a smiling witch with stunning red hair and laughing green irises.
"C'mon Sirius it's not funny…" The third boy whined, his voice high pitched with complaint.
"I'm just saying mate, that it's not every day that a bloke manages to get slapped by a girl from Hufflepuff." The boy named Sirius snickered, his grey eyes dancing. "They're supposed to be all nice and stuff."
The boy reading under the tree looked up from his novel, scoffing slightly. "Padfoot, I believe you yourself have been slapped by Audrey Bones no less than four times and she's also in Hufflepuff."
"Remus has got you there," The fourth boy broke in with mirth in his voice. The witch in his arms elbowed him slightly, causing him to wince.
"James, don't encourage them." She snapped, but her face was smiling. James looked down at her, utter and complete adoration on his face. "Of course Lily-Flower, anything for you." He simpered, and Sirius mimed being sick at the two lovebirds. Remus, however, looked wistfully at the smitten pair.
"I can't believe this is our last afternoon at Hogwarts…" He whispered, and a shadow fell over the previously blissful group. Their thoughts were all in the same place; there had recently been whisperings of a Dark wizard who was beginning to gain power and influence, a wizard who had outdated notions of blood-purity and status and who could throw the wizarding world into a war the likes of which they'd never seen.
His brows furrowed, Sirius Black gazed out over the dark glassy waters of the Black Lake. His brows wrinkled even further as he spotted a rainbow of colour and light beginning to form in the clouds above the still waters. His mouth opened in a yelp of both fear and wonder as the sky split open, and a small figure was spat from the sky, falling limply through the air before plunging into the icy waters, causing ripples along the water's surface. Without a second thought, James, Sirius and Remus are all on their feet, diving into the cold water without hesitation. Lily and Peter stand frozen on the muddy bank, their minds struggling to process what has just happened. Several tense minutes later, the three Marauders deposited a small girl onto the ground, before backing up several steps and staring in open shock.
The girls curly golden brown hair was matted with dirt and blood. Her skin was sallow, the skin of her face stretched over her skull tightly, and the circles under her eyes looked black as pitch. Her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, and her clothing was ripped and torn and covered in blood. Her hands were covered with the stuff as well, and with horror in their eyes, her rescuers spotted a single word carved into the flesh of her forearm.
Mudblood.
"Sweet mother of Merlin…" Lily breathed softly, "We need to get her to Pomfrey now." When none of the boys moved, she snapped briskly, "Now boys!" her tone filled with authority, although her green eyes held fear at seeing the word carved into the mysterious girl's arm.
At the harsh tone of Lily's voice, the girl's eyes snapped open and she jolted to her feet, swaying only slightly as she grabbed her wand that they boys had found and placed beside her and levelled it very carefully before the group standing before her.
"Where. Am. I." She bit out, her eyes flashing and her hair sparking with electricity. James quickly stepped in front of Lily, his hands held up in surrender, but her face had gone even more ashen, if that was possible, at the sight of him. The strange girl drank him in with her eyes, greedily, before lowering her wand and studying the rest of them. Her golden eyes danced over Lily's face, before flitting to Remus, and then to Sirius, who fixed her golden eyes with his own grey ones, causing a flush to crawl slowly up her neck. Then she spotted Peter, and it was like all the warmth had gone from the world, the way she looked at him, her lip curling in contempt and her eyes filled with relentless hatred. Involuntarily, Peter took a step backwards, and her smile became predatory. Quick as lightning, she darted forward, and snagged Peter by the left forearm, causing him to gasp sharply in pain.
"You've seen mine, now show me yours." She snarled, jutting her chin towards the word carved in her left arm. Peter squeaked in fear, his beady eyes looking for an escape, but she gave him none as she forcefully shoved the sleeve of his jumper up around his elbow, revealing a writhing snake protruding from a black skull permanently inked into his skin.
Faintly, she heard yelps of shock from the boys standing around them, but she did not heed them as she carefully pressed her wand against Peter's neck, her eyes flashing with murderous intent.
"How dare you." She spoke quietly. "How could you do this, betray them like this. THEY WERE YOUR FRIENDS! YOU SET EVERYTHING IN MOTION!" She screamed, her eyes rolling wildly. Peter jerked out of her grasp, panting heavily, and her mouth opened once more, the beginning of a curse rolling past her lips, but with a small, mocking, wave to the people who had treated him like family before transforming into a large rat, who was gone before she could react. Howling with rage, she turned towards a shell-shocked James, Lily, Remus, and Sirius, who were all regarding her as though she had grown an extra head. Her eyes were unseeing as she began to whisper rapidly to herself.
"About 1979 I'd image… that dirty rat… Ron… how did I end up here… Deluminator… Sirius, James, Remus, Lily, alive…" Cautiously, Lily stepped forward, and the girl skittered backwards like a frightened animal.
"Who are you?" Lily's voice was barely above a whisper. A wide smile bloomed on the girl's face.
"I'm Hermione Granger. It's a pleasure to meet you, James, Lily, Remus, Sirius." Her voice was unnaturally high, and before anyone could make another move, Hermione collapsed on the ground in a dead faint.
"She's barmy…" Sirius whispered to himself, horror filling his voice.
AN: Two updates in one week! Wow, I must be breaking some kind of record. Thanks for reading, leave me a review if you'd like!
Next chapter will be out on Sunday :)
Xo
T