A Future in the Past

Hermione looked at herself in the mirror, nervously tugging her new school robes. The train was on its way with the students she knew, she was getting ready to join everyone in the Great Hall for sorting the new students. She would be introduced with the 1st years as a new student in front of the whole school. She would have to get sorted again. She was incredibly nervous.

In the two weeks she had alone at Hogwarts she had experimented with her looks. With some help from Dumbledore she had managed to make her wavy hair straight, cut to her shoulders with bangs in accordance with the current style. They had made her nose a little smaller and adjusted her ears to be a little flatter against her head. It was small changes, but it made a big difference; Harry and Ron would probably never recognize her like this. No one who saw a picture in the future would see Hermione Grant and connect her to muggleborn Hermione Granger.

With a deep breath she turned around and walked down to the Great Hall where the professors and Dumbledore was already in place behind the head table. She had already met the professors the week before and Dumbledore had explained her situation to them. Well the situation they had concocted since they couldn't tell them the truth. Hermione waited with Professor Mcgonagall for the 1st years to arrive so they could enter the Hall together. At long last they arrived and following Mcgonagall they entered the Great Hall; Hermione at Mcgonagall's side and the first years trailing behind.

Dumbledore stood at the front as they walked down the hall. Hermione could feel curious eyes on her and nervously pulled on her sleeve. The hall was filled with murmurs, but it soon quieted down as Dumbledore started to speak. "Welcome to old and new students! This year we have a new student starting her 6thYear, Miss Hermione Grant," Dumbledore beckoned for her to join his side and she did. "Ms Grant was home-schooled until now. I'm sure you all will welcome her with open arms. She will be sorted into a house before our new 1st years!" He finished and walked back to his seat, leaving Hermione to sit down on the stool, while Mcgonagall placed the sorting hat on her head. The hat didn't delay in yelling out "Gryffindor!" and wild applause was heard from the Gryffindor table as she made her way over and sat down at an empty seat.

She greeted everyone with a shy smile, her eyes flickering around the table. She felt a sharp shock as she thought she saw Harry from the corner of her eyes. But she shook her head to rid herself of such a ridicules notion. She was 20 years in the past, there was no way Harry would be there. She turned her focus to the sorting and then to the food when it finally appeared. She made some polite conversation with her fellow students throughout the feast. People were curious, but her well planned backstory did the trick. Soon she fell to the background, listening to the talk around her and keeping neutral.

The feast ended and Hermione met Dumbledore's eyes as she got up to follow the rest of her house. She nodded slightly to him, showing all was well. He returned the nod and turned to Prof. Mcgonagall as Hermione turned and followed her fellow Gryffindors to the tower. On the way to the tower she heard someone calling after her. "Hermione! Wait up!" A red-headed pretty girl came running up to her, followed by a blond and blue eyed girl. "Hi, I'm Lily Evans and this is Marlene Mckinnon," the red-head beckoned to the blond. Hermione smiled politely, frowning on the inside. Lily Evans. Why did that sound so familiar? Marlene too, she felt she had heard those names before. There was something about this Lily too that was so familiar, she felt like she knew this girl, which was impossible. She had no way of checking who they were and couldn't for the life of her remember where she had heard the names before. So she shrugged it off and focused on what Lily was saying instead. "If you need any help, don't be afraid to ask," Lily continued. "We can show you where your classes are and the library and anything else really. Hogwarts can be a little confusing if you're not used to it." Lily gave her a warm smile. "And we're in the same dormitory!" Marlene added cheerfully.

Hermione thanked them and assured them she would ask if she needed any help. While the two girls continued talking and discussing she trailed behind them in her own thoughts. Not paying much attention to where she was going she suddenly walked into something hard and stumbled backwards. Before she could hit the floor someone grabbed her and lifted her back to her feet as if she was as light as a feather. Hermione looked up and for one second was dumbstruck. HARRY?! Her head screamed, her heart started racing, what was going on. She clutched her head as a sharp pain struck her. She felt hands steadying her as her knees started buckling. She could smell something wonderful; soapy and masculine…

"You okay, love?" A voice brought her back and she slowly looked up again. The voice wasn't familiar. It was the boy she had mistaken for Harry. He was like the spitting image of Harry, except, there was no scar on his forehead and his eyes were hazel instead of green. There was a different air about him too. She nodded slowly, not trusting her voice to speak. "Look you've made her speechless, too bad you're hung up on Evans, ey Prongs," snickered a voice behind her. Prongs? Hermione frowned. "You're the one clinging to the new girl Padfoot, didn't take you very long, did it?" The dark haired boy retorted with a snort and a grin.

Both boys chuckled as Hermione withdrew from the boy holding onto her. "Mind your manners Prongs, we should probably introduce ourselves!" The boy that had caught her walked into her line of sight and she let a gasp escape her. There was no mistaken it; he was much younger but she could see who it was without a doubt. Tears unwillingly welled up in her eyes as she stared at him. She saw him in her nightmares every night. The shocked look on his face as he fell into the veil. "Sirius…" She whispered, her breath coming in gasps, tears forming. She was having a panic attack.

The boys both stared at her bewildered. Sirius gaped at her in shock and confusion. At that moment Lily and Marlene came upon them after noticing Hermione wasn't by their side anymore. "Potter! Black!" Lily's voice was sharp and harsh. They had not heard anything or seen what had happened; they just saw a crying girl standing in front of the two troublemakers. "What did you do to her!" She growled walking over and putting a arm around Hermione. "You two are unbelievable," she scolded on, not letting them get a word in. "Why would you go after the new girl on her first day too!" Hermione was burying her head in her hands by now, she couldn't control the sadness that swept over her by seeing this young, healthy version of the man she had seen die a couple of weeks ago in her own time.

"We didn't…" Sirius started to protest but trailed off, look of unmistakeable pain on his face. He didn't understand what was happening, but seeing a girl crying like that made his heart ache. The raw pain in her eyes was nothing he had never seen before. And how did she know who he was? He had heard her say his name. He looked pleadingly at James, hoping he could do something about the situation. "I'm sorry Evans," James started. "She walked into me, we didn't do anything… I didn't think she was hurt. I…" He was cut off by Marlene stepping in front of Hermione, obviously done listening to explanations. "Forget it, we're leaving," She snapped at the boys and turned to push Lily and Hermione ahead of her inside the Gryffindor Tower and up the stairs to their dorm.

The girls sat a sobbing Hermione down on her bed and knelt in front of her. "Are you okay?" Lily asked softly. "Those guys are the worst bullies in school, you shouldn't listen to them." Hermione sniffed and dried her eyes on her sleeve. She shook her head slowly at Lily, pulling herself together. "No Lily, it wasn't their fault. I'm sorry, I just thought they were someone I used to know," she tried to explain while calming herself down. This wouldn't do. She couldn't have mental breakdowns in the middle of school corridors "I'm sorry I worried you, it was nothing. Thank you," she told the girls honestly. Both girls looked at her with worry, but nodded after a while and walked over to their own beds and started unpacking their trunks.

Hermione sat against the wall on her bed thinking. It was a shock. The Marauders; a young and alive version of Harry's father: James Potter and godfather Sirius Black. That meant Remus Lupin and Wormtail were there too. What were the odds! Ending up in the same year as them… But that meant, Lily, it had to be Harry's mother. Harry had told her and Ron that his mother used to hate his father before they became a couple. James had bullied Snape at school and Lily and Snape were from the same town, maybe even friends before Hogwarts had separated them into different houses. Wait! That meant Snape was there too. Oh no, how was she going to survive this? How could she stay out of it knowing what she knew? James and Lily dying at Voldemort hands. Wormtails betrayel. Sirius ending up in Azkaban for 12 years. This was a catastrophe.

No! Get a grip Hermione. You have to stay out of it; whatever you do can change history in a really bad way. Don't meddle with time. Stay with the plan; lay low. She steeled herself. That night she had the nightmare again of Sirius dying and woke up the next morning covered in sweat, panting. Looking around she could see Lily and Marlene in their beds, still sleeping. Luckily she hadn't woken them. She sighed deeply and lied down to sleep a little longer.