Disclaimer : I do not any rights of Harry Potter !
Thanks to Pernos Forever, my Beta !
Chapter 3: The best friend of women
Hermione quickly adapted to this era, a sadness remained constant especially in Remus and Sirius who still had a bitter taste of Peter's betrayal and the death of their dear friends. Hermione spent several hours in the library, taking advantage of old books, looking for what could happen to her at that time: would she survive, be sent back to an alternative version of the future? How to know after all ... From all the books she consulted, it seemed obvious that she was the first witch to experience this kind of "travel".
Having regained strength enough to teleport, she was charged with Sirius (who kept his word by staying with her) to recover the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw. Albus had given them permission to walk around as they wished at Hogwarts to do their research, they would start with the Room of Requirement, and after all, it was there that Harry had found it in her era! Walking in the corridors of the school Sirius was nostalgic, thinking back to the good memories that evoked the place.
"Sirius, are you okay? If you want me to continue the mission alone, it is not at this time that I risk something at Hogwarts and then you know I would not be at my first Horcrux destroyed!"
It was at the end of her sentence that Hermione remembered the last she had just destroyed. She was facing Ron, her forever friend, in the Chamber of Secrets where they had then used a basil croc to destroy it. It was just after that they exchanged their first kiss, without suspecting that there would not be a multitude of others that would follow. She then rejoined Sirius in her melancholy and lost the smile she had sported for several days which did not escape the eyes of the latter who spoke in a small voice:
"Oh sorry Liv, I did not want to plumb the atmosphere, it's not my fault: everything here reminds me of James and Lily! I forgot that you too had heavy memories here!"
"Do not worry, it will take the time it takes for you and me to cope with our losses I think! Let's change the subject, will you? I know that you are an animagus, I saw you at work. Can I have a small demonstration of your talents?"
He gave a big smile to the young woman who decided to give her a little joy in his life. He then took the form of an animagus: a black dog, he remembered that James had pointed out to him that he was more adorable in this form and that he should keep it definitively for the happiness of all!
"Ah yes, I remember," Hermione said, not realizing that Sirius was in a dog form, he had thought and not spoken the words she'd heard. "You told him that you could never get used to it: It was fleas!"
Sirius stopped suddenly in the hallway of the castle staring at Hermione. "Can you hear me?" Hermione also froze when she understood what had just happened, she had understood Sirius as naturally as if he were human! She nodded her head and their conversation went on, talking to herself and his thoughts, it had so intrigued them that Sirius only resumed his human form in front of the Room of Requirement Hermione had just made appear.
They promised to speak to Albus on their return, knowing it was due to the presence of the latter in their time or elsewhere. They went back into the hall where everything wanted to be hidden was present, and so the room was full of objects which would not help!
"Accio Horcrux," says Sirius
"No need to do this, it does not work with them, I have already tried!"
They both laughed at Sirius' attempt before looking into the room, unfortunately, Hermione was not there when Harry himself discovered the Diadem. She tried to find some semblance of clue in her memory but nothing came, and everything was different at that time. She left a groan out of her mouth, which caused Sirius to laugh. She had just put a hand on a box that he opened before showing Hermione that he found first!
She drew her tongue in response, and they walked into Albus's office, after giving the password to enter "Donuts," Hermione felt like a stab in the heart, she could not stand and Sirius having seen nothing come could not hold her back. All around her blurred, the sounds were muffled and the young woman could hardly feel the parts of her body. She thought she heard Sirius yell to ask for help, she raised her head a little, crossing his terrified look and lose consciousness.
Re-opening her eyes, Hermione was back in her convalescent bed at Grimmauld Square. She could see her worried faces and Sirius who had fallen asleep at her bedside, turning her face to look at him better: she realized for the first time that he was a very handsome man. Before of course she had only observed him as "Harry's godfather," but nowadays she allowed herself some small deviations, Olivia and Hermione were unanimous: Sirius was very seductive.
Trying to hide the redness on her cheeks, she sat down in her bed, waking Sirius and bringing the whole crowd around the witch. She looked questioningly at the whole room, who seemed not to know where to begin in the explanations.
"Miss Wilkins, we have just learned that the Death Eaters had earlier organized a massacre on Muggles to take revenge for their Master's death and intrusion into his soul. I do not know how they found the Muggles nearby who were related to you: a couple with a little girl of Harry's age."
Hermione felt her heart beat a hundred miles an hour when she listened to Albus's words before looking around him to continue the explanation, hoping that what she thought was wrong.
"The Granger if I'm not mistaken! Their daughter Hermione did not survive either, and I suspect at the sight of the violent reaction on your side that you must be that little girl, right?"
She wanted to answer to Remus, but the fact that no word came out of her mouth was revealing enough for everyone. "In wanting to save everyone, I killed my parents," she thought. Long tears ran down her cheeks and Sirius took her in his arms to console her, it was evil to see her so sad, he knew she was going to feel guilty.
Everyone around her then tried to make her understand that she was not responsible for this, she wanted to do the best for everyone! A question remained in her head: Why was she still alive? After all, the younger version of her had just died, so why had not she disappeared?
She stood up at once, ignoring the demands of the members of the Order present who wished her to rest a little longer, she rushed to the library to take a book she had left aside some time earlier. On the "Living Paradox" page, she read very clearly that, in the context of a successful time travel, it would be possible (although this is only a hypothesis on this subject) that if the younger version of the person would die, a paradox would have the opportunity to create itself. For this to happen, the reality must have been modified enough to make the young version already have a divergent future from the original.
She sat down on the floor, thinking of all that it involved. She was going to be able to live at that time without risking to meet herself and therefore risk dimensional cracks, but this good news had involved the death of 3 people today. Three more innocents to add to her list of victims. She no longer knew what to feel joy and sadness, between anger and relief, she then went back into the living room where everyone was gathered, she explained to them what she had just read and believed almost give a small smile on the face of Sirius, but no she had surely dreamed.
Now she would be called by her real first name but would keep the name of Wilkins to avoid any problems. Returning to her bed she felt something snug against her, it was Sirius in his dog form! She pressed his head against her with a smile, leaving three tears to escape, one for each death. She would have to face other sorrows and other joys in the future, she fell asleep hoping that there would be more of the one than the other.
