Weight of the world

Chapter four

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and happily hopped off the stool to head to the table that was cheering, the sound welcoming, reminding her of her time, her home.

She made her way foreword and before she knew it, she was enveloped in a hug with four people, pulling her towards the still applauding table.

Sirius. James. Remus. Peter.

She suddenly felt sick and went dizzy, pleased that the four boys couldn't see her face as they huddled around her chanting: "We got the new girl! We got the new girl!" If she hadn't have felt so ill, she would be outraged by them calling her 'new girl.' Blood rushed through her veins and pounded in her ears and she felt her vision go hazy; she was thankful when she was pushed into a seat, meaning that her dizziness washed away.

The pounding in her ears died down and she was aware of chatter all around her, laughter, explosions, sound of knives and forks on plates and goblets hitting the long hard wooden table. Her vision returned to normal and across from her was Harry.

Her breath caught in her chest and she stared at James, seeing Harry. She tried to stop the tears and she turned her head, seeing who else was around her. Next to James was Remus and she felt herself smile lightly; he looked up from his plate and returned her smile, nodding in her direction. At least she knew somebody in this year, no matter how little she actually knew him.

"Don't I get a cute smile?" She whipped her head around to see Sirius sat next to her and she was very aware of how good he looked. She remembered the waxy textured look his skin had taken on and how lifeless his grey eyes had been when she'd first met him, his black hair stringy and lay in clumps about his head. Now, it was long and silky, his grey eyes held mirth and life, his skin smooth and lean, covering a tight web of muscles that he possessed, his lips pulled up into a smile that she had only seen on him when Harry had done or said something that reminded him of James.

Her heart stopped, she was sure of it, when she realized what was going to happen. What she couldn't stop.

On her other side was a girl with fiery red hair and the greenest eyes that Hermione had only seen on one other person, her son. She could hear Lily talking a mile a minute to the brunette girl next to her, who saw Hermione looking and winked, smiling before going back to her conversation with Lily. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes to see Peter sat on Remus' other side, staring right her. Hate welled up inside her and she had to fight to not lunge across the table and hex him into oblivion. The fact that she was thinking such things scared her and she opted to not look at anyone and looked down at her plate, which she noticed was filled with food.

This is not going to be good.

*****

Sirius was shocked when the new girl looked at him, her eyes holding what he could only describe as despair and he frowned, not knowing why he cared. He shrugged to himself and decided that he didn't but he couldn't help watch the reaction when she saw Peter. Hate filled her gaze and he was sure that she was seeing red. Peter, too, saw the hate and quickly averted his gaze.

"Yo, Siri!" Sirius looked James' way to see the smug grin on his face, his eyebrows heading towards his hairline.

"What, Jamie?" Sirius asked, stabbing his roast beef with his fork.

"Look at poor snivellus, all by himself," Sirius looked over to see that Snape was indeed sat by himself. Next to him, Hermione's head jerked up, her eyes also seeking Snape. He was sure that she paled when her eyes landed on him and Sirius frowned again. This girl was going to give him worry lines.

"What do you suggest, Jamie?" Sirius grinned wickedly and he saw Hermione turn to see him, frowning.

"You're not going to prank him, are you?" She said, seemingly surprised that she herself had said that.

"What of it?" Sirius asked, slightly annoyed that she asked that, as if she knew what they were planning.

"It's slightly…barbaric, don't you think?" A minute ago she would barely look at any of them, now she thinks that she can tell them what to do? He felt himself bristle and opened his mouth to retort but she got there first.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't—What I mean is, I shouldn't tell you what to do. I don't know you to do that." He felt himself soften and his hand went out to her shoulder, and she jerked, but he didn't know if it was because she wasn't expecting his touch or he had hit a bruise or something. He firmly grabbed her shoulder, his thumb tracing circles on her collarbone.

"Don't worry about it." She smiled at him and he felt himself smile back.

Maybe this girl wouldn't be so bad, if the electric feeling flowing through his veins was any indication of that.

"Introductions!" He exclaimed loudly, throwing his arm around Hermione and pulling her into his side, the feeling of her pressed up against him very delicious indeed. He felt himself smirk and pointed at James. "That's James. He's a bit of ponce."

"Hey!" He said indignantly, throwing a piece of his bread at Sirius, who skilfully dodged it.

"That's Remus, he's a geek," Remus stuck his tongue out and crossed his eyes, making Hermione giggle. "And that, that is Peter. He's the worrywart." Peter glared; narrowing his eyes before turning his gaze to Hermione who's smiled seemed forced. "And I, I am Prince Sirius Black the first of the noble house of Gryffindor!" He let go of her shoulder and jumped from the bench seat, bowing low at the waist, his grey eyes locked on hers. She blushed and looked away quickly, her hair whipping around her head, nearly getting him in the eye. He laughed to himself and sat back down, having drawn a lot of attention to himself, he smiled and waved.

"I'll be here all week, your prince lives to please." He winked at Megara, who was in an animated conversation with Lily and she scoffed lightly.

*****

"Come on Sirius, leave the poor girl alone." The brunette said, leaning on her forearm across Lily to look at Hermione. "I'm Megara, but my friends call me Meg." She held out her hand and Hermione hesitantly shook it, trying to place the name in her memory with anyone in the Order of Phoenix or mentioned in passing between Remus and Sirius, but she couldn't do it. Perhaps this girl is alive in her time, striving to survive like Hermione herself was, she could be one of her classmates mother or she could be dead. The harsh realisation made her gulp and she let go of Meg's hand, who didn't seem offended in the least. "Okay, so you met the Hooligans of Gryffindor, now its time to meet the coolest people you'll ever know."

Behind her, she heard Sirius grunt in humour and she looked out the corner at him to see him taking a swig of Pumpkin Juice, she couldn't help herself and her elbow lightly knocked his arm, causing the drink to spill and go all over him, tiny droplets rolling down his face. The people around her burst into laughter and Megara (she didn't feel comfortable calling her Meg yet) reached around Lily to clasp her shoulder, much like Sirius had done had earlier.

"You'll fit in here all right," Megara nodded, before wiping away tears of mirth from her blue eyes and turned her attention to a girl with short dyed orange hair and olive coloured skin. "That there's Thomasina, but if you call her that she gets a bit miffed. Best to call her Thoma." It was pronounced like Tom-A and she could tell just by looking at her that she was an individual, under her robes she wore bright yellow jeans and a bright blue top with a bright pink headband in her hair and green earrings, she was herself no matter what people said or did. "This lovely girl here is Lily, and seeing as she's head girl and has her own room, I'm guessing that you'll have her old bed." Lily smiled and cocked her head to the side and Hermione was aware of why James fancied her, she really was very pretty. "That over there is Kara," the girl on the opposite side of Thoma looked up and smiled, her thick, black hair falling over her shoulder, creating a waterfall effect, her jazzy green glasses doing nothing to hide the dark brown eyes underneath. "And the blonde girl, she's Rayne. She's probably the best singer you'll ever hear in the world!" Megara informed her, turning to talk to the girl with blonde hair beside her. Rayne leaned foreword on the table, resting on her forearms to get a good look at Hermione and for a second, with her long, unruly, curly blonde hair and bright, hooded blue eyes, Hermione thought that she was looking at Luna; all that was missing was the radish earring, corkscrew necklace and Ravenclaw robes.

"Heya, I'm Rayne," her voice shocked Hermione, who was expecting a dreamy, floaty, head-in-the-clouds voice, instead heard a down-to-Earth, real voice.

"Yeah, the 'coolest'," Hermione was painfully reminded of the Marauders when she heard Sirius' sarcastic voice, taunting Megara for a rebuttal.

"You left me out!" An indignant cry could be heard and Hermione turned to see a plain girl with mid-length feathered brown hair and dark green eyes stood there, wearing Ravenclaw robes over pale blue jeans and a dark blue jumper. She grinned and slid between Kara and Thoma, flashing a toothy grin at the Marauders. Sirius nodded his head and James waved, while Remus blushed and looked down, suddenly very interested in the treacle tart in front of him.

"Oh yeah, this is Olivia. She likes to follow us around." Megara said, although the words were slightly harsh, her tone of voice implied that she didn't mean it, and the smile she flashed the girl proved Hermione's thoughts.

"Hello," she said shyly. This girl she knew, she remembered Sirius in 1995 telling Harry about her; she was tortured and killed just before the end of her final year, leaving behind her fiancée Morgan, who in his desperation, anger and sadness, joined the Dark Side, working from within to bring the corrupt side down. Sadly, just before Harry was born, he was discovered and killed, but refused to tell Lord Voldemort where to find any of the Order of the Phoenix.

And she could do nothing about it.

"Heya, babes. Listen, don't let old Siri here lead you down the wrong path, they are bad news." Hermione frowned and looked at Sirius who was looking at Olivia with something akin to affection in his steel grey eyes and one corner of his mouth slid up in a crooked smile.

"Are you talking from personal experience?" Hermione couldn't help but ask and when Thoma started laughing, she grew puzzled and her puzzlement only grew when she felt Sirius shift in the seat next to her.

"I am indeed," Thoma started laughing more and Olivia sighed and rolled her eyes before standing up and pushing herself from the table. "I'll see you nutter's tomorrow. Hey, Hermione, catch you later." And with a wave, she was heading back to the Ravenclaw table just as Professor Flitwick shouted across the room (using the Sonorus charm, of course,): "Eat at your own tables, please Miss Winchester!"

"Err…What was that about?" Hermione asked, scooping a large dollop of chocolate ice-cream into her bowl, at this moment she didn't care if it all went to her hips – as Lavender and Parvarti often told her – She found that she was in a situation that required junk food.

"Olivia and Sirius dated for like, a whole year in fifth year." Thoma informed her, scooping her own ice-cream, although she opted for Strawberry.

"Such a clever girl," Megara sighed, rubbing her forehead, "I don't know what possessed her to date this imbecile." Sirius stuck his tongue out at her and Meg quirked her eyebrow. Hermione was staring at Sirius in shock – she had never thought that Sirius might have someone like James and Lily had each other, could Sirius have had a girlfriend or fiancée when this whole catastrophe happened? If so, was she still alive? Or was she also killed in the crusade to save the Wizarding world?

Hermione decided that she didn't want to know the answers to these questions and she would much rather just keep her head down until she figured out her way back home, but first she had to get those stupid papers for Dumbledore, although she figured that they would be easy to forge.

Tell him, Hermione! It's Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of the century! He can help you! Hermione ignored her own advice, but promised herself she would take it into consideration.

"Hermione!" Hermione was jolted out of her thoughts when Sirius placed his hand on the top of her head, getting her attention. She turned to look up at him and smiled sheepishly when she realized that everyone was making their way towards the entrance of the Great Hall.

"Herm! Come on, keep up girl!" Thoma appeared by her side and pulled her up, grabbing a hold of her hand and pulling her down the aisle between Gryffindor's and Ravenclaw's tables, practically skipping while Hermione picked up her pace to catch up. She turned her head to get a glance at Sirius behind her, but he was talking to James whose eyes were locked on Lily's back, who was just in front of her and Thoma.

"Right, now a word of caution, you will get lost," Rayne said, appearing at Hermione's side, her eyes narrowed slightly. "God knows, I did so many times." Rayne laughed quietly and slid between a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin, making sure to give the Slytherin girl a good knock with her shoulder. Even now, the Slytherin, Gryffindor hatred is in effect.

"Never trust Slytherin's" Kara said, witnessing what Rayne had done, "They're prejudiced and sly." Kara practically sneered, her eyes following the Slytherin's as they went down a staircase, heading for the dungeons.

"Why are they going down there?" Hermione forced herself to ask, annoyed at the fact that she had to ask questions that she knew the answers to.

"Cause their dormitory's down there." Kara supplied, getting a lollypop from the pocket of her robes.

"Do we sleep in our houses too? I thought that was just lessons." She lied, hoping they didn't catch on.

"Oh, yeah. It's alright though, the guys can't get up to our rooms, were fine, if that's what you're worried about," Megara said from just behind them. Hermione realised that Thoma still had a hold of her hand.

"I thought we were seeing you tomorrow? Not ten minutes later!" Thoma shouted looking up towards the staircase above them. Hermione followed her eyesight and saw Olivia turning and leaning over the banister just as it moved, throwing her balance off centre. A tall boy, with high cheekbones, dark skin, brown eyes and long eyelashes stood behind her, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, stopping her foreword momentum. She turned her head and placed a kiss on his cheek before looking back over the side.

"That's because you're stalking me Eastwood!" She saw her dark green eyes dart about, settling on each and every seventh year Gryffindor on the stairs and Hermione realized that the Marauders had joined them when he heard James shout:

"You wish!"

Olivia laughed and took the guy behind her by the hand, continuing up the stairs as it stopped moving; now they had more light in the stairwells, she could see that Olivia had gold highlights in her brown hair.

The Gryffindor's carried on, Hermione taking care to make sure that she didn't move in front of the group, like she was used to doing with Harry and Ron, who great delight in dawdling to annoy her.

They arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was chatting with her friend Violet, who Hermione knew from her own time.

"Password?" The fat lady asked through giggles.

"Slug Club," Lily said, brushing her red hair from her face. The portrait swung open and the friends traipsed in, splitting to go to their respected dorms, The Marauders departing with a cheery "Goodnight."

Hermione followed the other five girls up the stairs but Lily peeled away to go to her own private quarters.

Meg opened the door and Hermione was greeted with a her old dorm room with five beds in it, five trunks settled at the foot of the beds, (hers given to her by Dumbledore, she had asked him this morning if she could go shopping somewhere for school supplies, but he smiled and said there was no need as he had already taken the liberty of giving her some,) a white, fluffy cat curled up on a bed and a lizard sat on the desk to the far wall. Hermione nervously looked at it and Kara laughed, going to pick it up.

"It's okay, Super hero won't hurt you, he's to shy," Kara said, pressing the cheek of the lizard to her own cheek, nuzzling it slightly before plopping herself on the bed nearest the desk.

"Err…Which one's mine?" Hermione asked, hoping it was the one furthest away from the lizard.

"This one," Rayne said, pointing to the bed next to Kara's, but thankfully there was a big gap between the beds as that's where the door was.

Hermione walked over to the bed and pulled at her trunk, opening it and she relaxed at the sight of the Gryffindor gold and red striped scarfs and her Gryffindor robes which she had arrived in, but Professor Dumbledore had yet to comment on.

She smiled and pulled them out; grabbing the shoulders she flicked it up in the air, creating a ripple effect on the robes. A piece of paper fell from the pocket and frowning, Hermione crouched down picking it up. When she turned around she squealed in delight.

In her hand was her bookmark, that she put in her pocket after being interrupted by Malfoy that morning before potions; (Putting her book away before rising to her feet, realizing that she left her bookmark out, shoving it in her pocket before taking on a defensive pose.) It was good luck that her bookmark was her results from O.W.L's, she was so proud of her results that she kept it, using it as her bookmark, she also used the letter she received when she was eleven to tell her that she was a witch and the first letters that Ron and Harry had sent her.

That was one problem solved, Hermione sighed, placing the results gently on her little bedside table and folded her robes back up, placing them carefully in the trunk.

"Come on, Hermione," Megara called, gesturing for her to come closer to what was, in her time, the cupboard. "I've got something to show you."

She saw Rayne roll her eyes as she collapsed on the bed opposite Kara's and Thoma rolled in the bed opposite her own, which the fluffy white cat was laid on.

"Brace yourself," Megara warned, her hand closing around the door handle, Hermione felt her muscles tighten and her hand instantly went to her wand, tucked in her robe pocket, which were still the plain issued Hogwarts robes.

Megara slowly turned the handle and Hermione didn't have time to think as she was tackled to the floor, a furry, golden fluff ball crawling in her chest and licking her face with its soft, lolling tongue.

Hermione tried to get Megara to get the dog off, but she was laughing to much as the puppy's paws were tickling her ribs.

Megara took pity on her and pulled the dog back by its collar, picking it up and holding it much like a baby while Kara reached down to give Hermione a hand and pulled her up. Hermione wiped her face with the sleeve of her robe and gazed at the Golden retriever puppy in Megara's arms.

"Isn't he cute?" Megara cooed, touching the dogs nose with the tip of her finger before nuzzling her own nose against the dogs. "He's called Charlie," Megara stated proudly, putting it back in what was indeed the closet.

"Does Professor Dumbledore know that you have that dog?" Hermione asked, slightly breathless.

"Yeah, but he said to keep it in here," Megara informed her moving to her own bed, which was between Rayne's and Thoma's, opposite the door. Hermione was slightly shocked; she had never seen a dog at Hogwarts, except for Sirius when he was at Hogwarts looking for Harry.

She slowly made her way back to her bed and watched as Megara got dog food from under her bed and disappeared into the closet.

"She gets a little protective of her pets, you'll find," Hermione turned to see Thoma looking at her through her fringe, "we all are, well, except Rayne who doesn't have a pet,"

"That's because I don't like animals. Hermione, my idea of a pet is a rock." Hermione laughed and Rayne cracked a smile.

Hermione quickly changed into her new pyjama's and snuggled into her bed. Just as the lights went out and Hermione turned on her side to look out the window, she heard Megara's voice from across the room: "Don't think your getting away from interrogation. We're saving that conversation for the morning," Hermione groaned and put the pillow over her head, two thoughts running through her mind, one was that she was dreading the morning and her second thought: What was she gonna use as a bookmark?

A/N: Shout out to all my friends, who Rayne, Thoma, Megara, Olivia and Kara are named after and based on. Oh, and Morgan, who we have seen just not named yet…If that made sense…Anyways, Merry Christmas! Hope you all had a good day! XxX