Overwhelmed by the love the last chapter received, which just makes me more nervous about posting this one.
Take note of the timeskip, we're at the start of 5th year now and we finally get Hermione's POV.
}{—}{—}{
October 1975
"There's a reason why people shouldn't mess around with time and space"
Luna's last words always rung in her ears at times like this.
She remembered the detail, the effort, the sacrifice, the sheer determination needed to bend time and space to her will.
She'd once been Hermione Granger, the last survivor of the Order of the Phoenix.
She was now Hermione Evans, humanity's last hope.
She knew what her life entailed, war was on the horizon and this time around she was the chosen one, Harry's wand in her possession had been the first clue, Albus Dumbledore's keen interest in her had only confirmed it.
But as Luna had foretold, plans never went perfectly.
She'd been very fortunate, her life as Hermione Evans had been rather idyllic so far, but darkness was coming, people were beginning to go missing and whispers of a Dark Lord rising had firmly taken ahold at Hogwarts.
She knew what she had to do, had dedicated her life to it but the waiting was driving her mad.
She wanted to be out there, in the real world, stopping Voldemort before he properly got started but she wasn't stupid, she was no match for Voldemort, not yet, and he already had a number of Hocruxes scattered around that would need to be destroyed.
Whether she liked it or not, this would be a slow and painful war, the thought of sitting around as people got hurt caused her gut to painfully twist.
She'd lost everyone the first time around; Harry and Ron to the ends of Voldemort's wand and Luna to the new regime and now she was in danger of it all happening again, with the people she loved in this life.
In the original timeline;
Benjy had been blown to pieces.
Lily was murdered.
And Peter was a traitor.
The three people that meant the world to her were all destined to become victims of war unless she could change it.
"Hermione?"
She startled in her seat, surprised to see Sirius Black staring down at her.
"Are you alright?" He frowned.
"Excuse me?" She questioned, taken aback at his presence.
It wasn't like they were friends, she didn't outright hate him like Lily did, she could never hate him.
Sirius Black would always be Harry's Godfather, the man that had cheered her up during her stay at Grimmauld Place, the Pureblood hellbent on equality and who had lost his life fighting for people like her and although she adored that version of him, the version standing in front of her left a lot to be desired.
"I called your name a few times" He frowned.
"Oh" She breathed, unsure of what else to say.
Although Peter was one of her closet friends and she got on well with Remus, she really didn't interact much with Sirius, ironically enough she shared the most classes with him.
"Gus was in our dorm again" He informed her, holding up her toad for her to see.
Hermione's face lit up at the sight of her pet "I've been looking everywhere for him" she grinned in relief, taking the small animal from Sirius.
"Are you okay?" she asked Augustus, worriedly looking over every inch of him.
"I don't think toads have developed a sufficient level of understanding just yet" Sirius said with a look that showed that he though that she was mental.
"Oh, Augustus understands me perfectly" She adamantly replied
"Right" Sirius said, a grin tugging at his lips, "I'll catch you later Evans"
"Bye Black" She replied and with a shake of his head Sirius walked away.
She wasn't alone for long before Arlo nabbed the empty seat at her table.
"You're lucky Marlene wasn't here" Arlo sighed
"Hello to you as well" Hermione smiled, placing Gus atop a pile of textbooks.
Arlo Stuart was her favourite out of her dorm mates, except for Lily of course. She was nice, very nice with an interest in all things weird and wonderful. Marlene McKinnon and Diana Zhou were her other dorm mates, they were okay but Hermione couldn't remember the last time she'd said more than two words to either of them.
"Sorry" Arlo sheepishly said "I just can't handle any more of her Sirius talk and seeing you with him would have set her off again, you know what she's like"
"I don't understand her obsession with him" Hermione shook her head.
"He's Sirius Black" Arlo said, as if his name was answer enough.
"I know who he is" Hermione sighed.
"Honestly Hermione you need to stick your head out of a book once in a while" She said with a shake of her head, "he's drop dead gorgeous, he's great at magic, he's really cool-"
"He's a bully" Hermione shrugged cutting her off "Troy Baines had to go to the Hospital wing after their last prank"
"I don't think they meant for it to go that far" Arlo frowned "and they were aiming for the Slytherins" she defended
"That doesn't make it any better" Hermione insisted
"You're right" Arlo agreed "but it's not like you'll ever have to worry about it, they never prank you"
"Because of Lily" Hermione shrugged. "She'd never give James Potter the time of day if he pranked her favourite sister"
"Lily will never give him the time of day, ever" Arlo smiled, "what did he want anyway?" She curiously asked
"He was bringing back Gus" Hermione told her, "he ended up in their dorm room again"
Arlo groaned "don't tell Marlene that, he's actively dodging her now, she'll force you to tell her everything he said and then dissect each and every word for hours"
"You'd think two rejections would be enough for a girl" Hermione grinned
"Sirius doesn't date" Arlo shook her head "and Marlene is determined to be the girl to wear him down"
"What do you mean he doesn't date, he's always with a girl" Hermione frowned
"He flirts" Arlo shrugged "but he's never actually taken anyone out"
"Really?" Hermione frowned, that didn't match with her knowledge of the younger Sirius, from the stories she's heard she was certain that he was a womaniser in his youth.
"Like I said Evans, take your head out of the books once in a while" Arlo grinned
}{—}{—}{
Ancient Runes was by far her favourite class at Hogwarts, she'd never liked the topic much back in her original timeline but as an adult runes were what had changed her life, they'd been the key to jumping back years instead of hours
Professor Vector encouraged her thirst for knowledge, she'd even given her a pass for the restricted section.
Whilst the rest of the class were working on a two layered defensive rune, Hermione had already completed it and was working on a long time project of hers.
She fiddled with the muggle watch trying to layer the travel rune atop the breach rune, the problem was that the travel rune was a positive one whilst the breach rune was negative, they could be layered side by side but not on top of each other.
Back in her old world, it had taken her a year to crack how to safely merge different runes without blowing herself up and then a further six months to get the runes to work at full power when merged.
The key to it all had been a potion, the Kempura potion.
In her old world, the black market was rife for ingredients but in this one, she had to rely on Slughorn's supply.
Back then she'd only ever focused on creating a time turner, this time she had other projects, numerous ones but currently her most important one was the watch.
One of the reasons Voldemort had been so successful in the first war was the sheer number of his army, the Death Eaters would raise a ward that restricted apparition and then attack, their enemies had no choice but to fight and like rats in a cage they were slaughtered.
The Order had lost some of their best fighters that way, the Prewett twins, Caradoc Dearborn and Dorcas Meadowes had all died holding off Death Eaters so others could escape but not this time around.
Hermione's watch was suppose to be a portkey that couldn't be held by any ward, anytime someone was cornered, one turn of the crown and they would be portkeyed away to safety but their was still so much to figure out before the watch was ready, at this point the watch could portkey a person but she had no idea how to anchor it to a specific destination and she'd yet to test it against any actual wards.
Luckily for her, she was surrounded by the strongest ward in existence at Hogwarts. If her creation could breach those wards it could breach anything.
A bell toll signified the end of Ancient Runes and with meticulous care Hermione placed her watch in a small box and then put it in her bag.
"Don't forget to read pages 91 and 92 of your textbook before tomorrow's class" Vector told them as the class scrambled to get out of there.
The class was mostly Ravenclaws and a handful of Slytherin's, Sebastian Wilder was the only Hufflepuff and Hermione and Sirius the only Gryffindors, she'd tried to convince Lily to take the class but like most people she'd opted for Divinations instead.
Hermione followed the crowd into the Great Hall, spotting Lily's red hair within seconds, halfway down the Gryffindor table talking to Arlo and a few of the older girls from their House.
Hermione walked down the table and grabbed the empty seat across from Lily & Arlo.
"Hey" Lily beamed "how was Ancient Runes?"
"Fine" Hermione shrugged "why do you look so happy?" She questioned with a raised brow
"I'm always happy" Lily smirked
"Hector Jones asked her out to Hogsmeade" Arlo answered
"What!" Hermione grinned "How? When? Where? Tell me everything!"
Hector Jones was a seventh year Gryffindor, funny, good looking and kind, half the girls at Hogwarts wanted to date him.
"This morning!" Lily beamed "when I went back for my books after breakfast, I bumped into him in the common room and he asked me" she said, her face alight with delight.
"What has all of you so giddy?" Asked a familiar voice. Benjy grabbed the empty seat by Hermione and draped his arm over her shoulders, pulling her in close.
The smile instantly wiped off of Lily's face, whilst Arlo blushed red.
Benjy Fenwick was a 6th Year Hufflepuff and Hermione's best friend.
"Lily has a date with Hector Jones" Hermione answered him.
"Jones" Benjy scowled
"What's wrong with Hector?" Lily demanded
Hermione wasn't sure why but Benjy and Lily just rubbed each other the wrong way.
"Nothing" Benjy shrugged "if you like boys that are as dumb as a box of slugs" he grinned
Lily scowled at him and Hermione interrupted before things could get too heated
"Was there something you needed Benjy?" She asked
Benjy smirked at her, his blue eyes sparkling, he clearly wanted to push Lily's buttons but one look from Hermione and he wisely chose not to.
"Yes, actually" he sighed "I need your help finishing off Professor's Beery's essay on moon beans" he pouted
"Herbology" Hermione frowned, it was one of her least favourite classes, she could never understand Neville's fascination with the topic.
"You're a 6th year" Lily chided "surely you can do your own homework" she said, unimpressed.
"NEWTs are torture" Benjy smirked "And Hermione's the cleverest Witch in this entire school" he grinned "there's a bag of sugar quills in it for you" he promised her.
"Make it two bags" Hermione grinned
"Deal" Benjy triumphantly said and rose up for their table, "I'll see you girls later" he said "try not to die of boredom on your date with the slug" Benjy grinned and ran off before Lily could curse at him.
"Why in Merlin's beard are you friends with that idiot" Lily huffed
"He annoys you because you react to it" Hermione shrugged "Benjy's amazing, Arlo agrees don't you?" She asked, the poor girl had been crushing on her best friend for years.
Arlo startled at the sudden attention, her eyes guiltily whipping from Benjy's form to the twins
Lily frowned at Arlo's reddening face, "I still don't understand why you like him" she said aghast
"How could she not like him?" Hermione questioned, "Benjy's gorgeous and funny and sweet-"
"Then why don't you date him?" Lily cut her off.
"Eww" Hermione scowled, grossed out at the thought "he's like a brother to me, it would be like dating Peter or you dating Severus" she shuddered "but he'd be perfect for Arlo" she grinned
"Who'd be perfect for Arlo?"
Hermione turned her head to see the rest of her dormmates, Marlene McKinnon and Diana Zhou walking up behind her, they grabbed the empty seats on either side of Hermione.
"Benjy" Hermione said
"A little out of her league isn't he?" Marlene asked.
Diana snickered and Arlo's shoulder's hunched over in embarrassment.
"Like you and Sirius?" Hermione quipped back without missing a beat.
Marlene glared at her but chose to stab at her food than to retaliate.
"I know it's a month away" Diana said, trying to change the subject "but does anyone want to go to the Quidditch game with me, we're up against Slytherin so it's bound to be interesting"
"I'll go" Lily shrugged
"I can't" Hermione frowned, her mind going to all the work she had left to do on the watch "I have to study" she explained
"You're always studying" Diana rolled her eyes "what about you two?" she asked Arlo & Marlene.
"I will" Arlo agreed.
"Maybe" Marlene said
"James is playing so Sirius will definitely be there" Diana said
"Alright, I'll go" Marlene instantly agreed.
"I still can't believe that they made Potter Captain" Lily frowned
"He's the best player on the team" Hermione shrugged.
"And the worst behaved" Lily replied
"Who cares about how he behaves" Diana said with a roll of her eyes, "all that matters is the score at the end" she smirked.
}{—}{—}{
As October came to a close, Hermione found herself practically living at the library, the amount of homework the fifth years were given took up far too much time and any free time was spent on her projects.
She had less than three years before she went out into the world and only five years before Harry entered the world.
Every time she thought of it her stomach twisted up in knots, war wasn't easy, no matter how experienced or ready she thought she was, she knew that the likely hood of coming out of it emotionally intact was low.
With a sigh, she grabbed her three new textbooks and walked out of the library, if she kept at it then the watch would most likely be ready by the end of the year and then she could move on to her next project.
Hermione already knew what it was but actually creating it was going to be near impossible.
Where did one even begin with a Hocrux tracker?
She was so deep in her own thoughts, her feet moving on autopilot that when she turned the corner, she registered the body with plates of food floating next to him, far too late.
Hermione smacked straight into the boy, sending her books and all the food he was carrying scattering on to the floor. She fell forward, gravity taking the both of them down, her fall however was cushioned by the boy below her who hit the ground with a hard smack.
Hermione was dazed and confused for a moment, her head resting on the boys chest, it was only when he released a groan that she slowly regained her senses.
She planted her hands on either side of his head and pulled her head up, brown eyes instantly connected with stormy grey.
The silence was deafening as the two stared at each other.
Hermione's brain seemed to struggle to register that it was Sirius Black that she was draped all over.
"Oh" She breathed, suddenly aware of their position, she quickly sat up, her legs falling either side of his waist and her hands landing on his chest to keep her balance.
Her face turned red when she realised that straddling him was far worse than their original position and she scampered to her feet.
"Sorry" she breathed, her hands awkwardly running through her curly hair
Sirius smirked up at her, his usual flawless hair had chunks of what looked like carrot cake smeared over it and his uniform wasn't any better.
"Entirely my fault" he shook his head, climbing to his feet "trying to levitate four pieces of cake wasn't very clever of me" he grinned
"No, I was away with with the Nargles" Hermione replied.
"Nargles?" Sirius asked
"Muggle saying" she lied as she whipped out her wand. In a matter of seconds she had the both of them and the ground sparkling clean.
"You've got to teach me that spell" Sirius said impressed, his eyes roaming over his clean uniform
"It's an easy one" Hermione smiled
Sirius leaned down and grabbed her books, his eyes widening as he read over the covers.
Hermione bit her lip in apprehension, her research was very private, apart from Professor Vector and perhaps Headmaster Dumbledore, no one knew anything about it.
The three books weren't that incriminating but they were from the restricted section.
'Wards, Wiccans and everything in between'
'Druid Runes lost through the ages'
'Hogsmeade and her protections'
Sirius gave her a funny look, his frows burrowing "interesting reading choice" he commented.
"Just some light reading" She shrugged
"Light?" He quirked a brow, a smirk on his lips "Evans, Witch Weekly is light" he snorted
"Can I have them back?" She held out her hand
Instead of giving them back, Sirius held on to them tighter. "Well, since my dessert went all over the both of us, how about I make you a deal?" He asked
"A deal?" she frowned
"I'll give you your books back if you come back with me to the kitchen and help me carry up more desserts" he explained
Her frown grew, it was already cutting close to curfew and the kitchens were off limits to students
"Come on, you missed dinner, you can grab something to eat whilst we're there, this works out well for the both of us" Sirius pushed.
"How do you know that I missed dinner?" She asked, surprised that he'd noticed her absence.
"I'm an observant person" He smirked, a glint in his eyes.
A breath of frustration escaped through her lips, "fine" she conceded "but let's make it quick" she urged
"Ladies first" He smiled.
Hermione walked past him in the direction of the kitchen and Sirius fell into step beside her.
She was uncomfortably aware of how close he was, there was barely an inch separating their bodies and his scent filled the air, he smelt of smoke and cherries an odd combination but one that she found oddly pleasing.
They walked down in silence, the air growing awkward with every step they took.
She wasn't stupid, Sirius Black was very attractive, half the school fancied the pants off him and although Hermione wasn't as enamoured as the rest of the student body, she could very much appreciate his physique.
Her eyes raked over him, he seemed slightly on edge very much unlike the Sirius she was use to seeing around
"Have you seen McGonagall yet?" He suddenly said.
"McGongall?" She asked before it clicked "oh for the career advice, no" she shook her head "Mine isn't until Friday, what about you?"
"Mine was today" He said "I was just coming back from it before our collision"
"Collision?" She smiled "I barely touched you"
"You were all over me" Sirius smirked "don't blame you though, all the girls are"
"Modest aren't you" She rolled her eyes "So what did McGonagall say?" she asked
Sirius frowned, his good mood suddenly gone "she thinks that I'd make a good Auror" he sighed, a dark look in his eyes.
"You would" Hermione instantly agreed
Sirius' head snapped up, surprised at her words, she couldn't understand why, Sirius Black was one of the bravest men she'd ever met, the only man to ever break out of Azkaban, all because of the love he held for his Godson.
"You don't think that in times like these, a Black is the last person that should be signing up to be an Auror?" He questioned, head down and averting her gaze.
"I think in times like this, brave men and women are exactly what the Auror department needs" She truthfully answered
Sirius lifted his head, their eyes connecting.
"And who cares what your last name is?" She shrugged, "that as stupid as caring about someone's blood, do you care that I'm a muggle born?"
"No!" He replied, aghast at even the thought.
She smiled up at him, it always amazed her how someone raised amongst such bigotry could come to defend everything he'd been raised to hate.
"What?" He asked, picking up on the look on her face
"You" she truthfully answered as they made it to the kitchen's entrance
"What about me?" Sirius asked as he rubbed the banana in the portrait. It swung open, revealing an army of House-Elves and Hogwarts pristine kitchen
"Nothing" She grinned as she entered, choosing not to answer. Sirius already had an inflated ego, she didn't want to add to it.
}{—}{—}{
As the week continued Professor McGonagall's career advice was starting to become the talk of the common room.
"She said that if I applied myself then perhaps I had a chance at securing a Ministry position" Peter frowned.
They were sat by the fire, Peter was sprawled across the couch, whilst Hermione and Remus were sat on the recliners either side of him.
"That's not so bad" Hermione said, unable to understand his sour disposition.
"James and Sirius are told they could be Aurors, Remus a healer and I get a lowly Ministry position" he squawked "how is that not bad?"
"A Healer" Hermione grinned at her other friend "Remus that's brilliant, you'd make a great Healer"
"Maybe" Remus shrugged, a dark air about him.
"Why aren't you more excited?" Hermione questioned.
"He thinks his furry little problem will be an issue" Peter answered for him.
"Oh" Hermione sighed, all the excitement leaving her.
"It doesn't matter" Remus lied, a dark look in his eye "It's years away, why worry about it now?" he shrugged
She wished that she could tell him it would all work out, but in the future she knew that Remus struggled to find work, living off the generosity of James until he'd died and then worked odd jobs until he'd become her Professor, but even that hadn't lasted long.
The portrait doors swung open, followed by raucous laughter and two very familiar boys.
"Did you see the look on his face?" Sirius howled
"I was sure he was going to piss himself right there" James burst out, both breaking into uncontrollable laughter.
Peter moved aside so that their was enough room on the couch and the two practically fell into the empty space available.
"What did you do this time?" Remus frowned.
"Just a little fun with Snivellus" James beamed
Hermione frowned, anger and annoyance settling in to her stomach "I'm not sure Severus found it fun" she chided
Sirius and James look at her in surprise.
"Who cares what Snivellus thinks" Sirius sneered "you should have heard what he was saying, grubby git deserved a lot worse than what we did"
Hermione scoffed and got to her feet.
"Hermione, don't go" Peter frowned
"Just because you choose to associate with bullies, doesn't mean that I have to" She snapped, storming away from the group and up the stairs to her dorm.
Frustrated she all but stormed into her room, Lily was lounging about on her bed, reading a copy of some magazine.
Marlene and Diana were working on their hair, commandeering the large mirror in the room and Arlo was working on an essay at her desk.
"What's got you so annoyed?" Lily asked, putting aside her magazine.
"Those boys" Hermione huffed
"The Marauders?" Marlene asked, her hair was in a strange combination of braids, which she seemed oddly proud of.
"Marauders?" Hermione questioned
"Potter and his friends, that's what they're calling themselves" Lily rolled her eyes, as unamused as one could be.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"Because they're idiots" Arlo piped up
"I think it's cute" Marlene defended
"Well, you would" Arlo rebutted "you think anything Sirius does is cute" She frowned.
"At least I go for it" Marlene scowled "Instead of panting over him like you do with Fenwick"
"Well, Benjy doesn't run and hide from me!" Arlo snapped
"Girls!" Lily yelled, catching eveyone's attention. "Listen to yourselves" she snapped "neither of those boys is worth this drama" she huffed, grabbing her magazine and snapping it open.
Hermione shook her head and grabbed one of the textbooks off her desk, she really couldn't judge, she'd become just as boy crazy over Ron. She certainly wouldn't be making that mistake this time around, with a war on the horizon, boys were the last thing on her mind.
}{—}{—}{
By the time her career meeting rolled around, everyone else seemed to have had theirs, the majority of people were rather disappointed, the realities of the outside world hitting them.
Hermione had the opposite problem.
"I must say Ms Evans that grades like yours are not easy to come by and I must commend you for your hard work" McGonagall's voice was as stern as she was use to but their was a clear tone of pride underneath it.
"Thank you Professor" Hermione replied.
It was odd being in her office, although in her old life, she'd spent far too much time in it, Hermione had rarely entered it this time around.
"After discussing it with your other Professor's, I do believe that you are best suited for a position in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, working in the Wizengamot" She smiled
"Right" Hermione nodded and McGonagall's smile slightly dimmed
"Most student's would be a lot more excited" She said, "It's one of the most difficult departments to get into, I rarely recommend such a path"
"Oh" Hermione said "Thank you Professor" She quickly added
"Perhaps you have other plans instead of the Ministry?" McGonagall pushed
Surviving, that was her only plan.
The Ministry had almost fallen during the 1st war and it had been as safe for Muggle borns as a room full of snakes, it was the last place she'd be going once school was over.
"No" She lied. "I have no plans"
}{—}{—}{
I know nothing about Ancient Runes, I'm making all that up as I go along, so don't expect long detailed explanations on the stuff Hermione creates.
Next update will be Thursday, we'll be sticking with Hermione's POV for the remainder of this story and I can promise you a lot more Sirius and Benjy in the next chapter. There's a small sneak peak of next chapter on my tumblr, check out my bio for the details.
See you next time - El.
