Thanks goes to MsIcySparks for betaing.

Chapter Four

Orbis Sua

She stepped out of the shadows and made her presences known to the group. Their conversation stopped upon seeing her and a heavy silence descended on the room. Molly stood and went the frail looking girl. "You should not be up and about, dear. You need your rest."

Hermione shook her head. "I'm fine." Her voice came out horse. She reached up and touched her throat; it had been awhile since she had used it. Instead of trying to say a full sentence, she simply asked. "Water?"

Molly nodded before she ushered Hermione to sit on the couch in between Severus and Remus. The silence in the room was pregnant with the awkwardness that comes with everyone wanting to say something, but no one knowing the right time to do it. Molly returned quickly with a glass of water. "Drink it slowly, dear." she said as she handed her the glass. She then sat down next to her son again on a brown love-seat. Hermione took small sips of her water. She knew if she drank it too fast after such a long time without it, it would most likely shock her system and she would end up with both a stomachache and a headache or worse.

"Thank you," she said to Molly, her voice a tad less horse. "It was the thirst that woke me up. Are you aware of my situation?" she asked the group.

Dumbledore sat forward in his chair. "Yes. I had them read the letter you left me. I must admit however, that this situation is new to me. I am fascinated by what you were able to do. It is obvious that you had a good education and your magic must be very strong."

Hermione's cheeks flushed pink at his praise. "I was taught your average curriculum that Hogwarts offered. I researched the potions and spells required to make the transfer myself. I found most the books in the remains of Hogwarts. One of the books you gave to me in my third year, when I received permission to use a Time Turner. You were there when Professor McGonagall gave me the lecture on not meddling with time. I did later on that year anyway, but you were the one that pushed Harry and me to do it." Hermione covered her mouth for a second with her hand before removing it. "Please excuse my rudeness, I am rambling. You probably have no idea what I am talking about."

Dumbledore smiled at her. "I do not." He sat back in his chair again and waved his hand nonchalantly. "Nevertheless, I do enjoy hearing you talk about the place you came from and what happened to you there."

Hermione nodded her head and then looked around the room. She was searching for someone, but it was obvious to the group she had not found them there. She took another sip of her water before she fidgeted a little. "May I ask something?"

"Of course." It was Molly who answered.

"Is...Is Harry Potter even alive?" Her eyes were lowered to the ground: if they were going to deliver bad news to her, then she did not want to the see the expression of pity beforehand.

"Harry Potter is alive and living with his parents in the wizarding States,\" said Remus. He turned his head to look at her. He had the urge to reach out and embrace her, but he pushed it away. He was reacting to her in ways that would signal to his wolf side that she was his mate. How could this be? He had never reacted to Hermione before in this fashion. Was it because she was not the same Hermione that he had taught the Dark Arts and Transfiguration to?

"Is he happy?" she asked, now looking at Remus with her big brown eyes.

"I believe so. At least, he was the last time I spoke to him and his parents."

"That's good. Why is he living in the States?" she asked. She was confused as to why James was not having his family live in Godric's Hollow. He told her once that having his family live there with him was a dream of his.

Remus looked to Dumbledore for the answer. Was she ready to hear about their world yet and how they were living in a prison created by Voldemort? "Before we tell you about our world and get you familiar with it, perhaps it would be best if you tell us of your world first. We don't want to shock you just yet with all the information it will take for you to learn about our world," said Dumbledore.

Hermione's stomach churned at his words. He was not telling her of this world on purpose. She had failed at something that changed the world, possibly for the worst. The question was, did she want to know what that was? It would be a long time before she had enough power to try and go back again and if she went back again she would make sure Tom Riddle was never born. "Alright, I will tell you as much as I feel comfortable telling right now," she said, going against the impulse she had to press the people in the room with questions of this world. "What do you want to know?" she asked. She wished at that moment she had something stronger than water in her hand.

"Why don't you tell us how Harry played a role in your world? Our worlds seem to differ only after he was born."

Hermione sighed heavily. "There was a prophecy made by Sybil Trelawney. Harry was exposed to it in his fifth year, he memorized it and in turn Ron and I also had to memorize it." As if in a trance, she remembered it word for word. "The one to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have a power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies." Hermione took a drink of her water.

"There was something the prophecy did not take into account, however…" She was looking at the floor again. Her eyes were wide as she remembered the night of the final battle. Fat tears fell down her cheeks.

"What happened?" asked Draco. Hermione glanced at him. Being in the same room as him and his father was unnerving her. She then looked at Molly. She did not even know if Ginny was alive, so she decided to not speak her name aloud.

"Many people Harry loved died during the war, but he always had her. Then it all went to Hades. She and I were captured by Death Eaters." This time she glanced at Lucius before looking down at the floor again. Next she looked at Molly again, as her hands shook. "Do you people have anything stronger than water? I don't mean to impose, but water isn't cutting it for nerves."

Molly looked to Dumbledore, he gave a nod of his head and she stood to get Hermione some Firewhisky. She returned with a tumbler that had a finger-full. Hermione took it and downed the glass. She let out a hiss as it went down her throat, but soon she felt the fire course through her stomach and veins; her nerves suddenly did not feel so frayed and ready to make her jump and leave the room. She would most likely regret drinking it later on an empty an unused stomach, but for right now she did not care. "Thank you," she said.

"We were captured by Death Eaters. I knew we shouldn't have gone to Diagon Alley that day, but she was persistent. She wanted to get something for Harry's birthday. We had both been well trained in dueling. We thought we could take on whoever tried to hurt us. Turns out we were just a pair of over-confidant teenagers. We got surrounded and knocked out. When we came to, we were in a dungeon. We had...we had been stripped of our clothes."

"You don't have to go on if you don't want to," said Remus. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder, finally relieving somewhat the urge he had to embrace her.

"I wouldn't have taken that drink if I didn't want to talk about it. I would have just left the room." She looked at him, and her words had no harshness behind them, but she did give him a small smile of gratitude. "I don't know how long they kept us in there like that, but it had to have been at least a few days. Then they came. We were brought before Voldemort." People shuddered in the room at his name.

"He wanted us to tell him all about Harry. He wanted to know why he could not touch him or defeat him. At first he tried torturing us with curses. We didn't cave. We didn't truly have an answer. When that did not work he tried a different method. He had his inner circle rape us. I don't remember much of it, but it was not the raping that broke her or me. Voldemort put her with Greyback during the full moon and I was to be dealt with by Bellatrix Lestrange." She stopped and looked down at her left arm. The scar that said 'Mudblood' was no longer there. She touched the spot ‒ it was surreal not to see it there after it had marred her skin for a long time.

"Greyback is a strange werewolf. It is as if he has learned to control it, the wolf, on his own. He did not kill her, but he did do unspeakable things to her. He broke her mind. When we were finally saved by the Order, she was a shell. She didn't talk or eat; she barely slept. Whenever Harry or any man was even in the room with her she would have a panic attack. She could not handle the nightmares. She killed herself." The tears flowed freely now. "I thought about killing myself too, when I saw what happened to her. Even now, it's burned into my memory. The things he did to her while in werewolf form... I stayed for Harry and Ron. If I died, too, I don't think we could have gone as far as we did. When the final battle was upon us, Voldemort and Harry faced off. They both fell to the ground. We thought they were both dead. Minutes passed. There was a silence in the air that almost seemed to suck the life out of it. Then Voldemort stood and Harry didn't. He told us Harry had made the choice to leave that life behind. He sacrificed his friends for his own happiness. I think she had been there to greet him. He had made the choice to spend eternity with her, rather than a lifetime without her. I would have made the same choice if it was the person I loved standing at the door of the beyond." Hermione cleared her throat. "I am not really ready to talk about what happened next, just know the world fell apart."

"It's perfectly fine, Miss Granger. You have already shared a lot with us," said Dumbledore, as he prepared himself another cup of tea. "Do you know everyone here, or are introductions in order?"

"I know everyone's name here. I don't know if they are the same people I knew in my world."

"Feel free to ask us things." He stood, cup in hand. "However, I must be going now. I have been gone long enough. I will be returning later when I can, I promise." He banished his chair with a wave of his hand and moved to the fire. Grabbing Floo powder, he threw it into the fire before stepping into it and disappearing.

The room was silent once again, they were waiting for her to speak, but she did not know what to say. There was one thing she wanted to know, but she did not know how to ask it without offending anyone. "There is something bothering you, Hermione. We can only make you feel more comfortable if you speak." It was Lucius. Hermione did not need to see him speak to know it was him. She tried to stop herself from cringing at his voice, but it was no use.

"Can I see your left forearm?" she asked him. She finally looked at him in the face. He appeared shocked, but not offended. She stood and went over to him, she stood close enough to see his arm, but not close enough that he could reach out and touch her. He showed her his arm: it was bare. She nodded her head before she went back to sit between Severus and Remus. She looked at Severus. "Can I see your arm, too?" she asked. He looked at her curiously, but showed his arm to her. It was bare. She touched it, as if to see that there was no magic concealing it. "Good. I am glad," she said to him with a smile. She could not see it, but his heart had sped up when she touched him. He felt as if he had felt her touch before like that.

"Why would you think my father is a Death Eater?" asked Draco sounding almost defensive.

"Because he was a Death Eater where I come from. You both were. So was Severus, but he had become a double agent. I'm sorry if I offended you. I simply do not know this version of you and right now I do not trust anyone. I do not see the difference between my world and this one. From the pictures that were in the room I woke up in, I can see that the Hermione that was here was friends with you, perhaps even more than that. However, I am not her, I will never be her. I do not have her memories and the memories that I do have pertaining to you from my world are not joyful. You and I did not like each other, we hated each other. You were pureblood and I was nothing but a Mudblood to you and you made sure to remind me every day how you despised my mere existence."

She sighed. "Please excuse my harshness there. Old habits die hard. I think it would be best if I go lie down. This is a lot to take in for everybody. I wish I could be the girl you all remember, but I am not and I am sorry for that." She stood and made her way out of the room. Would she ever get used to being around the Malfoys? Only time could tell. There was no changing where she was, she would not have enough strength to go back for a long time, and that was if the Elders did not put her to death for changing the time-line.