New chapter is up! Sorry that took me so long to write it but I was ill and spent the most time sleeping and eating. Whatever, hope you like it! Again, sorry for the mistakes! Enjoy ;)

Sirius and James were sitting in front of the fireplace surrounded by a small crowd of Gryffindors who were all listening to their story. They must've been talking about her because since Hermione had entered the common room more than ten pair of eyes watched every step she made.

James, who was the one who spotted her presence, beckoned her over. "Hey. It took a long time, didn't it? I mean the talk with Dumbledore. You missed supper." He said when she finally was standing next to him and made a face like the worst thing that could happen to someone living at Hogwarts would be missing supper. Hermione stood there thunderstruck. It was just so awkward talking to someone who just looked like her best friend and even his behaviour was a little bit similar to Harry's. They way he moved, the enquiring look in his eyes and his smile reminded her of her friend back in 1997.

"Yeah, what was the talk about?" asked Sirius curious. "I mean, you were in there for nearly two hours."

"Err… we discussed organisational things," Hermione said.

"Organisational things?" chorused Sirius and James in a disbelieving tone. "What kind of things?" asked James and looked at Hermione.

"Stop being so nosy, Potter!" said a redheaded girl sharply who was sitting at a nearby desk. She turned around to face James and added, "That's not very polite!"

"Evans, it's not very polite to rebuke someone in front of all people either," said James turning in her direction. Hermione didn't fail to notice that his voice was way more friendly and teasing than hers. She turned her head to look at the girl and the suspicion she had proved true when she saw the emerald green eyes. Sitting there and glaring at James was Harry's mother at the age of seventeen.

"Ah, shut up, will you?" said Lily Evans and turned back to the book she was reading. Until now Hermione failed to notice that she wasn't sitting there on her own. The boy next to her was tall and had sandy hair and Hermione could see a long unshaped scar on his left forearm. It was beyond all questions that this was seventeen-year-old Remus Lupin sitting next to Lily. Neither did he turn around when Lily was speaking to James nor did he pay any attention to Hermione. Somehow she was very thankful for that, considering all the people still gaping at her.

"Things like my timetable, where I'm going to sleep, the house rules. Things like that," said Hermione. "I was educated at home until now but ... but my parents had to move to Australia to take care of my aunt. There barely would be time for my education anymore and they didn't want me to feel left out. Because of that they decided it would be the best for me to be educated at Hogwarts. They promised to take me home if I don't like it here or when my aunt is feeling better. It's just for my last year, so I think that's okay." Hermione swallowed hard. The thought of her parents brought tears to her eyes. It was true, they moved to Australia, but not because they had to take care of Hermione's imaginary aunt. Hermione had to erase all memories of her from her parent's memory; now they believed that they never had a daughter.

"Oh," said another boy, a rather small one with mouse-coloured hair and watery eyes. "I think you'll enjoy it here. Out of the corner of his eyes he was watching both Sirius and James.

"You think? Oh, come on, Peter. Of course she's going to enjoy it here. I mean, it's Hogwarts," said Sirius.

"Yes, you'll like it. I'm sure about that", James said and turned his head to Sirius. "It has to be awful to be educated at home. Just think about it! You'd miss all that," he said and glanced around.

"Don't forget about the pranks, man," answered Sirius. "It wouldn't be as much fun at home as it is here."

"Right," agreed James and added, "Poor girl".

The conversation between Sirius and James continued. Hermione, however, turned around and walked towards the girl's dormitory. She needed to be alone for a moment and think about things. The common room was crowded with people and still she somehow felt left alone. It all was so confusing for her. At first it was 1997 and she was fighting with Death Eaters and just seconds later it was 1977 and she was talking to people who were already dead in her time.

The dormitory for the 7th graders was empty. Hermione was about to speculate which of the five beds would be hers for the next days, weeks or months when she spotted a small trunk on one of them. A letter with her name on it lay on top. Hermione took it and opened it curious. It took her only seconds to recognize Dumbledore's handwriting.

Dear Miss Bonham,

I thought you would be in need of a few things considering the fact that neither of us is able to say when you're going to leave us. I felt free to get you some clothes, school books and school robes. I hope you'll enjoy your stay at Hogwarts.

Sincerely,

A. P. W. B. D.

Hermione opened the trunk and found all the things. She felt very grateful; it wouldn't be that easy for her if Dumbledore would be a more suspicious und disbelieving person. She lifted the trunk and put it down on the ground. It wasn't really heavy but afterwards she collapsed on her bed and closed her eyes. She was tired and didn't want to think about a single thing right now. Just a few seconds later she was fast asleep.

"...I've no idea what her name is. I just heard Black and Potter call her 'that girl'..."

"That's not very specific."

"I know. It's a little bit weird to sleep in the same room with a stranger, don't you think, Marlene?"

"Hmm, I know what you mean. Do you think we should wake her up? She's missing breakfast", said a voice which probably belonged to Marlene.

"I don't know. I think she missed supper, too. Potter said something like that." This voice seemed to be Lily's.

"Hey! I've been waiting for you two in the common room for nearly twenty minutes!" said a third voice sounding a little bit angry. "What are you doing?"

"Shhhhh!" made Lily. "You're going to wake her up!"

"No, she's not going to wake me up. I've been awake for an hour. I just don't want anybody to know", thought Hermione. She had no idea why she was pretending to be asleep, but when she heard the girls talking about her she wanted to hear what they were thinking about her sudden appearance. Lily and Marlene seemed to be nice girls, but they were a little bit suspicious. Maybe because they had known each other for years and Hermione was just a stranger who they are going to share a room from now on. She was just the new girl, nothing to worry about!

"Okay, why don't you go with Hestia, Marlene? We'll meet in the Great Hall", said Lily.

"And what are you going to do in the meantime?" asked Marlene and stood up.

"I'm going to wake her up. She shouldn't miss breakfast, too. I'll show her around a little bit."

"Okay", said Hestia and Marlene and shrugged their shoulders. They left Lily in the dormitory and went down to the Great Hall.

Lily got up and walked towards Hermione's bed, unsure how to wake the girl. Maybe she should shake her shoulders, or simply call her name. But then she remembered that she doesn't even know her name.

"Umm... Hey! You should get ready for breakfast. Hey!" she said softly and shook Hermione's shoulders. Hermione lay still for another few seconds and acted like she really was about to wake up. When she opened her eyes to see what caused her to wake up, she saw Lily standing next to her, a hand still on her shoulder.

"Err, sorry for waking you up. I thought you might want to eat something," said Lily apologetically. She took her hand off Hermione's shoulder and stepped back, allowing Hermione to stand up.

"Uh, thanks. Yeah, I'm very hungry", said Hermione and added, "I missed supper yesterday." She opened her new trunk and searched for some clothes while Lily walked back to her bed and sat down.

"I know it's not very politely, but what's your name again?" said Lily. "I heard Potter and Black talking about you yesterday, but they didn't mention your name."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I should've introduced me. I'm Hermione Bonham," Hermione said turning around to face Lily. She looked her deep in the eye but couldn't see a single hint of suspicion. She believed her so far!

"I'm Lily Evans, by the way. And we're sharing this room with two other girls, Marlene, and Hestia. They're very nice, you'll like them. Marlene's whole family works for the Ministry of Magic, you know. Her mother works in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and her father is head of Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Must be very interesting working there, I think. Josie's parents

Hestia's mother is a healer. She works at St. Mungo's Hospital. Her father is a lawyer, I think, he's a Muggle," Lily said while Hermione got dressed. "Ready?" she added when Hermione turned around.

"Err... Yes. So ... let's go, I guess", Hermione stammered hoping that Lily would overhear the nervousness in her voice.

"So, your parents are in Australia?" Lily asked.

"Uh, yes they are in Melbourne. They're taking care of my aunt, you know."

"I heard that last night. Potter was babbling about it,"

"Oh. Right," stated Hermione and thought about what to say next. But she didn't have a chance to say anything because Lily began to point at corridors and doors while she was telling Hermione which classroom was to be found in which floor and which doors she should better not open. Sometimes she pointed at other persons and told her a little story about them. Hermione listened eagerly; it was so interesting to hear stories about things that happened in the past. But then Hermione remembered that, now, she was in the past too and that she had to be careful what she was about to say.

"...that's Rosalie Morris. Can you see that girl over there with the light brown hair? That's Louisa Lawrence. She's in our year, but in Ravenclaw. Very nice but a little bit strange. I like her, though; she always tells you the truth. And this boy's name is Jeremy Whistler, a 6th year, also in Gryffindor. He's in the Quidditch team, you know", Lily said and then added in an amazed sounding tone, "That reminds me. You've never seen a Quidditch match in Hogwarts."

"Err... I've never seen a Quidditch match at all," Hermione admitted. She thought it was better not to mention the 1994 World Cup she's been at with Harry and Ron.

"Not a single match?" asked Lily. "Are you not interested in Quidditch?"

"Hmm, no, I don't think so. My parents both are muggles, you know. They're in contact with the wizarding world, though. At least they have a friend who's a wizard. And he volunteered to be my teacher so I could be educated at home. My parents didn't want me to go be so far away. I know it sounds ridiculous, but-"

"I don't think that's ridiculous", interrupted Lily. "My parents are Muggles, too. And we both had a very hard time when I went to Hogwarts the first time. My mother wrote me a letter every single week, you know. We missed each other a lot."

Hermione, pleased that Lily did believe her lie and seemed to understand the circumstances, smiled as they entered the Great Hall. They were very late and hardly any students were left.

"There are Hestia and Marlene," said Lily. They took a seat next to the two girls. Marlene was a little bit annoyed by the fact that they were late, but didn't say anything at all.

"Marlene, Hestia, this is Hermione Bonham. Hermione, this is Marlene, and this is Hestia", introduced Lily and looked pleased as the annoyance vanished from Marlene's face and she smiled at the new girl. Both Marlene and Hestia greeted Hermione.

"So, you're the newbie", said Hestia in a friendly way. "Do you like it here at Hogwarts so far?"

"Oh, yes," said Hermione and helped herself to some food. "It's fantastic here. Not that I've seen a lot of the castle, so far."

"Oh, you'll like it. I'm sure about that", said Marlene.

When Hermione and Lily were finished the four girls got up. Lily, Marlene and Hermione had to hurry to don't be late to Portions while Hestia had to go to Care of Magical Creatures. "Sorry, Professor Slughorn," said Lily when she opened the door and the girls went in. "We wanted to show Hermione a little around and forgot-"

"No problem, no problem at all, Miss Evans," stated Professor Slughorn brightly. "Miss McKinnon. Miss Bonham, I'm glad see a new face. Take a seat, please." He waited until Hermione, Lily and Marlene had sat down and then continued to talk about Veritaserum. Hermione glanced around. In the last row sat James Potter next to a bored looking Sirius Black. A few rows further ahead sat the young Severus Snape scribbling eagerly on a large piece of parchment. Hermione even recognized a pixie-like girl a few rows behind them as Rosalie Morris. Lily had told her on the way to the Great Hall that her little sister was missing since July. Poor girl!

"Now, give your best!" called Slughorn and startled Hermione out of her thoughts. It was very lucky that Lily, who sat next to Hermione, did pay attention; with her help Hermione brewed a very effective Veritaserum-Portion and Slughorn was delighted to see that the new girl was quite a talent.

"Well, well, you two. That's quite good", said Slughorn as he stopped at their table.

Hermione smiled at his answer but frowned inside. The last time she'd seen Slughorn in her time was shortly before Dumbledor's death. She had no idea what Slughorn was going to do after her 6th year at Hogwarts. Was he going back into hiding?

"For a former home-educated-girl you're very good at this", said a very calm voice behind Hermione.