Thankfully, Hermione felt the awkwardness between her and Lupin diminish considerably after they "started over." They made their way to the Great Hall together and headed toward a group of students at the Gryffindor table that included Marcia, Kirsten, and two boys Hermione recognized instantly.

Peter Pettigrew looked much like his older self—pointed, rat-like face and beady eyes—but her attention was taken by the person sitting next to him. Sirius Black had been a handsome man even after spending over a decade in Azkaban, but his younger, less troubled self was simply gorgeous. He had movie star good looks with his dark hair, smoldering eyes, and devil-may-care aura. His gaze met hers as she walked up to his group, and Hermione couldn't help but blush.

"Let's ask the new girl," she heard him say.

Kirsten turned around.

"Hey, guys. Have you seen Lily and James? Neither of them has showed up to breakfast, and we're dying to know what's going on between them."

"James was waiting for Lily outside our dorm earlier," Hermione told them as she and Lupin settled down on the bench. "I left them alone so they could talk."

"You didn't hear if Lily said yes?"

Hermione shook her head and grabbed some toast. "James is quite persistent, though, isn't he?"

"That he is," Sirius agreed.

"I think it's finally paid off," Lupin said, and everyone followed his gaze.

Walking towards them, hand in hand, were Lily and James. James grinned at his staring friends, and Lupin, Sirius, and Peter erupted into exultant cheers. Marcia, Kirsten, and Hermione joined in, as did some of their spontaneous fellow Gryffindors. They were so loud that people from all around the Great Hall glanced around to see what the commotion was about.

"Thanks guys, but can you stop that now, please," Lily said as she sat down, pink in the face from all the attention.

"You heard my girlfriend," said James, and Lily rolled her eyes at his emphasis on the last two words. "Cut it out."

"All I have to say is: finally!" Marcia said, and everyone laughed.

Lily and James looked at each other sheepishly and smiled.

"They looked really happy together," Hermione remarked to Lupin on the way to their first class.

"James has fancied Lily since the first train ride to Hogwarts," he told her. "This is a dream come true for him."

Hermione felt so privileged to have been here to see James and Lily officially get together. This was the start of their beautiful relationship. She knew that they would come to love each other, get married, and have a son named Harry.

But in a few short years, their happiness would come to an end. Their lives would be robbed…

No — she shouldn't think about that. Hermione had promised herself she wouldn't dwell on the fate of anyone she met. There was nothing she could do to change it. Nothing she should do, anyway.

"What's wrong?" asked Lupin, looking concerned by the sudden change in her expression.

"It's nothing," she lied. "I'm just nervous because it's my first day of classes here, but I'll be okay."

An hour and a half later, Hermione was absolutely not okay.

"I'm so far behind!" she exclaimed, skimming through the notes she'd just taken. She'd never been in a situation like this before. She was always a prepared student, always ahead of the class, not behind. "And we have an exam next week!"

"She'll go easy on you this exam," Lupin assured her. "You're new."

"But I hardly knew what she was talking about!"

"None of the professors expect you to get everything right away," he said, watching her exchange her notes for her textbook. "That's why McGonagall appointed you a study partner. I can help you get caught up."

"Do you mind if we study together during our free period? I want to get on track as soon as possible. I've never been behind like this!"

"Only if you promise me something."

"What?"

Hermione was feverishly flipping through the pages of her Arithmancy book when Lupin swiftly seized it out of her hands.

"Hey!"

"Promise me," said Lupin, holding the book out of her reach, "you'll relax a little."

Hermione stared at him.

"It's only your first day," he said. "You'll be fine."

He smiled at her reassuringly, and Hermione looked at him, the book, and back again.

"I think I can do that," she said.

"Good."

Still carrying her book, Lupin started toward their next class. Hermione fell into step beside him.

Outside the locked Charms classroom, students stood talking as they waited for their professor to arrive. Sirius was with the others, casually leaning against the wall. When he caught sight of Hermione coming their way, he followed her movements, deliberately looking her up and down as she walked. He smirked lazily at the now extremely self-conscious Hermione, and she mentally cursed herself for letting him have an effect on her. Lupin silently glanced between them, then stood next to James.

"Hey, new girl," Sirius began.

"Her name is Jean," Marcia reminded him.

Sirius disregarded this and asked, "Do you have a date for the dance?"

"What dance?" Hermione asked.

"The Halloween dance. Next weekend."

"Oh, we forgot to tell you about that," Kirsten said.

"So are you going with someone?" Sirius repeated.

"No, I guess not," Hermione answered. She was surprised that Hogwarts used to have school dances. In her time, the only dance they'd had was the Yule Ball for the Triwizard Tournament.

"Don't worry about it, Jean. It'll be a girls' night," Lily told her. "The rest of us gal's don't have dates either."

"I thought I was your date," James said, taken aback. "Aren't we going together?"

"You never asked me," Lily said.

"I didn't think I had to now. You're my girlfriend. I thought it was implied."

Lily shrugged, and then blinked at him coyly.

"Fine," James sighed, resigned. "Lily, will you go to the dance with me?"

She smiled. "No, but thank you for asking."

The girls laughed.

"Marcia, Kirsten, and I decided a while ago that it was going to be a girls' night," Lily explained to the puzzled James. "So no dates. I'm not going back on it now. It wouldn't be fair."

"You and Josh are done for good then?" Sirius asked Marcia.

Marcia's expression darkened. "Yes, and good riddance."

"Well, here's an idea," Sirius said, looking around the group of Gryffindors. "There are eight of us here. We can pair up. James and Lily, obviously; Remus and Kirsten; Marcia and Peter… I guess that leaves you and me, new girl."

"My name is Jean," Hermione told him, and Sirius's eyebrows rose slightly. He glanced between her and Lupin, a small smile playing around his lips, and Hermione realized she'd unconsciously shifted closer to the younger version of her ex-professor. She shifted away from him again at once, hoping Sirius wasn't reading too much into the subtle movement she'd made before.

Marcia, who'd looked less than thrilled at the date Sirius had assigned her, said, "I think you're forgetting you already have a girlfriend, Sirius. Remember Darla?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Sirius replied dismissively.

"Whatever she is," said the annoyed Marcia, "I think she expects you to take her to the dance."

Before Sirius could respond, the tiny Professor Flitwick arrived and the students filed into the classroom behind him to begin their lesson.

To Hermione's relief, Charms went much better than Arithmancy. They were practicing Disillusionment charms which she was already comfortable with. Transfiguration didn't go so bad either, and Hermione successfully managed to relax. In fact, she was cheerful by the time her last class of the day was dismissed.

"So, do I get my book now?" she asked Lupin on their way to the library. "I kept my promise."

"Will you start studying frantically again as soon as I give it back to you?" he asked in turn, his eyes twinkling with humor.

"Of course not."

Lupin gave her a look.

"Okay, probably," Hermione admitted.

"I thought so." Lupin smiled but did not hand over her book. "So what changed? A few hours ago you looked on the verge of a minor panic attack, and now you're all cheery."

"I suppose I put things in perspective. It's actually wonderful to be worrying about school again."

"Wonderful? How so?"

"Last year was…"

Hermione struggled for the right word to describe the months she'd spent hunting Horcruxes, the constant fear she'd experienced, the life-threatening encounters, the Battle of Hogwarts, the deaths, the funerals, the search for her parents in Australia. She couldn't find it, so she settled for a major understatement.

"Tough. Really tough. It was a crazy rollercoaster ride of a year. I was constantly on the move and always so anxious, worrying about everyone and if everything would be alright, and—"

Hermione bit her lip to keep herself from continuing. She was about to confide in Lupin all that she had gone through, all the feelings she'd felt last year that she hadn't expressed to anyone else. But then she remembered that this Lupin didn't know her. She was practically a complete stranger to him, and here she was, blabbing on about her problems.

"Sounds like you had an intense year," Lupin said.

She knew he was watching her carefully, and she tried to backtrack.

"Well, I am a teenage girl, and we're known to be melodramatic sometimes."

"You don't seem like the melodramatic type."

"I'm just glad all I've got to worry about now is homework and school dances."

And time travel. But for some reason Hermione couldn't be bothered about that particular problem right this moment, not when she was here talking with Lupin.

"So," she said, "I'm going to take your advice and relax a little. I'm going to slow down and take a breath, just stop and—"

"Smell the roses?" Lupin supplied.

"Yeah. Stop and smell the roses."

They walked down the corridor in comfortable silence.

"But, you know," Hermione started again after a while, "I really do need to see that book now."

"I'll hand it over when we get to the library. Reading while walking is a hazard."

"But I—"

"Remember the roses," Lupin interrupted.

Hermione smiled.

When they were getting ready for bed that night, Lily told Hermione all about the upcoming dance.

"It's Muggle themed, so we're all dressing up like the Muggles do for Halloween. Do you have a costume?"

"No. Do you think it's too late for me to order one?"

"You know, you could probably borrow one of Kirsten's. She couldn't decide what she wanted to be, so she ended up buying two costumes. I'm sure she'd lend you one."

"That would be great," Hermione said. "This sounds fun. We didn't have dances at my old school."

"Adolescents, music, butterbeer… It's a good time guaranteed."

The two girls got into their beds and turned out the light.

"I feel bad about James, though," Lily said into the darkness. "The thing is Marcia broke up with her boyfriend a couple of weeks ago because he was being a total arse, and she was pretty bummed out about it. That's when we decided we'd all go to the dance together. No dates, no boys, no problems. I didn't know at the time that James and I…"

"Everyone seemed thrilled that the two of you got together. I don't think the girls would mind if you went as a couple."

"Maybe not," Lily said thoughtfully. After a short silence, she added a warning to Hermione. "Hey, Jean, be careful with Sirius, will you? He'll have his eye on you because you're new and pretty, but he's a bit of a ladies' man."

"He's not really my type."

"No?" Lily said, sounding surprised. "Most girls can't help but fall for him."

"You never did, did you?"

"Well, no," the redhead replied slowly. "But I think that's because I've always had my eye on somebody else, even if I never wanted to admit it or accept it before."

Surely, she was talking about James.

Hermione remembered Harry once telling her about a memory he'd seen in which Lily appeared to despise James because of his arrogance. Based on what Lily had just confided, however, it seemed that she'd always had an interest in him, even if she hadn't always liked the way he acted. She must have suppressed her feelings for him, or maybe she hadn't even recognized what she'd felt.

Hermione thought about herself and her own feelings. She supposed that she too had always had her eye on someone, only she hadn't become conscious of it until very recently. But she would never admit it to anyone. She found it difficult to even admit it to herself. It didn't matter anyway that she'd realized her feelings. She knew it could never happen, not in this time and certainly not in the future.

Feeling melancholy, Hermione turned over in her bed and tried not to think about Lupin.