Disclaimer-I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters or any of the things from that world. I simply own the plot.
Pairings- Hermione Granger/Sirius Black, Lily Evans/James Potter
Rating- T
Note- Some of the tips I used for time-travelling is from other fan fictions, such as Flying High by show me the stars. Another reference I used I'd is The Thief of Time by Tinkwolfe. I love both these stories a lot as these were the first SB/HG time fan fictions I'd read.
Extra note- yes, I am aware Narcissa is actually 4 years older and Andrmeda is also a few years older, but I am making them younger for the sake of them being students during Hermione's time. Seems to add more drama. On another note, the majority of the people voted for Snape. So…
Thanks to- Verdant Phoenix, brainsbeautyHG, breakable bird, gottaloveva, NorthernLights25, Ashies, amb520, krewella, jewelslover, write-this-song, Hanable-13, LK-HoGwArTs-hEaDgIrL, JenniferLupinBlack, JuliaLestrange, angstar54, dreamboat and the 2 guests—for the reviews.
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The Revisionist
Chapter 3: Of Odd Acquaintances and Platform 9¾
By
fourthfireshadow
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"A traveling savior has arrived with invaluable knowledge…
…With the blood of impure, the one shall vanquish the Dark Lord as the traveler will cease to be in a copiously seamless world…if futile, the reign of ice will renew…a traveler has arrived…
…a time of sorrow will end."
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Clothes-check. Books-check. Shoes-check. Uniform-check. More books-check. All necessary school equipment-check.
Hermione sighed in satisfaction as she gazed at her nearly filled to the brim trunk. Everything was organized and ready, no unnecessary items taking up extra space at all. Hermione frowned contemplatively, she did have a lot of books in the trunk though, and only some of it was textbooks. Most of the others were for light reading, even if the thickness suggests otherwise.
But she shook the thoughts of taking them out away; she only had that much space to keep this many books because she wasn't carrying unnecessary items other girls actually pack. So it was fine, mostly.
Now what else did she need? She gazed around the bedroom, her eyes falling on the already made trunk on Lily's bed. Lily was an even more of a meticulous packer than Hermione, which surprised her greatly. She had kept the trunk packed and ready a week ago. Hermione lamented over the fact her son would never get this particular habit from his mother; that boy was one of the most disorganized people she knew, save for Ron.
Shaking her head at the redhead's organized manner, her gaze then fell on the lowest rack of the bookshelf in their room. The lowest shelf was somewhat of a surprise for Hermione; it was filled to the end with Archie Comics. Organized according to the publishing dates, Lily was an avid fan of the comic. The comics were mostly popular in the States, she knew, which made it all the more surprising to see it in Lily's shelf. Even though Lily was more of a Literature and History and Philosophy reader, she had disclosed that reading those comics were kind of a guilty pleasure, in a way.
Making up her mind, she took about five comics at random from the shelf and tucked it into the corner of her trunk; sure it would come in handy sometime in the future.
What else? She felt like she was missing something important. Then it struck her like a bolt of lightning.
The Time-Turner.
The Time-Turner! While she knew it certainly wasn't a normal time-turner that could only go maximum eleven hour back into the past, she wasn't sure what else to call the device that brought her into a different life.
Carefully opening the drawer in the mahogany bedside table, she pulled the delicate gold chain out with careful fingers. Only then did she notice her fingers trembling. The fine chain shimmered gold in the sunlight playing in the room, though the actual device looked wrecked. The dainty hour glass still had the gold frame and structure, but one portion of the glass had cracked, baring a web of cracks. A blue glimmer caught Hermione's gaze; it was just for a moment, but it was enough. She quickly peered inside and saw about a small cluster of the blue crystals wedged in the corner, barely noticeable. Hermione drew back, releasing a breath. She had to take this with her; she couldn't exactly leave it lying around here. She had to keep it somewhere safe, with Dumbledore or somewhere.
Mind made, she tucked the chain between two articles of clothing. That way it wouldn't accidently break. Her packing all done, she decided to go out for a bit, get her mind cleared up before going to the platform and finally to Hogwarts. Braiding her honey colored hair messily and throwing on a long blue sleeved cardigan and jeans, she went down the stairs.
"Lily, where are you?" Hermione called out from the living room.
"Just a second," Lily called back from the kitchen and a moment later, she appeared wiping her hands on the material of her jeans, "what is it?"
"Well, I was just thinking we could go for a walk around the neighborhood…" she suggested, looking at Lily with hopeful eyes.
Lily looked at her with her emerald eyes for a moment before nodding. "…All right, let me just fix myself up and then we'll go. Just for a bit though, I have some errands to run."
"What fixing up do you have to do? Your hair is always impeccable, unlike my bird's nest of a hair." Hermione mumbled bitterly.
Lily's laugh was heard as she climbed up the stairs, two at a time. "I don't know what you're complaining about. You're hair truly isn't as bad as you're making it out to be!" she said in a sing-song voice.
Hermione shook her head at the blatant lie and smiled sardonically. "Lying is unbecoming, Lils."
"Oh, Shut it." Lily said teasingly as she bound down the stairs in record time of two minutes, "I'll just tell mum we're going out or else she'll have a right fit." And after a minute, the two set off.
The cool autumn breeze smelled sweet and fresh, and the colored leaves gave the whole scene a picturesque beauty. Hermione smiled slightly before walking down the streets. The neighborhood was a pleasant one, with some kids playing here and there while their parents sat on the porch steps, talking and laughing. It was the kind of neighborhood where families host weekend barbeques, or have monthly get-togethers. The kind of neighborhood she imagined herself to be living in, in the future to be honest.
But with the quietness, came the troubling thoughts. While she had previously made up her mind to change the broken past, she had no clue as to how to go about it; it's not like she could research this in a library. Another thing was if she does change something historical, would something terrible happen as a consequence? She had no way of knowing if her whole presence was tampering with something not to be tampered with. But then again, she knew she had already changed things; meeting Lily and becoming a sort of pseudo permanent resident in the Evans household, meeting Narcissa and failing to keep herself under the radar, and of course, the wand—Harry's wand. The wand the ultimate clue.
And while all these had happened, nothing catastrophic had taken place yet. This brings her back to another thought; the device that brought her here in the first place. She was more than positive that it wasn't a normal time-turner at all; the sand were crystals and they glowed, plus it took her decades back instead of mere hours. Add in the fact that major things were changing from her being here, and it was shaping up to be quite a curious device indeed. She had a hunch she had created an alternate reality the moment Lily had spotted her.
"So, what was the real reason you wanted to go for this walk?" Lily spoke up from the sudden quietness. Startled, Hermione looked at her to see her gaze set straight forward.
"What are you talking about? I had no—"Hermione began to say.
"It's useless to talk your way out of this, I know you too well by now 'Mione." Lily gently chastised. Hermione couldn't help but feel both touched and a bit vexed at how well Lily knew her already, and how much she cared for her. Hermione ducked her head down a bit and kicked a pebble that was on the path, a small reluctant smile playing on her lips.
"Well?"
She looked up again to see Lily now looking directly at her, green eyes narrowed and concerned. Knowing there was no way to get out of it, she replied half-heartedly, "I guess…I wanted to get away for a bit, to think about all that's happened lately…it's hard to believe my life changed so drastically in such a short amount of time." Hermione said despondently, and then added in a quiet whisper not meant to be heard, "nothing will be the same now."
"…I don't know what to say to that," Lily voiced after a few long moments, "but I can promise you that…though your life did change, and even if a lot did happen, just remember that you're not alone, not really." She then smiled softly at Hermione, her eyes shining with kindness, "you've got mum, and dad, and then you've got me, and I can promise you that I will never ever leave you alone. Even when you get sick of me and actually want me too, I won't, because that's what best friends are there for, right?"
Hermione blinked, astonished. She could feel the stinging warmth beneath her eyes, indicating that she was going to cry once more if she didn't do something about it. Abruptly, Hermione hugged Lily, in both gratitude and appreciation. She felt Lily hugging her back, and after a moment Hermione stepped back.
She choked out a laugh, and looked into Lily's eyes and said sincerely, "I don't think I'll ever get sick of you, Lily."
"Well, let's hope not." Lily joked, "And that's my quota for being too emotional for my own good for today." From then, conversation flowed in a blur. They talked about anything and everything, and Hermione never felt closer to Lily than at that moment.
She suddenly looked up at her surrounding, unaware where their feet had unconsciously taken them. Rows and rows of decrepit brick houses stood before her, the windows dull and dusty. The whole street had the look of gloom over it, making it seem far harsher than the rest of the town.
"Where are we? I never noticed such a depressing part of the town before." Hermione wondered out loud. She only barely managed to catch the name Lily said, with an underlying edge.
"It's called Spinner's End."
Hermione turned her head fractionally to look at Lily's face and was confused to see a conflicted expression marring her face, her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. Turning her eyes back to the shady street, she pondered on its significance, but she didn't aquire any useful facts.
Feeling Lily's hand clutching hers loosely, she allowed Lily to pull her away, pivoting lightly on her feet and falling in step with the redhead. Hermione tucked a strand of her wavy hair behind her ear and looked up at the clear blue sky. It wasn't often she would get peace and quiet like this. She wished she could blank her mind at will, force all her speeding thoughts to stop and just rest for a while. But she knew that was wishful thinking. Stopping her thoughts would take a miracle, and stopping herself from thinking about how she wasn't even from this time would take even more than that.
"Hermione, let's go in there for a minute…" Lily interrupted the silence, cocking her head towards the direction of a park. Nodding in assent, she followed Lily into the park. She grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her to the swings, both witches sitting on separate swings. Hermione found it a little bit uncomfortable at first, the seats were a bit small for seventeen year olds, and she was a bit wary about her hair getting caught in the metal chains. But after a bit, she started to enjoy the slight silliness of lightly kicking the ground with her heels and swinging lightly. The breeze ruffling the strands of honey hair that had escaped its braid, the sun's rays emitting warmth. She felt a tidal wave of longing for a childhood she never had crash into her, a feeling of wistfulness and What if's.
When had she last experienced this? When had she last played a child's game? When had she lost her childhood? Her innocence? Maybe it was way back in her early muggle days; she never had any friends, not really—she didn't have anyone to play with. And of course then came along Harry and Ron when she was just a child of twelve, she supposed it happened then; after all, no one could retain all of their childhood if they were looking for ways to kill a Dark Lord. And now this.
Hermione resisted the urge to snort; it was a wonder she even remained sane all these years, wasn't it?
A sigh from her side broke her train of thought. Looking to the side, she saw Lily was also deep in thought, a frown on her pale lips, her eyebrows puckered. Her deep red hair flying lightly around her face, it suddenly occurred to Hermione that she had never, not even once, asked Lily about her life willingly yet. It had always been Lily chattering on about the trivial things in her lie to Hermione without any question or even an encouraging response from her sometimes.
Feeling a ball of guilt grow in the pit of her stomach in being so self-centered, she figured now was a good time as any. Hermione was willing to bet Lily was this troubled because of the brief flash of the mysterious ragged Spinner's End.
"…Lily? Care to tell me what the matter is?" Hermione asked softly. Lily looked disconcerted, her eyes snapping open and darting to Hermione.
"What? Nothing's the matter, I—"
"…it's useless to talk your way out of this. I know you too well by know, Lils." Hermione said, a smile playing on her lips as she recounted the same words Lily had told her before.
Her eyes wide, Lily let out a surprised chuckle and shook her head, her red hair swaying with the motion. "I should've known those words would come back to bite me in the arse," Lily laughed again, "but I suppose it's true for the both of us, huh?"
"Exactly. Now, are you going to tell me what the problem is between you and Spinner's End?" Hermione asked bluntly.
Lily looked surprised yet again, but this time her expression was a mixture of both surprise and embarrassment. A light shade of pink spread across her pale cheeks, but it didn't clash with her hair the way it happens with the Weasley's, rather it created a beautiful picture. She now saw what Harry's father must've seen from the beginning to go after her all these years. The thought brought a smile.
"…erm, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised you spotted that." Lily mumbled, "It's just, it's a bit complicated, really…"
"Lily," Hermione interrupted gently but firmly, "you have done so much for me, so much I don't even know how to begin to thank you. The least I could do is listen to you."
Lily smiled in gratitude, "…Thank you." She took a few moments to gather herself before she finally began speaking, her eyes looking forward at the group of kids playing in the grass.
"…I had a best friend who used to live there, he still does but now…everything's different…" she whispered into the breeze.
Hermione kept silent, waiting patiently for Lily to finish whatever she had to say. She thought she had an inkling of the person Lily was mentioning here, but she wasn't fully sure yet. All she knew was that Lily was still broken up about it, anyone could tell just from her expression.
"We used to be the bestest of friends, we used to do everything together, inseparable really. We actually met here for the first time, ironic as that is. He was the one who told me I was a witch when he saw, or spied, me doing accidental magic. Since he lived in Spinner's End, it was just walking distance between our houses, so whenever the holidays come, we'd always meet up and do whatever we wanted," she said lowly, "but that all changed this year."
Abruptly, her head snapped up to look at Hermione, whose light brown eyes were staring back at her softly, "See, he's a Slytherin. And me being a Gryffindor, there was always a strain when we were in Hogwarts. We never used to let it bother us, but in the recent years, it became too noticeable. When we came back here, we never used to talk about that, and I suppose that was where the problem was…
"I've already told you all about the Marauders. I don't know why, but they—especially Potter and Black, used to bully him endlessly, and I always used to defend him from them whenever I could. He hates them, as in truly hates them and always warned me to stay away from them, but he never seemed to understand that I never wanted to in the first place. He always had this—this delusion that I would choose those bullies over him. I hated the people he hung out with, too, but I had a legitimate reason, unlike him. They were the type of people who cared about blood status, people into the Dark Arts, those were the type of people you just knew would grow up to be Death Eaters." Lily was whispering by now, her eyes glittering with confusion and sadness. Hermione was now sure who she was talking about, she had only heard snippets about the story from Harry, but it was enough to piece the clues in. she truly felt the sympathy and the sadness at seeing Lily—sweet, crazy, brave Lily in this state, like she had no idea how it had come to this conclusion.
Hermione subtly moved her eyes to the side she thought she heard some rustling. She couldn't see anything, she couldn't be entirely sure. Thinking it best to leave it alone for now, she turned back to Lily to see her hands clutching at the chains with a death grip, her knuckles white.
"One day, when I was sitting with my dorm mates near the Black Lake, I saw something was happening were the Marauders were," here Lily stared at the ground as she recounted what was clearly a painful memory, "They were tormenting him, Potter and Black, in front of everyone. I was blind with rage, thinking how those bullies dare do something like this in front of everyone. But when I went to defend him from them…he clearly said, in front of everyone, I don't need help from filthy little mudbloods like her. Potter was furious, but I didn't care. I was numb, I just—I just couldn't believe he would actually say that, when he had actually lived half his life like a muggle…but apparently…" Lily's voice broke off as she bit her lip.
Hermione felt her eyes widen when she heard what actually happened; while she knew this did happen from Harry, she didn't realize how broken up Lily actually was over it. She clearly felt betrayed and rightly so; she couldn't imagine how she would actually feel if either Harry or Ron ever called her the derogatory word, but she knew it would certainly be bloody painful. Her eyes once again darted to the side but then decided to ask the one thing she noticed Lily failed to mention.
"Lily, what was his name?"
Lily looked startled, as if she never knew she hadn't uttered his name a single time. "Oh, his name was Severus Snape."
This time, Hermione knew she definitely heard a faint shifting noise from her side. Ignoring that for a moment, she took in Lily's expression; a mixture of anger, confusion and hurt. "Well, based on what you just said…am I right in thinking you clearly want him back as your best friend? Hermione asked gently, knowing she was approaching sensitive territory. It was a bit surreal to know two of her role models—Sirius and Remus—were actually bullies in their youth, more Sirius than Remus, nevertheless.
Lily sniffed. "It doesn't matter what I want, 'Mione. Our friendship ended the day he called me that word and chose his Slytherin friends over me."
"…well, do you imagine maybe he was just overwhelmed at the moment?"
Lily looked both curious and wary, "…what?"
"You said he was being tormented by Potter and Black, in front of many students, and in front of you. Maybe he felt embarrassed and overwhelmed when you defended him in front of everyone." Hermione said, fully expecting Lily's negative reaction; she knew the girl too well by now, and knew how she'd react but it needed to be said. She didn't exactly know why she was defending Snape right now—the same Snape that tried to make her and her friends life as miserable as possible—but she knew that Snape truly regretted this one moment for the rest of his life. It was his biggest mistake, and for a person to die a hero's death with such a regretful life—the worst kind, she felt she owed it to him.
Lily looked expectantly angry, if the furious scowl on her face was any indication. "Why are you defending him? You don't even know the extent of the things he's done to me! It didn't matter if he was overwhelmed or whatnot, he shouldn't have called the only true friend he had such a thing. Now he's lost that as well." She huffed in anger before sighing slowly, all the anger deflating out of her, resting her head lightly on the metal chain, closing her eyes.
Hermione immediately felt chastised, but she didn't regret speaking her mind. "I'm sorry, Lils, I didn't mean to say you weren't right in being angry; your anger is rightly justified. I just meant to say…to look at the situation from his perspective. After all, isn't a person's first friend one of the most special?"
Lily just looked at her with those green eyes of hers, but didn't say anything. Giving her a small smile though it seemed a bit strained, she said "I don't know about you 'Mione, but I'm knackered after all this talk. I'm going to do those errands and go back home, you alright alone?"
Hermione nodded, knowing Lily needed some time alone to think things through. "Yeah, I'll be alright. Go, its fine."
With a final smile, she turned with a swish of her glinting red hair and walked off, her outline growing smaller and smaller. Once her form was far enough, she turned to where all the rustling noises came from.
"You can come out now, you realize. She's gone." Hermione called out from her swing.
More rustling, then a figure appeared from the bushes and trees. She could make out more about the person as he came nearer. He was wearing long black pants that came to an end near his ankles, clearly too short on him, and a large black coat, with a brown undershirt. But how she really came to know who this person was was because of the shoulder length stringy black hair framing his face that looked familiar to her. Of course she knew who this was. His face was partially hidden by the shadows, only splotches of pale skin could be seen from the small distance.
The sixteen year old Severus Snape was a lot different than what she imagined. For one, his small and old clothes didn't fit the image she had of him in her mind whatsoever. For another, his face was different; softer, more open than his older years, but it was his eyes that caught her attention—dark and expressive, at least for that moment. Despair and longing was clearly etched in them, almost as if silently reaching out to the girl that just left. He still had the hooked nose, though less noticeable and his shoulders were hunched in, almost as if wanting to crawl into himself.
It was only for a moment, a split second, then his eyes became guarded, the walls forming back—his dark eyes showing the familiar blankness; not done as perfectly as he would've as the Snape she knew, but that just highlighted how different, how young and uncorrupt this Severus Snape the Hogwarts student was to Severus Snape the Potions Master.
"…Am I right in assuming you're the same person she was talking about just now?" Hermione asked, looking straight into his eyes; a feat she wouldn't have done if she was actually talking to the Snape she knew.
He looked startled as he looked at her from the direction he was actually looking at, as if finally registering her presence. Hermione couldn't quite get over the feeling of astonishment over how different he was—no sneering, no looks of contempt, just a look of surprise.
"…Yes." A low voice answered her after a moment. He looked tense, his stance rigid as he clenched his fists subtly, but Hermione caught it. He looked dark, dressed fully in black, but the one thing that stood out to her was that he was dressed like a muggle.
Hermione nodded and looked away; she didn't want to make him uncomfortable with her staring.
"…How exactly do you know…Lily?" he asked with slight hesitance. His eyes bore into hers as she opened her mouth to answer.
"I'm a distant cousin of Lily's from Australia. I'm transferring to Hogwarts this year, so I'm staying at her house."
Snape looked a little surprised at the information and looked at her curiously for a moment. " A transfer? That's almost unheard of." He said, confused.
"Yes, I know, but they made an exception for me, I suppose." She answered airily, kicking her feet on the ground and lightly swaying.
A dark eyebrow rose. "Why you?"
"That's another story for another time, I believe," Hermione answered, looking at the younger potions master and her lips lifted at the corner in amusement, "when we haven't even introduced ourselves properly to each other, don't you think?"
Snape looked a bit abashed at that— A never before seen expression on his face— and extended his right arm slowly, almost as if anxious she would reject it, and introduced himself albeit a bit shyly, "Severus Snape."
Now smiling more widely to quell his fears and grabbed his pale hand in a brief handshake, "Hermione Granger."
Looking thoroughly uncomfortable and feeling more than a bit shocked by Hermione's eagerness, he retracted his hand and went to stand in the shadows of a tree, partially covered. Not feeling slighted, she looked at his form in utmost curiosity. Hermione felt a little nosy for intruding into the personal problems between Lily and Snape, but Lily was quickly turning into one of her most precious people, and she'd be damned if she didn't do something. She couldn't erase what had happened, but she could try her best to make it right.
"…You really miss her, don't you?"
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Severus was thoroughly baffled at this girl's audacity to ask such a question to him, practically a stranger—but not only a stranger, but a stranger she's heard such horrible things about. He tried to keep his face carefully blank though, not wanting to show any moment of vulnerability to this person.
But from the knowing glint in her caramel eyes, Severus sensed she already knew his feeling on the topic, which was a bit ludicrous if he thought about it but he was also aware of his little control over anything related to Lily Evans. Of course he bloody missed her, every day. She was his first friend, his first love—even if it was buried deep and unrequited. He stifled the urge to sigh in frustration—he didn't even know why he actually appeared in front of her or why he had even introduced himself.
He guessed it was partly curiosity; this sudden appearance of a person he had never seen before, and maybe even because of the haze his mental state was in when he heard how Lily truly felt, how hard this really was for her. In school, she never gave any leeway about her feelings, not with her friends or alone. This just made Severus hate himself all the more.
"I suppose you don't really have to answer if it requires so much contemplation." The girl—Hermione, he reminded himself—said, looking at him with those all too knowing eyes. "We don't have to talk about it then, after all, you must be thinking why you should divulge your feeling on this to a stranger, am I right?"
Severus felt himself stare at the girl on the swings with a bit of curiousness, and more than a little wariness. What was he supposed to say? The girl was right, but he just couldn't voice it out, not used to being in such a situation before. Suddenly he felt uneasy; he had practically bared most of his emotions in a rare moment of vulnerability to her. In some way, he felt the same as he did when he first met Lily—curiosity about a new person, hope for a friend and relief that there was no judging present, though he would never admit that to anyone.
"I figure I must be. So, let's close this topic, I apologize for even bringing it up." She said sincerely, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear looking a bit abashed.
"…it's fine. Really." He said slowly, adding the last bit when he saw her looking up at him doubtfully. And he realized, it was fine, at least she didn't pry more and had the common decency to stop—that was already more than most people.
"I'm glad then." She said, before she looked down, though he could see the myriad of emotions crossing her face in an instant; he could make out a few—from hesitance to acceptance to determination. Then she asked the most mundane question ever.
"So, what's your favorite subject in Hogwarts?"
"Potions." He said easily. She looked unsurprised at the answer but her eyes lit up a bit.
"Potions is good, but mine would have to be Arithamancy."
From there, conversation flowed surprisingly easily, never breaching into any topics that were deemed personal. Severus couldn't help but feel a bit enthusiastic—when was the last time he had such a stimulating conversation? Not since Lily, that he was sure of. No one in Slytherin House even bothered with conversation, as for them, every word and every silence meant something different; there were never any useless frivolous talks.
He never even realized the time passing.
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Finally the day had come—the first day of the new Hogwarts year. Hermione naturally couldn't sleep all night, tossing and turning throughout while vivid images of people, places, of past memories flashed beneath her eyelids. In the end, she just gave up trying to achieve something useless. Instead, she stared up at the ceiling, splotches of glowing green shaped like comets and stars stuck on irregularly standing out in the darkness of the room, save for the faint light of the moon from the open windows, only Lily's steady breathing and the small insignificant sounds of dogs barking and cars starting up accompanying her.
Hermione took a gasping breath at the realization that she was going to be in Hogwarts the next day—the one place she felt as she truly belonged in—after what seemed like a year to her, and not even in her own time. Instead, she'd be going to a new, or rather older Hogwarts, complete with different people, people she'd never met but only heard of.
She didn't even want to know how she's react to seeing the people she did know—
She still couldn't believe she had met Snape already. He was just so different, so open. She knew this Snape wasn't the bitter, resentful she had known her whole life, but rather a less guarded, less burdened one. And she surprised herself when she thought of how she wanted to keep him that way. At first she didn't know why she wanted to salvage Lily and Snape's friendship, but it was clear after her conversation with him; she wanted him to not end up hating his life because of this one mistake and Lily's pride. She couldn't—wouldn't—allow that.
Hermione rolled her honey eyes as she realized she had just added another thing to her to-do-list. She couldn't help but thinking Harry had somehow passed his irritating hero-complex onto her; first saving the world and now this. What next? Bring James and Lily together? A brief grin flitted on her lips at the thought.
She started a little as she took in the fact that she had actually made light of the realistically dark mission without feeling pessimistic. She was one step closer to healing, she thought dryly.
Raising her head slightly, she looked at the clock on the table between hers and Lily's beds—5:03 blinked in bright red. Recognizing her inability to fall asleep, she adjusted her tank top and pajama bottoms before heading downstairs quietly for a glass of water.
She hadn't expected to see Mrs. Evans sitting on the coffee table as she entered the living room. She was hunched over the table, scribbling lightly on a piece of paper, before scratching out the line written and sighing, leaning back against the chair.
"Having trouble with something, Mrs. Evans?" Hermione asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the early morning.
Mrs. Evans started a bit as she looked up to find the source of the sound, "oh, Hermione! You startled me, and not really, just a bit of office paperwork I was too lazy to do earlier." She said smiling, but then looked at her in curiosity, "you never get up this early. Is it because of the excitement of finally getting out of here and going to Hogwarts?"
"Well, partly because of Hogwarts," Hermione said slowly, sitting down on a chair adjacent to hers, "but it's mostly nerves. I'm going to be a transfer student, which is extremely rare." she sighed—she realized she'd been doing that a lot lately—"…I don't fit in easily, and I'm a bit afraid I won't."
Mrs. Evans looked at her in concern and sympathy, her green eyes blazing. "Dear, you are…one of the bravest people I have ever met. I've never met someone who has gone through…such a devastating tragedy such as yourself and come out of it as strong as you have." She said softly.
"If you can conquer that as bravely as you did, then this should be a walk in the park for you, shouldn't it?" she asked, and patted Hermione's cheek twice.
Hermione lowered her eyes in gratitude, knowing this lady would never know how much that meant to her. It was something her mother would have said, and this just brought all those memories rushing back. She needed to hear that.
"Thank you," she whispered, her voice clogged with emotion, "it means a lot for you to say that, especially to a person who's relatively still a stranger."
"What are you on about?" Mrs. Evans asked, looking quite surprised, "you don't really believe we still think of you as a stranger do you? Hermione, you must know that Richard and I consider you as one of us now, the same as Lily and petunia, not a stranger. Don't ever doubt that for a second." She finished by nodding in assurance. Her face then softened considerably when she saw Hermione's astonished face.
"Now on that note, I also wanted to ask you this—are you coming home for Christmas? Richard and I would absolutely love it if you did! I'm asking you know because I really don't know how to contact you in Hogwarts, I'm deathly afraid of owls, I never go near those blasted birds. They're just eerie when they stare non-stop. I'd have nightmares just thinking about it. " She said, cringing at the mention of the birds, "I usually just order Richard to write the letters, but even that's few and far in between."
Despite the topic, Hermione felt a small smile of amusement pull at the corner of her lips.
"Ah, there's the smile I've been waiting to see." She smiled, her eyes shining in satisfaction. "So, what'd you say? I personally insist you do though, you are practically one of us, remember?"
"I'd…be really happy to, Mrs. Evans." Hermione said, a little bit of the previous sadness diminishing.
"Now really! How many times do I have to say, dear? It's Rachel and Richard. None of this Mr and Mrs Nonsense. Even if I'm not as young as I used to be, I still don't liked to be called in such titles. You can even call us Mum and Dad if you want." Mrs. Evans added cheekily, trying to lighten the situation.
Hermione didn't see it in that way, though. The hole in her heart—of the realization that she would never be with her parents, talk to her parent or even see her parents—would never really go away. Right now, they would just be two strangers; Christopher Granger and Holly Cooper, never to meet for few years. No one could really understand the emotional turmoil involved when taking in the fact that your parents have never even officially met yet; it's the ultimate realization you're not in your own time.
But even if the scar can never truly go away, the wound could be healed. And this was one step closer to that.
Breathing out a laugh, Hermione said two words to a different person, but with the same emotional meaning to her, or at least getting closer to it.
"…Thanks Mum."
Her answering look of surprise and soft smile were well worth it too.
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"Did you pack everything? Lily stresses, "All the things you'd need? You haven't forgotten anything have you? Have I forgotten anything? Oh God, where's Pandora? Oh Sweet Circe!"
Hermione smirked, unable to contain her enjoyment at her friend's overreaction. Pandora was Lily's owl—a beautiful tawny owl with rustic looking feathers and big eyes.
"Lils, relax. You have everything, remember? You finished packing weeks ago and Pandora is safe in her cage which is right now in the car with your dad. I have everything too. We're good to go" Hermione says slowly, so that it enters Lily's frazzled head.
"Oh, ok. Right." Lily says unconvincingly, nodding her head slowly.
"C'mon ladies, let's go! Don't want to miss the train, now do we?" Richard called out from outside the house, making Lily almost hyperventilate again.
"Easy Lily, don't stress, alright? C'mon." Hermione said, her voice veiled with amusement as she realized she was the one ordering someone not to stress, and picked up her trunks and started pulling them out to the car. Richard gave her a smile before loading the trunks to the back of the car. After a moment, Lily was at her side.
"I'm sorry for stressing out so much but it's happened so often it's almost become a ritual, even mum and dad expect it now," Lily said dryly, "but enough about my neurotic problems, how are you feeling?"
Hermione shrugged, "I'm fine."
At Lily's pointed stare, she caved. "Oh, fine. I am a little nervous about being the new person, who wouldn't be? But I am rather excited too."
Lily nodded, satisfied with the answer. "That's expected. But don't worry; I'm going to be with you every step of the way, so you'll at least have one friend even if you humiliate yourself in front of the entire population of Hogwarts." She teased, grinning no doubt at the mental picture.
"Gee, thanks," Hermione replied dryly, but then a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes, "but every step of the way? But then that means James Potter will be running behind me to ask about you! Why subject me to that torture, eh Lils?"
Lily groaned aloud. "Why must you bring his name into almost every conversation?"
Hermione smirked. "Because it's fun to rile you up."
"Besides, you won't be the only person I know in Hogwarts; Severus will be there as well." She glanced sideways at Lily to see her lips pursed and her eyes slightly narrowed. It clearly conveyed her silent frustration over her small tentative friendship with one Severus Snape. But Hermione has been known to be stubborn to a fault and no matter how many times Lily asked her to break of whatever friendship they had, she would never budge unless she had a logical reason to.
Fortunately, Rachel came bustling out through the front door right at that moment, breaking off the slightly tensed silence between them. Hermione let out a sigh at getting out of a direct confrontation again and the unfairness of the situation—here she was trying to repair one of the greatest friendships and she was getting back displeasure for it. Sometimes she hated her Gryffindor-ness, it put her in too many tight situations.
After finally loading up everything and confirming her new-familiar-wand was tucked in safely in her boot, the group of four sans Petunia –who was visiting a friend— climbed into the blue Sedan and they drove off to the train station. Hermione tried to quell the butterflies—more like Cornish pixies—in her stomach at the thought of finally getting closer to the side of the world, the part of her she reveled in.
Finally, King's Cross Station cane into her view through the windows. It was only half past ten, but already Lily started becoming nervous, fidgeting. Richard loaded both their trunks and the animal cage onto a cart and wheeled it into the station with Rachel next to him. Lily and Hermione walked a few paces back, their hands joined. There were many people all around, but she couldn't really say which of them were actually magical. Hermione felt like a little first year again, the excitement all charging back.
They all stopped between the platforms with the huge plastic numbers of nine and ten over them. Richard smiled jovially at the two teenage witches, "well girls, looks like this is where magic takes over."
"Cheesy, dad. Please never say that again." Lily winced in humor, but then smiled widely and hugged him tightly; Hermione watched them for a moment, feeling a wave of longing crash onto her before looking up and meeting the soft, understanding green eyes of Rachel. She didn't say anything, but simply raised both her arms in a silent invitation to Hermione.
Walking two steps forward, she fell into the motherly embrace quickly and hugged the woman back.
"Thank you for everything." Hermione whispered before stepping back. To her surprise, the older woman had tears in her eyes, making her green eyes appear brighter and shiny.
"No need to thank me, dear. You just be careful, you hear? But more importantly, have fun Hermione." She said, patting her cheek fondly. Hermione barely nodded before Lily flung herself onto her mother, tears also present in her eyes as she said goodbye.
Hermione then turned to the other person of the family. Richard and her had never really gotten to know each other properly or even had a full blown conversation, but she always felt a level of comfort and safety around him that made it easy for her to relax around him, even if some awkwardness lingered. But she was still surprised when she found herself in yet again another embrace.
"Please take care of Lily." He whispered.
Her eyes widened at the implication—he trusted her to look after and keep Lily safe. She found herself nodding as she pulled back and stared at him evenly. "Of course I will, and I would've even if you hadn't asked me of that Richard."
Richard's face broke out into a smile. "I know. I also want you to know it's not only Lily you have to look after, but yourself as well, you realize?"
Hermione nodded, her eyes light and her smirk wide.
"Then I'm glad."
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Hermione almost cried as she stepped on Platform 9 ¾ again—she had really thought she never would again. The scarlet steam engine brought back so many pleasant memories to Hermione—disregarding the whole dementors experience, of course. The sign above stating Hogwarts Express—11 o'clock was still the same and the platform had the number 9 ¾ on it. The smoke billowing out, covering the air around them in a thin film of grey, cats and owls in various animal carriers, students hugging their parents, parents crying for the departure of first-years, robes flapping around as students tried to find good compartments—she relaxed at the familiarity of it all. In a split second, Lily came in through the barrier carrying her owl carrier.
"Well? How does it look?" Lily asked excitedly.
"…Something like home." Hermione finally responded, earning a curious look from Lily.
"Good then. Let's go find a compartment before it's all taken—I do not fancy sitting with any Slytherins, or God forbid, the Marauders." Lily said in distaste, her lips curving to a scowl at the thought. "And I'll show you our year mates if I see them."
Shaking her head in amusement, Hermione followed Lily with her trunk as she searched for an empty compartment.
She wrinkled her nose in annoyance as Lily's long hair whipped her face—this must've been what Ron felt like when she had done the same thing, she thought. Looking to where Lily was pointing, she saw a brunette girl of average height and wearing glasses. It looked like she had some difficulty maneuvering her trunk with the two books she had under hand, but then another girl—black hair, blue eyes, tall and stunningly pretty—came over and took the two books under her arm and then hugged the spectacled girl.
"The one with the glasses is Emmeline Vance and the other one is Dorcas Meadows. They're both Ravenclaws—both very smart, but Emmeline is kind of the star pupil of Ravenclaw House. They're best friends, and they're also friends of mine, but we're not very close." Lily said, frowning thoughtfully at the last bit, as if thinking why is that?
But for Hermione, those names sparked something in her brain. She had heard of them, she remembered. She could recall Emmeline and Dorcas were both part of the Order. She had met Emmeline once during a meeting but she had never met Dorcas as she'd been killed shortly after joining during the first war with Voldemort.
Before she could carry on with her thought process, Lily spoke.
"C'mon 'Mione. Walk and look, multitask. Don't just stand there gaping at them. It's unattractive." Lily stage-whispered, her eyes filled with mirth. Hermione felt her face becoming hot and started walking ahead of Lily, her snickering right behind her.
"Oh wait, another pair of people," Lily said pointing to a corner. Hermione followed her eyes yet again to where she was pointing, this time on two boys. The tall one was quite handsome, she noted half-heartedly, with shaggy brown hair and pale eyes. The other one was not quite handsome, he looked thick and burly, but there was a way they looked around and at the other students—as if they were like the scum on the bottom of his shoe—that put her teeth on edge.
"The tall one is Evan Rosier and the thick looking one is Rodolphus Lestarnge. They're both Slytherin and the most pig-headed bigots I've ever met, which is not really surprising," Lily spoke humorlessly, "they both, Avery, Wilkes and Mulciber take up most of that category. I showed them to you so you'll know who to avoid in the future. They're right awful to muggle-borns and blood traitors. Sometimes, also to the half-bloods. They're suspected to be You-Know-Who's followers and rightly so. Mostly everyone tries to stay out of their way, except for the particularly brave ones."
Of course Hermione knew who the Lestranges were; they were also active participants of the war for the Dark side. She briefly checked all the information she had of them—Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange were considered to be among Voldemort's most loyal and trusted Death Eaters. They, along with Rodolphus's wife, Bellatrix, were sentenced to fourteen years in Azkaban for the torture of Alice and Frank Longbottom to the point of insanity.
She willed herself to forget the fact that this was one of the people involved in the torture of Neville's parents for now and focus on the present, it wouldn't do any good if she got irrationally angry; after all, he hasn't committed the crime yet.
She didn't know much about Evan Rosier, only that he died shortly after the defeat of Voldemort the first time.
"Do you include yourself in those particular few?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow, peering into the emerald eyes, partly in curiosity and partly in acceptance.
"Well, I think I can count myself as brave when I give those bullies monthly detentions, don't you?" Lily said with an impish smile.
Hermione chuckled. "Abusing your prefectorial duties. Brilliant."
Lily huffed. "They deserve it. Especially because of how they treat muggle-borns." There was a spark blazing in her green eyes as she said this.
"…I take it you've unfortunately been a victim to this?" Hermione asked quietly.
Lily shook her head slowly and kept on walking. "More than once. That's why I wanted to warn you."
Hermione kept quiet and followed the morose redhead, but her eyes strayed to them more than once. She finally looked away when she accidently caught Rosier's pale blue eyes. She had to stay under the radar for now; she didn't want any unnecessary attention from the wrong people. But then her attention turned to the ruckus happening on the platform.
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, hoggy warty, Hogwarts,
TEACH. US. SOMETHING. PLEASE!
Whether we be old and bald,
Or young with scabby knees!"
Hermione raised a surprised eyebrow while Lily groaned loudly, her eyes closing in frustration.
"Ugh! Those no good idiots are on it again! Why am I not surprised?" Lily grumbled, "Right in the morning too! No semblance for peace, I swear…"
Hermione froze, her hands tightening their grip on the cart. She knew who Lily meant—the Marauders. She couldn't keep in the small laugh at their loud antics though, this was certainly different. She couldn't see them from her position; also, many students were now crowding around. She was glad she couldn't though; she wanted some more time to prepare before seeing them. But Lily's expressions regarding them were always entertaining.
"Oi, Prongs! I think I see Evans over there!"
"What? Where?!"
Both the witches eyes widened at the loud exclamation—Lily's with despair and annoyance and Hermione's with surprise and alertness.
"Uh, I'm going to go find a compartment, okay?" Hermione piped, before taking the cart.
Lily's eyes widened in panic, "What? No! Don't leave me alone with him! Hermione!"
"Sorry Lils!" Hermione called from her shoulder before walking away quickly, pushing the cart along with her. She did feel sorry for leaving Lily—then again, not really, she mused—but her reason was far more necessary than her. Besides, she was giving them free alone time, which was necessary for their future.
Or at least that was the justification she was using for practically throwing Lily to the wolves, or in this instance—James Potter.
Just before she boarded the train, she swore her eyes had connected with a pair of stormy grey ones—it was only for a flash, but those eyes were painfully familiar to a pair of grey ones from her past.
She just hoped she'd be ready soon.
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After a slight struggle, Hermione managed to put both the trunks in an empty compartment and then made sure Pandora's cage was safely secured on of the hooks. Releasing a sigh at a job well done, she then promptly fell onto the seat.
The platform was now relatively less crowded, the mass of people now dispersing—students entering the train and only the parents standing idly by. Hermione turned her head as the crowd of parents started waving frantically to their children as the train blew its last warning whistle and started moving. Just because she had come to a relative peace with the fact that she had no parents, didn't mean she still didn't feel longing.
A few moments later, Lily poked her head into the compartment, relief flooding her face as her eyes landed on Hermione. Opening the sliding glass door fully, she entered with a swish of her long hair with another girl unfamiliar to Hermione following behind her.
"Thank God I found you, I had to go look at most of the compartments saying I was doing patrols trying to find you. Thankfully, they believed me." Lily said dryly.
Hermione smiled. "I'm sure they believed you because of the lie and not because of fear, Lily."
Lily narrowed her eyes in mock suspicion, "I'm not sure if you're sincere or if you're sarcastic," then her eyes widened in remembrance and swiftly smacked Hermione on the arm.
"Ow, what was that for?" Hermione said, indignant.
"That was for leaving me alone out there with Potter!" Lily exclaimed, flailing her arms a bit.
"Oh." Hermione said sheepishly before her eyes landed on the other girl who was watching them a bit awkwardly. Lily noticed her distraction and then quickly introduced them.
"Oh, sorry. Forgot you didn't know each other. Anyway, Gwen, this is Hermione, my cousin and Hermione, this is Gwendelyn Rowle, one of my best friends and a fellow gryffindor."
"It's very nice to meet you. Lily's been chattering on about you from the moment I met up with her." Gwendelyn said, mirth shining on her face.
"I wasn't chattering on and on about her…" Lily pouted.
"Yes you were, darling. Don't deny it."
"It's very nice to meet you to, Gwendelyn." Hermione smiled back.
"Call me Gwen. Gwedelyn is way too long and…old sounding." She shuddered, "Why my parents had to name me that, I'll never know!"
"Probably to punish you for the future because they knew they couldn't get to you then?" Lily offered mildly with a smirk. She received a mock growl for that statement.
Gwendelyn Rowle was a dreamer, Hermione immediately noticed. She was a pale brunette with hair darker than Hermione's, with expressive far away chocolate brown eyes and there was always a smile on her face. But though she looked sweet and innocent, she had a sharp tongue and always preferred the blunt way of speaking, something that Hermione immediately liked. Though she was sure she had never heard of or seen this person in her life, she looked a touch familiar to someone in her past, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"Whatever. Where's Marlene anyway?"
Hermione froze again. Marlene Mckinnon?
"Well speak of the devil and the devil appears." Lily murmured to Hermione with a smirk.
"'Ello darlings!" the door slid open again not-so-quietly to see a short girl with long blonde locks, wide blue eyes and a smirk on her face, panting exaggeratingly. "I've finally found you, thank Merlin. I've been running to each and every compartment in search of you bloody people."
"What took you so long, other than running around? It wouldn't take this long, for sure…" Gwen asked with her hand on her hip, not believing anything the short witch was saying.
The blonde shot a wounded look at her, "Oh ye of little faith, why do you question me so, dearest Gwen?"
Lily snorted. "Er, maybe because we know you're lying, Marls?"
"Not you too, Lils!" she whined, but then her lips curved up to a smirk, "fine!...But one simply cannot help being distracted when Sirius Black is the one doing the distracting."
Gwen and Lily scowled and groaned in disgust while Hermione got a jolt when she heard Sirius's name. Right then, dark blue eyes fell on Hermione's form.
"Well, who's this? I don't believe we've ever met before. Lily, Gwen!" Marlene shouted in a scandalized tone, though the underlining teasing could be heard, "how could you let me go on and on without introducing me with a new witch first? What kind of friends are you?"
Lily hurriedly stood up again, mumbling about why she always forgot introductions. Hermione would've thought Marlene was honestly irate at the redhead and the brunette if not for the sly wink she sent her way. Hermione started to smile widely; her antics were certainly…entertaining to say the least.
"Hermione, Marlene Mckinnon, also Gryffindor. Marlene, this is Hermione Granger, my cousin and new transfer to Hogwarts." She said in one breath.
Marlene looked at Hermione appraisingly. "A transfer? That doesn't happen usually. You must've pulled a lot of strings with old Dumbie to get in then." Suddenly she laughed as she flopped down, "anyone who can get one up over that old man is alright by me. Nice to meet ya, Hermione!"
Hermione laughed at that. "Trust me, it wasn't that hard." She replied back jokingly.
"And she has an attitude too!" Marlene called out cheerfully and then looked at Hermione straight in the eyes with a smile, "you and I are gonna be great friends, 'Mione."
Hermione beamed in response.
"Aww, what a heartwarming moment!" Gwen called out with wide eyes, "…Group hug?"
"No." an instant retort came from both Lily and Marlene. Gwen pouted.
"Why the sudden reaction?" Hermione asked, glancing at both Marlene and Lily in confusion.
Gwen scoffed and flicked her straight hair away from her face. "They're just stubborn gits. It's nothing! So, how 'bout a hug, Hermione? For the start of our new friendship? And to prove these hippogriffs wrong?"
Hermione shrugged, she saw nothing wrong with that. So, she leaned over to Gwen—
She felt her eyes widen as she felt all the air being ripped out of her in just a second. Were her bones being crushed? She didn't know. She just knew she was being squished by a monster! Forcefully pushing away her arms, she retreated back to her chair, wheezing.
"I..think we'll, er….just stick to handshakes from now…" she wheezed out slowly. She was sure at least one of her ribs was bruised.
Lily and Marlene were both cracking up, falling over each other as they laughed. Gwen pouted as she crossed her arms and looked at the side, ignoring the two laughing buffoons who were now wheezing due to their uncontrolled moronic laughter.
Gwen's straight face twitched as she tried to contain his amusement. Hermione saw the twitch, and couldn't suppress a tiny snort of laughter. Within seconds, both of them had burst out laughing along with the other two. For Hermione, the release of the tensions of the day caused the laughter to redouble on itself – and seeing all the others helpless with laughter caused each of them to laugh all the harder.
And that's how Hermione bonded with the three girls who would come to be three of her most precious people.
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End notes- uhh, review please? Thank you!