As Harry and Hermione entered the Great Hall once again, the first thing they noticed was the Marauders eyeing them with distrust. Harry let out a small groan of sadness, while Hermione gave him an encouraging nudge.
"You'll be fine" she told him.
"Not when they're looking at me like that" Harry moaned "They've probably gone back to hating me again"
"I'm sure it's not as bad as all that" Hermione noted worriedly, but then remembering on how they'd acted when she'd arrived in the past, she was willing to bet that Harry was right.
"We're interrupting the reunion, I think maybe we should go" Harry whispered, but Hermione shook her head.
"No. We should introduce ourselves"
"Fine"
Harry and Hermione both made their way over to the Marauders and Lily.
"Hi" Hermione said brightly "I'm Hermione"
"And he's your boyfriend, Harry, we know" James said coldly, eyeing them both wearily. Harry and Hermione stared at each other in surprise, how did he know? Then it clicked, Dumbledore had probably just erased the memories of them finding Harry's memories. Unfortunately, it looked like Dumbledore had erased the 'test' that James, Sirius and Remus had pulled on them. Harry's heart sank. He was in for another rough ride with his parents.
"What are you doing here anyway?" Sirius questioned, rather rudely. Hermione raised an eyebrow. Sirius and Remus had been quite civil before, why were they being so nasty now?
"Well, I … I wanted to see Hogwarts" Harry stated lamely.
"Hogwarts?" James said with a snort "Yeah, right. Are you gonna try and mix with your kind?" he suggested nastily. Harry stared at his father in shock. If possible, they were acting worse towards him than before. What was going on? It hadn't gotten this bad last time! What had Dumbledore done? It seemed to Harry that Dumbledore had only let them remember his name and their distrust for him when he'd first arrived, yet he'd said that he'd erased all of their memories of Harry being there and that he could start over. This didn't look like turning over a new leaf and starting over to either Harry or Hermione.
"Come on, Hermione, we don't need to take this abuse" Harry said, glaring angrily at his father "Let's go look around Hogwarts" he said, raising his voice a little louder.
"Yeah, that's it. Go look around Hogwarts. Try not to get too lost" Sirius said with a snigger.
As Harry and Hermione exited the Great Hall, Hermione was horrified to see that Harry had silent tears streaming down his face.
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"I want out!" Harry cried, punching his fist into the wall and making a slight dent in it "I am never trusting Dumbledore again! He said he'd completely erased their memories and he lied! I just want to go back to our present time! I'd rather be there any time than stay here in the past where my parents and Sirius hate me!" Hermione watched him apprehensively, not really knowing what to say.
"Harry, why don't we go back to your parent's house and have a drink or something?" Hermione suggested timidly. Harry shook his head.
"No. I don't want to go back to theirs yet. I'm not ready to go back and keep taking abuse from them. No! I want to wander around Hogsmeade for a bit" Hermione nodded in understanding.
"Okay, shall we floo there by Dumbledore's office? I'm sure he'd agree"
"Yeah, l-let's go Hermione. I want to get away-far away from them. You know something? I'm beginning to understand why Snape hates them, because I'm starting to feel the same way"
"Snape?!" Hermione queried incredulously.
"Yes, Snape!" Harry retorted hotly "I can understand why he hates them like he does. The Marauders didn't give him a chance and now they're not giving me one"
"Come on Harry, let's go. At least, we need to find a way to get you back to the Potter's where you won't be in need of killing them with Avada Kedavra while they're asleep" she joked. Harry laughed.
"Yeah, we'd better cool down my temper, otherwise I might" he replied jokingly. They both laughed as they made their way to Dumbledore's office. Meanwhile, Remus had been listening to the whole thing and was terrified for his best friends' lives.
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"Prongs! Lils! You two are in grave danger!" Remus cried, looking frightened. James and Lily both looked to Remus with raised eyebrows.
"What is it?"
"It's Harry!" Remus gasped. Lily immediately looked scared.
"What about him?"
"I just heard him talking to Hermione. You know his girlfriend?" James nodded, his eyes narrowed.
"Go on, Moony. What did he say?"
"He said, I'm beginning to understand why Snape hates them—"
"Snape?!" Sirius questioned incredulously. Remus nodded.
"—and he said, I'd better go to Hogsmeade to calm down my temper otherwise I might Avada Kedavra them in their sleep!" Lily's eyes widened in horror as she clapped a hand to her mouth, while James looked murderous.
"If that boy thinks he can mess with the Potter's, he's got another thing coming!" James growled "No one messes with the Potter's!"
"Especially some Death Eater who's friends with Snape of all people!" Sirius added savagely.
"Come on, we'd better find the boy and deal with him"
"Are we still keeping him in the house?" Lily questioned.
"To be honest Lily, I think he's dangerous. Maybe if we took away his wand … and put a locking charm on our bedroom at night, he can't attack us. Then tomorrow, we'll go to the Ministry and report him"
"But James … he hasn't actually done anything wrong. All we've heard from him is words. If he actually attacked you or threatened you, then yes, we could go to the Ministry, but—"
"Are you sticking up for that Death Eater?" James demanded. Lily shook her head furiously.
"No, not at all, but it's just … you can't go to the Ministry and report him. They'll need proof and just hearing it from Remus won't be enough" James scowled and nodded reluctantly.
"Alright, I won't go to the Ministry … yet, but the next time he does something fishy, I'll have him." Lily nodded in agreement.
"Plus I'm pregnant James, don't forget that. I don't really want you getting involved with anything dangerous. If this boy tries something, don't try and fight him, just get Frank Longbottom in, he is, after all, an Auror, like yourself" James nodded.
"Yes, yes, alright Lils. I understand" He said with a small smile, then he shook his head in amusement "You'll make a brilliant mother to our son; you know that, don't you?" Lily beamed at him.
"Thank you. And you'll make a brilliant father" James' face softened.
"I sure hope so" he replied softly.
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Harry and Hermione sat in The Three Broomsticks drinking huge mugs of Butterbeer.
"Feel any better?" Hermione questioned her boyfriend, who had just finished the last of his pint.
"A lot" he said brightly. Hermione smiled.
"Good"
"When should we start making our way back?" Hermione asked. Harry turned serious.
"Soon, otherwise they'll probably think I'm up to something dodgy"
"Okay"
As they exited The Three Broomsticks, Harry suddenly had the feeling that they were being watched. As he turned slightly, he saw a big black dog following them. Harry scowled and leaned his head next to Hermione's.
"Padfoot's following us. Obviously my dad told him to follow us to wherever we go"
"Well, we're going back to the Potter's, aren't we?" Harry nodded.
"But don't mention anything about the future, right?"
"Right"
Suddenly, Harry grinned mischievously as he stopped Hermione. Hermione stopped and looked at him questioningly.
"I love you, Hermione!" Harry said loudly, drew her up into his arms and kissed her passionately. The sound of a dog's cough, which could've passed off as a sound of disgust in human form could be heard.
I'm going to kill James when I next see him, Sirius thought in disgust as he watched the suspected Death Eater kissing his girlfriend.
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Harry laughed as they entered Godric's Hollow.
"Did you hear the noise that dog made? It sounded like it was choking on something! When I looked at it, it was staring right at us! I never knew dogs could take such an interest in human activity" he exclaimed. Hermione giggled madly, but stopped on seeing James, Lily, Remus and Sirius. Little did they know that Sirius had actually climbed in through the kitchen window and quickly joined the rest of the gang.
"Hi!" Harry said brightly "We were just talking about the funniest thing"
"I'm sure it was hilarious" James stated coldly. Harry didn't wipe the smile from his face. He wouldn't.
"Can I ask you guys something?" he asked.
"Sure, go ahead"
"Thanks" Harry's smile had immediately faded as it took on an angry glare, completely forgetting about keeping the smile on his face "What have you got against Hermione and I? We haven't done anything wrong to you and you're treating us as if we're criminals!" he snarled.
"Maybe that's because we've heard about you." Sirius retorted just as angrily.
"Heard about me?" Harry questioned incredulously "You can't possibly have—"
"And why not?" Remus demanded, eyes flashing dangerously.
"Because-because you just can't have" he replied lamely. Harry suddenly twitched and Hermione glanced at him worriedly.
"Harry?"
Harry gasped as his knees gave way, his hands clutching the scar on his forehead.
"Harry!" Hermione yelled, looking alarmed. James, Lily, Sirius and Remus all took a step backwards, looking suspiciously to Hermione and the supposed Death Eater. Harry shook madly, before letting out an ear-splitting scream that could've shaken the entire household. Voldemort had tortured his Death Eaters … for not finding out who he was.
