Hermione was right back to depressed as soon as she stepped into her quarters, as not only was it in shambles, but now it was extremely awkward. She took a deep breath and started to flick her wand to right the furniture as the Marauders shuffled and tried to silently communicate that one of them should volunteer and ask what was wrong.

"So in my supposed seventh year, Harry, Ron and I skipped out and hid from Death Eaters," Hermione began as she started to rearrange and clean, keeping her eyes focused on her task, "Hunting Horcruxes – they're dark magic that hold pieces of your soul. Voldemort had seven. Well, we didn't know there were seven, but – anyway. We hopped all over the continent, I think, but woods just look like woods, no matter where you go. So after an unfortunate incident, we were captured and taken to Malfoy Manor. As they'd found the sword of Gryffindor, which a copy had apparently been made and put in to the mad woman's vault, in my purse, I was the lucky one to get tortured for information. When I wouldn't talk, she carved Mudblood into my arm and shot hexes and the Cruciatus Curse at me until Harry, Ron and Dobby saved me. I've still got scars all over me, and that's why you'll probably never see me in shorts or anything, and – "

"Who did it?" Sirius asked quietly, making her stop in her ranting and look over at him.

She bit her lip before turning back around and grabbing the tape out of the VCR, "Bellatrix."

"Bitch," he murmured before looking back at her again, "She dead?"

"Mm-hm," she hummed before gaining a small smile, "Molly Weasley killed her. Me, Luna and Ginny were holding her off and she kind of pushed us out of the way and said 'not my daughter, you bitch.' Best memory I've had of that entire missing school year."

Sirius grinned back at her, "Good."

The next day was infinitely better, in the beginning and end anyway. Hermione had been sitting cross-legged up on her desk, the sleeves of her pale orange blouse rolled up and an extra quill tying up her hair as she worked. As soon as the Marauders got there, though, she shoved it aside and insisted that the movie night had certainly not been fun enough and demanded a redo that day. They happily obliged and spent most of the morning telling stories of their days at Hogwarts, making her grin or laugh until Luna waltzed in and hopped onto the desk next to her, this time wearing a very long flowing skirt and a peasant blouse, a scarf masquerading as a headband, kicking off her sandals and sitting there happily.

"Daddy's given me the day off," Luna explained as she examined her toenails, "I am supposed to be buying school supplies, but I'd rather do that with Ginny. So I decided to visit you. How are you? I see you're showing that more freely," she pointed to Hermione's scar.

Hermione sighed and told her of the little adventure her and the boys had had that night. Luna only brightened up and said, "Oh, good, I'm very glad Dean is working very hard there. I was worried that the pressure of being an Unspeakable would cause him too much stress."

Hermione snorted and rolled her eyes, shaking her head at her, "I'm very glad you're worried about the right thing in that, Luna."

"Oh, no, I would be worried if you weren't all sitting here perfectly fine and alive and telling me," she stated, "Dean, however, is not present, and so I'm afraid I have good reason to worry unless my worries have been quelled. Which you have just done. So thank you."

Hermione only laughed, smiling at her before pulling back a piece of the younger girl's hair to settle it behind her ear, "Luna, you're different."

"Good different?" she asked as she pulled around a piece of her hair and settled it over her upper lip and reached it around to hook it around her other ear, pushing out her lips much like a duck and crossing her eyes. Hermione only giggled a little bit harder at her, nodding when she couldn't find words to use.

"Knock, knock!" a voice called, making Hermione freeze before hopping down and running towards the door, catching it before it opened all the way. "Whoa, quick response!"

"Harry!" Hermione said happily, waving to Luna behind her back in an effort to get the Marauders out pronto. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Ron said he dropped by, and Luna and Ginny said they drop by all the time, so I figured that I should too," he smiled, absentmindedly wondering why she wouldn't open the door farther, "So – can I see it?"

"Err – see what?"

"Your classroom, duh, Professor," Harry teased.

"Err," Hermione checked back to see that Luna was shrugging back at her, the four boys sharing panicked expressions. "No, it's horribly messy! Come on, we'll walk down to the kitchens." She started to slip out and close the door behind her, but Harry grinned and pushed on it before she could stop him.

"Hermione Granger, making a mess? I've got to see this," he grinned as Hermione paled and reached for his arm to stop him. He certainly did stop when he saw the four inhabitants of the classroom, Luna having ducked under the desk to see if they could fit before freezing when she heard Harry walk in.

"Harry," Hermione whispered, gripping the ends of her hair and backing away from him a little and into the room, getting between him and the Marauders.

The look of utter betrayal and shock on his face only made Hermione bite her lower lip and wrap her arms around herself, backing away from him still.

"You – I – they're the…how?" he started, looking between her and James.

"Filch accidentally burned the Marauders' Map," she whispered quietly, "The copies of their spirits came into Hogwarts and somehow became corporeal. I've been wondering if maybe more and more of themselves added on when they were – "

"You didn't tell me?" Harry asked, his voice hardening.

"Oh, Harry, please don't be like this," Hermione began worriedly.

"You didn't tell me that my own father…?"

"Well, Harry, if you want to get – "

"Hermione, how could you? I thought you might understand, I thought you knew! But you've been keeping it from me!"

"Harry, please," she sounded so desperate and so very close to crying. Sirius reached up and grabbed her shoulders and began to tug her back behind him and Remus, but only made far enough that she stood right beside him before Harry spoke again.

"Hermione, you knew – I've told you ever since first year, I thought you – "

"Harry Potter, you listen to me right now!" Luna demanded, making them blink as she got out from under the desk and instead stood on top of it, frowning down at him. "Hermione has only ever been worried about you. The only reason she didn't tell you when they were spirits was because she didn't know if it would last, and the only reason she didn't tell you when they became solid was because she was worried about your mental health. You're in Auror training, you haven't been getting enough sleep and you're still in Post-War stage, and she didn't know how you would handle having your father and his friends show up and be seventeen years of age! She'd been hoping to come and visit you and explain it to you nice and carefully like she usually does, because she knew that if she sprung it on you, you'd react much like you are right now! Now you apologize to her this instant!"

It was silent for a few moments, during which Hermione moved and shifted a little bit towards Harry, watching him carefully before he sighed.

"I'm sorry," he began.

"I know," she smiled a little.

"I'm an arse."

She grinned a little be more, "I know. After seven years, believe me, I know."

Harry grinned back before hugging her, having her wrap her arms around his torso and discreetly unroll her sleeves to cover the scar.

"Hi!" James suddenly popped in front of Harry, grinning brightly at him as he did the same, Hermione stepping aside and letting them go. "Whoa, you do look like me! Wicked."

"He's like a carbon copy of James," Remus blinked, making Sirius chuckle and Peter nod.

"Even got the temper down to a tee too," Sirius grinned as the two looked over at him and frowned back before Harry smiled.

"Wow, it's really…wow," Harry grinned back at Luna and Hermione, who were smiling and sitting on a student desk this time. "Just…wow!"

"Really, Harry, you're so eloquent – you could put Skeeter out of a job," Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Anyone could put Skeeter out of a job," Harry snorted before beaming at her, "This is brilliant."

"Yeah, try dealing with them for two months and see if you keep the same mindset," Hermione huffed before smiling again, "Really, though, they have their moments."

"See? Was that so hard to admit?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," she frowned at him as he wrinkled his nose at her before she did the same.

"We should – I dunno – " Harry turned back to look at Hermione.

"Missus Weasley said she'd be honored to throw a party and to have the Marauders – so long as they refrain from pranking anyone or anything," Luna said for her.

"Gotta love Missus Weasley," Harry chuckled.

Hermione struggled with tying her hair up, making faces at herself in the mirror as she did. She'd changed out of her blouse and jeans and into a long sleeved dark green dress with grey leggings and black boots, making them all wonder if they should change too before she waved them away and told them that it was only because she was worried her scars would show, as the Weasleys could be rather boisterous. This only made James, Sirius and Peter squint and try to remember what 'boisterous' meant, as Remus had said it once upon a time and they'd tried to remember the meaning of it, honestly.

Luna popped through the fire, this time wearing a pale yellow dress and rocking back and forth on her heels to wait for further instructions from her friend. They talked about Flooing directly into the Burrow, but decided that it would be far too clogged up and that it was best to go with Flooing to the Hog's Head and then Apparating to the Weasleys' backyard. They did this, and once they were ready to Apparate, Hermione grabbed Sirius and Remus's arms while Luna grabbed James and Peter's, grinning brightly at one another before quickly saying 'one-two-three – GO!'

The boys fought to regain their balance as Hermione and Luna laughed and argued good-naturedly with one another over who had won, walking through the garden gate and up to the back porch, where George waved happily at the girls and pecked them both on the cheek before motioning the Marauders inside the strangely structured house.

Once inside, it was full of light and warmth and people. Harry found them soon enough and smiled before trying to point out who was who and quickly decided that too many people were moving and he'd try to do it later. Ginny had slipped up next to him and greeted the Marauders before launching in with Harry, Sirius, James and a half-interested Peter about Quidditch tactics. Remus felt something wrap around his wrist and looked to see that it was Hermione, who was silently pulling him away and out of the kitchen, into the living room and a small corner where an older woman was sitting with a tiny body in her lap.

"Andromeda," Hermione said softly, making her look up at her, "This is Remus. I think it would be a very good time for him to meet Teddy."

The older woman smiled before lifting the tiny body up and down onto the floor. The child had bright blue hair and grey eyes, looking happily up at Hermione before tilting his head at Remus as he kneeled down and looked at him.

"Teddy," Hermione began, still standing, "This is Remus. He's a time traveler. If he'd continued on in his time, he would've been your father. But since he's with us, he technically isn't."

"Nah dah," Teddy said, grinning and holding out a pudgy hand to Remus, who quirked a grin and tilted his head at him, "Nah dah."

Hermione smiled and sat down next to Remus, "I think he might be saying 'Not Dad.' Not entirely sure, however."

Remus chuckled and poked his index finger into the boy's palm, nearly taking up most of the space there as he curled his fingers around it and tugged lightly, "How about just Moony, alright?"

"Juh moo," he said, making Remus laugh, which made the little boy grin wider.

"Moony," Remus said slowly, making Teddy bob his head a little. "Can you try that?"

"Moon," Teddy said, reaching out and touching Remus's face, amber and grey looking out at each other, nearly identical wide grins on their faces – although, Remus had much more teeth.

"Close enough," Andromeda chuckled from her chair.

"Moon-y," Hermione said, grabbing Teddy and lifting him up into the air as she fell back onto her back, grinning widely at the giggling little boy, "Moon-y, come on Teddy, we got you to say Minnie for me."

"Mooooonyyyyy," Teddy sang, grabbing at his feet as he still giggled at Hermione.

"There we go!" Hermione popped back up and hugged him as he continued to laugh before she lifted him up and offered him to Remus, who hesitated before grabbing him and setting him in his lap.

"Aww, look at the little guy," James cooed, stooping down and making Remus look up before smiling back at him. "He's so cute and…blue?" He glanced at Hermione questioningly.

"His mother was a metamorphagus," Hermione offered as she rested her back against the leg of Andromeda's chair.

"Aww, now you can lose him so easily in a crowd of children," Sirius said, making Remus shoot him a very dark glare.

"He rather prefers blue – and, if memory serves correct, that was your favorite color to turn Narcissa and Bellatrix's hair before you had a wand to reign your magic in," Andromeda said, smirking a little at Sirius as he blinked at her, "Really, you just couldn't fall back on that excuse anymore."

"And…how did you know that?" Sirius questioned.

Andromeda sighed and Hermione shared a sympathetic look with her before the younger answered, "Sirius, that's Andromeda."

"Andy? No way!" Sirius grinned before gulping in a huge intake of air, right as Remus was passing Teddy to James, which was perfect as Sirius bowled him over, "You married my cousin's daughter? You prick!"

"What?" Remus asked, struggling to right himself as Hermione, James and Andromeda laughed. "Sirius, I didn't marry anyone! I'm seventeen!"

"You were right," Andromeda grinned to Hermione, "That was funny."

"Thank God he passed Teddy off first though," Hermione said as she stood and took a squirming Teddy out of James' arms and hooked him onto her hip, kissing the little boy's cheek. He gave a happy little squeal before burying his face into her hair, coming back out of it with the same brown curls and brown eyes, making Hermione grin brighter and hug him a little tighter. "Ooh, you know I love it when you do that. I should never catch you in trouble – you always know how to get out of it. Sometimes I think you're too cute for your own good."

Dinner with the Weasleys was quite an interesting experience. Harry did manage to tell them who was who, but by the time he was done dinner was done with, the dishes were clean, and everyone was outside and messing around. Charlie and Ron seemed to team up with Bill and George to torment Hermione, Charlie even picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder once. She'd laughed and thumped him in the back as Ginny bounced around her friend with pent up energy, Luna quietly stalking a firefly. Andromeda had let Remus hang out with Teddy, who seemed fascinated by the grass and was quite content to sit in the loose circle of Remus's legs and yank out the peculiar green threads and offer them to him, making him smile and thank him before putting them in the pile behind his back. James was talking with Harry, and Sirius was talking to Andromeda, and Peter was quietly talking to Aubrey, Percy's girlfriend, who was the only one who hadn't needed to be taken out of the room at some point and talked to by Hermione.

"That was fun," James said as he thumped onto Hermione's couch, already closing his eyes, a wide smile on his face.

"It really was," Hermione said, taking her hair out of its hold and sighing when the pressure released on her scalp, shaking her head to get it to loosen more. Sirius yawned and flopped in the floor, Peter regaining the armchair he'd had the night before and Remus sitting on the arm of his own. "Did you like him?"

Remus nodded and smiled up at her, "He's really brilliant."

She smiled back, "Yeah. Well boys, I'm going to head to bed – oh!" She seemed to remember, "Get up rather early tomorrow, we have work to do." The four groaned and flopped and she chuckled before heading up the few steps to her bedroom.