The next few weeks went by went by in one of two ways depending on which time of day you asked Hermione – agonizingly slow when she was heartbroken and missing her friends or too fast when she thought about how much she had left to do. Dumbledore had assured her in a meeting that there was no rushing her timeline, to Hermione's displeasure. He gave her a few reasons. She was not of age according to their new records and could not do magic outside of Hogwarts, and they still had a few years time. Hermione was itching to get started however, doing research whenever she had time. She made a list of the Horcruxes and their locations for him for which he was thankful. He assured her that in the coming months and in the summer time they would make quick work of them without arousing suspicion.
That didn't make waiting any easier.
Especially when there was one right under their nose.
However, excluding the charmed lily fiasco, over the next few weeks Hermione found that the sixth year Gryffindors were actually a brilliant collection of witches and wizards. It was easy to see why they were such brilliant assets to the Order in the future.
Lily was smart and funny but wicked and quick to anger when James was involved. Her compassion though is where she saw Harry the most. She was always helping a younger student or loving on her friends. There wasn't anyone that she wasn't kind to – except James and he usually deserved it. Hermione was only surprised by how foul her mouth was. It would have made Harry blush.
Alice was nothing short of the sweetest human being on the planet. She had nothing but kind words to say about everyone that she came into contact with. Frank absolutely adored the ground that she walked on. Their relationship was one that the school admired. All this was unsurprising given Neville's disposition.
Marlene. Marlene was exactly what she showed on the outside. She would light you on fire only after you begged her to do it. She was six inch heels and black jeans. She was hell on wheels and wicked with a wand. Hermione was sure that she was a beater because it was the only time she was actually allowed to attack another student. It was a way to get all that aggression out … except for on Sirius in broom closets. She was so different from anyone Hermione had ever known. Hermione loved her.
The boys were something else entirely.
James was the boy next door. Spoiled, brilliant, and beautiful. He was good at everything and he knew it. His arrogance was only barely acceptable because his kindness was larger than his ego. The only time his image seemed to crack was when Lily did a number on him. It was obvious when she hit a nerve. He tried not to show his hurt but his friends knew and they also knew how to help him through it.
Sirius hid everything close to his heart by being as outwardly obnoxious as possible. Hermione only knew this about him because she knew him so well in the future. He showed his brilliance using showy pranks and outward displays of rebelliousness. The only time you saw him being raw and real was in the company of his friends and rarely when he and Marlene were wrapped up in a corner somewhere.
Peter surprised her. He wasn't as invisible as Hermione expected him to be. While not nearly as brilliant as his friends, it didn't stop him from being involved or trying to learn. James was a patient teacher and would often pull him aside to show him proper techniques on how to properly hex unsuspecting second year Slytherins – his favorite target for some unknown reason. He was also unfailingly kind. He was quick to befriend Hermione and try to acclimate her to her new life.
And Remus. She knew Remus was intelligent, brilliant even, but it surpassed even what Hermione could have imagined. His notes were sloppy and hard to read but when she could finally decipher them, she realized that he put his own spin on the information and not only was it correct, it was insightful and could one day change the world. He was being wasted. She noticed that his prefect badge was usually upside down or not on his robes but that didn't stop any of the younger kids from asking him directions or help with homework. His scars didn't seem to make him unapproachable and he always, always helped them with a gentle smile and words of encouragement. He was stunning.
Hermione had taken to keeping a journal. Dumbledore had thoughtfully put a blank one in the trunk that he supplied her with and she had to think that it was for this reason.
So she could really remember.
She wanted to write down all the things that she remembered from her timeline and ones from this one. She didn't want to just write about the things that were deemed important, although she did do that. The things she wanted to write about, were the things that really mattered – like how Harry snored when he laid on his back and Ron sneezed exactly three times every time. Or other things, like that Sirius always moved his knight first and Remus' favorite food was specifically Honeydukes dark chocolate. Those were the things that Hermione wanted to remember.
She was writing those things down when Lily knocked on her bedpost. Hermione looked up and smiled at her.
"Hey, am I interrupting?" Lily asked. Hermione put her last thought down.
"Not at all," Hermione told her. Lily nodded and took a seat at the end of Hermione's bed. Lily had become someone Hermione had spent a lot of time with. They could often be found in the library doing homework – often stalked by one or many of the sixth year boys even though a few of them had a strict no library policy.
"I was wondering if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow," she said suddenly. Hermione raised her eyebrows at her. Lily suddenly realized how that sounded and started laughing. "Oh Merlin! Not like that! I'm trying to avoid Potter. Alice is going with Frank and Marlene and Sirius will end up snogging somewhere."
It all sounded like a realistic scenario to Hermione but she just sort of wanted to see if Remus wanted to work on homework with her.
"Though," Lily said with a sly look that didn't sit well with Hermione at all. "If there was someone else that you were holding out for than I would totally understand!" Hermione's mouth dropped open.
"What! No way." Now it was Lily's turn to look skeptical. Hermione was here to change the world, not date anyone.
"Okay, okay, just asking. Nobody would blame you.' Lily was looking at her like there was something she knew that Hermione didn't and that was something she never ever liked.
"Why, what do you know?" Lily smirked. Smirked. It reminded her very suddenly of Ginny which was concerning.
"Nothing, just that you and Remus have been spending a lot of time studying together lately," she said lightly, waving her hand around. Hermione was struck suddenly that in the midst of trying to prevent a war, save thousands of lives, kill a dictator – she was having girl talk with a friend about a boy. It was almost normal.
Hermione was saved from having to answer by the dormitory doors banging open. Marlene came barging in, sweaty and still in her Quidditch gear. She threw her gloves across the room and ripped her hair out of its ponytail. Lily waited patiently for the tantrum to be over before interrupting.
"Rough practice?" she asked. Marlene could spit fire.
"It was a fuc- UGH! Keates is suspended indefinitely!" This got Lily's attention. Hermione had no idea who that was.
"What happened?" she asked, leaning forward.
"The absolute idiot. He got caught cursing his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend. They might expel him. I could kill him myself." Hermione looked over at Lily in question.
"Keates is our seventh year Keeper. Big as a house. We don't have a back up," she explained. "What is Potter's plan?" Marlene was pacing back and forth like a crazy person.
"I don't know! He says that he has one but he won't tell us because he needs to make sure the timing it right. What the hell does that mean?" Marlene demanded. Hermione had only ever seen one other female this riled up about Quidditch before. Hermione wondered if she could stop the war would Marlene be able to go professional. That had been Ginny's dream.
"Who knows what that tosser is thinking," Lily said, "but let's go ahead and calm down. What are your plans for tomorrow?" The abrupt change in subject seemed to surprise Marlene because she stopped moving suddenly.
"To go to Hogsmeade. Drink. Shop. Cause a scene. The works." Hermione laughed. She had checked in her trunk earlier and saw that there was a copy of her signed permission slip and some of the money from the account Dumbledore set up for her.
"Hermione, you are going to love Hogsmeade."
"Oh, is she going?" Marlene asked with some kind of look in her eye. Lily tilted her head back to look at her with a grin.
"Sure is. Had to say I was a bit surprised myself, thought I was going to have to drag her down there." Marlene laughed and tossed the rest of her stuff around her bed while she got ready to take a shower.
"Well you never know, he might be down there." Hermione was as red as her bedsheets.
"What are you two on about?" she demanded but her two dormmates just laughed and laughed.