AND here is 10, woohoo! Reviews and constructive criticism ALWAYS welcome! ENJOY!
Thank you to Desperate4more, Raven that flies at night , GhostWriter1864, and windyshoes. You all are wonderful and I appreciate you all SO much for the reviews.
Hermione slowly ran her fingers over the cloud like tan duvet of the four post bed. She turned and craned her neck as she took in the stunning cream and gold room. There was a chest of drawers with a mirror directly across from the bed, a full bathroom through a door on the left of the back wall, a reading chair by a window to the right of the bathroom, and a tall bookcase by the entrance of the room. It was small, ornate and appeared very old; even though Minerva had said that Dumbledore assisted in conjuring the room only yesterday. The room was attached to the living area of Professor McGonagall's private quarters, which was hidden behind a painting of a proud standing lioness on the third floor of the castle.
Hermione was happy to have moved into a room with real walls, but she was going to miss the late night conversations with Remus that she had shared the last three nights. James and Sirius had been very cordial toward her; she realized that Remus must have explained about her family situation and asked them to be on their best behavior. Hermione did hope they wouldn't act so despondent toward her for long though. She wouldn't mind becoming real friends with the Marauders, even Peter. Hermione needed to see how and why Peter Petrigrew had turned to the Dark Arts, and wanted to see if there was a way to save him too.
Remus had finally been discharged from the hospital wing this morning and was now headed to the Potter's residence, with James and Sirius, for some summer fun before seventh year began. They had invited her to meet them in Diagon Alley the Friday before term started to purchase their yearly supplies for school. James had bashfully mentioned that Lily Evans might be joining them too and that he thought the girls might get along.
But for now, Hermione had time to enjoy having the castle almost entirely to herself.
Minerva had already given Hermione all of the seventh year books that were required for her classes, so every day she would pick one and wander around the castle or the grounds and find a new spot to study. She hadn't purchased her seventh year books in the future; Harry had decided the Horcuxes had to be found first. So Hermione was quite enjoying her leisurely reading. She found that her favorite spot was still a little corner of the library. It was a small window seat along the catwalk of the second floor of the library. The window over looked the Quidditch pitch, and it reminded Hermione of Harry and Ron.
Hermione also spent some of her free time personalizing her room. She unpacked everything from her beaded purple purse; it was truly amazing how much that little bag could hold. There was about a weeks' worth of muggle clothes, two pairs of shoes, every book Hermione had ever owned, pictures of family and friends, dozens of potion ingredients, along with several hundred Pound sterling and Galleons that Harry had generously given to her after she had sent her parents away. Hermione placed the pictures in the drawer of her bedside table; she wanted to keep them close but out of sight. Everything else quickly found its proper place and the room began to take on a familiar feel.
"Well, we cannot purchase your school robes until you've been sorted at the feast, but I can take care of that for you later if you just get measured at Madame Malkin's when you visit Diagon Alley." McGonagall was pleased with how her 'niece' was settling in; especially how much they were bonding. They stayed up nearly every night discussing everything from Transfiguration theories to the poppycock of Divination by tea leaves. "Do you know what house you would like the hat to choose for you?"
Hermione groaned, "I have to be sorted again?"
"No," McGonagall said in a lighthearted voice, "You are being sorted for the very first time technically speaking."
Hermione groaned again. Her 'Aunt' seemed to be extremely amused when she was able to use chronological time issues to her advantage.
"Can I be sorted in private before the welcome feast? I don't want to be in the spotlight with all the first years." Hermione's stomach tightened at the mere thought of standing with the tiny fresh-faced students.
"Well, you are my niece so special exception can be made. But wouldn't it be easier to get introduced to the entire school at once and have them gossip over you for a few days? The alternative would be walking into each class and reintroducing yourself and exposing yourself to a multitude of similar questions; which could last a few weeks if you do not have an outgoing personality." Professor McGonagall had difficulty keeping her smile at bay.
"Fine, Aunt Minerva. You win this one. I will stand with the first years and be gawked at." Hermione brought the back of her hand to her forehead and pretended to feel faint, "What a horrifying world I live in."
The Friday before term finally arrived and Hermione found herself extremely anxious. I'm going to meet Lily Potter. She looked through her clothes and found a simple dark t-shirt to go with her light jeans, so that she did not seem dated. Hermione pulled a light sweater over the navy shirt, to make sure that the edges of the scar on her neck were covered, and hiked up the sleeves to the elbows. The scars had faded to a deep brown; but Hermione was still hyper aware of what clothes she wore so that the marks were completely covered. She also left her hair down, for good measure.
Hermione muttered a quick spell over her beaded purse and elongated the purple strings that gathered the fabric at the close. She slipped her wand into the bag before tying the ends securely together. She then pulled it over her head and right shoulder for hands-free transport. Hermione gave the bag a little shake and heard nothing; the silencing charm that she had placed on the bag last month was still in place. There was no need for other people to know how deep the bag actually was.
McGonagall had asked Dumbledore to temporarily connect her own fireplace to the Floo Network so that Hermione would be able to travel easily between London and Hogwarts. She gave a quick hug to her 'niece' before hesitantly sending Hermione off by herself.
BANG.
Oh God, I've hit someone… Hermione hated traveling by Floo. She had set her destination as the Leaky Cauldron and just hoped for the best. Appartition would have been so much easier, and cleaner.
"I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" Hermione sputtered ash from her mouth as she tried to right herself and help lift the arm of her victim.
Laughter filled her ears, "Yes, yes it's fine. I've been though much worse, trust me." Hermione's mouth gaped open as she focused on a pair of very familiar green eyes. Lilly Evans had just said goodbye to her father and walked into the dark pub when she was sideswiped by a tumbling figure from the fireplace. She looked at Hermione and noticed that her sweater was askew; Lilly saw some of the brown scars peeking out from Hermione's collar. "Are you Amelia by chance?"
Hermione nodded her head, "Yes, I'm guessing that you're Lily."
The redhead smiled as she stuck out her hand, "Well nice to finally meet you. Remus and James have told me all about you."
Hermione felt her heart sink, "Oh, um… what have they told you?"
Lily decided that it was only fair to be honest with this girl, "Remus told me quite a lot. I hope that's alright." Lilly reached over and straightened Hermione's collar so that the scars were covered again. "Come on, let's run to the loo for a minute so we can right ourselves," Lily took Hermione's hand and led her to the bathrooms in the back of the pub.
Hermione sighed as she took in her reflection. She quickly flattened her hair and took her wand out and cleaned the soot off her clothes with a quick wave. Lily did the same and washed her hands in the sick. She noticed the solemn face that Hermione was wearing and tried to comfort her, "Remus only told me about your accident in hopes that I could help. He hasn't told all the details to the others, and he would never mean to upset you."
"Oh, I know. I had just hoped I could have made a better first impression on you. I don't want to be known as the orphan girl with hideous scares all down her front, or even the girl who knocked you over because I forgot to put my feet out in front of me when I took the Floo." Hermione put her face in her hands and laughed tightly.
Lily laughed, "Well, why don't we start over then. Hi, I'm Lily Evans."
Hermione tentatively took her hand, "Amelia McGonagall."
"Wonderful. Now we can tell the boys that we just ran into each other at the Leaky Cauldron and that's that." Lily turned on her heal and led the way into Diagon Alley.
Remus, James and Sirius were seated outside of Florean Fortescue's Ice cream Parlour, waiting for the girls to arrive. Remus had his nose in a book, and James and Sirius were taking turns trying to toss peanuts into each others open mouths as they leaned back in their chairs. Peter had Owled earlier offering no explanation on why he could not meet up with them today, but said he would see them when he arrived at Hogwarts.
James suddenly stood up and brushed the missed peanuts from his muggle clothes as he spotted his favorite redhead in the crowded street.
"I think Evans might be making you boring Prongs," Sirius pondered as he continued throwing peanuts to catch them himself now.
"You'll understand wanting to be a bit more presentable when you find a girl you want to be better for," James said as he snatched the bag of remaining nuts and threw them away.
"I'm already presentable!" Sirius smirked as a gaggle of girls walked by their table. He winked at the pretty brunette and she began giggling uncontrollably.
"For Heaven's sake Padfoot. The both of you are going to need to take seventh year seriously if you want to get into the Auror program. At least Prongs is taking steps in the right direction. Now, stop acting like God's gift to women and behave yourself," Remus pushed Sirius' feet off the table and tucked his book away as the girls approached.
"Or what Moony?" Sirius dared.
"Or I'll curse your eyebrows off. See if any girl will look at you then," Remus whispered through his clenched smile.
The group visited all the necessary shops for their school supplies, all the while Lily and Hermione chatted and got to know each other. Lily had such a warm and welcoming spirit, Hermione felt completely at ease with her; it was almost like having part of Harry with her in this time. She wondered if Harry knew that he shared more than just Lily's eyes.
"Oh, I have to go to Madam Malkin's. Aunt Minerva said I have to get measured so she can order robes for me after I'm sorted."
Lily took Hermione's arm and steered them in the direction of the shop. "Lovely, sounds perfect for some girl time. See you boys at Broomstix afterwards?" Lily shouted to the boys. All three excitedly walked toward the broomstick shop; they didn't need to be asked twice.
Madam Malkin had Hermione measured quickly and said that she would keep the robes on hold until Minerva contacted her. The girls decided to browse through the shop and look at the formal dress robes before meeting with the boys again.
Hermione noticed that Lily looked a bit nervous as she glanced at Hermione a few times. "Lily, are you alright?"
Lily stammered, "I…I wanted to see…I was wondering…what do you think of James? I need an outsider's opinion."
To Hermione's surprise she began giggling. "Why do you need an outsider's opinion?"
"Well, he seems to have changed since last Christmas. I don't know…maybe he's grown up a bit? But I need someone's opinion of what he's like now without the stigma of past offenses," Lily appeared miserable as she spoke.
Hermione looked thoughtfully at Lily. She didn't know how Harry's parents had gotten together, but it might be exciting if she was the one to convinced Lily to try dating James. "Well, just to be clear, Remus did explain a little of James' 'past offenses.' He appears a little overly confidant, mischievous at times, but he seems to really like you Lily. His whole face lit up when we met up with the boys today. I think you should give him a chance," Hermione shrugged casually.
The apples of Lily's checks had turned very pink. "Well, he actually hasn't asked me out recently."
Hermione laced her arm through Lily's and pulled her from the shop, "why don't you ask him then?"
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