Hello readers! Sorry this update took about a week, but without further ado, the big DUMBLEDORE CONFRONTATION!


Chapter 9

Every profanity I had ever heard ran through my head as I made my way to Dumbledore's office. I complained to him when I first arrived about how miserable I was in the 1970s with people like Sirius, and now I was finally feeling happy being with Sirius and Dumbledore wanted to punish me for it? How cruel could he get?

"It's about the time thing, isn't it?" Sirius whispered. I looked to my left, where my boyfriend (it even sounded crazy in my head) was stiffly walking beside me. He was accompanying me to Dumbledore's office, and his hand in mine was sweaty and shaking.

"I'm sure it is," I sighed. "He doesn't want anything I do here to affect things in the future."

"I mean…I guess that's understandable." Sirius grumbled, and I smiled slightly at his obvious annoyance that Dumbledore may have a point. "I just don't want him to talk you into not being with me."

"Even if he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to talk me into that." I said quietly, and Sirius gave my hand a squeeze. "Unless he's found a way to send me back, I'm stuck here, and he just has to trust me with that."

"You don't really think he's found a way to send you back, do you?" Sirius asked, coming abruptly to a halt.

"No, Sirius, I don't believe he has." I said firmly, putting my free hand on his arm. "But listen, if he has, you were fine before I got here, and you'll be fine when I leave!"

"No, Hermione, no, that's not true." Sirius said, shaking his head. "I realize we may have only been together for a few hours, but I have known for weeks that I had feelings for you. I knew the moment I saw you two months ago that there was going to be something different with you, I knew it then and I know it now. And I won't let anyone take you away from me."

"Sirius…you know I feel the same about you," I said slowly. "But I was transported back here suddenly and without warning. The same thing could happen again and…you really need to be prepared for that to happen."

"I know, I know…I just…I don't want the thought of you suddenly leaving to be hanging over us all the time."

"Let's just pretend that we're a completely normal couple, born in the same time and both living in the correct time, okay?" I questioned, and Sirius nodded. "Okay, now I have to go see Dumbledore."

"I'll wait here," Sirius said, leaning against the wall. He grinned, pulling me by the hand towards him. "I'll miss you," he breathed, pushing his nose against mine.

"I won't be long," I promised, closing the distance between his lips and mine. I stepped away from his hold, muttering the password to Dumbledore's office door. The eagle shifted and stairs appeared. I took a deep breath, raised my hand in a half wave to Sirius, and mounted the staircase.

When I reached the top, I was surprised to find Dumbledore waiting for me already. He was sitting at his desk, reading a book. Fawkes was on his perch, in all his glory. I smiled at the sight, and then abruptly frowned when I remembered the lament of the phoenix after his owner's death. The thought of Albus Dumbledore's funeral brought a lump to my throat, and I tried to swallow it down. I had to focus on the present.

"Hello, Professor, you wanted to see me?" I said tentatively, walking closer to the desk.

He looked up, peering over his spectacles. "Yes, Ms. Granger, I believe we have much to discuss. Have a seat," he said, indicating the chair in front of his desk. I nodded in understanding, moving to the chair and taking a seat.

"You have lessons to attend, and I don't want to keep you or Mr. Black from your lessons. Yes, I know he's waiting downstairs for you," Professor Dumbledore answered my unasked question with a raised eyebrow. "Speaking of Mr. Black, he happens to be the reason I called you here."

"I figured as much, Sir." I said quietly.

"Am I correct in my assessment that you two are now romantically involved?"

I bit my lip, looking at my lap. "Yes, Sir." I said, avoiding eye contact.

"Now, Ms. Granger, I thought you were the one that was concerned about changing events of the future?"

"I am, Sir, I still am concerned about that, I just – "

"You just allowed yourself to become vulnerable around Sirius Black, and you became enamored with him."

"Yes, Sir, I did, and I'm sorry – "

"I don't want you to apologize, Ms. Granger, I'm not angry with you."

"But Sir, I…you're not?" I finally looked up to see Professor Dumbledore with a half smile on his face.

"I am not angry with you. I am simply here to remind you that you have a duty to yourself, Mr. Black and the entire world to not change the course of history. I take it you know what happens to Sirius, James, and the rest of your classmates? You told me when you arrived that you knew them in the future."

I nodded. "I…well, I know some of them." I said, guessing it was safe to say that much.

"The same people who died must still die. The ones who go to the dark side must still do so, Ms. Granger, that is the law of time you have to abide by."

I gulped, lowering my eyes again. James and Lily…they were already friends of mine, and in a few short years, they were going to die. And Peter…he was going to betray them, causing Sirius to go to prison for the crime…He would have to wait twelve years to be redeemed. It all wasn't fair that I knew what would happen, and how to prevent it, but I could do nothing.

But then, there was something else. If Lily and James did not die, then Harry would grow up normally. But Harry hadn't known he was a wizard, or that he defeated Voldemort until he was eleven. And if James and Lily didn't die, then Harry wouldn't be famous, and he would never find and destroy Voldemort's horcruxes over the course of his school years. And that would mean that either Voldemort was never vanquished in 1981, or that he was killed an entirely different way. My head was spinning.

"Are you alright, Ms. Granger?"

I looked up to Professor Dumbledore again. "I was just thinking about all the different scenarios that would happen if I meddled." I admitted. "And I think…though it hurts, and people will die…I think that how it happened in my time is how it has to stay."

"It is, Ms. Granger." Dumbledore said. "Can I ask you a very personal question?"

I nodded warily. Dumbledore leaned forward. "Do you know Sirius Black in the future? When you are this age, and he is older?"

"I thought I wasn't allowed to tell you anything about the future." I said slowly, to which Dumbledore nodded.

"I'm trying to puzzle something together, and maybe you can do it in your own head. I'm just wondering, that's all. See, here you are, dating Sirius in this time period. And in the future, that is, where you came from, Sirius is older and you are this age. But your dating, though it is NOW for you, would have been in the past for Sirius, so he would know you in your own time, before you recognized him. The present for you here and now would be the past for Sirius in your own time, does that make any sense?"

My head was spinning again, but I could see Dumbledore's point. Had there ever been any indication that Sirius had known me before? There was one night at Grimmauld Place in fifth year… Sirius, Remus and all the other adult members of the order had been drinking. Sirius had said it as a joke; Remus had been lamenting the full moon, and Sirius said "well at least you don't have a wife who doesn't remember you!". Remus had given him a look and then taken him upstairs, and Ginny and I had been leaving the dining area as well, and I heard Remus ask Sirius what had possessed him to say something when "she" was right there. Harry, Ron and I had talked about it after, wondering who "she" might be, and assumed that it had been drunken ramblings. The incident had been forgotten.

What if that "she" was me?

"It seems you have much to think about, Ms. Granger." Dumbledore said wisely, a half smile still on his face. "Make sure Mr. Black gets to class, you'll both be on time if you hurry it along." I nodded mutely, standing up from my chair.

"Thank you, Professor." I said, still very deep in thought.

"Anytime, Ms. Granger."


"How did it go?" Sirius asked anxiously as I descended the stairs.

"It went…well…" I said slowly. "Sirius, would you ever get married?"

He blinked. "To you? Or in general?"

"In general."

He shrugged. "I mean, yeah, of course. In a few years…I've always kind of expected that I would get married…why do you ask?"

I forced a smile onto my face. "Just wondering." I said, hooking my arm through his. "Dumbledore said I have to get you to class."

"Lead the way," he grinned, the strangeness of the conversation gone, off his radar. The marriage question was still very much in my head, though. Could it be possible that Sirius and I would get married? Sirius and Remus both had always seemed so…detached from feelings. I had never even stopped to consider that they may have had romances, or even marriages when they were younger. And I never, in a million years, would have thought it would have been to me.

It was an awful lot to think about.


So! What do you all think? We already knew that Sirius and Hermione were going to get married, but now it seems that Hermione knows as well! The timeline is going to start picking up soon, and we have another interlude coming up in the next few chapters, this time with REMUS in the 1990s! and if anything sounded confusing, that was on purpose! Hermione herself is confused about everything so you get to be confused right along with her!

Leave me a review!

Brittany