A/N: For future and past chapters: while Hermione's past life is similar to the book/movie versions, there are going to be differences in order for this story to work.
"I'm curious..." There was pause as Remus slowly raised his head from his book and glanced at his friends, seeing James propped up at the head of his own bed, Peter chewing on a liquorice wand, and Sirius sitting on the floor, using his wand to enchant ice onto the room's central heating.
"Don't you think it's been a while since our last prank?" He inquired.
This caught the attention of his friends, as it was a rare occasion when Remus was the one to suggest this. He was desperate for the distraction as he couldn't stop his mind from wandering over to what Hermione had said the other day in the hospital wing, just before the Christmas holidays. It had been two weeks since everyone had returned from the jolly merry holidays and still he couldn't get it out of his mind. Something just didn't sit right with him.
"Are you saying 'tis the hour for another well planned prank?" Sirius asked, a wicked grin spreading across his face, putting away his wand.
Without further ado, the four boys gathered around Remus' bed and started sharing their ideas.
It was the following Monday morning that anything of interest happened, at least according to the Marauders. It was still quite early, so the house tables were only partly full and the Great Hall uncharacteristically silent. Sirius was falling asleep on his hand, demanding to know why they had ever thought it was a good idea to awaken so early just in order to set up a prank for the following Monday.
Hooting their arrival, the owls swooped into the Great Hall, dropping packages and letters to their intended. Owls on a rare occasion flew to Hogwarts early to deliver mail, and this morning was apparently one of those mornings, as glancing at the time, one could clearly see they were fifteen minutes early. This caused a lot of owls to land on the tables and impatiently wait for the missing students to arrive. Hermione took her Daily Prophet, paying the fee to the owl and letting him nibble on some of the food strewn across the table top. She carefully unrolled the paper, placing it on the table in front of her, pushing aside her plate.
Hermione didn't even read anything that was written below the date in the top right corner. Her eyes had carelessly drifted over to the date, a fault of habit but for some reason, today Hermione could not pull her gaze away from the printed numbers and letters. Her photographic memory never let her down and it wasn't going to today. She simply needed to be patient and let it come to her. So she sat, staring at the date, knowing it was important but not recalling why until, suddenly, it hit her.
"MERLIN!" She all but yelled, not able to control her reaction to the realization. "No, no, no!" She muttered loudly, jumping from her seat and running out of the Great Hall under the watchful eyes of practically everyone present.
"What was that about?" Peter inquired, timidly.
"Hey, Frank, pass me your paper for a sec, would you?" James hollered at the older boy.
Frank shrugged, throwing the newspaper to the group while shoving a spoon of cereal into his mouth. James handed it to Remus, knowing he would be the most entitled to finding out what had caused his friend to react so strongly. However, flipping from page to page, the group could find nothing of significance and importance. Nothing that could have shocked Hermione so much. Curiosity continued gnawing at them when Hermione was absent from her first lesson with them. Asking a few questions, the Marauders quickly discovered that the girl had only been missing from their first class together, but had been to all her classes after that. Which was confirmed when she was present for Transfiguration acting as if nothing had ever happened.
They were on their way to the Gryffindor Tower at the end of the day when they noticed Hermione being intercepted by Dumbledore a few ways ahead of them and quickly hid inside an alcove in the hopes of hearing something interesting.
"Miss Delacour," Dumbledore greeted with a warm smile.
"Sir," Hermione nodded in welcome. "I trust you got my message?"
"Indeed, I did, Aberforth was quick to inform me on the subject."
"I would have come to you directly, Sir, but you were not in your office and I didn't want to risk waiting until it was too late."
"Understandable, I assure you," Dumbledore agreed.
"Was it serious?" She wanted to check if she had remembered correctly or not.
Dumbledore shook his head. "No, Sirius was not involved," he said, enjoying his moments of rare obtuseness.
"Sir," Hermione said, her tone exasperated.
Chuckling to himself, indeed, he had found his joke quite amusing but perhaps the young girl was laking a sense of humour. "Walk with me Miss Delacour, we have much to discuss."
The pair walked away, oblivious to the four boys gathered just behind them. All had their mouths hanging open in shock.
"Oh Merlin, someone slap me!" James ordered.
"This has got-" Sirius started at the same time as Remus tried to speak.
"I better be dreaming, I did not just hear that!" Remus begged.
"-to be the best day of my life!" Sirius claimed with a face eating grin.
"I found it funny," Peter chimed in.
Sirius turned to his chubby little friend, the grin becoming even wider. "Dumbledore used my name pun!"
"Ugh, that's going to inflate his ego way more than his tiny self can handle," James groaned.
The boys then went on their way, completely disregarding the rest of the conversation they had overheard, their shock levels too high for the moment.
Arriving at the Headmaster's office, the pair continued their discussion.
"You saved a man's life today, Miss Delacour."
"So Mr. Longbottom was removed to safety?"
"Yes, we got to him while he was still in his office."
"I'm glad to know he wasn't attacked," Hermione sighed in relief.
"You prevented that from happening. How did you know?" Dumbledore asked.
"I very much enjoyed reading the old newspapers in the Hogwarts library in my past life. I learnt so much by reading them. Before my Seventh year, I thought knowing as much as possible about the First War could be useful, so I read all the papers from this year till the end of the War. With my photographic memory, it was easy to remember that the date on today's paper, was the day that Mr. Longbottom died. Tomorrow a newspaper article on his death would have been published with witness accounts. A prominent, high placed Auror, killed in broad daylight? How could it not make the news. It was one of Voldemort's first very public kills."
"This information you gathered will come in extremely handy, my dear. If you could remember as many as you can, you can save so many innocent witches and wizards."
"If I may ask, how did you go about handling the situation?"
"I simply went to the Order of the Phoenix members, I mentioned I had a source that told me an attack would take place today on Mr. Longbottom. The members swept in and out without a problem and the attackers were spotted, but unfortunately, not apprehended."
Hermione was relieved to know that her identity had remained a secret. Of course, she supposed, many who were unaware of her circumstances would likely put little importance in her warnings, so keeping her identity a secret was fundamental for Dumbledore's credibility. Who would listen to a small twelve year old? Hermione knew this was her first real attempt at changing the future. She was going all in now, there was no more possibility of turning back. Now... now she was truly living. She was truly making a difference. Frank Longbottom would not have to live through his father's death, not yet.
"In fact, Mr Longbottom was so grateful for the rescue that he has decided to join the Order," Albus informed her. "I realize that you are young, physically, but you would be welcome in joining the Order, though it would be only to share your knowledge, not to participate in any missions."
Hermione grimaced. "Wouldn't it be odd if a twelve year old joined the Order?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "You would be joining anonymously. I would keep you informed of all the going ons of the Order and you in turn would pass along the information you choose."
"So, I would be a member, but only you would know who I was?"
"Until you were old enough to reveal yourself," Dumbledore agreed.
"And if I choose to never do so?"
"That would be your prerogative, my dear. You could fake join the Order as an adult and still keep your identity as Source a secret."
"Not only for my safety but also because I wouldn't enjoy the attention and questions. It would be wiser to keep it secret and have as few people as possible ever learn I am the source."
"That may be true," Dumbledore acquiesced.
"I should like to join, now, if possible... being aware of the Order's plans could help me remember certain events."
"Very well, I am proud of your decision," Albus offered with a smile, taking her hand to shake it.
He waved his wand over her, waiting for her to glow ever so slightly before dropping it again. "There we go. It is official."
The pair continued conversing for a while longer, Hermione assuring Dumbledore that she would try and note down all the dates and events she could remember, though informing him she would keep them to herself until the time was right. With only a few more words exchanged, Hermione left, wishing the headmaster goodnight.
Hermione had had enough of snakes. If she saw even one more snake today, she would likely burst. She had seen hundreds of them just this morning. The Marauder's had played another one of their famous pranks and had charmed all the food that was touched to turn into a miniature version of the person's House mascot. While her table had been covered in adorably small black ravens squawking and flying about, Gryffindor had been covered in fluffy little lions, Hufflepuff had been crawling with cute little black and white badgers. The only table with a miniature version of their animal that wasn't overly pleasant was Slytherin, the members of which found themselves surrounded by small snakes, that due to size much resembled green worms.
Though Hermione found herself thinking that they were quite delightful in their own way as she plucked two snakes currently trying to slither up her leg. They were a beautiful emerald colour and their pink tongues slipping out and tickling her hand caused her to spend a good five minutes giggling. The creatures had been charmed to disappear at the end of the day, so many students could be seen walking on their tip toes all day, carefully trying to avoid squashing the charmed food. It was undeniable that the Marauder's were very talented when it came to Charms and Transfiguration, if they could pull off such a trick so young.
When Hermione finally felt she couldn't take it any longer, Hermione slipped into the Room of Requirement, hoping that the little things wouldn't succeed in following her inside. Hermione was not surprised however, when she watched a small snake slither away gaily, disappearing in the mess that was the Room of Lost Things. She shrugged, figuring that the little thing would turn back into an apple or piece of toast later that night and that so as long as it stayed away from her, it was none of her concern.
Hermione paused when she realized just where she had gone. She had not planned on coming here just yet. In fact, she had wanted to get the Chamber of Secrets out of the way before coming here, but she supposed it would be a waste if she didn't take advantage of the fact that she was here. Hermione couldn't delay it any longer. She was in the same room as one of Voldemort's Horcruxes and she couldn't leave without it. It would make no sense.
Dropping her bag, Hermione pulled the elastic from around her wrist and tied her hair up in a high ponytail, that, due to all the knots in it, almost resembled a bun.
The Muggleborn witch couldn't remember exactly where the Horcrux was. Ron, Harry, and her had come here in the middle of the Final Battle and in the chaos and panic, Hermione had simply followed Harry blindly. Though she would be able to recognize the aisle and box the diadem was in. So, Hermione idly wandered from pile of rubbish to the next, examining the objects carefully. As she walked, Hermione found her mind wondering about the Vanishing Cabinet which was moved to this location during her time at Hogwarts, having originally been stored on the First Floor of Hogwarts. It was as Hermione was debating stealing the Cabinet and moving it to this very room for future use by herself that Hermione found the box.
Her heart was beating rapidly, her chest panting from the fear she could feel building inside her from the mere memory of Horcruxes. After pushing aside random ropes and textiles, Hermione closed her eyes and opened the box by pressing the tips of her fingers against each side of the wooden lid. Holding her breath, she opened her eyes and simply stared at the horrifying object. Granted, the object itself was beautiful but knowing what it was... Hermione could already feel tendrils of its evil licking at her, caressing her arms as if to entice her into picking it up, already trying to influence her mind.
Gaining control of her senses, Hermione grabbed one of the large cloths behind her and wrapped the diadem with it, not wanting to touch the thing with her bare hands. Holding it close her body, Hermione spun on her heals and ran all the way to the door, taking her bag on the go and refusing to slow down. She exited the Room with incredible speed, wanting to escape the thing in her arms as quickly as possible.
As she turned a corner, sliding a bit in her haste, she crashed into another person. Two other people as it happened. Pandora and Remus, whom she had never seen together before, but whose possible friendship would not surprise Hermione. Hermione yelped as the bundle in her arms fell to the floor, falling undone. Hermione was relieved when it stopped on the ground just shy of revealing what was hidden within the cloth. That was something she did not want to have to explain.
"Oh my, Hermione! Are you quite alright? I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," Pandora apologized.
With trembling hands Hermione gathered the thing back safely within the protection of the cloth. "That's fine, I'm fine- nothing happened. No problem. We're fine," she spluttered over her words, feeling herself break out in a panicked sweat.
"You don't feel fine, Hermione... Your aura feels very dark and you have no Bligmys around you," Pandora commented, concerned.
For a brief moment, Hermione was distracted. "Bligmys?"
Pandora nodded, sagely. "Yes, they're not very social creatures, usually. But they seem to have taken a particular liking to you. Except for right now. They've all disappeared!" Pandora exclaimed, obviously very worried by this detail.
"O- We- I'm sorry for having scared them off. Not myself these days, you see. No, not at all. I-" Hermione stumbled over her words, looking anywhere but at her two friends.
"It's not your fault, they'll most likely be back, I mean they have been sticking to you for the past year and a half," Pandora shrugged. "You know, the fact that you attract Bligmys so much has always fascinated me. Truly. They're only suppose to surround those who have been touched by Eo Tempore... At least that's what they say."
"Who says?" Hermione inquired, curious but quickly shook her head. "I'm sorry, I need to... do something- go somewhere. Yes, that's right. I'll see you later. At dinner. Yes, dinner."
Without any more embarrassing fumbling Hermione continued with her race to her dorm room.
Hermione had hidden the tiara inside her trunk, buried it under a mess and had cast a number of Protection Spells in order to prevent her roommates from accidentally falling on it or from feeling its tortuous pull. Hermione knew that it wouldn't suffice, however, as even with all the spells she could still feel the Horcrux lingering in the back of her mind. She needed it gone as soon as possible.
But how? Fiendfyre. Though Hermione didn't trust herself to attempt that. She wouldn't have tried in her previous life and she wouldn't know how to either, especially not with her new Cores. Who knew what would happen! The Fiendfyre could end up being exponentially stronger and uncontrollable and she had no idea how to extinguish it. No, Fiendfyre was not her miracle solution.
Miracle solution... Well, she couldn't deny that she had one of those. She was a Parselmouth and she did have access to a Basilisk. Biting her lower lip, Hermione turned to stare out the window where she could see rain pouring, drops running down the glass window panes. Resting her forehead against the cool glass Hermione breathed out, causing the glass to fog up. It seemed to her that there was no more avoiding it. She needed to enter the Chamber of Secrets.
Shutting her eyes for a moment, Hermione focused on her breathing. Slowly, she straightened her body and nodded in determination. She wouldn't waste another minute. She knew that if she did, she would chicken out again. When the thought occurred to her, Hermione couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped her as she fastened her cloak over her shoulders. It was no wonder the Hat hadn't placed her in Gryffindor this time around.
Hermione stood at the open entrance and knowing she was going to get dirty, she wore simple muggle jeans and a black tank top under her cloak. Hermione jumped before she could second guess her decision and tried to calm herself down as she slid to the bottom, ignoring the malicious giggling that she could hear coming from Myrtle up in the bathroom.
Steeling her resolve, Hermione tried to convince herself that she wasn't afraid of seeing a snake tonight. She had after all found a few snakes trying to slither up her legs just this morning and it hadn't frightened her at all. Granted the size was going to be very different, and the one she was going to see could eat her whole or kill her with a glance... but they weren't that different, she tried to reassure herself.
Gathering her courage Hermione stepped forward, hoping she was going in the right direction and not getting lost in a maze of pipes. When she reached a closed door covered in a design of intertwined snakes Hermione knew she was in the right place. She had been here before after all. Except this time, what was waiting for her was not the remains of a Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, but an empty Chamber. Opening the door and climbing down the short ladder, Hermione paused at the end, staring at the large statue of Salazar. Merlin, I must be suicidal. Hermione thought to herself. She, for a moment, couldn't believe she was seeking out the Basilisk.
Making her way to the foot of the statue Hermione closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before calling for the snake. The snake shouldn't come if she wasn't truly the Heir of Slytherin. He would stay sleeping. He would ignore her. A part of her was praying he would. She really shouldn't be doing this. But she needed its poison. And a part of her also wanted the undeniable confirmation, the proof that she truly was the Heir. And admittedly she was uncontrollably curious, she could learn so much about basilisks if this worked out.
"Curiosity killed the cat," she whispered to herself as she continued to wait for the creature.
Hermione was fed up after what felt like hours of waiting. She realized that the snake had been asleep for years, and she accepted the fact that it would need a few moments to wake up but this was on the verge of being ridiculous. She was certain Sleeping Beauty had woken up in a matter of minutes after having been asleep for centuries.
Hermione groaned as she glanced at her watch. She had been in the Chamber for over three hours. Obviously, the Basilisk was not coming. She had been wasting her time. Shaking her head and muttering under her breath, Hermione pushed off of the ground, waving her wand to dry her cloak, Hermione turned her back to the statue and started to walk away.
It was when she arrived at the centre of the hall that she thought she heard a sound. She paused, tilting her head and stared at a large marble snake head, waiting to hear it again. When she didn't, Hermione concluded that it had been in her mind and took a few more steps forward.
A loud noise of marble grinding against stone made Hermione freeze and her heart race. Slowly, Hermione turned and watched in amazed horror as the mouth of Salazar opened wide. Hermione waited, expecting the Basilisk to appear but still nothing happened when the mouth was as open as it could get. Trying to control her breathing Hermione turned her whole body to face the statue and waited. She could hear it, the sound of its scales rubbing against the ground, its hissing echoing inside the Chamber, reaching her ears.
Hermione shivered in fear and anticipation.
Somewhere deep down in the pipes, the fearsome creature was moving, finally awakening from its slumber, answering her call.
A/N: Tell me your thoughts. Share everything please! Constructive criticism if you have any is welcome.