Disclaimer: nothing is mine. SORRY ABOUT MY ABSENCE!!! School, then Christmas…it's just so involving. To my loyal fans I appreciate your patience. I think I can wrap this baby up in a few more chapters….anyway, let the story continue!

Though she knew that something was wrong, she stayed in that embrace until they were told to come back in and enjoy the party. The rest of the night went perfectly. Sirius couldn't have been happier and Hermione loved to watch him across the crowded room and see him laugh and cut up with his friends, but as much as she loved it, she could get over the fact that something seemed wrong. As soon as she uttered her true feelings to him, a bomb hit her stomach, and she couldn't explain it. Though it made her feel uneasy, she couldn't stop smiling; he told her he loved her and she said it back. She meant it and she said it back.

The party dispersed and each member went their separate ways. Soon it was just the regular six left in the common room, sitting among the ruins of the party.

"…and that's when Hermione suggested that we all dress up for the party." Remus had just finished telling the story of getting the party together and Sirius gave an evil grin to Hermione.

"So it was your devilish idea to get me dressed like a penguin."

"I happen to think you make a very cute penguin. Besides, at least you can breathe in your dress robes. I haven't been able to eat all night for fear of ripping this thing." He gave her a tenderer smile this time and simply rubbed her back causing her to lean into him.

"Well, I think these two need some time alone," Peter said, taking his leave from the group nodding at James and Remus to follow. James gave a rather loud cough to Lily to remind her that she too had to leave.

Once they were all gone, Sirius and Hermione made themselves more comfortable. Sirius lay out on the floor in front of the fire, supporting himself on his arm, and Hermione moved to lay flat on her back to as to be directly under him.

"Happy birthday Mr. Black."

"Thank you," he mumbled as he moved his lips to meet her own. She placed her hand on the back of his neck and moved it to grab his hair causing him to groan. She had never heard him make such a noise and she stopped kissing him.

"Are you okay?" He laughed.

"Of course. Usually a noise like that means I'm enjoying what you're doing." She understood and sent her hand right back to where it was and they continued their kissing. His hands continued to caress her body and he took a brave step and slipped his hand under her back side and lightly lifted her up, causing their bodies to form to each other. It was her turn to make a noise she didn't recognize, but she loved the way it sounded.

His lips had moved to her neck and she tilted her head back to give him better access. She giggled as he nibbled at that spot where her neck and shoulder met. He would have to remember that she liked that. He stopped only for a moment to whisper into her ear.

"I love you." She had wanted to hear those words again ever since he said them on the balcony, but just as before, the pain in her stomach returned, but she fought it and returned the love back to him.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

She managed to squirm away from the grasp of Sirius and work her way into bed. With a final 'happy birthday' and just one more kiss, she closed the door behind her. It seemed to only take her a moment to rid herself of the dress and jump in her PJ's then in the bed. But no matter how she tried, she couldn't sleep. She had to write.

October 8, 1977-2:43a.m.

Dear Journal,

One month exactly and I couldn't be happier. Sirius said he loved me tonight…now I need a moment to allow the smile to leave my face. I may be here a while. Of course I said it back, but the only problem is that the moment I said it, something…I don't know what, but something happened. My stomach just dropped. It's almost like I was being pulled back. Wait. Pulled back? But…there's no way. Not now, not when I've found the ultimate happiness. I have to go check.

Hermione

Hermione wasn't even sure what she meant, but before she could question herself, she had grabbed her wand and ran down the stairs, through the common room, out into the empty corridor, and whispering 'lumos' made her way to the moving staircases. She rode them until she was sure she was where she needed to be.

She stood looking down the darkened hallway and her blood turned cold and her heart beat slowed. Dare she walk down it? Her legs moved without her consent and in a moment a strong wave of exhaustion hit her and she dared go no further. She stepped back before it was too late and the tiredness left as quickly as it had come and she could only fall to her knees in defeat. She wanted to scream and fight and yell about how it was unfair that now she was completely satisfied in her life she must leave it behind. She couldn't though. She could barely breathe. What was worse is that she hadn't finished her mission so she feared the future would remain unchanged. But it couldn't, she had changed it, she told them. She stayed there, staring into the empty corridor for what she thought to be the rest of the night. She eventually gathered herself and made her way back to the Gryffindor common room. She would return, get dressed, go see Dumbledore, and say her goodbyes. She would go home.

Her steps seemed to guide themselves as she knew not where to go. Part of her wanted to stay and ignore the pull of the portal, but another part of her longed to go home and be there to help Harry and everyone else. If the future had in fact not changed, she couldn't stay in this paradise while her friends suffered. But at the same time she couldn't go back knowing that those she had come to love wouldn't be there when she returned.

She made her way quietly back to her room and dressed quickly. But her noises were enough to wake Lily.

"Hey there party girl. Where are you off to so early?" Was it early? Hermione didn't know. She glanced at her watch; it was indeed early, 7:34AM.

"I have another meeting with Dumbledore. He wanted me to be there early to talk about some stuff." It broke her heart to lie to Lily, but she couldn't tell her that in a few hours she would leave and never come back. Lily gave a lazy nod and slumped back into her bed and Hermione crept down the stairs and back out the portal.

She ran all the way to Dumbledore's office, and saying the password, made her way up the stairs. She knocked but didn't wait for a reply to open the door.

"Good morning, Ms. Granger. I thought you'd come by soon." He was watering a plant and didn't even turn to face her. What did he know?

"The portal is opened." He smiled at her and sat down.

"I know. Congratulations." Her face was contorted in confusion.

"What do you mean 'congratulations'?"

"You've completed your missions. Both of them in fact!" Dumbledore said this as though Hermione knew this as well.

"No, sir. That's just it. I didn't finish them. That's why the portal opened. My time is up. I didn't even figure out the second objective." The tears had begun to show in her eyes.

"Now now. Don't cry Ms. Granger. I assure you that you have done all that was asked of you." Dumbledore gave a long sigh. Hermione figured that what he had to say she would not like.

"Hermione, I have known of your coming for many years. It was in the handbook as I told you. I have also known of your missions." Her face fell at his words. "The only thing that was a mystery to me was whether or not you would complete them. I beg of you not to be mad at me, part of the responsibility of knowing such information is having the restraint not to abuse it. You had to discover all of these things on your own; otherwise the future would have not changed, no matter how much you did."

"So you knew the entire time?"

"Yes, but I tried to steer you in the right direction. Remember, I told you to listen to your heart! That was my hint to you. And you did Ms. Granger, you listened and now you've done what you were meant to do."

"And what exactly was my second mission." Dumbledore looked at her as though she should have already known.

"To love Mr. Sirius Black, of course." She went red in the face. "Don't be embarrassed. As it turned out, had you not completed the second half of your journey into the past, Mr. Black would have met his demise." Hermione gasped.

"He would have…but why?"

"There are some events we can only alter and not change Ms. Granger. The fight that took place during your fifth year at the Ministry of Magic will still occur, but because you travelled, Mr. Black, instead of being dangerously close to the veil to protect Harry, he will be on the complete opposite side of the room, protecting you."

"But what about Harry?"

"Now that Mr. Black doesn't have twelve long years of Azkaban to look forward to, his mind will be much clearer in the future and he becomes a surprisingly good strategist. He will have planned out the entire fight so that no one from the Order is even harmed. It's quite amazing really." Hermione's head was swimming.

"Sir, how can you know what the altered future looks like? Or the unaltered future for that matter? It can't all be in that handbook." He gave a hearty chuckle.

"Ms. Granger you are right about the limitations of the handbook, but as I said before, there lie many responsibilities in knowing of the future. One of those is protecting your sources. I'll just say that I often like to visit myself through random little…post-it notes is what I think the muggles call them. Quite affective really."

"Does this mean I have to go back now?"

"No my dear, it doesn't. But the portal will not remain open for long. I suppose you have an hour or so to decide."

"AN HOUR!? I can barely decide what to wear in an hour!"

"Now Ms. Granger, you and I both know you have been struggling with that question for some time now. I think you've already made your decision. Now you just have to put it into action." She sat there for only a moment more before standing.

"I want to say thank you for all you've done for me Professor. You'll never know what it meant to me…will mean to me." He gave her a nod and wished her luck.

"Oh, Ms. Granger," he called out to her as she reached the door, "I'll see you soon." He winked at her and she smiled as she pulled the giant wooden door closed.

She ran back to the common room. Her heart was beating so hard she thought it would burst. Once back in, she ran to the boys' room and banged loudly on the door, screaming at them to come in to her room with Lily. She made her way back to her room and roused an extremely tired Lily. Hermione was going home, and as sad as she was to leave, she couldn't fight the smile at the thought of returning to her boys. Lily awoke rubbing her eyes and the four boys sauntered into the room slowly.

"Please tell me this is something terribly important Hermione, I was in the middle of a wonderful dream. I was receiving the house cup from Dumbledore." Lily rolled her eyes at James.

"It's very important…I'm going home. The portal has opened and I'm going home." She waited a moment for her words to sink in. It seemed to hit them differently. Sirius' face dropped instantly and his eyes began to water, Lily was next to follow, then Remus, James, and Peter. Hermione didn't want to leave them like this.

"Don't be upset, you'll see me again!"

"It won't be the same. Oh Hermione, you can't leave." Lily had moved to embrace her friend.

"She's right. You have to stay. You've done so much for us," Peter pleaded. James had moved over to hug Lily.

"Thanks to you, I'm going to be happy for the rest of my life." He said it quietly, but the people that needed to hear it did, and Hermione smiled inwardly at James and Lily hugged him tight.

"Hermione, do you really have to go?" Remus asked in an almost childlike voice and it nearly broke her heart.

"She does." Sirius spoke from the background. He had been the only one not to protest her leaving. It worried Hermione only a little bit. "She has to leave because her other friends need her and she knows it." He didn't mean it in a condescending way, but in an understanding way. In truth, Sirius wanted her to leave the least. It took another thirty minutes of convincing to get Lily to calm down, and it was finally time for good-byes.

She went to Peter first.

"No matter what, remember these are your true friends. They'll never betray you," she whispered in his ear. He wiped a tear away and smiled. She met with the embrace of James next.

"Thank you for giving me something to look forward to," he said nodding toward Lily.

"My pleasure," Hermione grinned. Lily didn't give Hermione an option and grabbed her in a hug that nearly crushed her.

"I don't care how far apart we will be in age; you'll always be like a sister to me." She had to fight the tears on that one, but smiled at her anyway. She caught Remus' eye and couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She ran into his hug and sobbed on his shoulder.

"I'm not sure how I'll make it in Arithmancy without you." She gave a weak laughed.

"I'll miss you, you know."

"You'll see me soon. I can feel it," he moved his lips closer to her ear to whisper to her. "I'm so grateful things worked out the way they did. Thank you Hermione." She let him go and turned her attention to Sirius. He couldn't even look at her. She wouldn't say her good-bye to him here. She reached for her journal and grabbed his hand, shocking him into looking at her. He understood and smiled. She turned to face the rest of them.

"I…I…it seems I'm having trouble with my words," she took a deep breath and felt Sirius squeeze her hand, "I can't tell you all how much I've enjoyed my time here. I loved you all before I ever came here, and now I love you even more. I just hate that I'll see you all again in a few moments but that you have to wait many more years. I wish I could…speed it up somehow. I'll see you all on the other side." She gave one more round of hugs and cried a few more tear's before leading Sirius out of the room.

"I have to go by the library first." He said nothing but followed. He stayed close, not wanting to forget anything about her. They made it to the library and she turned to face him.

"Wait here. I'll be right back." Again he stayed silent and nodded. She made her way quickly to an empty table and opened her journal to the last blank page she would write on.

October 8, 1977-9:03a.m.

Dear Journal,

I'm going home. I've said my good-byes and I'm going home. I don't know where my emotions are, but I wish I…I'm not sure. I know I'm making the right choice, but I still want to stay. Whenever I look at all my new friends and Sirius, I know I'm home, but when I think of Harry and Ron, I know where my true future lies.

This is my last entry so I feel I should impart some wisdom as it was once given to me. Dearest reader, I can only promise you that I know of your struggle, and that you CAN get through this, just like I did. There will be times when you feel like the world is against you and there is no way to survive, but I swear there is. Look to your heart to find the answers. I promise you'll find them. I wish you the best of luck and hope that the Fates shine brightly upon you.

All my love,

Hermione

She closed the book one last time, uttered a concealment charm and watched as the words disappeared. She place the book randomly on a shelf and made her way back to a waiting Sirius. She found him sitting against the library wall holding his face in his hands.

"It's time," was all she said and he gave a brave smile and stood to take her hand. She led the way to the lonely corridor and she felt Sirius shudder as they looked into the darkness.

"Sirius, when I walked down there. You might see me fall over as though I were sleeping, but no matter what, don't follow me. Can you promise me?" He had begun to cry again and could only nod.

"Please don't cry," she said taking his face in her hands.

"How can I not? The moment I find someone I can truly love, it's ripped out from under me. It's not fair." She pulled him into a hug.

"Sirius, you're not losing me. I'll come to you again, I promise!"

"I'll be an old man. You'll want nothing to do with me." She laughed.

"Your age didn't bother me once when I like you then. Now that I know I love you, it won't even be a thought in my mind. I just hope that you won't forget about me." She had begun to stroke the necklace she had given him the night before. Now it was her turn to begin crying.

"My love, you will never have to worry about that. You are the first person I've ever said 'I love you' to, and I want you to be the last. In a moment you'll see me again and I'll be waiting for you I promise." She released him for fear that she would soon never be able to let go. She gave him one last kiss and she promised herself that if anything went wrong, she would remember this moment for the rest of her life.

Hermione turned her back on him and began to walk. She knew if she looked back she would never go home and so she called to him over her shoulder.

"I'll see you in a few minutes." She heard him laugh and that's all she needed. His voice faded from her ears as she continued to walk. Suddenly that familiar feeling of complete exhaustion came over her and she soon felt herself slipping down the side of the wall. She would wake up again soon, but to what she didn't know.

So Hermione may not know what she'll wake up to but I DO!!!!! Yay for me! Don't worry you'll find out soon enough!