July 8th, 1999 - Grimmauld Place - 03:30
Bare feet carried Hermione down the hallway slowly, careful to avoid the floorboards she knew would creaked in protest the moment any amount of weight was barred on them. She was not ready to face Harry since he had taken her back to Grimmauld Place after being released from the Ministry. Upon arrival at the house she retreated to the bedroom on the second floor she was most familiar with as she was not ready to face Harry and the changes that resulted from her time in the past. The bedroom she retreated to was the same one she and Ginny had spent 5th and 6th year in gossiping about boys, blossoming romances at Hogwarts and of course, the war and what they could to help the efforts. When she had walked into the room she was taken aback almost instantly by the fact that instead of two twin beds tucked against opposite walls, there only stood a single bed pressed to the back wall under the large window. In this timeline, there was no need to shove two teenage girls into a single tiny room. Instead, Hermione likely spent her days in this house sleeping in this room completely alone.
She forced the sad thought into the back of her mind, knowing that if she allowed herself to become misty-eyed every single time a change was noticed, no matter how big or small, she would spend the rest of her life mourning the loss of what had been. Pushing past the grief she crawled into the single twin-sized bed, and by the time her head hit the pillow she was already succumbing to the blissful pull of sleep. She had been awake for over twenty-four hours by that point and she was in desperate need of sleep, especially if she was supposed to catch the remaining members of her childhood friendship up to speed on what exactly her assignment had been.
By the time she woke from the well-needed interlude from the world of trouble she had found herself in, the sun had set and only the soft glow of yellowed street lamps came in through the uncovered windows. If it were not for the pains of hunger from her empty belly, Hermione might have slept through the night and into the next day. Rising from the twin-sized bed, Hermione stretched her tense muscles slowly, groaning softly at the pulling ache that had formed across her spine and neck from the deep slumber. Her hands rose to push her mussed curls from her sleep pinked cheeks as she moved to the door and began down the hallway towards the staircase from her room at the back of the second floor landing.
Just had Harry had in the previous timeline, the house was slowly being renovated to its former glory. The cobwebs and dust bunnies were cleaned, the wallpaper replastered and the gaudy ornate portraits of long forgotten Black family members were replaced with photographs from Harry's youth, creating a much more lived-in feel to the ancestral Black family home. As she moved down the hall at a snail's pace she would pause to catch glimpse of memories of her youth hung with care. She couldn't help but smile at a particularly old photo of Harry; he could not have been more than twelve or eleven years old judging by the shaggy mop of black hair on the top of his head. He was standing outside the owlery on the Hogwarts grounds proudly displaying his broomstick in the photo. She could see the flutter of owls as they flew through the background and if it weren't for the fact that pictures could not speak, she could almost hear the jovial laughter from Harry as he grinned from ear to ear.
Biting her bottom lip to prevent her own laughter, Hermione moved further down the hallway to glimpse the next photo and what she saw made her gasp softly in shock. She had seen this photo before, hell she had been the one who snapped the image nearly five years ago! It had been during their third year at Hogwarts, the Hogsmeade trip right before the winter Holiday. She had dragged Ron and Harry down to Honeydukes to stock up on sweets and purchase Christmas gifts for her family and she had insisted on taking a quick photo as the snow fell in front of the Honeydukes sign. Ron had complained about the bitter cold, and Harry, sweet Harry, well he would have gone along with anything she had suggested because he did not like upsetting his friend. She sandwiched herself between the two boys she called best friends, their arms draped over her shoulders as the rosy-cheeked teens squeezed into the shot. Reaching up, her fingers touched the glass-covered photo softly as she leaned in to inspect the familiar photo for accuracy because in this timeline there was a glaring difference from the one she remembered. Instead of a freckled redhead stood a round-faced pudgy boy with dirty blond hair and large blue eyes that were glittering with a happiness she had not witnessed before. Neville. He had his arm looped around Hermione's shoulders, laughing as she pulled him closer into the photo by his red and gold scarf. Harry's arms were looped around Hermione's waist, pulling the side of her body into his front and at the end of the picture loop, just after the flash from the camera had gone off, she watched as the young Harry pressed his lips into young Hermione's cheek and a blushed crimsoned her cheeks darker as a result.
She moved to the next photo more quickly than she intended, her footsteps thumping against the wooden floor and betraying her attempts to be quiet in her urgency. A soft expletive was muttered as an image of Harry and Neville came into view. The pair were no older than fourteen at the most, and they were in the middle of the Quidditch pitch arm in arm, Harry dressed in his Gryffindor uniform and Neville proudly wearing his gold and red to cheer on his mate. As Hermione moved down the hallway from picture to picture, more images of Harry's childhood came into view. Images of his friendship with Neville, his romance apparent with her (which was causing her more distress than she liked to admit, but that was a subject she would have to deal with later). There were even memories of his early childhood, pre-Hogwarts, where he apparently had already become well-acquainted with the Longbottoms, judging by the toothless grin of each boy who sat sandwiching Augusta Longbottom on a bench in front of Sugarplum's Sweets Shop, holding dripping cones a mere inches away from her green velvet dress robes, atop her head the famous Vulture hat she had clearly favored for many years.
Nearing the final cluster of photographs at the end of the hallway, Hermione's heart skipped a beat as a crooked smile and devilishly handsome wizard smiled at her from several photographs. Sirius. The shaggy-haired wizard could be seen next to Harry at various stages in the young wizard's life, the earliest photo being from when Harry was no older than five. The pair were sitting on his motorcycle on a country road, the exact location she could not make out from the photograph. Harry wore an ill-fitted jumper and had a purple bruise and cut on his right cheek, but he appeared as happy as possible. Sirius' arms were wrapped protectively around the young boy, his dark hair blowing in the breeze as they smiled for whoever stood behind the camera to snap the photo. The next several sets of images were clearly taken within the walls of Grimmauld Place, Hermione could make that out for certain, but Harry no longer looked like the skinny abused boy from the earlier photo. No, he was healthy and free of the obvious signs of abuse from the earliest photo. As the images progressed from childhood into adolescence she watched as Harry grew to surpass his Godfather in height, changing from the gangly child into a young man. Sirius had aged so differently than she had remembered. His skin was free of the weathered wrinkles from his time in Azkaban and he held far less tattoos than before, although there were certainly plenty still poking through his clothing to be counted. His hair was not the salt-and-peppered color she had known in her youth, instead the same rich black she had seen only days ago, but years in the past.
The final photo on the wall was taken at Christmastime, based on the decor in the background. Harry stood in front of a Christmas tree in a jumper covered in knitted deers. Sirius stood proudly next to his Godson wearing what she was certain was her favorite gray jumper of his from their time together, and beside Sirius, looped under his left arm was Hermione. She wore a soft purple knitted sweater dress with cream snowflakes and had both arms looped around Sirius' neck in a friendly fashion. They were all laughing at something off camera, and as the picture looped its scene, Hermione watched as Sirius turned to face the teen in his hold and there was a look that was undeniably romantic about the way he held her against his side, a longing in his eyes for her to look back at him the way he was looking at her. "You stupid man," she muttered softly as her fingertips went up to touch the glass-covered photo, brushing against the moving image of her much older boyfriend. He had lived well past 1996, that much she could tell from the photographs, but something had still taken him from her-from Harry. He had heeded her warning and did not go to the Department of Mysteries and it had bought him time, but for how much longer she did not know. Part of her wanted to find out, but the other part knew that the truth might hurt deeper than the knowledge of him already being gone.
She had been so wrapped up in examining the photographs that when the door she stood next to opened she nearly jumped out of her skin. Her hands rose to defend herself from an unknown foe as she jumped back, a small yell in surprise tumbling from her lips.
"Merlin, Hermione. It's only me!" Harry emerged from the bedroom looking equally as disheveled as his friend. His shoulder-length black hair had been pulled up into a messy knot on the back of his head. Unlike Hermione, he had managed to change into a pair of flannel pajama pants and a faded gray shirt before he had whisked himself to bed. His hand rose and he pushed two fingers under the rim of his black glasses to rub against his right eye as a small yawn was let loose. "I know you've been gone for a bit, but you do know we're not all bad wizards, right?" He joked before reaching out to swat her raised fist as he moved past her.
Hermione let out a shaky breath, her hands dropping as Harry moved behind her down the hallway. "You just caught me off guard," she explained, brown eyes dancing over the image of Sirius, Harry and herself for a final time before she turned around just in time to see Harry disappear into the second floor restroom. The light flickered on and flooded the hallway as the sound of him relieving his bladder echoed out of the room. Hermione's eyes widened at the forwardness of the act of leaving the door open. Sure, she had known Harry for nearly nine years, but that did not mean her comfort level with him meant it was okay to leave the bloody bathroom door open! "Jesus Harry, don't you shut doors around here?" she called out from her position at the end of the hallway as she averted her gaze to the floor.
Harry could be heard laughing from inside the restroom before the sound of the flushing toilet and running water masked his chuckling. "It isn't like you haven't seen it before," he reminded her as he waltzed out of the restroom, rubbing his hands along his pajama bottoms to pull the moisture from them. "Besides, you're in my house." Tossing her a sleepy wink Harry moved down the hallway towards her once again, obviously intent on returning to his bedroom.
"Against my will," Hermione reminded him of the conditions of her release, her arms crossing over her bust as he passed to cross the threshold into the darkened room he came from earlier. It was only then she noticed where she had wandered. To her immediate left was Regulus' old bedroom. The same plaque from years ago still hung above the threshold, left as if to honor the fallen hero. Which meant that the room Harry had walked into had once belonged to Sirius. She could make out the outline of the four poster bed and a large trunk that lined the edge of the bed.
"Better to be released to stay with me than Draco, right?" Harry teased as he moved into the darkened bedroom. He had left the door open behind him as he moved through the darkness and the creak of springs let her know he had crawled back into the bed. "Ya comin?" he called from the darkness, mid-yawn.
"Oh...uh, sure." Hermione glanced down the hallway, as if to make sure no one would witness her entrance into his bedroom like the last time they had been in this house together. She left the bedroom door ajar an inch, not sure of the protocol one was supposed to take while going into their ex-boyfriend's room. The simple change in the past had complicated more than Hermione had liked to admit. Her relationship with Harry had been so simple before; never did it cross her mind to think of the boy she had grown up with as anything other than a brother. She had held no qualms about crawling into his bed previously, knowing that any salacious intent was far from both of their minds, but now. Her changed past had obviously shown they had been more than friends, this much was obviously by the way he touched her, and the photographs in the hallway.
Her hand went out in front of her, touching the soft mattress to brace herself as she moved to sit on the opposite edge of the bed from Harry, her eyes straining through the darkness to try and take in the room.
"Draco told me you might have some questions," Harry began from the opposite side of the bed in the darkness. "Something about time travel making you forget. I don't remember exactly, if I am being honest. He showed up a couple hours ago and I was so bleedin' tired." He leaned across the bed to grab something off of the nightstand and a small clicking sound could be heard. A soft glowing orb floated from Harry's hand to the opposite wall where an ornate wall mounted candelabra was housed above the fireplace. Two more clicks from the deluminator allowed two more orbs to flow to the room's lighting source providing a dimmed glow so they might see one another. "So let's get them out of the way so we can go back to being normal, yeah?"
Hermione watched as Harry tossed the intricate green lighter back to the surface of the nightstand before he rolled on his side to face her, tucking a pillow between his arm and head to prop himself up just slightly. Shifting on the bed Hermione tucked her right leg under her as she turned to face the friend she had known for so long. This same friend who suddenly felt like a complete stranger. As much as she hated to admit it, she was also grateful for Malfoy's assistance in explaining the numerous question Hermione would have. She would have to remember to thank the ferret later, but only right after hexing him as retribution for pulling her off the assignment. "Everything is just a bit fuzzy," she lied. "It's not like I don't remember you. I could never forget my best friend. I just…" Her lips pursed as she tried to find the proper way to continue. "I just don't understand the dynamic of our relationship."
Harry could not prevent the small snigger of laughter her question triggered, and judging by his response she had a funny feeling that this was not the first time he had heard this question. "You've been my best friend since we were eleven," Harry began and when he caught the unamused 'I-already-know-that' look on her face he gave a small shrug in feigned ignorance. "Just making sure you remember that!" He explained before rolling onto his back, his hands going up to lock behind his head. "Well….how far back should I go then? What don't you remember?"
"Well, the Minister implied we had been romantic, and judging by those pictures in the hallway and the way you grabbed my arse back at the Ministry, I would say we were. So how about you start there?" she offered, shifting up on the bed until her back was pressed against the antique headboard. As she slipped back on the bed she allowed her legs to slide under the covers to protect herself from the evening summer chill, but she made sure to leave adequate space between herself and Harry.
Harry couldn't help but grin from ear to ear at her request and a heavy breath was taken before he tipped his head up to look at her. "The moment I saw you at King's Cross during our third year I was pretty sure I was in love," he joked, rolling onto his stomach to face her as he reminisced. "It took me until Christmas to convince you to date me. You were worried Neville would feel like the odd man out, but his interest in witches had not really picked up yet. He loved those damn plants too much." Laughing at his own joke, Harry looked down at his fingers as he laced them together, his tongue darting across his bottom lip. "We dated through the end of our fifth year. You uh…." Harry looked up to catch her eye as his cheshire cat like grin softened to a small smile. "We were each other's firsts and I was heartbroken when you ended things but I understood. I went to visit you at St. Mungo's after the Department of Mysteries fiasco and you told me we couldn't be together because it was too risky with the war. I remember thinking how fucking stupid you were, but Uncle Sirius talked me off the ledge. He told me you were right...that it was too dangerous because if we were together you would have a larger target on you back."
"We have not been together….intimately… in years. Much to my disappointment." Harry teased, which earned him a small kick from Hermione. "Heey! You asked for the recap. I was just being honest," he joked as he winked at the witch.
Hermione shook her head before glancing away from Harry to around the room, noting the small knicknacks of Sirius' that lined the shelves and dresser top. As much of Harry had been moved into this room, there was still so much of his Godfather left it was hard to not notice. "Harry this wasn't your room. Not always, right?" she questioned.
Harry followed her line of sight to the shelf on the far end of the wall and he slipped from the bed quickly. "No. I used to be down the hall. After Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus died I kind of moved in here. I guess I just wanted to be close to him, I dunno. Nev helped me move my things into the room little by little as we cleared out the mess," he explained as he reached up on his tiptoes to pull down an aged leather-bound book that had bits of paper sticking out from its pages. "You remember Neville, right?" Harry questioned.
"Of course I remember Neville, Harry!" Hermione scolded and as he held out the leatherbound book to her she pulled it into her lap. The front cover was blank, no details on what was inside, but from what she could see now that it was up close, the bits of paper that hung out the sides were photographs. Glancing up to Harry her brow knitted in slight confusion before she looked down to the tome in her hand and she cracked the front page open.
"Uncle Sirius' scrapbook. Found it once we cleared out his room. There's some old pictures you can skip past. Just him in various spots around Muggle London. But towards the end he's got a lot of pictures of us and some Prophet clippings. Might help jog your memory," he explained as he reached over her to move past the series of photos that held far more meaning to her than he had realized.
Hermione bit her bottom lip at the thought of Sirius holding on to the precious memories of their final trip together, even going as far as to keep the ticket stub to the concert. He was nearly a third through the photo album before he paused flipping the pages and he tapped a large black and white photo of Harry, Hermione and Neville in front of Hogwarts. "Ahh yeah. Here we go. This was the parents' weekend during our third year. Uncle Sirius met you for the first time. I remember he nearly choked on his tea when you rushed over to us in the Great Hall. I think he was shocked by that mop on your head you called hair," Harry teased as he tapped the riotous curls in the photo that Hermione had yet to figure out how to tame.
"Excuse me, . I do believe you were as unkempt as I was," she shot back as she waved his figure off the photograph before her bottom lip was bitten. She wanted to scour this book for memories, to try and figure out how much of her past had changed, but she knew that if she began down that path it would be harder to separate herself when it came time to leave-if that chance ever presented itself again. "Can I look at this later?" Glancing up to her friend who had settled next to her on the headboard, Harry nodded.
"Of course. Sorry I just-I wanted my old Hermione back. I don't mean to force this on you."
"No, no it's not that. I'm just tired. It's late and I just need to have some time to wrap my mind around what you've told me already," she explained. Shutting the leatherbound scrapbook took all the strength she had within her and as she slid it into his lap, she knew that she could never look through the memories. Not when her intention was to fight her way back to the past.
Harry took the book and set it on his nightstand, and plucking the deluminator from the nightstand he began to recall the light from the room one click at a time. "Will you stay here tonight?" he requested as he moved down beneath the thick comforter.
Hermione hesitated for a moment, weighing the consequences in her head. "If you keep your hands to yourself." And when no protest was made she slipped under the covers next to him. She felt his hand go out to touch her shoulder before slipping down the length of her arm until their fingers touched and he slowly wrapped his hand around hers. Not lacing their fingers together like he had earlier, but rather enveloping her smaller hand in his.
"I missed you 'Mione," Harry whispered across the bed and he gave her a comforting squeeze before pulling his hand away as he rolled over to face the opposite side of the room as he fluffed his pillow for comfort.
A smile graced her lips and as he pulled away she reached out to press her palm flat against his upper back in a comforting gesture she had done many times when they had fallen asleep side by side while hunting Horcruxes. "I missed you too, Harry," she replied before pulling the thick comforter up to her chin as she snuggled into the plush mattress. She had spoken the truth, for the weeks she had spent in the past, she could not help but miss the raven-haired man who lay next to her. He had helped shape her childhood and adolescence; they had gone through so much together in her original timeline, and the more time she had spent around Lily and James, she could not help but long for his company in the more jovial times. Harry deserved to know them, to grow up with a set of parents as loving and as kind as they were. He embodied so much of them she could only imagine how much would change if she was able to go back and complete the mission she had been sent on. Hell, how much of her own life would change due to that fact. Without a second wizarding war, she would still have her parents and a normal life, and part of her hoped that if she was to go back and stop the second war from happening, then she might also have Sirius waiting for her as well.
As they laid side by side, Harry's soft breath beginning to lull Hermione back to sleep, it was interrupted by sudden realization. "Oh, 'Mione I forgot to mention," he grunted sleepily over his shoulder to the tired witch who had snuggled close. "Tonks stopped by with Teddy earlier. I'd forgotten about our dinner plans. She's coming by in the morning to drop Teddy off for a couple hours," he grumbled as he balled the pillow up under his head. "Just wanted to give you the heads up."
Hermione eyes snapped open instantly as any sort of sleep she had been hoping to achieve for the remainder of the night had been whisked away at the sleepy revelation of her best friend. Nymphadora Tonks was alive and, better yet, had still managed to wear down the moody werewolf's walls enough to sneak into a place in his heart (and bedroom).
July 8th, 1999 - Grimmauld Place - 10:00
Hermione had not managed a wink of sleep the rest of the night. Instead she lay awake next to Harry until his soft snores had filled the room and she slipped out of the bed and moved down to the second landing to work through the numerous changes in her head. First, she had a fairly lengthy romantic past WITH HER BEST FRIEND. Second, Neville was Harry's childhood best friend?! Third, Harry had been with Sirius for FAR LONGER than he had originally; she did not even get to investigate this tidbit of history yet, but it was on her growing list. Fourth, TONKS WAS ALIVE. Unable to verbalize her excitement (and confusion) over the changes, Hermione had to focus her energy on doing something other than spinning out of control.
Which is why when Harry had found her at half past seven she was in the small library on the first floor manually alphabetizing every single book in the collection. She had just completed the letter 'P' and was beginning her pre-sort of the small 'Q' section when he had to physically pull her from her task.
He did not question what she was doing, because apparently Hermione in this timeline was prone to fits of odd organizational behavior just as she had been in her original timeline. Instead he forced her into the kitchen and cooked up a plate full of eggs, sausage and toast before forcing her to eat the entire portion. They ate in silence as they filled their bellies and sipped the morning tea. Both were unsure of how to proceed until Harry finally broke the silence to tell her she should probably shower before Tonks and Teddy showed up.
"I'm not saying you stink, but I'm pretty sure I can see flies wafting about your head," he had teased before sending her up to the second floor to clean up. She showered quickly, eager to see the smiling face of a friend she had not been around in over a year. Harry had left out a set of clothing for her, obviously retrieved from her flat because she did not remember packing the pair of Muggle jeans or olive green tank top. Slipping into the garments, she magically dried her short curls before pinning the front back with two bobby pins she was able to find in the bottom of a drawer.
As she exited the bathroom she could hear Tonks' voice carry up the hallway as she told Harry to go retrieve a favored sippy cup of Teddy's from the kitchen. Bare feet carried Hermione in a hurry down the flight of stairs and as she rounded into the living room she nearly collided with Harry who was holding the nearly one year old tot. "Teddy!" Hermione couldn't contain herself at the sight of the blue haired boy. Reaching out to the tot in Harry's arms she touched the side of his chubby cheeks as she leaned up on her toes to press a kiss against the top of his blue curls.
"Well that's more of a welcome than I got, Tedward," Harry told the tot who was giggling as he tried to pull a fistful of Hermione's curls towards his mouth. "Consider yourself special." Harry's fingers tickled the tot's stomach in order to get him to drop his grip on Hermione's hair.
Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry's words. "What Uncle Harry does not realize, is that if he were as adorable as you, I would have gladly showered him with kisses," she told the squealing toddler before she winked up to her friend who looked playfully wounded by her words.
"Women. Stay away from them, Teddy. They're no good," he warned his godson as he moved around Hermione, continuing his path towards the kitchen. "We'll be back in there in just a moment. You want to wait and I'll walk in with you?" Harry offered, knowing that the reunion might be a little difficult for his friend. She had had a hard time remembering bits of their shared past, it was not a far stretch for him to assume she would struggle with Tonks as well.
"I'll be fine. You better hurry though, because I am in desperate need of snuggles from that little boy." Flashing a reassuring grin to the pair she moved down the hallway and into the living room once Harry had slipped into the kitchen with a promise of being quick.
As she crossed the threshold into the living room she spotted the familiar face of Tonks lounging on the couch with her booted feet propped up on the coffee table. Her bubble gum pink shoulder length hair had been pulled back in a messy bun at the top of her head, and judging by the bags under her eyes, it appeared as if the single mother had not had a good night's sleep in a long while. When she spotted Hermione she rose quickly from the faded plaid couch, her trench coat brushing the surface of the floor as she moved towards Hermione. "There's the little runaway," Tonks teased before bringing Hermione in for a tight squeeze.
Hermione's slender arms wound around Tonks' middle, giving her friend a hug that might be a little more tight than intended, but Hermione was unable to help it. She was alive! Teddy would have a chance at being raised by one of his parents, which meant that at least in this timeline, some good had come from the shit hand she had been dealt since her return. "It's good to see you, Tonks."
Pulling back from the hug, the pink haired metamorphmagus pulled Hermione to an arm's length away as Tonks scanned her face, looking for something that Hermione was unsure of. "So, I have to ask-" Tonks began as her hands slipped off Hermione's shoulders so she might cross her arms over her bust. "Which Hermione are you now?"
"What do you mean?" Hermione questioned as she cocked her head to the side, brow furrowing quizzically at the sleep-deprived mother. Which Hermione? She was still the same Hermione as before, technically the only people that had changed were the ones who she returned to in this timeline. Reaching up Hermione tucked her hair behind her ear as she shrugged. "I'm just me. There is only one of me," she explained.
"Oh, come on now. You know what I mean," Tonks offered with a wave of her hand as she turned her back to Hermione to move back over to the couch. "Are you Harry's Hermione or-" She flopped back down on the couch and kicked her booted feet up onto the coffee table before patting the spot next to her. "-are you Sirius' Hermione? Remus never did tell me what year it was when you met them." Tonks flashed a knowing grin at the shell-shocked Hermione who stood frozen in the exact spot she had left her moments ago in the middle of the room. "So I guess what I'm asking is….did you shag the old dog yet or what?"
Authors Note:
Thank you all for commenting, following, liking and sharing my fic! You are all lovely and I enjoy reading every single review that you leave. I hope you're enjoying this story as much as I am enjoying writing it!
As always, much love to my amazing Alpha & Beta, KnitKnitRead & Islandgurl777. They let me bounce my crazy ideas off them and deal with my ramblings!