A/N: Most the scenes you will recognise from Hermione's memories are from the movies. It makes it easier for everyone to catch on. Since… if you've read the books you should've watched the movies but sometimes I encounter people who have watched the films but not read the books. Might be the other way around too, but that's probably not as common.
Chapter 28: The memories of Hermione Granger
"I am from the future…"
Silence…
"What?..." The others said in one mouth, clearly not believing her words. Sirius just glared at her.
"I was sent back here by mistake the night you found me." Hermione continued, tears threatening to spill.
"B-but you said…" Peter started.
"I lied." Hermione said grimly.
Lily looked at Hermione, worry in her big emerald eyes. "Hermione, why would you lie to us?" She asked, sounding hurt. At least she seemed to accept the fact that Hermione was from the future.
"At first, not to change the future… later on… to protect you from the knowledge." Hermione looked down. Lily sighed and looked down as well. Hermione saw that she understood.
"I don't believe you." James said suddenly, looking a bit uncomfortable.
"I'm so sorry… I only told Remus, needing someone to talk to… and in the future he and I were the closest." Hermione said quietly.
"It's true…" Remus said then. "She knows things that would be very bad for everyone here to know and she's here to prevent it."
"No one asked you!" Sirius hissed then.
"I wanted to go back… but going back would be risking everything without making anything better… and then I got to know you. I just needed to… to… make sure the future didn't play out it had in my time." Hermione hesitated.
Peter looked terrified, like he'd seen a ghost. He hid behind James who looked confused and out of words. Sirius looked horrible. He seemed so angry but in his eyes Hermione saw something else. He also seemed a bit sad. He looked like the Sirius she'd met 20 years on the future.
Lily seemed torn between Hermione and James. She wanted to believe and understand Hermione but at the same time she must feel just as awkward and scared as he did.
"But I've screwed up now… I'm so sorry for lying to you." Hermione finished, not able to keep the tears away any longer.
x-x-x
Sirius
Sirius felt horrible. He felt betrayed and made fun of the way Hermione had deceived them. He felt like screaming and tearing something apart. He just couldn't believe it. The girl he'd met a couple of months ago bloody and torn up on the way to Hogwarts, the girl who'd annoyed him the most, the girl he'd fucking fallen in love with… She didn't belong here.
Sirius honestly didn't know why he was so furious. But somehow, something inside of him felt hurt, heartbroken and betrayed.
"I do believe, if I may say so." Dumbledore started and everyone looked up at him. "That if Hermione wish to actually save her friends from the dangers they face, the easiest way is to let them all in on it."
Hermione nodded and looked at everyone with tears in her eyes. Sirius' heart ached. Why did she have to be so beautiful? He wanted to embrace her and comfort her still, despite her betrayal. But she… didn't belong here, she wasn't Hermione Davies anymore. Had everything really been just an act?
Then she picked something up from her pocket and showed them all. It was the memorose she'd been given. Sirius realised what was going on.
"This is a memorose… I can store my memories in it. I… can show you my life in the future and the dangers we all face." She said.
James, Lily, Peter, Remus and Sirius looked at each other and nodded. They were going to find out who Hermione was. Sirius felt his heart race a bit. From what he'd heard before this would not be very pleasant to experience.
Hermione placed herself in the middle of them and motioned for them to come closer. Dumbledore remained where he sat; apparently he wasn't coming with them.
"I believe this is something between the six of you." He said and smiled at Hermione.
Hermione nodded and looked up once more. "This is the future where I lived. It has already been changed so this might never happen when we grow up now. Don't freak out… After all, the reason I'm here is to prevent this." She said before the memorose started to glow and the surrounding office blurred out to reveal Hermione's memories of the future.
The memories of Hermione Granger
Sirius found himself and the others standing on kings cross train station. When they looked around they saw several young wizards and witches heading towards the Hogwarts train in a hurry. Sirius didn't recognise anyone, not even the older ones.
Suddenly Hermione pointed at a small child standing with her parents, right outside of the train. She had bushy brown hair and looked completely terrified. Sirius and the others gasped. It was Hermione! The child hugged her parents one more time before boarding the train.
x-x-x
The next moment he saw the child inside of the train walking around with a determined look on her face. She opened one of the compartment doors and that's when gasp number two echoed between them.
In the compartment sat two young wizards, probably also first year. One of them had red hair with a disappointed scowl on his face as he was pointing his wand at Peter, who was sitting in the boy's lap, gorging in candy. Why would…?
And then… James Potter… but it wasn't James; the boy just looked like him. As the scene played on Hermione asked the redhead to show her what kind of spell he was going to utter. As the boy failed, making Peter shiver. Hermione walked into the compartment and pointed her wand at the James boy. Then, her eyes widened.
"You're Harry Potter!" She exclaimed, making James gape in surprise.
Harry Potter, identical to James… Oh dear. Remus nudged James' side a bit.
The scene blurred again.
x-x-x
Now they were standing in a crowd of young students outside of the great hall of Hogwarts. Suddenly something broke the quiet mumbling of the children.
"It's true then!" a blonde boy said and looked at the Harry Potter boy. "What they were saying on the train… Harry potter has come to Hogwarts." He finished making all the students gasp and whisper among them. This confused Sirius, why would they think this was so spectacular?
James also looked a bit baffled and stared at Hermione, wanting an explanation. She just shook her head and motioned for him to keep listening.
"This is Crabbe and Goyle, and I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." The blonde said and walked over to Harry.
Remus, James, Lily, Peter and Sirius gasped again when they realised this must be Lucius' son, just like Harry must be James'.
The child-Hermione was standing a little bit away, looking at the scene with an annoyed expression. They could hear the children mumbling from where they stood.
"It's amazing! He's the first one to ever survive…"
"Poor him, I wonder what it's like to be an orphan…"
This made James take a step backwards and stare in terror at the child who had said that.
"I wonder if he's really got the scar!" Another child said
The memory blurred and Hermione looked at James with sad eyes. Lily did so as well, hugging him tightly. Sirius lowered his gaze and thought that after all, this was what she was going to change… it would be okay.
"I figured the sorting was not very important, Harry, Ron and I ended up in Gryffindor."
She said clearing her voice as the scene changed.
x-x-x
The children were sitting in a dungeon classroom. Sirius looked around and recognised it as a potions classroom and snickered. It would be funny to see Slughorn.
Suddenly the door opened and in strode a man with long black robes and long greasy black hair.
Everyone gasped once again, this time Lily was the most stunned. It was Severus Snape.
"SNIVELLUS?" The boys exclaimed in one mouth.
"There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class…" The man said and faced the class with an intimidating glare. They all shivered.
Sirius had to admit that Snivellus sure had become rather scary.
"I do not expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art of this potion making, however for those select few… who possess the predisposition … I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and snare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death…"
This man sure knew how to talk as his speech left Sirius with goosebumps all over.
Snape stopped and looked around his classroom. His eyes fell upon Harry and his face became even more grim and menacing. "Then again… maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to not pay attention!"
Harry was writing something in his book as Snape said this, clearly not understanding that this was aimed against him. Hermione nudged him a bit, making him look up. Snape strode closer to the boy.
"Mr Potter… Our… new…celebrity…" Snape almost hissed. Harry looked at him with absolutely no understanding of the sudden hostility.
James grunted and the memory blurred
"Noo! Let me see!" James exclaimed and looked at Hermione. Hermione shook her head as they entered the next memory.
x-x-x
"We're making a jump. Basically Snape doesn't like Harry…" Hermione said and rolled her eyes. "Because he didn't like you, childish, I know." She finished and looked at James. James rolled his eyes and looked angry.
Now they were standing on the train again.
"Come on, everywhere else is full…" The other Hermione's voice heard from behind them. They turned around and saw the three children a bit older than before. It must be at least a couple of years later.
The three of them entered a compartment where a man sat sleeping by himself in a corner.
Remus' eyes widened. It was him!
"I wonder who that is." Ron, the redhead said.
"Professor R J Lupin." Hermione told him as she sat down.
"You know everything!" Ron said with a surprised look on his face. "How is it she knows everything?" He asked Harry, sounding a bit freaked out and annoyed.
"It's on the suitcase Ronald..." She said with a sigh.
"Oh…" Ron said.
This made Remus, Lily and James snicker a bit while Sirius tried his best not to smile. He was determined to be angry.
"Do you think he's really asleep?" Harry asked Hermione.
"Seems to be, why?" She asked.
"Because I've got to tell you something." Harry said and closed the door to the compartment.
The older Hermione motioned for all of them to enter.
"It will be a bit cramped, but you need to hear this." She said. So the six of them walked into the compartment and looked at the scene playing in front of them.
What Harry told them made everyone gasp and stare at each other in horror. Sirius Black, escaped from Azkaban? Had he been there? Sirius gaped at what they said. They thought Sirius was out to get Harry, to kill Harry.
"He's already killed several people out in broad daylight; I don't think a crowd would stop him this time either."
"You will understand later…" The older Hermione told them all and the memory blurred.
x-x-x
Now they were standing in another classroom in school. Remus' lesson, apparently, as the older version of him was walking around the group of students, questioning them about what's inside the closed cupboard.
"That's a boggart, sir" One of the students said.
"Very good! Now, can anybody tell me what a boggart… looks like?" Remus continued.
Sirius and the others looked at the scene in awe. Remus seemed like a good teacher.
"No one knows. Boggarts are shape shifters. They take the shape of what a particular person fears the most. That makes them so terrifying" The young Hermione said.
"Terrifying, yes that's correct. Luckily a very simple charm exist…." Remus continued but the scene blurred in the middle of it all.
"Remus was my teacher, the best I ever had." Hermione said.
x-x-x
In the next scene they were outside on the grounds of Hogwarts. Ron was sitting a short distance away from Hermione and Harry, holding Peter in his hands. Peter seemed to be struggling.
"RON! RUN!" Harry yelled but instead of running Ron looked terrified and pointed at something behind them. They spun around and saw a big black dog standing there, teeth bared. It was Sirius!
The dog charged, running passed Harry and Hermione and grabbing hold of Ron. He then dragged the boy down under the Whomping willow into the tunnel that led to the shrieking shack.
Harry and Hermione ran after, diving into the tunnel. The six spectators followed after them as fast as they could. A while later they entered the shrieking shack Harry and Hermione walked carefully up the stairs and into a room where Ron sat, staring at them in terror.
"Ron! Where's the dog?" Harry asked.
"Harry it's a trap! He's no dog, he's an animagus!" Ron said and pointed to a corner where none the less than Sirius Black stood, staring at them.
The young Sirius gasped at seeing the man in front of him. He looked emaciated, worn out and over all tacky. THAT was the Sirius Hermione remembered? Great…
The man (because Sirius didn't want to see him as his future self) took a few steps closer, staring at them, his silver eyes shining with bloodlust.
"If you want to kill Harry you have to kill us too!" Hermione yelled and stepped in front of her friend.
"No… only one will die tonight." The man said with a raspy voice.
"AND IT'LL BE YOU!" Harry screamed and charged at Sirius. He pushed the man to the ground and pointed his wand at him. The man just laughed.
"Are you going to kill me Harry?" He looked amused.
Suddenly, out of nowhere Remus appeared and disarmed… Harry? Harry backed off in terror and watched as the scene played on.
"Oh old Sirius, looking rather ragged aren't we?" Remus walked up to Sirius with his wand steadily pointing at him. "Finally the flesh reflects the madness within."
"Well you'd know all about the madness within now wouldn't you Remus?" The man said with a grin. Remus smiled at him and lowered his wand. He then helped the man up and they hugged each other like two old friends.
The young Hermione and Harry gaped at them.
"NO! I trusted you!" Hermione yelled at Remus. "I trusted you!... and all this time… you've been his friend…" She glared at her Professor.
The young Remus looked uncomfortable.
"He's a werewolf! That's why he's been missing classes." She said and pointed at him.
Professor Remus Lupin stared at her. "How long did you know?" He asked.
"Since Professor Snape set the essay." She said, her eyes filled with hatred.
"Oh well Hermione, you really are the brightest with of your age I've ever met." He said and looked impressed.
"Enough talk Remus, come on, let's kill him!" The old Sirius yelled.
"Wait!" Remus told him.
"I DID MY WAITING! 12 YEARS OF IT! IN ASKABAN!" He yelled manically.
Remus looked at the three kids standing in front of him. "All right then…" He said and handed Sirius his wand. "Kill him. But wait one more minute, Harry has the right to know why"
"I know why! You betrayed my parents. You're the reason they're dead!" Harry said then, startling them all. Was this true?
"No Harry it wasn't him. Somebody DID betray your parents but it was somebody who I until quite recently believed to be dead." Remus said.
"Who was it?" Harry yelled.
"PETER Pettigrew!" Sirius barked.
The five friends stared at the memory with open mouths. What?
"He's in this room, right now!" Sirius screamed "Come on out Peter! Come out and plaaay!"
Then, all of a sudden Snape entered the room and disarmed Sirius.
Wow, some turn of events…
"Vengeance is sweet. I hope I'd be the one to catch you." Snape hissed, his wand pointing at Sirius. As Remus walked closer to him he pointed his wand at him instead.
"I told Dumbledore you were bringing your old friend into the castle and now, here's the proof." He hissed.
"Brilliant Snape…" Sirius said with an annoyed tone. "Once again you put your keen and penetrating mind to the task and as usual come to the wrong conclusion." He walked closer to Snape. "Now if you'll excuse us Remus and I have some unfinished business to attend to."
The three men argued for a bit, Snape telling Sirius how he'd let the dementors suck his soul out. The spectators stared at the scene with terror. Then suddenly, Harry raised his wand and shot SNAPE back into the wall, knocking him out.
"Harry! What did you just do, You attacked a teacher!" Hermione and Ron exclaimed.
"Tell me about Peter Pettigrew." Harry said and looked at the older Remus and Sirius in front of him.
"He was at school with us. We thought he was out friend." Remus said calmly.
"No! Pettigrew is dead. You killed him" He said and pointed at Sirius.
"No he didn't! I thought so too until you mentioned seeing Pettigrew on the map." Remus said.
He must mean the marauders' map.
"The map was lying then!" Harry looked unsure.
"The map never lies!" Sirius then exclaimed. "Pettigrew's alive and he's right THERE!" Sirius pointed at the rat in Ron's hands.
"Scabbers has been in my family for-" Ron argued but Sirius interrupted him.
"TWELVE YEARS!" He yelled. "Curiously long life for a common rat! He's missing a toe isn't he?" Sirius then explained how Peter had fooled them all into believing he was dead and how he'd cut off his finger, transformed into a rat and escaped.
"Show me." Harry said
Sirius grabbed the rat out of Ron's hands and brought him over to Remus. They released the rat and he started running. They then hit him with a spell and the rat transformed into a short, chubby and overall ratlike man with watery eyes. There was no denying it; this was an older version of Peter.
The man seemed to be in panic. Sirius and Remus wouldn't let him exit the door so he ran over to Harry.
"Harry, look at you! You look so much like your father, like James! We were the best of friends-" He started but Sirius interrupted.
"How dare you speak like that? How dare you speak about James in front of him?" He barked like a furious dog.
"You sold James and Lily to Voldemort, didn't you!" Remus yelled.
James looked at Lily in terror as he understood what that meant. Lily just stared, not able to say anything. Sirius and Remus also looked at their friends sadly. Peter had backed off a bit and looked more terrified than anyone.
The memory blurred, finally making the horrible scene in front of them disappear.
"Peter escaped, joining forced with Voldemort as his right hand… Sirius became our friend and Harry loved him like a father." Hermione told them as the scene changed.
"Now, this is how I came to end up in your time."
x-x-x
They were standing on the train again. Hermione, Harry and Ron looked just about their age by now. They must've jumped till their last year.
The train stopped and the students started moving out but as they exited the train they realised Hogsmead was under attack.
"Death eaters…" Hermione told them.
"Hagrid, we need to help them!" Harry yelled at the big man.
"I have called fer backup Harry, yeh let the teachers handle this and make sure ta get to Hogwarts with yeh life intact!" Hagrid yelled back at him then. "1ST YEARS COME HERE! I WILL SHOW YEH THE WAY TO THE CASTLE, NOW PLEASE HURREH!"
A big group of 1st years gathered around him, looking terrified. They began walking around Hogsmead, towards the castle. Harry, Ron and Hermione followed with him, probably wanting to make sure the kids got back to school safely.
Suddenly, three death eaters appeared out of nowhere and started attacking the group. A few other older students ran up to help them fight back the attackers. They saw how Hermione gathered up the children again and kept moving forward, away from the battle. She seemed determined to save them.
Suddenly… a man with long blonde hair and steely eyes appeared in front of her. It was Lucius Malfoy.
Sirius and the others growled when they saw him.
Lucius smirked "So, you think you can get away Mudblod? You're running like a Slytherin." He said to Hermione.
"I was trying to get these poor 1st years to safety!" She hissed and sent a stunning spell towards him.
"PROTEGO!" He yelled and the spell bounced off him. Hermione cursed loudly and sent spell after spell after Malfoy. He avoided every single one of them. He seemed skilled in the art of battle.
"AVADA…" Lucius stared at Hermione manically. "…KEDAVRA!"
The green flash shot from his wand and hit Hermione right in the chest.
"NOOOO!" Lily, Sirius, James, Remus and Peter yelled simultaneously before the memory blurred in front of them.
x-x-x
They were back at Dumbledore's office. Hermione lowered her memorose and put if back into her pocket.
"The spell hit my time turner, shattering it so that it cut me. That explains the blood… But I was also sent back in time, 20 years.
James and Lily stared at each other, and then at Peter. They seemed unable to speak.
Peter had tears in his eyes and stared at his own hands in disbelief.
Remus seemed taken aback as well, seeing all this with his own eyes. He looked at Sirius.
Sirius, seemed the most confused. Hermione… had been sent here by mistake and now, she had decided to save them from all of that? How would she ever be able to?
"As I said before… the future is already changed. This will not happen, but it did in my time." Hermione explained again. "I came here with one wish, and that was to get back. I miss my family, my friends… my old life." She said.
"But then I met you guys and realised that I really couldn't let all those things happen to you. Going back would be selfish and useless when I had gotten this chance to save everyone. I couldn't tell you the truth. You must understand that. I shouldn't even have told Remus about it but I'm only human. Having absolutely no one to talk to really is quite hard."
Lily hesitated, but walked up to Hermione and hugged her gently. "I understand you, you can trust me." She said.
"You've sure been through a lot Fusspaw!" James cleared his throat. "Coming here must've been hard… Seeing us like this." He seemed so out of character.
Remus smiled at her, she already knew what he thought. Peter stood in the corner of the room and stared at them. He must feel horrible.
"Peter, don't worry." Remus said. "Like she said, this won't happen now. She's changed it. You're not that kind of person." He walked over to the shivering boy and patted his shoulder. Peter looked up at him and smiled a bit. Then everyone turned to Sirius, awaiting his reaction.
He stood with his arms at his sides seeming deep in thought. Then suddenly, he raised his head and looked at Hermione.
"You've been playing a game all along. Pretending to be someone you're not. At first I thought your entire personality was part of the acting but I changed my mind." He said, sounding rather cold.
"Despite lying to us, you're still the same person. You're you no matter what your surname is. However from now on, please be honest with us. We're friends after all." He said, and his voice seemed to warm up.
"And… don't see us as the people you knew before. I'm not some maniac gross old man, Peter's not Voldemort's right hand and… well you can still see Remus as your teacher that you can't date… but you get my point." Sirius said, smiling at the end.
Remus stared at Sirius like he didn't believe what his friend had just said but seemed amused never the less. The others laughed and James walked over to Sirius, patting his back.
"Idiot." He said and winked.
"Thanks Sirius, I'm glad you understand." Hermione said with a smile that made his heart race.
This wouldn't change anything… Sirius now knew that.
x-x-x
-faint-
Review please. I know some of you might disapprove of this chapter.
It was hard to write D:
Ps: Love you all! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews I've already gotten.
