Beta love goes to NetsirkElocin. I do not own Harry Potter.
Even though they respected Hermione's wishes, the boys did not let her go anywhere by herself for the rest of the year. If she was not in Gryffindor tower, then she was with one if not more of the boys. The Slytherins, who attacked Hermione, were furious the morning after the assault and, much to Sirius' pleasure, covered in bruises.
The Marauders begged Hermione to tell her parents or Dumbledore, but she held fast in refusing.
One night right before Christmas vacation Lily burst into the boy's dorm and ran straight for James.
"JAMES! JAMES! WAKE UP NOW!" she screamed as she shook James awake.
"What's going on?" he said as he sat up in bed rubbing his eyes with one hand as he grabbed his glasses with the other.
"It's Hermione. She's screaming in her sleep, and we can't wake her up," Lily said rushed as she saw the other boys also sitting up in their beds.
The boys jumped out of their beds and were down the stairs in a flash. They all stopped short of the stairs that led to the girls dorm.
"Those stupid stairs! We can't get up them!" James yelled out in frustration.
"Remus and I can. We are prefects. Hold onto our hands and the stairs will allow you up!" Lily said as she almost ran into them. Lily grabbed James' hand and started running up the stairs to the girls dorm, with Remus and Sirius following behind them.
They burst into the room and the second the door was opened the boys were hit by a wall of Hermione's screams. The boys rushed to Hermione's bed and grabbed her by the shoulders.
"NO! NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed.
"HERMIONE! WAKE UP!" Sirius yelled shaking her awake.
Hermione woke up. Her face stained with her tears.
"Sir…Sirius?" she said trembling.
Sirius held her close to his chest. "It is alright, Boots. I am here. Prongs and Moony are here. We won't let anything happen to you. I swear it." He said as he held the crying girl.
"I'm sorry that you woke up. I must have forgotten the silencing charm," Hermione said burying herself on Sirius' chest.
"How long have you been using a silencing charm?" Remus asked looking on.
"Since the night after," Hermione said in a small voice.
"Night after what? What happened?" Lily started to ask James.
"Not now, Evans! Can we get back down the stairs without falling?" James snapped at Lily.
Lily had never been treated like this by James Potter. He had never lost his cool with her.
Lily nodded. "As long as each of you is holding on to a prefect, there should be no problem," she said in a small voice.
"Good. You girls get back to sleep. We will take care of Hermione," he said as he looked around the room to the other girls.
"Now, wait just a minute. Hermione is our friend too. I think we have a right-" Lily started to say before James cut her off.
"No, you don't have a right to anything. If she has not told you anything, then it is none of your concern! She may be your friend, but she is also a Marauder! WE WILL HANDLE THIS!" James said as he left the room grabbing onto Remus' arm as Remus caught into Sirius'.
The boys quickly made their way back to their dorm. Sirius place Hermione gently on his bed.
"Why did you not me you were having nightmares?" Sirius asked.
"I don't need anyone pitying me or giving you another reason to attack your brother!" Hermione said as she wiped the last of the tears away.
"I have no brother!" Sirius shouted.
"Don't say that. Regulus is and always will be your brother. He didn't know what Macnair was planning."
"Hermione, you once told me that if anyone hurt you that I would be given permission to go after them!"
"And you did! You boys are always around me to make sure it doesn't happen again. And you protected me when I needed you the most. Now, I just need you to be here for me. I am fine. The nightmares will stop. I'm sure of it."
Hermione looked over at James and Remus, who were sitting at the end of Sirius' bed watching her.
"Can I just stay here for the night? I don't want to go back and explain anything right now to the girls."
"As if you could leave," Remus said.
Hermione gave a small smile as Sirius made his bed on the floor next to Hermione before he kissed her forehead and told her goodnight. James and Remus followed suit wishing Hermione a good night and telling her they will talk more in the morning.
Hermione settled into Sirius' bed.
While everyone else had left for the Christmas Holidays, the Marauders stayed behind for the first time in their Hogwarts careers. Hermione had written to her parents the morning after she spent the night in the boys dorms and told them she wanted to stay over the holidays to get some studying in for her OWLs. In truth, Hermione didn't know if she was ready to face her family and pretend that everything was okay.
The Marauders found out she was staying and quickly wrote to their parents and told them they were staying as well. She tried to get them to go, but they refused, telling her that Marauders stick together.
Hermione ended up spending every night in the boys dorm asleep on one of the boys' beds while that boy slept on the floor.
Instead of ringing in the New year at the Potter ball, as they had for many years before, the Marauders celebrated the New Year in an empty common room.
Hermione cried when the clock struck midnight and the new year was rang in while the boys held her.
She cried for her friends from 1998; she cried for the people she knew and fell in love with in the 70s. She cried because the War finally came.
And she cried, because, for the first time in five years, Hermione didn't know if she could finish her mission.
Okay, so to answer any questions I am sure will be there. Yes, Hermione is going to try to hide what happened. Yes there is a reason. Yes, being in the past is starting to take its toll on her. For five years she has been able to for the most part have a normal childhood, something she did not have the first time. Now she is starting to go back to the war veteran she is. She is dealing with time lines and having to wait until it is the right time. She knows the future and will do anything to stop the future she knows from coming true.
Until next time lots of love from the Bookworm.