Goodbye To The Past

A/N: Hey guys, I'm not going to reveal the plan just yet but you will see how the future changes. Quick question to all of you: do you want to see if Sirius and Hermione get together seventeen years later or not? I didn't originally intend for this to be a romance story but if I'm going to do it I might as well go whole hog. Let me know what you think in your reviews. ENJOY R&R PLZ!

It wasn't until the sun rose and the sky began to lighten once again, heralding the beginning of a new day and Hermione's last did the couple get out of bed even though they hadn't slept. Despite their activities, they couldn't bring themselves to sleep that night preferring to lay there listening to the night's noises. They'd spent the entire day ignoring this day but they had to talk about eventually. Finally Sirius gulped and went first, "I guess I'll be seeing you seventeen years' time then?"

Hearing him put it like that, with all the uncertainty and fear she felt about this new, mainly unknown future. Hermione's nerve failed her and she couldn't help it, "Is there…is there any way…I could convince you not to wait?"

"What?" Sirius went wide-eyed.

"Sirius we don't know who I'll be in seventeen years, I can't guarantee that I'll like you or even know you! I'll be different person, you may not even like me! I'd hate to think that you spent nearly twenty years waiting for me only for it to not happen. I love you too much for that," tears welled in her eyes, "I love you too much to have you waste your life."

"Enough, you listen to me Hermione Granger," Sirius said fervently, "I'm not going to give up just because we don't know what will happen. I've already had a taste of what life is like with you and without you, and even if I have to wait two decades to have you back, I promise you it is worth it. I love you Mya."

These words gave Hermione a painful wrench in her heart, she couldn't do this but she had to. "Okay promise me one thing then. If another woman came along -" she had to put her finger on his lips to silence his protest, "if you meet someone who loves you and cares for you, you won't just turn her away. Give her chance. You're talking about a long time to be alone Sirius, I don't want that for you."

Sirius looked like he dearly wanted to argue but held his tongue. "Fine, I promise."

The tears still shimmering, she nodded and they got up to dress. Hermione made the conscious decision to wear her Time Turner on the outside of her shirt, both of them relieved to see it hadn't started glowing yet. They didn't have much of an appetite so they immediately went up to the roof and jumped on the bike to head back to Godric's Hollow.

In spite of the early hour, Lily, James, and Remus were waiting for them in backyard when they arrived. From the look of things, they hadn't gotten much sleep either. There was long moment of silence between the group finally first thing Hermione said was, "It'll start glowing when I have to leave, just tell me what you guys came up with." Agreeing, they trouped into the kitchen to sit at the table where a long parchment had been written up with a number of corrections and annotations along the way. "You came with all of this and got it down to one plan all in one day?"

"We aren't the smartest witch of our age but we're still pretty intelligent too you know," one corner of Lily's mouth lifted.

"This is fantastic," Hermione scanned the parchment, taking in the details. "You do realise this means you'll have to let some of the early things happen?"

"We know," James said heavily. "But we didn't know much about them anyway, we figured out pretty quickly that we could only work with the concrete facts."

"Hang on are you serious?!" Sirius exclaimed pointing to a part a third of the way down. "You're actually going to -"

"Read the notes Paddy," Remus directed wearily.

Sirius scrutinized the innocent writing for a full two minutes before making a noise and backing off. "Fine." Hermione patted his arm.

"So time traveller what do you think?" the group waited her verdict.

"I think it's brilliant, risky but brilliant," Hermione concluded. "Do you really think you can pull it off?"

"We've got a couple months to make all the necessary inquiries and have contingency plans in case something changes," Lily added.

"Sounds good," Hermione confirmed. They spent about an hour going over the finer points of the plan and by the end of it, Hermione was satisfied and certain that things would turn out nicely in the coming future. She checked the time turner, it was still lightless. "Still nothing, I arrived here around noon so that leaves us a couple more hours."

"Snap and Butterbeer?" Remus proposed with a weak laugh.

"Sounds perfect," Hermione bit her lip. "I also need to get my stuff."

Once she retrieved all her belongings, for the last time they settled into their circle with little Harry in Mya's lap. Even the baby seemed to realise something was off given the way he was clinging to her shirt and kept looking up at her. They played simply to have something to do, their alternated between the cards, the clock, and the time turner and, for Hermione and Sirius, each other. Except Sirius would often continue to watch her even after she looked away, he could feel those minuscule fissures that signalled the impending heartbreak. How on earth did she become so important in seven days he would never understand but it didn't change how he felt. He noticed his godson's wide innocent eyes on him and miserably played his next card. I'm not letting her go because I want to Harry.

At eleven thirty the professors appeared via Floo. "My apologies for our lateness but as you know exams are underway and we are needed," Dumbledore explained as they got out of the fire and the others stood up. "Nonetheless we had to bid Ms. Granger goodbye. It has been a pleasure and an honour my dear."

Hermione gratefully shook hands with the headmaster, "Thank you Professor."

"You shall be missed," Minerva said and Hermione couldn't help but hug her.

"Don't worry I'll be seeing you pretty soon," Mya reminded her teacher.

"Until then," Minerva patted her cheek.

Hermione looked down and saw that the little hourglass was starting to shine a bit. She took a deep breath and turned to the marauders and Lily, "Time to go. I'll be seeing you guys too."

"Oh," Lily whimpered and rushed to hold the girl. They couldn't hold back their sobs any longer. "Come back as soon as possible," the redhead sniffed.

"I will," Mya promised. She let go and turned to James who was distinctly red-eyed though he tried not to show it. She smiled wanly and embraced him, "You're a wonderful father, never forget that. You're still gonna check out my ball date right?"

"Of course," James pulled away. "You're our family Mya."

"Always," she pecked his cheek.

She moved on to Remus, "I expect to see you in Defence Professor Moony." The werewolf chuckled and they too hugged for a moment.

Remus kissed the top of her hairline chastely, "Thank you…for everything."

"Take care of yourself." Hermione checked the hourglass, it was shining brighter and looked like it was steadily turning blue. Her gaze immediately went to Sirius, panic and sadness warring in her gut.

Sirius gestured to the Time Turner, "This is it then." Hermione automatically reached up to touch the chain but instead her hand found the starburst necklace from Sirius. It only took a moment for her to decide; she knew she shouldn't but it wasn't revealing anything about the future, in fact it was only worth something in the past and in their memories, something she'd no longer have.

She undid the clasp, "You gave this to me when I was sixteen and we were staying at Grimmauld Place for Christmas." She gave it to him, "You should keep it, I don't want to everything about us to disappear just because I won't remember."

He weighed it in his hand, "I'll remember enough for the both of us."

"SIRIUS! MYA!" Lily cried.

They both jumped and looked at the pendant that had gone near blue. They did not hesitate to kiss each other one last time. "I love you Sirius Black and I'd have to be crazy not to fall in love with you again."

"I love you Hermione Granger," Sirius traced her face. "I'm going to miss you every day until you come back to me."

The world began to appear fuzzy and Hermione knew she had to step away. Sirius let go reluctantly, watching the woman he loved faded into the fabric of time. Like erasing something from chalkboard, her image blurred until it eventually faded from sight…and she was gone. Sirius was barely aware of the professors leaving or his friends' comforting hands. He just continued to stare at the patch of carpet hoping that that alone would bring her back into existence. He clenched his hand around the only relic he had of his angel. He wasn't sure how long he was standing there for but eventually James had to lead him away and that's when he broke down. Goodbye love…

A/N: Hey guys, I don't about the rest of you but I'm not ashamed to say I cried while writing this. I get very into my stories…oh well I hope the emotion came through properly. Let me know about the seventeen years later thing above, I don't want to overdo it or be too cliché. Nevertheless ENJOY! R&R PLZ!