24th November, 1977

The day of the full moon was the first time Danny went into the boys' dorm. Aside from Ancient Runes, which Lily was in charge of, Danny had prepared a copy of all of her notes for Remus, since he was sick in bed. She'd hurried up to the Gryffindor tower as soon as arithmancy was over, Sirius on her heels.

"Really, kitten, he's just resting." The animagus had been waiting for her outside the classroom, James apparently busy with Head Boy duties and Peter off Merlin-knew-where.

She really should pay more attention to what the rat did. Maybe he was already in contact with Death Eaters.

She slowed down enough for him to catch up, grabbed his sleeve and tugged him after her, making him move faster. "Well, he's only going to get worse before tonight, isn't he?" She shot back in a whisper, speed-walking determinedly. "I'd rather see him before he has to go."

"He'll still be there if you arrive two minutes later, at a normal speed." He snarked.

"And here I thought you'd love to make a dramatic entrance, hair wind-swept, robes billowing behind us." She retorted with no small amount of sassiness.

"He's in bed, surrounded by curtains. He's not going to be able to appreciate our dramatic entrance." He retorted once more, but his lips twitched at her appreciation of his character.

"Well, damn. I'd look mighty fine with a dramatic entrance." She quipped, sharing a smirk with him.

Sirius' eyes raked all over her, then stopped at her face. "You look mighty fine without a dramatic entrance, kitten."

She snorted and shoved him away, with such bad luck that she pushed him against someone coming from a corridor to their side. She heard a 'whoof' as two bodies collided, almost tripping each other in the process.

"Oh, Merlin, sorry, sorry." She stopped and pulled Sirius back beside her, moving him away from whomever she had pushed him into. It was Regulus, who was glaring at them both and rubbing his chest where Sirius' shoulder had hit him. "Sorry, Regulus, I pushed him away. I didn't see you there."

There was silence from both boys. Regulus glanced from her to his brother, while Sirius only stared at the younger Black.

"Fantastic family reunion." Danny commented when the silence stretched, making both boys glare at her. "I can see the resemblance, huh." She glanced toward Sirius, who clenched his jaw. "Great, it was great seeing you, Regulus, but we need to be going. Got dramatic entrances to perform." She grabbed Sirius' sleeve once more and resumed their earlier path.

Once far enough from his brother, Sirius gritted out. "That wasn't funny."

"There goes my dream of becoming a stand-up comedian."

"What?"

She sighed heavily. "Nothing. I just wished you two could get along better. I can't imagine not speaking to my own brother." She felt her eyes brim. She hadn't talked about Harry with them before. She missed her brother but hadn't felt like she could tell anybody. "My brother and I have only been apart for about two months at most since… I was one." She slowed down a bit, Sirius walking beside her, and let her hand move down from his sleeve to his own hand, clutching it tightly. Her voice lowered to a whisper, careful not to speak when there was anybody close. "I used to sneak off the girls' dorms and into the boys' to sleep with him when we started school. We used to sleep together when we were little, so I always found it comforting." She sniffed, the words tumbling out of her mouth unbidden. "We were both Gryffindors, we both had the same classes, the same friends for the most part, and played Quidditch together. If he got in trouble, I got in trouble. We broke about fifty school rules a year, if not more." She choked out a teary laugh, her hand tightening around Sirius'. "I miss my siblings more than anything, Sirius. I know you care about Regulus. Please, don't waste the chance to reconnect with him." She looked him straight in the eye, even though she knew she was crying.

Sirius didn't say anything. He didn't want to lie to her, but he couldn't say his relationship with Regulus would get any better. Instead, he wrapped his arms around the girl, letting her cry against his chest, both tucked away to one side of the entrance to the Prefects' bathroom. If anyone saw them, they didn't disturb them. Danny cried, and Sirius realized that he couldn't keep her there, with them. She had to return to her time, and he would have to wait many years to have his future with her.

That night was quite therapeutic for Danny. After hiding the redness in her eyes and giving Remus the day's notes, she let the boy 'sleep' (she knew he had to go to the Shrieking Shack before the moon went up). Permission from the elves acquired, she baked up a storm. She made sure to muffle the sounds from the kitchen not to wake the elves up, since it was quite late. The first batch of chocolate chip cookies she set aside for Remus, attaching a tiny note with 'Eat, you'll feel better' to the lid of the glass jar she put them in. Next, she made dog shaped peanut butter and chocolate cookies for Sirius, purposefully making the dough dark as to depict his animagus form. Finally, she made several apple pies, using her own mom's recipe, and left them on one of the tables with a note thanking the elves for letting her use the kitchen. After that, she wrapped the food and made herself invisible before heading to the Room of Requirement. She needed to tire herself out.

25th November, 1977

Danny started the day feeling accomplished. Not only had she finished her theoretical research on the wolfsbane, ready to start brewing trial versions of the potion, she'd also managed to maintain the barrier Dumbledore had been teaching her to cast back in her time, the one she'd been practicing the night she'd been sent back in time. She had successfully kept it up and strong for ten straight minutes, and hadn't fainted in the process.

She'd returned to the dorms around four in the morning, careful not to wake anyone and convinced no one had noticed her absence. She'd left after all the other girls had gone to sleep and left a decoy in her bed, after all.

She rose at around six, got showered and dressed at lightning speed and snuck into the boys' dorms. They weren't back yet, but it wouldn't be long. She left the jar with the dog-shaped cookies on Sirius' bed, 'Share with Prongs, I couldn't shape them into stags' written on a note beside it, and cast the invisibility charm on herself before leaving the tower and heading toward the Infirmary.

Just as she reached for the portrait door to head out, this one opened, though no one stood outside. The mystery was solved when someone barrelled into Danny, and three bodies toppled over and hit the floor, the invisibility cloak they'd been moving under sliding from over them.

Danny herself lost her breath at the hit for a moment, enough to be unable to maintain the charm on herself and making her visible again. She groaned, pained, and received matching groans from the other three. Someone had fallen over her, a mess of black hair cluing her into who it was, and squashed her when he tried to move, stealing her breath once more.

"For Merlin's sake, Prongs, get off me!" She whisper-shouted, pushing the boy so he'd move from on top of her.

Sirius himself had been the first to recover and push himself up on his hands. He was looking tired and achy, and Danny frowned when she saw James with a couple bruises on his face too.

"Great entrance, gentlemen." She groused, raising herself up on her hands and making sure the cookie jar hadn't been much disturbed.

Peter looked at her with wide eyes, frightened. "We… we were just…"

Realizing Peter didn't know she knew about the situation, she frowned and focused on the other two boys. "You guys look like shit." She leant forward and touched James' cheek, making him flinch. "Come on, I think I have something for those bruises." She stood up, held her hands out for her two friends and helped them stand before tugging them toward their dorm. Her eyes flickered toward Peter, who followed after them as usual, though he looked worried. "Did you guys go ten rounds against each other and then another against the Whomping Willow?" She asked once the door was closed, pulling the two boys toward Sirius' bed. She rummaged through her bag and got a small dark jar from it. Bruise paste, made back in her time. The one she always carried with her since both Harry and her tended to get injured playing Quidditch or in fights.

She fixed James' face first, getting a tired but sincere 'thank you' from him before he laid down, not even moving to his own bed. Danny, already kneeling before the boys for easier access, faltered when she turned toward Sirius and saw the way he was looking at her. She couldn't explain it, but she knew there was something important in the way he was staring. Like he was waiting for something.

"Let's make you pretty again, Padfoot." She joked and reached for his neck, where a bruise was starting to form, disappearing under his shirt. He didn't smile, not even a smirk, but he let her heal him. She felt him lean his head on her hand while she massaged the paste into his temple carefully, and she didn't know how to understand his demeanour right then.

"What's this?" James spoke up suddenly, sitting up and reaching for the covered jar up by the pillows.

"Cookies." She smiled at the Head Boy, then at Sirius. "Told you I'd make more for you. Besides, they're special." She winked just as James uncovered the package.

He burst out laughing, almost dropping the cookies in the process. Sirius turned to see what was so funny, and even he started laughing, full-on barking.

She'd even forgotten about the boy standing behind her, silent, abandoned. Peter had felt pushed aside since the new girl arrived. He knew his friends were keeping stuff from him since the night they found her. Sirius and Remus had known her name. How? He never got an answer. They'd been going around without him much more often, and the girl seemed to be intent on ignoring him.

"Dog cookies?" Peter asked.
Danny froze for a moment, wondering how to explain that, then steeled herself. "Sirius?" She quirked an eyebrow at him, getting a blank look back. "The Dog Star? His name is like Dog Black, hence, black dogs."

He didn't like it. It always seemed like she knew too much. He didn't like her, while at the same time he felt strangely drawn to her. Was he attracted to her indifference? Was he such a masochist that he liked the way she blatantly disregarded him?

He found himself staring at her often, but she was always looking at his friends. Never at him. The few times she did look directly at him, he found himself on the receiving end of her glares and disgust.

"Well, get some rest, guys. I need to get going now. I have my own secret excursion to make before classes start." She put the bottle back in her bag, rose and all but ran away from the room, not sparing Peter a glance.

It was good that the boys had kept her busy for a bit. She realized that if they were just coming back, Remus was probably still being treated by the matron, and she'd need to wait for her to leave the boy to visit and leave the cookies. She listened through the door to the Infirmary as Pomfrey moved about, and when the door to her office closed, Danny carefully opened the Infirmary door and approached the only bed with the curtains drawn, still invisible.

Remus was looking very pale, with a few scratches and bruises adorning his skin but already healing. He was asleep, covered up to his neck with a bedsheet. Danny's eyes watered at the sight of the teen, hating the fact that he had to go through that every single month. She placed the cookie jar on the bedside table next to his head and sat down beside him on the bed for a moment.

"I'll try to make it better for you." She whispered the promise, her hand resting against his side. "It'll get better." Her voice trembled, tears welling in her eyes. She sniffed, made sure that Pomfrey didn't come out, and left the Infirmary.

She was feeling down during breakfast. Remus' absence was quite obvious after spending most mealtimes beside him for the last week. She had been resting her head on Sirius' shoulder and pushing her food aside on her plate, waiting.

The moment Dumbledore appeared in her line of sight, sitting down on the staff table, she perked up. She grabbed her bag, fishing a stack of blank parchment from it and a little folded note, rose from her seat and hurried to the staff table.

Dumbledore watched her determined approach, curiosity glinting in his eyes. McGonagall, beside him, and several other professors were also aware of her moving toward them, but she simply stopped in front of the Headmaster, held out the stack with the note, and waited for him to take it. "I'm ready to start brewing, professor." She informed in a low voice.

He only nodded, looked toward the stack and put it away. They looked blank for a reason. "I will look it over and contact you soon."

Danny nodded back, breathing in, nervous and emotional. She needed to be successful, for Remus.

She returned to her seat among the curious stares of her friends and other students. Sirius leant close to whisper the moment she was beside him once more. "What was that about?"

Danny bit her lip, hesitant. "One of my projects."

James frowned and leant a bit closer. "Can you elaborate a bit more?"

Danny shook her head. "Not yet. If… I'm successful in the next phase -which is why I need Dumbledore's assistance - I'll tell you." She went back to her food, already mentally adding potion brewing to her planner.

The boys weren't too happy with that, but they let it go. James and Sirius knew that there was a lot she couldn't tell them, and they trusted that whatever she was doing was good and important.

The mail arrived in the morning rush a bit later, Danny not even looking up. Nobody outside of Hogwarts knew of her existence, anyway. No letters from Fleur, or her mom, or Professor Lupin. She knew not to expect anything from the owls flying over their heads.

So when James looked up, grinning at her and Sirius, she was naturally confused.

"They said yes?" Sirius smiled too, looking excited.

Danny frowned, then quirked an eyebrow at the boy with the glasses. "You didn't send a proposal to Lily's parents, did you?" She voiced her fears, not putting it beyond the boy.

Lily looked over in a flash at that, mortified. "You didn't!" She screamed at James, who immediately shook his head.

"Of course not! I have to propose to you first!" He assured the girl, who blushed and looked away at that. He looked back to Sirius and Danny, then bit his lip. Instead of telling her what it was about, he rose from the table and approached the staff table much like she'd done before. He had a hushed conversation with Dumbledore, and judging from McGonagall's touched expression, it was something good. When he returned to his spot in front of her, he grinned once more. "Miss Delacour, you are hereby officially invited to spend Christmas break at Potter Manor." He announced, sounding official, despite his excited expression.

Danny's eyes widened, her spoon falling from her hand with a clank. "What?"

Sirius threw an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her against his side. "Prongs wrote to his mom. We're both going back home for Christmas, and we didn't want you to have to be alone here, so… Are you coming with us? Mom makes the best treacle tart."

Danny's eyes watered, making both boys' faces fall, but she bit her lip, trying to keep her trembling chin to a minimum, and nodded. If she spoke she was sure she was going to cry.

That evening Lily invited Danny to go with the other girls and her to the common room after Arithmancy. Danny understood that the boys were visiting Remus at the Infirmary and it was a way of covering for them, so she accepted.

Alice was the warmest of them all, aside from Lily. She tried her best to make Danny feel welcome, talking about her boyfriend Frank, who had graduated the year prior, and she was going to see the following day at Hogsmeade.

Mary leant back on her hands on the floor, sitting in front of Lily, Alice and Danny. Marlene was cross-legged beside her, filing her nails. "You two are so lucky…" Mary moaned, pouting at the girls beside Danny. "You both have dates with charming, handsome boys tomorrow. We poor singletons have to make do with keeping each other's company."

"I'm feeling the love." Marlene deadpanned at her, glaring from the corner of her eye, while the others laughed.

Danny was enjoying herself, scribbling abstently in her planner while they talked. Her weeks were looking quite packed, if she was honest, but she'd rather keep herself busy. It didn't leave her time to miss her friends as much. She added the date Christmas break started, writing down 'Potters' on it in big letters.

She was going to meet Harry's grandparents.

"Hey, Danny." Mary caught her attention, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Do you have a boyfriend back in France?"

Alice wiggled her eyebrows at her. "Or a lover. That's actually socially acceptable in France, right?"

Danny's face fell, Draco's face flashing before her eyes. Lily noticed her expression immediately and shot a look at the other girls before grabbing Danny's hand.

"You don't have to talk about it. Really. That's alright. We didn't mean to upset you." She rushed to assure her.

Danny shook her head, steeling herself for the conversation. "It's alright." She smiled lightly at Lily, squeezing her hand back. "No, I don't have a boyfriend. Or a lover. My… I only had one boyfriend before, and we broke up last June." She revealed, trying not to sound too affected.

The girls all listened attentively, drinking in every bit of information. Alice leant forward, almost looking sad. "Were you together for long?"

"About a year and a half." She grimaced a bit, her eyes taking a vacant look. "But we'd been best friends since we were nine. So… it was hard." She curled up on herself, burying the side of her face against the back of the couch.

Three of the girls took pitying looks. Marlene, meanwhile, watched her carefully. She seemed to do that a lot.

"So you aren't gay?" She asked finally, leaving her file down.

Danny shrugged, actually welcoming the turn in the conversation. "I swing both ways." She grinned at Lily, who was blushing then. "One of my friends back home was a redhead too. Pity she had a boyfriend too."

Lily shoved her away, flustered, and actually pushed Danny out of the couch, the girl landing on her rear. Her planner fell from her lap, open, and something flew out from between its pages. Marlene was quick to pick it up and stared at the photograph before Danny could take it from her.

"Give that back." She hissed, snatching it from her hands and gathering her planner quickly. She put it back between its pages and glared at the girl, who was looking at her with wide eyes. "Who said you could take that?"

With that, she turned on her heel and turned toward the portrait door, Lily calling after her to wait. Danny ignored her and was about to push the door open when this one swung out on its own and she came face to face with the four Marauders, Remus at the front of the group.

He didn't notice her distressed face. Instead, he smiled when he saw her and wrapped her in a hug, crushing her against his chest.

"Thank you, Danny." He whispered to her.

Danny held still, willing herself not to cry until she was away from them. But Remus' gratitude and warmth had her relaxing a bit, wrapping one of her arms carefully around him, the other still holding her planner to her chest. She rubbed his back a bit but tensed again when she heard footsteps approaching from behind her. She pushed back, Remus let her go immediately, and she ducked under his arm to march right out of the common room.

Words and whispers were exchanged behind her, getting fainter the further she walked. She had barely passed the corner of the first corridor out of the Gryffindor home when someone was hurrying after her.

"Danny, wait!" It was Remus, and he was panting. The only reason Danny stopped and turned was because he sounded pained.

"You shouldn't be running today." She scolded, her voice hoarse from contained emotion.

"Then don't make me have to run after you." He retorted, rubbing his chest a bit as he stopped in front of her. "Lily told us… I'm sure Marlene didn't mean to be disrespectful." He tried to explain for the other girl, reaching a hand out to place it on Danny's shoulder.

"No, she just meant to be nosy." She snapped, glaring in anger. "I really don't want to go back there right now, Moony. I want to be alone for a bit." She deflated, sighing heavily and looking at the floor.

"Oh… So I… I…" He had trouble coming up with something to say. It looked like he didn't want to leave her alone when she was in a state, but he didn't want to impose himself on her.

Danny looked at him for a couple seconds, the boy scratching at his neck, a fresher looking scar peeking out from underneath his shirt. She sighed. She had wanted to spend some time with him after last night. "I guess I can be alone and with you." She conceded, making the teen pause and relax when he processed her words. "I just want to be away from there."

He nodded, and just then Sirius came running after them too, his face flushed in residual anger. "Kitten, McKinnon won't do that again, she didn't…"

Danny turned on her heel, grabbed Remus' hand from her shoulder and resumed her march away from the tower. "You can come too, Sirius."

They took up residence in an abandoned classroom on the fifth floor, where Danny threw Sirius' robe over a long bench and transfigured it into a soft cushy couch. She conjured bluebell flames to warm the room and enclosed them in an enlarged jar she took from a cupboard at the back of the room.

The boys didn't speak for a while. Remus transfigured his own cloak into a thick quilt and threw it over Danny, Sirius and himself when they settled down on the couch. Danny kept her planner clutched to her body, and didn't let it go even when Sirius took hold of her free hand under the quilt and rubbed his thumb against the back of it.

Danny found herself leaning toward Remus, who despite being weak, was still warmer than ordinary people. The boy welcomed the movement and wrapped an arm around her waist to allow her to rest against his chest, giving each other silent comfort.

The boys were content with the company and the silence. They shared a couple glances over Danny's head when they heard her sniff a couple times, but didn't utter a word, giving her time. Eventually, they noticed she'd fallen asleep around dinnertime, and were reluctant to wake her.

"I'll get us some food." Sirius whispered to the werewolf, letting Danny's hand go, hers unconsciously tightening around his for a moment before he moved away.

He called for a house-elf from the corridor, one he was familiar with from his visits to the kitchen, and asked for dinner for himself and his friends, who were not in a state to go down to the Great Hall with everyone else. Soon he was moving back into the classroom, a basket full of food hanging from his arm and a bottle of pumpkin juice clutched in his other hand.

Danny woke a while later to the sound of hushed conversation above her. She blinked and pushed herself off her warm pillow, frowning as she looked around.

"Finally, kitten! We thought you'd miss dinner and sleep the night away." Sirius grinned at her, holding a basket out toward her.

"Hmm." Was the only thing she managed to say before she fished a bread roll out of the basket and leant back against her pillow once more -her pillow being one warm werewolf.

Sirius smirked at that. "Comfy there?"

Danny swallowed her first bite and nodded. "Very." She patted Remus' arm around her waist. "You're like a portable heater, Moony. Good thing to have around during winter in Scotland."

"You know why." He commented, not a question, but an affirmation.

"Of course I know. I have for years." She placed her hand on his arm, squeezing in silent acceptance. "I didn't know you were this comfy though. Good thing too, or I would have been even more clingy with future you, and that would have made you quite uncomfortable." She still remembered professor Lupin's face when she ran to hug him at Grimmauld place. He'd been shocked, a bit embarrassed, but had smiled at her and patted her back. She could imagine his face if she'd spent the Christmas hols clinging onto him to steal his body heat.

"I'm not so sure about that." He chuckled from behind her, thinking about the glimpse he'd seen of their future, and the level of affection he easily showed and received from her.

Danny laughed at that, making his whole body vibrate. "I am."

Sirius bit his lip, sharing a look with Remus again. "Kitten, Peter saw the cookies when we went to visit Moony to the Infirmary. And he saw the ones you left for me. He's a bit suspicious. He knows we're hiding something from him. No one but us four knew about our… special abilities until now."

"You can't tell him, Sirius." Danny's face had hardened when she realized what he was getting at. "He can't know who I really am, or where I come from. Nobody should know, it's already risky with you three, Dumbledore and Pomfrey knowing. He can't know." She insisted. At his doubtful face, she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You three know because you saw me in your futures, and James was with you there. That's the only reason you know. If you hadn't, I wouldn't have told you I knew you and Dumbledore wouldn't have either." She sighed, feeling Remus tense behind her. "Time is very fragile. I'm already afraid of the consequences my presence here can have on my future. We can't add more variables." She couldn't add that if she could have her way without affecting the future, she'd kill Pettigrew herself first chance she got.

Sirius sighed, knowing she was right.

"He is just worried that you're doing something to us, Danny." Remus explained from behind her, his mouth close to her ear, his breath hitting the side of her face. "He can't explain why you know our best kept secrets otherwise."

"I know because I'm hella smart." She retorted, chin up, before taking another bite of the bread.

The boys gave up after that and another silence ensued while she ate her fill of the stuff in the basket.

"By the way" Sirius seemed to remember something then, perking up noticeably. "Wormy's got a date tomorrow -I know, good for him - so it'll only be us three at Hogsmeade. Anything in particular you'd like to do?" He grinned at her, excited about the trip.

Remus spoke up before she could say anything. "That doesn't involve crashing Prongs' date and stealing Lily away."

That left Danny blank. "Er… I've got zilch. Whatever you want to do."

They didn't return to the Gryffindor tower until it was quite late. Lily seemed to relax when she saw them come through the portrait, James waving at them from beside her. Neither Peter nor Marlene were anywhere in sight. Danny smiled at Lily to reassure her that she wasn't angry but went straight to bed. After all, she had barely slept a couple hours last night and a couple more that afternoon. And she had a big day coming up.