Sirius thought James could leave the fresh wound in his ego but like the best mate he was he just could not help himself

'I think you have met your match mate' Sirius groaned again

Hey everyone I know I am cranking out theses chapters and I do hope that you are not getting sick of them because I am having a ton of fun writing them for you. In addition, given that I am at home sick with a chest infection this week with nothing better to do I thought I would update this story as well as my other fanfic A trip through time.

Without further shameful plugging please do enjoy and Allons-y

Walking through the corridors Hermione was going to miss the quite but she was more excited to see her friends. The new school year was due to start in just a matter of hours and as she wondered the halls all of her friends were in the Hogwarts Express making their way here. She had obviously written each of to them over the holidays but it was never quite the same. Lily, Alice and Hermione had managed to see each other over the break. Their shopping escapades over London were amusing to say the least. Hermione spent some of the money that Dumbledore set aside for her and now had a wardrobe that was all hers. Marlene however was unable to make it to the girls little spending expedition as she and her family were spending time gallivanting around Europe. The last time Hermione heard Marlene was in Paris at her family's vacation villa. She even made a crude joke comparing appendages to the size of baguettes. Hermione looked forward to seeing Remus again too, he had stopped writing to her after a month of the holidays, which just so happened to be the time she alluded to James and Sirius that she knew about Remus and his furry little problem. In fact, even James and Sirius had stopped replying to the odd letter she had sent. She hoped that they would give her the chance to explain first, rather than shut her out completely, in some moments of stress she wished she had just kept her mouth shut. Then Hermione thought she must have picked up one of Ron's idiosyncrasies. As she justified her actions by saying that, they were going to know soon anyway given that she had successfully managed to shift. Not to mention the whole Veritaserum thing. It took three solid months of trying but she did it, Hermione was an animagus. An illegal one of course but that did little to dampen her excitement. It took her three months while it took the Marauders two years. As Hermione walked to the gate front gate of Hogwarts she let her mind drift to the events of the previous night.

She held her head a little higher, as she walked down to the edge of the forbidden forest to test her efforts. It was so strange but in the same way liberating as she ran through the forest. Her senses went into over drive. Hermione could smell things that she had never smelt before, her eyesight in the darkness of the forest was as sharper than she ever thought possible with her human eyes. However by far the thing Hermione loved the most was when standing completely still she could hear the thrumming of the centaurs herd deep in the heart of the forest while she teetered along the forests edge. Transitioning back into her human form just before midnight, Hermione felt exhausted and demon like hunger that she had not felt since she, Harry and Ron were on the run. Making her way back up to the castle Hermione's mind drifted to how the boys ate at breakfast after the full moon finally, laughing to herself it finally made sense. Thinking to herself about having the mandrake leaf in her mouth for a month was as disgusting as she predicted though it did little to curb her appetite at that moment she would do it all over again because of the feelings she witnessed last night seemed a small price to pay.

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Just as when they had, left Hermione went to greet her friends as the train hissed to a stop at the Hogsmead station. As the hundreds of student's mill out of the carriage doors, she notices the Marauders almost instantly to say their reaction when seeing her was off was an understatement. Waving and mouthing hello to Remus caused the others to close ranks and practically run in the direction of the thestrals and carriages. It felt cold to Hermione the way the boys were treating her in that moment. She had only alluded to the fact she knew about his lycanthropy. Even then she did not actually come out and say "oh yeah and Remus is a werewolf so see ya later". Knowing that at some point, she would need to fix that she decided to deal with it later, instead turning her attention to looking for her less complicated friends. It took slightly longer for Hermione to find Lily, Marlene and Alice. When she did however, they embodied every bad girly cliché as Hermione ran to through the crowd to greet them they squawked and squealed in excitement. All taking and laughing at once, the girls almost missed the gravelly voice that cleared from behind Lily. Severus standing there with his arms crossed and an unimpressed look on his face made Hermione think that, he was becoming impatient and uncomfortable by the display of female affection. Rolling her eyes and nodding her head towards the other students exiting the station Lily indicated that the others needed to leave. Rather than witness what could easily turn into a fight Hermione linked Marlene and Alice's arms and started to walk towards carriages that would take them to the castle.

'He has been a spaz for the entire train ride, Lily is about totally tear him a new one, he even questioned her friendship with you on the train' Hermione knew that the in this timeline Lily and Snape's friendship was beginning its downwards spiral that would eventually lead to their falling out. Even after Lily's death in Hermione's original timeline Severus harbored a love for her right up until his own death at the battle of Hogwarts. It was just s shame that right now he was such a slime bucket, that he could not see past his own nose. The fact that now he was questioning the marauders and Hermione was dangerous for her. If he found out the truth about Hermione that could put her in jeopardy, especially if he was to take his knowledge to a certain dark wizard once he joined the ranks. Hermione had debated changing the course of Lily and Snape's relationship several times over but if her mission was on the line then maybe it was better for her to let the events play out. It left her feeling uncomfortable; perhaps she would change her mind when the time came but for now it was imperative that she stay under Severus' radar. Hermione was unsure of how long it had been when Lily, eventually made it to the carriages, but it was plain to see that her words with Sev had not gone well. Lily's temper matched her hair color, as a certain Slytherin must have pushed all the wrong buttons. Muttering to herself, she passed the girls and sat in the carriage that was waiting for them. Looking down at her three confused friend's Lily snapped at them

'Get your asses in the damn carriage already damn it' without hesitation Hermione, Alice and Marlene practically tripped over each other in an effort to climb the two laddered step, before encountering the angry ginger again. Hermione remembered only once when a carriage ride was this awkward, and that was the year that she introduced Luna Lovegood as Looney. The silence was palpable to the point that Alice looked physically scared to make a noise; Marlene was picking and examining her nails and Hermione was trying to focus on a book, while Lily was just sitting there letting the anger fester and boil. Each of the girls knew it would only be a matter of time before Volcano Lily would explode so they just sat in silence, waiting for when it became just too much.

'He is such a dick' her first outburst was enough to scare each of the distracted girls 'He had the nerve to say to be that you Hermione were abnormal. Telling me that he had been keeping an eye on you since you arrived last year, not just that but he tried to ban me from interacting with you, he is an over-reacting bigot who needs to look at himself in the mirror before he judges anyone else. Then he tried to implicate Remus too, saying that you and he are conspiring about something. That's when I had enough and told him exactly what I thought, before he could say anything else I left and now we're here and urghhhh!' clearly Hermione needed to be careful but for now she needed to be there for her friend

'Thank you for defending me Lily…again' Looking across at the now saddened red head, Hermione was not expecting Lily to launch herself across the narrow walkway and pull Hermione into a bone crushing awkward hug. Clearly, Hermione owed Lily something more, perhaps she would tell her the truth, she owed her at least that much. Hermione had more than enough Veritaserum; she felt that Lily could handle knowing the truth. If Hermione was to tell the boys then her best friend in this time had the right to know also. Making up her mind Hermione was going to tell Lily everything.

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Severus who had been feeling guilty for the better part of a week, keep asking Lily to forgive him. She on the other hand was still harboring a strong (and valid) grudge. It was getting to the point that Severus was threatening to sleep out in the corridor if she did not forgive him and that is when the fiery red head let him have it in front of the entire Gryffindor common room.

'Listen to me very closely Sev if I see you out in the corridor when I come down for breakfast you will be on the receiving end of more than just a hex. I will forgive once I believe you actually deserve it, you do not run my life, nor do you have any right to pick whom I am friends with especially when you hang around with the people you do. So would you like to be the pot or the kettle because they are both black, now stay away from me' running past a stunned Severus Lily ran down the stairs and towards the exit of the castle. Marlene, Alice and Hermione began to follow only when Hermione tried to pass him Severus rather roughly grabbed her arm. As she looked at him, she saw anger and hostility and it was only for her.

'It is entirely your fault. She is only mad at me because you' His grip tightened on her arm and Hermione winced in pain, the more she tried to pull out of his grasp the tighter his hold became. Hermione could hear the shouts saying to let her go you greasy git and get off her Snivellus 'I will find out about your secret you freak.' He let her go and left as quickly as he had come. Sirius and James came running up to see if she was ok, she was barely registering what they were saying, Snape called her a freak, but he now had a score to settle with her. This was certainly going to be an interesting year now was not it. Hermione only tuned into what James was asking her at the last possible moment

'You are ok aren't you Hermione?' James really was a good person, even though he tried to pretend otherwise. However, these two idiots had been the cause of some of Hermione's grief over the past two months, they had caused Remus to stop writing to her because she was having some fun and not unlike Lily, she was not going to fully let them off the hook just yet.

'Wait are you talking to me someone call the pope, because a miracle has just occurred James Potter and Sirius Black have decided I am worthy enough to be spoken to. Thank you for helping me boys but in the interest of fairness you are still both toe rags, now excuse me but I have an actually friend who needs me' pushing past the boys Hermione set off in the direction of her friends. James and Sirius were left in the wake of hurricane Hermione once again. Each boy was just as frustrated and confused as they ever had been after a conversation with the bushy hair girl.

'How does this keep happening she is only a girl for Merlin's sake' Sirius asked his friend confused and frustrated that he could not get a feel on this one seemingly normal girl James on the other hand had a more pressing question

'Dude what's a pope?'

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Hermione eventually found the girls down by the lake under the biggest oak tree. Lily was understandably upset. Sitting down on Lily's right Hermione, and from the moment she sat down Lily pulled her into hug. It hurt Hermione to see Lily this upset, as she was the closest thing that she had to family in this time. Lily cried a little more into Hermione's shoulder before she asked Marlene and Alice to leave. Hesitantly the girls left saying that they would see them both at dinner. Once the girls were gone, Hermione waited patiently for her friend to say all the things that she needed to.

'He had no right to be cruel towards you Hermione. I am so sorry' the tears glistened in the afternoon sun as they rolled down her cheeks. Hermione just did the thing that she thought was right, she held her friend tight as she cried. Telling that it was never her fault and that she had nothing to apologize for if anything she should be commending Lily for her bravery, Hermione could not help herself when the next words came for her mouth

'It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends' Hermione waited for a time until Lily had stopped crying. She was unsure if now was the right time, but Hermione wondered if there was ever going to be a right time. Plucking up some of her She handed Lily a small vile of clear liquid that looked amazingly like water, puzzled she looked to Hermione for some answers.

'Lily you are the best friend I have and I have a secret that I feel I must tell you. In your hand, you are holding a vile of Veritaserum otherwise known as a truth potion. These things are complicated and the only way that I can think that you would believe me is if I drank that. However if you do trust me enough that you would believe my every word you can keep the vile and just listen' Lily looked at the vile in her hand then back to Hermione.

'I trust you, I have since the moment I met you for reasons even beyond my comprehension, and you do not need to drink this.' Lily's emerald green eyes were the exact same as her sons, it was almost as if he was looking back at her. Sitting by the lake Hermione began the long and often complicated story but most importantly, she told her of a young boy with a lightning bolt scar that she was lucky enough to call her friend.

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Remus had skillfully been avoiding Hermione all week; she really had to commend the lengths that he was going through. Such as taking the extra-long way to classes so he was the last one to arrive and then the first to leave. Unfortunately, for him and the other boys of course Hermione was patient, she could simply walk up to their dorm room without the stairs turning into a slippery dip. Waiting for Sirius and James to leave for quidditch practice Hermione knew Peter always went to watch which meant Remus would either be in the dorm getting ready to head to the library to study. Once they had left Hermione ran up the stair taking them two at a time until she reached their door without even bothering to knock Hermione entered. What she found truly astounded her, they had only been here a week. The smell of competing aftershaves assaulted Hermione's senses; the sight of their unkempt beds only highlighted the empty candy wrappers and clothes that littered the floor. Trying to keep herself, focused Hermione reminded herself why she was there. Remus was laying in his bed in his boxers and white button up shirt. Without looking up from his book, he addressed his invisible friend

'What'd you forget this time James perhaps your brain' trying not to laugh at his remarks toward James Hermione decided to wait in silence to see his reaction when he finally looked up 'James stop being a twa… Hermione what in… What are you doing in here?' leaping off his bed he became he was flustered and clearly panicking to have her in his room.

'Remus we need to talk, you have been avoiding me, and please just let me explain' he was becoming more and more anxious. He was acting like an animal that was cornered. This was s distressing image for Hermione she honestly just wanted to explain that even though she had caught on to the boys she was not going to say anything. Making a move for the door Remus was clearly not in the mood to be dealing with her.

'Sorry I actually have somewhere to be' that was when Hermione blew her top. Was he truly going to try to blow her off like this when he was not even dressed to go anywhere? For goodness sakes, he was wearing a semi-buttoned shirt and blue and white checkered boxers and trying to leave. No Hermione was not having a bar of this

'Really you have somewhere to be and you are not wearing pants' trying to move past her Hermione again, she snapped and stamped her foot down in frustration. 'Sit down shut up and let me explain for the love of fucking merlin' Remus had seen her angry before but he had never been on the receiving end. Even though Remus was taller than Hermione by a lot, but at that moment he looked genuinely shocked by the fire and anger that she could generate from her small frame. Stepping away from her, though still evaluating whether or not he could take her. Remus pivoted on his heels, went back to his bed, and sat down. Hermione was sure that if he genuinely wanted to he could over power her physically at least but magically on the other hand would be different; magically Hermione might just have the upper hand. Walking over to his bed, Hermione cringed, as she stood on something sticky, kicking off her shoes she sat opposite her friend whom looked back at her his green eyes were wide and frightened and that hurt Hermione more than she cared to admit. She had thought long and hard about what to say. Ultimately, she had decided to lie by omission and leave his lycanthropy out of the conversation.

'When I said what I said to the boys they were trying to get information from me and I was never going to give it so I decided to have some fun with them. I was just trying to mess with James and Sirius and it worked, but then you stopped writing to me. All I know that you and the boys sneak out of the castle once a month, I don't know what you do or where you go and frankly that is none of my business. Maybe one day you will let me in but I would not bet on it. So please just enough of this avoiding me nonsense ok, I miss you I want my friend back' Hermione had missed her friend and without any rehearsal, a genuine tear rolled down Hermione's cheek. Remus reached out and cupped her face wiping away the tear with his thumb. Looking into his eyes there was something different there that Hermione had not noticed before, the feelings had shifted between them. Her heart began to race; she was certain that he could hear its change; looking from his eyes to his lips Hermione bit her lip. With complete synchronicity, they slowly started to lean in to each other. Their faces only inches from each other's when the door burst open and the three remaining marauders entered the room. Leaping apart from each other Hermione was not going to wait around to teased by the boys, at least not tonight anyway. Snatching her shoes from the floor Hermione said goodbye to Remus and ran from the room.

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Remus knew he could easily over power Hermione physically if he really wanted too, but she was right in the sense that he was not wearing pants. So rather than risk any ridicule from the common room. Remus had little choice but to hear her out. If she knew about his lycanthropy or as Sirius called it the furry little problem then it was only a matter of time before others found out and he was expelled from Hogwarts for being a monster. Crossing the room Remus tidied his bed and sat waiting for Hermione to explain what he and she already knew. Taking off her shoes, she sat opposite him on his bed and for just a moment Remus recognized this as a first. Having a girl alone in his room with him being in a state of undress. Her warm brown eyes looked back at him in a way that he had not expected she looked hurt. When she opened up to him about what had happened it all became clearer too him why she had reacted the way she did.

'When I said what I said to the boys they were trying to get information from me and I was never going to give it so I decided to have some fun with them. I was just trying to mess with James and Sirius and it worked, but then you stopped writing to me. All I know that you and the boys sneak out of the castle once a month, I don't know what you do or where you go and frankly that is none of my business. Maybe one day you will let me in but I would not bet on it. So please just enough of this avoiding me nonsense ok, I miss you I want my friend back' the vulnerability was splayed all over her face. Had he really been that clueless? She did not know he was a werewolf and because of his cowardice, he had hurt this beautiful girl, on a hunch that she may have known. As the tear rolled down her cheek, Remus cupped her cheek in his hand and wiped it away with his thumb. In that moment, so many things ran through his head but all of them led back to this girl. She was different to the other girls. She was maddeningly beautiful and if he was completely honest, she was sexy as hell but more than that, she was a good person who looked beyond face value. Mustering some of the Gryffindor bravery Remus was going to make a move. He could hear her heart rate change as he looked at her, she was as nervous as he was. As she bit her lip, it was nearly enough to send Remus into over the edge. Slowly leaning into each other the tension was palpable their faces only inches apart, when the door burst open and roomies and former friends entered. Hermione and Remus leapt apart as if they had been caught doing something wrong. Hermione looking overly embarrassed snatched her shoes from off the floor and ran from the room. Standing up off of his bed Remus decided that he should put on some pants give that in a few moments time he would be chasing his friend out of the room for making an inappropriate comment the only question he had was which one of his friends was it going to be. Today's numbskull was Sirius, as he just could not help himself, which is so typically like Sirius.

'Remus do I need to give you some pointer on how to please a lady friend, you know where everything goes right' Remus' muscles ached for use as the full moon was only twelve days away. Looking to his friend something must have clicked in Sirius' head as he turned away from Remus and started to run in the direction in which they had come. James looking over to Peter made a comment that he was glad Remus and Sirius were not around to hear

'Well Wormtail I think Mum and Dad are fighting again'

Please review if you liked this chapter and tell me some predictions of what you think Hermione's animagus form is. Thanks a heap everyone and stay fabulous