Changes Can Be Made
Disclaimer: Same stuff… I do not own Harry Potter…
A/N: Hey guys! Ok, so I've read some of the reviews and sorry guys! I'll try and improve the characters.
Chapter 14: Unexpected!
'Of all people, why did it have to be him?!'
Hermione gaped at the figure standing before her. The boy in question had was handsome… very handsome… she knew straight away who he was, all it took was a glance at his almost white blond hair.
Lucius Malfoy.
He smiled charmingly at her and moved closer.
"What do you want," growled Sirius.
"For you to leave," Lucius answered shifting his eyes to the black haired boy.
"Like hell I'd leave her with a snake like you!" Sirius yelled.
"Hmph, it's your choice mutt," Lucius murmured. His attention shifted to Hermione once again, "My name is Lucius Malfoy and it's a pleasure to meet you Miss Hermione Grace," he bent down on one knee, took her hand and placed a soft kiss on the back of her hand.
Hermione blushed and swiftly pulled her hand back, "Hello Lucius…"
"and I'm Sirius Black! Now, we all know each other," he joked.
Hermione let a small giggle escape her lips and immediately regretted it.
Lucius glared at Sirius. Obviously he doesn't like when someone ruins his moment or steals the attention from him.
"What? Couldn't you charm the lady like I did?" Lucius asked with a smile of mockery.
Sirius returned his glare and said nothing.
"Ok, ok, let's just calm down a bit… We are in front of Professor Dumbledore's office," Hermione interjected.
"Who cares about the old man," Lucius huffed slightly annoyed at the thought.
"Don't you dare insult Dumbledore in front of me…" growled Sirius.
"What? Did I crack a nerve?" Lucius mocked, "Can't take it Mutt? You're as annoying as the old man."
SLAP!
Hermione's hand left a bright red mark on Lucius' cheek. She just couldn't take it anymore. He was just like his son, Draco. The cockroach of a boy left foul memories of his bullying in her mind. Lucius was the same bully his son was.
Lucius and Sirius were both speechless, where did that come from?
"I've had enough…" Hermione whispered. Hermione raised her head and looked Lucius right in the eyes, "How dare you insult and disgrace my friend and Dumbledore?! I will NOT just stand by and watch you bully people!"
"H-how dare you speak to me, Lucius Malfoy, like that?!" he yelled, "I am a pure-blood wizard! A noble! And you dare speak to me that way?!"
"I'm a muggle-born witch and yeah, I am and will talk to you however I see fit," Hermione retaliated.
Sirius smirked at Lucius as Hermione kicked him off his high-horse. He was extremely proud of his fellow Gryffindor's actions. But Lucius only grew angrier by her words and Sirius' mocking face.
"Such a shame that beauty is wasted on a mudblood," he spat, "You're disgusting…"
"You'll pay for that you –" Sirius began.
"Sirius it's okay, I've got this," Hermione said gently to him as she tugged lightly on his shirt. Sirius immediately backed down but his deadly glare never left Lucius.
Hermione returned to Lucius, "Mudblood? Is that the best you've got? Heh, please, I've heard that a million times by a boy as loathsome as you, so maybe you want a better come back towards me."
Lucius glared at Hermione. He opened his mouth a couple of times to say something but nothing came out.
"What? Witch got your tongue?" Hermione mocked.
"You better watch it Mudblood," Lucius hissed out, "I'll get you back for this…"
And with that, he left.
"Whoa," was all Sirius could say. He was so ecstatic! This was the first time someone knocked down Lucius' silver tongue. Sirius grinned from ear-to-ear. He turned to Hermione and just when he was about to explode with praises for her, he stopped. Hermione just stared ahead to the place Lucius was standing. Her eyes weren't actually looking at the spot though… or anything at all. Sirius could tell that she was remembering a distant memory… a sad one. Her eyes gave away everything. He noticed that. Her sweet chocolate eyes were now almost melancholy black. He didn't know much about her but he did know that she's a wounded soul, for everyone knows the eyes are the windows to the soul.
Hermione watched as Lucius turned on his foot and strutted away with wounded pride. Normally she would feel happy to beat a Malfoy at their own game but she couldn't help but be haunted by Malfoy's words… Mudblood…
Although she acted as it never hurt her, the truth is it hurt her dearly. The word brought up so many bad memories… memories of the things she saw in her own time. Certain wizards and witches being slaughtered… mudbloods. The taken over ministry of 1997 that were interrogating people to sort out the worthy witches and wizards and the… mudbloods. But it was her personal experience that pained her the most.
The memory of being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange and then watching Bellatrix carve that word on her arm… mudblood.
No matter how she reacts to the word or how hard she tries to forget it; that word will always haunt her and will always hurt her.
"Hermione?" called a voice from beside her.
Hermione was suddenly pulled back to reality, to 1977. She realised she'd been silently staring into nothing and blushed as she turned to Sirius.
"S-sorry Sirius… I was just lost in thought," she admitted.
"It's ok…" He said. Hermione knew that Sirius noticed something was up. She smiled awkwardly at him, hoping to distract him.
"Well, at least he's gone," Hermione stated.
"Oh, yeah! He's such a piece of work," Sirius growled. "Even going as far as to threaten you… that snake… But I've got your back 'Mione, so don't you worry," he continued confidently.
Hermione giggled, "Thanks, but I can take care of myself."
"I'm saw that," he said reminding her of her previous war of words with Malfoy, "but I'll be there to back you up and save you whenever you need me, princess," he continued and added a wink.
Hermione rolled her eyes but said, "Thanks."
Hermione sighed and spun around to face the statue leading up to Dumbledore's office.
"You better get going, Dumbledore's still waiting for you 'Mione," Sirius said.
"Thanks for the reminder Sirius," Hermione said as she began to make her way to the statue.
"Ok then, Bye!" he called to her, "Oh and the password is liquorish whips."
"Thanks, see you later!" she called back.
'Why does Dumbledore pick such trivial passwords…' Hermione mumbled inside.
"Liquorish Whips."
The statue turned for her to enter.
Dumbledore waited patiently for Hermione.
'Obviously this girl has a problem with time itself…' he sighed to himself.
He thought of the girl and her time-travel and decided that it would be a useful memory for him in the future. And so, he brought his wand to his right temple and carefully extracted the memory of her arrival and of her story. He watched as the almost white, blue floating memory that hung from the tip of his wand. He gently emptied into an empty glass bottle and labelled it 'March 1977 – Meeting Hermione'.
"Oh, Dumbedore," said a painting.
"Ah, yes, what is it?" asked Dumbledore.
"Well, it seems that there's an argument outside the statue. It's between Mister Malfoy and Miss Grace. She seems to be defending Mister Sirius Black and… you sir," it reported.
"Is that so?" Dumbledore asked intrigued by how compassionate the girl seemed.
'Someone who defends her friends… She is loyal and compassionate… No wonder she was placed in Gryffindor… she will make good changes to our future…' he thought.
He waited patiently until he heard the unmistakeable stone turning sound of the statue.
Hermione walked towards the door, but before she could knock she heard, "You may enter Miss Grace."
Hermione smiled as she remembered how she used to ponder over how Dumbledore knew things.
'I guess I may never know…' she sighed.
Hermione turned the bronze door handle and pushed the door open. She was greeted by a gentle smiling Dumbledore who was sitting in his headmaster chair behind his desk.
"I am so sorry for my tardiness Professor Dumbledore sir, it's just, I got into a little… I guess you could call it a disagreement and well…" Hermione ranted on her apology.
"Now, now, it is fine Miss Grace, there's no need to worry," Dumbledore started, "I know what happened between you and Mister Malfoy and I understand why you both had an argument. In fact, I'll be awarding 5 points to Gryffindor for the compassion you showed when you defended Mister Black… and 5 points will be deducted from Slytherin for insulting a fellow student and the headmaster," he smiled mischievously.
Hermione was shocked. 'How on earth did he know that?!' she asked herself. 'Never mind… I'll never know…' she sighed in defeat.
"Thank-you sir for your understanding," she said instead.
Dumbledore smiled, "I believe it's time to go," he said as he stood. He walked over to her and placed an arm out for her to hold onto.
"Professor? Can we apparate here?" Hermione asked.
"Yes child WE can," Dumbledore said.
"But how? We can't apparate within Hogwarts…"
"You and I can because you are travelling with the headmaster might I remind you."
Hermione laughed just before they disappeared in a swirl. Their destination… Hogsmeade.
Sirius returned to the great hall. He walked through the large archway and surveyed the room. It wasn't long before he spotted the bratty boy he was looking for. Sirius smirked knowingly at Lucius who was scowling at him. Sirius turned away from the boy just as he reached the marauders.
"What was that about?" James asked through a full mouth.
"Sorry what was that? I couldn't hear you over that sausage in your mouth," Sirius retaliated.
James swallowed. Once he swallowed his food he began to speak again, "Oh sod off! And I asked what was that?" he pointed over to Malfoy.
"Oh nothing really… He just got knocked of his high-horse by Hermione, that's all…" Sirius said with an enormous smile.
"No way! Really?!" James gasped.
All the marauders and even Lily tuned in to Sirius' explanation of Hermione's amazing performance.
"WOW!" Peter gasped surprised that Hermione could stand her ground against Lucius Malfoy. This only made Peter more motivated to become courageous and strong-willed. He wanted to be just, or even more, brave than Hermione.
Whilst Peter was getting pumped, Sirius and James couldn't stop laughing.
"OH MERLIN!" James laughed out, "Did Lucius really look that pathetic when she said 'witch got your tongue'" James asked imitating a girls voice.
"Yes! He looked horrible! He just kept opening and closing his mouth angrily but couldn't say anything!" Sirius said through laugh outbursts.
James whistled, "Wow, what a girl."
"She's amazing! To stand up to him like that, she makes me proud! She makes all muggle-borns proud!" Lily cheered happily.
"She sure is fantastic," sighed Remus happily.
"That's my best friend for you," Lily chirped.
"Anyway, Sirius?" Remus asked for his attention.
"hmm?"
"She didn't tell you why she was going to Dumbledore did she?"
"No…" Sirius replied, "But if you want to know something interesting, she did look very sad and upset after Malfoy left and there was a bandage on her arm... I didn't ask her about those things."
"Well, we know about her arm, she fell out of bed and hurt it," answered Lily who was, with James and Peter, listening in to the conversation.
"I didn't," James said casually.
Everyone shook their head at James. "What? I just wanted to point SOMETHING out," he grumbled.
"She was sad and upset after Lucius left?" Remus asked to clarify.
"Yes."
"Could she… you know have a crush on…" Peter went on.
"NO!" Remus and Sirius yelling in sync. The two boys looked at each other and cleared their throats.
"What we're trying to say, Peter, is that the two just met so it's very improbable," explained Remus. Sirius nodded in agreement.
"But it is still a possibility," Peter continued, "if you think about it, Hermione only looked upset AFTER he left and it doesn't seem like the 'mean word' affected her at all."
"Peter does have a point," James backed up.
Lily smiled at James, 'awwww, he backs up his friends! He may have changed a bit… I mean, he's not so arrogant…' she thought to herself.
James noticed Lily staring at him differently. It looked more like gazing than staring actually.
'Is she falling for me?' James questioned.
"Oh Lily! Are you falling for me? Do you feel our chemistry? I knew you would feel it sooner or later!"
"As if Potter," Lily hissed. 'Forget it, he's the same…' she grumbled inside.
"Whoa! Guys back on subject here," Sirius reminded them.
"Anyway, I guess Peter has a valid point. Maybe we should just ask her," Remus suggested.
"Okay but how?" asked James.
"Well, I suggest one of us asks her privately," Remus continued, "But who?"
"Me. I'm good at this stuff," Sirius stated without a second thought.
"No, you're too much of a playboy Padfoot," said Remus.
"Well, why don't we have Lily ask since Lily's a girl and Hermione considers Lily her best friend," suggested Peter.
"Great idea Wormtail!" agreed Remus. The other two boys nodded in acceptance and Lily accepted the task without hesitation.
Lucius scowled at Sirius as he walked into the great hall.
'I hate him! Him and that mudblood, Hermione!' he yelled inside.
Sirius turned away from him and started talking with his friends, not long after the five of them were bursting out laughing. It was obvious that the mutt spilled everything to them. He recalled the moment that just occurred outside of the headmaster's statue entryway. He had never been so disgraced by someone before, let alone a mudblood. Lucius growled audibly.
"Are you alright?" asked his emotionless friend, Severus.
"No! A mudblood disgraced me!" he raised his voice.
"Whoa, calm down. You don't want the whole school to know you, the great Lucius Malfoy, was – as you put it – 'disgraced' by a mudblood," sighed the other Black brother, Regulus.
"Whatever," Lucius grumbled.
"Well, what happened then?" asked Regulus curiously.
Lucius sighed before he began the story, "Well, I just went to introduce myself to the hot transfer student, Hermione Grace, and…"
Regulus and Severus listened patiently throughout the whole story. Both boys had to hold in their laughter, they didn't want the wrath of broken pride to be inflicted on them.
"So the transfer student is a mudblood?" asked Regulus.
"Yes, a disrespectful, hot mudblood," spat Lucius.
Severus knew she was a muggle-born but he never expected her to be able to stand up against Lucius Malfoy. She was a Gryffindor, they're known for their courage, but he had no idea she could do that. Severus was shocked and, oddly, proud of her. He let a small smile escape him.
'She sure is spontaneous,' he thought.
Regulus, on the other hand, was upset. He was undoubtedly attracted to her but she was a muggle-born. A disgrace to the wizarding world, as his parents say and he knew he just had to keep his distance from her. But…
'Hermione Grace… a muggle-born witch… a mudblood… a beautiful girl and… a feisty minx… you're just too interesting aren't you, Miss Grace.'
A/N: OKAY! Sorry it was a couple of hours late! My bad! UNTIL NEXT TIME! :D