Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the books' characters! Wish I did though, I'd never have killed Sirius!!! (*bursts into tears*)

Summary: Hermione goes back in time, back to when the Marauders were in their seventh year. And Hermione is faced with grief that she thought she had buried. Will she have the heart to find a way to go back to her own time?

[Just a fic I thought of after reading 'Order of the Phoenix']

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~Someone She Couldn't Forget

- Chapter Three: Cannot Be Told *

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Dead silence followed Hermione's shocking statement of what she knew was fact. Then slowly, Remus cleared his throat and James glanced at Lily before his eyes went to Sirius. The third Marauder stared at Hermione with a strange, unreadable expression mixed with disbelief.

"A - a Death Eater?" Lily finally croaked. "Bellatrix? As in - one of - You- Know-Wh -Voldemort's followers?"

Hermione noticed that none of them winced at the name, which confirmed her belief that they were already working with Dumbledore, maybe not officially in the original Order of the Phoenix yet.

She nodded at Lily. "Yeah."

They looked at each other, disbelief and apprehension crossing their features. Sirius was still silent, his eyes never leaving Hermione's face. Finally, Remus spoke quietly: "Are you really telling us that Bellatrix and Rudolphus Lestrange are Death Eaters, Hermione? And how could you possibly know this, only in your fifth-year?"

"Let's just say I've had my own experience in defense against the Dark Arts," she said wryly.

Sirius expression remained fixed, almost incredulous, yet somehow very horrified. James looked at Hermione with a touch of curiosity. "What do you mean?" he asked.

She sighed. This was her chance to tell them their futures, to warn them - yet she knew that she couldn't do it. She couldn't play with time. Who knew what havoc she might wreck upon the magical world.

But she could give them something.

"I should be in the sixth year right now, but I'm repeating my fifth for a reason. I fought against Death Eaters not too long ago," she said slowly. "Bellatrix was one of them. She - she killed someone - I cared about."

They stared at her, as if unable to believe what they were hearing. James shook his head. "How is that possible? Dumbledore would have told us - would have told us if there had been a battle - we would have known about you - or Bellatrix."

"Trust me on this. You wouldn't know."

"Tell me something," it was Sirius' voice, cool and calm with that hint of frosty anger that had always made her pray that she was never on the receiving end of it. And now here she was, the target of his anger. "Why should we believe you? You have no proof of what you're telling us and odd as Bellatrix might be, I haven't ever had reason to believe she could be one of Voldemort's own."

"So you don't believe me?" she asked, her own temper beginning to ignite slightly.

He crossed his arms over his chest, expression turning sardonically cold. "No, I don't." he responded icily, making Remus and James exchange nervous looks and Lily stare at Hermione and Sirius as if transfixed.

"I can't tell you the truth behind this." She said sharply. "If I were to do that, it would change everything - mess up all balance. All I can tell you is to beware of Bellatrix, and to beware your cousin Narcissa, Sirius. She's married to a Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy."

She could tell them about Peter, but that was hitting too close to home, it would change things completely. Tormented by the choice, Hermione felt ripped into two. She gulped and watched as Sirius's eyes blazed.

"WHAT," he thundered, "CAN YOU GIVE US TO MAKE US BELIEVE YOU?!"

Luckily the common room had emptied, but Lily flinched at Sirius's tone, and James and Remus glared at Sirius warningly. "Lower your voice, damn it!"

As for Hermione, she couldn't describe the sting she felt at being so mistrusted by Sirius, although his anger was understandable. What wasn't excusable was the fact that he was losing his temper and taking it out on her without even listening.

"You want me to prove that I know these things, PADFOOT?" she said with quietly intense anger, flaring up instantly. "How about I tell you about that big black dog you turn into any time you want? How about we discuss why Remus here sees the moon every time he faces a Boggart? Why don't we talk about why James is called Prongs, or why Peter looks like such a RAT, huh?"

James hand, which had been rumpling his hair, dropped limply onto Lily's shoulder with a shocked thump.

Remus and Lily goggled.

Sirius's jaw dropped. The anger seemed to fade and be replaced by astonishment. "How could you - how did you - where - when - ?"

"Do you believe me now, Sirius Black?" she demanded, raising her eyebrows.

"How did you know?" Lily asked softly. "How could you know about them? You haven't even been a student here. How could you possibly - ?"

"I told you," Hermione said, voice and anger softening, "I know things that you people would never guess, can never imagine. You'll probably want to know why and how, but I swear to you that it can't be told. I've already broken rules by warning you about Bellatrix."

Sirius stared at her. "You know Moony's a werewolf?"

"And that Peter's a rat, and you're a dog and James is a stag and you're all unregistered Animagi, yes," she said slightly impatiently. "That's not the point."

"It's true, isn't it?" he said quietly, glancing at his friends. "About Bella?"

"Yes, it's true." Before she could stop herself, she added: "And be very careful with that house-elf of yours, Kreacher. If - someday - you go back to Grimmauld Place, your parents' house, watch out for him."

His jaw dropped again.

"Something tells me I won't be able to sleep tonight." James muttered dryly.

Hermione could have told him that Harry had sleeping problems of late too, but she refrained from doing so. Instead, she shrugged and stood up. "Think about it, Sirius." She said softly, trying to block out her growing feelings and the grief for him. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Wait." His voice made her pause. "I'm sorry." He added huskily. "For not believing you."

She shrugged again. "It happens." And with that, she left the room and left them alone again, knowing that when - or if - she made it back to her own time, she might pay for the interference she had wrecked.

But maybe the warning about Kreacher could save Sirius . . . and Harry wouldn't be so grieved, and she might still have the chance to tell him how she felt (and how she considered it time for him to have a haircut).

And suddenly, the thought struck her.

What if she stayed here, with James and Remus and Sirius? What if she remained in the time of the Marauders, and perhaps changed the course of their destinies? What if she didn't go back at all?

She couldn't do that. She had to go back. She'd miss Ron and Harry terribly, and there was still another war to fight there.

But did she have it in her to leave this time and go back to where Sirius was dead? Would she have the heart or the strength to lose the man she loved all over again?

Sinking onto the bed that was now hers, Hermione buried herself in the quilts and sobbed.

** TBC.

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A/n: Third chapter done, and fourth one coming up soon! Please let me know what you guys think of this, and thanks for reviewing so far!