"Hermione?" A voice called out cautiously. Hermione looked up, her eyes puffy red as the form of Ginny came into focus.
"Hey Gin" she whispered, her voice cracking.
"Are you alright?" Ginny asked gently as she sat down next to her. Hermione shook her head as she let out a loud racking sob.
"H-He didn't even get all the f-facts or anything!" she wailed "H-He just a-assumed that I was making out with Malfoy!" she spat "And Lucius Malfoy was the guy who murdered my parents" she cried. Ginny stared at her in shock.
"Malfoy murdered your parents?" Ginny whispered "Why didn't you tell me?" Hermione shook her head.
"I c-couldn't. I-I feel awful! I h-had to w-watch as he killed them one by one and then he t-turned on me. I-I thought I was going to die, b-but then Professor Lupin turned up" she sniffed as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Ginny put her arms around her best friend and hugged her.
"That would explain why you hate the Malfoy's more than Harry and Ron" she said weakly.
"I-If I t-told Sirius, he w-wouldn't believe me. He'd just think I was making it up" Hermione wailed, then she stopped as she started to gag "I think I'm gonna be sick" she whispered as she ran off in the direction of the girls' toilets. Ginny watched after her, feeling shocked by Hermione's confession. Meanwhile, Lily had been listening and she was just as shocked as Ginny.
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Hermione wandered into the Gryffindor common room, pale and tired. She strode straight past the Marauders, who were eyeing her suspiciously, and settled down in a corner and pulled out the book Hogwarts: A History, before becoming absorbed in it. The Marauders were eyeing her wearily as if she was going to jump up and kill them all at any second. A few seconds later, Ginny and Lily stepped into the common room and walked straight over to Hermione. James stared at Lily in dismay and anger as he watched her converse with Hermione in whispers. Hermione shook her head as she ran up to the girls' dormitories. Ginny turned to the Marauders, looking furious. She strode straight over to Sirius and slapped him round the face.
"This is all your fault!" she hissed. Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"What is?"
"Hermione! She's gone back to becoming a bookworm and it's all because of you!" she screamed "You didn't even get all the facts first, you just assumed she was snogging Malfoy! Well, let me tell you something! In our time, Malfoy" she spat, looking pale from anger "murdered Hermione's parents!" Remus stared at her in horror, while the others looked bored.
"Ginny, you're such a bad liar" Sirius told her. Ginny gritted her teeth as she stared at the seventeen year-old who had been a really nice guy a mere few hours ago.
"You're unbelievable!" she hissed. Sirius shrugged.
"Whatever"
Ginny looked at each of the Marauders, feeling hurt. Hermione was in more pain than they knew. Lucius Malfoy had murdered her parents. Sirius had dumped her. What next?
"Are we going to the Ball together?" Ginny demanded, staring Remus in the eye. He nodded slowly.
"Good, at least that's something that'll take my mind off of all of this" she snapped as she turned and ran up the girls' dormitories. It was then that James rounded on Lily.
"What do you think you're doing? Why are you hanging around with Hermione?" he yelled. Lily narrowed her eyes at him.
"For your information, I've been doing some spying" she informed him. Sirius' eyes widened as he grinned.
"Really? What did you find out?" he asked excitedly.
"More or less exactly what Ginny told you" Lily told him. Sirius' face dropped as he growled.
"I don't see why you're defending her Lils"
"Do you know how upset she is?" Lily asked angrily "She's devastated that you've just dumped her" Sirius snorted.
"Devastated that I caught her with Malfoy probably" Sirius muttered. Lily narrowed her eyes dangerously, but jumped when she heard a banging noise and a voice yell out "HERMIONE! OPEN UP!" just as music blared out "WHY DON'T YOU GIVE YOUR LOVE FOR CHRISTMAS!" (From the song "I wish it could be Christmas Everyday).
Lily gritted her teeth as she stormed out of the Gryffindor common room, making her way to the Potions class; she needed the Veritaserum now more than ever.
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Hermione sat huddled in a ball on her bed as she read through Hogwarts: A History for the third time in a row, just as the door burst open and Ginny stormed through.
"Hermione!" Hermione brought the book further to her face; she didn't want to face anyone.
"Hermione, are you going to the Ball tonight?" Ginny asked her kindly. Hermione peeked over the book and shook her head. Ginny's face dropped.
"You can't let him get to you!" she cried.
"He already has!" Hermione snapped "I heard Clare Spinnet telling her friends that she was going with Sirius, it's over Gin" she told her, before going back to her book. Ginny, whose patience was wearing thin, grabbed the book and threw it to the other end of the room.
"You're going to the Ball!" she yelled.
Suddenly, screams filled the air from the Gryffindor common room. Glancing at each other, Hermione and Ginny raced down to see what the commotion was about. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they both gasped. Standing there with big smiles on their faces was: Harry, Ron, Neville, Luna and Lupin.
Harry looked around and saw Hermione as she threw herself into his arms.
"I never thought I'd see you guys again!" she cried joyfully. Ginny, on the other hand, looked horrified. Lupin was staring at her, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Hello Ginny, or should I say, Miss Weasley?" Hermione giggled as she turned and gave Ron a hug.
"Oh, I've missed you all so much!"
"What's all the commotion?" James questioned as the Marauders made their way into the Gryffindor common room. They all took one look at Harry and stared. Sirius narrowed his eyes as he watched Hermione hug Neville.
"Why are you hanging out with Granger? She's a Death Eater" Sirius spat. Everyone looked shocked as they all turned to Hermione. Hermione buried her face in Neville's chest. Ginny glared at Sirius.
"Can't you just give her a break?! Malfoy was snogging her, you asshole!" Sirius snorted.
"Whatever" then he turned to Harry. He grinned.
"So, you're Harry Potter? We've heard a lot about you from Ginny" Hermione let out a sob as she ran from the Gryffindor common room. Harry glanced worriedly after her as Ron looked confused as to Hermione's behaviour.
"What's wrong with Mione?" Harry asked Ginny.
"Oh, you mean the fact that she snogged Lucius Malfoy behind my back" Sirius growled.
"See? Now do you believe me?" Lily cried, pointing at Sirius "He's hurt and he just won't admit it! It wasn't even Hermione's fault and-"
"Lils, leave it out!" James yelled. Harry stared at his parents and his godfather with wide eyes.
"Padfoot!" he cried as he enveloped Sirius in a hug. Sirius stumbled backwards, looking shocked. He then turned to James and Lily.
"Hey" he said awkwardly. James and Lily smiled back at him as they both hugged him.
"So, what's all this about Hermione snogging Malfoy?" Ron asked incredulously. Lupin snorted.
"A load of rubbish if you ask me" Sirius' face darkened.
"She went behind my back!" he snarled. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Oh, right, she'd really wanna snog her parents' murderer" Everyone looked shocked at Harry's news.
"You-you mean, she was telling the truth?!" Peter squeaked. James averted his gaze to the floor as guilt hit him, while Sirius merely rolled his eyes.
"Hold on, I wanna go find Mione and talk to her" Harry said as he rushed off in the direction of the library.
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"Hey Mione" Harry said quietly as he sat down next to Hermione. She had her nose buried in a book about Time Travel. She looked up with unshed tears in her eyes.
"Hi"
"Is there something going on between you and Sirius?" he asked. Hermione nodded sadly.
"We were going out for a while, until Lucius Malfoy decided to stick his tongue down my throat. Sirius caught us and he thinks that I wanted to kiss him. Malfoy fancies me and I'm absolutely terrified" she admitted. Harry looked shocked, then gave Hermione a hug.
"Yeah, well, that's Padfoot for ya" he told her kindly.
"And there's a Christmas Ball tonight. We were gonna go together, but then he-he dumped me and asked out Clare Spinnet" she said, her voice cracking slightly. Harry looked sympathetic.
"Wanna go with me?" Harry asked. Hermione looked up and stared at him in disbelief.
"What?!"
"Wanna go to the Ball with me? Hey, we're all staying for a while. About a week maximum, I think"
"Sure, I'd love to go with you" Hermione smiled "Just as friends, right?" Harry nodded and grinned.
"Of course"
"That reminds me, what are you and some of the members from DA doing here?" she asked, looking curious. Harry's face darkened.
"We received news that the Death Eaters were going to try and follow us back into the past to try and finish my mum and dad off now, while they're still in school. I dunno how they're gonna do it with Dumbledore around, but that's all we know. So I got a few members from DA to come with us. Lupin offered to be the adult and we think he might be an asset too, seeing as he's so good at Defense"
Hermione smiled.
"That's great! I do hope that they don't attack" Harry nodded.
"Me too. I don't want my parents to see me duel"
"Why?"
"Well, one thing's for sure, if Lestrange or Pettigrew turn up, I might lose control and try to use an Unforgivable and I think they might freak if I do that" Hermione giggled.
"I have every faith in you Harry" Harry grinned as he hugged her.
"We'll always be best of friends, right Mione?" Hermione nodded.
"You got it!"
"So, Miss Granger, you'd better go and get ready for the Ball tonight. You can't go like that!" Harry exclaimed. Hermione giggled, then she but her lip.
"What about Ron?"
"Oh, don't worry about him! He told me he was gonna break up with you because he didn't wanna strain your friendship" Hermione sighed with relief.
"Well, at least that's put a smile on my face"
"I'll see you later, okay Mione?" Hermione nodded and gave Harry one last hug, before running off to the Gryffindor Tower to get ready for the Ball that night.