Chapter Two: I'm Hermione Granger
"We've definitely killed her. We're going to Azkaban for this."
"Oh come off it, Remus. You worry too much. She's fainted is all."
Hermione opened her eyes, watching a figure pace back and forth in front of her. She seemed to be lying on a couch in what she immediately recognized as the Gryffindor common room. It was still dark outside, so she couldn't have been out long.
The boy stopped pacing and came to kneel beside her. "I was so sure that you were dead."
"What's happening to me?" she asked softly. Hermione was very rarely scared, but this was one of those moments. Perhaps Malfoy's plan really did work, she thought with a start. He had said it was his intention to remove her from his life for good.
"As best as we can tell, you're insane," Sirius said offhandedly, earning a glare from Remus. He seemed, to Hermione, to be the most levelheaded of the group.
"There was a spell... an incantation that Malfoy was saying. I was surrounded by something and there was a blue light. When I woke up, I was in the dungeons, but Malfoy and all of the items were gone."
"It sounds like some kind of complex time-travel spell," Remus stated. Off the other three boys' looks, he quickly said, "Well, there's little else to do but brush up on magic when all the other children are too afraid to be near you."
James and Sirius merely shrugged while Peter looked a little sad. Remus turned back to Hermione, "Did you catch any of the things that he said?"
"No, it was too confusing. I still don't understand though... you claim you're Prof... I mean, Remus Lupin, but I know that's impossible because I know him, and he's considerably older." The boys stared at her in amusement and she sighed, "You really think that I've gone backwards in time?"
He nodded slightly, "Yes, but I'm not sure how someone your age could have figured out a spell like that. That's highly advanced magic. Most fully-grown wizards are incapable of such a feat."
Hermione shook her head. Normally, she was quite a bright witch, but the events of the night had completely drained her. She looked around everywhere for an escape, but realized that there truly was no place to go. "What am I going to do exactly? Until I find a way back home, I'm trapped here in this time without my friends and family. I don't even have a place to sleep because some other fifth year is sleeping in my bed."
Sirius waggled his eyebrows at her, "You know, there's always an opening in my bed for pretty little things like you."
James rolled his eyes, "You definitely need to be taught some subtlety. Honestly, Sirius, you never learn." He turned to Hermione and studied her carefully, "Perhaps we should all stay down here with you tonight."
Hermione took a deep breath, nodding slightly. "I suppose that shall be fine, but what about tomorrow night, and the one after that. I'm not going to be able to get home any time soon, I'm sure." And suddenly it hit her. It could be a very long time before she found her way home again. She had no way of knowing how long Draco had researched that spell, and how he had managed to cast it. "I think I'm going to need your help," she admitted softly.
Remus nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder carefully for a moment before letting it fall once more. "We'll do whatever we can. It was pure luck on your part that we stumbled by. After all, we are some of the best and brightest that Hogwarts has to offer."
"Yes, that's very comforting," Hermione reassured him, though she honestly doubted they were any brighter than she herself was. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get some sleep. We'll have to speak with Dumbledore in the morning. Perhaps he'll know what to do."
Hermione watched as the three boys who were standing; James, Sirius, and Peter, found chairs around the fireplace to nestle themselves in. Remus, on the other hand, stayed firmly in the position he had been in since she had awakened. She stared at him curiously for a moment before reaching out a hand to touch his face. Her fingertips brushed against his cheek and she pulled back her hand as if it had been burned. He raised an eyebrow inquisitively at her and she sighed heavily. "I suppose I just wanted proof that this was all real. It's so hard to wrap my mind around the fact that in all honesty, I shouldn't even exist yet."
Remus stood and nodded toward the end of the couch with Hermione's feet on it. She pulled them down obligingly, and he sat, turning to look at her in the dim firelight. It was shocking to see Lupin at such a young age when the man that Hermione remembered had been thin and scraggly, graying before his time with the toils of his life. To Hermione, he now looked like he was living in the happiest days of his life, with little more to worry about than keeping his friends out of trouble. Of course, he was still a werewolf, but looking at him, Hermione could see that that fact didn't seem to bother him as much with his friends around. He raised his eyebrows at her and chuckled a little, "You didn't hear me, did you?"
Hermione shook her head sheepishly, "No, I suppose I didn't. I'm rather sorry. It's just a lot to grasp right now."
Remus nodded understandingly, "I promise that I'll help you in any way that I can. I'm sure that between the five of us, we can find a potion or incantation that will send you right back to where you belong. We'll even go to see Dumbledore first thing in the morning. Perhaps he'll have the answers and save us the trouble."
Hermione nodded, stifling a yawn. "I'm sure you're correct. We'll just wait until morning."
Remus pulled his wand out of his pocket, swishing it in the air. "Accio quilt," he said, watching as one of the quilts folded beside the fire sprang to life, whizzing over to his outstretched hand. He covered Hermione up, and she smiled gratefully.
He returned her smile warmly. "You never did tell us your name, you know?"
"I'm Hermione Granger," she mumbled sleepily, remembering a time not so long ago when she had said the same exact phrase to a few other young boys. Her last waking thoughts were of Harry and Ron, and whether or not they even knew she was gone.