BITTERSWEET
Chapter 8: A New Time
September 1976
Some things are the same no matter what time you're in. The sun still rises, the light still filters in through the bed curtains, and it's just as hard to get up. As Hermione still soon found out, the only difference between her time and here was that here, she didn't wake up to the sounds of Parvati and Lavender chattering. Instead, it was Victoria bouncing out of bed and flinging open the curtains of everyone's bed.
"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" she said brightly. "It's the first day of school, and we don't want to be late!"
Hermione rolled over and groaned. No matter what Harry and Ron might say, she was not a morning person, and never would be. She just managed to pull herself together by breakfast, unlike them.
"Time to get up!" Tori continued. "Only an hour until breakfast, and classes start after that!" Jessica threw a pillow towards her.
Lily sat up sleepily, her red hair mussed by sleep and pointing in every which direction. No sound came from Rae's bed except for the rustling of her covers as she covered her head with a pillow.
"Come on, guys," Tori said, exasperated. "We need to have time to introduce Hermione to everyone."
Hermione opened her eyes and it hit her. Not only was this the first day of classes, but it was also the first time the teachers would meet her, and she had to make a good impression. Suddenly frantic, she sat up, stumbled out of bed, and thanked her lucky stars that Dumbledore was able to provide her with everything she would need until the next trip to Hogsmeade.
"All right Hermione!" Tori enthused. "Now, could you help me get the rest of these lazy bones out of bed?"
Fifty-five minutes and two water fights later, the five sleepy girls had transformed into wide-awake, presentable students ready to begin their day.
Hermione crawled ahead as they went out the portrait hole, but soon stopped and looked back at the curious expression on Rae's face.
"You seem so confident," she remarked. "How do you know your way around so well already?"
Hermione started to answer, then paused, and bit her lip. She opened her mouth to try to think of a plausible excuse, but Lily jumped in.
"I took her all around the castle yesterday, and I guess the layout is kind of similar to her old school," she said.
Hermione flashed Lily a grateful look, and nodded at Rae in affirmation. Lily smiled back at her.
"Sometime this century?" they heard from the common room. Jessica was standing there, her hands on her hips. "Some of us are hungry, and would like to get to breakfast if you people up there wouldn't mind getting out of the passageway."
The three scrambled out to make way for Jessica and Tori, who took the lead in their rush for food.
"You don't want to get between Jess and her breakfast," Lily whispered to Hermione. "That girl has more personality than anyone I know, and you do not want her mad at you. When it comes to starting her day out right, she's scary."
Rae overheard and laughed. "Don't let Lily scare you with her horror stories about us. We really aren't that bad, once you get to know us. Quite honestly, I'm sure you'll have lots of fun this year." She winked, then walked up to join Jessica and Victoria as they entered the Great Hall, leaving Lily and Hermione lagging behind by themselves.
Lily turned to Hermione with a twinkle in her eye. "So, are you ready to brave the Great Hall?" she asked.
Hermione grinned. "I'm a Gryffindor. If I can't manage to walk into a room of friendly people, then I don't deserve my place in the house."
"That's the spirit!" Lily said. "C'mon, let's go get some food." She grabbed onto Hermione's wrist and dragged her through the doors, propelling her towards the Gryffindor table.
Hermione looked around. The only spots left were across from the Marauders. She didn't mind, but she didn't know how Lily would react. Lily saw at the same time she did, though, and wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Yuck. Sitting across from James is always enough to make me lose my appetite in the morning." She sighed. "Oh, well. They seem to have taken a liking to you, anyway."
Once again Hermione wondered just how Harry was born if Lily really hated James this much, but she pushed that thought aside and headed towards the table. The two reached the seats just in time to see Sirius dump a handful of syrup on James' head.
The look on the boys' faces as they noticed the girls was priceless. Sirius looked sheepish, and James straightened in his seat. He automatically ran his hand through his hair, like he did whenever he saw Lily, and only succeeded in getting the sticky syrup all over himself. He blushed, trying to salvage what little dignity he had left as Sirius cracked up. Peter looked torn between laughing at Sirius's antics and not wanting to humiliate James any farther. He settled for appearing mildly amused.
"Um, hi, Lily," James said. A glop of syrup dripped off his bangs and onto his nose. That was too much for Hermione. She lost control over her giggles, and collapsed onto a chair in a fit of laughter.
Lily just rolled her eyes, whipped out her wand, pointed it at James, and muttered, "Scourgify." The syrup immediately disappeared, leaving him clean but embarrassed. Lily sat down next to Hermione, and silently took a plate of food for herself.
Hermione pulled herself together, and grinned at Sirius. "I know how breakfast has been going for you, but how's the rest of your life?"
"I would have said miserable, since we have double transfiguration with the Slytherins and James here was being a prat, but it just got a lot better as soon as you showed up," he replied, winking at her.
"Oh, um," she replied intelligently, not letting her expression betray and of her true feelings. Inwardly, her thoughts were jumbled. Why are you flirting with me? she thought. I'm not pretty, or beautiful like the other girls here. I can't do this. If you knew what I did, you wouldn't be either. You're old enough to be my father. Even if you are the sexiest boy in this time, I don't belong here. And I don't want to be just another one of your conquests. I'm not the kind of girl who can be persuaded by a few choice words. But why does his smile look so sexy?
"Wow, Padfoot," James teased. "I see you haven't managed to lose your talent of making girls speechless."
Hermione glared at him, trying to think of a retort, then decided it wasn't worth wasting her time on and turned to Lily. The two started chatting animatedly, ignoring the boys sitting across from them.
"Thanks, Prongs," Sirius muttered to James. "I was actually making progress. You saw the look on her face. She was flattered. I keep telling you, I'll have her falling for me in no time. I'm getting bored with the girls here... I'm ready to have some fun with mysterious beauties that appear out of nowhere into my lap."
"Namely, the one sitting right in front of us," James sniggered.
"Do you know of any others?" Sirius retorted. He focused his attention back to Hermione. He was about to try again with her when Remus showed up, looking somewhat tired, and slid into a seat that had opened up next to them.
He grinned at them, and asked, "So, what are we talking about?"
Hermione immediately liked him. He had a sweet, endearing look about him that made her want to get to know him better. Of course, it also helped that she admired and respected the Remus of her time.
She answered for everyone. "We were just mentally preparing ourselves for the first day of classes."
"And making sure Hermione knew who was who," Lily added.
"You'd better eat fast, Remus," James said. "We have transfiguration in about fifteen minutes."
Sirius groaned.
"What?" Hermione asked. "Don't you like Transfiguration?"
"Transfiguration itself is fine, but McGonagall hates me. Although, not without reason." He grinned. "Besides, it's with the Slytherins today."
"That should make for an interesting class," Hermione remarked.
"Interesting?" James said. "That's an understatement. What with Malfoy and Snivell--er, Snape," he changed with a look at Lily. "Those two are the worst."
Hermione shuddered, remembering. "Malfoy tried to hit on me yesterday."
"He WHAT?" Lily asked in shock. "You didn't tell me that!" she said accusingly.
"It slipped my mind," Hermione replied. "But then Snape threatened me, and said I shouldn't have turned Malfoy down. As if I'd ever want to go out with that slimy git."
James and Sirius exchanged a dark look. "Just like Malfoy, trying to pick up every girl he sees," James said. "If he wasn't so popular, there's a couple of things I'd like to do to him."
"You'd better stay away from the Slytherins," Sirius warned. "There's rumors going around these days--a pretty girl like you should keep far away from their kind."
Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What do you mean, a pretty girl like me?" she asked. "What's that supposed to imply?"
Sirius looked somewhat startled by the question. "Well, you know, you're a girl, and you might have a hard time defending yourself around boys, if you know what I mean," he fumbled to respond.
Remus noticed the warning signs and tried to poke Sirius in the side, but he wouldn't shut up. "Uh, Sirius," he tried.
"The Slytherins are good with curses," Sirius continued, ignoring Remus. "And, well, it might be kind of hard for you to counter their spells."
If looks could kill, Sirius would have been dead by this time. Hermione's glare was getting fiercer and fiercer, and everyone except Sirius noticed.
"So, you know, I wouldn't want you to get hurt because you couldn't think of the right spell fast enough, so if you stick by us, we'll make sure to keep them far away from you," he finished.
By this time, Hermione was gripping her wand tightly, using all of her self-restraint to prevent herself from hexing Sirius into next week and showing him just how capable she was. "Of all the chauvinistic beasts!" she exploded. "You think that just because you like the way I look, that automatically puts me into the mindless bimbo category of weak females who wouldn't survive without your protection! Well, I have news for you Black. I'm not that kind of girl.
"I don't know what you're thinking, but you better get one thing straight. I am capable of taking care of myself. I may not know many people here, but that doesn't mean I'm not smart. I am perfectly competent when it comes to standing up for myself, thank you very much." She took a breath and stabbed her eggs with her fork, trying to release the pent up energy without endangering anyone else.
James, Sirius, and Remus were all staring at her wide-eyed. Remus slowly whistled. "Wow, Padfoot. You sure picked one hell of a girl to go after."
"I keep telling you," James added. "She's not like the girls in this time."
Lily looked at Hermione admiringly. "Nice going, Hermione," she whispered. "Sirius acts so condescending towards females most of the time, it's about time someone told him off."
Hermione barely acknowledged her praise; she was staring so intently at her plate. A red blush mottled her cheeks, and a wave of guilt washed over her. I just told off Sirius. Here I am thankful that I get to see him one last time, and what do I do? I yell at him in front of everyone. But this time, a new voice joined the one admonishing her. This is about twenty years in the past. I can't keep thinking that these are the same people that I know, because they're not. And he deserved it.
With that in mind, she made a decision. I've got to stop comparing everyone here to how they are back home. This is a new situation, where no one knows who I am and none of that has happened yet. I should just enjoy the time I have here, and save memories for when I get back home.
She turned to Lily with a gleam in her eyes. "From what I've heard about him, he did deserve that."
Lily looked at the still silent Sirius, and smiled. "That was great. I'm sure so many girls have wanted to tell him that before, but have stayed silent because they wanted him to like them or something. I'm so glad you're different. I told you, we're going to be best friends."
