K, I think I said something about it being Winter, summer vacation. I thought I'd clear that up. It is summer vacation okay, a few days until the school year. All right, now that that's cleared up. Here we go
Kail: Thanks for reviewing, and ya, sorry the last was so short. This one isn't though and ya, in the first chapter, Hermione was having trouble thinking... hehe.IMPORTANT
All right, so I have a problem, or more you do. If you want to go through the recap I have in this section I'm very glad you liked the second chapter so much, but if it annoys you to have someone verbally repeat what has already happened in the story, but I felt I had to, so I could have what happens at the end. I will put everything that you don't need to read in sections of italics, all right? I hope you'll forgive me if you don't like it, but if you don't read all the not italic type, you might not understand something, k? It only makes up roughly 1/4 of the chapter (781 words of it).
Beginning in Hermione's time:
Sirius and Albus sat across the table from each other, too astonished to speak at dinner. Everyone was present, eating, and all uptight after the news of Hermione's disappearance. "She shouldn't be there, Albus," he said suddenly.
"What, where is she?" Harry asked quickly. Everyone stopped eating.
"You said you didn't know where she went, where that thing would take her," Ron said, accusingly.
"I didn't and now I do," Sirius muttered, staring straight at Albus.
"Who knew that that hourglass was actually a time-turner," Albus thought, stroking his beard, thoughtfully.
"What do you mean? Where is Hermione?" Harry demanded.
"Harry, please calm yourself. Miss Granger, it seems is in the past. She seems to have acquired an enormous about of power from somewhere. Tell me, did you know of Hermione's relations to the Dark Lord?" Albus questioned.
"What, what are you talking about?" Ron snapped. "Hermione has nothing to do with him."
"Actually Ron. It seems she is the heir of Slytherin, or rather, an heir of Slytherin," Albus stated.
"What?" Sirius frowned.
"That is what the sorting hat said when he sorted her," Albus said.
"And why she was so angry that she sent a shower of apples on the professors and myself," Sirius muttered. "Where on earth did Hermione learn wandless magic?" Sirius asked Albus, who smiled, looking to Severus Snape, who seemed very preoccupied with his food.
"You bloody bastard. She could end up hurting herself. She nearly did with the stunt she pulled!" Sirius shouted, rising from his seat.
"She came to me and asked to learn Occlumency. She is a very quick learner and became quite gifted with not only Occlumency, but Ligilmency as well," Severus muttered. "Then she asked me to teach her more magic and I could not say no," Severus said.
"What do you mean you could not say no?" Sirius shouted, angrily.
"She asked me every day after school, nagging me endlessly, then she swore that if I did not teach her, she would tell everyone she knew that I..." Severus paused, not wanting to say anything.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Sirius growled, around the table in seconds. He grabbed Severus' shoulders and pushed him against the wall. "If you touched her I swear..." Sirius trailed off, letting Severus imagine what he would do.
"Jealous," Severus taunted, not able to pass it up.
"I'll kill you!" Sirius yelled.
"Oh for God sakes, Black, I didn't touch the girl," Severus shoved Sirius away from him.
"Indeed," Albus laughed. "She swore she would tell the whole school how friendly he was towards her, how helpful, and that he was her favorite teacher."
"You're bloody kidding me! My Hermione hates Snape!" Ron exclaimed, indignantly.
"Well, Ron..." Harry trailed off.
"She told you?" Severus' eyes narrowed.
"I practically beat it out of her, after she did not reply snidely to you when you insulted her about the Hair Cleaning potion, when it was actually Lavender, who sat behind us, that made the comment," Harry said. "She told me she would sort it out later, and I was shocked. She had never put up with your bull shit before and then she acted like the two of you were friends," Harry muttered.
Suddenly, Albus, Sirius, and Severus grabbed their heads. Everything went quiet, and when the three relaxed, Albus smiled, at Severus' uncomfortable shifting.
"What the hell is going on?" Ron utterly confused.
"Miss Granger has just met our professor and the meeting was quite memorable," Albus smiled, his eyes twinkling.
"Why the hell would she do that?" Sirius roared, stomping out of the room.
Back in Time:"All right, the two of you are going with the train back to Kings Cross, because you, Hermione must be there to make sure nothing goes wrong on the platform and Sirius, I'm sure wants to ride the train anyways, correct?" Albus looked at Sirius, who nodded.
They were to set out this morning and go to the platform in London. Then they would stay in the Leaky Cauldron over night, before heading back to King's Cross, for the train's journey back with the other students. Albus warned them many times how they had to keep a low profile and make sure that there was no chance Voldemort could locate them, as Hermione was probably his main target, at the moment.
Sirius and Hermione sat across from each other in the same compartment, Hermione wishing she had Crookshanks and eager to get to Diagon Alley. She was given enough money from Albus to pay for dinner, the room, and breakfast, as well as her school robes, schoolbooks, and other school necessities, but Albus had also given her enough money to get any pet she chose.
"Hermione, what is it that interests you?" Sirius said, softly after a moment.
"What?" Hermione looked up at the rather oddly way Sirius had phrased his question. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I know you don't like Quiditch which is astonishing, but if not that, then what is it?" Sirius asked.
"I-uh, well I like to learn," Hermione stated, blushing.
Sirius laughed. He was actually laughing at her. Hermione crossed her arms and humphed, looking out the window. "Wait, you were serious?" he asked.
"Yes, I was serious," Hermione scowled, not looking at him.
"Sorry, I never thought I'd get an answer like that out of anyone except Mooney," Sirius said.
"Yes, well Professor..." Hermione stopped herself, quickly, not thinking calling Remus Lupin: Professor Lupin would be a wise choice, especially since she wasn't supposed to know Remus' little pet name. Her next thought was to use Professor Snape's name, but she suddenly realized that he was also going to school in this year.
"Who?" Sirius asked.
"Er, um, well Professor Binns even noticed me once, which must mean a bit," Hermione said, thinking quickly. No Binns probably hadn't noticed her, even as she waved her hand to answer his questions in first through fourth year, not knowing that he never wanted an answer.
Sirius laughed, none-the-wiser to her slip up. "You must be lying, Binns didn't even notice, when I charmed Jamsie's shoes to make him tap dance on his desk," Sirius said.
"You did what?" Hermione looked horrified.
"You really are like a carbon copy of Lily Evans," Sirius laughed.
"I'm sure," Hermione huffed, sinking in her seat.
"Now, now, don't be sore. I was only kidding," Sirius gave her his charming roguish smile, which only made her glare back. She had seen that smile before, but not directed at her. It was usually directed at a pretty girl walking down the street. After Sirius' name had been cleared, he had hardly stayed in the house very long.
Hermione didn't respond to him, just took out a large book that she had borrowed from Alberto: Wandless Magic and How to Control It. She had almost laughed when he gave it to her, smiling broadly at her. "I'm sure next time you'll calm yourself while using it, correct?" he had asked, with a 'you had better' tone that Remus always hinted with. The professor was indeed very pleasant and from that second on, she knew she was going to like him.
She began reading, and got halfway through the book before Sirius asked what it was. She looked up in surprise at his sudden curiosity. She must have been reading for at least three hours, during which he had been writing in a notebook.
She lifted it up to show him the cover. He laughed. "I'll bet Professor Spring gave you that," Sirius said.
"I wouldn't bet against it," Hermione said, wittily. "Why the sudden interest?" Hermione questioned.
"I finished writing," he nodded to the closed notebook beside him.
"Really and what exactly were you writing?" Hermione watched him closely.
"Wouldn't you like to know, sweet?" Sirius said, smirking cockily at her.
"Fine, you can have your secrets," Hermione replied.
"What kind of pet are you going to get?" Sirius asked.
"I don't know, honestly. I have a cat, back home, but I'm not quite sure," Hermione began to ponder that for a moment.
"You should get a dog. Dogs are the best," Sirius said.
"You'd say that," Hermione stated, before she could stop herself.
"What does that mean?" Sirius asked, suspiciously.
Hermione did not respond, thinking it wise not to.
"Hermione," Sirius persisted.
"Don't do that. God my dad always does that to me," Hermione said, annoyed.
"I asked you a question. Is there something that you'd like to share with me?" he asked.
A smirk dawned on Hermione's face. "Well I didn't want to answer you because I didn't think you'd appreciate knowing that you're hair looks like a stray Pomeranian dog has decided to sleep on your head," Hermione said, smartly. Sirius laughed, and Hermione could tell that he was buying her story completely.
He flipped a mirror out of his pocket.
"You carry a mirror with you?" Hermione sneered at him, playfully.
"It's not for my hair, love," Sirius chuckled. "Come here, I'd like you to meet someone."
Hermione frowned and set her book aside, walking over to sit beside Sirius, who moved closer, saying she had to be able to see into it properly, but Hermione knew what it was upon seeing the front, and knew for a fact they didn't have to be that close to see who was on the other end. Hermione smartly took it from him, tapping her wand on the side and placing it on the floor.
A hologram came out of it, of a person who looked exactly like Harry... so much so that Hermione couldn't stop herself from a sharp intake of breath, knowing instantly that this was James Potter. Just this thought brought it all back to her, as even the sight of Sirius hadn't done. James Potter was dead in her time, long dead. She now remembered how much she had to skirt around these people, had to make sure she didn't change the future, no matter how painful it may be, how much she may have to go through.
"Oh come on, he's not that attractive," Sirius muttered.
"Well, well, someone can finally see who has superior looks, Sirius, and quite a beautiful someone I see," James smiled, charmingly.
"If I were to find you attractive I might have to hurl," Hermione muttered. James caught it and looked hurt.
"NO! I didn't mean it like that. I mean... I know someone who looks almost exactly like you and he was like my brother and..." Hermione trailed off.
"They weren't possibly related to him were they?" Sirius asked hintingly.
"No, of course not. Why would a person who went to the Irish Academy for Wizardry be related to James," Hermione said, emphatically, sending him a warning glare.
"Ah, so James, I should probably tell you the story of how Alaira and I met," Sirius said.
"I go by Hermione," Hermione said, sharply, glaring again at Sirius.
"Ah, anyways. She saw me and she practically threw herself on me," Sirius said.
"You bloody egotistical bastard," Hermione glared. "When you're speaking of one of the most terrifying things that could ever happen: Voldemort actually breaking the unspoken barrier between him and Hogwarts, you somehow make it seem like I'm trying to jump into bed with you," Hermione rolled her eyes.
"What? Voldemort was on Hogwart's grounds?" James looked horrified.
"To get Hermione," Sirius nodded, gravely.
"What for?" James asked.
"She showed up in my family's home, but from there I know very little until she arrived at Hogwarts.
"I suddenly arrived in Black Manor a few days ago, completely disoriented. When I saw where I was I changed my hair and eyes. I did not want to be recognized of course and knew that I would probably fit right in with the different look. When I saw Bellatrix Black, I made up some crock about having run into Sirius and gotten injured, and apperated to the closest place I could think off. I acted like such an arrogant bitch that I swear my old potions master start laughing to think about it, and he does not laugh," Hermione reinforced, smiling at the thought of the only time she had seen Severus Snape smile, but it passed quickly. "Anyways, I was extremely lucky that she took me directly to Scott Black," Hermione said sarcastically. "And I became even more ecstatic when it happened to be that the Dark Lord was having a nice little cup of tea with Mr. Black," Hermione muttered.
"I tried to play the part of deep anger against Professor Dumbledore, but he asked me something and I called him Tom, not really thinking it through before I did it, and Mr Black got extremely angry. He grabbed me by the shoulders, but I already had my wand in hand and I pushed it against his stomach and threatened him to make him let me go, which he did. I put a barrier around myself, a simple but powerful barrier. Voldemort said something about me having the same power as he, power that the headmaster could not understand. I was furious and foolishly screamed out at him pronouncing my loyalty to the professor," Hermione sighed, deeply.
"Thinking back at it, if I had not become so angry I would have been a very valuable spy for Albus. I am sorry for doing that, somewhat," Hermione mumbled.
"What happened after that?" James persisted, not liking that she had broken the story. For some reason it was one he could not wait to hear the rest of, in a sickening way.
"Sorry," Hermione apologized, thinking back so she could get back on track. "I reinforced the barrier and ran for the door as fast as I could, but they did not come out after me, probably not wanting to reveal number twelve, but I got out safely and successfully called to the Night Bus.
"They said the closest they could get me to Hogwarts was Hogsmeade, obviously due to their policy. As the doors were opened, however, a masked death eater was revealed standing just outside the door. I think that was the moment I finally couldn't take in anything else," Hermione said, embarrassedly
"The man, Matt I think his name was pulled me back just in time out of the way of a curse and yelled something to the driver, while I crawled into the corner like a little girl. That's all I can remember of that night," Hermione said.
"No one blames you for that by the way. It's called being human. If I were you I wouldn't have been able to take that much," Sirius said, softly. Hermione shrugged, frowning, and walking straight threw James' hologram to sit by the window and close her eyes, resting against the wall, wanting to sleep.
"Sirius," James was waiting for his friend to tell the rest of what happened. Sirius resumed the story.
"We saw the dark mark over Hogsmeade and ran out in just our pajamas," Sirius smiled at the remembrance of seeing Albus in rubber duck pajama pants and button up shirt. The night bus had pulled up and Matthew Brody-Johnson, you know the Quiditch Captain two years ago, the Hufflepuff," James nodded. "Well he ran out not looking very good. He said he couldn't get Hermione to move. Dumbledore was extremely confused when Matt said that Death Eaters were after her. He couldn't get her to move, neither could Professors McGonnagal or Spring. I finally got her to respond and she grabbed me in a hug, for some reason that she has yet to explain," Sirius looked up at her, expectantly, but she just shook her head.
"So I got her off the bus and we find that there are death eaters coming. Matt told us then, well I figured out from what he told me, that Hermione had been at Black Manor. Dumbledore, McGonnagal, and Spring were all holding up a barrier, and that driver drove off in a hurry to get his bus out of the way."
"I left her inside the door out of the line of fire with Matt, and told him to watch her and went to help the professors and tell Dumbledore what I had found out. Dumbledore called to them to call a truce because they wouldn't be able to break the barrier and he already knew what they wanted. Voldemort was surprised that we didn't know Hermione and told us that she had, in his words exactly, 'singing praises to you despicable muggle-loving wizards, implying that your power was more than mine.'" Sirius snorted. "He actually presumed to say his doubts on the headmaster's power when he couldn't even get through his simple barrier with two-dozen death eaters. He said something about her never being about to defy him and she was suddenly walking away from Matt, who couldn't even get the courage up to stop her."
"Do you even know what you did Hermione, when you left the safe spot behind the door, right out into the open?" Sirius smirked, looking at Hermione, who was pretending to sleep on the other side of the comparment. James' hologram turned to look at her, curiously, but she did not speak, nor look at them.
"You said these exact words: "I will forever be by Albus Dumbledore's side. I would die before joining you." Then you cursed the hell out of his ass, a curse that none of us had ever heard of," Sirius said, sounding proud to know her, somehow.
"What happened to him?" James frowned.
"He went unconscious. She knocked him out cold," Sirius said.
"How?" James turned to Hermione, in awe.
"I don't know," Hermione whispered, not opening her eyes.
"But you must know how, if you did it," James argued.
"I told you, I told Sirius, and I told Dumbledore that I- do- not- know- what- happened! Is it really that hard to understand? I've never fought him before, never crossed wands with him. It was always Harry! HARRY FOUGHT, HARRY IS PROBABLY STILL FIGHTING AND I HAVE ALWAYS JUST BEEN BY HIS SIDE!!!" Hermione yelled, grabbing her cloak and stalking out of the compartment, leaving two stunned Marauders in her wake.
There I hope that explains what Hermione's feeling about the "event" of her curse. I'm sorry if you really didn't want to read the recap, but I hope my italics helped maybe so you didn't read what you didn't have to. Smiles apologetically.
Next Chapter: MEETING SNAPE!
Read and Review please and thanks!!!
greeky
