A/N: Finally found time to update! Thanks to all my reviewers! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter….

sirusblackshottie: Thank you and I'm trying to hurry.

Radingsouls4u: Thanks for reading : )

Faeriekittie306 animelover: Thanks for the idea…I think I might use it…or incorporate it into the actual present. I have an evil idea forming in my mind….

Autumn92685039: I'm glad you liked it….

Tanuki: Read on and you might find the answers to your questions ; )

JTBJAB: Thanks…I thought it was a good place to leave off smiles mischievously Anyways…when I asked about a Christmas present, it wasn't about this story, it was about a different story…does that help? Sorry about the confusion : )

Fox of the Nova: oooohhhhh, I like that idea…..

MoonyNZ: Thank you, thank you…. You got the picture of mini Malfoy roasting over a fire in my mind…Oh, the dreams we can have. Thanks for the idea for the present but I'll let you have it. The young Sirius probably couldn't afford it…I have something else in mind hehehehe P.S. Update soon! Please!

amrawo: Thanks….

profet: no the present isn't for this story, it's for a different one. Thanks, you might be receiving an email from me soon….I'm almost to Christmas in that story.

Chapter 28: Explaining

Remus stared at her after she said this. Then, he couldn't control the laughter any longer. "The future?" he said unbelievingly. "My god Hermione, do you have any idea what you are saying?"

Hermione raised her chin defiantly. "Yes, I know exactly what I am saying."

"But it's impossible," Remus said in between laughing at the incredulous notion. However, there was a small part of him that wanted to believe her and sort of did.

"It's not impossible," Hermione protested his claim. "How else did I know about you being a werewolf?" she challenged. "And I bet you knew my last name by looking at the Marauder's Map." Hermione smiled as his eyes widened in shock, knowing he was beginning to believe her. "Oh yes, I know all about the map. I also know that you, James, Sirius, and Peter were the ones to make it under the names Moony, Prongs, Padfoot, and Wormtail. Funnily enough, their nicknames just happen to match their animagus forms."

"How do you know…"

"I'm telling the truth Remus," Hermione said smiling at him. "I am from the future."

Remus looked at her in thought. It was obvious she was serious about all of this. Maybe she was telling the truth.

"How?" he finally managed to ask.

Hermione thought about it for a minute. "I don't know really," she said honestly. "Ron, Harry, and I were on the train here and one of our enemies walked in the compartment we were sitting in. Needless to say, words were said and him and Ron got into it. They drew their wand and went to curse each other. I saw what they were going to do and without thinking, jumped in between the two of them. I was only trying to stop them but both spells hit me at the same time. The next thing I knew, I was alone in the train compartment and then you guys showed up."

Remus scratched his head in thought and started pacing. "Yes, I've read somewhere that something can happen if two spells of equal power hit a target at the same time…"

"Dumbledore is trying to find me a way back, but I'm beginning to lose hope," Hermione added softly.

Remus stopped his pacing and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Dumbledore will find a way for you to get home." He smiled genuinely at her but then fell when he thought of something. "Wait….you know about me. That can only mean that you somehow know me in your time, right?"

"Yes, I do know you. I'm not from that far in the future."

"So you know what happens to us all."

"Yes, but I won't tell you….I can't tell you. History must remain the same," she said gravely.

She was thinking of Sirius. He would be dead when she returned. She knew she wasn't allowed to change that but that didn't stop her from wishing there was some other way.

"Your face is blue," Remus commented. He laughed as she desperately tried to hide her ocean blue face in her hands from his scrutiny. Then he grew somber. "Something bad lies in the future, doesn't it?"

Hermione couldn't find the will to speak and say the awful truth allowed. She shut her tightly and merely nodded her head in affirmation. She felt the hot tears cascading down her face through her tightly closed eyes but made no move to wipe them away. She just let them fall.

"Hermione…" Remus started tenderly at seeing her emotional distress.

"Don't," she bit out. "Don't tell me it will be okay. It won't. You don't know what awaits me in the future, I do. I know everything that awaits me there. I know what is going to happen to each of you." She paused and tried to get her emotions under control. "And I so wish I could tell you, but….."

"Shh. It's okay Hermione," Remus said as he rushed to pull her into his arms and hug her close.

She cried painstakingly into his shoulder as he soothed her. She cried for James and Lily and the life that would be stolen from them. She cried for Peter for feeling so desperate that he would betray his best friends. She cried for Remus for the hurt and discrimination he would receive in the years to come. But mostly, she cried for Sirius. She cried for the friends he would lose, the life he would miss out on, the accusations that would be thrown at him, and the guilt he once confided to her that he felt over his best friend's death.

Remus tried to soothe her. "Everything will work out in the end. It will be okay," he said gingerly.

"Quit saying that!" Hermione screamed at him as she tore away from his comfort. "It won't be okay! Nothing will be okay! When I go back, everything will go back to the way it was. I'll go back and lose everything!"

"You'll lose Sirius," Remus added sympathetically.

A fresh wave of tears fell down her face. Again she couldn't find her voice so she merely nodded. She would lose Sirius, she knew that. She forced herself to face that face. But she would not only lose him in this time, but forever.

"Hermione," Remus started, "you have to tell him."

Hermione could just stare at him. She couldn't tell him! She didn't know how to tell him. He would never believe her anyway. He would just consider her to be crazy and leaver her. That would kill her. No, she couldn't tell him….not yet anyways.

"No, I can't…."

"You have to!" Remus protested. He put a finger under her chin and forced her to look at him and meet his gaze. "Hermione, he needs to know. He deserves to know. If you love him like you say you do, you'll tell him. He deserves to know from you, the one he loves."

Remus watched as the emotions played out on her face. He knew very well that she didn't want to tell Sirius. He couldn't really blame her for that. She didn't want to cause him pain. Plus, he knew that she didn't really know how to tell him.

"You're right," she finally acknowledged. She sighed in defeat and hung her arms loosely at her side. "I have to tell him. He does deserve to know." She looked at him questioningly. "Just give me time okay? I have to tell him when I'm ready and after I figure out how to."

Remus nodded his head and smiled down at the young witch that had been through so much already. "In your own time. But Hermione, don't wait to long. It will only get worse the longer you take to talk to him. Believe me, the pain will just build."

A/N: Okay, I finally updated. Sorry it took so long. Thank you all for the ideas for Christmas in my other story. They helped a lot! Sadly, there are only 4 more chapters left of this story. Yes, four. I think I might actually cry. I've enjoyed this so much and I don't want to stop. Thank you guys for hanging in there with me and reading this.

Time again for a teaser ; )

"I have found a way to get you back home." Dumbledore said.

That's all you're getting…. Will she take it….OR….will she stay…Hmmmm…the possibilities…..

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