Just Too Tempting
By Avadne
Chapter 1: A Meeting
"Please don't tell me we've gone back in time," groaned Draco. He and Hermione were standing in a corridor, slightly out of breath. And worse of all, they had been seen.
"Fine, I won't tell you. But you've got to face it sooner or later," Hermione snapped back. Another groan from Draco. Like I want to be stuck here with… oh my god. Don't tell me Mother's here. Or even worse, Father… Draco began to panic. He did some quick addition in his head and sighed with relief. Both of his parents had been out of Hogwarts for a few years.
Hermione too was doing some fast thinking. Yes, it appeared to be 1977- James had a shiny Head Boy badge pinned to his robes and Lily had the Head Girl's on her. The Marauders would be in 7th year then. According to Harry, Lily and James would start dating some time this year.
"We better go to Dumbledore," Draco decided hesitantly. Bloody brilliant. I'm going to have so much fun here, he thought sarcastically.
"Yes, that's a good idea. Come on," Hermione agreed. Dumbledore was always a good option; if they couldn't go to him, who could they go to?
"Acid Pop," The gargoyle didn't move. Of course it wouldn't have the same password, Hermione thought.
"Sugar Plum? Lemon Drop? Cockroach Cluster? Chocolate Frog? Sugar Quill? Oh, come on you stupid thing, open up!" Draco was trying his luck with random foods that Dumbledore might pick. Nothing. Draco kicked the gargoyle in frustration. The result was Draco with a very sore toe, cursing colourfully.
"Can I help you?" asked an amused voice from behind. Both teens swiveled around to find Dumbledore standing behind them, looking much entertained. Hermione sighed with relief.
"Yes, you bloody well can. Tell that stupid thing to move!" howled Draco, still hopping around on one leg. Hermione shot him a look.
"Sorry. Yes, you can, Sir. I'm Hermione Granger and this is Draco… Malfoy," Hermione said, uttering 'Malfoy' hesitantly. As expected, Dumbledore looked slightly surprised.
"Malfoy?" Hermione nodded. Dumbledore looked around swiftly before letting them into his office. "Of course, you look just like... Come in, what seems to be the problem?"
"We're from the future," Draco said bluntly, rubbing his foot. Dumbledore's eyebrows rose. He looked at them slightly suspiciously.
"Draco and I are the Head Boy and Girl in the year 1997. We were just waiting in your office for you, but then Draco…"
"Hey, it wasn't my fault!" Draco whined. He was not in a good mood. Having someone snap at him, traveling to the past, more snapping and hitting his toe tended to do that to him.
"Yes it was! Anyway, Draco, well, he dragged me into what we thought was a Pensive. Obviously, it wasn't because the next thing we know we're locked in some closet. I spelled the doors to be able to see outside and I saw a group of people out there. Draco and I were arguing and then Remus Lupin opened the door and asked us what we were doing. We ran for it," Hermione explained.
"Is there any way you can offer me proof? I'm sorry, but for all I know, you're Death Eaters in disguise," Dumbledore requested calmly. Draco goggled at the man; how could he be so peaceful about this?
"What about… ok, some of the current members of the Order of the Phoenix, or ones you are thinking about recruiting are… Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadows, the Prewett brothers, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Emmeline Vance and Hestia Jones,"
"How do you know about the Order? I only founded it a few weeks ago. Nearly all of those are members and indeed, I was thinking of recruiting, the Prewetts…" Dumbledore trailed off, amazed.
"We know," she replied emphatically. Dumbledore nodded slowly, showing he believed them. But Draco broke Dumbledore out of his thoughts.
"Hey, that's that thing we went into!" Draco yelled out, pointing to a Pensive like item. Dumbledore looked surprised.
"I wondered where that came from and what it was… Has anyone else seen you yet?" Dumbledore asked evenly.
"Yes. Remus was standing with 3 other people. One was definitely Sirius Black and I think the other 2 were Lily and James Potter," Hermione's eyes widened at her mistake. "I mean, Lily Evans and James Potter," she corrected herself quickly.
"That was Potter's mum? Who knew she was so ho-" Draco began, but was silenced by a sharp look from Hermione.
"Now, how exactly do you know those people? And what's this about Lily and James Potter?" asked Dumbledore.
"Should we really be telling him this? Won't it affect the future?" Draco asked, ignoring Dumbledore. Hermione frowned; he had a point. She answered as best as she could.
"Well, Sir, our friend, Harr-" Draco shot her a look. She sighed. "Fine, my friend, Harry, is the son of Lily and James Potter," Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling.
"Well, that was unexpected. Please try not to reveal their future existence to them or anyone else. You are, of course, welcome to stay here for the time being. I shall try to find a way back home for you as soon as possible. We'll need a cover story; I request both of you change you're names," Dumbledore said. Draco was still amazed at Dumbledore's easy acceptance of these bizarre circumstances, but he saw Hermione looking thoughtful and followed her example.
"Well, my middle name is Jane, but I'll go with Mi Hooper. My dad used to call me Mi and Hooper is my mother's maiden name. Everyone will just figure out that Mi is a nickname, but they won't know what to," Hermione decided.
"I'll be… Hunter Brown. Mother was a Black, but I can't really use that around here, so Brown will do. And Hunter is my middle name," Draco put in.
"Hunter? You're middle name is Hunter?" asked Hermione, giggling slightly.
"Yes, it is. It's a much better name than Jane or Mi or whatever the hell name you're using," Draco began defiantly. "Father quite liked the idea of me being a muggle hunter, so he was all for naming me that. But Mother stepped in, so Hunter became my middle name instead."
"Very well; you've been home schooled for the past 6 years, but your parents decided that for your final year, you should come here. I think you can fill in the gaps from there. I don't think I need to impale on you the seriousness of this situation; you mustn't allow others to know what happens in their future. It would be wise to keep your time travel a secret, but I know some of the, ah, more curious students will figure it out. Be very careful of what you say and do. Now, sorting …" Dumbledore trailed of.
"There's no need for that. I'm a Gryffindor and Draco's a Slytherin," Hermione was quick to answer. She muttered something under her breath and sparkly writing appeared in front of Dumbledore;
Hermione Jane Granger
1980 - Present
Gryffindor
Head Girl, Hogwarts - 1997
Draco Hunter Malfoy
1980 – Present
Slytherin
Head Boy, Hogwarts - 1997
Dumbledore nodded in acceptance, admiration visible as Hermione blushed. She knew how advanced that charm was.
"Very advanced, Miss Granger… or Hooper, as it were. Now, you appear to have robes and such ready. I'll be getting you the rest of your supplies shortly. Oh, one more thing. Lily Evans and James Potter are this years Head Boy and Girl. I must ask you to remove your badges," Draco and Hermione compiled. "Oh, and I would suggest changing your general appearance, just enough not to be recognized in the future; Mr. Lupin and his friends have already seen you, but some small changes wouldn't go astray. I'll leave that to you; you seem capable," both Hermione and Draco nodded.
"Sir, what's happening back in our time? Have we just disappeared, or has time just stopped and when we come back everything will resume?" Hermione asked fearfully.
"Both of those possibilities are very likely. In fact, I'm almost certain that one of those has happened. There is only one other option… But it's highly unlikely. Now, I also request that you come to my office weekly, to discuss such things. Say, Thursdays, after dinner. Good day." Dumbledore said before they were ushered out of his office.
"Now, we need to glamour ourselves slightly, remember?" Hermione twirled her wand nervously. A glamour gave you the illusion of looking different. It could be little things like eye colour, which was about N.E.W.T level, or much bigger things like height or weight.
"Right. Ok, small changes," Draco closed his eyes firmly, eyebrows creasing. He waved his wand and muttered the incantation. His platinum hair went a few shades darker at the tips and lighter at the roots, lengthening to fall into his new eyes, incidentally, icy grey becoming light blue. His nose shrunk slightly and his cheekbones heightened. Pale skin became slightly tanned.
"Glamourius,"Hermione mumbled, eyes closed. Tangled curls became smoother waves with lighter streaks, shortening to just below her shoulders. Caramel coloured eyes suddenly widened and turned darker brown with blue and green specks in them. A few light freckles appeared across Hermione's new, slightly upturned nose. Dimples were created when Hermione smiled. Hermione and Draco still had their similar overall look, but the changes made them recognizable only to those that knew them well.
"Wow, I didn't know it was possible for me to look ever better than before. I think I proved myself wrong. Not bad, Granger, not bad at all. I guess I can kind of see why Weasel was after you for a while," Hermione hit Draco again, but blushed slightly. Admittedly, she had gone out with Ron for a while, but things just didn't work out. And Draco knew it very well, because he was one of the reasons of their break-up, too. Hermione just couldn't handle Ron disagreeing with her on everything, his annoying whining, his terrible jealous possessiveness and the prejudice against Malfoy, who was becoming a new person. But Hermione shook that thought out of her head.
"So who are they? I was sure we knew everyone here," asked James, flopping down on the couch. The 4 Marauders were currently musing about the 2 students Remus found in that closet.
"I have no idea. I've never seen them before," replied Remus, curiosity filling his voice. His forehead furrowed in confusion. They seemed to appear out of no where.
"I would remember their faces. That girl wasn't bad…" trailed off James, remembering the pretty, curly haired brunette. Sirius snorted.
"Moving on from Lily?" he asked, smirking. James had liked Lily Evans since 5th year. And from 5th year, she had been turning James down.
"About time," muttered Peter. James glared at him and Peter looked down in fear. The portrait of the Fat Lady opened to reveal one of the subjects of their conversation. The girl, it was. James had been right, was rather pretty; her hair was light brown with golden streaks, very thick and wavy and she had very tanned skin. James jumped up enthusiastically and headed over there.
"Hi, I'm James Potter. Are you new here?" he asked. Up close, he realized that her chocolate eyes had flecks of green and blue.
"Yes, I'm new. I mean, hi, I'm Mi Hooper," she answered, blushing a bit. James smiled at her and led her over to the Marauders.
"That's Remus," he pointed at Remus who smiled amusedly. The memory of their first meeting in the closet was still rather entertaining. Hermione turned even pinker. "Pete," James continued, gesturing to Peter, who smiled a bit. Hermione felt anger well up inside her. This was the scum that killed Lily and James!
"And I'm Sirius," Sirius broke in with a charming smile.
"I'm Mi Hooper," She said again, smiling. Oh God, oh God, oh God. It should be Harry here, not me, her brain was furiously working.
"So, I didn't know Hogwarts took in new students?" Remus directed it into more of a question than a statement.
"Well, it usually doesn't. I've been home schooled. But my parents thought it would be best for me to go to Hogwarts this year," Hermione replied, using the story Dumbledore cooked up for them.
"Allow us to give you the official tour, then?" Sirius replied charmingly, offering his arm to Hermione, who smiled and took it. The four Marauders directed them out of the Common Room and began to show them around the school. Hermione had to act surprised and impressed at each site. She new the school well, obviously; Hermione had been using a certain map since 3rd year, not to mention all the sneaking around that Ron and Harry had persuaded to her to do. But the Marauders weren't meant to know that.
"So, where did you live before?" Remus asked curiously. Hermione was quickly calculating her options and panicking inside. She struggled to keep a cool face on the outside.
"I lived in Italy, but I'm originally from England. I moved when I was 10," Hermione replied. She had been in Italy and if Remus decided to ask her some questions, she could probably forge out some kind of believable answer.
"So, what's it like being home-schooled?" Sirius asked.
"Oh, it's different, I guess. The hours are more flexible, but we cover the same type of thin-" an interruption caused Hermione to stop. Draco had just walked out of the bathroom. Upon spotting her, he smirked.
"Hey, Mi," he said, emphasizing her fake name. Hermione glared heavily at him.
"This unfortunate being here is Hunter Brown," Hermione began, but didn't get the chance to finish.
"Will you stop introducing me? I can speak for myself!" he snapped. The Marauders seemed slightly shocked that Draco was being so rude, but Hermione was used to it. She smiled scathingly and answered appropriately.
"Oh really? Well, since you couldn't even perform a simple Window Spell earlier, I simply assumed that you couldn't talk either," Draco glared at her again.
"Well, excuse me for being a little caught up with you rude comments about my hair! That was a bit preoccupying, you know!" he growled. Then his face broke out into a smile. Hermione laughed; Draco had a habit of changing his mood in seconds. The Marauders were looking more and more puzzled.
"Don't think about it too much," she advised them. Sirius laughed lightly.
"Well, I'm Sirius. That's James, Remus next to him and Pete, behind them," he continued. Draco nodded slightly, looking bored.
"So, want to join us?" James asked politely, studying Draco carefully. Draco shrugged indifferently, looking around casually.
"We're taking a tour," Hermione told him, looking meaningfully into his fake blue eyes. Act surprised, don't reveal anything, was the clear warning. Draco snorted ever so quietly, but raised no protest. Remus, who had heard Draco's deride noise, looked at him questioningly, but did not push it. Seconds later, he shrugged and continued with the tour. Funnily enough, there was a strange feeling at the pit of his stomach that the tour was pointless. Something was not quite right here, and Remus knew it, even if no on else did.
I'm going to try to make each chapter at least 2000 words; it will be between 2000-3000, hopefully.
I realize that Mi-Hermione is not likely, but I have special reasons for Hermione not to actually change her name or use something drastically different. They'll be apparent much later on
Review everyone!
Avadne