DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters used hereafter.

CHAPTER 5: FRIENDS

Hermione could hardly believe her eyes. "You're…" she stammered, "You're…"

She didn't get a chance to finish what she was saying though. Madam Pomfrey was on the group in a flash, pushing them towards the door. "GET OUT! CANT YOU SEE THAT THIS YOUNG WOMAN IS IN A TERRIBLE STATE? HAVE YOU NOW CONSIDERATION AT ALL?" she yelled, her face turning red.

"Dumbledore said we could come visit her though!" protested one of the boys who had long black hair and steely grey eyes.

Hermione instantly recognised him as a younger, more energetic Sirius Black who had not yet seen the horrors that the Sirius she knew had. Seeing him standing there full of life overwhelmed Hermione and she let out an audible sob. "SEE? YOU'RE CAUSING THE YOUNG LADY A LOT OF DISTRESS!" yelled Madam Pomfrey, "You have to leave. NOW!"

Hermione however wanted them to stay. She wanted to see them all, to thank them for finding her and also, just to see them. They were familiar to her in this strange time. She had only ever met three of them in person before but that didn't matter. "Please," she croaked, "Let them stay, I'd like to thank them."

Madam Pomfrey turned to her obviously confused in shock as to why Hermione would want a band of raving idiots anywhere near her. She didn't object anymore though and walked into her office shaking her head and muttering about disruptive students.

The group grinned happily and walked over, seating themselves around and on Hermione's bed. "Thanks" said Sirius smiling.

He did look a lot happier than Hermione had ever seen him and he didn't have that hollowness in his eyes left behind from his time in Azkaban.

"My name is Sirius Black," he said bowing deeply.

"And these four idiots are, James Potter" He pointed to a boy with messy black hair, who apart from his eyes which were a dark brown could have been Harry's twin.

"Remus Lupin," He pointed to a young Professor Lupin who didn't look nearly half as tired as his future self and had long blonde hair that reached down to his shoulders.

"Peter Pettigrew," he pointed to a small plump boy with mousy hair and watery blue eyes who kept glancing around nervously.

"And finally, the delightful Ms. Evans." He pointed to the girl who Hermione knew to be Harry's mother. She was pretty with long red hair and those enchanting bright green eyes that she had passed onto her future son.

"Just Lily will do." Said Lily hitting Sirius playfully on the arm. Hermione smiled and nodded to each of them in acknowledgement.

Her eyes lingered on Peter for a moment as she wondered how such an innocent boy, so like Neville in many ways could turn out the way he did.

"So what's your name?" asked James interrupting her thoughts.

"Oh, um Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you." She said weakly.

"Hermione, that a very pretty name." Said Lily smiling at her.

"Thank you." Said Hermione.

"So how are you feeling?" asked Sirius who was sitting to her left, "Does it hurt much? You were pretty beat up when we found you."

Hermione looked at him, 'Sirius' she thought, 'always so direct with things.'

Smiling she said, "I'm very grateful for that. Thank you all. I'm feeling much better although I haven't been awake long. Madam Pomfrey says that most of my injuries should be healed in a week and then I can leave."

"A week!" exclaimed James, "Wow Padfoot, I think she's beaten your record and she's only been for two weeks" He hit Sirius playfully on the shoulder.

Sirius scowled, "She was injured before she came. It doesn't count."

"Oh shut up both of you!" laughed Lily, "Sorry about that Hermione, they can be very competitive."

"Don't I know it? My friends back home, Harry and Ron, they…" she stopped mid sentence. Thinking about Harry and Ron was painful; she missed them so much. They were like her family, even more sometimes.

"Are you okay Hermione?" asked Lily gently.

Hermione wiped away the tears that had been silently streaming down her face. "I'm sorry. I'm fine. I was just thinking of back home. I'll probably never see any of my family and friends again." She sniffed loudly.

The group all looked at her sympathetically. "We're sorry Hermione. If you ever want to talk about it we're all here for you." This was the first thing that Remus had said since entering the room.

Hermione smiled at him. "Thank you." She whispered. Remus smiled back.

"So what school did you go to before you came here?" he asked. "Oh, it was a small one in Germany" Hermione replied remembering what Dumbledore had suggested.

"That sounds nice, I've always wanted to visit Germany some time." Said James.

"So… um…" everyone turned to Peter who had finally decided to talk, "How was it that you came to be so beat up?" the other four all glared at him. Clearly they had been avoiding asking her that question. Peter winced under their glares but kept his watery eyes fixed on Hermione.

Hermione stiffened and stared back at him finding it difficult to hide the coldness in her eyes. "It was dark wizards." She said shortly, wanting to avoid talking to Peter at all costs afraid that she might loose it and attack him.

The others gasped and quickly forgot Peter's idiocy. "Oh my god, really?" asked Lily her eyes full of fear. Hermione nodded.

"That's terrible. Did they torture you?" asked Sirius. Hermione nodded again and began to sob, her memories of the torture overwhelming her.

Remus stood. "I think we should go now, Hermione needs some rest. Maybe you should stay with her for a while Lily?" Hermione was grateful to him, she didn't want any of them to see her cry but she didn't want to be alone either. The others all stood to leave saying their goodbyes. James had to pull Peter from the room. He seemed fascinated by what Hermione had said.

When they were gone, it was just Hermione and Lily left. Lily smiled at her kindly, "You should get some sleep now. I'm sorry about Peters question. He doesn't seem to understand sometimes."

Hermione nodded, her eyes still fixed on the door the boys had just left through. It was weird seeing them all alive and well. Hermione quickly fell into a deep sleep and when she awoke again Lily was gone.

The next week passed relatively quickly as Hermione spent a lot of her time sleeping. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't allow any more visitors so Hermione had no company at all.

She was glad when the day came that she was to leave. Dumbledore had been to tell her that Lily would escort her to the Gryffindor common room where all her supplies and new belongings had been brought. The morning of her release Hermione took a while to get out of bed. She hadn't been standing for quite some time and it took her a few minutes to get her balance.

When she could stand comfortably, Hermione began to change out of the gown she had been in and back into her own clothes which were in a neat pile at the end of the bed. While she was changing she heard the hospital wing door opening.

'That must be Lily' she thought. Hermione pulled on her trousers and pulled the gown up over the top of her head. As she reached for her t-shirt a figure came around the side of the curtain, but it wasn't Lily. It was Remus. He blushed at the sight of her without her top on and Hermione felt him staring at the scars on her back and arms.

"I… I'm so sorry!" he stammered before hurriedly going back around the curtain. Hermione chuckled to herself before pulling the t-shirt over her head and walking around the curtain.

"It's ok Remus, I know you didn't do it on purpose." She said smiling at him. He was still quite flustered but smiled back and began to gather her bags.

"Lily sends her apologies. She couldn't come because she had some head girl duties to attend to so she sent me instead."

"It's ok, thanks for agreeing to take her place." He smiled and lifted her bags.

"Ready to go then?" "I am indeed" They walked out of the hospital wing and began walking in silence down the corridor to the Gryffindor common room.

Remus was the first to break the silence, "So… um… do they hurt?"

Hermione looked at him slightly puzzled. "Does what hurt?"

He blushed slightly, "The scars. On your back and arms. Not that I was staring or anything!" he finished hurriedly.

Hermione laughed at his embarrassment. "Sorry." She said apologetically. "No, they don't. Madam Pomfrey gave me some painkillers before I left anyway."

Remus relaxed a bit glad that she hadn't been offended by his question. "Oh, good. I'm glad." He smiled at her. "Here we are so. Gryffindor common room" Hermione pretended not to know where the entrance was.

Remus chuckled. "Don't worry, I haven't gone mad. The entrance is behind this portrait." He pointed to the portrait of the fat lady.

Hermione pretended to suddenly understand as he stepped forwards and said the password. "Fortuna Major" he said.

The portrait swung forwards revealing the doorway into the common room. The two stepped through and Hermione pretended to look around in amazement.

"Welcome to your new home." Smiled Remus.

"Wow" said Hermione looking around. "I love it"

Remus grinned. "Everyone does. Okay, well the girls dorm is up those stairs over there." He pointed to the all too familiar staircase that led up to the girls' dormitory. "I can't actually go up there, school rules and all but if you don't mind waiting until Lily gets back then she can take you up and show you around."

Hermione nodded to show she understood and moved over to sit on one of the large comfortable chairs beside the fireplace. Remus followed her and sat opposite her.

"Is there anything you want to know? I'd be glad to help."

Hermione smiled. There wasn't really anything she needed to know. "Not for the moment thank you. I'll be sure to ask you if there is though. Remus smiled happily.

Just then there was a loud bang followed by a lot of laughter and shouting. James and Sirius came bounding down the stairs with massive grins on their faces.

"What did you guys do know?" asked Remus his face full of worry but amusement at the same time.

James laughed loudly. "We set of some wet start fireworks on the fifth year dorm. Scared the crap out of that kid Frank Longbottom."

Remus looked at them in shock. "You know I can't ignore that as a prefect." He said pointing to his badge.

"Oh come on Moony. It was only a bit of fun."

Remus sighed, "I guess you're right. Don't do it again though."

James and Sirius exchanged grins. They knew their friend would never punish them no matter how much he disagreed with what they did.

Hermione couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Remus although deep down she knew he found it funny too and only gave out to them because he was duty bound.

The three spent the next few hours telling Hermione about all the pranks James and Sirius had done. Hermione was glad that Peter wasn't there. It meant she wouldn't get upset.

Lily came into the common room at around five o'clock and brought Hermione up to the girls' dorm where they unpacked her belongings.

"Come on, let's go down to dinner. I bet you're desperate for some real food."

Hermione laughed and the two went back downstairs to join the boys as they made their way to the great hall.

A/N: This is another filler chapter really. Nothing too exciting happens in it, just some necessary information. Hope you enjoy it all the same. Please review! Thanks.

whogirl: As always, your review is greatly appreciated.

amrawo: Thank you, I feel a lot better now. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope you'll continue to do so.

Ydnas5: Thank you, I'm glad you like it and my writing style. I don't really think I have a style though, or at least I never think about it. The layout is something I've been having trouble with. I think I've sorted it out for this chapter, if not let me know. Thanks for pointing it out.

sln1987: Thanks for the review and here it is. As you can see the fifth person is Lily.

Remmy's Gurl: Hehe, I thought you'd like that. I've been planning it from the start and I was impressed when you guessed it. I hope this update is soon enough for you. I'll be able to update even more often soon as I'll have no school for three months. YAY! I hope I've sorted out the conversation thing finally. It turns out that no matter how nicely laid out it looks on my computer; it always looks different on other peoples. Weird. But now I think I have it. Sorry about that. Let me know if there's anything else that needs changing.