CHAPTER ONE: TIME JUMP

HERMIONE GRANGER

After Ancient Runes, I headed up to Gryffindor Tower, hoping to take a nap to rid myself of the headache I'd gotten during class before I had Herbology that afternoon. Halfway up a staircase, however, I felt the familiar lurch of a changing staircase. I groaned---I definitely wasn't in the mood to play with the staircases. I often thought they had a mind of their own; sometimes they seemed determined to make you go somewhere entirely different than where you'd planned. This was definitely the case now---even after I went back down the stairs and tried another staircase, and then another, they kept changing, leading to the same place: a small landing with nothing on it but a large doorway with writing over it. Sighing, I shouted, "FINE!" and went up the stairs.

The writing above the doorway read, "tsap strawgoh seil rood siht hguorht." I looked at it, puzzled, before realizing that, read backwards, it said, "through this door lies hogwarts past." Curiousity got the better of me---something which came with six years of friendship with Harry and Ron---so I went through it.

And everything went black.

A moment later, I heard a familiar voice say, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Ouch," I said. "Hi, Harry. I don't know what happened, I---"

"Sorry," the voice said. "I'm not Harry. I'm James."

I opened my eyes to see James Potter standing over me, worry in his expression.

And all I could do was stare.

"Oh, my god," I said weakly, putting a hand to my head and sitting up. I was on the floor just outside the portrait of the fat lady on the seventh floor of Hogwarts---but clearly, I was not in my own time if James Potter was here, alive----alive, and still seventeen; the exact same age as Harry, Ron, and I.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked awkwardly. "Only I came up here and you were passed out on the floor, so---"

"No, I'm fine---oh, my god," I said again. "I need to see Dumbledore," I said finally.

James looked relieved that I'd finally come up with something coherent, and nodded. "Okay," he said. "Sure. Up you get, then," he said, helping me to my feet.

"Thank you," I said as he helped me down the corridor. "Sorry if I sounded a little odd; I was just disoriented." There was no need to tell him that I was from another time period. I needed to see Dumbledore, and get back to my own time.

"That's okay," he said easily, tossing me a grin. "I passed out when I was sick once---when I woke up, I couldn't even remember who I was."

"I've never passed out before," I said finally. "It's---"

"Scary?" he asked.

I smiled weakly. "Yeah," I agreed. "Really scary."

"Don't worry," he said. "Whatever's wrong, Dumbledore can fix it. Drooble's Best Blowing Gum," he added carelessly to the staircase when we got to the Headmaster's office, and he helped me onto it when it started moving.

"I'm James Potter, by the way," he added as we came to Dumbledore's office.

"Hermione Granger," I replied, smiling faintly at him.

James led me to the door of Dumbledore's office and knocked. It opened almost immediately to reveal Albus Dumbledore, younger by twenty years. The only visible difference, however, was that his beard was several inches shorter. Other than that, he was the same old Dumbledore, whose mere presence comforted me.

"Sir," James began. "I found Hermione here out cold outside the common room. She said she wanted to see you, so---I helped her here."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. I suppose you wouldn't want to wait outside while I speak with her?"

"Of course, sir."

"Come in, then, Miss...?"

"Granger, sir," I replied.

"Yes. Come in, come in."

The next twenty minutes were spent explaining how I'd gotten to Hogwarts in the first place and what had happened.

"Well, Miss Granger, it is clear you went back in time; however, there is nothing I can do to reverse the process."

"You mean, I can't---I can't go back?" I asked.

"No. Indeed, the year you came from does not exist yet."

"But---sir---"

"I am sorry, Miss Granger. But maybe it would be best to---make the best of a bad situation?" he suggested. "I know it is hard---rather like moving away from all your friends. But you can make new ones, my dear."

"But all my friends haven't even been born yet."

"And they won't be," Dumbldore said, "For several more years. Undoubtedly you do not want to spend several years by yourself?" he asked.

"Of course not," I said, defeated and trying not to cry.

"Ah, Miss Granger. All things happen for a reason. You were sent here for a reason. Why not make the best of it?" he said, seeing that I was upset.

"Yes, sir. What do I tell all the other kids?"

"I would say you are an exchange student who transferred here due to the school's good reputation."

"I'll say I'm from Beaxbatons, then," I said, "because Durmstrang's well known for being a Dark Arts school, and I can speak French, so it'll

go with my story."

"Good, good," Dumbledore agreed. "I shall have a bed set up for you in the sixth-year girl's dormitories."

"Thank you, sir," I said, and left the office, my head down to hide the tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Hermione?" said a voice, making me jump. I looked up, wiping my tears away quickly, to see James Potter. I tried to smile, but it was a wasted effort.

"Hi, James," I replied.

"Why are you crying?" he asked, falling into step with me as I headed back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Oh, nothing," I said, waving it off. "I'm fine, just fine."

"I'd believe you, if you weren't still crying."

"Oh, I---I lost my parents recently," I told him. Technically, it was true. I'd never see them again.

"Oh, my god, I'm sorry. I'm an ass sometimes," James said. "I spend more time with my foot in my mouth than I do food."

"No, it's fine. I just---I miss them, is all," I said, and that was true.

"I bet," he said sympathetically.

"No," I said suddenly. "Please---don't give me the pity look. I can't stand pity. I know you mean well, and I really appreciate it, but I can't stand to have people feel sorry for me. I'm fine, I promise," I said.

"You're not from Hogwarts, are you? I've never seen you around."

"No, I switched from Beaxbatons after my parents died."

"Oh," he replied. "Cool. Listen," he added abruptly. "There's a Hogsmeade trip this afternoon. You want to come with me and my friends?"

"But aren't you---" I started, then stopped. I wasn't sure if, at this point, he was dating Lily yet.

"Aren't I what?"

"Don't you have a girlfriend?" I asked, choosing my words carefully. "I mean, you're good-looking and clearly a really nice guy, so I just assumed---"

He laughed. "Well, thank you for the compliments, but no, I don't have a girlfriend."

I felt my eyes fill up with tears again for some reason, and I whispered, "Thank you."

"So that's a yes?"

"Yes," I agreed, even as the tears fell.

"You're still crying," he observed, wiping my tears away with his thumbs.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Sorry, I---I can't get them to stop."

"No, it's fine," he said. "Sometimes you need to cry for them."

I looked up at that, the tears still falling. "You've lost someone?"

"My grandfather. Oh, that sounds dumb. He---"

"No, it doesn't. No loss is dumb. Every person has thoughts, feelings, and people that care about them, and when they die, the memory of them lives on. That's never dumb."

James looked at me. "Thank you," he said finally. "That's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me."

"You can't have met too many decent people then," I told him, trying to wipe my tears away without success---they just kept coming.

He didn't say anything, just looked at me.

"What?" I asked finally, fidgeting.

He snapped out of it, startled. "I'm sorry; was I staring?"

"Kind of," I said, smiling shyly.

"Well, now, Prongs," I heard a voice---also familiar in a way I couldn't place. "I knew you had no tact, but making a girl cry is a bit too

horrible, even for you."

We turned to see a good-looking, dark-haired, dark-eyed guy heading towards us, a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Hey, Sirius. Meet Hermione Granger. She's new. Hermione, this is Sirius Black, one of my best mates."

"Nice to meet you," I said, wiping my tears from my face with one hand even as I shook his hand with the other.

"And why are you crying, Hermione Granger?" Sirius asked gently.

"Oh---my parents died recently," I told him. It was the story I'd have to adopt.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," he said solumnly. "How recently?" Sirius asked.

"Two weeks ago," I decided.

"Oh, my god. Are you okay?" he asked kindly, concerned.

I wiped my eyes a final time and straightened my spine. "I'm just fine."

"Well, shall we give you a tour of the castle?" James asked.

"Oh," I said blankly, surprised. "Sure, that'd be nice. Thank you."

With that, James and Sirius led me around the castle I'd lived in for five years. It was quite an interesting tour, however, due mainly to their descriptions of the teachers as we passed the classrooms.

"I'm afraid I'll get lost," I moaned after awhile, playing the part.

"Don't worry; it looks more complicated than it is. You'll figure it out," Sirius reassured me, patting me on the back.

I offered him a shy smile, and he returned it. James opened his mouth to say something just as an announcement was heard throughout

the school: "All students attending the Hogsmeade village trip this evening should come to the Entrance Hall immediately with signed permission forms."

"Oh, I don't have a permission form," I said, distressed.

"That's all right," James told me. "Dumbledore'll give you permission, seeing as you're new and all."

"And if he doesn't," Sirius added, "we can get you to Hogsmeade without one."

"So you've discovered the passageway," I said, smiling slightly until I realized what I'd said.

"How do you know about the passageway?" Sirius asked.

"The one behind the one-eyed witch?" I answered,trying to play it off like I'd meant to say it. "Two things: you both looked at it when you went by, though you both ignored every other staue in the building, and then you looked at each other and smiled; and I've read all about Hogwarts, of course."

"That passageway isn't in any book," Sirius answered firmly.

"Oh, I'm not talking about a book," I said lightly, thinking of the Maurader's Map. "I read all sorts of things. I'm kind of a bookworm," I said apologetically. "I---I read a lot, and I like homework and classes."

"Why do you look so ashamed of yourself?" said a voice, and the three of us turned to see a blue-eyed, sandy-haired boy heading over.

"Moony," Sirius said, "come meet Hermione."

He came over and my first thought was, That's Professor Lupin. It was so bizarre.

"Hello, I'm Remus Lupin," he said, offering his hand.

"Hermione Granger," I replied, shaking his hand.

He grinned at me. "Pretty name."

I grinned back. "Thanks," I said, surprised.

"Man, Remus, we've been trying to get her to smile for two hours, and you say ten words to her and she's beaming," Sirius said, shaking his head.

I laughed. "I don't see how a tour inspires too much smiling," I replied easily. "I was trying to memorize where everything was."

"And laughing too, now," James said, shaking his head in imitation of Sirius. "You're good, Moony."

"Apparently," Remus agreed, throwing me a smile. I could tell I'd end up being friends with him. He was so nice, so easygoing. "Well, I

came to get you guys in case you didn't hear the announcement. All the people going to Hogsmeade have to go to the Entrance Hall."

"We heard," James said.

"Coming?" Remus said, smiling gently at me. I smiled back and followed them to the Entrance Hall.

Half an hour later, we all headed into the Three Broomsticks for a drink, laughing. We found a small, mousy-looking boy who resembled a jumpy, beady-
eyed Neville Longbottom at a table by himself, muttering into his drink.

"Hey, Wormtail, what's up?" Remus asked kindly as we sat down near him, and the boy started just as I froze.

Wormtail. Peter Pettigrew. The boy who, later in his life, would betray one of the boys sitting next to him and trick the other, leading to both their deaths.

"Hermione, this is Peter. Peter, this is Hermione," James said. I was glad I was sitting across the table, and wasn't required to shake hands with him.

"Enchante," I said, then realised I'd just spoken in French---a habit of mine when I was extrememly nervous. "Sorry---I mean, it's nice to meet you," I added when all of them looked at me oddly.

"What did that word mean?" Peter asked suspiciously. I could tell he wasn't very intelligent---his word choice was similar to that of a six-year-old's.

"Oh, it means 'nice to meet you' in French," I said, trying to brush it off. "I switch back by accident sometimes when I'm really---" I stopped, not wanting to tell them I was nervous around Peter---because as of yet, he hadn't harmed any of them. "Not paying attention," I added.

I noticed Sirius giving me an odd look, and he opened his mouth to say something, but Remus spoke before he did. "So where are you

from, Hermione? I've never seen you around," he pointed out.

"Oh, I'm from Beaxbatons," I replied, grateful I could speak the language.

"Are you fluent?" Remus asked.

"Oui---oh, mon dieu! I'm sorry, guys. I can't seem to stop now I've started," I said, sighing. "Yes, Remus, I'm fluent," I replied. "Pour---why, do you speak it?"

"No, no. I know things like hello and goodbye, but nothing beyond that. I was just curious," Remus asked.

"Do any of you speak French?" I asked, but they all shook their heads. "All right, well, just ignore it when I start speaking it. It's hard, going from speaking French all the time to speaking English---even though it really should be easy, considering English was my first language." I was surprised at how easily the lies flowed from my lips.

After the dangerous moment had passed, they all relaxed and talked like---well, like people who had been friends for so long that half of what they were saying wasn't coming out of their mouths. They talked like Harry, Ron and I had talked. It made me miss them, and to my horror, I felt my eyes fill with tears at the thought that I would never see them again. I stood up suddenly, my chair scraping against the floor, and said hurriedly, "Uh, guys, sorry, but I've got to get some studying done. I'll see you around---and thanks for the tour and everything."

As I was about to turn and leave, Remus said, "Hang on, Hermione, I'll walk you. I don't feel much like staying any more either."

He followed me out of the pub, despite stares from his three best friends. I stopped just outside the door and said, "You're a terrible liar, Remus. You want to stay. Please, stay. I'm just going to be in the library, anyway. Nothing interesting."

"I want to go with you," he said firmly, then smiled gently. "If that's all right with you."

"No, it's fine," I said. "I just don't think you really want to."

"Yes, I do," he replied, and we headed back through Hogsmeade towards the castle. It had started to snow lightly, and our hair and eyelashes soon had flakes all over them.

When we got back to the Gryffindor common room, Remus and I put our coats and scarves away, then ended up sitting on the long red couch in the common room, studying.

"It's nice to have quiet when you're studying, isn't it?" Remus said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," I agreed. "But somehow weird. It's odd studying and knowing Harry and Ron aren't five feet away playing chess, or about to walk in and ask for help with their homework, or---" I broke off, realizing that I was talking about people in the future.

"Harry and Ron?" Remus asked.

"Oh---my best friends from Beaxbatons," I answered, thinking quickly.

"Tell me about them," Remus suggested, leaning back in his seat.

I smiled, then decided to be daring. "Well, it's funny---Harry looks a lot like James, but with green eyes," I said, and Remus grinned. "And Ron's got red hair and blue eyes. Ron eats all the time; I think the highlight of our fourth year for him was when he figured out how to get into the kitchens," I remembered, smiling. "And Harry---he's so funny; we've been through so much that he handles everything like a general going into battle."

"Meaning what?" Remus asked, bewildered.

"Well, like we snuck out after curfew one night, and Harry had his cloak and map, and he was---"

"Cloak and map?" Remus said, surprised. I thought over what I'd said, and cursed my own stupidity. How on earth was I supposed to get out of this one?

"Odd," Remus said quietly. "That's just what James brings when we go out."

I smiled nervously, praying he wouldn't ask questions. Thankfully, he didn't.

Over the next few weeks, I became close friends with all the Marauders with the exception of Peter, who was hardly ever around. Sirius was always sweet to me; Remus, I considered my best friend in this time; and James, it was clear, thought of me as one of the guys---all three were becoming extremely close friends of mine, for which I was grateful. They remeinded me of Harry and Ron in the nicest way, and I began to accept that I would never be able to return to my own time. Several times I was invited along on their little midnight excursions, in which I readily participated. My acceptance of the fact that they were troublemakers, always bending the rules, seemed to surprise them until I explained that Harry, Ron and I had consistantly broken these same rules. After that, each seemed to respect me that much more, though they were surprised to find that I had been a prefect. Several times, they asked me for help with homework; they were also---excepting Remus---developing the same resistance to studying that Harry and Ron had developed.

I woke up in the middle of the night one night with a hand over my mouth. Apparently that had been what had woken me up. I shot up in bed, gasping, to see---

"Sirius?"

"Shhh," he shushed me, and I hurriedly glanced around the room to be sure all the occupants were still asleep before asking in a whisper, "What are you doing? How did you get in here?"

He grinned. "Simple levitation charm placed on your feet works just fine, but you can also use a broom," he whispered back. "James and Remus and I are going down to the kitchens and having a little party in the common room, just the three of us. We wanted to know if you'd like to come and play truth or dare and stuff with us."

I grinned broadly. "Guys play truth or dare?"

"Of course," he answered, a grin lighting his face again. "Any guy who says he doesn't is a dirty rotten liar. So what do you say?"

"Sure," I said, smiling, and got out of bed, shrugging into a robe and heading down the girl's staircase with him, levitation charm placed carefully on his feet.

Half an hour later, the four of us were laughing and talking, being absolutely crazy. James had dared Sirius to sneak into the girl's dorms, steal a bra, and wear it for awhile while we played; Sirius had in turn dared Remus to put on some stolen lipstick and kiss James' cheek; and now it was Remus' turn to dare me, but he couldn't think of anything.

"Come on, Remus, think of dare already," Sirius said, bored.

"Yeah, Moony, come on. We're getting bored here," James agreed.

"I don't know, guys. Help me out," he pleaded.

Sirius grinned and said, "Dare her to kiss me."

James laughed. "Nah," he said. "Dare her to go get more food from the kitchens, we've run out."

I smiled. "If you can't think of a dare, I'll take truth," I offered.

"Okay," Remus said, "Tell us a secret that no one else in the world knows."

All three of the boys were now looking at me as if they'd never seen anyone quite like me before; it was vaguely disturbing.

I sighed. "If any of you tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, it could endanger people's lives. A lot of people's lives. So what I'm about to tell you doesn't leave this room. You can't tell anyone."

They all nodded, surprised.

"I----well, this is really hard. I'm kind of afraid if I tell you, you'll think I've lost it," I admitted. "And technically, this isn't something no one else knows, because I told Dumbledore. But I've been lying to all of you, and I want it to stop now."

All of them were now watching me warily, paying complete attention.

"Okay, here goes: ever since I first came here, I've been lying to all of you. I'm not from Beaxbatons, though I do speak fluent French. The fact is, I've been at Hogwarts since my first year."

"No, you haven't," Remus objected, but I held up a hand.

"Not in this time period, no," I agreed, not daring to look at them. "I'm from the future. I found a door in Hogwarts one day that said something like 'through this door lies Hogwarts past', and I got curious. So I went through it. The next thing I knew, James was waking me up."

I looked up at them. All three of them were looking at me, but none of them looked like they thought I was crazy.

"I know it sounds crazy," I told them. "I know it seems like I made up a story for your entertainment. But it's the truth."

"If you can tell me something----anything----about the future, I believe you," Sirius declared finally. I beamed at him.

"Well," I said, smiling as I turned to Remus, "I knew you in my time."

Remus looked surprised. "Really? How?"

I smiled wider. "You were my Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Remus looked so surprised that he couldn't speak. A hand went over his mouth as James said, "All right, Moony!"

Then Sirius asked, "Do you know me or James in the future?"

"Yes," I said, choosing to tell them only the good things.

"How?" James asked interestedly.

I grinned. "You know how I'm always talking about Harry and Ron, my friends from Beaxbatons?"

They nodded eagerly.

"Well," I said, "Obviously they're not really from Beaxbatons, they're just from my time."

"I knew they couldn't be totally fake," Remus exclaimed, but James shushed him.

"So how do you know me?" James asked.

"Well, I don't---not directly. But James---Harry is your son."

There was a moment of absolute silence, in which no one even moved. The only sound was the crackling of the flames in the fireplace.

Finally James let out his breath in a whoosh. "Wow," he said simply. "I wasn't expecting that."

Sirius grinned. "How do you know me, then?" he asked.

"You're Harry's godfather," I replied, and James and Sirius high-fived each other.

All three of them grinned, and I was smiling too until James asked, "What about Wormtail?"

I froze.