A/N: Major thanks to Moi, who pointed out two reasonably important mistakes in this chapter (now fixed). I really appreciate that kind of feedback. Thanks again, and thanks to all of my other readers---especially my reviewers!

CHAPTER SEVEN: TRUST AND HONESTY

HERMIONE GRANGER

The earrings were elegantly simple; they dripped down past my ears and hit my neck when I moved. The stud part was a minuscule diamond in the shape of a square; the dangling piece was made up of three links of sapphires. Each link had three spokes, like a wheel, which met at the center of each circle with another tiny square-shaped diamond.

"They're beautiful," I said, taking them to the mirror with me and trying them on.

"Wow," Sarah said in awe, looking at me.

"Whoa!" Hallie shouted, and rushed over. "Are those yours?"

"No," I said. "And I don't think I could afford---"

"Ten Galleons," Chenelle said.

"Wow," I said quietly. Most of the more expensive jewelry in here was at least fifteen. Ten was a bargain. "I'll take them," I announced.

"Good," Chenelle said as I handed her the money. "Because I have a tiara on order that would match these perfectly. It won't be in until Friday night. It should get here about the same time you do. And the wonderful part is, it's one of my Trust pieces," she added, then went to put the money in the cash register.

"Trust pieces?" I asked Sarah blankly.

"Trust pieces are the jewelry and dresses Chenelle lets people borrow for a night at a time," Sarah explained. "You've got to give her a Galleon for every night you'll have it, but you get your money back when you return it---unless you've damaged it somehow, in which case your money goes towards repairs."

"What a great idea," I said interestedly.

"Well," Hallie said, "Is everyone set? Because we should be heading back to the castle about now."

"Yeah," Lily replied, holding up the gold-and-pearl earrings she'd chosen. "I've got mine."

"Me too," Hallie agreed, showing off her diamond-studded hoops.

"I'm ready," I chimed in, revealing my purchase.

"Oh, those are beautiful," Lily commented, and I smiled at her.

"Well, let's get going," Sarah told us. "I still have to find a date for the ball."

"You don't have one?" I asked as we left.

"Nope," she replied. "I was too busy to ask anyone. But---hey!" she shouted suddenly. "Remus!"

None other than James Potter, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were ahead of us on the path to the castle. Remus turned.

"Hi, Sarah," he replied as we caught up; Sirius avoided my gaze while Lily and James smiled at each other. "What's up?"

Sarah smiled; I remembered all the times I'd found the two of them hanging out together. Remus and Sarah were very good friends; Remus considered Sarah his best friend, after the Marauders.

"Would you go to Muggle Formal Night with me?" she asked. "I don't have a date."

"Sure," he replied, smiling.

"Great. Thanks, Remus."

"No problem."

I noticed Sirius watching Lily and James, who were now talking quietly together outside our little group, with a funny look on his face. It was an expression I had never seen before; jealous and bitter.

Somehow, I knew the expression wasn't meant for them; but I couldn't figure out who it was for.

SIRIUS BLACK

We'd been back from Hogsmeade for hours---it was now nearly one in the morning---and I hadn't yet opened my mouth.

"Padfoot, mate, you haven't said a word since Sarah asked Remus to the ball," James pointed out as the clock on the mantle struck one. "What's the matter? Are you okay?"

"Super." I said flatly; I couldn't be bothered with putting any kind of emotion into the word. I was tired, and I didn't much care whether James was worried about me or not.

"Liar," James replied boldly. "You're still upset that Hermione's going with Kevin."

"Would you stop trying to analyze my feelings?" I snapped. "Yeah, I'm pissed at this Kevin guy because he beat me to her. I'm pissed at Hermione for saying yes. I'm pissed at you and Lily for being happy together. I'm pissed at my parents for being the biggest fools I've ever met. I'm pissed at the whole goddamn world right now, so I'd appreciate it if you'd just leave me the hell alone."

James met my angry gaze, and nodded slowly. He'd seen me upset before; he knew I didn't mean anything I said. He also knew enough to leave the common room, heading up to the dormitories as he said, "Night, Sirius."

"Goodnight," I replied shortly, before sitting on the couch by the fire.

I wasn't alone for long.

Hermione wandered in through the portait hole with a book; apparently she'd been reading somewhere. Not the library, I knew, because that was closed, but somewhere. I didn't say anything, just watched her look around. She started when she saw me; she nearly dropped her book.

"Sirius! You scared the hell out of me. What are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same question," I said quietly.

"I was---reading. I lost track of time."

"Huh," I said quietly. "What book?" I asked, looking at the cover. By the flickering light of the fire, I read: Time Travel for Time Travelers Raising an eyebrow, I didn't say a word, but thoughts were running rampid in my head.

"Oh, Sirius," she said suddenly, and the sadness in her voice caught my attention. "Why do you look so hurt?"

"Do I?" I asked, then realized I'd been thinking about what my life would be like if she went back to her time. Which, I supposed, would give me a hurt expression.

"Yes, you do. Sirius, it's not that I don't love all of you to death---you, and James, and Remus; and Lily and her friends, and Kevin. All of you. It's just---" she paused rather painfully as she sat down next to me and put her book on the table. "It's just that I miss them so much," she whispered, her eyes slowly filling with tears. "Harry, and Ron. Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys. I---I'm going to miss so many important things, things we always thought we'd do together. I'll miss graduating with my class, and getting jobs together, and---" She paused to take a deep breath, vanishing her unshed tears with several blinks. "When I first got here, all I wanted to do was go back. But know I've become friends with all of you, and I know that going back would mean feeling the same sense of loss I feel now. And I just wish I could be in both places at once. Here with you, and in that time with them."

"I'm sorry," I replied sincerely. "I want to help you, Hermione. But time---it's so complicated. I doubt anyone will ever understand it completely."

"Wait," she said suddenly. "Won't I do the same thing? I mean, won't my seventeen-year-old self walk through that door and go back in time just like I did? And all of this will happen all over again?"

I shook my head, then raised my wand and said, "Accio Hogwarts and Time: The World's Largest Mysteries."

The book flew down the boy's dormitory stairs, coming from my trunk, and I caught it. I opened it to the index, running my finger along the list until I found what I was looking for. "Ah," I said out loud, and thumbed through the pages as Hermione watched me curiously.

"See, Hermione?" I said, allowing her to read the page I'd found. "Hogwarts wanted you to go back. It knew you had to. Hogwarts is an old building; it's even older in your time. It's seen a lot. It knew you had to come back in time, so it shifted it's staircases around until you did. Now that you have, it'll let your younger self stay in that time---unless you don't do the task you've been sent back to do."

"That's good, I suppose. But what's my task?"

I shrugged. "I can't answer that; only you can."

"But I can't either! How am I supposed to know why I've been sent back if I didn't even know I was going to be?"

"I don't know," I replied honestly. "Maybe you don't have to know yet. You'll figure it out."

"Yeah," she replied, looking into the fire, but I knew she wasn't seeing flames. "Maybe."

HERMIONE GRANGER

After looking through my memories for while, my eyes on the fire for fear Sirius would see something in them, I looked up. Sirius was still there; a glance at the clock told me we'd been sitting like this for the past half an hour. Sirius still stared at the fire, as if watching it would show him the answer to his problems---and I knew he had problems. He had black smudges beneath his black eyes; eyes that held memories of shadows and pain.

"Sirius," I said quietly, startling him slightly.

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong?"

He looked up slowly to look into my eyes. The pain in his expression was even more pronounced now that it was directed at me.

"Nothing," he lied.

I sighed. "Okay."

We both looked into the fire once more before I asked, "Sirius, do you trust me?"

Sirius' face relaxed as he looked at me. "With what?" he asked slowly, one eyebrow raised.

I shrugged. "With...anything, I suppose."

Sirius looked into my eyes for awhile. "Yes," he said finally.

He was telling the truth, I could tell; but it was as if he hadn't realized that he did, in fact, trust me, and saying the words aloud had alerted him to the fact. He looked slightly startled. "Yes," he repeated. "I trust you."

"Then why won't you tell me what's wrong?" I asked quietly.

He tipped his head slightly to one side, as he did when he was thinking.

"I don't know. I guess I don't want you thinking I'm...I don't know."

"You don't want me thinking you're what?" I asked.

He looked back at the fire, a small lopsided smile on his face. "Weak," he said quietly. "A wimp. I don't know."

I started laughing. I couldn't help myself. Sirius Black, weak? He had to be kidding me. He'd been the first one ever to break out of Azkaban prison in my time---and the only one ever who'd gone to prison without going mad. Weak? How ridiculous.

Sirius stared at me, his lopsided smile widening to a grin. "Didn't think it was that funny," he commented mildly.

I managed to calm down, shaking my head. "Sirius, you forget I knew your older self in my time. You were a lot of things, but weak was not one of them."

"What am I like?" Sirius asked. "When I'm older, I mean."

I thought for a moment. "You won't be him," I said. "You won't be the man I knew; because the things that made him Sirius aren't going to happen to you. You'll be different."

He watched me closely for a minute, then spoke.

"What happened to me in your time that won't happen in this one?" Sirius asked.

I hesitated. "You really want to know?"

"Yes."

I paused. "How's this: I'll tell you about the Sirius I knew if you'll tell me what's wrong."

Sirius hesitated; not visibly, but I could see apprehension in his eyes as he thought. "Okay," he said finally. "Go."

The next half an hour was spent telling Sirius everything I knew about his future self; he flinched at the idea that people thought he would betray James. I carefully avoided saying Lily's name; I knew it would be the first thing Sirius would say to James the next time he saw him.

"So who did betray James?" Sirius asked after a long moment of silence. The fire had, by now, been reduced to red-hot coals.

"I can't tell you," I told him. He was upset about that, I knew; he looked back into the fire without a word. Without even thinking about it, I reached up and caught his chin, gently turning his face back towards me. His eyes were dark with some unidentifiable emotion.

"It's not because I don't trust you," I told him. "But it's someone you know, and I don't want to affect your relationship with them. Because Dumbledore says that just the fact that I'm here will change the future; which also means that that person's betrayal probably won't happen. Please," I added quietly, searching Sirius' dark eyes for some sign of understanding. "Believe me when I say I trust you."

He looked at me for a long time, reaching up to cover my hand with his own. "I do," he said slowly. "I believe you."

I smiled at him, looking directly into his eyes as I said, "Thank you."

A loud thud made us both jump; I pulled my hand away from Sirius' face as we both stood up.

"It came from the boy's dormitories," I told him, and we both took off up the stairs.