That night, while Hermione was fast asleep, her friends were planning her trip back to her time. It was all going to be a surprise for her. Remus couldn't help but feel a bit sad every time he thought of her leaving, but he knew it was for the best.

"I know! We can just hideher present in this!" Lily exclaimed, jumping up to show her idea to the others.

"That just might work, Silly Lily! I sure am going to miss Mimi when she leaves," Sirius sighed. Lily rolled her eyes at yet another strange attempt to nickname her.

"How are we supposed to give her a present without her getting suspicious?" James asked.

The group of teenagers stood still for a minute. "I guess we never really considered that! But there has to be some way," Lily answered.

"I know!" Sirius shouted after a minute. "We can just tell her it is a goodbye present!"

"Sirius," Lily said slowly, as if he was a preschooler. "Hermione doesn't KNOW she is leaving, remember? This is a SURPRISE for her, ok?"

Sirius blushed.

"Well, even if that was a bit of a stupid idea, Sirius is on to something," Remus said. "If we give it to her as an innocent gift, then she will never know what happened. She won't realize what has happened until she is back in her own time. But I guess it is for the best that she doesn't know," he ended sadly.

Suddenly Lily and Mandy realized what he was going through. They instictively reached over and hugged their friend.

"Remus, are you sure you are ok with all of this?" Lily asked softly. Remus' eyes misted over for a moment and he tried to compose himself.

"Yes, I'm fine. I know that she has to leave. Hermione has friends in her own time, and a family, and a whole other life. She isn't ever going to be entirely happy here. She has to go back, it is for her own good. Still ... why does this have to happen just as I was getting to know her! We were doing so good! And now, after all of that, I have to just say goodbye to it all and live life like I had never met her. I won't be able to write or ever talk to her again!" By this time, Remus had given in and allowed a few stray tears to run down his cheeks. He wiped his face and sat down on the couch with his head in his hands.

Everybody stood still in silence. Finally James broke the silence. "Well, Moony, at least you got to meet her! Even after she leaves, you'll still have the memories!"

"James, it isn't that simple. Imagine Lily disappearing forever. Wouldn't you be upset at all?"

"Remus, you know that we would all be upset! But this is what has to happen and there is nothing we can say or do to change that."

"I know. I shouldn't even have expected anything. All I am saying is that whatever gift we give her has to be good. I won't just give her an old sock as a parting gift, ok?"

They all agreed on that idea. They all sat down to finish brainstorming as the night ticked its way away.

The next morning, Hermine bounced out of bed and ran to the common room. Her robe rushed behind her as she ran towards the windows. Spring had just arrived at Hogwarts and smelling the fresh air was a morning ritual. She breathed in deeply, holding the window open and allowing ice cold air to rush in.

"Mimi! CLOSE THE WINDOW!" Sirius groaned, or rather, screamed at Hermione. He had one eye open and glaring towards her. Hermione slammed the window shut, surprised to see her friends all slumped across the Common Room, fast asleep.

"What are you all doing down here? It is barely 5 am! Shouldn't you still be asleep?"she asked them.

"We WERE asleep until SOMEBODY interrupted us!" Sirius growled, still unable to forgive her for the early morning blast of air.

"Oops!" Hermione giggled. "I guess I figured nobody would be down here! Sorry!"

"It's ok Hermione," Lily said. "We all need to get up soon anyway."

Hermione helped her friends get out of the heap they had slept in and they all walked back to their dormitories to get ready for the day.

AN:

Apologies! I know it has been ages since I last updated. I have a zillion excuses I could try to send out, but instead I'll just say sorry and update super quick another time. So really, I do feel terrible and I hated to keep the story stopped like that. This chapter is a bit shorter than the last few, but I wanted to get it posted anyway.

Thankyou to all of my wonderful reviewers! I love opening up the emails with your reviews! I love hearing your compliments and criticism, so keep them coming!

Until next time,

Meg