Author's Note: Ah, the first chapter… Reviews and flames appreciated!
Thank you: fireyoukaivixen
Changing the Course of Destiny
Chapter One
Once the world had stopped spinning, Hermione stood up, brushing herself off and tucking the time-turner back into her robes. The Room of Requirement was the same as it had been before she went back in time, except everyone else had vanished. I've got to warn them about the attack. She thought, opening the door and stepping into the deserted corridor. We should be in the library now. With that last thought, she headed in the direction of the library.
When she reached her destination, she continued onwards to the back where she, Ron, and Harry had always searched for new spells. Hermione was surprised when she found a boy sitting at the table and not Harry and Ron. A scowl flickered across her face at this. Surely she had gone back far enough…? The boy looked up at her and she let out a gasp.
"Hello… Are you lost or something?" He inquired.
"No, no. I just thought I would find… Who are you?" Hermione blurted out. For some strange reason he reminded her of her Third year Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin. Well, only younger. Much younger. And the state of his robes wasn't as bad as they were on her old Professor. But surely she was just imagining things. This couldn't be Professor Lupin – she'd only gone back about four hours in time.
"I'm Remus Lupin. I haven't seen you aren't here… You are?"
"Shit!" Hermione exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock. "How did this happen?!" Hastily, she pulled out the time-turner, looking over it. Several minutes passed before she located the problem. The setting had changed from 'hours' to… 'Decades'. "How could I have been so careless?" An insane urge to throw something came over her and she looked over at Remus and saw him looking at the device.
"Is that a time turner?" He asked keenly and stood up.
"Yes, it is." She replied stiffly. "Do you by any chance know the password to Dumbledore's office, Professor?"
"Professor? Me? You've got to be joking. By the looks of it, I'm your age." He grinned and shook his head. Boy was this girl ever confused. "And yeah, I do know the password to Dumbledore's office."
"Shit!" She cried out once more. Professor McGonagall had told her that it was extremely hazardous to mess with the past. This was not good at all. "Oh, um… Could you please tell me?"
"Why don't you first tell me your name and why you need to see him?" Remus leaned against a book case, folding his arms across his chest. Who knew what this nut case who called him a Professor would do to Dumbledore?
"Sorry. I'm-" She stopped speaking. If she told Remus who she really was, this would undoubtedly create large problems in the future. Think, Hermione, think! She urged herself on, trying to find a name. He raised an eyebrow. Had she forgotten her name or something…? "I'm Amy and I'm here because…" She couldn't tell him the real reason why she was here, either. "Well, I got… I… I got lost."
"Mmhmm." Remus grunted, almost disbelievingly. "So you want me to take you to Dumbledore's office, right Amy?" Even if this girl was completely out of her mind, he couldn't help but notice that she was pretty. No, not pretty. Exquisite. Hermione shifted uncomfortably as she felt Remus' eyes quickly look over her.
"Yes please. It is a matter of utmost importance." She confirmed with a nod.
"Follow me." He replied, standing up straight and walking out of the library. She followed him, trying to keep out of sight of the other students. They walked in silence until they reached out of the library and half way down the hall. He turned left, leading her down a completely deserted corridor. Hermione was a little surprised to find that the same gargoyles that guarded Dumbledore's office in the present day were there.
"Password?" The right one hissed, leaping forward and towering over Remus. Hermione took a step backwards. Remus, however, did not budge and remained calm and collected.
"Sugar Quill." He stated clearly, and the gargoyle leapt back. The door opened, revealing stairs that spiraled up to Dumbledore's office. "Come on." Remus said, guiding her onto the stairs and then stepping on also. The stairs gave a sudden lurch and started swirling upwards. Once they stopped they both found themselves looking at a wooden door. Remus reached forward and knocked twice.
The door opened after a couple minutes, revealing a considerably younger looking Dumbledore.
"Mr. Lupin. What can I do for you?"
"Sir, I am sorry to bother you. This young lady said that it was of 'utmost importance' to see you as soon as possible." He gestured to Hermione, who stepped forward.
"Thank you, Mr. Lupin. You may go back to your previous activity while I have a chat with Miss Granger." Hermione stepped off the stair-case, and it swirled back down, taking Remus with it. "Follow me, Miss Granger." The Headmaster said, turning around and going back into his office. She followed obediently. "Why don't you take a seat?" He asked, gesturing towards a chair. Hermione sat down.
"Thank you sir."
"Now, what did you need to tell me?"
"Sir, I made a terrible error." She paused and pulled out her time-turner. "You see, the D.A. was practicing and we were ambushed by Ministry Officials. There was a quarrel in which all the members were stunned and taken away somewhere. Before Harry got hit, he said 'time turner'. The stunning spell that had been placed upon myself by Draco Malfoy had worn off and I pulled out that," Hermione pointed to the time-turner. "and I used it. However, when I was turning it Malfoy saw me and yelled. My fingers slipped and I accidentally changed the setting from 'hours' to 'decades'. So… Here I am now."
"That is quite a story, Hermione." Dumbledore replied, picking up the time-turner. "I will need to inform Professor McGonagall and the rest of the staff of this misfortune. You will be added to the Gryffindor house and you will be given your schedule tomorrow. I am sorry, but I do not know of a way that you can return to the future right now. I assume you do not know any ways, either?"
"Yes." Hermione replied, sadly.
"I also assume that Mr. Lupin does not know your real name, does he?"
"No, sir. He knows me as Amy."
"That was smart on your part. Do not let anyone discover your true identity. Is that clear?" She nodded. "If anyone does, please come and see me. As for your cover… You are Amy Elizabeth Granger and you have transferred here after being home-schooled for the first five years. Now run along. I am sure you want to research ways to return to the future in the library." He stood up and Hermione followed suit. The door leading out of his office opened.
"Thank you, Professor." She said. The Headmaster held out the time-turner and she took it from him, tucking it back into her pocket.
"If you have any problems, please feel free to see me."
"Yes sir." She turned and walked out of the office, then stepped onto the stairs. Almost instantly, they began to swirl back down. Once they stopped she walked out the second door, which sealed itself instantly after she exited. "Great, just great." She muttered, starting off towards the library.
"Amy." She turned and saw Remus Lupin watching her, leaning against the cold, stone wall.
"Hello, Remus." 'Amy' replied.
"Do you need help with anything? You're a new student here, right?" He asked her, standing up straight and taking a few steps closer. Remus was 5'8" to her 5'3", so she had to look up at him.
"Yeah, I am. I was home-schooled until now. And… Well, this is a really silly question. But do you know of any spells or anything that could take a person to the future?"
"No, I don't. Sorry. Listen, it's almost dinner time. We should get to the Great Hall."
"Oh, you're right. I suppose we should then." She turned in the direction of the Great Hall and took a few steps, but then remembered she was supposed to be a new student. New students did not know where everything was. Shit. She thought. "Oh, um. Do you know where the Great Hall is?"
"Sure I do. Follow me." He looked at her, a little confused. She had just started walking in the direction of the Great Hall. But she was supposed to be a new student. Remus shook his head slightly and then started off towards the Great Hall.
This is going to be harder than I thought… Hermione thought, walking next to Remus.They walked in an awkward silence, but that was shattered when they reached the Gryffindor's table in the Great Hall.
"Moony!" Two raven haired boys shouted as Remus and Hermione entered the enormous room. Remus took a seat next to the one with exceedingly unruly black hair. Hermione nervously took a seat next to the other boy.
"Where have you been?" The boy to Hermione's right demanded, glancing at Hermione with interest.
"And who is she?" The other boy asked, pointing to Hermione.
"I've been in the library, Sirius." Remus answered the boy to Hermione's right. So he's Sirius. I'll remember that. "James," And that one is James. "she's a new student. Her name is Amy."
"It's nice to meet you, Amy." James said to Hermione with a grin. "I'm James. James Potter. The Star of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team."
"I'm Sirius Black." Sirius told Hermione, picking up her hand and raising it to his lips and placing a little kiss on it. "To what do I owe the honor of meeting you?" A blush crept across her cheeks and she giggled nervously.
"Oh, shut up Sirius." Remus said casually, with a roll of his eyes. "Amy, don't associate yourself with him. He's the resident womanizer."
"Hey, Remus, that's not fair!" Sirius shouted, pouring gravy liberally onto his mashed potatoes. "I'll have you know that I'm still a virgin!"
"Could have fooled me." Remus replied, good naturedly with a grin. "Where's Peter?"
"Oh, Peter? He got held back by one of the Professors. McGonagall, I think. You know, he had some trouble transforming the skunk into a lampshade. His still had black and white stripes on the lampshade when he tried." Sirius told Remus with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"I see." Remus looked over at Hermione. "Why aren't you eating anything? You're not an anorexic, are you?"
"No, no, I'm not. I was just… Deciding on what I wanted to eat." Hermione said quickly and then spooned some mashed potatoes onto her plate. The truth was that she had forgotten to eat because of the conversation. That, and she wasn't very hungry. Time traveling can do that to a person.
"Amy, you look fine the way you are." Remus said seriously, then returned to his plate and started putting food on his also.
"Awww, looks like Moony has a crushie wushie!" Sirius and James chorused together, looking at both Remus and Hermione.
"I do not." Remus half-snapped, but a small blush crept across his cheeks despite his statement. Both Sirius and James shared a look before saying, "Denial." In unison. Hermione blushed a little bit also and turned her full attention to her plate.
"Checkmate!" James pronounced proudly as Sirius' Queen was decapitated.
"Best two out of three!" Sirius said quickly.
"You're on!"
"Shouldn't you guys be studying?" Remus asked the pair, looking over the top of his essay he was proof reading. "Or at least doing your homework?" Sirius and James looked at each other, before looking at Remus.
"Remus, it's only the first week of school and you're already suggesting that we should study?" James asked, heaving a sigh and mocking seriousness.
"I think he needs to lighten up. What do you think, Amy?"
"Hmm? Oh, um… He does have a point, you know. It'd be a real shame to get in trouble the first week of school."
"This is not good, Sirius. She obviously doesn't know much about us yet."
"We'll just have to show her, then. What do you say, Remus?"
"I say… I say if you guys do your homework, I'll allow it."
"Hold up! Since when are you the boss of me?" Hermione demanded, glaring at Remus. He looked over at her nonchalantly.
"Amy, these boys need to do their homework. Here, I'll ask you. Amy, would you please help me blackmail Sirius and James into doing their homework?"
"Since you asked me so nicely, sure." Hermione replied and then returned to reading a book she had checked out of the library after dinner.
"She's not known us for even four hours and she's already betraying us!" Sirius exclaimed, shaking his head.
"Oh come on, both of you. You know that Remus is right and that you should do your homework." Hermione replied with a roll of her eyes. "Besides, what, precisely, are you planning on showing me?"
"Oh, you'll find out." James replied. "Meet us down here at ten o'clock. Wear dark clothing."
Author's Note: Reviews and flames are appreciated!