Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J. K. Rowling, the idea of the time-travel mirror was borrowed from the TV-series 'Mirror Mirror' (Gibson Group/ Millennium Pictures co-production)
Mirror of Time
Chapter 6: The Marauders find out
It wasn't easy to fit all of them under one Invisibility Cloak, but with Peter in rat-form, riding on one of their shoulders, they managed, although it took them quite some time before they reached the Room of Requirement.
The first thing they asked for, was Hermione's chambers, but after various ways of reformulating the question, even Remus had to admit the girl probably didn't live in the Room.
While trying to find a way into the room, they held an eye onto the Marauder's Map, partly to make sure Hermione hadn't left the Room and was somewhere else in the castle, and partly to make sure no one was coming.
They just wanted to try out Peter's gate-theory, when Remus warned someone was headed their way. Quickly they covered themselves with the Cloak.
A few moments later, Lily appeared in the hallway and paced back and forth for the Room to appear.
As the door appeared, James picked up Peter, who was in rat-form again, put him on the ground and gave him a little nudge towards the Room. This time, wile Lily was entering, Peter managed to get in with her unnoticed.
It didn't take long before the door to Room of Requirement opened again, and Peter beckoned them in. The Marauders looked around amazed, all wondering the same thing. What could the new girl be doing in a room full of junk?
"Where did she go, Wormtail?" James whispered.
Peter led the way to a mirror standing in the middle of all the other junk. His friends looked around them in confusion. "I saw her touching the surface of this mirror, and she just disappeared."
The others stared at him in bewilderment.
"What do you mean, disappeared?" James asked slowly, looking worried.
"Well, like I said, she touched the surface, and then it seemed like she was sucked into it."
Remus was studying the mirror closely now. "Look, the image in the mirror isn't what it is supposed to be. It seems to show the same room, but with more junk and without us in there."
All the Marauders were now looking into the mirror.
"I don't see Lily there either, or the new girl. Now you have to agree something odd is going on, Moony."
Remus sighed. "I never said this wasn't odd, Prongs, I just said this isn't our business."
"What would happen if we touch the surface of the mirror?" Sirius wondered aloud. Of course, reckless as he is, he immediately decided to try out, simply ignoring Remus' 'don't'.
The next moment, the other three Marauders could see Sirius standing inside the mirror, he waved at them, grinning cheekily, before the surface began whirling again. A moment later, Sirius was again standing next to them.
"Well, that was interesting."
"What happened, Padfoot?"
"It was kind of like Wormtail said, I was sucked into it. I ended up in the same room as this one, only with more junk and dustier."
"What could that mean?" Peter asked in a small voice. Nobody answered.
Suddenly, Remus pointed at the top of the frame of the mirror.
"There's something written there. Mirror of Time."
The boys looked at each other, trying to understand what this possibly could mean.
"Mirror of Time," James whispered before him, "Padfoot, you said it was dustier on the other side of the mirror."
Sirius nodded, before suddenly a look of comprehension appeared on his face. "Time, of course. Wormtail was right."
Peter looked dumbfounded. "I was?"
"It is a gate. A time gate. The girl is from a different time." James answered, "Let's go then." And he made to enter the mirror.
"Wait." That was of course Remus, an apprehensive look on his face.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, you're going to say we shouldn't go in there. For your information, Evans is already there too."
Remus gave a long-suffering sigh. "I was going to say it is a bad idea to meddle with time, but I know by now there's no way to stop you guys."
Sirius grinned. "A fast learner, you are, let's go then."
A moment later, the Marauders one by one went through the Mirror of Time.
000
Hermione looked up when the mirror started swirling and smiled when Lily appeared.
"Hey Lily, what's up?"
"You forgot this," Lily answered, handing Hermione a schoolbook. "You were in such a hurry to get back here that you left this on your desk, Kathy saw it and gave it to me, since we have class together tomorrow morning."
"Thanks, I'm going to put it back in my bag right away before I forget." Hermione left the Room of Requirement, Lily followed.
"Why are you really here, Lily? You could have given the book back to me tomorrow."
"Well, I just heard there's going to be a Hogsmeade trip next weekend, and I wanted to ask you to come with my friends and me. I think it would be good for you to just relax for a day."
Hermione didn't answer right away, and the girls walked in silence until they reached her rooms. She first put away her book, then sat down on the edge of her bed, while Lily took place in the armchair across from her. Hermione sighed before facing Lily.
"That's very kind of you, Lily, but I don't know if I should do it. My presence in the past might already be dangerous, if I'm also going to do other things than go to classes…" She trailed off, before continuing. "Besides, I still have work to do here," she sighed again. "I just don't know."
"Hermione, I'm sure that trying to blend in a bit with the rest of the school can't cause trouble, staying away from the other students is what's going to give problems."
There was a moment of silence, and Hermione just wanted to reply when she thought she heard something in the distance. Something that sounded suspiciously like voices. She stiffened for a moment.
Hermione threw a glance at Lily, and motioned her to stay silent. Then she walked to her dresser and pulled a battered piece of parchment out of it. She quickly returned to her place and pulled out her wand, while Lily approached the bed, curious for what the other girl was planning to do with an old piece of parchment.
Hermione pointed her wand to the middle of the parchment, and spoke quietly, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Lily looked up to Hermione in surprise, then looked back down and gasped as she saw lines appear on the parchment.
Suddenly, Hermione realised Lily didn't know about the Map or who made it, and she tried to cover it up. Lily eyed her suspiciously. "What is this?"
Hermione sighed. "It's a Map of Hogwarts." Lily looked confused, until Hermione elaborated, "It also shows who is where, everywhere in the school."
"That's useful, how did you get it?"
"From Harry, who got it from Ron's brothers, who stole it from Filch."
Lily laughed. "Your boyfriend's brothers seem to be troublemakers." Hermione smiled. "But then you don't know who made the map?" The smile disappeared, and Hermione made a feeble attempt to cover the Map completely for Lily, who was now trying to see what was on it.
Suddenly, Lily gasped and stared wide-eyed at Hermione. "Tell me I read wrong, tell me the Map isn't called the Marauder's Map." Hermione paled, realising only now she didn't only have to keep secret what was in the future for Lily, but also certain facts she knew about people in Lily's own time, which was even harder.
Lily was getting mad now. "I can't believe them. That's how they get away with all their tricks. They made a map of the school! Arrogant buggers. I can't believe Dumbledore made him Head Boy, of all people."
"Lily…Lily!...Can you please stop ranting?" Hermione tried to stop the other girl's rant without much success, until she glanced at the Map and gave a gasp.
That attracted Lily's attention. "What's wrong?"
Hermione looked a bit pale and pointed at the Map, right out of her room were four dots, labelled with names they both knew all too well. "Oh no…" Hermione whispered.
Lily stared for a moment, before asking, "How did they get here? No, let me guess, the Map they made helped them." She sighed in frustration.
"I guess I have no other choice but to explain this to them, will you please let them in Lily?" Hermione asked, before quickly whispering 'Mischief managed' and hiding it under her pillow.
Lily nodded, walked to the door and opened it. "You might as well come in," she told their visitors, barely keeping herself from snapping at them.
One by one, the Marauders entered the room, first James, curiously looking around him, followed by Sirius, excitement shining in his eyes, then Remus who looked mostly worried and at last a totally bewildered Peter.
Hermione motioned them to sit down and when everyone had found a seat, the boys started firing questions at the poor girl all at once.
"In what time are we?"
"Why is the school empty?"
"Why do you come to our time?"
"Why is Lily involved?" (That was of course James.)
"Where is everybody?"
"What kind of mirror was that?"
The questions seemed to keep coming without end. Hermione had no idea how to stop them, she just sat there staring at them all in turn.
Lily saw her new friend's dilemma and decided to take matters in her own hands. Without further ado, she pulled out her wand, and with a whispered silencio, a very welcome silence returned to the room.
The boys turned to Lily in surprise, Sirius glaring. Lily looked over towards Hermione, who was taking a breath, trying to relax a bit. After a moment, Hermione nodded at the other girl, and Lily addressed the boys.
"Hermione will explain to you everything she can without disturbing the timeline. I'll take off the charm if you promise to not interrupt her and ask no questions, is that clear?"
James, Remus and Peter nodded, but Sirius only kept glaring, and she took off the silencing charm, except from Sirius.
"But first," Lily continued, "I want to know what you are doing here, when you are obviously not supposed to be here." She glared at James.
The boy frowned. "We followed you because we knew something was going on with her," he nodded his head in Hermione's direction, "As Head Boy, I believe I should know what's going on at the school."
Lily's glare turned even fiercer now. "You don't have to know everything, James Potter, there is a reason why you weren't let in on this!" James flinched a bit at her words, but then opened his mouth to retaliate.
Hermione, however, spoke first. "Please Lily, don't be so hard on him, he does have a point you know, as Head Boy." Lily turned to Hermione, but the tired look in the girl's eyes made her close her mouth.
Now, everyone turned to look at Hermione, ready to listen to her story.
Suddenly a little nervous, Hermione let her eyes travel over the Marauders, looking at her expectantly. I really shouldn't tell them this, her eyes fell on Peter, and I certainly shouldn't tell him, he's a Death Eater in this time. But she knew there was no way out now, Hermione took a deep breath and started talking.
"First of all, you cannot repeat what I'm going to say here to anyone, no matter what, do you all swear to that?"
The Marauders shared glances with each other, then returned their gaze to Hermione, all nodding at once, although a bit hesitant, they were too curious about what was going to come and none of them wanted to miss the girl's explanation.
"As you have already guessed, I'm from the future, we are currently in the year 1997."
Sirius opened his mouth to comment, before he realised he couldn't, thanks to Lily, for which Hermione was very grateful.
"You have also noticed the school is deserted, that's because it's closed down."
She held her hand up when James was about to say something, while Sirius opened his mouth for the second time.
"You probably want to know why, well,there's a good reason for it, since Death Eaters attacked the school at the end of the previous semester and they killed Dumbledore."
The Marauders gasped as one and paled considerably, no one tried to interrupt her this time. There, that has shut them up,Hermione thought grimly.
"In case you were wondering, the war is still going on, I've special permission to do some research here to help it end. By accident, I discovered the Mirror of Time, and since I should have been in my final year now, I got permission from Dumbledore in your time to follow classes there. I know you have a lot of questions right now, but I can't tell you anything more, so please don't ask questions."
It was true that all four Marauders had more questions about Hermione and her time than ever, but the shocking news they just received, together with the worn-out look, quelled them.
A moment of silence fell into the room, while the boys were digesting this information and Hermione was just staring blankly into space. Meanwhile, Lily took the silencing charm off of Sirius, and of course, he was the one to first break the silence.
Pointing at the window, he said, "You've got two owls waiting."
Hermione looked up and sure enough, Hedwig, who had returned to Harry when Hermione didn't write back, and Pig, Ron's tiny owl, were waiting on the windowsill, waiting for someone to let them in. Hermione stood up quickly and opened the window, and both owls landed on her desk, only now Hermione saw they were sporting a large package.
She freed the birds from it and opened the letter that accompanied it.
"What is it?" Lily asked quietly.
Hermione looked up, smiling. It was the first time she smiled since the Marauders had barged into her room, and it immediately relieved a big part of the tension in the room.
"It's from Harry and Ron, a birthday gift."
"It's your birthday today, and you didn't tell me?" Lily exclaimed, at the same time as Sirius asked who Harry and Ron were.
Hermione took the package and started opening it. "Yes, it's my birthday, Harry and Ron have been my best friends since first year and Ron is my boyfriend since a few weeks."
Concentrating in opening her present, Hermione didn't see the significant glances James and Sirius sent Remus' way, who rolled his eyes and shook his head at them, then he turned to Hermione, "Happy birthday, Hermione."
Hermione looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you, Remus."
Their eyes met and they gazed at each other for a moment, before Hermione returned to her gift, blushing slightly.
Remus walked towards a shelf filled with books, pretending to study them with interest, but not really seeing them at all. He had no idea what had just happened between them, but when their eyes had locked, his stomach had done a little flipping motion, and he just knew something special had transpired between them.
That's just stupid, it probably meant nothing. All right, maybe Sirius is right, maybe I do have a little crush on her, but it doesn't mean anything. Nothing can come from it, honestly, she already has a boyfriend. Remus quickly decided it best to forget about it and pretend nothing happened at all.
Meanwhile, the other Marauders and Lily were watching Hermione unpack her present, which turned out to be a box filled with candy, cookies baked especially for her by Mrs. Weasley and a book Hermione really wanted to have. But still the little incident didn't go entirely unnoticed, as Lily was sending occasional glances in Remus' direction, a pensive look on her face.
After having a good look at the contents of the package, Sirius jumped up. "I have a great idea. Since it's Hermione's birthday, let's have a party!"
James and Peter readily agreed, but before anything else could happen, Hermione spoke. "No, I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not? There's nobody to tell us off here, the castle is empty."
"Exactly, where were you planning to get any food and drinks? There's no way you're going into Hogsmeade here."
"We're going to get them in our time and bring them over here." James provided.
"That goes in against every possible law of time, you shouldn't even have come here in the first place, it could get us all in so much trouble."
The Marauders all started laughing at these words. "There's one thing you'll have to learn when you hang out with James and Sirius, they live for trouble, the more they can get in, the more appealing it is to do something." Remus told her.
Lily glared daggers at the four boys, and Hermione answered, "But you have no idea how dangerous this could be."
The boys only kept laughing, and Lily turned to Hermione, "You'd better give up, they won't listen anyway."
Finally, the laughter subsided, and James commented, "I think it's time for you to lighten up a bit, Hermione, and a party will be the perfect way to help you reach that goal. Let's get some necessities, guys." And he beckoned his friends out of the room.
Hermione was left alone with Lily, she sighed. What have I gotten myself into? They have no idea about their future or what I have gone through, how can I lighten up?
Lily broke through her thoughts. "Maybe they are right, you know, maybe this is just what you need. Don't ever tell any of them I said this, but I think it would be good for you to just relax a bit and have fun."
Hermione hesitated for a moment, then she smiled. "Maybe. All right, I'll try to have fun and forget about possible consequences."
000
Please review…
A/N: I'm really, really sorry for letting you all wait this long. Like I said, I've been very busy with papers and exams and stuff like that. But I've also had a writers' block for some time, for all my stories. I'm starting to get passed it, but if anyone has any ideas or tips that can help, I'll be very thankful.
Also remember, every review gives me more incentive to return to my writing…