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 7: (almost) Ordinary days...
It didn't take long for the Marauders to return and with them they brought enough butterbeer and snacks to last days.
Soon the party was in full swing, despite that there were only six of them in attendance and that it was being held in Hermione's quarters, which wasn't exactly the ideal place to host a party.
The Marauders recounted some of their adventures, alternating them with back-story on their professors and fellow-students, all of course from a Marauder's point of view. The stories were often accompanied with re-enactments of certain scenes, making Hermione laugh for the first time since... I don't even remember when I really laughed for the last time, but it must have been before Dumbledore passed.
Meanwhile, Lily tried very hard to keep a disapproving look on her face, but when the boys finally managed to make Hermione laugh, she decided to put her disapproval for the Marauders aside for the time being and enjoy herself.
The party kept going deep into the night, until finally Lily announced it was time for them to return to 1976. Sirius started protesting immediately, but he was silenced by James.
"It's late. We all have classes tomorrow and it wouldn't do any good if one of the teachers started suspecting we were up to something tonight. I don't think Hermione wants them to know we found out about her secret."
Hermione threw James a grateful smile, while Lily stared at him as if he had suddenly grown a second head. James smiled at them before ushering his friends out of the room and into the hallway. Lily followed, still looking a bit bewildered, but before closing the door she turned once more to Hermione.
"Good night, see you tomorrow."
Hermione's smile lingered as she cleaned up the mess the Marauders had left behind. It's nice to have them around. Maybe them finding out about the Mirror isn't such a bad thing after all.
000
The following day Hermione joined her new friends in their common room for the first time. After classes, Lily dragged her all the way through the Fat Lady's portrait to hang out with the redhead and her friends, Mandy and Kathy, whom Hermione had met a few days earlier.
Hermione really liked Lily's friends, they were nice and accepted her immediately. Of course they asked a few questions about Hermione's supposed home-schooling and the death of her parents, but Lily dodged them by saying Hermione didn't feel comfortable with talking about it yet. The two girls understood and offered her their sympathies. After that they didn't bring up the subject anymore, for which Hermione was very grateful. She wouldn't have known how to make up sufficient, believable answers to all their questions.
The evening passed quickly and, for the first time in a very long while, Hermione felt more or less like a normal girl with normal friends. By the time the girls had decided to go to bed, they had invited her to go to Hogsmeade with them the next day.
000
On the morning of the Hogsmeade day, Hermione woke up early and in a surprisingly good mood.
She had received special permission from Dumbledore to go with her new friends and she found herself really looking forward to it. Hermione greatly enjoyed hanging out with Lily and her friends and the first part of the day passed quickly, but she had even more fun in the afternoon, which she spent with the Marauders.
She wondered if it was simply because she was used to constantly hanging out with boys, or because, with the Marauders around, and with their endless jokes and banter, you never had a chance to dwell on your problems.
I could really get used to this.
They were all sitting in the Three Broomsticks, drinking butterbeer, talking and laughing. Even Lily seems to enjoy herself.
The redhead had begrudgingly agreed to join them, claiming she didn't want Hermione to have to be alone with the boys.
Suddenly, Hermione was snapped out of her thoughts by a voice speaking her name. She looked up and met Remus' eyes.
"You seemed to be pretty far away in thought, since you didn't laugh at Sirius' last joke. Watch out or he might feel offended."
Sirius apparently heard this, judging by his undignified 'Oi!' and the glare he sent Remus' way. Hermione laughed.
"I was just thinking," she told Remus, "you all remind me a lot of my friends in my own time and yet, you're also a lot different."
"We do?"
"Yes. James and Sirius are actually a lot like Harry and Ron, although a bit more…I think exuberant is the right word here." Remus chuckled. Hermione smiled at him before continuing. "Peter reminds me a lot of Neville, someone in my year I used to help with homework often, but Peter's more part of the gang than Neville. And I suppose Lily is a lot like my friend Ginny."
"What about me?"
Hermione blinked. "Well, there isn't really anyone like you. You're special."
In the silence that fell between them, their eyes met. Hermione quickly looked down, fighting the blush she felt rise in her cheeks. What did I just say? What if he takes it the wrong way? Come to think of, what did I actually mean by saying it?
Luckily, the awkward moment was broken by Peter, asking if Hogsmeade looked a lot different in her time than it did now. Hermione figured she couldn't do much wrong in telling them which shops had changed. What followed was a discussion about the merits and the downsides of the change in shops, which was in turn followed by a quite heated discussion between Hermione and Sirius about the Marauders being allowed to visit the shops in Hermione's time. Hermione was silently very thankful she didn't tell them about Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. If Sirius hears about that one, he'll probably run straight for the Room of Requirement.
"But what if we make sure nobody sees us?" Sirius whined.
Hermione sighed and opened her mouth, ready to point out invisibility cloaks could easily get caught between doors or behind shelves, which would reveal them anyway, but she stopped herself just in time, realising the Marauders couldn't know she knew about the cloak. She wanted to keep it that way. It would be better for all of them if they didn't know how much she knew about them. Besides, Lily probably didn't know about the cloak either, and if she mentioned it now it might cause another argument between James and Lily, something Hermione would rather avoid as much as possible.
To Hermione's relief, James realized at the same moment what Sirius was hinting at and he poked his friend in the side, whispering something to him. Hermione was sure it was about being careful to not give away Marauders' secrets.
After that, the rest of their Hogsmeade trip passed by quite smoothly.
000
That evening Hermione agreed to join the Marauders and Lily in the Gryffindor Common Room. Remus sat in an armchair by the fire watching Hermione play a game of chess with Peter at a table nearby. James and Sirius were off to the kitchens in search of an evening-snack and Lily was sitting on the other side of the room chatting with her friends.
Now that he had nothing else to occupy his mind, Remus thought back to the conversation in the Three Broomsticks.
She said I'm special.
He felt his heart beat a bit faster at the memory and seeing her blush after she said it.
No, she couldn't have meant it that way.
For a moment, he wondered if maybe she knew about his condition, but he quickly dismissed that thought.
I would have known if she knew; she would certainly have given away some clues, even if she tried to hide her knowledge. And thus, the only explanation he could think of was his first one, although he couldn't quite believe it.
Could she like me, maybe just a little bit, even though she already has a boyfriend?
Remus knew nothing could come of it, but that didn't really bother him. Just knowing she might like him made him feel happy.
I think I like her too. I just have to make sure this doesn't grow into something more. It could only end badly…Someone getting hurt.
Still, Remus was sure nothing would come of it anyway, Hermione wouldn't be with them that much, or that long. Which is definitely for the best. She's from the future and time is something you're not supposed to mess with.
000
In the days that followed, Hermione allowed Lily to drag her to the Gryffindor common room quite a few times. In fact, her initial protests started to wane and she found herself more and more in the company of her new friends.
Sometimes she spent time with Lily and her friends, but most of the time, it was just Lily. At least, it was meant to be just Lily. She liked Mandy and Kathy well enough, but she was afraid they too might find out about her origins and Lily understood her reasoning.
But almost every time she was in the common room with Lily, the Marauders showed up and took their places around or next to the girls, to Lily's great annoyance.
Hermione, however, had to admit she didn't really mind the boys being there. She liked spending time with them. James and Sirius were always good at making her laugh and she needed that. She wanted to be able to forget about her problems sometimes.
She occasionally questioned their reasons for being there though.Hermione was sure they liked her well enough, but sometimes one of them would make an offhand comment about her past, as if they were trying to find out more about the future. It was subtle, for which she had to give them credit, she had never thought James or Sirius would be good at subtleties.
Still, Hermione didn't like their prying.
But nothing can go wrong, as long as I don't give in and don't let anything slip by mistake. I just have to be very careful.
000
One Thursday, shortly after September had turned into October, they received so much homework that Hermione wanted to rush off to her own time immediately to do it. Lily, however, wouldn't hear of it.
"Why do you always do your homework there? You could just as well do it here and then you wouldn't be alone."
Hermione had no answer and it was, therefore, with relative ease that Lily convinced her to stay and study in the library together.
They had only been there for a short time when a shadow fell over their desk. When Hermione looked up, a group of students were watching her intently. She noticed the colour of their scarves and the crests on their uniforms.
Great, Slytherins.
Lily had looked up too and narrowed her eyes. "Is there something we can help you with?" She kept her tone carefully polite, but cold.
The Slytherins ignored her, insinuating a 'mudblood' like her wasn't worth their time.
Hermione studied the group carefully. She felt like she recognized some of their faces, but couldn't place them. The only girl in the group took a step forwards.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Granger," she said, although her face told Hermione quite the opposite. The girl looked as if she thought herself above everyone else and, judging her face, there must be some very bad smell coming off the common people. "We want to show our respects for the loss of your parents and welcome you at Hogwarts."
The rest of the group grinned at Hermione and she shuddered involuntarily. They may be trying to come off as nice, but they are giving me the creeps.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the girl continued. "My name is Narcissa Black. If you would like to hang out with us, be our guest. We can protect you, unlike this mudblood scum." She gestured airily towards Lily."Or my blood-traiting cousin and his friends. They can only cause you more problems than you undoubtedly already have."
Hermione stared at the other girl for a moment, speechless, her anger quickly rising, but she forced herself to remain calm. Looking around the group once more, she began placing names to a few faces of the Slytherins, who were now sporting threatening looks.
I think that's McNair. And that's the one who cursed me in the department of Mysteries, Dolohov I think is his name. Narcissa, Sirius' cousin and Malfoy's mother of course, and I bet the younger boy standing next to her is Sirius' brother. And…
Hermione almost gasped as she recognised the face, along with the greasy hair, at the back of the group. Snape, of course, how could I have forgotten he'd be here. She had to force herself not to betray her thoughts as memories of the end of last year rushed back to her.
Hermione took a deep breath. I have to be careful, they may be only students now, but I bet every single one of this group will soon become a Death Eater.
"Thank you for your kindness, Miss Black." She did her very best to sound polite. "But I think I'll have to decline your offer." Without saying anymore, she returned to her homework.
For a moment, silence reigned. Then a boy's voice spoke. "You will regret not accepting our offer. You'll see. Don't forget we gave you a chance at a greater future!"
Hermione could hear Narcissa's voice once more. "Hush, Regulus." Then the sound of footsteps.
When she looked up the Slytherins had disappeared. Hermione turned to Lily, who was glaring in the direction Hermione assumed the Slytherins had gone.
Hermione let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, muttering "Greater future, indeed."
Lily turned to her with a questioning look. "What do you mean?"
"Those are all future Death Eaters," Hermione answered quietly, and paled instantly as she saw Lily, too, paling.
"And I shouldn't have said that. Please Lily, forget what I said."
"But…"
"No, please. You're a great friend, Lily, and I trust you, but this kind of information should be left unknown in this time, so forget it okay?" Hermione looked pleadingly at her new friend.
Lily sighed, deciding to let it go for now. "Okay. But can you at least explain to me why it's so important to not change anything and keep everything the way it happened in your time?"
Hermione nodded. "That I can do. There were certain circumstances which made me come to this time: the war, Dumbledore's death, Harry's destiny and even the simple fact of me getting my Hogwarts letter at age eleven. If I change any of all these circumstances, it could prevent me from coming into the past, which would make it impossible for me to change it in the first place. Or I might make some change that somehow prevents my own birth. Something like that would create a time paradox, which could in itself even destroy the whole universe. That's why I have to be so careful."
Lily looked horrified. "I didn't know that. I'm sorry I kept asking questions. I promise I won't do it anymore and I will do anything to keep the Marauders off your back." She winked at Hermione, who smiled back. "Thanks."
At that moment, once again a shadow fell over their table and when the girls looked up, Remus was standing before them, looking a bit hesitant.
"Hey, I'm sorry to interrupt. I was wondering if I might join you."
They smiled at him and Lily pushed aside a few of her books, so as to make place for Remus to sit and place his own books. The free space just happened to be next to Hermione, which Lily had done only partially on purpose.
000
Later that evening, Hermione was contemplating her day while she trying to fall asleep.
Her meeting with the Slytherins had shaken her quite a bit, and when she closed her eyes, she still saw the threatening looks they had sent her. But I suppose as long as they don't find out who I really am, I don't have anything to worry about. It might be best though to keep as far away from them as possible, which I'd gladly do anyway.
She turned over on her other side and sighed, pushing away the thoughts about Death Eaters. They were soon replaced by much nicer thoughts of what happened afterwards.
Lily was right to drag me to the library with her. It's nice to do homework together with friends. She laughed quietly at numerous memories of trying to push Harry and Ron into doing their homework. Well, it's nice to do homework with friends who don't try to copy from you and don't complain about the amount of homework.
Hermione had to admit she had a great time in the library with Lily and Remus. Besides working, they had talked a lot and laughed a lot too, much to Madam Pince's annoyance.
It's also very nice to have friends close-by with whom I can really talk and who can make me laugh, even if they are in another time. They couldn't of course replace Harry and Ron, but in the very short time she had known them (at least in their own time, she had known Remus before of course), Hermione had started to get really attached to her new friends, even though she wouldn't admit it to herself.
Hermione truly treasured Lily's kindness and ongoing support and Remus' very own brand of humour and his quiet smiles, which could make her heart flutter (another thing she wouldn't ever admit). She loved how James' and Sirius' antics made her laugh and forget her worries. She even valued Peter's quiet presence. Hermione was almost shocked to admit she had even started to like talking to him.
What in the world could ever have made him turn against his friends?
With these thoughts in her head, she slowly drifted to sleep.
000
Please review…
A/N: This is the first chapter of this story that's actually been beta-ed, so I hope you liked this!
Many special thanks to Lolamadrid for being such a wonderful beta and to R J Lupin's Kat for offering to beta this story too.