Chapter 3

"Are you ready?" Regulus asked as both of them stood in front of the door to the Dumbledore's office.

Hermione took a deep breath and nodded. She saw him take a long look at her but he knocked on the door. Regulus opened the door and gestured her to enter first.

Hermione looked at Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall who stood on the opposite side of the said desk. She saw them regard Regulus with some suspicion and caution. There was no sign of them on their faces but Hermione could see it in their eyes. Regulus didn't look bothered at all, in fact he looked comfortable. They looked at her with the same caution but there was also some curiosity there as well. Perhaps it was her Gryffindor robes? Hermione was not blind to the bias they showed Gryffindor house in the time, it was obviously the same favouritism in the past.

"Please take a seat" Headmaster said kindly. Regulus was the first one to make himself comfortable in one of the two empty chairs. Hermione did the same unsurely. She was still conflicted about what she should tell them. Dumbledore looked much younger and it made her feel quite strange. It was the headmaster she knew for the past three years but there was something slightly different about him.

"Miss Hermione Granger?" Dumbledore asked with a smile. He must have noticed her staring.

"Yes Professor, I'm sorry for being so rude but you look, younger than the last time I saw you" She said letting her nervousness through. She felt Regulus stare on her.

"We have heard you time travelled here from 1994, how have you managed that?" Transfiguration professor asked with curiosity.

"I'm not really sure Professor McGonagall, it was an accident but I'm not sure how much is safe to tell you. I'm one of your students in the future, I wouldn't want to risk changing it."

"Not much is known about the time travel Miss Granger, but the time goes on and nothing is set in stone. And since you are our student in the future then that means everything that happens whilst you are here is simply your future, only it is happening if the past of those you have first met in your time and therefore nothing will change in your past, because this has already happened. If something had gone wrong you wouldn't have come here because you would no longer exist in you time line."

"So if I come back to my time, it will simply be continuation of the timeline? And by being here I'm not changing anything? Are you saying it was mean to happen Professor?"

"I think whatever you will tell us Miss Granger, will not change your future or your past." Professor Dumbledore sounded like he had way too much experience with the time travel. But if what he said was right, then she didn't have to worry about changing anything. She wasn't even born yet.

"I never planned on coming here. I fell into the lake, and Regulus saved me from drowning." She registered the surprise in their eyes. He must really come from a bigoted family. She reached around her neck and pulled the broken time tuner from behind her robes. She placed it on the desk in front of them. "I never even touched it, I have no idea how it brought me here, I think it broke when I fell into the water"

"If I may ask, how have you come into the possession of such an object?"

"Professor McGonagall gave it to me at the start of the year so I could take more classes, I was supposed to return it, well yesterday, but I got here. Is it possible to fix it professor?"

"I'm not sure, however the circumstances around you getting here still seem vague to me. Perhaps, it got damaged the last time you have used it?"

"Err, well. Actually, the last time I used it, my friend Harry and I used it to go back by 24 hours. You suggested, well I thought err... In my time, I go to school with Draco Malfoy, and he is a cretin. We had Care of the Magical Creatures with Hagrid and he was showing us how to behave around a hippogriff, and Malfoy disrespected it.

Buckbeak barely scratched his arm but Malfoy told his father it attacked him. It cost Hagrid his job and the hippogriff was sentenced to death. So, Harry and I took him away before the execution. There is a lot that happens in the future, and Harry's godfather was wrongly put in Azkaban for something he did not do. Thirteen years later he escaped and came to look for the guilty one, and that's how we met him. Unfortunately, the rat got away and Sirius was caught again and sentenced to Dementor's kiss so we broke him out and helped him run away on Buckbeak. But everything went fine, I don't think..." Hermione stopped suddenly when she saw the look on Dumbledore's and McGonagall's faces. But they were looking at Regulus. She followed their eyes and saw the boy who sat next to her. He looked pale and troubled.

"You said his name was Sirius. That's not a particularly common name. Has he by any chance got grey eyes, black hair and a terribly bad sense of humour? Am I wrong to think the Sirius you mentioned is Sirius Black?"

"How do you know?" She asked surprised.

"He is my older brother Hermione" He replied quietly looking her in the eyes. She gasped.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know he had a brother, we haven't really spoke to him about his family, we barely met him, I'm sorry"

"Don't be, we're not close. But, for what it's worth, thank you for helping that fool get away."

After a minute of awkward silence, Dumbledore spoke up, going back to the topic at hand.

"Miss Granger I will try my best to fix your time tuner or find a new one. I'm afraid it might take some time, so we need to find you a place to stay. But do try to think about anything that could have been a factor in getting you here. It is very difficult and very dangerous to travel this far from your own time."

"Thank you Professor. I'm afraid I can't go back home, I come from a muggle family and I wouldn't want to scare them by turning up and announcing I'm their descendant from the future." Hermione decided it was safer to keep the family secrets as they were - unrevealed.

Hermione respected Dumbledore but her family wouldn't appreciate her spilling something her ancestors managed to keep hidden from the world for centuries. Hermione noted the scanning look McGonagall gave Regulus, like she expected him to not know of her blood status. It bothered Hermione because they treated him like some criminal, and it made her feel guilty because it was too similar to how she treated him from the very beginning, based on his house and his upbringing and his blood.

She assumed the worst, and while she might not have been totally wrong in her assumptions, it was wrong of her to jump to conclusions based on things he had no control over. It made her no better than blood purists who judge on blood and connections.

"I understand. In this case, you may stay here at Hogwarts for the next few days until I find a better place for you to stay for summer" Dumbledore said.

"No need Professor, I have written to my mother yesterday. She has agreed to let Hermione stay with us over the summer." Regulus said suddenly with the fakest smile she had ever seen, but it looked so well-rehearsed. Despite her better judgement, Hermione decided to play along.

"Excellent!" She exclaimed before the professors could object. She could see how reluctant Dumbledore and McGonagall looked. It made her feel a little uneasy about the Black household, but she wanted to ask Regulus to help her get home instead. Her family would not be as unaccepting of her as she made it seem.

"Very well, Miss Granger you may of course return to Hogwarts after summer, and join our fourth year until we succeed at sending you back home."

"Thank you professor." She smiled.

After leaving the office Hermione followed Regulus through the corridors in silence. Not knowing how to start the conversation or what to do next she kept sending him side glances, but his face showed no emotion. They finally got to the dungeons and Hermione suddenly felt herself being pushed into an alcove.

It was quite dark but she could make out his handsome face which looked quite intimidating, half visible only due to the light from the fire torches. They were looking into each other's eyes waiting for the other to say something.

"I never wrote a letter"

"I figured"

"Then why…"

"You sounded very convincing, so I concluded you had a plan"

"It was an excuse to save you from Dumbledore's clutches. As much as I respect him as a professor, I don't trust him one bit. He would keep you at Hogwarts until he got everything out of you about the future and then he would pass you to one of his minions."

"And that doesn't sit right with you because I agreed to be your guinea pig"

Regulus looked at her intensly. "You Gryffindors see him as a saint but if you ask me, he's not above changing the future to his gain, despite risks or sacrifices"

"Alright, then what do you suggest?"

"First, we need to catch a ride to London. Slughorn, our potions professor, won't be leaving until afternoon, I already asked him to take us."

"And where will I stay?"

"I'm usually much more prepared but I was thinking we can tell my mother and father you are a half blood and on our way there, we can make up some believable half lies so that they don't disown me and so they let you stay for a bit."

"That's your plan?"

"Do you have a better one?"

"Let's just tell them the truth"

"Look, I know we only just met and you probably don't like me but do I make such poor impression that you wish to see me disowned?"

"Surely they will be interested if they know I'm from the future?"

"Yes, but you're a muggle born! I'm Regulus Black! I don't know if our family name means something in your time but currently, we're very avoided by your kind. I have a whole backyard of ancestors who were dark wizards. The house of Black is not the safest place for you to be at, especially if you're so open about your unfortunate blood status. Do you even know what year it is? We're in the middle of a war and my family are loyal supporters of Voldemort."

"Then let's tell them I'm a Black from the future! Let's tell them I'm Sirius's daughter!" Regulus's face changed.

"That could work" He took a step back and transfigurated her Gryffindor robes into some posh wizarding robes and took her hand.

"Come, Slughorn doesn't like to wait"

The dungeons were just as dark as Hermione remembered, although it was strangely nice to know that Snape wasn't about to appear and hand them a detention. If they won't manage to send her back home before summer ends, she will probably run into him. He must be about Sirius's age, so not much older than her.

She could not help but wonder how many people she would meet here in the past that she already met in her time as adults. She imagined they were much different as students.

"We're here" Regulus knocked on the door and went in. They found themselves in an office that in her time belonged to Professor Snape, but here in the past it was somehow, brighter.

"Mr. Black is this you?"

"Yes Professor. I hope we're not too late"

"Not at all my dear boy, you're just in time"

Hermione watched as the potions professor ascended down the stairs, with his nose in a book.

"I hope I packed everything" He said as he went over to the table where his suitcase lied wide open. He placed the book inside and closed it with a swing of his wand. Turning to the pair of them, he smiled widely.

"And you must be Miss Granger! How lovely! When Regulus told me, his friend will be coming, I thought he was joking. But I don't think I've seen you around? He's such a good student you know, I was always very sad to see him walk around on his own, never speaking a word to anyone"

"I'm standing right here Professor" Regulus said with his eyebrow raised.

"Well then, shall we go" Slughorn picked up with suitcase and gestured for them to follow him.

Few minutes later they were walking down the street in the centre of London. They travelled through the floo network in Slughorn's office. Slughorn was in a rush so he didn't ask many questions. He seemed like a nice teacher but Hermione was grateful she didn't have to come up with any more lies to answer any questions he might have thrown at her.

"How far is your house from here?" She asked looking around the nice neighbourhood.

"We're almost there"

In few moments, they found themselves standing in front of a big townhouse.

"Whatever you do, stay calm. I'm pretty sure my mother can smell fear"

"That's reassuring"

"Come-on in" He opened the door wide and let her in first.

Hermione went in and found herself in a long dark corridor. Dimly lit lights made the space look even heavier.

"You wicked immoral disgusting boy! How dare you stand here and say this to your own mother! Have you no shame? You are a disgrace to this family!"

"If you hate me so much why don't you just kill me!"

Distant shouting match and breaking glass made her jump. She turned to Regulus who only winced.

"That would be my mother and Sirius" He said. "Come"

They went down the corridor and up the stairs that led to another corridor and finally a drawing room. Just as they walked in, Walburga smashed another vase with a scream of anger. Sirius looked half scared half defensive. Walburga shot Sirius her last cold look and told him to leave. The older brother was gone in a second.

"Hello son, who is your guest?" Hermione turned to see Orion coming up to them from the other side of the room. It seemed to have caught Walburga's attention, as the silence that followed was deadening in comparison to the noise that dominated the space just a second before. Walburga came closer to the two newcomers.

"Mother, Father, this is Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is my mother and father, Walburga and Orion Black." On their way, they decided that introducing Hermione as a Black would not work as Orion would be able to tell she is no Black. The wards around the house would have alerted him. So instead, they decided to tell the truth and hope for mercy.

"Granger? Is she a half blood?" Walburga wasted no time. A witch like her she knew all about pureblood families and Granger did not ring a bell.

"Yes! She is. But…"

"Then why is she here?" Walburga and her son had a staring match. Orion decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Come sit, would you like anything to drink? Tea perhaps?" Orion asked as he led Hermione to sit on a sofa.

"Tea would be lovely Mr. Black" Hermione said politely sitting up straight looking comfortable and at ease. Thank great aunt Amelia for the torturous lessons she enforced upon her. Maybe she could survive her way through this evening with her engraved manners.

"I will fetch it. Kreacher!" Walburga left the room promptly, leaving Regulus to join his father and their guest on the sofas.

"Regulus doesn't bring friends over very often, you must be an interesting witch. Do you go to Hogwarts?" Orion asked and not knowing how much to reveal she looked at Regulus for help, but he looked conflicted himself.

"Don't tell mother but Hermione isn't from here. She accidentally time travelled here and since I was the one she ran into as soon as she landed, I thought it would only be polite of me to help her return to her time. Being from the future and all, she had nobody to stay with so I brought her here" Orion looked more and more intrigued.

"When do you come from Miss Granger?"

"I came from 1994 Mr Black. And Regulus is being rather modest. I landed in the Hogwarts' lake and if it wasn't for him I would have drowned."

"You must feel lost being so far away from your home, family and friends. Nineteen years! You don't look ony older than Regulus.!" He exclaimed and looked to where his wife stood just a moment before. Sighting he took a sip of his firewhisky.

"I will not tell my wife, but she will probably find out one way or another, so it might be easier for you to just tell her. I assume the foundation of your worries lies somewhere between Miss Granger's blood status and the fact that she is a witch you brought home. So, which will it be my dear younger son. Facing the wrath of your mother for dishonouring the noble House of Black by bringing a muggleborn guest from the future, or facing the lecture on the rules of proper courting?" Hermione stiffened and Regulus groaned.

"Did you really think you could just apparate here without me finding out who you brought in? Don't worry Miss Granger, I will not throw you out, but I'm sure you are well aware of our family's views on the matter of blood."

"Very well indeed sir" Hermione replied in a very controlled tone of voice even though inside she was angry. She has had enough of all the pureblood crap. There was nothing about her that made her worse than any of them. If it wasn't for the curse, her family would probably be very similar in their views to the Blacks. That thought kept her from leaving the house.

"Regulus I hope you know there can never be a match made between you? Your mother would never allow it"

"No of course not, this is just until we work out how to send her back home. I hope you know my interests here are purely educational"

"They better be. I'm sure you both are aware of the rules of this society. This can never get out. With Sirius being so reckless we can't risk any more talk of our betrayal. I still have hope for Sirius to see the wrongs of his ways, but if he keeps this up I can't see much hope for the future of this family. Regulus I must warn you not to break your mother's heart. She is already going through a lot with Sirius' betrayal. He was once her entire life. She will not cope with the loss of both of her sons"

"Understood" Hermione heard him reply shortly.

"You say you still have hope but you speak of Sirius as if he was already lost" Regulus replied looking down at his feet. Orion never replied. Hermione could never envy their lives. They were prisoners of their own heritage and the society they were born a part of.

If her family were not so, different, they would probably live in much closer proximity to the very similar society of rich muggles from the old families with an image to keep up. Thankfully, although they were still very much a part of that, they shone away from spotlight and were secluded enough to keep certain things and matters private. Very rarely they attended public events, but shown their faces enough to stay influential. Hermione could only hope the time went slow enough for her to enjoy her Hogwarts days before having to take over the family business from Claudius.

"Hermione and I made a deal. It's an opportunity. It will let me learn about the time travel from more than just books, and she gets to return home. There will be no courting, just teamwork." Regulus said relaxing slightly in his seat.

Walburga returned with the house elf and tea. She looked expectantly at her son. Regulus got up and introduced Hermione properly again, hoping his mother would react a bit better than the forst time, now that she calmed down a bit.

"Mother, this is my friend Hermione Granger. Hermione meet my mother, Walburga Black."

"It is lovely to meet you Mrs. Black" Hermione smiled at the calculating women.

"Likewise" Walburga replied after a moment, with half a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "And, to what do we owe the pleasure of Miss Granger's company tonight?"

"Mother, as I have already explained to father earlier, Hermione will be staying with us tonight, you see... she has accidentally time travelled here from 1994 and has nowhere else to stay, I want to use this opportunity to learn about the time travel when I'll be helping her return to her time"

"Very well, have Kreacher take her to her rooms after dinner" Walburga, replied calmly before taking a sip of tea.

She stayed quiet for the rest of the evening, observing Hermione and her son like a hawk. They talked a bit about other subjects Hermione found fascinating, Orion was surprised to see how clever this muggleborn witch was, and he found himself enjoying her company. Regulus was relived his father has taken it so well. He always preached the importance of blood to him and Sirius but as he was growing up, and he has shown great dislike for muggles and muggleborns. But Regulus stared to notice that most of it was just for appearences.

Whilst his father did believe in the pure blood superiority, his life goal wasn't as extremist as his mother's was. Wlburga didn't go around killing muggles at night for fun, but she didn't shine away from voicing her disgust at the muggle born witches and wizards daring to walk around the Diagon Alley as if they weren't worth less than the house elves.

As a Slytherin and a Black, Regulus couldn't show anything less than distaste and revolt at the presence of muggleborns, especially with a brother like Sirius. So, he chose to talk to no one instead, and before he knew his reputation proceeded him. Nobody was brave enough to approach him without fear evident in their eyes or posture. But Regulus was okay with that.

It was a real shame that Granger was of unfortunate blood, she seemed to be everything a muggle born wouldn't be. Beautiful, clever, well behaved. It was a strange. Maybe in the future wizards take them away at birth and raise them properly?

Soon enough the dinner was ready so they all went into the dining room, Walburga went to fetch Sirius. Hermione was in a deep conversation with Orion about Dragons. They sat down at the table and waited few minutes until Mrs Black stormed into the dining room.

"Sirius will not be eating with us tonight" She stated sitting down. She was clearly upset but she hid it pretty well behind the facade of annoyance and coldness.

Hermione saw Orion look at his wife with pain in his eyes. Walburga was a ruin of a witch, she was slowly falling to pieces. Her fight with her older son was destroying her. They finished the dinner in silence until Regulus dismissed himself and Hermione, leaving his parents alone, for which Orion gave him a thankful nod. Hermione couldn't help but pity the witch. Regulus led her to her room himself, talking on their way up the stairs.

"You must excuse my mother, she is unwell. I'm sorry you had to see all that earlier. What you saw today.. It couldn't have been avoided I'm afraid. Sirius is my older brother and I love him like a brother should do, but ever since he got sorted into Gryffindor and befriended Potter and Lupin, he has been very loud about his different opinions. His behaviour is devastating to our mother. She is a shadow of whom she once was. She loves Sirius more than anything and he's been breaking her heart." He sighted.

"Here we are, this is your room. It is right across from my room, so if you need anything I'm close by." Regulus showed her to a room that was black and cold like the rest of the house. He called Kreacher, the house elf and told her she could call him if she needed anything.

Hermione took a bath in the bathroom adjacent to her room. She was lying in bubbled water thinking about her day. It was all very surreal. She was 19 years in the past, in a house of one of the most blood obsessed family in Britain, and had no idea how to get back home. Thinking about the ridiculous situation she found herself in she couldn't help but giggle. Wanting to disappear she pushed herself fully under the water.