Hey guys! So I've been working on this story for a while now, I have a huge chunk of the outline done but this is all I have for actual writing right now, hopefully I'll be able to post more soon. My outline right now is 23k words, So im thinking this fic will be over 100k. This is the first long fic I've written, everything else I've done so far have been short oneshots, so please let me know what you think, but please be nice! Im super open to feedback as long as its constructive. But anyways im super excited! I know time travel fic are cliche but I absolutely love them and I hope you guys enjoy this too!

(Cover art by the queen Viria herself)

Remus Lupin knew that returning to Hogwarts would be hard. The last time he had been there he was graduating with his three best friends. They were finished with school; they had the world at their fingertips. They had plans. They were going to do great things. Little did they know that in four years time everything they had and loved would be stripped away from them.

Remus Lupin knew that returning to Hogwarts would be hard. Going back to the place that gave him so much hope. The place that became his home. The place that he felt he really truly belonged. But nothing could have prepared him for exactly how hard it would be.

When Remus Lupin caught sight of the scarlet Hogwarts Express for the first time in almost two decades his head immediately buzzed and his heart clenched with the emotions and memories he's tried so hard to shove down and forget. As he stepped on the train and walked through the empty corridor, his feet took him mindlessly to a compartment. To their compartment. He plopped down in the same spot he had all those years ago. Every year. Every train ride. And for the first time in almost twenty years he allowed himself to feel. To truly mourn the loss of the family he had created in those very same seats.

But when Remus Lupin fell asleep to the gentle roaring of the engine, he found his dreams filled with memories of the young boys, with mischievous smiles, and glittering eyes they had been all those years ago, rather than the haunting, hollow of his past that found its way into his dreams, his nightmares, all too often.

When he awoke, however, it was not to the loud laughter he was accustomed to hearing on the train. Instead, it was a blood-curdling scream. Remus' eyes shot open as he felt the cold shiver of dementors, his worst fears once again taking forefront in his mind as he recalled exactly what he had lost. Again.

Before his mind truly grasped the situation, his body reacted immediately as he felt himself cast the patronus charm and he watched as his silver wolf shot out of the tip of his wand and charged through the dementor and down the corridor. Following the wolf, he ensured that the dementor truly was gone before returning to the compartment to check on its inhabitants.

As soon as he entered, Remus felt his body freeze as his blood ran cold and his voice caught in his throat. He was staring into the face of his dead best friend.

Taking a deep breath and steeling his emotions as he handed the young boy a piece of chocolate, he managed to say, "Eat. You'll feel better."

James' son. He looked shockingly like James. But Remus was prepared for this, he could handle this. So taking another deep breath he turned away from Harry in an attempt to steady his racing heart. But it was only made worse, as he encountered something, or rather someone that absolutely nothing could have prepared him for.

But there she was. Sitting across from him gently stroking the back of his dead best friend's son. Looking younger and more alive than he had ever seen her.

The girl that he had grown to care for, the girl that secured herself a place in their family, the girl that had stolen the heart of his former best friend. The girl that had gone missing so many years ago, never to be found. Here she was. Sitting right in front of him.

Shaking his head yet again as an attempt to calm himself he glanced out the window at the dark, rainy sky cracked with lightning. It wasn't possible Remus told himself. The girl he knew was gone. No matter how much the girl across from him looked like her. She was gone. And that was that.

So once again shoving down his feelings in a manner far too practiced, he plastered on a calm face and made sure the kids were okay. Because that's what they were. Kids. He was facing kids. His students. Not the people he had loved so long ago.

If you ask Sirius Black, the day that truly marked the beginning of his freedom was the day that he had confronted Peter Pettigrew in the Shrieking Shack. That was the day he was reunited with his best friend, the day his name was cleared. Cleared to those that mattered, that is.

But despite this, despite the freedom, despite the reunion, Sirius Black was angry. More angry than he had ever been in his entire life. And as he stared into the face of his dead best friend, his dead brother, everything hit him.

He was angry at Pettigrew for betraying James and Lily. Angry at himself for not trusting Lupin to be secret keeper. Angry at himself for being so doubtful that he switched secret keeper to Peter. Angry that he reacted so brashly and went after Pettigrew without thinking. Angry for waiting so long to break out of Azkaban.

And now, to add insult to injury, life was playing some sort of sick joke on him. He had lost his mind, that's what it ultimately came down to. Because not only was he staring into the face of his dead brother. But he was staring into the face of the woman he had loved so many years ago. And he knew then, that he really had gone crazy in Azkaban.

"It's her, Remus, you know as well as I do."

"I just don't see how it's possible, Sirius."

"Well I don't either, but when has anything in this world ever made any sense, for Merlin's sake."

Sirius was growing frustrated. He had moved back into his childhood home, a place he considered to be almost as bad as Azkaban. Remus had been staying with him since his departure from Hogwarts and Sirius was grateful for the company. However, as time went on he was growing increasingly frustrated.

In the short time since the three remaining marauders reunited in the Shrieking Shack, Sirius had seen what was known as "The Golden Trio" a handful of times. And each time his feelings of frustration grew even stronger.

"I know but think about this realistically, Sirius. Hermione, our Hermione, disappeared almost twenty years ago. Even if it were her she would be well into her thirties, she wouldn't be a fourteen year old girl attending Hogwarts with James' son."

Sirius halted his pacing and slumped down into an armchair in front of the fireplace in the library of his childhood home. Remus was really the only person he had to talk to about this, and Sirius couldn't help but feel disappointed at the clear logic with which Remus approached the topic. However much sense it made.

"I just, I don't understand, Remus. She disappeared almost 20 years ago. We had no way of finding her, no clue where she went, we hit dead end after dead end in our search. Dumbledore refused to help find her. And then this year, an almost exact replica of her shows up at Hogwarts, only younger, without having seen any of the horrors of war our Hermione did. There's a connection somewhere that we're missing." Sirius ran a frustrated hand over his face and through his hair as he slumped even further down into his seat.

"Maybe this Hermione is a relative of hers. Maybe it's her daughter, that would explain why they look so sim-"

"No." Sirius said in a voice so harsh Remus flinched back. "It's not her daughter. If she was alive, if she was okay after she had gone missing she would have reached out. She would have told us where she was, she would have told us she was okay instead of letting us think she was captured or dead."

Sirius summoned two glasses and poured a hefty amount of firewhisky in both, quickly downing his own glass before pouring himself another. Sirius knew that he was being a little hard on Remus; he was only just weighing the possibilities. But Sirius refused to believe that the love of his life left them, and let them worry about her and mourn her while she was simply off somewhere with another man. His Hermione wouldn't do that to them, to him. At least, he didn't think she would.

"What I want to know is why Dumbledore refused to look for her, and why did he tell us to stop looking? He knows something about what happened, he knows where she went."

"Sirius, that's a lot to place on Dumbledore. I know sometimes it seems like he knows everything, but that doesn't mean he actually does…" Remus said trailing off.

"This Hermione had a time-turner. That's how they saved me from the dementors kiss. What if, something happened, or something will happen, that will send her back in time."

Remus paused for a minute and stared at his best friend that was seemingly grasping for any straw he could find.

"Sirius, time-turners can't go back more than a few hours, never mind years." As Remus watched his friend stare aimlessly, hopelessly at the bottle resting on the table, he added, "But there also haven't been many studies done into the long term effects of time-turner use. So who knows, if she keeps using the time-turner consistently, well then I suppose it's as good a theory as any other we've got."

"Sirius, I know it's hard, and very confusing, but don't hold out hope. We don't know if there's any connection at all yet, this could very well be pure coincidence."

"I know that girl, Remus, there's no way it's a coincidence." Sirius said, looking for the first time in thirteen years, hopeful.

A year later Hermione Granger found herself stepping through her parents fireplace and into the sitting room of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Dropping her trunk on the floor and putting Crookshanks down gently she serenely took in her surroundings. The room was dark and dusty, it definitely needed to be cleaned, but Hermione wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Excited at the prospect of spending the rest of the summer with the Weasley family, in the Order headquarters no less, Hermione felt a smile rise onto her face. She would be right in the middle of all the action.

"Oh Hermione, dear, it's so lovely to see you." Mrs. Weasley said, rushing into the room to engulf her in a hug. "Let's get you all settled in, you'll be sharing a room with Ginny up on the third floor. I hope that's alright."

"Of course Mrs. Weasley, it's lovely to see you too, the third floor sounds great. Is everyone else already here?"

Mrs. Weasley levitated Hermione's trunk and led her into the hallway and up the stairs. As Hermione walked through the house for the first time she took in as many of her surroundings as she could, noting the peeling paper on the walls, the dusty carpet, and dimmed lights. She couldn't imagine growing up in a house like this, although she could see how such a dark family as the Blacks chose to reside here.

"Yes all of my boys are settled in already, Sirius and Remus are in the library right now, and Harry is set to come later on in the summer."

"Hermione!" Ron bellowed as he barreled through the hallway, as the sound of two loud pops hit next to her.

"'Ello there Hermione," Fred began.

"It's great to see you," George continued.

"We've been looking forward to seeing you all summer."

"Were not the only ones though-"

"Good 'ol Ronnikins couldn't stop talking about you."

"Merlin that boy needs to learn when to shut it-"

"He just blabs on and on that one does."

"BOYS what have I told you about apparating in the house! Just because you can use magic doesn't mean you should!" Mrs. Weasley bellowed as the twins apparated away, causing their mom to let out a frustrated scream.

Hermione caught Ron's eye again and brought him in for a hug, "Don't mind the twins Hermione, they've no idea what they're talking about, all the magic has gone to their heads really." Ron said blushing slightly and rubbing the back of his neck, causing Hermione to chuckle.

At that moment Remus made an appearance on the staircase, "Is everything alright Molly? I heard yelling. Ah, Hermione, you've arrived."

"Professor Lupin! It's lovely to see you. Ah, Mr. Black, it's nice to see you as well." Hermione said, catching Sirius' eye over Remus' shoulder. Hermione knew the two older men would be here, although she had to admit she did feel slightly odd living in the same house as her former professor.

This tension she felt upon arrival at Grimmauld place, however, was quickly dismayed as she became accustomed to life in the old home. Hermione often found herself in the library joined by Professor Lupin, who now insisted she call him Remus. Hermione found she rather liked his quiet presence. They often sat in a comfortable silence, simply reading in each other's company, but occasionally they would entertain rather riveting discussions on a variety of topics. Hermione found herself fascinated with his quiet intelligence, and comforted by the fact that he held a similar thirst for knowledge as herself.

But Remus wasn't the only one Hermione began growing close to. Sirius Black, a character with which Hermione initially found herself quite intimidated by, found himself in the presence of Hermione often.

Hermione was often sleepless at night, something she attributed to the fear of the upcoming war and the uncertainty of the future. During these nights she would slink downstairs for a cup of tea to help settle her frayed mind, and early on she discovered that Sirius had just as many, if not more, sleepless nights of his own. In the beginning it was common for them to sit in silent comradery enjoying their tea, as Hermione racked her brain to find an appropriate topic of conversation with the older man. But as time went on conversation seemed to occur more naturally, beginning with the happenings of Grimmauld Place to Hermione's experiences at Hogwarts, with occasional interjections of Sirius' tales of the past.

Hermione was enraptured with the stories of his youth and tales of the marauders. She would listen to him tell stories for hours if she could. But alas, Hermione knew how those stories would end, so she never asked him to talk about it for fear of digging up unpleasant memories, for which there was plenty. But rather, she let him reminisce at his leisure, listening on with eager anticipation at every chance she got.

Hermione recognized that when Sirius would talk about his past he would smile brighter than she had ever seen before and his face would shine with the youth that he had been stripped of. Every time Hermione looked at his glinting eyes as he would relive a memory her heart would fill with pain. This man had everything he loved taken from him when he was 21 years old, left with nothing, only to spend the next 12 years of his life in Azkaban, forced to relive his loss over and over again. Yet still, despite all that, he found a way to remain unbelievably kind and so full of life.

But at the end of every story the joy and mischief in his eyes was replaced with pain and anger, and Hermione wished things had ended differently for him. She knew she couldn't go back and change what had happened, but she prayed that somewhere in the future Sirius would be happy again.

It was typical for Sirius to don a calm, cool, emotionless face, during conversation, one that was usually only broken by his bark laugh or wide grin. Hermione figured this was a result of spending so many years in Azkaban. But as the summer went on and he was interacting more with different Weasley children and order members, various smiles, grins and smirks began to take precedence on his face.

However, occasionally his emotionless mask and lively expressions would slip and more… ambiguous, intense emotions would shine through. It didn't happen often, but when it did, Hermione found herself completely and utterly fascinated and confused.

This would happen at seemingly small and insignificant times, leaving Hermione to wonder the cause and meaning of the expressions she would see behind his eyes.

The first time it happened it was so brief that Hermione wondered if she imagined the whole thing. It was late one night after Harry had come to Grimmauld Place. He was angry at her and Ron and angry at Dumbledore for keeping him in the dark all summer, and Hermione was kept up at night trying to figure out how to appease his rage when she decided to go to the kitchen for a cup of tea.

Sirius was already seated in the kitchen drinking his own cup and as he heard her walk into the room and met her eyes, he knew immediately why she was still awake. He stood up wordlessly and turned to make her a cup. Hermione was a little surprised he knew exactly how she liked her tea, but figured they had done this enough times he had started paying attention to how she made it. When he turned back to the table, cup of tea in hand, and met her eyes a second time, the emotion that Hermione saw behind his eyes, flickering in the candle light left her breathless. It was something Hermione could only describe as affection mixed with something much deeper that she couldn't quite place. But as soon as it came it was gone, and before Hermione could think any more about it, back in place was his cool mask of indifference, leaving her to wonder if she had simply imagined the whole thing.

But the most intense display of this emotion she had seen from him came just days before her return to Hogwarts for her fifth year. They were sitting in the kitchen drinking their tea as usual, as Sirius was telling her how fascinating it was to see Harry and Ginny interacting together, saying that the similarities between the pair and James and Lily was striking. Hermione watched him tell stories of James' love for Lily with an expression of pure fondness on his face. When she asked the seven words that would ring through his mind on repeat and mingle with his memories to haunt his nightmares.

"Have you ever been in love, Sirius?"

As soon as the words left her mouth Hermione knew that she shouldn't have asked. Sirius' face slipped into fond remembrance as his eyes clouded over as he stared at the cup of tea in his hands. As he lifted his eyes to meet hers she saw a masked affection in his eyes combined with recognition as he reflected on the woman. The look in his silver eyes was so intense and shocking, Hermione was torn between wanting to look away, unable to bear scrutiny to his gaze any longer, but simultaneously unable to move as she couldn't help but stare back.

"Yes, I have." He said simply, tearing his gaze away from her. She let the silence wash over them, hoping he would tell her more but unwilling to pry any further.

"I fell in love with a girl I met at Hogwarts. She was like nothing you've ever seen before." Chuckling slightly he looked back up at Hermione and said, "I think you two would've gotten along well."

Hermione was at a loss for words, she had so many questions about this girl. How come she was never mentioned before? If they met at Hogwarts was she friends with the other marauders? Where was she now? Hermione stared back at Sirius, the question once again rolling off her tongue before she could stop herself.

"What happened to her?"

She regretted asking that question immediately. Sirius took a deep breath and stared determinedly at his tea. "She disappeared. In a Death Eater attack. We tried to find her, Remus, James, Lily and I spent hours going over every note we had on every attack, every Death Eater. But nothing came up. She was just gone."

Hermione was once again speechless. How could you console or comfort someone who's gone through something like that? Having lost the love of his life? To never get closure?

But before she could find something to say Sirius rose from his seat and tipped back the last of his tea.

"I'm going to head to bed. You should go up soon, too. You've got a big few days ahead of you. Goodnight." He said with a weak smile. And before Hermione could wish him goodnight in return the kitchen door had closed behind him and Hermione was left feeling the impact of the conversation.

When Hermione woke up in the Hospital Wing after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries she knew that everything had changed. She knew things had been changing for years now. But in her mind that battle truly marked the beginning of the war.

The Ministry now confirmed the return of Voldemort, which was great. But Hermione couldn't think about that now.

Sirius was dead.

Hermione's heart clenched as her mind replayed the battle. Bellatrix's cackling laughs ringing through her ears, Harry's screams as Sirius fell. The feel of his final gaze on her, the silver in his eyes turning into a swirling mist as he disappeared through the veil.

The order lost a member. Hermione lost a confidant, a friend. And Harry, Harry lost the only family he had left.

As Hermione looked around the Hospital Wing and saw her friends lying injured, she began to prepare herself for what was to come. She needed to be strong. For Harry. No matter how close she had gotten to Sirius at Grimmauld Place over the summer she knew that his death would hit Harry the hardest and she needed to be there for him as he grieved, she couldn't let her own emotions get in the way.

Hermione was filled with a new determination as she saw Ron stir in his bed, arms wrapped with the swirled marks left from the brain attack. This was just one battle, there would be many more. Sirius was dead. He wasn't the first to die and he certainly wouldn't be the last.

Hermione was given a new sense of purpose as the reality of the war really hit her for the first time. She would do everything in her power to prevent any more people from ending up like Sirius.

She would train as hard as she could, learn as much as she could, scour every book, every tomb for something, anything that could help them. She didn't know how they were going to do it, but she'd be damned if they lost this war.