Ahhhh! guys im literally so excited about this chapter! I feel like this chapter is kind of the beginning of a lot of thing that are going to happen later on and i cant wait! I hope you all like this chapter like i do, i really enjoyed writing this one!

Also, thank you SO, so much again to everyone that has liked/followed and commented, it makes me so happy to see and I absolutely adore reading all you thoughts on this story it makes me so happy!

Without further ado, i hope you all enjoy this chapter !

The next day Dumbledore announced the upcoming Hogsmeade trip at breakfast and by dinner the castle was still buzzing with the news.

"It's great, Hermione, you're going to love it!" Dorcas said as she cut up the potato on her plate. "There's a sweet shop and a joke shop and a quill shop and of course the Three Broomsticks, which is a pub that has amazing butterbeer, and those four," she continued, nodding her head to the boys sitting next to them, "always manage to get their hands on firewhisky somehow. It's a lot of fun. You'll love it."

Dorcas had been going off on mini-rants to Hermione all day long about how amazing Hogsmeade is.

"I still don't know how you lot get that firewhisky," Alice said with a grin, "Unless you finally got through to Madam Rosmerta, aye, Sirius?"

"Not yet," Sirius smirked, "But I haven't lost hope."

James laughed at his friend, but before he could say anything, Lily threw herself in between Sirius and Hermione at the table.

"You guys will never guess what Marcela from Hufflepuff just told me," she said, a smile lighting up her face.

Rolling her eyes Marlene asked, "What did she tell you?"

"She said that there's a certain, cute Hufflepuff boy planning on asking Hermione to Hogsmeade."

"Ohmygod! Who is it?" Dorcas practically screamed.

"Amos Diggory!" Lily replied much quieter, but just as excited as Dorcas who let out a squeal.

"Oh Hermione, Amos is such a cutie," Alice said looking over to the Hufflepuff table.

"Which one is he?" Hermione asked as her eyes skimmed the table, unable to find him.

"He's the one sitting on Frank's right," She replied, "Oh, I'll have to ask Frank if he knows anything."

Hermione found the boy in question and was shocked at his appearance; he bore a slim resemblance to the wrinkled, balding man she remembered from her time. He had a full head of thick, curly dark hair and his features were chiseled. Granted, Hermione shouldn't be surprised, Cedric was after all very handsome, it made sense that his father would have been too.

"Does he play Quidditch?" Hermione asked before she could stop herself, noting his built appearance.

"He does," Marlene answered, "He's pretty decent too."

"He's not that decent," Hermione heard Sirius say under his breath as he fought to cut up some steak.

Ignoring him, Marlene continued, "Oh and he's such a sweetie too, he's a real catch."

Looking back to Amos, Hermione couldn't get over how much he would change in the next 20 years.

"Don't look so shocked Hermione," Lily said, "He's been checking you out since the start of the year."

She thought back to her time, if it had been Cedric asking she would have said yes without question. But Amos? Marlene said he was a nice guy, but Hermione couldn't help remembering how obnoxious he was to Harry at the World Cup.

"Sooo, what do you think, Hermione?" Alice asked.

"Are you ladies going with anyone?" Hermione responded, trying to avoid the question until she could think about it a bit more.

"Well, I'm meeting up with Frank, of course." Alice answered.

"You know, Lily my dear, my offer to take you to Hogsmeade is open as always." James said casually, sending a smile across the table.

Hermione was happy to see that there wasn't an immediate 'no' coming from Lily, instead she just smiled and rolled her eyes.

After watching Lily's reaction, Marlene said, "No go for me, I'm flying solo on the date end for now. Although Lils, Dorcas, and I were planning on going together if you figure Diggory isn't your type. Not that I see how he couldn't be, like I said before, that boys a fucking catch."

Hermione expected to hear something from Sirius about his date, but instead he was intently focused on his food, much like Remus next to him.

"I think for now I'll stick with you guys, I'm not really in the mood to deal with a date, if you know what I mean." Hermione eventually said after the silence.

"Great!" Dorcas said, "I mean, it stinks for Diggory, but I'm excited to show you around!"

"How are you going to turn him down?" Alice asked.

"Oh, that's easy," Hermione said, smirking slightly, "I'll just make sure he doesn't get the chance to ask me in the first place."

That weekend Hermione was dragged all around Hogsmeade by Dorcas, followed by an amused Marlene and Lily. After stopping into nearly every shop there was, they met the boys in the Three Broomsticks for some butterbeer.

The four girls were sharing a large booth with James, Sirius, and Remus when Alice and Frank came bustling into the pub.

Alice plopped down next to Lily while Frank went to grab the two some drinks.

"Such a beautiful day," she said, "Did you enjoy the village Hermione?"

"Oh, I did, it's so lovely here." Hermione said genuinely, although she had of course been to Hogsmeade before, most of her trips occurred on the cusp of the war. And she supposed this time was too, but it didn't quite show through into the village yet.

"And how about you boys? Make any interesting purchases?" Alice continued.

"Maybe we did, maybe we didn't. That my dear Alice, you'll have to wait to find out." James said before taking a swig of his butterbeer.

"Oh please," Lily said, rolling her eyes, "So that's a definite yes."

James simply smirked at her across the table and winked.

Lily lifted her glass to take a sip, but not before Hermione noticed the blush that rose to her cheeks.

Hermione fought off a smile. Finally, Lily was starting to show signs that she liked James. This was going to be so fun to watch.

After another round of drinks the group decided to walk back to the castle.

They took the footpath down when Dorcas said, "Oh! Hermione, I forgot to tell you about that!"

She pointed off to her left before saying, "That's the Shrieking Shack! It's said to be the most haunted building in Britain!"

"Oh please," Hermione said, attempting to diffuse some of the tension that had risen in the group, "Hogwarts is haunted. I'm sure whatever is in there can't be that bad."

"No, no," Dorcas said excitedly, "This is a different kind of haunted. A scary kind of haunted."

"Hmm," Hermione murmured, "Well then I'll be sure to stay away from it."

Remus had been avoiding Hermione's eyes since the incident.

He felt so terrible about what happened. Even though James, Sirius, and Peter said the day after she was perfectly fine, he was still absolutely mortified.

He felt like such a coward. But there was nothing he could do about it.

His guilt was so overwhelming every time he saw her. He stopped studying with her in the library. He stopped trying to make conversation during class. He stopped showing up to meals.

It was just too painful.

He didn't think she would notice. They weren't super close after all. She had so much of her own stuff going on, there was no way she paid that much attention to him anyways.

At least, that's what he thought.

The night after the Hogsmeade trip Remus sat alone in the common room staring at the fire, replaying the scene in his head over and over again.

"Hermione was out last night."

The words rang through his mind.

"I don't think she's going to hate you, Remus, she doesn't even know it was you."

He was a coward. Even if she wasn't hurt, he was a monster.

He heard the portrait creak open and he stared into the flame, hoping that whoever it was would leave.

His hope quickly faded as he saw a figure take a seat in the chair across from him.

He turned his head only to meet the eyes of the last person he wanted to see.

Hermione.

"Hey Remus," She said softly, "I just wanted to make sure we were okay. I feel like you may have been avoiding me this past week."

Remus was surprised. He didn't think she would notice.

At his silence she continued, "I just want you to know that I consider you to be one of my best friends here. And I know I haven't been here long, but I really appreciate being your friend, and no matter what, that's not going to change. And if you ever want to talk I'm always around."

She sent him a small smile.

Hermione stood up and walked towards the entrance to the girls' dorm, but as she passed Remus sitting shocked in his seat she gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. Remus felt his eyes mist over for the first time in so, so long. He was overwhelmed with emotions he couldn't even name. And Remus knew everything she said was genuine.

He didn't know how he knew, but he did.

The following day the girls were lounging in their dorms when Lily casually said, "Dumbledore is going to announce the Halloween Ball tomorrow."

"Halloween Ball?" Hermione wondered out loud. The Halloween Ball was never a thing during her time at Hogwarts, all they got was a feast.

Hermione quickly remembered what would happen in a few years on Halloween night. Maybe Dumbledore got rid of the Ball out of respect for Lily and James? Or maybe it was an attempt to avoid some kind of political retribution. Or it could have been something else entirely. It was one of those things that unless she was still here in a few years Hermione would likely never know.

"Oh, it's going to be so fun! The ball is a blast, Hermione, plus Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays." Lily said, and Hermione couldn't stop the pain she felt at hearing Lily talk so enthusiastically about the day that would soon become her death date.

Pushing down her feelings of sadness and pain, Hermione tried to be excited about the ball.

"So, Lily," Marlene started slyly, "Who are you thinking about going to the ball with?"

Lily looked down, "I don't know, I haven't really thought about it yet."

"Of course, of course," Marlene said casually, lying on her bed flipping through a magazine, "Well, if you don't find anyone, I suppose you could always go with James. I have a feeling he might ask you anyways."

"Oh, that would be so cute," Hermione caught herself saying. Back home she was never really one for gossip, but she figured that this wasn't so much gossip as it was helping Harry's parents out. "I mean I've only been here a month and even I can tell he has a thing for you."

"Oh, Hermione, he's had his eye on Lily for as long as I can remember," Dorcas said as she glanced up from the papers sprawled across her bed. "He used to be a complete prick about it, but he really has grown up a bunch in the past couple years."

"Well, who are you guys going to take?" Lily asked looking flustered, clearly trying to avert the attention off of her.

"I'm going with Frank." Alice said casually, looking to the other girls to see what they would say.

Hermione hadn't really anticipated needing a date for anything in this time. She didn't know what she was going to do, it wasn't something she had thought about.

Looking at Dorcas and Marlene it seemed they were in the same position as her, not really knowing what to do.

Marlene was awkwardly looking at her bedframe when Dorcas began quietly, "Well, there's that one Ravenclaw boy I started studying with this year. So, maybe he'll ask me but I'm not really sure."

"Okay." Lily said slowly and unsurely, Hermione was sure Lily picked up the same uneasiness in Dorcas' voice that she did, and all the girls had enough sense not to push her any further. "What about you Marlene?" Lily continued, trying to offset the tension, "Don't think I didn't notice you and Sirius getting your flirt on again. Are you trying to bring that old fling back?"

"Oh, were you and Sirius together?" Hermione asked, surprised. It made sense they would have been together, the two of them are so similar, she just thought it weird she had never heard about it before.

"No, no. I mean, we got together a few times in fifth year, but it was never anything serious. He is looking fine this year though." Marlene said, smirking.

"Well that's nothing new." Alice said with a roll of her eyes.

"Who knows, maybe he'll ask me. I certainly wouldn't mind." She said with a laugh.

Even though the conversation was light, something felt off. Hermione just couldn't put her finger on it. Dorcas was back to staring at the papers on her bed although her eyes were unmoving.

Maybe it was just date nerves.

Hermione certainly felt tense herself when Marlene turned to her and said, "How about you, Hermione?"

"I don't know," She answered honestly, playing with the ends of her hair. "I've really only just gotten here and I don't know anyone who would ask me."

"Oh please," Lily said almost immediately, "I'm sure there will be a long list of guys waiting to ask you once the ball is officially announced."

"You think so?" Hermione asked unsure.

"Um, yeah." Lily continued looking at her, "For example, we all know Diggory will be on that list."

"Yeah, like half the school has been eying you up since you got here." Marlene said, backing her friend, "And rightfully so, may I add. Who wouldn't want a crack at the sexy, smart, mysterious transfer student."

"Honestly," Dorcas interjected, "If I were you, I would ask someone you get on with to go with you before anyone particularly undesirable asks and you feel pressured into saying yes."

"Do you guys really think that there are people that are going to ask me?" Hermione couldn't stop herself from wondering.

"Yes. Trust me." Alice said, "Frank has mentioned before that a few of the Ravenclaw boys have been eyeing you up, and I've got no doubt that the boys in other houses have been too."

This news felt so out of place to Hermione. She had never been one to receive much male attention. She did of course have her brief spurts with Viktor and Cormac and Ron, but she was never one of those girls like Ginny or Marlene that had guys lined up to have even a chance with them.

Especially now, Hermione barely spoke to anyone, it was completely weird to hear that there might be someone interested in her like that.

"Okay, okay," Hermione ended up saying, "I could totally find someone to go to the dance with."

But her thoughts didn't match her words. Hermione had no clue what she was going to do.

The next day the ball was officially announced and it was pure chaos.

The Great Hall erupted into chatter as looks were thrown around and girls burst out giggling.

Hermione looked around, enjoying all the happy faces and laughter when she realized that the girls may have been more spot on than she had originally thought. She noticed a few longing glances her way from guys from all houses, surprisingly, including Slytherin.

Hermione let herself truly observe the Slytherin table for the first time since she got here. It had been too painful before. But today she finally let her eyes wander.

She looked at the people sitting at the table, but still avoided looking at any one face for too long. She skimmed over Narcissa Black and a young Anthony Dolholv to a young Mulcibler. Most of those faces she had seen in her DADA class, so they didn't come as much of a surprise. However, as her gaze continued down the table and her eyes met a sharp silver she felt her heart skip a beat.

The silver eyes quickly left hers but still she sat there in shock.

Regulus Black.

How could she forget about him?

He looked so young. Still only fifteen or sixteen years old, Regulus was almost a carbon copy of his older brother.

They held the same aristocratic features, high cheekbones, flowing jet black hair, and of course the signature silver eyes, telling of the Black Family. Although they looked shockingly similar, the one major difference between the two boys was the way they carried themselves.

Sirius was constantly carefree and laidback, but Regulus held himself with a careful elegance, a graceful poise that Sirius didn't typically muster.

It was very alluring, how a teenager could hold such grace, the aura he created was enchanting.

Hermione remembered how in a few short years Regulus would sacrifice himself, just for the possibility of someday defeating Voldemort. How this man, no, this boy, would give up everything at 18 years old, just so someone may someday have a chance at defeating him. Hermione remembered how he died a noble death, but no one knew, his family thought he was Death Eater and he was remembered as such. He died with Sirius hating him. And Sirius died not knowing the sacrifice his brother would make. Not knowing he was a hero.

Hermione thought she was just beginning to get used to controlling her emotions, but here she was filled with sorrow and pain for poor Regulus and for Sirius who would never know what his brother did.

Hermione stared down at her plate as she attempted to get her emotions under control. Determined to contain herself, Hermione swallowed down her feelings as she plastered on a smile and tried to rejoin the conversation with the other Gryffindor's.

If she let her eyes wander just a little further down the Slytherin table she would have seen the cold, ice blue eyes watching her with interest.