The goblins did not respond back within the following week in regards to her application and interview for the position. It became clear to her that she was not chosen for the position. Two weeks following, she'd received an owl confirming as such. Its simple explanation read:

You were not selected based on the following reasons:

1) You are still a student at Hogwarts and have not yet graduated

2) There were more qualified candidates who applied for the position

3) You provided unclear and misleading information on your application for the job

4) It is believed you may cause undue harm to the bank at this time

and/or that the bank may cause harm to you

However, Gringotts may be interested in a future contract with you

on a preliminary basis as your performance throughout the process

was acceptable. Please contact us following your graduation so we may

reconsider this decision and provide reevaluation of your abilities.

Thank you,

Sriehearth Grey-steel, head goblin.

Hermione had accepted the letter with little fanfare as, luckily by this time, she'd already found a job with Flourish and Blotts instead at Lily's prodding. The bookkeeper there only managed the store and stated that the owner was often away on business. Their old salesperson was fired after they were found stealing from the till, and they were in such desperate straits that when Hermione walked in and asked if they were hiring they'd offered her a job on the spot. Hermione's familiarity with a number of books sold in their shop allowed relevant experience and increased sales to a degree that proved Hermione was the correct fit for the position.

The biggest perk to Hermione about working in a bookstore was the constant access to books she otherwise wouldn't be able to afford or have access to read if they weren't yet available in a library. During breaks or moments when sales at the store were slow, she was often found reading the books for sale and familiarizing herself with what knowledge was available during this time that wasn't widely known or otherwise taught at Hogwarts in the future. (Many such books were dark in nature, or had at some point become a banned practice of magic.)

Lily was thrilled for her, of course, as was Remus when Hermione wrote to him through their letters. To celebrate the occasion- despite Hermione's protests- Lily brought Hermione to a muggle bar and purchased a round of drinks for the two of them with a daring look in her eyes. When Lily realized there was a jukebox in the bar, she coerced Hermione into dancing with her as random songs populated from the jukebox. Hermione was able to let loose in a way she hadn't in a long time, laughing the night away as they danced horrifically and goofily. She was nearly crying from humor as she watched Lily fake a howl during the song 'Hungry Like a Wolf'. Lily drew the eyes of everyone in the bar, and Hermione realized that in some ways Lily was exactly as she imagined her to be and in other ways she was nothing like she would have pictured. The only thing missing from their celebration would have been Remus, and she knew he would have found the song to be ironic regardless of the fact that she wasn't supposed to know his status as a werewolf yet. He couldn't attend their celebration precisely for that reason- and that their celebratory evening happened to fall on a full moon.

When Lyall returned from between his trips abroad he spoke with her regarding her income and they scheduled an allotment of her pay that would go towards the household finances. She didn't necessarily agree with what Lyall demanded of her, but she wasn't going to argue with him as she was the one who had been displaced into the past and into their lives. She wasn't in a position for him to dig into her past any further, nor to make more people aware of her presence here than completely necessary yet. The impact she would have here in the past needed to be as minimal as possible, no conflicts. No differentiation aside from what was necessary.

Regardless of part of her paycheck being given to the Lupins, she was still able to tuck a hefty portion of the funds away into a savings account that she opened with Gringotts. She'd been a bit uncomfortable walking into the bank after she'd been rejected from them for their internship and was uncertain where she stood with them as she had no memories of that final interview. They set up a new account for her without issue under the name 'Hermione Granger-Lupin' as her request, numbered Vault 626, so she didn't bring her concerns up. (She couldn't very well ask for an account named to Hermione Granger alone, could she? Her younger self would be attempting to open an account there in about a decade's time in preparation for her very first year attending Hogwarts.) She ignored the knowing looks that the goblins threw at her as they moved out of her way and provided a politeness to her that was not afforded to any other wizards. Though she was uncertain of why or how exactly, it was clear she'd received the respect of the goblins here.

The weeks throughout that summer past quickly from then on. Different reports of Death Eater attacks- or muggle domestic terrorist attacks, as the muggle news was reporting- were broadcast with increasing frequency and instilled a sense of the dire times on magical and muggle alike. This was made especially clear as slowly reports of muggle-born and squib homes being attacked began trickling in. Hermione and Lily made a habit of taking the knight bus together to work and home each day, meeting for lunch when they could, in order to ensure they both arrived to and from their jobs safely. They often brought coffees or pastries for the other to share each morning as they met up. Remus and Hermione still wrote each other every morning. Mrs. Lupin encouraged Hermione to garden, and Mr. Lupin attempted to 'teach' Hermione how to defend herself against dark creatures in odd ways in between his trips. He'd leave pamphlets describing how to recognize certain creatures and how to combat them often on her nightstand in her bedroom. Most of them were outdated and Hermione did her best to resist the urge to mark in them the correct information she knew in the future. He'd occasionally provide useful information, however, with similarities to Remus's own teaching method from Hermione's third year.

As to how the rest of her summer was spent with her new horcrux hunt? Hermione had found herself impatiently resolved to wait for Dumbledore to approach her regarding the time travel before attempting to find any other horcruxes. She was correct in her first assessment that his resources would be invaluable, though her pride wished it was otherwise because she could do without his manipulations that were certain to be involved in any affairs between them. If anything, she could at least count on finding the diadem once she was able to attend classes.

Before she knew it, it was the week before her last year of Hogwarts would begin. It was strange to spend it away from those she'd gone to school with previously. She attempted to ignore that thought as best as she could and the mixed feelings she had as a result. She submitted her two weeks' notice to Flourish and Blotts, and they asked her to reach out to them after she graduated if she needed a position again then. She wasn't likely to realistically, as having access to the Gringott's vaults would still take precedence.

Hermione had been in the past fully now for about three months or more, as she was uncertain how many weeks exactly she'd spent in the hospital wing at Hogwarts prior to her placement with the Lupins, and Hermione was almost beginning to feel as if she belonged more in this time than she did in the future. Almost, being the key word in her predicament.

Harry and Ron were still her family, or would be in any case, and she had never wanted to leave her parents obliviated to their own daughter and living a second life in Australia the way she did. She'd wanted more for all of them, and she never wanted this. She never wanted to be alone. She wanted her future, and she also wanted a better future than the one she left behind when she traveled here.

She refused to let herself feel as if Hope or Remus or Lily were becoming her family here, even though that's exactly how she'd been feeling more and more as the days past. They were a means to an end, they had to be in order to help provide sanctuary to her here, she tried to convince herself. They couldn't be more, because she couldn't be more than a passing thought to them when she was gone or until a specific plan was in place. Moreover, they couldn't be anything more than that because if she allowed them to then it would hurt her significantly if she couldn't change the future... and they died as they did in her own time.

It was all so confusing to her. 'To do or not to do, that is the question.' Hermione felt like she was in over her head.

It was also startling to Hermione that the more she tried to deny her growing friendship with Lily, the more it seemed their friendship solidified. That began to apply with more and more aspects within Hermione's life, no matter how she fought it, and one morning when Hermione awoke she reluctantly accepted the feeling that Lupin Cottage felt like her home. She shared this feeling with no one.

Remus and Hermione coordinated a day to meet up to go school supply shopping with him and his friends. Lily was included with a warning that James would be present on the trip, though Lily still consented to go with a look of distaste at the thought of him.

When the day arrived that they would all meet and shop together, there were two days remaining until they would need to board the train. It was definitely a more last minute shopping trip than Hermione would have preferred, but she suffered it for Remus and Lily. She awoke that morning, went about her usual routine with Hope (which some mornings surprisingly consisted of listening to the radio to hear 'The Beetles' or 'Queen' and 'Elton John'), and then left on her bike to meet Lily at her home before taking the bus.

When she rode up to Lily's house, she was surprised to see there was someone else already waiting on the doorstep. Black hair, a hooked nose, and piercing eyes. Who else could it be except a young Severus Snape? He'd turned to glare at her when she rode up, with only a hint of confusion showing on his face before it was wipe under a mask of indifference. He didn't concern himself with her as he turned back to the door and attempted to ring the bell again.

"Lily, please open up so I can stop making a fool of myself in front of your neighbors, this is getting ridiculous."

"GO AWAY SNIVELUS! MY ANSWER STILL HASN'T CHANGED!" Lily's voice called back through the door distantly.

Severus was unperturbed by Lily's rebuffs and tried again, "Please Lily, I'm sorry! It's our last year in school, and I don't want to end it like this. I'd give anything to take back what I called you, you must know that! I never meant to-"

The door slammed open to Petunia, ever with a superior posture, looking at Snape like he was a bug under her shoe. "Listen you little freak. Leave before I call the bobbies and they put you somewhere that even your stupidly backwards society can't break you out of without wasting everyone's time! She told you before to 'go away', so go! Shoo!" Petunia swatted at Snape with a rolled up newspaper, wacking him solidly across the face multiple times as he jerked back. "No one wants you here! And the less freaks gathered, the better! We've already got enough without the likes of you!" She made to swat at him again, and he snatched the paper from Petunia's hands aggressively and threw it across the grass on the front lawn where it scattered.

"Careful, 'Tuney," Snape mocked, mouth twisted in annoyance. "What will 'perfectly normal' Vernon think if he sees me turn you into the trash you are? One wave of my wand, and everyone will see that you are full of-"

Lily appeared at Petunia's side, the two of them standing in an image of support and camaraderie that Hermione was unaware still existed between the sisters, without a hint of the troubled relationship Hermione knows they have. Petunia folded her arms with a huff as she stared Snape down. Snape refocused his attentions on Lily, his body deflating as he opened his mouth to continue apologizing.

Lily didn't want to hear it, "Leave, Snape. I won't tell you again."

"Lily, please, you have to-"

Lily shoved him hard, and he stumbled back without fighting her. "Go! Get out of here, I don't care about whatever sorry excuse you have! Especially not after YOU THREATENED MY SISTER!"

"You hate your sister! And it was only empty words, you know that I would never-"

"I believe they told you to go," Hermione said firmly, pressing her wand tip to the back of Severus' head. He hadn't noticed her approaching as he would have from her time, so she'd caught him unaware and vulnerable. His body stiffened as he recognized he would have no choice in the matter. "And while your words may lack action, trust that my actions will not be lacking in threat."

He could feel the tip of Hermione's wand burning into his head and he hissed at the pain. "I won't forget this," he assured her darkly. "When we get to school, you will regret getting involved."

Hermione twisted her wand and it pulled painfully at his shaggy hair as she tugged him to turn towards the road. "The only one of us who regrets anything here is you, obviously," Hermione droned in a tone that radiated her memories of an older Severus Snape. She spoke more quietly to him as she released him at the sidewalk, far from the two girls watching them in the doorway of the Evans' home still. "And if your words are as empty as you say, then maybe you should try making up your transgressions to Lily with actions that have more meaning."

"You don't know what you ask of me to do! You don't know anything!" Snape snapped harshly, memorizing Hermione's features to find again in school. "It's not worth-"

Hermione couldn't temper her impatience anymore and cut him off, her tone bearing no room for argument, shoving him back roughly. "I don't know anything? What were you going to say, that Lily's not worth it? She's worth more than you'll ever be able to admit to yourself! The fact that you're choosing anything else over her shows that you're the one who must not know anything! Can't you see how wonderful she is or how much of an impact she could have in your life? If you care about her like you claim, then why haven't you even once put her first before your ambitions?"

He scoffed, face burning in anger as a practiced look of indifference washed over him, and he strode away with a dramatic flair without responding.

Hermione bit down on the flare of annoyance she felt rising towards Snape, fighting the urge to keep nagging at him that if he truly wanted his friendship with Lily back that he would make different choices, and the magic pulsed in her wand dangerously before a pair of arms wrapped around her in a hug and she felt a presence leaning comfortingly against her back. Her magic dying out at the suddenness, Hermione was only able to turn partially around to see Lily hugging her close.

"Thanks for standing up for me Hermione," Lily's hair tickled as it brushed against Hermione's face. Lily was looking at Hermione with appreciation and fondness, "If that doesn't prove you deserve to be in Gryffindor, then I don't know what will."

Hermione looked away nervously, her anxiety causing her to clam up and she shrugged in response. The movement was minimal with Lily's arms still wrapped around her. She felt oddly stiff and warm at the prolonged contact, though she rationed the feeling away at the embarrassment she felt. She said more than she meant to and also hadn't meant to lose her temper in such a way, and she was certain she'd hinted at information that she might not have been meant to know. Lily didn't question it though so Hermione attempted to move on rather than dwell on it. Lily pulled away and then turned to look at her sister.

The two girls- having shown such solidarity towards one another only moments before- were now glaring daggers at each other. Lily still begrudgingly bit out, "Thanks 'Tuney."

Petunia rolled her eyes and waved Lily away, "Whatever. Just get out of the way so I can go visit Vernon." Petunia peeled out of the driveway and down the street not a moment later in the car, clearly trying to leave the experience with her sister behind her.

Shaking her head, Lily called for the knight bus and then grabbed Hermione's hand to pull her along after as they both climbed onto the bus. She pulled Hermione down onto a seat beside her and smiled brightly, "I can't wait until you see Hogwarts! I'll eat my hair if you're anything except Gryffindor- though it would be okay, of course, if you were. There's nothing wrong with the other houses. I could see you in Ravenclaw too." Lily peered closely at Hermione, and Hermione flushed at the close attention. "Blue would be a good color on you, I think, but red would make you divine."

Hermione laughed uncomfortably, nervously rubbing the back of her neck. "I guess we'll see at the sorting, won't we?"

"Yes, we will." Lily's hand gripped Hermione's tighter as the bus quickly pulled up to their stop. Hermione stared at their hands in bewilderment as Lily didn't seem inclined to release it any time soon. As they were exiting the bus Lily said, "You should brace yourself for the zoo, Hermione. Black and Potter are quite literally animals that cause chaos everywhere they go."

An unknown arm threw itself across Hermione's shoulders as an unfamiliar male voice spoke, "Awww Evans, I didn't know you cared! You shouldn't forget poor Remus, he's a bit animalistic himself-"

Lily shoved the arm off of Hermione and huffed, "Black, you great big oaf. Figures you'd give us the jump. Where's Remus and Potter?"

Sure enough as Hermione took in his smooth features she realized the boy who stood before her was a young Sirus Black, grinning devilishly at them. He put up his hands in a defensive gesture, "Easy Evans! Just getting to know Remus's cousin here. Who knew she would be such a pretty bird?" He winked at Hermione flirtatiously. "Those two are already in Diagon, I only just got here myself. Thought I'd wait for you two before going through the Leaky." He offered his arm to Hermione, but Lily tugged her closer and pressed up to Hermione's side. Her hand released Hermione's and shifted up to loop their arms together instead, effectively blocking off Sirus from any further contact.

"You should know better than to wait up, Black." Lily pointedly jerked on Hermione's arm as she began storming away. Hermione stumbled after her with Black following on their heels. Lily powered through the bar, not stopping to speak to Tom even as Sirus lingered to pay for a drink. Tom poured him a drink that Sirus swiftly threw back as the girls both reached the exit. Sirus slammed his payment down on the counter, swiped his arm across his face, and then raced after them as Lily tapped her wand against the brick stones and opened the alley.

He caught up with them as they walked into the bustling crowd. They weren't the only Hogwarts student's doing some last minute school shopping. "They're at the Menagerie," he said a bit breathlessly. "Potter was looking to get another owl and Remus wanted to wait to get books until you both got here." They were able to push their way through to get to the Menagerie, though they couldn't find the others at first when they arrived. After a bit of wandering around the crammed space, they found the boys at the complete opposite end of the store from where the owls were located.

Remus and Potter- James Potter, Hermione had to remind herself even as her thoughts recalled Harry- were both huddled over an enlarged glass terrarium. There was no heating lamp, so Hermione assumed the enclosure was enchanted to keep the reptiles warm as she realized the creatures kept in the terrarium were snakes. As they got closer, Hermione could hear the two boys making ridiculous hissing sounds at the snakes.

"Mate, what are you doing?" Sirus asked as he clapped James on the back.

James stood up straight, grinning as he punched Remus in the arm to get his attention. "Pretending we're parslemouths, of course. Overheard some Slytherin-type bloke talking about it like it was some great privilege all 'noble purebloods' had as he talked piss about Remus in the same breath, so we thought we'd show him it's not all it's cracked up to be if not even the great house of Potter can do it. Hasn't really been working, though I'm pretty sure that one understands me." James pointed to a random snake in the terrarium with ebony green scales.

Remus rubbed the soreness from his arm away and laughingly conceded, "I couldn't let this one make a fool of himself on his own, could I? It ended up scaring off the little Slytherin a while ago. Plus, it seemed like an educational experience."

"Babbling at snakes is educational?" Lily asked teasingly.

"Oh, absolutely," James interjected, nodding his head faux earnestly. "You know how seriously I take my education now that I know how attractive you find intelligence."

Lily groaned in annoyance as Sirus laughed, "Fuck off Potter. Go back to speaking gibberish. You sound more intelligent when no one can understand you."

"If you really want to take your education Sirius-ly," Sirus goaded with a cheesy pun, kneeling before the glass tank. He shook the terrarium with wild abandon, disturbing the snakes in the enclosure and knocking them around. Hermione lunged forward in protest as Sirus continued, "You have to hiss more attractively, like this." He was somehow able to make the most disturbing hissing moan sound come out of his mouth that the others immediately decided they would rather never hear ever again.

The snakes, bothered by the abrupt and careless shaking of their enclosure, were poised tensely. Teeth bared, body coiled to strike, venom dripping as they hissed their warning.

"See? Now we're having a conversation!" Sirus opened his mouth to start hissing again when Hermione cut in front of him and delicately moved the terrarium back onto it's dais as Sirus protested. "Oh, c'mon little Remus! Don't kill all the fun!"

One of the snakes- the ebony green one- lunged at the glass where her hands held the terrarium still and smacked into it harshly. Hermione tried not to flinch at the motion, knowing logically that the glass wasn't likely to break so easily with the enchantments in place.

"Easy now," Hermione murmured softly. "I won't let him disturb you again."

The snake immediately relaxed its posture, tongue flicking out curiously. It watched her closely as she settled the tank in the center, safely, though the snake didn't curl up to sleep as it did before.

"There you go, safe and sound," Hermione assuaged as she began to turn around to give a stern dressing down to Sirus Black about his treatment of animals.

"No one issss ssssafe in thisssss prissson," a raspy voice called behind her. Hermione froze mid-turn, flashes of a forest she didn't recognize filled her mind. "Can you hear me, human? Do you sssspeak our tongue?"

"Let's go to Flourish and Blotts. The snakes are boring and we don't want to be here too long in case Sirus gets any ideas about letting them loose across the store," Lily leaned in to quietly say to Hermione, tugging gently on her sleeve. She couldn't hide her words from Sirus though, who was clearly using his animagus hearing.

"Now there's an idea!" Sirus exclaimed viciously. He lunged for the lid of the tank behind Hermione and Hermione immediately blocked his path again.

Now she was truly angry.

"You can't just use the snakes in a setting like this where they could be harmed! Pulling a prank is one thing, but that would be animal cruelty if one of the owls or other animals thought they were a tasty snack! Or what if there are other customers and you cause a panic that gets the snakes trampled? Leave them alone or so-help-me Sirius Black I will make sure you regret it!" The others blinked at her incomprehensibly as Hermione's hair began to spark from agitation, looking at her with wide eyed expressions as she drove her point home by poking Sirus in the chest. Her eyes almost flashed a different color. Almost. She continued her rant without noticing. "Animals have feelings too! Thoughts, souls- whether you can understand them or not does not change the fact that using them to play your stupid pranks is careless and cruel. Grow up and stop acting like a child!"

She registered then their expressions of bewilderment and concern as she slowed to catch her breath.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"They can't underssstand you, witch," the voice behind her hissed again. Hermione turned back to look at the ebony green snake. It had moved so that it's head was sitting up partially coiled, lengthy body swaying as it seemingly stared straight at her. Now that she caught a good look at it, she could see that the snake was horned with a spiked tail. It was clearly not a native creature to the British Isles. "You're sssspeaking the language of sserpentsss now, of ussss, of parssseltongue. I can ssssee it within you, now- what strange magickss you hold, your power, your ssstrength, your promissse..." It's tongue flicked, tasting the air as if it could taste the magic sparking from her.

"Ho-ly shit," Sirus swore in utter surprise. James was gaping at her, and Remus's face was indecipherable. Lily was looking at her differently, as if she was trying to piece something together. "Are you actually talking to the bloody thing?" Remus placed his hand on her shoulder, offering his support as Sirus's tone.

"Hermione?" Lily asked hesitantly, glancing quickly to the terrarium behind her as the snake seemed to follow Hermione's every movement.

"You are not like the other ssspeakers my kind hasss known. Different," the snake's tongue flicked again. "Though I am young for my kind, if you take me with you then know that I can help you achieve great thingsss. Find treassuresssss. Hear sssecretss. Wield magicksss now unknown to your kind. Become more powerful than you knew you could be."

"I- I'm not in a position to get a familiar," Hermione attempted to explain. "I don't belong here, I can't free you. I'm sorry."

"Ssssorry? Thissss word issss meaninglesssss to me, but my promissse sstands. I could be a familiar to you, my loyalty unwavering if you would free me. Do you know of my kind? The offspring of the grootslang?"

"Hermione, if you want to get it then you should," Remus said hesitantly. He gave her a look that offered uncertain, but trusting support. He hedged on, "It's not everyday a witch can get a familiar she can, erm, speak to."

"Are you bloody joking, mate?" Sirus asked, outraged. "She's a parslemouth! There's not a good witch or wizard of the lot who can actually speak it! Why are you encouraging her?"

"Sirus, you were joking about speaking parsletongue not a moment ago. You don't know Hermione as well as I do, but she's definitely not a dark witch-"

"I'm- you will be better off with someone else. You'll thank me for it later," Hermione rationalized firmly. Though she had doubted it momentarily, the snake oddly convincing, there was no telling what her immediate future would hold. Any difference she made here, if she made any difference at all, could destroy the entire future and people she knew.

The snake curled around away from them with a disappointed hiss, and ignored the group and Hermione going forward. Hermione blinked as she turned away and attempted to focus her mind and mouth on forming proper words. Was this how it was for Harry? Was it really so easy to slip into parseltongue and believe she was speaking English?

"You can! That's unbelievable! Remus, I thought you said she was a muggle-born?" Sirus questioned Remus insistently.

"She is," Remus and Lily exclaimed haltingly at once before pausing to look at each other. Hermione bristled at the amount of attention the group had towards her, her tolerance quickly dropping for the situation and Sirius's antics. She could feel her magic pulsing through her in time with her heartbeat.

"Muggle-borns can't speak parseltongue though. Everyone knows that! You sure she's not related to you from your Lupin-blooded side of the family?" Sirius pressed relentlessly.

Remus pushed back, "I'm positive, mate. Let it go."

Sirius shook his head in disagreement, not backing down. "No. I want to trust you, but she's clearly hiding something or lying to you if she's a parselmouth yet claims she's a muggle. If she's not an evil bint or sucking up to Volde-shit then why won't she tell us what it is? Don't trust us, love?"

Remus's eyes were glowing amber as his werewolf within began to become disrespected from Sirius's challenging demeanor. "Why do you assume she hasn't talked to us about it already or that she's hiding something I don't already know? If you claim that hiding something makes one untrustworthy, and so they obviously are also evil, then what do you think it is that I'm hiding that makes me untrustworthy to you?"

Sirius opened his mouth as if to cut Remus off, but Remus continued in sharp tones, "Or am I untrustworthy to Hermione? Do you think it's time I tell her my secret? Or is Hermione untrustworthy because you just met her after I claimed her as family, and you don't know anything about her so of course it seems like she has secrets? Or are we upset at Hermione for not hiding the fact she's a parselmouth, should she have kept that secret? I need to understand what your logic is here, Sirius. Do you not trust Hermione, or do you not trust me?"

The group stilled. Sirius was obviously thrown from Remus's outright accusations. Remus had called out Sirius's hypocrisies by comparing Hermione's secrets to his own wolfish secret. Sirius had been puffed up in anger, a retort sitting on the edge of his lips, but that all died out at Remus's suggestion and sharp goading. His eyes watched Hermione a moment as if reconsidering, and then he shrugged/

"Look at her hair," James pointed out, grabbing a strand of Hermione's sparking hair and half-lifting it as Hermione slapped his hand away. The group's attention was successfully diverted for the moment. "She looks like Medusa from the Greek myths. Her hair is twisting and uncurling like little snakes."

"Medusa? I think we just got our nickname for her, boys," Sirus threw his arms around the shoulders of Remus and James, and turned his head to Remus to apologize. "I trust you mate, I'm sorry. I let anger and curiosity get the best of me there," Sirius then turned to Hermione to apologize to her as well. "You too, Hermione. Remus is right in that I don't know you yet. Shouldn't have let myself grow paranoid about what I don't know and let it get out of hand like that. That comes from the Black family, I'm afraid. If Remus says you're not an evil bint regardless of the snake speech, then you're alright with me. I don't care if you talk to snakes so long as you aren't one yourself. No Slytherins allowed with us." Sirius winked teasingly, "Welcome to the Marauders, Medusa."

Lily shoved them away and stood possessively in front of Hermione, "Oh no, there is no 'us' here. She's mine, and she's definitely not a Marauder or going to be a part of your little miscreant group boys club." Lily finally managed to grab Hermione's arm and dragged her away from them. "Finders, keepers and I found her first, so..." Lily blew a raspberry at Sirius as she led Hermione towards the exit to the pet store.

"Oooooh, that's hot," Sirus drawled, trailing after them and pulling the other two along. "I think Hermione's stealing your girl, Prongs. What's your take on letting that happen?"

"I'm not his girl," Lily bit out as James blustered and Remus laughed at their expense. "Potter has no role in letting anything happen because his opinion has no say in my personal life and does not matter to me, and also is such a sexist suggestion that I might hex you into next year. Oh, and Hermione isn't stealing anything."

"Up yours, Sirius," Hermione bit back while making a rude gesture that Lily repeated in solidarity. "Our friendship is not up for your speculation."

"Does that mean there actually is something to speculate on then?" Sirius gibed, wagging his eyebrows suggestively. "Methinks thou doth protest too much! Lily, tell me exactly how 'finders/keepers' works? Is it a muggle ritual?"

"Was that a Shakespeare reference, Sirius? Do you actually read?" Hermione snarked teasingly. "Or did you learn it just for me?"

Sirius laughed a bit uncomfortably, the reference obviously missed, "What does Shakespeare have to do with you, exactly? Are you relatives?" Lily, Remus and Hermione all sniggered.

"Wait! I still need to get an owl!" James called out, lagging behind them and effectively changing the course of the conversation. Hermione oddly felt relieved with the conversation changed and the attention off of her.

"What happened to Lucy?" Lily asked curiously, referring James's family owl.

"Erm," James looked sheepish. "Nothing happened. Mum wouldn't let me take her to school this year on account of the flying paint fiasco last year. Didn't want me to get paint stuck all in her feathers again."

"Just use the school owl's, Prongsie, like us common folk," Remus joked, looking at the girls as he continued. "We've got bigger books to buy."

"Was that another muggle phrasing, Moony?" Sirius inquisitively probed. "I need to brush up on muggle terminology."


****************************************PRESENT TIME: SUMMER BETWEEN PRISONER OF AZKABAN AND GOBLET OF FIRE*********************************************

Sirius gripped both sides of the sink tightly, eyes clenched shut and fighting the urge to shatter the mirror in front of him. Twelve years. He had been imprisoned in Azkaban for twelve years. That's how long that coward rat could hide from him, tricking Sirius into believing that the bloody piece-of-shite was dead. Letting Sirius believe he could allow himself to suffer for the wrongs he let happen to his family.

Prongs was dead. Lily was dead. Harry was parent-less. Regulus... dead. Remus was AWOL. Peter betrayed them.

Sirius couldn't defeat Voldemort on his own- he wasn't so rash as to risk that, even in his most hotheaded of moments- but Sirius knew that he could stop the filthy plight that betrayed his best mates at the prime of their lives. Prongs was his brother, and Lily was practically his sister in law. Sirius had stood as best man for their wedding and vowed to his utmost that he would safeguard their secrets, uplift them in friendship and prosperity, and to avenge their injustices when they could not act with their own wands or clarity.

To compound upon the familial bonds that extended to him both as brothers growing up after taking blood oaths (the typical spitting on hands, cutting open the palms, and grasping each others hands while swearing the other his brother) and becoming animagi together, the oath he took as their best man and the additional oath he took as godfather to their child ensured that Sirius felt as much responsible for their deaths as Peter's direct betrayal was.

Sirius should have known. Sirius should have seen Peter's shifting eyes, his delays, the frequency with which his missions would run amok, his feeble excuses, his expressions of disgust. There had been one too many ways that Sirius could have found the dark magic that now tainted Peter's own naive persona, twisting it into the foul rat he now was. A rat who could promise to be secret keeper, and release that secret with the knowledge that it would kill his own. Sirius should have known what Peter was capable of.

He was to blame, not simply for that blind trust, but also for being the man to suggest choosing Peter in the first place. Foolishly, he'd believed that all others in magical society would be well aware of Sirius Black's connection to the Potter's. He believed that he would be a target for the Death Eaters to hit their hardest. He believed he might be swayed through torture, or pleasure, or other magical means. After all, how easy had it been when he was provoked by Snape to tell Remus's wolfy secret? No magic or coercion involved with that one. Simply his own stupidity and nerve.

Snivellus almost died. Remus was almost outed as a dark creature. Sirius could have been expelled or sentenced to Azkaban even then. He could never forgive himself for it.

That distrust in himself was compounded in Remus. Where had Remus been but in the thick of it himself, unable to be contacted and practically swimming in dark magic as he attempted to sway the allegiance of the werewolf packs? What if he had been chosen as secret keeper for the Potters instead, and been killed while in the packs? How long would it be before they would find out of Remus's fate, and by extension, that the location of James and Lily would be compromised? What if Greyback had discovered what Remus truly was in connection to James and Lily, and pulled rank as Remus's sire to order the information of their location out of him? Remus had not been able to attend Lily and Jame's wedding. He had not made the same oaths as a best man or groomsman, he was not bound to the same strength of familial magic as Sirius was or even Peter- bound as he was to a lesser extent. Moreover, it had always been in Remus's nature to be honest to a fault. His morals had always compelled Remus to be the first to break under pressure unless one of the others spoke up first with a plausible story.

Remus couldn't be trusted either and was nearly a missing person at the time, nor did Sirius ever want to place Remus into a position again where Remus's secret may be exposed to the larger wizarding world. Sirius also believed that he himself couldn't be trusted due to his wavering past and was too obvious a choice to boot. Sirius could instead act as a decoy in this situation- calling the attention and danger to himself by pretending to be the "secret keeper". This suited his talents much better.

So of course when Sirius was asked to be secret keeper, Sirius blindly recommended Peter for the job. Peter, who didn't have the backbone to get in touch with someone that dark or dangerous and betray his friends. Peter, who had at least some familial oaths as a groomsman at the Potter's wedding, having also undergone the animagus transformation with them. Peter, who was too weak to fight or play any deeply meaningful role in the war. Peter, a forgettable, average looking, weak, unintelligent, talentless and spineless boy who was always the follower standing on the sidelines of quidditch games, but never an active participant. No one would think of Peter as being the secret keeper. He seemed to be the perfect fit for the role, and was eager to play an active role in the protection of his best friends.

The facts were all there, clearly and plainly: Sirius through his own negligence was as much to blame for the deaths of the Potters as Peter was. He was determined to seek justice on behalf of their loss, on behalf of Harry's loss. He sought that justice by hunting Peter down, using a bombarda maxima that should have been just strong enough to crash Peter through a department store window behind him had the whole block not been blown to bits instead. It shouldn't have been possible, and yet Sirius was well aware that his emotions could have supercharged the amount of magic he'd powered into the spell and caused the excessive explosion. When Sirius saw the corpses of the twelve muggles on the sidewalks, the blood splatter and bits of random people, and nothing tangible remaining where Peter stood except a finger...

He had been to blame for James and Lily. He'd known that for over a decade. He had avenged them by killing Pettigrew. He was to blame for the deaths of all those muggles. The injustices done here had not yet been rectified in whole.

Sirius felt he deserved to go to Azkaban. He deserved the suffering. His soul was already gone without his family, with all that he'd negligently killed, so he too deserved to have his soul completely taken from him. He was counting down the days until he would be the empty husk of a man he felt he was when Fudge dropped that paper in his cell and he saw the rat alive.

Sirius couldn't protect his family, or even avenge his mates correctly as he thought he'd done twelve years ago. And Sirius couldn't even see fit to fulfill his one duty as godfather by providing the care and support his godson surely needed. He wasn't even to blame for the deaths of those muggles as he'd first believed.

Wormtail would pay.

And so Sirius made his escape. Sirius proved his innocence to Harry, to Remus, to Dumbledore even if that blasted old man likely had already suspected his innocence from the start and allowed Sirius to be imprisoned anyway. Snape interrupted Sirius's second chance to obtain vengeance for the Potters. Peter escaped again. Sirius was nearly sent back to Azkaban, to that soul-sucking place, and was miraculously given a chance to prove his innocence for certain. Sirius was residing at his childhood home- 12 Grimmauld Place again- and offering his assistance to Dumbledore again as his new prison became the headquarters to the Order of Phoenix. He was once again told he could never step foot outside of the residence until officially declared an innocent man. Here he stood, in a bathroom with fading wallpaper, clutching the sink, clenching his eyes shut, grinding his teeth and fighting the urge to shatter the mirror before him. The reflection that stood there looking old and crazed and broken. The man he had grown into while in Azkaban. A man who was as broken as the mirror who dared to show it should be.

He opened his eyes and willed his fingers to relax as he breathed in a shuddering breath. He resisted the urge to break the mirror.

Sirius would have to adjust to the differences in himself, just like Hermione Lupin had to back then after what she'd gone through.

Now there was a thought that made him stop. How could he have forgotten about Hermione Lupin? She had only gone to school with them for the one year, but the impact she'd had on their lives had been astounding. He hadn't thought of her since the night they'd gotten pissed at her shared flat with Lily, before Lily and James had gotten married. Surely she had been at the Potter's wedding, hadn't she? Why couldn't he remember clearly?

It was nagging at him now more than the drained man in the mirror was. Sirius found himself compelled to chase this thought.

What about Hermione?

He exited the lavatory and made quick work of heading towards his bedroom. Remus had given him a box of his old belongings that had been left behind when he'd been imprisoned, as well as a few belongings of James's that James would have wanted Sirius to hold onto. There had been a photo album in there. One Sirius intended to give to Harry when Harry came to live with him at Grimmauld Place, knowing it contained photos Harry had never before seen of his family. Sirius didn't have the heart at the time to look through it himself. How could he withstand seeing the faces of those he let down, of those that were killed as a result of his action? He couldn't stomach the shame. He set the album aside with Harry in mind and hadn't worried about the photo album again.

Now, though, Sirius wondered if the same feeling that compelled him to currently seek out information about Hermione had been the same feeling that compelled him to disregard the album originally? Maybe it hadn't been shame that made him set the album aside rather than looking through it. Maybe it had been a variation of a notice-me-not charm, spelled to be noticed specifically when Hermione had been remembered by Sirius? That didn't quite make sense because-

Well, because Hermione also existed in this time regardless of how strange it was. She was younger here, and in Ravenclaw of all things. Harry wasn't close to the Hermione of this time, and it would be strange for a middle-aged escaped convict with probably only half his soul remaining to approach a forth year school-girl. She'd probably try to run or subdue him on sight if Sirius tried, sensible as she seemed. This Hermione was so similar to the Hermione he'd known- the appearances between them uncanny- and yet how could they be the same when this Hermione was so subdued and the Hermione he'd known so brash?

Sirius reached his room, not bothering to shut the door behind him as the others hadn't yet begun to move into Grimmauld with him yet, and hastily pulled out the box of belongings from under his bed. He shuffled through the miscellaneous items with increasing urgency. He needed to find the photo album, he knew. The secret to Hermione Lupin's whereabouts was in there. The answer was here, in his hands, if he could just find it. She disappeared, he remembered. No one knew if was willingly or if she'd been taken. There had been no evidence to say for certain.

Hermione Lupin was simply gone.

There had to be more to it than that. That niggling feeling in his mind was telling him that there was more to it than that. He knew something about where Hermione Lupin went. She might still be alive, or at the least she might have left answers. She always had answers.

He pulled out the photo album, threadbare in many places with ugly beads falling from the patchwork covering, from the bottom of the box painstakingly. How hadn't he noticed the hum of magic the album contained? The familiarity of the magic as it confidently nudged his own before receding that had clearly been cast by Hermione? He'd thought this had been another photo album that James and Lily had created, but now that Sirius could remember Hermione more clearly he knew with certainty that this photo album had been hers. It had been her own beaded bag with the extension charm that she'd transfigured into this book, the very same beads that now fell from its threads.

He'd watched as she scrawled her name haphazardly along the inside that night they'd been drinking, 'Property of Hermione Gra the Great Lupin', shushing him drunkenly after Sirius laughed when she'd had to cross out 'great' after beginning to write in its alternative 'grate'. She crossed one arm around the book to prevent him from seeing whatever more gibberish she'd decided to write down within it and stood suddenly. She'd slurred to him something about having learned a protection for the album from the goblins after slamming the album shut. She'd tapped the album twice with her wand while murmuring an incantation too quietly for him to hear, and it had glowed with a brilliant fiery color before settling into a normal-looking photo album. Whatever the protection spell had been had clearly been useless in preserving the book since its creation based on the current state of it.

Hermione Lupin and Sirius had then gotten even more pissed after the photo album had been created, and Sirius remembered the two of them making a frivolous wizarding promise to each other with drunken insistence, one he still couldn't quite remember any more details about aside from remembering that the promise had originally been his own idea and that the repercussions involved getting a particular brand of salty cheese if the promise was broken.

He needed to stop dallying and open the damned book!

He flipped open the cover to see Hermione's name scrawled indelicately over half of the page and sniggered before flipping to the first page of photos. He'd remember Hermione Lupin had written a lot more than only her name in the photo album, but there had been nothing else written on that cover page that he could see.

The first few photos were mostly of Remus and Lily, unsurprisingly as Hermione had been practically glued to the hip to both of them. Further in, there had even surprisingly been a few photos of Petunia and Regulus tucked away. Sirius couldn't remember entirely how closely Hermione's friendships with them had been, and hadn't been aware that she'd have much time to spend with muggles at all or that his brother would deign to speak with her. There were more photos now of some of the marauders together, a few of Hermione with Lily at quidditch games, Hermione and Lily banded together in concentration as they casted brilliant charmwork together. Lily was with James in the dorms in one photo, both of them looking as awkward as humanly possible, with Sirius with Marlene dancing through the Great Hall in another. There was a rare photo of Remus and Hope as he tried on graduation robes, and one with Hermione, Remus, and Hope altogether in their cottage garden with mud over their clothes. As he continued to flip feverishly through the photo album, drinking in the sights of the children they could never be again, he distractedly noted that there was not a singular photo of Peter included. There had been moments Sirius could remember Peter being there, photos showing such moments as the figures would wave or laugh, that had to have been timed purposefully to have just missed including Peter in them.

Had Hermione always known what would come to pass with Peter?

As the pages eventually ran out of photos, and the pages of the photo album continued to stay empty of any written words but never-ending in empty pages, Sirius paused. This book honestly had begun to feel as if it was never-ending. Sirius quickly attempted to thumb through the remaining pages, and the brush of papers against his thumb as they rapidly flipped to the opposite side went on for a few long moments until Sirius began to feel a blister forming from the action and stopped. Was the photo album actually never-ending? Had clever Hermione somehow figured out a way to transition the undetectable extension charm when she'd transfigured the beaded bag into this photo album that evening? Was there a hidden pocket somewhere in the photo album that held the secrets Sirius was looking for?

Sirius turned back to the cover letter at the very front, rereading where Hermione had signed. 'The Property of Hermione Gra the Great Lupin'. The Property of Hermione. What were Hermione's rules when it came to books that were in her property?

He could remember her now in perfect clarity reprimanding him on numerous occasions in the library. Don't dog-ear the pages. Don't eat food around the books. Don't tear out the pages. Be quieter and more respectful of the people in your surroundings. Never use books with dirty hands. Make sure to use books in clean areas. Never tug a book out from a shelf from the top of the spine. Avoid direct sunlight or bright lights. Do not write inside the books. Always return the books back to their sections, or at the minimum to Madam Pince. Do not set books on fire or use in silly pranks. He could go on and on with Hermione's demands in regards to the proper care of books.

Photo albums were of course very different than that of typical books, but perhaps Hermione had given Sirius a hint as to where he could find the answers. Sirius ran his fingers along the spine of the book, feeling for any rifts or holes or bumps. The spine itself, though a bit tattered, did not hold a secret compartment within it. Sirius accio'd a quill and ink from his desk, though it was clumpy and clotted the quill a bit from the age of the ink, it did the trick as Sirius began shakily writing distinctly below Hermione's signature. 'Property of Sirius the Padfoot Black'. He waited a moment as the ink dried to see if the words would change or if some other magic would occur.

His words remained stationary on the cover page, unchanging, as a blot of gunky ink fell to the page. It smeared as Sirius attempted fruitlessly to wipe it off, and Sirius swore under his breath.

Sirius grabbed a corner of the cover page, considered his next action a second time, and then committed himself to said action as he tore the page out loudly from the album. When nothing happened, he tore out another page, and then another- why wasn't it working? Sirius tore the book entirely in half as his emotions got the best of him. He cried out in rage as his wand prepared to light the mess of the book on fire.

Chest heaving, Sirius started shaking as he crumpled in on himself crying. None of it was working. He'd torn the book apart trying to find whatever information had been hidden there. He was failing his family yet again. He needed to remember. Whatever it was he'd promised Hermione that night, he knew he needed to remember. He couldn't be blamed for letting her down, too.

Remus had taken her loss incredibly hard and became almost catatonic when Hermione was declared a missing person. The two cousins had become as close as siblings, just as Sirius and James were siblings to one another. Remus kept watched over her to prevent targeting in the hallways and she worried about him every full moon. They'd argue horrifically over foolish things but then defend the other in the same breath as siblings would do, never letting anyone in the group take either side in their arguments. They'd encouraged each other to grow in confidence and spirit that Hope's mothering nourished. Remus began to stand out more clearly in the marauders and in his classes, shining in a way that made it clear he would have a promising future. Neither Remus nor Hermione would ever turn against the other, and hounded on the others if a prank went a little too far.

When she disappeared, Remus refused to speak with anyone about her again and had been driven to the packs in his grief. Hope Lupin had died around that same time, and Lyall had practically disowned his son just as Sirius's family had disowned him many years prior. Remus was determined to become the monster Hermione had shown him he couldn't be, allowing the rage he felt at her disappearance to fuel his inner wolfish tendencies, purposefully distancing himself from everything except Dumbledore's mission for him to serve 'The Greater Good' in an effort to absolve his humanity and become only the frenzied primal predator within. Remus returned a hardened and haggard man to find the Potter's dead, Harry's custody already decided, Sirius in prison for the betrayal, Peter gone, and the war with Voldemort and his Death Eaters over. Voldemort was dead as a result of Remus's loss, of Harry's loss, of what seemed like Sirius's betrayal. Becoming the monster Remus knew himself now to be had been for naught, the time spent playing wolf a waste and utterly unnecessary as everyone he loved was lost in the war while Remus tried his hardest to distance himself from his humanity.

Remus believed himself a monster, and he believed Sirius guilty just as Sirius had believed it himself.

Remus and Sirius had a long, tense conversation not too long after Pettigrew escaped that second time. By the end of it, Remus and Sirius could almost forget they hadn't had a proper conversation in years. They were all the other had now, in addition to Harry. Thinking of that time, Sirius couldn't recall Remus speaking about Hermione then either. Remus had acted as the new Hermione's professor at Hogwarts until he'd been fired. Had Remus seen the same similarities that Sirius had? Had Remus also been compelled to forget?

The answers, Sirius's nagging instincts screamed at him, were in the photo album. The same album he'd completely torn apart that now was in tatters at his feet, the beads from it having rolled every which way across the floor. How could there be any hope in finding the answers now?

Maybe the answer, cheesy as it was, was in a photo of Hope?

Sirius made quick work of assembling together the photos, sorting out any photos with Hope Lupin in them. There was only the one that had Hermione and Hope together, the one of them with Remus in the cottage garden. Sirius flipped the photo over and read, 'Hope can be found in the darkest of times: in the song of the phoenix, in the light of a spell, in the warmth of a fireside with friends. Remember what I told you of the hanging man, Sirius, and of the Grand Design. You shall find me there.'

The smarmy bookworm couldn't have written the answer outright, could she? No, indeed, Hermione Lupin had to be as confusing as possible by attempting to force Sirius to read between the lines. The one consistency seemed to be darkness and lightness. Sirius took a peak out the window to see that most of his day had already come and gone, with the sun nearly set and shadows creeping up from the corners. As the day became dusk, and night began to descend, Sirius attempted to call upon his happiest memory. It had to be James and Lily's wedding. He called forth his patronus with baited breath, but the barest wisp of light came forth.

This wasn't as easy to cast as it used to be. The memories he'd had weren't as happy as they'd used to feel, now tinged with mourning and betrayal.

Sirius tried instead to call upon his memory of becoming a free man. Well, not entirely free yet. The surprise of Snivellus standing up for him and vouching that Pettigrew was alive. Harry and Remus both speaking up as well. That Weasley boy confirming that Pettigrew had been his 'pet' for almost the full twelve years, providing some of the stray hairs from his pet 'rat' who'd been so ill that year to an auror who placed them into a cauldren of polyjuice and had an auror trainee drink it. When the auror shifted into the disgusting rat-like man, Pettigrew, minus one finger, it was enough to support Sirius's change to innocence. They believed him. Not enough to free him of all charges yet, but the evidence was mounting that Sirius couldn't have the Potter's secret keeper and it was enough to call for a trial. It was promising to be one of the biggest trials of the century with an almost guarantee that Sirius would be declared a completely free man, and would prove the ministry's incompetence that they would imprison an innocent wizard- heir to one of the Sacred 28 pureblood lines- without due trial or questioning based solely on circumstantial evidence.

One would think that if Sirius was indeed believed to be a Death Eater, that he would at the least be questioned to reveal the identities of whomever else may be a death eater crony. This was not the case. It called into question the aurors in charge of his case in addition to members of the Wizengamot.

There were a number of other things that didn't quite add up either, such as the numerous familial oaths that Sirius and James had taken which would have been decimated upon Sirius causing direct harm to to James or Harry. Sirius would have been cursed to never speak their names, and his magic severely dampened as the familial oaths severed to such a state that he wouldn't be able to cast a simple lumos. Instead, as an older man who hadn't used his magical core in twelve years, his magic was still strong if unpracticed and temperamental. Sirius was remembering to use magic again, as he once had, but the control of his magic was hinged on his emotions rather than control- even though the muscle memory to cast was mostly still there. The oaths were not broken as they should be.

Sirius was confident that he would be declared free, and could soon claim guardianship over Harry properly. In the meantime, Sirius was granted probationary freedom so long as he stayed at an auror assigned 'safe house' of their choosing in order to prepare for his trial and stay out of public eye. The Ministry did not want there to be any possibility of the media catching wind of Sirius's trial, of the amount of evidence showing a wrongful conviction or of their incompetence until it was deemed absolutely necessary. Likely what that meant was that Minister Fudge was waiting for an opportune moment to bribe the media or to distract the public with something bigger than what this trial meant. Whatever it was the Ministry had in store to distract the public wouldn't be able to be held off for much longer.

In the meantime, Dumbledore was able to convince Fudge that the best way to gain Sirius's cooperation was to assign the new Auror Nymphadora Tonks- Sirius's second cousin- to the probationary auror attachment that was required to check in on him daily to ensure his cooperation leading up to trial. His attachment revolved between Tonks, Kingsley, and Mad-Eye. It was no coincidence that they were all auror members who were made aware of the secret location of Grimmauld Place, conveniently also the safe house the Ministry was not allowed to keep a record of proceeding Sirius's trial. It was an additional magic measure Dumbledore requested be enforced in order to better prohibit unlawful proceedings from occurring in this case a second time. Fudge agreed so long as the media remained in the dark until the trial.

The memory of Sirius being told that he could be released on a probationary basis to prepare for his trial caused a brighter flash this time when Sirius casted his patronus. He could almost make out the shape of padfoot, the length of a snout and the points of two ears turning to look at him as it faded away.

What would be a strong enough memory, what had enough happiness now, to pull the force of his patronus?

'in the song of the phoenix, in the light of a spell, in the warmth of a fireside with friends.' How could Sirius have forgotten that happiness can be pulled from more than one memory?

Sirius tried to cast his patronus again and a large wiry grim bounded from his wand, the patronus corporeal and bright. Sirius laughed in delight as it raced around the room like a puppy, unhindered by the age and time that had weathered Sirius as a man in Azkaban. Its tongue lulled from its mouth, chasing itself in circles and making itself dizzy as it rolled onto its back in air. It look at Sirius then, head quirked, waiting for Sirius's command. It was difficult to rein in his pride at this feat, and Sirius was smiling widely as he looked back down at the words Hermione had written.

His smile faltered for a moment as the words remained unchanged on the back of the photo. His patronus flickered as Sirius doubted himself. Wasn't this what Hermione had meant him to do? He flipped the photo over, and noticed that the front of the photo was glowing an incandescent blue-white similar to the light his patronus was providing. Sirius looked at the other photos he'd piled up. There had been seven small stacks that Sirius had created with some sorting factor in mind, though the photos had mostly ended up organized together randomly. At first glance, there weren't any other photos glowing in the piles. The one with Hope, Remus, and Hermione looked to be the only one.

There was a faint light, though, emitting from the box he'd pulled the photo album from. The photo must have fallen into it when Sirius was tearing the photo album apart, or maybe it had already been set aside. Regardless, Sirius lifted the photo to look at it and his eyebrows raised in shock. The photo wasn't moving. It was stationary, muggle, and worn. There were two incredibly young adults that looked vaguely familiar, though Sirius couldn't quite figure out how he knew them at first. A man and a woman in wedding attire. The man looked priggish and greedy. The woman had a sneer on her face even as she smiled her fakest smile towards the photographer. The both clearly looked down on whomever held the camera even on what was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. When Sirius looked at the woman more carefully, he noticed the similarities between that woman and Lily. There had been other photos of Lily's sister Petunia in the book, so this could have been a photo of her. It was hard to recognize her for certain with the amount of makeup she was wearing, and the heavy blue eye-shadow.

Why was a photo of Petunia and her husband (Dursley? Drooley? Dudley?) included in Hermione's photos, and why was it the only other photo glowing in the light of the patronus?

Sirius flipped the photo over to see if Hermione had also written on the back of this one. 'Petunia and Vernon Dursley, married for benefits unhappily. 12. 12. 12.'

Petunia and Vernon were the people who were given custody of Harry after Sirius had been sent to Azkaban. Both are muggles who detest magic, from what Harry has told him in his letters. Petunia had still had limited contact with Lily until Lily died, and by extension Hermione must have still spoken to Petunia as well occasionally. What would be the importance of Hermione having a photo of their wedding, though? Of her noting their unhappy marriage, or that they somehow benefited from being married to one another rather than marrying for love? What was the importance of the number 12?