AN: Hello, fanfiction and Harry Potter fans. I do not own Harry Potter, but feel free to enjoy this or hate it. If you enjoy it, please leave a lovely comment, if you hate it, then leave some constructive criticism, thanks!

Can You Take the Jump?

Chapter 9

With the new information of her shortened lifespan and her soon-coming entrance to society, Hermione spent months after her shopping trip in the hospital, pricked and prodded by her Healers to see the how fast her degeneration was approaching. Attending Hogwarts was technically her first interaction with the rest of society, magical or otherwise. Her Healers were preparing, almost like a medical version of a debutante ball. Hogwarts would be different with stimuli and stressors that Hermione Evans had never faced before. It was a necessary precautionary measure, but it was the first time since she was 5 that she was separated from her family for more than two nights. She missed them.

When September 1st finally arrived, Hermione stood on a platform in King's Cross Station, eagerly searching for a glimpse of her sister's red hair. They were running late.

"Mum! Dad! Hurry!" A familiar voice travelled through the bustling people.

"Lily, I thought Hermione was going to help us navigate through this…platform 9 ¾." Her mother called out as she struggled with one of Lily's many bags.

"Hermione said she'd be waiting for us to get on the platform together!" Lily jumped up, trying to see over the crowd.

"Stop jumping like a rabbit, will you?" Petunia growled. "You look ridiculous. We'll find them when we get closer to the platform."

Lily ignored her older sister's insistence and jumped once more to see the Snapes and Hermione standing near a pillar between the 9th and 10th platform.

"I see them!"

She pushed through the crowd and ran straight to her sister, whom she enveloped her in a big hug. She squeezed her little sister as tightly as she possibly could and Hermione returned the hug with the same vigor. The two stood like that for a good 10 seconds before they released. Lily observed her sister's face with tears in her eyes as the feeling of relief and happiness overwhelmed her.

"Don't I get a greeting?"

Lily looked next to her sister to see Severus standing next to his mother.

"Sev!" She greeted him with a hug as well, though it wasn't as long as Hermione's. She took a step back to notice a change in Severus. In the four days that she hadn't seen her best friend, there had been a drastic change. His hair was shorter than she'd ever seen on him, he wore a thick mustang-like leather jacket, black pants and some military style boots.

"Wow Sev, who dressed you?"

"I'm 11, no one dresses me anymore, Lily." Severus's face and ears turned red as he pouted like a petulant child.

"I'm just saying you look great." Lily laughed, but sent a curious glance to Hermione who mouthed 'Alphard'.

"Lily, my word you could have waited for us!" Mr. and Mrs. Evans said when they finally reached the little group. The two parents immediately dropped all of Lily's luggage at the sight of their youngest daughter. After giving Hermione a long hug, longer than the one Lily had given, they fussed over her clothes and belongings. Instead of being annoyed, Hermione smiled at her parents' quiet display of love and reassured them that she was fine.

After everyone exchanged their hellos, Mr. Evans clapped his hand and looked up at the wizarding folk expectantly. "Well, how do we get to this mysterious platform that Lily couldn't stop talking about?"

Eileen smiled as she stepped up to the brick wall, "We run through this."

"I'm sorry, but what?"

"Run through the wall. It's just a portal dad, like a disguised door." Hermione explained.

"I'm not running into a bloody brick wall."

"You'll be fine as long as you have your hand on someone who's magical." Eileen explained quietly, but looked to Hermione for help.

"Mrs. Snape, why don't you go through with Severus and show my parents how easy and harmless it is."

Mrs. Snape ushered Severus towards the wall. She quietly glanced around to make sure no eyes were on them, then quickly walked through the wall with ease. The Evanses watched in shock as the mother-son duo walked through the seemingly solid pillar with utter ease.

"See dad, it's easy." Lily explained. She looped her arm through her father's and pulled him towards the portal, but just before their cart could make contact with the wall, their father stopped.

"No, no, no wait."

Lily sighed with frustration. "Dad, we're going to be late. This portal will close if we don't enter now!"

"I- I just…" their father stuttered.

"Lily, why don't you, mum, and Tuny go ahead. I'll go in with dad."

Mrs. Evans took the cart from Mr. Evans's hands. Although still hesitant, the woman and her eldest daughter passed through the portal by clinging on to Lily's arm. After they disappeared, Hermione turned to her father and set him down on a bench next to the portal, as if they had all the time in the world.

Hermione didn't want to rush him. They hadn't seen each other in 3 long months, only to be reunited for her to disappear at a school he cannot enter for 10 long months out of the year.

"I'm nervous." She admitted to her father.

"You're nervous?" He repeated, wondering if he'd heard her wrong. Robert Evans turned to his daughter, shocked at her admission. It was the first time Hermione had ever made a claim of weakness.

Hermione nodded as she watched the muggles bustle around King's Cross station. "I'm nervous because of many reasons, but my main reason is because I won't have you, mum and Alphard. No matter how sick I was, I knew that you guys would be there, doing everything you can to make me better. No matter how scared I was, I know you guys would be there to hug me tight, to let me know I'm not alone. I feel like going to Hogwarts, as exciting as it is, is pulling me away from you guys and that…that terrifies me."

His daughter's words squeezed his heart with relief.

While it was hard to have a sick child, he was thankful that Hermione took upon life's challenges with such strength and dignity. However, his beautiful, brave and smart daughter left him feeling utterly useless. For her to acknowledge his efforts to be a good father, who was there for her and try to be a pillar of support, made him want to burst into tears.

Robert Evans pulled his daughter into another hug and gently patted her back, "But I know you both will do brilliantly."

"How do you know?"

"Because Lily has my sense of humor which is impossible not to be liked by everyone and anyone. She'll shine brightly because she loves magic and she'll thrive because she loves people."

"As for you," He poked her side, fully aware Hermione was not a social butterfly like her twin sister. "You're the smartest, bravest and kindest person I know. If those magical kids can't see that, then they're not worth your time. And if people bully you for any reason whatsoever, you have incredible parents who will break down Kings Cross station in order to get on a train to Hogwarts and save you."

Hermione smiled proudly at her father. "You'd break down King's Cross station for me?"

"I'd do anything for you, your sisters, and your mum."

Touched by his words, Hermione gave her father a rare big smile.

"Well, you might have to tear down King's Cross station right now if we don't go through that portal, or else I will become an uneducated house bum, leeching off you and mum until I'm 30." Hermione explained as she stood up and stretched out her hand for her father.

"Well, we certainly can't have that."

"Oi! What happened to our promises that I'll never get married and stay daddy's little girl forever?"

"That only applies when you're a cute baby," Mr. Evans pushed his daughter to face forward, avoiding her look of offense. "Now come one, we've got no time to lose."

When Hermione and her father came through the portal, Hermione's breath shook at the sight of the scarlet red train. It gleamed despite the gloomy September morning, as if it had its own magical aura.

"Goodness, took you both long enough!" Mrs. Evans scolded as she pulled Hermione's luggage trolley away from her husband and into her daughter's hands. "Go, I sent Lily ahead of you."

Hermione quickly gave her parents a kiss on the cheek and a one-armed hug to Mrs. Snape, promising letters and to be good.

Hermione hurriedly pushed her trolley to the luggage storage section only to see a girl next to her struggling to put her trunk in the disorganized storage space. Hermione looked around to see if any of the older prefects were around to help them out, but seeing how late they were, they were all alone.

"Grab anything you can carry and take it with you on the train instead of trying to fit everything in here." Hermione explained, taking everything smaller and lighter out of the cart and into the girl's arms.

"But what about—" she pointed to the two big trunks that couldn't fit into the storage space, which meant her own trunks wouldn't either.

"I got it, don't worry."

"But—"

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

The first out of two warning whistles blew from the train telling the students that they needed to board, interrupting whatever she was trying to say.

"Go." Hermione insisted.

Once she made sure the girl was out of sight, Hermione turned to the disorganized mess of trunks and luggage. She pulled out her sleek wand from her boots and pointed it to the bags. With a smooth swish and a quick flick, all the luggage lifted and neatly organized themselves in the storage space, leaving plenty of room for the boy's luggage as well as her own. The Hogwarts express was one of the few places she could perform magic without her trace sounding off alarms thanks to the jumble of magic in the area.

She stepped into the train and the door locked behind her. Students were everywhere, chatting and laughing. The level of noise in the train bounced off the contained walls and into her ear. It was so loud. Several people bumped into her; some boys were throwing an unenchanted quaffle down the corridors. The level of stimuli in the small space was unparalleled to anything she'd felt before. Even the station was quieter and more spacious than here.

To get away, she pushed through several people and swung a random compartment door open.

What Hermione did not expect was to be stared at by three boys for her loud entrance.

The first to break out of the stupor was a boy with expensive looking robes that were messy, but not as messy as head of hair. With square spectacles slightly askew on his face, a brilliant and easy-going smile formed on his lips as he greeted her.

"Hey, my name's James. It's nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand out, but Hermione didn't take it.

Unbeknownst to the boy, Hermione was internally screaming. The boy in front of her looked so much like Harry Potter that she couldn't even breath. James Potter awkwardly retracted his hand when Hermione didn't grab it right away, but as she noticed the hand dropping, she grabbed it fiercely.

"H-hi." Her keen eyes scanning every inch of the boy's face. The similarities were so shocking that Hermione could delude herself into thinking that this was 1991 instead of 1971. She zeroed in on his light brown eyes as she let out a shaking breath.

"Do you want to share the compartment with us?" He asked, pointing to the empty seat next to an eleven-year-old Remus Lupin. The younger version of her old Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and friend was much less scarred than the older Remus, but also much shier. The light brown hair hung low enough to cover most of his face, as he refused to meet her eyes, but still managed to say quiet hello.

The other boy next to the window bore similar features as Alphard with luscious black hair that was combed back to show his large and piercing grey eyes. He was possibly the prettiest boy that Hermione had ever laid eyes on. His skin was fair and his posture was ridged, like the pictures of Victorian aristocratic men she'd seen in books. His pink lips were plump, but unsmiling as he stared at her with equal intrigue as she did him.

"Uh, can you let go of my hand?"

"Huh?" Hermione turned back to James Potter, then looked down to notice her hands still firmly clasped around his. She quickly released her grip. "Oh, sorry."

James's smiled friendly despite shaking his hand to return the circulation in his hand. He gave her gentle push to encourage her to sit down next to Remus Lupin.

At the sight of the boys, she couldn't seem to calm down, but then again, she'd been waiting 11 years to meet them. She wanted to run over to them and give them a big hug and cry her heart out, but she couldn't unless she wanted to look like a mad woman.

Hermione felt a familiar tugging in her stomach that made her heart race and her magic unstable. She could feel her morning Calming potion playing a vicious tug-of-war with her panicked mind, causing her Obscurus to start stirring in her body. She needed to maintain a clear mind and not lose control. Hermione pinched the inside of her palm so hard that she was sure she was leaving bruises. She used the pain to focus on something else other than the three boys in front of him.

"So, what's your name?" James asked, breaking the silence once again. He was clearly the most extroverted out of the bunch.

"Huh?" Hermione looked up, unaware that she'd never given them an introduction of herself. Afterall, she knew all of them, so it was easy to forget that none of them knew of her. "Oh, it's Hermione Ev—"

She was interrupted by a knock at the compartment door. All four heads turned to the door to see the door tentatively slide open.

"Excuse me, I was wondering if you've seen my…" Lily head poked into the compartment, but stopped when she saw Hermione's face.

"Hermione!" She flung the door open, lifted her sister off the seat and gave her sister a hug. "I was so worried that you didn't make it on the train! Do you know how worried I was when I couldn't find you?"

Lily released her sister then looked around the room, noticing the awkward tension in the room. Her eyes moved from her sister to the boys. She quickly pushed her sister behind her and took up a protective stance.

"What's going on."

Hermione pushed her sister to the side and gave her the most convincing smile she could produce. "Nothing, I'm just shocked by your arrival." Her eyes nervously glanced at the boys. "It's crowded in here, let's go find a different compartment."

"Woah," James stopped her. "You look like you're about to faint, you should sit back down." James scooted closer to the window, giving Lily some space so that she could sit next to him.

Instead of doing what was recommended, Hermione took a small step back out towards the corridor. She needed to get out of that small compartment to calm down.

"I found you." A sing-songy voice called out. In the distance, Damocles Belby smirked at her, making his way towards her.

"Who is that?" James asked, trying to peak his head out of the corridor to see, closing the distance between himself and Hermione. He'd gotten too close.

As if disgusted by him, Hermione pushed him away from her, and slammed the compartment door closed. She cast a wandless nonverbal spell at the door to keep the doors stuck and hoped that there were enough 7th year students in the vicinity to mask her wandless magic.

Through the window of the door, she could see the shocked expressions of everyone inside, but she ignored it, instead turning to face the older Slytherin sauntering towards her.

Damocles Belby wasn't tall or particularly good looking. He had average brown eyes, average brown hair, and an average looking face, but if his brains were anything like his father's, he was a genius.

"Belby." Hermione greeted.

"Are those your friends?" Belby asked, motioning behind her.

Hermione turned around to see that Lily and the boys were looking through the window of the compartment. She took a few steps away from front of the compartment, to get out of their line of sight.

"I don't know whether I should be glad to see you or be suspicious about the fact that you're here talking to me."

"My father, for some reason, believes that you're a girl that needs a lot of care and attention. So, here I am." He raised his arms in a "ta-da"-like fashion.

Hermione had met Damocles Belby several times over the years since his father liked to imagine her as his personal little lab rat. They've never particularly interacted before other than a few greetings, but both knew of each other's intelligence making them respectful, yet wary.

"My father gave me the impression that you were the next Merlin, but look at you, you're trembling like a leaf."

"What do you want?"

"Don't be smart with me, or else I won't give you this." The boy dangled a lovely blue potion just above her head. Calming Potion. So that was the real reason he was here, to give her an extra dose. She couldn't deny that Healer Belby knew her well, he knew that she would be extra stressed today with all the new and extra stimuli, he'd allowed her an extra calming potion.

Hermione tried to snatch it from his hands, but he lifted it out of her reach. For a split second, her face fell in desperation, but quickly recovered her features.

"Nice try, but I already know your biggest weakness." Damocles teased the small girl. Her smaller stature was almost cute, but her frown was certainly something else. "Now say please like a good little girl."

His patronizing smile slipped from his face and was replaced by anguish as a sharp throbbing pain radiated from between his legs. Belby sank to his knees as his eyes watered from the pain. "You-you bitch, did you—did you just knee me in the…motherfucker."

"It's a good thing that all boys have the same weakness at the same location." Hermione smirked, mimicking the same patronizing smile that he'd given her just a moment before. "You aren't my keeper, so you don't have to waste your time looking out for me. But I'll take this, thanks." She took the vial out of the boy's hand and drank her second dose of calming potion that day, leaving the empty bottle rolling next to him.

With the potion now running through her veins, Hermione was able to think through her problems logically. The potion hadn't taken its full effect, so there was still an irrational part of her that wanted to run back to the compartment with Lily and everyone inside, crying and hugging everyone in sight.

"No." She muttered to herself.

It was better not to overwhelm herself before school had officially even started. Deciding to walk away from the compartment with her sister and the other boys, she walked down the train in search of an empty compartment.

…

James quickly scrambled up after being pushed by Hermione. He attempted to open the door, but found it stuck.

"It won't open!"

"What?" Lily gasped, she pushed James aside and tried to open the door herself, but had the same result of as James. The other boys, equally in disbelief got up from their seats to assist Lily in opening the door but were unsuccessful.

Lily knocked on the window of the compartment frantically to grab her sister's attention, but stopped when she saw an older boy approach her sister.

"Who is that guy?!" She asked. One of the boys, the handsomest one, craned his head over her shoulder to get a good look.

"Damocles Belby?" Sirius identified the boy immediately.

"Oi! What's he doing to your sister!" James asked, almost in panic.

"What?! What is he doing to my sister!" Lily asked, trying to get a look on her tippy toes. She let out a grunt of frustration and pushed the boys aside. Lily recognized the boy's last name, but couldn't recognize the boy taunting her little sister.

"What is that…that…ARSE doing to my sister!" Lily shouted in frustration. She pulled at the door with all her might, but found it wouldn't budge.

"I think your sister closed it with magic." The blond one, Remus, spoke up for the first time.

"I thought we couldn't do magic underage." Lily asked.

"We can't."

"Someone open this door! Someone open this door, right now!" Lily started pulling at the door frantically. "Oh my gosh, I swear if that guy hurts my sister in any—"

"Oh!" The boys all flinched and groaned when Hermione kneed the boy between the legs.

James placed his hands over his own family jewels as if he could feel the pain himself.

"Bloody hell." Sirius winced, but kept one eye on the situation out of pure amusement.

Remus didn't say anything, but his eyes grew wide and he quickly moved to his seat, avoiding everyone's gaze.

"So, she's your twin?" Sirius asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice.

"Um, yes. She just…she doesn't really know how to make friends very well."

"Clearly." James muttered to himself. "Looks like we're going to be stuck in this compartment for a while. We'll ask the food trolley lady to open the door once she passes by, so until then, let's sit." He ushered everyone back into their seats and moved the conversation to something else. They talked about themselves a little bit, but soon the topic turned to the one of everyone's interest: Hogwarts.

"I'm going to be a Gryffindor, like my father! Where the brave dwell at heart!" James stood and shouted with vigor. "It's going to be awesome! Apparently, there's a huge fireplace in the common room where everyone just hangs out, and our mascot is a lion. A lion!"

Everyone watched James explain with amusement. He used his hands a lot when he talked, Lily noticed, as if the words spewing out of his mouth 80 miles per hour weren't descriptive enough.

"His big hair first his big personality." Lily thought to herself.

Lily observed Sirius watch James explain Gryffindor House. He looked like a starved child and James was waving a hot delicious Sunday roast in front of him. It was the most open expression she'd seen him wear since she'd arrived. It seemed like every time he realized he was smiling too much or getting too excited, he stopped himself, glancing side to side like he'd get caught making such an expression.

"What about you guys? What House do you guys want to go in?"

James turned the only blonde in the group. Remus slouched, keeping his arms and belongings to himself. He looked as if he hadn't expected someone to ask him a question. "Uh, I'm not sure. I guess Ravenclaw is fine. Gryffindor would be nice, but I'm not sure if I'm brave enough."

"Nonsense, mate! Sure, you are!" James swooped down back to his seat and grabbed Remus's hands, almost pleadingly. "Look, I'll give you a test. If you say the same thing as I do, then you'll be a Gryffindor for sure! What would you do if you saw a baby on the train tracks and the train was coming?!"

Remus looked down horrified at his hand then back up at James with a terrified look on his face. He quickly slipped his hand out of the other boy's. "I-I-I'll tell train operator at the station."

"There's no time for that!" James argued.

"Why would there be a baby on the train tracks in the first place?" Sirius asked.

"Become the bad guys wanted a ransom from the baby's rich parents." James explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He turned back to Remus with the same sparkling gaze. "Now stop stalling. Everyone answers in 3. 3-2-1!"

"Levitate the baby." Lily responded.

"Float the baby to safety." Remus replied.

"Jump in and save the baby!" James shouted dramatically.

They all turned to Sirius who hadn't responded. The fair boy blushed at the attention, and muttered something under his breath.

"Sirius, mate, why didn't you answer?" James stepped closer, invading Sirius's personal space like they'd been friends for years, not a mere hour.

Sirius avoided James's imploring eyes and muttered something under his breath.

"What?"

"I said, I probably won't get into Gryffindor anyway."

"Sure you can! Come on, mate! It'll be so much fun!"

"No James, it's different for me."

"Whaddya mean?"

"I'm…" Sirius hesitated, he could hear his mother's warning about what would happen to him if he did not end up in Slytherin, ringing in his ears, "I'm a Black. I'm meant to be a Slytherin."

Lily wasn't sure why, but suddenly, the atmosphere of the compartment changed. Shocked looks spread on James and Remus's face while Sirius looked like he was sorry. What was wrong with these boys?

"Why? What's wrong with Slytherin? I'm also hoping that I'll be in Slytherin too." Lily responded.

It wasn't like she was expecting a thank you smile from Sirius, but what she didn't anticipate all the heads snapping at her direction.

"WHAT?!"

…

Hermione walked through the train in a dazed state watching children be children. There was a slight pang of jealousy in her chest at their innocence.

She walked and walked until her body stopped in front of a compartment, like she'd been running on autopilot the entire time.

She immediately recognized the compartment. It was her compartment, the one she used to share every year with her two best friends. With a hesitant hand, she slid the door open.

"Hermione."

Severus Snape sat in the exact spot that Harry used to sit, reading a rudimentary book about defense against the Dark Arts. He'd taken his leather jacket off and sitting sideways, taking up the entire bench by putting his feet up.

"Snape." Hermione greeted in the same slightly shocked, yet monotonous voice.

"Where have you been? You disappeared on the platform."

"Sorry, Lily found a different compartment with a few guys to stay in, so she might not be joining us. You can go join her, if you'd like. It's fine."

After hearing Lily wasn't going to be with them, Severus resumed the same uninterested position on the seat wearing the same look of indifference, but Hermione could tell there was a small frown on his face.

"She's going to make lots of them you know. Friends, I mean." Severus feigned a look of confusion, but she shook her head. "She can't just be friends with you and you can't just be friends with her. Your social circles will have to grow larger than one person."

"I have you." Severus blurted out, but he immediately regretted it when he saw Hermione's eyebrow raise.

"I didn't know you thought of me as a friend, Severus."

Severus thought she would make a micky out of him some more, but instead she settled into the seat and pulled out a thick text. Her wavy auburn hair shone from the sunlight streaming through the window and her fair skin was blushed with pink.

"Snacks, children?" A trolley lady knocked on their door and smiled at the two quiet students.

Severus looked hungrily at the trolley filled to the brim with sweets, but then hesitated. Hermione frowned at the hesitation. He should have money, there was no way Alphard would have allowed Severus to leave the flat with no money.

"Alphard told me that he gave you allowance for the both of us. Get me two sugar quills." Hermione casually asked.

With the discrete permission, Hermione smiled at the excitement in which Severus shopped for his treats. Practically buying everything on the trolley, much like Harry had on his first trip, he gave Hermione her two sugar quills but kept everything else to himself. Selfish bastard.

After an amusing couple of minutes watching Severus try to catch a chocolate frog and try some Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans, she opened her thick text once more and began reading.

Silence stretched between the two, as Severus also picked up his Defense textbook once more. However, unlike when he was alone, his focus didn't seem to be on the book anymore, but at the girl sitting next to him. After the 3rd attempt to read the first sentence about gnomes, he gave up and closed the book to study the girl in front of him. The two twins couldn't be more different. Lily was talkative, expressive and had lots of opinions. Her bubbly and full-of-life personality was what had drawn Severus in, she was a stark contrast to his life which kept him wanting to see her more. Hermione, on the other hand, felt sharp and calculating. Her coldness was practically tangible, but he couldn't deny that he was intrigued. There was something about her that caught lingering attention to anyone keen enough to look.

"What are you reading?"

Hermione's eyes broke out of the dull haze that seemed to cover them. "It's a curse-breaking book." She said, as she lifted the heavy looking thing to show him the cover. There were two titles, one in English and another that look like hieroglyphics.

"It's in ancient runes. I'm interested in breaking old curses. Blood-related, dark arts, things like that."

"It doesn't look like an easy read."

"No, but to each their own."

"Since when have you been interested in curse breaking?

"A while."

"Is that what you want to be? A Curse-Breaker?"

Severus regretted asking her the question when he saw the shine diminish and the haze cover her eyes once more.

"You should go find Lily. She'll probably want to see you before the end of the train ride." Hermione dismissed him and returned to her book. Feeling the conversation was over, Severus reluctantly slipped out of the compartment, but Hermione didn't look up once.

Severus walked down the corridor; too lost in thought of the red-head he's just left to actually look for the other red-head he'd been kicked out to search for.

"WHAT?!"

The collective loud noise broke Severus's train of thought. He looked into the compartment to see Lily sitting with 3 boys who were all looking at her with wide eyes.

"Lily!" Severus threw the doors of the compartment wide open, grabbing the attention of everyone inside. Surprised by his own overenthusiastic greeting, he stuttered. "T-there you are, I-I've been looking e-everywhere for you."

Everyone in the compartment turned to the boy in shock.

"How'd you open the door?" One of the boys asked, but before Severus could answer, Lily jumped up and gave him a hug in typical Lily fashion.

"Sev!" She gave him a tight squeeze.

Severus shyly hugged her back. This was the type of interaction he was used to. Lily never needed anyone to start or propel a conversation, but with Hermione, somehow, he'd become the chatty one.

"Ahem." Someone cleared their throat loudly, interrupting their reunion. "Who are you?"

Severus, who'd momentarily forgotten about the others due to Lily's enthusiastic greeting, turned to face the other three boys in the compartment. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Oh, silly me." Lily said as she smiled and turned to the others. "This is Severus, my best friend. Sev, this is James, Remus and Sirius." She introduced as she pointed to each of the boys. "They're all first years too."

"It's nice to meet you." Remus greeted, but it was obvious that the other two boys did not share the sentiment, especially the boy named James.

"We were talking about what Houses we want to be in. James wants to be in Gryffindor, and—"

Severus snorted.

"You got a problem with Gryffindor?" James, immediately fired up from Severus's response, stood up and challenged.

"No, I just prefer brains over brawn."

Lily was quick to notice the increase in tension, and was quick to try and settle it down. "Sev wants to be a Slytherin too."

"Maybe he can, but you can't." Sirius said shaking his head.

"What? Why?" Lily was offended. "Who are you to say that I can't be a Slytherin?"

"Mud—" Sirius stopped as he glanced around the small space, "I mean, muggleborns are not allowed in Slytherin house."

"You're saying that there has never and will never be a muggleborn in Slytherin?" Lily asked incredulously. "Sev, I thought you said blood didn't matter."

This time it was Sirius's turn to snort. "There hasn't been a muggleborn in Slytherin house for over a century, and even if a muggleborn was sorted into Slytherin no one will welcome them."

"Half-bloods get into Slytherin, so why can't a muggleborn?" Severus argued. "Being a pureblood isn't the only criteria that define Slytherin."

"Didn't you just hear what I said? Even if the most cunning, resourceful, and ambitious muggleborn is sorted into Slytherin, they'll be treated like rubbish."

Lily grew pale in the face of harsh reality. She was so naïve to believe everything that Severus said, even though 'Hogwarts: a History' clearly stated the preference of pureblooded magical children for Slytherin house. She glared at the boy next to her and stormed out of the compartment.

"Lily!" Severus called after her, but she was already out the door. He turned to glare at Sirius, but quickly turned to run after his friend.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" James cried, as a doleful look spread across his face as he watched Lily leave their compartment.

Sirius glared after them. "She was being naïve and he was taking advantage of it, telling her lies and raising her hopes."

James watched woefully as the compartment door slowly closed, but when he glanced at his new friend, it was clear that he was upset at what just happened. He turned to him with a smirk on his face. "Oh, who needs Snivellous anyway." He snickered.

…

Hermione placed her head on the window, watching the British countryside pass by. The deep rhythmic vibration and sounds of the train lulled Hermione into a drowsy state, which made her mental barriers vulnerable.

She saw an 11-year-old Harry Potter sitting in the seat in front of her. He wasn't looking at her, but at the scenery moving past them much like she was doing a moment ago. He looked so sweet and innocent, swinging his legs since they didn't touch the floor beneath them. His green eyes glittered with excitement at the prospect of going to Hogwarts.

"People are difficult." She told him.

He turned to her then laughed. "People would argue you're difficult."

"Harry." Hermione deadpanned.

"Hermione," he said in the same tone. "It was just an innocent question. You made him feel bad and awkward."

There was nothing Hermione could say to counter that. It was true, she knew she made Severus feel awkward about asking her a simple question about her future aspirations, but it was because she didn't have a future.

"Everything is different. How am I going to do this?"

"You've meticulously planned this for 11 years. You can do this. Besides, different is good." Harry tried to convince, but Hermione shook her head.

"Different is different. Unpredictable." Her poker face broke slightly by a frown. "I hate that. I like plans. Things that make sense."

"Unpredictable means excitement." He tried to reason, but Hermione just shook her head again.

"No, unpredictable means shit can hit the fan and no one will be prepared to deal with it. Don't you think our lives would be better if everything went according to plan? If that happened, the war would have ended when we ended it and we would have simply lived our lives until we died peacefully, surrounded by friends and family that love us."

Harry couldn't rebuke her words.

"Instead, you were…everyone is…" She couldn't finish her sentences, it was too hard, even after all these years. "Shit hit the fan, and I'm… I'm here. Sitting alone in our compartment in 1971, talking to a hallucination of my best friend caused by stress and an overactive brain."

Hermione rested her head on the cool glass. She could feel the magical effects of the powerful calming potion suppress the emotions flooding her brain, but it came with some serious nausea. Just like that, a scent that couldn't possibly actually be present wafted into her nose; lemon scented detergent and warm sugar like treacle tart—signature Harry.

Her brain was really fucking with her right now.

"Why are you so upset?" He asked. His voice was deeper, older, wiser.

The unbelievably stupid question made Hermione raise her head up to look at her apparition.

"What?" He said defensively. "You're going to save them. No one's dead yet. The future is still being made, the past is alive and breathing right before your eyes."

"It should have been you. You should've been the one to come here."

"Maybe, but it isn't. Should haves, could haves, don't matter. It's you that's here." Harry slumped on his seat and sighed. "My parents, Sirius, Remus, and Snape, they are the past, present and future. If you give up on them because all you can see are the dead, then there's none of those." He explained gently, he reached out as if to pat her shoulder as a sign of comfort, but both their faces frowned when his hand passed right through her. "You know that death is not the end. Ron, Ginny and the kids, they all found rest, they're fine."

"Not you." She whispered to herself.

"No, not me." It was a tragic thought, but Harry's face didn't look distraught like it should have, but full of hope. "But that's why you're here. The only one smart, brave, and strong enough to do this. So, get off your butt and do what you came here to do."

"That's easier said than done." She sighed. Hermione banged her head forcefully on the glass. The pain made Harry disappear and a sigh escaped her once more. She closed her eyes, maybe a nap would do her some good.

"Hermione?"

Or not.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Lily sat across from Hermione and twiddled her thumbs.

"Hey. What happened to the other compartment? Weren't you making friends?"

"No," she said far too quickly. "I mean, yes." She quickly redacted. "I'm—I mean, I was talking to those boys that were in the compartment with us when Severus came in. I mentioned that I wanted to be Slytherin, but they said I couldn't since we're muggleborns. Do the Slytherins hate us, Hermione?"

Hermione took a moment to formulate an answer. It was a difficult and sensitive topic, especially to someone so young, but Lily deserved to know.

"Just like how there's discrimination in the muggle world, it exists in the wizarding world as well. It's just a bit different."

"But why do they still hate us?" Lily asked. Her face looked appalled and hurt, it was a feeling Hermione could easily relate to.

"Well, I'm sure there's a lot of politics, and financial reasons, but the main reason was probably the witch hunts and burnings that started in the early 15th century to the late 18th century."

"15th century? B-B-But that's so long ago!"

"Pain and anger like that doesn't disappear because time went by. The wizarding community is small, with the majority made up of very old and very proud families that can trace their lineages for generations. Families like that value their history and remember it, especially the painful ones."

A thoughtful expression spread on Lily's face as she listened to Hermione's explanation. She didn't realize how little she knew about the magical world and its history. She had no knowledge of its culture or etiquette.

"Severus said it wouldn't matter." Lily explained vaguely, but Hermione nodded in understanding.

"He wants to share his Hogwarts experience with his best friend. You can't fault him for that, but he was wrong to misinform you."

"Yeah, it was."

The twins looked out the window to see the sky had grown dark. The two fell into a comfortable silence when there was a knock on the door. Severus sheepishly walked into the cabin, but when he was greeted with a smile from Lily, he sighed in relief. The three studious children read their books until Hermione stood up to change into her uniform.

"We'll be arriving any minute."

True to Hermione's words, a crackling announcement rang throughout the train announcing their arrival to Hogsmeade Station.

…