A/N: Sorry for all of the changes so early on but I wasn't happy with the formatting. I am planning to pair Hermione and Sirius as well as Hermione with Severus, but I don't really know when or who will end up with her in the end. I'm finding writing dialogue a bit difficult, but I hope it isn't too annoying to read. Thanks for your patience!

Chapter 6: The Summer Holidays

The summer holidays seemed to pass both quickly and excruciating slowly. There were times when she was studying the horcruxes when she became aware of how little time she had left. Yet when she lay trying to get to sleep at night, the enormous weight of her loneliness and isolation made the time pass much too slowly.

She had soon got into the routine of visiting the castle 3 times a week to practice dueling with Moody. At first they had started practicing in the Great Hall but things got out of hand quickly, so instead they travelled by floo to McGonagall's home to duel in her expansive grounds.

At first it was immediately apparent that Hermione was severely lacking when it came to her dueling, which sourly reminded her of when she had gotten only an E in her Defence Against The Dark Arts OWL. When her results arrived later in the summer - she had sneakily taken her OWLs again in order to pretend that she did them at Beauxbatons - she was happy to see all O's.

Her months of malnutrition from camping had left her slow and more fragile than she was comfortable with. However, she noticed with a smug smile, that Moody was very surprised with the number of spells she was aware of and could proficiently perform. The problem was combining them with rapid movement in order to gain the upper hand in a fight.

Hermione was amazed by how muggle the process was but realised that this may have been why Harry could beat highly trained Death Eaters; they simply saw it as beneath themselves to train like muggles. She had been ordered to spend each morning running around the Hogwarts grounds in order to increase her stamina and often spent a couple of hours working on hand to hand fighting methods instead of wandwork.

When Moody had discovered that all Hermione had flown was the introductory lesson in first year he soon demanded that she spend whenever she could flying as well, before incorporating dueling whilst flying into the final weeks of her lessons. She found this absolutely terrifying. It was no big secret among her friends back in her time that Hermione was afraid of heights so to ask her to fight whilst flying was no small feat.

It was Aberforth that helped Hermione overcome this in a surprising show of affection. They had taken to asking one another about their morning and previous evening at lunchtimes because they both worked in the pub in the evening. It was at one of these times when she had brought up her fear of flying and Moody's request, and was surprised when she woke up the next day to find that Aberforth had somehow sourced two dusty brooms from somewhere.

He spent the morning reteaching himself as much as teaching Hermione, which made her feel much more at ease now that they were in the same boat. They started by tying their brooms to tree stumps and just practicing staying upwards, but soon lengthened the string attaching them to the ground. During the next day of practicing, she began to find the string annoying and severed it altogether, finding herself surprisingly enjoying the freeing experience.

The whole experience with Aberforth felt very odd. It almost felt like a similar defining moment as when your parents teach you to ride a bike for the first time. When she had cut away from the string and started using Harry's faster Firebolt, she would occasionally spot Aberforth watching her with a funny look in his eye. If she didn't know any better she would have to say that it looked like pride.

In a surprising turn of events, Hermione got over her fear of flying and began to use it as a form of therapy, allowing her to clear her head and experience her limits. She knew that she would never enjoy Quidditch, especially if it involved flying with other people or anything that involved catching or collisions. However, she liked to see how fast she could get and then how quickly she could stop, of course making sure that she was in no real danger.

This calmed her to an extent, but she still had terrible nightmares each night, primarily revolving around her night at Malfoy Manor and the night of the battle. Every time she walked past a place in the castle that would bring back a memory she was forced to relive that over and over again each night, yet found that it was easier to walk past the spot again the next day.

At the beginning of the summer she had assumed that she was quiet in her agony but with increasing frequency she would notice the goat patronus outside her door in the mornings and in the middle of the night when Aberforth forgot to remove it. Soon, she began to wake up to the patronus staring into her eyes from across the room, lying on her feet, or snuggling against her chin as she recovered from a bout of tears.

After a particularly bad night where she was forced to endure the cruciatus curse over and over again, she woke screaming into the arms of Aberforth who had given up on using the goat in this extreme instance. Hermione soon realised that this was the first hug she had had in a while which saddened her greatly, and clung to the man that had taken a father figure in her life.

She had also realised that the carer also hadn't seemed to hold anyone in a while so she made it her mission to comfort him as he comforted her in her times of need. Although the goat didn't go away, Hermione found that it was Aberforth that woke her up when her dreams got really bad, which was much easier. Unfortunately the dreams themselves didn't go away or lessened, but they were more bearable when she wasn't alone.

He never asked her what happened in the dreams and Hermione was grateful. She decided that she would give Aberforth a quick hug every night, or a squeeze of the hand, or kiss of the cheek to make sure he knew that he was appreciated. At first he was a bit awkward, but soon the gestures became quite warm. It turned out that the bitter man she had experienced in the future could be softened by some time and company.

The rest of her time with Aberforth was primarily spent eating lunch together talking about what she was reading or about the goings on at the pub they had experienced the night before. She found an odd sense of calm and familiarity at these times and in the hour that followed when they would sit together drinking tea; her reading and occasionally helping Aberforth with his crossword.

After that, they would spend each evening tending to the pub where she would work behind the bar and with waitressing. Hermione was unsurprised to see that the level of cleanliness at the Hog's Head had not changed much over the years so the first thing she had done was thoroughly clean every bottle, glass and cup they owned.

Hoping she hadn't overstepped her mark, she then asked to buy a dishwasher and a battery (because the Hog's Head had no Muggle plugs) in order to make Aberforth's life easier. Although he had originally disagreed and been distrustful of the muggle machinery, his opinion changed when he saw how efficient the process now was. He soon followed this up by buying a kettle, and a few other appliances at her suggestion.

Hermione had quickly become comfortable with the regulars in the pub and had gleefully watched when they noticed the change and Aberforth demonstrated the dishwasher as if it were an artifact from space. In her mind she was already imagining setting him up a playdate with Arthur Weasley to discuss the finer points of muggle equipment.

During her time at the pub she had grown much more comfortable with Aberforth and grew into her skin a bit more. Because no one knew her, this meant that she could act differently and try out new ways of behaving without judgement, and she really came out of her shell. Hermione had found that she grew confidence at talking to strangers and was a lot more relaxed when focussing on the task at hand rather than the impending horcrux hunt, or her absent friends.

It also became clear that the Hog's Head was being used as a way to gain information for The Order because she recognised another one of their staff who was there to spy. Benjy Finwick had just graduated from Hogwarts this past year and was quickly changing her perceptions of Hufflepuffs. Despite the exceptions of Tonks and Cedric Diggory, she had still seen Hufflepuffs as very quiet, timid and shy. Benjy, however, never seemed to shut up, and spent the majority of his time either flirting with their customers, Hermione, or both at the same time. She found this highly amusing and they soon became friends when he realised that this would not work on Hermione, although he continued to flirt outrageously.

This friendship became especially helpful when a customer had one too many drinks and decided that Hermione was too beautiful to resist, though she didn't understand why. In the rare times that this happened Benjy and Aberforth would both rise to her defence like a protective brother and father that would have been endearing had she not found it incredibly sexist and patronising. They soon learnt to let her have a go at the handsy customers first when Benjy had got in the way of a particularly vicious Bat Bogey Hex that would have made Ginny Weasley proud.

His company in Order meetings was also very helpful because it meant that not everyone in the room hated her. Furthermore, he had also introduced Hermione to the Prewett twins which she found comforting in a painful way due to the similarity of these men to their namesakes from her time. When they snuck up on her, as they usually did, she always had to hold herself back from scolding them with the wrong names.

With the twins, came the curious gaze of Mrs Weasley who always pretended to be strictly listening to the talks to show a good example to her children that would play on the floor beside the meeting, on a silenced playmat. However, Hermione often noticed her stifling a giggle at something she had overheard the twins saying to Hermione or Benjy or to her new friend Dorcas.

Dorcas Meadowes and the twins had graduated the year before Benjy and Hermione had soon gained a good rapport with her. As she had read in the 'Death Book', Dorcas gave off an aura of mystery and power that she had expected when she had read that Voldemort had killed her himself. However, she could not put her finger on what it came from because she was training to be an Unspeakable.

Other than some of the younger members, Moody and Aberforth, none of the other members had really warmed to Hermione during the summer. After Dumbledore had promised that she was trusted and had information, they had expected results, yet nothing appeared to be happening. Instead they had seemed to notice as the interactions between Hermione and Dumbledore got more short and despondent.

This was a result of Hermione distancing herself from the Professor. Due to his actions in the first Order meeting and with how he always seemed to talk down to her like a child, she had decided that she owed the man nothing. If he had chosen to keep them in the dark on the first time around, then he could get a taste of his own medicine.

Of course she realised how petty and childish this was but it was incredibly satisfying to watch Dumbledore trail after her. Furthermore, she knew that if she gave him all of the information at once then he would do his own research and leave her in the dark again until the last moment, and she was not letting that happen again. Instead she had agreed to give him a list of things that would happen and who would die, that the Order as a whole could deal with, and nothing that would hint to the existence of any horcruxes.

When she wasn't working at the pub or training with Moody, Hermione spent a lot of her time in Hogwarts Library researching horcruxes and other possible knowledge she might need to survive. As Dumbledore did not know what she was researching and had not yet become suspicious of horcruxes all of the books he had confiscated from the restricted section were still there. Or the multiple occasions when he would try to sneak into the library to convince her to tell him what she was working on or to spy himself, she transfigured the books into books regarding the complex systems of menstrual cycles, pregnancy potions and the like. These would make him blush and hopefully assume that she was just a fragile woman that everyone seemed to expect her to be.

By the end of her summer, she had put on a lot more weight and had also discovered some muscles in her arms and legs that had not been there before. She also had noticed that, although she was not happy, she felt better, now that she had a routine and a handful of people to joke with. Without her friends or anyone from her time, she still felt unbearably alone with no one to talk to. However, this sharp stab of pain and despair had lessened to a dull throb at the back of her mind; always there and present, but not so acute.

It turns out that when you take up exercise after 18 years of nothing and start eating again that your body changes quite considerably. With this in mind, Hermione packed her beaded bag to prepare for a trip to Diagon Alley to collect some more clothes and school supplies. Even when you haven't been on the run for a while, it's still difficult to shake the fact that you don't need to be ready to run on a moment's notice, so Hermione still continued to carry a slightly less filled bag in her sock.

When Aberforth asked if she needed accompaniment on her way out she declined and continued towards the floo. Similar to the last time she had been there, Diagon Alley was bright and joyful, no longer blighted by the depths of a war. Although this time it was considerably more crowded due to the throngs of school children rushing to get their last minute supplies.

Glad that it had not yet reached rush hour Hermione prioritised her list of items she needed, including her school robes so that she could pick them up later that day. Pleased that she had picked up the majority of what needed to be collected, she shrunk her bags and made her way out into the muggle world.

Unlike last time she had been here, the heat had faded and the clothes shops she visited now had the autumnal lines available. Passing a long line of coats, Hermione was glad that Aberforth had already bought her a coat as a gift considering the hefty prices that were listed. She may have been working all summer but she didn't have that much money!

It seemed that her grumble at the prices had not been as quiet as she thought when she heard some tinkling laughter across from her in the next aisle. " Don't worry I quite agree. The prices on these coats are outrageous, even if they look incredibly comfy."

The voice came from a girl about her own age who had a mass of wavy auburn hair surrounding her face. As the sun shone through it from the window beyond her, Hermione got the sudden feeling of déjà vu of her younger ginger friend. However, this soon faded when the girl stepped out of the light, reminding Hermione that this was not 1997.

"Oh this is nothing yet, I have to buy almost an entire new wardrobe yet before school starts and I'm dreading the final bill!" Hermione grinned in return, knowing that the love of bargains will help any Brit bond, no matter what decade.

The other girl nodded her head in agreement, "I find myself in much the same predicament seeing as I rarely go shopping for clothes. I usually only go when friends force me because it actually stresses me out." She grimaced at the sight of an over laden basket in her hands.

"Oh finally!" Hermione teased, "Another girl who can't see the appeal. You wouldn't by any chance know where the sale section is so I can get this over with?" The other girl's eyes widened and she looked guilty for a second, gesturing to her basket, "Um, I have actually just decided to buy half of it already sorry…"

They chuckled together before the redhead directed her to the right section. They joked about a couple fluorescent items that stuck out from the shelves and wondered why they hadn't been bought before the girl indicated she had to leave.

"Well I have to go find my mum and my sister before they give up on me as a lost cause but it was nice talking to you." Hermione grinned as she realised just how bereft she has been of any female company lately. She held out her hand to shake " Hermione."

"Oh is that from Shakespeare? Which play was that from again?" Amazed that she had found a girl who hates shopping and obviously read, Hermione was dumbfounded for a second. Just as she managed a reply the girl was being beckoned away by a woman who appeared to be her mother and a sour faced girl that must have been her sister. It was not until Hermione had finished paying that she realised that she hadn't actually got the name of the friendly girl.

By the time she had eaten her sandwich and made it back to Diagon Alley it was absolutely packed. Groaning at the crush of people that she would be forced to squash past, Hermione decided to escape to her favourite shop instead, to pick up a bit of light reading material.

The smell of old tomes and brand new books comforted her as soon as she walked in the door of Flourish and Blotts. Determined to get away from the crush of students buying their new school books, she immediately made for the furthest corner of the expansive shop, trailing her fingers along the spines of the books as she passed.

She was so distracted by what books she was passing that she didn't notice a boy that was standing in her way. Remus Lupin was wrapped up in his own little world trying to pile book after book on top of themselves beside him. Unfortunately Hermione tripped over said pile, causing them to fly into every possible direction.

"Sorry! Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going, and it's so busy in here and…. Oh I can't believe I just did that!" She rambled as she scrambled to pick up Remus's books as he did the same. Finally they reached the last book and managed to bang their heads together when they both reached for it at the same time.

"Ow." They both said at the same time and smiled, looking into each other's faces for the first time. Hermione thankfully managed to hold in the gasp that fought to break out, and was glad that the boy didn't yet recognise her as the girl from the hospital wing at the end of last year.

"Usually it's me who's walking into people whilst reading," he joked and helped her to her feet, brushing his robes down. "I suppose it didn't help that I left a considerably large tripping hazard."

Used to Professor Lupin's dry humour, Hermione smiled and replied, glancing at the title of the book at the top of his newly constructed pile."Well who can blame you, The Problems and Merits of Grindylow Care does seem rather interesting…"

He sniggered and narrowed his eyes at her, "As if someone other than me would be interested in this stuff. Well you learn something new everyday."

"You certainly intend to with that pile." She quipped and they both chuckled.

"Remus Lupin by the way," he said extending his hand, "I don't think I've seen you around here before?"

" Oh yes," she remembered, shifting what was left of his book pile to the other arm so she could shake hands, "I'm new to the country, I'm Hermione Dumbledore."

Predictably his eyes expanded comically, but was saved a reply when the raucous laughter of three boys turning around the corner butted in. "Of course Moony would want to meet us in the darkest depths of Blotts where no one can see the light of day, I reckon he's got a book fetish if that even is a thing…"

"Oooohhhh, only you would find yourself a girlfriend in a bookshop!" Came a louder cry when the trio caught sight of them.

Hermione noticed a blush rising to Remus's cheeks before she turned around to address the rest of the Marauders. She hadn't got a good look at them with the state she had been all those months ago so took the time to take in their appearances.

Peter Pettigrew was a short boy with a slight pudge around his waist and a hesitant wariness in his watery blue eyes. You could tell that he was less sure of himself than his friends due to his body language which seemed to keep twitching as if he were preparing to flee at any moment. Hermione couldn't help but feel a stab of annoyance and anger when she took in the man that would betray his friends and become a murderer.

Almost exhibiting the complete opposite of the boy, James Potter gave a calm and steady impression that reflected his childhood of being a pureblood only child. The self assurance, however, did not liken to that of Draco Malfoy, who would parade about as if he owned the place, sneering at anything he saw as beneath him. The tall boy was muscled by years of what she could only assume of rigourous Quidditch training, and his open and welcoming smile made him immediately attractive and endearing.

On the other hand, Sirius Black looked absolutely beautiful. As Hermione took in his angular face and thick, shiny hair she couldn't help blushing slightly; this was the boy before years of neglect at Azkaban. He had strolled in with a cocky self-satisfied air of complete comfort, very much demonstrating that he knew how attractive he was. Years of beater training had also been kind to the boy, and Hermione couldn't help but avert her eyes from the piercing dark stare of his bottomless eyes when he took her in.

Turning back to Remus, she took in the clothes that already were starting to look shabby and loose, and regarded the quiet resignation that seemed to exude from his person. "Sorry to disappoint boys, but Remus here just became the victim of my latest bout of clumsiness." She grinned and put her hand on the nervous boy's arm and continued in a teasing way, " Although I can't complain, if I were lucky enough to bag him!"

Remus's blush deepened and his mouth opened in surprise while the boys behind her choked out a laugh or two. Surprised by her own forwardness and flirtatious behaviour towards a man that had once been her own professor, Hermione shook herself and turned to introduce herself to the rest of the group.

"I'm Hermione by the way,"

"Nice to meet you, I'm James, this is Peter, and that fool over there is Sirius," James said, indicating each person in turn. Sirius was gestured to last and took the opportunity to reach for Hermione's hand to place a kiss upon it in the cheesy way that often got girls melting for him.

Hermione, however, was used to his antics thanks to living with him all summer before her 5th year, and just rolled her eyes. This seemed to make something click in the dark haired boy's mundane he grasped her hand more tightly , dragging her forward slightly.

"You're that girl," he began, all levity gone as complete seriousness took over his features, "We met in the last week of term when you arrived in the hospital wing." At this statement the other boys looked more closely at her and gasped.

Hermione groaned, wishing that she could have had more time before addressing this particular issue. "Of course, it must have been you that helped me find Uncle Albus, sorry everything was a blur back then so I must have missed your names." She smiled hoping that they would accept her lie.

"Uncle Albus?"

"Are you alright now?"

The boys all asked a question at once but she focussed on the boy still holding onto her, "What happened to you, one second you were bleeding all over us in the hospital wing, and then you were gone?" Well at least he gets to the point quickly.

"Oh don't worry about that, I simply splinched myself on the way over. International travel is particularly tricky, especially when I didn't take into account the heavy wards surrounding the castle. Albus lowered them in the Great Hall for me, but that's still a very small place to pinpoint." She lied through her teeth.

She saw the doubt in all of their faces, knowing that they didn't really buy her story. The extent of her injuries at the time definitely surpassed even the worst cases of splinching. Yet she tried to distract them by replying to their other questions.

"Yes, I call Professor Dumbledore my uncle because that is what he has become. I recently transferred from Beauxbatons to live with his brother whilst I prepare for my last year at Hogwarts." She began regarding James before moving onto Peter, "Thank you, I'm perfectly alright, I think it's Remus here who's in more danger of injuries with my big feet tripping over him."

Her stab at humour didn't seem to work very well as they continued to look at her with worried eyes. She sighed and made to leave before James started out talking again, clearly seeing that she didn't want to talk about it.

"Oh good old Abe, poor you, the grumpy old sod had been refusing us firewhiskey for years. Think you could put in a good word for us when we return to school?" His welcoming smile was so much like his son's that Hermione immediately felt at ease.

"Oh yes," Pettigrew leapt in, "We'll be in the same year, we might even be in the same house. Have you been sorted yet?"

"Not yet, Uncle Albus completely refuses to tell me how the sorting takes place so I assume that I will be sorted with the other first years. Is it a difficult process?" She channeled how she had felt before her first year and imitated a hesitant and scared look.

Seeking to realise the opportunity they had to tease the poor girl, both Potter and Black's eyes lit up and they began to open their mouths. Fortunately Lupin interrupted, "Don't worry it's really easy and you don't really have to do anything at all."

She fake sighed and then chuckled at the glares that the other boys were sending towards their studious friend. "Are Grindylows part of the content?" She began and soon Lupin and her were talking books again, as they strolled to the desk to pay. The other boys were walking behind them slightly and muttering under their breaths, no doubt talking about her.

They all finished paying and began to part ways on the street outside. "Well I'm definitely looking forward to spending time with you next year, sweetheart," Sirius began, loading on the charm yet again, only to be disappointed when Hermione didn't notice.

"Of course, I feel so much better knowing at least a few people that I'll be at school with." She replied in an excited voice, "I shouldn't be on the train seeing as I live in Hogsmeade so I'll see you at the first feast?" She asked with trepidation, hoping she wasn't being too needy from these people she had just met.

"Definitely," Peter replied, "We'll see you no matter what house you are sorted into, except possibly Slytherin." At that, Hermione looked at the boy that would betray his friends and wondered how such a friendly, kind boy could sink so far.

"Thanks," she replied and wandered off to find her finished robes, leaving the four boys staring after her.

Up next is Chapter 7: The Final First Day