Don't Look Back In Anger – Prologue
When Harry Potter died, the world stopped for a moment.
There was no sound, and then the screams and claps of victory sounded.
It was done. The Dark Lord had finally managed to kill the boy who lived. And Hermione was running, she was going as fast as she could. She entered Professor McGonagall's office and sealed it with the strongest spell she knew. Even so – It would only hold them off for minutes.
She started rummaging through her former Professor's desks and various closets and drawers. At this point she was hoping to find something... praying...
There was a loud tump from the door. They were trying to break in already and her spell was getting weaker and weaker...
There was nothing in the desk, nor in the closets and she had rummaged through virtually every drawer... She looked around.
BOOM!
The wood of the was splinting.
BOOM!
The door was gonna break down any second...
A chest!
There was a wooden chest in the corner!
BOOM!
Hermione threw the chest open and started to search.
BOOM!
Finally! She had found what she'd been looking for...
Her hands were shaking as she held the time turner.
Her heart was beating a mile a minute.
She only had to turn time back 60 minutes. Just enough to stop Harry from being killed.
She started to turn.
One, two, three, four, five, ...
BOOM!
... Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, ...
BOOM!
The door handle was lying in front of her feet, a piece of wood from the door were lying everywhere...
... Twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two, ...
BOOM!
The door was gone. Wood was everywhere. Four death eaters were standing in the doorway with their wands raised.
... Thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty...
A green light was rapidly flying towards her...
... seven, thirty-eight, thirty...
Everything around her fell away.
The time turner in her hand, ground under her feet, even the taste of blood in her mouth and then...
What happened next was inexplainable. Unfathomable. Incomprehensible.
One minute she'd been stuck inside her former transfiguration professor's old, crumbling Hogwarts office, and the next thing she knew was darkness. Hermione was unable to open her eyes, but even so, she was able to make out the darkness surrounding her. She was stuck in a tight space. It was warm and moist. Her setting was actually pretty comfortable... Then she heard a woman scream bloody murder. She also heard other voices, dimly. It was rather difficult to make out what they were saying. In truth she couldn't understand a word. And then, to top her confusion off, she was being moved. The soft walls around her were pulsating, the screams and noises were getting louder, and she couldn't breathe... She tried struggling, but her body wouldn't obey, panic rose inside her when she realised, that she was going to suffocate and die.
Hermione had never been one to believe in religion, or stories about a life after death; and she'd certainly never believed in any form of rebirth, at least not prior to the situation she found herself in right that very moment. Even in her current oxygen deprived, nearly passed out state, she realised what was happening as soon as she could finally make out what the voices, around her were saying.
"The alright, baby number two is almost out, Mrs. Evans. Just a few more pushes and you get to meet her!" Baby?! Oh Merlin. She was a baby. The warmth, the moisture, the frightening, yet comfortable darkness AND the fact that her body wouldn't oblige to her brain's commands. She was a baby, born with barely and immune system and virtually no muscle memory or strength. Even the most basic motions like opening her eyes were impossible.
Being born was traumatising. There was no other way of putting it. To think there were multiple babies being born that very same minute... Horrifying... She hadn't gone to school for very long, but she knew basic biology. This was regular... and disgusting... Hermione realised that it must have been terribly traumatic for the Mother as well, but she found the herself to be the real victim in this particular situation. The woman – Mrs. Evans – screamed once more and Hermione was finally able to breathe! She immediately forced her eyes to open only to find, that there were all sorts of disgusting fluids on her face and running into her eyes. She let out a shriek and quickly shut her eyes.
"Mrs. Evans, the head is out, we only need one or two more big pushes, then you get her!" the doctor... gynaecologist? She wasn't really sure what profession the woman was working in, muggle child birth was unknown territory to her...
"You can do it, love!" a male voice encouraged. Probably the Father... Or the Mother's Father... These weren't the dark ages; less than two more years and a new century would start...
The woman must have responded non-verbally, because next she felt the tight walls around her pushing her forward once more. The woman's scream was unlike any cry Hermione had ever heard. Tiered but powerful. Her shoulders were suddenly exposed to cold air and she was grabbed, and then... the was out.
"She's not crying! Why is she not crying?!" Mrs. Evans screamed panicked. The doctor or nurse used some sort of syringe tube pump pipe clean her nose, but Hermione didn't scream. She saw no real use in it. Someone wiped her face clean and then she was passed over to the worried Mrs. Evans, who was assured, that her baby was fine so far. That's when she deemed it safe to open her eyes once more.
"Oh, look at her Matthew, she's so beautiful. Just like her sisters!" the woman cooed. So, she had sisters... From what Hermione could see, Mrs. Evans had a very pale, sweaty face. She had brunette hair with a reddish hue and light blue eyes. The man was blonde. He was very handsome, with fair skin and bright green eyes, eyes that distinctively reminded her of one person – Harry. The thought put her confusion on the backburner, as a wave of deep pain and sadness washed over her. Her best friend, Harry Potter was dead and, where was she? A tired new born getting cooed over in her new parents' arms...
"She is love, a true beauty. You've done so well... Our beautiful little surprise. What are we gonna call her?" the man cooed. Surprise? Yes, she must have been considering that moments ago she'd been in Hogwarts, losing a war...
"I really like Violet, don't you?" the woman asked. Hermione scrunched her nose and made a disgusted noise.
"Oh yes that's-" the man broke off when he heard the sound and he let out a laugh, "- seems like she doesn't like it." The woman smiled.
"Well then, how about Rose?" Considering that was the name, that she'd planned on calling her own child if she ever had one, she was amenable to that. Fine. She was content with being called Rose. Maybe in the next few days she'd somehow be able to direct them toward Hermione as a middle name...
"Look, Matthew, she's smiling, I think she likes that name," the Mother cooed, "so now we've got a Lily and a Rose," the Mother smiled.
"Don't forget a Dahlia and our beautiful little Petunia at home. It's just my luck in life to be surrounded by beautiful girls," Matthew smiled down at the woman and Hermione in her arms. He bend down to kiss Mrs. Evans on her forehead; Right that moment an older, dark haired nurse in pink scrubs came over and interrupted the parents.
"Alright, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, we'll take the little Angel to get cleaned up and a medical exam to make sure she's really okay and then we'll bring both your babies to your room. In the meantime, a nurse will come and help clean you and then you will be brought to your room as well," the nurse explained. She took Hermione out of her Mother's arms and took her along to some sort of desk or counter, where another baby was just getting dressed. Hermione realised that she must have been a twin. The baby was one of her sisters. She had a few feathers of reddish hair on top of her head and when Hermione was put next to her the baby immediately opened her light grey eyes and tried waggled towards her. From the reaction alone Hermione felt her theory proofed. This was her twin. Lily, apparently...
Later, after what felt like hours, of being measured, weighed, prodded, probed - probably because she was quiet, even after they needled her in her foot's heel – and after she was rubbed down and stuffed in a onsie, Hermione and her sister were both rolled into a Hospital room. Mrs. Evans was lying in a hospital bed; she'd obviously gotten cleaned up. Her face was no longer sweaty, her reddish-brown hair had been tied in a ponytail and she was wearing a cotton nightgown. The blanket was pulled up to her hips, she looked tired but happy. Mr. Evans wasn't present. When the babies were rolled into the room by two nurses Mrs. Evans' tired eyes lit up and a big smile spread on her face.
"Alright, Mrs. Evans, here are your precious little girls," said the nurse who was rolling in Lily's cot. Mrs. Evans scooted up in her bed and reached out to grab one of the cots and pull her close to her bed, in reaching range of her arms. The other nurse wheeled Hermione next to her. "There's only one more thing, right now both babies are identified as 'Baby 1' and 'Baby 2' have you figured out their official names yet?" She asked. 'Please, no. I need my name!' Hermione begged mentally, but much to her great disappointment, her Mother nodded.
"Yes, my husband and I have discussed it. This –" Mrs. Evans reached out and stoked Lily's cheek. "- is Lily Jane..." She explained, then she let her hand travel over to Hermione. "And this beauty –" she continued, "- is Rose Hannah." Hermione's eyes widened. Oh no. Like, hell no! She could not lose her name entirely. Without meaning to, she accidentally blurted it out.
"No!" All three woman in the room looked at the baby with wide eyes. Hermione's new Mother was incredibly shocked. Hermione meanwhile, was thinking a bad four-letter word, that no baby should even know.
"Did she just... speak?" Now there was a chance for Hermione to let out more random sounds, like her sister was constantly doing, but what one had to understand was, that she needed her name. There were very few things, that she had control over at this very moment. She was a baby. Her body wasn't strong enough to respond in any physical way. Her original parents, the people who had already raised her, were somewhere in Australia and didn't remember her. Her best friend was dead. The wizarding world was probably in chaos the there was nothing she could do. For heaven's sake she wasn't sure if she was still a witch in this new life! The only reason why she hadn't fallen into a massive breakdown yet, was probably that she was still in some sort of shock. She knew that later, when the shock would eventually set in, she knew that she would find a better sense of comfort, if she'd at least be retain her name.
Both nurses were really surprised, especially because Hermione had been the quiet the whole time. One of the nurses shook her head and let auf a laugh.
"No, it was probably just a random sound she made, that sounded like a word. Many parents think that-"
"No!" Hermione interjected, repeating what she'd already blurted out previously. Her Baby voice sounded awful to her ears and it was really hard to pronounce even the word 'no' without teeth in her mouth. "No, no, no, no, no!" Mrs. Evans gasped.
"Oh my goodness!" one of the nurses called out.
"I'll get a doctor" the other one said and left immediately, while the first one kept muttering about how unbelievable Hermione was and actually went to grab her. Mrs. Evans sat up straighter and picked Hermione out of her cot before the nurse could. She whispered sweet words and encouraging things at Hermione, who slowly got woozy. Apparently, infants didn't have the best stamina...
When the second nurse returned with a doctor, Matthew who was carrying a blonde toddler girl, along with another, older red-haired man and two older women, one with long grey-streaked blond hair and a pair of oval shaped glasses on her nose, the other smaller, with curly white hair and a walking stick, came in closely behind. All of them crammed into the hospital room.
"Oh my god, Dahlia! Is everything alright?" Matthew asked hectically as soon as he entered and noticed the present hospital personnel. The doctor turned toward Matthew.
"Mr. Evans, according to nurse Roberts here, one of your baby daughters exhibits uncharted, advanced levels of mental consciousness and development..."
"What?" he asked.
"Your daughter-"
"She talked, Matthew. She is able to talk and reacts to what we're saying!" Mrs. Evans stated. Loudly, one might add. It immediately pulled Hermione back from her dozing state of sparse consciousness. She was rather disgruntled. She wanted quiet. She wanted to sleep. That's when the real racket began. Lily started screaming.
Everybody was talking and screaming the nurses and doctor wanted to hold Hermione, but her Mother wouldn't give her up. Her Father gave the blonde toddler to the older blonde woman and took Lily from the cot. The old people – correction according to the present dialogue – her grandparents, were wondering what was happening... Hermione snapped.
"Ewywooy Sudup!" Hermione screamed, is sounded like... it came from a toddler without teeth. For Merlin's sake! That's when even more ruckus erupted. Needles to say Hermione didn't get any peace for a long while after that...
Two days later, Hermione was lying in her hospital cot, while her new Mother was reading her a book of girl names. Hermione was sick of it, and her Mother had only just reached the letter 'D'. The woman was desperately trying to animate her newly baby-genius daughter. Hermione could understand the woman to some degree. After she had finally got sleep two days prior, Hermione had woken up yesterday and the shock, that had been shieling her mind from catching up what had happened to her, had finally left her. This of course, had resulted in all the sadness, panic and pain she'd had penned up to come crashing down. She had cried and screamed all day long, worrying her parents and hospital personnel, especially when she also refused to eat. The only thing, that Hermione found herself constantly reacting to, was Lily, her twin. It must have been a biological response, that had been programmed into her during birth, because it was entirely involuntary.
Today, Hermione felt a little better, or maybe she had just cried herself out... It was like she was numb. One moment she'd had an entire life and friends and family and magic, and now she was here... It was unfair; the way she'd been ripped from her life... forced to life again, start again, fully conscious of what she had lost... Hermione was just lying there, thinking about what had happened to her, drifting in and out, while Mrs. Evans was reading her baby names and taking care of Lily simultaneously.
"...Hepziba, Hepzibeth, Hera, Herdis, Heresvida, Hermia, Hermina, Hermione, Hermosa..." Hermione had perked up when she registered her name. She let out a grunt to indicate she liked the name. She figured, she was unable to speak normally, and couldn't nod or shake her head, because there was no muscle mass inside of her, so why bother?... Her Mother picked up on it right away
"What is it, love? Did you like one of those names?" she asked excitedly. Hermione let out a sound in confirmation. Her Mother perked up even more. "Which one? Hermia? Hermina? Hermione? Her-" Hermione let out another sound. "Hermione?" sound. "Hermione, I love it! It sounds very pretty, baby-love!" her Mother cooed. Hermione let out a happy grunt. "Lily Jane and Rose Hermione Evans, doesn't that sound beautiful, my little flowers?"
Five days after birth Hermione and her twin were finally brought home by their parents. As soon as Hermione was taken out of the hospital in her carrier, she realised her situation was different from what she'd imagined. It wasn't May and it wasn't June anymore. It was winter. Very cold and snowy winter... She didn't get it... What the hell had happened?! ...Maybe getting reborn had taken a few months...?
Both girls were strapped into the backseats of an old car... even though it was obviously a very old vehicle, it seemed to be in prime condition. The twins were strapped in next to their sister, Petunia. Lily and Petunia... It was strange. Every time she heard their names Hermione couldn't help thinking about Harry... His Mom and aunt had been called Lily and Petunia. Things were very peculiar in her new life...
While the car drove towards her new home, Hermione's Father turned on the radio. It played a lot of ancient music, some of which Hermione knew her Father in her old life had listened to as well. After eight songs the radio host started talking.
"Eric wanted to know if I could play a special song to Victoria today. Eric, thank you for writing and thank you for being a part of the program here and part of our family of friends and listeners. You're listening to Geoffrey on BBC Radio, 93.9 W-LIT. Hi! This of Geoffrey. It's 9:28 on this beautiful Thursday, February 4th, 1960 and these are today's news topics –"
Hermione stopped listening. The radio hosts words were ringing in her head. February 4th, 1960! February 4th, 1960! FEBRUARY 4th, 1960! 1960! 1960! 1960! 1960!... Oh, Morgana! Oh, Merlin! Oh... FUCK!
NO! It couldn't be true! How could this happen?! What had happened?! Impossible! It was impossible!
It couldn't be helped, she had to ask about the date... She didn't know how to ask. She hadn't spoken a word since that day at the hospital, when her Mother had tried to name her... What could she say? What could she do? 'Awful things happen to wizards who meddle with time...' If it was really true, if it was really 1960... She couldn't believe it... She looked next to her at her sisters... Both Lily and Petunia were asleep in their seats, the car's vibrations had probably lulled them to sleep... She had to ask...
"Mummy, Daddy, dade oooday?" Hermione asked quietly, she cursed her inability to pronounce even a single word correctly, wishing that her teeth would come out sooner rather than later... Her parents immediately turned down the radio... Shellshocked. They looked at each other for a brief second before someone answered.
"What did you say, little love?" asked her Mother, turning around in her seat to look at her. Hermione repeated her question. Her Mother looked surprised and once again gave her husband a side glance... "It's February 4th, 1960. Lily and you were both born on January 30th, 1960, at 1:26 and 1:58 AM... And your sister Petunia was born on Mai 15th, 1958 at 10:16 PM...
Oh Merlin, Lily and Petunia! Lily and Petunia Evans! In 1960! Oh. Oh. Oh! Could it be...? Oh my... Lily and Petunia Evans... If she was correct in her assumption... there was a distinct possibility that Lily and Petunia Evans would become Lily Potter and Petunia Dursley... Harry's aunt and Mother!
'Awful things happen to wizards who meddle with time...' Oh Merlin! What could she do? How could she react? If she was correct, then there was nothing she could do to avoid meddling with the timeline. She had travelled back in time before... She knew time travel and this wasn't that. She had not just time travelled. It was like she had appeared in an entirely different reality, one that hadn't existed before...One where SHE hadn't existed before... It was impossible. Apart from the fact, that it was entirely unheard of, that anyone travelled back more than a few hours, one or two days at most; a time turner didn't create an entire new history! It couldn't change history on its own and make a second baby appear in in the womb of a woman who'd previously only been pregnant with one...
Hermione was spinning. Her mind going in circles around her thoughts... She was so distracted by her own thoughts, she didn't realise that the car had stopped, until her parents opened the doors and got out of the car.
As soon as their car doors slammed, both Lily and Petunia woke up and started screaming. Hermione closed her eyes, leaned back in her car seat for a moment before her parents could come to get her out, and welcomed another headache...
Since there was nothing, she could do to rectify her situation, Hermione had to adjust to her new life. She settled into her new family as the quiet, gifted, youngest twin of the family. About four weeks after her parents had brought her home, Hermione's parents registered her with the 'National Association for Gifted Children' where Hermione was subjected to various test to determine her quote-on-quote "intellectual giftedness".
She trained herself physically as hard and much as she could. At three months she was finally able to crawl, which was two months before herself and Lily began to teeth. By seven months Hermione was finally able to take her first steps.
When she was one year old, Hermione could speak and pronounce every word flawlessly. She could walk, run and jump without any problems. Lily was learning everything as well even though she wasn't able to walk without shaking, or speak in grammatically correct sentences, much like Petunia who was over two years old.
Hermione wasn't especially close to anyone in her family. She figured it'd be best to stay away as far as she could, so she wouldn't interfere with time and history... She had tried to do some wandless magic, but no matter how hard she tried, it wouldn't work... It wasn't necessarily a bad sign; she knew that her power would grow as she got older and she had never been particularly good at performing wandless magic. At this point she was almost certain, that she wasn't a witch in her new life. She was ordinary. She was nothing anymore... Even just the knowledge, that Lily would turn out to be a witch made her ache inside. She cried herself to sleep over it most nights.
Hermione started to attend to attend pre-school at three. She attended for one year before her parents allowed her to transfer to secondary school, where she got to choose her A-Level classes right away. Truth be told she had only been able to ace her pre-school cases so soon, because she'd taken the very same classes before, in her first life. She had never taken any her A-Levels, so she actually had to work for her grades from that point on, even though, every act of learning seemed trivial in her new life. On July 14th, 1970, Hermione became one of the youngest people to ever graduate from secondary school in Britain. She had 12 GCSEs and five A-levels by the time she graduated. While she had spent most of her time with her nose in a book, Lily and Petunia had taken ballet classes.
Her relationships with her family had somewhat improved. Hermione had become really close to her Mother and Father and had even started to think of them as her actual parents. Her grandma and grandpa had died, only her granny was still alive. Hermione had become somewhat closer to her twin sister, Lily. Lily was a sweet and kind girl and always tried to include Hermione in her games or when she had friends over; even though Hermione had felt terribly sad after Lily's first burst of accidental magic at seven, she had tried to spend as much time with her elder twin sister as she could, before Lily would go to Hogwarts and Hermione would have to somehow leave her family to preserve the original timeline.
Petunia was an entirely different matter of course; Hermione had never really been able to connect with her oldest sister much. Petunia had always tried to best Hermione somehow and when had realised that she was unable to do so, she'd written Hermione off, ignored her at every turn and started focusing on Lily.
At the tender age of ten and a half, Hermione had finally taken a Mensa Supervised IQ test and received a score of 142. From that day on she dreaded every day leading up to hers and Lily's 11th birthday. Hermione received a Scholarship in Medicine from Cambridge University, and started attending there in October 1970. At the end of her first term at university, Hermione came home to celebrate Christmas with her family. Every passing day was making her sicker. She knew, that Lily's Hogwarts letter would arrive soon and she was almost certain, that there wouldn't be one arriving for her.
Hermione had never forgotten the day her Hogwarts acceptance letter arrived. It had been September 30th, 1990. She had turned eleven exactly eleven days previously. Her doorbell had rung at 7:30 AM, she had opened the front door and there, Professor Minerva McGonagall had stood. It would be memory she'd always cherish...
... just as she would always cherish the day she got her letter of acceptance the second time around on Saturday, January 30th, 1971.
The shrill ringing of the doorbell sounded around the house at 9:42 AM, just as Hermione and Lily were eating their celebratory birthday breakfast, consisting of eggs, bacon, and most importantly chocolate cake.
Hermione and Petunia stayed seated and kept eating cake, their Father was reading the paper and drinking tea and their Mom was doing the dishes, while Lily ran for the door. About two minutes after Lily had left and still hadn't returned or given any sign other than some incomprehensible murmur outside, their Mom got impatient.
"Lily, honey, who is it?" Dahlia Evans called out.
"Mummy, can you come here, please?" Lily called from the front door. Dahlia put the plate she was cleaning down, whipped her hands on the dishtowel hanging by the oven and went out to the foyer. "What is it, honey?" She asked loudly as she left the kitchen.
It took another few minutes before Lily and their Mum returned, with another person in long, dark robes tailing behind them. Hermione recognized the robes immediately as wizard-robes, and incredibly she also recognized the witch who was wearing them. Madam Rolanda Hooch. Hogwarts's flying instructor and quidditch referee.
"Good morning Mr. Evans," she greeted Hermione's Father, "ladies," she spoke with a nod towards Hermione and Lily. She looked at the sisters and went right for Hermione. "If I had to guess, I'd say that you are Rose Evans..." Still a bit baffled, Hermione nodded at her and corrected with a quiet voice 'Hermione'. "Very well, Hermione, then this-" she pulled out an envelope and held it towards Hermione, "- is for you."
Hermione looked down at the envelope.
Ms R. Evans
17 Severn Road
Spinner's End
Cokeworth
She couldn't believe it. She had gotten a letter after all!
She would go back to Hogwarts! She would be allowed to go back home!
Hermione ripped the envelope open, pulled out the paper inside and began reading.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Ms. Evans,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1. September.
We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Hermione took the second page and went through it. It was pretty much the same as it had been the first time, she'd gotten one.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl or a cat or a toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK!
Yours sincerely,
Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus
Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions
"Oh my God, Mione! Sev told me this was gonna come! I have to tell him!" Lily called out. Right. Sev. Severus Snape. Professor Snape. Hermione's former portions professor. Lily's best friend...
"Sorry, what is this?" Hermione's Dad asked, putting the newspaper he'd been reading away. That's when Madame Hooch sat down and started explaining things to the girls' parents...
Mr. and Mrs. Evans beamed down at Hermione and Lily, each kneeling in turn to hug and kiss them.
"We'll miss you, darlings," Mrs. Evans told her daughters, while her husband nodded in agreement. The only family member not joining in the sentiment, it seemed, was their older sister.
Petunia stood about ten feet away, her arms crossed and her expression dark. This, of course, only caused Lily to walk over to her. Hermione kept herself in the back. She already knew how the story between the sisters would end, and she had never been all that close to Petunia anyway; In fact, Hermione didn't even understand what they were talking about, until the conversation got louder.
"... I'm sorry, Tuney, I'm sorry! Listen –" She caught her sister's hand and held tight to it, even though Petunia tried to pull it away. 'Poor Lily,' Hermione thought. "Maybe once I'm there – no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I'm there, I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!"
"I don't – want – to – go!" sneered Petunia, and she dragged her hand back out of Lily's grasp. "You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a- a–" she stopped an took a deep breath. "– you think I want to be a freak?" Lily's eyes filled with tears as Petunia succeeded in tugging her hand away. Hermione felt something hurt inside her chest. Sure, she and Petunia hadn't been all that close in the past, but she had grownto love her over time; This was hurtful...
"We're no freaks!" Lily exclaimed. "That's a horrible thing to say!"
"Please, Hermione has been a freak since birth, it's why no one liked her! And now you! That's where you're going,' said Petunia hatefully. "A special school for freaks. You two and that Snape boy... weirdos! That's what you two are. It's good you're being separated from normal people. It's for our safety!" There were tears in Lily's eyes. Hermione glanced towards her parents, for support; they were looking around the platform with an air of wholehearted enjoyment, drinking in the scene. Hermione went to get them to get her sisters to stop fighting. She simple walked up to her mother, grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the girls. When they reached them, Petunia and Lily were arguing again.
"That boy found it! You and that boy have been sneaking in my room!" Petunia yelled.
"No. Not sneaking–" Lily replied defensively. "Severus saw the envelope, and he couldn't believe a Muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, that's all! He says there must be wizards working undercover in the postal service who take care of –"
"Apparently wizards poke their noses in everywhere!" interrupted Petunia, she was as red as a tomato. "Freak!" she spat at Lily. That's when their Mum cut in.
"PETUNIA! Stop it! We do not call each other names in this family!" Petunia simply crossed her arms and looked away. Their Mum put her hands on her hips and sighed.
"Alright, now say goodbye to each other!" Their Father joined in. "Girls you need to get on the train, it leaves any minute now." Hermione hugged her Dad's legs as a goodbye. He put a hand on her back and patted her. "Goodbye Princess. You show those wizards and witches what we Evans' are made of!" He told Hermione. Then the brunette let go and went to join her sisters. Hermione simply waved at Petunia. It was not a surprising motion for the family, as Hermione had always seemed a little detached from emotions.
"We'll miss you, Tuney," Lily assured her sister with a sweet smile. Petunia simply looked down at her younger sister with disdain.
"Won't you miss your sisters, Petunia?" Their Mum urged, nudging her older daughter with her elbow. Petunia rolled her eyes.
"Sure. I guess..." Resisting the urge to imitate Petunia's gesture, Mrs. Evans once again smiled at Lily and Hermione.
"You'll come home for Christmas. I'll see you then. I love you." She told Lily, who replied in kind. "Please try to make some friends, honey. Put your books down every now and then and talk to people. I'm sure they'll find you just as lovely as your Dad and I do. I love you..." She told Hermione.
"I love you, too," Hermione reciprocated, and with that Lily took her hand and pulled Hermione and Severus onto the train. Severus looked very comfortable and happy holding Lily's hand. There was a look on his face that Hermione had never seen before. Hermione pondered how Snape could have become such an awful person, when he seemed relatively friendly now... He'd always been friendly and kind towards Hermione, even though she never really talked to him, true that might have been because of Lily, but still... What could have happened in the year between now and when she'd met him, that had turned him into such a sleazebag? While Hermione was trailing off in her thoughts, Lily was happily rambling on.
"Can you believe it, Sev? We're really here! We're finally here!" Severus smiled slightly at his friend's excitement, but the knots in his stomach made the smile look weird and he quickly wiped it from his face.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Severus answered happily as they walked through the train, trying to find an empty compartment. "Oh, we can sit here, girls!" He cheered when he found an empty one and pulled Hermione and Lily inside.
The three sat down. Lily and Severus on one side, Hermione in the corner by the window of the other. Lily reached out and patted Hermione's knee, in what Hermione assumed was supposed to be a calming and comforting gesture.
"Don't worry, Mione. Everything's gonna be alright; And we'll always be together, right?" Lily spoke kindly. Hermione loved Lily. The redhead was a very pleasant Person to be around. Hermione just nodded at her, even though she knew they wouldn't always be together. Hermione couldn't stay with her sister. She knew had to stay away and let history unfold...
Wordlessly Hermione turned her head and looked out the window as the train began moving. Knowing what Hermione was like, neither Lily nor Severus tried to engage her in their talks and just ignored her as they chattered on. Meanwhile Hermione was thinking of her first ride to Hogwarts, how excited she had been and how amazing it had been seeing everything for the first time... She was pulled out of her reminiscent thoughts when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Her head spun around surprised and she was looking in the face of a young Harry Potter. Hermione gasped and reeled back in surprise.
"There now, you startled her!" Lily accused from across her. Harry pulled back and scooted closer to the door with a boy she didn't know next to him.
"I'm sorry, we didn't mean to!" The boy told her. "I just wanted to ask her opinion!" He tried to justify.
"And we told you to leave her alone!" Severus accused. Lily nodded and looked at Hermione.
"Mione, are you okay?" Lily asked. Hermione took a deep breath and nodded. Then she turned back towards Harry. Now that she was examining him closer, she realised, that the boy was in fact not Harry. Even though he had his untidy jet-black hair and the same face shape and symmetry; Harry's glasses were missing and this boy was leaner and taller than small, skinny Harry had been. His nose was slightly longer and his eyes were a warm, comforting mahogany brown, full of golden specks. It was Harry's father. It had to be. James Potter. She also looked at the boy next to him. He was a bit taller than James and just as lean, with fair skin, lustrous curly black hair and familiar grey eyes. Hermione realised she knew him – This was Sirius. Sirius Black. She couldn't believe it. This boy looked nothing like the worn-down train wreck of a man she had met when she was thirteen. Both of them had sort of an arrogant air around them, but Hermione was going to give them the benefit of the doubt.
"Sorry, what did you want from me?" Hermione asked the boys calmly.
"Which House do you want to get sorted into?" Sirius answered with a grin. Both him and James looked at her expectantly. Hermione knew, that Lily wanted to get into Slytherin and she'd told her sister, that they would be together.
"Oh, well... Lily wants to go to Slytherin with Severus..." Hermione answered quietly and shrugged.
"Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave the school, wouldn't you?" James asked Sirius.
"My whole family have been in Slytherin," he answered.
"Blimey," James answered, "and I thought you seemed all right!" Sirius grinned.
"Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?" James made some sort of hand gesture and answered, of course, Gryffindor. Snape made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him.
"Got a problem with that?"
"No," Severus answered in what Hermione identified as a sarcastic tone. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy–"
"How do you expect to get into any house at all, seeing as you're neither?' interjected Sirius. James roared with laughter. Hermione bit her lips to keep from laughting and looked down at her shoes to hide her amusement. Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from James to Sirius in distaste. '
"Come on, Severus, Mione?" Hermione took a breath through her nose to straighten her face and looked up at her sister. "Let's find another compartment."
"Oooooo..." James and Sirius imitated her tone; Severus and Hermione got up and followed Lily. James tried to trip them as they passed.
"See ya, Snivellus!" a one of them called, as the compartment door slammed behind them.
The Evans twin sisters stood in the Great Hall and faced the, to Hermione familiar, candlelit house tables, lined with rapt faces. Then Professor McGonagall called upon them.
"Evans, Lily!" Hermione watched her sister walk forwards on trembling legs and sit down upon the rickety stool. Professor McGonagall dropped the Sorting Hat on to her head, and barely a second after it had touched the bright red hair the Hat cried, "Gryffindor!" Hermione heard Severus next to her let out a groan as Lily took off the Hat, handed it back to Professor McGonagall, then hurried towards the cheering Gryffindors, but as she went, she glanced back at Severus and Hermione, and there was a sad little smile on her face. Hermione watched Sirius move up the bench to make room for her. She looked at him and seemed to recognise him right away, so she folded her arms and turned her back on him. Hermione let out a laugh. The roll call continued.
"Evans, Rose!" Hermione straightened her shoulders and walked up confidently. She sat down on the designated stool and Professor McGonagall dropped the hat on her head.
"Intriguing, really intriguing... It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Evans." The Hat voice spoke in her head. "You are brave, so very brave..." the head informed her, "... but you're also smart. Intelligent beyond the standard... and loyal to a fault..." Hermione started chanting in her head.
"Not Gryffindor. Not Gryffindor. Not Gryffindor..." This was taking forever. The entire hall was staring at her.
"Not Gryffindor, hmmm?" muttered the Hat. "Are you sure? Gryffindor would be an excellent fit..."
"Not Gryffindor. Not Gryffindor. Not Gryffindor..."
"Alright, fine then... I guess it is..." Hermione's stomach turned in excitement. "RAVENCLAW!" Hermione thanked her lucky stars. A different house would make it a lot harder for her to interfere with the future... She gave her sister a look and ran to the cheering Ravenclaw table, where she sat down next to a dark-brown haired girl with pale blue eyes.
"Hi! I'm Pandora Heller!" The girl introduced herself. Hermione smiled at her.
"I'm Hermione...Well, actually I'm Rose, but call me Hermione!" Hermione answered. The two girls kept on chatting while they watched the sorting commence. Hermione watched as Frank Longbottom, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and James Potter join Lily and Sirius at the Gryffindor table. Finally, when only a dozen students remained to be sorted, Professor McGonagall called Severus. Hermione, watched as the Hat was placed upon his head.
"Slytherin!" cried the Sorting Hat...
Over the next five years Hermione established herself as sort of an oddity around Hogwarts. Within weeks most of her fellow students began the shun the nerdy know-it-all. Most Slytherins naturally hated the muggleborn witch and bullied her constantly, which was rather difficult as it seemed that Ravenclaw shared most of its classes with Slytherin, Ravenclaw also shared a few classes with Hufflepuff. Most Hufflepuff students didn't tease or bully Hermione, they were kind and civil, but they didn't necessarily want to be friends with the nerdy, know-it-all witch either. Only Gryffindor, it seemed, shared hardly any classes with Ravenclaw in five years. The majority of the House didn't care for Hermione. She got teased by them and even bullied by some. Very few people in all of Hogwarts actually liked Hermione, even those in her own house. Teachers, of course, adored her. Most teachers thought she was the greatest student they had ever had.
It was Sunday, February 8, 1976. Hermione woke up some time around seven. She stayed in bed for a few more minutes, then she pulled her bed curtains back and rolled out of the sheets. She went to her closet to pull out some clothes and looked around the fifth-year-girls-dormitory. The curtains on most of the beds were still drawn and the girls inside them probably still asleep. Hermione walked across the room to the adjoining bathroom. She threw the clothes in one of the bathroom sinks and went to relieve herself, then she went to the sink. She washed her hands and her face, then she grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste and began brushing her teeth. Once she was done with that, she washed her face once more, grabbed a hairbrush and started untangling her hair with it. She looked in the mirror. Hermione looked at her face everyday, yet she still couldn't get over the person she saw looking back at her...
In her former life Hermione'd been tall and skinny, she'd had light skin, bright brown eyes, lots of shoulder-length bushy light-brown hair and, when she had been a child, rather large front teeth.
In this life she was rather small, lean and curvy, she had ivory-freckled skin and long, dark reddish-brown curly hair, that reached down to her waist. The strangest, most disturbing feature of all, was the pair of almond shaped, emerald green eyes in her face, which were staring right back at her. Harry's eyes.
Hermione looked a lot like her twin sister, Lily. There were very few features that differed between the sisters. Their bodies were the same in shape and height. Their eyes were the same. The most distinctive, yet subtle, differences were their faces. Even in this new life Hermione had retained her high cheekbones and heart-shaped face, contrary to Lily, whose face was rounder, with supple apple cheeks. Hermione's lips were the same as they'd been in her previous life as well; her bottom lip was full but her upper lip was very slim but perfectly cupid-bow shaped, while Lily's lips were simply full and symmetrical...
Hermione took off the shirt and shorts she'd slept in, sprayed some of the deodorant under her arms and started putting on the clothes she'd taken from her closet. A medium-sleeved grey-green printed dress and a beige knitted jumper. The outfit looked rather shrill, but these were the seventies, so she guessed it fit with the style of the era... When she was dressed, she went back the bedroom. She opened a drawer next to her bed and pulled out a black pair of tights, which she put on, as well as a grey-beige pair of trainers.
As soon as she was dressed, Hermione quietly left the Ravenclaw dormitories and the tower and went to the Great Hall to get breakfast. Once she was down in the Great Hall, she sat down at the Ravenclaw table. Not a lot of people were up yet. She ate some breakfast and watched as the Great Hall slowly began to fill with students.
"Hey Mione!" Hermione looked up from her plate and saw Pandora sitting down next to her. The dark-haired witch had become Hermione's best friend. She was smart, talented, daring, kind, ... Plus she reminded Hermione of someone, even though she couldn't pinpoint of whom she reminded her exactly...
"Oh, Hi!" Hermione mumbled and smiled at her. "Finally up, huh?" Pandora pushed a wayward curl out of her face and smiled.
"You should've woken me! I thought we were gonna study today?" Hermione shrugged.
"I didn't wake you because I figured you were gonna be down here before Lily anyways, aaaaaaand-" Hermione turned and looked at the Gryffindor table; There was no sign of her sister. "- I was right. Lily's probably sleeping in. Like always..." She rolled her eyes. Pandora pursed her lips and shrugged. Then she reached across the table and grabbed herself a roll. When she'd cut it up and put some strawberry jam on it and taken a bite, Pandora hummed.
"Sooo haw you tal'ed to your 'ister awout that scene she made with James 'otter the other day?" The scene Lily had made. Yes. The other day the marauders had gotten into a fight with Severus; of course, Lily had to get involved and promptly tried to slap James Potter across the face... Hermione shook her head.
"First of all – swallow before you speak, please. Second – no, I have not. I spent all day yesterday in the Common Room, which you know, because you spent it with me." Pandora rolled her eyes and made a point of swallowing her bite and showing Hermione her mouth, before she spoke again.
"Well you should talk to her. She IS your twin, after all. Plus – it's super embarrassing, and it's not like we don't get enough negative attention already..." Pandora shrugged and took another bite. Hermione sighed.
"I know, but people are staring at her all the time because of me and she just takes it... shouldn't I at least return the courtesy?" Hermione asked. " Also, since when do you care about being stared at?" Pandora shrugged again.
"I don't. But you should. You are the one who wants to work for the ministry after all; And the Potter's have a lot of influence there... Fleamont Potter is friends with the minister of magic..." Hermione breathed in through her nose and rolled her eyes.
"I know, I know..." she muttered. Pandora was right of course. These were the seventies after all; the ministry wasn't as liberal yet, as it had been during the nineties... well, some of the nineties... Very few muggleborns worked for the ministry of magic, those who did had a very hard time working their way up the ladder and only the best of the best got the chance at all... Her plan had been to start working there and somehow make her way to the department of mysteries to research what had happened to her...
"I know, I know... Lily just has a temper, but I find it ridiculous that her behaviour could have any sort of effect on my hiring! It's unfair and discriminatory!"
"Blah, blah, blah... I know, I've heard it before, Mione. That doesn't change the fact that it is what it is..." Hermione took a deep breath to calm down.
"You're right... It's just... She's my sister... I don't wanna tell her how to behave..." And her behaviour had been the reason James Potter was so taken with her in the first place... And she needed James to end up with Lily to preserve the original timeline... She needed to graduate, pull away and let the events of the next few years until 1998 unravel...
"I get it. It's fine. If you don't wanna talk to Lily, maybe you should speak to James Potter... He seems like he could be decent... you know – when he's not acting like a giant wanker..." Pandora reasoned and put a spoonful of porridge in her mouth. Hermione nodded. Maybe she could talk to James Potter... It was not like she hadn't done it before... She had spoken to him on the train ride to Hogwarts during her first year there. And again last year, when James had found her in the Library, seen her from behind and confused her with Lily...
"I guess..." Hermione muttered.
"Good. He's right over there," Pandora said, turned her head and nodded towards the Gryffindor table. Hermione turned her head and looked at two of the marauders, James Potter and Remus Lupin, who were sitting at their table. Hermione gave Pandora a blank look.
"Now?" Pandora shrugged.
"No time like the present..." Hermione swallowed. She didn't wanna talk to James. She didn't want him to pay any attention to her. It was already bad enough, that she was Lily's sister. That family bond was never going to go away; and no matter how hard Hermione tried to turn her back, there had always been a connection between Lily and herself.
"Fine..." Hermione muttered. She straightened back herself and got up. She looked over at the Gryffindor table. James was practically inhaling bacon and eggs next to Remus who was eating some toast with honey. Hermione slowly walked over to the Gryffindor table, keeping her eyes on the two boys. They didn't even look up when she approached them, so she cleared her throat when she stood in front of them by the Gryffindor table. Remus and James both looked up at her. Remus smiled, while James looked rather confused.
"Good morning," Remus greeted her, giving her a questioning look.
"Evans?" James asked at the same time. Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Harry's father was just as observant and eloquent as his future son had been...
"Uhhh... I'm Hermione, Lily's sister?" Hermione spoke awkwardly, fidgeting with her hands and shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
"I thought your name was Rose?" James stated, but if sounded more like a question.
"Nice to meet you, Hermione. What did you want?" Remus asked kindly. Remus' personality wasn't much different from the future; The greatest change was, that he seemed very happy and content.
"Uhm, yes... My first name is Rose, I go by Hermione, my middle name... Uhh, I wanted to talk to you about Lily, actually..." Hermione bit her lip. This was uncomfortably awkward...
"Oh..." James muttered and shoved a piece of bacon in his mouth.
"Oh? What about Lily?" 'Thank Merlin for you, Remus,' Hermione praised mentally. She pushed her curls behind her ear.
"Well, I wanted to ask you, if you could leave her alone actually. Things were really awkward on Friday... So I was hoping you'd give her a bit of a break..." said Hermione quietly. She avoided eyes contact. In hindsight she figured that talking to Lily would have been a lot less awkward...
"And how do my interactions with Lily affect you?" responded James rudely. Remus gave him a blank stare, then he shook his head.
"James, Lily is her sister. Twin sister. They are obviously very close..." Remus reasoned benevolently. He looked at Hermione. "You're just trying to look out for your sister, right?" Hermione nodded.
"Yeah... well no... yes... I mean... Lily can obviously look out for herself –" Hermione answered, stuttering a bit.
"- Then why are you getting involved?" wow. Hermione had known that Harry's father had been a bit of a tosser in his younger years, but he was just unbelievably rude... Still, Hermione swallowed the anger that was starting to bubble up in her stomach.
"Well," Hermione explained awkwardly, "... I didn't want to patronise Lily, but... she has a bit of a temper and-" Once again James rudely interrupted her.
"Seriously? You're here to talk shit about her?" Aaaand just like that Hermione lost it.
"YOU LISTEN HERE, POTTER! I was going to ask you nicely to leave my sister alone, because outbursts like the one she had the other day reflect badly on us, not that someone like YOU would understand that!" Hermione spat, "But you know what? Nevermind. I'll just ask Lily to ignore you altogether. Have a nice Sunday, Remus. Goodbye!" With that Hermione turned away and stormed over to Pandora, who was standing by the exit. Both girls left. Pandora shook her head at the boys.
"I can't believe that boy! I mean, I heard stories, but I never expected James Potter to actually be such a rude asshole!" Hermione grumbled. Pandora shook her head.
"What even happened? I've never seen you this mad, even back when she Slytherins used to spray us with water and dirt and stuff? What is it about James Potter that gets under the skin of you Evans girls?" Pandora asked, a little amused. Hermione's cheeks were red spotted from the anger.
"What do you think happened? I went over to ask him to not aggravate Lily so much and he was so rude! You should have heard the way he spoke to me. Like I only came over to bad-mouth my sister! The nerve of him!" Hermione spoke angrily. Pandora shook her head.
"Unbelievable... And he doesn't get why your sister wants nothing to do with him..." Pandora mumbled. Hermione nodded.
"Exactly." The girls kept smack-talking James Potter as they made their way to the library. Hermione figured, if Lily wanted to find her to study, she could - and did; three hours later, at lunchtime Lily showed up at the Library.
"Hey girls! Sorry it took so long. I slept in." The redhead pulled out a chair and sat down across from Hermione, next to Pandora.
"Hi. I know, I know. We waited for you," Hermione told her, closing the book on herbology, that's she'd been reading.
"Thanks! Sooo, what's new with you guys?" Lily asked. Hermione looked at Pandora, who shrugged.
"Well... Mione talked to James Potter today..." Pandora spoke innocently and smiled, blinking a few times. Hermione turned red.
"What?" called Lily out aghast. Hermione glared at Pandora. 'Traitor!'
"Yes, well... uhhh..." she stammered.
"After your outburst on Friday she was worried about your futures, so she was going to ask him to back off..." Pandora interjected, apparently feeling sorry for her friend. Lily looked at both of them gobsmacked.
"Come again?"
"Well, I mean...You know how it is for us... I just... wanted him to respect that..." Hermione mumbled, avoiding eye contact with Lily.
"Oh..." Lily let out dumbfounded. Hermione looked up, feeling like the lousiest sister in the world.
"I'm so sorry, Lily, I should have talked to you first..." Hermione told her sister.
"No. No you were right," Lily denied, "it's hard enough for muggleborns as it is, and I don't need to make it even harder..." Hermione looked at her sister sadly. She felt sorry for her, felt sorry that she had to support people's discriminatory stances, but it was the only way...
"Well, I'll just have to control my temper around him... I can do that," Lily promised determinedly. Hermione smiled.
"Just don't be too hard on yourself. I lost it too, when I talked to the guy today..." Hermione laughed. Pandora and Lily joined in. For the rest of the day, they stayed in the Library, studying and gossiping, until it was time for dinner. The three of them went to the Great Hall, happily chatting, when they came across Severus and some of his ''friends'' bullying three young Hufflepuff students.
"Lily!" he blurted out as soon as he saw them.
"Well, well... look at that. The mudblood-twins and their weirdo bestie," one of the boys, Evan Rosier, spoke. Hermione rolled her eyes. Those guys, with the exception of Snape, hadn't been the best and the brightest Death Eaters in the future and it really showed through, even now when they were still at school...
"Seriously Evan? You got nothing better to do than bully a couple of defenceless kids?" Pandora asked sarcastically, "right, probably not, now that Amber has broken up with you..." Hermione liked Pandora a lot, but she had a knack for getting people mad at her.
Rosier lifted his wand and was about to throw a curse at them, but Hermione was faster. She whipped out her wand, pointed it at Rosier and spoke.
"Expelliarmus!" Rosier's wand flew out of his hand. Hermione looked at the Hufflepuffs. "GO!" The three of them looked scared as they ran past the three girls. Pandora and Lily had pulled out their wands as well and had them pointed at the Slytherins. Lily looked at Severus.
"Come one, Sev. Just stop this and leave!" She tried. At the same time as John Mulciber yelled at Hermione.
"How dare you raise your wand to a real wizard, you worthless little mudblood!"
"Leave her alone!" Pandora exclaimed. Severus locked eyes with Lily.
"Let's just leave..." he told his friends. Hermione knew that Professor Snape had been in love with Harry's mother all his life, but she hadn't really believed it until she had seen it with her own eyes. 'He really did try to be a good guy for her,' Hermione realised.
"Seriously Snape? Your mudblood girlfriend makes gooey eyes at you, and you immediately turn your back?" Another boy, Dennis Chow, a British-Asian, whom Hermione hadn't met or heard of during her first life, asked. Severus shook his head.
"She's not my girlfriend..." he mumbled, "Let's just leave. It's not worth it," he insisted. The girls didn't say anything. They kept their wands pointed at them in silence, hoping to intimidate them so that they would just leave... Finally, when Rosier had his wand back in hand he nodded.
"Snape is right, let's leave. Well get the mudbloods another time..." with that they turned around and left. The girls waited a while and kept their wands raised until they were sure, that the Slytherins were gone. Lily sighed as she put her wand away.
"I don't know why he surrounds himself with those kinds of people..." she shook her head, "I should talk to him about that..." Hermione and Pandora looked at each other and shrugged. Pandora had told Hermione multiple times, that she thought Lily had a bit of a crush on Severus and Lily was inclined to agree. And she obviously knew, that Snape was in love with Lily...
"We should skip dinner in the Great Hall. Let's visit the Elves in the kitchens and grab some dinner there..." Pandora suggested. The twins agreed. Pandora looked at Hermione sternly. "Don't talk to them about freedom and how they should all get paid again!" Hermine breathed out. She was a little annoyed by Pandora's instruction, but she understood. Her views had been dubbed 'strange' even during the nineties, with people always shaking their heads at her... still, one day they would all learn... But not today. She nodded at Pandora, effectively promising to keep her views to herself tonight, so the three girls headed directly to the kitchens.
When they entered, all the House-elves gathered around and greeted them immediately. All the House-elves were very polite, even though they disliked Hermione, just as much as the Hogwarts elves – save Dobby – had disliked her in the future. One of the elves who were in charge of cleaning the Ravenclaw Tower, Bitty started talking to Pandora.
"What can elves do for miss Heller and terror twins friends?" she asked. Hermione felt a bit insulted, that Lily and herself were known as 'terror twins' among the Houseelves, simply for wanting them to be free and get paid.
"Could we have some food, please?" Pandora asked kindly. She understood Lily and Hermione's views about the elves and agreed with most of their views. Namely that elves should get paid for their work and be treated kindly. She didn't agree with the twins' desire to set all elves free...
The girls sat down at a small table in the corner of the kitchen as the elves served them with dinner. They had Cottage Pie and Treacle Tarts and talked about their OWL plans and classmates. It was way past curfew by the time they bid the elves goodnight and left the kitchens. They snuck up the grand staircase and parted at the entrance to the fifth-floor corridor. Lily snuck up to the seventh, where the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower was located, while Pandora and Hermione entered the fifth floor to get to the Ravenclaw Tower Staircase.
As they snuck past several classrooms, the prefects bathroom and the hospital tower corridor, they noticed some hushed voices near the music classroom. Curious as they were, both peaked into the room to investigate. Inside were James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew waving their wands at the instruments. Pandora and Hermione gave each other a look.
"What are you doing here?" Pandora asked. All four boys startled and turned towards the girls.
"Heller? Evans? What the hell?!" Sirius blurted out, "you scared the shit out of me! What are YOU doing here?!" The girls frowned at the boy who was known to be the most handsome of the quartet. Hermione couldn't get over how attractive Sirius had been in his younger days. Most days she tried to avoid staring at him openly, but now that he was right in front of her, the changes his extremely handsome physic had undergone were blatantly obvious...
Back in the future he'd been barely made of skin and bones, had a gaunt, sunken face with waxy skin and yellow teeth. His hair had been matte and straw-y. Now, in the past, he looked like a handsome movie star. The Sirius of the past was a well-built, darkly handsome young man with fair skin, shoulder length lustrous black hair and striking grey eyes that were full of mischief and life.
"Sirius!" Remus hissed at his fellow marauder. Hermione's gaze turned to him. Much like Sirius, this version of Remus was also vastly different from the future. Future Remus had been mal nurtured, pale with a face full of premature lines, dull eyes and light brown hair that had become more and more grey. The Remus in front of her had shiny, soft brown hair and sparkling deep blue eyes. He was very tall and lanky, just like in the future, but his stance was more upright and carefree. Apart from the scars that littered across his face, there was very little resemblance to his future self.
"Well considering that we're only 15 feet from the Ravenclaw Common Room entrance, what do you think we're doing here!" Pandora hissed. "Now spill!" Hermione looked quietly on and let her gaze wander over Peter Pettigrew, who was standing or rather hiding behind Sirius. In all honestly – his future self hadn't changed much from the boy who was standing there... He was smaller than the other marauders, only one or two inches taller than Hermione was, with blemished skin, small watery blue eyes, and a pointed nose. his hair was mousy brown, much like Tonks' hair had been in it's natural state and he was chubbier than any of his friends.
"We were just preparing a prank." Remus told the girls calmly and gave them a weak smile. Pandora and Hermione's frown deepened.
"You want to play a prank on the music nerds? How very mature of you..." Pandora told them dryly. Hermione shook her head.
"Those people work hard in their class. Where do you get off ruining their work? Reverse it!" Hermione told them and crossed her arms. James Potter let out a groan and Hermione finally looked at him directly. He had been a pretty boy with a lot of resemblance to Harry in his first year, but this James Potter, fifteen-year-old James Potter, did not look like Harry at all, no matter what people kept saying.
Harry, at fifteen had been a little shorter and lankier than James, who was rather well-build and muscular. Their faces had a few subtle differences as well. While Hermione had always recognized that James' nose was slightly longer than his future son's, he had also a more defined jaw and slightly higher cheekbones than Harry. His eyes were a warm, comforting brown with long, thick lashes and perfectly defined brows, while Harry'd had rather short eyelashes and his eyebrows had always been a bit uneven. And while Harry had always carried an air of confused, shy awkwardness around himself, James was surrounded by one of confidence, intelligence and cockiness. All those little differences helped Hermione distance herself from her best friend's future father.
"Merlin you and your sister are such buzzkills, Evans," Sirius complained with a roll of his eyes.
"Yeah, why are you so boring?" Peter agreed with a smile and he and Sirius high-fived. Hermione narrowed her eyes at them. Her cheeks started to spot red again.
"I'm not boring, I'm respectful, you dimwit!" Hermione spit, "And now I'm going upstairs, before you come up with another great idea to get us stuck in detention if we get caught, or worse – expelled!" With that Hermione whirled around and left the four marauders behind in the music classroom. Pandora followed her.
"What a bunch of idiots, huh?" Pandora smiled as they walked up the spiral staircase. Hermione had a dark expression on her face.
"They are childish, entitled and big-headed and one day karma is gonna get them for all of their misdeeds!" Hermione told Pandora, her voice a strange mix of anger and desperation.
"They'll grow out of it. They're still little boys, believe me, they'll learn," Pandora told her benevolently. Hermione took a deep breath and shook her head in frustration. Finally, they reached the door to the Ravenclaw Common Room. The bronze eagle-knocker greeted them.
"You will never escape me, but you will never experience me. What am I?" Pandora nodded at Hermione, who answered.
"The answer is 'Tomorrow'," Hermione spoke with confidence.
"Correct," the eagle answered and the door to the Common Room swung open. The girls entered the empty Common Room.
"Alright, let's head up to bed. We have class in the morning." Both girls went up the stairs to their dormitories and headed to bed.
Sooooo - what are we thinking? Is this worth continuing?
Let me know!
Also - if anyone would like to beta read this story - please contact me. I have issues re-reading my stuff & I'd love to have someone check this over before I publish it :)
xoxo Any