DISCLAIMER: I don't own Potterverse. Only the plot is my own.
CHAPTER 2
"You really are the brightest witch of your age!"
.
"You look just like your father, Harry but –" "But I have my mother's eyes; I know"
.
"I don't need your help and I don't want your sodding pity!" "You think I pity you?! Well, flash news! The world doesn't revolve around you Sirius!"
.
"Would you like to come live with me when all this is over?"
.
"Harry needs you Sirius. If anything happens to you, he'll have no family left."
.
"Ha! Is that all you've got?!" "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
.
"Don't do something so reckless ever again!"
.
"I can't believe Hermione hasn't questioned me even once about the Veil." "Why would she need to? She... saved... after all..."
.
"Why? Why did you do it?" "Of course I couldn't not do it when I knew there was a way! What's wrong with you?!"
.
"I'm sorry Harry, Hermione."
.
"Exilium in tempus perditus!"
.
.
.
Sirius was on his knees, clutching his head and panting as the memories assaulted him. He didn't know how long he stayed that way. He only looked up when he heard James shout, "STUPEFY!"
He opened his eyes in time to see Hermione being thrown back through the air. "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" James yelled again and he watched in horror as Hermione went rigid, wounds and all. He saw James raise his wand a third time and forced his limbs to move.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" he shouted, disarming James as he rushed to Hermione's side and cradled her head carefully.
"HERMIONE!"
"Sirius…?" James queried in confusion.
Before he could reply, footsteps were heard and they both turned to see Professor Dumbledore rush out of the castle, accompanied by Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall, Remus, and Lily.
"What is going on here?" Professor McGonagall demanded as she reached them.
Sirius turned his attention back to Hermione and refused to answer. James just looked back and forth in bewilderment.
"Albus, they are obviously not in a state to explain anything. And the girl needs medical attention immediately!" Madam Pomfrey said and started levitating Hermione without waiting for a reply.
"Would you two care to explain why you are out of your dormitory at this ungodly hour? And with an injured girl no less!"
Dumbledore held up a hand to stop Professor McGonagall's tirade. "Poppy is right, Minerva. None of them seem to be in a state to explain anything. It would be more prudent to move this conversation to the hospital wing."
Sirius didn't wait for another moment as he rushed after Madam Pomfrey, giving a surprised James a hard glare.
"I only tried to help him! What's he glaring at me for? What did I do?"
Remus patted James's shoulder reassuringly. "Come on, we won't get any answers staying here."
Sirius paced back and forth in front of the curtains surrounding Hermione's bed. He barely heard Remus explain his version of events to Professor Dumbledore.
"Lily and I were in the first floor corridor doing our patrol, when there was a sudden flash of lightening in the sky. When we looked around after it had passed, we saw a person lying on the grounds. Sirius reached them first and before James reached them, this person had put some sort of barrier around Sirius and themselves and seemed to be performing some incantation on him."
"It was dark magic!" James growled. "Sirius – Sirius was floating in the air and there was a cloud of darkness that came out of him! I saw it with my own eyes!"
Sirius was about to go over and snap at James for presuming things when Hermione's scream distracted him. They had been there for over half an hour already and Hermione's frequent screams only served to upset him further. He longed to go to her side, but clenched his hands in a fist, holding himself back. Madam Pomfrey had come out only once, and that too to ask Professor McGonagall for help. She didn't look very positive. In fact, as far as Sirius could recall, this was the first time he had seen her look so flustered and panicked over a patient.
As her scream once more quieted down to whimpers, he forced himself to focus back on the conversation taking place just a few feet away from him.
"Did you hear the incantation that was cast, Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked.
"No sir; the barrier blocked out sounds as well as magic."
"Yes, we saw James' attack get deflected and knew we needed to get help, so I asked Lily to get Professor McGonagall and I came to you Professor."
"Professor McGonagall was in the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey at the time." Lily added.
A few minutes later, Professor McGonagall stepped out from behind the curtains and spoke in hushed tones with Professor Dumbledore, who listened with a grave expression on his face. Sirius was about to go over and demand answers when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Padfoot…" James started.
"Don't." he said, in a dangerously low voice without turning around.
James tightened his hold in response. "Sirius! What the hell mate?! She attacked you, probably with some dark magic! She's most likely evil and – "
Sirius had heard enough. Before he realized what he was doing, he turned around and grabbed James by the collar. "Don't you dare!" he yelled. "Don't you dare talk about her like that! You attacked her! If anything happens to her James, I swear…" he clenched his jaw shut, his facial muscles twitching in tension. His eyes spoke the warning his mouth didn't utter.
"That's quite enough, Mr. Black." Dumbledore's calm voice interrupted.
Sirius' attention immediately snapped towards him. "How is she?" he demanded.
"She will live." Madam Pomfrey said, coming over from Hermione's bedside. "However, she has extensive injuries that will take a long time to heal, if at all." She sighed in obvious pity and turned towards James. "I'm sure Mr. Potter didn't do it with the intention of saving her life, but the body binding charm he cast on her was what curbed the blood flow and put her wounds in stasis before I could tend to them. He has quite possibly saved her life."
James looked bewildered. He certainly had had no intention of helping her, though he hadn't intended to kill her either. But more than anything, it was Sirius' behaviour that shocked him the most. Never before had Sirius looked at him with such anger and venom. And all for a girl he doesn't even know…? He looked at Sirius and noticed the obvious relief on his face. Who was this girl and how did Sirius know her?
"She will be okay, right?" Sirius asked, seeking reassurance.
"Yes, Mr. Black" Madam Pomfrey answered, looking at him curiously. "She is stable now and should recover in time."
Sirius heaved a sigh of relief as his shoulders sagged; his previous adrenaline and worry finally leaving him. "That's good…" he whispered before collapsing.
When Hermione awoke, she panicked. It was dark and she didn't know where she was. Someone had closed the curtains around her bed, which made it harder to see her surroundings. To her relief, she found her wand and beaded bag on the small side table that was just out of reach.
As she tried stretching to reach them, she fell down from the bed with a thud and groaned in pain.
"Hermione?"
She heard footfalls on the floor as someone hurried towards her. She quickly grabbed her wand and bag and slid under the bed, ready to catch the person by surprise.
Sirius stepped through and was surprised to see her bed empty and her bed sheets in a tangle. For a short moment, he panicked upon her seeming disappearance but soon enough, his animagus sensibilities caught up with him and he felt her presence. He realized that she must be hiding in panic and knew he should proceed cautiously. As a precaution, he cast a nonverbal silencing charm around the area, lest Madam Pomfrey came investigating.
"Hermione, I know you're here… It's just me… It's Sirius. You're safe now; you can come out." He coaxed.
"Sirius…?" she called out softly, her voice laced with suspicion.
"Yes, love. It's me; it's Snuffles." He added, trying to convince her.
It worked. Hermione slowly crept out from under the bed, her wand still in hand. She could only see his outline in the darkness that surrounded them as she got up on shaky legs, with the support of the bed, only to collapse again.
He instantly rushed forward and helped her up on to the bed. As his presence and scent surrounded her, she realized that it really did feel like Sirius.
Once seated, Hermione quickly conjured her blue fire in a jar from her bag, and set it on the bedside table. The space around her bed instantly filled with light. She turned to really look at Sirius and gasped, moving backwards until her back hit the bedpost.
"Who are you?" she demanded, holding him at wand point.
He raised his hands in surrender and replied, "I'm Sirius Orion Black, also known as Padfoot or, Snuffles."
"B-But…" she looked around in confusion, taking in her surroundings for the first time. "Is this the Hogwarts hospital wing?"
"Yes, it is."
"But it can't be! The whole wing was destroyed just a few hours ago! I saw the debris with my own eyes!"
Sirius' eyes widened. "What do you mean…destroyed?" he whispered.
Hermione looked at him in confusion, trying to recall the past few hours. As the pieces finally fell into place, she gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
"What is the date today?" she asked in a hoarse voice.
"The 1st of May… probably 2nd by now. The year is 1976." Sirius answered calmly.
"But how is that possible?!" she asked in surprise. "If this is really the past, then how do you know who I am? How am I even alive?"
"I honestly didn't. I didn't remember anything until you showed up. I had flashes of the past… future… but nothing more." Sirius confessed.
"Wait a minute... You had flashes before I came here?"
He nodded.
"But that shouldn't have happened! Sirius, you were trapped in a time circle!"
"I know," he said quietly.
She frowned in confusion and looked at him for a long time. Her frown slowly gave way to tentative hope as she asked meekly, "Is it really you Sirius…?"
He had her in his arms in a heartbeat, holding her tightly, just as he had wanted to ever since he had first seen her here. "It really is me, love." He murmured and kissed the top of her head. The stress and exhaustion of the past couple of days finally caught up to her and gave way to tears, as she clung desperately to Sirius. He shushed her and gently rubbed her back as she sobbed into his shirt. After a long few minutes, she calmed down and pulled back, wiping her cheeks.
"But Sirius… why am I not dead?" she asked suddenly with wide eyes.
He glared at the way she asked that as though it were a given. "Do you want to be?" he snapped. She flinched and he softened his voice before continuing, "James put a body bind on you. By some miraculous stroke of luck, it ended up putting all your wounds and bleeds in a stasis until Madam Pomfrey could tend to them."
"I owe him a life debt." Hermione said in a voice filled with gratitude.
"You owe him no such thing!" Sirius snapped again. "As it were, it was as though he were trying to kill you himself!"
"I'm sure you're exaggerating Sirius! It's probably just a misunderstanding."
He was about to retort when her sudden sharp intake of breath halted him in his tracks.
"What is it?"
"Sirius, if this is really 1976 then… then we can stop everything! We can stop the war! We can save Lily and James! Harry will have his parents growing up! We can prevent everything that went bad last time Sirius!" she exclaimed, grabbing his arm in excitement.
A myriad of emotions passed over Sirius' face until it finally settled on one of dark rage. "I'm going to kill that rat." He growled with hatred lacing his every word.
Hermione's smile dropped and her face went blank. "No, you can't." she said firmly.
A/N: So... I do believe explanations and apologies are in order for this long gap in updates.
I really am sorry everyone. I was struggling with deep depression, coupled with anxiety and panic attacks for many months. I found myself unable to write anything. Following that there were condolences in my close circles. And now, on top of all that, I will (mostly) be moving to a different continent in a few months so I'm completely caught up in arranging things regarding that. I know that as a writer, I am accountable to my readers despite all this but sometimes, life throws curve balls at you and it just can't be helped.
Although fortnightly updates are very doubtful the way things are now, please know that I won't abandon this story. I already have it fully outlined; it just needs a lot of work in terms of writing and editing. I'm very thankful to each one of you who has read, reviewed, and added this story to your favourites and follows, and I really appreciate your patience with me. :') As always, I hope you enjoyed this update! ^_^