A/N: Thank you for all the lovely reviews! :D
Btw, I will be referring to Hermione as 'he' from now on. :) This is told from both Sirius' and Hermione's POV. Sorry for switching back and forth repeatedly. :P
II. She's the new kid.
September 2, 1975; Tuesday
Sirius' POV.
Sirius Orion Black woke up with a start. He breathed in deeply and calmed himself. He was in the dorm, laying on his bed. There was no Regulus, no Avada Kedavra, and no Voldemort. He shook himself. He had been having dreams regarding the Dark Lord ever since he met him last summer. His parents attended the annual summer ball, hosted by Abraxas Malfoy, and made him and Regulus go.
Sirius did not really want to attend that horrendous party. He did not feel a need to mingle with blood purists. He made himself scarce, leaving the room, staying on the balcony, hiding behind the bushes. He had applauded himself silently for being successful in evading everybody.
Irony was such a bitch.
A few minutes before flooing home, he bumped into the Dark Lord…literally. He (Voldemort) gave him (Sirius) a chilling smile and told him that despite his being a Gryffindor, it would do him good to join his, Voldemort's, ranks.
Sirius buried the thoughts in the deep recesses of his brain. He wanted to enjoy his time at Hogwarts. He shifted into a more comfortable position, unwilling to get up just yet.
Just as he was drifting back to sleep, Sirius heard his curtain being drawn back. He sat up and faced his assailant, and he was greeted by a jet of water to his face. As he spluttered and wiped his face on whatever dry part was left of his pajamas, he scowled at the grinning face of his best friend: James Potter.
"Wakey, wakey, Padfoot!" he said cheerfully.
"You know, you could have woken me up the normal way, like shaking me or something."
"I could have, but where's the fun in that?"
"Don't lie, Sirius," came the voice of their resident werewolf and other best friend, Remus Lupin. "No amount of shaking could have woken you up."
"True," James agreed. "A herd of hippogriffs could have passed and you still would have been sleeping soundly."
"All right, all right." Sirius waved them off. He grabbed his wand from bedside table and cast tempus. The glowing numbers read 7:14.
"It's only a quarter past seven," he yawned. "Why are you all up so early?"
James eyes gleamed with mischief. "I wanted to be in the Great Hall before Snivelly makes his grand entrance."
Sirius laughed aloud. How could he have forgotten about the prank? "Wait for me. I wanna see the look on Snivellus' face when he arrives." And with those words, he jumped off the bed and raced to the bathroom to take a bath.
The three were down in the Great Hall in a matter of minutes. As they strode in, Lily Evans glanced at them with a raised eyebrow, probably wondering what they were doing up so early.
"Good morning, Lilyflower." James ruffled up his hair and gave Evans lascivious grin.
"No Potter," she replied coldly."I will not go out with you."
"Come on, love, I haven't even asked yet."
"Don't call me that. And you would have asked anyway, so allow me to reiterate: I do not like you, and I will never go out with you. How many times do I have to say that for it to get through that thick skull of yours?"
James placed one hand over his heart. "You wound me, Evans." He said dramatically.
She growled. "I'll do more than that if you don't leave me alone!"
He merely shrugged and backed off, much to Sirius' disappointment. It was always entertaining to watch James make a fool out of himself in front of Evans.
Sirius sat down beside Remus, and James sat across them. Peter was still up in their dorm, asleep. No amount of shaking, shouting, or water-pouring had gotten him out of bed.
The three started on their breakfast but kept their eyes on the entrance to the Great Hall, waiting for Snape.
The door opened and a person strode in. Much to their disappointment, it was not Snape. Rather, it was a boy about fifteen or sixteen years of age with chestnut colored hair and brown eyes. He walked down the hall, seemingly unaware of the eyes that followed his every movement, and up to the teacher's table.
Dumbledore gave him a small smile and stood up. "If I could have your attention for a moment," The students immediately quieted down.
"Thank you," he smiled gesturing towards him. "This here is Mr. Daniel Chronos. Due to special circumstances, we have decided to let him transfer here, to Hogwarts. He is starting his fifth year. Young Mr. Chronos has already been sorted to Gryffindor, and I hope they would welcome him with open arms." He announced cheerily. He sat back down and gestured for Chronos to take a seat in the Gryffindor Table.
"Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Wha-?" James asked through a mouthful of toast.
"It's that kid we ran into last night!" he recognized him from last night. Speaking of which, what in the world was he doing roaming around Hogwarts in the middle of the night?
Chronos made his way to the Gryffindor table and sat down at the empty seat beside James.
Sirius scrutinized him as he chewed on his waffles. Chronos looked like an extremely shy person; he didn't look up once since he had taken a seat. Might as well start a conversation. Though, he admitted, he was never good at starting any of them.
"Aren't you that nutter we ran into last night?" he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.
Chronos looked up, startled. He obviously wasn't expecting conversation from them. Before Sirius could expound on his question, he was nudged in the ribs by Remus.
"Sirius!" he chastised. "You're so rude!" he shook his head before giving Chronos a small smile. He extended his hand across the table and he shook his hand. "Remus Lupin."
"Daniel Chronos."
Remus then gave them a pointed look, which he and James had dubbed 'Moony Look Number Four: The Don't-Be-Rude-Introduce-Yourself-look.'
Sirius shrugged. "Sirius Black." He expected the new kid to say 'Black? As in the Ancient Most Noble House of Black?' but he didn't. He merely nodded, as if he wasn't surprised that a Black was in Gryffindor.
"The one beside you is James Potter." Remus pointed out, since it was obvious that he wouldn't introduce himself. He was too busy waiting for Snape to arrive and drooling over Evans.
The doors opened again, this time, it was Peter who arrived. He ran over to them, panting and out of breath. He plopped down on the seat between James and Chronos.
"Why didn't you guys wake me up?" he whined as he helped himself to some eggs. He finally noticed Chronos beside him. "Oh, hi." he squeaked. "I'm Peter Pettigrew. Who're you?"
Sirius mentally noted Chronos' sudden stiffness as he turned to look at Peter. He had an obviously forced smile on his face and his eyes held a look of disgust at Peter.
"Daniel Chronos." He replied shortly.
Peter looked at him nervously and the Sirius narrowed his eyes at him. Who was he to judge Peter? How could he hat him at once without even knowing who he is? Granted, he always knew Peter was the weakest link among them, but that didn't make him any less of a marauder as Remus and James.
"Chronos," James spoke with a scowl on his face. "if you have a problem with Peter, then I suggest you go and find another seat."
Chronos let out a long sigh of frustration. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the voice of none other than Lily Evans.
"Daniel Chronos?" she queried. He looked up at her and his jaw fell. If Sirius didn't know better, he'd say he fancied her.
"U-um, yes?" he stuttered. Sirius saw James give him the evil eye. Apparently, he noticed too.
"Lily Evans," she smiled as she shook his hand. "I'm a prefect. I'm supposed to help you around on your first day."
"What about me, Lilyflower?" James batted his eyelashes flirtatiously. Sirius almost sprayed Peter with the pumpkin juice he was drinking.
Evans gave him a disdainful look. "What about you?" before turning her attention back to Chronos. They compared timetables. "We have the same classes in the morning," she smiled. "I can show you around during that time. Remus," —she gestured toward the said boy— "the other prefect, can help you get to your afternoon classes."
"Of course," Remus consented, albeit a little hesitantly. He probably noticed the growing tension between them and the new kid.
"Good," Evans replied, satisfied. "Come on then, Chronos, let's get to—" Her sentence was interrupted as the doors burst open and in came a running Severus Snape being attacked by a bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap.
Sirius didn't bother hiding his mirth. He let it ring out in the Great Hall. He clutched his stomach and fell from his stool, roaring with laughter. He vaguely heard McGonagall call their names from the High Table.
"Black and Potter!" he heard. Sirius opened his eyes and attempted to calm himself. He saw the Head of their House looking absolutely angry. "Twenty points from Gryffindor and detention with Mr. Filch for your attack on Mr. Snape."
"C'mon, Minnie," James said in what he supposed was a winning tone. "We did him a favor. His hair'll be greaseless in no time!"
Sirius burst out laughing, along with a lot of other students. By the time he finally stood up and composed himself, Flitwick had already cancelled the charm on the shampoo and soap. Snape gave them a withering glare, and Sirius flashed him a grin and wink.
"Ugh," he heard Evans scoff. She gave them a look of utter disgust and beckoned to Chronos who had an unreadable expression on his face. "Let's get to class, Chronos—,"
"Daniel." He corrected with a charming smile.
"Call me Lily then." She said, somewhat flustered. "Let's go."
The two then left, with James glaring daggers at Chronos' retreating figure. There was a moment of silence before Remus spoke up.
"I have to get to Ancient Runes as well," he said. "See you later, guys. And don't even think of skiving off Potions."
"Sir, yes, sir!" Sirius and James mock saluted him.
Remus was about to leave when Sirius suddenly remembered something. "Moony…"
"Yes, Pads?"
"Since you're in the same class with Chronos, you might as well learn what you can about the bloke."
"He is a bit dodgy…"
"There's just something…not right about him." Sirius frowned, remembering Chronos' reaction to Peter.
Remus nodded in understanding and strode off to his class.
"I guess we'd better get going as well," James stood up.
"Yeah…I guess." Sirius sighed. He really didn't want to go to class. "C'mon Pete." And the three shuffled out of the hall quickly.
"I really don't like that Chronos kid." James said as they made their way to Divination.
Sirius agreed and leaned towards James to whisper, "Did you see the way he looked at Peter?"
"Yeah," James scowled. After a short while, his face morphed into one of mischievousness.
Sirius merely raised an eyebrow at his expression.
"Why don't we—ahhh—give Chronos a Marauder's Welcome." His eyes twinkled much like Dumbledore's.
Sirius threw his head back and laughed. "I like the way you think, Prongsie."
The three made their way to class, all the while, plotting the demise of one Daniel Chronos.
Hermione's POV.
Hermione followed Lily to the Ancient Runes classroom. As they walked down the hall, Lily explained some things about Hogwarts to him.
"The ceiling in the Great Hall is charmed to match the sky outside. Rowena Ravenclaw was the one to place that spell on it. I read so in—"
"Hogwarts A History." Hermione finished for her. Lily looked at him in shock.
"You mean, you actually read that book too?"
"From cover to cover." He grinned.
Lily giggled. "You're one of the few people I know who actually read that book.
"Who're the others?"
"Remus Lupin, the only decent one among those four."
"Really?" Hermione was intrigued. Apparently, Harry's parents were in a love-hate relationship. "You seem to know quite a lot about these…uhhh…"
"Marauders," Lily continued. "Everybody knows who they are. They've been causing trouble the moment they stepped foot in the castle."
The two finally reached the classroom. Lily took a seat in the front row, and Hermione followed suit.
"What kind of trouble?"
"Pranks and the like. Exploring the castle after curfew, sneaking into the kitchens…making fun of Snape."
"Is Snape their favorite target?" Hermione asked.
"Yes. I wish they would stop picking on him." She sighed. "One day, I think they'll go too far."
Hermione silently agreed with her. They must have done something worse than a bath-attack for him to absolutely abhor Harry.
"Even if they—" Lily cut off and waved at somebody at the door. Hermione twisted in his seat to see who it was.
A sandy-haired boy approached them and plopped down on the seat next to Lily.
"Lily," he nodded at her. "…Chronos."
"Remus." Lily said at the same time Hermione greeted, "Lupin."
He twisted in his seat to face Hermione. "So, Chronos, what do you think of Hogwarts so far?"
Hermione was surprised. He thought that after his slip-up with Pettigrew, the Marauders would start ostracizing him. Then again, they probably wanted to gather information about him. Know thy enemy. He thought wryly.
"It's a bit overwhelming really," he lied. "It's such a large place, easy to get lost."
"What school did you attend before transferring?"
"Ohhh…ummm…Spellstruck." he invented a name and mentally kicked himself. Spellstruck? Really? A five-year-old could've invented a better name.
"I've never heard of it." Remus said dubiously.
"Of course you haven't. The school isn't very well-known."
Remus made a non-committal sound at the back of his throat. "So why did you transfer to Hogwarts?"
He was definitely doing some reconnaissance. "It's safer for me to be here." Let him chew on that.
Remus opened his mouth, probably to ask another question, but the entrance of their professor effectively stopped all conversation.
Sirius POV
"Potter, Black and Pettigrew, late again? Tsk. Never mind then, since it is the first day. Take a seat." The Potions Master, Professor Slughorn said. He started a roll call and stopped at Chronos' name.
"Mr. Chronos? Ah yes, the new kid the Headmaster told us about." He said jovially. "Are you, perhaps, related to Markus Chronos?"
"I don't think so, sir."
Sirius rolled his eyes. Old Sluggie always was looking for collectibles among the students.
"Pity," he nodded solemnly. "Anyway, enough of that. Let's get to the subject matter! Step forward please. Can anyone identify these potions? Go on, don't be shy! Unlock that potion genius in you!"
Sirius and Remus dissolved into silent peals of laughter. Slughorn sure knew how to give a pep-talk.
The class stepped forward and looked at the two potions in front of them. One was a bubbling green solution that probably tasted as foul as it looked, and the other was a light blue potion which didn't look as disgusting as the other one.
"So, does anybody know what it is?"
Three hands were up in the air at once. The first was Evans', their resident potions genius, Snape's, their resident slimy git, and the third, to Sirius' surprise, was none other than Chronos'.
"Mr. Chronos!" Slughorn said, looking absolutely delighted.
"The first one is Polyjuice sir, and the second is an Eye-Clearing solution."
"That's right! Take five points. What does it do then?"
"Polyjuice transforms your body into the person whose essence has been added to the potion. An Eye-clearing solution makes a person's vision sharper."
"Marvelous, my boy!"
Uh oh, Slughorn started calling him 'my boy'. Not a good sign. Not a good sign at all. Sirius pitied the kid. He'll be in the Slug Club in no time. He glanced at Evans' direction. She looked put out. Boy is she competitive. Evans really didn't like being upstaged by anyone, especially a new kid.
"We're making the Eye-clearing solution today, since the Polyjuice is more of a N.E.W.T. level potion. Instructions are on page fifty-three. Get going then! Chop-chop!"
Sirius paired up with Remus and James with Peter, just so Slughorn wouldn't worry about the dynamic duo doing any pranking. But actually, Sirius and James had a plan to sabotage Snivellus' potion.
Remus had started preparing the ingredients needed. Sirius helped out by skinning the shrivelfig.
"So," he said as the sandy-haired youth started slicing the newt tail. "What did you learn about Chronos?"
"Nothing much, he seemed reluctant to share information about himself. He did say that he transferred to Hogwarts because it's 'safer' of him."
Safer for him? What does that even mean? Is he a criminal on the run? Is he an escaped Death Eater? Is he a muggleborn being hunted down? Is he a muggleborn deatheater?
"Weird. I expected his answer to be less…ambiguous."
Remus smirked at him. "Who are you and what have you done to Padfoot?"
"What?"
"I know Sirius doesn't use big words like ambiguous."
Sirius rolled his eyes at him and proceeded to stir the potion four times counter-clockwise.
Remus added a few drops of sopophorus bean juice, and their potion turned lavender. He then measured a cup of crushed beetle eyes and potion turned into a bubbling dark blue mass. The potion was in a volatile stage, one mistake and the potion would explode on the brewer, leaving them with large boils all over.
Sirius looked over to where Snape was seated beside Chronos and Lily. He was hunched over his potion, and held the powdered ashwinder eggs above it, waiting for the right time to add it.
Perfect.
Sirius took his wand out of his pocket and shot a mild stinging hex at Snape while Remus wasn't looking. He flinched, and all of the powdered eggs in his hand fell into his potion.
The potion started bubbling wildly, but before it exploded, someone shouted, "Protego!"
A shield appeared in front of Snape and deflected the potion. As the smoke cleared up, they found that that someone happened to be Chronos. After sighing in relief, he suddenly rounded on Sirius.
"What in the world did you think you were doing?"
"It was a harmless prank." James answered for him.
"So you admit to doing it." he raised an eyebrow at them and Sirius cursed inwardly. They fell into a trap. "By the way…harmless? If that potion had gotten anywhere near Snape's eyes, he would have been permanently blinded!"
"I don't need some hare-brained Gryffindor to save me." Snape said, shamefaced.
"You're welcome." Chronos replied dryly, not even bothering to glance at him, he was too busy glaring at Sirius.
He didn't want to admit that Chronos was right. He didn't know that the potion would render Snape blind.
"Well I had no idea that—"
"Enough!" a loud voice entered. It was Slughorn. He looked absolutely livid. "Mr. Black, I never knew Gryffindors could do something like this." Sirius noted how much he resembled a winded rhinoceros at this point. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and detention with Mr. Filch for a week."
He took a deep breath and gave Chronos a pained smile. "Fifteen points for quick thinking, Mr. Chronos. Do have you arm checked, a bit of potion seemed to have penetrated your shield. Ms. Evans, please escort him to the Hospital Wing. The rest of you are dismissed."
As they exited the room, Sirius cursed Chronos in every swear word he knew. "Damn him! Who was he to shout at me like that?"
James and Peter agreed, but Remus said quietly, "Padfoot, if he didn't shield Snape from that potion, you would have probably been expelled."
Sirius knew he was right. Moony always has been the voice of reason among them. However, he didn't need logic now, he needed them to sympathize with him.
"Fine! Side with him!" and he stormed away from them, mentally cursing Daniel Chronos to the high heavens.
Hermione's POV
"That was an incredible shield charm, you know." Lily told Hermione as they walked to the Hospital Wing.
"Thanks." Hermione mumbled. He couldn't believe he shouted at Sirius like that…and in Snape's defense no less!
When they reached the Hospital Wing, Lily bid him good-bye, since she had a class to attend. Hermione walked into the infirmary, stopping only when he noticed someone behind him. He turned around and found himself face to face with Snape. There was a moment of silence before Hermione spoke up.
"Ummm…Did you need something from me?"
Snape then did something Hermione never thought possible…he blushed. Hermione blinked…once…twice. He was still red. He needed to bite his lip to keep himself from grinning.
He then mumbled something Hermione wasn't able to catch.
"Pardon?"
"Thank you." He repeated in a louder voice. "For shielding me from that potion." He looked down, obviously not used to expressing gratitude.
"It was no problem." Hermione smiled.
"Right…well…don't you dare tell anyone I thanked you!"
"Who would I tell?" he asked bemusedly.
"Uhhh…You—I'm—don't think this makes us friends!" and he stormed off, leaving an amused Hermione. Who knew Severus Snape could stumble over his words like a first year?
"What was all that noise? Oh, you are?" Madam Pomfrey exited her office to see what happened.
"Daniel Chronos, ma'am."
"Ahhh, yes, Ms. Granger. Oh don't look so surprised, dear." She said after seeing Hermione's shocked face. "The headmaster has already informed all of us about your…predicament. What seems to be the problem then?"
"Oh. Some potion fiasco splashed on my arm and Professor Slughorn told me to have it checked."
"Very well. Put on a hospital gown and I'll be right back."
"But ma'am, it's only my arm." He protested.
"True…" Madam Pomfrey smiled. "But you haven't had your full body check up yet, have you?" And she stalked away.
Hermione groaned silently. It was going to be a long two hours.
After being released from the clutches of Madam Pomfrey, Hermione was able to go to his classes for the remainder of the day. Dinner found him at the Gryffindor Table chatting with Lily, and Alice Brown. Based on her appearance, seemed to be Neville's mother. Hermione was helping himself to some treacle tart when Professor McGonagall passed by.
"Mr. Chronos," she called. Hermione looked up from his dessert. "Meet me in my office after you have finished eating."
"Okay, professor." He replied, and McGonagall walked away briskly.
"In trouble this early in the year?" Alice asked.
"Don't know." he said truthfully. "She probably just wants to tell me where I'm sleeping."
Lily grimaced. "I think I already know."
"Really?"
"There's only one dorm room with four people in it…" she said slowly.
"Wha—" then it clicked. Hermione groaned. "Don't tell me it's…"
"The Marauders."
"Perfect. Just perfect." He said sarcastically as he stood up. "I'm going to the professor's office. See you in the common room."
He walked to McGonagall's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Hermione opened the door and stepped inside.
"Ms. Granger." She gave him a smile. "Professor Dumbledore told us about your…predicament."
Hermione smiled inwardly at her words. They were exactly the same as Madam Pomfrey's.
"I would just like to inform you that you will be staying in the dorms with the following students: Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and James Potter." She said.
He deflated. He was somewhat hoping that he wouldn't have to bunk with them.
"I know that perhaps you know them sometime in the future, and I would just like to remind you that they are not the same people you know. They are still children, Ms. Granger, and I would like to imagine that they would be very different from your time."
Hermione nodded, unable to say anything since his throat was already constricted. James was dead, Sirius spent twelve years in Azkaban and was on the run, Remus was being ousted by the wizarding world for being a werewolf, and Pettigrew was a Death Eater.
"Very well. Off you go, and good luck." She said.
Hermione made his way to the Gryffindor tower. "Treacle tart." And the painting swung open, letting him into the common room. He quickly spotted Lily among the students and made his way towards her.
"So, was I right?" she asked.
"Unfortunately."
"Best of luck to you, then."
"Thanks." Hermione grinned. "I'm going to need it. Good night, Lily."
"Good night!"
He made his way to his dorms, almost walking up the staircase to the girls', and opened the door. The first thing she noticed when he entered the room was the noise. How four people could be so loud, he had no idea. The second was that there were feathers all over the room, presumably from the pillow fight they were having. They all looked so happy and carefree.
"Oh…hi." Pettigrew finally noticed him standing in the doorway. Since he was being nice, Hermione thought of being polite as well.
"What are you doing here?" Sirius demanded. There goes my resolve to be polite.
"I am allowed to enter my own dorm room, am I not?" he answered coolly.
"You aren't welcome here!" James glared at him venomously.
"Take it up with McGonagall, Har—Potter." He cursed his mistake. He looked just like Harry, it was difficult to call him otherwise. He brushed passed them and sat on the bed in the far end of the room. He took out his clothes from his trunk and closed the curtains around him. He changed and flopped down on his bed.
He could hear Remus telling the two of them to at least act decently. To his surprise, he heard Pettigrew's squeaky voice agree with the werewolf.
There were a lot of things she learned about the past that none of them knew before.
First, James and Sirius were utter douchebags. Yes, you heard that right. Never thought the day would come when I'd refer to them as that.
Second, Snape was not a greasy git, but rather, a shy, misunderstood boy.
Third, Peter was a likable person. He's a lot more civilized than I thought.
Fourth, Lily Evans absolutely hated James Potter, her soon-to-be husband. I wonder how in the world that's going to happen.
Hermione shifted in his bed and resolved to make the best of his time here in the past. He should do a little…reconnaissance. One can never know when the information she would gather would be useful.
A/N: Er…pretty long based on my standards. :P Sorry it took me soooo long to update! I've been busy with school work. :P Leave a review, please! ANONYMOUS REVIEWS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME. Flames will be ignored. Thank you! :D