A/N: Here is chapter 5, I hope you like it. You know the drill: if there are any mistakes regarding spelling/grammer, just let me know. Please read and review.
Thanks to Angel From Above Is Here for proofreading this chapter.
It had almost been five weeks since Hermione arrived in the past and nor she nor Dumbledore were any closer to bringing her back home to her own timeline.
These past few weeks she had been to his office once to ask if he had discovered something, only to get a disappointing answer. Though, if she were honest with herself, she thought that she would get such an answer. Dumbledore may be a powerful man and may know many things but there was also a limit to what he could do and the timespan in which he could do it.
Her own research on finding a way home was also turning out to be a dead end. There weren't many books about time travel in the library, then there was also schoolwork and not to mention, the marauders.
If she thought that by avoiding everyone they would leave her alone, she was mistaken. The marauders just would not leave her be and it was difficult enough to research something like time travel while avoiding questions without someone tailing you, let alone with someone watching your every move.
The girls, too, still tried to talk to her from time to time but they were starting to get the hint. The marauders, on the other hand, didn't get the hint or just chose to ignore it, especially James and Sirius. Why they didn't want to leave her alone, she had no idea.
During these past few weeks, though she was trying to avoid everyone, she couldn't help but watch discretely as to see how they interacted with everyone. She had to admit that she was curious about them.
The marauders were a lively and joking bunch just like Sirius and Remus had often told her in her time. They would prank anyone and, except for Lily, no one was safe, not even the teachers.
Then there were the girls. Lily was kind, could get along with almost anyone and if someone needed help with anything she was always prepared to lend them a hand. Alice was just as nice but maybe a little less strict than Lily could be sometimes, especially when it involved the marauders and then there was Marlene. She was one of the beauties of the school and also wasn't afraid to say what was on her mind.
Hermione could only conclude that these were amazing people and that their loss must have been, or will be heavy for everyone around them.
It was just a few more days until Halloween and you could tell. Everyone was excited about the Halloween feast and they would also get to go to Hogsmeade. They were especially excited to go to Hogsmeade. Some had to refill their stock of candy, or knowing the marauders, pranks and some were just happy for a day outside of the Hogwarts grounds.
Hermione, however, wasn't one of those people. Since the accident with the troll in her first year and now attending school with Harry's parents, who were murdered on Halloween, it hadn't been a holiday that she liked to celebrate.
And it weren't just the students that were excited, some of the teachers, also, were in a festive mood, like the Professor of DADA.
Professor Alexander Gray, the DADA Professor, had a little surprise for his students for Halloween. They were about to see their greatest fear as they were about to go up against a boggart.
"Okay everyone, since Halloween is around the corner I thought it fitting to have a lesson about boggarts. The reason: Halloween is about scary things and what is more scary than being faced with your own personal biggest fear?"
Of course, everyone already knew how to defeat a boggart, they had seen this in their third or fourth year, but not many of them knew if their boggart would still be the same as a few years ago. One of these students who doubted that their boggart was unchanged, was Hermione.
"Okay class, form a line. You know the drill, just step forward one by one. Those who succeed in taking down the boggart, just take a seat at the back of the room or stand on the side. Just make sure to remain outside the boggart's range." Professor Gray said.
One by one the students faced the boggart. The boggart took the form of many different things. Some people were scared of snakes or spiders, others were a little darker. Some were being called out by people they cared about or feared to be abandoned by the people closest to them and so on. Then it was Lily's turn and Hermione couldn't help but feel a little nervous as to see in what the boggart would turn into.
Lily took a step forward and waited for the boggart to change in her biggest fear. When he did, she stood there with a shocked look on her face as if she couldn't believe that this indeed was what she feared most. In front of her stood a girl who was slightly older than they were, with blond hair and a long neck. When Hermione saw this person, she knew all too well who it was. It was Petunia. The only reason she knew this, was because of what Harry had told her and Ron about his uncle, aunt and nephew during all their years at Hogwarts and how badly they treated him.
The boggart was walking up to Lily, saying things like "Freak!" and "Just stay with the other freaks like you. We don't want you home with us normal people. You don't belong here with us."
After a few moments, Lily regained her footing and saying "riddikulus", she made an end to her torment caused by the boggart. She went to the back of the room and took a seat between Marlene and Alice to calm down for a moment, Alice and Marlene both putting a comforting arm around her.
Up next were the marauders and just as with Lily, Hermione felt a little nervous. Though, she also wanted to know what their boggarts were because they didn't look scared of anything, judging by what she had seen during these past few weeks.
First was Peter. The boggart took the form of the other three marauders, all saying things like "You're not one of the marauders anymore." and "You just can't keep up with us, we're so much better than you'll ever be." Peter was shaking all over and it was understandable why. He was scared to lose his best friends, the people who meant the most to him.
The three remaining marauders were standing behind him, saying that none of it was true and that it was lying. They tried to snap him out of it and after a few tries he must have heard them because, just like Lily, he braced himself, directed the spell at the boggart and watched it vanish.
After defeating the boggart, he turned around and looked at the other marauders, though he had a slightly nervous look on his face as he didn't know how they would react. He had nothing to worry about, however, because they just smiled at him, laid a hand on his shoulder and told him that that was never going to happen.
"Wormtail, you know that's never going to happen, right?" James asked with a reassuring smile on his face while giving him a pat on the shoulder.
"Yeah, if that was going to happen, we would've done so years ago." Sirius joked.
Remus put a comforting hand on Peter's back and gave him a small smile, knowing how he felt because he himself had felt like that a few years ago. Then he said, "If you guys didn't leave me because of my problem, then there is no way that we would leave you."
After Peter it was Remus' turn. Hermione knew that his boggart was a full moon in her time but she wondered if it would be the same now.
Remus stepped forward and waited for the boggart to change. And now, just as in her time, his boggart changed into a full moon. Hermione could see all the confused glances that passed between the students because it was the same thing that had happened when she was in her third year and Professor Lupin had jumped in front of the boggart to protect Harry from it. The only faces that didn't look confused were those of the marauders and, surprisingly, Lily.
Remus straightened his back and had a hard look on his face while looking at the full moon the boggart had turned into. He said the spell and seeing that he defeated the boggart, turned around and took a seat next to Peter at the back of the room. When he saw how concerned his friends were looking, he gave them a small smile as if to say that everything was alright and that they didn't have to worry about him.
Next up was Sirius. He stepped forward like he didn't have a care in the world and that he could handle anything the boggart would throw at him. It took a few moment but when the boggart took the form of Sirius' greatest fear, Hermione was surprised to see a carbon copy of Sirius in front of the class. Looking around to make sure that she wasn't the only one seeing a double of Sirius, she saw that all three marauders looked very worried for their friend. When she looked back to Sirius and the boggart, the boggart started to talk.
"Look who we have here. The blood traitor of the family." Sirius, as a surprise to Hermione, was nailed to the ground and was shaking slightly, his hands forming fists, "I'll join him, you know, The Dark Lord, and bring honour to the family to make up for your mistake."
There was a small pause which was followed by, "You know, it's actually your fault I have to join him because I'll have to do what you couldn't. You left your younger brother to fend for himself. You left me alone and now you will regret it." The boggart said it with an evil smirk on his face and in such a calm way, though there was such a hatred and coldness behind the words that Hermione, and many others, got chills all over their body.
Hearing all this, Sirius' look hardened. His eyes were empty, as if dead. The usual flicker of laughter absent and his mouth a firm, thin line. He hardened his hold on his wand and saying the spell, he sent the boggart flying.
He turned around, passed by James, who was looking at his best friend with a worried look, and took a seat next to Remus, who wore the same expression as James. Hermione didn't know what was going on but she too looked at Sirius with a worried, and questioning, look. Of course she knew a little about Sirius' family but he didn't tell her, or anyone else for that matter, much about his family for the simple reason that he hated them and didn't want to talk about them.
James didn't have much time, however, to worry about his friend because it was his turn to face the boggart. Stepping forward, he looked at the boggart and waited to see what it would turn into.
When the boggart took his final form, all the colour left James' face. In front of him were Sirius, Remus, Peter and Lily. The scary part was that they were all laying on the floor, dead. James his wand hand was trembling but after a moment he snapped out of it and straightened his back. Then, with a voice stronger than Hermione thought possible for him to produce while he was looking down at his friends, he said the spell and watched as his biggest fear disappeared.
Feeling relieved, James put his wand away and made his way towards the back to where his friends were sitting.
Hermione was astonished. To have something so bad as your biggest fear and to handle it so well. She looked around to see the faces of the rest of the students, because this was quite possibly the worst of fears anyone had seen in this class. Most of them were looking at him with an amazed look, not believing he just overcame something like that. Then there was Lily, she was wearing a surprised look, as if not believing that James cared about her so much that he was afraid of her dying.
Hermione, however, hadn't much time to look around because, finally, it was her turn. She was curious to what her greatest fear would be because she just knew that it would be different than the one she had in her third year, the one that showed her she was afraid to fail. She took a step forward and waited.
It took a few moments but finally it took a fixed form and when she saw what the boggart had turned into, her breath left her. In front of her stood Harry and Ron.
Hermione began to tremble as she saw her two best friends, now starting to realise what her biggest fear was. When they started to speak, her suspicions were confirmed.
"Why did you leave us, Hermione?" Harry asked, "We were in the middle of a fight and you just left us to fend for ourselves."
"What have we ever done to you to deserve this?" Ron interjected, "We could've died for all you know. Don't you care about what happens to us?"
Hermione was now shaking violently, her voice shaking when saying, "I do care about you, a lot. I didn't leave on purpose, please believe me."
However, both Harry and Ron just kept throwing accusation after accusation. Finally, Hermione snapped herself out of it, braced herself and said the spell. After she had said "riddikulus", she watched as her two best friends disappeared again.
She was still shaking while she was walking to the back to take a seat and calm down. While walking to the back of the room, she could hear the whispers of her fellow students, all asking about this fight that was mentioned, why James Potter was involved in her worst fear and who the ginger boy was. Hermione just ignored it all while taking a seat.
When she looked up, she saw that almost everyone was staring at her, including the marauders. They all had a questioning look on their face.
When the bell signalled the end of class, Hermione couldn't leave fast enough, leaving everyone behind, again.
When the marauders left the room, they saw her walking away on her own, like usual. Though, now they didn't mind as much as they wanted to speak about what had just happened.
"So, what just happened back there? Who was the ginger guy?" James asked.
"More importantly, why were you involved in her biggest fear, mate?" Sirius asked James.
"How would I know. I don't even know her. Nobody here does."
"And what was that fight they were talking about?" Remus asked the group.
They were silent for a moment, thinking if they had read something in the Daily Prophet these past few weeks that mentioned a fight but they came up with nothing.
"Well, I don't know about you guys but I want to know what all that was about." Sirius told them.
"And how are you going to find out? She doesn't want to talk to us or anyone else for that matter. She hardly even talks to Lily." Remus said.
"Moony, just have some faith will you? I will think of something."
Remus gave an exasperated sigh and just let it be, knowing that if his friend got any ideas in his head you couldn't talk him out of it.
When the marauders entered the Gryffindor common room, they looked around to see if they could spot Hermione amongst the crowd. Unfortunately for them, Hermione was up in her room. Tears were trailing down her cheeks as she lay on her bed crying, with the curtains of her four-poster bed drawn close.
She couldn't believe that when she finally saw her two best friends again, they had said all those things. But then again, that's probably why it was her biggest fear.
Now that she had seen them, she couldn't help but feel homesick and more alone than she had felt up until now. She realised that if she was going to be here for a while, she had to have someone she could turn to because she knew that she wouldn't be able to handle it all on her own. She didn't have to tell them anything, she just needed someone she could go to as a friend if needed.
Calming down, Hermione decided that she would stop avoiding everyone and that if someone approached her, she would make an effort and try to talk to them.
Little did she know that that chance was about to take place sooner than she had expected.