Her head hurt. Hermione always hated sleeping in a new place and apparently, that rule applied to Hogwarts as well. Even though the Ravenclaw Tower seemed quite cosy, it was really hard for her to sleep, knowing that in just few hours the old Hermione Granger would be inevitably gone. Her brilliant mind was something that couldn't go unnoticed and she was well aware of that fact... There was no going back from it, as Hermione Granger would soon be described as the brightest witch yet again, but this time, she will be the brightest witch of the '70s. 'Hermione Granger - making flared jeans look smart since 1976', she thought to herself and slapped her forehead with her palm. Sleep deprivation really did nothing to help her get herself together. She really hoped that this day would be over soon, or else she would end up embarrassing herself in front of the entire school.

It was still so early, that the common room has been entirely empty. The new Ravenclaw was actually grateful for that, as it allowed her to sink into her own thoughts, not caring if anyone would see her seriousness. Despite her roommates enthusiasm concerning the upcoming year, she knew better than to just wave her hand and embrace the unknown. Her task was way too complicated to be careless, as meddling with time was a very dangerous thing.

Even if the future had already been altered, she couldn't just tell everyone what is going to happen to them in her times. No, she had to be smart and cunning, so that they were strongly convinced that the choices they've made were truly their own, not dictated by the fear of dying or hurting their friends in the future. It was by far, the most difficult part of her task, as the temptation to just blurt out the truth to the Marauders was almost too great to ignore. Her life would be so much easier, if she could just stop pretending.

"Hello there!", a polite voice reached her ears, making her jump up with her heart racing inside her chest.

"Merlin, you scared me...", she gasped and look at the boy who was sitting in an armchair that was facing her own seat.

"Sorry. My name's not Merlin, though", he laughed and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"What is it, then?"

"Ewan. Ewan Hughes. It's nice to meet you. Hermione, wasn't it?"

Ewan extended his hand towards her and smiled warmly, making her relax entirely.

"Yes. Hermione Granger, this school's new attraction", she murmured and sighed, making him laugh again.

"You'll have to get over it, I'm afraid. For such a prestigious school, we surely gossip a lot"

"It's hard not to notice it. I didn't get much sleep last night because I was too busy trying to soak in all the information that my roommates gave me", she chuckled lightly and Ewan nodded with understanding.

"You're very lucky to be living with that bunch of lunatics. I'm pretty sure that their previous roommate didn't change school because of her parents. It was to run away from them.", he whispered theatrically and Hermione did her best not to burst out with laughter.

"Well, it's good that I'm very stubborn and resilient"

"We'll see about that. So, you came here from France, right? How was it?"

"It was a school, with students and professors inside", she stated seriously and Ewan raised his brows with amusement. "No, but really, Beauxbatons is nothing compared to Hogwarts. Although I can't say I hated it there", she shrugged, earning herself a curious glance.

"Why switch, then?"

Hermione fell silent and averted her gaze. She had practiced telling her cover story to the point when it became almost natural, but still... Sharing that with someone she had barely met didn't seem appropriate. Talking about the death of her parents wasn't supposed to be easy, nor shouldn't it come lightly.

"Personal reasons", she managed to say and bit her bottom lip.

Ewan's eyes lit up with understanding and he scratched his head, looking at her apologetically.

"Sorry, it's not any of my business. I just... Well, I was curious. We don't get transfer students all that often"

"Don't worry. I just... It's hard for me to talk about it", she offered with a weak smile and Ewan shook his head.

"No, seriously, I get it. Although I have to say that you're going to get used to the questions... We're Ravenclaws after all!"

Hermione's smile widened, as she looked at the boy sitting in front of her. He seemed really nice and she felt that people from this House must really be much more pleasant than she had originally thought. It was the ultimate proof that Amy was right saying that they really were misunderstood and misjudged most of the time. It was something, that Hermione could relate to very well.

Harry and Ron had been her friends for a time that felt like an eternity, but they had never understood her passion for books and studying, just as she couldn't understand their Quidditch enthusiasm. Their friendship worked really well, but she completely gave up the hope that one day they might actually listen to her going on and on about theories and various magical laws. Maybe here she could find friends that would be able to do that? Maybe being a Ravenclaw will turn out to better than she thought.

"Anyways, it's still early but if you want, I can show you some of the castle and then lead you to the Great Hall for breakfast", Ewan offered and Hermione smiled gratefully.

"I'd like that very much"

The Great Hall was already full when they got there. Hermione found Ewan really smart and easy-going, as he talked about Hogwarts' history effortlessly and with a smile plastered on his face. Even though most people would find that really boring, Hermione always liked history. Hogwarts was such an incredible place, that listening about its past felt almost like being sent back through time once again, but his time, not against her will.

She thanked Ewan for showing her the castle and parted ways with him, as his friends have been seated in a different section of the table, as they were in their seventh year. Hermione quickly made her way towards her roommates and sat down with a huge grin on her face.

"Hey, stranger! Where were you?", asked Amy and Hermione glanced towards Ewan who was looking at her as well while talking to his friends.

"Oh, I met Ewan there and he offered to show me around", she explained and Amy sighed.

"You do realize that he's the Quidditch captain of our team and like... probably one of the most attractive guys here? But like, attractive in that nerdy, Ravenclaw way", she purred and Hermione shook her head.

"Do you ever talk about anything else than boys? Ewan's very nice, but honestly, I don't really care if he's even Merlin himself", Hermione stated and furrowed her brows.

"Which is probably why he likes you. He doesn't go out very often, as apparently he refuses to be treated like a piece of meat", Gracie explained and looked at Hermione carefully.

"Good for him!", cheered Leslie and shoved her fist into the air. "He's like a feminist trapped in male body"

Hermione looked at Leslie with amusement, while Amy and Gracie sighed with exasperation.

"For fucks sake, it's not like we're ripping his clothes off, yeah? We just like to look", Grace tried to talk Leslie down, but the short-haired girl wouldn't have it.

"It's objectification, if you ask me. Not very pleasant when it's done to you, isn't it?", she said with a scowl, making Amy roll her eyes.

"Oh, shut up. You have to spoil the fun every single time", the blonde muttered, but had no intentions of pursuing the subject anymore.

Everyone felt quiet and Hermione couldn't help but to look at Leslie intently. The girl seemed as calm and laid-back as ever, but Miss Granger found her behaviour really peculiar. One did not simply defend someone like that, if it wasn't for personal reasons and that worried her greatly. Had someone mistreated her? Is that why she chose to look as boyish as possible?

Leslie's eyes crossed her own and she sent her a tight smile, that made Hermione turn away her gaze. Nosiness was hard to tame, but the girl knew better than to prod Les about it. She wouldn't be happy if someone started to question her against her will, so she decided to let the subject slide.

"So anyways... We've forgot to ask you. What classes are you taking?", Amy cleared her throat and asked Hermione with a smile.

"Oh... Yeah, I think it's going to be Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Trasfiguration, Potions, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Herbology", she recited and the girls looked at her with curiosity.

"Are you planning on becoming an Auror?"

"Maybe. I don't know yet. It's just that those classes were my favourites, maybe except from Herbology, but I decided that it would be reasonable to choose it nonetheless"

"That's a lot of classes. But hey, if anyone can pull it off, it's a Ravenclaw!", Gracie stated cheerfully and pointed her fork at Hermione, spilling her pumpkin juice all over Amy in the process.

"What the fuck, Grace?! How on Earth has anyone thought it would be a good name for you, if you're literally the clumsiest person I know?", the blonde raged, while Grace was trying to dry her robes with a spell.

Her hand was shaking too much from laughing, so instead she has turned them pink, making Amy even more flustered. Hermione tried to hold back laughter, seeing that the colour of Amy's face now matched her clothes. She picked up her own wand and waved her hand while muttering an incantation, making everything go back to normal and shook her head with amusement.

"You're unbelievable", muttered the blonde girl and shot Gracie an offended glance.

It did nothing to spoil everyone else's moods, especially when the Marauders appeared in the Great Hall, catching the attention of every student and teacher.

"HELLO SCHOOL! WE'VE MISSED YOU TERRIBLY!", James yelled as loud as he could, making everyone chuckle.

Hermione shook her head when the boy threw his arms into the air and tilted his head back with his eyes closed in pure ecstasy.

"Ah, the smell of sausages and toasts.., Nothing quite as beautiful as this. Maybe except for Lily!", he stated and another roar of laughter rolled through the hall.

Hermione instantly looked at the Gryffindor table and searched for red hair, that would undoubtedly belong to James' love. When her eyes laid on a beautiful girl that was now incredibly angry and embarrassed, she knew it had to be her.

"Did he just called her as beautiful as sausages?", Leslie chortled and Amy nodded with a purely terrified look on her face.

"Oh boy, Evans is going to kill him"

How the hell could James expect that he's going to win Lily over with that sort of behaviour? It sure had been hilarious, but it wasn't exactly... well, flattering, to put it mildly.

"Mr Potter, could you please take your seat and stop causing such a raucous?", professor McGonagall stood up and asked James with a grievous voice, but Hermione could have sworn she had seen a smile tugging at her lips.

Sirius pushed his friend forward, laughing madly while tears kept rolling down his face. If she didn't know any better, she would think that they were both drunk.

"They are completely bonkers... Honestly, this school would be so boring without them", Leslie giggled and Hermione couldn't agree more.

Hogwarts seemed like a completely different place and it was undoubtedly thanks to the Marauders and their infectious happiness. It was almost as nothing bad was going on in the outside world and Miss Granger found it incredibly tempting to just let herself drown in that overwhelming feeling of joy.

"Welcome to yet another year at Hogwarts. I must say, I'm very pleased with your exam results and I expect you to do equally good this year", a stern voice of Minerva McGonagall immediately captured the attention of everyone in the classroom.

Hermione couldn't help but to feel weird, sitting in the exact same place that she had been occupying back in her times. The only thing that was different was the lack of her two best friends at her side. Instead, Amy and Leslie sat behind her desk and Grace shifted impatiently next to her.

Apparently, the classes were something that truly brought out their nerdy nature, as the girls were finally quiet and listened to every word with great focus. Hermione was really glad that they weren't entirely obsessed with boys and hormones coursing through their bodies.

"This year you're going to be required to work very hard as in each class you'll have to practice your nonverbal spells", professor McGonagall has stated and looked around the classroom. "Can anyone tell me what those kind of spells are?"

Hermione's hand shot upwards almost immediately, which earned her a couple of curious glances.

"Miss Granger..."

"A nonverbal spell is a spell which is performed without saying the incantation out loud. It requires extreme focus, as you have to visualize the spell and its destined outcome and combine it with the correct wand movement", she recited without hesitation and received a satisfied smile from McGonagall.

"Correct, Miss Granger. 10 point to Ravenclaw. Now, can you tell me why the nonverbal spells are so important?"

Hermione raised her hand once more and professor nodded at her, allowing her to speak.

"It's very useful especially in a duel, as it is hard for the opponents to figure out what kind of spell you are going to use, which gives you a huge advantage. It allows you also to mislead them, because the incantation that you say out loud doesn't have to be the one that you actually cast. Also, nonverbal spells used correctly are much faster to cast, once you practise often enough to make them feel as natural as breathing", she explained and smiled contently, when Professor McGonagall looked at her with appreciation.

"Very good. Seems like you really were the top of your class at Beauxbatons. Another 10 points to Ravenclaw. And now... I want you to take your rat and turn it into a cup, using only nonverbal spells. Just as Miss Granger had said, it requires a great focus and I don't expect that any of you will succeed in this lesson. Nonetheless, by the end of the semester, it will be necessary for you to use those spells decently at least. Now, get to work", professor McGonagall finished and everyone stood up and went towards the cages standing at her desk.

Hermione didn't look even half as pessimistic as the rest of the class, since nonverbal spells were nothing new to her. She expected everyone to ask her a lot of questions after the lesson, since she had no intention of pretending not to be able to do this. It would be much easier to explain that she had already learned them at Beauxbatons than to constantly control her actions. Casting spells without incantations has become so natural for her, that she almost didn't need to focus. Stopping herself from doing something so effortless would be really hard.

Instead of practicing, she decided to look around and check everyone's progress. All of her housemates were doing their absolute best to hone that skill as fast as possible, but it didn't turn out to be all that simple. Frustration and even anger were painted all over their faces and Hermione smiled nostalgically, when an image of Ron waving his wand impatiently appeared in her mind. Professor McGonagall was very displeased with him, as he managed to stab his rat and make it squeal in pain.

"Miss Granger, why aren't you practising?", Transfiguration professor asked her, with her brows furrowed and Hermione looked down, slightly embarrassed.

"Well, I've already practised nonverbal spells at Beauxbatons", she admitted and McGonagall sent her a surprised gaze.

"How is that possible? As far as I know, the students in France learn those spells in their sixth grade, just as it is at Hogwarts"

"Yes, but I wanted to challenge myself and had learned how to do it last year", she made up quickly and blushed.

Her pink cheeks seemed like an obvious sign of embarrassment, but Hermione knew that it wasn't the case. Even for someone so ambitious, learning how to cast spells nonverbally was a bit difficult. She should have been more careful and thought about a reasonable explanation much earlier. Moody wouldn't be pleased with her sloppiness.

"Is that so? Well then, by all means, please demonstrate your skills"

Hermione couldn't blame McGonagall for being sceptical. In her impressive career as a Hogwarts professor, she probably hadn't seen anyone who would possess this kind of skills so early on. 'Well then, let me change your mind', she thought to herself and raised her wand, focusing on her rat.

A flick of her wand was enough to begin the transformation. Hermione watched with satisfaction as the rat turned into a golden goblet incrusted with beautiful red stones. It was absolutely perfect and Hermione couldn't be more proud of herself. She smiled contently and raised her eyes to look at professor McGonagall, who was watching here with amazement.

"Miss Granger, this is... Simply outstanding! 50 points to Ravenclaw! I don't think I've ever taught a student that would be able to use nonverbal spells with such ease only in the beginning of their sixth year", the woman praised her and this time, Hermione's blush was entirely from embarrassment.

"Thank you, professor", she said quietly and smiled timidly.

"Outstanding. If you please, Miss Granger, I'd like you to help other students"

Hermione nodded her head and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

"That was brilliant, Hermione!", Grace whispered looking at her with a flushed face.

"Yeah, absolutely wicked. 70 fucking points in one class. What are you, a god?", Leslie asked and patted her shoulder from behind, making Hermione giggle.

"Miss Donaghue, it would be much appreciated if you would get back to your task and stop swearing, otherwise your House will lose all the points earned by Miss Granger", professor McGonagall's stern voice scolded Leslie, causing the girl to mutter few uncensored words so quietly, that only Amy has heard them and tried to mask her laughter with coughing.

Several minutes later, all the students started to pack their things as the lesson came to an end. Hermione felt so happy, that she couldn't care less for the stares that she received, mostly from the Slytherins. They all looked very angry and Hermione wondered if it had anything to do with her blood status or it was solely her skills' fault. She had no doubt that they must have known about her being a Muggleborn, as there was no Pureblooded family by the name of 'Granger', even if she had often been taken for a distant relative of Hector Dagworth-Granger. Even if they knew, at this moment she was way too happy to worry about it.

"There's no way in hell that the Gryffindors are going to beat us this year. They might be Quidditch stars, but with you earning points like this, they have no chance!", Amy laughed and her other roommates nodded their heads enthusiastically.

Hermione couldn't help but grin, even if those kind of statements made her feel terribly responsible. After all, she was allowed to make mistakes, just as the rest of them. Although hers would probably be much painful, even if no one besides her would ever realise that.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that", a cold voice said from behind their backs, making them stop instantly.

Hermione turned around and found herself face to face with a tall boy, whose expression could only be described as 'terribly unpleasant'. She furrowed her brows, noticing some other students standing beside him, reminding her a lot of Malfoy and his entourage consisting of Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson.

Suddenly, the tension in the air became very noticeable, as other students started to form a circle around them. 'Merlin, this is not good. Not good at all", she thought grimly and smiled against her better judgement.

"Well, it's only the beginning of the year. Anything could happen, yeah?", she asked cheerfully. "I don't believe we've been introduced. Hermione Granger"

The boy looked at her extended arm and sneered. Ah, so they really knew about her blood status... The news traveled faster than she'd originally thought they would. She lowered her hand after a while and raised her brows.

"That's not very polite, you know? Someone might think that you haven't heard of proper manners"

"What would you know about manners, Mudblood?", the second boy spat, making everyone gasp in disbelief.

The girls standing beside her instantly covered her with their bodies, looking at the Slytherins with rage.

"Take that back, you asshole!", Leslie yelled and Hermione put her arm on the girl's shoulder, trying to calm her down.

Boy, that girl had temper. A lot of temper, actually.

"Stand down soldier", Hermione joked and pushed the girls aside. "I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that and you're going to pretend that you need to go somewhere else very quickly", she stated with a tight smile and turned around, deciding that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to stay and teach them a lesson.

"You should be careful, Mudblood. I'm not going to let someone like you to talk to me like that"

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. That guy seemed to be a lot worse than Malfoy, since the ferret had always managed to sound funny and pompous as hell, but this guy over here... He was dangerous. His dark eyes were filled with hatred and disgust and made Hermione feel very cold.

"You mean, someone so much more intelligent than you, right? Because otherwise I would be really offended and, just in case you'd forgotten, I can cast nonverbal spells that are especially useful in duels", she informed him with a sweet smile, making him even more pissed. "What's your problem anyway? I didn't do anything to you. If you don't like my blood status, then go to hell, instead of picking fights you obviously can't win"

Having said that, she turned around and wanted to walk away, when she heard movement behind her back. Her hand grabbed her wand and put up a Shield charm before anyone could interfere.

The guy that cursed her fell to the floor, completely immobilised, while the rest of his friends started to walk backwards, clearly afraid of her. Whispers erupted from the crowd, but Hermione couldn't care less, her anger so huge that she felt her hair frizzing.

"Here's a suggestion for you, asshole. You should go to a library, borrow a dictionary and then look up a definition of a coward. I feel like you could really relate to it on a very personal level. Cause only cowards attack someone from behind", she hissed with fury and then turned around and started to walk away, her steps fast and energetic.

The crowd stepped aside, letting her walk through, but she couldn't ignore the cheers that erupted from it. Her roommates trailed behind her, laughing loudly and it made Hermione feel a little better.

"Holy fuck, you're unbelievable!"

"Yeah, absolutely badass!"

And she really felt like it.

Hogwarts was a very fascinating place. For a castle this big, the rumours travelled incredibly fast in here. When Hermione has entered the Great Hall, hoping to finally get some rest and fill her stomach with delicious food, it turned out to be completely impossible.

The whole room went quiet and then erupted in whispers. 'Oh, great... All I wanted was to get promoted from a new girl to a freak', she thought and scowled, trying to ignore everyone and everything. She plopped down on her seat and was greeted by the glowing smiles of her roommates, that seemed to be very proud of her.

"Hello there, superwoman", Gracie chirped and raised her hand in order to high-five her, but changed her mind as soon as she had noticed Hermione's glare.

"I really don't want to talk about it. I hate being stared at"

"You should have thought about that before you went Medieval on Mulciber", Leslie chortled and Hermione sighed.

"So that was his name. The asshole hasn't even introduced himself"

The girls started to laugh, but Hermione kept stabbing her food with anger. She really had to be more careful. Dumbledore had warned her about showing her true potential too early... And here she was, a superwoman that couldn't keep her fury in chains. 'Way to go, you bloody idiot'. Since when had she been so temperamental anyway? Sure, she'd punched Malfoy in her third year, but still... She usually preferred to be a diplomat, someone who could always contain her emotions in order to figure out the best course of actions. Apparently, traveling back in time and nearly losing her life had bigger impact on her than she could have thought. Nonetheless, it had to be dealt with as there was no way in hell that she would save anything or anyone if she got killed by Death Eaters even before she has actually started to do anything useful.

Having lost her appetite completely, she sighed and pushed her plate away. She stood up and said:

"I'll meet you guys back in our dormitory. I think I'm going to hit the library"

With that, she walked away not waiting for a response. She had been so caught up with her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed that someone followed her outside the Hall. Hermione almost screamed in terror when an arm wrapped itself around her waist.

"Hello there, kitten!", a very smiley Sirius Black greeted her and she sighed, trying not to punch him.

"Why have you done that?! Don't you think at all? I could have..."

"... cursed my balls off? Yeah, I heard you're capable of that", he chuckled and looked at her with that lopsided grin that made her heart skip a beat.

"Sirius, I'm really not in the mood., she said and sighed tiredly.

"Yeah, I've noticed. That's why I decided to cheer you up!"

"By scaring me to death and reminding me of the fact that I broke the rule of not duelling in corridors and had managed to do so during my first day at school? Thank you, my friend"

"Oh, stop it, you. I think I'm blushing like a virgin. And for the record, I, most definitely, am not a virgin"

"I don't want to hear that., she muttered, causing him to laugh.

He fell quiet for a moment, but didn't let go of her waist and she found that she really didn't care. What was the point in trying to fight that infuriating man? They walked next to each other for a minute or two and then Sirius steered her to the left, into a corridor that definitely did not lead into to the library.

"What are you doing?", she asked suspiciously and Messer Black looked at her with a huge grin.

"You like chocolate?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Because we're going to get some", he stated and smiled even harder.

How did his cheeks manage not to explode with all that smiling, she had no idea. Instead of trying to wrap her mind around it, she decided to just let him take her wherever he pleased, as his company felt much more pleasant than she thought it would.

A couple of minutes later, they have finally arrived at the portrait of a pear and Sirius tickled it slightly, opening the door leading to the kitchen. Hermione managed to look very surprised when she had noticed the House Elves running around the room, trying to prepare some more food for the students that were still feasting inside the Great Hall. As soon as they walked into the kitchen, a small creature approached them and squealed with happiness:

"Master Sirius! Meeny is very happy to see Master Sirius! What can Meeny get Master Sirius?"

"Two hot chocolates, Meeny. Thank you very much"

He then pulled her towards the table and sat her down on the chair. Hermione looked at him with amazement, making him giggle.

"How did you find this place?"

"I'm a Marauder, love. This castle doesn't have any secrets I wouldn't know of"

"Oh, really?"

"Really. Might show them to you, if you play nice. Meaning, you actually won't curse my balls off. I feel like I'm very attached to them"

Hermione's mouth twitched as she tried to stop herself from laughing, but finally she gave up, making Sirius smile triumphantly.

"See? Told you, I'd cheer you up"

"Thank you", she rolled her eyes. "What would I do, if you hadn't come to rescue me?"

"You would go to the library and read yourself to death", he stated firmly and Hermione shook her head.

"Now that I think of it, I actually fit into Ravenclaw perfectly. I could read books all day"

"Me too... Especially Kamasutra", he laughed at her expression and winked at her. "Just kidding. Probably"

Hermione decided to let that comment slide and started to ask him some relatively safe questions. She didn't even notice the time passing by, but when they both got to the bottom of their cups of chocolate, Sirius stood up and smiled at her gently.

"I hate to say it, but I think it's time to get back"

Hermione followed his actions and reluctantly moved towards the exit. Sirius opened the door for her and put his hand on the small of her back when she crossed the threshold, making her want to roll her eyes. She was entirely convinced that he did that only to feel her up, but she wasn't going to complain. After all, he made her feel so much better that she probably would have to find a way to make it up to him.

"Sirius...", she said quietly and stopped in the middle of a corridor.

He looked at her with curiosity and raised his eyebrows.

"Thank you. I really needed that"

"I know. I always go to the kitchen when I'm having a bad day and it always helps a bit. I would be grateful, though, if you didn't tell anyone about it. This could be our little secret", he winked at her and then his expression changed, making her shift uncomfortably.

He walked towards her and stopped just inches in front of her.

"And for the record. What you did to Mulciber was pretty awesome", he said quietly and then leaned forward, his lips right next to her ear. "You have no idea how hot it is..."

A moment later, he was gone and she was left alone with her racing heart and his scent lingering in the air, making her feel lightheaded. That man... She was pretty sure he could convince a rock to go out with him, if he wanted to. And Hermione definitely wasn't a rock.