Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor its characters. They belong to the amazing J.K. Rowling.
August 23rd
The weeks passed and Hermione grew closer to James and Sirius. When Remus would come to the Potters, they would sometimes talk about their favorite books for hours. Hermione would always have to double check the release date of a book in her mind, so that she wouldn't accidentally say the title of a book that had been released after 1976.
With time, it was easier for Hermione to come to terms with the fact that she wasn't in her own time and that the next time she would see her friends, there would be a twenty years gap between them.
But still, she would cry in her bed. She would cry for the loss of the friends that she knew she would never have again.
She knew that James heard her cry at night. The sad smile he would give her the next morning would prove her that the space between their rooms wasn't enough to shut down her cries.
Despite that, everything was well and today, they had received their Hogwarts letters. In Hermione's letter, Dumbledore asked her to come see him the next day, as there were some details that needed to be looked upon. James and Sirius were excited to go back to school, not for the classes, but for all the mischiefs they would do during the year. Mentioning that, James couldn't help but relate their best moments.
"And then, we put the mattress on the stairs, climbed on it and just slide! But the thing is, Filch was climbing the stairs at the same moment, and we collided. He passed out and McGonagall, who of course was nearby gave us detention for two weeks!"
Hermione burst out laughing. "Harry! I can't believe you did that! It was really reckless." It sounded like she was scolding him, but her giggles didn't give her any credits.
She didn't even notice that she had called James by his future son's name for the first time. But the boys did. They looked at each other, nodded, and with a smirk, Sirius just looked at Hermione.
"Now that you're talking about him, tell me about Harry! Was he as stupid as his father?"
Hermione froze. Eyes wide, she looked at the two boys, horrified.
"How do you know about-"
"Come on, Hermione. I'm Sirius. Seer-ius. A seer, got it," he said while laughing at his own joke.
"Mate, that was really lame," sighed James before looking at Hermione. "Sorry 'Mione. When Dumbledore came to tell my parents about you, we listened to everything. We know where you really come from."
He could see that the poor girl was starting to panic, so James just took her gently in his arms, stroking her back.
"Ssssh, calm down. It's alright, you know. It doesn't change anything. I'm just sorry that you had to go through anything you went through."
"Thank you," she whispered as she started to calm down.
"Also, we don't want to know anything about our future. I already know that I will have a son named Harry, and that's more than enough. Plus, since you're here, there are probably a lot of things that happened in your time that won't happen now you're here. Same for the contrary."
Hermione nodded and they separate.
"You should know that Remus also knows. But anyway, Hermione, I'm going to teach you how to play quidditch today!"
August 24th
Hermione, accompanied by Charlus and Dorea, enter Dumbledore's office. She was surprised that the office looked exactly the same that the one in her time. Funny.
"Miss Granger. It's a pleasure to see you again," he greeted. "What happened to you," he asked, looking at her wrist that was wrapped in bandages.
"Oh, it's nothing. I just broke it yesterday and I have to wear these for three weeks," she smiled. "What details you wanted to look upon, Sir?"
The headmaster smiled as Hermione went straight to the point.
"Yes, about this. I asked a favor to a friend of mine who worked at the Ministry and you're now registered there. It would be wise that you've got a file there if anyone was to look at your background."
Hermione nodded. She was worrying about this during the summer and she was glad that the Professor took care of it.
"Now, it's about the house repartition. I don't see a reason for you to get sorted again, so you might stay in your original house. Gryffindor, was it?"
"Yes, Sir."
Dumbledore smiled, obviously pleased. Oblivious to Hermione, Charlus and Dorea were also smiling, happy that Hermione was in the same house as the three boys and would probably keep James and Sirius in line.
"Perfect. Now, I have only one question regarding your fourth year in 1995." Since Dorea and Charlus knew everything about what happened during Hermione's school year, the headmaster didn't see the need to ask Hermione privately about this. "Voldemort came back before the end of the school year, is that right?"
"Yes, sir. Because of some sort of ritual."
Dumbledore nodded. "But before that. Where was he?"
"He died on Halloween in 1981."
Dumbledore's face became darker as he seemed to be deep in though. He nodded once, twice. "Thank you Miss Granger. I will see you on September first, then. I wish you a good recovery."
Hermione thanked him before leaving with the Potters. She wondered what Dumbledore was thinking about and couldn't help to come up with her own theories. Maybe he knew what kind of ritual she was talking about. Or how Voldemort managed the miracle to not really die in the first place. They may live in a world full og magic, it was still impossible to outdo Death.
She should make some research about this.
September 1st
The platform 9 ¾ was full of people, much more than it was in 1996. The scarlet train stood as always, waiting for the students to fill it. Hermione smiled as James took her trunk and dragged it behind him. Too soon, they said their goodbyes to the Potters.
"Come back for Christmas, Hermione! And write us."
"I promise. Thank you for letting me stay at your home."
"You'll always be welcome, Hermione. I hope you'll love Hogwarts as much as James does."
Dorea then hugged Hermione before doing the same with James and Sirius, before the three teens got in the train.
"Come on, 'Mione," exclaimed Sirius, "let's find a compartment."
"You sure you want me to be with you during the travel?"
James laughed. "Of course! What did you think? That we would abandon you once in the train? I thought you thought higher of us, Hermione," he sighed shaking his head, the smile on his lips showing that he was clearly joking.
Moments later, they were sitting in a compartment were Remus already were and the train started off.
"So," began Hermione, "are you all excited to see your girlfriends or crushes," she asked, curious to know about Lily and James.
She was surprised to see all of them laughing as if she said the funniest thing in the world.
"Wha-"
"None of us has a girlfriend," said Remus, "nor a crush. Well, except Sirius. But he has a different crush every week. That's why he never got a girlfriend, since he can't like just one girl."
"Shut up, Moony."
Hermione was shocked. In her time, Remus had always told them that Sirius was a bit of a playboy during their school years, and that he dated every girls who wanted to date him. And since third year, nonetheless. How come that, in the beginning of his sixth year, he never got a girlfriend?
She turned to James, raising an eyebrow. "And you, James?"
"Nah," he said, "no one caught my attention."
Once again, she was shocked. Was James supposed to be madly in love with Lily Evans since his third year too?
"Really? No one you're making loud declarations to?"
She hoped that he would tell her that, yes, there was someone like that. Someone named Lily Evans.
"Nope. Not at all."
Well, that was weird. It wasn't supposed to be like that. And now that she was thinking about it, where was Peter? Not that she wanted to see the boy, but the marauders were supposed to be four, not three.
"And so, it's just you three? You don't have someone else in your little group?"
"No," said Remus, "just us three. There's Peter, a dormmate of ours, he's nice, but not really a friend."
That confirmed Hermione that she was not in the past, but in another dimension. She didn't really mind. At least, without Peter, there would be no one to betray James and Lily. But then, at the moment, there wasn't even the idea of a James and Lily. This dimension could never see the day where Harry James Potter would see the world.
Hi!
I'm sorry for the delay for this chapter. I have to say that the lack of review didn't really give me the motivation to write. That, and I just went back to school, so I won't have the time to post as much as I did during September. I don't know when I will post my chapters from now on, but I will try to post one chapter a week, but I don't promise anything.
Once again, I'm sorry that the chapter is so short. Really. I am unable to write long chapters.
Please, leave a review. Without feedback, I can't improve. Especially since English is not my mother language. So, please, tell me what you think of the chapters after you read it. But if you don't have anything nice to say, it's better to keep quiet. I accept critic IF they are constructive.
Thank you for reading, though.
See you next time!
Love,
Elie.
