"When one is without hope, there is nothing left except desperation to do anything." Quote from the Elerian Texts on Time.

Chapter 3

Remus shook her hand and felt the tiny sharp tips of a werewolf on his palm. So, this was the student? She looked smart and studious. Perhaps he was to have a friend who was interested in the same things as her was.

"I'm afraid, Mr. Lupin, that we both share a common tragedy in our lives. However, mine is far more recent than yours and still quite a shock to me. I find that I suddenly have enhanced hearing and what could be the beginnings of rather sharp nails and somewhat slightly pointed ears. I also find that I have fangs and cat-like eyes. Tell me, is this common, or am I a unique case?" Hermione was cool, calm and collected. She also had a nice vocabulary, which meant she read. Remus was quick to assure her it was all fairly common.

"Yes, Hermione, it is very common to have these traits. They do, however, vary from one werewolf to the next. For example, I do not have pointed ears, nor do I have claws, but my eyes did change to resemble that of a werewolf's. You may also find that we are quite a bit more resistant to spells now, though. And please, call me Remus. Mr. Lupin is very formal and only teachers call me that." He smiled and gestured to the door.

"Thank you, Remus." Hermione liked the way his name rolled of her tongue. She followed him out the door and continued down the corridor after him.

Remus looked back at her and admitted to himself that she was pretty. No, not pretty, gorgeous. The way her hair shimmered in the half up-half down style and her eyes twinkled in the torchlight. The way she walked with her legs striding so purposefully, as if she needed nothing to help her. He could not help but be captivated by her. Hermione, he loved how it sounded. 'Mione sounded even better. But he would keep that to himself until they were alone and in private.

"Right over here, Hermione." They approached the painting of the Fat Lady. "Capricious." Remus said. The Fat Lady waved her hand and the portrait opened up. Remus stepped in and waited for Hermione to step through. Surprisingly enough, there was no one in the common room. Remus shrugged and took her over to where there were two staircases. "The one on the right is the girls' dormitories. The left is the guys'. Just go up the stairs and go through the farthest door on the right. The Head Girl, Lily Evans, will probably still be awake. If not, just go to the bed that has your trunk." He turned to go up the stairs to the guys' dormitories, but stopped when Hermione asked:

"Remus, when is the next full moon?" She whispered this, looking him directly in the eye.

"Tomorrow. We will go down to Madame Pomfrey and she will escort us to the Whomping Willow. There's a tunnel under the tree that will take us to the Shrieking Shack. No one goes near the Shrieking Shack because they think it's haunted. All the howling they hear? That's just me…" He gave her another smile and Hermione felt her heart jump. "Don't worry. It will get easier as time goes on."

Hermione looked back up at him, bit her lip and suddenly flung her arms around him in a big hug. Awkwardly, Remus put his arms around her. It felt so natural.

"Thank you so much Remmy. I will always be in your debt for taking me in." Hermione didn't even notice the pet name that had slipped out; but Remus did.

"Remmy?" She blushed and muttered something under her breath. "What did you say?" He asked her, trying to get her to say it louder.

"I said, it was something I came up with and I didn't mean for it to come out." Hermione was a nice shade of pink; suitably embarrassed to have been caught saying "Remmy."

"I like it, 'Mione." She jerked up at the nick name, and smiled. Hermione hugged him again then dashed up the stairs. Remus smiled, and walked up the stairs.

Hermione entered the room she would be staying in and found that someone was still awake, reading. Flame red hair and a book? It couldn't be…

"Hi, My name is Lily Evans. You are the new student, right?" And yes, it was. Lily Evans, the mother of her best friend.

"Yes, I am the new student. My name is Hermione Yarnyi." Lily looked at her, eyes widening.

"Yarnyi? You're Dumbledore's grand-niece?" Wow… she is definitely a lot more like me than I realized. She knew me right off, kind of like how I knew who Harry was before I had really met him. "So, I'll show you around and show you where your classes are. Any questions?"

"No, actually. I already know my way around the castle. I pretty much lived here up until I went home in what would have been my first year here. So I know pretty much where everything is."

"Good. That means more time to study. What classes do you have?"

" I have all NEWT classes. So I my classes include Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, DADA, Arithmancy, and Horology."

"What's Horology? I've never heard of it." Lily asked in surprise.

"Oh, it's a new subject. It's the study of time." Hermione requested it especially so she could possibly understand more of what had happened to her. "Do you mind if I go to sleep Lily? I am dead tired and I would rather be awake tomorrow morning."

"Of course. I wouldn't keep you up. I'm sure we'll both get along famously. After all, we both are top students."

With Remus

Remus entered his dormitory, looking to see if anyone was still awake. And as always, James and Sirius were still awake.

"Hey Moony, what was that all about? What did Dumbledore want?" James asked, his expression inquisitive. Remus glanced over at Sirius, who was playing with a turtle, casting various charms on it.

"There's a new student here, and Dumbledore wanted her to meet someone with similar interests." Sirius looked up at the words "new" and "her" and immediately grinned.

"So Moony, is she pretty? Do you think she would be," he paused for a second, "interested?" Remus threw an exasperated look over at Sirius.

"No, I don't think she would be. Guys, she's a werewolf." Remus hoped they would keep their mouths shut. Especially Sirius.

"A werewolf? So that's why Dumbledore wanted you. I suppose she will be accompanying you on your monthly visits to your dear old Granny?" James brought back the old cover story for why Remus was gone once a month.

"Yes she will be accompanying me, so I'll have to introduce you to her tomorrow. If you three would be so kind as to be nice, I might consider letting you come this month." Remus gave them a stern look. He would not have them scaring 'Mione off just as they met her.

"So, what's her name? You do know her name, right?" Sirius was looking expectantly at him. Remus crossed over to his bed and sat down, swing his legs up and placing his hands behind his head.

"Yeah. Her name is Hermione Yarnyi. She's Dumbledore's great-niece." Sirius whistled.

"Great-niece, huh? I guess that means I'll have to be extra-nice if I want her to be interested."

"Sirius, don't go there. She most likely won't be interested. If I'm any indication, then she will probably keep to herself." Remus hoped that Sirius would leave her alone. For some reason, Remus really hoped that she took an interest in him.

Next Morning

Hermione woke up and suddenly remembered everything that had happened. She got up and looked over at Lily, who was still sleeping. Just think, I'm sharing a room with Harry's mother. Glancing around the room, she looked over at her nightstand where the clock was. Two hours until class starts. Hermione walked over to the bathroom, cleaned herself up and put on her touch-up cover-up. After taming any little bit of frizz in her hair, she dressed and went down to the common room. The four boys in the corner didn't really notice her until she was halfway across the room, heading for the portrait.

Remus didn't look up when he heard her come in. He waited until she was halfway across, then called out to her, "Hermione, over here. There are some people you should meet." Switching directions, Hermione arrived at the corner where Remus was. The other three boys turned around and stared.

"Is there something wrong? Or do all three of you have an eye problem?" Hermione didn't like being stared at; especially now, when she had recently been bitten.

"Uh, no. Sorry. Moony here didn't tell us you were beautiful." The one with somewhat long, black hair and strong features that represented old blood could only be Sirius Black. He was handsome, she supposed. And definitely more healthy as a seventeen year old than the 36-something old Sirius Black she knew. James looked exactly like Harry. It was scary. When she had first seen him, she had to restrain herself from jumping and hugging him. It was only the color of his eyes and the mischievous glint that told her that it was not Harry.

And finally, there was Peter Pettigrew. How Hermione would like to have done away with him right then and there. She had absolutely no compunctions against killing. The amount of killing she had done while fighting Voldemort could not compare to anyone but Voldemort. The traitorous rat sat there, just looking at her. Hermione thought that there might have been a calculating look in his small beady eyes, but it was almost impossible to tell.

She turned to Remus and asked if he would so terribly mind if she excused herself and that she was hungry.

"Of course. How stupid of me to take you from your breakfast to be and think that you would find such joy in such troublemakers as my friends here."

"Oh Remmy, you aren't stupid. You just thought to introduce me to your friends. And now, if you excuse me, I think I shall go to breakfast." Sirius and James both looked at Remus when she called him "Remmy" and gave him looks that clearly said: She calls you Remmy? They obviously were having a hard time keeping their laughter in, so when Hermione left, they cracked up, practically falling off their chairs.

"She calls you Remmy? How odd is that?" Peter spoke somewhat softly, he was the only one of them besides Remus who wasn't falling off his chair from laughing.

"It isn't that odd. She can trust me, and I can trust her. So when the feeling of trust comes in to being, we find that we don't need to be formal. Example, you don't still call me Remus. You pretty much call me Moony. There is a level of trust that has developed to the point informality." Remus could tell that he had lost Peter a while back and James and Sirius had already stopped listening pretty much.

"…think that Moony is going to get a girlfriend now?"

"It is highly probable. They already of pet names for each other… it won't be long until they start snogging." It was James that said this last one and when they looked over to Remus, they found that it would be highly advisable to run; considering the look on Moony's face.

Hermione continued down to the great hall where the tables were located. There were only about 75 students up and about, seeing as it was 7:00 in the morning. Classes didn't start until 9:00. Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor table, scooped up some bacon and eggs and began to eat.

It wasn't until there was a shadow over her that she looked up from her book. Instantly, Hermione thought it was Draco Malfoy. However, it was a Malfoy, just not Draco. That rather, holier-than-thou expression could only belong to Lucius Malfoy.

"What is it we have here? A rather pretty witch, but muggle born nonetheless." Lucius hadn't even met her and was already making assumptions.

"For your information, I am not a muggle. My family line can be traced back to all four founders and then some. I have no prejudice against anyone not a pureblood, but I daresay that you do. Perhaps it would be more polite for you to introduce yourself first, as it was you who has disturbed my peace, not the other way around?" Hermione coolly replied to his degrading statement with a somewhat subtle reminder that etiquette was something taught in wizarding homes.

Lucius Malfoy inclined his head slightly, surrendering the point to her. "I am Lucius Malfoy, of the noble Malfoys. May I have the pleasure of inquiring as to who you are?" Well, when he wished to, Lucius could be rather, well, friendly and somewhat charming.

"I am named Hermione Yarnyi, grand-niece of Headmaster Dumbledore, direct descendant of the Honorable Mage Yarnyi and each of the four Founders. Perhaps you might wish to leave me to my reading? I have a considerable amount to read before the first class. I have only received my books yesterday." Of course, Hermione was no such descendent of any one of the above mentioned people; but for her cover story, she had to have a family lineage.

"I thank you for your time. Should you ever be in need of assistance, I hope you shall call upon my person." With that, Lucius Malfoy turned and made his way back to the Slytherin table. Unbeknownst to both of them, there were three people watching from the doorway of the Great Hall.