First, I would like to thank This-love-is-Sirius for being the beta for the first half of the chapter. Thank you so much!
Upon entering the Great Hall, Harry and Hermione found an empty area towards the front of the Gryffindor table and walked towards it at once. They sat down and begin eating breakfast, unaware of a conversation centering around them.
"Who are they?" Sirius Black asked his friends, somewhat haughtily, nodding his head in the direction of the strangers, as he saw Harry and Hermione sit down at the Gryffindor table. Remus Lupin, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew, who were sitting across the table from Sirius, looked towards the new students Sirius had questioned about.
"Couldn't say," said Remus, shrugging his shoulders and turning back to his breakfast, "but whoever he is, he looks an awful lot like you, Prongs", he added while using his fork to point at James.
"He sure does." Peter agreed.
"Is there something you've forgotten to tell us, Prongs?" Asked Sirius sarcastically, but really being completely serious.
At that moment, Lily Evans walked into the Great Hall and sat down beside James. "Good morning, boys. What are you doing?" Lily asked very cheerfully.
"Good morning," said the four boys. Sirius, Remus, and Peter went on talking about their summer vacations and the new students, while James and Lily started talking privately. "We were just looking at those new students." James said, pointing in the direction of Harry and Hermione.
"Merlin, James, that boy looks just like you!" Lily was taken away by the resemblance between James and Harry.
"That's what Remus was saying right as you got here." James added.
'Well, he does. You could be twins." Lily paused for a moment staring back and forth between Harry and James. "I wonder what their names are. James, since I am Head Girl and you are Head Boy, we should go introduce ourselves to them!" Lily tugged on James' arm as she stood up, trying to persuade him to do the same. However, James just ignored Lily's tugging and kept his seat. "Lily, not now. If they are Gryffindor's, then we will surely meet them sometime today."
"James Potter," began Lily, placing her hands on her hips, looking very disappointed in her boyfriend. "I guess I'll just go introduce myself alone then." Lily turned to walk towards Harry and Hermione; however, the two were no longer there. Not wanting to sit back down with James, who had just irritated her, Lily gathered her belongings and walked out of the Great Hall.
Harry and Hermione finished their breakfast as soon as they could and left the Great Hall for their dormitories. Once they reached the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, Harry said the password; thankful Professor Dumbledore had remembered to give it to him on their way out of his office earlier that morning. They entered the common room only to be greeted with many odd looks from other Gryffindor's. The two tried to ignore the awkwardness, and went up to their separate dormitories in order to gather their things and put on their school robes. Once they were ready for classes, they met at the bottom of the stairs, and they left together for their first class of the day--Advanced Potions.
As they walked through the corridors of Hogwarts towards the dungeons, Hermione confessed to Harry, "I feel so out of place."
"That's because we are out of place." Harry replied, as he smiled at her. She smiled back at him as they entered the dungeons for class.
"Where do you want to sit?" Asked Hermione, as she looked around the classroom that seemed precisely the way she remembered it.
"Honestly?" Asked Harry, watching Hermione as she looked around the classroom. "Back here." He finished, as he headed for the table in the very back of the classroom, Hermione following him.
"Good choice." Hermione said, much to the surprise of Harry and herself. She always tried to sit as close to the front of the classroom as she could, in order to not miss a thing, but today she wanted nothing more than to remain hidden.
Harry and Hermione sat down and pulled out their books, parchment, and quills, preparing for class to begin. They were quietly talking, while other students began to slowly fill the classroom. All of a sudden James and Sirius, who were discussing Quidditch, walked into the room, followed by Remus, who was just listening to his two best friends.
"Hermione," began Harry, who looked suddenly mesmerized, "it's my dad."
Hermione quickly turned to see, James, who Harry was talking about. A boy with the same raven colored, messy hair and glasses, who looked nearly identical to Harry, was talking to another boy Hermione and Harry both recognized as Sirius. James and Sirius were being followed by another boy Harry and Hermione knew would be their future Professor, Remus.
"Harry, it's Siri..." began Hermione, who was interrupted by Harry, who was still staring in the direction of the three boys.
"I know--and Lupin." Interrupted Harry, finishing Hermione's sentence.
Remus, Sirius, and James all took their seats in the middle of the classroom, unaware of the conversation now centering around them, right as their Professor walked in.
Harry and Hermione immediately quit talking, and began to pay attention, as their professor, who they recognized as Professor Slughorn, walked in and stood in front of the class.
"Good morning students." Professor Slughorn began, as he looked around the classroom seeing both familiar and unfamiliar faces.
"Ah, new students", he said, looking at Harry and Hermione, "please tell us your names and Houses."
Harry and Hermione, who did not want to be center of attention, but clearly had no choice, did as asked.
"I'm Harry and I'm in Gryffindor." Harry began.
"And I'm Hermione, and I'm in Gryffindor as well." Hermione finished.
"Ah, well, welcome to Hogwarts, I am sure you'll enjoy it here." Professor Slughorn smiled at Harry and Hermione and continued with the lesson for the day.
When Advanced Potions was over, Harry and Hermione went their separate ways—Hermione to Advanced Arithmancy and Harry to Divination.
As usual, Hermione was the first to class. She quietly sat in the back of the classroom, waiting for the other students to arrive. The room was still fairly empty when Hermione heard a voice beside her.
"Is this taken?"
She looked up and over to see Remus Lupin standing beside her with his hand on the back of the chair next to her.
Hermione shook her head. "No, go ahead." She said very graciously.
Remus sat his bag down, pulled out the chair, and sat down. He held his hand out for Hermione. "I'm Remus, by the way."
Hermione hesitantly reached her hand out and shook Remus'. "Hermione" she said, introducing herself.
"It's nice to meet you." Remus said politely, smiling at her.
"You, too." Replied Hermione, smiling back at him.
"So, you are in Gryffindor, right?" Remus asked.
"Yea." She answered.
"Me, too. You'll like Gryffindor." Remus said confidently, pausing while watching Hermione. He caught himself briefly staring at her, "Where did you come from?" He asked quickly, hoping she would not notice.
"Institute of Magic." She answered.
"Did you like it there?"
"Yes, very much." She lied, given she had never set foot there.
"I think you'll like Hogwarts just as well, if not better. I love it here. The professors are all extraordinary, and Professor Dumbledore, well, he's the greatest wizard I've ever met. Have you met him yet?"
"I have. I met him this morning when Harry and I arrived. He seems like he's a wonderful man."
"He is. Harry is the boy you were sitting beside in Potions, right?" Remus asked, completely enthralled in their conversation.
"Yes." She answered, equally captured in their conversation
"Is he your boyfriend or…" Remus asked slowly, not knowing if he really wanted to know the answer.
"Brother, actually." Hermione answered. Although, she really did not know what her and Harry's true relationship was anymore. "We decided to come to Hogwarts for our final year. We were told the classes here would be better able to prepare us for our NEWT's, so...here we are." She added with a smile.
Remus smiled back at her. "What classes are you taking?" He asked, not wanting to quit talking to her.
"Advanced Potions and Advanced Arithmancy, as you already know." She said smiling, before continuing. "Defense Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, and Advanced Transfiguration. How about you? Which ones are you taking?" She asked, feeling completely comfortable talking with Remus.
"Honestly? All of the one's you are." He told her.
"Well, I guess we'll be seeing each other a lot this year, then." Hermione said with another smile.
Once again, Remus smiled and slightly blushed. He was thankful he decided to introduce himself to her, for she seemed to be a very lovely girl.
At that moment, Professor Silica walked in leaving Remus and Hermione forced to end their conversation--for now.
Harry had finally made his way to the Divination classroom and found a seat, when James and Sirius came in. The two were talking over Quidditch tryouts that were to be held that afternoon.
"Listen, mate, we'll never be able to find a seeker good enough to beat Bewley. You should go back to Seeker and we can just find someone to be Chaser." Suggested Sirius.
"Sirius, we'll find someone." Responded James, who was peeved that he could not find someone in the entire House of Gryffindor that would be a decent Seeker.
Harry was quieting observing his father he had never been able to meet, and his godfather, who was killed shortly after having met him. Harry was beginning to feel such a surge of emotions that he barely heard the voice across from him.
"Harry."
Harry was thrust back into consciousness, noticing Sirius across the table from him and James sitting beside him.
"It was Harry, wasn't it?" Asked Sirius.
"Yes." Answered Harry, who was beginning to calm down.
"Hi, I'm Sirius."
"And I'm James." The two boys said, introducing themselves.
"Merlin, you two are identical. I've never seen two strangers look so much alike." Exclaimed Sirius, as he moved his eyes back and forth from James to Harry.
"You're in Gryffindor, aren't you?" Asked James, trying to break the silence of Sirius staring at them.
"Yes, I am."
James and Sirius leaned in closer to Harry, Sirius looking very anxious.
Began Sirius. "You wouldn't happen to play Quidditch?"
At the words 'Quidditch', Harry perked up. "Yea", he nervously began, "I-I mean yes, I have played Quidditch all six years of school."
"What are you?" Sirius asked enthusiastically.
"Seeker." Answered Harry.
"Could you come to tryouts this afternoon?!" Began James. "We've only got the Seeker position open and so far the only ones going out for it are first and second years, and…"
"And we don't want young players." Finished Sirius. "The Slytherins have a massive team this year, and we need players who aren't afraid to be aggressive and get hurt."
"Yes, of course I'll come." Harry replied, very excited to know he had been given the opportunity to play Quidditch again.
The three boys sat around the table before class talking about all things Quidditch. Harry could not believe it was his dad he was sitting beside, and Sirius he was sitting across from. Harry only had a few memories in his life that were worth remembering and this was definitely one of them.
Later that afternoon, Remus and Hermione were sitting around the fireplace in the common room doing an assignment for Advanced Arithmancy when Harry, James, and Sirius all came through the entrance, very elated.
"You are the best seeker I've ever seen!" Exclaimed Sirius, as the boys made their way over to Remus and Hermione.
"Moony, this is the best seeker we've ever seen!" Sirius repeated. "You should have seen him. Harry found the snitch before James even knew it was released! With Harry on our team, we'll definitely win this year."
Remus and Hermione, who were sitting together on the sofa, looked at the three boys standing behind them, all who looked very worn out yet very excited.
Harry made his way over to Hermione and sat down beside her, while James and Sirius continued to fill Remus with all the details of the Quidditch tryouts. "Hermione, you should have seen it. They are the best team I've ever played with. I can't believe I'm going to play Quidditch again." Harry began, before whispering quietly in Hermione's ear, "With my dad and Sirius." Harry pulled back up to look at her. "It's so incredible." Hermione just smiled sweetly at Harry. "Congratulations, I'm so happy for you."
At that moment, Sirius asked Remus, "Have you even met him yet? He's so...just like us."
"Not yet." Remus began. "Have you met his sister, Hermione? She's very nice." Remus asked, nodding toward Hermione.
"She's his sister?" Asked Sirius. "the way he talked about her earlier, I thought she was his girlfriend." Sirius then walked over until he was standing behind Harry and Hermione. He leaned down, holding his hand out to shake hers. "I'm Sirius."
Hermione shook his hand, while introducing herself, "Hermione."
"And I'm James." James said, following Sirius the few steps over to Hermione. "Harry, this is our other mate, Remus." Remus and Harry leaned in towards each other, around Hermione, and shook hands.
"It's nice to meet you, Harry." Remus said.
"Well, we need to go practice now. Our first game is in five days and it's against the Slytherins." James said, motioning for Harry and Sirius to follow him. "We'll see you two later. It was nice to meet you, Hermione. Remus, if you see Lily please tell her I will meet her at dinner." James was backing away towards the door.
"Ok." Remus said, slightly annoyed at being interrupted with Quidditch news in the first place.
"Thanks mate." James yelled back.
"Pleasure to meet you, Hermione." Sirius said, smiling at Hermione, then turning to catch up with Harry and James. The three were gone as suddenly as they had arrived.
Remus and Hermione continued to do their assignment until it was time for dinner, then they walked to the Great Hall together. They had just arrived and sat down when Lily came over to them, and sat across from Hermione.
"Hey, Lily. Where've you been a day?" Asked Remus.
"Busy with Head Girl business, actually. I didn't know being Head Girl required so much time." Lily answered. She turned and looked at Hermione, who was just listening to Remus and Lily talk. "Hi, I'm Lily." She said, smiling at Hermione.
"Hermione." Smiling back at Lily, Hermione responded.
"I saw this morning at breakfast and was going to introduce myself, but then you and the boy you were with were gone."
"We left early to get to class. We didn't want to start our first day off by being late."
"I understand completely. My first year, I was late to every class for a week!" Lily and Hermione lightly laughed.
"Well, Hermione, it's nice to meet you. I'm sure we'll be great friends. If you need anything, please just ask." Lily warmly smiled at Hermione, who returned the gesture.
"Thank you very much. It's been nice meeting you." Hermione responded.
"You as well." Lily turned her attention back to Remus. "Have you seen James?"
"He's at Quidditch practice, but he said he'd meet you at dinner."
Hermione, Lily, and Remus sat at the table talking about their first days and when Harry, James, and Sirius entered the Great Hall and sat by their friends. Sirius and James were still excited about finding Harry as Seeker, and were still letting everyone know about it. When dinner was over, the six returned to their common room and sat around the fireplace. James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus learned more about Harry and Hermione, and in turn Harry and Hermione learned more about them. They sat around laughing and talking about different stories and pranks the boys had pulled. They were all so immersed in their conversation, none of them noticed the absence of a certain Marauder.