A/N: Here's the second chapter I promised you :)
DISCLAIMER: My owning status hasn't changed within the past five minutes, so…
Hermione was quiet the next few days, talking to no one except Dumbledore. Sirius and Lily would watch her stare out the window on particularly depressing days for their friend, deeply worried. Hermione would play with a small necklace adorning her neck constantly during these times, looking lost in thought. Finally, Lily had enough and sat next to Hermione.
"Hey Mione," she said softly, offering her a grin. Hermione looked startled and surprised to see Lily sitting next to her.
"Hey Lily. How are you?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing." Lily sighed. "Hermione, you haven't been yourself since Dumbledore called you to his office last week. What's wrong?"
Hermione was quiet for a moment. "It's nothing."
"Liar."
The two girls stared at each other, and Hermione searched through her brain for a decent lie to make. Her whole life here was based on lies apparently. Why not add onto the list?
"It's my parents..." she finally whispered. "They...they died." And they may as well have been dead. Their memories were wiped clean of anything to do with her, and for all they knew they never had a child in their life. The very thought brought tears to Hermione's eyes, and that was all the convincing Lily needed. She pulled her friend into a hug as Hermione let out soft sobs, James and Sirius watching from a distance.
"James, we have to do something. Hermione's a wreck." Sirius said quietly, and James nodded.
"Like what?"
That one stumped Sirius. What did Hermione like to do? She never said much about herself-it could give away the future, after all-but there had to be something...a light bulb could've gone off in his head as an idea came to mind.
"I got it!" Sirius exclaimed. James looked confused.
"Got what?"
"How we're going to cheer up Hermione."
That confused James even more. "How?"
"You'll see. Come on, let's go."
The two boys left the common room, leaving Hermione to sob herself out on Lily's shoulder. Lily didn't seem to mind.
"Sirius, where are you taking me?" Hermione asked as she was led blindfolded to a building by Sirius.
"Calm yourself, you'll see." he responded, and she shut up.
She heard a ring of keys being fumbled with, and a small smile crept across her face for the first time in days. This had to be a good surprise, if they were being allowed by Dumbledore to miss a day of school. The headmaster, no matter how easy going he was, was strict when it came to school and classes. He had, however, been lenient if she, Ron, or Harry missed a class. She could never tell with that man.
Keys were fumbled with, and one entered a lock. She heard a faint click as the door was unlocked, and Sirius led her into the building. She immediately smelled pages of books.
"Sirius, where are we? A library?"
"Not just any library. Give me a moment." Hermione could practically hear the smile in his voice.
A few minutes later, he took off her blindfold and she opened her eyes, gasping. The library was huge. Books covered every square inch of the walls, and even more bookshelves were scattered throughout the building. Hermione ran toward one of the shelves and picked up a book, brushing the cover lightly with her fingers. "Sirius...this is incredible!"
He grinned and motioned James, Lily, Remus, and Peter inside. The four lingered by the door though, giving their two friends a moment.
"James and I found it while wrecking havoc in Muggle London."
Hermione's eyes widened, and Sirius held up his hands. "I'm kidding! We weren't wrecking havoc. Just riding around on my motorcycle."
Her eyes softened, and she threw her arms around him. He was caught off guard for the briefest of moments, then hugged her back.
"Thank you." Hermione whispered. Sirius grinned again, and he unconsciously stroked her hair. Hermione strangely liked it.
"You're welcome." he whispered back. "You seemed so upset lately, we all wanted to do something to cheer you up."
Hermione glanced to the doorway, and everyone there smiled at her. She felt an enormous wave of gratitude go through her, and she walked over to the group, hugging everyone, including Peter.
"Thank you everyone. This means so much to me."
"It was Sirius' idea," James said, nudging his friend. "I didn't even remember this old place, to be honest."
"Like you would, you barely remember where the Hogwarts library is." Peter said, and received a punch to the arm.
"I do too!"
"Enough, boys." Lily stepped in between the two. "Let Hermione enjoy her day, please. Don't ruin it because James doesn't even know what a library is."
Everyone except James snickered.
"Well, this is a happy group, isn't it?" Remus asked, walking over to Hermione.
"Very much so."
He grinned at her. "Dumbledore gave you and Sirius permission to come here whenever you guys want. He said it was his treat."
Hermione beamed. "I have to thank him!"
"Later, Mione, let's enjoy your library." Sirius said, and she raised an eyebrow at him.
"My library?"
"Would you rather me say your library, or the library? The library could mean anything."
"It doesn't matter, really."
"I thought so."
The group of students spent hours in the library, with Hermione, Lily, and Remus actually being the only ones reading. All in all, it was a perfect day to a depressing week for Hermione.