Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine it belongs to JKR. But you already knew that.
Chapter 3
"I worked so hard for that first kiss
And a heart don't forget something like that
Like an old photograph
Time can make a feeling fade
But the memory of a first love
Never fades away." -Tim McGraw
Hermione woke to find two girls looking down at her. She sat up in embarrassment and attempted to tame her frizzy bed head by brushing her fingers through it. "H-h-hello." She tried to say but she was too self-conscious.
It didn't help that one of the girls was incredibly beautiful. She had dark red hair and pink cheeks. She smiled kindly but curiously at Hermione's mortification. Hermione had to suppress her gasp when she saw the girl's light green eyes. "Hi. I'm Lily."
The other girl gave Hermione a small wave. "I'm Alice." She was pretty but still had a lot of baby fat. Her eyes were hazel and she had short brown hair. Something was familiar about her but Hermione couldn't pinpoint it.
"Are you new?" Lily was speaking kindly but was unsure what to make of a stranger that started here in their sixth year.
"Er… yes?... Yes, yes I'm new." Hermione needed to think fast. "I've been going to school in America and now my family's moved to England, you see. So I had to start at Hogwarts." She looked between the two girl's faces but they didn't seem suspicious of her lie.
"That's cool. What's America like?" Alice perked up and Hermione blushed. She was definitely caught now. She had absolutely no idea what America was like.
"I-I was kind of teased a lot there, the accent. I don't really want to talk about it." Hermione jumped from the bed and ran into the bathroom. She hurried to get washed up and de-frizz her hair. It was semi-decent looking and she couldn't help but notice that big hair was kind of in-style in this time. Maybe she wouldn't stick out as much. As she exited the bathroom she froze. Lily and Alice were waiting for her.
"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have prodded you for information. I mean we don't even know your name. Sometimes I talk too much." Alice was bright red and looked very sorry.
Hermione smiled back. "It's alright…I'm Hermione." She'd never had very good girl friends, except for Jane. Maybe she could make more of an effort here.
"Did you want to come down to breakfast with us, Hermione?" Lily asked her, trying out the kind of weird name, but remaining polite to her.
"Sure."
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When they had sat down at the Gryffindor table Hermione couldn't help but admire the general splendor. She thought she would've been used to it by now but the amount of food and the beautiful ceiling still awed her. Lily and Alice were very nice to her. Harry had gained a lot of traits from his mother and although he probably wouldn't believe her, Harry had more traits from his mother than father.
Alice couldn't stop talking about her new boyfriend, Hermione usually found this sort of thing annoying, which was why she had mostly guy friends, but Alice was very sweet and modest about the whole thing.
"There's Frank!" She gushed as a boy with dark hair walked into the great hall, spotted Alice and headed over to them.
Hermione choked on a piece of toast and Lily hit her back until she could breathe again.
Alice and Frank? As in Alice and Frank Longbottom? Neville's parents?
Hermione couldn't believe this. Two of her friends parents in one day? Frank sat next to Alice and they immediately became lost in their own world. They obviously loved each other, or were headed in that direction. She was happy for them, but wondered why Neville lived with his grandmother. She'd never really thought about it.
Suddenly Hermione was jostled into Lily as someone sat next to her. "Hello there Hermione!" Lily glared over Hermione at Sirius who didn't seem to notice. James sat across from Sirius and Peter sat next to him. Remus was on the other side of Sirius. The Marauders were never far from each other.
Oh my gosh. If they say anything about my being from the future—
She somehow needed to communicate to them that they couldn't say anything.
"How do you know them?" Lily hissed into her ear and Hermione blushed.
"I sort of ran into them last night. They helped me find Dumbledore." Lily looked furious that she had to sit so close to James and Sirius.
"So what's your first class?" James asked Hermione but he never took his eyes off Lily, who stubbornly ignored him.
"Well I haven't talked to McGonagall yet."
"Ms. Granger?" Hermione turned around in surprise and gave a happy smile to her favorite teacher. McGonagall looked a little taken aback, but smiled kindly back. "Here's your schedule."
"Perfect timing Professor!" Sirius reached up as if to give McGonagall a high five but she simply looked at his hand in confusion.
"Right... Good day Ms. Granger, Mr. Black." She nodded at everyone around them and then headed to the teacher's table.
"You got to love McGonagall." Sirius went back to his cereal and Lily huffed in disapproval. Hermione smiled so that Lily wouldn't notice and read her schedule. It was standard, almost the exact same workload that Harry and Ron had received their sixth year.
"Looks like I've got Potions first."
"You're with me then." Lily said and gave Hermione an encouraging smile.
"And us." James added and smiled, but not at Hermione.
"You can bet Snape will be there. Winning entertainment value, I'd say." Sirius couldn't help but pronounce and Lily almost bore holes into the side of his head from her death glare.
Hermione almost passed out. "Snape?" She could hardly believe it, she would be seeing one of her professors as a student, Remus didn't really count for some reason, the very same professor that had killed Dumbledore.
But Sirius misunderstood her. "Yes, rather unfortunate name isn't it. Not as good as his first of course."
In unison James and Sirius hissed. "Snivellus." And burst into hearty guffaws.
Lily stood, almost knocking her cereal bowl over and ran from the great hall. James called after her between bouts of laughing fits and Hermione stood to follow her. Noticing she was leaving the Marauders all stood and followed her out as well.
"Are you following me?" She muttered as they joined her in climbing down the staircase that led to the dungeons.
"We have the same class." Remus reminded her and Hermione blushed. Remus was frozen for a second but managed to get his feet moving again. Besides her crazy hair, Hermione was very pretty when she was embarrassed.
"Hey keep up Remus, even Peter here is beating you!" Sirius teased from his position next to Hermione and Remus picked up his feet.
"Listen guys." Hermione glanced around, there was no one about so maybe now would be her only chance. "Don't mention the whole, my being from the future thing. It could be very bad if too many people knew."
"Wouldn't dream of it." Sirius said as he draped an arm around her shoulders. She pushed it off but smiled to herself.
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1997:
Remus reread Harry's letter to him for the fifth time. There was something about it that was bothering him. It was like trying to remember a dream, every time he thought he remembered, it would slip away like sand in a strainer.
Dear Remus,
I might be overreacting, but I think something has happened to Hermione. Dobby came to me and said that she was in Hogwarts only a week ago and that she disappeared before he could ask what she was doing there. She hasn't answered any of my letters and I'm concerned that something horrible has happened. I don't know if it's too much to ask but could you go to her home and make sure she's alright?
With Gratitude,
Harry
He knew Harry's instincts were abnormally correct and it concerned him that he believed his friend missing.
And Hermione wouldn't disappear without just cause and not tell her friends.
He wasn't sure what made him think this. It wasn't as if she knew Hermione personally except for the year he had taught at Hogwarts, but he knew what he had thought, was true. Remus took Harry's letter and stuffed it into his robes. Even though it was a full moon tonight he could quickly go to Hermione's home and inquire about her and return to the woods in time. He put on a traveling cloak and exited his study and entered his family's kitchen. His parent's had died a few years ago and had left him their modest house. Tonks was attempting to cook and he smiled when she cursed as ingredients missed the pot and began to fly around the kitchen. He came up behind his fiancé and hugged her. She visibly relaxed and sighed.
"I'll never get these damn household charms right." Her hair turned a dark shade of blue and Remus chuckled and brushed it out of her face.
"It's not that big of a deal." He waved his wand and the ingredients floated back to the pot and plopped in one by one. "I have to leave anyways."
Tonks glanced at the calendar and noticed the red circle around today's date. "Yes. Of course." She gave Remus a sad smile and he kissed her on the cheek before leaving.
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Still 1997:
Remus Apparated into Hermione's muggle neighborhood and approached her house with caution. If Harry was right and she was in danger, Death Eaters could be anywhere. He stepped up to the front door and knocked. There was no answer and he frowned at the wilting pot of flowers on the porch the grass was also yellow and he wondered when was the last time anyone had watered them.
A simple Alohamora spell opened the door and Remus stepped through. It was pitch dark inside and he lit his wand. He glanced around and was shocked; there was no furniture or anything whatsoever to suggest that someone lived here. Paintings were missing from the walls, appliances from the kitchen; Remus toured the whole house and couldn't find a single thing.
What had happened here?
Finally he came to a door on the second floor that was locked magically. He tried a few charms before it shuttered open and he entered the only furnished room in the house. The fading light of the sun gave the room a light orange tint. The walls were light blue, her daisy bed perfectly made, her books in neat piles or arranged alphabetically on her shelves. It was as if Hermione had never left. But dust came up in puffs from the floor as he walked across the floor and studied the perfectly organized room. Then he noticed an envelope on the desk and he crossed the room and picked it up.
It was addressed to Harry but something was nagging at him to open it, something in the back of his mind. He slowly cut away at the seal and pulled out the single sheet of paper.
Dear Harry, it read.
I'm not sure what you're going to do, because if you're reading this something has gone wrong.
Remus sucked in a breath and continued.
I've used my Time Turner to go back and save Dumbledore, it's the only thing I could think of to help us on our quest and I hope you'll understand my reasoning.
Of course, if you're reading this, and I hope you never do, something has gone wrong with my time travel, especially if Dumbledore is still dead.
Remus couldn't read anymore, a realization had struck him with such force that he staggered and dropped the letter to the dusty floor. He grabbed hold of Hermione's chair and grabbed his head to stop the pain, but with each throb of pain, memories were flowing back into his brain. The first one had come when he read that Hermione had used the Time Turner and now they were coming back to him faster and faster, all of them memories of Hermione…twenty years ago. Hermione stepping from the Room of Requirement and his first glimpse at her, carrying Hermione to Dumbledore's office and her pushing him away with her small arms. But the memories didn't stop there. There were months and months of them, and every single one contained Hermione. Suddenly the pain stopped but now Remus was left with all the memories that he was never supposed to have and he wanted to throw something. His anger at Dumbledore for taking his memories of Hermione was immense and he picked up Hermione's chair and threw it at the wall above her bed. Wood shattered and crashed, then fell to the floor. He stood gasping for breath in Hermione's room and he couldn't help but remember all that time he had spent with her his sixth year, before she had…
He had to get away from here, to the only place that he had ever felt happy, himself. He sprinted out of Hermione's room and Diapparated into the Shrieking Shack. But it wasn't enough, even though he had many happy memories with his friends in this house, he'd felt the most alive in the Forbidden Forest where he wasn't confined to a single space. Where he could sprint around and cause mayhem with his friends who had all left him. He was the last Marauder left. He didn't even want to think about what had happened between Hermione and himself. The pain of it hit him so hard he let out a howl of anguish. He needed the relief of the forest tonight.
Pain of the transformation began to shake through his body and he quickly headed down the tunnel, praying he would make it to the forest in time. He hadn't taken any potion to ease his transformation, and based on the state he was in, he knew if he didn't get far enough away he might hurt someone. He came out of the tunnel at the base of the Whomping Willow and ran to the forest as fast as he could. The tree took a swing at him but he ducked and managed to only stumble over one root before he was running over open ground to the trees.
He reached them but had to stop, his joints were aching with the Change and pain was rocking him. He howled again, it sounded less like a man and more like a feral wolf, before he fell to his knees. He crawled further into the trees until he changed completely and ran and ran for the rest of the night.
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At the sound of the angry howl, a lone, tiny figure glanced out of the Gryffindor common room's window and noticed the man staggering into the woods, then falling to his knees. The tiny elf gave a squeak of surprise and Dissaparated with a loud pop out of the castle.