That night Hermione's dreams allowed her to forget. Forget all that had happened, Ron's betrayal, the killing curse, the time loop, and most of all forget that this moment in time and space was now her home, a time when the Marauders existed, a time that, in her time, had faded to nothing more than legend.
"Hermione!" a gentle voice called to her through her sleep. It was a voice that she did not at first recognise, and while she tried to ignore the voice and return to her friends, it proved to be impossible.
"Hermione!" the voice called, this time louder than before. Having no choice, Hermione slowly opened her eyes to come face to face with an overly chipper red-head.
"Ginny, go away." It was completely the wrong thing to say, but at the time it was the only thing that came to her head.
However, it was not till Lily spoke that Hermione realized just what a mistake she was inches from making.
Who's Ginny?"
It was a simple question that made Hermione wake up and look at the girl before her, only then realizing that it was indeed Lily Evans that was in front of her. Quickly remembering the confusion that she had created regarding Ginny Weasley, Hermione racked her brain for an answer that would not jeopardize the future which lay ahead.
"A friend from back home," she said and then, just for good measure, she continued, "You look just like her." She continued with a smile that would have been seen as a sad smile but after using all of her mental force was able to turn it into a happy grin. It was lucky too, as Lily bought the story without hesitation.
"Well come on, get dressed, you don't want to miss breakfast," Lily said as she got off the bed and left the room in order to allow Hermione to get dressed in peace and quiet. It did not take long before Hermione was indeed dressed and found her way once again to the common room where Lily was patiently waiting for her. From here the two girls headed to the Great Hall, where Lily had informed Hermione that they would meet up with the boys as well as Sol.
It was a pleasant surprise for Hermione to see that over the past twenty years the Great Hall had not changed. The ceiling were still filled with the floating candles candles that it would have in the future, and the feeling that you got when you walked through the large archway was one of safety and serenity, as though nothing could possibly touch you in this place.
"Ah, my dear lily flower, how about we go to Hogsmade this weekend together?"
Without realizing it she had quietly allowed herself to be drawn to where the Marauders were sitting enjoying their breakfast.
"Not in this lifetime, Potter," was the only reply that Lily gave the poor boy, and despite everything that had happened to Hermione in less than twenty-four hours, she had to struggle not to giggle at the comment Lily gave.
"And so the princess awakes."
Hermione looked around her to see where the comment had come from, knowing full well that it had been directed at her. She was shocked to see that it had been Sirius who had spoken. It was not that she was shocked that he had spoken to her, rather it was the fact that he had said the words with such indifference and coldness that it stung.
"Good morning," she replied to him, in an attempt to sound as polite as possible while not showing that the comment had actually hurt her.
"Please, do join us," Remus said sweetly, and pointed at the seats that had been made available for them, and, with a nod from both girls, they did. The group sat there eating their breakfast while they enjoyed talking to each other, or rather it mainly involved asking Hermione questions, which she answered as best as she could without giving away what really happened.
"So, tell me, Hermione, how can it be that you are from America, and yet you speak with an English accent?" James asked her, and it was evident that he was genuinely interested in knowing her story, but before she had a chance to answer the Great Hall was filled with cat calls and some rather nasty cries from the Slitheryn table. Hermione turned her head to see Solarius Malfoy walking into the hall and ignoring every one of the comments that were thrown at her as she casually made her way to the boys.
"Good morning everyone," she said as she reached them, and bent down, giving Remus a warm morning kiss before she took her seat next to him.
"Hey Sol, what took you so long?" Lily asked her friend as she watched her fill her plate.
"Sorry love, I just got a letter from home that I had to read," she explained with an expression that was a mixture of pain and anger.
"Are you alright?" Remus asked as he gently placed an arm around her and rubbed soothing circles on her back. Sol, immediately feeling the welcomed contact from her boyfriend, leant into him and briefly placed her forehead on his shoulder, where he took the opportunity to place a brief kiss on the top of her head.
Nodding, she lifted her head and gave him a grateful smile. "Just the same as always."
This was all that it took for Remus to understand what had been in the letter, and without a second thought he brought her into his arms where he held her in a tight embrace as the others gave them sympathising looks.
It was clear that she could feel their looks, because it only took a moment for her to pick her head up. "Please don't," she said as she regarded all of them. "I have you and that is all that I need." At their nods she quickly composed herself and returned to her food, all of the time in Remus' arms.
"You know Hermione, you never answered my question," James said, in an attempt to draw the attention away from Sol and bring it to Hermione instead.
"Oh, sorry," she said as she looked back to the others. It would have been a lie if she did not admit that she was still trying to understand this very complicated and interesting girl that was sitting in the arms of her young professor-to-be.
"My parents are English, and I was born here, but they moved to America when I was little. But you see the schooling system is so different there that I could not help feeling like there was something missing, so they sent me to live with my godmother, Professor McGonagal, so I would be able to attend Hogwarts for my final year." It was not a lie, she had indeed received a letter, that morning while she had been getting dressed, informing her that Minerva had offered to be her guardian from now on. It was an offer that Hermione was more than willing to accept, as she had nowhere else to go. It was, however, a claim that left the whole group – including Sirius – speechless as they realized what she had said.
"Wait," James said as he processed her words. "are you telling us that you are McGonagall's goddaughter?" It was a question that had been on everyone's mind.
"Yes, I am. Now we should go if we do not want to be late for class," she remarked as she got up and picked her empty bag from the floor, and after taking a few steps away from the table, she turned around to see if the others were coming, and she was not disappointed, as she saw them all scurrying to pick up their books and join her. Together they made their way out of the Great Hall and to first period: Charms class.