After weeks of endless loneliness, Hermione was excited that the rest of the students were finally returning to Hogwarts. She never thought she'd say it, but it would be nice to have other girls in her dormitory again and she was curious to learn who she'd be rooming with. Most of all, she was eager to meet Lily Evans, after hearing so much about how kind and nice she was.
Hermione took her time getting ready in the morning, taking an extra long bath and actually trying to work with her hair instead of just letting it air dry. It wasn't the effect she got from using Sleek-Eazy, but it did turn out less bushy than usual. As she had gotten older, she decided that her hair suited her face with its wavy texture and impressive volume, but she was still teased about it now and again. She thought about trying makeup, but since she didn't have much experience with its application, decided to just stick with mascara and chapstick.
Looking in the mirror, she was satisfied with her overall look and put on her uniform, before deciding to see if the house elves or Professors needed any last minute help. The elves were horrified at her suggestion that she help with the dishes for the feast and charmed her out of the kitchens. The professors had all been too busy to think of anything to give her to do. Professor McGonagall did ask Hermione to meet her in front of the Great Hall before sorting, though.
Feeling unusually useless, Hermione went to the empty library to peruse the shelves, before settling on a book about magical essence. She brought the book with her to a reading nook near the window and settled in for the day. Vaguely aware of the slow movement of the sun, Herrmione could no longer ignore the gnawing feeling in her stomach. Looking out the window, she was surprised that it was dusk and she could see lights in the distance, heralding the arrival of the Hogwarts Express. Hermione smiled and reshelved her book.
Legs a bit wobbly from sitting in one position for so long, Hermione found her nerves growing with each step closer to the Great Hall. She had been so excited to have someone - anyone - to talk to that she had forgotten how awkward she felt interacting with most of her peers. What if they didn't like her? What if the Gryffindor girls were more like Parvatie and Lavender and less like Ginny? What if this was all some horrible mistake?
Before she could turn around and book it to hide out in the Room of Requirement, Professor McGonagall had spotted her. The older witch was eagerly waving her over to stand amongst the group of nervous First Years. Hermione tried to remain calm while her Head of House explained the sorting process to the little ones.
"Come along, then," she ordered, her voice carrying loudly through the hallway. She opened the huge oak doors and led the motley group into the Great Hall.
Dumbledore smiled at the herd of children as they entered. "Before we begin the sorting, I'd like to introduce you all to my great great niece, Miss Hermione Granger. She will be joining Gryffindor House as a seventh year," he said.
Professor McGonagall gave her a little shove to stand next to the dais, so that all the students could get a good look at her. So much for keeping a low profile, Hermione thought bitterly.
She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment as the Gryffindor table cheered boisterously while the other houses just gave her an awkward little calp. She felt like some sort of attraction at a fair. What on Earth was Professor Dumbledore thinking? Hadn't he specifically told her to blend in? He had just made sure that everyone knew exactly who she was and now everyone was whispering furiously about Hogwarts' newest feature.
Stumbling slightly as she walked to the Gryffindor table, Hermione tried to keep her head held high. She searched the unfamiliar faces for the bright red hair of Lily Evans, before finding her not too far down the table. She offered Harry's mother a weak smile. But, just as she was about to sit with Lily and her friends, she could hear Sirius and his loud mouth a bit further down.
"That's Hermione! James thought her name was Victoria because that's what was written in her bra," he said with a laugh.
James elbowed his friend hard in the side, but Sirius only responded with a cheeky grin.
Hermione's cheeks grew even hotter. Merlin, that was mortifying. When she looked back to Lily, the redhead was now scowling at her, looking Hermione up and down. She spread out her elbows, making no room for Hermione to sit before giving her a challenging stare.
Sighing, Hermione felt terribly guilty. Honestly, it wasn't her fault that she had landed in rubbish or that Sirius had an annoyingly large mouth. Lily shouldn't hold it against her. But she knew that the optics were not great at the moment.
"Hermione! Come sit with us!" Sirius called, waving her over and making space between him and James.
She looked at Lily one more time and was rewarded with a total look of disdain. Hermione frowned before taking the only seat that had been offered to her. "Thank you, Black, for sharing that story with everyone," she said, vexed. "Hi, I'm Hermione," she greeted the other boys.
"I'm Remus," said a wizard with sandy blond hair. He wore an amused smile.
"And I'm Peter," said the other boy. He was unremarkable, with dull brown hair and watery eyes. He was more than a little bit plump. Hermione wasn't certain if it was just because she knew that he was destined to betray James, Lily and Sirius, but she found him rather repulsive. "Why did James see your bra?" he asked, loudly.
Hermione ran her hand across her face.
"Peter! That's not exactly polite dinner conversation," Remus scolded.
"It's fine," Hermione told him, giving her future professor a thankful smile. He seemed to be the only rational one. James seemed too content to let the other boys' minds run wild over what had happened between the two of them. "I actually had a little portkey accident. I passed out in some rubbish bins. James and Sirius were kind enough to help me...and Mrs. Potter removed my dirty clothes while I was still unconscious."
She hoped that sounded like a reasonable enough explanation. She also hoped that her voice carried down the table, so that Lily might have heard her and realized that she had James hadn't been together intimately.
"So, Hermione. You're Dumbledore's niece? I wasn't aware that he had family," Remus said, steering the conversation to more respectable topics.
"And Granger isn't a wizarding name," Peter added his two cents with as little tact as possible.
Was he trying to offend her, Hermione wondered?
"Well, my father was a muggle," she told them quietly, hoping that they wouldn't ask more questions hearing her talk about him in the past tense. She hadn't come up with much of a background story, but now she wished she could have. "So I'm related to Dumbledore on my mother's side, a bit distantly. You know how magical family trees can be...all twists and branches crossing."
"Like my family," Sirius agreed, darkly. "My parents are first cousins. That's pretty messed up, but anything for them to stay pureblooded," he added with a roll of his eyes. "If you are that obsessed with blood purity, I think you need to sort out your priorities."
Hermione frowned. "I'm only a half-blood," she lied easily enough. "Is that a problem with Gryffindors?" She had always heard that the Order didn't care about blood purity, but it was a different time. Plus, everyone was so young, they might not have formed their own opinions yet. Then again, Sirius was living with the Potters, which meant he must have already been disowned by his own family. Right?
Sirius let out a barking laugh. "Of course not. We don't care about blood status at all," he reassured her. "I was actually disowned because I wasn't the heir the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black was expecting. I had too many muggleborn and blood traitor friends, like James here," he said, reaching around her to give James a pat on the back. Sirius seemed to be bragging about being disowned, but she was sure that being kicked out by your own family had to be a little bit painful.
"Oh, that's good," she said, before realizing how her words could be misconstrued. "I mean...that you don't care about blood status, not about being disowned. I imagine that must be awful," she said, stumbling over her words. The look in his mercurial grey eyes had her breath catching in her throat.
"Not too bad, actually. I hated my mother and my brother has turned into an awful little Death Eater prick. And, my Uncle Alphard left me his fortune when he died earlier this summer, so it's not like I'm destitute," he said, flippantly. "Got himself blasted off the family tree for it, too."
A grim silence fell over the five of them before Peter asked another question. "So why are you here then?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes at the lump of a boy. She decided she did not like Peter. "Well, Mother thought it was safest here with all the Death Eater attacks lately. She wouldn't trust me with anyone else but Uncle Albus," she said, trying to sound casual. Peter's eyebrow's shot up at her use of Dumbledore's first name. "I will probably only be here for a little while, until Mother can find us a safehouse. I think we'll go into hiding for a while," she added with a tone of finality.
"Well, if you need any help with your classes, I'd be happy to help," Remus offered. "I am sure that adjusting to a school like Hogwarts will be no walk in the park."
She smiled at the werewolf. "Thank you Remus, that would be lovely," she answered. She knew that she was supposed to be as forgettable as possible, but it was nice to have some familiar faces.
Soon, the conversation shifted to the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and Hermione relaxed, happy to be part of the friendly banter. She was enjoying her dinner for the first time in two weeks, so she completely missed the glare of annoyance Sirius gave to Remus over her head.
After dinner, Hermione returned to the Common Room and trudged up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. She had been so looking forward to meeting her roommates, but after Lily's cold reception at dinner, Hermione was suddenly a bundle of nerves and felt more like she was being led to the gallows than her cozy bed.
When she made it to the top of the stairs, she was greeted by three smiling faces. "You must be Hermione!" said the first girl. With her hourglass figure, wavy blonde hair and huge cornflower blue eyes, Hermione was completely in awe of this witch who reminded her more of Botticelli's Venus than student. "I'm Marlene. Marlene McKinnon."
Next, a girl with brown hair in a pixie cut called out from her bed. "I'm Alice Fawley!"
And finally, a black haired girl with pin straight hair walked out of the bathroom, toothbrush in hand. "I'm Mary McDonald," she said quietly.
Hermione looked around, disappointed that Lily Evans was nowhere to be found. "Yes, I'm Hermione," she said, pleased with her new roommates. They all seemed pretty nice so far. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."
Mary gave her a dangerous smile. "So," she started mischievously. "You seemed pretty cozy with James Potter at dinner tonight."
Hermione sputtered, her cheeks going pink again at the suggestion. Honestly, she had talked much more with Sirius than she had with James. She'd been consistently distracted by his light touches or the way that his hand always seemed to graze hers whenever she reached for something. Older Sirius was a pretty affectionate fellow, so she knew that it shouldn't feel unusual.
"No, not at all," Hermione said, firmly. "He is friendly, but...I'm not interested in him as anything more than as a friend."
Marlene gave her a devious smirk. "Oh really? Then tell us how you came to be in a room with him with just your bra on!" she demanded playfully.
"Oh, you heard that, did you?" Hermione asked, biting her lip. She couldn't believe Sirius and his loud mouth. "Actually, I was trying to portkey into Diagon Alley and I let go a bit early. Landed in a rubbish bin and promptly passed out. James and Sirius helped me. But, while I was still unconscious, Mrs. Potter undressed me so that I wouldn't have to be covered in garbage. I can't believe that pervert would check my bra, though!"
Hermione wondered when she was going to be able to stop explaining this horrid story.
"You're the girl I saw in Diagon Alley, then!" Marlene gasped in delight. "Oh, Alice, Marry, you should have seen it. It was so romantic. James picked her up in his arms and they disapparated together. It was just like a romance novel," she sighed, before flopping back on her bed. "I wish exciting things like that happened to me..."
"Well, James must like you then," Mary squealed. "He has been trying to get our Lily to go on a date for ages, but she always turns him down. I always warned her that one day he would move on."
Just then, Lily Evans stomped up the stairs, obviously having heard what they were talking about and gave Hermione another glare. "Honestly, as if I care who Ja-Potter dates. He is an arrogant toerag, irresponsible, reckless, and...and arrogant!" she said.
Hermione busied herself with changing into her pajamas, unable to stand looking into Lily's bright green eyes when they held such disdain for her. It reminded her too much of Harry.
"You said arrogant twice, Lils," Alice said from her bed, obviously not believing a word out of Lily's mouth.
"So? He's doubly arrogant!" Lily snarled.
Alice recoiled, shocked at the emotion from her friend.
"Sorry, Alice. I didn't meant to snap at you," Lily apologized immediately when she realized what she'd done. "Why don't you tell us more about Frank? When are you getting married?"
"Late June, right after graduation," Alice said with a smile. "I can't believe that in just a few short months, I'm going to be Mrs. Frank Longbottom!"
Hermione's heart nearly burst from her chest. Alice and Frank Longbottom? She couldn't believe she was sharing a room with Neville's mum! And Harry's! She was glad that she wasn't facing the other girls so they wouldn't see her shocked expression. For the nth time, she felt so guilt that she was getting the opportunity to have these experiences with her friends' parents when they themselves were robbed of them.
"You know who is looking really fit after summer?" Mary asked with a giggle. "Remus."
"Ugh, I know!" Marlene agreed. "I think he's even taller now. And did you see his arms when he pulled down his trunk from the train?"
"Yes! He looks so rugged, like he could just carry you off to his lair and have his way with you," Mary agreed.
Hermione giggled along with the rest of the girls. She couldn't help but remember Remus as her Professor, and no matter how fit he looked now, she didn't think she would be attracted to him in that way. Now, Sirius on the other hand...
She'd always been struck by how good looking Sirius was back in her correct time, even after spending twelve years in Azkaban. But seeing him here, now, he was so much more attractive - all sparkling youth and jokes and smiles and eyes that weren't completely haunted.
Sighing, Hermione tucked herself in bed. No matter how good looking Sirius was, Hermione was absolutely not going to get emotionally involved with him. For one, she wasn't staying here and for two, she wasn't supposed to leave any memories of herself here. She closed her eyes and promised that she wouldn't dream of a certain black-haired animagus.