A/N: Sorry for the sporadic updating. Constructive criticism encouraged.
Can I wake you up
Can I wake you up
Is it late enough
Is it late enough
There's a story in which my eyes shut
- Bombay Bicycle Club, How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep?
"Helen? Helen, dear, wake-up! I'm so sorry to have to do this to you again, but once we get home you can sleep as long as you want, I promise."
Hermione groggily forced her eyes open, only to be confronted by the Harry/Ginny specter once again. She slowly remembered that this specter was, in fact, Lily Evans, and she would, in fact, be staying with her this summer. She hastily discarded the clinging wisps of a nightmare that seemed to be too familiar, and sat up.
"We're there already?" she asked.
"Last stop, King's Cross, London!" Mary quipped cheerfully. "Oh, I do miss my dad something terrible!"
"I better run. Frank has no idea what my parents looks like," Alice said, grabbing her bag. "I'll write you all soon! See you!"
"When did Alice show up?" Hermione asked, stifling a yawn as she vanished the pillow and blanket.
"About two hours ago," Lily replied. "Grab your stuff; we're one of the last ones off."
"I'll write you two as soon as I get home," Mary said when they walked out of the compartment door. "We should meet up in Diagon Alley again this year."
"Yeah, it was tons of fun last year! Although with Frank's mum, who knows if Alice will be able to come?" Lily laughed.
"I'm sure she can't be that bad!" Hermione argued.
"Mrs. Longbottom? Not that bad? You'll soon learn, foreigner!" she teased, and she and Mary broke into giggles again.
Hermione froze. Longbottom? Like, Neville Longbottom? Like, Frank and Alice Longbottom? She cursed herself for not realizing it earlier. Great. Not only was she to spend the next year with Harry's parents, and personally send them off to well-executed murder scene, but she was also going to get some quality time with the current long-term inhabitants of St. Mungo's ward for the tortured-to-insanity-by-death-eaters, who happened to be the parents of another one of her good friends. At this point, it was just a countdown to when Molly and Arthur would show up.
"Helen?" Lily asked, and Hermione decided to start counting the number of times a person's name could be used as a question.
"Sorry," Hermione said, rushing off the train to follow Lily and Mary on to the platform. "It's just so impressive."
"Isn't it? I remember the first time I came through the Platform - " Lily began, but was suddenly enveloped by a shrieking blonde mass.
"Lily!" the mass cried, and Mary laughed.
"I'll see you soon, Helen," she said, and used the opportunity to leave to find her own parents.
"Bye, Mary!" Hermione replied, and then turned back around to stare in amazement at the pretty woman who was clinging to Lily for dear life, and whom Lily was hugging back happily.
"Petunia!" she exclaimed, and Hermione was once again shocked. Harry's aunt? Harry said that his aunt hated his mother!
"Now, Pet, share Lily with us a little, will you?" asked a beautiful red-headed woman who looked almost exactly like Lily, eyes included.
"You'd do the same thing if you got there first, Rose," a blond man laughed, and Hermione realized that she was staring at Harry's grandparents.
Lily quickly extricated herself from Petunia's embrace and hugged her parents.
"We've missed you!" her mom exclaimed.
"I've missed you all, too. I'm happy to be going home. This year has just been crazy," Lily replied.
"We just got your letter before we left. Is that her?" Lily's mom asked, shifting attention to Hermione.
"Helen, these are my parents," Lily said, turning back to her, and looking apologetic for forgetting her momentarily.
"Please call me Rose," her mom said.
"And I'm Harry," her father waved
Great, Hermione thought. She couldn't have thought of a new name for her kid? Just had to name him after a dead dad. No wonder Petunia treated him like crap. And seriously, Rose, Lily, and Petunia? What were they thinking?
"And this is my big sister, Petunia."
Hermione turned to look at the evil aunt, and was very surprised. No snotty remarks, no disapproving glares…In fact, she looked rather friendly. She was smiling, and was that a handshake coming towards her?
"Pleased to meet you," she said, and Hermione shook her hand nervously.
"I'm so sorry to be such a bother!" she exclaimed, and all the Evanses rushed to reassure her at once.
"You're not a bother at all!"
"We'd love to have you!"
"We'll have so much fun together!"
"Don't even think such a thing!"
"Come, our house is connected to the Floo network, and there's a fireplace on the other side of the tracks that we can use," Lily said, anxious to get home. Her father took her trunk from her and led the way to the end of the platform.
"We live up north, a little outside Manchester," Rose explained. "It's a little silly for all the students to take the train down to London when so many live closer to Hogwarts than they do King's Cross, but that's the way it's always been done."
"So there's a Floo available?" Hermione asked, curiously. Except for the first year when she and her parent had driven in, she had always come to King's Cross with the Weasleys.
"Yes. Usually only muggles use it, though, because many wizarding parents side-along apparate with their kids. Those who live within a certain distance will drive, or take public transportation, but this isn't the case for everyone."
"I never even thought of that," Hermione admitted.
"Most people don't," Lily said. "The fireplace isn't very well kept; just look at it."
Sure enough, said fireplace was rather small and rather dirty, and not many people were going through it. An old grandmother and a young boy, two girls and their parents, and one older-looking boy by himself waited in a short line to get through.
"Hello, Severus," Rose said cheerfully to the boy who, upon closer examination, turned out to be none other than Severus Snape himself. Hermione groaned inwardly.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Evans," he said. "Mr. Evans, Petunia. Lily," he added, nodding his head to each one of them.
"Severus lives in our neighborhood," Rose told Hermione. "It's a quaint little town, and Severus and Lily have been friends for years, right Lils?"
Lily gave her mother a rather strained nod, and Hermione wondered how Rose was possibly oblivious to the tension between the two.
"I don't know if you met Helen Grey, Sev, but she'll staying with us this summer and will be going to your school next term," she prattled on, and Hermione was suddenly very aware of her interactions with the boy before her glamour was on.
Snape looked at her sharply, and under his scrutiny Hermione found herself praying to every god she knew for him to just notremember.
"I don't believe we have," he said slowly, and she let out a breath of air she didn't even realize she was holding. "I trust, Miss Grey, that you arrived at Hogwarts safely? No illness, broken bones, or anything hampering your mobility?"
Damn.
Lily looked at both Hermione and Severus strangely as the family moved up in line and waited for Hermione's response.
"Your concern is touching, Mr. Snape, but I assure you that I came to Hogwarts exactly the way I planned to," she replied. Whichis,ofcourse,tosaynotatall.
"In which case, I look forward to our interactions next term," he said as a parting, grabbing a pinch of Floo powder. Somehow, Hermione felt it to be more of a threat than goodbye.
"Snape House, Spinner's End!" he yelled, and stepped into the fire.
"He's such a nice boy," Rose said, and Hermione caught Petunia rolling her eyes behind her mother's back.
"You first, mum," she said.
Rose complied, and took a pinch of powder. "Evans House, Spinner's End!"
"You next, dad," Petunia bossed, and Harry followed suit. Hermione made to go grab some powder, as well, but Lily and Petunia both grabbed her arm at the same time.
"Don't listen to my mother," Lily said.
"Snape is horrible person. He appears all courteous and polite on the outside, but underneath he's a nasty bastard," Petunia added.
"It's kind of hard to explain politics in Wizarding Britain right now, but he's not to be trusted, at any cost," Lily warned. "I'm sorry for scaring you like this, and I'm sure our little crises here are nothing compared to what you have to deal with back home, but…"
"No, I understand," Hermione reassured the two sisters. "And you don't want to explain things to your parents, since they're muggles and might not understand. The worst that could happen is they try to protect you and keep you away from your own world."
"Is that what happened to you?" Petunia asked.
"Something like that," she said. "But you don't need to worry about me. I daresay I'll pick up on the political climate pretty quickly."
"You next, 'Tune," Lily said abruptly, and Petunia didn't question the change of topic. She took a bit of powder, threw it in the fire, yelled, "Evans House, Spinner's End," and disappeared.
As soon as Petunia was gone, Lily asked,"When did you meet him before?"
Hermione stopped breathing for the second time in five minutes.
"Wh-what do you mean?" she asked carefully.
"I used to be friends with Snape," Lily told her. "I know when he's trying to say something between the lines."
Lily Potter? Friends with Severus Snape, Voldemort's right hand man?Hermione thought in amazement, and garbled out a version of the half-truth to explain herself. "I didn't exactly seek out Professor Dumbledore's help…in an orthodox manner. I was a little, um, unrecognizable when I first got to Hogwarts, and I happened to run into him then."
"He thinks he has something on you," Lily gathered.
"Something like that. It's just that, well, people look a lot different when they run from a foreign land straight from the battle scene to travel for two days to the Scottish wilderness to seek out some random old man they've never heard of it on the basis that he might be able to have some idea as to how to help them," Hermione elaborated, unsure just how much of her Snape saw before Dumbledore gave her the glamour. Hair could be explained by days without washing it. Complexion and eye color could be a trick of the light…
Lily let out what sounded like a growl, and Hermione's musings were interrupted to turn and look at the girl in shock.
"He's such a …ulgh! I can't stand him. I hope he rots in hell. He better not try to start anything with you, because let me tell you, he'll be in for the fight of his life. I've been telling James to leave him alone, but if he so much as says one thing…" she muttered angrily, and Hermione was suddenly intensely curious to understand the drama that was, or would be, the life of Lily Evans for the next four years.
She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. We'll see enough of him next year; no reason to start worrying now. Take some powder, Helen."
She obeyed, and after stepping into a whirlwind of sand – no, fire. She must still be sleepy, not sand, fire – found herself squarely in the living room of the Evans family.
"What would you like for dinner, Helen? Tonight you're the guest of honor," Rose called from the kitchen, and the busy noises of pots and pans clanging made it seem like dinner was already underway.
"Um, whatever's easiest for you. I'm really not picky," she replied uneasily. The last thing she wanted a sit-down dinner where the entire family would likely be asking questions about her "hometown." Really, there was only so much she could make up.
Lily came tumbling out of the Floo behind her, but somehow looked much more graceful than when Hermione did it.
"We're going to go upstairs to unpack and get Helen settled, mum," Lily said, taking control of the situation immediately.
"I'll call you down for dinner, dear," she said in reply, and Lily led Hermione up the stairs to the room which Petunia already seemed to be tearing apart.
"Just let me do it, 'Tune," Lily said when they arrived at the mess.
"Oh, alright," Petunia huffed. "I don't know why I bother trying to be helpful when you're around."
Apparently this was a common occurrence, and Lily took her wand out and in a second, a third bed appeared, the clutter vanished, and the room arranged itself to accommodate the extra person.
"Why don't you just go downstairs and cook dinner, too?" Petunia grumbled.
Lily laughed. "Oh, hush. You're the only person I know who complains about not being able to do housework."
"You're allowed to do magic outside of school?" Hermione asked, curiously.
"Well, no. But this is my first summer home when I'm of age," Lily explained.
"Not that it ever stopped you before," Petunia mumbled, busying herself around the room.
"It's a silly rule, anyway," Lily mumbled right back.
"I'm surprised you haven't gotten in trouble with the Ministry," Hermione laughed.
"They don't really care too much. They have more on their minds then scolding a teenage girl for a few household charms," Lily shrugged.
"I suppose that's sensible when you put it that way," Hermione agreed.
"What about where you're from, Helen?" Petunia asked. "Are you allowed to do magic outside of school?"
"Not before we're of age. The same as here," she said.
"But you do so anyway, like Lily?"
"Well, we do it anyway, but my friend got in serious trouble several times because of it," Hermione said, thinking of Harry and the hearing in fifth year, and letter from the Ministry in second.
"What happened to him?" Lily asked, and Hermione shrugged.
"He got off, but that's because it was used in self-defense."
"Self-defense?" Petunia's head shot up in alarm.
"Just a few loose Dementors, but he handled it quite nicely. In fact - " she cut herself off abruptly, realizing that Petunia had to have witnessed, or heard about, Harry and Dudley's little adventure.
"It must be hard to talk about it," Lily concluded after a few moments of silence.
"Yeah," Hermione agreed. Not emotionally, but in trying not to let anything slip? Definitely. But if she could use the cover of nostalgic pain to avoid talking about her past, she'd take it.
"Well, not to worry!" Petunia said cheerfully. "We'll keep you busy enough that you'll forget all about it!"
"Yes, of course. Dumbledore said you needed a job for some pocket money?" Lily inquired, changing the subject.
"Mostly to save up for a place to live after graduation, but yes," Hermione said. "Do you know anywhere around?"
"They're all muggle places, but you're muggle-born, aren't you?" she replied.
Hermione nodded, and Petunia piped in, "I work at a restaurant during the year, and they always need extra help during the summer. I'll recommend you and Lily to them."
"That would be great," Hermione said happily.
"Don't worry about clothes and all that," Lily told her. "We're going to take care of everything tomorrow. Mum, you, Petunia and I are going to go shopping, but only after you wake up. You can sleep as late as you need to tomorrow!"
Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but suddenly realized just how exhausted she did feel. Maybe it wouldn't be so horrible to sleep in a little bit. After all, next year were NEWTS, and she certainly wasn't going to be getting any sleep then.
Just then, a large barn owl tapped on the window, and Petunia jumped a foot in the air. Lily laughed. "It's just a school owl, 'Tune. You always get so jumpy."
"I'm just a nervous person, Lils. Why do you always need the beginning of summer to a readjust to me?"
"It must be for me," Hermione interrupted, remembering that Dumbledore said he was going to send her a letter, and the tension between the girls making her uncomfortable. Lily untied the letter from the owl's leg and handed it straight to Hermione. The owl, of course, flew away, but Lily assured Hermione that she could use her own owl if a reply was necessary.
"Let Helen read her letter in private," Petunia said. "Let's help mum with dinner."
"I'll be down as soon as I'm done," she told them, and they left her in peace.
Hermione sighed, and plopped down on the bed Lily had just conjured, which she assumed to be hers. "Well, here goes," she said aloud, and opened the letter.
Dear Miss Grey,
While I would hope this finds you well, I've also recently become aware of the effects long-term time travel can have on the health. Besides the weakness you may have from the last battle you struggled in, the physical effect on the body of being thrown back years in the past is destabilizing. You will, of course, be fine, and there is no need to worry; however, both Madam Pomfrey (who knows nothing of your situation, fear not) and I suggest a good amount of rest. You may find your magical abilities slightly weakened for a short while, but they should be at full capacity again in time for the school year. Any previous illnesses you may have had might resurface for awhile, and your immune system will be compromised for a short time, but there is no need to panic. Your body will adjust to the new time soon.
If you could let me know what classes you were hoping to continue in for your NEWTs, I will be able to register you for next term and let you know what books you will need when supply sheets are sent out in August.
Also, I have sent inquiries out to my friends in the Department of Mysteries, and abroad. Though I have little hope for any definite solution to be found with the current political climate, there is no reason not to try. If you at any time find it too difficult to forget about or ignore memories that could have dangerous repercussions in this time, please let me know and you may have the unlimited use of my own personal Pensieve. I would not recommend this as a first resort, however. Please send me periodic updates as to how you're dealing with this situation. I could gather from your facial expressions that Lily Evans was someone you knew in your time, and might not be the best choice of host. But based on your house and year, she was also the most obvious choice.
With regard to your glamour, all it takes is the conscious effort channeled through your magic, to become your true self once more, and it will drop. To wear it again, the conscious effort to become Helen Grey, channeled through your magic, will cause it to come upon you again. A warning: to hold the glamour indefinitely will drain your magical resources slightly. So in addition to the physical pressure of readjusting to another time period, a part of your magic will also be devoted to holding the glamour at all times. Because of this, I advise you to never let yourself be too drained, exhausted, or injured where your magical levels drop dangerously. This rarely happens to students – it would apply more commonly if you were an Auror, or, upon graduation, a member of the Order of the Phoenix. As such, I would not worry too much about it this year. During induction to any profession or initiation where you will find yourself in battle, you will be given all mandated briefings on health and magical levels, and your questions should be addressed then. However, if you wish to discuss this with me further, feel free to stop by my office in September. I'm afraid to go in depth would require quite a bit of explanation on magical theory, which would be more properly explained using some demonstrations and passages from books.
I have the utmost confidence in your ability to adjust physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially to your new situation. In your own time you have proven yourself to be a competent, capable young woman, and I am sure this will transfer over to the past.
With Highest Regard,
Albus Dumbledore
Dear Professor Dumbledore,
While I have yet to experience any recurrence of previous illnesses, you are certainly correct in regards to my late sleeping habits! Since arriving here, it seems that all I have been doing is sleeping. Lily, her sister, and mother had planned a shopping trip me for the first day, but had to postpone it because yet again I had slept twenty-four hours straight! At first I slept around fifteen hours a day, but now it's closer to twelve, and my habits will likely be back to normal by the beginning of term. The Evanses have been very kind to me, and quite understanding of my recent exhaustion. I have procured a job, however, despite the constant fatigue, and have been working full-time for the past two weeks. Lily assures me that I will not need to complete any coursework over the summer, but as I am taking the same courses as her, I have decided to do the assignments, regardless. In addition to the regular curriculum, I'm also attempting NEWTs in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, so I would greatly appreciate if you could register me for those courses.
In my own time, I did not know Lily Evans personally; however, I do know what ultimately happens to her and many of her friends whom it appears as if I will be spending much time with. Though I appreciate your offer of a Pensieve, I'm hoping to adjust well enough that knowing what not to say will become second nature to me.
If you don't mind, I would love to take you up on your offer of a discussion of magical theory in September! I was sorely disappointed upon entering Hogwarts as a first year that this was not, in fact, a class that was offered, and even more sorely disappointed when I discovered that the Wizarding world has no universities which might offer this subject.
I believe I'm adjusting well, though the fashions of the 1970s are slightly traumatizing. The Evanses have been like a family to me, and the few students I did meet at the end of term were very friendly. While I still have hope that I can find a way back soon, at least my time spent here will not be in misery.
Many thanks,
Helen Grey
And it was true; she was adjusting well. After the first week of being in a near comatose state, and finding waitressing much more difficult than she ever would have expected, Hermione found that she loved living with the Evanses. Rose and Harry were almost exactly like her own parents, just a little quirkier. Lily and Petunia soon became like sisters to her, and she experienced some strange revelations about Petunia. Obviously, whatever happened to her to make her the nasty, abusive aunt she was to Harry hadn't happened yet. She was, of course, slightly neurotic, and obsessive compulsive about keeping the house clean and orderly, and was very jealous of Lily and Helen's magic, even though she tried not to show it. Underneath all of that, though, was a kind, caring soul who genuinely did her best to make everyone in the family happy. Petunia went to the local university during the year, and was hoping to become a teacher for young children. She just had so much love in her. Lily, too, though she wasn't as obvious about it as Petunia and Rose were.
Hermione had vowed almost as soon as she came to this time that she wouldn't meddle in anyone's affairs, and almost took a blood-oath not to save Lily and James, but she certainly couldn't see what harm there would be in trying to save Petunia from herself. What could have possibly happened to her that would make her the way Harry said she was? Whatever it was, that was one thing Hermione swore she would try to stop.
In fact, her summer was going so well that she was almost sad that time was passing by. She, Lily and Petunia were both working over forty hours a week at the restaurant, and she and Rose had gone to Gringott's a couple of weeks ago in order for her to open her own account. By the end of the summer. Hermione believed she would have enough saved up for a down payment and first few months' rent on a flat after graduation.
She and Lily both received weekly letters from Mary, and Hermione was proud to say that she now considered the Scottish girl one of her best friends. They had also heard, sporadically, from Alice, who was apparently having an all-out war with her soon-to-be mother-in-law. Alice's letters were a huge source of entertainment for the Evanses, and Lily often read them aloud at the table. Lily also received letters from Remus Lupin occasionally, and would share these with Hermione, as well. He was, Hermione concluded, as kind-hearted now as he was later in life, and she found herself anxious to get to know the younger professor. His tales of the escapades of the Marauders were almost as amusing as Alice's letters, but these didn't get read at the table.
True to his word, James Potter also began to send Lily letters. These she rarely replied to, and never shared with Hermione or Petunia, and often ranted to them about how annoying he was being. But Hermione paid close attention, and saw her hold them carefully, read them several times, and keep them all together in a special drawer at her desk. Hermione seemed to recall Sirius saying something about Harry's parents starting to date in their seventh year, and she vowed to take as many pictures of them together as she could, and save them for Harry when she finally got back.
A camera was the one big expense Hermione did invest in with her paychecks. She decided to document her entire experience in this time by taking pictures of other people. She destroyed almost every picture with her in it, but had rolls and rolls of film of the Evanses, and soon their other friends as well. She kept detailed photo albums of dates, events, and people in every picture. While she planned on giving the majority of them to Harry, she also decided to keep a few herself. After all, she was going to miss these people terribly when she left.
And so, at the end of summer, when she and Lily received their book list, Hermione was equally excited and upset about the inevitable trip to Diagon Alley. For it meant that, while a new school year was starting, time was also passing.