A/N: I would like to thank my magnificent beta, Avespa Strife, for looking this over for me! Thank you, all of you who followed/favorited!

Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with J.K Rowling.

Chapter 2

Eight Gryffindor seventh years made their way up the the common room after dinner, happily chatting along the way. Among them were the four infamous Marauders. Remus Lupin watched wordlessly as his friend James was animatedly going on about the latest Quidditch match and how in the next one, Gryffindor was sure to beat Ravenclaw. It wasn't until they had reached the portrait hole that Sirius Black piped in, noticing the lack of a certain hyperactive brunette.

"Where's Mary?" he asked, glancing around the group once more. "She was at dinner, wasn't she?"

Lily Evans looked up at him and furrowed her brow lightly, a look that told Remus that she was thinking back to dinner. "I think she said something about about having to go and send a letter," the redhead shrugged.

The group continued into the common room,and broke off into separate conversations amongst themselves as they got comfortable in their normal spots. Sirius immediately threw himself onto the burgundy couch, taking up the majority of it. Remus chuckled lightly at his friend, knowing the girls would have their say about that. Sure enough, he was right.

"Oi!" Emmeline Vance called, moving to shove his legs off the couch, "Make some room." She joined him on the couch once he had settled, followed by Marlene, who took the seat next to her. Lily sat in one of the plush chairs and Peter shuffled to the one across from her. Remus, James and Dorcas all found a place on the ground and tried to get comfortable. For the past seven years the group had become very close, despite the rifts that occurred, mainly between the Lily and James.

Remus couldn't help but notice that something was changing there though this year. Of course James was his normal love-struck self, but Lily was seemingly warming up to him, not that she'd ever admit it though.

"I can't believe we're almost done," Lily sighed after a few moment of unfilled silence. A sad smile appeared on her face as she looked around the room at all her friends.

"Done what?" Peter asked. His round face twisted into a look of confusion as he looked at Lily for an answer. "The week?"

Lily gave a light laugh, "No of course not. I mean Hogwarts; well, our time here at least. We've only got a year left. I've no idea what I'm going to do once it's over."

"I do!" James piped in, giving Lily a winning smile to which she rolled her eyes. "I want to be an auror. I can't just sit around with the war going on; I want to fight back." A glint of excitement sparked in his eyes at the thought of it all. It was the same glint Remus knew appeared in his eyes whenever he had come up with a new prank, or new task for the Marauders to do.

"W-wouldn't that be dangerous?" Peter spluttered out. He was the only one in the room not showing agreement to what James had said.

Sirius answered before James could, "No less dangerous than letting You-Know-Who take over!" There was a dark look in his eyes. He knew all too well what would happen if this went on any longer. He witnessed some of it first hand when he was still living in his family home.

Marlene, who, like Remus, had been quiet for most of the conversation finally spoke up in a hushed tone. "I've heard that there's talk of something forming. Frank Longbottom was telling me about it during the summer. It's completely outside the ministry, sort of like a counter attack group to You-Know-Who and his followers, that's what Frank said anyways. Apparently Dumbledore has something to do with it, I think he's the one starting it up. It's not final yet, but Frank said Dumbledore came to him about joining, and that he mentioned that the lot of us might be interested in the future."

Frank had been two years above them, and him and his girlfriend Alice had been training to be aurors since they finished school. He was good friends with them all and was always keeping them in the loop with what was going on outside of Hogwarts. This was big. If there was a group forming and Dumbledore was involved, it must be serious.

"I want in," James said. His usually animated face held no trace of a joke or laugh; it was clear that he had set his mind on this, and there would be no convincing him otherwise.

Emmeline gave a nod, "We should all do it. We're smart enough, skilled enough. It will give us a chance to fight back. I'm in too."

One by one Remus watched as all his friends agreed to join this force, even Peter. A solemn look fell upon him. He thought it was a great idea of course, and there was nothing he wanted more than to be a part of it, but there was just one little problem. What he was unsure about was whether or not they would even want.. someone like him. With his condition, it was rare that people gave him their full trust after finding out. A group of such importance probably wouldn't want someone like him to screw everything up.

He sighed, knowing his friends were all waiting on his answer, and finally, reluctantly agreed to join. He knew it would make them happy, but deep down he knew it could never happen.

After Marlene said she would fill Mary in on all this later, the conversation drifted back to regular topics, and they were interrupted a while later by the portrait door swinging open. Mary bounded over to them, clearly excited about something.

"Did you send what you needed to send?" Dorcas asked, craning her neck to see Mary who now stood behind the couch.

For a moment, Mary looked confused, then the realization struck her. "Oh! No, I completely forgot. I guess I'll have to do it tomorrow," she said as she shrugged her book bag off her shoulders and moved to squeeze into a spot on the couch. The excited look had returned. "Hey, do any of you know a girl named Hermione Green?"

A chorus of various different 'No's' came from the group, only propelling Mary's curiosity.

Remus furrowed his brow slightly. What could have her so excited. "Why?" he asked her, becoming quite curious himself.

"Okay," Mary started, practically bouncing in her seat, "I was on my way to the owlery and was out in the courtyard. There was this girl there. The poor thing looked like she'd been through some sort of battle or something; she was all scratched up and covered in dirt. Her clothes were weird too, I don't know how to explain it, they were just out of place. So anyways, I asked if she was okay and she started acting really strange, asking me what year it was and whatnot. After that she just told me she needed to see Dumbledore."

Mary continued telling her friends everything else that happened. They all listened intently, with a new found interest to this mystery girl. When Mary finished, not a pin could be heard with the silence that came.

It was all so strange. What if this girl had something to do with the order? She did want to see Dumbledore, so that would make some sense. Remus' brow knitted together as he tried to figure out the puzzle of the stranger he knew nothing about.

"Maybe she'll still be around tomorrow. We would be able to find out who she is then, maybe," Lily said. She was the first to cut the silence in the group. "She could be a new teacher."

"No," Mary shook her head, "She was too young, around our age if you ask me."

"Huh, I want to meet her. See for myself and all that." Sirius piped in. He was always interested in meeting a new face, especially if that face was a female, but his expression held something else. It was a bit different than the lopsided grin he always got when talking about a girl. There was something dark there, as if he felt that this stranger's arrival meant something bad. Whatever it was he was thinking, he did a good job of concealing it, but Remus knew him too well to only see the top layer of his emotions.

"I'm sure she doesn't want to be bothered by the likes of you, Black." Emmeline said with a sly grin as she stood up from the couch.

"Where are you off too?" Dorcas asked as Emmeline began to leave to group, book-bag in hand.

"Just dropping my books upstairs. Won't be gone long," she called back, already out of sight up the stairs to the girls dorms.

Remus sat in silence. He hadn't spoken since the beginning of the news, and was too busy thinking it all over in his head to pay much attention to the conversation. Who could this girl be? And why did it matter so much that he found out?

The swinging of a portrait hole alerted them all to the arrival of someone entering the common room. Remus' head turned to see who it was, and there, turning her head to look at them all with wide eyes, was a disheveled girl that perfectly matched Mary's description. He noticed all the cuts and bruises covering her visible skin. As he started, he felt a twinge of sorrow for this girl, a girl whom he'd never seen before, and for some reason, it all felt so familiar.

As Hermione stepped into the common room, she felt herself hoping that no one would be around. She knew that sooner or later she would have to meet her dorm mates and the others in her year, but the longer she could put it off, the better. Her heart sank when she found the common room full of people, but it would have been foolish to really think no one would be around at this time. Most were studying, but there was a large group of people in the center of the room. Much to Hermione's dismay, most of them had their eyes on her. Mary was sitting in the middle of the group, squeezed onto the couch, and she was sending Hermione a warm smile.

"Hermione!" she called.

By the look of realization and curiosity on the others faces, it was clear that Mary had told her friends of their meeting.

"Uh, come and sit, I can introduce you to some of my friends. If you don't mind me asking though… what are you doing here, in the common room I mean." She must be curious to why the strange girl she had met was now suddenly in the Gryffindor common room, with a password to get in.

Hermione couldn't blame Mary for wanting to know. If it had been her in her place, she would have been full of questions as well. She quickly remembered back to what Dumbledore had said about not giving away her true identity.

"I'm a transfer student," Hermione said, using the best poker face she could muster up. They all gave her an odd look, but she continued nonetheless. "I'm coming here for my final year and just got sorted. It's why I needed to see professor Dumbledore. I'm sure you can tell where it placed me based on the fact that I'm standing here in front of you all." She shifted slightly in her stance before finally doing what Mary had said, and joined the group, standing just beside the couch.

It was then that her eyes finally met the faces of Mary's friends. They had been too far away to really get a good look at before. Most of the girls were just new faces to Hermione, but her eyes fell to the boy with shaggy black hair. She knew him somehow, he was so familiar. She then spotted the brown eyes of a boy with sandy brown hair who was looking up at her with a look of concentration. He looked almost like her- no, that was impossible, it must have just been a coincidence. Then, finally she met the gaze of..."Harry?" she gasped, staring at the boy with jet black hair and round glasses who was the spitting image of her best friend. Her eyes teared up as she looked into his, but there weren't right. They weren't the normal green she was used to.

He just started back at her, a confused look on his face. "Sorry?" he asked, unsure of what to say back to the teary eyed girl who had called him 'Harry.' "I'm not- My name's not Harry, actually, it's James. James Potter."

Hermione's eyes widened, still stinging slightly. James Potter- was Harry's father. That must mean- The redhead over in the armchair must be Lily Evans, his mother. The other two had to be Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Her eyes fell once again to Lupin, her former professor. He looked so young. There were less scars upon his face, and without them he looked so different, as if the war hadn't affected him as much as it had in her own time.

Her eyes then settled on the last boy there. He was small and plump, and his face resembled that of a rat. Hermione knew exactly who he was. He was the one who would one day betray Lily and James, and help to bring back Voldemort. Peter Pettigrew.

Forcing herself not to lash out, or act irrationally, she turned her head back to James. She knew she couldn't let the future impact how she acted here, she had to keep it all a secret, and one wrong move could give away everything.

"I'm sorry," she said to James, "you just- well, you look a lot like a friend of mine. I'm sorry." She tried to push away the fear coursing through her with a meek smile. She knew these people, knew what they would grow up to become. In her future they knew her; how could this not change the future? Perhaps it already had.

"It's alright," James said slowly, confusion still evident in his expression.

Sirius was eying her skeptically. It was clear he didn't trust all that she said. This was going to be harder than Hermione had thought, and it had been impossible from the start.

"Since when has Hogwarts had exchange students?" Sirius asked, brow curved upward slightly.

Hermione hoped that it wouldn't be too hard to convince him. She already had enough to think about, being in a time where the adults in her life were her own age, and the dead stood before her, more youthful than she had ever seen them. She didn't need the added concern of Sirius' suspicion.

Before she could come up with an answer for Sirius though, Lily interjected, "Come off it. The girl probably has enough on her plate as it is. She doesn't need to deal with your snark." She sent Sirius a warning look before turning to Hermione with a smile. "Sorry 'bout him."

Hermione mustered up a smile that said 'Thank you' to Lily.

"I think I'd better go upstairs and get settled then." She needed a moment or two to process it all, and possibly a hot shower to calm her nerves. Her path was blocked however, when a girl came barreling down the stairs.

"There's another bed up there, trunks too. Am I going crazy or-" The girl's eyes landed on Hermione, whom she had not noticed before, and narrowed in confusion. After a moment her head show over to Mary, and she mouthed the words 'Is that her?' and jerked her thumb in Hermione's direction in a very unsubtle manner.

"Those would be mine," Hermione said, bringing all attention back to her. "And I should probably be going up to check it all." Without another word, Hermione hurried up the familiar stairs.

The dorms were just as she had remembered them to be. The only difference were the objects littering the nightside tables and trunks. The bed to the very right was the only one that seemed untouched, meaning it must be hers. Without hesitation, she dug into the trunk and pulled out a pair of pajamas and some toiletries before heading to the washroom to get herself cleaned up.

After a hot shower, Hermione found herself staring at her reflection in the mirror, grimacing at all the cuts and scars; it really was bad. She cast a few simple healing spells, which got rid of most of the smaller injuries, but there were just some scars that would never leave her, including the horrid word left imprinted on her arm.

She knew the other girls would have questions, and Hermione would have to answer them. Avoidance would only add to the suspicion. She would have to perfect her story, which wouldn't be too hard, as she had already come up with most of it.

Quickly, she pulled on the red, cotton pajamas that had been with her things, and departed back into the dorm.

Just as she had thought, all the girls were already there, getting ready for bed. They all stopped when she entered the room, and stared briefly before going back to their things.

"Did you find everything alright?" Mary asked.

Hermione nodded slightly and said, "Yeah, thanks. I managed." She moved to tuck her used items into her trunk and sat cross-legged on her bed.

The questions came, just as she had expected them to. Hermione answered them all to the best of her ability, filling their minds with visions of a normal half-blood who had been born here, but moved to America when she was nine. She told them it was because of her fathers work that she moved around so much, and why she had returned here now. Of course, they asked what her father did, in which she responded, "He works in the Department of International Affairs, at the Ministry."

Luckily for Hermione, her tale seemed to work well enough, and soon their questions turned into regular chatter. Suddenly, Hermione felt herself enjoying this casual setting, the simple talk. There were even moments when the thought of war left her mind. Of course it would come slamming back, but even momentary release from the pain was better than nothing.

She mostly just observed as the girls talked of boys, classes, and the next Hogsmeade trip, and couldn't help but smile. They were all so different, but they reminded her of home.

Lily was just as she would have imagined her to be, based on the few things Harry had been told of his mother. She was fiery, passionate, and very bright. In a way, she reminded Hermione of Ginny. The looks were the main cause of that.

Mary was bubbly and animate. The girl had an odd sense of humor, but was always making the others laugh. She was also trying her hardest to include Hermione in the conversation.

Dorcas Meadowes, a girl with black hair the length of her ears, always carried a warm smile. She seemed to be the most motherly of the group, yet somehow also held a certain mischievousness to her.

Marlene Mckinnon was quiet in this group setting. She hid behind mousy, brown side bangs and only spoke up every once in a while.

Emmeline Vance, the last of the 7th year Gryffindor girls, rivaled Lily for the title of loudest in the group. Her brown hair was long, and wispy bangs covered her forehead. She was fairly obnoxious, Hermione noted, and was always quick to voice her opinion quite bluntly. She was sarcastic and, in some ways, a bit rude, but the other girls didn't seem to care all that much, and would just laugh whenever she did something like butt in on a conversation.

They were all different in many ways, yet they all seemed to fit together so easily. Eventually, one by one, the girls fell asleep. Mary first, followed by Lily, and then Marlene. Dorcas and Emmeline talked in hushed whispers for awhile longer, until even they went to sleep, leaving Hermione alone in the dark underneath her covers.

She pulled out her wand and spoke a quiet silencing charm on her bed posts before shutting the curtains. She knew the nightmares would come, they always did, but this way no one would hear her if she spoke out in her sleep.

Hermione closed her eyes and fell into the darkness that followed. Her mind was filled with screams and visions of the world she left behind. Over and over again, she saw the image of Ron's lifeless body falling to the ground,all the while struggling to fight her way to the light of morning.