Chapter 10

On Christmas morning Dora woke up alone in the Ravenclaw tower. At the foot of her bed lay seven small presents. She had to swallow tears when she remembered that none of them would be from her family. After she had calmed herself down again she began to open them.

The first present she opened was an assortment of Honeyduke's finest from Remus. She smiled and put the chocolate on her bed. The next was a headache potion from Severus. Again she smiled and put it carefully on her bed. The third present was from Becky, 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen, one of her favourite books. From Sharon she got all sorts of make-up – lip-gloss, mascara, kohl, eye shadow and blusher. Lily sent her a book about pureblood customs and arranged marriages and from Sirius she got a beautiful set of jewellery – a necklace, earrings and a bracelet – all in silver with beautiful flower ornaments adorned with small sapphires. The last package was from Professor Dumbledore. It was larger than the others and contained an owl.

She opened the cage and the owl hopped onto her shoulder.

"Hello pretty, I guess you need a name, don't you?" she said to the owl who nibbled on her ear in answer.

"How about...Hermia?" Dora suggested and the owl hooted in agreement.

Now that she actually had an owl she decided to write Lily a letter and send her the Christmas present she had bought for her – a book with the title 'Charms for witches'. She tied the letter and the parcel to Hermia's leg and sent her off with the promise of owl crackers when she came back.

Then she got dressed and went down to the Great Hall for breakfast, where she met Severus. Sirius was not a morning person and probably still asleep, so he wasn't there to complain when she took the seat next to the Slytherin.

"Thank you for the headache potion, I'm sure it will come in handy," she thanked him for her present.

"You are welcome. The book is also very much appreciated," he returned her thanks.

They spent breakfast quietly talking about classes and the assignments they had to complete over the holidays.

After breakfast Dora went to the Room of Requirement to wait for Sirius. While she was waiting she entertained herself with one of the books the room provided for her. Sirius arrived about an hour later and plopped down beside her onto the couch.

"Merry Christmas, my Rose," he greeted her. He had started to call her Rose a few weeks ago after she had refused any other terms of endearment. He wasn't allowed to call her darling, honey, dear, sweetheart or anything else.

"Merry Christmas, Sirius," she replied with a smile and allowed him to hug her. He tried to give her a peck on the cheek as well but she evaded him.

"Come on, it's Christmas. Just one kiss, please?" he begged and looked at her with puppy dog eyes.

"No."

Please?"

"NO!"

"Please?"

"Alright," she caved in. Those puppy dog eyes were pure evil, as hard as she tried she just couldn't resist them.

Of course Sirius wasn't content with just a peck on the cheek after she had agreed to the kiss. He wanted a proper kiss on the mouth, preferably with tongue. Dora conceded to let him kiss her on the mouth but she refused a French kiss, so he deliberately dragged the kiss out as long as he could and tried to make her gasp so she would inadvertently open her mouth for him.

Dora didn't fall for his trick although it was a close call. She pushed him away after nearly half a minute and scowled at him. Sirius just grinned at her, completely unapologetic. Dora had to admit she liked kissing him.

"I think this was an even better Christmas gift than the locket you gave me. Thanks for that by the way, I love it." The locket was golden and held a picture of Dora inside. Lily had helped her make it.

"I'm glad you like it. And thank you for the jewellery, it's beautiful."

The rest of the day was spent as usual, talking, reading and playing cards or chess. In the evening they went back down to the Great Hall for the feast. As always there was a vast array of food, lots of Christmas pudding and Christmas crackers on the table. The students and teachers all ate more than they probably should have and went tired to bed.

The next few days Dora spent either studying with Severus or getting to know Sirius. She was almost sad when the holidays were over and the other students returned to the castle, although she was happy to see Lily, Becky, Sharon and Remus again.

It was the first day of school after the holidays when Sirius was stopped by his brother as he was leaving the Great Hall after breakfast together with James, Remus and Peter.

"What do you want, Reg?" he asked his little brother annoyed. They usually ignored each other when they met in the hallways.

"I just wanted to inform you that you finally managed to get yourself disowned. Mother blasted you off the family tapestry on Boxing Day and Bella is now arranged to marry Rodolphus Lestrange. Mother actually forbade me to ever speak to you again but I thought you should know," Regulus said.

Then the Slytherin simply walked away leaving his older brother gaping in the Entrance Hall. Sirius had mixed feelings, on the one hand he was relieved to finally be free of his family, on the other hand it stung that his parents really didn't seem to love or even care for him. James put one hand on a seemingly frozen Sirius' shoulder in a supportive gesture and led his friend away to their first class.

The next few months passed relatively uneventful. The fifth and seventh years were too busy preparing for their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s to do much else. Dora and Sirius barely met up anymore because they simply had no time or energy to sneak around.

But on the last day of exams it happened. Rose and Lily had to witness James and Sirius bullying Severus and when Lily tried to defend him, Snape called her 'mudblood'. Rose spent the rest of the day consoling a distraught Lily and vowed to give Black the cold shoulder for what he did to Snape. Not that she was any happier with Severus at the moment.

Sirius and Dora were both invited to spend the summer holidays with the Potters. On the train ride to London they shared a compartment with James, Lily, Remus and Peter. Dora wasn't too happy about Peter's presence but she couldn't let her distaste show because the others wouldn't understand. It was a tense atmosphere since Lily and Dora were still angry at James and Sirius and basically ignored them, only talking to Remus and each other.

When they arrived at King's Cross, James led Sirius and Dora over to his parents. Sirius already knew them of course and was greeted by them like a second son. Mr. Potter looked like an older version of James while Mrs. Potter was a petite blonde with green eyes.

"Mum, Dad, this is Dora Granger," James introduced her to his parents.

"Dora, these are my parents Henry and Frances Potter."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," Dora said and smiled nervously at them.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Dora. And please call me Frances," James' mother replied.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Granger. You can call me Henry," his father said. "Alright, let's go."

Mr. Potter shrunk their trunks so they were easier to carry. Then he grabbed both James and Sirius and disapparated with them. Mrs. Potter smiled at Dora and offered her arm. Dora took it and seconds later they disapparated as well.

They arrived in front of a small manor where James, Sirius and Henry were already waiting for them. They were led into the house where two other people were standing in the entrance hall. A man and a woman who seemed to be in their late fifties or early sixties, both with black hair that was starting to grey, were waiting there, smiling at them as James went over to hug them.

"Hello Grandma, Hello Grandpa, it's nice to see you again," he greeted them.

"Hello James, did you have a good school year?" his grandmother asked.

"Yes, Grandma," he answered.

Then the Lady of the house turned her attentions on Sirius. "Hello nephew, so this is the young lady you intend to marry to escape our family's clutches?"

"Yes, Great-aunt Dorea. This is my fiancée Dora Granger. Dora, this is Dorea Potter ne Black and her husband Charlus Potter, James' grandparents," Sirius made the introductions.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," Dora said once again and thought she would have to use Henry's and Frances' given names after all, simply to avoid confusion.

"Welcome to our home, Miss Granger," Charlus Potter said and gave her a friendly smile.

"Come on, I'll show you your room," James said to Dora led them up the grand staircase in the entrance hall to the second floor.

"You know where your room is, Padfoot. It's the same as always," James told Sirius.

"Alright, I'll go unpack then, see you later," Sirius replied and walked off down the right hallway.

James led Dora into the other direction down the left hallway. Near the end of the hallway he stopped and opened a door to their left.

"This will be your room, Granger. My parents thought it would be best to have you as far away from Sirius as possible so you wouldn't get any funny ideas," James grinned.

"As if," Dora rolled her eyes. "And I would personally hex him if he tried."

"I know that, you know that, even Sirius knows it but my parents don't. Wouldn't want you to get pregnant now, would we? Anyway, my parent's rooms, my grandparent's rooms and my room are all on the third floor. Besides your and Sirius' rooms there are a small library, my father's study, a guest bathroom and two more spare rooms on this floor. Downstairs you'll find the drawing room, the dining room, the kitchen, a small ballroom and another guest bathroom. Come down when you've finished unpacking," James told her and went up to his own room to unpack his own trunk.

June 2022

Hermione Weasley was sitting on the couch in her living room with her husband beside her and four stacks of letters on the coffee table in front of her. The letters were addressed to her and Ron, Hugo, Albus and Scorpius Malfoy respectively. With shaking hands she reached for the first letter addressed to her and Ron.

Ron held her hand while she read the letter, her eyes getting wider and wider the further she read. When she reached the end of the letter she didn't know if to laugh or cry so she did both.

"What? What is it 'Mione? Are you ok? What did the letter say?" Ron asked worriedly.

"It's from Rose. She's in 1975. She can't come back, she's stuck," Hermione answered still alternating between laughing and crying, too shocked to reign in her emotions.

"What do you mean she's in 1975? And why isn't she able to come back?" Ron inquired now slightly panicked.

"The time-turner. Something went wrong with the time-turner and now she's in the year 1975. She met Dumbledore but even he doesn't know how to send her back. Ron, she's going to school with the Marauders!" Hermione exclaimed now more crying than laughing.

Ron hugged his wife tightly to his chest. They had practically lost their little girl and although she was alive and well there was apparently no way to get her back. The only thing they had left from her now, were the letters. He would need to tell Harry – he was the Head Auror and hadn't stopped searching for Rose since she disappeared – to stop looking for her, now that they knew the Aurors wouldn't be able to find her. The thought broke his heart.

A/N: Constructive criticism is very much appreciated. If you noticed any grave errors, please tell me.