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Disclaimer: is not, was not, and never will be mine! All credit to the incredible JK Rowling! I do own the plot and some characters though!

Chapter 5: Gryffindors

"That's no small task Miss Granger, I hope you are aware of that. However, I am more than willing to hear your plan and help in any way possible" Dumbledore paused thoughtfully. "I believe the best way forward would be to enrol you as a student here. As you told me you were in Gryffindor previously, I believe it would be appropriate to place you there without any sorting. What subjects did you take for your OWLS?" Hermione paused, trying to remember "History of Magic, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology and Astronomy sir" both teachers nodded their approval. Clearly, this was a clever witch. "No Divination?" Minerva couldn't help inquiring. "It didn't... appeal to me" Hermione said, smirking. She knew the Transfiguration professor wasn't the biggest fan of predictions.

"Very well, you will be placed in all of those classes and will receive your time table tomorrow. In fact, I believe there is a young Miss Evans in Gryffindor who happens to be taking the same ten subjects as you. For tonight you will sleep in the hospital wind, while I organise an extra bed to be added into the fifth year girl's dormitory. We will discuss other matters on Friday evening. Does that suit your needs?"

Hermione beamed at the idea of spending time with Harry's mum; this was certainly going to be interesting. "Who else will be in the dorm with me Professor?" she was wondering how many other people would be here that she knew of from her time. "The fifth year Gryffindor girls are Lily Evans, Marlene McKinnon, Evanna Burke and Sofia Patil." So she knew of three out of the four girls! Well, that was assuming Sofia was a relation of the Patil twins from her time. Who was Evanna Burke though? Was she alive in Hermione's time? Was she someone who she may not know the name of but bore relation to any of her friends back home?

Putting her thoughts on pause for the next day, Hermione nodded up at Professor Dumbledore, "That sounds perfect, thank you" she smiled kindly down at her, his eyes twinkling behind the very same half-moon spectacles be was known to wear. "Very well Miss Granger, enjoy your week! How about you come to my office at 8pm on Friday? Droobles should see you through!" he winked at her before he and Minerva departed.

Hermione glanced at the table beside her and felt a rush of appreciation for Madame Pomfrey. There beside her was a vial of Dreamless Sleep. She sighed, as she felt the building sadness engulf her. Her friends, her family... she would never know them in this time like she had. She would never share inside jokes with Harry and Ron, or laugh at Ginny's ridiculous behaviour around Harry. She would never get to see how well George was doing back at the joke shop and feel proud of him for carrying on. She'd never see her parents again.

Tears began to stream steadily down Hermione's face as she felt regret wash over her. She should have left a note, something so they would know she was safe. She should have said goodbye to Harry and Ginny. And Ron... what was he going to think? That she deserted him, that she didn't love him anymore. She knew she was going to miss them terribly and nothing could fill that void left within. But she was doing all of this for them. She would give Harry his family. She would give George his beloved twin. The Weasley's would get Fabian and Gideon back! Dumbledore would not die... She could maybe mend the friendship broken between Lily and Snape and then he would no longer be the cruel man she had known.

He had sent her back to save Lily, of that she was sure. From what Minerva told her, he loved Lily more than anything. More than anyone, he wanted her to save Lily; yes it was selfish of him, but it was love. But he had given her the chance to save countless lives, even the lives of those she didn't know of. Filled with nervous anticipation, Hermione took the potion, she would need her energy for tomorrow.

7am the next day saw Hermione seated in the Gryffindor common room. She had been told earlier this morning by Professor McGonagall that the girls were aware of Hermione joining their year and would meet her for breakfast. Minerva had also filled her in on the cover story she had worked out with Dumbledore the previous night. "You will pretend to be my niece. You have been homeschooled until now, but your parents were killed by dark wizards and they activated a charm which sent you here to me. I, in turn, will pose as your guardian. Anything you may need, money, books, you must come to me. I believe you did not know what was on the parchment you gave me yesterday. There were three words, 'look after her' and a paw print of a cat. I trust you understand the significance. However, my future self also attached to the paper an emotional binding charm which, on reading, conveys the feelings of the writer. I deeply cared about you Hermione, and I now see it as my duty to protect you". This brought tears to Hermione's eyes, and she was only able to nod her thanks, as she was temporarily speechless.

Hermione sat by the fire, fiddling with a charm bracelet Ron had got her for their first anniversary, unable to fight back her nerves. "Oi Siri, get away from your reflection and let's get some breakfast! I'm starving mate, come on!" she heard the voice of James Potter floating down from the boys dorms and paled. She was not prepared for the two boys who had found her. Sirius dashed down the stairs, shoving James out the way and entering the common room first.

There she was, he had been hoping to catch a glimpse of her! "Hey, it's you! What you doing in here, have you joined the brave and best house?" the girl's head jerked up to meet his gaze and he felt himself drawn in by warm chocolate. "hey, we didn't catch your name yesterday!" the girl got up and walked over, Sirius could tell she was trying to gain some confidence and she approached. "My name's Hermione, and yes I'm a Gryffindor. Professor McGonagall is my aunt, and I am joining Hogwarts from now on" Hermione's voice shook with nerves as she tried to become accustomed to her cover story. Of course, telling it to the most handsome boy in school as her first try was not much of a help...

"Her-mione? That's a right mouthful! Can we call you Mione? Anyway, I'm Sirius the gorgeous, that there is James the prat, Remus the rule lover and Peter the... food lover? Nah that's all of us! Peter the puny! There we go, that's us, the Marauders!" Sirius flashed Hermione his dazzling smile which was quickly whipped off his face as he was shoved out the way by a tall redhead. "Honestly Black, can you not at least pretend to be half a decent guy for once? Sorry we're late Hermione, I'm Lily and this is Marlene, Evanna and Sofia. We're going to be roommates for the year!" Lily flashed a friendly smile.

Hermione tried her best not to stare at the witch in front of her; Lily Evans truly was a beauty. And her eyes! Hermione felt like she was looking into Harry's for a while, they really were identical. Next to Lily stood another beautiful witch with perfect straight blonde hair and twinkling green eyes. Marlene McKinnon was shorter than Lily, but pretty in her own way. Next to Marlene was a girl with unruly dark hair and a tanned complexion. Dark brown eyes stared back at Hermione, so dark that the pupils were almost hidden. This witch was curvy in an exotic way. Sofia Patil was clearly Indian but again, beautiful in her own way. The last witch was on the other side of Lily, and Hermione almost had a heart attack. With straggly blonde hair and wide blue grey eyes, this girl was pretty in an alternative way. She had very pale skin and was as tall as Lily but slightly skinnier.

"Luna...?" Hermione breathed to herself in shock. This girl was the spitting image of the younger girl from back home. This was Luna's mother! Evanna Burke, the only witch who she could not place in her memory was the mother of one of her best friends. The only difference between Luna and her mother was that unlike Luna, Evanna dressed perfectly normally. Clearly, Luna's eccentricities came from her father.

She beamed at them all, overcome with emotion, "It's lovely to meet you all! Thank you for agreeing to accompany me down to breakfast, I don't know anyone yet! I only arrived last night..." Lily slipped her arm through the loop in Hermione's and led her away from the Marauders. "Don't worry, we'll look after you. Advice number one; stay away from the marauders! They're annoying, immature and arrogant. Well, except Remus." Hermione grinned. She had got that impression too, but she was hoping to get to know the marauders better as well as the girls. She took a look around and thought, "Maybe this isn't a bad place to be." She might have lost everyone back home, but the people around her gave the feel of a strong new family to be welcomed into.

A/N

PLEASE REVIEW! those questions in my last authors note really need answering...

Also in case you're wondering why I'm updating so much, from tomorrow Im away until friday and I won't have the chance to update at all. I may get some writing done, but it won't be up here until late friday night at the earliest...

love Rads x