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 6: A New Enemy

Sirius glared at Lily as she led Mione out the portrait hole. Him and James exchanged glances then followed the girls down to breakfast. "Now hold up Flower" Sirius fell into step beside Lily and Hermione, "We met Mione first, it's hardly fair to take her away from us" he whined, giving his best wounded puppy impression. Hermione watched the young Black out of the corner of her eye and marvelled at his grace. It wasn't just his looks that girls fell for; he had this charisma around him that simply drew people in. Deciding that she had been given a second chance at Hogwarts and that she was going to use it to become more confident, Hermione flashed Sirius a smile. "Well I hear you're quite the trouble maker Black, you and James. It's hardly surprising that Lily wants to get me away from you!" Lily gave Hermione a high five, knowing that she was going to get on with this girl just fine. In her dorm, she had always felt a bit left out. With all the other girls being purebloods, they had not only grown up hearing about Hogwarts, but they had grown up together; They were best friends before they had met Lily.

When they reached the great hall, the girls sat down with Lily and Hermione on one side and Evanna, Marlene and Sofia on the other. Sirius dropped down into the seat next to Hermione, with Remus and Peter sitting on the other side of Lily. James positioned himself so that he was conveniently sat opposite Lily, to her horror. "Look at this, one happy family. In the company of Mudbloods now are you Black? And here I thought you couldn't stoop any lower" a sneering voice behind Sirius caused Hermione to whip around. She was met with a pinched faced, pale skinned boy with platinum blonde hair; all too familiar. "Malfoy!" she spat in disgust. Sirius looked at Hermione in surprise. Not only did she know his name, but she seemed to speak with experience of hating him...

"What's this Black, got yourself a new toy?" Malfoy leered down at Hermione, clearly checking her out, but not in a complimentary way. "Where you looking for something?" Hermione asked, her voice faking sweetness. "Because last time I checked, death eaters sat on the Slytherin table" the whole group turned to stare at the new girl, everyone deciding to never underestimate her. Lucius Malfoy glared down at this unknown girl and was about to retort when he noticed McGonagall making her way towards them. With one last burning glare, he turned on his heel and pranced back to the Slytherin table, his hair flicking over his shoulder like something a bitchy girl would do. The marauders snorted at his exit, clearly amused by his unawareness of his feminine ways.

Sirius turned to Hermione, still in awe. "Quite a sharp tongue you've got there Mione! You might want to watch out though; Malfoy might not be much of a threat, but he is a seventh year and has some dangerous friends..." Sirius felt an overwhelming urge to protect the brunette beauty sitting next to him. Hermione, unaware of the gallant thoughts running through Sirius' head, was blinking in surprise. It would seem that a young Lucius Malfoy had the same talents as his son when it came to triggering her more dangerous side. Lily grinned at Hermione, as did James "We're going to get along just fine I think" they both said in synchrony. Lily blushed and glared at James, who in turn simply beamed back at her. "Just another reason we're meant to be Lily" he smiled sweetly at her, turning on the chaser charm. Lily gritted her teeth, but was saved from replying. "Lily! Why are you sat with him...?" the wounded voice of Severus Snape drifted to Lily and she turned around quickly. "Sev! How did you find the feast last night? Look, we have a new girl this year. Sev meet Hermione, Mione, this is my best friend Severus Snape" Lily introduced them excitedly, subconsciously picking up Sirius's nickname for Hermione.

Hermione was regarding her future potions master with interest. Clearly, some things hadn't changed. He still had the same greasy hair and hooked nose. There were still bitter and angry feelings rolling off him in waves, though they were nothing compared to how they were in her time. The difference though, was the look in his eyes. Severus's eyes had briefly flicked to Hermione and he'd given her a stiff nod as a greeting, but he only had eyes for Lily. As he looked at her, Hermione could see the love that shined through them, and was shocked that Lily was truly unaware of it. His eyes held happiness that was not there in her time, and though she was not particularly fond of Snape, she didn't want to see that light fade into hollowness again.

They exchanged light conversation before Severus had to go. Lily and Hermione turned back around and registered the stony expressions on everyone's faces. "I still don't get why you're friends with that guy flower, he's such a creep" Sirius asked, genuinely confused and not simply taking the opportunity to insult him. Marlene nodded in agreement, "None of us like him Lils, he's dangerous! You know about all the bad things that him, Avery and Mulciber get up to!" Lily sighed. She didn't have a go at Sirius because she could tell that for once he was being genuine. Besides, this wasn't a new topic of discussion. "I don't expect any of you to understand. You all grew up in this world, but I didn't! And it was Sev who introduced me to it. We shared the thing that changed my life, and we've been best friends since we were nine." Hermione listened to Lily speak, and felt strangely proud of the redhead. She was standing up for Severus all on her own, against a group of her best friends; not an easy feat. She found herself liking lily more and more as time went by. What Harry had gained from James in looks, he had gained from Lily in personality. Clearly, Lily was as protective of her friends as Harry had been. "Oh Harry, if you would see her now... You'd love her". Hermione sighed contentedly. She felt more than willing to save these people, her resolve increasing all the time.

"So as a general rule Mione, we don't like Slytherins" James explained. Now that Lily had gone back to house to get her books, Hermione noticed that James was much less loud and she got a glimpse of what he was really like. Maybe if she managed to get him to act like this around Lily, they would get together sooner than they had last time? Hermione pondered over that thought. "James? Why do you act like such a loud idiot around Lily?" Sirius roared with laughter at the bluntness of Hermione's question. "I really don't know Mione, it's like I become possessed of something!" James sighed in frustration. Whenever he was around Lily he seemed to lose control over his mouth; he really didn't mean to be as annoying as he was to her. Particularly when he knew how much his general cocky attitude aggravated the redhead beauty.

"Have you tried acting like you are now, with me? Maybe if she could see past your prat behaviour you might actually be friends! That at least might get you somewhere..." James looked at her desperately. She could help him! If he spent more time around his precious Evans, but instead of talking to her he talked to Hermione, he could get her to see that he wasn't a total prick!"Mione, you're a genius! You have to get her to accept that she'll be seeing more of us and maybe if I act like she's a friend instead of my true love, I can get her to like me!" James grinned like and excited child and hugged Hermione.

As they walked together to Transfiguration, the last lesson of the day, Hermione walked into someone, hard. She looked up and came face to face with an ape of a boy with thin, straggly brown hair and tiny, wide set eyes which glinted with malice. Behind him stood Malfoy, sneering down at the young witch. "Watch where you're going, mudblood!" the ape boy scowled at her, even though it was clear that he had walked into her on purpose. "OI! Watch your tongue Mulciber!" Sirius shouted indignantly. They had been having the perfect day, Mione had been in all his classes, and now some rotten Slytherins had to ruin it. Sirius walked up behind Hermione and wrapped an arm protectively around her waist before pulling her back, so that she was slightly behind him. "We'll catch you alone soon enough Granger, you watch. You should learn to respect your superiors" Malfoy sneered at her before pirouetting in the opposite direction, Mulciber slouching off after him. "You okay Mione?" Sirius's voice was tender and worried. He lifted her chin until she met his eyes defiantly. "I wasn't scared, if that's what you mean. I've dealt with their kind before. Don't know how he knew I was a mudblood though...". Sirius gaped at her offhand use of the word, "Don't call yourself that!" he said hotly. The term was used enough by his family for him to hate it as much as he hated them. "Why not? I'm proud to be muggleborn. I don't see why people should change the word but still have the same meaning and suddenly I'm supposed to find it offensive" Hermione stalked off in front of him, finding Lily and walking along side her to the great hall for supper. Sirius watched her go, finding himself more and more intrigued by the second. She had a way of looking at things that he had never thought of before. It was refreshing and exciting.

Hermione may have only spent one day with the marauders so far, but they were really growing on her. James, despite how he acted around Lily, was sincere and funny. Sirius was loud and extravagant but Hermione didn't let that fool her; behind the front he put on was a genuine and caring friend. The two of them together were the definition of fun, always laughing and joking around. Hermione decided right them that she would make it her job to bring the two groups together. She would also try and get James and Lily together quicker.

A/N

This MIGHT be the last chapter I upload before next friday... Sorry!
so what does everyone think so far?

REVIEW. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE :)

Reviews:
FreeSpiritSeeker: Siriusly, who would be surprised? :P

love Rads