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Chapter 8: Known Figures

Despite their best effort, the group could not get Hermione to admit to any of them what was wrong. On her part, Hermione proceeded to act like nothing was bothering her; she continued her studies to perfection and joked around with the marauders. Yet she felt as if the fate of the whole world was in her hands, and she was sacrificing two of her best friends and only hope could guide her to believe they would be safe in the end. Now that she had a plan, she didn't know what to do with herself. Most of the measures she had taken as the plan formed could not begin since firstly, the marauders and the girls were still in Hogwarts, and secondly, the height of the wizarding world had not yet been reached.

After a few weeks, even Sirius had given up; he had a strong sense that when the time was right, Hermione would tell him. He continued to grow closer to her as she began spending more and more time with the marauders without the rest of the girls. It wasn't that he didn't like spending time with them, it was just that it was often hard work. James continued to make a fool out of himself in front of Lily, Sofia was often quiet and withdrawn, her thoughts clearly elsewhere. Evanna was spending more and more time with her new boyfriend Xenophilius Lovegood, an eccentric seventh year. Sirius snorted to himself, eccentric was an understatement as far as he was concerned. The guy was plain weird! He had come to care about Evanna over the last few weeks, coming to love her calming personality when either Lily or Marlene got riled up, or her inappropriate sense of humour that so greatly matched his own. Due to this, he was happy for Evanna as it was evident Lovegood made her happier than she had been in a long while. Marlene was perhaps his favourite of the girls, excluding Hermione of course. The friends joked that she was the male version of Sirius; many boys watched as she walked by, particularly this year. She had a sharp tongue and temper, but was generally layed back and jokey. He remained undecided on Lily; he still held a grudge against her over her treatment of his best mate. However, he couldn't deny that she had a reason, and most of the time she was alright. He loved to spark off her redhead temper, and did so frequently.

Hermione herself continued to be a great mystery to him. He could tell that she was hiding some sort of big secret, even if she did well to disguise it. He couldn't help but wonder where she came from, or why she was here. It wasn't exactly that she didn't believe her cover story, more that it wasn't the whole truth. Why had she been sent here? Where were her friends, her parents? And most importantly... what was it like to be related to professor McGonagall?

Hermione knew that sooner or later, she would have to broaden her cover story to suppress her friend's curiosities. She was dreading it however, she didn't want to lie to them any more than necessary. She didn't want their sympathy for the death of her friends, not when they would never understand the events behind it. Because Hermione was set on one thing; she would tell no one the truth, at least not until seventh year at the earliest.

She had lost her drive. Her talk with Dumbledore and McGonagall had shaken her up, and embarrassed her. Once she spoke her plan out loud, it suddenly seemed that much more real. She was also mortified at her attitude at the end of the meeting, and wished she had the courage to apologise. She felt so useless here, had Snape sent her to the wrong time? What was she supposed to do when she was only a fifth year? The war was too far off for her to make a difference. The only deaths she knew of were in the 1980's, or 1979 at the earliest... who was she supposed to save? And would she really be able to re write time like this?

On Saturday morning after breakfast, Hermione made her way to the library alone, hoping to read up on time travel. Taking a seat in the far left back corner of the library with a stack of books, she had lost track of time when a snappish voice broke through her thoughts: "You're in my seat mudblood" said the sneering voice of Severus Snape. Hermione sighed and looked up into hooded, pitched black eyes that regarded her coldly. "I wasn't aware you could reserve seats in the library, Severus" she replied smoothly. Snape's lip curled mockingly, but he did not answer. Instead, he simply sat in the seat next to her, at a close proximity, breaking any boundaries of personal space.

Hermione sighed in frustration. She knew that Snape was trying to make her uncomfortable enough that she would be forced to leave, and she just wasn't in the mood. But there was no way she would give in. She found herself not liking this young Snape any more than she had liked her old potions professor; he was still rude and seemed to hold some prejudice against her. "Interesting... Hobby you have there Granger" Snape had decided not to call her mudblood; after all, she was Lily's friend. He registered a split second of panic on her face as she regarded him, before her emotions were carefully reigned in and an indifferent mask snapped into place, "I think so to, it is terribly interesting" Hermione was proud at herself for keeping the shake out of her voice. There was no way Snape would make the connection though, he might be clever but even he wouldn't believe time travel was possible. Not yet anyway. She realised that the fact that time turners hadn't even been invented yet could work out to her advantage.

"Snape, I've been looking for you everywhere. Lucius was wondering – wait, is that the mudblood? Sitting a little close to her aren't you? Should've guessed really, considering your obsession with the mudblood Evans" a sharp velvet voice cut into her thoughts. She looked up, and nearly had a heart attack. Why would Sirius speak like that, in a way he clearly hated? However, she got a good look at the boy in front of her and realised that though they looked very alike, this boy was not Sirius. He was not as muscly, and though he had inherited the same Black good looks as his brother, the cold mask on his face made his features much harsher, as oppose to Sirius's laughing face. This must be Regulus Black, R.A.B, and the man who had unintentionally helped Harry, Ron and Hermione in their horcrux hunt. He had been the man to stand up to Voldermort from within his own ranks of death eaters. Hermione felt a rush of warmth for the younger Black; perhaps he could be an ally!

Forgetting his previous words completely, Hermione jumped to her feet and thrust her hand towards him, "You must be Regulus! I'm Hermione, it's so nice to meet you, aren't you Sirius's br –"

"Get away from me, you filthy little mudblood! And no, Sirius is no more my brother, not when he ran away before the start of this year, turning his back on the pureblood ways" Regulus spat hatefully at Hermione. "And left me behind..." His words were a muttered whisper, but Hermione caught them anyway. Hermione was taken aback by his offensive words. How could one who had the prejudiced thoughts of some pureblood families so clearly driven into him, turn to the light and make a purposeful stand against Voldermort? He might have been young, but Regulus Black was the stereotypical Slytherin through and through. With the cold sneer, disdainful eyes and pureblood swagger, he was the image of Sirius, without all his good qualities. At times when Sirius was angry, he acted with pureblood superiority unintentionally, as a way to intimidate whoever had sparked his dark anger. Regulus appeared to be consumed by this act at all times, and Hermione was horrified that someone so young had been so greatly impacted. And yet she couldn't find it in herself to hate him, not when she knew what his final sacrifice would be. He reminded her greatly of Draco Malfoy, but unlike Draco, she felt pity for the young Black heir, who had all the responsibility to uphold his family's reputation.

She fled from the library, dropping books behind her in her haste. Until she could work out what to do about Regulus, he appeared to be destined for the same path he had had in her on time. She couldn't let that happen, he was another one she would save, giving him back his brother who he clearly looked up to; she wasn't fooled by the harsh words he had aimed at Sirius. She now had a new plan to put in place, one she could work on now. She hoped that she could save Regulus, bringing him to the right side before he sacrificed himself. She could mend the bond between him and Sirius, and she knew that would make them both happier. While Sirius loved James like a brother, it would never be the same as the protectiveness he felt over his own little brother.

Unaware of where she was going, Hermione ran directly into someone, sending her own bag, and the bag of the other person sprawling across the corridor. "Oh god, I'm so sorry! Wow I need to watch where I'm going..." Hermione's words tumbled over each other as she struggled to get them all out at once. She looked up to see a witch, perhaps a year or two older and in Ravenclaw. She had straight black hair and sparkling blue eyes and smirked at Hermione in amusement. "So you're the new Gryf! I was hoping to meet you soon, James and Sirius are like younger brothers to me, and they appear to be quite taken with you. Oh Merlin, I'm getting carried away here... My name's Dorcas Meadowes and I'm a sixth year Ravenclaw, nice to meet you!" Dorcas noticed how Hermione's eyes widened in shock, and she wondered what it was she had said that would cause such a reaction.

Another one! Hermione thought. Here was another person she knew would die, this time at the hands of Voldermort himself. She remembered Harry telling her about Dorcas, along with Marlene, later in their fifth year after Moody had given him the photograph. The fact that Voldermort had thought it necessary to kill her himself proved that she must have been a powerful witch. Looking at the enigmatic young woman in front of her, Hermione felt drawn to her bubbly personality. She was someone new Hermione would like to be friends with. She was also someone old Hermione wanted to save.

A/N

Guess who's back, back again... YES I'M BACK!
Not entirely happy with this chapter, but I needed to introduce Reg somehow and Dorcas just popped up as I was writing!

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anneica: I know, I thought it was a very Sirius thing to do :)

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