Hope you all had a great weekend. And to GhostWriter1864, eyleenm4, Raven that flies at night, xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, and themysteriousnicole: Much Obliged! Always love getting your reviews, you all ROCK! *hugs*

Still can't believe we've already reached over 20 chapters and 50,000 words, Eek! Hope you all enjoy 21.

Hermione and Sirius ventured down to the kitchen to see about food for a werewolf. They arrived at the large portrait of a bowl of fruit and Hermione tickled the pear to gain entrance. The kitchen was bustling; the poor house elves looked hectic and Hermione regretting waiting until the last minute to ask for a special request.

A little house elf, dressed in a very sharp looking Hogwarts tea-towel, stepped forward and bowed so low to Sirius and Hermione that his nose brushed the ground. "What can Hokey do for the master and mistress?" The house elf looked giddy as he waited patiently for Hermione and Sirius to inform him of what they needed; his huge blue eyes bounced happily between the witch and wizard.

Hermione placed a strained smile on her face; SPEW had taken a back seat in her priorities due to Dark Magic issues. A long time ago she had accepted the fact that if said 'masters' were fair, the house elves wanted nothing to do with freedom; so her plans for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare needed to be reworked. But Sirius commanded the house elves easily and with no reservation, "Our friend Remus needs some food delivered to him. He's ill and stuck up in the seventh year dorms in Gryffindor. Send him a meal straight away."

"Please," Hermione added kindly to the little house elf as he disappeared in a flash. She shot Sirius a pointed glare, "They are intelligent creatures you know. It would be wise of you to at least be polite to them." Images of Kreacher assaulted Hermione's mind. She took a breath and dug her fingernails into her palm; she tried to squelch her flared temper as they exited the kitchen.

Sirius wore a puzzled expression, "Are you going to explain the comment and the sudden blaze of anger towards me?" A thought occurred before Hermione could respond, "Wait, this has nothing to do with me, does it. This is about …" Sirius gestured to an invisible person next to them, "…the other me. He's the one who's gotten all your feathers ruffled."

Hermione came to a halt halfway up one of the staircases, "Yes, well…" Hermione's thought about how terribly Harry had treated Kreacher because of Sirius, "Let's just say that a wise man once told me 'If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors.'"

A smile slowly began to creep across Sirius' face.

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and spun to continue up the stairs. Sirius held onto her hand, causing her to turn around and face him again. Hermione stood one step above Sirius and found that they had ended up very close in proximity.

"So… you think I'm wise?" Sirius lifted an eyebrow questioningly.

Hermione's mouth gaped and her slightly delayed scoff did little to cover her mistake, "Where would you get that idea?"

"Well, I have only ever heard that expression from my dear Uncle Alphard. I might have mentioned it to James, but I doubt he was paying any attention. And with what you've told me, he wouldn't have time to share that phrase with Harry. So…" Sirius' train of thought was extremely farfetched.

But it was also completely correct.

Hermione stood her ground, but was having trouble concealing a small, approving smile. She was impressed by his quick deduction. "That sounds utterly ridiculous Sirius. How daft would it be for me to quote you to yourself?"

Sirius knew he was right simply by the anxious look on Hermione's face. "What if we made a deal then, Blondie," Sirius placed a hand securely at her waist and leaned in to whisper directly into her ear. "I won't rub in the fact that you just referred to me as 'wise', if you promise to not get infuriated at me for things I haven't done yet."

Sirius pulled back to find Hermione's face slightly colored and her eyes were downcast. He hadn't meant to guilt Hermione, but he did feel that she needed to be reminded that he hadn't committed these blunders yet. Hermione sighed heavy and lifted her eyes to Sirius' glinting grey spheres.

"Deal. But only if you promise to begin treating all house elves better; just be nice to them, it's not difficult," Hermione narrowed her eyes a bit at her overly exaggerated 'all.'

"Alright…" Sirius agreed suspiciously, "Deal, but only if you explain that further next time we're in the sitting room."

Quiet laughter escaped Hermione's mouth as her phrase was used against her. Sirius mirrored her laughter and leaned forward to capture her mouth in a quick kiss before they made their way up to dinner.

Sirius and Hermione were already halfway through their food when James and Lily appeared in the Great Hall. Hermione noticed that the two appeared a bit shy toward one another as they sat across from their friends and continued on with casual conversation.

James and Lily shared stolen glances throughout the meal. Hermione couldn't help smiling to herself as she caught Lily's eyes a few times and the redhead blushed an even deeper crimson.

"Have fun gossiping with Evans, Meddler," Sirius brushed his lips against Hermione ear before he stood and motioned for the other two Marauders to follow. They had to bring Remus to Madame Pomfrey.

Hermione turned her eyes back to Lily to find the girls face almost as red as her hair now. "Alright, enough with the shy glances; you have to tell me about your date with James."

Lily, jerkily glanced around as a few nearby students fell silent and simultaneously leaned in toward the two witches. Hermione noticed this and glared at anyone who was brave enough to meet her eyes, "Why don't we go back to the common room?" Lily nodded in agreement, relieved to leave the Great Hall.

The two Gryffindors linked arms and made their way up to the Tower, almost in complete silence.

"Amor Vincit," They gained entrance into the Tower and claimed the window bench closest to the fireplace. Lily settled back into some of the old maroon cushions as Hermione found a few tattered blankets to keep them comfortable.

Even though the common room was vacant, Hermione put up an invisible bubble charm around them to make Lily feel more relaxed speaking about the date.

Lily leaned her head against the window and began telling Hermione about her date with James. James had reserved a table for them at Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop; which Lily was surprised to find that she adored, despite the pink and peach frills everywhere. They had made a game into the tea and lunch date; they had enjoyed people watching some of the ridiculously dramatic couples that were at the shop, whispering with their heads close together so no one would overhear their silly comments. Then James had taken Lily to Honeydukes; he had purchased some sweets for them both to snack on as they wondered around the village. They ventured into some of the other shops to explore, but Lily seemed most astonished by the fact that she had enjoyed James' company above all else.

"It might sound like nothing, but it was actually quite perfect," Lily's voice had become a bit dreamy and increasingly happy as she spoke.

"So have you finally given into the idea of James not being a completely arrogant idiot?" Hermione smirked at Lily's shocked expression, "Sorry; paraphrasing from Remus' words."

Lily laughed in spite of herself, "I don't know Mia. I know he's still arrogant, but I might have allowed myself to fall under the influence of his charms finally."

Hermione was overjoyed that everything had worked out so well for James and Lily's first date; she couldn't wait to write a few things down for Harry. Lily seemed equally excited for Hermione and Sirius, when Hermione elaborated on what they had done in Hogsmeade that day.

The two witches sat and gossiped into the early hours of the morning. It was around 1:00am when they finally decided to get to bed; trudging up the stairs to the seventh year dorms, changed and collapsed into their respective beds only moments before sleep overtook them.

Hermione was awoken by something cold and wet nudging her palm; she opened her eyes to find a huge, black, shaggy dog sitting on the floor in front of her bed. He was staring directly at her; his eyes briefly flashing a familiar intense grey before returning to a warm amber.

"Sir…Snuffles? What are you doing here?" Hermione harshly whispered at the beast. Sirius licked her hand and barked sharply at her before trotting out into the hallway. Lily and a few of the other girls in the dorm stirred.

"What's going on?"

"Who was barking?"

"Mia, do you have a dog at Hogwarts?"

Hermione uncomfortably laughed as she tried to shrug off the implications and the tired glares that were thrown her direction. She quickly found shoes and threw a sweatshirt over her pajamas as she chased after the giant mutt. Hermione ran down the stairs only to find the reformed Sirius leaning casually against the back of one of the common room sofas; he had darkened circles under his eyes from staying up most of the night, but he looked ecstatic.

Sirius took in Hermione's full form before he began to explain his happy mood. She even looks beautiful just rolling out of bed. "Well, Blondie," he began cheekily, "I have been sent to congratulate you. You are indeed one of the brightest witches I've ever known."

Hermione rubbed the markers of sleep from her eyes and tried to recall what she might have done to earn such a high praise from Sirius. Then suddenly, it dawned on her.

"Remus…" a smile tentatively formed on Hermione's lips.

"Yup, Moony is feeling very well this morning. And he would like to see you; to thank you."

Hermione still needed the confirmation, "The potion worked?" She whispered softly, "he kept his mind?"

Sirius nodded his head fervently. Hermione, though it was early in the morning and no one else was in the common room, stifled a scream and jumped into Sirius' arms. He caught Hermione and swung her around twice before returning her to the ground.

"Come on, Moony awaits," Sirius cheerfully grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her through the portrait hole toward the hospital wing.

The next two days flew by; Hermione disappeared for long hours to her sitting room while the Marauders tended to a now tame werewolf.

Remus still had to visit with Madame Pomfrey after his transformations, but he rarely had to be kept for long periods of time now. Remus was in complete control of his wolf. He was back to classes on Monday with the rest of the school; he thanked Hermione a dozen times before he finally listened to her and halted bring more attention to his friend.

Hermione's long hours in the sitting room had proven successful as well. She had put together a large chunk of the original time line; she tried to be as unbiased as possible and include everything that she could remember. There were a few things that had to be kept quiet until later times, but she tried to cover as much as could be allowed. Many of the deaths Hermione had to write down were in a noticeably shaker writing then the rest of the board, and she still was unsure of what could be done to help right some of the faults of the future. Hermione feared that they would be unable to tackle any of the issues at hand until after they graduated; but still she forged on, finishing the time line late Tuesday night.

Hermione told Remus and Sirius to find separate, reasonable and believable excuses to be gone for a portion of Wednesday evening; she didn't want anyone to come looking for the trio that night. And when the two Marauders finally laid eyes on the completed upper board, both of their jaws slacked in utter shock.

Remus completely forgot about his fascination with the Room of Requirement and began studying the timeline. His shoulders began to sag as he took in all the dark and tragic things that would come to pass; but his eyes still shown with appreciation to Hermione. She gave him hope that things could be changed for the better.

Sirius was unfortunately occupied by a small slip of paper that Hermione had taken down and replaced five times; she finally just left it on the time line in hopes of confronting the issue with Sirius head on and preventing the awful incident all together.

'S.B. died 18 June 1996. Department of Mysteries, The Veil.'

Sirius shook his head, his hands stuffed deep in his pants pockets; he had noticed that the parchment had several pin pricks in it. "How many times did you take that down?" he asked Hermione as she came up, laced her arms through his and hugged Sirius from behind.

Hermione buried her face between Sirius' shoulder blades, "A few times…maybe more."

Remus glanced at the couple out of the corner of his eye; he feigned interest in one of the pieces of paper in front of him as he listened intently to his friends.

"Why were you afraid to tell me?" Sirius pulled Hermione's arms apart and forced her to face him.

Hermione bravely held his gaze, "Because I wasn't sure if you would let me save you after I told you the details of it. I was planning on not giving you a choice in the matter, and saving your arse regardless."

Remus snorted, but quickly attempted to cover the noise with a small coughing spell.

Hermione caught Remus' eye and smirked. He knew how stubborn Sirius could be and he was sure that Hermione had rational reasons for being hesitant. Sirius was unamused by the situation though and shot a pointed glare in Remus' reaction.

"And why wouldn't I allow you to save me, Blondie?" Even though they were in the Sitting Room, Sirius purposefully chose to use Hermione's nickname in the presence of any other person. He found that he greatly treasured the fact that Hermione had disclosed her real name to him and he honestly felt special being the only one who knew.

A heavy sigh racked Hermione's shoulders, "Well, you were fighting off Deatheaters… you were protected Harry …and his friends."

Sirius raised a questioning eyebrow.

Hermione huffed, "…and me." She knew immediately that she should have just lied and said that younger Hermione wasn't there. Sirius rolled his eyes and moved to plop down on the sofa. He leaned his head back and flipped the new information around in his mind.

Remus stepped beside Hermione as Sirius grumbled to himself. "Did you really think that you were going to get away with hiding that from him?" Remus smiled sadly at her.

"Would you have told him what was going to happen if you knew that he wouldn't help himself?" Hermione asked Remus under her breath; the young werewolf just chuckled. "I was hoping we might be able to brain storm some kind of idea to make sure it doesn't come down to Sirius dying for us." Hermione shook her head as if to rattle lose some new idea to spare Sirius from this fate. "Wait… did I tell you about Kreacher yet?"

Sirius lifted his head to stare at the blonde through synched eyebrows, "What does my family's batty house elf have to do with this?"

Hermione ignored the impolite comment about the house elf, "Well, you and your unpleasantness toward Kreacher is one of the reasons you died. You yelled at him to 'get out' and he took that as a loophole to leave Grimmauld Place and go to Bellatrix. She conned him into tricking Harry into going to the Ministry of Magic; where you then had to follow to protect us."

Sirius gazed at her blankly, "Why the bloody hell would I be in Grimmauld Place?"

"Oh, dear Merlin…" Hermione covered her face with both hands, "Let's just start at the beginning for now and we'll work our way back up to this."

Remus put a comforting arm around Hermione's shoulders, but it didn't help.

Hermione felt completely defeated.

Well? What did you all think?!

Cannot wait to show you all where this is going. I've been having so much fun writing this story, but I'm still trying to catch up with my chapters so please bear with me!

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Love,

Misha