Monday, 3rd October 1977
Hermione had spent most of the night before unpacking and crying, torn between being relieved that she wasn't dead (yet) and heartbroken over the loss of the life she had known. She had finally fallen into bed during the early hours of the morning, only to be woken a short time later by the sound of movement in the room. Without stopping to think, Hermione had drawn her wand and had a hex half-formed before she heard the unmistakable squeak of a house elf.
"I's is sorry Missy Grangey, Lipsy is not meaning to scares yous!" the small elf cried, covering her face with her long-fingered hands.
"Oh! I - I'm so sorry Lipsy. I was startled and I -" Hermione scrambled off the bed and knelt down next to the small cowering elf. "I am terribly sorry for drawing my wand on you Lipsy. I promise it won't happen again."
"Lipsy thanks Missy Grangey," squeaked the still cowering elf, although she had lowered her hands and was looking at Hermione warily, not sure on whether she could be trusted to keep her word. "I's is simply bringing yous some uniforms Miss," she jerked her head towards the closet. "Breakfasts be starting soon."
"Thank you Lip-" the elf snapped her fingers, disappearing before Hermione could finish, "-sy."
She sighed heavily, getting to her feet slowly. Clearly her luck with the elves wasn't likely to change in this time either. Her heart twinged at the thought of Dobby who had died for them, before she brightened again. Hopefully she could save him too.
Determined to make the best of her situation, she decided that she would try not to think too much about the past (or was that, the future?) and focus on the now. At least for a little while. If anyone deserved a break, it was her.
Pulling the wardrobe door open, Hermione was pleased to see that the uniforms weren't so different from the ones she was used to. The tie was more of a neck scarf for the girls it seemed, and the skirts were surprisingly shorter than she remembered - but it was the 70's after all. She pulled on the secondhand uniform quickly, not wanting to look at her emaciated body, and disappeared into the bathroom to brush her teeth and braid her hair.
It wasn't until she was ready to go that she realised her problem - she couldn't leave without her bag.
Not having any of the correct textbooks, Hermione had planned to only take her stolen wand to classes with her and hope that the teachers had spare supplies for her to use - at least until she could get to Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade. But as she made to leave the room, she found that she simply couldn't bring herself to step out of the doorway.
Her breath quickened, her hands began to shake, and a strong feeling of nausea overtook her so quickly that she braced herself on the wall beside the portrait. When the feeling only intensified, she took a few hurried steps backwards, dropping to the ground to put her head between her knees as she panicked.
Hermione had no idea how much time had passed before she heard a knock outside. Still in the midst of a panic attack, she crawled out of sight of the entry and flicked her wand at the portrait, letting her visitor in. She knew it could only be someone she trusted. Nobody else knew she was here yet.
"Hermione?" Remus called quietly, glancing towards the open bedroom door.
Hermione gasped and stuttered, giving away her location, but she didn't flinch as Remus rushed towards her, drawing his wand and casting a cooling charm at her as he came closer.
The cool air on the exposed skin of her neck and face worked wonders, and she finally drew a deep breath, leaning into Remus as he wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders.
"H? What's wrong? You're safe here Hermione, I promise you," he tried to comfort her.
It took a few minutes for Hermione to calm herself enough to explain to Remus what the issue was.
"I can't, I mean, I - I -"
"Shh, H, it's okay just take a deep breath," he breathed in deeply, catching her eyes and nodding as she copied him.
"I just panicked Remus. I don't think I can do this."
"What do you mean?" He prompted gently.
"I just," Hermione started, and the flood gates opened. "I can't shake the feeling that everything's going to go to shit and I won't be prepared and then people will die or maybe I will die or maybe Voldemort will find out who I am and where I'm from, or, I guess I should say when but either way is just as bad as the other, and I've carried my life around with me for almost a year and this stuff is all I have left and I can't leave everything here while I'm out there and -"
"Hermione, stop. You need to take a breath, you're going to hyperventilate!"
"But Remus -"
"No, H, wait," Remus insisted. "Let me catch up will you?"
Hermione nodded sheepishly, breathing heavily as Remus tried to make sense of her word vomit. "So you're worried that something's going to happen outside of the timeline that you're aware of, and when it does all your stuff will be in your dormitory and not with you like you're used to?"
"In essence, yes. There was death and Voldemort in my version though."
"Yeah well I try not to dwell on Voldemort too much these days," he muttered, shaking his head as he helped Hermione to her feet. "But anyway, the solution is simple really."
"Simple? Remus I don't know if you were listening but -"
"I know, H, but really there's no reason you can't bring everything with you right?"
"- if things go badly there are items I'm going to need and - wait, what?"
Remus was already moving around the room, spelling her belongings into neat piles on the coffee table. "Just re-pack it Hermione. Just the essentials anyway, at least then you'll feel more comfortable. You can disillusion it and wear it under your robes. Nobody will even notice."
Hermione was mortified.
"Why didn't I think of that?" she whispered, burying her embarrassed face in her hands again.
Remus stopped and moved to stand in front of her, resting his hands on her shoulders.
"Hermione, it's fine. Things are overwhelming right now. It's okay, we all understand," said Remus kindly, ducking his head so he could catch her eyes. "But there is something you've forgotten in your panic."
"What?"
"You have us."
After Hermione had re-packed the must have items, she took off her outer robes and put on her newly disillusioned bag - checking it's contents again before she was somewhat satisfied - and replaced her robes over the top. Remus was right, nobody would notice.
Finally ready to start the day, Hermione followed a flushed Remus out of the portrait hole. He was still blushing from the unexpected (but not unwelcome) hug that she'd given him in gratitude of his kindness. She had apologised immediately of course - she kept forgetting that while she knew him, he didn't know her the same way. If there was one thing Hermione was looking forward to, it was getting to know the young Marauders and Lily.
Hermione stuck close to Remus' side, despite knowing the castle like the back of her hand. If the walk down to the Great Hall for breakfast was any indication, she knew she'd be on the receiving end of lots of questions and stares - at least until everyone got used to her - and while she had no idea how much he would say, she had to assume that Professor Dumbledore would address the students and staff, especially since she would be joining classes today. Hermione was actually relieved to be able to fall back into the comfort zone that school provided - if there was anything she excelled at, it was learning.
They reached the hall in no time and made their way quickly towards the Gryffindor table where Sirius, James and Peter were already sitting. Lily was a little ways up the table with some other girls, and she waved at Hermione as she came closer. Hermione didn't especially feel like being social right away, so chose to sit between Sirius and Remus, and across from James and Peter - a decision she would surely come to regret, if the grin on Sirius' face was anything to go by.
"Morning, Kitten."
"Call me 'Kitten' one more time, Sirius, and I swear to Merlin -"
"Hey now Kitten, don't get upset, I only say it with love," Sirius interrupted, placing a hand over his heart dramatically, and blatantly ignoring her half-made threat.
Hermione just rolled her eyes and started loading her plate, making sure to pick foods that would be gentle on her still-healing body - it would do no good to over eat and bring it all back up.
"Aren't you going to do whatever-it-was to him Hermione?" asked Peter curiously. "He called you Kit-" he stopped at her glare, "the, er, K-word," he finished lamely, ignoring the other boys' snorts of laughter.
Hermione met Peter's eyes, smiling warmly at him as she answered, which made her response all the more worrying. "Of course, Peter. But now he doesn't know what it is, because he so rudely interrupted, and he doesn't know when I'll do it either. I have to keep him on his toes after all," she said smugly, enjoying the way the boys looked at each other in wide-eyed awe (and fear, in Sirius' case) of the small witch.
Breakfast continued on without a hitch after that, with Sirius definitely not calling her Kitten again as he kept one eye on her at all times, until the Headmaster stood from his seat. The hall quieted down quickly - it was unusual for any announcements to be made at breakfast time.
"Good morning students. Happy Monday!" he said happily, unaware or perhaps just ignoring the eye-rolls from most of the staff. It was way too early for such enthusiasm, especially on a Monday. "We have a new student starting with us today, Miss Granger if you could please stand?"
Hermione swallowed hard as she stood, her hand clenched around her wand in her pocket. Having so many eyes on her made her unbelievably anxious - that was something she would have to adjust to - another side effect from the war.
"Thank you," he continued, and Hermione sat back down quickly, slouching slightly between Sirius and Remus as though they could shield her from the rest of the hall.
"Miss Granger is joining us to complete her magical education this year. She had previously been tutored at home, however due to unfortunate circumstances that is no longer an option, so she will be joining the seventh year classes. I expect you all to make her feel welcome. That's all, off you go!" Dumbledore clapped his hands together and swept from the room.
The hall was suddenly as loud as it had been before Dumbledore's speech, although now there were many eyes on her as the students speculated about the "unfortunate circumstances" that Dumbledore had mentioned.
"The Gryff's had a meeting last night with Minnie," Sirius said quietly, as they began to rise from their seats with the rest of the table. "They know you're in our house and that you've got separate rooms. She gave them the cover story and Prongs and Lily warned them not to bother you, so you should be safe from the Lions at least."
Hermione was touched, and mouthed thank you at James when she caught his eye.
"Thanks, Sirius. Don't think I'm going to forget you using that ridiculous nickname though."
"Wouldn't dream of it, love," he laughed, dancing out of her reach as she tried to smack his shoulder.
"Hey Hermione," called Lily, joining the small group before they could exit the hall.
"Hey Lily, thanks for last night. Sirius told me you and James talked to the other Gryffindors."
"Don't mention it. We take care of our own, you should know that by now!" The two girls laughed as Lily linked her arm with Hermione's, leading her to where Professor McGonagall was standing in the Entrance Hall.
"Good morning, Miss Granger."
"Morning, Professor."
"We need to sort out a timetable for you, dear. Which classes were you wanting to take?"
"I'd definitely like to do Transfiguration please, Professor. And I think also Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Potions, Herbology and Charms, please."
"Is that all?" the Professor asked, and Hermione knew she was gently asking about Defence Against the Dark Arts without actually saying anything.
"Yes, thank you, Professor," Hermione met her eye and nodded emphatically.
"Certainly, Miss Granger. I look forward to teaching you," McGonagall gave her a slip of parchment with her timetable and a rare, small smile. "Off you go ladies, you wouldn't want to be late to Potions."
Hermione looked down at the timetable as she and Lily turned towards the dungeons.
"Ugh, double Potions first thing on a Monday morning? That's brutal."
"What do you mean? Professor Slughorn is great, even if he's a bit of a lush," Lily asked, confused.
"Oh, that's right. I guess I forgot that I wouldn't have the same teacher as - I mean, that I used to have," Hermione answered, mentally slapping herself. 'I really need to stop making reference to time, no matter how accidentally.'
"Was Slughorn not your teacher then?" Lily whispered quietly into her ear.
As the two girls whispered back and forth, it occurred to Hermione what they must look like to an outsider. Two teenagers, arms linked, walking to class and whispering with their heads together.
Like friends.
The day passed relatively smoothly, as far as first days go. Hermione had someone to sit with in every class, thank goodness. She wasn't sure if she could handle making other friends right now. Remus sat by her in Ancient Runes, and Peter joined them at a table for three in Arithmancy (and yes, Hermione was very surprised that Peter took Arithmancy. Somehow she hadn't imagined him to be that intelligent, no matter how good looking he was).
Hermione sat with all four Marauders in Transfiguration and Charms - the only class they were all in together - and she paired with Lily for both Potions and Herbology.
It wasn't until the end of the day that Hermione was forced to answer the first tough question from another student.
"So, Granger, right? I'm Mary McDonald." The other girl reached her hand over the Gryffindor table to shake Hermione's as she nodded in confirmation.
"Hi Mary, nice to meet you."
"Yeah you too. Hey, I was wondering, why weren't you in DADA today? You know there's a war going on right? Wouldn't you want to learn to, well, defend yourself?"
It only took a second for Hermione to paraphrase: 'If your family was really killed by Death Eaters, wouldn't you of all people want to learn whatever you could to defend yourself?'
The Marauders went still, looking between Mary and Hermione as if unsure of whether to interrupt or not. Just as Lily leaned over from her seat beside James, ready to change the conversation (subtlety be damned), Hermione spoke quietly. "There's nothing I could learn in that classroom that I haven't already learned either in theory or in practise. I can wield a wand well enough to keep myself alive, even though I mightn't look like it right now. Taking DADA would be a waste of time, and to be honest, my flashbacks are pretty severe right now and I wouldn't want to endanger the other students."
The group was silent, shocked by Hermione's honest answer - none of them had expected that. Mary looked at her with a strange mix of sympathy, apology and approval, almost like she was sorry to have asked, but could understand her reasoning and thought her to be pretty bad-ass to have escaped a Death Eater attack alive.
"Fair enough," she said, nodding and glancing at the others before she lifted a platter and held it out towards Hermione. "Bread?"
"Thanks."
Hermione smiled as she took a slice, and the tension broke.