A/N: Sorry again for the long gap between updates. Midterms have ended and I feel a lot more relaxed. I'm trying to balance max credits at my college, with my job, while still writing this story. I also tend to write at night but one of my classes meets late at night so that puts a damper on my mood when I get back to my dorm, I'll just want to go to sleep. I'm not taking night classes next semester so that problem will go away. I also had really bad writer's block while doing this chapter. It took me over six weeks to write this! (What's up with that?) Good news though, while I had trouble with this chapter I wrote other parts of the story instead. That's the great part of outlining and knowing what direction the story is going in and I'm really excited to get farther into the story. This semester also ends in about three weeks and I'll have a break for a little less than two months so, I hope to update this more frequently. Wow, this is a really long Author's Note so I'm just going to stop talking and let you read the chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 7 - Uncertainties

As the first week of classes ended, Hermione was feeling more relaxed. The longer she was there the less people seemed to care, so she was able to walk down corridors and sit in the Great Hall without hearing whispers and seeing people watching her. The novelty of "the new girl" must have worn off. Although, that didn't stop certain people from asking her nonstop questions.

James had been perfectly friendly ever since their little argument and Hermione had forgiven him pretty quickly. It was very possible that if there had been a new student during her time, Harry would have reacted like James had. She was sure that she, Ron, and Harry would have had a very similar conversation if they suspected that the newcomer was untrustworthy in any way. It was true, Hogwarts didn't just get new transfer students, and it was suspicious. Hermione just hoped that people would accept it and not do any digging.

Not only had he been friendly, but James was also constantly inviting her to join him and his friends. It might have been a guilty conscience, but Hermione had a feeling it had to do with him wanting to learn more about her.

"Tell us again why you decided to transfer to Hogwarts."

Hermione sighed. She was sitting in the Great Hall for a late lunch that Saturday. There wasn't as many selections of food at this hour but Hermione didn't mind. She wasn't that hungry anyway and was preoccupied with a book.

Only a handful of people were scattered around the Great Hall so when the four boys entered the hall. It didn't take them long to spot her sitting alone and they took it upon themselves to join her.

She had been trying to keep her distance from them but it seemed that the more she tried to avoid them, the more they tried to interact with her. This seemed especially true with James and Sirius, and now here they were.

James had only been sitting across from her for less than five minutes before he started asking questions again. His questions were getting a tad bit annoying and she regretting welcoming him to ask her anything to calm his nerves. It wasn't the asking part that bothered her, it was the fact that he continued to ask the same questions over and over again.

"I already told you, James," sighed Hermione.

Hermione flipped the page in the book she had been trying to read before they interrupted her. She was a little annoyed that they had found her. It wasn't like she was hiding, she just didn't expect many people to be in the Great Hall towards the end of the lunch period. It was one of the main reasons she came towards the very end. It was especially annoying since it was such a beautiful day. According to the enchanted ceiling above her, there wasn't a single cloud in the sky, which was rare. Most of the students were outside enjoying the weather, but not James, Sirius, Lupin, and Peter. No, they were there inside the Great Hall, bothering her.

Lupin was sitting next to her while the other three boys were sitting across the table, with James in the middle. Hermione was very happy that Peter had not been the one that had chosen to sit next to her. His company was incredibly uncomfortable. Not just because Hermione hated him for what he will end up doing in the future, but because every time the Marauders tried to talk to her, he was just there staring and listening, never speaking his own mind. Like he was some kind of puppet or something.

"I've forgotten," replied James crossing his arms and smirking. He was really enjoying this.

Hermione narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, mimicking James. "What exactly do you want to know?"

"Well for starters," said James, sitting up straighter, "I don't understand why you would just leave the school you've spent the past five years at. I get that your family moved to France and back, but you said that you had the choice to stay at Beauxbatons. I could never just leave Hogwarts like that."

"I felt like I'd belong better at Hogwarts with me being British and all," said Hermione with a shrug.

Luckily, she had prepared for these kinds of questions. While she stayed at Hogwarts over the summer she had read as many books that mentioned Beauxbatons that she could find. Dumbledore had even held sessions to help her come up with a convincing story that people would believe. She had rehearsed this story so many times in her head until it felt second nature to her, and the words just seemed to flow.

"There were so many different accents and languages being spoken. Even though the school is in France it admits students from Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands, not just France," said Hermione. "They speak mostly English, and a lot of French, but I never felt entirely comfortable there. Especially since my French has never been very strong, I can speak it but I'm not completely fluent. I was always afraid of messing up and sounding stupid. Plus I read a lot about Hogwarts and it seemed like a better fit for me. I didn't make the decision lightly."

James sat there and considered what Hermione said. He nodded slightly as he thought of what he would say next.

"What about friends? Didn't you have any friends that you had to leave behind by coming here?" asked Lupin in a kind voice.

It almost sounded as if he pitied her, and for a second she hesitated. Hermione didn't like to think about Harry and Ron, it hurt her to do so. It also wasn't as though she could really tell them anything about her friends since they all will know them in some way or another in the future.

"Well…" started Hermione, "I wasn't the most popular person at school, but I had two great friends that I would do anything for."

"What were their names?" asked Lupin curiously.

"Henry and Rory," answered Hermione automatically. She knew coming up with alternate names for people in her time would come in handy.

"Your two best friends were boys, eh?" said Sirius with a wink.

Hermione rolled her eyes at Sirius. "I was also starting to get close to Rory's sister, Jenny. She was a year below us."

"Seems like you like hanging out with guys," said Sirius with a cheeky smile, "Have a boyfriend?"

Hermione's stomach seemed to drop and her mouth became suddenly dry. She took a quick sip from her water goblet and shook her head. There was no denying that she had started to grow feelings for Ron over the years, but she didn't fully understand what they meant or what she meant to Ron.

Sirius's grin widened. "That head shake wasn't very convincing, Dawson."

"I don't have a boyfriend, no," said Hermione, again, shaking her head slightly, "There was a time when I thought I'd end up with… with Rory, but I don't think that will ever happen now…"

She looked down at the table as a small force seemed to press on her chest. She honestly did believe that one day she and Ron would end up together, but now that she was stuck twenty years in the past it didn't seem likely. If she stayed here too long it could ruin their non-existent relationship. Well, that is if he even saw her in that way… What would have happened if she had never opened that door in the Department of Mysteries?

"If you had such good friends why didn't you stay at Beauxbatons with them?" asked James with a furrowed brow, interrupting her thoughts.

"I don't really want to talk about my friends," said Hermione with a sort of finality.

Thinking of them brought an unpleasant feeling to the pit of her stomach. She hoped Dumbledore would find a way for her to return, and quickly so they could all be reunited again. The only reason these past weeks had been even remotely bearable was if she tried her best to close her mind and not think of all the people she loved in her own time.

James seemed to understand from the tone of her voice that this was a touchy topic. Instead, he tried to change the subject by bombarding her with a different array of questions.

"So, why did your family originally leave England for France?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and wondered whether James would ever be satisfied with asking her questions.

"One of my parents' dentist friends asked them to take over their practice in Paris because they were retiring. My parents always wanted their own dental practice so they jumped at the chance. We vacationed in France often so the area where we were moving wasn't completely unfamiliar and we understood the culture."

"Dentist?" asked Sirius, looking confused. "What's a dentist?"

"They attend to peoples' teeth," said a voice from behind Hermione.

Hermione gave a small jump in shock and spun around to see Lily standing behind her. Besides Lily stood none other than Snape, looking as brooding as ever, even if he was twenty years younger than she remembered. Lily smiled at Hermione, but Snape just stood awkwardly formal next to Lily, staring across the table at James and Sirius with a look of pure loathing. Peter seemed to cower next to James.

"Hey Lily," piped James. He immediately sat up straighter and his hand went through his dark hair automatically, making it stick up even more in the back. He didn't even look at Snape, his eyes were locked on Lily.

"What is Snivellus doing here?" demanded Sirius. He was frowning and had a look on his face like he had just encountered something disgusting.

Snape gritted his teeth and turned his dark eyes towards Lily. "I'll leave you with the scum. Goodbye."

Even though she had been in school with him for a week now, Hermione had never actually heard him talk. The way he spoke was deliberately icy and he seemed to refrain from showing emotion in his speech, very much like he'd do in her own time.

Snape turned and stalked out of the Great Hall after sending James and Sirius a very frightening glare. Lily frowned and her eyes followed him as he walked down the long tables until he passed through the doors and out of sight.

"Well, I was going to introduce Severus to Hermione, but you lot scared him away," said Lily, emphasizing Snape's name. She crossed her arms and gave Sirius and James a disapproving look.

James put his hands up in front of him. "Hey, I'm innocent this time."

"Because you were too busy staring at Lily…" muttered Lupin, with a faint smile, from besides Hermione.

Lily had obviously heard this and gave Lupin a playful slap on his shoulder, but she had a small grin on her lips. She sat down on the other side of Hermione and narrowed her eyes at Sirius.

"You guys need to be nicer to him."

"No we don't," replied Sirius.

Lily sighed, obviously giving up, knowing that there was no point. "Why are you even talking about dentists?"

"My parents are dentists," said Hermione matter-of-factly.

"Dentists?" asked Lily with a tone of surprise. "Are you— are you, muggle-born?"

"Yes," said Hermione simply with a small shrug.

Lily's face broke into a huge grin and she clapped her hands together. "Oh this is wonderful! I knew right away that we were going to get along, Hermione. Now I can finally discuss real world things with someone that actually knows what I'm talking about!"

"Real world? What do you call this world, then?" asked Sirius mocking offense.

"The wizarding world just seems too good to be true," said Hermione.

Lily nodded in agreement.

"I guess you could say, it's magical," said Sirius, winking at Lily. Lupin rolled his eyes and groaned at the awful pun while Peter gave a forced half chuckled. James was still just staring and smiling at Lily as she rolled her eyes again.

"I need to go find Severus and apologize to him on Sirius's behalf." Lily sent Sirius another dirty look. "Hermione, we'll talk later if you're still awake. Remus and I have Prefect duties tonight so I don't know exactly when I'll be back. You have no idea how happy you also being a muggle-born makes me! See you! And I'll see you for rounds later, Remus."

"See you, Lily," smiled Lupin.

She gave a quick smile and wave before rushing out of the Great Hall to find Snape. James slouched down and looked visibly upset that Lily had gone. Hermione tried to hide her grin.

"Well, I'm leaving as well," said Hermione, standing up and grabbing her books.

"You're not going after Snape with Lily are you?" demanded Sirius.

"Don't be ridiculous, I haven't even been introduced to him yet, why would I go after him? I'm headed back to the common room to drop off my books and then I'm going to the library."

"We'll come with you," said James, also standing up.

"You're going to the library?" gawked Hermione. Out of the four boys the only one she had even seen with an open book outside of class had been Lupin.

"Don't be ridiculous," said James, mimicking Hermione's words and tone. "Sirius and I were planning on heading over to the Quidditch Pitch to fly around and our stuff is in our dormitory."

"I haven't set foot in that library since… ever," grinned Sirius as he stood up also. Hermione rolled her eyes and the five of them walked out of the Great Hall.

As they walked, Hermione decided she was going to do something stupid. She knew it was stupid but at the same time it felt like the smart thing to do. It was a clever idea, but at the same time, it was incredibly dumb and she would most likely regret it the moment she did it. It was logically foolish. That was a good way to put it. Logically foolish.

As the boys walked with her back to Gryffindor tower, she had thought of a way that might make her appear to be not as comfortable with the castle as the boys suspiciously believed she was. As the five of them were climbing the stairs, she remembered that if she were new to the school, she wouldn't be entirely aware of the trick steps. Older students knew they were coming; it was second nature to just jump them, but new students (and Neville Longbottom) were always slipping into the stairs. This meant she was going to have to "fall" through one.

She knew one was just a little farther up the marble staircase, so she made her way in front of the four boys, complaining about there being so many stairs and that she just wanted to get to the common room quicker. She was getting closer and closer to one of the trick steps and she had to concentrate hard to not to accidently jump it out of habit. There were only a few steps left when she heard someone call out to warn her. She purposely didn't slow down her pace but, instead, she turned towards the boys when she felt her foot fall through the air and she gave a small yelp.

Even though she knew it was coming, her stomach seemed to do a somersault as she fell through the step. One of her arms had automatically gone out to break her fall. It slammed onto the hard, marble step in front of her and sent a sharp stinging sensation through her elbow causing her to yell out in pain.

There was the sound of feet running up the stairs as the boys came to her rescue. Strong arms grabbed her from behind, under her arms, and easily pulled her out of the step.

"Geez, Hermione, are you alright?" asked the voice next to her as she was gently placed on solid ground again.

It was Lupin. His green eyes were wide with worry. The other three boys were a few steps below them on a landing so it must have been him who pulled her out.

"I'm fine," said Hermione who could feel her face burning with embarrassment. She brushed off her robes when she felt the pain in her arm again causing her to gasp. Her other hand automatically went to massage her other arm and the concern on Lupin's face seemed to worsen. "Thanks for pulling me out Lu—Remus."

Hermione cursed herself in her head. She really needed to get comfortable calling him Remus instead of Lupin. There wasn't a lot of time to brood on this because, from the landing below her, came a barking laugh.

Sirius was doubled over, clutching his stomach, with his other hand on James's shoulder as he used him to support himself as he laughed.

"That… that was hilarious!" wheezed Sirius who was laughing so hard his eyes were filling with tears. James pushed him off his shoulder and Sirius lost his balance and fell backwards and into a sitting position on one of the steps but he that hadn't stopped him from laughing. "I can't believe that happened!"

"Are you sure you're alright, Hermione?" asked Remus, ignoring Sirius and watching her rub her arm.

Sirius was still howling with laughter behind them with Peter and James looking at him like he had gone crazy.

"There's no permanent damage, I just banged my arm. The worse thing that will happen is that I'll have a bruise tomorrow morning," shrugged Hermione, still rubbing her arm.

"You should see Madam Pomfrey, just in case. Even if it is just a bruise she can give you something for the pain and to stop the swelling…" said Remus.

"Really, I'm fine…"

"No, as a Prefect, I must insist."

At Remus's comment, Sirius lost himself completely. He laughed even harder and started rolling side to side on ground he had fallen on with Peter watching him in bemusement.

"You better go, Hermione. He's a Prefect. He might give you a detention if you don't," snickered James who gave Sirius a small kick.

"Fine, I'll go," sighed Hermione. It would be nice to have the throbbing in her arm stop…

"Great, let's go," said Remus cheerfully.

"Wait, you're coming with me?" asked Hermione in surprise. She had expected to go on her own and have an excuse to depart from the Marauders. "You don't have to; I know where the Hospital Wing is…"

"Nonsense, I'm sure Sirius, James, and Peter can find their way to the Common Room on their own," replied Remus.

"Are you sure about that, Moony? What if we get lost?" grinned Sirius, who had finally stopped laughing, although his eyes still twinkled with humor.

Remus just rolled his eyes. "I'll catch up with you guys later."

"You better… Don't make me sit alone in the stands while these two have all the fun," pouted Peter gesturing towards James and Sirius. He gave Hermione an odd look, like it was her fault he'd have to sit alone. Hermione chose to ignore him. The less attention she paid him the better.

Moments later, Sirius, Peter, and James said goodbye and continued up the stairs as Remus led Hermione in the other direction towards the Hospital Wing.

"Moony?" questioned Hermione once the other boys were out of sight.

"It's just a silly nickname…" shrugged Remus with a sort of finality.

"Oh," said Hermione.

Remus seemed to become uncomfortable with the question so Hermione decided to drop it. Obviously she knew what the nickname was, that he was a werewolf, but she felt it was best to ask anyway. She figured anyone who didn't know about his "furry problem" would be curious as to why he was called Moony.

Their walk was mostly silent from that point on. Hermione either stared at the ground or fiddled with her bag, making herself look busy so she did not have to talk to Remus. Every now and then she would catch Remus's eye as he stole glances at her but she refused to meet them.

Clearly she had failed at trying to make herself invisible; if anything she did the exact opposite. The Marauders paid her too much attention and all she wanted to do was pass the time until Dumbledore found a way for her to return to 1996. Their constant attention was riddling Hermione's thoughts as she and Remus approached the Hospital Wing. Why didn't they mind their own business? She has gone out of her way to avoid the lot of them but they just wouldn't let her be.

The Hospital Wing looked more or less the same. It was a large, open, room with a row of beds with curtains on either side of the room. The large windows let in beams of September sunlight which flooded the room. All the beds were empty and carefully made as not a single person seemed to be there.

Hermione watched as Remus looked around the room. He cleared his throat and still nothing happened.

"Madam Pomfrey?" he called out hesitantly.

Suddenly, a head popped out the doorway into the office that was adjacent to the Hospital Wing.

Madam Pomfrey looked much younger than Hermione had expected. She was thinner and her hair was a light brown instead of grey. Her face was soft and kind and her blue eyes were welcoming. Hermione guessed she must have been in her late thirties or early forties.

"Oh, Remus, dear," she said when she caught sight of the two of them standing by the door. She walked into the room and eyed Hermione carefully as she looked over the pair of them. "Is everything alright?"

Hermione swore she saw Madam Pomfrey's eyes quickly glance at the calendar on her office door, most likely checking the date for the full moon.

"We're fine, Madam Pomfrey," said Remus who either seemed to – or chose to – not notice. He looked over at Hermione. "Well, Hermione here could use something. She banged her arm pretty badly when she fell through one of the trick steps in the Grand Staircase."

"It's not that bad," Hermione added quickly, "It's just sore and will probably leave a large bruise."

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "Take a seat, dear. I'll get you something that will fix you right up."

She strode across the room and back into her office. Hermione made her way over to one of the beds and sat down in a chair next to it. Sitting on one of the beds would have made her feel foolish. Remus pulled up another chair and sat next to her. There was a moment of silence before Hermione spoke up.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked.

Remus looked taken aback at her question and gave her a perplexed look.

"Why am I being nice to you?" he asked in astonishment.

Hermione tried not to grin at the look he was giving her. He almost looked offended that she would question why he was nice, as if she had expected otherwise. Instead, she shook her head and reworded her question.

"I don't just mean you. I'm referring to you and your friends. You had to have noticed by now that I've been trying to avoid you guys for the past week and yet you've been so utterly persistent in following me around. Why do you guys seem to care about me so much? You insisted on bringing me to the Hospital Wing over a bruise… why? The four of you easily could have walked away without any source of remorse give than you barely know me."

Remus just stared at her for a few seconds, at a complete loss for words.

"Why were you avoiding us?" he finally asked.

"I asked you first."

He gave a short laugh and shook his head slightly before becoming serious again. "Well… I thought you seemed nice enough last week when we met the first night back at Hogwarts."

Hermione raised her eyebrow and he continued.

"Granted, James was wary of you at first, but he's gotten over himself. You're a fellow Gryffindor, and you haven't given us a reason to dislike you, why wouldn't we be nice to you? Plus, we admired how you told James off for being a prat and you seem like a genuinely good person."

"Oh," was the only thing Hermione could think of responding with.

Out of all the possible answers Hermione assumed he would give, that was not one of them. She thought it might have been their form of a joke but she didn't think Remus wouldn't lie to her. At least not the Remus she would know in her time. There was something about the way he said it that made her believe him.

The stark differences between her first week at Hogwarts in 1991 and her first week here were uncanny. True, the first real encounter she had with the Marauders reminded her of how Ron and Harry had treated her at first, but since their little altercation, they treated her like she belonged.

There was something she was feeling that didn't make sense. It was a sort of comfortable feeling. Like she wasn't alienated. She was actually feeling… happy? That couldn't be right.

The sound of approaching footsteps caused Hermione and Remus to look up. Madam Pompfrey was walking towards them, from her office. In her hand was a small phial of liquid.

"This should do the trick," said Madam Pomfrey, with a smile, as she walked up to Hermione and Remus. She placed the small phial in Hermione's hand. "It will stop the pain and swelling, there shouldn't even be a bruise by morning."

In the phial was a thick looking potion. It was a brilliant shade of orchard purple and seemed to reflect the light as sparkles danced across the surface of it. Cautiously, Hermione sniffed the potion. It had a vaguely familiar scent, but she couldn't quite place it. Tilting her head back slightly, she tipped the contents on the phial into her mouth and swallowed it quickly.

It didn't taste good nor awful; it didn't taste like anything. Immediately, a warm sensation began to spread through her body. It gave her a sort of light feeling, almost like she was slightly floating. The warmth spread down her chest and into the arm she had injured. Her elbow became warm and numb for a moment before the pain vanished completely.

Hermione extended her arm and bent her elbow a few times before looking up at Madam Pomfrey with a smile.

"Thank you, this is much better."

"Just watch out for those stairs, I could not even begin to tell you how many students get injured from them," said Madam Pomfrey shaking her head. Her head was still slightly shaking as she walked back to her office and out of sight.

Standing up, Remus looked over at Hermione.

"Ready to go?" he asked her.

Hermione stood up, as well, and straightened her robes. The two of them left the Hospital Wing and made their way back to the Grand Staircase. Hermione started in the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room when Remus suddenly stopped her.

"Why don't you come to the Quidditch pitch with us? You can keep Peter and me company while James and Sirius almost kill themselves on their brooms," said Remus with a slightly crooked smile, a few steps below her.

She looked down at him and gestured to the flights of stairs behind her. "Thanks, but I really just want to go to the common room and then the library."

The crooked smile on his face fell into a small frown. It was clear he seemed disappointed by her answer.

"Why are you avoiding us?" he asked, tilting his head and taking one step closer to her. "And don't bother denying it, you said you were when we were in the Hospital Wing."

"I'm not here to make friends," she said, slowly and softly. "I mean, I didn't come here to make friends. I'm just here until I… until I graduate."

She cursed herself again. She had barely stopped herself from saying until she gets home.

"You don't have to avoid everyone, you know," said Remus. "Don't isolate yourself. The people here at Hogwarts really aren't that bad."

"I'm sorry," said Hermione, with a sad smile, and she turned around and walked up the stairs towards the Gryffindor Common Room, leaving Remus behind, looking confused and hurt on that first step.

Later that night, Hermione lay awake, staring at the ceiling of the girls' dormitory. There was an eerie silence in the dark room. All of the torches were extinguished, and the gibbous moon was the only source of light, leaving ghostly shadows around the circular chamber.

The curtains around Mary's bed were drawn shut as she slept but Lily's curtains were open, as she still hadn't returned from Prefect duties. Originally, Hermione had planned to wait for Lily to return so they could talk but she kept replaying the conversation she had with Remus in her mind.

After thinking about it, Hermione decided she should probably just go to sleep and forget about talking to Lily. The only problem now was that she wasn't able to actually fall asleep. Her mind would not stop racing long enough for her to fall into unconsciousness.

She lay in bed, staying at the ceiling for another fifteen minutes before stepping out of bed and onto the wooden floor. There was no point in trying to sleep. Silently, she slid into her shoes, slipped her robes on, and exited the dormitory.

The Common Room was deserted at this hour. Only a small fire was burning and the tables contained the usual rubbish that littered the Common Room every night. As Hermione approached her favorite squishy armchair, she realized that she didn't want to just sit there with her thoughts. She had another idea.

Before she really knew what she was doing, Hermione found herself crawling through the portrait hole and out of the Gryffindor Common Room. The Fat Lady gave a startled snore as Hermione pushed open her frame.

"Excuse me, young lady! Where on Earth do you think you're going at this hour? It's nearly one in the morning! Get back in here before you get caught!" she said, clearly irritated by being woken up.

But Hermione didn't care. She ignored The Fat Lady and continued on her way.

Not knowing where she intended on going, Hermione just walked. It was dark in the castle and most of the portraits were asleep. The ones that weren't sent her disapproving looks for being out of bed so far after curfew.

Before she knew it, Hermione was standing in front of the stone gargoyles that guarded Professor Dumbledore's office. That was when Hermione knew exactly what she wanted to do.

"Fawkes," she said.

The gargoyles sprang aside and Hermione hurried up the staircase and stopped in front of the doors leading to Dumbledore's office, but Hermione hesitated.

What if he was asleep? It would be incredibly inappropriate for her to just waltz into his office unannounced and wake him up over her trivial thoughts. Right as she was turning around to leave, the doors creaked open, revealing a line of pleasant light. Slowly, Hermione pushed the doors open and peered inside the room.

Dumbledore sat, in his daytime robes, behind his desk. He was stroking the feathers of a large, swan sized crimson and gold bird that was perched on his desk.

Fawkes.

"What can I do for you at this hour, Miss Granger?" he asked without looking at her, although he had a small smile on his face.

Hermione walked through the doors but did not walk to his desk.

"I want to leave," she stated.

Dumbledore finally looked up and met Hermione's eyes.

"Have you met Fawkes, my phoenix?" he asked, gesturing to the magnificent bird.

Hermione's mouth fell open slightly. "Wha-? Well… yes… I have, sir, but…"

"I thought you might have, Most people question him when they see him for the first time so I assumed you must have been introduced already," said Dumbledore, cutting her off and returning his gaze to Fawkes. "Very loyal companions, phoenixes are."

"Sir," said Hermione, with a little more force. "I think it would be best for me to leave Hogwarts. To go someplace else until there's a way for me to return home."

"And why is that, Hermione?" he asked, looking up at her again. His smile didn't quite reach his eyes this time.

"It's too hard to be here. These people… they're too interested in me. I thought I could just blend into the shadows and exist here by myself but that doesn't seem possible anymore."

"So what do you suggest you do?" asked Dumbledore. "Do you wish to leave and just live on your own, avoiding all human interaction like a hermit?"

The thought of what she would do if she left hadn't crossed her mind. She didn't know where she would go but she knew it shouldn't be at Hogwarts. Lily, the Marauders, and even Mary seemed to want her friendship, but it was too dangerous. She couldn't risk the future by selfishly allowing herself to befriend these people, which is what she decided to tell Dumbledore.

After she had finished there was a lengthy silence. She stood awkwardly in the center of Dumbledore's office while he sat, stroking his long beard and thinking.

"I think," started Dumbledore, "That it would be unwise for you to leave Hogwarts."

Hermione started to object but Dumbledore held up his hand.

"I feel as it is my responsibility to keep you safe until I discover a way to send you back to your own time. I cannot ensure your safety if you leave. We do not know how long you will be here. It is not sensible to isolate yourself, you must try to lead a normal life, while you are here."

"But what if I change something? I don't want to be held responsible for changing things in the future! Is my well-being really worth more than the well-beings of the people around me?" Hermione demanded. "I know many of these people. I know their future and their pasts, and as far as I know, I'm not in their pasts. What happens if I insert myself now?"

Dumbledore had a grave look in his eyes and he stared at her with pity. "Do you remember what I told you a few months ago when you first arrived here? About time being like a stream?"

"Yes…" muttered Hermione, not knowing where this was going.

"I want you to make friends, Hermione," said Dumbledore, leaning forwards. "It must be strange, knowing these people in the future and seeing them as the same age as you, but you will not accidentally change the outcome of their lives, from now until you fall through time in 1996. You are a very bright witch, I know you will be able to keep your secret long enough for me to find a way for you to return. I have faith in you."

"How do you know I won't change anything?" questioned Hermione. She felt slightly better, but she wasn't sure whether or not she believed him.

"Things always have a funny way of working out," said Dumbledore with a smile.

Those were the words that Hermione replayed in her mind, over and over again, as she walked through the dark castle, back to the Gryffindor Common Room. She was going to take his advice and try to have as normal of a life as she could, given the circumstances. After all, Dumbledore knew best.

Dumbledore was right, she didn't know how long she would be stuck here so she might as well get comfortable, and if that meant making friends then so be it. And she knew exactly where to start. She just hoped she wasn't too late to have that conversation about being muggle-born with Lily after all.

A/N: Hi guys, I hope you liked this chapter. Please leave reviews! Let me know what you liked/disliked, what you hope happens, or predictions.

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