AN: I'm unsure of why I have to do this, but I write for my enjoyment. I am a single mother of 2 who writes to relax. Planning, drafting, writing and eventually publishing are my form of relaxation. Please know that any chapters I post have been meticulously planned, edited, written and rewritten at least three times before I publish. Of course, this is AU, which means I take events, characters, etc that I enjoy from the source material and alter them to fit a narrative I'm building. Thank you for reading!
It had been three days since Hermione had moved into Lupin Keep when she finally told Remus that she wanted to meet his friends.
"Are you sure Mione?" he asked, looking over the book he was reading. "Aren't you worried that James is going to remind you of Harry?"
"Of course, he'll remind me of Harry," she said, smiling softly. "Everyone who knew James and Lily always told Harry that he was the image of his father, with his mother's striking green eyes. I expect I'll miss him every time I look at James, or look into Lily's eyes, but if you want me to join you at Potter Manor, you have to let me meet them here, at home first."
Remus smiled broadly at her. "You realize that was only the second time you've called this your home, right?"
Hermione looked puzzled. "Are you sure? I could have sworn I've said it more than just the once when we left Hogsmeade."
"Maybe to Mum, but not me," he said, standing. "Do you want to come with me while I Floo the boys?"
"No, that's okay," she said, returning to her book. "I want to finish this chapter before I have to deal with the Marauders."
"What makes you think they'll come immediately?" he said, chuckling. "They all have lives too."
"Remus, we are talking about James Potter, your best friend and protector, Peter Pettigrew, who only has you lot as friends, and Sirius Black, who has tried to charm the pants off any witch he meets, figuratively and literally," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Actually, any female if my memory serves me right."
"Sirius will do well to leave any cousin of mine alone," Remus said, suddenly solemn, his eyes flashing amber.
Hermione suddenly remembered the full moon was only days away. "Remus, I dealt with Sirius Black in the nineties. I heard all the stories about his escapades," she said, forgetting her book and standing. "But there's a piece to my story that I didn't tell you or Professor Dumbledore."
"What?" Remus ground out, his eyes still amber.
"Sirius told Harry and I about a girl the Marauders and Lily befriended during their seventh year of school," she began softly, knowing that Moony was just under the surface. "A girl that no one had ever seen before, that was close to you, but that Sirius had loved. He told us that he lost track of her when he was in Azkaban. Remus, I think that girl was me."
"Sirius had wet his wick in half of the school's population," Moony ground out. "Why is the one that he falls for my cousin?"
"Moony," Hermione began, knowing that saying the name of the wolf would bring his complete attention to her. "Sirius fell in love with her because she saw past the flirting, the pranks, the innuendo, and saw the boy that just wanted to be loved for who he was, not what his name was or who his friends were. Not to mention, that if it is me that Sirius fell for in his past, then it was meant to happen."
"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Remus pouted.
"You don't, but I promise you, I know exactly how to deal with Sirius," she said, finally hugging him. "Besides, I'll always need my favorite cousin Remy to make the best hot chocolates in the world."
That's what finally got through to him, "I know, I'm sorry for overreacting, Mione. It just, I've just gotten to know you and I don't want anyone to take you away."
"You really think Sirius is going to take me away from my family?" she said, smiling. "Remy, you're forgetting that I know all of the Marauders' pasts, I know that two years ago, that wench Walburga tried to force Sirius to take the Mark and he ran away from home, and is now under the Potter's protection, I know that Peter's mother is severely ill, and soon, you three will be all he has left. The furthest I'll end up going is Potter Manor, so don't even get any ideas about losing me. You're stuck with me, Remy."
Smiling, Remus squeezed his cousin. "Okay, okay, I'll go Floo the boys. I'm sure they'll be over within the hour."
"I'll be finishing that chapter that you interrupted!" she said, feigning indignation.
Hermione managed to finish three chapters of her book before the rest of the Marauders came to visit.
"Mione, I'd like you to meet James, Sirius, and Peter," Remus said once she put her book down. "The Marauders."
Standing, she smiled at each of them. "It's a pleasure to meet you all, Remus has told me a lot about you."
"Hey, Moony didn't tell us she was hot!" Sirius whispered to James.
"That's because Moony doesn't see me that way, Padfoot," Hermione replied lazily. "And yes, I know your nicknames."
"Hey, Moony, did you tell her, you know, everything?" James asked pointedly.
"Do I know that he's a werewolf or do I know that you three are animagus and join him on the full moon?" she said, smiling. "I know all about it, matter of fact, I know just about everything there is to know about the infamous Marauders of Hogwarts."
"Prove it, kitten," Sirius said, smugly. "Bet you don't know everything."
Smirking, Hermione pointed to James first, "James Charlus "Prongs" Potter, your birthday is March the twenty-seventh, nineteen sixty. The Marauders are your best friends, however, Sirius is more like your brother than the rest. You're captain of the Quidditch team, and have been their chaser since second year. You fancy Lily Evans, though she does not currently return the feeling, in fact your last meeting she called you an arrogant toe rag. Your parents are Dorea and Charlus. Your animagus from is a stag, hence the name Prongs. You live in Potter Manor, though I can't say where it is because Aunt Hope hasn't been told the location, and she's within earshot."
James' jaw dropped as she pointed to Peter. "Peter Andrew "Wormtail" Pettigrew, born on September the ninth, nineteen sixty. Remus was your first friend, having met him on the Hogwarts Express your first year; you met Sirius and James shortly after that. You were raised by your single mother, Matilda, in Henford-on-Bagley, where she raises chickens, cows and alpacas for the community to purchase. You're afraid of spiders and snakes. You transform into a rat, hence, Wormtail."
Peter looked shocked this stranger knew so much about him, he didn't have much time to recover before she moved onto Sirius. "Sirius Orion "Padfoot" Black, of the infamous Black family. Born to Walburga and Orion Black on the third of November, nineteen fifty-nine. Your family lives in the townhouse in London because your uncle Alphard refused to let your parents live in Black Manor, for reasons unknown. You're the first Black to not be in Slytherin. You ran away from your megalomaniac mother two years ago and went to your cousins, the Potters. They were more like family to you than your parents, anyway. Your cousin Andromeda is the only semi-sane person in your family, save for you. You're also on the quidditch team, as a beater. You transform into Padfoot, a Grim-like dog, however your form looks more like a solid black version of a Scottish Deerhound."
"How did you know so much about me?" Sirius asked, wide-eyed. "I've never told anyone about Uncle Alphard, except for Ma and Pa P."
"I know a lot of things, Sirius," Hermione began, glancing at James. "But first, I'll need some assurance that you won't tell anyone anything you hear from me today."
"Like what?" Peter said, his squeaky voice shaking. "I'll not swear an unbreakable vow to a witch I don't even know!"
"How well are you three at occlumency?" Remus asked, his voice low. "There are things Mione knows that, if they were to get out to the wrong people, could end her life."
"Mine's strong, Walburga couldn't get into my head last time I was at home," Sirius said confidently, yet quietly. "Neither could Cissa, and she's a master at occlumency and legilimency."
"Mine's almost as good as Sirius," James said, sitting on the chair Hermione had previously been sitting in. "He can block out anyone, the only person who's ever gotten into my head was him."
"I can't do it," Peter said sadly. "I've tried, but I'll swear a wizard's oath to you. I can't do an unbreakable vow, that's something else I'm scared of."
"Very well," Hermione said, turning to Remus. "Will you officiate the oath for us? You know exactly how to word it, and Peter will be more receptive if his first friend does it."
Nodding, Remus drew his wand from his robes. "Please clasp hands." As they did, Remus conjured a white ribbon that would act as the visual for their oath. "Peter Pettigrew, do you swear on your magic, and your word that you will not discuss anything that may be revealed here tonight to anyone other than those inside this room?"
"Y-yes, I do," Peter said, shakily.
"Hermione Granger, do you swear on your magic, and your word that everything you reveal here tonight is the truth, to the best of your knowlege?"
"Yes, I do," Hermione said, confidently.
Remus twirled his wand in a complicated pattern before speaking again, "So mote it be."
"Only you and I see the ribbon around our wrists, Peter," Hermione said, smiling softly. "If the ribbon disappears, then one of us has broken our oath and magic may punish us; that's why Remus asked us to swear on our magic and our word. The powers that be will decide which to punish us by. Either our magic will get weaker, or no one will believe our word again."
Peter nodded, "I can live with that."
"Now, before I begin, I think we need some refreshments," Remus said, addressing everyone. "This is going to be a long story, so I'd suggest Flooing your families and telling them you're staying the night here."
Nearly an hour later, Hermione was only about to speak about her third year at Hogwarts.
"Dinner's ready," Hope's voice called from the kitchen. "Come down, you lot."
After a hearty meal of shepherd's pie, the Marauders and Hermione retired to Remus' room.
"Now, back to my third year of Hogwarts," she began.
Three more hours later, Hermione had finally caught them up on everything that had happened.
"So, you're telling me that you finally killed him and then got sent back here?" Sirius asked thoughtfully. "You mean, he's actually gone where you're from?"
"He is," she nodded, hugging Remus' pillow tightly to her chest, breathing deeply. "But there's so much loss. Everyone I'd ever cared for was affected by the war in one way or another. My parents didn't know I existed, my best friends were gone, the two men that guided Harry and I through so much were gone, years apart, and far too early."
"Can't we change it?" James asked, quietly, still digesting the fact that he married Lily, had a son, and died before his child was even two. "I mean, Dumbledore said that it's possible that you were meant to come here after all, right?"
"He did," Remus said, noticing Hermione's eyes getting heavy. "But we won't know for sure if she's meant to be here until the nineteenth of September, nineteen seventy-nine. That's her birthday in her previous timeline."
"What do we do until then?" Sirius asked. "I mean, if we go by Hermione's timeline, James and Lily will already be married, and possibly pregnant with Harry by then. Which means they'll be in hiding already. Can we really afford to wait that long?"
"I've decided that regardless, I'm changing as much as I can now," Hermione said quietly. "Remy, I have to. I can't let James and Lily die, I can't let Sirius suffer for twelve years in Azkaban. I can't let you be alone until my third year again. I can't wait until another Hermione is born. He'll have told the Death Eaters everything by then." She drifted off to sleep.
"I can't help but notice she didn't mention Peter in any of that," James said quietly, noticing Peter had too, fallen asleep. "Why was that, Moony?"
"She did, James," Remus said, softly, covering Hermione with his duvet.
James and Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment, Sirius came to a realization first. "Moony, she never said who betrayed Prongs and Lily, did she?"
"Not directly, no," Remus replied, transfiguring blankets and pillows from scraps of clothing ruined during his transformation.
"Moony," James said thickly. "It's Peter that tells Voldemort where Lily and I were hiding, wasn't it?"
"Yes," Remus said, looking at his friends. "But, like Hermione told us, it hasn't happened yet, we can change it. She was tortured in the same building as Peter and she's friendly with him now, just let us try first, ok?"
Sirius wasn't so agreeable. "Why should we? I rotted in prison, and James died because of him!"
"In nineteen eighty-one," James said softly. "It's seventy-seven. We have time to change it."
"Fine, but if the rat starts acting strangely, I'm protecting you and Hermione," Sirius said, settling into the bed Remus had previously enlarged to fit everyone.
"Shouldn't we wake Peter so he can be comfortable too?" James asked.
"Leave him," Remus said, settling in between Hermione and Sirius. "He won't go back to sleep if we move him anyway."
"Serves him right," Sirius thought to himself as he let sleep overtake him. "He doesn't deserve to be near Hermione anyway."