Sirius, Regulus, Orion, Alphard and Charlus talked late into the night, long after everyone else had gone to bed. When they finally made their way to their shared bedroom, they saw their usual places in bed bad been saved for them. They quickly changed into their pajamas and settled into bed. As Regulus relaxed onto his pillow, he smiled as he watched Sirius snuggle into a sleeping Hermione.

They're good for each other. She'll heal him, and he'll relax her.

Sleep overtook them both, no one noticed the two mothers carried out their nightly ritual of checking on the kids. "They look like two pieces of the same puzzle," the dark-haired witch murmured to her sandy haired companion, as Hermione subconsciously adjusted her body so Sirius would be more comfortable. "It seems she knows exactly what he needs, when he needs it, and does it without thinking."

Hope smiled softly, her eyes drifting to her sleeping son as she spoke. "She's like that with all of them, even Regulus. It's like she's known them all her life, even though she only knew Remus and Sirius in her past life, and only for a few years at that."

"She's good for them, Hope," Dorea whispered as she closed the door. "And they're good for her. I imagine Hermione sees Harry in James, and sees it as she's just taking care of Harry again."

"Hermione told me when she first came here that she felt she was sent back to change Harry's past," Hope said as they walked along the hallway. "What if Harry wasn't the Potter she was meant to help? What if it was one of our boys?"

Dorea sighed, "Of the three, I'd say it would be James or Sirius. Regulus would've lived a decent life, had he never left Walburga. Yes, he would have died early, but he would have died for a noble reason, helping us. James and Sirius, however..."

"James would be dead in a few short years," Hope whispered, realization finally hitting her. "In four years, if Hermione hadn't come back, James and Lily would be dead, Sirius in Azkaban, Remus alone, Regulus dead in a cave, and who knows what happened to us!"

Dorea laid a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Hermione is here. She's going to change everything."

Hope sighed as she reached her bedroom. "We just have to keep the faith, Dorie."

The next morning, an owl pecking at the window woke Hermione. "Bloody birds pecking bloody glass," she muttered as she opened the window. "Can I have the letter?"

The owl stuck its leg out and allowed Hermione to remove the letter before flying off to the Potter's owlery. She turned the letter over to see it was addressed to James in a feminine script she didn't recognize.

"James," she said softly. "Jamie, you've got a letter."

"Wha," he said waking up. "From who?"

"I don't know," she said, smiling. "A girl, I assume, the handwriting is too pretty to be a male's."

James scowled. Not many girls wrote to him unless they were keen to get their hands on the Potter gold. "Oh," he said softly, taking the letter from Hermione. "It-that's Lily Evans' handwriting."

"Open it, Jamie," Hermione said, heading for the door. "She wouldn't be writing you if she still thought you were a toe rag!"

Sighing as Hermione closed the door behind her, he opened the letter from Lily.

James,

I've realized that I haven't gotten any letters from you since term ended. I know I've always told you to leave me alone, and that I didn't want anything to do with you, but I find myself missing those letters. I'd even settle for one of your cheesy poems in the Great Hall.

I should be honest with you, I never hated you. Truthfully, I was worried. I was worried that being a muggleborn and you, a pureblood, I'd have to deal with people saying I was using you for your money. But, this summer, I find myself not worrying about that anymore. I find myself wanting to just be happy, happy with you.

So, what do you say?

Awaiting your reply,

Lily

"What did Lily want?" Remus muttered, finally waking.

"How'd you know Lily wrote me?" James asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

"I can smell her on the parchment," Remus said, stretching. "So, what did she want?"

"Read for yourself," he said, handing Remus the letter.

Remus read the letter, his eyes wide. "So, all you had to do was leave her alone for a few weeks and she would have come around."

"Yeah but think about what all has happened the last few weeks," James said, running a hand through his hair. "If Hermione hadn't come when she did, would I have had a chance this year? Do you think that Hermione coming, Peter turning on us, Regulus and Sirius being my brothers, all of us living in the manor, was all this meant to happen in the first place?"

"I think my arrival had something to do with it," Hermione said, drying her hair with a towel. James noticed she had on a pair of muggle jeans and a Quidditch jersey. "From what I remember the Remus from my timeline telling me, his Mum distanced herself in his sixth year, and you know Regulus and Sirius never made up."

"Mione, where did you get those jeans from?" James asked, suddenly remembering why they looked familiar. "And the jersey?"

"Madam Pomphrey helped me get some clothes when I came here," she said, smiling softly. "Lily donates clothes every semester, and these used to be hers. I have a Queen shirt that was hers, too. The jersey was Harry's, I forgot it was in my bag, and I was missing him extra today."

James smiled, happy that his son was on the Quidditch team. "Tell us about him, Mione."

Smiling, Hermione sat on the edge of the bed, noticing Sirius had woken too and was waiting for Hermione to begin.

"I met Harry on the train first year," she said, smiling softly. "Another student had lost his toad, and I was helping him look for it. It was chance that the first compartment I opened held Harry and Ron."

"Ron, that's the youngest Weasley boy, right?" James asked, smiling when Hermione nodded.

"Harry was always so hardheaded, but loyal to those he loved. He was the youngest seeker in a century," Hermione said, smiling. "He was like my brother in every sense of the word. Oh! Accio bag. Here, Jamie. It's my photo album from my Hogwarts years. Nearly every photo has Harry in it."

James opened the album, his face full of wonder. "Hermione, there's no way you had a camera in Hogwarts."

"I didn't," she said, smiling. "They're stills of memories. Some of them are actual photos, one of the muggleborn boys in the year below us had a passion for photography and took photos for us all the time."

"Who's this, Mione?" Remus asked, pointing to a round faced boy, clutching a toad.

Hermione smiled brightly. "That's Neville Longbottom, Frank and Alice's son. He was born the day before Harry, and they were close after first year."

"Woah, Prongs," Sirius said, looking at the page opposite Neville's. "Harry is your double."

James stared in wonder at the photo of Harry, decked out in his quidditch gear, on his broom, reaching for the snitch. "I wish I could see that dive, it must have been something!"

"Jamie," Hermione muttered. "Just tap the photo with your wand and say 'fratrem', it means sibling. The photos that are actually stills of memories all have the same keyword. You can watch them all."

James did as she said and watched as Harry caught the snitch in his first game. "Wow."

"Jamie?" Hermione said, smiling at his expression. "Invite Lily here. I want to meet her, and you could use some time with her."

James' face suddenly resembled a fish out of water. "A-are you sure? I mean, do you think she'd keep your secret?"

"If Lily is anything like her son," Hermione began. "She will. She's my best friend's mother, Jamie. Please."

"Okay, okay, I'll owl her," just then, as if called, Lily's owl came swooping back into the room. "Hold on, I have to write the letter first!"

A few hours later, Mipsy popped into the library where Hermione, Remus and Regulus were reading in comfortable silence. "Missy Mione, yous has a visitor in the sitting room. Misters James and Sirius are already with her."

"Thank you, Mipsy," she said, smiling at the elf. "Can you alert Regulus as well? Have him help you prepare some refreshments, if you don't mind."

The elf nodded and popped away.

Hermione entered the sitting room and smiled, "You must be the illustrious Lily Evans. I'm Hermione, Remus' cousin, and honorary cousin to James, Sirius and Regulus."

Lily smiled at Hermione, noticing Hermione hugged all the boys, starting with Sirius. "Oh! You're the one that received the clothing I donated! I'm so glad Madam Pomphrey followed my recommendation and set up a clothes closet! I'm the only one that donates still but it's nice to see she actually uses it."

"Oh!" Hermione said, smiling. "Yes, I'm grateful to you, it was nice being able to change into muggle clothing instead of a robe when I arrived."

"I donated those last year," Lily began, summoning her bag. "I was going to send these off to Hogwarts, but I'll just give them to you, they are the same size as the ones you're wearing now."

"Lily," Sirius said softly, knowing in pureblood circles, giving hand-me-downs was considered an insult.

"Oh, I'd love that!" Hermione said, cutting Sirius off. "I don't have much money left from before, and everything is appreciated!"

"Mione," James said, looking at his friend. "All you had to do was ask."

"I hadn't thought of that," she said, accepting the bag of clothing from Lily and setting it down. "I don't make it a habit of borrowing money from friends."

James shrugged and smiled. "Then I see a shopping trip in your future."

Lily looked between James and Hermione, unsure of what to think about the interaction between James and Hermione.

"He's kind of adopted her," Remus whispered to her. "They act like siblings, she's the same with me and Reg. She's different with Sirius though."

Lily looked over at the boy in question, the one who had the reputation of a "ladies' man" in Hogwarts, as he gave up his seat on the couch to Hermione and made himself comfortable on the floor by her legs.

Lily nodded, astonished. "I've never seen Sirius act that way. It's almost as if he's changed personalities."

"That's what happens when one of your friends betrays you," Sirius said, looking at Lily. "And when you find out your parents aren't actually your parents, and a girl comes out of nowhere and changes life as you know it."

"I-what?" Lily said, looking around. "Where's Peter?"

"In Azkaban," Hermione said, calmly. "Lily, what do you know about the Luramentun de Consectariis Tortuosis?"

"I've heard it before," she said, thoughtfully. "Something about tortuous consequences, right?"

"The Oath of Tortuous Consequence," Hermione replied. "When I told the boys my secrets, Peter said his occlumency wasn't strong enough to hide them from someone trying to read his mind. I brushed against his mind and found shields stronger than Jamie and Siri combined. In the end, I had Remus convinced that Peter wasn't to be trusted, and he was our officiant for the oath. If the ribbon that the oath produces hadn't burned me, there would have been several people, including me, dead or imprisoned."

"Who?" Lily whispered, drawing her legs up to her chest.

"All of us," Remus said, putting an arm around Lily. "Mum, Dorea, Charlus, the Bones family, Moody would have died without Hermione."

"I heard about that attack," Lily said, hey emerald eyes wide. "Oh, Remus, that must have been awful to hear and smell on the full moon." Realizing she had just revealed that she knew Remus' secret, she covered her mouth with her hand.

"How long have you known, Lily?" Hermione asked, her eyes fixed on Remus, who looked shellshocked.

"Since the end of first year," Lily whispered. "I thought it was odd that Remus got deathly ill every month, and by April, I had worked out that he was a werewolf. I started taking notes in our classes for him while he was sick and sent books and such to the hospital wing when I noticed the moon had gone back down."

"All that time," Remus began. "You've known for almost your entire Hogwarts career and never told anyone?"

"I asked Professor McGonagall," she said, smiling at Remus. "She told me the truth and threatened me with every punishment she could think of to make sure I didn't tell anyone."

"McGonagall asked me assist Slughorn with the brewing of Remus' wolfsbane," Regulus said, entering the room, Mipsy following behind him with a tray full of tea and snacks. "Please place the tray on the table, Mipsy. Thank you."

Lily's eyes widened at the sight of the elf. "You have house elves?"

"He does," Hermione answered for James. "Mipsy is Head Elf, she runs the day-to-day dealings of the manor, mostly just announcing visitors and light cleaning, Mipsy is very adamant no one in the manor leaves a mess behind, a lesson I unfortunately learned early on in my time here. Tilly assists with the cooking, again, assists. Dorea, Hope and I do most of the cooking, and Robby tends the gardens and animals with Remus, James and Regulus. They are the most well-treated elves I've ever come across. I spoke at length with them all when I arrived, and even the thought of being free and still being allowed to stay in the manor frightened them. They view the Potters, and by extension, Hope, Remus and I, as family."

"I thought it was like a wizard tradition to treat elves horribly," Lily said, astonished.

"No one be's treating Mipsy, Tilly and Robby bad," Mipsy said, swatting Sirius' hand from the tray. "The ladies be's eating first, Mister Siri. Missy Lily, the family be's treating us very good. Missy Dorea even gaves Robby and Tilly permission to marry and haves babies."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Hermione said, smiling at the elf. "Are we allowed to come to the wedding?"

"Tilly would loves that, Missy Mione," Mipsy said smiling. "I's go tell her now that the family wishes to attend."

The teens spoke at length for hours, Lily slowly inching her way closer to James. James, seeming to notice this, smirked at Sirius and closed the distance between them.

"Lily," Dorea said, entering the sitting room. "Why don't you contact your mum and dad and see if they'll allow you to stay for the rest of the summer? Invite them as well, it's been far too long since I've had some ladies to chat with when the boys are here."

"Aunt Dorie," Hermione pretended to whine. "What about me?"

"You spend all your time with the boys," Dorea said, smiling. "Besides, aside from Hope, I don't have many companions of the same beliefs that are mothers."

Understanding flashed in Hermione's eyes. "Oh! In that case, I'd highly recommend inviting your parents, Lily."

"What about my sister?" Lily asked. "She's a year older than me, she's just finished school, and I don't want to leave her alone over the summer. Some barbarian named Dursley has been pining over her, and Tunie hasn't had many suitors, and I'm afraid if we leave her alone, she'll go running straight to him."

Hermione hadn't realized that Petunia and Vernon Dursley weren't together yet, she had assumed, with Petunia being older than Lily. "Of course, invite her as well!"

An hour later, The Evans family arrived.

"Everyone, this is Evelyn and Michael," Lily said, gesturing to her parents. "My mum and dad, and my sister, Petunia."

Evelyn and Michael stared at the house in wonder. "It doesn't look much different than a wealthy person's house," Evelyn whispered, more to herself than anyone else. "You can't even tell wizards live here!"

"I'm Dorea, this is my husband, Charlus, and our dear friend, Hope," Dorea began. "I'll allow the children to introduce themselves. About the house, the Potter family has always prided itself on mixing all things magical and muggle into our homes and our lives. Actually, we have a wing, in the lower level dedicated to all things muggle, including electronics. There's also an apartment downstairs that is one hundred percent equipped with only muggle items."

"James Charlus Potter!" Hermione exclaimed. "You knew that I'm a muggleborn and didn't even bother to tell me that you have an entire muggle wing of your home!"

"I think," Sirius said, placing a calming arm around Hermione. "That James here forgot that you're a muggleborn, given everything you've been through."

Hermione sighed. "That makes sense, sorry Jamie."

"I for one would like to see this muggle wing," Regulus said, surprising Hermione. Noticing her expression, he added, "What? I happen to enjoy quite a few muggle things. Their music, for example. One can only listen to Celestina Warbeck for so long before she gets old."

Chucking, James led everyone down to the muggle wing, opening a door Hermione had noticed, but never opened just off the kitchen. Heading downstairs, he waved his arm grandly. "Here it is!"

Hermione, Lily and Petunia slowly walked around the large apartment style wing, taking in every detail. While a large portion of the area seemed dated to Hermione, she had to remind herself that she was in the seventies, and therefore, things would seem a little older to her.

"Mum! They have a record player!" Petunia exclaimed happily. "Look at these records, Lil! The Doors, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Queen! They even have the new Fleetwood Mac record, and that only came out a few months ago!"

"Sirius takes it upon himself to go to a record store in London once a month," Dorea said, smiling at Petunia. "He purchases all the new records, anything that doesn't fit in that crate is on a shelf in the smaller bedroom."

Hermione smiled as she kept exploring. "How did you manage to get all the electronics to work down here? Doesn't magic affect them?"

"Not really," Charlus replied. "When we renovated the manor shortly after Dorea and I got married, we incorporated runes into the walls of this area. If you notice, all the electronics are against a wall, and if you were to cast a spell while leaning against the wall, it would be much weaker. However, in the center of the room, you can cast at normal strength."

"Incredible," Lily said, emerging from the bedrooms. "Mum, Dad, from what I can tell, someone could live down here permanently, and not have to interact with the rest of the house if they didn't want to. I mean, the entire area down here has everything you need. Tunie even found a door that leads to the gardens."

The Evans parents smiled. "Actually, we were planning on asking the Potters if we could stay as well, with you, Lily," her mother said. "Tunie needs time away from Cokeworth just as much as you do."

"It's a good thing I was planning on offering you this wing then," Dorea said, smiling at Evelyn. "Lily is a dear friend to several of these kids, and Hermione and I could definitely use some more ladies under this roof."

"I-we couldn't possibly impose," Michael said, surprised.

"Nonsense," Charlus said, smiling. "You wouldn't be imposing. Like Lily said, you can live here totally separate from the rest of the house. You have a total of four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, a sitting room, an eat-in kitchen and a small dining room. And, like Petunia found, this wing has it's own exit to the gardens."

"We'd be delighted," Evelyn answered for her husband. "Besides, Michael and I have always wanted to see more of what Lily does in school."

"I have too," Petunia said, quietly, looking at Hermione, hoping she'd understand. "I-I wanted to go with her, but I couldn't."

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, Petunia," Hermione said, smiling at the young girl who only bore a physical resemblance to the woman that raised Harry. "Even with being a muggle, there's still some aspects of magic that you can do, like simple potions, arithmancy and runes."

"I can make potions?" Petunia asked, surprised.

"Absolutely!" Remus said, joining the conversation. "We don't even use charms with our potions until fourth year, so you can try some semi-advanced potions once you get the hang of it."

Petunia smiled brightly and hugged Hermione tightly.

"That settles it," Evelyn said to her husband. "Petunia needs a friend like Hermione."

While hugging Petunia, a thought occured to Hermione.

How many people are going to be affected by my being here?