I'm really for my long absence, I hope some people are still here so here's a little summary of what happened in the previous chapters :
Hermione (Helena Grace) and Remus (Remi Lucas) have travelled through time with the help of The Jewels of Time, Hermione keeps the Ring of Time, Remus the Necklace of Time and they have both entrusted Minerva to keep the bracelet of Time. She is the only person who knows their true identities and their entire history. They finished their year at Hogwarts where Remus was a teacher and Hermione a student in Gryffindor. Thanks to a conversation Hermione overheard, they were able to intervene in a battle a few days before. They then recovered a Hocrux, Riddle'diary, which was in the Ministry, which rekindled both mental and physical wounds...
"Helping others is still the best way to help yourself."
Martin Gray
James Potter was walking along Diagon Alley, happy. Lily Evans, his girlfriend, he loved her, she loved him. When they were together like this, James forgot about the war that was coming, where they would be on the front line. He was afraid for his life, Lily's life, the marauders' life and his parents' life. He had never really lost anyone in his family, he had never known his grandparents, and he didn't know how he could endure any more pain than his friend Mary. The Order was very young, but the wizard knew that the first death would come soon. He had matured incredibly in a year, his relationship with Lily had changed him more than he had imagined. He was no longer the arrogant, spoiled brat he had been. Of course, his arrogance hadn't totally left him, he had been brought up that way, pampered and adored. He was a pureblood after all. But he was sure he had changed, much to Lily's delight.
Yet, although he was happy, he did not feel complete. His friends were drifting away from him. That was a fact. He saw very little of Peter, Remus spoke to him less and less and Sirius. Ah, Sirius. His best friend had been more than cold to him these past few weeks. He didn't understand why, they had always been as close as brothers, they understood each other better than anyone else and now they were growing apart. They had founded the marauders together, Remus had joined them afterwards and a few weeks later Peter had done the same. But as much as he adored his other two friends, he and Sirius had always had a special relationship.
"What's going on James? You're being weird."
"It's nothing, Lil's. It's just that I'm worried about Sirius. We're growing apart and I don't like it. Same with Remus and Peter. But Sirius-"
"It's Sirius, I know, your relationship will always be different. I think Sirius is having a hard time getting used to the fact that you don't spend all your time together anymore. You were always glued to each other and then all of a sudden we went out. At Hogwarts it was okay, we'd see each other but not that much, you'd still spend a lot of time with him, but now we go out a lot together, we have our own room... You spend much less time with him. I think he feels a bit left out. Remus and Peter too."
James nodded, still thinking. Lily was always good advice, she was probably right. But he didn't want to be torn between the woman he loved and his best friends.
"By Merlin!"
Lily abruptly pulled him out of his thoughts, she had walked over to a woman with ebony hair, who was having great difficulty walking and whose body was laced with scars. She was unrecognizable. Lily took her by the arm and made her turn towards her.
"Helena?"
The young woman had a look of surprise, mixed with fear and shame. If there was one person she didn't want to show her scars to, it was Lily. She'd be asking herself almost as many questions as Dumbledore. James recoiled at the sight of her.
"Oh, Lily, Potter. How are you?"
"What's happened to you?"
"I'm not sure this is the time. Rem's waiting for me, I need to look after myself, you two are walking around together..."
"Don't be silly, we're not going to let you go out like that again. I've been learning some healing spells lately and-"
"Lily, really, thank you, but..."
"You don't have a choice, Grace" James cut in. "We're taking you to the Manor."
They took her arm and before she could protest, Hermione found herself in Potter Manor. She was very surprised, this was not at all the same place she had seen when she came to Godric's Hollow with Harry. The solution quickly became clear to her, she was standing in front of Potter Manor, which had been there for generations, not in front of the house James and Lily had chosen to raise their son in. In front of this beauty she had never known, Hermione couldn't help herself and put her hand in front of her mouth with tears in her eyes. She wished Harry could have seen it too. He probably didn't even know this manor existed, where her grandparents lived, where her father had grown up.
"Helena, are you all right?"
Hermione swallowed her tears and returned to her hard look. She followed the couple into a sitting room that must have been five times the size of her room in the Leaky Cauldron. She followed Lily who showed her the way to the bathroom, so she could treat her.
"What happened?" James asked as Lily applied dictam to the witch's wounds.
"I was the victim of a spell that reopened all my wounds. The older ones had already healed well, but well, I have no choice now, the healing will have to start again."
"You mean you've had all these scars before and they've all opened up at once?" repeated Lily, more to herself than to Hermione. "But how? And why?"
"My past is a depth of memory that I don't want to and can't go back into. I have a lot to hide, Lily, and I know that the more I tell you, the more you want to know, but you'll never know."
"You're very intriguing, Grace. I don't know if I like you or not."
"I don't think you'll ever get over that. How are the Order's missions going?"
The couple looked at each other, surprised. How could she know about the Order? It was one of the secrets they tried hardest to hide.
"You know about the Order?"
"I know a lot of things Potter, and the Order is one of them. I went to see Moody, but Dumby won't let me in because I do dark magic, he doesn't believe in my story, in me. I'm far from perfect, but no one but Rem and I can want to destroy Voldemort as much as we do."
"Is he the reason you have all these scars?"
"Some of them. But most of them are from someone else. I won't talk about it, I've already told you too much."
"I don't know what you're hiding, and it would be a lie to say I wouldn't want to know, but I know you're not a Death Eater and you really do hate you-know-who. I'll help you. The Order is about destroying him, not stopping people from doing it, no matter how magical their practices. So I'm going to go to Moody and Dumbledore and make them change their minds about you and Lucas.
Hermione gave him a grateful look that James seemed to understand. Lily nodded as well, proud of her boyfriend who had grown incredibly mature. He was fighting for what he felt was right and the Helena Grace case, although it deserved a lot of thought, was something deeply right.
"Thank you so much, James. I can't thank you enough. I'll leave you to it, I've bothered you enough."
"Helena, take the dittany, we have too much. You'll need it more than we will."
"Thank you, Lily. Oh, and one more thing, stop calling him you-know-who. Call him Voldemort, or Tom Riddle if you like, but the fear of a name only makes the fear itself worse."
With that, Hermione walked out of the room and transplants with a sincere smile for the couple. They looked at each other for a long moment before speaking.
"Do you believe her?"
"There's no spell I know of that can bring back that much hurt. But she has been under something. I don't know if it's a potion, a plant or all three. It's obviously dark magic. I am proud of you."
"It's what I had to do. I can't help but believe in Helena Grace."
"I truly believe that she will save us. From what, I have no idea. But she will save us."
A few days had passed and Hermione was wandering around her room like a lost soul. She waited impatiently for an answer from the Order, she couldn't stand to be there without knowing what to do. They had destroyed, or rather, Remus had destroyed Riddle's diary three days before, and he had been affected, more than he could have imagined. Seeing Dora like this, with her eyes full of hatred, was even worse than when he had seen her retrieving the horcrux. He'd had a hard time getting over it, like Hermione had when she'd destroyed the Slytherin tiara a few months earlier. Today was a sad day for both wizards. It was July, the 31st 1978, a year since they had landed in the past. It seemed like such a long time ago, and yet so fast. A year had passed, but it didn't feel like it had been that long since they had been there. It was also Harry's birthday and even though in theory he would only be born two years later, for both wizards this day would always be special.
For Hermione it reminded her of the times they had spent together, the birthdays they had celebrated at the Burrow, Harry's last one just before the wedding, but also all their adventures since the eleventh birthday of the most famous wizard of his time, but who for her was first and foremost her best friend.
Remus, on the other hand, would always remember James' patronus, who excitedly told him that his son had been born. He had been at Harry's seventeenth birthday party, but he had no idea that it would be his last. Harry looked so much like his father, physically at least, that it was uncanny. But unlike Sirius, they had never been confused. When he'd met Harry he'd been very moved by the little baby, and he'd been happy to be his 'uncle' for a year and a half, but then the war had struck and as he'd lost the marauders he'd also lost his nephew. He had been apprehensive about his first day as a teacher, after all, Harry didn't know anything about him, he didn't know that the man who taught him was one of his parents' best friends, or that he had kept him as a baby. Remus had never explained it to him, he hadn't been that close afterwards, enough to want Harry to be Teddy's godfather, he'd also told him stories about his parents, but never more than that.
Knocks were heard on the other side of the door, bringing the two Time Travellers out of their thoughts. Hermione resigned herself to going to open the door and found the entire marauders. She looked at them for a moment without saying anything, then shook her head and spoke to them.
"What are you doing here?"
"Hello to you too, Grace. We're glad to see you."
Remus recognizing the voices had approached and glanced questioningly at Hermione who shrugged.
"You both look like shit. What's going on? It's not the full moon soon, is it?" finished Sirius, turning to Remus.
Remus shook his head and replied that he was with him less than a month ago, so no, the full moon wasn't anytime soon.
"Speaking of full moons, I need to get you some potion, you must not have much left."
"Can you make it on your own? I mean, you said Servilus helped you..." James interjected.
"Don't talk to me about him!" she retorted a little too sharply.
"Ah, finally! You're back to normal, you don't like Snape anymore!"
"Sirius, it's okay."
The marauders were still outside the entrance to the room, but they didn't seem to mind. Hermione had to remind them of the reason for their visit, which she still didn't know, before they decided to change their position.
"Can we come in? We must not be overheard."
Hermione let them in while Remus flicked his wand to put away everything that was lying around, especially the documents about the horcruxes.
"What's all this?" asked Peter as he saw them putting away all their research.
"The Order is not alone in wanting to destroy Voldemort. We're doing the best we can." Remus said quietly.
"And what is that?"
"No questions, no lies, Black. You still haven't told us what we're getting the full marauders for."
"After our talk with Lily, we went to see Moody at HQ and he told us about you. Dumbledore didn't want you to join the Order, because he doesn't really believe your story and he doesn't like your mysteries and your power, Grace. But after much negotiation, we managed to change his mind."
"Is that true?" asked Hermione, her eyes shining.
"Yes. Moody said that you can move to the HQ instead of staying at the Cauldron."
"Thank you very much Potter. I owe you, if you need anything, don't hesitate, I'll be there."
"It's nothing Grace, and we need you as much as you need the Order. But first, Moody and Dumbledore want to see you at nine o'clock in Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts."
"We'll be there, thank you again Mr. Potter."
"Oh, you can call me James. You're not my teacher anymore, Mr. Potter is my father.
"In that case, call me Remi, as you said, I'm not your teacher anymore."
"You know my name" finished Hermione.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Remus asked, at their pained looks and shining eyes.
"It's nothing. It's... my mother's birthday" she continued hesitantly.
"Why don't you go and join her in Spain?"
The other three marauders turned to him, making him understand with a look that this was not the time to say such a thing. Usually it was Sirius who made blunders like that.
"Oh, didn't Dumbledore tell you? My parents are dead. That's why I live with Rem."
"Why would he tell us? We don't talk to him much."
"We're sorry, we'll leave you to it. We'll see you tomorrow, we're all sleeping in the HQ right now."
The marauders left the room, James had a sorry look on his face towards the two wizards. They went down the stairs and arrived at the Cauldron.
"Did you know her parents were dead?" began Peter.
The other three marauders shook their heads, this was getting to be a lot of deaths. Between Harry and Ron who were supposedly her best friends, Mary and now her parents... They were beginning to understand why the young woman always had that glint of vengeance and despair in her eyes.
"And who is he to her again?"
"Her uncle. That's probably why he was sad too, his sister is dead."
"I don't think so, Padfoot."
Sirius, James and Peter turned to Remus, who still seemed to be thinking about what he had just said. Moony had gone mad! He had to be sad if his sister was dead.
"What do you mean?"
"I highly doubt Helena's mother was born today. She's probably dead for sure, a look can't hide that kind of thing. But she paused before saying it was her mother. She looked at Lucas, as if he would answer for her. So I don't know who was born on the July the 31st or what happened on that day. But I don't think his mother was born on the thirty-first of July.
"After Mumus the mediwizard man, Mumus the psycho-wizard!"
"Shut up, Sirius! Maybe Rem's right. How do you always analyse everything?"
"Ask Lily. She's way better at this than I am. If we show her our memories, she'll notice too."
Hermione and Remus apparate to Hogsmeade with only Hermione's pearl bag. Their whole life was concentrated in this small object, which contained so much. If it fell into someone else's hands, it would be a disaster. Remus had hidden it under his cloak, Dumbledore must not see it, he would ask too many questions, and since they had travelled through time, he and Hermione did not like questions.
Filch came and opened the castle doors for them, it seemed like he was there all year round, even in August. Didn't he ever take a holiday? They made their way to Dumbledore's office, and for once he was waiting for them outside his office. The Headmaster had no idea that the two wizards knew about is taste in sweets. The password of the day, chocolate frogs, made that clear.
Two other people were waiting in the office, Moody and another person whose name Hermione did not know. Dumbledore offered them a seat but they both declined.
"Grace, Lucas, this is Caradoc Dearborn. He works in the Justice Department with me. He is the director of the Magical Police Squad. He works with the snipers, among others" Moody began.
"Are you in the Order?" Hermione replied, addressing the man directly.
Remus gave her a warning look but, to his annoyance, the young woman ignored him.
"I am indeed a new member of the Order of the Phoenix. I can see by your look that you are suspicious and do not trust me, but I feel the same way about you."
"I'm not suspicious, you're not a Death Eater. I'm just curious, why you, someone quite high up in the Ministry would prefer to join an underground organisation, when he could make a difference in his workplace. As for my trust, it's earned in the field, not in an office."
He smiled, he liked the young woman's enthusiasm, she said things as she meant them.
"How can you be sure I'm not a Death Eater? You don't know me after all."
"Instinct. But there will be Death Eaters in the Order, don't dream."
"What makes you say that Miss Grace?" asked Dumbledore.
"I told you about it" she said to Moody. "An army will always have spies. We'll need spies among the Death Eaters, but you'd have to be foolish to think that Voldemort won't send his henchmen to us."
Before Hermione could reveal more than she needed to, Remus quickly changed the subject to the Battle of Oxford Street and the upcoming ones. Moody replied, but Dumbledore and Caradoc Dearborn were still watching Hermione suspiciously.
"I don't understand the purpose of bringing us here" Hermione interrupted them.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Why did you bring us here? You don't trust us so why introduce us to a new member."
"There is no purpose behind this meeting Miss Grace. I don't know what you mean."
Hermione didn't answer but stared at the three of them alternately, thinking. She couldn't attempt an intrusion into their minds, they would see it immediately, and that wasn't very smart.
"We have wasted enough time. Alastor will have you apparate to headquarters."
Following Dumbledore's lead, Moody left the office and motioned to the two Time Chosen to do the same. When they reached Hogsmeade, Eyeball took them by the arm and led them to a small square in front of some houses.
"Where are we?"
Mad-Eye took out his wand and cast a few spells as the two Time Travellers looked on. Then they saw a large house appear. They went inside and Moody introduced them.
"Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix."