DISCLAIMER. None of the characters used are a creation of mine. They belong solely to JK Rowling.

Once back at Hogwarts, Hermione often caught Rab looking the perfect image of listlessness. It was then that Hermione came to realise how much he had truly cared for his brother.

In the previous timeline, when there had been no sister for Rab to look after he must have been even more devoted to Rolf. It would only make sense for him to do exactly he had been asked to.

She saw as the weeks passed and he seemed more weighed down each day than the last. She had even written to Papa for she was at her wit's end about how to bring him back to life. He wouldn't give her the slightest chance to pry.

Even his friends Melinda and that bastard Dolohov seemed to have noticed something was bothering the boy.

One day she decided she would simply have to corner him somehow.

She snuck up on him as he was returning from Quidditch practice and despite his many protests at being tired and hungry she pulled him into an empty classroom.

'I have had it. Spit it out. Quickly please because honestly you stink.' Hermione screamed.

Rab refused to answer.

'You can't just hide away from the world, Rab. He's my brother too.'

His eyes turned to look at her staring at him earnestly. 'He has been there for me since I was a child. Before you even came along, he was always there. Always taking care of me. And now he wants me to sign away my life to something I don't believe in.' He struggled to breathe, 'He wrote to me soon after we arrived here.'

Hermione gasped, 'And you didn't think I would want to know about that? Or Papa?'

'Papa does know.'

Hermione cried out in protest, 'You can't just keep things from me. I'm family too. I deserve to know if our brother asks you to give up your life in order to murder the helpless.'

'Mi, please.. don't get involved in this.'

'Rab, I've already lost one brother. I can't lose you too. Merlin, I'd be so lost without you. I have no one. Nobody to call my own in this world except for you and Papa.'

He would never understand the sincerity behind her sentiment but every word she said to him was nothing less than the ugly truth of her life for she had really been dumped into an entirely new world she knew nothing about.

'You don't have to worry. I'm leaving the country soon after I finish my NEWTS. I've applied for a place at Klurgfirst Institute of the Art of Curse Breaking in Wales. I expect to hear from them soon.'

Hermione smiled at him and clapped he r hands together. 'Oh, that is excellent. I could learn so much through you. Trust me, I am going to make full use of your knowledge, brother.'

Rab laughed at his sister's sudden change in mood which had surprisingly lightened up his mood as well.

Oh, the wonders of what family could do for your health.

-o-o-o-

Hermione had taken to spend her evenings in the Room of Requirement working in her leather case. The potion had been brewed perfectly and she had begun casting the various charms she had learned over the course of the first term spent at school.

She had to return to her dorms at night. Rab would often keep tabs on where she went which infuriated her to no end. She had never had to deal with an overprotective brother before and it was honestly getting so exhausting.

She would be finished soon. In around ten days after which she would begin her hunt for the diadem in the Room of Hidden Things. She wouldn't have any help from Harry this time around who could sense the presence of the horcruxes.

One day when Hermione had nothing else to do she found herself strolling through the various aisles of the Hogwarts searching for books on genealogies of various families. As a pureblood she had already learned most of the family trees of English pureblood Houses. She hadn't found a single trace of a boy named Harry.

Could it be he hadn't retained his name like Hermione had?

With that thought she had only just settled into her usual seat at the very far end where nobody ever came. But before she could even open the books she had picked she heard a terribly broken sound come from a boy hidden behind the shadows.

She walked on the tips of her toes and as she came upon the crying boy, her heart broke in a million little pieces.

To see a scared looking Remus Lupin sobbing behind aging library books did something to Hermione's person.

She could guess what had him sobbing like this. She was absolutely certain he was sad over his change since the full moon was the very next day. He must be going through his pre moon cycle.

She remembered the older Remus getting extremely cranky and overly emotional before the full moon.

So she quietly went to sit beside him.

He didn't notice her presence for the longest time but when his wolfish senses finally picked up on her smell, he jumped into the air.

He hurried to wipe way any tears that had stayed behind and gulped. He was at a loss of words and stood there just staring at her.. begging her to keep this to herself.

'Its okay. Crying is really the best form of catharsis and it looked like you needed it.' Hermione smiled at him, 'You shouldn't be wallowing in self pity, you know? It's not your fault what some raving werewolf did to you. You didn't ask for this.'

Remus was startled. In less than a minute his face went from an expression of sadness to that of terror and then to complete and utter heartbreak.

'Will you.. with you tell the others about me? I don't want to leave..' He said in a broken whisper.

'Don't be silly. I'm sure Dumbledore knows and his judgment is enough to quell any fears anybody might have but no, I shan't tell anyone. It's not my secret to tell.'

'How did you find out?'

Hermione shrugged, 'I knew a werewolf once before. He was a great man. Very brave, too. I know the scars you have are characteristic to those received from a lycanthrope.'

Remus looked down in shame.

'Remus, you shouldn't be embarrassed. Brace it before it kills you.'

'I am a monster.. Hermione.'

'For twelve nights a year. Which you spend locked up somewhere hurting yourself instead of giving in to your primal desires and hunting down anybody who crosses your path. You choose to remain human even when you lose your mind, Remus. If that's not saintly I don't know what is,' she chuckled. 'Besides you don't look all that terrifying to me so sue me but no, I will not quiver at the sight of you.'

Remus laughed lightly at that but sobered up as if realising his laughter was cursed and somehow.. wrong.

'I have to lie to them every month. They are the first friends I have made. Ever since with was bitten.. when I was four. And I have to lie to them.' He slid down the wall.

Hermione leaned against a shelf, 'I am sure they would accept you if you told them. They would never shun you like you expect them to. Have some faith in your friendship.'

Remus shook his head furiously. 'They cannot know. They must not know. Ever. They will only put themselves in danger by trying something reckless to help me. James would come up with something absolutely ridiculous and Sirius would support him. Peter might refuse but he could never stay behind. He likes a challenge, that one.

And their foolishness will cost them their life. They wouldn't be helping me. They would be helping a monster.. a creature who would have no other senses working other than his bloodlust.'

Hermione breathed out a sigh, 'It is your decision and I can't make it for you but I believe the sooner you reveal your secret to then the sooner you can finally be free. And happy.'

'They cannot know. Please.'

'You shouldn't have to suffer alone.'

-o-o-o-

She had not realised just how huge the Room of Hidden Things was. Not even while she had been running for her life as Fiendfyre had forced her out of the room a those years ago.

She had already spent the better part of the last two weeks looking for the diadem. She was beginning to get restless but was sure it was here and that she would find it. Giving up was not an option when the world depended on it.

She had spent her entire weekend looking for the lost relic and was tired to the bone.

She was on her way to the Great Hall when she turned around the corner of the seventh floor corridor and crashed with someone causing her to fall down flat on her arse.

She was helped up into a standing position once again by a very flustered Sirius Black.

'I am sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going.' Hermione said and made to leave before he could say something back.

But he grabbed onto her arm and turned her around. 'Hermione.. er.. could we talk?'

Hermione raised her brow, 'Are you pulling a prank on me?'

'What? NO! I just wanted to chat.'

'Why would the Gryffindor King want to talk to a slimy snake?' Hermione spat.

'Hermione, come on.. please.' Sirius begged.

'Why, is it okay for you to be seen talking to me now? Have you finally grown up? Or am I no longer evil?'

'Why must you make it more difficult than it already is?' He complained, pulling onto the strands of his hair.

'Because you have been a complete arse. I won't play your games, Sirius. You need to make up your mind. You can't just ignore me and then be concerned for me. You can't overlook my entire existence and our friendship for months on end and then ask me to chat?'

Sirius looked away in shame.

'Will you do the same to your brother when he arrives next year? Because he's terrified. He already has Walburga breathing down his neck all the time. He needs you, Sirius.'

A silent I need you hung in the air.

'What did you want to say? I have places to be.' Hermione said, calm once again.

'Thank you.'

She frowned, 'What for?'

'For the scarf you sent me. You are still the same girl who thought about me as her own. Just.. thank you.'