Hermione knew that Sirius, who suspected that something was wrong, would not just get let her go, but she did not expect such a turn. Yes, she allowed herself to relax for a while and not think about anything, brew potions with this new Severus, play chess with a recovering Regulus, and not feel that evil fate was breathing its bad breath down her back.
She decided to let go of her problems for just two weeks! And this decision almost cost her the collapse of the whole event! The Blacks' ball was approaching, a meeting of pureblood wizards through and through, where she absolutely had to go. Rejections were not accepted. It was too important to establish contacts among the nobles and, perhaps, find out the whereabouts of the next Horcrux. It was unlikely that Riddle himself will honor them with his presence, he was furious because of the loss of Bellatrix and Regulus, but maybe someone not so suspicious would spill the beans.
Sirius was preparing to introduce Marlene to his family, Lady Walburga even promised to change her anger to mercy, and Master Orion openly laughed at his wife's suspiciousness. And Hermione finally understood who the future Head of the Family went into in character! She was ready to strangle him and herself for stupidity and short-sightedness! She got caught as a freshman.
Which reminded her about her recent conversation with Remus. It was necessary to start with someone, and Hermione traditionally chose the most accommodating one of the Marauders. She still had warm memories of her favorite teacher, and even though she had a couple of questions she wanted to ask that Remus from the past, like why he had doubts about Sirius so quickly or why he left Harry to fend for himself and even and for so many years, but, alas, the path to that life and to those people, was forever closed to Hermione. For now, Hermione thought she might be able to find an ally in young Remus.
She fell upon his head on a frosty morning at about nine o'clock and from the threshold declared that they really needed to talk. Remus was so taken aback that he let the intruder inside. He rented a small but cozy apartment on the outskirts of London and worked part-time as a laborer, doing a lot of all sorts of nonsense in record time. It seemed that desolation suited him perfectly, the Muggle world did not care about his werewolf, and the world of wizards forgot about him immediately after graduation from Hogwarts. There was food in the refrigerator, curtains hung on the windows, and a cursory inspection of the room pulled out lingerie and cosmetics from a lot of things - Bellatrix it seemed moved in with him. And how, Hermione wondered, was he going to win a noble lady? Working twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week?
Hermione sighed heavily, already realizing that she must have dragged herself here in vain, but there was nowhere to retreat. So she graciously accepted Remus' offer of a cup of tea and sat down on the couch, collecting her thoughts. She was not going to dump the whole burden of her difficult memories on him at once! But how else could she buy the trust of a suspicious werewolf who can smell a lie from a mile away, no worse than Severus?
Hermione fumbled in her pocket and handed Remus a folded piece of paper. He inspected the gift in disbelief, almost sniffed it, unfolded it, ran his eyes over, and stared dumbfounded at Hermione.
"Do you even understand what that is?"
"Better than you can imagine. This is a modified Wolfsbane, which, with the proper observance of the recipe and with the presence of a talented Master, will make you an animagus, allowing you to transform at any time and without harm to the psyche. I personally developed this recipe but did not have time to implement it for a number of reasons."
Remus swallowed hard, not letting go of the paper.
"Wolfsbane hasn't even been heard of here, let alone a modified version… Why are you doing this? Who are you? And why do you need me?"
"Wait seven or ten years, and they will hear about it here. I can help you if you help me."
"Why?" Remus muttered, darting wild eyes around the room.
"Werewolves don't succumb to Legillimency, and I need someone to keep my secret if things go to hell. And then, you hardly make both ends meet here, but you can be useful."
Remus looked up at the strange visitor with reddened eyes.
"What should I do?"
Hermione set a row of vials and a Pensieve in front of him, and gestured broadly towards the table.
"You can start in any order you like."
Remus poked his head into the Pensieve, and before his eyes flashed images of someone else's life, so similar to his own. He saw pain, disappointment, hope, friendship, love, and despair. A guy who looked like James, but with eyes like Lily's. He saw a fat kid hugging a toad, which looked like Trevor, Alice Wood's pet. He saw a red-haired kid who looked like Arthur Weasley, who always dreamed of becoming a Quidditch star. Nymphadora Tonks, now hardly more than four years old, flashed by in the Pensieve, and this girl became Remus's wife. But this was impossible! Werewolves don't separate! And where did Bella go?
Bella was here, and Sirius, and a lot of pain, loss, and fear. Remus saw one huge tragedy, a lifetime, and didn't understand a thing. He did not want such a future. He saw this strange Maya Granger, Hermione Snape, having wild conversations with a portrait of Severus. He saw the Battle of Hogwarts and his friends and himself and his family and the partner he had lost a second time. And a child who would never know his parents.
He understood Hermione's desire to make things right. He would have done exactly the same if given the chance. She asked for help, she was looking for an ally. And he did not want to lose the chance for a normal future.
Remus shook his head and emerged from Pensieve, straightening up and looking at Hermione.
"Yeah, you've made a mess, Hermione Snape, you can't clear it up in three lifetimes."
"Maya Granger," Hermione snapped. "Don't call me by my real name, please. So?"
"I'll help you if you want it, I don't know, really, for now, in what exactly my help will be expressed. And I will do this not at all out of a desire to take possession of a wonderful potion."
Hermione snorted.
"Of course, you're a Gryffindor, and we've never been particularly mercantile. Or looking for our own benefit."
"You sound like Snape."
"No wonder; I was his wife. And hopefully, I will be once again..."
"What do you need from me?"
"I will need everyone to believe in the fairy tale that I am your second cousin on the maternal side, especially Sirius. He obviously suspects me of something, and I'm not ready to dump the details of my dark past on him yet. Besides, if I'm going to meet with the Order of the Phoenix, I need to make sure they don't suspect me of anything either."
"All right," Remus nodded, "I'll do everything in my power to feed the Padfood a plausible story. Prongs will take Lily's word for it, and we will deal with Frank and Alice later. What about Severus, by the way?"
"So far I've been able to talk nonsense into him, but… I don't know. Here everything is radically different from the world to which I am accustomed."
"I can imagine... I did not like what I saw in your memories, and you lived in it. But I will help you, I promise."
Hermione nodded with a smile, and she and Remus parted on almost amicable terms.
Everything was spoiled the next evening, when she wearily trudged from Severus, staying up late at his place and deciding to clear her mind. Sirius ambushed her in a dark alley, which teemed with the already not-too-bright Coakworth, and pressed her against the wall.
"I don't know who you are or why you came here, Maya Granger, or whatever you are, but Remus never had second cousins and you are not listed on any of the Beauxbatons lists!"