Part 5

"So how are you handling being thrown so far into the past?" Lily asked.

Hermione had gotten an owl from Lily just a few days ago. Lily, Alice and her had become friends over the last few months. Hermione knew it was only natural, because for one thing she was only a few years older than they were and for another they were grateful that she had saved both them and their families from a terrible fate. The Potters now knew that they had died in her original time leaving their son an orphan, that Dumbledore had placed with Lily's sister and her husband, which was the last place he should've gone, except into the hands of Death Eaters. As for the Longbottoms Alice and her husband Frank had ended up driven insane by overuse of the Cruciatus Curse and ended up in St. Mungo's in their permanent spell damage ward, while their son Neville had ended up growing up with his very overbearing grandmother making him very shy.

Besides, in someways she and Lily were very similar in their thought processes, though certainly not in their personalities, so they got along fairly well. Lily was rapidly becoming her best girlfriend in this time, with Alice a close second.

Part of that was that both women knew their fates and she was helping them to avoid them simply by being there and giving them the information they needed, though that didn't mean that they didn't have to be careful. Terrible things could still happen to them and they could still end up in a similar situation, even if it happened in a different way from the original timeline.

She and Remus were also fairly close probably because he was the smart, logical one of the Marauders, something she had already known from her time. As for the Prewett twins she felt totally different about them altogether, though she had yet to tell them.

"I'm handling it okay," Hermione answered. "I miss my friends and my parents in particular, but it's not like I intended to be thrown back in time. Besides, my two best friends had already died by the time I was thrown back. Once I was here I didn't see any reason that things couldn't be changed to the point that things didn't happen the same way in the future. Voldemort will soon be gone, permanently and then we can go about changing the British magical world for the better."

"Yes, things need to change or there will just be another Dark Wizard sometime in the future, probably in our lifetimes," Lily immediately agreed.

That was one thing Hermione really appreciated and that was Lily Potter was just as intelligent as she was. She understood that the inherent bigotry within the British wizarding world would just lead to another Dark Wizard sometime in the next 50 years or so and then another after that

"Probably," Hermione agreed. "Voldemort was just around the corner from Grindelwald, as he was already in school when Grindelwald was causing his reign of terror. I won't be surprised if there is another Dark Wizard out there that's thinking about following in Voldemort's footsteps, it might even be one of his Death Eaters, though I freely admit that that most of them are inbred idiots."

"Still, there are exceptions," Lily said as she ate her lunch.

"Yes, there are. I'm going to do the best I can to change the British wizarding world where the bigotry isn't so blatant," Hermione said.

"It helps that both James, and Frank are on the Wizengamot," Lily said and Hermione nodded.

"So are the Bones and that will give us three votes right there," Hermione agreed.

"There are plenty other families that will agree with what we want to do as well like the Abbotts, so it won't be too hard to get them on our side so that changes can be made," Lily said.

"I'm just glad that the Dolores Umbridge isn't on the Wizengamot, nor a part of the ministry yet," Hermione said with an expression of disgust.

"What has this person done to offend you so deeply?" Lily asked in surprised when she notice Hermione look of disgust.

Hermione explained all about Umbridge and how she was a bigot of the highest order and had put laws against other creatures including werewolves and centaurs and that she was basically a blood purist and supported the pureblood agenda. "Cornelius Fudge, who was minister in my time, basically gave her free rein. She made the lives of the students hell in our fifth year, because Dumbledore couldn't find anybody to take the DADA position."

"Yes, I see why you dislike her so much," Lily admitted.

"You saw her in my memory when I showed those in the Order in Dumbledore's Pensieve."

"I did, but I had forgotten." Lily admitted. "There was just so much going on at the time. I was worrying for my son that had to be born."

"She made it even harder for people like Remus to find work. Most werewolves hate what they are and just want a home, decent work and a family. Of course there are exceptions," Hermione said, thinking about Fenrir Greyback.

Lily knew that Hermione was referring to Fenrir Greyback who enjoyed biting children in particular. He was the one that had bitten Remus as a little boy.

"You know that's why it was decided not to tell you and James until after you were pregnant with Harry as I didn't want your worrying to block conception," Hermione added answering her friend's earlier comment. "If anybody is familiar with what worry and stress will do to you it's me and I was not about to let my best friend not be born."

Lily smiled at that. She knew that she was going to make Hermione Harry's godmother, as they had gotten quite close over the last several months. She had been going to ask Alice, but it had been decided that Hermione would be best, considering that she had been best friends with her son in the future. She was only a few weeks from giving birth, so it wouldn't be long now. She could hardly wait and not because she couldn't wait to get rid of the backaches, the swollen ankles and the other aches and pains associated with pregnancy, but because she really looking forward to her son to be born and she knew that Hermione was as well.

"It won't be long now," Hermione said in an uncanny echo of Lily's own thoughts.

"I can hardly wait and not because I'm just ready to give birth, but I know how special my son will grow up to be. You saved my son from a terrible fate and I will always be grateful to you for that," Lily said. "I know you didn't ask to come back and that it was fate or some other nebulous force that brought you to this time, but once you realized your situation you immediately decided to make changes. You even contacted someone you despise as you knew he could help you. That takes real courage," Lily added when she saw Hermione was about to protest. "Personally, I wouldn't have been able to prevent myself from punching Dumbledore in the nose once I saw what he had done to my son. I've always been handy with charms and by the time I was done the headmaster wouldn't have been recognizable as human I promise you."

Hermione giggled did that. "I have to admit I agree with you and I've always been really handy with Transfiguration and I would've turned him into a baboon or something endangered that a zoo would want because the species is nearly extinct. We could've made a tidy profit by selling him in his animal form."

"That would've been hilarious," Lily giggled.

"Unfortunately it can't happen," Hermione sighed. "Right now, the wizarding world needs Dumbledore too much. I've come to realize that this Dumbledore is very different from the one in my own time. I think he had gone senile in my time as it makes his actions make so much sense if that's the case, particularly those concerning Harry. He was also likely obsessed with the prophecy, fulfilling it the way he believed it should be fulfilled, which didn't help. The fact that he's a born meddler doesn't help either. His actions put the school in danger more than once over the years I attended and I don't think this Dumbledore would ever do that. Even magicals can go senile you know, so it's not just a Muggle problem."

"I suppose we can't blame this version of Dumbledore for the actions of his future self," Lily said looking almost disappointed that she wouldn't be up to hex the old wizard into oblivion.

"No, we really can't. It wouldn't be fair. The stuff I went through hasn't happened yet and once Voldemort is gone it never will. All it's going to take is for someone to get in a lucky shot because he has no Horcruxes left now," Hermione agreed.

She, the Prewett twins, Remus, Sirius, James and Dumbledore had put Hermione's idea into action some months ago. She had told Dumbledore how they could get past enchantment on the ring of sinks that led to the Chamber of Secrets.

Dumbledore had blinked at her in astonishment and admitted that it was such a simple solution that he was surprised it had never entered his mind. Hermione had then informed him that was because having magic seemed to make a person unable to think logically or at least that was true of great majority of witches and wizards. She had asked Dumbledore why they would try to get past such an ancient and powerful enchantment when it would likely destroy the bathroom if they managed it. Going through the floor seemed a much simpler solution and would leave the bathroom mostly intact. None of them spoke Parseltongue, so why bother to go up against such ancient magic and Dumbledore had agreed along with everyone else. It had been relatively easy to destroy once they had entered the chamber, as the basilisk had been sleeping ever since Tom Riddle had left it there after killing Myrtle Warren, a Muggle-born witch. Getting past the door that led into the chamber had been simple considering that Tom Riddle had apparently left it open The last time he had been there. Extremely careless of the one that became Voldemort but maybe he thought that even if somebody figured out where the entrance was they would never be up to get past it. Tom Riddle, even as a teenager was certainly arrogant enough to believe that nobody would be able to get into the Chamber of Secrets except for him. But then, Parseltongue was a rare talent in Britain and also considered dark, so perhaps, it wasn't so arrogant after all.

They had brought several roosters along and made sure that they crowed at the appropriate time, by making the rooster believe that the sun was rising. A simple sunburst charm had accomplished the goal quite easily and the basilisk was dead soon after they had entered the chamber. It's death throes had shaken the foundation of the castle, so it was a good thing they had waited until the Christmas holidays.

It had been nearly anticlimactic and Hermione at least was astonished that it had been so easy to get rid of a basilisk that had put her and several of our classmates in the infirmary petrified in her time. She couldn't help but wonder why Dumbledore had never dealt with such a dangerous creature that was within the castle walls and therefore, a danger to the students. She supposed that, even if he had known where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was there was no way he could've gone past the powerful enchantments without speaking Parseltongue. Still, the solution had been fairly simple, if only he had looked at it logically, which a lot of witches and wizards were lacking unfortunately. She supposed she was being unfair as it wasn't exactly encouraged to think for oneself not in magical Britain at least, which was part of the problem, but only part. Still, the basilisk was dealt with and that was what mattered. There would be no great monster attacking the students once Harry started school.

The basilisk was worth a great deal and Dumbledore had agreed to split the funds between Hermione, the school and Snape who was going to do the rendering work. Sirius and James also deserved a portion as did the Prewett twins, but they had turned it down for different reasons. James and Sirius had plenty of money of their own due to their family fortunes so there was no point of taking away from those that didn't have so much. Thanks to Lily, the Potter fortune had increased considerably since they had gotten married thanks to her knowledge of the Muggle world and so he had no need of the money from a dead basilisk.

As for the twins they knew the ministry would be suspicious if somebody happened to check into their Gringotts account for whatever reason, so it was better if they didn't take any of what the basilisk parts would be worth once sold. Somebody might not ever look into their Gringotts account with the proper legal authority, but you never knew so the twins felt it would better be safe just in case. However Hermione or 'Mia' was an unknown and essentially didn't exist for the ministry, so it was safe for her to take a portion of the money that would be made once the parts were sold. Dumbledore had agreed and so the money made would be split between Hogwarts, Snape and Mia.

"So any potential boyfriends?" Lily asked her friend already suspecting that she was interested in at least one of the Prewett twins and vice versa. She had seen at Order meetings how the Prewett twins kept others away from her at least when it came to her getting involved in a possible relationship. Sirius had tried to flirt with her and the twins had stepped in immediately and put a stop to it. Sirius may be a flirt, but he wasn't stupid so he had backed off, though Lily was sure he was just waiting for an opportunity to flirt some more, but he wouldn't so long as the twins were in the picture. He had that much decency at least.

It was obvious that the twins were interested in this young woman from the future, but she wasn't entirely sure if Mia realized it. Mia seemed rather oblivious, but Lily supposed if you had been fighting a war basically since you were 11 then finding yourself a boyfriend wasn't exactly high on the list of priorities.

Hermione blushed and Lily knew instantly that she had been right.

"Ah! I see I was right," Lily said triumphantly.

"You know I was dating someone?" Hermione asked surprised.

"No, I didn't, but I knew that it was bound to happen eventually, as human beings are not meant to be alone. Yes, I'm aware, that a lot of people choose never to marry, but most humans magical or not to get married at some point. I knew that several of the male Order members were interested in you and I saw that you didn't really notice or at least didn't take it seriously. I also saw how Gideon and Fabian reacted whenever Kingsley or Sirius flirted with you. Didn't you notice that they put a stop to others flirting with you immediately. They wouldn't have done that if they weren't interested and probably a little jealous as well."

"I did notice at the time, and I was grateful," Hermione admitted. "I really didn't think anything of it though, other then they were helping me out as I didn't really have time to flirt or at that time the desire to."

"No, you were too busy changing our past so we could have a better future," Lily teased her.

"Well, I figured I had been thrown back in time for a reason," Hermione shrugged casually. "I couldn't see being sent here as just a way to save my life, even if I know I would have been dead if I hadn't ended up here. I have no doubt that was the Death Eater who was chasing me original intention."

"They're all just murdering bastards," Lily said and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"All except ones like Regulus who was forced by his mother whose a very bad witch. In my time, Regulus was the perfect son that did what his parents wanted, changed his mind once he realized that Voldemort was basically immortal and was killed for his betrayal. Regulus isn't a bad boy at all really, but was just pressured by his parents until he gave in. His mother harped on him until he finally did what she wanted. Believe me, his mother was horrible, as I met her portrait in the future. I'm glad I never met the live version, as her portrait was bad enough. Besides, nobody should die at just 18 years old as we're still immature at that age or at least most of us are."

"Yes, I have to agree that 18 is way too young to die," Lily said. "You haven't really had a chance to live life yet, since kids have basically just graduated from some school at that age. They haven't had a chance to have a job they love, meet a girl or boy they like, get married, have children."

"I don't think that Regulus or Sirius's mother cared that she was at least partially at fault for her youngest son's death. Regulus died before he ever really had a chance to live in my time and Sirius dies in our fifth year, which is the end of the House of Black or at least the main line, because he was the last known heir. Sirius left everything to Harry because his grandmother was a Black as well, but Harry definitely never had a chance to get married and have kids, so that ended two important wizarding lines once he was murdered. That kind of thing might not be important to you and me, but it's certainly important to the purebloods."

"That won't happen this time," Lily said looking instantly fierce and protective, even as she clutched her belly protectively.

"No, it won't I promise you that," Hermione said her eyes glimmering with determination. "Harry might not be my brother in this time, but he will definitely be my nephew and I won't allow a deranged old coot to decide his destiny. If I have my way there will be no stupid prophecy for Dumbledore to get obsessed over. I think that's one thing that started the headmaster's decline you know."

"The prophecy?" Lily asked and Hermione nodded.

"I think that's what started him down the path to going senile. I think he became so obsessed with it that he was determined to have it come true the way he wanted it to. He couldn't just let it play out he had to meddle, which he's famous for doing by the way. I think that prophecy is the main reason he left Harry with your sister and her husband. I suspect that he wanted Harry to be humble and look up to him with awe, so that he could be a mentor to him when the time came. He didn't want fame to go to Harry's head, make him arrogant and full of himself and while I can understand that, there were certainly families that would have loved him and raised him to be a good person instead of what happened. I don't believe that those blood wards could possibly have protected him or really even worked considering from what I know there was absolutely no love in that home and the wards were supposedly based on love and also your sacrifice. I don't see how those wards could work, no matter what Dumbledore's instruments said."

"So you think it's sheer dumb luck that he wasn't killed in his time with my sister."

"Yes, I do, because I know he was physically abused and he told me he likely would've died if not for his magic. My Dumbledore made a bad mistake there but refused to admit it. Besides, babies and young children aren't that hard to kill really, even those with magic, so I suspect that it was Harry's magic that kept him alive," Hermione explained. "I doubt that woman even bothered to change Harry's diapers more than once a day.

"From what I know I'm actually surprised Petunia just didn't take him to an orphanage," Lily said.

"I don't think she could, because of the letter that Dumbledore left tucked into Harry's blankets. It probably had some kind of charm on it so the minute she took him into her home that likely sealed her fate," said Hermione. "It's just a theory I have had for awhile, but I think I'm right, because I can't see your sister keeping an unwanted baby otherwise."

"You know that's totally unfair and that Dumbledore didn't even knock on the door to ask whether or not my sister was willing to take him in," Lily said.

"It's definitely rude anyway," Hermione agreed. "Dumbledore never even considered that they might not want the baby, their nephew or not and the headmaster gave them 1001 reasons to resent Harry being placed on their doorstep. It's not easy to control your resentment especially when you're not the nicest people anyway. It probably never even occurred to the Dursleys that Harry was innocent in the whole affair, because he was only a little bit over a year old when you died. I'm not entirely sure if it was just your sister that was a bad influence on Vernon or if it was the other way around. In any case, they are not the type of people that you can force to take in a child and expect them to treat that child with love and care. Considering that you never made up with your sister when you were alive it's really no wonder that she took out her resentment, anger and hate on the only object available to her, her nephew."

"Maybe Dumbledore knew how Petunia would respond if asked to take in her nephew if he did knock on the door so he didn't bother," Lily speculated. "I had told him some things about Petunia after all, so he probably guessed that she would just slam the door in his face."

"That sounds just like the headmaster I knew," Hermione snorted. "He apparently doesn't know a damn thing about human nature and for a man that's over 125 in this time and nearly 150 in my own that's ridiculous or perhaps he just chose to ignore it. For someone who is as old, as he is that's absolutely pitiful, especially for someone as intelligent as he supposedly is."

"So back to the subject we were discussing a few minutes ago," Lily said.

"I was actually hoping you had forgotten about that topic," Hermione said.

"I just bet you were," Lily giggled. "So does this mean you're dating one of the Prewett twins?"

"Both actually," Hermione blushed.

"Both?" Lily asked in astonishment.

"Triads aren't all that unusual in the wizarding world," explained Hermione. "It's not as common as it once was, but it still happens sometime and it's perfectly legal. Even in my time it's legal."

"So how did that happen?" Lily asked.

"They both just decided that they were interested in me and asked me if I'd be willing to date both of them until we saw where the relationship took us. They told me that if I was more interested in one of them then the other would withdraw or if I wasn't interested in either one of them I was free to find someone else."

"So how is it going?" Lily asked once she had gotten over her shock.

"It's going fine," Hermione blushed.

"You love them," Lily said suddenly, as if coming to a forgone conclusion.

"I do," Hermione admitted after a long silence. "I haven't told them so yet, but I probably should soon. I was already strongly attracted to them, but I tried to fight that attraction at first."

"Why would you?" Lily asked.

"Because there was so much to do to prevent the future I come from, from happening," explained Hermione. "And because I was afraid. I've never truly been in love before. George and I agreed to date after the war was over, but unfortunately, he's just a young child at the moment so that option is denied me."

"George Weasley?" Lily asked Hermione nodded.

"I always liked him for some reason and he was only 15 months older than I was in my time, even if we were always two years apart in school, but that's because my birthday is in late September."

"So the age difference is nothing," Lily said.

"That was true in my time, but it's not any longer. Both Fabian and Gideon look a great deal like the twins that I knew so well, so it's no wonder I started to have a gigantic crush on them."

"I hope you don't see them as a substitute for George," Lily said worried.

"No, of course, I don't. I turned them down at first, because I thought I should remain alone, just because this wasn't my time and because I was afraid, but luckily, they talked some sense into me. They told me that magicals live a long time and that it wouldn't be healthy for me to live alone for the rest of my life. They were right and I knew it. Magicals can live for several hundred years depending on numerous factors of course. I wasn't really sure how the relationship was going to work out, but it's going splendidly and certainly better than I expected. I really think that I could marry them and be happy, though I made sure they understood that I wasn't going to be a stay-at-home mother and I was going to have my own career. Whether I love them or not I refuse to be treated as if my desires are unimportant. I reminded them that I came from the modern world where a lot of women have careers if they desire to."

"How did they respond that?" Lily asked curiously.

"Certainly better than I really expected, considering what time they grew up in. I know you noticed that the British wizarding world is way behind the modern one," Hermione suggested.

"Yes, it really is," Lily agreed. "I've learned to love the wizarding world though, even if I do wish it was a little more modern."

"Well, I told the twins that I was going to maintain contact with my roots as I never could have just live in the wizarding one after I graduated as me and my parents were always extremely close and there was no way I could have abandoned them."

"Yeah, that's what the wizarding world seems to expect for those parents without magic. They seem to expect them to put their children on the train and then basically forget about them completely. I don't think those in charge really think about the fact that parents love their kids at least mostly and there is no way that they are going to abandon their children just so they can live in a strange world they know little about. There seems to be a great chasm between the British wizarding world and the normal one which I think is a shame."

"That's something I'm going to try to change in the future," Hermione said. "I agree with you, by the way, I think it's ridiculous. I already told Dumbledore this is something that needs to be corrected, because witches and wizards are sticking out more and more as the world gets more modern and some nonmagical someday is going to discover us just because witches and wizards don't know how to dress appropriately for the time."

"If only more people would see that," Lily sighed. "Even Muggle-borns for the most part don't see it the way we do."

The two chatted a little more and Lily tried to get Hermione to reveal more about the relationship she had with the twins, Hermione refused to indulge her with details and Lily pouted in disappointment.

~~~Gideon, Hermione, Fabian~~~

"So are you ready to tell Molly about you relationship with Fabian and I?" Gideon asked Hermione.

"Yes," Hermione said. "Considering that you and Fabian just proposed and I said yes, we really need to, although I suspect that Molly already knows that we've been dating. She implied awhile back that I had feelings for you and that you had feelings for me. At the time as you're aware I was refusing to acknowledge my feelings."

"Both Fabian and I understand why now that we know a lot more about your past," Gideon said. "Even verbal insults can affect someone and if you're told you are plain or ugly or that nobody would ever want you for more then a brief relationship often enough then you start to believe it."

"Yes, children are very impressionable, even intelligent ones," Hermione agreed, feeling love swell through her as Gideon placed a gentle hand on her arm, a rather intimate gesture and meant to be so. She really enjoyed those kind of touches as it was subtle and discreet and used mostly in public places, but it let her know that she was loved for herself and not just her brain. She could actually see herself bearing Fabian and Gideon's children after Voldemort was dead of course. When the twins proposed she knew she loved them and so accepted, as they had been right when they told her that she couldn't live the rest of her life alone with only a few friends to keep her from going insane.

She knew she'd love them enough to last a lifetime and she knew that they loved her enough to allow her to break out of the traditional wizarding role of being a homemaker and child bearer. This was the 80s and the 60s in which they had grown up had long since vanished. In the Muggle world a lot of women worked now to help provide for their families, but the wizarding world here in England was different she knew, as it was very far behind the rest of the world. She knew that Molly for example wouldn't likely approve, but she did have to have something useful to do or she would go insane. Sure, she'd look after the kids when the time came but that wasn't enough, not for her. Luckily, Gideon and Fabian understood this and agreed that she could find herself a job, though with the money from the basilisk carcass that was still coming in, in installments she had enough to live the rest of my life, just on the portion she received, even if things hadn't worked out between her and the twins.

"I suspect that Molly will be mad, that we didn't tell her we had started dating sooner and that we got engaged behind her back," Hermione said.

"Probably, but she'll understand eventually that we didn't want her to butt in, not when we weren't sure if the relationship was going to work out or not," Hermione said.

Gideon gave her a look so Hermione corrected her statement hastily. "Alright, I wasn't sure if it was going to work out and I didn't want Molly trying to force us together. I know her habit of meddling from my own time, even if I know she does it with the best of intentions."

"Yeah, I remember you telling Fabian and I about how she tried to force you and Ron together," Gideon said.

"Well, I wouldn't say forced, more like strongly encouraged, but I just didn't feel about your nephew that way. I think Molly understood that bringing new blood into the family would be a good thing, but that her youngest son was too offensive to get himself a girlfriend or at least keep one. No one with any brains would put up with his laziness, insults about almost everything or his tendency not to close his mouth when he is gulping food down as if it's about to become illegal. Inbreeding is the main problem of why purebloods often only have one child and is also the reason for the mental defects that so many families develop. The reason that so many of the Blacks are insane for instance is because they tend to breed too closely to their own cousins, just to keep their blood supposedly pure."

"That would certainly explain Bellatrix," Gideon mused. "Her parents are second cousins."

"Which is much too closely related to be safe. I think Andromeda and Narcissa got really lucky that they didn't end up with their older sister's madness. I've heard that magic takes care of a lot of things that would effect a Muggle, but it doesn't always and Bellatrix is just one of those people that magic couldn't help."

"Come on we better be going before we're late for dinner. Fabian is supposed to meet us there."

"I'll see you at the Burrow," Hermione agreed before disappearing with the soft pop.

Gideon looked at the spot where Mia had disappeared then swiftly followed her.

~~~Gideon, Hermione, Fabian~~~