authorsnotes: ahh, I suck at updating! there goes my plan to update everything before the end of 2020 (though that was might optomisitc of me), please excuse my lateness on being mad busy at work! and please take this chapter as an apology!

as always pls enjoy, let me know what you think!

songrecs: if I can't have you - shawn mendes (fuck this song like encapsulates this fic)

"Lily!"

He couldn't hear properly, it was like his head was submerged under water, like someone had cast a muffliato charm near him and he'd been caught in the effect. It was as though people were talking slower, that the air around him had changed.

He would have fainted, hit the floor and lolled over if not for Hermione gripping his hand hard, even stepping closer to loop her arm through his and grip him, her fingernails digging into him. It hurt a little but wasn't enough to bring him back to himself.

Not with his Mother stood in front of him.

Someone he'd only seen as a spirit, standing by his side, someone he'd only seen swirling in a mist of gold, or in the memories the Dementors had forced upon him. His Mother, who'd thrown herself in front of the killing curse to protect him, his Mother who had walked with him to death, his Mother who more than any else he had hoped to see at the other side.

"Lily!" The voice yelled again, but to Harry it was a distant cry.

"Alright" His Mother yelled back, her fiery red hair quivering a little as she turned back to them, the eyes that matched his – people hadn't been lying, they were a perfect match. In fact, perhaps she could see it too as she narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion.

"I'll talk to you two later" She said, though he noticed her glare had changed a little as she looked at him now, near ignoring Hermione, and instead she looked a little curious, confused even, but her friend yelled a third time and she rolled her eyes, and turned away from them and stomped off.

"Yes Marlene!" He heard her yell, "I'm coming!" But again it was as though he was under water, he couldn't hear properly, see properly, feel properly, not as Lily Potter nee Evans was walking away from him, though glanced back, still looking a little confused as she looked at him, her green eyes meeting his.

A perfect match.

He didn't really take notice or wrench his eyes from her, even as she made for the common room door, he didn't look away even as he felt himself being pulled, tugged up the stairs, an iron grip on his arm, yanking him away from the corridor. He still felt that odd sensation of not really taking anything in, how could he?

Seeing his Father had been one thing, seeing James Potter alive and well had been a delight, as well as Sirius and Remus, seeing them together, laughing, carefree, had been something to make him feel as though he might split his cheeks from smiling, he had wanted to run over, hug them, join them, bask in the joy of them being here and alive.

He wanted to run the corridors with them, laugh and swap stories, hug them until his arms hurt, of course.

But with his Mother it was different.

He could feel it in his bones as he looked at her, she was his Mother. The woman who had given him everything but been torn away from him too soon, the woman who had given him life, who had given him her life. Could she could feel something about him? Could she sense that connection? Yhat even though he was technically older than her now (boy that was strange), could she sense her son stood in front of her, her flesh and blood. He wonders if she can sense it, instinct and all.

"Harry!" He becomes aware then of Hermione talking, though again her voice is muffled. She shakes him, once, twice, "Harry!" Still muffled, his mind is not here, on his best friend trying to talk to him, it is filled with the image of Lily Evans, and the green eyes that so matched his.

That is until he feels himself shocked back to the present by a torrent of freezing water.

He splutters and coughs, "Jeez Hermione" He says as he is dried as quickly as he was soaked, and he can see now, back in the moment with Hermione stood in front of him rolling her eyes.

He realises sat where he is she has dragged him upstairs, into their little room, at the top of the tower. He glances past her, at the window, and what looks out, they are so high up… high above the clouds almost.

For some reason he is reminded of when he rode the dragon and Buckbeak, flying high…

"Sorry Harry" Though frankly she didn't look very sorry, "But you were completely out of it"

"I know" He does know, and as Hermione takes a seat next to him and tucks her arm in his he shuffles a little closer to her, "It was her"

"I know" She repeats his words, nods her head as she settles it on his shoulder, and he places his on hers. Comfort, companionship, something they had offered one another in the darkest of times, and now here, in the strangest of times.

They had been through so much together, trials and hardships, and yet had managed to come out the other side … somehow.

"It was her" He can't quite get over it, his Mother, here, alive. Of course when he had seen his Father alive and well he had thought of his Mother too, but now? Seeing it in reality? It is hard to take in, and he was sure he would be on the floor if Hermione were not gripping him, holding him tightly and steadfast, like an anchor.

"I know" She says again, and they just grip one another a little tighter, a little closer.

It feels like they sit that way for hours, when really it is only minutes. But he clings to her, and she to him, neither of them comment the wet drops that cling to his lashes, or how the look of awe never quite leaves his face.

This reminds him of Christmas … last Christmas now he thinks of it, when they had stood, just the two of them, at his parents grave, James Potter and Lily Evans, how he'd stood with Hermione, her head tucked into the crook of his shoulder as it was now, as he'd stood at his parents resting place for the first time, as she'd conjured that wreath to honour them, as he had cried, as she had held him, as they had held one another.

Held one another up, like they always did, like they always would.

"What do we do?" It is Hermione who asks then, and Harry turned to her, with a small smile, Hermione so smart, so bright, but he was the planner of the two, somehow.

"Going forward? Integrate ourselves I guess, try to become part of the Order, prevent stuff before it can happen?" She nods, so does he, what else can they do? He was sure neither of them had thought the time-travel spell would work.

It had been in the wake of the battle, grieving, hurting, neither of them had been thinking ahead, just thinking of a way to stop such destruction, such pain, from ever happening.

Well … they had succeeded, and now they had to think what came ahead.

"Okay" She nods, and he smiled at her, before she was standing, "And now?" She didn't pause but instead answered her own question, so very Hermione, and he loved it, "Now we should relax, catch up on some relaxation, read, and then tomorrow to Diagon for supplies, and then planning, but for now, relax"

He nodded at that, and smiled to himself as she began to reach into her beaded bag, pulling out clothes, books, supplies, things that didn't need to be on her at all times, and began to unpack, and Harry, found himself smiling, somehow smiling as they began to tuck away clothes, books and such into the trunk at the end of one of the beds. It was a boring task, but it was peaceful after so much chaos.

"Here" Hermione said passing him his backpack, "Keep your important things in there, I'll do the same with my bag, but this…" She glanced around then, and he found himself doing the same, "This is home now I guess"

He took a second to look around the room, it had two double beds, though he knew they'd just share one. Two trunks, but again they kept their stuff together. A room off to a bathroom, two desks, a cabinet. It was round, being at the top of the tower, with two big windows.

It was perfect, and he found himself almost like a child marvelling at the Castle again, at Hogwarts, giving them just what they needed.

'Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it

He had found that now so often to be true.

"Here" A quidditch book was thrust into his hands, and with a smile he climbed onto the bed, made no protest as Hermione climbed in next to him, and for the first time in a very, very long time he felt himself relax, not to sleep, not to catch some hours in between madness, but to actually relax, to read a book on quidditch that he'd read before, as he noticed Hermione reading a book on Charms he knew she'd read before, it didn't matter, it was just calm.

It was just a moment to relax, for both of them.

And it was absolutely perfect.

She felt so at ease, reading over complex happiness charms that she hadn't quite perfected before but no doubt would, she felt relaxed, comfortable, as she'd ended up leaning back against the pillows, her head resting slightly on Harry's shoulder, as he too seemed absorbed in his quidditch book, his head slightly resting atop of hers, their preferred position, relaxing on one another.

It wasn't that either of them found the material that stimulating, it was just being able to relax, not looking over their shoulder, not scared or exhausted.

God, such a small pleasure and yet it was so rare to them now, it felt amazing.

It was bliss … a short-lived bliss though.

A yell from the common room below them made her jump, and Harry was on his feet, as was she, wands out, eyes on the door, what had happened?

"Start of the year paaaarty!" She heard yelled, followed by some shrieking and loud cheers, and with a small sigh she lowered her wand, as she noticed Harry do the same, she turned to glance at him and let out a small laugh.

Paranoia was perhaps not strong enough a word in this instance, but she supposed running from a mad-man for the better part of a year had them both on edge, and would have them.

"Well" Hermione said, and Harry laughed too then, and she rolled her eyes – she imagined it would be a little while before they were so jumpy, after all, the battle they had endured was tens of years in the future now, but to them it had only been the night before. She knew even after a good nights sleep they both still had dark circles under their eyes, were both still a little too thin, both jumpy and a little nervous.

"Should we go?" At that Hermione shot him a look, because surely he had to be joking?

"What?" He laughed again then, and she did find herself smiling at that, she loved hearing Harry laugh, for he had, had few occasions to do it over the last year, it warmed her inside to hear it.

"We can't just go! No one knows us!" She said with a fond look but another roll of her eyes.

"Perfect opportunity then" He said, and she laughed again, for she could now see he was serious, of course he was! God this was her best friend through and through, reckless. It often made her want to throttle him, this time included.

"Look, Dumbledore told us to suggest we are new, perhaps transfers?" Harry said and Hermione shook her head, her mind already whirring, because as well as reckless she knows Harry is damn stubborn, and if he had decided it, then she knew they would somehow end up at that party.

Which meant they needed a story.

"No" She shook her head and began to pace, back and forth, and Harry took that as a cue to sit down, and also take her hand and yank her down next to him to which she crossed her legs and turned to face him, to plan.

"We can't be transfers, we don't know enough about other schools, instead we'll say we were home-schooled" She nodded, as did Harry – it made sense, much more sense, less likely to get caught out in a lie if they claimed to be home-schooled.

"Okay, so that means we're purebloods" Harry said, and Hermione winced, he was right, only purebloods were home-schooled and sniffed at schooling away from home. Hell, she had been surprised some of the more lofty purebloods such as Malfoy had ever made it to Hogwarts, surely that was beneath them?

A little snort left her lips - prats

"Yes, you're right" She said with a sigh, refocusing, "Which means we need a family name"

With that she went to her beaded bag, for she hadn't yet unpacked every book, and dug through to find the tomb 'The Pure-Blood Directory' – she had deemed it useful for investigating and identifying Death Eaters, but now it had an even more important use.

And so, with a groan (for it was useful but hardly stimulating reading), she flipped it open, "You take one side, I'll take the other" At that Harry nodded (knowing better than to argue with her methods of research), and they get to work.

And the work felt long.

"What about the Burkes?"

"Borgin and Burkes Harry, so no"

"We could say Gaunt?"

"No, Tom's cronies would know"

"Kama? Have you heard of them Hermione?"

"No, but it says here they are related to the Lestranges, better not risk it"

"Hmm…"

Half an hour later, and then …

"Got it!" Hermione said with a grin, like the cat that had got the cream, she did love it when her research came together, her finger stabbing the page where it read the name,

'Jimbo Blishwick, married Misapinoa Black'

"Are you sure?" Harry asked, and she glared at him, to which she noticed he rolled his eyes, "Related to the Blacks Hermione, that might be difficult'

"Yes, but they were born in the 1940's, married in ugh, 1957 at 17 and 16" Hermione said with a grimace, "And look!" Again, she stabbed the page with her finger.

'Left England to immigrate to Austria'

"And that is it, no more information, it will be easy for us to claim to be a descendent, wizards live long enough we could say they had us at an advanced age, and died recently, hence us returning to England!" Hermione said, "Easy"

"Okay" Harry nodded, "So we'll be siblings? Siblings home-schooled?"

"Twins" Hermione said with a nod, "So we can be in the same year, and yes home-schooled"

Harry nodded then, "We'll have to sell it. You saw how people like Malfoy acted, as long as we act the part, snobbish, we won't be suspected, we'll have to act like purebloods" He grimaced at that, as did she.

But she nodded too, he was right, "Right but we are Gryffindors, we'll say the Headmaster did a private sorting, and so we'll be snobs, but nice snobs"

"Perfect" Harry said then and he laughed, as did she, both out of relief they'd found a solution and in the craziness of it all.

If someone had told her at the start of the Horcrux hunt that in less than a years' time she'd be living in the 90's, parading as Harry's twin under the Blishwick name, claiming to be pureblood, she'd have thought them insane.

And yet here they were. With that she placed her hand on top of Harrys and remembered his smile at his Father, his wide eyes at his Mother.

Worth it.

"This is crazy" Harry said, echoing her thoughts and Hermione nodded, but smiles, it felt good to have a solution.

"Okay so, Harry and Hermione Blishwick, born in Austria, parents died recently, returned to England to settle their estates, and attend Hogwarts" Hermione nodded, "We'll need to fake some documents, to get past Gringotts, we'll have to ask Dumbledore"

"Tomorrow" Harry agreed, "We'll ask Dumbledore as we'll need to use his fire to go to the Alley, he'll be able to do it, he will"

Hermione nodded, "Twins, snobs, pureblood, well educated, perhaps a little bit baffled by the culture shift"

"What about our accents?" Harry asked, looking a smidge worried, "Not Austrian"

"No, but we'll say our tutor made us have English accents" Hermione said and they both nodded and smirked, that would be the exact kind of thing purebloods would do after all.

"So, that's our story?" Harry asked, and she nodded, it worked, somehow it worked. She glanced at the wand sticking out of Harry's pocket then, it seemed that magic and luck was on there side… for once.

"Well now that is sorted" He said and she groaned as he stood to his feet and took her hands to pull her up with him, "To the party" Harry said, and she rolled her eyes but again knew better to argue with him when he'd set her mind to something, plus he was smiling, and she'd often do anything to keep him smiling.

"Fine but get changed" She said, and went to the bathroom, she had no issue in changing in front of Harry but as she grabbed a jumper and jeans to change into she wanted to freshen up too.

"Alright" She shut the door behind her, splashed water on her face and tugged on her jeans, a vest top and a Weasley jumper with a big H on it. She realised it was hardly pureblood wear, but they were Gryffindors, they could be quirky but snobbish purebloods.

That made her think a little of Luna then, and she smiled sadly, certainly quirky but never a snob, oh how she misses her, and Ginny, and everyone.

With a sigh she tried to shake the past … future, from her head, and looks across at herself in the mirror. She looked more rested than she had in over a year, but tired, too tired, she supposed they could use their supposed parents deaths as an excuse, for she knew both Harry and her looked tired, grieving, for even though technically none of their loved ones were dead (some not even born yet), the version they had loved and known basically were.

"Come on Hermione" She mumbled to herself, she felt oddly nervous, she was after all no social butterfly, but she'd never deprive Harry of the opportunity to see his family again, she could handle her social worries.

And so, she stepped back into their room, and immediately felt better and let out a laugh, with Harry's soon joining hers.

Of course he stood in front of her in another Weasley jumper, green to her red, with a big H on it.

Two peas in a pod as her mother would say - another person she misses, so much. She does find some comfort that Harry can know his though, that will be enough for her.

"Quirky but snobbish?" She asked, and he laughed again and took her hand.

"Sounds good to me, lets go party" Another roll of her eyes but she nodded, pulled on her trainers, as did Harry, and then hand in hand they made their way to the Common Room.

She glanced over her shoulder as they descended the stairs, leaving their little sanctuary at the top of the tower, but they needed to, they needed to introduce themselves, make friends, allies, and Harry needed to see his family, and so wand in her pocket she took a deep breath and followed her best friend.

Into the Lions den.

sooo thoughts?

lil bit of filler I know but next chapter a big party and maybe diagon! (though I have already started writing the party and might need to split the two).

anywho did you like/dislike? I cannot wait to have more interaction with our marauders and lily! soo hype. who d'you guys want to see most?

pls follow/fav for updates, review me your thoughts

speak soon