A/N: It's a short one but it's here! Honestly, I'm thinking maybe 5-10 chapters left for this story. An epilogue will be included too, don't worry.
-oOo-
Chapter 11
"McCallister?" James said in surprise looking between Hermione and Sirius.
"Evans?" Sirius replied, looking pointedly between James and Lily.
"I know, right?" cried out James, a massive grin on his face. He threw his arm over Lily and pulled her close, "She finally gave in to my persuasive charm." Lily scoffed and threw his arm off him, walking slowly toward Hermione.
"McCallister?" she asked quietly, "You're awake."
"Yes, and yes," Hermione replied awkwardly. She wasn't good at talking to new people and making friends, something she shared with Granger, resulting in no help whatsoever. She at least knew Sirius and could build off their previous interactions and Granger's only helped her. Granger never met Lily or James, and it hurt her to see two people that reminded her so much of Harry.
"She woke up yesterday," Sirius spoke up, gaining the attention of James, Remus, and Lily. Hermione was thankful the attention turned to him, away from her.
"And you didn't tell us?" Lily exclaimed, hitting him in the arm.
"Ow, fuck, woman!" he yelled, "You were sleeping when I came back last night. Once Pomphrey discharged her, I had to bring her to the best place and meet the best people! Where's Petey?"
"He's off getting snacks from the kitchens," James replied, rolling his eyes. He took a few steps toward them and reached his hand out to Hermione, "Let me formally introduce myself, our previous interactions have never been…"
"Pleasant?" Hermione answered with a smirk.
"I was going to say polite, but sure, let's go with pleasant," James laughed, "James Potter at your service, the most handsome Marauder."
"You wish, Prongs," scoffed Sirius, "those antlers addled his brain, obviously," he muttered under his breath so quietly Hermione almost didn't hear it. James' cheeks flushed red hearing the words from his friend, fortunately for him though, Lily didn't hear the comment. Hermione shook his hand nonetheless and politely returned his greeting.
"Remus Lupin," the werewolf Marauder cut in before James could retort. He, too, held out his hand for Hermione to shake and when she did she noticed the littering of light scars over his hands and arms. She wished Granger had learned the wolfsbane potion from her time but she didn't have time or a need during the war.
"And you know Lily, consorting together against us and all," Sirius chuckled, pulling Hermione over to the couches, "Now we just need to introduce you to Petey, and you've met the whole gang!" James pulled Lily to sit with them, and she followed without complaint.
"McCallister…" Lily said slowly capturing the attention of the Ravenclaw.
"Evans," Sirius said in a warning tone. He knew the Muggleborn wanted to ask Hermione about what happened, and how she was feeling, but he didn't want her to have to live through that. Not when he needed to talk to her about it and tell her he knew about his brother and Barty. He wanted to know how she escaped and how she was alive, but he couldn't do that to her in front of his friends. He needed to talk to her privately. He also knew Lily wouldn't be able to handle hearing what Hermione had to say.
Sirius saw so many similarities between the two Muggleborns. Both came from muggle families and experienced what fear could do to muggles over magic, Hermione with her parents, and Lily with her sister. Both were exceptionally smart and applied themselves more than they needed to so they could prove they belonged. Both experienced people calling them Mudbloods, but most of all, both had a best friend in Slytherin, and both lost a best friend to pureblood ideals.
However, the difference being that Lily ended their friendship. Hermione stood by her friends until they had to step away for her protection. It made Sirius wonder if Severus would have done what Regulus and Barty did for Hermione. Also, could Lily handle hearing that Hermione was targeted for being a Muggleborn?
He didn't think she could.
"It's fine, Sirius," Hermione said calmly, placing a hand on his forearm. It was comforting, so he returned the gesture by turning his arm so he could pull her hand into his. If she needed to talk about it, he would be there beside her, holding her hand. She smiled at him, the expression lighting up her sad eyes.
"You don't have to talk about it," Remus spoke up quietly.
"I know," she replied, smiling at the werewolf, "I'm assuming you saw me? What I looked like?" they looked down, feeling guilty for seeing her at her most vulnerable without her permission, "Yes, then."
"It's my fault, princess. They came to find me and I was with you," Sirius explained with a somber tone, "They also visited you every day." Hermione was stunned to hear that they cared about her at all, enough to visit her while she was in the hospital. She had never had anyone care about her well-being except Reggie and Barty, then she learned that McGonagall, Moody, and Tom cared too, and now the Marauders and Lily were adding themselves to that list. It confused Hermione, why did they care about her?
"Why?" Hermione asked with a frown, "to visit you?"
"What?" Sirius asked, his mouth gaping, "no, you, silly!" He was astonished at the true look of disbelief on her face, utterly confused at people caring for her. Her expression broke Sirius' heart, how could someone go their entire life believing they weren't worth people's care? Everyone had abandoned her, even if it had not been their choice, she had been abandoned and Sirius promised he would never, ever be one of them.
"Me?" Hermione choked out, tears building in her eyes. They could all see the disbelief on her face, and while Sirius understood, the others did not. They had no idea the amount of adversity Hermione had faced in her life, they simply knew she was disliked in her house and referred to as an 'Ice Queen'. Seeing her expression and the clear emotions flashing across her face, they knew that she was not an ice queen at all, but a girl that closed herself off to protect herself from others.
"Pranking just wasn't the same without the two witches sparring against those two," Remus laughed, nodding his head to James and Sirius.
"You couldn't do it without me?" Hermione teased Lily.
"It just wasn't the same," Lily smiled at the witch, a small sniffle escaping. She wanted to make jokes and be as carefree as the boys and Hermione but she couldn't get the image of Hermione, broken, on the bed, her arm bleeding profusely from the horrific word. How was this girl sitting with them and smiling?
"I promise I'm okay," Hermione told the witch. She was taken by surprise when Lily launched herself at her, wrapping her arms around her in a hug. Hermione stiffened initially, McCallister uncomfortable with the closeness, no one had hugged her except Barty and Regulus, oh, and Sirius after she woke up, but they also never initiated. However, Granger was relishing in the affection and wanted to return the hug. After a few moments, Hermione felt her body relax and give in to Granger's desires.
She put her arms around Lily and squeezed. It felt nice. It felt comforting.
Maybe Granger was on to something.
After a few minutes, Lily released Hermione and sat back against James. The boys were silent during the exchange, but they saw Hermione's initial reaction to the hug and how content she looked when she let herself relax.
"I was so worried about you!" Lily cried out, the tears finally falling down her cheeks, "when you didn't join me chastising these numpties, I didn't know what to think. When I saw you, oh Hermione, how are you okay?!" The boys let out noises of disagreement hearing Lily refer to them as numpties, but they quieted down at Lily's final words.
"Madame Pomphrey is skilled at her job?" Hermione answered awkwardly, when they continued to stare at her, she let out a groan, "I don't know okay? I remember the pain, I remember it happening, and then I don't. One minute I was there, I was staring into the face of who I thought would kill me, and then I remember being outside and someone saying I was going to die. Then I heard someone yelling and I passed out again. I woke up yesterday and Madame Pomphrey said there was nothing wrong with me but kept me overnight for observation. I was in perfect health this morning," Hermione finished explaining. Her right hand brushed over the bandage of her left forearm when she said she was in perfect health. That was entirely truthful. Her arm was still healing and would likely never fully heal.
She was also not completely honest with them about the events either. She had just met them, Granger might trust them and Pettigrew wasn't here, so no traitors – if he was one in this timeline – but McCallister had just met them officially. She couldn't open up to them and tell them everything. She wasn't even sure if she could tell Moody or McGonagall. They didn't trust Dumbledore, but they would be in the Order, they wouldn't be able to help her without breaking the vow they took with the Order. She wouldn't be able to rely on them.
Hermione remembered that she wasn't supposed to be alive. Voldemort would be furious when he heard she had survived. She recalled Barty screaming that he would take the Mark if she survived, she heard Voldemort promise him that she would be set free to be healed, but after, when they made to dispose of her, he had given different instructions. He had told Fenrir to take her to Hogwarts and leave her mangled body in front of the gates, she was to be left unrecognizable, they wanted it to be obvious a werewolf had attacked her. However, Fenrir had taken her to the gates of Hogwarts alive and was about to bite into her throat when Hagrid began yelling and screaming. Fenrir had cursed and ran, leaving Hermione on the brink of death, but alive.
Voldemort would punish Fenrir severely when he learned he failed.
"You remember it all?" James said, his face paling at the thought.
"Yes, and Auror Moody has already viewed my memories and is working on it. There is nothing I can do now but move on," Hermione said with a tone of finality. The boys and Lily shared a look but turned back to her with a nod. They wouldn't ask her anything else about it, Sirius, though, would wait until they were alone.
"Well, now that that's sorted," Sirius said, slapping his hands on his knees, leaning forward, and looking at them with a conniving smile, "It's time to talk about these fine ladies becoming honourary Marauders."
"I like how you think, Padfoot," smirked James, "can't have our witches working against us."
"I'm sorry but your witches?" Lily turned to James with narrowed eyes.
"Well, not our witches, but like…our witches," James gulped, his frightened eyes turning to Remus and Sirius, "Help me out, boys."
"Nah, you got yourself in that one. What ever could you mean our witches, Prongs?" smirked Sirius, sitting back and lifting one leg so he could rest his ankle against his knee.
"Dick," muttered James, looking back at Lily, "Lily-flower, my wonderful, amazing Spitfire, you are a strong witch that needs no wizard. When I said our witches, I just meant, um, that, that. Oh bugger it," James let out a defeated breath, looking up at Lily through his glasses, "I didn't mean it, Lily."
Hermione had to give Lily credit, she managed to maintain a straight face far longer than Hermione ever could. She stared at James with a stern expression, leaving the wizard to fidget under her stare, but finally, she couldn't hold it back any longer and burst out laughing. James' eyes widened comically as he watched his new girlfriend – she was his girlfriend, right?! – laugh at him.
"Oh, James," she said breathlessly after the laughter died down. She leaned over and gave James a quick kiss, "Is that what I am? Your witch?"
"It would make me immensely happy if you were," he replied honestly. Sirius and Remus made gagging noises beside them, which they successfully ignored, lost in each other after the declaration. Hermione watched the moment with a smile, she wished Harry could see this.
"Take your lovey-dovey crap somewhere else, there are children in the common room!" Sirius said loudly, throwing a rolled-up ball of parchment at his best mate and the witch he had been chasing for years.
"I'm sure they have witnessed far worse with you, Pads," Remus muttered. Sirius turned to Remus with a glare and shoved him off the couch.
"Not cool, mate," Sirius growled, glancing toward Hermione. Remus had the decency to look guilty for commenting in front of Hermione. While Sirius wasn't ashamed of his past with witches, he didn't want Hermione to think about it.
"Anyways!" Remus said loudly, jumping up off the floor, "I believe you mentioned honourary Marauders?"
"What does this entail exactly?" Hermione asked skeptically. She knew the Marauders played pranks and caused trouble, but what did that mean for her?
"Simple, having fun! Letting loose!" Sirius shouted gleefully, "and breaking rules," he whispered against her ear. She felt her body react as his breath danced across her skin, a flush up her face and a shiver through her body.
"Oh," Hermione replied quietly. Sirius smirked at her reaction, he wanted to officially ask her out soon. But he couldn't do it the day after she woke up, she needed time to adjust to school again. He wouldn't be able to wait long though, she looked utterly delectable when she blushed. He hoped she never stopped blushing at his words or proximity.
"First things first, is teaching you all the secrets of the Marauders. However, you must promise to never ever share these with outsiders," James said seriously, pointing his finger sternly at the two girls. They couldn't help the giggles that escaped seeing James Potter try and be strict.
"What secrets could you possibly have?" laughed Lily. The boys shared a look, knowing they held many secrets, and couldn't wait to see Lily and Hermione's faces when they did tell them.
"Where is your other friend, should you not unanimously agree to share your secrets with two new people?" Hermione asked the boys. She wanted to meet Peter, she wanted to see if he was a threat in this time or if that was another change. Although, from what she knew so far, there really weren't any changes that she knew of.
Reggie and Barty were still Death Eaters.
Marauders were still best friends.
Lily and James still ended up together.
Dumbledore was still working on eliminating Voldemort.
The only difference was her, and so far, that had resulted in nothing good.
"Yeah, when did Wormy head off for snacks?" Sirius asked Remus and James.
"Not long before you both came in, he said he wanted popcorn to see James fail again," smirked Remus, James sputtering beside him.
"I resent that! I never failed, it was just the wrong timing," James pouted, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Of course it was, I was just seeing how long I could make you wait," grinned Lily. James rolled his eyes and leaned over for another kiss. Now that he had kissed her once, he couldn't stop. He was addicted. Lily wasn't much better.
"You are a cruel temptress," he murmured against her lips.
"I swear to Merlin, if I have to endure this around you all the time, we will have some problems," Sirius complained, his arms waving between the couple. James was about to reply telling his best mate that he was just jealous, when Peter walked through the portrait hole, "Oh Peter, I hope you didn't eat any of your snacks on the way up, it might come back up looking at these two!"
"Did Evans hex Prongs with that boil curse again?" Peter laughed, not able to see over his pile of sweets.
"My face is perfect thank you very much!" huffed James, "Beyond perfect, I have the bone structure of an angel."
"Yeah, a fallen angel, that landed on its face," joked Sirius. James leaped across the table and knocked Sirius onto the floor where they rolled and wrestled. Hermione laughed along with the others as she watched the two friends play fight. She did freeze up, however, when Peter sat down beside her. He placed the snacks down on the table and sat back. When he noticed her sitting there he jumped and stared at her with wide eyes.
"Who are you?" he asked carefully.
"Who is she? Mate, have you not been watching Padfoot for the last few weeks?" Remus asked his friend slowly. He knew Peter was oblivious to many things, but how could he forget about the girl their best mate had become as obsessive over as Prongs was over Lily?
"Oh, you're the girl from the hospital wing," Peter replied, recognition flashing over his face.
"Yes, that would be me," Hermione answered carefully, she stretched her hand out in greeting, "Hermione McCallister."
"Peter Pettigrew," he replied shaking her hand, "You, um, look a lot better."
"Thank you," she smiled tightly at him. Hermione sat back and let the friends catch up with Peter, telling him about James finally capturing Lily's heart, Hermione waking up, and together they would be honourary Marauders. Peter's eyes widened at that announcement, he did not expect his friends to give up their Marauder secrets, especially to girls, but he stayed silent. At least when he found a witch, he would be able to share their secrets with her.
They spent the evening telling Hermione stories of the Marauders and what they did over the summer, and in turn, they listened to Hermione tell them a bit about herself. She didn't have much to share with them, though, they knew to not ask her about Reggie and Barty, and she didn't want to talk about her muggle parents. Lily tried asking her a few questions about her summer and how she felt about jumping from a magical world to the muggle world when they left Hogwarts, but Hermione evaded the question and simply said that she found it difficult so she spent a lot of time in Diagon Alley.
Sirius knew about her parents and her living arrangements at the Leaky, however, he did not know that her parents were dead or that they were the reason she was found. James and Remus knew she was hiding something about her muggle life but had no idea what, while Lily only noticed that she was uncomfortable talking about it. However, she took that to mean she was not used to talking about the muggle world with others, having had purebloods as friends before this.
It became late and Hermione told them she had to go back to her common room before curfew. Sirius offered to walk her to Ravenclaw tower, and together they left the others with her promising she would sit with them for breakfast.
It did not take long for them to arrive at the Ravenclaw entrance, something that disappointed Sirius greatly, he did not want to let her go in there alone. She had just woken up from a traumatic experience, her housemates might do something to her, and Barty was in there. He knew Barty wasn't a big bad Death Eater, but he didn't know what seeing him would do to her, he didn't know what Barty would do when he saw her. He couldn't help but be jealous, he had seen how they were together before they split. He had seen how broken Barty was when he cried over her in her bed. They were close, something that he desperately wanted with her.
"If you need me, for any reason at all, please come and get me," Sirius told her, concern for her all over his face.
"I'll be okay, Sirius," she said, giving him a comforting smile.
"I know you will, you are an incredible witch Hermione," he said honestly. She felt her breath catch, he said his words with such conviction and determination, he truly believed she was an incredible witch. And hearing her name on his lips, did something to her insides every time she heard it.
"Thank you, Sirius, you are quite the wizard yourself," she replied with a small, shy smile. She looked up at him through her lashes and it warmed Sirius' heart.
"Oh, Princess, you have no idea," he said leaning down to whisper in her ear, surrounding her in sandalwood, leather, and smoke. He brushed his lips against her cheek and stood up, looking down at her with dilated pupils. Hermione thought he was the most handsome wizard she had ever laid eyes on. He was a masterpiece.
"Good night, Sirius," she whispered, her voice trembling slightly. He smirked at her and turned around, he walked down the corridor, and before he turned the corner, he looked back at her with a wink. When he disappeared, Hermione let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. He would be the death of her.
-oOo-
Hermione entered Ravenclaw tower and everyone in the common room stopped what they were doing to stare at her. The room was completely silent, everyone staring at the girl they all thought had not returned.
"What are you doing here?" someone called out.
"This is my house," Hermione said cooly, she kept her chin high and walked through the room. She was at the bottom of the stairs to the girl's dorm when she saw him. Barty was sitting on the couch beside the stairwell, his face was pale, his mouth was hanging open, and his eyes were staring at her in surprise. He couldn't believe she was standing in front of him. But he couldn't talk to her, it killed him that he couldn't talk to her.
Hermione stared at Barty and watched the emotions flash across his face. She wondered what he would say, what he could say to her. She saw in his face that he was happy and relieved to see her, but when she saw him rearrange his expression into one of indifference, she knew nothing had changed from last year. His Marking only reaffirmed his need to stay away from it.
Barty snapped his book closed and stood from his chair, the entire common room watching the two old friends stare at each other. He put his book under his arm and stormed past her, his shoulder knocking into hers and causing her to stumble slightly.
"Thought we got rid of the fucking mudblood," he growled, stomping through the room and up to his dorm. Hermione felt the tears build, she couldn't help it as much as she knew it was necessary, but it still hurt.
She lowered her head and continued walking to her dorm. She would never have friends in Ravenclaw, she knew they weren't all blood supremacists and there were other Muggleborns in her house, but no one ever stood up for her. Resigned, she walked up to her dorm and cast her standard security and privacy wards around her bed.
Hermione fell asleep thinking about how she was going to manage to pull off her plan of preventing this war. She couldn't rely on Moody or McGonagall, and Dumbledore was a massive no. She needed Reggie and Barty, but how would she convince them that they didn't need to protect her, that she could handle herself?
She also considered telling Sirius, James, Remus, and Lily, but she threw that thought out immediately. How would they ever believe her? Some witch from another house, a year younger than them that only just started talking to them properly tonight, how did she tell them their best friend betrayed them? The boy that sat stuffing his face with sweets, how would she convince them, without any evidence, and when she wasn't even sure herself? She couldn't.
So, the Marauders and Lily would have to remain in the dark. With Moody, McGonagall, and Dumbledore. She would do this herself if she needed to. If she could talk to Reggie and Barty again, they would be able to help her, they would always help her, she just needed to talk to them.
-oOo-
Hermione woke up the next day and when she entered the Great Hall, she sat with the Marauders. This drew a lot of attention, especially from the Ravenclaw table, Reggie, and Barty. Her house was surprised that such popular and fun wizards would want anything to do with the Ice Queen, but Reggie and Barty were jealous. They wanted to be the ones to sit with their friend but they knew it wasn't possible.
Days turned into weeks, and every day Hermione sat with the Marauders and Lily. Each day that passed, the girls became closer to the boys. Lily and James were still in their honeymoon phase as Sirius liked to call it, but Hermione had a feeling that they would always be like this. From what Granger heard about the couple, they were madly in love with each other and showed it every day.
It took a few weeks but finally, Hermione was able to embrace Granger into her thoughts and memories. She no longer considered Granger a separate person, but part of her. Granger showed more and more in her personality, she was no longer as closed off and laughed a lot. She felt like the girl that laughed with Reggie and Barty in Diagon Alley every summer like she was sitting with Harry and Ron again. She felt content being surrounded by people and laughter, something McCallister never did. It was freeing, to be so open and happy. Hermione never wanted to go back to who she was before. She was happy she had Granger's memories. It helped her with her mission too, remembering Harry and how important he was to her, and how much she wanted to make his life better. She had done it for him and she would make sure he never suffered what Granger's Harry Potter did.
It was almost Yule break when Sirius managed to pull Hermione aside for a private conversation. She wasn't sure what Sirius would want to talk to her about, he had been spending the weeks making her laugh and teaching her magic behind his pranks, yet he looked so serious when he told her he wanted to talk. After she was finished her classes that day, Sirius found her and led her to an empty classroom.
"How was your day, Princess?" he asked, perching himself on a desk, facing her.
"It was fine…." Hermione said slowly, staring at him with a confused frown.
"That's good, that's good," he replied nervously. Hermione was about to ask him what was wrong when he pushed off the desk and started pacing.
"Sirius, what is wrong?" she asked warily. She had never seen him this frazzled and unsure before, it was rather unnerving when he was always so composed and confident. When he didn't answer her and kept pacing, his hands running through his hair and pulling it at the roots, she grew frustrated and stepped up to him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and forced him to a stop, "Sirius, stop, just stop. Tell me what is wrong!"
He looked down at her, his piercing grey eyes staring into hers. The emotion was clear in them, Hermione had never seen him so unhinged. She raised a hand, pressed it against his cheek, and he leaned against it, finding comfort in the warmth of her palm.
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to worry you," he sighed, his eyes closed as he spoke. He opened them and looked into the face of the witch he had fallen for, "I just, I needed to tell you something."
"Another Marauder rule or secret?" she teased, trying to remove the sullen expression on his face. He gave a light chuckle, shaking his head at her.
"No, Princess," he exhaled, "About what happened to you." She dropped her hands at his words, and he missed the warmth.
"Oh."
"Yes, oh," he replied, "I know about Reggie and Barty." She gasped at his words, backing away from him.
"What do you mean, what could you know?" she demanded.
Sirius took two steps so he was once again in front of her and took her hands in his. He told her about his conversation with Reggie, he told her he knew that they were only pretending to believe in everything to protect her, and themselves. He told her that he knew she was used to persuade Barty to join the ranks, and he did it to save her. He also asked her why she excluded it from the memory for Moody and Dumbledore.
"What would happen to them if I showed them? They would have arrested my two friends!" Hermione pushed against Sirius' chest. She was angry. Sirius had known this for weeks; he had known before she woke up and said nothing!
"How did you hide it?" he asked, knowing she was right. Moody would have arrested them for being Marked, and based on what Reggie told him, Dumbledore already knew. There was no point in including her friends in the memory.
"I studied mind magic," she replied dismissively. He knew there was more she wasn't telling him, but it really didn't matter.
"Impressive, you wouldn't be able to tell it was manipulated. It honestly looked like that was all you could see," Sirius complimented her.
"I understand theory quite well, it helps me during the application," Hermione said modestly. He knew she was brilliant, much more than she let on, but he let it go again.
"Are you going to talk to them again?" Sirius asked her carefully.
"No," Hermione did not elaborate, and he did not push her. He looked down at the witch and realized he had not stepped out of her space. He could feel her breath against his neck, he could count the freckles on her nose, and he could see the swirls of gold clearly in her caramel eyes.
"Hermione," he whispered, his hand cupping her face and thumb brushing her cheek, "I was also wondering," he leaned down, his heart rate increasing, "would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?" He was so close he could feel her breath on his face, could see her pupils dilate at his question. He didn't wait for her to answer before placing his lips against hers.
Hermione was stunned, she did not react right away but when she felt Sirius pull away thinking she did not reciprocate, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Sirius was startled by the strength she returned the kiss but wouldn't complain. He closed his eyes and lost himself in the kiss.
Everything about her was magic.
It felt like when he first got his Hogwarts letter, like when he held his first wand.
It felt like home.
-oOo-
A/N: Hope you enjoyed! I appreciate every single favourite, follow, and review! 3