Chapter Text
The war heroes stood around in the Great Hall waiting for direction. Minerva McGonagall entered, and they formed a circle around her.
“Thank you all for volunteering to help with putting the castle back together. It’s been a hard few weeks with the loss of so many. If we can repair Hogwarts, I’m hoping it will help all of us to be able to be comforted from our losses.”
She regarded everyone before continuing.
“Please split up and pick a room or hallway to work on. Leave the Room of Requirement. I’m bringing in a Master architect to help me to restore that.”
“Professor,” Hermione asked as she raised her hand halfway.
“Yes, Miss Granger?”
“May I clear out the Headmaster’s things?”
Minerva looked a bit shocked.
“I… well, I was going to do that myself.”
“Please, Professor. I really want to do it. I feel like it’s the least I can do for all he did for everyone.”
Ron grimaced. “Oy, Hermione, the bat is dead. Why do you need to rummage around in his things?”
Hermione whipped her head around at him.
“Seriously?” she asked caustically. “The man gave his life to save us all! The least you could do is show him some respect!”
“Bloody harpy,” he mumbled under his breath.
Hermione heard him and turned to reply, but Minerva’s voice broke into their spat.
“Enough!” she said. “We are here to fix the castle, not bicker amongst ourselves. Hermione, if you want to clear out Professor Snape’s things, have at it. Everyone else, let’s go!”
Hermione crossly watched Ron slink away, whispering to Harry as he left. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over to see Ginny giving her an understanding look.
“He’s been unbearable since you broke it off with him,” she said.
“It was hardly a breakup. We had a kiss in the Chamber of Secrets, and then he became a jealous git because Harry was comforting me at Fred’s funeral. Honestly, Ginny, I want nothing to do with that.”
“I can’t blame you. Just… don’t let him get to you.”
“You know what he was doing, right? He was accusing me of having a crush on a professor with that comment. He never stops, does he?”
Ginny reached out and gave her a hug. “I’m sorry my brother is a giant git.”
Hermione smiled at her. “It’s not your fault. You’d best get along; all the good areas are probably taken already.”
Ginny laughed. “That’s okay. I just wanted to fix up classrooms anyway.”
The two women separated, and Hermione made her way up to the Headmaster’s office. Entering, she looked around. It didn’t seem there was much of the professor in this room. She meandered over to the desk where she found a couple of books that didn’t seem to be personal copies. Pulling open the drawers, she didn’t find much within. She removed a quill and red ink bottle, but most of the drawers were empty--as if he didn’t feel comfortable taking over Dumbledore’s spot. She couldn’t blame him, really.
Hermione left the office and entered Snape’s quarters. She sighed as she looked around. The thought of Severus Snape being dead–especially after all he’d done for the war effort–sat heavily on her heart.
She sat down on his bed, admiring it. It was a four-poster made of deep mahogany with an ornately carved Hogwarts Crest on the headboard. She reached out and passed her fingers over it thoughtfully.
Turning her attention to the side table next to her, she reached out to open the drawer. She found the first personal item of Professor Snape’s within.
Reaching in, she pulled out a letter.
The time nears for the Dark Lord to make his move. I feel his anxiousness when we meet. He rifles through my mind, looking for signs of weakness or deception. He suspects everyone of disloyalty. If he only knew…
I can feel the end coming. My life will be forfeit at that time. I hope everything goes as planned. I have waited so long to see her again. The real her, who knows who I am. May it all work out as it should.
Hermione felt a pang of sadness course through her as she lowered the letter into her lap. Even at the end of his life, his only good thoughts were for Lily.
“I hope you saw her, professor,” she said to the empty room. “You deserve that.”
The drawer held another item… a book. The cover was made of bright gold material and the title was emblazoned in Runic in deep purple.
“Manipulating Portkeys,” Hermione read aloud as she reached in and scooped up the book into her hand. Pulling it out of the drawer, she traced the runes and wondered why Professor Snape had this book in his drawer. It was obviously a special book, as he had it in the same place as his letter.
Curiously, she opened the book. That was when she felt it: a pull at her navel. The book was a Portkey! But this was no ordinary Portkey. She felt like she was being torn apart as she moved to where her destination was. The Portkey seemed to take forever to deposit her at the new location.
Finally, she felt the ground at her feet, but the journey had been too much for her. With her head spinning, she bent over and threw up. After a minute, she wiped her mouth, but remained bent over, just in case.
“Ahem,” she heard, causing her to straighten quickly.
The sight she saw before her was unimaginable. Albus Dumbledore sat in the bed she was just sitting on. His yellow pajamas were on, and he was under the covers. His wand was pointed at her face.
“Professor Dumbledore!” she cried.
“I believe you have me at a disadvantage. How do you know who I am?”
Hermione looked around quickly. This was definitely the same room, but it now had different items within it and the bed was farther along the wall. What she saw clearly showed that Albus Dumbledore was alive and the occupant of this bedroom.
“Professor… I… honestly, I don’t know why I am here. I know you because I was one of your students.” She gave him a baffled look. “Sir, what year is it?”
Dumbledore’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “It’s 1978. Now would you please tell me why you appeared in my bed-chamber and immediately vomited?”
“ 1978?”
She stared at the book that was still in her hand. “How can that be?”
Dumbledore cleared his throat. “What year do you think it is?” he asked warily.
“1998! I just came from there. I opened this book, and I was transported here. What on earth is going on?”
Dumbledore lowered his wand and got out of bed. He Evanesco’d the mess on the floor and regarded Hermione curiously.
“What is your name, miss?”
“Hermione Granger.”
He approached her. “May I see your book?”
She handed it to him. He noted the title and then looked through the book. His eyes rose and met Hermione’s.
“I believe the answer to getting you back to your time lies in this book. You will need to study it and figure out what to do.”
“You can’t return me to my present?”
Dumbledore chuckled. “I can do many things, but throwing you into the future is not one of them.”
Hermione frowned. “What am I supposed to do? I don’t belong here.”
Dumbledore motioned to his sitting room. “Bear with me a moment as I change my clothes.”
“Of course!” Hermione exclaimed, suddenly embarrassed that she was staring at her former Headmaster in his pajamas.
Grabbing the book, she rushed out of his bedroom and sat on his sofa. She crossed her legs while she waited for Dumbledore, wondering why Professor Snape had a book that would transport him through time. Perhaps he had planned to escape into the past if he had survived?
Dumbledore soon came in and sat down on the chair next to her.
“Now… I think the best thing for you to do is to just stay here. If we let you wander around there’s no telling what you could change in the future.”
“But, Headmaster, just being here will probably change the future.”
“You must do everything in your power to keep that from happening, Miss Granger. If the future is altered, there’s no telling what could happen.”
“Of course. It’s just that in my time…”
Dumbledore held up his hand. “Please, do not tell me about any of the future. The less I know, the better.”
“Okay. But… what am I going to do here?”
“Go to school, Miss Granger. What year were you in before?”
“Well, I finished my sixth year, but haven’t been back for my seventh.”
“Why haven’t you returned? It’s almost the end of the year. You’ve missed… Never mind. I don’t want to know. Do you think you can jump into studies and catch up?”
“I’m sure of it, Headmaster.”
“And what House are you in?”
“I’m a Gryffindor.”
“Ah, a girl after my own heart!”
“Headmaster, you said it was the end of the year. Is it May? I left my time in May.”
“It’s May 1st.”
Hermione raised a brow. “Interesting. It was mid-May when I left. Do you think that means something, sir?”
He looked at the gold book in her hands. “It depends on why that book sent you back here, I would assume. It may be random, but it may also be a very precise calculation. You’ll have to research within the text and see what it was.”
She also looked down at the book. “I understand. How will we explain my appearance?”
Dumbledore thought for a moment.
“You’ve been at Beauxbatons all this time. Your parents needed to move here suddenly due to work necessities. You are finishing your education here.”
“I guess it’s a good thing I know French,” Hermione muttered to herself.
“That will be helpful in establishing your backstory,” Albus replied.
Her eyes shot up to his, surprised he’d heard her. “Yes, of course, you are right.”
“We will get you settled with the seventh-year Gryffindors. There are three there already.”
“Okay. Hopefully, my new roommates won’t mind me joining them.”
“They are lovely girls. They should probably be excited to have a new friend.”
Hermione smiled.
“Come, we should get you settled.” He rose and began to move away from her.
“Professor, I have no belongings,” she remarked as she rose too.
Dumbledore turned and regarded her thoughtfully.
“Deedle!” he called out.
A House Elf appeared immediately and bowed.
“Yes, sir?” the Elf questioned.
“Miss Granger is a new student who has no belongings. Please see that she receives all that she will need to finish out the year, including textbooks.”
“Yes, sir,” the Elf answered.
“Oh, and Deedle? Keep this to yourself, please.”
“You have my word.”
With that, the House Elf disappeared.
“All right. He should deliver that by the end of the day. Let’s get you to your new dormitory.”
It didn’t take long before they were standing at the door to her new bedroom. Dumbledore knocked on the door.
“Come in!” they heard from within.
Albus opened the door and peeked in.
“Ladies, excuse the interruption on this early Saturday morning. I have a surprise for you.”
“That’s okay, Professor. We were just getting ready to head down to breakfast,” one of the girls explained.
He nodded and opened the door wide to reveal Hermione. She smiled shyly into the room.
“We have a new student here to finish the year with all of you. May I present Miss Hermione Granger. Her family just moved here from France. She’s been at Beauxbatons all this time. Her parents wanted her to relocate countries with them, thus she has transferred here.”
Hermione fidgeted as they regarded her.
“Miss Granger, may I introduce Marlene McKinnon, Leann Foster, Mary MacDonald, and Lily Evans.”
Hermione sucked in a breath. She hadn’t realized what year this was in conjunction with the student body. She was to be joining in the last year of the Marauder era. She would be classmates with people she knew or knew of. She’d be classmates with Severus Snape.
Coming out of her reverie, she waved her hand.
“Hi,” she said anxiously.
Lily was the first to rise.
“Hi!” she said as she approached her.
“Miss Evans is our Head Girl,” Dumbledore advised, “so she won’t be rooming with you as she has her own room. If I understand correctly, though, she spends a lot of time in here with her former roommates.”
Lily nodded, her cheeks pinking a little.
“It’s good to have friends, Miss Evans,” Dumbledore said in a fatherly manner. “I’ll leave you five to it. Enjoy your weekend,” Dumbledore said before disappearing.
“Come on in,” Marlene directed. “Tell us about yourself.”
Hermione hesitated. Everything had happened so quickly she hadn’t had time to think much about building her story. Well, no time like the present. Noting a seemingly unclaimed bed, she settled on it.
“Well, there’s not much to tell,” she said with a shrug. “I was born here in England but moved to France when I was ten. Now I’m back.”
“That must have been hard, leaving all your friends behind,” Mary commented.
Hermione sighed. “Yes, it’s been a bit more of a shock than I thought it would be,” she replied truthfully.
Well, we’ll be your friends here,” Leann soothed. “Gryffindors stick together.”
“So, I’ve heard,” Hermione said with a smile. “Could you all tell me a little about yourselves?”
“Well, I’m Leanne, and I’m the smart one,” she said with a grin.
“Bollucks! We’re all smart!” Marlene complained.
Leanne chuckled. “Can always get under your skin with that one, McKinnon.”
Marlene huffed. “I’m Marlene. I enjoy Quidditch and want to be an Auror. Leanne here wants to be a comedian, evidently.”
Hermione chuckled at their bickering.
“Wrong in one. I’m going to be a musician. I want to form my own band.”
“She sings like an angel,” Lily remarked. “As for me, I want to work for the Ministry. I want to change the world.”
“I wanted to do that too,” Hermione said ruefully.
“Well, just because you moved doesn’t mean you still can’t do that!” Mary said. “I want to be a Potioneer.”
“I like Potions too. Not sure if I would cut it as a potioneer, though, but I can brew pretty well,” Hermione mused.
“Why don’t you think you can change the world?” Mary asked.
Hermione shrugged. “In my sixth year, I thought I knew it all. I worked hard and got good grades. But things happened that opened my eyes to the real world. It’s not as easy as it seems. And being Muggleborn, I’ve realized that it’s not so easy to get ahead because of prejudice.”
“I’m Muggleborn too,” Lily said. “You don’t think we can get ahead?”
Hermione thought before continuing. “I think it’s possible, Lily. But not as easy as our Pureblood and Half-blood friends will have it. Of course, I’ve always felt that things that are hard-won are worth more than having things handed to you.”
“Well, I’m not that cynical. I think we can do whatever we set our mind to. I mean, I’m head girl, and I’m Muggleborn,” Lily said in triumph.
“Yes, but the real world is a bit different than school,” Hermione mused.
Looking back at Lily, she smiled at her. “I hope you’re right, though, Lily.”
oooOOOooo
The girls went down to breakfast together, settling into the table. Hermione and Mary were on one side, while Lily, Marlene, and Leann were on the other. Soon they were joined by four boys.
“Who’s the chick, McKinnon?” one said.
He had long, wavy hair, and was quite handsome. Hermione figured out rather quickly who the four were. She assumed she was looking at Sirius Black.
“She’s new here. She’s finishing up school with us.”
Sirius sat down next to her and extended his hand.
“Sirius Black at your service,” he said sultrily.
Hermione reluctantly extended her hand. “Hermione Granger,” she said tentatively.
He kissed it and gave her a sultry look. Feeling uneasy, she just smiled at him and pulled her hand from his.
“Sirius, heel, boy,” James said as he smiled at Hermione. “James Potter,” he said as he also extended his hand to her. She shook it as well, noting the great likeness that Harry had to his father.
“This is Peter,” James pointed at the awkward boy across the table.
Hermione kept her sneer to herself.
“And that is Remus,” James finished.
Hermione nodded at Remus, who shyly nodded back and then looked away, combing his hand through his brown hair. Hermione noticed some scratches on his face. She wondered if there had recently been a full moon.
Everyone started eating and talking about the upcoming Quidditch match set for later that day. As she ate, Hermione looked up at the Slytherin table and froze. There he was… Severus Snape.
She took in a sharp breath as she watched him. She recognized him, obviously, his black shoulder-length hair and prominent nose were dead giveaways. Of course, he was younger, and Hermione found he was quite pleasing to look at. She noted that he looked a little lost. He sat alone at the end of the table. She wondered if that was common.
“Those are the Slytherins,” she heard from her side.
Sirius was frowning. “You don’t want to associate with them. They are trouble.”
Hermione turned to him. “How so?”
“Let’s just say they are bigoted trouble makers.”
She glanced back at the table. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
oooOOOooo
The weekend had flown by. Hermione’s roommates made sure she was included in everything. Gryffindor won the Quidditch match, and she found she was really liking the girls. They were kind and friendly. The only thing that had been uncomfortable was Sirius Black. He was a horrible flirt, and she was growing tired of rebuffing him. Knowing what the Marauders did to Professor Snape, she had no interest in being friends with any of them, let alone becoming romantically involved. Besides, she wasn’t a part of this time, nor did she intend to be.
The Portkey book had been difficult to read as it was totally written in Runic. Hermione was good at deciphering runes, but it still went slowly. She also hadn’t had much time to translate it because she was furiously reading all her school texts so she could see where they were and how far behind she would be.
It was finally Monday, and Hermione was nervously getting ready for classes. Her studies had shown that she probably wouldn’t be lost in class, but she never was good at making friends, and aside from her roommates, she feared she wouldn’t be acknowledged by anyone.
Her first class was Potions. Lily and Mary walked with her, as they were the only Gryffindors who were still in the class. They entered the classroom and Hermione went up to the professor’s desk.
“Professor Slughorn?” she asked.
The portly man looked up at her from the book he was reading.
“Ah, you must be Miss Granger! Professor Dumbledore has told me all about you. Welcome.”
He looked around the class and pointed at the back table.
“You can sit with Mister Snape. He doesn’t have a partner.”
Hermione nodded and nervously went to join him.
“Hi,” she said to him and smiled. “I’m Hermione.”
Snape scowled. “Just don’t mess up.”
“Nice to meet you too,” she mumbled under her breath.
Snape frowned but didn’t say anything.
Professor Slughorn rose from his desk.
“Ah class, welcome, welcome. Today we are making the antidote to Veritaserum. Please open your books to chapter three. You will find the instructions there. As this isn’t a difficult potion to create but involves a lot of preparation of ingredients, you are to work together.”
He turned and left the class to their own devices. Hermione opened her textbook and quickly read through the steps.
“Prof… Severus… I can prepare the beetle eyes if you want to chop the bat spleen.”
Severus gave a quick nod, and they both set to work on their part of the potion. They only communicated when necessary and soon the potion was done. Slughorn meandered over.
“Well, Miss Granger, seems like you are as talented as Mr. Snape. Well done, both of you.”
He turned and headed back to his desk. Hermione looked at Severus and smiled at him. He ignored her and began to clean up his station. Hermione frowned but did the same for her own items. Before long the class was dismissed, and she was off to Arithmancy.
oooOOOooo
Hermione flung herself into her seat at the Gryffindor table. The day had been hectic, but good. She was surprised that Severus was in every single one of her classes. He evidently was going for seven N.E.W.T.s just like she was. She hadn’t attempted to speak to him again, and he made no effort to do so with her either. No matter, she had other things to concentrate on.
The ‘gang’ as she had taken to call them came around one by one until they were all seated together. Somehow Sirius was sitting next to her again.
“So, how were classes?” he asked her.
“They were fine,” she replied.
“You should have sat with me in Transfiguration.”
She shrugged. “I’d like to meet some other people.”
“Well, maybe we can work together on our assignments,” he offered.
She regarded him skeptically, wondering about his motives. To be honest, it would be nice to work with someone on homework. She finally nodded.
“That would be great. Maybe we can all form a study group for Charms,” she suggested as she eyed her companions.
Everyone nodded enthusiastically and began to make plans for when that would happen.
Just then Barty Crouch came up and nodded at Marlene.
“Hey, would you like to go for a walk?” he asked.
Marlene eyed the younger Ravenclaw before smiling and standing up.
“Sounds like fun!”
They quickly moved away from the group. Hermione watched them leave.
“Would you like to go for a walk?” Sirius asked sultrily.
Hermione turned and frowned at him.
“No thanks. I have a lot to get done.”
She quickly got up and left the table as well. Black was annoying. She had no interest in him, and it angered her that he thought himself so amazing that he expected her to just fall into his arms.
Hermione headed to the library. She had a couple of books she needed to find on Runes to help her with the Portkey text. Entering, she noted Severus sitting alone at a table toward the back. She went to the Ancient Runes section and found two books that she hoped would help her. Plucking them from the shelves, she headed for Severus’ table.
“May I join you?” she asked.
He looked up at her. “I’d rather you not.”
Her mouth dropped open before she snapped it closed and stood straighter.
“I thought we could review Potions together,” she said.
“I don’t want a study buddy,” he replied caustically.
She regarded him seriously for a little before replying.
“All right, but I’d be more than happy to do so in the future.”
His eyes met hers. “I will not be interested in that at any time, Granger.”
“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth.
Moving to another table, she sat down and began to look at her texts. She was so incensed that she couldn’t concentrate on anything she was looking at. Huffing, she closed the book she was reviewing, took both to Madam Pince, and checked them out. She would review these in her room, where rude Slytherins would be unlikely to disturb her or her thoughts.
oooOOOooo
It had taken a couple of nights for Hermione to review the Runic texts. They had helped her to learn some more obscure runes and would make her translation of the Portkey text go faster. She was just finishing up the second book when Marlene burst into the room.
“He kissed me!” she cried.
“Who, Sirius?” Leann asked.
“No! Of course not. We’re just friends. Barty did!”
“Isn’t he a bit young for you?” Mary asked.
“No, he’s perfect!” she said as she spun around before throwing herself on her bed.
Hermione wasn’t sure what to make of Marlene’s announcement given her knowledge of Barty Crouch Jr. in the future. Of course, if she remembered correctly, Marlene was killed by Death Eaters in the first war. She wondered if those two things were related.
“Are you sure about him?” she asked.
“What’s not to be sure of? He’s brilliant, good-looking, and funny. I like him.”
Hermione decided to leave it be. She wasn’t supposed to be changing anything in the past anyway. She smiled at Marlene.
“Well, I’m glad he makes you happy. Now let’s hear all about it.”
“Well, we were studying in the library. We’ve been doing that a lot. We were working on Transfiguration, and all of a sudden, he looked at me, leaned in, and kissed me, and he didn’t stop. It was… so lovely.”
“What else happened?” Mary asked.
Marlene shrugged. “We told each other how much we liked one another. He said he wanted to be exclusive. Of course, I said yes.”
Lily came in at that point, and Marlene shared the good news. Lily grabbed her friend and gave her a huge hug.
“I was hoping things would work out with you two,” she squealed. “This is amazing!”
Marlene laughed as she pulled away. “It does seem it’s taken a little bit for us to get together.”
“He’s been eyeing you all year,” Mary added.
“He said he thought I was with Sirius, so he didn’t approach me sooner,” Marlene explained. “I told him Sirius and I are good friends, but that’s it! After that, everything just fell into place.”
“I’m glad you straightened that out, then.”
Marlene laughed. “Me too!”
oooOOOooo
A week had passed and Hermione was finally comfortable in her classes. Severus and she had a decent working relationship, but he never really said anything to her other than, prepare the lionfish fins, or put the flobberworms in the cauldron now. She tried to engage him, but he’d just glower at her and go back to putting his nose in the book he was studying.
Hermione’s last class was finally finished, so she decided that some time out on the grounds would be good for some fresh air. She headed out into the courtyard and onto the grounds. There were quite a few people outside enjoying the sun. Seeing Severus off to the side under a tree, she decided to see if she could join him.
“Hi,” she called out as she approached him.
Severus looked up, then immediately went back to his text.
“May I join you?”
He looked put out. “If you must,” he growled.
“Thanks!” Hermione replied, choosing to ignore his rudeness.
She settled next to him under the tree.
“What are you studying?” she asked.
He lifted his eyes from his book and glared at her, then returned to his book again.
“Okay,” she said.
Leaning against the tree she opened her book and began to decipher. She took notes on anything she thought would be important to her quest. The text was speaking about transportation and had been for some time now. She was eager to get to the part that spoke about time travel.
As she read, she came upon a series of runes that she couldn’t decipher. She looked over at Severus.
“Severus, can I ask you a question?”
Severus rolled his eyes. “I suppose I can’t stop you other than by walking away.”
She showed him the book and passage. “Can you translate that?”
He took the book from her and studied the text for a few minutes.
“This is talking about Portkeys,” he mused.
“Yes, It’s an interest I have, and I thought I might find out something new with this old text.”
He flipped the book closed, saving her place with his finger.
“Manipulating Portkeys,” he read. “Interesting…”
And with that, his cordiality disappeared. He reopened the book to her spot and handed it back to her.
“It says ‘Portkeys can be windows to other states of being,’” he explained.
“Thank you,” she said as she accepted the book back. “But how can that be?”
Severus stood up and huffed. “It’s your book, Granger. Figure it out.”
And with that statement he stalked off, leaving her feeling like her dreaded Potions professor had just berated her for her stupidity. All he needed was a cape billowing behind him. Good to know he hadn’t changed much with age. Blowing a stray hair out of her face, she went back to her book and continued translating.
Portkeys can be windows to other states of being. Using Portkeys in unique ways can open the door to the past and the future. This is obviously a unique and seldom-used attribute of Portkeys, but with the correct spell, it is possible.
Hermione looked off into the distance. This obviously had something to do with her traveling back, but how could a Portkey be used for time travel? She buried herself in the text for another hour and learned a lot about Portkeys and other states of being, but the book still hadn’t explained just how to use a Portkey for time travel.
She was about to get up when Sirius Black settled down next to her.
“Hello, love,” he uttered in what he must have thought was a sexy voice.
“Oh, hi, Sirius,” Hermione said. She wasn’t excited to see him.
“I’ve been watching you sit under this tree for a while now. What are you studying?”
Hermoine flashed the book at him. “It’s just an old text about Portkeys,” she explained.
“Ah, well, how about taking a break? We can walk around the lake?”
Hermione frowned. “I was actually going to head back in. It’s almost time for dinner.”
“Yes, but we have a few moments. Walk with me?” he asked.
Hermione bit her lip as she thought about it.
“Fine,” she said.
They stood and headed toward the lake.
“You really take your studies seriously,” Sirius mused.
“I do,” Hermione ventured. “I know it’s important for my future.”
“What do you want to do after school?”
Hermoine shrugged. “I’m not sure. I thought I wanted to work for the Ministry, but I’m not so sure now.”
“What changed your mind?”
“I’m not really enthused with bureaucracy. I don’t have an interest in affecting society anymore.”
“Oh, you were going to change the world?”
“Aren’t we all?”
Sirius stopped and turned to her. “You could just concentrate on changing my world,” he said sultrily.
Hermione frowned.
“Sirius…”
He grabbed her and pulled her close. His lips covered hers. Hermione struggled to get away from him, finally getting enough strength to push him away.
“Look!” she cried as she pointed at him. “I am not, nor will I ever be interested in you like that, so just give up now!”
He smiled saucily at her. “Come on, bird, I’ve got a lot to offer.”
“Sirius, like I said, I’m just not interested in you, okay!”
With that, she turned and stormed off.
“You’ll come around! I’m the best-looking guy at school,” he called after her.
“Humble too,” she called over her shoulder as she moved quickly away.
She was furious. Not just at Black, but at herself, too. Why did she even agree to ‘take a walk’ with that dog? Her fists clenched at her sides as she stalked back to the castle. Luckily they hadn’t walked very far. She was back within a few minutes. Stopping at the doors to the Entrance Hall, she took some deep breaths to calm herself.
Finally, she went in and headed to the Great Hall. She saw Lily, Remus, Leann, and Peter were already sitting at the table. She joined them, giving them each a quick nod.
“Oy, Hermione, where have you been?” Remus asked.
“I was out on the grounds studying,” she explained.
“Ah, I wanted to ask you about our Transfiguration homework.”
“I can help you after dinner,” she offered.
“Thanks,” he said shyly.
Despite disliking the Marauders, Hermione tolerated Remus. Peter was already a weasel, and his future just made her want to end him now to avoid the Potters being sacrificed. In reality, she knew she couldn’t do that, but it was oh, so tempting.
James was so haughty. She really couldn’t understand what Lily saw in him. Evidently, he was better than he had been in his youth, but she wasn’t very impressed.
And Sirius… well, he was so conceited that it made her want to vomit. The fact that he and James continuously bullied Severus was a major turnoff, too. Just the week prior she had turned the corner and caught them with Pettigrew, cornering Severus. Before she had time to realize what was going on, Severus had sent a blast at the three of them, throwing them to the ground with his spell before disappearing down the hall.
No, she wasn’t impressed with them at all. Remus seemed to be a tag-along who needed their friendship, as his shyness kept him from having many other friends. She knew the Gryffindors all found him a bit odd, but no one really knew why.
Her musings were broken by Sirius arriving and sitting down next to her. He smiled at her as if nothing had happened a few minutes prior. She frowned and turned her head. Wisely, he chose not to speak to her during that meal.