Chapter 2

A/N: My grateful thanks to Charmed Force, WriterMerrin, and July Morning for their beta skills. Thank you to all who have read and reviewed.

We are now starting at the beginning. I've shown you a part of the future, but now we are going to start with how this all came about and Hermione's reactions to it.

***

Thirteen-year-old Hermione Granger wished she had never been sorted into Gryffindor House. As she looked down the long table in the Great Hall, she watched Harry's dad and his friends laugh and carry on loudly. They were all so popular and well liked. She felt like she had during those first days before the troll, before Harry and Ron had become her friends. She sat alone, on her third day of being in this new timeline, ignored by her house. She picked at her dinner aimlessly, irritated with herself and with the whole situation.

She wasn't supposed to be here. She had just started her third year at Hogwarts and had been given the Time-Turner she had coveted for so long. However, a slip of the hand as she had absentmindedly fiddled with it during the first night's study session had found her on the floor of her common room, yet it hadn't been her common room. She had picked herself up from the floor, placed her hand on the desk where she had been working and found none of her books, parchments, or quills.

***

She began to breathe with a lot of difficulty. What had happened? She took off the Time-Turner and examined it carefully. What was she to do? She decided to go see McGonagall. Surely, she would know how to help her. Hermione fled the common room and raced towards Professor McGonagall's rooms. Everything looked so different! The carpets, paintings, and the tapestries were not all quite the same. This was Hogwarts, she was positive, but it wasn't her Hogwarts, not anymore.

It decided, though, on Gryffindor.

Hermione had no way of knowing, but in years to come, she would kick herself over and over for not demanding she be placed in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff...anything to get away from Gryffindor and Slytherin.

***

Hermione picked at her lunch and, finally giving up on it altogether, made her way to her Transfiguration class. She sat alone at her desk. She quickly saw the girl and boy who would become Harry's mum and dad. To Hermione's shock, Lily detested James and was constantly with Professor Snape. She had recognized him straight away. He wasn't hard to miss. Snape was still the same dark, gloomy person she knew, just with a higher voice and smaller form. His nose was quite unfortunate. He would have to wait until he grew up to fit into it better. Hermione had wondered if he was still the same mean person she knew or if he were nicer. She got her answer when he had caught her staring at him. His black eyes had narrowed and looked as if he was going to hex her. She had turned her face quickly and focused on her work.

Today, though, she was determined to try and get to know Harry's mum and dad. She tried to approach James in the hallway after class, but he was very busy trying to get Lily's attention from Snape. One boy did notice her, though.

"Oy, James! The new girl wants to talk to you," sneered a friend of James'.

Hermione was embarrassed as she lowered her head.

"Maybe she's got a crush on you, James. Poor girl, teeth like a beaver!" He started to laugh, and another squatty boy laughed right along with him.

Hermione looked up at him in horror. Then Lily came to her side.

"I can't believe you, Sirius Black!" she yelled.

"Sirius Black?" screeched Hermione. Her eyes grew wide in terror. She knew about him. He was the man the Ministry was looking for. He had killed Muggles and had just escaped from Azkaban!

Her face must have gone ghostly white, for James said, "Yeah, Snivelly, she's just about as pale as you. Maybe she can be your girlfriend. Then you can stop stalking Evans!"

Lily whirled onto James and began to shout at him. Hermione slowly backed up and, when the coast was clear, escaped from the melee. It did not, though, escape her notice that a pair of black eyes had noticed her fear, her immediate dislike of Sirius Black, and her quick exit.

***

Hermione spent the rest of the fall term in the company of Lily Evans. She made herself scarce whenever Snape came around; he didn't like her hanging about when he wanted to visit with Lily. He monopolized most of Lily's free time. It was plain to see he was in love with her. The way he looked at her was lovely. His face shone, and he looked so happy it made Hermione want to cry. Why hadn't Lily married Snape? Perhaps that was why he was such a nasty bastard as a grown-up. He had lost the love of his life to one of his enemies, and then Voldemort had killed her. Hermione thought a lot about Professor Snape during those first months.

That must be the reason he wears black all the time. He is still in mourning for Lily! she thought.

One day, while Hermione and Lily were taking a walk together after classes had ended, Lily asked Hermione if it bothered her that Severus wanted to be alone with her.

"No," Hermione answered. "Snape has so few nice friends. That Slytherin crowd is really mean."

Lily looked at Hermione with strange interest. "Hermione, why don't you ever call him by his name?" she asked.

"Snape?" she asked. "I don't know. He doesn't like me, and he doesn't call me, Hermione, just Granger. So, it seems right this way," she replied.

"Lily, do you like him?" Hermione asked cautiously.

"Sev?" she asked with her green eyes wide. "He's my best friend. I never thought of him like a boyfriend!"

"Why?" pressed Hermione. "I mean, I see how he looks at you, Lily. He loves you. I know he must. He absolutely adores you."

Lily's brow furrowed. "Sev has been my best friend since we were little kids. He doesn't come from a good home. He's not gotten a lot of love from his parents. I think I'm the only person who has ever really loved him just for who he is. I don't think I could ever do that to him, I mean, get into a relationship with him, and then if it didn't work out, where would he be?" she mused.

"You won't tell Sev I said anything about his family, right?" she whispered nervously as they walked back towards the castle.

"Not a soul," replied Hermione.

***

The next day, Hermione sat alone by the lake waiting for Lily. This was turning out to be a horrible new life. No Harry, no Ron. She wasn't fitting in well with her fellow Gryffindors, either. She began to realize that Harry had saved her. Being the best friend of "The Boy Who Lived" had its perks.

Then she thought of the Weasleys. She figured Bill and Charlie were alive. She wondered if she should risk showing herself to Arthur and Molly, but decided against it. She was disturbing enough lives as it was. She wasn't about to risk the balance of her real life in the future by mucking about in this one, just because she was lonely.

A voice shook her out of her thoughts.

"Granger, why is it that your fellow Gryffindors have frozen you out?"

Hermione turned and saw Snape. She whipped her head back around and stared at the lake. "I don't fit in very well. James and Sirius don't like me very much," she admitted.

"I saw your reaction to Black. I daresay you don't care for him either. Why is that?"

"I suppose that is my business," she snapped as she glanced at him.

"Of course," he replied as he continued to stare at her.

Lily came up to them and started to chat about her day. Hermione gave a small smile and tried hard to ignore Snape's glare.

***

The school year dragged on uneventfully. Hermione received her usual excellent marks. There was no one stopping her from studying and doing as much extra credit as she wanted. Even so, it continued to be a lonely life. However, she did try to make the best of things. She made friends with Hagrid and spent as much time as she could helping him with the animals and his pumpkin patch. She wished with all her might she could tell him she had known him, but she couldn't risk it. There were times she would sit and cry without warning, and the half-giant would gather her into his huge arms and hug her, telling her everything would be all right. As far as everyone knew, she was a poor orphan who had not shown her magical abilities until she was thirteen. Hagrid would pat her back and talk about his dad, who had died soon after he had come to Hogwarts. But she wasn't an orphan. She was just a misplaced person in the wrong time. Still, it was good to know she was cared for, even if those who cared were very few.

She spent a great deal of time thinking about her life. She wished she didn't know the things she did. Watching James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter was very difficult. She wondered why Harry had never told her about his parents' friends. She wondered where they were now. At least Peter. She knew Sirius Black was on the lam, but the question nagged her. Why did he become a killer? She knew about Remus, albeit only a little. Actually, Remus was the only one who liked her, and she liked him. It was so strange to know that she had seen the man he would one day become on the Hogwarts Express just hours before she had arrived in 1973.

Remus Lupin was a very shy boy and seemed to gravitate towards the withdrawn Hermione Granger. During the times when she was left out by Snape's need to be alone with Lily, Remus would "happen" upon the lonely girl. The first time he did, Hermione was quite nervous.

She sat on the hill that overlooked Hagrid's hut and watched the fall leaves whirl by her. She saw Remus come near to sit beside her.

"Why are you sitting with me?" she asked suspiciously.

"Why ever not?" he replied.

Hermione gave a snort to show her derision. "Perhaps your pal Sirius wouldn't want you hanging about an ugly girl like me," she snapped.

"Sirius isn't my keeper," he said quietly.

"You could have fooled me," she muttered as she ripped up pieces of grass next to her.

Remus edged closer to Hermione. "I like you, Hermione. I think you are ever so nice. You are really smart, you know," he offered.

Hermione looked at his sandy blond hair and pictured how he would look in twenty years. He would not turn out so bad-looking. It was weird! Two boys in her year would be her professors; well, Professor Lupin would have been her teacher if she had remained in her own timeline.

"Yeah, I know I'm smart. My friends called me 'the brain,' she said wistfully.

Remus squirmed a bit before asking, "You know, no one has ever told us where you came from. Where have you been the last couple of years?"

Hermione already had this rehearsed in her mind. She looked into Remus' brown eyes and said, "My magic was a late manifestation. It was quite unheard-of; however, my foster parents were quite accepting about it all. So, I came here. Fortunately, I was able to join the rest of the third-years." She kept her eyes forward, not looking at Remus as she spoke. The wind kept whipping her hair about her face. She finally turned and saw how attentively he was watching her.

"I like your hair," he said shyly.

Hermione was shocked. No one "liked" her hair. "I-I have to go...bye!" she said hurriedly as she bolted from his side.

***

After the Christmas holidays, James, Sirius, and Peter resumed their tormenting of Snape. Hermione was incensed by Lily's blindness at how cruel they were. She finally decided to confront her.

That night as they got ready for bed, Hermione stood up to the redhead.

"Lily, I want to talk with you about Snape."

Lily kept brushing out her hair. "Yeah, Hermione? What about him?"

Hermione knelt next to her and looked into her green eyes through the mirror. "Lily, James and his gang are so very cruel. Why do you let Snape deal with them all by himself?" she asked in earnest.

Lily turned and her emerald eyes flashed in anger. "Look, Severus is not the easiest person to handle, Hermione," she said hotly. "You haven't been here from the start. These boys have had it in for each other, and there is no stopping it!" She glanced around her nervously.

Hermione was furious! Lily didn't want to deal with the realities. She didn't want to see how much Snape loved her, and she definitely didn't want to see how ugly things had been going right underneath her nose.

Lily grabbed Hermione and pulled her into her bed with her, pulling the drapes closed. She took Hermione's hands into her own and sighed.

"Oh, Hermione, let's not fight about the boys. You are the only one I can really talk with about things. You are so understanding." She hugged Hermione then and held on tightly as she continued to whisper to her, "I don't know what I feel anymore. The Slytherin boys are so cruel to Muggle-borns, and Severus doesn't see the problem. He thinks it's all a lark!"

Hermione pulled herself from the girl. "Lily, you can't spend your life with your head in the sand. One day, you will have to choose."

Lily turned her head to the side. "I can't bear to hurt him, Hermione. I can't! He loved me when no one knew me. He stuck by my side when I was so scared, knowing I was a witch. He's the one who even told me I was a witch...long before I got my letter, you see." Her head was bowed now in contrition. Hermione placed a hand on top of her head and kissed her hair.

"I'm sorry, Lily. I didn't know how far back you and Snape went with your friendship," Hermione admitted.

She looked up at her then, huge tears falling from her eyes. "I-I always see him as that scared, little boy. He was so thin and pathetic. No one loved him...no one! His mum and dad are evil people, Hermione. He'd die if I were ever to leave him!" She sobbed against Hermione's chest. Hermione patted her back and held the girl.

"Please, Hermione. Will you sleep with me tonight?" Lily asked desperately. "I'm so sad and confused. I feel so responsible. I do see what the boys do to Sev, I-I just can't seem to stop any of it!"

"Of course I'll stay," Hermione assured her. Lily nestled against Hermione's chest, and she stroked the girl's long red hair.

She's not strong enough for all of this. She can't face it, really. She feels so responsible, Hermione thought.

She was deep in thought, thinking Lily had drifted off, when suddenly she spoke.

"Hermione, I know that James Potter fancies me. He looks at me the way Sev does, just not as intense. Yet I know he wants to take me away from Severus. I can't seem to be free from any of them, Hermione. I'm afraid I'll be stuck with them until I die," she whispered.

A chill ran down Hermione's spine. Dear God in Heaven! Lily will only live another seven years before Voldemort kills her and James.

Hermione felt Lily's words were a premonition. Although she didn't understand how, she did know that Sirius Black was a murderer. Would he bring about the Potters' deaths? I can't be involved. I must remain neutral, she thought desperately as she hugged Lily's body close to hers. Lily was like a sister, a baby sister who needed to be petted and loved. She just wasn't cut out for all of what life was going to throw at her.

One thing was for certain, Snape would lose in the end, and James would win Lily. What would happen when that day arrived, Hermione shuddered to think.

***

"Hey, Granger!" called out Sirius Black.

Hermione closed her eyes as she picked up her pace. She walked double-time down the corridor. She was in no mood for Sirius Black. The damn boy was as irritating as Draco Malfoy!

"Granger! Hold up!" he shouted as he ran and caught her by the arm.

Hermione jerked her arm back from him. "I'm quite busy, Sirius. If you would be so kind as to let me be about my business?" she replied coldly as she turned on her foot to escape him.

Sirius grabbed her roughly by the arm. "What's your problem? If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were just another regular girl. As it is..."

"...As it is, Sirius, you don't know any better! Kindly remove yourself from my person," she yelled.

He didn't release her. "Look, you bitch! I know what you're on about. You keep getting Evans to meet up with Snape! I don't know your game, but you'd best stop it," he threatened her.

She looked at him incredulously. "I don't believe it! You actually think I have any say in anything that goes on here? I'm the new girl, and I just try to keep my nose out of other people's business, unlike some people."

He glared at her. "I don't know why you are in Gryffindor. You should be in Slytherin, you buck-toothed hag!"

Hermione set her jaw firmly and threw her bag onto the ground, brandishing her wand, pointing it straight at Black's throat.

"You think you're so clever. Where's your big talk now, you great bully!" she hissed.

He fixed his eyes on her and didn't back down. "Well, Granger, where's your fire? Why don't you just hex me and be done with it, eh?" he sneered.

In a flash, his wand was out, and he cast a Jelly-Leg Jinx on her. However, Hermione was quicker. Before he could finish, she had cried out, "Expelliarmus!" and his wand flew to her opened hand.

Hermione noticed a small crowd had gathered. She didn't want to bring any more attention to herself. She flung Black's wand to him.

"You are a pitiful, pathetic coward, Black. You just stay far away from me!" she shouted. Then she picked up her bag and stomped off.

Later that evening, she sat on the hill she normally liked. She liked to see the familiarity of Hagrid's hut. It was almost as if time stood still here or there wasn't time at all. Harry and Ron could be just coming up behind her as easily as Lily and Snape. She breathed deeply and tried to clear her mind of the day's upsetting event.

She heard the crunching snow behind her, and she whipped out her wand to face the intruder.

"Oh, it's just you," she said, unimpressed.

"What are you doing out here, Granger?"

"Not that it's any of your affair, Snape, but I happen to be meditating," she snapped.

He sat down next to her after casting a warming spell. "I assume you cast a Warming Spell?" he said with a hint of condescension in his tone.

She scowled at him. Git! "For your information, I do happen to know how to cast a variety of spells. I'm not a dunderhead, you know."

"Dunderhead?" he chuckled. "I thought only my father used that word."

Hermione's eyes snapped to his. Well, there's another piece of the puzzle!

Snape leaned back and stared straight ahead as he continued his conversation. "I must say, Granger, I don't believe I've ever had such a pleasant birthday in all my life," he mused.

Hermione's icy demeanor quickly dissolved. "I didn't know it was your birthday. Happy Birthday, Snape!"

"Hmm," he replied as he stood up again. "No, I daresay seeing Black get his arse kicked by a girl of his own house was the best present I ever could have received. Good night, Granger."

He walked away, leaving Hermione feeling a bit sad. They are all sad, really," Hermione thought. "Well, perhaps except for James and Peter; they seem happy enough. However, Lily, Snape, Remus, and Sirius are so miserable.

Hermione decided to head back inside to warm up in the common room. It did not escape her notice that it was just as chilly inside as it had been outside. Well, piss on them, she thought. Black is a wanker, and I don't care! He deserved what he got, putting his hands on me.

After she had some cocoa, she made her way up to her dormitory. She hadn't even closed the door behind her before a very irate Lily Evans ambushed her.

"What were you thinking?" she shrieked.

Hermione calmly walked past the girl and began to change into her nightgown. She spoke firmly with Lily and did not apologize for her actions.

"Lily, that boy put his hands on me. He also accused me of some pretty nasty things and then insulted me. I tried to avoid him, but he wouldn't leave me alone. I had to defend myself."

Lily tossed her hair back behind her back. "Sirius said you and Snape have some kind of 'thing' going on!" she snapped.

Hermione shook her head. "Honestly, that boy is so thick. Lily, he's a damn liar, and I can't help but say it." She felt her anger rise up inside her. "He's a cruel and heartless creature, and you mark my words, Lily, you will rue the day you ever laid eyes on that boy!"

Lily laughed as she sat on her bed, tucking her legs underneath her. "Oh, Hermione, don't be a silly goose! Sirius is just territorial about Gryffindors. You know his little brother, Regulus, is a Slytherin."

Hermione paused in her dressing. Her interest was piqued. "No," she said slowly. "No, I didn't. That's strange. Doesn't it usually follow for pure-blood siblings to be in the same house?" She continued to put on her nightgown.

"It's worse than that!" Lily said soberly as she sat down to take off her shoes. "Sirius is the first Black ever to be sorted into Gryffindor. It's been quite difficult for him, so he is a bit touchy about needing to prove himself. He wants to be known as a true Gryffindor. Although, it has got to be hard when a person has centuries of family tradition going against him."

She leaned over and squeezed Hermione's hand. "Please, try to not take Sirius so personally," she asked sweetly.

Hermione withdrew her hand, her brown eyes flashing amber. "Do you know what that prat said to me?" she spat. "He called me a buck-toothed bitch! What do you expect me to do? I won't stand idly by and be insulted."

"Well, Hermione, why don't you do see Madam Pomfrey and have her fix your teeth? I know just the thing! "Trust me," she whispered as she began to change into her nightgown.

Hermione finished getting ready for bed and settled in under her covers. She had a difficult time falling asleep. She kept on wondering what Lily had in mind for changing her teeth. Soon though, she had fallen asleep with dreams of a brilliant, beautiful smile that finally made her feel pretty.