Chapter 1
As Hermione Granger hurried through the corridors of Hogwarts, her mind buzzing with thoughts of the Transfiguration exam she was rushing to. She fumbled with the time turner trying to go back a few minutes so that she could be on time.
As she felt the tug of time pulling her backwards she opened the door, but instead of a room filled with students ready to take an exam, she suddenly found herself stumbling into an unfamiliar room. Blinking in confusion, she realised she was standing in front of a group of Gryffindors that she didn’t recognize.
Four boys standing in the middle of the room, looking over a rather large piece of parchment, all looked up when she entered, a mixture of shocked and confused expressions on their faces.
They all quickly raise their wands at her, seriously? She wasn’t dangerous, she just got the wrong room. No wonder she didn’t recognise these boys, they were probably off in detention every day if this is how they reacted to someone entering a classroom. She turns to leave but one of them calls out to her. “Who are you?”
“Sorry I must be lost.” Hermione replies trying to leave quickly before she gets hexed, or worse, gets detention. How could she have mixed up the rooms, she could have sworn it was the correct door.
“Well, Lost, let me help you find your way.” A boy with long hair steps towards her, she had never seen him around before but she had to remind herself she didn’t know everyone who was in Gryffindor, this lot obviously weren’t the studying type.. “Where are you meant to be?”
“The transfiguration exam,” Hermione rushed the words, trying to get them to understand as quickly as possible but the boy looked at her funny, and then looked back at his friends.
“It’s the middle of the school year, Are you sure you’re alright?” He asked and Hermione froze.
“It’s…oh my god.” she realised she had gone too far back in time now, instead of a few minutes she must have turned the timer for months.
“Sorry. I need to go.” She tries to walk away and the boy grabs her arm and then closes the door so she can’t leave, backing her against it.
Hermione's heart pounded in her chest as she realised the gravity of her mistake. Just how far back in time had she gone? She needed to figure it out so that she could make her way back "Let me go," Hermione insisted, trying to pull away, but the boy's grip only tightened and he raised his wand again.
"Not so fast," he said, his voice firm but not unkind. "You can't just walk in here and then run away without explaining yourself. Who are you, really?"
Hermione swallowed hard, feeling a surge of panic rising within her. "I'm Hermione Granger," she confessed, her voice trembling slightly. The boys exchanged puzzled glances, clearly not sure what to make of her claim.
"Hermione Granger?" the boy holding her arm repeated, his brow furrowing in confusion. "We know everyone in Gryffindor, and judging by your robes..we should know you."
Hermione took a deep breath, steeling herself to explain. "I spend a lot of time in the library? Maybe that’s why you don’t know me." She hoped that would be enough for them to let her go, but the boys exchanged another look, this time with a mixture of scepticism and curiosity.
"The library, huh?" the boy with long hair mused, releasing Hermione's arm but still blocking her path to the door, he turned to lean against it, folding his arms and smirking. "Moony, do you recognise her then? You practically live in the library."
Hermione started, she recognised that name from somewhere, she hesitated to say anything else, unsure of how much she should reveal. This ‘Moony’ should be someone she recognises too then, if he really does spend a lot of time in the library.
“I don’t recognise her.” Moony replied, But something in the long haired boy's eyes told her he wasn't going to let her leave until he got some answers. The tall boy, Moony, looked vaguely familiar but with her hair, how could he not recognise her?
"I’m not supposed to be here." she said cautiously. "I was…travelling. And somehow I ended up here.”
The boys listened intently, their interest piqued, and the long haired boy reached forward, picking up the time turner that she hadn’t yet tucked away.
“Travelling, huh?” He examined it and Hermione couldn’t help but curse herself for not putting it away. "Well, Lost," the boy with long hair said finally, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "It looks like you've stumbled upon the right people." His mischievous grin caught her by surprise as he tucked his wand away. Who were these boys she had mistakenly run into?
“And who exactly are you?” She said, looking into the boy's eyes, they seemed so familiar she’s sure she knew them somehow. She looked from the boy with long hair, to the three other boys still standing around the table, the parchment now gone.
One of them was shorter and rounder, one of them was taller and quite lanky and the last boy—looked exactly like Harry.
“Oh my god.” She stepped further into the room and squinted at the boy.
“You’re…James Potter?” She asked, absolutely gobsmacked.
“So you know us?” James smirked,
“Merlin, Potter. How is it that every girl knows you?” Hermione spun back around realising who she was standing with.
“Sirius Black?” She asked again and a chuckle sounded from behind her, she spun to find the tall one laughing, he must be, “Remus.” The name escaped her mouth in a whisper.
“Well I think that is proof enough that she goes to Hogwarts at least, but she might not be a Gryffindor. She has a slightly different uniform.” Remus was still laughing but sounded quite serious as he eyed Hermione up and down. “Could be transfigured, are you a Slytherin?”
“What if we get in trouble? If she really is from a different house then we should leave her alone. We don't want to get caught up in mischief that we didn’t create.” The short boy’s voice sounded terrified. She turned to face him and scowled before she could stop herself.
That stupid rat boy! He’s the reason that Voldemort came back. He’s the one who gets Harry’s parents killed. If she could just manage to cast a spell before anyone stops her then it could all be over? Maybe Voldemort would never come back?
“Don’t tell me you did come here to create trouble?” Sirius’s laugh grabbed her attention, he had seen the glare on her face. She hadn’t come back for that, but now that she was here it was very tempting to finish him off right now.
“No. But, I do think you’re right. I have stumbled upon the right people. With the stories I’ve heard of you four, I’m sure that you could help me.” Hermione straightened up and looked directly at James. Looking at him made her feel like she was talking to Harry.
“See! I told you she’s just here to mess things up for us. Let’s just avoid her.” Peter said and Hermione was trying her best to ignore him.
“Stories? So you’ve only heard of us?” Remus asked and she realised then that she had messed up. They were too smart to let words slip past them. Her eyes widened and she took a small step towards the door, if she could just escape and hide somewhere she could try and return to the future.
“You’re from the future?” Sirius asked, and she whirled back to face him, he was right in front of her now, smirking down at her hand that was clutching the time turner.
“I—”
“Sirius, give her some space,” James gripped her arm and she turned to look at him, “sit down.” He smiled at her, he looked so much like Harry that she could have sworn she was back in the present time.
“I don’t want to be here, you three can get involved all you want but if anything happens keep my name out of it!” Peter said as he walked to the door and left. Hermione couldn’t help but glare at his back as the door closed behind him.
“Care to explain why you only know stories of us, and have a time turner.” Sirius said, leaning back against a desk, still smirking at her like he knew the answer already.
“If she’s really from the future she will probably know things about all of us.” Remus said as he walked over and pulled out a chair and sat down.
James squatted down in front of Hermione, looking up at her with the friendliest smile on his face. She knew she could trust them. These three boys she could trust, but she couldn’t trust Peter. Now that he was gone she decided it would be okay to tell them the truth.
She would just have to be careful not to expose any secrets that could change the future. She wasn’t prepared to go back, eventually, and find a totally different world waiting for her.
“Firstly, are you from the future?” James asked and Hermione nodded.
“Told you.” Sirius said triumphantly.
“Can you tell us something that you know, that no one besides us knows about?” Remus asked and she looked at him. Would it be right to let them know she knew that he was a werewolf she could just say she knows they are animagi.
“You have a map—the marauders map—which shows you everyone in the castle. And all the secret passageways.” Hermione said quickly, remembering the parchment they were standing over before.
“Marauders?” Remus asked and she nodded.
“That’s what it’s called when I saw it.” She said quickly, it mustn’t have a name yet.
“Nice try but you probably saw the map before when you first came in.” Remus replied and Hermione couldn’t help but sigh, she’d have to use their animagi forms.
“Your animagus is a stag.” Hermione said, looking James in the eyes. His eyebrows raised and he rubbed his chin, Sirius burst into a fit of laughter then.
“Anything else?” James asked, eyeing Sirius to try and make him stop laughing.
“Yours is a big black dog.” Hermione said, giving a pointed look at Sirius as she spoke. This time Remus was the one to laugh.
“A dog?” Sirius asked in disbelief, “don’t tell me Peter gets something like a tiger?” He asked, looking hopefully at Hermione,
“No, he's a rat. Wait, are you telling me you aren’t Animagi?” Hermione was shocked, she had gone back so far that they hadn’t even completed the transformation yet. Great, once again she had stumbled upon something that wouldn’t help her case.
“We only just finished gathering the first ingredient.” James admitted and Sirius was still laughing after hearing that Peter would be a rat.
“We can’t tell him or he won’t go through with it!” Sirius said through laughs.
“So, you know what we have planned but we won’t be able to know if you’re telling the truth or not until we are finished with that. Do you have anything else you could tell us?” James asked and Hermione couldn’t help but flick her eyes to Remus.
She didn’t want to expose his deepest secret like that. But she couldn’t think of anything else.
“You’re a werewolf.” She said softly and the smile dropped from his face.
“Well I believe her.” Sirius said and James started pacing. Remus hopped up and stormed out of the room without saying anything else, and Hermione felt a pang of guilt. She felt utterly horrible for using his secret but she couldn’t think of anything else.
“I need your help to get back to the future. You’ll help me right?” Hermione asked and James and Sirius looked at each other.
Sirius smirked at James, they seemed to be having a conversation just through their eyes. Hermione waited patiently for them to finish, and when they both turned towards her she held her breath.
“Alright, We’ll help. The others will come around soon I’m sure.” James said, holding a hand out to Hermione. She took his hand and he shook it, making a deal, she guessed.
“Well, first things first. How far back in time have you gone?” Sirius asked and Hermione furrowed her brows.
“Well I came from June 1996. I’m not sure what year it is right now.” Hermione said and they boys looked at each other,
“It’s December of 1975.” James said and Hermione felt like she was going to throw up. She had gone back 20 years in time, she covered her face with her hands trying to wish it away.
“I didn’t think time-turners could go this far back? Aren’t they more of a 24 hour thing?” Sirius asked, eyeing her necklace once again.
“Yes, it’s supposed to be limited. I really have no idea how this happened.” Hermione could feel tears beginning to prick her eyes as she realised just how messed up this situation was.
“Well maybe it’s simple? Try just turning it the way you would to go to the future. Now that you know it’s 20 years.” Sirius said,
“And 6 months.” James added.
“Okay. If this works, thanks.” Hermione reached for her time turner and started to spin the layers but nothing happened—she was stuck.
“Well, can she even be seen? Just being here could cause problems, maybe she should stay hidden?” Sirius had a point, it was bad enough that these four boys had seen her, if anyone else sees her it could cause even more trouble.
“We may as well change her uniform to match the current time,” James said, “would you mind standing up for a moment?” He asked and Hermione obliged. She was much too shaken to speak right now, she wasn’t sure how they were so calm about it, but then again they were the kings of mischief. They were the marauders.
James pointed his wand at her and her uniform quickly morphed into the old uniform. A skirt with no stockings, and her shirt, tie and robe.
“That looks about right, though it is winter,” James said thoughtfully, he shrugged off his robe and placed it on the chair that Remus had been sitting on and he pulled his vest up over his head, holding it out for Hermione to take.
“Thank you.” She said and she shrugged off her own robe before tugging the vest over her head, the smell of mahogany and leather filled her nose.
“Now that you’re properly dressed I think it’s time we go for a walk.” Sirius announced as both James and Hermione pulled their robes back on.
“I thought I shouldn’t be seen?” Hermione raised a brow at him, she didn’t intend on spending the entirety of her stay locked in a room. She smirked then, seeing Sirius taken aback.
“I think you’ll fit right in with us.” James said, patting Sirius on the shoulder and Hermione smiled, glad that he thought that.
“So, where are we going then?” Hermione asks, looking between the two boys, they both look at each other, having another silent conversation, before turning back to her.
“Our room.” They said at the same time, Hermione always knew that James and Sirius were best friends, but this seemed like a bit much. Hermione couldn’t help but giggle.
“Okay, let's go. I’ll try to keep my head down so that I’m not seen by too many people, since I’m not sure how long I’ll be here for.” Hermione said and walked to the door, both boys following her,
“Lead the way, Lost.” Sirius said, and she realised it must be another test to prove that she belongs in Gryffindor. Hermione thought that if it was reversed she would probably be doing the same thing. So she happily walked along the very familiar corridors and stood outside of the Portrait waiting for the boys to give the password.
“Lionheart.” James said, and the portrait swung open, he placed a hand on the small of Hermione’s back leading her inside and past all the unfamiliar faces. No one said anything, they barely acknowledged her and just continued what they had been doing.
The three of them walked up the stairs until they reached a door and it seemed so familiar to Hermione that she almost forgot where she was and who she was with.
“This is..” But she caught herself, she was going to say it was Harry’s room. But she wasn’t able to explain who Harry was, “This is the same room that my friends are in, in my time.” She said and as James and Sirius walked past her and into the room, she was almost too afraid to look.
She was worried about seeing the change in the room, making her time travel a reality and not just a strange dream. But she steeled herself and walked inside, closing the door behind her.
It looked almost the same, clothes thrown around everywhere and papers scattered on the floor and desks. But the personal items on the shelves were different, one one shelf there were books, that must be Remus’ area. Another had quidditch related items, that must be James or Sirius.
But as she turned to the next area it had leather boots and a leather jacket and a mix of muggle and wizard vinyl records. That must be Sirius’, that leaves.. she turned to the last area which was messier than the rest of the room, Pettigrew.
“We need to make a plan,” Hermione said as she turned her attention back to the two boys in the room. “I’m thinking that I will need to change my appearance, there are a few people from my timeline here and I don’t want to risk anything.”
“Who is it?” Sirius asked,
“Don’t tell us.” James quickly said,
“I won’t tell you anything unless it's absolutely necessary.” Hermione sat down on one of the beds and James joined her.
“Okay, the holidays start tomorrow, how about we take a trip to the nearest muggle town and get some samples for a polyjuice?” Sirius asked,
“Travelling to a muggle town sounds like the most ridiculous and dangerous plan I’ve heard and I’ve done some things that were ridiculous and dangerous and they almost never end up going to plan!” Hermione started to lecture them, forgetting who she was talking to. This wasn’t Harry and Ron, it was James and Sirius.
“It doesn’t seem too dangerous to me, not as bad as that one time when we made the bathroom explode on the second floor. We barely made it out of that one.” Sirius said,
“Well my arm took forever to heal, it had to be re-broken a few times.” James said, and Hermione only hoped he was trying to consider her warning.
“Well how would we get there?” Hermione asked, hoping that it would cause them to realise they should make a new plan.
“Do you know how to fly?” James asked and her eyes almost fell out of her head.
“No, I mean yes, but I’m terrified of heights. I did enough to pass the class and then I never touched a broom ever again.” Hermione admitted and James scratched at the back of his neck. “I feel the need to remind you that your plan is to go to a muggle town. You can’t just fly in and look around.” She resisted the urge to cross her arms and stomp her foot.
“I guess we could go without you, but I think it would be best if you were there to help pick someone out.” James said, “I’m a good flyer, you can go on the back of my broom?” He suggested and Hermione realised they weren’t going to back down. So she decided to agree, the faster they could get this over with the better.
She needed a new identity.