Disclaimer: Here I am once again to tell you all that I do not own the Harry Potter universe or anything associated with him. BUT, we recently acquired the cutest little tabby kitty that was lost, and no one claimed her. I have decided to name her Minnie, and I don't mean the mouse either (wink wink)

A/N: Thanks again those of you who reviewed. I am still plowing forward! Woo hoo! I am trying to write a chapter or two ahead so even if I don't write anything one day, I still have something to post. This story will not be that long, maybe a few more chapters. I don't want to add stuff that is really not relevant just to make it longer. Besides, I pretty much know how it's all going to go except the last couple chapters. I think, however, that it will pretty much write itself.

Chapter 5

Hermione tossed and turned restlessly. She had had three more nightmares since Saturday. She, in essence, was frightened of sleep. She rose, throwing on her dressing gown and walked to her window. Resting her forehead on the cool glass, she looked down on the quiet grounds. The night was still, not even a hint of a breeze, and no one was out. The full moon glinted off the fresh snow that had accumulated earlier that day.

She gasped! FULL MOON! I wonder if they are already in the Shrieking Shack. How I would love to go down there and watch them! She almost did but stopped herself. She knew it was impossible for her to slip down there and nonchalantly show up at the Shrieking Shack. Not to mention, she wasn't sure how Remus would treat her. There was no wolfsbane in this time period.

"Or better yet, take a midnight stroll through the Forbidden Forest. Especially during the full moon."

Sirius' voice rang through her head. She smirked. What would he say if she actually DID take a midnight stroll during the full moon? Don't even think about it Hermione! You spent your entire school life trying to keep Ron and Harry from doing foolish things such as this!

Yeah, but still, her mind argued, they are not here and I don't know if I will ever get to see either or them again and I know I could be hurt or worse but I just don't think I even care anymore! Besides, James and Sirius will likely have Remus running the whole Forbidden Forest. I. on the other hand, only long to visit the room in the Shrieking Shack where Harry finally found Sirius. The room where we all three stood united, first against Sirius then against Snape. I miss my friends.

She grabbed her cloak and threw it around her shoulders, not giving another thought to what kind of danger she could be putting herself.

She hurried along the grounds, hoping no one would happen to look out their window and notice her, until she got close to the Whomping Willow. She dug around in the snow looking for a stick long enough to reach the knot at the bottom of the tree. At last she found one and poked the tree until it stood still. She crawled to the base and slipped into the entrance, grinning in remembrance of the time when her and Harry were thrown unceremoniously in the entrance.

It felt as though she walked for hours when she finally spotted the door. She quickly extinguished the light from the tip of her wand and slipped in. She listened hard for any signs of life in the old shack. Hearing nothing, she ascended the stairs heading straight for the room. As she pushed the door open, she threw herself on the floor near the bed that Ron sank down on, nursing his broken leg while valiantly defending his best friend. She rested her head on the filthy bedspread and sobbed uncontrollably until there were no tears left, and her eyes closed. She slipped away to sleep.

The boys had returned to the shack, to regroup before returning to the castle. The sun was not far away and Remus had collapsed on the filthy sofa, panting after returning to his usual form.

"No one's been here James, relax," Sirius said, keeping a close eye on Remus.

"How come there are footprints over here then," James asked. Sirius rolled his eyes. "They are probably ours, Prongs."

"Nope Padfoot my friend. They are FOOTPRINTS, not PAW PRINTS!"

Sirius strode quickly over to James to study the prints made on the dusty floor. "Let's go check it out! Peter, stay with Mooney please." Peter nodded while the other two, with wands at the ready, slowly crept up the stairs. The followed the footsteps to a room upstairs and quietly pushed the partially closed door open.

"Hermione," Sirius called out quietly. He rushed over and knelt next to her, gently shaking her awake. Her eyes fluttered open and her mind quickly processed where she was. She turned her head toward the door as she heard James call downstairs that everything was all right.

"Hermione, did you sleep here last night," Sirius asked. She nodded, trying to shake the kinks out of her body.

"Why," James asked. "And how did you get in here?"

Sirius helped her off her knees and onto the bed. He quickly sat down next to her.

"I heard of the Shrieking Shack before. It is quite famous," she muttered, not looking at James.

"But, you couldn't have come in through Hogsmead. You had to have come through the tunnel. How did you do that," he interrogated.

She sighed. "I knew about the tunnel. I know a lot of things about Hogwarts, OK? I just can't tell you how I know."

James walked over and knelt in front of her. He looked her in the eye. "Tell me Hermione, is there ever going to be a time when you CAN tell us?" She kept eye contact with him. "I certainly hope so, James," she answered, with no waver in her voice.

Peter and James helped Remus through the tunnel and to the hospital wing. Sirius volunteered to walk Hermione back to her room, against all her protests. When they reached the portrait leading to her rooms, Sirius stopped her.

"Hermione, I have as many questions as James to ask you, if not more," he started, taking both her hands in his. "I hope someday you will allow me to ask them."

She squeezed his hands and smiled. "I appreciate you very much, Sirius. I appreciate that you have given me space and not asked me questions in which I think you somehow know I cannot answer. She took one hand out of his and touched his face. He bent down and brushed his lips over hers. It wasn't much, just a promise. He watched her walk through the portrait hole then turned to get back to his common room.

XXXXXXXX

"Let's just confront her with all these questions."

"No," Sirius stood before the fire in the empty Gryffindor common room. Peter, Lily and James were sitting on the couch while Remus thoughtfully observed Sirius from a comfortable chair. "You like her," Remus stated.

"What," asked Sirius, turning at once to face them all. A bit of pink touched his cheeks. Remus sat forward, a wolfish (pardon the pun) grin on his face. "You like her like James likes Lily," he accused. Sirius rolled his eyes before turning back to the fire. "No one likes anyone as much as James does Lily." Next to James, Lily beamed.

"Still," said James, a bit embarrassed himself, "you do like her."

Sirius spun around once more. "OK, so what? I do like her. Can I help it if I want to protect her? Can you blame me for not wanting my friends to attack her with questions that I know she can't answer and that will just make her cry?"

Lily rose and went to Sirius, placing her hand softly on his arm. "Sirius, we just want to help her. It doesn't seem to me that Dumbledore is helping her much. Maybe we can do something." He sighed. "I don't know, Lils. I just don't know what to do." And he turned and headed up the stairs to the boys dormitories.

XXXXXXX

Hermione sat in her favorite window seat once again, this time feeling a little hopeful. The headmaster had just left, but not before delivering wonderful news. He and a few faculty members figured out a way to reverse the time turner, therefore sending her back home. They had to tweak it up a bit and test it before they would allow her to use it, he explained, and that it would take a few more days. She glanced across the room at the stone basin he had left on her coffee table. She knew exactly what it was before he even told her.

"Sir, what do I need a pensieve for," she had asked. He motioned for her to sit on the sofa with him. He turned to face her, the twinkling absent from his bright blue eyes.

"Well, my dear, I thought you might want to add any memories that you might believe are, shall we say 'helpful', in there. We haven't sat down and talked about any future events and I didn't want you to think I was pressuring you for any information. Therefore, I am leaving this with you as a way of preserving any memories you may think I might need to look into."

"Thank you, sir," she answered, taken away by the sheer brilliance of the idea. It would definitely make it far more believable if Dumbledore were to see it with his own eyes. And she could take her time and add only the memories she felt were necessary, therefore not altering history. Much.

She turned her head back to the cool window. But when I go back, what will I go back to, she mused. And what about Sirius? She snapped out of her thoughts. She had attempted to keep the growing feelings she had for Sirius buried deep until he kissed her. Granted, it wasn't a passionate kiss by any means. But it still touched her heart. And every time she thought about it, which was quite often, it made her stomach do flip flops. She turned, leaning her back against the glass and letting her legs hang down. She would have to tell him she was leaving. She didn't belong here and he no longer existed in her time. He was just a memory. A tear fell from her cheek and landed on her robes. She looked at the pensieve again. She hopped down, knowing what she had to do. She could save him! She could save them all! She just needed to give Dumbledore her memories and make sure he warned the rest!

She knelt over the pensieve, wondering where to start. Well, she would have to start at the beginning. When she met Harry and Ron. She would have to show him what would happen if someone didn't intervene.

She placed the tip of her wand to her head, concentrating on her first year. She pulled a memory out, a painful memory of Ron calling her a nightmare and her crying her eyes out in the bathroom. The troll followed. The three headed dog. The sorcerer's stone. The polyjuice potion. The dementors. Professor Lupin. The Shrieking Shack. They spun rapidly and rapidly out of her mind. She felt her body shake and her stomach turn. She was going to be sick, she could feel it.

"Hermione, we really need to ask you some questions!"

She spun around. Sirius, James, Remus, Peter and Lily were making their way through the portrait hole.

"What is that," James asked, pointing at the pensieve behind her. "It's a pensieve," Remus answered. "But what are you doing with it?"

She sank to the floor in front of the pensieve, trying to calm her spinning head. "It's Dumbledore's. He asked me to add a few of my memories. You know, about the stuff that is happening at home."

"That is really cool," Lily exclaimed. "Can we take a look?"

"NO!" Hermione was on her feet in seconds, causing her head to spin slightly. "I mean, Dumbledore doesn't want anyone else to see." Sirius walked up to her and took her hand possessively. "Hermione, they all wanted to come here to ask you questions and I was totally against it. But, now, well, I think I would like to know a few things also."

She leaned her head into his chest, taking in the pure scent of him, savoring the moment. "I am going home," she muttered into his robes. He pulled back and looked at her.

"You're going home? When," he asked in disbelief. She pulled away from him and walked over to her window. "I'm not sure yet. But I do know it will be in a few days." Sirius dropped his chin to his chest. Lily walked up behind Hermione and placed her hands on her shoulders. "Is it safe for you to return home," she asked. Hermione turned to see the worried look on the other girl's face. She glanced at the others, letting her eyes linger on Sirius. They all wore expressions of surprise mingled with concern. She took a deep breath, causing her body to shudder. Her control was slipping, her head spinning again, her emotions oh so near the surface once more. "I don't know," she grinded out. She walked away from Lily and started frantically pacing up and down, up and down.

"I don't know! I have no idea what I will go home to find! Is Harry dead also? What about the professors? Does Mrs. Weasley know about Ron and Ginny yet? And Snape….oh that dirty bastard! Did he return to help us or to help Voldemort!"

James whispered quietly for Lily to find McGonagall or Dumbledore. She nodded and slipped out the portrait hole. Sirius grabbed Hermione's shoulders to stop her pacing.

"Snape? Weasley? What do you know about them," he asked. She slapped his hands away and backed up.

"Don't you KNOW! Don't you understand how hard it is to look at you? To look at each and every one of you and KNOW what I know? And how it KILLS me to know and not be able to say!Do you know how HARD it is to want to go home but be so very afraid to go and in the same breath want to stay knowing that is totally impossible? And do you know how bad it hurts?Do you know my heart aches so bad I feel like it will just stop! And oh I pray sometimes that it will!"

Dumbledore and McGonagall rushed through the portrait hole, followed by a very pale Lily. McGonagall ran to Hermione and pulled her in her arms, whispering words of comfort to her. Dumbledore gave the rest of them a reassuring smile. "Perhaps it is time for Miss Granger to spill her secret."

Hermione pulled away from McGonagall. Dumbledore smiled at her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "You see, Miss Granger came to us quite by accident. I know you all have been wondering where she is from. Well, she is from here. She is a student at this school, a seventh year. She has attended Hogwarts since she was a first year. I know," he paused, raising his hand to the objections the others were throwing out. "I know you don't ever recall seeing her here. Well, that would be because she comes to us from another time. A time a few years ahead of this one."

Astonishment as well as disbelief circled the room, Hermione kept her head down, too afraid to face what she might see in the others' eyes, especially Sirius'.

"That's how you know Snape," Remus stated. "And how to get in the Shrieking Shack." She just nodded.

"And you heard loads about Lily, but not from us," James realized.

"You know us in the future, don't you," Sirius asked, in a hopeful kind of voice. She looked up at him and smiled. "Yes, yes I do. Well," she cast her eyes downward. "Some of you."

All of them started asking her questions at once. Dumbledore quickly put a stop to it. "I am sure you all want answers, but I am afraid it is up to Miss Granger to decide that." He turned to look at her. "Miss Granger, is there anything important you think your friends should know?" She cast her eyes wildly about. Would it matter? Would it make it better or worse? Would it even make a difference? Or would it change life as she knew it in her own time?

She looked at McGonagall's tight lipped face. McGonagall nodded.

"Sir, yes. I want all of you to know! It's so very important!" She wrung her hands anxiously and started to pace. "I just don't know where to begin. I have to do this right!" Her mind whirred and whirred over every memory she had just deposited in Dumbledore's pensieve. She stopped and looked at the pensieve.

"Sir," she asked, eyes never leaving the pensieve. "Would it be possible for all of us to jump in the pensieve? I believe that would be much easier and more accurate…."

"Excellent idea, Miss Granger," he exclaimed. Hermione was not so sure.