DECEMBER

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood huddled together in Honeydukes as Harry finished telling the other two about the Marauder's Map. Hermione's heart was beating fast as a thousand thoughts and feelings fractured her into a pieces. One very small part of her felt pride at the precision of her memory modifying charm; Sirius had remembered that she had called the four boys "marauders" but not Hermione herself. A much larger part of her, however, was in a panic. Young Sirius had made the map, therefore, adult Sirius knew all of the secret passageways revealed on it. Maybe if Harry turned it in, Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore could close them.

In the end though, Hermione couldn't convince Harry or Ron of the danger without revealing what was now her biggest secret. She comforted herself with the knowledge that Professor Lupin knew of the passages as well; surely, he would tell Professor Dumbledore. Hermione had deduced that Lupin was a werewolf less than a week after returning from the past and felt that Lupin's loyalty to the man who welcomed him to Hogwarts as a student and later a teacher would override any lingering loyalty to the criminal Sirius. She was thinking despairingly that the secrets she was keeping from her best friends would eat her alive as the three entered the Three Broomsticks.

Neither Ron nor Harry noticed her despondency as she sat with Harry and Ron brought them drinks. Hermione roused herself enough, though, to join Ron in pushing Harry under the table and moving a Christmas tree to block them when a group of professors and the Minister of Magic walked in to the pub.

Listening to the conversation taking place amongst the teachers, Madam Rosmerta, and the Minister, Hermione once again felt such a mix of emotions that she couldn't sort them out properly. She felt relieved that a bit of the knowledge that she had been agonizing over telling Harry was now revealed to him, but she was also devastated at the toll it would take on her friend. Hermione was not surprised to find that Sirius had been James and Lily's secret keeper or that Sirius had been named Harry's godfather, but every part of her still rebelled at the idea that Sirius could have murdered Peter Pettigrew or betrayed James and Lily. But how could all of these facts be wrong? she asked herself. She tried to squash a feeling of strange defensiveness when Hagrid yelled that Sirius was a traitor. Then, as the Minister finished his story of visiting Sirius in Azkaban, an almost comforting thought came to Hermione. Maybe Sirius had simply been driven mad perhaps due to torture by You-Know-Who, despite what Fudge surmised about Sirius's appearance of sanity. The boy she loved simply couldn't exist in that man anymore.

Hermione wasn't able to sleep that night, her stomach ached and tears streamed relentlessly on to her pillow. The next morning, as she and Ron attempted to dissuade Harry from seeking Sirius out, Hermione couldn't shake the feeling that she was trying to protect Sirius just as much as Harry.

JANUARY

Hermione lay curled in a ball in her bed, shaking uncontrollably. Sirius had gotten into Gryffindor tower and nearly killed Ron. She deserved Ron and Harry barely speaking to her, she deserved the overwhelming stress of her classes, maybe she even deserved to lose Hagrid's case for Buckbeak…

JUNE

Hermione's heart stopped and her breath caught at the sight of him. Sirius looked ghastly, his shaggy hair falling down his back and his previously lively, gorgeous gray eyes sunken and dull. His voice though, slightly more mature and hoarse, brought a hundred memories crashing down that she had been trying to push away for months and maybe it was that which made her rasp "No, Harry!" as he leapt toward his godfather.

Hermione could only watch and scream as Harry and Sirius struggled, only managing a kick toward them both when it seemed the older version of the boy she loved more than anything would choke her best friend to death.

She watched, unable to move, as Harry leveled his wand at his father's best friend, until she heard a noise somewhere below them.

She yelled, desperately trying to do anything that she could to save two people she loved dearly from becoming murderer and murdered.

When Professor Lupin entered the room, it was all she could do not to fall to the floor with relief. He would put things right, she assured herself. But when Lupin pulled Sirius into a hug, Hermione knew she was to blame for what would happen next. She had so foolishly, naively believed Lupin was good with no doubt whatsoever. She had thought Lupin was telling Dumbledore everything she couldn't and helping prevent Sirius from entering the castle. Rage, guilt, and self-hatred welled up in her as she screamed her disbelief.

Hermione listened as Lupin told them everything she already knew about the map, unable to stop herself from glancing continuously at Sirius. She was sneaking another look at him when Lupin said "Peter Pettigrew" and everything clicked into place. Suddenly she could see the perfect boy shining through the skeletal man.

"Ridiculous," she said to herself, unable to believe she hadn't thought of it before. It was Pettigrew who had betrayed Lily and James and Sirius had been trying to get to Pettigrew all year! Warm, glorious relief washed over her in waves and her knees felt weak. She knew, she had known all along, that Sirius remained the brave, honorable, luminous boy he had been. She could feel tears of joy pricking at her eyes but she held them back.

Hermione could tell that neither Harry, nor especially Ron, were inclined to believe Lupin, however, so she prompted Lupin to tell the story of their time becoming Animagi by mentioning the Animagus Registry, on which she knew they weren't listed. She felt warm inside when Sirius hurried Lupin along with the tale.

Everything seemed like it was falling into place until Snape pulled the Invisibility Cloak off, revealing himself. In Hermione's desperation for Harry to believe what she knew to be true, she joined the boys in disarming Snape, shocking even herself.

When Pettigrew was forced from his rat shape, Hermione could see nothing of the boy who had followed Sirius and James so loyally and she felt only disgust. Once again, to prompt more evidence of Sirius's innocence and out of plain curiosity, she asked how he had managed to escape from Azkaban, stumbling over how to address him, trying to reconcile the boy she knew with the man before her.

Sirius really looked at her for the first time and a small frown appeared on his face. Something seemed to shift in his eyes but before Hermione could decide what changed, Sirius appeared to recover and answered her question. Hermione breathed deeply, trying to slow the racing beats of her heart.

When Harry refused to allow Sirius and Lupin to kill Pettigrew, she was relieved once again that her best friend would not become a murderer despite Hermione's own loathing of Pettigrew. Everything looked as though it was too good to be true when suddenly, the night was lit by moonlight…

A FEW HOURS AND ANOTHER TRIP TO THE PAST LATER

Harry and Hermione had just watched Buckbeak and Sirius escape behind a far cloud when Hermione felt a tickle of magic next to her ear and heard a soft voice whisper only to her, "It was good to see you again, future girl."