A/N: I am deeply grateful for the feedback. Enjoy!

Chapter #3

Nothing Is Pointless

But It's All Possibly Inappropriate

...And Pointless

When Hermione woke the next morning everything felt deceptively normal. She showered, changed into her school robes, and gathered her things for class before heading down for breakfast. And with that, spiralled back into a state of disorientation.

Remus waved at her from his seat at the Gryffindor table, and Hermione sat beside him gratefully. "Good morning," she said, pouring herself some orange juice and filling her plate with pancakes.

"Morning. Sleep well?" He handed her the maple syrup.

"Surprisingly, yes." She looked around, a mixture of unease and excitement brewing in her stomach. "Where are your friends?"

"Oh, I'm sure they're around."

Hermione chewed her lip and tried to focus on eating. But the idea that she just would not be able to adjust to this, the idea that she might fail at simply getting on with things, kept niggling at her mind. Was sleep going to be her only escape from this dreadful reeling sensation? Would it ever fade? Or would she have to readjust to the world every single day, until she found her way back to her own time? "Did you work out that... malfunction?"

Remus laughed. "Yeah, eventually."

She considered pressing him for details, but decided against it, electing instead to scope out the Slytherin table in search of Snape. And there he was, sitting by himself at the far end of the table with a book propped open on his lap and a cup of tea sitting in front of him. He looked so at peace with himself- Hermione envied him.

"Things got a little hairy, didn't they Pete?" James Potter slid into his seat across from Remus, followed by a pudgy blond boy. His round cheeks flushed pink and he grinned.

"Nothing serious," he said.

She shuddered and looked down at her pancakes. They didn't look at all appetizing anymore. She didn't want to see Peter Pettigrew. She didn't want to see him and James Potter having breakfast and being friends. It made her feel sick to her stomach. Just the thought of him.

Can't do this...

She excused herself as politely as possible and dashed up the main staircase, one hand hovering over her mouth in case she really did get sick. As she rounded the corner at the top of the staircase and made to go to the library, something snaked around her middle and yanked her backwards firmly. She stumbled and nearly lost her balance. "Hey!" she cried, her hand going automatically to her wand.

"It's just me," her attacker said, releasing her so she could turn around and see him.

"Sirius! What are you doing?" Hermione released her wand and rubbed her middle gently. She avoided looking at him, afraid that she would find herself back in the Shrieking Shack with a gaunt, starving convict, listening to him deliver a mad tale about rats and spies.

"Funny you should ask," he said, throwing his arm around her shoulders and squeezing her against him. "I was just on my way to breakfast. Care to join me?"

She slipped out from under his arm, still avoiding his eyes. "I've already eaten."

"That's a shame." He turned on his heel and followed her down the corridor. "Where are you going?"

Hermione sighed and looked up at him. Any and all thoughts about future-Sirius dissolved as she met his good-humoured grey eyes, and she couldn't help but smile at him. "Why do you want to know? Aren't you going to have breakfast?"

Sirius shook his head, his glossy hair swinging with the movement. "No, I'd much rather spend the morning with you." He looked up and smiled at a group of approaching girls. "Morning Alice," he called, "Edith, Marlene."

"Good morning Sirius," a blonde girl with freckles called back. The other two giggled and lowered their heads.

Hermione clapped her hand over her mouth, not because she felt sick, but rather to stop the laughter threatening to burst out. Apparently it wasn't just her, then, that prompted the young Sirius Black to be overly flirtatious. She dwelt on that idea for a moment and realized she didn't like it. Not that she liked him flirting with her. On the contrary, it was rather annoying. And nothing special, apparently. "You don't want to spend the morning with me," she said finally. "I'm going to the library."

Sirius gave her a look of indignation. "What are you implying? You think I can't read?"

"No, no..." She backtracked and shook her head. "Look, there are plenty of other girls you can flirt with."

"You don't like me?"

"No, it's not that-"

"So you do like me?"

"I don't know you," she answered shortly.

He threw his arm around her shoulders once more and gave her a charming smile. "Which is why I want to spend the morning with you. There, we've come full circle and now we understand each other, yes?"

Hermione stared back at him helplessly. He was a barely-contained ball of energy and mischief, with a level of sweetness that surprised her. The Sirius she knew was good-humoured, kind, but not this. She supposed being in Azkaban had probably sucked all of the optimism right out of him; that thought made her ache for him, and when he squeezed her shoulders once more she gave in and didn't brush him off. "I suppose, but I'm not very exciting, Sirius. I'm just going to check a book out before class."

He dropped his arm from her shoulders as they entered the library. "Nonsense, that sounds riveting."

"Wrong," she whispered, her eyes gleaming, "this is wrong."

He ran his hand along her firm, round thigh, pushing her skirt up. "No it's not."

They were on his bed. She sat on top of him, straddling him, her hips pressing against his with just enough friction to drive him mad. Her hair was a tangled mess- they'd been rolling around, laughing and kissing and teasing, and it had been good, enticing and fun. But she was somber now, and sad. He didn't know how to react when she got like this, because he didn't know why her mood could change so suddenly.

She looked away, staring out his dormitory window. When she spoke her voice held the weight of unbearable fact. "It is, though." She turned back to him, lowered her head and brushed her lips against his. He rolled her onto her back and she wrapped her legs around his waist, her troubles forgotten; she giggled when he ran his hands along her body, tickling her.

She murmured something in his ear, but it was lost to him. He sat upright, grasping at the fragments of his dream, but they escaped him easily. He slumped back into the sofa, his head pounding ruthlessly, rattling his skull.

"Sirius, wake up."

"Go away."

"Pull yourself together." Two hands grabbed his shoulders and shook him, then yanked him off of the sofa. He caught his footing and sat up, cradling his head in his hands.

"Urgh.."

"Getting pissed is not going to help, you know."

"Go away, I said."

"Look," Remus sat on the sofa beside him and rested a hand on his shoulder, "you're not alone with this. I know how it feels, Sirius."

"No you don't. Did you fall in love with her? Did you sleep with her and spend every waking minute wishing you were with her, and-"

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself and help me, alright?"

Finally he straightened up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and scowling at his friend. "Help you with what?"

"This." Remus pointed at two large stacks of books. "God knows we should have done this a long time ago, but given the circumstances-"

"I was in prison."

"Yes, and now the Dark Lord has returned so I think we're forgiven for not doing this sooner."

"What are we doing? And I'm not doing it before I have some coffee, mind."

Remus waved his wand and a tray loaded with coffee, cream, sugar, and mugs appeared. "We are investigating. This is everything I could find on time travel."

"I was having the most wonderful dream, you know." Sirius poured himself some coffee and added a heaping spoonful of sugar. "I was sixteen again."

Remus gave him a severe look. "You might do well to remember that you're not sixteen. And she's only fifteen."

As if he needed to be reminded of that. "I was sixteen in my dream."

"Sirius..."

The both of them lapsed into silence. Remus picked up a book and flipped to the table of contents. It was a silent request that they drop the subject. Sirius drank half of his coffee in one go and tried to forget the memories that traipsed through his mind. He'd seen what they did to sex criminals in Azkaban. He'd done it himself, beaten the daylights out of some predator during exercise period while two others held the bastard down. No human guards, and the Dementors certainly didn't care about that sort of thing.

He shivered and pushed away all thoughts about Azkaban.

"Maybe you and Severus Snape should get together for tea sometime. You know he would understand what you're going through."

"Remus, comments like that make me think you really are loony."

His friend chuckled and kept reading.

He gave in and voiced his deepest concern, the fear that had plagued him for two years now. "What if she doesn't come back?"

Remus shook his head. "Don't think like that."

But Sirius couldn't help it.

Hermione was feeling quite torn by the last class of the day, which happened to be double Potions. She had taken Professor Snape's word in good faith and felt it was the only advice she had to go on, but she couldn't imagine befriending her young teacher under the circumstances she found herself in now. She sat next to Sirius Black- who refused, yet again, to give her any elbow room- and glanced furtively at Severus Snape.

Normally of course, she would be paying attention to the teacher, but there were numerous obstacles standing in the way of learning. Firstly and most bizarrely, she found Professor Slughorn made the subject dull and uninteresting. For the first ten minutes of class she couldn't quite pin down her disinterest, until finally it occurred to her as she glanced furtively at Snape. She missed her old Potions teacher. She missed Professor Snape. That both startled and disturbed her.

Secondly she couldn't stop dwelling on the fact that next to Severus Snape sat Lily Evans. If anyone had told her two days ago that Snape and Harry's mother were friends at school, she would have laughed. She would have said they had the wrong Snape. But Lily Evans was sitting on the Slytherin side of the classroom and whispering to her friend, and they looked quite cozy together.

Also derailing her education today was the boy sitting beside her, and the boys behind her as well, for that matter. They were loud (except for Remus) and distracting. Boys like that usually annoyed Hermione, but today she found them too entertaining. Sirius was running every joke he knew by her, one after another, until she was a pink-faced mess.

"What did the grape say when it got stepped on?"

She shook her head helplessly.

"Nothing. It just let out a little wine."

She snorted and had to clap her hand over her mouth. Glancing at Snape, she locked eyes with him and he scowled at her deeply. She blushed and stopped laughing.

"Sirius, I need to focus on the lesson-"

"Good luck," James Potter said.

"Misters Potter and Black, entertaining the general populace again?"

"Sorry sir." James sounded contrite. Hermione didn't buy it for a second.

"Just being a good host, sir," Sirius added.

"I'm sure," Slughorn said dryly.

Hermione lowered her head and focused on her textbook. An elbow nudged her ribs and she lifted her head to frown at him, but his mischievous grin caught her off-guard and she giggled. "Sirius- please let me work."

By the end of class she was in awe.

Both Sirius and James had finished their work. Not only had they finished it, they got high marks. She herself got a 96, which left her feeling slightly dizzy. In all her years she'd never gotten more than a 90 in potions. She would be spoilt once she got home and had Snape as a teacher again. It was rumoured he never gave more than a 95 in his entire career as Potions Master. She believed it.

"You doubted me?" Sirius asked as he rinsed out his cauldron at the sink.

"No, of course not. I just didn't expect you to get the mark you did."

"I know, brains and beauty." He smiled and took her cauldron from her. "And what are you doing, eavesdropping?" he hissed over Hermione's shoulder. The vitriol in his voice startled her. She turned around and locked eyes with Snape yet again. He was standing right behind her.

"You would think so, wouldn't you? Don't worry, Black. You're not that interesting."

Hermione felt the tension in the air and had the strangest urge to back away from the two boys. But Lily Evans stepped between her and Snape, and glared at Sirius, her green eyes flashing. He shrugged and stacked Hermione's cauldron with the rest, then walked away. She had to give him credit for that. Sirius Black did not seem like the type to walk away.

"I don't know how you can sit near them. They're so distracting," Lily said pleasantly.

Hermione ran her hands under the icy jet of water to give them a quick washing. "My two best friends are boys. I suppose I'm used to it." She knew she ought to at least try speaking to Snape, but she couldn't. She didn't know what to say to him. Though the roundness in his face certainly made him much less intimidating, his deep black eyes were reproachful as she remembered.

Except for those few brief moments in Dumbledore's office, when he'd fixed her with his unfathomable gaze. She'd seen affection, fondness... maybe even love.

"Are you enjoying classes?" Lily asked.

This subject, at least, was one she could go into elaborate detail on. "Oh, of course. Hogwarts has excellent teachers. Though Professor Slughorn," she lowered her voice, "is a bit boring. My old Potions teacher had us studying this in fourth year. He was a wonderful teacher."

"He does drone on, doesn't he?" Lily glanced at her quiet friend uncertainly. He turned away from them and began rinsing his own cauldron, apparently disinterested, which was rather amusing seeing as he'd just been paid a compliment.

Hermione decided she may as well trust her old Potions teacher, seeing as how she thought so highly of him. "We haven't met yet. I'm Hermione."

He raised one fine dark eyebrow, that signature look that she was so accustomed to. But on his young face it looked comically nonthreatening. "And?"

Lily gave him a slightly exasperated look.

"You must be Severus," Hermione said.

"And?" he repeated snidely, glancing up as he finished rinsing his cauldron.

Lily sighed. "I'll see you after dinner, Sev," she said, giving Hermione a rather apologetic smile as she left.

Hermione dried her hands on the front of her robes and tried to think of something to say. Academics... Snape was interested in academics. They had that in common. "Did you get a good grade on today's work?"

"You don't have to talk to me," he said, stacking his cauldron with the others and proceeding to wash his hands. "I don't know why you're bothering."

She stood there for a few seconds while he washed his hands. He was obviously antisocial, and she didn't want to push him to the point of anger. Maybe it would be best if she let things unfold naturally, rather than try to push things in the direction she thought they ought to go.

"Sorry," she said quietly. "I'll see you around, then... Severus." She turned to go.

"97," he muttered.

She stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Sorry?"

"I got a 97." He kept his eyes on his hands, which he washed thoroughly. "You?"

"96," she said.

For the first time the corner of his mouth lifted, almost smiling. "That's too bad." He shook his hands, sending droplets spraying everywhere, and walked past her without another word.

Hermione stared after him. It had been a short, pointless conversation, and yet she felt she'd accomplished something huge in having that brief exchange. She left the dungeons feeling much better than she'd felt going down there. She'd accomplished something today. It was the smallest accomplishment, nothing worth celebrating, yet her mood climbed so quickly it left her feeling slightly giddy.

She would pursue small accomplishments, then. Perhaps that would stop her from going mad, if she ignored the big picture, the problem of her being stuck in the past, and focused on finding solutions to little problems. Remus, for example. He needed help in Arithmancy. She could do that. She could tutor him and keep him company, show him that it didn't matter, him being a werewolf- she only cared about who he was, not what he was.

Resolved to make the best of her situation, she entered the Gryffindor common room with a smile on her face and looked around in search of the werewolf in question, and spotted him descending the stairs of the boys' dormitory.

"Hi," she said, meeting him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey Hermione," he pulled a bar of Honeyduke's chocolate out of his pocket, "do you like chocolate?"

Some things never changed. That made her feel good, and safe as well, somehow. Remus Lupin carried chocolate with him, and he always would. "Of course."

"This is from Honeyduke's, it's a sweets shop in Hogsmeade. They're the best." He broke the bar in half and offered her some, which she took and devoured immediately.

"Mmm," she said when she realized he was watching her expectantly. "It's amazing. Shall we go to the library, then? It might be quieter there."

He laughed. "It'll be much quieter there, once James and Sirius get back."

"Where did they go?"

"Lord knows." Remus fell in step with her and they left the common room arm-in-arm; she liked how easily familiar it was being with him, how comfortable it was to just link arms with him and stroll through Hogwarts. "You look different," he said.

"Different?"

He glanced at her shyly. "I haven't seen you look this happy before."

"Oh..." Hermione blushed. "Thank you, I think."

"It's a good thing," he said with a grin.

She smiled back at him and noticed that the dark circles under his eyes were much lighter than they'd been yesterday, almost entirely gone. "Feeling better today?" she asked.

The grin instantly vanished. "Sorry?"

"Are you- erm, you looked tired yesterday," she said.

Remus looked uncertain, but only for a moment. "Oh, right. Yeah, I was a little under the weather last week. I had to spend two nights in the hospital wing." He held the library door open for her.

"Oh no," Hermione said, trying to sound like she believed him.

They both went quiet and searched for an empty table to work at. Hermione headed straight for her favourite spot, a small table under a window that was tucked away quite nicely. Remus trailed after her silently. They sat down and pulled out their Arithmancy books and she tried to think of something to say.

"Remus?"

He shifted around in his chair uncomfortably. "Yes?"

Hermione looked down at her hands. "I... just want you to know I think you're a wonderful person. I don't know what I would have done without you yesterday."

"Oh," he said. "Thanks, Hermione. It was nothing."

"Anyway..." She didn't think she could take it much longer. She wanted to tell him that he didn't have to lie to her. She was okay with him being a werewolf. But she didn't want to scare him off, either.

The little things, remember.

"Let's work on some secondary equations," she said, dragging her chair to his side of the table so she could sit beside him. Their elbows knocked together and she noticed his cheeks turn a bit pink.

"Right," he said, his smile returning, "I'm terrible with layered equations."

"There's a simple trick to keep them all straightened out," she said, flipping through her own textbook.

Two hours passed by in blissful, studious quiet as they worked through problem after problem. Hermione found she liked helping others understand schoolwork. There was something wonderful about watching Remus very slowly begin to understand where he was making mistakes and how he could fix them. And when he got it wrong she would shake her head and point out why it wouldn't work, and he would go back and fix it.

It was 6:30 when Remus slumped back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. "All of these figures are starting to look identical, Hermione."

She smiled and shut her textbook. "I suppose I should have warned you when you asked me to tutor you. I'm a bit of a perfectionist."

He raised his eyebrows and grinned at her. "A bit?"

She laughed. "Come on, let's go to dinner."

By the time they sat down at the Gryffindor table the Great Hall was nearly empty, but as she was pouring herself a glass of pumpkin juice a warm, sweaty body plopped down beside her and flung his arm around her in greeting.

"Bonsoir." Sirius grabbed her goblet and downed her pumpkin juice in one go.

"Hello, study buddies," James said, flinging himself down across from them.

Several more Gryffindors straggled into the Great Hall tiredly and sat down for a late dinner.

"How was practice?" Remus asked.

"Brutal." Sirius refilled her goblet and set it down in front of her. "Captain's a slave-driver, I tell you."

"I didn't know you played quidditch," Hermione said quietly, more to herself than him. The arm around her was warm and she could smell sweat mixed with antiperspirant, but oddly enough the scent wasn't repulsive in the slightest. In fact she rather liked it- it was very distinctly male.

"Didn't expect you to know. I'm a beater," he said, dropping his arm and fixing himself a plate heaping with food.

Hermione bit her lower lip. Of course she wouldn't know. She hardly knew him and he'd only met her yesterday. But as with Remus, she couldn't help feeling at ease around Sirius. Except there was a part of her that seemed permanently on edge around him. Not necessarily a bad thing, but something about him made her breath catch in her throat and her stomach flutter a bit. She didn't care to explore that particular sensation.

"Makes sense," she said. "You do seem like the type to beat things around with a bat."

Sirius clapped a hand on her shoulder and winked at her as he drowned his dinner in gravy.

"How was your study session?" James asked Remus with a grin.

"It was good. I might actually continue taking Arithmancy next year, if Hermione helps me." Remus smiled at her.

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Listen, I wanted to ask you something," Sirius whispered in her ear, dragging her attention away from Remus and James as they began to argue about school.

She turned to him, eyebrows raised. "What is it?"

"Will you have lunch with me tomorrow?"

"What?"

Sirius gave her a rather devious smile. "Have lunch with me tomorrow. Just the two of us."

"Erm," she muttered, "okay." It came out despite the fact that she knew she ought to have said no.

"Brilliant," he said, straightening up and tossing his dinner roll at James. "Hey you, I can't do that thing we were going to do tomorrow."

James and Remus halted their argument to stare at him.

"What?"

"I have plans."

James gave him a look of indignation. "You're blowing me off?"

"Yes." Sirius went about eating his dinner, ignoring the three of them.

"Some friend he is," James muttered. "How do you like that, Hermione? You stay away from him, he's bad news."

Hermione shook her head, trying very hard not to laugh as Sirius plucked another dinner roll out of the basket and threw it at his friend.