It was half ten in the morning of the next day and Hermione was leading Lily, James, Sirius and Remus to the Room of Requirement for their meeting with Severus and Regulus, if they turned up anyway.
"Are you sure that you can trust them enough to tell them the truth?" Sirius asked her as he walked next to her.
"Yes. We need all the help we can get and they are clever. Also, it will help us all to become friends, and that is what I need to happen, otherwise everything I have worked for so far will be ruined. Or a lot of it. They need to know in order to protect themselves."
"Are you going to tell them about their futures, and our futures?"
"Yes. It is all connected, somehow, and you all need to know everything that I know in order to help me, and help yourselves."
They reached the tapestry and everyone waited whilst Hermione paced three times in front of it, thinking about a room in which they can have a meeting, and that has books that might help as well. When the door appeared, they entered and found a large room with bookshelves filled with books in each wall. There was a large fireplace in the middle of the right hand wall, with a fire in it. There were burgundy sofas surrounding it. In the centre of the room was a relatively large, mahogany round table with seven mahogany, and burgundy leather cushioned chairs. They all sat down, Hermione I between James and Sirius, with Lily on James' other side and Remus on Sirius' other side.
"Sirius, did you pick up the mandrake leaves?" Hermione asked the boy to her right.
"Yes. Have you and Lily still got yours in your mouths?"
"Yes." The girls replied at the same time.
Hermione thought it would be a good idea for all of them to be Animagi, that way they have ways of getting away and hiding themselves if need be. Though, James would be a bit difficult to hide, and Remus can't be an Animagus, they will work on that together. They have decided to take James' invisibility cloak with them wherever they go, just in case.
At eleven they heard the door start to reform and soon it opened to reveal a nervous looking Severus and Regulus who entered, shutting the door behind them. The door disappeared as they walked to the two empty seats. Severus sat beside Lily and Regulus sat between Severus and Remus.
"So, there are some things I need to tell you both, things that you may not like, but I am here to change it. You see, I'm not really a seer. The reason I know things about the future, and how to destroy Voldemort, is because I am from the future. I was born on the nineteenth of September nineteen seventy-nine and I had just finished my fourth year of Hogwarts when I was asked to come back to this year by Dumbledore, well, future Dumbledore. I was a Muggle born so I wouldn't have been related to anyone in this time, though, because I came back I won't be born anyway and my parents will live different lives than what they did with me. I either knew or know of you all in the future. And I am here to save you all from your fates. Severus, you were my potions teacher here. But at some point, during your schooling here, you became a Death Eater, it was after this year though because you and Lily broke off your friendship when you called her a Mudblood after she saved you from one of the Marauders' pranks. The reason I want you all to be friends is because I don't want you to become a Death Eater, I wanted to save you from that. However, after Voldemort started going after Lily and James, which I will explain later, you did stop believing in what the Death Eaters believed in, and you became a spy for Dumbledore and his secret organisation, telling them what Voldemort was doing and when. The reason you became potions professor was to save you from going to Azkaban when the war ended after Lily and James died, Dumbledore told everyone you were spying for him and that you weren't a true Death Eater, so they allowed you to be innocent as long as you were in Dumbledore's protection, here at the school." Severus looked shocked, and scared at the thought of Lily dying. Hermione smiled slightly at him.
"Regulus, I didn't know you in person, but I knew of you. You also became a Death Eater, I'm not sure when, but as I said, I am here to save you and as long as you are all friends I doubt you will become one. I didn't know you in person because you died, again, I don't know when, but I know that you started disbelieving in the Death Eaters as well, I'm guessing that had something to do with your death. But I'm here to save you so I'm not going to let you, or any of you die. Voldemort started going after Lily and James in nineteen seventy-nine after a prophecy was spoken about a boy born at the end of July, to parents who had thrice defied him, who would have the power to destroy him. There were two possibilities of who this boy could be, Harry, the son of James and Lily, or Neville, the son of Alice and Frank. But one of his Death Eaters, I don't know who, told him of the prophecy, though not the whole thing because they were kicked out of the pub it was being said in before they could hear all of it. Voldemort thought it meant James and Lily's child and so went after them. They went into hiding under the Fidelius charm, Peter was the Secret Keeper, and on Halloween night, a year and three months after Harry was born, he told Voldemort the location of the home. Voldemort killed James first, then Lily who shielded Harry from him. But, when he went to kill Harry, because of Lily's sacrifice, the curse rebounded and hit him instead, leaving Voldemort as nothing but a shadow of himself. Harry survived, with only a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead, and was left to live with Lily's sister and her husband and son, they treated him horribly." She continued on, about how Sirius confronted Peter and was sent to Azkaban for killing twelve muggles and Peter who escaped in rat form and really killed the muggles, about the events of her first four years at Hogwarts. Everything. She told them everything. Even about the Horcruxes.
By the end of it both Severus and Regulus were shocked, Lily was crying again, James was comforting her with tears in his eyes, and Sirius and Remus looked to be in near tears as well.
"So, you want us to help you figure out where the Horcruxes are and how to destroy them?" Severus asked.
"Yes, but I also want us all to be friends, and to help each other. That way I know I can save you. Sirius said he will help some of us Order members get into Malfoy Manor, which reminds me, Sirius, when is Narcissa's and Lucius' wedding? The Order needs to know so we can formulate a plan."
"The first of August." Sirius answered.
"Thank you. Do you know all of the wards that are on the property? We need to know so that we can figure out a way of getting in without getting caught by the wards."
"Yes, they are the same wards currently on my house. I can make a list for you if you would like." Sirius responded.
"That would be great, thank you. Flitwick is talking to the Grey Lady about the diadem. My father and some others are going to get the ring at some point. We figured we would try the Lestrange vault at Gringott's before trying to get into their Manor. But we need a plan that will get us in safely. My father is talking to some goblins to see if they could help us, but if they can't then we will need a plan. You guys can help me with coming up with something. We also need to figure out where the locket is and how to get it. And we need a way of destroying them."
"To destroy them we need to destroy it beyond repair, right? You suggested basilisk venom, but do we really want to risk going into the Chamber of Secrets? Surely there are other ways of destroying them." Regulus said.
"Yes. Fiendfyre might work, but we need to research it. The killing curse should work on a human or animal, but I don't know if it would work on inanimate objects. But then we would be using an Unforgivable, which is against the law, even if it's not on a person. Basically, we need to do a lot of research and we don't have a lot of time to do it in, well, we have a couple of years, but we need this over with soon. That way we can all live our lives and be happy without Him and his Death Eaters looming over us all the time. And Harry, and Neville, and every other child that will be born in the next few years, and beyond, can be safe and happy."
"Though, if we don't go in the Chamber, and kill the basilisk, won't it attack at some point?" Lily asked.
"It will only do so if the heir of Slytherin comes and makes it, for the heir of Slytherin is the only person it will answer to. And the only heir of Slytherin that is known is Voldemort, unless He has a child that no one knows about, and said child knows how to open the Chamber, once He is dead there is an incredibly small chance that the Chamber will be opened. But, even then, the basilisk only answers the call of the heir of Slytherin, so, even if the Chamber is opened, the basilisk is unlikely to attack." Hermione replied. "I would like us to meet here every Saturday and Sunday until we have figured out how to destroy Horcruxes and where they may be, as well as how to get into the places we need to get into. But you can come here at any other time as well, just think of this room whilst pacing three times outside the tapestry and it will appear. Sirius, could you write down the list of the wards so I can take it to my father, please?"
Sirius nodded and took some parchment and a quill, with a bottle of ink, out of his bag, writing down all of the wards on the Malfoy's home.
"Also, Severus and Regulus, we would like you to become Animagi, but not to register yourselves. We have the mandrake leaves here, use the sticking charm to stick one on the roof of your mouth and you have to keep it in for thirty days. This is so that you can get out of danger easily if you should be in danger. James and Sirius are already Animagi. Remus can't become one. Lily and I are in the first stage of becoming one right now. But you can't tell anyone what you are doing, or about anything I have told you in this room, okay?" Severus and Regulus nodded, accepting the leaves from Sirius and helping each other stick the leaves to the rooves of their mouths. "Does anyone have any ideas currently? Or questions?" Hermione asked.
Everyone shook their head in response.
"Okay, let's do some research."
They spent some hours researching Horcruxes and how to destroy them, as well as ways of getting past wards and into the lower levels of Gringotts unnoticed. Then they went their separate ways, Severus and Regulus go back to the Slytherin Common Room, the three original Marauders and Lily back to the Gryffindor Common Room, and Hermione goes to her new fathers' office.
When she entered after hearing the soft 'come in' she found her father hunched over his desk doing paperwork, but when the door closed behind her he looked up and smiled brightly at her.
"Hermione, how are you?" He asked, putting his quill in his pot of ink and relaxing in the chair.
"I'm fine. I found out the date of the wedding and Sirius wrote a list of the wards surrounding the property as well, to help us figure out how to get in without being noticed." She said, giving her father the list of wards which also had the wedding date and time on it.
"Thank you. Have you told Severus and Regulus, yet?"
"Yes. Then myself, Severus, Regulus, Sirius, Remus, James and Lily did some research on Horcruxes, and wards. We were in the Room of Requirement."
"Ah, did you find anything useful?"
"Well, nothing we already knew about the Horcruxes. But we did find that wards only pick up when someone enters through them, they don't pick up how many people enter through them. So, if you time it correctly, and if you enter at the same time as someone visible you should be able to get in unnoticed. But that does mean that only a few of us should go or we would risk not doing it correctly and blowing our cover. We can't however use charms, or potions, because there are wards on the property that make all charms and potions reverse their effects on the property, so if we turned ourselves invisible using a charm it would disappear and they would know we are there. However, James has said we can borrow his invisibility cloak, we can expand it so that multiple people can fit under it and so long as we enter at the same time as Sirius does, we should be fine. They don't pick up on anyone leaving the wards, so we can leave before Sirius if need be, but we can't apparate in or out."
"Great, we should be able to work out a plan then."
"Has Filius talked to the Grey Lady yet?"
"Not yet, he has plans to this evening as she is out more often in the evening. I heard that Lily and James are finally together."
"Oh, yes. Thank Merlin. I feel like I can actually save them and Harry now."
"I also heard that you and Sirius are together. Is that true?"
Hermione blushed as she shook her head. "No, it's not true."
"But you wish it was true?" He said, his eyes twinkling, causing Hermione to blush even more.
"Maybe." She replied, looking down at her lap.
"Hey, I don't mind. Sirius is a good boy. But, if he ever breaks your heart then I will not hesitate to throw some hexes at him. Hermione, you deserve to be happy, too, and so does Sirius. You don't just have to think about everyone else, you are here to stay, so you need to find some happiness for you as well."
"I know."
"Good. Please, allow yourself to be happy, Hermione."
"I am happy, but I will."
"Okay. Oh, here is a copy of the wolfsbane potion recipe. Professor Slughorn is hard at work getting the ingredients together so he can make it in time for the next full moon."
"Thank you." She replied as she took the parchment out of his outstretched hand.
They talked for a while, about random things, including school and friends. Twenty minutes before dinner Minerva joined them and they walked to the Great Hall together, talking about whatever came to mind.
And Hermione knew that she had the right to be happy as well.