It was Halloween day of nineteen seventy-five and the five friends (James, Remus, Sirius, Hermione and Lily) were sitting in the boys' dormitory, planning their prank for the feast. There weren't any classes, despite it being a Thursday.
Hermione's birthday had been amazing. Minerva and Albus had brought her a number of books, both fiction and non-fiction, as well as some new clothes and a beautiful snowy owl which she named Hedwig. She was allowed the owl as well as Crookshanks because she agreed to allow Albus and Minerva to use her occasionally, which meant that although the owl was hers, she would be sharing it for school reasons. Sirius had brought her some sweets from Honeydukes and a quill and ink set that had ink of different colours in it. Remus had brought her some muggle novels to read. James had brought her, and everyone else in the group of seven, he gave Severus and Regulus one as well, a two-way mirror which allowed them to speak to any of the others at any time given that they said the persons' name. He also brought her a book on pranks that she didn't already have. Lily had brought her some more make-up as she was steadily getting through it, and some wizarding novels that were very different to the muggle ones, mainly because they weren't completely fictional as they were about witches and wizards, and included the same spells and potions, etcetera, used by them. Severus and Regulus also brought her some Honeydukes chocolates and sweets.
The day after her birthday Minerva and Albus invited the seven friends, who were all becoming extremely close, over to their quarters for the day, as it was Saturday. Severus and Regulus were shocked that the two professors were married and had adopted Hermione. They had a lovely lunch and dinner together, had cake, and spent the day playing games, talking and laughing as they all got to know each other better. Hermione thought that it was one of her favourite birthdays ever.
Hermione and Lily had successfully become Animagi, they boys were annoyed that they were able to achieve the Animagus transformation in under a month, but they did. Lily was a beautiful doe to go with James' stag. Hermione was a beautiful grey wolf. They had both been honoured with Marauder nicknames as well. Hermione's was Akela, after the wolf in The Jungle Book who raised Mowgli, they thought it was rather fitting as she is helping them, saving them, and hopefully helping them raise Harry. Lily's nickname was Flower, this was due to both her name and the markings of her Animagus form, she had a lily shaped tattoo like thing above her right eye when in her doe form. She also had auburn hair in doe form. So, all together they were Messrs Moony, Akela, Padfoot, Prongs and Flower.
They had managed to sneak out together during the last full moon, which had been the week before Halloween and Remus was feeling much better since he had been able to take his wolfsbane potion. They had fun, running through the forest together and wandering about. Hermione remembered the map and had decided to bring it up the day after, when they were visiting Remus in the hospital wing. They had agreed to make it, thinking it would be fun to explore all of Hogwarts together, at night, when no one was around. Hermione was excited to figure out how the Marauders' Map was made. She had always wondered.
Severus and Regulus were making good progress on their transformations as well, though they hadn't completed it yet. They were all still friends, and they met up in the Room of Requirement whenever they could to research or talk about random things, also to help each other with homework.
Peter had been sent to Azkaban about a week after he had poisoned Hermione. Slughorn had warded his home so he couldn't get out and no one except Aurors or Dumbledore could get in. He was arrested and trialled privately before being put into an Animagi proof cell which prevented him from being able to escape. The others that he had claimed to be Death Eaters within the school had also been arrested, so were the ones who they claimed to be Death Eaters, and so on, so Slytherin was missing a fair number of students as well, though there was one Ravenclaw pureblood that had been arrested as well. Filius was definitely not happy when he found out that one of his Eagles worked for Voldemort.
Filius had spoken to the Grey Lady and had found out that the diadem was in the Room of Requirement, in the room where everyone hid the things they no longer wanted. She also revealed that it was, indeed, a Horcrux. Filius, Hermione, Dumbledore, Sprout, Moody, Shacklebolt, Fleamont Potter, Arthur Weasley, Doge, Diddle and McGonagall went in to find it, knowing it would probably take a while. And it took them a few hours of looking at and inside everything in the room before they found it. They managed to use Fiendfyre to destroy it and it no longer exists.
They decided to wait a while before searching for another one as they didn't want Voldemort to get suspicious.
Albus and Minerva were still trying for a baby, though Minerva wasn't pregnant yet. They were okay with that though as they knew that it hadn't been long since they had started trying. Minerva's birthday was fun also. Hermione went to her new parents' quarters early in the morning, before they were awake, and made a lovely cooked breakfast for the three of them in the kitchen. When Albus and Minerva entered the room they were shocked to find Hermione in there cooking pancakes and an assortment of other food for them.
After breakfast, which was delicious and Hermione received a lot of praise for her efforts, they went to the living room and Minerva opened her presents. Albus had gotten her a beautiful silver brooch in the shape of a tabby cat that had emeralds as eyes. He also got her some ginger newts, as well as some other sweets she enjoyed, and a new deep green robe. Hermione made her a tartan scarf for the winter, and brought her a simple silver photo frame that held a moving photograph of the three of them, smiling and holding each other as they faced the camera. The photo frame was charmed, by Hermione herself, to read 'I love you, mum' on the top of it. Tears filled Minerva's eyes as she looked at it, and she held Hermione in her arms for a while before letting go and opening her other presents.
The other Marauders, as well as Severus and Regulus, chipped in to buy her some books on Transfiguration that Hermione told them she didn't have, as well as some more ginger newts. Filius brought her some different coloured ink. Poppy, her best friend, brought her some new robes, and her favourite chocolate. Rolanda, who is also a close friend, brought her some Quidditch gear, which Hermione was shocked at but Minerva told her that she still played occasionally and needed some more. Pomona, another close friend, brought her some herbs which you add to hot water to help with morning sickness, for when she gets pregnant, and some herbs which you add to cold water to help boost fertility (they help you to get pregnant). She also got her some more of her favourite chocolate. She got some other bits and pieces as well. The three of them spent the whole day together, in the private quarters, playing games and talking and laughing. It was another great day.
The first Hogsmeade weekend was fun. James and Lily went around together in the morning whilst Hermione went around with Sirius and Remus, and they all met up for lunch in the Three Broomsticks and spent the afternoon together.
Sirius and Hermione spent more time together, and both of them were falling more and more for the other, although they both haven't told the other of their feelings. The other members of the group were wondering when one of them would tell the other, or ask the other out. They even had a bet in place on when they would start dating. Remus thought they would get together on Halloween night, James thought it would be on Christmas day, and Lily thought it would be New Year's Day.
It was three hours before the feast when they had finished planning the prank. At lunch, they had gone down to the kitchen to supply the elves with the appropriate potions and told them who each one was for. They had also supplied the elves with the sweets they had brought from the second Hogsmeade visit which went a lot like the first one. They had also had lunch in the kitchen and had discussed the prank and other things with the elves. But now they were leaving the kitchen, satisfied that everything was ready. They knew the spells they had to do, they had everything ready.
They decided to spend some time in the Room of Requirement before the feast. They sat together at the mahogany round table, Hermione sat between Sirius and Remus, James sat between Sirius and Lily.
"I can't believe you are now pranking with us, Flower!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Yes, well, I have to say, I did think some of your pranks were rather genius, I just didn't like it when you picked on Severus. But now that we're all friends, I am okay with it. Also, we need to have some fun before the war progresses even more than it already has." Lily explained.
"So, Hermione, what did this Marauders' Map look like?" Remus questioned.
Hermione explained to them what it looked like and how it worked, including what to say to it depending on what you want it to do, so that they could think of ways of making it work. She told them how it showed where everyone within the castle and Hogsmeade was and what they were doing. She told them how it wasn't fooled by Animagi and Polyjuice potion, and how it was the map that told them that Peter was still alive. She told them how the only thing it didn't show was the Room of Requirement because it was unplottable. She told them that it showed all of the secret passageways in and out of the school, including the one to the Shrieking Shack. She told them everything.
They all looked fascinated at the idea of such a wonderful map. They looked impressed that it had been them to create it.
"How do you know of this map?" James asked, fascinated.
"Well, the school pranksters in my time, Fred and George Weasley, found it in Filch's office when they were in their first year. I assume you got it confiscated at some point. And in our third year they gave it to Harry, that way he could sneak into Hogsmeade using the invisibility cloak because he couldn't go as his aunt and uncle didn't sign the form for him. They were two years older than us so they had had it for five years and knew it all by heart. They loved you all, you were their idols. I don't think they ever found out who you really were, though. Harry, Ron and I found out but we didn't tell them."
"So, they were born in nineteen seventy-eight? You know the Weasley's, don't you?" Sirius pondered with a smirk on his face.
"Yes, they're part of the Order." Hermione agreed, looking confused.
"Right, well, become friends with them, and then we can teach Fred and George some tricks as they grow up so they will be even better than us, but obviously not as good as our own children because we will obviously teach them a lot more than we will teach the twins. But Hogwarts needs some pranksters, and we need to help them."
"I'm sure Molly and Arthur would really appreciate you teaching their children to prank." Hermione replied, rolling her eyes.
"If they're destined to be pranksters anyway, why shouldn't we teach them what we know?" Sirius argued.
Hermione just shrugged, smirking at her friend before turning to face the others and joining their discussion on muggle music.
…
The prank was spectacular. Everyone in Slytherin became green with silver polka dots. Everyone from Hufflepuff became yellow with black stripes, looking an awful lot like bees. Everyone from Gryffindor, including the five friends, became red with gold zigzags. And everyone from Ravenclaw became blue with bronze stars. It was only the skin colour that changed. The teachers didn't change appearance though, they just watched on in anticipation. Waiting for the Marauders to do something more spectacular.
And it happened.
With an unnoticeable flick of Sirius' wand some of the Hufflepuff's started playing instruments that were conjured out of thin air and an unsuspecting Slytherin boy started singing the lyrics to the Time Warp song from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, followed by an unsuspecting Slytherin girl. And soon every student in the hall was singing and dancing to the songs as the benches temporarily banished.
The teachers watched on in amusement.
When the song ended, the benches reappeared, the instruments disappeared, and the students sat back down as if nothing happened, whilst still coloured in their house colours. James held his wand up in the air and shot fireworks out of it. The fireworks were also coloured in the house colours and they wrote 'HAPPY HALLOWEEN BY THE MARAUDERS' in mid-air for about a minute before banging and showering the students and teachers with multitudes of small Honeydukes sweets.
Albus was showered in a large number of sherbet lemons, making him smile brightly with joy. All the students cheered as they attempted to pick out the most sweets. The five friends were grinning at the success of their plan.
"I think this was the best Halloween ever." Sirius had claimed whilst everyone was busy fighting kindly over the sweets that now littered the tables and floor, the other four nodded in agreement. "Lily Flower, welcome to the Marauders."
They all toasted to that.
But now it was late into the evening, everyone was asleep, except Hermione. She was sitting on the sofa in front of the fire in the common room, in her baggy grey pyjama t-shirt and her red shorts, thinking about what would have happened in five years from that night had she not succeeded in getting Peter away from the group.
She jumped slightly as someone sat next to her on the sofa. It was Sirius, and he looked slightly disturbed.
"Couldn't sleep?" He asked her.
"No. Are you okay? You look disturbed about something." She wondered.
"Yes, I just had a nightmare."
"Do you often have nightmares?" She questioned, worried.
"Occasionally."
"What are they about? If you don't mind me asking."
Sirius smiled gently at her.
"My family mostly. They don't like me because I don't believe in their views on pureblood supremacy, and because I'm friends with so called blood traitors, and half-bloods, and muggleborns. Also, because I am friends with a werewolf. And because I'm in Gryffindor. My parents are particularly harsh about it. When they found out I was put into Gryffindor they wrote to Dumbledore and asked for me to be moved to Slytherin. But I refused, and Dumbledore wrote back saying that wasn't how the sorting worked and that it couldn't be changed. They want me to join Voldemort, you know? In fact, they even made me meet Him once, it was the most horrible moment of my life. My father and Voldemort himself used the cruciatus curse on me because I refused to join. And my father beats me occasionally. My mother just watches him, calls me names, doesn't look after me when I'm ill. She's stopped buying me things, and has told our house elf not to make me any food, so I make my own food. But I have taken to spending a lot of time at James' home and they don't like it. They haven't hurt Regulus yet because they want to take their anger out on me. And he pretends to have the same beliefs as them, but I know he doesn't believe in them either. So, it's only a matter of time before they start hurting him too. I dream of what they do to me, of what they might do to Regulus, of what they could do to my friends, of what Voldemort could do to my friends."
Hermione felt her heart sadden at the thought of Sirius being hurt by his family. And by Voldemort.
"Did… Did the Dursley's ever hurt Harry physically?" Sirius asked.
"I don't know. He never mentioned anything, except that his cousins' favourite game was 'Harry hunting'. His cousin and his friends hurt him occasionally, but I don't know about his uncle or aunt. He was a very private person, he didn't like talking about his family so it is a possibility. Though, whenever he was at Ron's home Molly always looked after him the way a mother would have, always tried to fatten him up because of how skinny he was. He was happy there. And he was happy here. But, with everything I have, somehow, managed to change I am sure he won't have to grow up with them. He will have a happy childhood, in which he is loved and nurtured the way he should have been. Peter's not here anymore, he can't cause any damage, and we know about the Horcruxes, and we can destroy them, then kill Voldemort. In fact, we have already destroyed one of them. I am sure everything will be fine."
"Do you know if I ever got away from my family? In your timeline, did I ever escape them?"
"Yes. You ran away from home the summer after this school year and went to live with James and his family. I don't know what happened to cause you to leave, though."
Sirius just nodded, staring at the fire.
"Have you ever thought about the future? Have you ever thought about what you want to do? Who you want to be with? Whether you want to have a family?" Sirius pondered.
"I did, when I was in the future. I wanted to work for creature rights, such as house elves, werewolves, and other creatures. I wanted to make things better for them all. And I wanted to be with Ron, even though we were so different in character, I felt like I loved him and wanted to be with him. I wanted to have a family with him. But now, since coming here, everything has changed. I don't know what career I want. I am too busy focussing on saving people, and on killing Voldemort, that I don't have time to think of much else. But I do know, for sure now, who I want to be with, who I want to have a family with. I know now that what I felt for Ron wasn't love because it can't have been if I feel so much more for the person I want that family with…"
She was cut off by his lips on hers and his hands on her cheeks with his fingers tangled in her straight hair. She was momentarily shocked but soon she melted into it, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer to her and she deepened the kiss, loving the feel of his lips on hers as it sent electricity bursting through her.
Eventually they pulled back for air but their foreheads touched as they took deep breaths.
"Am I that person you want that family with?" He spoke in a deep, husky voice that made her insides flutter like butterflies.
"Yes." She whispered.
"Good, because you're the person that I want a family with." He whispered in return, smiling at her, she smiled back. "You are so beautiful." He said before kissing her again, and she didn't hesitate to kiss back.
When they pulled back Sirius looked at the clock on the table by the window and sighed.
"We should probably get some sleep. Do you… Do you want to come up to the dorm with me? Lily is sleeping there, James couldn't take her to the girls' dorm and he didn't want to wake her up. It's obvious something was troubling you and making you struggle to sleep, it might help, to have someone there to comfort you. I don't mind if you don't want to, I completely understand actually, but…"
"I will come up to the dorm with you." She cut him off as she stood and held out her hand for him to take. And he did, she pulled him up and led him up to his dorm.
They climbed into his small bed, on their sides so that they were facing each other, and they snuggled together, breathing in each other's' scents.
"Goodnight, Hermione."
"Goodnight, Sirius."
He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead as she let the tiredness consume her and she fell into a peaceful sleep.