Gold Rings and Leather Bound Books

AN://I know that Hermione ‘s middle name is Jean, but it was originally Jane. Also the name of Lucius’s mother was never told so I had to fill it in.

Hermione woke with a terrible headache and a pain in her right hand. That was a bizarre dream. The bed that she was in felt different, more masculine somehow. The hazy form of Harry seemed to hover over her. “Harry, I had the strangest dream” When she opened his eyes she was met with the vision of Harry but not; his eyes where hazel and the frames of the glasses where elegant and probably expensive. He could be only one person, James Potter. She screamed and fell of the bed in her shock. “Your, your..not Harry “she said lamely
“Right you are love.” said the eerily familiar voice of at the door of the room. Sirius Hermione looked up from the ground to see a young Sirius Black, young Remus Lupin and a young Peter Pettigrew with Dumbledore behind them. Hermione saw Sirius’s face register concern as her vision blurred and all went black once again.

Hermione did not know how much time passed before she awoke once more in what could only be the boys’ dormitories at her old house. Hermione must have fainted from the shock of it all, it was the only explanation. The explanation of how she got here, in what clearly was the past, was what she had trouble with. Madame Pomfrey had come and gone; she had examined her and saw nothing physically wrong with her with the exception of the burn on her right hand. Dumbledore had questioned her and she saw no reason to lie to him, however she left some major events out of the conversation to preserve the timeline. When she asked what year it was Dumbledore told her that it was September 1st 1977. She did not speak to the boys known as the Marauders while she waited to be able to sneak away from the dormitory, it just hurt too much. However she could not avoid Sirius when he volunteered to sneak her out of the dorm and into the headmaster’s office. Remus offered her a robe for her to wear instead of her nightshirt. She blushed, she forgotten that she was half dressed at the time; she was so focused on the situation that she did not think of the obvious.
Once they had gotten the all clear by Peter Sirius took her hand and took her through tunnels that she never saw before to the headmaster’s office. Once she got she thanked him and was about to enter when he put his hand on her arm and asked “ I never asked you your name, mine is Sirius Black” Hermione paused a moment and said the only name that came to mind: her grandmother’s maiden name
“Hermione Jane Greenwood” was her reply. He took her hand and kissed it “pleased to meet you Lady Jane” before he walked back to the dorms. Hermione heart did a flip flop as she saw the elegant quality that made him desirable in his day. She pushed it out of her brain, she could not think about it now she had to focus on the obvious problems first.
She took a deep breath and entered the office of her friend and mentor. “We have a problem Miss Granger, care to offer a solution?” She shook her head “ I do not know what I can tell you about the situation Professor. It is strange really, I lived in the Black house off and on for nearly five years but I never saw the room until last night. I should have known better to go in there without using caution considering what kind of wizards they were but it felt as though something else was driving me to go there. The objects there belonged to a woman but there was no name or indication of whom it was for or who kept it in the first place. ” She paused a bit, hoping that she did not give anything too valuable away. She tried to concentrate on the two things that were the most important to her the ring and the leather bound book. “ The most frustrating thing to me is that I did not get a good look at the book, it happened all so fast. I know that the ring was simple gold band with some sort of setting, sapphire I believe. The book was leather bound but no title or author was on the cover or the spine.” Dumbledore looked disappointed at the lack of information but he seemed to accept that she was telling the truth. “ You lived in the Black house, so I presume that you are acquainted with Sirius?” “ Yes.” replied Hermione. “Perhaps he would know something about this room you speak of.” Replied Dumbledore. Hermione mentally flinched at the thought of inflecting Sirius with the family he hated so much just after he left them. “ I really don’t know Professor. He never spoke much about his life at home. All I ever heard was his life outside it and after he left. I prefer not bothering him with this right now” the headmaster nodded.” Yes of course, we will ask him later if we have not figured something out by then. The way you came to us is very unusual, perhaps it had an effect on your memory, and you will regain them later. “ He went to his desk and removed a pouch with money in it. “I think it would be a good idea to say that you are a seventh year, it will give you a chance to know what you have missed. You are essentially an orphan so I feel no guilt giving you this money for supplies.” She takes it with “thank you sir.” “You must have a lot to process right now, you should go get some rest. You may sleep with Madme Pomfrey until we can find space for you.” “Sir do you think that Sirius, James, and Remus keep the secret of my arrival?” Hermione asked in a nervous voice. “I have already spoken to them and swore them to secrecy. I have their words and I know that they will keep them.” Hermione just nodded. “Good day sir, see you in the morning.”
***
Hermione, now that was a name that was not used very often thought Sirius as he made his way back to the room that he shared with Peter and James. Remus had his own room with his duties as a prefect, a situation that annoyed Sirius to no end. They were not able to cover for each other as they used to when they shared a room, which was key since they often got into trouble. Remus was still loyal to them and cut them slack and did not try to control them like Dumbledore intended.
It was not every day that a good looking girl literally fell out of the sky into their dorm room. There was something about her that tugged at his heart. He did not know what was wrong with him, he was the love them and leave them type yet there was something about her that made him want to have a future with her. He stopped and shook his head. Bloody hell he only knew her for five minutes and he was already planning wedding. He needed a good shag and he needed it now. He stopped and turned directions in the hall and went to see if Remus like he always did when he needed some good stress relief.

Meanwhile at Malfoy Manor

Abraxas Malfoy was staring at the painting of his lost love Henrietta Joanna Greengrass as he often did on the night she was taken from him. It was hard to believe it had been thirty years since the death of the lovely creature that captured his heart. He would have given up on living if it was not for his family honor and the knowledge that she would have wanted it that way. So he moved on after almost eight years of deep mourning. to a suitable match named Ilsa Avery and had a son by her to further his family name. He did care for Ilsa, she was loyal, from a respected pure blood family, and supported him in every way a wife should. If things were different he might have been able to love her if his heart wasn’t already lost to another.

A cold chill went down the spine of the pure blood as he remembered that he was not her only suitor at that time. The Dark Lord had set his sights on her since their seventh year together when he deemed her suitable enough to be his queen. He then went off into his travels to become the awesome force that he was presently. He did not come back, not even for her funeral, until all his powers were accumulated. Abraxas helped out her family the best that he could. He knew that she did not have a chance to accept his marriage proposal before her death but he was confident that she would have. He felt honor bound to care for them in her name. Perhaps it was also due to his guilt that he was not able to give the Greengrass family a clear answer at what had become of Henrietta.

He lived his entire adult life with the ghost of her however he believed that her spirit had spoken to her this afternoon when he had fallen asleep in his study.

He felt a soft hand lay on his shoulder and a soft breath tickle his ear. He opened his eyes to the vision of his beloved witch wearing the powder blue robes that she wore the day of her tragic death. “Hello my love”
“Hello” he responded unsure of how to react. She sat on his lap and put her head on his shoulder. “My poor Abraxas, you should not have gone through your trials alone.”
He finally got over his shock and began to stroke her long reddish- brown hair and replied “I was never alone my love, you where always with me”

“You went above and beyond what was expected of you, It is unfair to ask anymore. However it appears that you are the only one that can help.” All of a sudden her hair became bushy, her grey eyes became chocolate brown and her figure became fuller.
“Don’t let her fall to the same fate as I . Please save her” before she became smoke and disappeared.

He sighed and touched the cheek of the painting “ I will help her my love I will not fail her the way I failed you.”
****

Meanwhile in Voldemort’s Lair

The man that was once called Tom Riddle sat alone in his chambers his snake his only companion. He was unable to sleep from the knowledge that something was not right in the universe. He only felt that way once before; when he was informed of his future queen’s death thirty years ago. He rose and looked at himself in the mirror to find a snakelike being looking back at him. He was handsome once, he had been tall, dark hair and eyes, strong features and strong hands. He never considered himself a vain person, it was no trouble at all to pay the price for his power by the loss of what made him desirable. He had pale white skin, unnatural long fingers, his lips were unnaturally thin, he had slits in place of a nose, and red cat-like eyes.

He was confident that his Etta would see the strength of spirit rather than appearance, now he would never know. His plans include having a queen, which means that he needed to find another that was as suitable as his lost witch was. He would have to go to her family line and find someone with the same qualifications as the late lady Greengrass perhaps this being that he felt arrive was a witch like her. This train of thought calmed him enough to sleep for a few hours before he would give orders to find the witch.
***
Hermione lay in the backroom of Madame Pomfrey’s office having a hard time going to sleep. She could not manage to relax herself enough to manage it. She had closed her eyes to rest them when she felt another body crawl in her bed. She opened her eyes to see the be speckled face of Harry in his pajama bottoms and long sleeved shirt. She relaxed when she realized it was him and closed her eyes again. It was nothing new to her, by the end of the war Harry was so troubled he crawled into bed with her almost every night to quiet the nightmares for a while. He was her only nighttime visitor with the exception of Remus. The night Sirius was lost to them he lost his gentlemanly composure and crawled into her bed and cried on her shoulder over the loss of his last best friend.

The witch felt lips kissing a trail down her neck while a hand caressed a breast. The hands felt different, stronger and bigger than usual. Confused she opened her eyes and saw the adult form of Sirius Black. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead. “Everything will be alright love, you just need to trust me“

She nuzzled closer to him and inhaled his scent that strangely enough calmed her. When she woke the next morning she found herself alone in the room and began to weep for Sirius like she never did before and swore to him that this time things will be different.