What Happens In The End

Chapter 1

She could hear whispering on the second floor, four male whispers to be exact, as she inched noiselessly up the staircase. She reached the dark and gloomy landing, blending in perfectly with its inky blackness, a sliver of light coming from the second door. The whispering became louder and more distinct. She moved forward, crouched low, and stopped just before the light touched her. Two pinpricks of light, the only sign of her silent presence, surveyed the door. Inwardly she smiled, recognising the voices, and with that she slowly and quietly edged towards the door, easing it open with her nose--- just enough for her sleek body to ease through. A loud creak startled the nearly silent room as her long, thick tail accidentally bumped against the door.

A fairly tall red-headed boy by the name of Ron let out a yelp. She had to pull her ears down as the sound seemed to travel to the core of her brain.

"Sweet Merlin, 'Mione, I know you don't have much chance to change into your form, but do you have to use us, your loyal friends, as guinea pigs?" asked a bespectacled boy, who was none other than the Harry Potter.

"Brilliant!" interrupted one of the two other occupants of the room who were identical to the last freckle. In her form, however, Hermione recognised the voice as belonging to Fred.

"Absolutely brilliant 'Mione! You used to be such a stick in the mud. I didn't know you had it in you!" gushed the previous speaker's counterpart.

Hermione grinned widely at this and changed back into her human form. It was true-- after the downfall of Voldemort she had loosened up a bit, realising that doing something stupid for the fun of it might actually make you feel better. It was also true she no longer had a birds' nest perched on her head, but considering the changes that everyone had endured during the last few years, she didn't feel she had changed that much at all.

"I only did it so as not to wake anybody. Besides, with Fred and George here I figured it was a good time to go sneaking around to see if I could prevent another occurrence like last time," she said, glancing at the twins.

"Aw, c'mon 'Mione, it was harmless! You're lucky we improved it, otherwise it would have made your hair fall out!" piped Fred.

Hermione's jaw dropped, "Well thank you, I feel honoured," she said amid snickering from the boys. "But just so you know Messrs. Weasley and Weasley, my hair still flashes hot pink from time to time!" As soon as she said this she wished she hadn't, for the boys seemed unable to control their hysterics as they burst out laughing.

"Anyway, Hermione," Harry managed, still grinning from ear to ear and attempting to suppress his chuckles. "When did you get here? You were supposed to come earlier this afternoon."

She smiled slowly. "Because," she said brightly, "I've gotten my Hogwarts letter and..." she said a little louder realising that the boys were about to interrupt, "I made Head Girl!"

A congratulatory cheer sounded until Harry voiced his question, "Yeah, but that doesn't exactly explain why you decide to show at midnight does it?"

"Oh, well, my parents decided to invite the family over to celebrate and it only ended a while ago," she said quickly. "I was going to leave it and come tomorrow, but my parents are driving up to my aunt's early in the morning."

"It's good that you did though," said George. "Mum and Sirius were having kittens." Silence greeted his statement so he continued, "You know how mum gets and Sirius reckoned you were attacked by Death Eaters or something."

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed, quite surprised, "But they've apprehended all the Death Eaters, last I heard. I would have owled, but there's no point when it would have arrived here only a few minutes before I did."

"He's just worried 'Mione," Harry said quietly.

Sirius' presence would always be a source of wonderment. After falling through the Veil in the Department of Mysteries, everyone had thought him dead. The problem was that not even the Ministry itself knew what this Veil was exactly. During the war, studies were intensified on the Veil, and they found that it was more of a holding place than anything else. Time just did not exist within it. Further studies showed that whatever goes in can also come out as long as something of equal value replaces it.

This information stunned people, especially Harry, because if what they were saying was true, Sirius was alive and in fine condition. The only problem was that as a convicted murderer, there was really no point in doing anything, as he would have been arrested.

Hermione remembered those days as one of the worst. She couldn't begin to comprehend Harry's anger when he was told that it would be detrimental to Sirius' life if they brought him back. However, six months later, a group of Death Eaters had been caught, among them Bellatrix Lestrange and Peter Pettigrew. That Pettigrew was alive and captured among Death Eaters shocked the wizarding world to no end and after the rat-like man had taken Veritaserum and undergone questioning, the Minister of Magic was forced to admit Sirius Black's innocence.

Harry was at the end of his rope when Dumbledore proposed that the person who banished Sirius beyond the Veil should be sufficient in replacing him there. Although moral issues arose, it was determined that an innocent man was more entitled to be in the world of the living than someone guilty of unforgivable crimes. And so it was that Bellatrix had been fronted to replace him.

Hermione didn't really remember the reunion... it was all too much for everybody involved. It seemed like a blur, but the joy was short-lived as war erupted to its full extent a few days later.

A knock at the door brought her out of her reverie. She looked around and smiled; it was as though thinking of him had summoned him.

"Hermione, when did you arrive? I didn't hear you come in or go up the stairs," Sirius said, standing in the doorway, smiling. He had changed in the months since the war, finally cutting his hair, but leaving it stylishly long. Freedom suited him very well. He was never seen without a smile now.

Hermione was about to reply when Ron cut her off, "She snuck up in her panther form and nearly gave the lot of us a heart attack!" he said, dramatically placing his hand over his heart.

"Ah," began Sirius with a twinkle in his eye, "So that's where the banshee screech came from. I thought it was my mother's portrait again," he finished, winking, as Fred, George, and Harry tried to stifle their laughter, causing Ron to go a brilliant shade of red.

"Oh, come on Sirius, you've gone and embarrassed our 'ickle Ronnikins!" Hermione couldn't help but say. She knew just how much Ron hated that nickname, which caused him to turn yet a brighter shade of red and start grumbling under his breath. She turned back to Sirius, opened her arms wide, and said, "Are you just going to stand in the doorway or are you going to give me a proper welcome?"

For a moment Hermione thought she saw him pale slightly, before walking over and giving her a warm hug.

"Heard from Dumbledore you made Head Girl. Congratulations 'Mione," he said in her ear. As she made to move away, her long necklace with the pendant tucked under the shirt brushed along Sirius' hand.

"What's that?" he queried.

Hermione figured there was no point in hiding it, she tried to in third year, but the secret was exposed anyway. "It's a Time Turner," she stated simply, pulling it out. She heard simultaneous groans coming from Harry and Ron.

"Don't tell us you resumed all your classes for N.E.W.T's again! Do you really want a repeat of third year?" Ron said bemused

Although slightly miffed at his statement, she would admit that in her third year, things didn't go exactly as planned, but she simply put it down as being too young for that kind of a responsibility. Ron seemed to forget that her studies came a close second to her dear friends. At the age of 17, Hermione was considered one of the pretty girls in school. Despite a few dates, her studying still remained a lot more important than those other things.

"Ron, I'm perfectly capable in handling it now. Besides, I didn't take every subject."

"What? You skipped Divination?" he joked.

"Well...yeah," she smiled sheepishly at the round of laughter that accompanied her admission.

"OK, everyone to bed, now!" stated Sirius suddenly, "Molly will have my head if she wakes up!"

He led them out of the little room, steering them towards the stairs. Hermione was trailing her hand along the banister when Fred shouted, "No! Don't touch the ban-..." Before he could finish what he was saying, it was too late. There was an ear-splitting bang that shook the floors and caused Hermione to be sent tumbling down the staircase. During her fall down the stairs, she felt her leg crack, but before she could register what it was she felt the Time Turner around her neck. She held it in her hand to protect if from a fall, but as she neared the bottom of the stairs she flung out that arm to break her fall. She realised too late that she was holding the Time Turner in that hand, and before she hit the bottom step, there was a sharp pain in her hand and a tinkling of glass in her ears when everything went black.

The five men who had run down the stairs to stop her fall stopped dead in their tracks as they watched the girl fade to nothing. Looking around frantically, the boys wondered what had happened. Then they looked to the older man for an answer, but all they received was a wide-eyed look from Sirius, who murmured to himself...

"So it really was her..."