Caught Somewhere In Time

Chapter 4: The Stag and Doe

Hermione tried to swallow her worry with every big gulp she took.

It had recently dawned upon her that she hadn't taken into account how hard this was going to be, thinking more about Harry and how to avoid James and Lily at all times.

She had never gone back this far, only made one mistake and went back to her first year at Hogwarts, then when she was 5, then safely back again. She'd never gotten stuck but considering they'd been in here longer than she'd hoped it was beginning to become apparent that there is a chance of that happening.

She was thankful that they now had the invisibility cloak and the map to help them not be seen but they hadn't thought as far as to how the marauders will react to having their things miraculously stolen. Hermione and Harry were now roaming the Hogwarts corridors, nearing The Great Hall as it was now close to lunchtime. They still had to eat because technically this was real life, and they were real people in this real world, but she tried not to think about that.

Her stomach started rumbling as they came into the vicinity of the glorious smell wafting from The Great Hall. Most of the students were inside but a small crowd was still entering the hall. Among that crowd, Hermione subconsciously eyed one with a scowl on her face. Peter Pettigrew. She intended to recognise anyone because it was a little hard, considering so many of these people were now dead - mostly because of Voldemort. She definitely hadn't wanted to run into Peter Pettigrew, that monster. She felt a pang of anger but it was quickly shut down by a voice calling his name:

"Oi, Pete! Over here!" Her head snapped around and she put a face to the calling, James Potter.

She worriedly peered at Harry whose mouth was open and eyes wide. She felt the anger immediately be replaced with guilt. Her idea was to drag him past the Gryffindor table in an attempt to avoid at least seeing him. It felt strange knowing the doomed fate for these people and not being able to stop it. She couldn't break the rules - she couldn't change the future, as much as she wanted to make her best friend's life easier and full of less gloom and despair. Her thoughts were interrupted by James:

"Bloody hell, hurry up mate! There's gonna be no turkey sandwiches left!" he waves a sandwich in front of his face before shoving it into his mouth and smiling at Peter.

"One-second Prongs!" He shouted back "I'm talking to Dorcas" he replied and turned back to the pretty girl in front of him, blushing.

Hermione's stomach turned when she instantly picked up on the boys' chemistry and love for each other. You could feel it in the air as the best friends beamed at each other. What made Peter turn against him?

Peter promptly finished speaking to Dorcas and walked with purpose to slump himself down next to James. Hermione gave a signal to Harry to start walking down the hall. They walked around the side of the Gryffindor table, to the end where no one was sitting. They weren't far away from James and Peter and could hear everything they were saying.

"Where is Pads?" James asked, his mouth full of food.

"I have no idea...probably with Moony again" Peter looked down at his plate.

"Those two" James chuckled shaking his head.

Then Mary and Marlene, the girls from earlier walked into the hall and sat at the other side of the boys, but still keeping distance between them.

"Hiya James! Hiya Pete!" Mary called waving at the boys.

"Alright, MacDonald?" James leaned back "where's Evans today then?"

"She's in the library with Remus" Marlene quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Is that right Mckinnon?" he muttered.