Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing except the order these words are in, everything else belongs to JKR.

September 29, 1977

That Evening, Heading Towards the Headmaster's Office

3rd Person POV:

*Use of Profanity*

Huffing, Hermione stopped towards the Headmaster's office – it would be an understatement to say that she was mad. No. She was upset. Furious. Completely and utterly enraged. Why? Because Sirius and James had just bullied Severus to nearly the point of tears – but of course, his Slytherin pride wouldn't let him actually cry. But no, although that was bothering her, it wasn't what was bothering her the most at the moment. What was bothering her was the fact that Severus had commented on Remus's furry little problem, which she had pretended to not hear, because she wasn't supposed to know anything about it. She was furious at herself for forgetting that she could make the Wolfsbane potion for Remus, and that was how she found herself heading towards her uncle's office – to ask him if he could help get the ingredients (after all, some of them were very hard to get by, and even illegal).

Not that doing illegal things bothered her anymore, but she didn't want to accidentally attract unwanted attention from anyone yet. Which was difficult, since the first people she became friends with were the Marauders. Finally reaching the gargoyles, she muttered the password, "Pepper imps," and absentmindedly made her way up the staircase.

She knocked on the door, opening it when she heard him call out, "Come in."

"Hi, um, Uncle Albus, I, well, I was wondering if I could talk to you for just a moment?"

Seeing who it was, he smiled, "Of course, dear, what's the matter?"

"Well," she paused, trying to figure out how to word her request, "you see, I know about Remus's problem." She paused again, watching as he took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, but since he made no implication that he wanted her to stop, she plowed on, "Um, yes, so where – or when, really – I come from, there's this potion to help werewolves, and although it doesn't cure them, it helps them keep their head when they transform. You see, they still transform, but they are in control of what they do, how they think, and...well...you get the idea."

"I see. Well, that is wonderful, now, what is it, exactly, that you would like to do?"

"I want to brew it for Remus. He really doesn't deserve the pain that he has to go through every month, a-and we don't have to tell him that it was me, since, you know, the potion hasn't really been invented yet, but we could just give it to him and ask him to not tell anyone. It'll work! I know it will! Please?"

Albus sighed, clearly trying to figure out whether or not to agree to her request. After a moment, he said, "Okay. Brew the potion, and it will be given to him – but as you said, he is not to know that it is you. Attention is not something that someone in your predicament will find beneficial."

Hermione grinned at him, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She stopped suddenly, her smile falling off, and at Albus's inquiring look, she grimaced, "I forgot one more thing."

"And that is?"

"Well, some of the ingredients are very hard to come by, and I had been hoping that if you agreed to let me brew the Wolfsbane – that's what it's called – you might be able to help me get some of them?" She trailed off awkwardly.

"Alright, let's have a look at them, then." His eyes twinkled, and she grinned at him, pulling the list of ingredients out of her bag. Reading over them quickly, he looked back up at her, "Hermione, some of these are illegal."

"Er, well, in my time, they're not, but, um, I had kind of hoped that you might know someone who had them, anyway."

To her shock, he smiled, "Well, I do, and I can have these for you in two weeks. I have some favors I can cash in on," he winked at her.

"Thank you so much, Uncle Albus!"

"Of course, dear."

Hermione hurried out of his office, ready to tackle the next thing on her list.

So far, she had managed to cross off Number 6: Expose Peter. Now, she was going to do Number 7 (getting the diadem), and with any luck, manage to do Number 1 (Join the Order) soon.

Okay, so, I go to the Room of Requirement, find the diadem, and then...what? Hermione was somewhat at a loss as to what she ought to do once she got a hold of the horcrux. So, no, getting the diadem and then not knowing what to do would be a bad idea. She would have to figure out a plan first. Alright, well that shouldn't take too long, I can go to the library and figure it out there – maybe check for more books on time travel.

Where the fuck am I supposed to store a piece of some psychopath's soul?

Nearly an hour later, she was sitting in a corner of the library, hair held together by an old muggle pen, chewing furiously on a quill, and the frustration was really beginning to kick in. Whatever, I'll just go get it, and then figure something out, she thought, even though she knew that doing so would probably end in disaster. After all, she had absolutely no ideas, except for storing it under her bed, but that was a horrible suggestion. I mean, what am I going to do? Wear it, or something? I mean, it is pretty. She snorted to herself at the thought of wearing a piece of Voldemort's soul again, even if it was a nice tiara that would make her smarter. Hermione had had a horrible enough experience with the locket, and she most definitely wasn't about to go wearing another horcrux.

Standing up and stretching, she covered up a yawn as she got her books and papers together. Hermione had made up her mind – she was going to go find the diadem (since it would probably take a while to find it in the room itself), and then if she hadn't come up with a place to put it, she would leave it somewhere she could easily remember and find again.

Reaching the Room of Requirement, she started pacing. I need the place where everything is hidden. I need the place where everything is hidden. I need the place where everything is hidden.

Nothing. Damnit. Why wasn't it working?

She tried again.

And again.

And again.

Finally! Thank Merlin, it worked, she thought, as she hurried through the wooden door that appeared in the wall.

Hermione dropped her bag on the floor, time to start looking.

She knew it was sitting on a bust somewhere in the room, but the problem was that the room was just so damn big, she didn't know where to start.

Honestly, I have no idea, she thought grumpily.

Sighing to herself - she seemed to be doing that a lot lately - she tried to remember where she, Harry, and Ron had found it during the Final Battle. Slowly, she made her way to the left, trying to retrace her steps from a few months ago.

No, that stack of books definitely wasn't there the first time around. She was going in the wrong direction.

Two - nearly three - hours passed, with Hermione searching fruitlessly for the goddamn tiara.

Just as she was about ready to give up, she caught a glimpse of something sparkly in the corner of her eye. Whirling around, Hermione gasped at the sight of the diadem.

Finally. That took long enough.

Slowly, as though she were almost scared to approach it, Hermione walked towards it.

Picking it up and holding it arms' length, like it being two more feet away from her would help stop the darkness making its way inside of her and eating her, she began making her way back to the front of the room, she caught sight of a vanishing cabinet.

Not just any vanishing cabinet, no, it was the Vanishing Cabinet - the very one that Malfoy had used back in 6th year to bring Death Eaters into the school.

Hurrying to put the diadem in her bag, she practically ran back to the cabinet.

Hermione took a deep breath, raising her wand and preparing to hit the offending dresser with her strongest 'bombarda,' she was shocked to hear someone yelling at her.

"Stop!" A boy ran into her line of sight, almost throwing himself in front of the cabinet to try and prevent her from harming it.

"What-" Hermione started.

However, the boy beat her to it, "What- I- what the hell are you doing in here? How'd you find this place? It's not supposed to let other people in!"

Hermione could only stare in shock before managing (somehow) to say, "Oh. Well, that must have been why it took me so many tries to get in."

He stared at her incredulously, and all Hermione could do was awkwardly stare back, trying to think of something more to say.

However, before she could get anything else out, Regulus opened his mouth.

And then closed it.

Hermione didn't know how long they stood there, staring at each other, both trying to think of something to say. Something to justify what they were doing.

Finally, she remembered what she had been about to do before Sirius's younger brother had shown up. "Well. If you're not going to say anything, could you please move so that I can finish what I was going to do?"

"Wha-Wait!" Hermione's statement effectively startled the younger Slytherin out of his shock, "No! You can't destroy it!"

She stared at him, "Why not? Why does it matter to you?"

As he stood there, desperately trying to think of something to say, she remembered Number 3 on her list – try to reconcile Sirius and Regulus, and she knew that no such reconciliation would be happening if he was a Death Eater, so her only hope was to get him on their side.

Hopefully, it wouldn't be too hard, since he did, eventually, switch to the Light Side. All she had to do was get him to switch earlier – show him how Voldemort was in the wrong. After all, as far as she knew, he was still a blood purist. However, he was still Sirius' brother.

Before he could say something, she quickly rushed out, "It's for Voldemort isn't it?"

He visibly flinched – although whether it was from the accuracy of her statement or the way she said the name, she did not know.

When he continued to stay silent, she kept talking, "He's trying to make you prove yourself, right? You know you don't have to – you could leave, like Sirius did! I know that you know what he's doing is wrong. And, well, I don't know if you believe in blood purity and stuff, but I know you don't think killing everyone but purebloods or whatever is right! I-I can help you! I promise. Just – please don't join! It'll only end badly for you!" She rambled, her voice getting higher and more frantic towards the end.

His eyes were comically wide, and he blinked a couple times before whispering, "C-Could you? Really?"

"Help you? Yes, of course!" Hermione hadn't thought it would be so easy to get him to agree.

"But...actually. No. Nevermind. I don't think this is a good idea. You ought to leave. And don't tell anyone what you saw."

"What?" Hermione couldn't help the panic in her voice, "Why not?!"

He gave her a strange look, "Why does it matter to you?"

She froze up again, "W-Well, um, you see..." she trailed off, desperately trying to think of something as he looked at her expectantly, "I-I can tell you don't really believe what Voldemort – don't flinch like that, it's just a name – believes, and if you don't believe in it, then you shouldn't be forced into doing it."

He raised an eyebrow, "I have to. My family will make me. Mainly, er, mainly my mum. She's really into You-Know-Who."

"Really." Hermione couldn't help the sarcasm that crept into her voice.

Regulus gave her a small, tentative, smile, "Yeah. And, hey, just between you and me, I think it might be a crush."

She laughed a little bit, before turning serious again, "I mean it though, even if you have to join Voldemort, Dumbledore will help, and maybe you could be, I don't know, a spy or something. Either way, we can figure something out."

He sighed, considering her offer. Regulus hated Voldemort. Not a lot of people knew, but it was true. He hated him for what he and his Death Eaters had tried to force Sirius to do, and how they had hurt him when he refused. However, he also knew he couldn't abandon his family – not like Sirius had done. Sirius. Maybe he could repair their relationship. He would never admit it to anyone – he didn't exactly have anyone – but he missed his older brother. A lot. "Fine. But I can't leave my family. So maybe...a spy, I guess?"

She lit up, "Okay! I'll talk to Dumbledore, and we'll come up with a plan."

He looked taken back at her enthusiasm, "Er, yeah, thank you."

"Well then, I'll see you around." Hermione offered him a grin and started walking out before she froze and spun around on her heel, "Uh, what were you doing with that cabinet?"

"I-Well. I'm supposed to be trying to use Vanishing Cabinets to bring...um. To bring Death Eaters into the castle."

Hermione involuntarily gasped, "W-What?!"

"Er, yeah, but he said it's only going to be used if it absolutely has to? Apparently, he doesn't want to destroy the castle."

"O-Okay." To say Hermione was shocked, would be an understatement, Voldemort had tried to do the same thing twenty years later – but with Draco Malfoy. Regulus must have failed, then. "Well, you're going to have to fail, but we can figure something out to make it believable – maybe something related to the magic of the school?" She mused.

He nodded, "Alright."

"Okay then, well, bye." Hermione smiled awkwardly, and hurried out, followed by Regulus' 'See you!'

September 29, 1977

Even Later That Evening, In the Headmaster's Office (Again)

"Uncle Albus?"

He looked up, surprised to see her walk in for the second time that day, "Hello dear, what brings you to my office again?"

"Er, well, I have a few questions for you."

"Okay, come, have a seat."

"Alright. Well, one, I talked to Regulus today."

"Mr. Black?"

"Yes, a-and, well. You see, his mother wants him to join Voldemort." Her uncle immediately turned serious, "And doesn't want to, but he said he can't abandon his family. So, well, I kind of told him that I would talk to you and you would help him."

"Hermione, the fact that he might be a Death Eater-"

She quickly cut him off, "No! He's not a Death Eater yet. They have to, well, they have to 'prove' themselves first. Before they can be inducted. And I was thinking, maybe he could be, I don't know, a spy for the Order? I mean, it would be useful."

He leaned back in his chair, considering what she said, before responding, "Alright. I will call him up here in the next few days and talk to him."

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Of course, dear," he smiled at her, "but, I do have one question. How do you know about the Order?"

"Perks of being from the future?" She laughed nervously, "Which brings me to my second question. It, well, it isn't really a question." Hermione took a deep breath, before looking her uncle in the eyes, "I want to join. I know how useful I can be. And, technically, I am of age."

He sighed, "Hermione, I'm not sure."

She took a deep breath, trying to stop the anger rising in her chest, "Well, I am. I am of age, and I know more about what is happening and how to take Voldemort down than – well, to be honest – probably more than anyone else. I am more than capable of being in the Order."

"It is not your capabilities that I am worried about, Hermione, but you are still in school."

"That doesn't matter. When I can, I can attend the meetings, and work on stuff out here – no missions until I graduate."

He raised an eyebrow.

"For the Order," she clarified, but the Headmaster clearly wasn't convinced.

"Hermione, dangerous things happen to people who meddle with time."

She lifted her chin and very nearly glared at him, "That does not matter. I could save hundreds of lives. Maybe even more. And, well, to be frank, if you don't understand that, then I don't know what you're doing as the leader of the Order. The goal of the Order – in case you hadn't realized – was to take down Voldemort and save as many lives as possible. And I know how to do that."

He sighed and took a deep breath, "Fine. However, you will not be allowed to go on any missions until you graduate – as you said. We have a meeting this Saturday – at the Weasley's – at 7 pm. Come to my office at 6:45 and we can floo in."

"Great! Thanks, Uncle Albus!" Hermione chirped, satisfied with the response she had gotten, she grabbed her bag and (probably) would have skipped out the door if her Headmaster hadn't been there.

She could successfully cross two things off her list and was on her way to helping Regulus and Sirius reconcile. In her opinion, it had been quite a productive day, although I could get started on that Charms homework, she added to herself, making her way to the common room.

Little did she know that the Marauders were growing a little suspicious of her. After all, she hurried off to Merlin-knew-where as soon as classes were over, and then, when they tried looking for her on the map, she had been leaving Dumbledore's office, when suddenly, she just disappeared. No one just disappeared off the map! They had made sure of it! Unless, of course, there was somewhere that they hadn't mapped out in Hogwarts – but that was practically impossible. After all, they had even gotten Nearly Headless Nick to check for them!

And then, much to their shock, she reappeared, (once again, out of nowhere), and with none other than Regulus Black.

Sirius wanted to confront her, but Remus (ever the reasonable one) refused to let him, after all, they ought to have more concrete evidence that she was up to something before they accused her of something.

A/N: Hey guys, I'm so sorry it took so long for me to upload this, life has just been super hectic lately :) Anyways, thank you for reading! I'm sorry about the ending – I know its pretty abrupt, but I wanted to end the chapter there, and I wasn't sure how else to do it (plus I'm running off a couple hours of sleep and no caffeine, so my brain isn't exactly doing great). I have a break next week, so hopefully I'll get in another chapter or two.

- zoe :)