The events of the previous night took a heavy toll on the headspace of both Sirius and Hermione, long after the exhausting night came to an end. They were face to face with a doubt like no other; question after question about what the Veritaserum had told them was true only hours prior.

These thoughts shuffled around the heads of the new girl, and the boy who supposedly fancied her, for much longer than expected.

As far as he knew, she couldn't possibly be anything other than good. And another person who was good in his life certainly wouldn't hurt, considering all of the terrible people he was raised to look up to. She had to be good. She just had to. But it had only been two weeks. How much could he really know about her? This was the new girl, after all.

His thoughts were a battlefield: sure, he had grown fond of the girl he secretly considered beautiful, but how did he know if she was really any different the other girls at Hogwarts? Could he really have developed feelings for her so quickly?

As far as she knew, the nervousness Hermione had gotten around Remus wasn't really platonic in her mind. The thought of him with another girl, especially someone as beautiful--inside and out--as Dorcas, caused Hermione to grow anxious, even though she wouldn't have lifted a finger no more than a week ago.

Her thoughts were a battlefield: the truth-telling potion was telling her one thing when she could've sworn it was the opposite. Did she really not fancy Remus?

And according to the Veritaserum, the answer to both questions was a definitive yes.

While the night carried on and Harper's post-initiation celebration was underway, the two teenagers were drowning in their thoughts instead of the liquor. Hermione almost took zero notice to Remus when he took Dorcas by the hand and danced with her as if nothing had changed from their fourth year. Sirius, on the other hand, didn't even notice Mary MacDonald's flirting remarks in his direction. On any normal night, he'd flirt back in a heartbeat. But there was no room for Mary inside of his head; it filled with Harper quicker than anyone could ever expect.

From that night on, Hermione and Sirius began sorting out their priorities. If how Hermione reacted to the truth-telling serum told her anything, it was that she most definitely wasn't here for Remus, or anything other than saving James and Lily. Her focus should be on them, not whether Remus and Dorcas were back together, or the number of girls Sirius had snogged in his time at Hogwarts (which she couldn't see to get out of her head for some baffling reason). Sirius, on the other hand, took more time to himself than ever. He wanted to keep embracing the feeling of invisibility and with the help of James' cloak, keep wandering the night. The only thing binding each of them being their thoughts.

At this point, Hermione's first two weeks were up; she was starting to get close to the people Dumbledore advised her to, and quite frankly, she feared it would only get more difficult from here. Seeing as she couldn't truly open up to anyone, Hermione's thoughts ricocheted around her head with no one to empty them out to.

Hermione soon found a sanctuary from the massive number of things on her plate, in three classes that her past self would've hated: Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, and Astronomy.

With a stable teacher like Professor Karasu, Defense Against the Dark Arts was fun, especially when sitting next to James. 

"So, according to Padfoot, you actually don't fancy Remus then?" asked James the Monday after Harper's initiation.

"Padfoot?" asked the new girl, pretending to be confused.

"That's Sirius."

"Oh. Why'd he tell you that?"

"He was just filling me in, that's all. I guess the Veritaserum worked in your favor then?" James smirked, still partially convinced she fancied one of his friends.

"Merlin, James, I don't fancy Remus!" Hermione laughed, maybe a little too loud. She earned a few stares from neighboring students, while James snickered silently. Hermione thanked the gods that Remus didn't take note, but she soon found Dorcas' piercing blue eyes on her from across the room, and nearly lost her breath.

Other than unfortunate moments like the one prior, Hermione had good conversations with James and enjoyed sitting next to him much more than she anticipated. Come October, James considered Harper the closest female friend he had other than Lily, of course, and often asked for advice regarding getting the attention of a certain ginger-haired girl. 

"Maybe don't harass Severus anymore," she would say to James, "Lily's told me how much she's annoyed by it," hoping he'd take her advice. Once he finally did, Hermione saw a change in the way Lily treated him. She couldn't even recall the last time Lily called James a bloody toerag.

On the other hand, even though Potions class brought Hermione some nervousness, being Slughorn's "niece" and all, it soon ended up being a favorite of hers. Not the subject, no, but the people she had it with (despite it being riddled with Slytherins).

Before Hermione had advised James to go easy on Severus, his pranks against the long-haired Slytherin boy were quite entertaining. After the whole Mrs.-Norris-Amortentia incident from Harper's initiation, Filch had a hard time keeping the cat away from Snape, even during class. Constant meows could be heard for the first week following the prank, and laughter followed Snape wherever he went, even though most of the students had no idea what they were laughing at. 

It was also quite entertaining for Harper to watch Peter's attempts to flirt with Emma Vanity. From stories, she hadn't heard much of Peter's time at Hogwarts before he fell victim to the Dark Lord's power, but he was different than she expected. Hermione knew that the whole reason she was here was to expose Peter (she obviously couldn't help but despise him), but he had more of a personality than she was told. Although he wasn't very intelligent, Peter offered security to the other boys and supported them no matter what (ironic, considering he betrays them...), and worshiped the ground they walked on. Hermione was truly astounded by the way he adored Emma Vanity, and how much she adored the attention. Come October, the two had their first date planned, and Hermione was as in shock as anyone else.

She soon grew thankful for her declining nervousness around Remus. As time passed, Hermione grew less bothered by the fact that Remus wanted to talk to Dorcas and Dorcas alone, and more invested in other things that her Potions class had to offer. The thoughts she previously had about Remus were miniscule at most, Hermione at least knew that now; she was finally accepting of what the Veritaserum let her say. Not that it really mattered to Hermione anymore, but they were knee-deep into October, and still no one knew what the relationship status between Remus and Dorcas was, except for themselves and maybe Peter. It was the fact that she no longer cared that took the weight off of her already-stressed shoulders. 

Hermione also had a first-row seat to the bickering between Lily and Severus during Potions. James had no longer inserted himself into their conversations, so the bickering soon eased up, but just seeing what she had only heard in stories continued to fascinate Hermione. She probably loved every single thing about this Potions class, except the actual making of Potions, and maybe her so-called uncle. 

Lastly, both her Potions class and Astronomy class offered the chance for Harper to talk to and get to know Sirius much more. That night atop the Astronomy tower for Harper's initiation was only the start of what one would call a friendship. But to Sirius, the time that he spent sitting next to Harper was slowly becoming his favorite time of the day. Almost as much as he enjoyed his alone time. Come October, Sirius was snagging the invisibility cloak of his best friend less and less; he knew that Harper couldn't be anything other than good. He hadn't said a word to James, but he was growing quite fond of Harper now. It seemed as the Veritaserum was telling the truth the entire time, without a doubt. 

Whether it was the sudden friendship between her and James, seeing the pranks pulled against the painfully annoying Severus, witnessing Peter in a way she never would've imagined, or growing closer with Sirius, Hermione felt like she had gotten to know the Hogwarts Class of 1978 in a way no one else from her timeline could possibly understand. 

It was like she was one of them. Almost, one of them. Hermione could sit in her classes all day and converse with her fellow Hogwarts students as if she were one of them, but at the end of the day, she was only here for one thing. And now it was well into October, and she was nowhere near when she needed to be. 

Hermione's first thought was to talk to Remus, seeing as he's closer with Peter than the rest of the boys. But the very thought of Dorcas peering over her shoulder, however kind she was and whatever she and Remus would turn out to be, intimidated her. Dorcas was already suspicious of Harper over a class slip-up that happened nearly a month ago; Hermione didn't want to give Dorcas another reason to dislike her. 

James had his hands tied with trying to get the attention of Lily, Hermione presumed, so the only one left was Sirius. Wednesday's midnight Astronomy class, only a few days before Halloween, gave Hermione the perfect time and place to talk to Sirius, nearly alone.

"I wish we could apparate to Mars," Sirius mumbled in the middle of class.

In Astronomy, the current unit of Exobiology was one that Sirius loved particularly more than the rest. The idea of entire worlds existing in the endless vault of space fascinated him so much more than simple constellations and mediocre planetary sciences. 

"That'd be amazing. If only there was a charm that would make it survivable for--"

"I am interrupting your conversation, Mr. and Mrs. Chatty? Or would you like to pay attention to my lecture now?" snapped Professor Sinistra, moodier than usual. Hermione figured maybe it was better to bring up Peter in conversation after class was finished.

Once Professor Sinistra ordered the much-too-long class to come to a close, cleaning up went quickly for Mr. and Mrs. Chatty. They were the first to leave the tower, and they certainly wouldn't be missing Professor Sinistra between now and their next class.

Once out of Sinistra hearing range, Sirius whispered, "What's her deal?"

"I dunno. Maybe she's just really passionate about Exobiology," Hermione giggled, picking at Sirius' love for the subject. The two shared a laugh as they made their way to the Gryffindor common room. Sirius could help but notice how beautiful Harper looked in the pale moonlight; he couldn't take his eyes off of her. But she, entangled in her thoughts about Peter, failed to notice.

"So, um," Hermione started, looking up at Sirius, "have you noticed anything different with Peter recently?"

He shot Harper a confused notion. "I, uh, I haven't. Why'd you ask?"

"Oh, I just thought he seemed more different since when I fight met him, I dunno, he seems more, um, unusual," Hermione thought, hoping to provoke something in the grey-eyed boy's smart mind.

Suddenly his eyes lit up, like a kid in a candy store. "Oh, Merlin, I know," he exclaimed, "its most certainly because of Emma. Yeah, definitely Emma. He's crazy about her, about as crazy as Peter'll get, that's for sure. I swear, she'll be more than just his flavor of the month. They say it really changes a man, you know, a good woman in his life."

"Wouldn't you know, though?"

"Huh?"

"You and your eight girls," Hermione added quite awkwardly. Why did I just ask that?

"Oh," Sirius scoffed nervously, "those girls, um, I dunno, it's not like Peter and Emma, none of them were. Just silly flings, that's all." He grew self-conscious around Harper now, more than ever. A part of him didn't like her knowing about the girls that he'd snogged: he was afraid of the judgement that could come with it. Why else would she keep bringing those eight girls up?

"Oh, gotcha," Hermione finished, growing tense throughout her body for a reason she didn't know. Little did she know, a similar anxiousness was coursing through the veins of the boy walking right beside her. She just didn't know it yet. 

Anxious, tired, and swamped, both of them had nearly forgotten about the approaching holiday. And for Harper and Sirius, it would be a Halloween they certainly wouldn't forget. 

A/N: hey, tap the star if you liked this chapter or leave a comment with feedback! thanks for 400+ views!

A/N UPDATE (8/3/20): wow i really cranked out this chapter SO much faster than usual. you're welcome!! there's a lot of lengthy gross paragraphs in here, so yeah<3, i know this is kinda more of a filler/time jump chapter, but we're getting closer to halloween!! (which means something special is gonna happen for it... i'll let u use your imagination here lol). also you guys i'm kinda loving the friendship between james and harper, i think its rly wholesum and cute :) anyways, thanks for 134K, i love yall. - callahan