Promise to the Past | 🐾 ᴍᴀʀᴀᴜᴅᴇʀs ✓

05 | Reality Sets In

"Hermione!" Lily yelled as the exhausted girl dropped like the dead. 

Before anyone could make a move, Sirius was there, lifting her into his arms. Lily looked at him questioningly, surprised by his polar reactions to Hermione. 

"Oh dear.." Dumbledore moved closer, waving his wand over her. "She's incredibly weak right now, she needs to be healed immediately." 

"I'll take care of it Professor," Lily assured. "I insist she stay with us at Godric's Hollow." 

Dumbledore nodded in acceptance, hurrying them on their way. James took Harry with him as Lily guided Sirius who was still holding an unconscious Hermione towards the floo. She felt an uncanny connection to the young time traveler. Maybe it was simply because she knew Hermione would risk everything to ensure the safety of her son. Maybe it was because she was also Muggle-born and understood how much she was giving up for a world she'd only known less than half her life. But she knew one thing, she felt incredibly protective of her. And from glancing at the way Sirius held her tightly with his eyes honed in on her unconscious face, Lily could tell she might not be the only one. 

 ✧  ✦  ✧

Hermione opened her eyes for a second time to an unfamiliar room. She still felt incredibly weak, but her arm had stopped burning. She also felt relatively cleaner, but could already feel the hoarseness in her throat, probably from having screamed her lungs out under the Cruciatus. 

Her eyes wandered to find that she was in a large bed, and she was incredibly warm. Not only that, but sitting loyally at her feet was a large black dog watching her with sharp grey eyes. She slowly pulled herself into a sitting position, keeping her eyes on Sirius. 

"Are you taking turns watching me?" She asked honestly. She thought she'd gained their trust, but she couldn't be sure. She could see her wand resting on the bedside table, so they must have believed her. 

The dog merely cocked his head at her intelligently. 

"You're honestly the last person I'd expect to be sitting with me," she said honestly. "I thought you hated me, Padfoot." 

The dog visibly flinched back, and Hermione smiled sadly at his reaction. 

"I know your animagus forms, Sirius. I already told you that." 

Instead of shifting to his human form, Padfoot merely crawled up the bed on his paws until he was sitting parallel Hermione, his body pressed against her legs offering her warmth while he rested his head on her lap. 

Hesitantly, Hermione began to run her fingers through his fur, taking comfort in the simplicity of just existing and enjoying another's company, even if it was in dog form. If anything the dog was more therapeutic than the human might've been.  

"Oh you're awake!" Lily said through the crack in the door. She made her way inside, raising her eyebrows inquisitively at Padfoot but not saying anything on the matter. She took a seat on the chair next to the bed, assessing Hermione. 

"Where am I?" 

"Back in Potter Cottage. You're in our guest room." 

"Oh.." Hermione said, looking around once again. 

"You really scared us Hermione," Lily said shakily. "I honestly don't know how you lived through what you did." 

"Everyone suffers in war-" 

"No, I mean you were literally on the brink of death." Lily looked terrified as the tried to make Hermione understand. "No normal person should've survived. Your vitals were dangerously weak for far too long. I think the only reason you survived is because your magical core was so strong."