Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter universe. It was created by J K Rowling. Any characters/places you recognise are just being borrowed. No profit is being made from this.

A/N This chapter was a one-shot on this site, and was part of 'Just a Go-Between?' on The Maple Bookshelf (now deleted). Shattered Path is a re-edit of the chapters that were posted there and a continuation.

Chapter 1 – The Dream

She woke with a cry, her hair pasted to her head with sweat. She heard the hurried footsteps before the door was flung open.

"Hermione," her mother said as she moved towards her daughter's bed, "another one?"

"I'm fine, Mum," the bushy-haired teenager replied, brushing away the hand moving to her forehead. "It's nothing, just a bad dream".

"That's the second one this week," Jean Granger said as she sat on the bed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Hermione sighed gently. What was she suppose to say to her mother? "Don't worry, I was nearly attacked by a werewolf at the end of the school year and just have nightmares about it now and then".

"Do you want me to heat some milk?" Paul Granger said from the doorway.

"No, Dad, I don't need milk," Hermione replied, smiling slightly to take the edge off the response. "I'm nearly fifteen, not five anymore."

"You'll always be my baby, Hermione," Jean said, pulling her into a hug and kissing her forehead.

"Always, sweetheart," her father added, coming over and laying an arm across them both.

After a few minutes her parents got up and went to the door. "If you are sure there is nothing else?" her mother said hesitating.

Hermione shook her head. "Everything is fine, thank you. I love you both," she said as the door closed.

Hermione lay her head back down onto her pillows. In some ways it wasn't the nightmares that bothered her. It was the other memories, or rather the feelings they evoked.

As she flung her arm across her face, she could picture the anguish on Professor Lupin's face as he had changed. She had been scared, but had drawn up the courage to try and approach him. For a moment she thought there had been a glint of recognition, then as the werewolf had howled and taken a step forward, Sirius in his animagus form had attacked. That short moment played in her head over and over again. He had recognised her, she was sure, and, later responded to her fake howl.

Part of her knew that she should not, could not read anything into this, but another part wanted there to be that connection. She had always admired her Professor and seeing the pain of the transformation, knowing he bore that each month, just made her respect him more. Of course he had made an error not taking his Wolfsbane potion, but there had been a lot going on that evening and she knew that he regretted it.

She turned over, almost violently. Potions...the other memories that plagued her. Professor Snape had put himself between them and the werewolf. He had protected them all, but it was her whose body he had covered with his own, when they fell. It was her shoulder he had grasped and pulled towards him when Harry had gone after Sirius and Professor Lupin.

Again she knew she could not read anything into it. It was just coincidence that they had fallen next to each other. He would have tried to stop Ron if he had gone after Harry, she was sure of it. Yet...

She sighed loudly as she flopped over onto her back again. "Great, now I'm crushing on both a current and a former professor."