The castle shook violently from being bombarded by the Death Eaters' spells as Hermione Granger clung tightly to the cool stone wall. It wasn't supposed to be like this. The good guys were supposed to come out on top. Yet, here they were. The-Boy-Who-Lived: dead. Dumbledore: dead. Fred Weasley: dead. Ron Weasley: dead. Remus Lupin: dead. Molly Weasley: dead. Ginny Weasley: dead. Nymphadora Tonks: dead. Lavender Brown: dead. Professor McGonagall: dead. Most of their side was completely decimated. The few survivors were left hiding in the castle, trying anything to stay alive, but it was pointless. They weren't going to live to see the morning. Before Harry had been taken, he made her promise to find a room somewhere in the castle with some sort of mirror. He seemed rushed and it didn't really make sense—but right now, it seemed to be their only hope. Hermione rounded the corridor near the library and found a locked door. Now wasn't the time for following the rules. She pulled out her wand and unlocked the door and quickly escaped the corridor and locked the door behind her. Hermione took a moment to catch her breath before she took notice of what was in the classroom. The only thing inside was a mirror. A rather large and ornate looking mirror. If Harry was alive she would probably yell at him for sending her here. This was supposed to be the insurance Dumbledore had left them? What was she supposed to do? Fix her hair and face her imminent death? It all seemed completely mental. But she couldn't hold it in any longer. She broke into hysterics as she collapsed in front of the mirror. It all was too much to handle. In mere moments she was going to be dead and the resistance would be over and Voldemort crowned victor.
Suddenly, a rush of anger surged through her body. She was angry. She just needed to hit something. She looked up to punch the mirror but was shocked at what she saw and gasped. She saw herself with those closest to her: Harry, Ron, Ginny, Remus…but there was something off about herself. She was holding an object that was hanging from her neck. Hermione tilted her head at the time turner around her reflections neck. That would be exactly what she needed right now to make things right. The time turner might be able to fix all the problems. If only…Hermione hung her head and noticed something hanging from her neck. She began to shake as she noticed exactly what was hanging there. It couldn't be. She had to be delusional. Her hands flung toward the small object around her neck. An object she herself hadn't used since her third year—hadn't seen since they destroyed them all fifth year: a time turner. Harry had been right. Dumbledore had left them a sort of insurance. An insurance that she knew how to use. Her mind quickly fumbled on where to go back to…what to go back to. A year ago? Go back and save Dumbledore? That was almost too risky though. If she failed she'd be right back in the same situation she had been. Two years ago—the Ministry break-in? Three years ago—when Voldemort came back? But she'd have to be very careful not to be seen by herself or anyone in her acquaintance.
Just then the locked door exploded in front of her. Hermione felt herself flying backward into the hard wall as Bellatrix's cackle reverberated through the room. She cringed at the sound, especially after seeing the mark etched into her arm. She hurt, but she reached for the time turner. Right now it didn't matter what time she went back to. She just needed to get out of there before it was too late. Hermione began to twist the time turner when Bellatrix's eyes widened at the sight of the tiny object. But what happened next, Hermione couldn't accurately describe no matter how much she tried to process the information. All she would remember was the time turner beginning to spin and a bright flash of light jetting from Bellatrix's wand. Next thing she knew she felt like she was flying or everything around her was flying. She saw herself back toward the door. She saw Dumbledore come toward the mirror and back away. She saw Harry and Dumbledore. Then a lot of nothing before everything suddenly stopped. She hadn't ridden many roller coasters in the Muggle world—but she felt like she just got done riding one for a year. What happened next wasn't pretty: she vomited and wiped her mouth. Hermione lay flat again the floor waiting for it to start shaking, but it didn't. She was alive. She had made it out alive. Thanks to that time turner. It had flung out of her hand when everything had stopped. Hermione reached for the thing but the second she touched it, it dissolved at her touch. No. That definitely wasn't good.
Hermione tugged at her braid before she stood up and looked at the mirror. She tried to get the time turner to appear again—but every time she saw herself, she only saw those she loved. The time turner was nowhere to be found. She needed to figure out what time it was and how to get her hands on another time turner but most importantly, she needed to stop Voldemort from causing all the pain and destruction he had caused. First things first, she needed to figure out how to get out of the castle undetected. She hadn't paid any attention when Harry and Ron talked about the secret passageways because she had been too much of a rule-follower at the time and she couldn't exactly walk out the front door undetected. Then she remembered how Neville got them into the castle: The Room of Requirement. She just needed to get to the Room of Requirement to ask for a way out. That was a much better option because there were far more abandoned corridors that led there than outside. Hermione took a deep breath. If only she had thought to grab Harry's Invisibility Cloak with her—this would be so much easier. Instead, she stayed tight against the wall as she quickly maneuvered her way down the corridors, careful to avoid any students or teachers. She somehow managed to make it down multiple corridors and staircases undetected. She was just about to round the corner to the corridor to get into the Room of Requirement when she ran into a hard body and found herself falling to the floor.
"Well, well, look who we have here," a boy with long dark hair and icy eyes said.
"What happened to her?" a rather lanky and tired looking boy asked.
"What happened to you?" a boy who looked like Harry asked.
"I—I made a wrong turn," Hermione faltered.
"That's a lie if I ever heard one," the first boy said.
"Maybe we should start with an easier question?" the second boy suggested.
"What's your name?" the third boy asked.
"I—uh—"
"I thought the map said her name was—" a fourth, stout boy started.
"Wormtail, shut it!" the dark haired boys shouted simultaneously.
"Well?" the first boy said narrowing his eyes.
"I—I—"
"Gentlemen, that will be quite enough for now," a familiar voice echoed down the corridor.
"Professor Dumbledore, we found this girl wandering around the castle."
"I do happen to be wearing my spectacles today, Mr. Black."
Hermione sat there quite in shock at the scene in front of her. All five of the people before her were dead—at least in her time and now they were in front of her: Albus Dumbledore, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. The shock seemed to be too much because next thing Hermione knew was that she was fading into darkness.