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Hermione, Ron and Harry sat idly in the Gryffindor common room, watching the flames of the fire lick up. Only hours ago, Harry had watched Dumbledore die. He watched the light leave his eyes and his lifeless body fall. Harry had tear tracks down his face and hadn't said a word all night, only cried. "I wish there was something I could have done, something to stop it." Harry said, in his broken, strained voice.
Hermione wiped a tear off her cheek and said, "Harry, there is something you can do."
Ron and Harry both looked up at her, surprised. Hermione tugged something from out of her shirt; a time turner.
"How- what?" Ron said.
"I- uh, shouldn't have this." She said shamefully "But I do, so we should make use of it."
"But how do you have a time turner? I thought you handed it in at the end of third year." Ron asked.
"Yes, I did. I got this somewhere else."
"Where is 'somewhere else'?"
"The room of requirement."
"Woah! Good thinking!" Ron exclaimed.
"What are we waiting for?" Harry said, standing up in a rush, let's save Dumbledore!" Ron and Hermione stood up. Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak from the big red arm chair and put it over all three of them. Suddenly, the door burst. "I really hope Harry's okay." Ginny said to Neville, as they walked towards the three under the invisibility cloak. Harry, Hermione and Ron stayed still, careful not to attract any attention to them selves.
"Me too." Neville said, not realizing he was about to walk into three people. But, unavoidably, he did. He bumped Hermione, who was holding the time turner, into an arm chair, pulling the two boys with her – they fell over on top of Hermione. All of a sudden, people started moving around them, people they did not recognize, until finally, people stopped moving and they were left standing in an empty Gryffindor common room.
"How far back in time do you think we have gone?" Ron asked, pulling the cloak and time turner off and sitting up.
"Crap!" Hermione hissed, under her breath.
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"The time turner! It's smashed!" She cried out.
"It's okay; we will just go to the room of requirement and get another one." Ron said.
"We can't, Ronald!" She snapped, "We are in October, 1971!"
"How do you know?" He asked, "How is it she knows everything?" He said to Harry.
She picked up a piece of parchment, which on it was an essay for potions, and the date, October the 21st, 1971.
"Time turners were invented in June, 1971! We can't go to the room of requirement and get something that doesn't exist!" She yelled in panic.
"Shh!" Ron hissed, "Someone could hear you."
"Hey, guys, you think my parents are at Hogwarts at this time? They could even be up in the dorms!" Harry said excitedly.
"Harry… It's best not to go and meddle with time." Hermione warned him, but he was clearly not listening.
Harry let out a gasp, "I've got a brilliant plan!"
"Yes - we need to go to Dumbledore, now!" Hermione said. Harry ignored her, again.
"We should find Voldemort and kill him, now!"
"No!" Hermione said sternly, "You can't! You don't understand. When I was first given a time turner in third year, I was told not to do that kind of stuff, and even that exactly. You can't go around changing the past, terrible things will happen. You just can't!" She said, clearly distressed by the idea.
Reluctantly, Harry and Ron promised her they would not do anything drastic to alter history, for example, killing Voldemort.
"Now, let's find Dumbledore and explain." Hermione said, making her way to the door, with the boys in tow.
They walked through the eerie corridors of a sleeping Hogwarts; it looked exactly the same as when they had left. Occasionally the portraits would yell at them to get back to bed.
They came to Dumbledore's office entrance, "May we please go up? We need to speak to Dumbledore, immediately! It's crucial we see him!" Hermione said to the gargoyle. It shook its head.
"Please?" She begged, half yelling. "Let us up!" She demanded loudly. The gargoyle refused, again. After a few minutes of commotion, Dumbledore came down from his office to see what the problem was.
"Professor!" Hermione exclaimed, as he came down the steps, "Thank Merlin!"
Dumbledore gave her a puzzled look, through his half moon spectacles. "Sorry, my dear, but would you care to explain who you three are and why you are here in Hogwarts, dressed in uniform. You clearly do not go here; I know all of my students."
"Sir, we do go here."
"We will go here." Ron corrected her.
"We are students from the future, sir. We accidently came back using a time turner, but it broke and we cannot get back." Harry explained.
Dumbledore looked at the three cautiously.
"Time turners were not invented until June, 1972"
He frowned, "Please come up – it seems we have a lot to discuss."
The three sat down in his office and introduced themselves, "How exactly did you end up in this – shall we say – tricky situation?" Dumbledore asked them.
"Sir, as I am sure you understand, we can't tell you an awful lot about it and about the future, as it may alter the future drastically." Hermione said.
"I understand, Miss Granger. Can you please tell me anything that may help us, though?"
She hesitated, "Well, were using the time turner to go back into time – for reasons we can't share – when someone fell on us causing the time turner to come to this date and smash." She said, taking out the broken time turner.
"I see." He said slowly, "And you say these time turners were not invented until June, 1972?"
"Yes sir." They all said.
"I can think of one solution." He said, "It's a tad risky, but it's the only one to keep you three under my watch."
"What's that?" Ron asked.
"For you three to stay at Hogwarts until the year as ended – by that time it will be June, 1972, and you will be free to go back to the future."
The three nodded in agreement. Dumbledore continued to ask them questions and Hermione continued to give him answers that would not reveal much about the future.
"So Mr. Weasley, your parents are in Gryffindor, as are yours Mr. Potter?" The boys nodded.
"But my parents were killed when I was one." Harry said.
Dumbledore nodded sadly, "By whom?"
"We can't say." Hermione answered.
"Miss Granger, you are muggle born, yes?" Dumbledore confirmed. Hermione nodded, "From what you have told me you have relations with mainly Gryffindors and Slytherins." Dumbledore said, "Does it seem appropriate and safe to put you three in Ravenclaw?"
They looked at each other, and decided that it was.
"I will get into contact with you three each day to see how things are going. Oh, and remember your cover stories – you three are exchange students from Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts. Miss Granger your name will be Hermione Shore, you are muggle born, and you specialized in Singing. Mr. Weasley, your name will be Ronald Sunder, pureblood, specialized in drama. And Mr. Potter, your name will be Harry Kearns, half-blood and also specialized in drama." Dumbledore had drilled their cover stories into them over and over again.
"Sir, do you have any students by the name of Lily Evans and James Potter?" Harry asked.
"Oh, and Arthur Weasley and Molly Prewett!" Ron added.
"Ahh, your parents'… yes they are all in first year." Dumbledore paused, "I recommend you make as little interaction as possible with any people you know, as changing the past can damage the future." He warned them, "Now come along and you can change into Ravenclaw robes."
A/N: Let me know what you think so far! :D
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