A/N: I know I haven't posted anything for A WHILE, but this is a bit of my own personal headcannon Sirius, and I've found myself really enjoying some of the Time Turner fics out there, so I thought I'd try my hand at one. And try really, really, really hard to actually finish it. I'm a few chapters in, and the prologue sucks, but I promise it will get better. I hope you guys enjoy!
Prologue
There are many impossible things which can happen in a battle. Confusing things as well, with curses, hexes, shields, and even reversal spells flying around. The Battle of Hogwarts was no different, where it seemed like everyone Hermione knew from her year was fighting against every living Death Eater. Hermione hadn't thought much about the significance of what she'd put around her neck when she woke up and dressed that morning. In fact, the only thought she had when she saw her old time-turner on that table next to her was that when Sirius died, all of the time turners had been destroyed. All except this one. Hers. The one she'd never meant to keep. Sirius had died to protect Harry, and herself indirectly as well, and feeling that today was going to be just as dangerous, if not more so than usual, she'd decided she wanted to feel that little bit of extra protection. Perhaps she'd even wanted to subconsciously remind herself of all the things Sirius had survived, all for love of Harry, and that would help keep her going through this battle. Sirius would never have backed down. And neither would she.
Although, really, her thought process at the time was more along the lines of better keep this with me, never know when a few extra minutes could save a couple lives. This story, however, would never have been able to happen had Hermione not decided to wear her time turner on that fateful day.
Hermione ended up in a crossfire between a curse, a hex, and a wish. A curse intended to send its victim far away (generally in space, though we'll see here it works in time too), a hex to keep her still and force her to watch the torture around her, and a sincere, hopeful wish from a nearby red-haired girl protect the people who can save Harry. When the curse hit the time turner and the hex hit Hermione, the wish suddenly flashed in Hermione's mind as swirling lights engulfed her. Her chest tightened, her breath taken away, and her entire body was yanked hard, worse than Apparation.
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Chapter 1: Hermione
Hermione slammed into the cold stone floor in the middle of a Hogwarts corridor and she took a minute to regain control of her breathing. Her head was throbbing and her chest burned with shattered pieces of glass and sand from the time turner embedded in her skin. She groaned, pressing a hand to her temple as she tried to sit up. She frowned at the quiet in the halls, and glanced around, squinting to try to see better in the dark. Where had all the Death Eaters gone? Where was Ginny? She was sure the youngest Weasley had been right next to her, shouting something about saving Harry in her ear. She rubbed absently at her chest, then winced as a piece of glass stuck her finger, looking down it clicked. She'd been wearing the time turner, it had probably gotten hit with a curse and sent her back to before the battle. Well, she hoped it was before the battle, and that it had not sent her into the future.
"Lumos," she muttered, picking up her wand from where she'd dropped it beside her. She shined the light towards the paintings, where nearly all of their occupants winced and hissed at her to turn it off. "Sorry. Nox."
She'd discovered that she was just outside the Great Hall. Most of those paintings had been destroyed in the battle, or their occupants would have left, seeking a safer place. She gave a small sigh of relief, that meant she'd been sent back in time before the battle. Good, she had time to prepare, she could warn somebody here, at the school, that a battle was coming. With that thought in mind, she stood up, and promptly lost control of her breathing again as her chest flared in pain. She hissed out a couple breaths, steadying herself against the wall of the corridor, attempting to ignore the way it felt like her whole torso was on fire now. Maybe her first stop should be Madam Pomfrey, the hospital wing was just a bit further down the corridor.
Taking a couple forced deep breaths, Hermione used the wall to guide herself along the corridor in the dark, already trying to form plans that could help them in the battle ahead to keep her mind off the pain in her chest and the niggling worry that something just wasn't quite right.
"Oh my dear! What on Earth has happened to you?" Madam Pomfrey hurried out into the corridor just a couple minutes after Hermione knocked on the doors to the hospital wing.
"Just a curse, I'm sure, ma'am," Hermione said, trying to keep a trembling grin on her face. "I need to speak with you though, Madam Pomfrey, and Professor McGonagall if she's available."
"Come in, get on a bed, did those boys do this to you? I've told them time and again that pranks can be quite dangerous," Madam Pomfrey started clucking to herself absentmindedly as she pushed Hermione's robes off her chest and started to assess the damage. "Well, we'll have to get you cleaned up. I won't even ask how you got a time turner. Oh my."
Hermione frowned at the Healer, something about her was different, she was less stern, there were fewer wrinkles around her eyes, and something more youthful about the way she held herself. "Do you know who I am, Madam Pomfrey?" Hermione asked gingerly as the Healer set aside the glass and sand that she'd magicked out of Hermione's chest.
"I'm dreadfully sorry dear, but I don't. Then again, I don't often see those who take care to keep out of trouble. And out of Quidditch. I daresay I know every player on every team. Now, you wanted to speak to Minerva?" Madam Pomfrey didn't seem bothered not to know Hermione, but Hermione felt her heart drop into her stomach, and suddenly it wasn't her chest that was bothering her anymore.
"Yes ma'am, as quickly as possible please," she replied, falling back onto her pillow as her mind went blank except for one question How far back have I gone?
"You said your name is Hermione?" Professor McGonagall was looking skeptical as she stood beside Hermione's bed. "And you're a student at Hogwarts?"
"Yes, Professor, Hermione Granger. I've been at Hogwarts since my first year, though I haven't been this past year because my friends and I were given a quest by Professor Dumbledore," Hermione sighed, not quite sure how much to explain nor even if the professor was taking her seriously or just thinking her a case for St. Mungo's. "You authorized a time turner for me in my third year, so I could take all the courses I was interested in. I happened to be wearing that time turner when I was hit by a curse, and I'm trying to figure out how far back I've been sent as well as when I can get back to my time."
"I have never authorized a student to possess a time turner," Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared slightly as she looked at the bushy-haired teen. "You should also know that one of the most important rules of the time turner is—"
"To never be seen! I know! But this is important, Professor! The Death Eaters are going to invade Hogwarts and the students are completely unprepared! I needed to warn SOMEBODY!" Hermione couldn't help her outburst, she needed McGonagall to believe her, more than anything, this was the person she trusted most to be able to help her, the professor she'd been closest with while she was at school, the one who made her feel like she deserved to be here and that her smarts would do wonderful things for the wizarding community. And now the professor who was looking at her like she was crazy.
"Death Eaters?" McGonagall muttered more to herself than the girl barely containing sobs on the hospital cot. Hermione heard it though, and snapped her head back up.
"Yes, Professor, the Death Eaters are planning to invade Hogwarts on May 2nd, 1998. Do we have time to prepare for it?" Hermione controlled her voice carefully, trying to appeal to her professor's practical nature.
"I should say so, girl, this is September 8th, 1976," McGonagall replied, almost sarcastically as she looked down at Hermione, a more questing expression on her face than before. "When were you born?"
"1976?" Hermione barely dared to whisper it. It couldn't be. Could it? No way had she gone back to 1976. That would have been when Sirius and Remus were still at school. She, Harry, and Ron hadn't even been born yet. Harry's parents weren't even married. Her own parents would have just started dating. "No."
Madam Pomfrey's words raced back through her mind did those boys do this to you? A prank. She'd thought it was a prank by the Mauraders gone wrong.
"No!" Hermione practically shouted again as Ginny's words too came back to her protect the people who can save Harry. Had Ginny even said those words? Had those been the words to send her back this far, to this particular time?
"Miss Granger! Please calm down!" McGongall's shout brought Hermione back to herself and she slowly stopped hyperventilating. After a few minutes, she looked up to her professor's eyes, only then did Professor McGonagall continue speaking. "I've never heard of such a thing as time travel more than 5 years, never mind more than 20. I'll need to speak with the Headmaster about this. You have information about the Death Eaters? We will want to discuss that further once you are of a more rational mindset. Until then, it would be best for you to stay at Hogwarts, where we can keep an eye on you. Poppy!?"
"Yes Minerva," Madam Pomfrey, looking agitated, came back out from a private bed area, muttering under her breath. "You kick me out to talk privately with my patient, then ordering me back in, I'm not your slave, woman…."
"Poppy, Hermione should be brought to the private room tonight, we don't want students gossiping until we have a story," McGonagall said, ignoring Madam Pomfrey's mutterings.
"You're forgetting, we'll have Remus in the morning, Minerva," Madam Pomfrey replied with a significant glance out the window to the full moon.
"Ah, yes, of course," McGonagall murmured, a softness appearing in her eyes at the mention of the boy.
"I am well enough to discuss a cover story tonight, Professor. I know about Remus, and I don't want any of his routine to be interrupted," Hermione offered quickly. If they came up with a cover story now, she could stay in this bed, or perhaps even ask the Room of Requirement for a bed for the night.
"You know Remus from the future?"
"Yes, professor, he taught Defense Against the Dark Arts in my third year, everyone loved him. Until Professor Snape told the Slytherin table that he was a werewolf near the end of term," Hermione replied.
"Remus would make a wonderful professor. And Professor Snape, too, hmm? The future does hold some interesting twists," She smiled to herself, then seemed to make up her mind. "Very well, I will go get the headmaster."
"Good riddance!" Madam Pomfrey said, just a little too loudly, as Professor McGonagall shot her a glare from the hospital wing doorway. "You're really from the future then?"
"Yes, ma'am," Hermione said carefully, unsure of what the woman would ask of her.
"That will stay between myself, the headmaster, and Professor McGonagall, dear, but if you ever want to talk about the truth, and not live your cover story, you come to me, alright?" The Healer said, as she took Hermione's temperature and put a glass of dreamless sleep potion on the table beside her. "I know a thing or two about leaving loved ones behind."
"Thank you, ma'am," Hermione was truly grateful for that, and even a little in awe that she never did know much about their school nurse despite how vital she was to all the children of Hogwarts. They remained quiet after that while Hermione's mind drifted between worrying about her friends in battle and ideas for how she could conceal herself in this time until she could be sent back to help them.
"You must be Hermione Granger," Professor Dumbledore said by way of greeting as he and Professor McGonagall stepped back into the hospital wing.
"Yes, Professor," Hermione said, her stomach twisted as seeing him alive really emphasized how she wasn't in her own time anymore.
"Professor McGonagall and I have discussed a plan on our way here. You will be housed in Gryffindor, since we feel that as few people as possible should know your true origins. Professor McGonagall is head of Gryffindor House and she has also offered to act as your guardian while you remain an underage witch at the school. I know you are already seventeen, but we would like you to join the sixth year class in order to have valid N.E.W.T.S, should the worst happen and we are not able to return you to your proper time." Hermione swallowed loudly at this, but nodded all the same, meeting Dumbledore's twinkling eyes. "We also believe that it would be best to change at least your surname, to avoid any potential name recognition with your younger self in this time as well as those you meet in this time who might know you in your time."
"Kingsley," Hermione said almost immediately. If there was ever a situation where she needed a comforting voice of control, reason, and patience to guide her actions, it was now. And Kingsley Shacklebolt was the one to emulate on that front. "I also know French passably well, I have some distant French relatives. So I could have previously been schooled at Beauxbatons, but a Death Eater attack on my family and friends at a back to school party would have caused me to search out my English relatives."
"Which would be me," Professor McGonagall added, looking impressed with the story Hermione recited. "I have many relatives and it is not inconceivable that I could have a distantly related French niece. How will you explain the English accent?"
"That my father was English and my mother French. I spent a significant amount of time in both countries, though my mother desired me to go to her school, and my father, a Muggle, had no reason to argue it," Hermione replied, letting the words flow, over the course of her journey with Harry and Ron, lying was quickly becoming as easy to her as breathing. Professor McGonagall said nothing, but Hermione could read the way her lips were pressed together and the particular expression on her face at the moment said that she was impressed and not annoyed. "Thank you, Professor, for being willing to be my guardian. I promise to help as much as I can while I'm here to prepare you all for what lies ahead."
"I would never give a time turner to a student unqualified to handle it. In your time, I must have seen something worthy in you. I hope to see more of it surfacing while you are here, but we will get to that later," Professor McGonagall replied, with equal parts softness and strictness in her tone.
"Well, that seems everything is settled then, Miss Kingsley," Dumbledore said with a wink. "I believe Madam Pomfrey is setting up a divider in Mr. Lupin's private room, so you will be away from prying eyes in the morning."
"Thank you, Professors, we can meet in the morning to discuss my situation further?" Hermione asked, hopefully hinting at whether Dumbledore had a clue how to get her back to her normal time.
"Yes of course, Miss Kingsley. Now sleep well," he replied, as the two professors swept away to the corridor. Then he turned back to her with a smile before locking the doors, "welcome to Hogwarts!"