Title: In Time

Full Summary: The unspeakable has happened. Draco killed Dumbledore that night instead of Snape. In her despair, Hermione uses the Time Turner to see Dumbledore one last time, and he gives her an ominous assignment. "Help him, Ms. Granger. I fear you may be the only one who can." Join Hermione as she travels back to different points in Draco's childhood to mend his evil heart.

((A/N: Ahem, well, hello everybody. This story is going to be a bit different from my others, and as a forewarning, it will be sad in many parts. This story is dedicated to my friend Raven, who is a huge Harry Potter fan, and a huge fan of the Malfoy's. When we were younger we both used to talk about how we wish we had these people who had popped up when we were getting hurt, punished, or screamed at. So this story is a bit close to my heart, as I'm going to grant that wish, and bring that fantasy to life for some one else in its sentences. I hope this story becomes close to you guys' heart too. Please enjoy. ))

Key:

Time To Think-Present time

Time To Think- Past Time

Time To Think-Transitions

It may seem like,

Our fire,

Has been a little burnt out,

We're tired.

We only need to stay close,

In time,

Sparks will flyyyyyyyyy...

Chapter One

It was done. With all the heavy weight of darkness that hung over Hogwarts the three students and single professor watched as Draco Malfoy's form went rigid, and the body of Albus Dumbledore began its long decent to Hogwarts grounds. The symbol of everlasting strength, love, hope, and fortitude for the Wizarding World…was gone. Snape's mouth opened and shut rapidly, his hands shaking as he tried to remain impassive. Tried to remain in his dutiful place. He had failed Dumbledore, and the Dark Lord had succeeded in vanishing his life.

"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!" Harry and Ron quickly turned their attention as Hermione wailed from in between them. With stiff, disbelieving arms they tried to comfort her, but she merely continued to scream, and fight them to try and chase after the old mans body. He was gone. The only person who knew her parents were dead, the person who had become her grandfather in her time there, and, subsequently, her only family left. Now, he had been taken from her too.

Draco Malfoy's hand suddenly stopped trembling, and he lowered his wand. And eery sense of calm and recognition settled on his features as cool eyes stared blankly into the sky. It was flooded with Dementors, Death Eaters, and the Dark Mark fitted perfectly in a cloud. This, was chaos. This, was where he was meant to be, what he was meant to do. He had finally accepted it and let it reign it deep into his blood and suddenly his dark mark hissed. It had nothing to do with not wanting to watch his family get killed, or not wanting to be tortured, or not wanting to put his friends in danger, no. That's not why he became a Death Eater. It was because he was evil. Pure, pure, evil. He hated people, and worst of all Muggles. They were an abomination that plagued the Wizarding World and the only thing that held truth here, was power. And he was surviving, because he was on the team that had all of it.

This, was the beginning of the ultimate and irrevocable end. Domination.

Three whole days had past since the two boys had seen Hermione. They waited outside Ginny's room, where she had barricaded herself in absolute solitude, and hadn't even heard a peep. Worried that she had done something drastic Harry had flown on his broom to the outside of Ginny's window and snuck inside only to be violently screamed at by the girl encased in its walls before he left. That was on the second day. Ron sighed as he turned his head to look at Harry with wide brown eyes.

"Blood hell Harry. What are we going to do? We need Hermione to try and find the Horcruxes." He said. Harry shook his head, not knowing how to respond. His heart was very much as broken as Hermione's now that the person who had been practically his father was gone. He forgave Ron for his lack of tact in not recognizing that, but then again, maybe it was a good thing. They needed at least one person with them that had their head in the game.

"I don't know Ron…just give her some more time." He murmured, turning his head towards the door of Ginny's room from his chair in the hallway.

"We haven't got time!"

"Don't you think he knows that, Ron?!" Came a very angry voice. Both boys looked up to see a head of long red hair as Ginny advancing towards them from the top of the stairs. Dressed in a pair of faded plain denim shorts and a tan tanktop she handed each boy a brown butter cardamom cookie. She shrugged her small broad shoulders when they looked at her questioningly. "Mum's been baking. You know how she gets. Anyway, you also have no hope of finding those Horcruxes and defeating Voldemort with out Hermione. We'll give her the time she needs." It was still in Ron's nature that he flinched when his sister said the name of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come off it Ron."

"Thanks, Gin." Harry said lowly, accepting the cookie that he knew he couldn't bring himself to eat. He felt a small but powerful hand slide across his shoulder and grip it tight with comfort. He looked up at Ginny and she offered him a kind smile.

"You're welcome Harry." She said. They stared at each other for a second too long and Ron cleared his throat. Breaking eye contact the both awkwardly looked away from each other and Ginny removed her hand from Harry's shoulder. Walking towards her room door she knocked twice and pressed the left side of her face to the wooden door.

"'Mione? I really wish you would come out. Mum and Dad are really worried. Fred, George…Percy even! We're all worried. Please come out soon Hermione." After a short silence she added, "Mum's made your favorite cookies. There's milk too. I know that you don't like whole milk, so we found that two percent you like…it's all waiting for you, Mione. Just like we are…whenever you're ready." She waited a moment, then two, and with a sigh she turned away from the door and retreated back down the stairs leaving the oyes alone with each other and their thoughts once again…

Hermione's body was very still, curled up into a ball on the right upper corner of the bed, untamed brown curls fluttering around one of two large pillows. Hermione Granger, was lost. For once in her life she truly felt as though her spirit had been broken. Sorrow festered in her heart like an open wound that was killing her slowly from the inside out. She'd hardly moved, hardly eaten, she hadn't showered and barely got up to relieve herself. Luckily for her, Ginny's room was the only room in the house that had recently acquired its own bathroom. Her mind wandered once again, back to that horrid day. It felt like it happened so long ago, like it was only a distant nightmare that her mind had conjured up to invoke emotional discord upon herself as some sick form of punishment for vanquishing her parents memories. Not that it mattered, they ended up dead anyway.

That day, as if in slow motion she watched as Draco Malfoy lifted his wand and muttered the words of the killing curse. She watched as Albus Dumbledore's face slowly started to drain of life, his body stiffening before beginning its long decent for perhaps the thirtieth time. No more tears could come from her lifeless eyes as they stared blankly at the peach colored wall across from her. Suddenly, in the dark recesses of her mind a light seemed to form. An idea. Her mind half crazed with loss, she sat up slowly, her body shaking as realization dawned over her features and for the first time as life flashed in hey eyes again. Standing up from the bed on wobbly legs she picked up her wand that lay perched on the night table beside the bed. With shaking hands the lifted the thin piece of wood.

"Accio Time-Turner." She murmured in a raspy voice laden with hope. It took a moment, then two, but after she opened the window her desired object floated right up to her and wavered for a moment, before falling to her feet. She simply stared at it for a moment, her breath jagged and shaky. This was her chance. Her chance to re-write history. Her chance to save Albus. With trembling hands she reached down to pick up the necklace and carefully placed it about her neck. Closing her eyes she allowed her fingers to become re-familiarized with the object she had used so wisely in her third year. After taking a breath to calm her nerves she began to concentrate, and with a last intake of air, she spun it counterclockwise…

Hermione drew in a sharp breath as she landed hard on her feet in Dumbledore's office. Glancing around she took note of the hundreds of familiar moving paintings, papers and books skewed about on chairs and in every nook and cranny. A spiral stair case that lead up to a second floor she had never been teased her before she turned her head back in the blurry moment. A large empty bird cage sat a few feet away from a large wood desk littered none too neatly with everything under the sun. She heard a noise and whipped her head towards the sound, only to see Albus Dumbledore a week prior to his death, approaching from a hallway behind one of the bookcases.

With both eyebrows raised he addressed her.

"Why, Ms. Granger. I wasn't aware you were coming. I apologize if I have…" He trailed off before he stopped completely. He regarded her strangely for a moment before wise eyes rested in recognition. "This is not the present you…is it Ms. Granger?"

Hermione felt her eyes grow hot with tears as she shook her head slowly, but she couldn't bring herself to speak yet. All she wanted to do was run to him and hug him, but she felt rooted to the spot by his presence. He's face seemed grave.

"This is very dangerous Ms. Granger. I assume something terrible has happened for you to make yourself visible to me in the past. And if I dare be bold to say, if you are visiting me in the past it means presently I am unavailable to you." Hermione nodded and realized as she watched his patient eyes that it was her turn to speak.

"I…I'm so sorry professor." She started, her voice shaking. "Harry…Ron and I we tried…we tried to stop him but Malfoy is going to try and kill you in a week and three days time. You must leave! You must hide!" She pleaded. Dumbledore was silent, and seemingly still as a statue as he digested the information she gave him. Minutes ticked by and Hermione began to grow impatient at his lack of response. "Professor-"

"I am afraid, Ms. Granger, that I cannot leave this place." He replied, his voice just as light as usual. Hermione opened and closed her mouth rapidly before shaking her head.

"Professor Dumbledore with all due respect-"

"I assume that by saying Malfoy you are referring to our young Mr. Draco?" He inquired, throwing her off.

"Er…yes but I-"

"Ms. Granger, if I were to leave, the consequences could be dire for changing the course of history so rapidly at once. The future we have to gain from that might not be the one in which you desire. Additionally, if I were to leave, hundreds more lives of my students would be in danger, and I simply cannot allow that."

"And I can't allow myself to watch you die again!" Hermione shouted, her body shaking hard as tears leaked from her eyes. "I can't…I can't do it. The world has no hope without you professor, we have no hope without you. And you're…the only one I have left." She sniffed into her hands.

Dumbledore made his way over to the girl he had watched grow up and placed a gentle had on her shoulder, grasping it firmly.

"You are hope Hermione. You, Harry, and Ronald. You are all hope. And just because I said I could not leave, does not mean I do not have an idea that may suffice." He said, eyes twinkling with a youthful wonder. He stepped back away from her and turned his back, walking towards the one window that was open inside the office and gazed out on the sky growing pink in its transition to evening. "I do believe that Draco Malfoy has a pure spirit Ms. Granger." She scoffed. After receiving a pointed silence from him, he continued.

"Somewhere along the way Mr. Malfoy lost his way. I believe he had a wretched life, and I also think, something as small as a presence, can make a difference." He said lowly. Hermione listened intently but her features churned with confusion.

"I'm not sure I follow you, Professor." She admitted. Dumbledore turned back to face her, hands clasped behind his back. His eyes were still bright as a casual smile slid across his lips.

"I want you, my dear, to use the Time Turner and travel back to our young Mr. Malfoy's childhood. I want you, to mend the evil in his heart." He said. Hermione remained silent as she stared at him. He spoke as if that was the most sensible thing she could have ever heard from him. No! He sounded completely ludicrous!

"Dumbledore! I hardly see-"

"No one deserves the hatred, malice and brutality that Draco Malfoy had to endure growing up. No one. And if I have been killed this may be our one chance. I am well aware that you and your friends must be readying to search for the Horcruxes in my absence and while you join them I want you to take on this journey as well. I will warn you, however, it will be very taxing on you in all ways possible. Time travel is not to be done over-frequently. Do not rush this. I advise you travel no more than once a day and no longer than one hours time. Voldemort will be throwing obstacles in your way on your search for the Horcruxes so you will need your strength." He explained, forcing her to listen once again. Hermione lowered her head.

"I…I don't think I can."

"I ask that you put aside your hatred. Help him, Ms. Granger. I fear, you may be the only one who can." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "This also means that this should be the last time you visit me." He relayed. Hermione shook her head.

"No! I need your advice!"

"I have given it to you." he replied with a shrug. She looked at him incredulously before a thought formed in her mind.

"What happens if I 'travel' too much?" She asked. Dumbledore's eyes began to darken a little.

"Poisen will begin to develop in your body. The more you continue, the more it will spread." He replied. Hermione remained impassive.

"And how long would I have until that started happening?" Dumbledore answered immediately.

"If you follow the guidelines I gave you, in three and a half months time you will begin to get infected. However, in three months time I predict you would have completed this assignment."

"Three months?! We don't have three months!" She cried. "Professor, in less than two weeks you'll be dead!"

"I am aware. However this is impossible to do in that amount of time. If you try, you will surly fail, and you will kill yourself. I need you to promise me, Ms. Granger, to move beyond my death, for the sake of the Wizarding World. If Draco has become corrupt enough to end my life, I dare to question what else he will do. Protect him." He gathered her in his arms in a tight embrace before suddenly he was gone.

Hermione found herself in the center of the floor back in Ginny's room panting. Looking down at the Time Turner around her neck she watched as its faint glow slowly dimmed to nothing. Her body felt heavy as she sat up with a sigh and leaned her back against the bed. She needed a moment to reflect on everything he told her. If all was true, she would be damned if she waited three whole months. But the one truth before her right then was that she needed to get up. She needed to shower, she needed to get dressed. She needed to get out of that room and join her friends to hunt down those precious parts of Voldemort and destroy him.

Standing up she made her way to the bathroom and within forty five minutes time she had washed herself of grime, sorrow, and pity, and dried herself with resolution, confidence, and understanding. She felt better, lighter, as she plucked a pair of navy jeans from her suitcase along with a mahogany brown sweater. After she was dressed she pulled her now dried curls into a ponytail and moved it over her left shoulder. She crossed her arms as she looked at herself in the mirror. Once she stepped out that door she knew she had to be ready to save the world. Or at least change it. Dumbledore had entrusted the three of them with the care of the Magical World. And who was she, to deny him?

Ron and Harry jerked their heads up in surprise at the sound of Ginny's door creaking open. They both scrambled to their feet at the sight of their friend. Hermione looked fresh, albeit a bit tired. She seemed a lot calmer, more relaxed. Hermione took them in slowly. Both boys were wearing a pair of brown pants and whereas Ron had on green t-shift Harry's was black. Ron grinned a he barreled over to her and embraced her a little too tight.

"Blood hell, Hermione! We thought you'd never come out of there!" He exclaimed.

"Ron!" Harry hissed, bumping his friend out of the way. "W-What he means to say Hermione is er…well, we're glad you're okay." He said. After a moment of looking back between the two of them Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled at them.

"Come on boys. We've got lots of work to do. Those Horcruxes aren't going to find themselves."

((A/N: Hey everybody. Hope you all enjoyed ^_^. I look forward to seeing what you guys have to say. Also, the lyrics at the beginning of the chapter are from the song 'Sparks Will Fly' by and Jhene Aiko. It was part of the inspiration for this story. Every chapter will start off with some part of that song, so feel free to youtube and check it out. See you guys in the next chapter.))