DISCLAIMER: Any recognizable characters, settings, or events belong to J.K. Rowling. I'm just playing around with them. I will not repeat this at the beginning of every chapter.
It was a day like any other at Hogwarts. Hermione and her two best friends, Harry and Ron were lounging on the shores of the Black Lake in the shade of their favorite tree. Of course, while the boys were playing a game of Wizards' Chess, she was sitting with her back against the tree, nose deep in a book. She was so immersed in her reading that she didn't notice the passage of time, until Ron said "Hey, 'Mione," (she hated when he butchered her name like that) "we're heading up for lunch. Are you coming?" "Yeah," she said, only half paying attention "you go ahead, I just want to finish my chapter." She heard the boys collect their things and begin to head up to the castle.
She continued to read a few more lines. It really was a fascinating book. Hermione had recently gotten hooked on the theory of time travel. She was quite experienced with smaller time jumps, having had a Time-Turner in her third year, but had never travelled more than a few hours back in time. This book went into the idea of travelling years or even decades into the past or future. The only reason that this sort of time-travel was not more widely known was that it was theorized to be extremely dangerous, and no one was known to have ever done it successfully. Those who tried it were guaranteed a bed in St. Mungo's.
A few moments later, she heard someone come up behind her. "Oh, what did you forget this time, Ronald?" she asked irritably. Lately, Ron had been "forgetting things" as an excuse to return to whatever setting the trio had been in, in an attempt to talk to her alone. She knew that he had had a thing for her for quite some time now, but she could not understand why her, when the beautiful (and easy) Lavender Brown obviously wanted him. When she turned around, however, it was not Ron, but her sworn enemy, Draco Malfoy.
"Mistaking me for that blood traitor, Granger? I'm insulted" he said in his usual apathetic drawl. "What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked. "Tut, tut, Granger, you really should learn how to speak to your superiors. However, I will answer your question, no matter how rudely it was put. I have come to deliver a message from my father." "And what might that be?" she asked, getting impatient now. She didn't see that he was slowly pulling his wand out of his pocket. "Oh, just this… redeo antequam!" he cried, pointing his wand at her. She barely had time to register what had happened before she had the sensation of falling, and then her world went black.
AN: Sorry it's so short, but it's only the introduction. Future chapters will be longer, I promise!
Lots of love and goat kisses,
Aberforth-goatlover