Hermione wasn't sure how she found herself in this predicament. She and Harry had been separated, and Ron was long gone. The Battle of Hogwarts was in full swing, and while there was much to do, Hermione decided to give herself a task that was completely personal. Harry had his horcruxes to vanquish, and Ron focused on staying alive for as long as possible. For Hermione, she wanted to rescue all the invaluable magical objects in Dumbledore's former office. As she raced through the halls, her legs aching and face cut from the recent skirmish with a hooded Death Eater, she knew exactly what she wanted to save, though she wasn't sure what Snape had changed around during his tenure as headmaster. She prayed that most ancient objects had been left in place, but there was little she could do now to trust Snape after his ultimate betrayal to their cause. The girl had to be quick, she knew. It certainly didn't make sense to go on this mission now, so soon into the fighting, but there was urgency behind it. The castle was being demolished in the midst of battle, and Hermione cringed as priceless portraits and ancient statues shattered. Hogwarts had been her home for nearly seven years, and she'd be damned if she let a bunch of prejudiced idiots come in and destroy everything of value.

First was Dumbledore's office, next was the library. While she held books in the highest esteem possible, Hermione knew that the objects in her old headmaster's office had more value to the magical world and needed to be protected. With her bottomless bag in hand, she navigated her way up the spiral staircase. The gargoyles were noticeably absent, and Hermione wondered if they had abandoned ship when Snape took over, or when the Death Eaters first penetrated the castle interior. They were warriors in their day, and she was sure they had gone off to join the fight, one that she planned to commence again once she had collected her objects. They ranged from private journals McGonagall told her were hidden under a specific floor board to the Time Turner, along with several charmed portkeys and the Pensieve. If Snape hadn't removed the memories that Dumbledore kept locked in a cabinet with the magical device, Hermione had every intention of taking those too. Not to look at, but for safekeeping. There were plenty of strange people out there, and she wanted to keep personal goods like these safe from their hands.

And, of course, she wanted to study their magical properties, but that went without saying. As she slipped into the headmaster's office, a place she seldom ever visited for anything other than academics in her youth, she decided that Severus Snape had kept things remarkably the same. Some portraits were removed, but all the frames were empty as their occupants were, no doubt, in the fight somehow. Perhaps shouting helpful spell suggestions to some of the younger fighters, as Hermione had heard as she navigated through the battlefields. She paused only momentarily to bask in the untouched room, a room with only a few bits of rubble on the floor and a shattered window from a recent explosion that rocked the entire castle. Voldemort was afoot, probably searching for Harry, and she couldn't risk being cornered by Death Eaters with a desire to loot the place. After her moment of silence passed, she moved hastily through the large office, opening cupboards and drawers. If there was anything of magical value in them, she quickly and delicately placed them in her bag, careful not to knock anything over. She found the Time Turner behind a glass set of doors at the back of Dumbledore's office with a strange necklace resting beside it. She frowned. It certainly didn't look important with its circular locket hanging on a slim gold chain, but if it was next to another valuable magical object, Hermione decided that she shouldn't leave it behind.

With the two necklaces in one hand, Hermione crouched beneath Dumbledore's… Snape's desk and patted along the floorboards, a frown on her lips as she tried to discern which was the trick one. Suddenly, she heard voices in the stairwell, one that she recognized fairly quickly. Lucius Malfoy had a tendency to stick out in her mind after her horrible treatment in his manor courtesy of his sister-in-law. She quickly crouched under the desk and squished herself as far under it as she could. If he wasn't alone, Hermione certainly didn't stand a chance of duelling her way out. He might have been a weakened man from the rages of war, but Lucius Malfoy was still a fairly adequate dueller from what she experienced, and she wouldn't be able to handle more than one Death Eater on her own for long. For now, she decided to try and hide out, hoping they might leave if no one was present. However, as the conversation became clearer, Hermione stiffened. It was a voice she recognized and dreaded at the same time.

"My Lord… I thought… I thought I might go look for my son," Lucius managed weakly as two sets of feet marched into the seemingly vacant office. "Narcissa was very concerned-"

"You can find your boy when the fighting has finished," the Dark Lord informed Malfoy coldly. Hermione's heartbeat quickened and she shut her eyes, focusing on keeping her breathing soft and even. Hopefully he didn't have that bloody snake with him, or Hermione would be found in no time. The voices came closer with each passing second, and Hermione wondered if there was any chance she might be able to make a run for it. Why was he here? What did he want? Surely he ought to be waiting someone for Harry to be discovered! Not that she wished for her best friend to be found by the darkest wizard in their history, but she thought Voldemort might have other priorities tonight.

"You know what to look for," came a nasally hiss. "The objects cannot be summoned magically… I will return you to your wife once you find them for me."

"Y-Yes, my Lord."

Hermione pushed herself further into the corner of the desk, hoping no one needed anything from there, but as she heard footsteps approaching, she realized just how much of a sticky situation she was in. If they found her, Voldemort could kill her on the spot. After all, she was one of Harry's best friends, and had been instrumental in destroying pieces of his soul over the past year. She gulped back a whimper and gripped her wand firmly in one hand, the necklace with a small locket and the Time Turner in the other.

Suddenly, she heard the gut-wrenching steps of Lucius Malfoy march up the stairs to the level where the headmaster's desk sat, and she heard him mutter, "Severus said they were under a floorboard…"

She could attack him, but what good would that do? Voldemort would kill her seconds later for putting up some kind of fight. However, could Hermione Granger accept being taken captive by either man without doing anything to defend herself? Highly unlikely. She glanced down at the Time Turner and realized that might be her only way out. If she could go back in time and take all the objects somewhere safe ahead of time, she wouldn't be in this predicament several hours later. Without fully thinking the plan through, Hermione started turning the device, only to fumble slightly when Lucius Malfoy poked his head under the desk from the side, his eyes widening when they landed on her. She opened her mouth, ready to plead with him to stay silent, but he had already grabbed her and hauled her out from under the desk.

"My Lord," he said quickly, holding her up for Voldemort to view, "Potter's Mudblood companion!"

The deformed man before her stared at Hermione, disgust evident on his face as his scarlet eyes gave her a once over, pausing at her shaking hands.

"What is it she's holding?" he demanded, neither praising Malfoy for finding her nor inquiring what she might be doing in the office. It seemed his interest lay in her magical objects, which wasn't exactly a surprise from all she knew about him. This was the first time Hermione had actually seen him face to face, and in all honesty, he was terrifying. Terrifying in that he could mangle her with a flick of his wand, should he wish to do so, and terrifying because he was the cause of so many deaths in her immediate circle. She hated every inch of him. Hermione wanted to kill him. She wanted to see him fall. For now, unfortunately, she was too frightened for heroics.

The Dark Lord flourished across the room, cloak fluttering around his lithe figure. Hermione suddenly realized how fast she had been turning the Time Turner, with such vigour that she must have clocked in far too many hours for her current purpose. She said nothing as Voldemort snatched both the Time Turner and the locket from her hands, though she felt a firm grasp on the chains to both. With a curious expression on his face, he suddenly pieced the two together. Hermione hadn't noticed, but the pair of dangling objects fit together perfectly, like two pieces of a simple puzzle. She felt Malfoy's hand dig into her shoulder, and then the sudden familiar tug of what she presumed in a fleeting thought was a portkey. This was when she screamed. All three figures tumbled through the magical transport vacuum for what seemed like an eternity, with clocks ticking, people chattering, and women screaming to accompany them. She held tight to the chains of both devices, and Voldemort seemed to do the same with the locket and Time Turner. The only reason she knew Lucius was still around was by the depth of the wounds on her shoulder, which came from his lengthy nails.

Finally, she spotted land below them, and Hermione braced herself for impact. All three landed in a bit of a muddled mess on what appeared to be a wet dock in the middle of the night. The air was warm and thick, a complete contrast to the atmosphere in the United Kingdom. Hermione stumbled away from the two men, and she realized from the scenery that they were certainly no longer at Hogwarts. They appeared to have landed at some island port. There were 18th century looking ships at the docks – something Hermione had studied fondly when she went through her Muggle history phase a few years back – and a calm rumble of ocean waves hitting the hulls. This couldn't be right. Had the locket on the necklace been a portkey? Voldemort had released the two when they landed, and although Hermione was in pain from the sudden crash, her mind was extremely alert. As Lucius managed to get to his feet, she hastily took in more of her surroundings. There was a man asleep at the end of the dock, his feet up on a barrel and a notebook on his lap. Their arrival seemed to have done nothing to wake him. Otherwise, there were no souls on the dock. Their only company were the ships of various sizes. From what she quickly gathered, Hermione assumed they had been transported to some sort of island in the tropics. Why had the necklace the Time Turner been placed together? Had Dumbledore intended for someone to travel here, or was it merely a happy coincidence?

Lucius Malfoy aided Voldemort to his feet, who seemed to also quickly take stock of their environment. At that moment, Hermione knew she needed to act fast if she wanted to get out of here. Naturally, she couldn't leave the most feared wizard in… well, wherever they were, but she sort of fancied the idea of transporting herself home alone and letting the other two men struggle out here. She would certainly save the wizarding world a lot of trouble. However, if the Time Turner had worked, she couldn't let Voldemort ruin the future by muddling up the past. Tricky business, this was. Finally, she decided that she needed time to think, and she couldn't do it with these two ready to throttle her for what she assumed would be her folly.

So, without thinking the plan through, again, she ran at Voldemort and shoved her hands as powerfully as she could into his midsection. The unexpected action sent him tumbling over the side of the dock and into the water, plunging in with a noisy splash. Hermione then kicked Lucius in the groin, hard, when he tried to charge her, and took off running down the dock.

A stupid move? Yes. A strategic one? Not necessarily. However, Hermione needed time away to gather her thoughts and figure out how to get out of here. As she held up the Time Turner, her face paled when she saw the little hour glass had been shattered during their clumsy landing moments earlier. Bugger. Fuck. Shit. Piss. Fuck! She never swore, but this certainly warranted a few choice words.

Where, and when, the devil was she?

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Welcome to my nerdgasm crossover fic. I'm going to try to keep people fairly IC, though it'll be a bit of fun with the PotC boys and the HP characters, so people may verge into a little OOC territory, but I will try my hardest to keep them from going too overboard.

I haven't decided if there will be a romance, and WHO it will be with… If people have a preference, I'm open to suggestions. Will/Elizabeth will be canon, but I was thinking a potential Hermione flame of some kind.

I'm RIDICULOUSLY excited to write PotC fiction again. I think I've only written it once or twice, and I'm so pumped to do it again. Are we excited? I'm excited.

The prologue may not have been the most interesting thing of life, but it's a prologue. They aren't super fun. Though, I am endlessly amused at a slightly frazzled Hermione shoving Voldemort into the ocean, kicking Malfoy in the nuts, and then booking it to safety. Run, Hermione, ruuun!

I didn't give much in the way of clothing descriptions and whatnot like I usually do, but I'm exhausted, and just wanted to post this sucker before bed. Soooo those types of nitty gritty things will be in the following chapters.

Love, love, love!