A/N This is my first Harry Potter story. I hope you guys like it. This first chapter is in third person. It's only a prologue, so the rest of the chapters are gonna be in first person. I will try to update as soon as I can.
Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter.
Hermione and Draco find a potion that takes them back in time. They go to James and Lily Potter's sixth year. They need to find a way back. So, they have to set aside their differences and work together. Will they start to see each other differently?
Prologue
Severus Snape hurried down the corridors of Hogwarts with his robes shuffling behind him. His heart was pounding hard against his chest. He couldn't remember the last time he was this happy. All these long years, he was living a life of remorse and guilt. He was never himself anymore. Everyone saw him as a bitter and harsh teacher. It aggravated him sometimes, but he knew everything they thought and said were true. He never laughed or smiled anymore. Nothing ever made him truly happy. But today was different. Today, he had a chance to completely turn his life around, and to make everything better. He could get his life back. The last fifteen years of his life have gone to waste, and he had the opportunity to relive them.
He was on his way to Dumbledore's office. He wanted to reach it office as soon as possible without interruptions. Luckily, there were no students in the hallways. They were all outside enjoying the fresh air. Something Snape never did. He was always locked up in Hogwarts. He thought he would be more cheerful now that he finally got the Defense against the dark arts teaching job, but it barely made a difference.
While he was walking, he heard whispers coming from the portraits beside him. Apparently they noticed the shine in his usually blank black eyes. He did not care that his emotions were translating to his face. Nor did he care who saw him and what they thought.
He reached the outside of the headmaster's office and encircled his fingers around the two little glass phials in his hand. Then, he stood up straight, looked at the gargoyles, and whispered "lemon drops".
The doors opened immediately and he stepped inside and headed for the headmasters office. He climbed the black stairs until he reached the big door at the end. He knocked and entered before waiting for a response. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, reading a book. Snape waited until Dumbledore drew his attention away from the book, and looked up at him. Dumbledore adjusted his half moon spectacles and smiled brightly.
"Good afternoon Severus. I take it you have good news." He said.
Snape frowned. Had he really been that obvious? He was skilled in Occlumency and yet he could not hide his feelings today. But it wasn't time for this right now. He had more important things to discuss. He held up one of the Phials in his hands to show Dumbledore.
"This is a potion I have been working on for a very long time" he said.
"What does it do?" asked Dumbledore, paying close attention.
"It allows you to go back in time. It's not like a time turner. It has much more complex properties. You can go decades, even centuries back. All you have to do is drink this and think about the time you want to go back to. I made enough for two phials in case something goes wrong. I can go back to October thirty first, nineteen eighty one." He leaned forward to hear what Dumbledore had to say. He looked down at the phial once more, proud of what he accomplished.
"Severus" Dumbledore started, in a serious tone. His smile turned into a firm line. "I understand that you put a lot of time and thought into this potion, but I am afraid it would be too dangerous to go back in time."
Snape looked up at Dumbledore, his eyes wide. He felt uncontrollable anger flooding through him.
"But think about everything we could prevent. All the mistakes we can undo." Snape was on the verge of yelling at the headmaster.
"I know. I have many things I would like to undo myself, but going back in time can alter the future in many ways. And you have to accept that the changes are not always good." said Dumbledore. He looked up at Snape, hoping he understood why he couldn't do this.
"But if I go back in time, I can save her. It's all my fault she..." he broke off. He hadn't talked about Lily's death in a long time.
"Look, Severus, I know how much you loved Lily. Sometimes love can make us do crazy things." Dumbledore said. "When we think about loved ones, nothing else matters. But you cannot go back in time and prevent her death. There are too many risks. You are too focused on preventing Lily's death that you are not paying any attention to the flaws of this plan. Have you thought about what would have happened if Voldemort never attempted to kill Harry?" He paused for a moment, studying Snape. "His spell would have never backfired on him. He would have been alive all these years. That would have caused terror and chaos in both the wizarding and muggle world. Sometimes things need to happen for a reason."
" Are you saying it's a good thing lily was murdered by the Dark Lord? That she was only a small sacrifice?"Snape cried. He could not hold in his emotions.
"You know perfectly well what I am saying." said Dumbledore calmly, "If Voldemort never killed Lily, he would have never lost his body. If you go back in time and change something this important and life changing, it could have such terrible consequences."
Snape stood there and thought about what Dumbledore just said. He was still for a moment, and the whole room got quiet.
"But it was all my fault." He finally said, but it came out as a soft whisper. "If I never told the Dark Lord about the prophecy, she would have been alive. She warned me about not hanging around the wrong people. She told me Avery was evil. But I ignored her, and I became a death eater. She was killed because of me."
"I don't blame you Severus." Dumbledore reassured him. "Many things happened that day to lead to her death."
Snape did not respond. He stared forward and tried to think this through. As much as he wanted this, he knew Dumbledore was right. He knew he convinced himself it was better even though he knew deep down it was not a good choice. How had he been so foolish to think he could prevent Lily's death? He couldn't just go back in time, then stop it and make everything better. There would have been a bigger price to pay. His thoughts were interrupted by Dumbledore.
"Now I am sure you will make the right decision." he said. Snape nodded, and headed for the door. He didn't know what else to say. His mind was full of thoughts, but he could not put them into words. He just needed some time alone. He rested his pale hand on the doorknob before he turned it.
"And make sure to get rid of these potions at once." Dumbledore added. "We don't want them to get in the wrong hands."
"You can count on me sir." Snape said. He left the office, and went down the stairs. He felt like someone just ripped out his heart. He wished he did not get his hopes up too high. It would not have hurt as bad. This is exactly how he felt the night Lily was killed. For a moment he thought there was some hope that she might still be alive, and then everything was shattered.
He reached the bottom of the stairs, and turned into the hallway. He made sure he kept his face straight so no one would be suspicious.
He stuffed the phial into his robe pockets. He knew he had to destroy them, but he felt it was such a waste of all his hard work. He spent most weekends and school nights working on this. He even restrained from giving Harry Potter detention, even when he aggravated him the most. All that just so he could use all his free time to work on it.
While he was making his way down the hallway, he heard screams coming from outside. Lavender Brown came running inside.
"Professor Snape!" she yelled" Dean Thomas was working on his potions assignment and accidently made an aging potion. Seamus drank it to test it, and he looks at least seventy years older. He can barely move." she was breathing very hard.
"How could he possibly make something like that happen? I didn't assign anything close to an aging potion." Snape mumbled as he followed her quickly outside. But as he was running, the two phials slipped out from his pocket. He did not notice them as they tumbled onto the black floor, side by side.
He went outside and found Dean Thomas leaning over Seamus, looking very nervous. Dean spotted Snape. His expression was a mixture of relief and panic.
"Professor Snape." He said, his voice quivering. "I was working on the assignment. I don't know how this happened. Can you get him back to normal?" He was still leaning over Seamus as if he might break any second.
"We will discuss this while I take Seamus up to hospital wing. Surely Professor Pomfrey has a remedy for this." He said, trying to help Seamus up. But Seamus hesitated as Snape got closer. Was he really that frightening?
Snape gently held Seamus' arm, and helped him keep his balance. They walked inside with Dean trailing behind them. Seamus was still having trouble walking straight. He was limping with every step he took.
"It's hard being old." he spoke for the first time. His voice was cracking. The affect of the potion was visible in his voice.
While Snape was leading Seamus up to the hospital wing, and lecturing Dean on his poor potion making skills; Hermione granger and Draco Malfoy were walking on the opposite sides of the hallway. They were both occupied in something as they were walking.
Hermione was reading a new book she just got from the library, and Draco was examining an object he got from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes on the last trip to Hogsmeade. It was a bottle of invisible ink. It was quite interesting, and could be useful sometime. He didn't want to admit that he actually liked that store. He tried to keep everything he purchased hidden. Usually, he had someone go inside and buy him a bag full of things.
He didn't notice Hermione as she walked his way. They got closer and walked straight into each other. All their belongings fell on the floor.
"Watch where you're going, Granger." Draco yelled, swaying his arms in the air. He quickly bent down and grabbed the jar of invisible ink before Hermione could see it.
"You weren't watching where you were going either. You're always trying to put the blame on other people." Hermione cried. She couldn't stand Draco Malfoy. He always somehow made her day worse. He was arrogant, mean, and selfish. She would die if they were the only two people in the world. It would take a miracle to make him a nice and friendly person.
"If you didn't have your face buried in that stupid book, you could see were your going. Why don't you try making some friends instead of doing homework all day." he said as he glared at her.
"I do have friends." Hermione yelled. She could feel her face heating up. She almost forgot about all her books lying on the ground.
"What friends?" Draco said. "Potter's obviously just using you, and the weasels don't count."
Hermione could feel tears stinging her eyes.
"Harry is a great friend. And don't make fun of Ron and Ginny. You go around treating people like dogs, and act like you're the best, but you're not." She cried, "Your only friends are Crabbe and Goyle. All they do is follow you, and do what you say. At least I treat my friends like people." She knelt down and hurried in picking up her things as she talked. She didn't even see what she was taking. Her vision was blurring from the tears threatening to come out of her eyes. She tried her best to hold them back. While she was getting her things, she felt a small flask that she didn't remember having, but she took it anyways.
Draco didn't respond as he knelt on the floor besides her, picking up his own things. Hermione could hear him mumbling the word "mudblood" under his breath. That made her even more furious. She felt relieved when she picked up her last book. She got up quickly and ran away. All she wanted to do is get as far away from him as possible. She couldn't let him see her close to tears, and gain the pleasure of seeing her defeated.
Draco still sat there getting the last of his things. He was going to stand up, until he noticed a little glass phial lying on the ground. He never saw anything like it. The color of the potion looked so different than anything they ever did in class. It was a brilliant shade of blue. It's probably Granger's, he thought. She's always reading books. She probably found a potion making book in the library, and made the potion herself. It all seemed to make sense to him. The potion looked interesting, so he took it. He had no intentions of returning it to her anytime soon. He might as well figure out what it is, and see if it's useful. He didn't like her but he had to admit she was pretty smart. He held it as he got up.
He made his way to Slytherin tower and surveyed the potion on his way there. What would Granger want with this potion? He wondered. If it was Granger's, it was probably safe to drink. She usually knew what she was doing.
He stepped into the Syltherin common room, and headed for the boys dormitory. When he got in, he placed the flask on his bedside table.
He decided to get some sleep; he woke up very early today to take care of some things. The sun was still up, and most people were outside, but he got into bed anyways. He would think about the mysterious potion tomorrow. He thought he already had a clear idea of what it was anyways.
But what he did not know was that in this flask was Snape's new time travel potion, and that on the opposite side of Hogwarts in the Gryffindor house, Hermione Granger held the other half.
Hermione sat in the Gryffindor common room, her face streaked with tears. She sat in the same position for an hour. She sat in the big red couch across the fireplace, reading her book. She didn't want to join Ron and Harry outside. Although she knew they were probably having fun in the warm weather. Spring had just arrived, and everyone spent their weekends outside.
She looked out the window, and noticed that the sun was setting. She only had a couple of minutes alone before the other Gryffindor students came in. She set the book down and reached for her bag on the floor. She remembered the little phial she took after she bumped into Draco in the hallway.
She put her hand into her schoolbag, and searched until she felt the phial. She pulled it out, and examined it. It was very odd. She read most potion making books, and never came across anything that made something this color. It was unlike any color she had ever seen before.
After thinking about it, she decided it must be Draco's. He probably dropped it when they bumped into each other earlier. She didn't know if she should return it or not. He was the biggest jerk she ever met. And he probably would have never returned anything to her. At that thought, she decided to keep it.
She heard the portrait hole swing open, and saw Harry and Ron stepping in. She quickly shoved the phial back into her bag.
Harry and Ron were arguing about Quidditch. Something's most boys at Hogwarts talked about. She never understood what was so great about it. She watched them, remembering what Draco said about them. They stopped when they noticed her looking at them.
"Hi Hermione." said Ron, enthusiastically. Hermione only waved back.
Harry still stared at her in confusion. "Why weren't you outside today?" he asked.
"Oh..." said Hermione, "I got this new book from the library. It's very interesting." She held it up to show them.
"Looks interesting." Ron said, absentmindedly.
"Well..." said Harry "Are you sure your okay?" He asked.
"Yea." said Hermione, trying to smile. "I'm great."
Ron was now walking to the opposite side of the room.
"Oh... Well... It looks like you were... er crying." He said.
"I wasn't crying." she said quickly, then hesitated. "Something really sad happened in this book." she regretted saying that after she realized she was holding "Book of Numerology".
"I didn't know Arithmancy could be an emotional subject." said Harry laughing.
"Shut up." she said, throwing a pillow at him, but she couldn't help but smile. Draco was wrong. She had the greatest friends in the world. She looked over at Ron, who was entertaining himself by making bubbles come out of his wand.
She sat still on the couch, hoping Harry forgot about her crying. She didn't feel like talking anymore.
"I'm going to bed." she told Harry. "Goodnight."
"Night" he said back. "See you in the morning."
Hermione slowly got off the couch, while Harry went over to join Ron. The rest of The Gryffindor students were coming in.
Hermione walked up the stairs. She actually was very tired. She had to use the wall to help her balance. Her eyelids felt heavy, she could barely keep them open. She opened the door and went straight to her bed. She didn't even bother changing into her pajamas. She lay down, and slowly drifted off to sleep.
I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. What do you think of the plot and the pairing? Please review and tell me what you think! I love hearing feedback. It encourages me to go on:)