Chapter 1
Hermione Granger walked through the eerily silent hallways of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The hallways were usually bright with light, laughter and voices. The school was now in ruins and darkness. She suppressed a sob, as she walked further through the school. Her beloved home for the last seven years. Never again would she see her friends running around with happy smiles on their faces in these very hallways. Never again would she sit with her friends in the Great Hall and eat breakfast or dinner. Because they were all gone. Only she was left. The light side may have won the war, but no one were left to celebrate it, but her. All of her friends were gone. Her family was gone, and they would never come back. When she reached the gargoyles, or rather what was left of the gargoyles, to Dumbledore's office, she stopped for a moment. She really did not know why she had come here, but something had told her that she needed to do this. She climbed the stairs to Dumbledore's office, and a rumbling sound began, as the stairs moved upwards. The door to the office was left opened. Everything inside had been ripped apart or blown up, but one thing remained unbroken. The picture frame of Albus Dumbledore. When she stood in front it, she was surprised to see the smiling face of her former Headmaster. Though he smiled at her, his smile seemed sad. She could not blame him though. Not really.
"Hello, Miss Granger" the voice of Professor Dumbledore spoke quietly. Hermione was astonished for a moment, before she spoke.
"Professor… It is no coincidence that I'm here, is it?" It was more of a statement than a question. This time Dumbledore truly smiled at her.
"No, it is no coincidence. I summoned you in your dreams. I needed you here for a reason" he told her.
"What reason is that?" Hermione asked more out of curiosity than anything.
"You change this, Hermione. You can change the outcome of this war. You can stop it from ever happening" Dumbledore said. Hermione pondered this for a few moments.
"How?" she asked quietly.
"Go back in time. Go back to the time when Tom Riddle was only in his sixth year at Hogwarts. Change his ways. Change his views. Make him love and love him in return. Because that is truly the only reason he ever turned into the man he became. Because he needed the love of others. Make him realize that he can be loved. You are the only person who can do this Hermione. You are the only person with a heart as big as that" Dumbledore finished. Hermione did not speak for a long time. She needed time to consider this.
"How do you know it will change him for the better? How can you possibly know that?" she asked confused. Dumbledore sighed.
"Tom Riddle was different then. He was not as dark. His seventh year was the time that changed everything. He was on a path were he did not know where to go. He wanted revenge Hermione. He wanted revenge for how his life had turned out, but if he had known what love was like, then he would not have chosen the dark path. He would have chosen the light. None of this would have happened. Harry's parents would be alive. Harry and Ron would be alive. Everyone would live" he said
"Will I come back to this time?" He knew she would consider it.
"No, you will not. This is a one-way ticket, and you already know why" Dumbledore said. Hermione nodded.
"By going back in time, one would create a new reality – and would, therefore, never be able to return to the reality they knew before. If they in the past tried to travel into the future, they would see the future of the new reality, not the one they knew before. So it would be too confusing for the mind to go back to the future where they originally came for… How do I go back?" she finally asked after a while. Dumbledore smiled.
"I will send you back. Take the note in the picture frame with you and give this to my younger self. It will explain everything that will need to be explained. Are you ready for this Hermione?" Hermione took a deep breath and gave a shaky laugh.
"No, but I will do whatever it takes. Go ahead" she said with a nod.
"I wish you the best of luck Hermione. You truly are the brightest witch of your age. May you change our time to the better" and with that last sentence he whispered a spell and suddenly she was whisked backwards. Like she was being pulled by a strong force, and then she was surrounded by blackness.