This is War
It's the moment of truth, and the moment to lie,
The moment to live and the moment to die,
The moment to fight, the moment to fight,
To fight, to fight, to fight!
The fire flickered in the cold drawing room of 12 Grimmauld place. Various members of the Order of the Phoenix sat in small groups, whispering in hushed tones about the meeting that had just let out. After the heavy losses sustained in the Battle of Hogwarts, many members had taken to hiding or working underground for the cause, in order to preserve the small numbers they still had, which limited the time they could spend talking with each other. The few hours after a meeting were always used as a way to catch up with one another, no matter how bleak the conversation.
Hermione Granger watched Andromeda Tonks move her grandson from one hip to the other, as she talked to Minerva McGonagall about the strange man she had seen on her street three times in the last week.
"I know he can't actually see the house when it's under the Fidelius Charm Minerva, but I've just been so worried. I mean, I know Teddy is a target. He's Harry Potter's godson for goodness sake! But I didn't think they would sit outside all day. It makes me afraid to even receive my floo deliveries. What if somehow Aberforth gets compromised, and they get him to tell where he delivers the food?"
Minerva patted her hand. "It is worrisome. I know that. But you have to remember that we have put as much protection around your house as we can. Potter himself is your secret keeper. He would never betray you. And thanks to Hermione, if anyone questions Aberforth, they will trigger the memory loss spell she developed to prevent anyone from getting any information out of captured members of the Order."
Hermione rolled her eyes at that. They put too much trust in that spell. It could fail at any time, and if the interrogator used a different line of questioning than she accounted for, it wouldn't activate at all. They didn't really listen when she told them that she needed more time for testing though, so if it did fail at least she could defer blame to some other dunderhead.
A small smirk slipped out before she could stop it. More and more the other members had started comparing her to Severus. She was even starting to think like him. A small click behind her caused most of the room to turn and watch as Harry Potter walked in the room and flop down next to her on the couch. She silently handed him the cup of tea she had saved for him, and used her wand to warm it to his preferred temperature.
"How was the meeting with Kingsley?" Hermione asked.
"Oh you know, same old same old. 'Have you figured out a way to kill Voldemort, are you sure Dumbledore didn't give you a special secret you've kept hidden for the past five years, do you think Voldemort made another Horcrux?' Honestly it's exhausting."
Hermione nodded slowly. She looked around quickly and saw that most people had gone back to their conversations, but Bill Weasley and his brother were still listening to them.
"I think that maybe they just want to give it a fresh look every now and then. One day you might remember something inconsequential to you, that could have a huge impact on the war front." she stifled a fake yawn. "But I am beyond tired. I was up all last night working on potions for the infirmary. Would you mind terribly if I call it early tonight?" she asked.
Harry's eyes widened momentarily, but he quickly schooled his features and said in a calm voice, "Of course not 'Mione. You go on up. I'll probably turn in after this lot leaves."
She got up, and made her rounds to say goodnight, and then headed up the stairs quickly. It was good on Harry to remember the code she had come up with to portray that they needed to talk privately later, without anyone else finding out. The last thing they needed was a nosy Weasley questioning what she was working on.
Hermione opened the door to her room, and felt the wash of familiar spells wash over her. Her room was secured with every safety and privacy spell she had learned, and some she had made up on her own. The door behind her shut with a final click. No one but Harry would be able to get in after that.
She walked over to her desk and pulled out a small black journal and a pen. Might as well go over the measurements again before Harry came up.
The door opening behind her caused her to drop the pen she was holding, and grab her wand, turning around so quickly that she knocked the inkwell next to her hand over.
"Damn it Harry, give me some warning next time." she said, silently cleaning up the ink mess off of her desk.
"Sorry 'Mione. I thought you would be expecting me."
"I was, I just got caught up in this." she waved a hand to her desk and the small book on it.
"So why did you need to talk?" Harry asked, sitting down on the edge of her bed.
Hermione took a deep breath and sat down next to him. "I'm done. With the project. I've completely figured the parameters out, created the proper incantation, backstory and packed. I just, I didn't want to just leave you know?"
"You-you figured it out? I, I'll be honest Hermione I didn't think you would be able to." Harry quickly blushed. "Not because your not smart or anything, but because it sounds so impossible!"
Hermione glared at him. "Well I did."
Harry grabbed her hands. "Are you sure you don't want me to do this?"
She shook her head. "It really must be me Harry. If I fail, the Order needs you here more than they need me."
Harry nodded. "I know, I just. You won't be able to come back. This is irreversible. If something goes wrong, we'll still be hiding out with the Order in shambles. But this time you won't be here."
Hermione smiled through the tears slipping down her cheeks. "But Harry, if this goes right, I'll be able to see you grow up with your parents. Free from a sick prophecy, free from Voldemort, free from everything terrible that you've had to endure in your life."
"Just promise me that when you finish this, you find your own happiness." Harry said.
"I promise you, I will."
"When will you leave?" Harry asked, tears beginning to well in his eyes.
"Tonight. I will travel to 1974 tonight. I will attempt to end the first wizarding war before Voldemort gains too much power. I will save your parents, Sirius, Dumbledore, and R-Ron and anyone else I can. I promise I will do everything in my power to be successful."
Harry nodded and pulled Hermione into his arms. "Well I guess I should go then. I love you Hermione. You're the sister I never got the chance to have. Just remember that. I love you. I'm sure if Ron were here he'd give tell you that you're bloody brilliant, and that he loves you too." He kissed the top of her head and stood up. Halfway to the door he turned and smiled. "If anyone can save the world, its you Hermione Granger". He gave her one last forlorn glance before walking through the door, praying that she would be able to succeed.
Hermione waited until she was sure everyone was asleep that night, before getting and pulling on the robes she'd purchased to make the trip in. The idea to send herself back in time had started as a desperate sort of joke between her and Harry right after Ron's funeral.
"Don't you wish there was a way to go back in time and save him?" Harry had asked her, sitting on her bed in Grimmauld. "A way to stop him from dying?"
"Why stop with Ron," shed replied, a sad smile on her face, "Why not just go back and smother baby Tom Riddle in his cot?"
Harry chuckled. "I dont think I'm quite up for infanticide, but i'll keep it in mind".
It had only taken Hermione three hours that night to come up with the basics of her plan. When sleep eluded her, and it eluded her a lot these days, she plotted. Sometimes she plotted new spells, or modifications to potions. Sometimes she plotted how to get her best friend Harry to notice Ginny, or how she would leave the wizarding world forever if she could only bear to actually follow through.
The plan was to be simple, go back in time and save as many people as she could, in whatever way she could, and stop Voldemort. She had no qualms about leaving the present. It was shite. The past offered her so much more.
She grabbed her beaded bag and her wand. In a flick of her wrist, and a whispered incantation, Hermione Granger hurtled herself into the past.