Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series of characters or anything except this plot, form which I gain a little comfort. Please enjoy and REVIEW!

Chapter One ~ Back In Time

Harry, Ron and Hermione were walking in the scarred grounds of Hogwarts after the battle. Hermione felt more fragile than she ever had before, and scars laced her body. But she also felt elation, and it was making her slightly light headed. Harry had beaten Voldemort! He-who-must-not-be-named was dead!

"You know, I never thought we'd still be alive to see the dawn," Ron commented, taking Hermione's hand. She looked up, and, sure enough, the sun's golden rays were just visible over the pink-stained horizon. It was a breath-taking sight.

"Neither did I," Hermione confessed with a smile. She looked back at Ron, and suddenly the memory of the kiss they had shared in the Chamber of Secrets came rushing back. He was so handsome, with the dawn light behind him, making him glow. It was then that she knew she loved him. She thought she had known all along, really, but seeing him now…

"I'll be back in a minute," Harry said suddenly. Both Ron and Hermione looked at him as he continued, "I need to dispose of this." He held up the Elder Wand and they nodded as he walked away, towards the battlements.

Hermione watched him walk away, and when she looked back at Ron he was down on one knee. She caught her breath, realising what he was about to say.

"When the battle began, I thought I might never see you again, and I realised I couldn't bear it if that happened. If you had died, then I don't know what I would have done. I think I knew this a long time ago, but the battle made me realise that I need to keep close everything – everyone – that I love, because I never want to lose them. Hermione Jean Granger, I love you, and so… will you marry me?" Ron asked, his voice soft as he brought out a ring and held it in the palm of his hand.

"I-I-" Hermione stuttered, lost for words. When she didn't answer immediately, Ron's look hope and his eyes filled with love began to fade. He swallowed.

"I'm sorry, maybe it's too soon, I get that you'll probably have to think about it, it was a stupid idea, I-"

Hermione suddenly threw herself at him, embracing him tightly like she never wanted to let go. "Yes," she whispered in his ear. "I think I've known it for a long time, too – I love you, Ronald Bilius Weasley, and there is nothing I want more than to marry you, so I say yes!"

Ron made a gasping sound like he was trying to breath, and Hermione immediately stepped back, realising she had been throttling him. "You do? You want to marry me?" he asked in a tone of slight disbelief as he stood up.

Hermione nodded, too overcome by emotion to speak as her new fiancé slid the beautiful gold and silver wreathed ring onto her finger. For a moment, they just stared at each other, but then Ron stepped closer to her, and Hermione closed her eyes as their lips met. It was nothing like their previous kiss, which had been full of exhilaration. Instead it was sweet and gentle. Hermione could have stayed like that forever, if someone hadn't coughed behind them. They broke apart, the sheepish smiles on their faces mirroring each other perfectly as they turned to face a black haired boy wearing spectacles.

"Harry!" Ron was the first to speak, a joyful grin upon his face.

"I take it she accepted then?" Harry asked with a grin to match that of his best friend's.

Hermione held out her hand for him to see. "Oh, it's wonderful, isn't it? After all we've been through, we can finally have a happy ending! I'll be married to Ron by the end of the year, and as soon as Ginny finished school next year you can marry her, and we can all live happily every after!" she exclaimed, slightly giddy as tears of joy leaked down her face. She hugged both Harry and Ron at the same time, her spirits soaring. "I still can't believe we're alive, and even though there are losses, life can go on," she whispered to them.

"Yeah, life can go on – that is, it will go on until my mother hears we're engaged. Once we tell her she'll be unstoppable, so we may as well cease to exist at all," Ron said, but his voice was filled with happiness.

The three broke apart as a voice came from behind Hermione. "Yes, yes, that'll do nicely." It was a horribly high, and coldly amused voice, and one that was familiar to all three friends. Before any of them could react, however, a chain was thrown around Hermione's neck and she screamed.

"Hermione!" Harry and Ron called out together as Hermione recognised the time-turner. The last thing she saw before she faded was the scratched and aged-looking yet triumphant, toadish face of Dolores Umbridge.

"May you never know happiness again - oh, revenge is sweet," Umbridge hissed gleefully as suddenly Hermione was falling, falling…

Hermione landed with a sickening thud onto something hard, only it didn't feel like the ground. Forcing open her eyes and feebly trying to raise her wand, she saw someone with messy black hair staring down at her in utter surprise. As the face swum before her, she murmured, "Harry?" before passing out completely.

The next time she opened her eyes, Hermione recognised the Hospital wing at Hogwarts, only something seemed different about it. She tried to sit up with a groan, only to fall back onto her pillow as a splitting headache made her cry out. "What happened?" she mumbled to herself, still slightly disorientated.

"I think we'd all like to know that," a kindly voice said, startling her.

"Madam Pompfry!" Hermione gasped as the old matron's face appeared over her. "But… you look younger," she frowned, but relaxed her facial muscled immediately as her headache, which had began to face, increased again.

"Why, thank you dear, but I am not aware we have met before. You don't go to Hogwarts, do you?" the nurse asked as she spread another blanket over the bushy haired girl for extra warmth.

"I just finished my seventh year here..." Hermione murmured.

Madam Pompfry appeared not to have heard her. "Do you remember anything?" she asked as she placed a beaker on the table by the bed.

"No… wait, I – no, I don't think so," Hermione apologised, but it was a lie as the events came flooding back to her. She had been extremely happy. The war had just finished and Ron had proposed to her. Then Dolores Umbridge came out of nowhere and plonked a time turner around her head. She then felt herself falling, until she landed in someone's lap… Hermione closed her eyes. It all seemed so surreal – why would Umbridge have been in the Hogwarts grounds? No, surely that had been a dream. But then she felt the ring Ron had proposed with on her finger. Oh, Merlin, it actually happened, she realised. She was engaged, which was great, but she had been sent back in time, which was not so great. The question now was: which time had she been sent to?

Luckily, Madam Pompfry answered that as she bustled about. She gossiped a lot more when she was younger, Hermione found out.

"Not to worry, dear, I'm sure you'll remember soon enough. You don't seem badly injured and you don't have a concussion, although you do have several scars that I've taken care of for you. Poor master Black was so surprised he couldn't speak when you fell out of the sky and landed on him! I've heard there's a first time for everything, but that just proved it – Sirius Black speechless! Even that James Potter couldn't find any words for several moments. I heard it was young master Lupin who came to his senses first and ran off to alert Professor McGonagall. Odd things happen all the time at Hogwarts of course, but usually much later in the year, and more often than not it's Potter and co. causing the trouble! But for it happen only two weeks into the beginning of the year… dear me, whatever is the world coming to? And what with NEWTS and all, they could do with a rest from trouble – they'll need the time to study, of course…" Hermione tuned out of Madam Pompfry's string of gossip then, for she had all the information she needed.

As she lay back, she processed all the information she knew. It was the beginning of the Hogwarts year, and she was in the time of Harry's father and his friends. James and Sirius and Remus (and Pettigrew too, she supposed with disdain) were beginning their seventh year. With a start, she realised she felt slightly younger. Not only had the time turner sent her back in time, but she was the same age as she had been when she should have started her seventh year at Hogwarts!

"Now you're awake, I must send for Professor Dumbledore, if that's all right. He wanted to see you the moment you woke, you see, and I think you're fine apart from a headache, miss…?" Madam Pompfry trailed off, her gaze resting on Hermione.

"Hmm? Oh, Granger. I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione introduced herself.

It wasn't long before Hermione was staring up into the familiar, if younger, face of Dumbledore. She guessed he had only recently become headmaster as his beard was that much shorter.

"Ah, good, you're awake – miss Granger, correct?" Dumbledore inquired in a kindly tone. Hermione sat up with difficulty, a dull ache at the back of her head subsiding as she stopped moving, propped up by pillows.

"Yes, sir."

"Now, I don't suppose you remember what happened to you?"

A couple of hours later, Hermione had told Dumbledore pretty much the whole truth (excluding the bit about the battle) – she had said she was taking a walk with friends when an old enemy had pounced on her and sent her back in time (she had then had to explain time turners, since they hadn't yet been invented), so here she was. At the time she had just 'completed' her seventh year at Hogwarts.

It was impossible for her to get back to her own time, at least at the moment, since the time turner had been destroyed when she landed, so Dumbledore suggested she join the seventh years at Hogwarts for the time being, until they could find a way to send her back to her own time. She agreed, realising she would have a chance to complete her seventh year and take her NEWTS as she had not been able to do in her own time. Dumbledore had decided against telling the whole school about her predicament; instead, she would tell people that she had been home schooled in America. Her parents had wanted her to finish her schooling in England with good qualification, however, so they had sent her to Hogwarts. Since they got the term date wrong, they realised Hermione would never make it to school in time so they got their house-elf (Hermione had blanched at the thought of this) to apparate her to Hogwarts. Unfortunately the elf got the co-ordinates a bit wrong, so she ended up falling from a great height, and it was lucky she landed on Sirius because had he not broken her fall she would most probably be dead.

This was the story she was to stick to like glue, because should anyone find out the truth the results might be disastrous.

It was a couple of days later, and Hermione had been told it was a Monday. She was completely healed (Madam Pompfry hadn't found the MUDBLOOD scar on her arm, she had kept it well hidden) and Dumbledore had thought there was no better time to introduce her to the school.

"Miss Granger? Are you ready?" came Dumbledore's jolly voice from the entrance to the infirmary.

"As I'll ever be," Hermione nodded, jumping off the bed. She was dressed in a school uniform lent to her by the school, since she had no money with which to buy her own. Dumbledore had kindly decided to let her stay free of any charge that she might have had to pay for uniform, books etc. since he could not just turn her away into a world she knew little about with no money.

"Good, good. Now remember, stick to your story," Dumbledore reminded her as he led her off the Great Hall, where breakfast was being served. "I shall try to find a way to send you back to your own time, but until then you shall be in Gryffindor, as you have informed me this was the house you were originally sorted into, and I see no reason to resort you. Ah, here we are. Shall we?" he asked as they reached the doors to the Great hall.

Hermione gulped nervously and nodded, unconsciously stroking the engagement ring on her finger that she hadn't been able to bear taking off. "Let's do this." The doors swung open, and Hermione walked forward slowly with Dumbledore as heads turned towards her. This was it. There was no going back.

Author's Note: This chapter was basically giving you the background information, which may have been slightly boring but nessecary. The next chapter will have much more action, I promise! Please review!