Chapter One
2nd of May, 1998
Falling Through Time
Hermione Granger stared at the battle field in horror. People were falling one by one either dead or dying and there was nothing Hermione could do. Eyes dilated and hair matted with blood Hermione stumbled into the middle of the chaos. Her wand hand was already twitching with overuse and exhaustion. Her arm was aching in pain from the torture Bellatrix inflicted on her, which still felt raw and new no matter what healing spell she tries on it. She trudged forward swallowing down her fears and pain to get to her destination.
The tattered and battle scarred castle was haunted with the dying screams of the battle's victims. Hermione could not tell if the screams were possessed by the enemy or her ally, but she hoped for the later. She tucked her beaded bag over her battered shoulder ignoring the pain it inflicted. She walked over the dead bodies and debris following the hall that lead to the outside entrance. She couldn't help but feel tears trail down her face from the total annihilation that was done to her home and friends.
Harry was dead.
Ron was separated from her when the death eaters were ordered to wipe the school out. The halls darkened looking more morose and scary by the second, and the paintings were empty of any people. It felt desolate and foreboding to Hermione Granger. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up in warning, she quickly twisted her aching body around firmly aiming her wand.
A blonde pale boy the same age as Hermione stood before her, a shadow of his past self. His hand trembled with hesitation while Hermione held strong, but her eyes wavered. The blonde gripped his wand tighter, but still did not cast a spell, neither did Hermione. A stalemate Hermione would have to overcome.
"Expelliarmus!" Hermione retrieved his wand easily disarming him.
"Draco, what are you doing here?" Hermione questioned already knowing the answer. Draco did not seem surprised by his defeat, and simply put his hands in his pocket as if he was speaking to an old friend and not in the middle of a war.
"Just…doing what I'm told." He shrugged, his sagging eyes shined with what looked like regret. Hermione didn't flinch from his sad expression, and instead broke Draco's wand in front of him. He froze, eyes wide and full of hate. "You really are just a stupid mudblood." He muttered, a bitter malicious tone leaking out of his dark words. Hermione didn't falter and instead walked away, turning back to her original destination. Draco was always a coward and she didn't feel threatened by leaving her back open to him.
Draco didn't follow and no one else luckily stumbled upon her, but she feared what that could mean for the others outside. She pushed the huge decorative castle doors with all of her might. She did not truly believe she would find an open graveyard when she opened those doors. Hermione stumbled forward, holding her breath in fear someone would hear her and attack. Her bravery could only go so far, and it was running out, she believed. She looked down at all of her fellow classmates and teachers strewn across the entrance, the building crumbling onto their bodies as if wanting to bury them itself, and could only feel numb. Walking forward her foot caught onto something she did not want to see. Looking down she saw the dead body of Neville Longbottom with the sword clutched in his long gangly hands.
Hermione clutched her mouth with both hands to keep herself from loudly sobbing. She jumped away now running around the court yard, needing to find Harry or Ron throughout the mess. She needed to find their bodies before she left, she would not leave if she did not find them. She needed to see them. Their tattered clothes with their different crest were all that was left of some, others were more brutally killed than the rest; some of them only resembled ash. Walking farther ahead she saw the one lone body left untouched by the rest, a dark head of hair and what looked like glass surrounded his face.
She ran towards him knowing exactly who it is, seeing it again with her own eyes before Ron and her were separated. Feeling empty and tired she fell to the crumbling floor and reached out to Harry's cold pale face. Tears welled up in her eyes as she cleans the scattered glass and blood away from him, desperately trying to recreate the lively look Harry always had. Not caring about her back being open for attack she clutched Harry's body with sad desperation, her eyes tightly closed, trying to get rid of the world around her.
"Harry, you were supposed to be the one that lived!" She cried venomously into Harry's sullied shirt. "We were the ones that promised to protect you…" She couldn't further comprehend any more tragedies. She could feel depression sink into her heart like a cold thick poison that couldn't be sucked out. There was nothing left. Ron was gone, either dead or missing, everyone was dead and there was no one left to save the world from Voldemort's viscous hands.
She stopped her breath, stilling herself, desperately wishing she could become a part of the decaying castle rather than a living human being. Shadows surrounded her and she could see them reaching for her slowly like one of her childhood nightmares. Why is this happening to us? How could Harry have died for nothing? This constant whirl of questions ran through her head like I never ending tornado.
She may be knowledgeable about everything textbook and could always save Harry and Ron from their brash decisions, but she has never had to face utter hopelessness. Her face buried in Harry's shirt, and then she began to count to three. One, she pats Harry's hair lovingly; Two, she put Harry's broken glasses into her beaded bag; Three, she stood up with all the force she could muster and faced off with the six death eaters surrounding her.
Blurs of colors and nonverbal spells were mentally shoved at Hermione like a cascading storm. None of them lethal but detrimental to her health. Only a few landed on Hermione's strong shield. The last burst of adrenaline saved her from most of the excruciating curses, like the cuts that wouldn't heal or the bursting wounds that felt like oozing lava. She forced her face to stay stony cold, not willing to show any weakness to these sick bastards.
Her once favorite purple sweater was now soaked with blood that looked like a warm violet. Ignoring the idea that the death eaters were playing with her she decides to pick up the pace and throws her wand arm in the air propelling attack after attack.
"Avada Kedavra," one fell to their immediate death, and Hermione's sense of guilt faded into just a slight itch. "Fulgari!" What looked like a rope made from light shot out of her wand and twisted itself around one of the death eaters making them immobile. Four were left and they did not look like they were playing games anymore. Using a nonverbal spell once again Hermione cursed one before sprinting away, her eyes still on her attackers, never giving her back to them.
They didn't speak another spell, deciding she was worth a damn. Her heart started to pick speed but her body was losing its' adrenaline boost. Her mind was getting foggy and stumbling over the bodies of past friends did not make her state of mind any better. The death eaters swooped around her corralling her like sheep. She was spinning around in a circle in order to meet each of their wands.
Clutching her beaded bag with her left hand and her wand in her right she could only force herself to call on one more spell to get away from them. Quickly without giving the death eaters a chance to finish her off she nonverbally casts flipendo with as much strength as possible.
The last few death eaters were thrown back by Hermione's last ditch effort to get away. Climbing over the rubble she throws herself across the last bit of the entrance, and decides last second to hide behind the pillars and rubble near the bridge leading out of Hogwarts. She knew that bridge was a death sentence, no one would be able to reach the end and she would not be able to fly away without being hit. The only thing she could do was hide, even if that gave a sour taste in Hermione mouth. She was no fool to try apparition in her state either.
A memory like no other brought hopeful tears to her eyes as she slowly put the beaded bag on her lap. The cuts her shoulder started to leak hot blood onto the beaded bag, giving it a duller brown coloring. Hermione trembled with anxiety as she opened it with trepidation, looking up every few seconds just in case. Thinking about the object of her desire causing it to pop into reality and into her bloody hands. Holding it with the utmost care she looked down at Dumbledore's Time Turner.
Her smile came and went when thinking about the obvious rules and limitations time turners had, the idea of even breaking them could brought a chill of fear down her spine. Putting it on she thought back to what Dumbledore told her the day before his death.
"Dumbledore, you needed me for something?" She smiled happily at who she considered the most powerful wizard in the world. His "office," if you must call it that, was covered with colorful objects. Some looking foreign and strange and others looking like everyday items, but what always caught her eye was the mountains of disorganized books lying about. In every crook and cranny millions of yet to be published books flew about, or lost to time manuscripts strewn about.
"Hermione, sit down. Would you like a lemon drop?" The merriment that was always in Dumbledore's eyes seemed faded and less evident, but his warmth did not deter when he patted the chair across his desk. Hermione complied the headmaster's request and sat comfortably in the large velvet chair. Dumbledore stayed standing turning his back to her to pet his phoenix. She looked on in confusion, wondering just why she was here instead of Harry.
"How has your day been?" Dumbledore asked, but still did not turn to meet her head on.
"It was eventful." Hermione decided not to commit to the answer, not wanting to show how much fear she held these days when walking to classes. Dumbledore chuckled, it sounded light and airy like a forlorn bell on a Christmas sled.
"Hermione, you rarely don't speak your mind." Dumbledore countered strolling back to his large extravagant wooden chair. He looked Hermione straight in the eyes, and she soon started to feel a turning in her stomach like something very bad was about to be said.
"I-I feel that it is getting more and more difficult to say that I am not worried for our future, headmaster," Hermione trailed off not knowing how to explain this foreboding feeling in the pit of her stomach.
With a knowing look, Dumbledore took off a long chain that held an unusual time turner in his trembling hands. Her eyes widened and her hands clenched the chair's cushions tightly, she did not understand where this was going, and she did not know if she wanted to. Dumbledore smiled sadly at Hermione's tense reaction, a look of understanding morphing his face.
"Harry must not know what is to be said in this room," Hermione nodded not fully comprehending what she just promised. "I'm about to give you the plan B that I have been creating since Harry Potter's birth Hermione Granger. This is something that cannot be taken lightly and should be a last resort…"
"What are you talking about?" Hermione croaked, a look of distrust and confusion clear on her face.
"The room is impenetrable, there is no way for anything we are saying to get out and the only liability will be us and this time turner." Dumbledore spoke contemplating the oddly colored time turner, and if Hermione looked at it even closer it looked like the sand was glowing. "You must give me an oath that you will not say anything to anyone, including Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, of this plan."
"I vow it Dumbledore." Hermione exclaimed taking offense that he couldn't just believe her, but had to force the words out of her. A soft breeze flowed around her as if sealing the deal itself. A spell Hermione could not decipher, and this only made her more anxious.
"This time turner is mine, and is special not only because of that, but because I have been tampering with it for years." Hermione did not interrupt and filed the information with all the care in the world, not wanting to miss a word. "Since the very beginning I have been working on a time turner that could go farther into the past than a few hours. The idea is simple and something people have been working at since it was invented." He put the time turner on his desk, leaving it there for Hermione to admire and fear at the same time. Her eyes looked over it like a hungry bear sizing up a large fish. She could not turn her eyes away. "People have come close to making it work, but there were certain factors not taken into account."
"What would that be?" Hermione questioned, a hint of suspicion lacing her voice.
"Do you see how the sand is special, not like anything you've ever seen before?"
"But I thought the charm was was important to the time turner, not the sand itself?"
"For a normal time turner you would be correct Granger, but this is no normal time turner. This is the one and only time turner that can travel years into the past." Dumbledore revealed. Hermione stared at the magical device as if all of her problems have been answered!
"That means we can save everyone! You need to go into the past now!" Hermione exclaimed loudly standing from her chair. She did not quite grasp or care at the moment at how she was talking to her Headmaster.
"No, Hermione. We cannot change anything."
"What do you mean?" She shouted, venom leaking into her voice.
"This is our last resort, and I would think with all of your dealing with time turners you would understand that Miss Granger." Dumbledore gave her a disapproving look that put Hermione back into reality. She sat back down slowly feeling like a misbehaved puppy.
"Why am I here Headmaster?" She asked furrowing her brow in confusion.
"You will be the one to execute the plan if everything goes wrong." Dumbledore smiled down at Hermione Granger, a sadness enveloping his once twinkling eyes.
"Oh," what could she say to that? Hours passed by as Dumbledore divulged lengthy descriptions on how and why the time turner was created and why she was the one for the job, rather than Harry.
"When you travel back do not forget that you will not be able to travel forward. This time line would not exist because you would have changed it, and there is no way to change it back." The very idea brought chills to Hermione, and she hoped for dear life that she would not have to use it. "You can only travel 20 or so years into the past, maybe one or two more if you push the limits, and there may be side effects if this is not handled correctly." Dumbledore warned. Hermione took this all in, not looking away for one second.
"I understand Dumbledore," Hermione nodded her head in solemn understanding.
"There is one vital thing left," He looked away from Hermione and instead glance back down at the time turner. "You must make a certain sacrifice for the device to work, either figuratively or literally. It just needs to be a sacrifice, and since you must go to its limit, you must make a very meaningful one."
She would never forget those words, the last words he ever spoke to her, the next night Dumbledore died and everything came crashing down. Pushing herself onto her feet she trembled all over, and the pain coursing through her body from all the curses was making her senses muddy. She couldn't just make any sacrifice and she couldn't focus on anything other than the plan Dumbledore drilled into her. Taking one large gulp of air she pushed off the crumbling wall and ran towards the bridge, certain death almost eminent. Her legs burned and her skin felt like it was melting into her bones, the odd feeling making her stumble, but she got back up and continued running.
The swishing sound of death eaters was the last warning bell she got before they appeared near her, almost nicking her right where she stood. Gripping the time turner in her hand she climbed the bridge's end and looked down into the dark emptiness.
"What are you doing little girl?" One taunted, now willing to play with her again. She looked back to see them slowly closing in on her, and all their wands pointing straight at her. She gulped giving one more glance down the never-ending pit.
"Are you trying to kill yourself? Isn't this laughable? Go ahead, jump!" The second one cackled excitedly.
She held her breath, closed her eyes, and leapt off the bridge with a few curses hitting her on the way down. The dark abyss wrapped around her, and gave Hermione one more thing to be afraid of. Hermione made her sacrifice, her life was at the stake of a time turner that has never been used before. She turned the knob of the time turner twenty-one times. Everything went black for Hermione Granger.