AN: For those who aren't aware, I am not JK Rowling and for that reason these characters do not belong to me.
The battle was over, the light had won. Magic sang in victory, but even as it sang magic cried. The light had won yes, but at what price? And magic cried because it could see that while the light had won, the light could not be maintained, darkness had penetrated too deeply. There were those who would work to destroy all that good that had come today.
And so magic made a choice. Magic would change the course of history, it would send a hero back to a time when evil could be stopped earlier, lives saved, and light could be restored more permanently.
With the decision made Magic began to look for it's hero. Magic searched through the people. Many of them were reasonable candidates, but for Magic reasonable wasn't good enough. Magic wanted someone who was strong in mind, heart, soul, and magic. It would settle for no less.
Initially Magic expected to send back the chosen one, but Magic could not ask the boy to suffer any more than he already had. So Magic turned to his two companions. Analyzing the red one Magic realized that his resolve was not firm. Magic could not entrust this dangerous and difficult task to the boy. So he turned to the girl. And Magic knew, her mind was sharp, her heart open, her soul was pure, and her magic was strong. If the girl was willing, Hermione Granger would become the next chosen one.
It was chilly for May. Perhaps it was because of the mind numbing shock attempting to engulf her or perhaps it was due to the recently departed dementors or perhaps it was just a chilly spring. Hermione frowned, it was probably all three when it came down to it. She wished the chill could fully numb her mind and heart.
She was in tumult. She knew she was happy, after all Voldemort was DEAD. But she didn't feel happy. All she felt was sorrow and guilt. There were so many lives lost. And she felt guilty, that she was still alive and they were not. Poor Remus and Tonks, who would never live to see their son grow up into a stalwart young man. Collin Creevey, who would never get his opportunity to shoot pictures for a newspaper. Fred, who had left behind his twin brother who's pranks were ended before he had even truly begun. All those lives, gone. Yet she still stood, her heart was still beating, and she knew she would trade her life for even one of theirs.
She pushed away those thoughts, hit with a sudden urgency to find Harry. If she felt guilty and overwhelmed then she knew that Harry would be drowning in his guilt. Harry needed her, she would help him heal, and then she would take the time to heal herself.
It did not take her long to find Harry. He was sitting with the Weasleys as they mourned for Fred. She could see the guilt he was feeling clouding his eyes. She slid next to him and took his hand in her own. He turned to her a sudden desperation filling his eyes, and Hermione understood, as he knew she would. She touched Ginny's shoulder and nodded her head to Harry before pulling him away.
She took him back outside away from where all the people were gathering. She led him to the tree where they had often sat during warm spring days. She sat down and pulled Harry to the ground with her, gently laying his head on her shoulder.
For a while they sat there in silence before Hermione broke the silence gently. "It's okay to cry Harry." It was all Harry needed and suddenly he was crying into her shoulder, weeping for lives ded was her soothing presence, telling him that it was going to be okay, reassuring him that he wasn't alone and that he wasn't to blame.
They stayed in that position long after Harry's tears had ceased to fall. They both ignored the oppressive chill until Harry pulled her flat to the ground, they curled up together, staring at the sky as it turned from day to night and the exhaustion of the past few months guided them both to sleep under the protection of the stars.
Hermione felt confused. She could feel herself sleeping, but she also felt as though she were awake, but it certainly didn't feel like it was a dream. She pinched herself anyways to double check. Yep, it hurt, so she wasn't dreaming. But if she wasn't dreaming then where was she? She couldn't seem to make sense of her surroundings, she felt as though she was surrounded by brilliant colors, but all she could see was a white room. She felt as though she was surrounded, yet she couldn't SEE anything. On the whole she felt rather disconcerted.
"I suppose when you look through physical eyes this place is a little disconcerting." Hermione whirled around trying to locate the voice. The voice unnerved her. She had heard the voice, but even a few seconds later she wasn't sure whether it was male or female.
"Who are you? Where are we?" Hermione kept her voice calm, she would not let herself lose her composure.
There was a pause. "Oh… yes, I suppose I should introduce myself. Give me a moment, it has been several ages since I last took a corporeal form."
Hermione kept her confusion hidden, "Of course, take all the time you need."
"Your courtesy does you credit. This should do for now." Hermione turned, as the words had been spoken the strange unidentifiable voice had become feminine and youthful. In front of her was a girl that appeared to be the same age as herself. She was breathtakingly beautiful. But like everything else in this experience couldn't be described. Even looking right at her Hermione wouldn't have been able to say what color the girl's hair was.
"Ah, well," she paused "it's nice to meet you. I'm Hermione Granger."
"Oh, I know who you are, I brought you here after all." The girl flashed her a brilliant smile.
Hermione felt uneasy, "And where is here, and who are you?"
The girl frowned, "Let's take a seat shall we?" A pair of comfortable chairs appeared beside them, and Hermione moved to sit in one nervously. "This place doesn't really have a name, it doesn't really exist at all actually. But that is neither here nor there. I, am Magic."
Hermione didn't respond for a moment. "What do you mean, you are Magic?" Was this girl crazy?
The girl laughed, "I suppose this is a little hard to take in. But what few people realize is that magic is very much sentient. For the most part I allow others to use me as they see fit, indeed, I don't have a choice, if you have the necessary power I have no choice BUT to do as told." The girl frowned, "That doesn't mean I APPROVE of everything that I am forced to do, but it is the way of things and I do not have the power to change it. But occasionally I step in to change things. It is not possible for me to force anything to happen, I could not go and kill Tom Riddle on my own, no, I needed someone to do that for me." The girl paused again, Hermione stayed silent waiting for her to finish. "Even now, just bringing you here and speaking to you is bending the established rules. But I felt that it needed to be done, and fate herself agreed with my plan." Hermione nodded, she supposed if Magic was sentient that it would make sense if fate was sentient as well. She sensed a headache approaching nonetheless.
Magic continued, "As you know, Tom Riddle is finished, but his power has grown in such a way that his followers will not truly back down, perhaps for a few years, perhaps even a few decades, they will act as though they have seen the error of their ways. But the seeds have been planted and cultivated in such a way that the end of this war is merely a reprieve before evil rears it's ugly head once more." Hermione's heart dropped, after all she had gone through… She felt sorrow swell up and nearly overwhelm her.
Magic touched her hand, and Hermione felt warmth infuse her. "I know, it can be rather depressive at times. But you see, there is an alternative, the seeds were cultivated by the length of time that Tom Riddle was in power, even during those twenty years when he wasn't in power his servants believed that he would return. If he had been destroyed completely the first time then his power base would have been completely destroyed as well."
Hermione stared at her, "But what good does that do us? It has already happened, I don't see what good this information does us."
Magic laughed "Normally of course this is very much true, but since I am Magic and Fate has given her approval, which is very rare I assure you, it can be changed. But as I said, neither Fate or I can directly do anything. We need a proxy to do it in our places." Magic paused "We want you to be our proxy, we want to send you back in time and change the outcome of the first war. You already have all of the information you need to do this. You know Tom Riddle's secrets, you know where his horcruxes are and you know how to destroy them."
Hermione stared at her, "Why me? I'm not the only one who has this information, Harry is the chosen one! He is stronger than I am."
Magic stared at her, "Yes, Harry was the chosen one this time, and I suppose if you want I can send Harry back."
Hermione opened her mouth to say yes, but suddenly her heart tightened, yes she was afraid, but Harry had already suffered so much, if Hermione went back she could save Harry from suffering as much as he had. She could save Remus and Tonks, she could save Collin and Fred. Suddenly she remembered her earlier declaration, that she would trade her life for theirs. She turned back to Magic, "I'll do it, I'll do whatever you need me to do."
Magic smiled at her, "I knew you would, you have a good heart, and a kind soul." Hermione blushed at the praise. "You are very capable of completing this task, mind you it won't be easy, but you can do it. I will send you back to a time before the war has really begun, you will find yourself part of a family with memories from that life, but you will also have memories of this life."
"Where will you send me?" Hermione asked curious.
Magic laughed, "Oh, but that's a surprise!" Magic reached out her hand again to hold Hermione's. "You will never be able to return to this life, none of your friends will ever get to know Hermione Granger, Hermione Granger will never be born in this new life, but you will be giving them a life that they would never have known otherwise."
Hermione choked back a sob at the idea of never hugging Harry or Ron again. She felt her heart drop to know that the love she felt for Ron would never have a chance to blossom. Her eyes misted to realize that she would never get the chance to apologize to her parents for wiping their memories, she wouldn't even be their daughter again. But even as those thoughts threatened to overwhelm her she could see Harry's face, it was smiling and happy, there was no scar on his forehead, he was free of the burden of the chosen one. She could see Ron falling in love with a beautiful girl unafraid of impending doom, and she could see her parents holding another little bundle loving that new child with the same fierce devotion that they had loved her with. And she knew that she could face anything if it would give her loved ones this future. She would do it, she would do it for them.
Magic nodded in approval. "I knew you were the right choice. I knew that you could make this sacrifice. It's one reason that I am sending you back a few years early, you deserve the chance to be a happy teenager, and while I suppose you will always have your own burden to bear you'll have another chance at happiness too.
Hermione smiled at the beautiful girl sitting next to her. "I'm ready, I can do this."
Magic gave her a final smile, "Good luck with your new life Hermione." She reached forward and hugged her, and Hermione felt everything disappear. Visions filled her mind, she saw a girl with black hair playing with what appeared to be her brother, her twin her mind told her, she saw the two of them grow up together getting into constant mischief, flying on brooms, sitting together in silence, she saw her parents laughing with them at dinner, decorating the house at Christmas, teaching them to treat every living creature with respect. Years passed throughout her mind solidifying into hazy memories. And suddenly it all faded away into nothing.
She woke up confused, her dream had been SO strange, but she couldn't seem to remember any of it. She frowned, where was Harry? They had fallen asleep together outside, had someone moved them sometime in the night? It felt like it, she was sleeping on something much softer than the ground. She opened her eyes and was filled with a sudden panic. Where was she? She didn't recognize the room she was in, so she doubted she was anywhere in the castle. She jerked up searching for her wand, but it wasn't near her, she got out of the bed to search for it, to find herself facing a mirror. But it wasn't her reflection that she saw in the mirror, facing her was a young girl, probably about ten, with black hair hanging to her hips, the girl had round hazel eyes and perfectly straight teeth, and that girl was her.
Suddenly the events from the night before pounded into her. The breath left her. She slumped to the floor, no matter that she had agreed to this venture, it was still a complete and total shock to find herself in a strange body eight years younger than her own. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do, how she was supposed to act. She began to methodically run through the 'memories' in her mind, she was eleven, she had turned eleven in March with her twin. She blinked… she had a twin… how strange. His face was hazy in her mind, but she couldn't help but feel that he was familiar to her.
As though he could sense her thoughts her door suddenly burst open and a boy ran through and launched into the room like a tornado. Spotting her he sprawled onto her bed and let his head hang off the side so it was next to her.
"Whatcha doing on the floor Hermione?" She glanced up at the boy next to her. She was staring at Harry!
"Not doing nothing Jamie!" The words left her lips naturally as though she said them everyday. Her own words sunk into her mind, this was James. Harry's dad. This was beyond weird, she was twins with James Potter! Which would make her Hermione Potter! She never thought she would say that.
"Well hurry up! I want to go flying!" He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her up, Hermione started laughing.
"Oh, go away, I need to change." She pushed him out of her room so she could change. She looked around her room for the first time. It was beautiful, the walls were a pale blue with silver window drapes with a blue and silver canopy bed to one side of the room. The room was fairly spacious with a large amount of empty blue carpet. There was a desk to the side and Hermione was pleased to see one whole wall dedicated to books, it was relieving to know that even in this world she was a bookworm. In fact the room was completely to her tastes.
She hurried to what she assumed was the closet. Nope, bathroom. Huge beautiful bathroom. But there was no time to gawk, she turned back to her room and opened the next door. She jerked open the closet looking for something to go flying in. The nerves hit her, she had never gone flying in her past life, she didn't want to worry anyone by acting out of character and wearing something totally ludicrous. She closed her eyes and began to skim through her 'memories' reassured she grabbed a simple outfit from a rack and quickly changed.
She rushed out the door and was greeted by an impatient James. "What is it with you girls and taking FOREVER!" Hermione laughed, it had only taken her five or so minutes but for an impatient eleven year old that must have seemed like ages. He pulled her off to start the new day.
The day flew by in a flash and Hermione quickly figured out how her knew family worked. The Potters were a tight-knit family and James and Hermione did practically everything together, which meant that Hermione was a bit of a tomboy. They would fly brooms together in the morning and then eat a late brunch with Mr. and Mrs. Potter, or as she now called them, mom and dad. Then James and Hermione would venture out for some more outdoor fun before being called in and attending to their lessons. From her 'memories' Hermione knew that their lessons were rather varied, their parents made sure that they knew all of the information that they would have learned had they gone to muggle schools (which was rather surprising for Hermione, although she realized that her parents were trying to insure that their children weren't in the least prejudice) they also taught them etiquette and to Hermione's horror, ballroom dancing. She hadn't liked fancy dances in her past life and she didn't like it any better now. After an afternoon of lessons they would have dinner together as a family before James and Hermione both retired back to their rooms to either hang out together or read.
And as the days passed Hermione realized that she actually enjoyed being Hermione Potter. She had a new home.