Having read quite a few timetravel-fics, I wanted to try writing one myself. I truly hope you like it!

Reviews makes me happy as a clam!

Disclaimer: I own nothing at all!

-o-

Hermione Granger was sitting alone in the Gryffindor common room with her head in her hands. She was so tired. Yes, the Dark Lord was dead. Yes, the war was over. But at what cost? So many lost lives, so many broken families. She wondered if she was ever going to run out of tears.

She had just returned from Severus Snape's funeral. And yesterday she had seen his memories that he had left for Harry. Severus Snape had sacrificed his whole life for stupid mistakes in his youth. And then he had died for his cause, without ever experiencing happiness.

"It's not fair!"

The empty room did not answer. At first.

"Would you change it, if you could?"

Hermione spun around to see the portrait of Albus Dumbledore occupying a landscape painting. He was looking at her with an expression she had not seen before. The twinkle in his eye was gone for the moment, and his eyes were locked into hers as he waited for her reply.

"What do you mean, sir?"

"How much would you be willing to sacrifice for a chance to go back and change things?"

Hermione went still for a moment. Albus Dumbledore always had a hidden meaning behind his words. What would she be willing to sacrifice? Anything, that's what, she thought, and took a deep breath. "Everything. Anything. I would do anything in my power."

The old headmaster looked at her for a long moment before speaking. "Do not get your hopes up before I am done explaining. The sacrifice may be too great, and in the end it might not even work."

Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing. "There is a way to go back in time, and thus interfere with different events in the timeline. Or nudge things in a different direction."

Dumbledore's twinkle came back. "Or change history completely of course."

Hermione was bursting to ask questions, but Dumbledore held up a hand.

"Let me finish. It is said that making changes in the past is a very dangerous thing, and may have dire consequences. This is not exactly true. The saying exists because if everyone knew, it would be like opening Pandora's Box. Everyone would want to go back and change past mistakes, and it would cause so much disturbance in time that the consequences would be dire in the end."

Dumbledore straightened his back. "Events can be changed. But if something is supposed to happen, it will happen regardless. Fate, if you will."

Hermione could feel adrenaline spreading through her body. This was unbelievable!

The excitement was obviously showing on her face, because Dumbledore shook his head. "Do not get your hopes up just yet. There are limitations. And consequences. One cannot travel farther back than twenty-one years. As far as I know at least."

Dumbledore's expression darkened. "And the travel is one way only. One cannot travel back to one's own time."

Hermione felt the air go out of her. "I see."

Dumbledore nodded. "It is not an easy decision to make, and-"

Hermione interrupted him. "No, that's not it. The decision is an easy one. But leaving everything behind will be less easy."

Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up, but she continued before he could say anything.

"If I may ask, sir, why me? And why has this not been done at an earlier time?"

Dumbledore met her eyes. "It has not been done earlier because I have not had the required item. The Time-Twister came into my possession just recently. I have been searching for years and years."

Dumbledore smiled at her. "And as for why you? Because out of all of us, you are the one person most likely to succeed. And your age is suitable to be a student at Hogwarts."

When Hermione raised an eyebrow, Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, and he gave her a smile. "Would you like to hear my idea?"

She nodded.

Dumbledore's idea was basically this. Hermione would travel back to 1977, which was the senior year for Professor Snape, James Potter, Lily Evans, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettingrew. She would travel from the headmaster's office, and hopefully younger Dumbledore would be present when she arrived. She would explain, and get enrolled into Hogwarts as a seventh year student. Hopefully, the horcruxes would be destroyed and the Dark Lord dead before the deaths of James and Lily Potter were to happen.

There was no twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes as he spoke next. "But I have an uncanny feeling that their fate is already sealed, one way or the other. If that is the case, there is nothing you can do, except for be ready for the Dark Lord's return."

Dumbledore's expression was filled with grief as he looked at her. "So many wrongdoings, so many mistakes. If I had only known what I know now.. Of course, you cannot tell younger me everything. No one should know that much about the future without having already lived it. But I think you will get a feel of what is right, and what is wrong to share."

Hermione nodded. "I think so too, sir."

The room went silent for a moment before Dumbledore spoke. "Please do me the honours of calling me Albus. It is long overdue. And I have one request, or a plea more like it. The one person I have failed the most. Severus."

Hermione smiled at Albus. "Yes, I have been thinking about him as well. I will arrive before he joins the Death Eaters if I understand the timeline correctly."

Albus nodded. "Yes, he did not join until after graduation. Although he had met and spoken to the Dark Lord on several occasions before that. The process has already begun. But it is not too late to stop it. By the time you arrive, he is a lonely boy; he lost his friendship with Lily some time ago. And the marauders will not leave him alone. So he is miserable, and very, very lonely. Will you try?"

Hermione looked at Albus. "I had no intention of not doing so."

-o-

Two days. Two days until she was leaving. Merlin, she would miss everyone so much. But she would see everyone again. And perhaps even be reunited with some of the ones they had lost. If she could just save one or two, it would be worth it.

Hermione spent the next day packing. Packing for twenty years was not something you did every day.

In the end she was finished, and everything went down in her enchanted handbag. Next she went to Gringotts, to find that her vault was fuller than it had ever been. Gifts and rewards had started coming in, but she was not aware that it was this much. Suddenly she felt bad. She had not fought in this war to receive prize money. Although, you are going away for twenty years. It could not have come on a better time. With that in mind, Hermione withdrew everything from her vault.

Later that evening, Hermione went to see her friends. As she entered and smiled at Ron, she felt relief wash over her. They had broken up the same night they had tried to have sex. It had been the most awkward thing she had ever experienced. Like suddenly realising you are having sex with your brother. Hermione loved him, just not like a lover should. Luckily, Ron had come to the same conclusion as her. She imagined what it would be like if they were still together and she would go back in time. When they met again it would have been litterally no time for him, but twenty years for her. A lot can change in twenty years. Understatement of the century, she thought as she settled down with her friends for the last time in twenty years.

The evening was lovely. She could not have asked for a better last evening. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, and they spent the night talking and laughing.

Hermione told the rest that she would spend the night at home and said her goodbyes. The thought that they would not even know she was gone helped a lot. They would not miss her. They all had already enough people to miss.

She apparated to Hogwarts and went to the Gryffindor common room, where she found Dumbledore waiting for her.

"Have you said your goodbyes then?"

Hermione nodded, and felt tears brimming in her eyes. "I have. And I have brought everything I need. How will this work?"

Albus folded his hands in his lap. "It is similar to the time-turner. But this will take you back much farther. I have a few things in my office that you will bring with you, and you will tell younger me a few things so that he will believe you. For now, go rest, and we will speak again tomorrow. I will have everything ready for you then. Goodnight, Miss Granger."

-o-

Hermione woke up with a sense of excitement mixed with dread. She went to Albus' office to find the old headmaster waiting for her in his portrait.

"Are you ready, Miss Granger?"

Hermione nodded.

One hour later, they had covered everything needed, and Hermione was standing in front of the headmaster's desk with the Time-Twister. It looked similar to the Time-Turner, but was slightly larger, and there were more golden rings circling the hourglass in the middle.

Albus took a deep breath, and looked at her. "One turn with the outer ring for each year, and one turn with the second one for each month. turns with the outer, and nine turns with the next. That will bring you to the end of August, 1977 if my calculations are correct. And I believe I am. Until we meet again, Hermione."

The old headmaster looked so sad that she suddenly felt a surge of compassion for the old wizard. She realised it was not an easy task for him to do all the things he had done. He had been playing with people's lives and fates for years and years. And she had at one point started to resent him for it. She felt quite a lot of the resentment vaporise from the tired and mournful expression of the old headmaster.

Hermione started to turn the ring on the Time-Twister.

-o-

She was a bit dizzy when she finished. Looking up, she saw a much younger-looking Albus Dumbledore standing right in front of her. How twenty years can change a person, she thought. But with the life he had lead, there was no real surprise to it.

Looking at the headmaster, she felt a surge of happiness to see him alive, and she did not think about what she was doing when she threw her arms around him. "Oh, Albus! I am so, so happy to see you!"

She almost added alive to the sentence, but just managed to stop herself.

"Oh Gods, I am sorry! You do of course not know who I am!"

Albus' had a confused expression, but his eyes twinkled. "And yet you call me by my first name. Most curious. Pray tell, who are you, where did you come from?"

He looked at the object in her hands, and his eyes widened. "I should most likely rephrase that. When did you come from?"

Hermione looked sheepishly at him. "1998."

"I see. Would you like a spot of tea? And perhaps a lemon drop?"

-o-

Hermione was nicely settled with a cup of tea when she started to explain. After about two hours, she felt she was done and leaned forward in her chair and put down her cup of tea. She then looked into Albus' eyes.

"I was told to tell you this, Albus. You need to let go of your grief. It was not you who killed Ariana. It was not you. It was Grindelwald. And even though that will not help you much, let go of your grief."

The room was silent for something that felt like an eternity before Albus looked at her. "Are you certain?"

Hermione nodded. "You will do a lot of searching for the next twenty years, though; I hope you will not do this time. And in the end you find out that you were not the one that directly caused her death. This was what you told me before I left."

They sat in silence for a while before Albus looked at her again. "You are already sorted into a house?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes. Gryffindor. And I will need to stay there."

She looked sheepishly away from the Headmaster. "But I was hoping to try the sorting hat again. So much has changed, and I have changed so much from the war. I am curious to see if it has changed its opinion of me."

They heard a voice from the top shelf. "Most certainly, young lady! It would be my honour!"

Albus' eyes twinkled. "Well, there you have it. You shall be sorted again, if nothing else for the curiosity of it."

Hermione felt really nervous when the hat was placed on her head. And was surprised to hear nothing from the hat. At first.

"Hmm. There is courage, so much courage. Intelligence. Such a bright mind. But cunning, yes, a lot of cunning."

The hat went silent again for a moment.

"You are a worthy Gryffindor, young lady. You would excel in any of the houses. But would you like to hear what house I would put you in if I was to choose?"

Hermione just nodded. She had a feeling she knew what was coming.

"Slytherin."

Hermione sighed. "I had a feeling you would say that. Gryffindor is the house of my heart. But after all these years of trying to survive, I have changed a lot. Thank you, Sorting Hat."

-o-

Albus and Hermione talked for quite a while longer, and Hermione realised she had not said much about Professor Snape. She had in general not mentioned many people by names, not wanting to share too much. She could, after all, change her mind later. And there was still time before things escalated. She needed time to sort her thoughts.

One thing she would tell him, though. "Albus. You need to know something. About Prof.. I mean Severus Snape."

She waved her hand dismissible. "I might as well. It is about Professor Snape. He will be Potions Master here by the way. But the thing is, he is a good man. A truly, heartfelt good man. Never doubt that. I hope to change things when it comes to his life. He does not deserve what will happen to him. He will never be happy. Never. He will die in the war after giving up his whole life for the cause. And I will not let that happen. Not this time."

Albus nodded. "Very well, Hermione. I will remember. I will remember everything you have told me."

Hermione smiled at the headmaster. "I will tell you more as time passes. But I need to clear my head and sort my thoughts. No one should know too much about the future without having already lived it. You yourself told me this. So I need to know what to tell and what to not tell."

Albus smiled back at her. "I agree. Now, we should decide on how to proceed from here. You will enroll as a seventh year student. In Gryffindor. And we should make a backstory for you. And perhaps a family tree?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes. I already have some of it. I come from Salem, Massachusetts, even though I am born in England. I moved to the United States at age 10, which is why I still have my English accent but have not gone to Hogwarts. I went to Salem Witches and Wizard Institute. My parents are dead, and I have almost no remaining family. My parents were from the States, which is why we moved back there. And I think I should change my name. To Hermione Singer. It has a similar sound to my real name, so it will not feel so unfamiliar. And I have done some research on it, and the name comes from a pureblood family in the United States. Not that I mind being muggle-born, but I think it will be easier. And..I feel bad for exploiting this, but there was a Singer-family that died two years ago. A man and a woman with one daughter, and she was around my age. They never found them, though. It was a boating accident."

Hermione took a lemon drop before continuing. "It is not known, but assumed that they were a magical family. And I had real trouble finding this information, so I think it will be almost impossible to find it these days. The ways of finding information is quite improved from 1977. And I never found their names, just the surname."

She looked at Albus. "I tried to find a suitable halfblood family, but it was not easy. So I went with pureblood. What do you think?"

Albus smiled at her. "I think it sounds quite perfect. And I think you are right about the name. It will make you less of a target. What age are you, Hermione?"

Hermione thought about it for a moment. "I am seventeen, eighteen at the nineteenth of September. But I used a Time-Turner quite a lot in my third year. You gave it to me by the way. So I am eighteen if you add that."

Albus looked a bit taken aback. "I gave you a Time-Turner? Whatever for?"

Hermione giggled. "So I could take more classes."

That made Albus chuckle as well. "I see. Well, I would stick to your on-paper age since you will turn eighteen in seventeen days. What do you say?"

Hermione nodded. "That sounds good. I will need legal papers, and I was wondering if you could help me with that? Wait, seventeen days? The school year has already begun?"

Albus nodded. "Yes. It begun yesterday so you are not that late. You have a potions class in twenty minutes, if you would like to go."

When Hermione looked slightly panicked, Albus continued with a twinkle in his eyes. "Take your time, you start whenever you please."

Hermione thought about it. "Actually, I would like to go. I might just as well."

Albus smiled. "Very well. I will go with you to introduce you. Do not fret, my dear. I will help you with whatever it is you need. The papers you need will be done by the end of the day. And I will make a password of your own, so you can enter my office when needed."

Albus looked thoughtful for a moment. "Perhaps you would consider sharing this information with Minerva? It will probably be easier for us all seeing that she is your head of house.

Hermione instantly nodded. "Yes, I think so as well. And I know her quite well, so it would be difficult to treat her as a stranger."

Albus gave an approving nod before standing up. "Let's get you to class then, shall we?"