Hermione walked into the tower room office; clasping her hands behind her back. Professor McGonagall sat stiffly behind her desk, looking somewhat more frazzled than normal, but then it was the first day of term and much had already gone amiss at Hogwarts. Still, the fire blazed warmly enough in the hearth beside McGonagall's desk blocking out the chill from the dementors surrounding the castle. Hermione smiled politely at her transfiguration professor and waited for the woman to speak. The fire crackled pleasantly in the hearth, but no noise issued from McGonagall's lips. Her green eyes took in Hermione's face, hair, arms, and robe; finally she let them come to a rest on Hermione's own brown eyes and then she spoke.
"Hermione, I understand that you've applied for every course available to third year students." She said quietly, almost solemnly. Hermione bit her lip; she had assumed that McGonagall wanted to talk to her about what happened to Harry on the train, now she was afraid that Professor McGonagall was going to take away her "dream" schedule.
"Yes, Professor," Hermione answered with equal solemnity in her voice. McGonagall sighed and a wry smile played on her lips.
"You do realize that these courses overlap one another? That there isn't enough time in the day for you to feasibly be at all of them?"
"But; Professor, I thought that students could be issued time-," Hermione broke off; McGonagall's eyebrows had escalated so high into her hair line that Hermione wondered if they had been transfigured away. Then she realized that she was asking a very pompous question.
"I'm sorry Professor, I shouldn't have presumed-," But McGonagall stood up, and turned her back to Hermione so that she could rummage in a cabinet. A few minuets latter she turned to face her again, holding what looked like an hourglass in a dial.
"You were right to presume, I already ordered it. I was merely impressed with your prior knowledge of them, as information of their existence is almost impossible to obtain." Hermione's head swam with the praise from her favorite professor. McGonagall motioned for Hermione to come closer, Hermione obliged. "You must not let anyone see this, not even…Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. The school hasn't ordered time turners for anyone since…well since I was a student. So you must be most inconspicuous."Hermione beamed at the thought that she was following in McGonagall's footsteps but the prospect of keeping it a secret from Harry and Ron did seem daunting.
"But Professor couldn't I-,"
"Absolutely not, can you image the calamity we would have upon our heads if Potter decided to take this time turner and reverse the crimes of He Who Must Not Be Named?" Hermione thought she saw a dementor flying outside the window, but then she remembered that they were only being kept at Hogsmede. "Miss. Granger are you listening to me?"
"Yes, Professor, I won't tell them, I promise." McGonagall sighed again, and then almost reluctantly she handed Hermione the time turner. Hermione took it carefully out of McGonagall's hands which were much softer than she would have thought for a woman of…who knew how old.
"Thank you Professor McGonagall, I am really and truly honored."
"Yes, well, you don't need instruction on how to work it, I presume?" Another wry smile.
"I think I can manage."
"Until tomorrow then, 9:30 sharp," McGonagall said pointedly. Hermione was almost at the door, when McGonagall stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. Hermione turned,
"The password is Elysian Fields." Hermione nodded, and that was all. It wasn't until the door closed behind her that Hermione furrowed her brow in confusion; hadn't Percy said the Gryffindor password was Pericles?