Author's Note

This idea popped into my head while I was taking a shower and I just had to write it. I have the ending already planned out, and I very much like it.

So, without further ado:

Dumbledore's Parting Request

Dear Hermione,

A while ago, a very bright witch gave me this Time-Turner. She told me that unlike ordinary versions, it was not meant to turn back the hours, or even the days. It was meant to turn the hours, or even the days, but the years and centuries. I think she would have liked you to have it.

Please, turn back to 47 years ago. It might be very important.

Albus Dumbledore

Hermione looked at the note. She had found it on her seventeenth birthday on her dresser. But that was impossible – Dumbledore was dead! Yet she recognized his handwriting from the note on the invisibility cloak. She simply could not put it out of her mind.

She had already read it five times. It wasn't going to get any clearer. So, with a sigh, she did the only logical thing. She decided to follow his instructions, but not without precautions. It might be very important, he had said.

For a long time, she had been angry. Angry at leaving Hogwarts, at the Order's collapse, angry at not being able to do anything except help Harry train for his destiny. Now, she could do something. It might be very important. If it was, she could not ignore the note.

One thing bothered her. She had been working on just such a project – a long-range Time-Turner, a tool to help her find the Horcruxes. As a third-year student, Hermione Granger had looked at the device from every angle, taking precise notes, looking at the spells. Though it was very difficult for a young witch to comprehend, she had written everything down. Now, four years later, from those notes the bright girl had found she was able to design a plan for such an altered device. There were two problems with her plan:

An ordinary Time-Turner never did bring a person back, because after a few hours the time was right. Hermione would not be able to wait for years.

Even if she solved that little problem, how would she build it? The ingredients were incredibly rare, the spells long and difficult, and the stars were not in the right configuration.

So it was with apprehension and curiosity that Hermione opened the brown paper package. Beneath the plain wrapping was another layer, of almost transparent white paper, and she caught a glint of gold. Almost feverishly, but mindful not to tough the device, she ripped this layer off, and saw, gleaming in the sun, a little golden hoop, etched with runes, runes she knew, had researched, worked on. The small hourglass that sat in this hoop was filled with a dark green, viscous liquid. Dragon's blood. It was less of an hourglass and more a water-clock, for it had several chambers. Five, to be specific. So far, everything was as she had expected. She looked at the long, thin golden chain from which it hung and saw, where it was attached to the hoop, a star ruby in a ring of diamonds. The knob.

She levitated it off the paper and, holding it there, thought of the necessary incantation. "Formulae Revelatio!" she whispered, pointing her wand to the hourglass. She gasped as she caught sight of the multi-colored magic encircling this object, pulsing softly. She gave a twitch of her wand, and a long, golden strand which wound around the hoop gave off a tendril which extended till it touched the end of her wand.

Spells of protection, of change, of time, all the spells she knew had been necessary, all the spells she had prescribed, she identified them all. She had not anticipated how beautiful it would be, how like a work of art the intricate weaving of magic was. Finally she found herself at the last spell, a small green glow on the side of the Time-Turner. When identified, it turned out to be a cancellation spell, one which deadened magic. The simplicity of it surprised her. How could she not have thought of it? This was the way to go "back to the future" – simply to cancel the original spell! Satisfied that the item was what it seemed to be, and that all the spells on it were supposed to be there, she let the levitation spell falter and caught it in her hand.

Her heart was beating, her breath heavy, as she put down the fragile device. It can't be. How could he know? Or that other witch he mentioned? This is ridiculous. I'm going to wake up any minute now and find out this is just a dream. She paced to her window and leaned on the sill, looking at the busy London street below. Bustling crowds hurried on the dirty sidewalks, cars honked at each other, and people came in and out of the record store just across the street. She smiled as her eyes landed on the dingy, dirty little pub next door, the Leaky Cauldron. This apartment had proven very useful for Ron, Harry and her, and once again she silently thanked Dumbledore for bequeathing it to them.

She had a hard time understanding how life could go on when Voldermort was back, when Dumbledore was dead, and a dream of hers had materialized on her bedside table. Well, it didn't matter to them. They didn't know, but lived out their lives in blissful ignorance, while she, Harry, and Ron had to make heavy decisions, feeling as though the fate of the world was resting on their young shoulders.

Which, unfortunately for them, it was.

Hermione walked away from the window and picked up the golden pendant. It ought to work – everything was just as she had designed it. As she slipped the chain around her neck, her finger caught on something on the edge of the hoop and she realized that it was not just as she had designed it. A small groove ran along the edge, one which seemed to have a band of silver at the bottom. A tiny rod came out of this groove, looking for all the world like a Muggle light switch. She didn't know what it was, but assumed it was where the cancellation spell was anchored, a way to get back to her own time. All right, she thought. Let's do this.

Standing in the sun, looking at the cars below her, she took the Time-Turner in her hand and nervously twisted the knob four times, before flipping the complicated hour glass over itself, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven times. Her head pounded, she felt as if her brain was throbbing, as though her eyes were pressing against their sockets. The world moved back in time, but far too quickly for her to see movement. Instead, she saw the furniture change, caught glimpses of her own cheery bedroom, a child's crib, a sofa draped in red velvet, a black bookcase and leather armchairs. The spinning change stopped, her headache, relented, and she let out a breath she had not realized she was holding. She was there.

O-o-o-O-o-o-O

Author's Note:Hi! This is Natasha, and I hope you enjoy this first chapter. Please read and review, I need constructive criticism. I think my description of the Time-Turner was clumsy, if anyone can help me with that I'd appreciate it.

I'd also love a beta reader.

I promise, I will return any reviews!