Disclaimer: Don't own them. Wish I did, but I don't.

Author's Notes:

Hello there, welcome to my first W.I.P for my Harry Potter fanfiction. This will be my take on the Time Travel concept and will involve the pairing of Severus Snape and Hermione Granger so please... if you don't like that, please don't read or flame.

Any mistakes are mine.

With that said, I hope you enjoy the Prologue!

Prologue

A bone chilling scream alerted them that something was terribly wrong.

Harry Potter and Hermione Granger quickly shielded themselves behind one of the rocks of the Stone Circle and watched as a masked man grabbed a young girl by her glossy blonde locks. He dragged her forward, causing her to fall to her knees before being lifted to her feet again. Harry was appalled but stood paralyzed as the Death Eater yanked the girl into the Forbidden Forest.

Before either of them realized it, they were chasing after the girl. They shot through the trees, following the petrifying cries, listening to every movement and sound the forest echoed around them.

They soon reached a clearing and stealthily moved forwards, concealing themselves behind a large oak. They caught sight of the girl; she was shoved to her knees in front of Bellatrix Lestrange, and her head was viciously pulled upwards to stare into the woman's psychotic eyes.

Hermione gasped as she saw the girl's face. "Harry, I know her!" she whispered.

Harry appeared mortified at her words. "What? Who is she?"

Hermione crouched lower before murmuring, "Her name is Daniella Prins. She's a Ravenclaw. God, Harry... she's only a fourth year."

Bellatrix cackled maniacally and stepped forwards, placing two fingers under Daniella's chin. "Now, what do we have here?" The girl sobbed, trying desperately to break free of her hold. "Ah, ah... you aren't going anywhere."

Hermione etched closer to her friend. "She's a metamorphmagus. I saw her one day in the library; Draco was annoying her and her hair just changed colour."

The moonlight shone down onto Daniella and highlighted her pretty features. Her eyes were a magnificent ocean blue and her golden hair was streaked with the deepest flame red Harry had ever seen. The only red hair that came close to hers was what his mother's looked like in all of his photographs.

"It will be very interesting to see what the Dark Lord will do with you, girl," they heard Bellatrix hiss. "You've been keeping a secret from us, haven't you?"

When the first curse struck the girl, and her anguished shriek reached his ears, Harry could stand it no longer.

He scrambled to his feet and into the clearing. "Let her go!" he screeched, his wand rising towards Bellatrix's throat. "Let her go, now or I—"

Bellatrix snarled and pointed her own wand at the boy. Hermione rushed towards her friend, standing beside him in a protective gesture. However, the altercation was soon broken and replaced with a larger one.

Plumes of white and black smoke soon surrounded them; a sign that Ron Weasley had managed to send a warning to the Order of the Phoenix, but it was also a sign that more Death Eaters had arrived.

Red and green sparks flew from all directions and several bodies were flung against the trees. Airborne duels were fought; the lifelong clash between good and evil evident in the colours of the twirling Apparition trails.

Harry and Hermione lunged for Daniella, sheltering the fourteen year old from oncoming hexes and curses. They weaved around the battling witches and wizards, aiming for the cover of the trees. The noise was deafening and, much to Harry's horror; Daniella broke off from him and bolted for something in the woods.

He shot after her, but he came to a halt when he saw the last person he expected to see in the middle of a battle.

Severus Snape.

Death Eater.

Spy for the Order.

Daniella strangely ran towards their Potions Master. Harry noticed that the School's new hire was with Snape, standing beside him, and the dark haired witch looked positively hysterical.

Daniella came to a stop in front of the two staff members. Harry's eyebrows darted into his hairline when, on Snape's orders it seemed, the girl sprinted back in the direction of the Castle.

Harry whirled around when he heard Hermione yell his name... only to see a jet of violet light hit her squarely in the chest.

"No!"

As fast as his feet could carry him, he was soon at his friend's side as she disappeared into nothingness.

SSHGSSHGSSHGSSHG

It was over an hour later before it was deemed safe to return to the Castle. The Death Eaters retreated upon the arrival of Albus Dumbledore, but Harry had yet to calm down over the event that had transpired.

Hermione was nowhere to be seen.

Every Order member, along with Snape and the dark haired witch, the new assistant Healer, entered Dumbledore's office. Harry moved forwards slowly, listening as everyone bombarded the Headmaster with a barrage of questions.

All, except two.

Snape and the Healer seemed unusually quiet in Harry's opinion.

"Now, calm down," instructed Dumbledore. "All questions will be answered in due time."

"But, Headmaster... surely you can tell us where Hermione is?" asked Molly Weasley.

Dumbledore hummed. "Yes... I do know where the young Miss Granger has disappeared to. However, technically... she has not disappeared at all." He directed his next words at Snape. "Severus, if you please?"

The raven haired man took a hold of the Healer's right hand. He delicately brought her forward, many of the Order members found his gentility very odd. Once the woman was in front of the Headmaster's desk, Snape removed his ebony wand from his cloak and laid it on her forehead. A numerous amount of people started in fright when he uttered a spell, no one quite hearing the words of it, but the woman remained calm as he cast his wand over her body and down to her hips.

Everybody looked on in wonder as the witch's dark, straight hair became honey coloured curls, as her obsidian eyes became the colour of amber and as her stature shortened ever so slightly.

She must have been the same age as Snape himself; thirty six give or take a few years.

But, her face was unmistakable.

She was Hermione Granger.

"Oh my... Hermione?" gasped Molly. "Hermione, is it really—"

"—Yes, it is. It's me; I'm just... older than you all know me."

Molly was dumbfounded. "But, how is that possible?"

Snape turned to the matriarch and finally spoke, "The curse that struck her, sent her back through time. To 1977, to be precise."

"1977?" uttered Remus Lupin. "Then you..."

Hermione chuckled nervously. "Yes, Remus. I attended Hogwarts then, I was in your year."

Ron couldn't believe what he was seeing, or hearing. "How is this happening... how could you be in his year? You... you were sent back only today. We're sixth years."

Dumbledore answered the question before Hermione could. "She was placed into the seventh year because of her intelligence, Mr Weasley. She coped very well, I might add." The Headmaster sensed another question and responded before it was spoken. "That would mean her birthday correlates as being September 19th 1960."

Harry was gobsmacked. He could barely believe his eyes or ears. He had watched his best friend vanish before him and now, here she was... basically, if not definitely, twenty years older than him. "That means..."

Hermione nodded in reply. "You won't ever see the younger me again."

Dumbledore's eye twinkled when Snape caught his gaze. The dark man shuffled uncomfortably, knowing his life story was about to be broadcast to the world. "Hermione, I think your friends deserve to be told what happened in your past."

Snape groaned inwardly. Hermione merely smiled. They both knew this day would come.

"Yes, I believe they do, Headmaster."

Review please? I would love to know what you think so far.