Disclaimer: None of this is mine it is all the brilliant J.'s except perhaps the storyline and a few of the characters.
Hello all you brilliant readers out there. This is my first fan-fic so be nice! So, I really wanted to have a go at a time-turner fic (they are my favourite as you can probably guess from my pen name) so here goes….
A Story through Time
Chapter 1
'RON! NOOOO!'
I screamed as I watched helplessly while a jet of green light shot out of Bellatrix's wand like an arrow, soared through air and hit Ron square in the chest. He fell like a puppet whose strings were cut.
'YOU BITCH!' I shrieked, and darted forward, stunning my opponent. I leapt over the rubble of the half collapsed wall of the corridor and opening my mouth as I began to curse that evil witch, avenging my boyfriend's death.
'STUPEFY!' I yelled. Bellatrix deflected my spell easily.
'Aaaww. Is the little mudblood wrench upset about the weasel's death?' she taunted in return. Then we began to duel. Sparks flew as we dodged and twirled to a deadly dance.
'Crucio!' Blinding pain. I felt like I was being torn limb from limb. My eyes felt white hot but I bit down on my tongue, tasting blood as I forced myself not to scream. I would not give her the satisfaction. This was painful, very painful, but not as bad as when Voldemort himself had used the curse on me. I could still concentrate on what needed to be done.
'Impedimenta!' Bellatrix looked shocked for a moment but quickly recovered.
'Is that all you've got mudblood?' she sneered as her shield charm went up.
'Reducto!' Her eyes narrowed as she dodged the curse and the duel intensified as we battled it out.
'Cru-'
'Avada Kedavra!' Bellatrix jerked in surprise as the curse hit her and blasted her across the room. She lay there, crumpled on the floor, unmoving, her wand lying ten feet away from her splayed hand.
What - had - I – done! I fell to my knees next to Ron's lifeless body as my brain finally caught up with my actions. I had killed someone! Good people don't kill. Only Death Eaters kill. I choked back a sob as I draped myself across Ron's chest. Was I no better than them? Did I deserve to live? And it still didn't feel like enough. I wanted to kill every person who did not oppose Voldemort's rein of terror. Damn it! I felt like I could kill Voldemort himself!
Tears were streaming down my face as I contemplated these thoughts, gripping my boyfriend's dead body. It could have been years later when I felt a soft tug on my arm. I looked up. Dumbledore was standing over me with a pained expression on his face.
'Follow me, Miss Granger,' he said and turned sharply as he began walking back down the ruined corridor. In a daze I followed him, but not before planting a kiss on Ron's still warm lips.
Evidence of the war was all around me as I followed Dumbledore through the battlefield of what had once been the safe fortress of my school. Nobody paid any attention to us as we walked down a flight of stairs, through a door that was pretending to be a wall and down another corridor until finally we stopped in front of a large, rather ugly, stone gargoyle.
'Professor, why-' I began, but he held up a hand to silence me.
'Acid pops.' He gave the password and the stone stairway sprang to life. We stood on the stairway as it slowly traveled up until we reached a large oak door with a brass knocker. Dumbledore entered and I followed him through. The room was untouched. The whirring, delicate silver instruments sat on a spindly legged table. Books on shelves lined the walls and Fawkes the phoenix sat on his perch surveying us quietly. You could almost forget that there was a battle raging downstairs.
Dumbledore sat down heavily behind his ancient, carved desk, his lined face looking older than ever and indicated that I should do the same.
'Why-' I began but again Dumbledore silenced me with another wave of his hand.
'Please, Miss Granger. We don't have much time. Let me explain, but please save all questions till after I've finished.' He sounded so tired. I opened my mouth to protest but then thought better and closed it again.
'We cannot win this war,' he said simply. 'Voldemort has too many followers and our numbers are dwindling.
I couldn't help myself. 'But what about Harry?' I blurted out.
'I'm afraid that not even Harry can save us this time. We have got to face facts, Miss Granger. There is nothing we can do. Unless…' He trailed off staring at me very hard. I felt slightly uncomfortable.
'Miss Granger, what I think we need here is more time,' he said softly. I frowned, slightly confused, but then I understood. My mouth dropped open to form a round o.
'You want -,' I hesitated, 'you want me to travel back through time?'
He nodded. 'This may be our last hope. If we were to, let's say, nip this 'problem' in the bud, we might just be able survive this.'
'I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you want me to do?'
'Miss Granger, I want you to travel back in time, 50 years to be precise, to when Tom Riddle was at school here.'
'You want me to go and kill him?'
'No, Miss Granger.' He paused, 'Only as a last resort. I want you to change him, make him a better person, steer him off the path that leads to him becoming Lord Voldemort.'
I opened my mouth to interrupt.
'You must decide how you will do that. Nobody is born evil. It is our environment that shapes us into who we are today. Tom Riddle never had any friends, when he was a child or when he was at school here. He has never been shown any love.'
He opened a draw that was in his desk, reached into it and drew out an envelope and a gold hourglass swinging on a golden chain – a time turner.
'I have modified this time turner so that one turn anti clockwise should take you back to the right time,' he said as he passed it to me.
'Should?' I raised an eyebrow, glancing up from the necklace in my hands.
'I cannot guarantee that this will work. It could not work at all, it could take you to a completely different time period or it could kill you,' he explained. 'I know it is a lot to ask but I know that you have a lot to give. Will you accept this mission knowing of the danger that you will be in?'
I thought back to Ron's dead body lying amidst a battlefield where so many of my friends had lost their lives and countless others would if Voldemort was not defeated. I slowly nodded my head. 'I accept,' I stated, hoping that my voice did not shake too much.
I shadow of a smile crossed Dumbledore's face.
'Thank you, Miss Granger. If everything works out correctly, you will be going back to the beginning of his seventh year here at Hogwarts. In this envelope are two letters. When you arrive, I want you to talk to no one until you have spoken to me. Give me this. The first letter will explain to my younger self that you are from the future to carry out an important mission. Of course, it does not go into any details.' He handed me over the envelope.
'The second is a piece of parchment with your grades on it and the classes that you should be taking and a note to the Headmaster, Professor Dippet with details about why you are there. Fake, of course. It explains that you are from France, that you went to the school of Beuxbatons, that you're parents are now dead by Grindlewalds hand and that you have been sent to England so that you can be looked after by your Uncle.'
At this he paused as I looked up at him quizzically.
'Yes,' he said, with a slight twinkle in his eye. 'You will be posing as my niece. I think it is best that you be half blood. Tom Riddle will feel a bond with you for that fact alone and he will most likely not take kindly to you if he discovers that you are muggleborn. Do you think you can remember all that?'
I nodded slowly. 'I think I've got it all. Just one thing, what will my name be?'
Dumbledore smiled slightly. 'Well, I think you can keep your first name but we will have to change your surname to prevent any recognition in future years.' He thought for a second. 'I know. I have a third cousin twice removed who married a man whose name was O'Brien. I think that will do. Don't forget, we are related on your mother's side. Your dad is a muggle.'
He stood up and I followed suite, placing the chain of the time-turner around my neck.
'Tuck the letters inside your robes; we don't want you to lose them.' I did as he had asked taking deep breathes to try and calm myself. It wasn't working.
'Alright then Miss O'Brien,' he said. 'When you are ready.'
'One last thing,' I asked quickly. 'You seem to have planned this out a while ago.'
'I had my doubts and it is always best to have a plan b, no matter how ludicrous or seemingly impossible it appears to be,' he replied. 'Good luck Miss Granger. I hope we will never have to meet in this way again.'
I took hold of the time turner and turned it back once before I could change my mind.
There was a flash of light and I could see time rewinding all around me, but moving too quickly for me to pick out individual events. The past was swirling all around me in dizzying circles and I began to feel more than a bit queasy. This was so much worse than when I used it in my third year. Turning back decades was much more uncomfortable than going back a few hours. I closed my eyes wishing for it all to be over when as suddenly as it started, it stopped.
I opened my eyes to glimpse an old, rather plump wizard sitting behind the headmaster's desk facing a boy with dark hair who was sitting on the same chair I had recently vacated, before everything went dark and I felt like I was falling through nothingness.
Okay! I hope you enjoyed it – time well spent and all that. Please review as all comments are appreciated ( as long as they are either nice or constructive). Constructive criticism please! Some advice on where I could perhaps continue the story next as well?
Thanks for reading, love ya all
Isobel xxx
