Disclaimer: I do not own any aspects of Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form. Do you think Sirius Black would have died if I did?!
Written for Round 11 of The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition as Chaser 3 of the Chudley Cannons.
Chaser 3: Magical Object. (Time Turner)
Prompts:
*1. (word) bounce [bounced]
*8. (dialogue) "I'm bored. Play with me!"
*14. (quote) 'Dream a little harder' – Team Starkid, Twisted
The rest of the challenges and competitions are written at the bottom.
This fic is written for Liza, also known as NeonDomino. I hope you enjoy it (I do have plans for a multi-chapter once the season's over) and I sincerely apologize for how long this took.
A/N: Obviously an AU.
Word Count: 2634 on Google Doc without A/N's
Hermione breaks through the surface of the murky water, her lungs begging for air. She takes a deep breath, choking and gagging at the slimy swamp-like taste that floods her mouth. Her hand shifts through the algae for her wand, and Hermione curses under her breath as she realizes it's probably either at the bottom of the lake or floating aimlessly on the surface of the lake, which makes it practically invisible in the darkness of a moonless night.
Moonless, but not completely void of light, for the battle on the shore is still raging as strong as ever. Hexes and spells fly in all directions; some are deflected away from the fighting and bounce into the water, causing waves to splash over her head.
It's pointless, really, Hermione thinks as she starts to swim her way to shore, making sure her motions are light enough as to not be detected. Such a huge, deadly battle that Hermione dare says rivals the Battle of Hogwarts — all for a simple necklace. For the last time-turner owned by an old hermit living in the middle of no-where.
Hermione climbs out of the water and runs for cover. Her eyes search the clearing for Harry, for Ginny, for anyone without that horrendous mask on. A spell radiates light across the clearing, and from the corner, the telltale golden gleam of the time-turner flashes.
Hermione's eyes trail upwards from the hand clutching the time-turner until she meets Ron's terror-filled gaze. Before she can comprehend what she's doing, her feet are already forcing her body to run towards Ron, despite the amount of danger that would put her in.
She ducks a curse aimed at her head and uses the opportunity to snatch an abandoned wand lying on the ground. "Flipendo!" Hermione yells, aiming her borrowed wand at the Death Eaters surrounding the time-turner. One of them goes flying back into the water, but the rest continue closing in on Ron, who is trying valiantly to drive them back, to no avail.
Ron's gaze lands on Hermione, and the sheer desperation she sees only further fuels her to run faster towards him. "Hermione! Catch!" Ron yells, tossing the gleaming necklace in his hands into the air. The Death Eaters are too shocked to even make a move.
Hermione doesn't even have time to think 'that idiot' before the time-turner comes flying straight for her head. She throws her hand up and thanks Merlin for her reflexes when she feels the smooth metal in her palm.
Leaving no time to breath a sigh of relief, a blinding light flashes through the clearing. A spell comes hurtling at Hermione through the spots dancing across her vision, and it's only the built-in reactions from her brain that causes her hands —still grasping the time-turner — to fly up automatically to block the possibly crushing blow. Curses fly through Hermione's mind as she is thrown back.
The last thing Hermione knows is her back being slammed against the water, the force enough to send her into darkness.
She can hear voices speaking, although none of them are familiar. Hermione groans as she forces her eyes to open. The first thing she realizes is that, unless something very, very bad happened while she was out and the earth started rocking back and forth, Hermione was on a boat — or rather a ship, and a large one at that. A boat would imply one of those little sailboats her dad owned. No, this was a ship, and a very expensive one at that — the ornaments decorating the room she was in must have cost thousands of galleons.
The second thing Hermione realizes, is that she's staring into the face of a very, very young, Remus Lupin. His face looked healthy, without the black bags under his eyes or the gauntness that haunted his older self. The scars were still there though, thin white lines that crisscrossed his face in no particular pattern. His hair is a light blond, speckled with strands of light, chestnut brown instead of the weary gray the Remus she knew sported.
Hermione's first thought wasn't 'this must be a dream' and nor was it 'what have I done' — as much as she hated to admit it —the first thought that popped into her mind was none other than 'Remus looks really attractive'. Which of course made Hermione want to hit herself over the head with a book, preferably Hogwarts, A History, that one was particularly thick.
Hermione sits up, ignoring the wave of nausea that hits her full-force. Remus tilts his his head to the side, furrowing his eyebrows. He reaches a scarred hand to feel Hermione's forehead. She instinctively flinches backwards and immediately regrets it when she sees the hurt in Remus' amber eyes. Neither of them say anything, and the awkwardness is just about to choke Hermione when she is saved by the door opening. In walks Sirius Black.
This Sirius Black had smooth, comb-backed hair, eyes that glinted like steel, and a wicked smile that spoke of unimaginable mischief. This Sirius Black sported a linen shirt and trousers, a long scabbard strapped to his back, and balanced a tricorn in his hand. This Sirius Black looked like a bloody Pirate and not the escaped convict that she knew to be dead.
A groan escapes her lips and she buries her face in her hands. If she denies it hard enough, maybe things can go back to normal. This can't be real; she must have been knocked out and this is just her mind fabricating a dream. There was no way any of this could be real. Sure, a time-turner could send her back in the past, but not more than a few hours.
It simply wasn't possible for this to occur. Nevermind the hours situation, how could this past be so warped? That was unless . . . unless that spell that she was hit with affected the time-turner somehow, and by some damned luck, a ship just happened to be boarded in the exact location where she landed in the water. But even if that half-arsed idea was true, it didn't explain why Sirius was a pirate, and Remus too now that she got a closer look. Hermione couldn't even think of, let alone explain how the two of them were even alive.
And that was the moment Harry decided to walk in, loudly declaring, "Lil's won't let me in the kitchen anymore. I'm bored. Play with me! "
Hermione is on her feet in an instant, exclaiming "Harry!" before she can stop herself. Her words falter when she gets a closer look at who she assumed to be Harry. They shared the same hair, tousled and wild and messy, and the resemblance of their faces was so close it was like looking at photograph. But the eyes, the eyes gave it away. Harry did not have hazel eyes.
"J-James Potter," Hermione croaks as she takes a stumbling step back.
James gives her a confused look. When he realizes she isn't joking, James looks over her — Hermione assumes — to glance at Remus and Sirius. "She okay?" James asks, genuine worry in his voice as he jabs his thumb in her direction.
It's too much. Hermione snaps.
"No, I'm not okay! None of this makes sense. I'm not supposed to be here, none of you are supposed to be here!" Hermione doesn't give any of them time to respond before she whirls around a points an accusatory finger at Sirius. "You! You're supposed to be dead!"
Sirius raises an eyebrow, a bewildered expression on his face. There is a second of pause before he throws his head back in a barking laugh. "Sweetheart, that's not what you said last night," Sirius says with a flirtatious wink when he finally recovered enough breath.
"W-What?!"
James snickers as he casually leans against the door - having decided to watch the show instead of intervene. "I asked for you guys to play with me, but this is so much better."
Hermione groans again, biting back a frustrated scream. She spins around, glaring at each one of them. James' playful grin, Sirius' flirty smirk, Remus' worried glance. A Worried glance. Well, that was a difference. Maybe Remus remembers, maybe he can help her.
"Mates, that blow to the head Hermione took might have triggered something," Remus says, and Hermione feels the last of her hope flicker away. "James, go get Marlene - she's somewhere up deck." James nods and the playfulness leaves his eyes in an instant, only to be replaced be a cool solemness. James brings his hand to his head and gives Remus a crisp salute.
"Yes, Captain."
It's Hermione's turn to give Remus a bewildered look as she again, takes another step back. Warm arms encircle her from behind and Hermione gasps, tilting her head back to see Sirius staring at her with a look she can't quite describe. "Mione," he says, gripping her tighter. "You honestly can't remember?"
Hermione's eyes snap shut as her breath quickens. She can feel the warmth of Sirius' body pressed against hers, and she knows full well that it's his lips brushing against her forehead.
"The time-turner!" Hermione chokes out, pushing Sirius away.
"The what?" Remus asks. She had almost forgotten about the blond — the captain. Why hadn't he seemed surprised when Sirius embraced her? Was -was Hermione, this reality's Hermione, in a relationship with Sirius Black?
"Mione, you're starting to worry us," Sirius says. Luckily, he doesn't make a move to hold her again. Hermione doesn't think she can stand that, to be inside his arms again. Her heart still hasn't stopped its rapid beating.
Hermione takes a deep breath and forces herself to calm down, to be rational. She needs to find out where the time-turner is, as it obviously isn't in her hands. "There's this necklace — it's gold, with this hourglass in the center. Have either of you seen it?"
The two men exchange looks. "Hermione," Remus says slowly. "We have countless amounts of jewelry, let alone a gold necklace. "
"Countless amounts," Hermione repeats in shock. She blinks. A thought creeps at the back of her mind, but she doesn't want to acknowledge its existence. "Who are you?"
"Sirius —"
"No, I mean, who are you?" Hermione's breath catches, and she hopes their answer isn't the same as hers.
"Pirates."
She's sitting on the bed — her bed — supposedly, this whole room is hers. Hermione takes a deep breath and practically downs the cup of tea handed to her. "Okay," she breaths. "Run this over with me again, I'm what exactly?"
"You're our Sailing Master. You navigate the ship," James replies as he fiddles with a knife absently.
"And the ship is?"
"The Marauder," Sirius supplies. The smile in his eyes had disappeared ever since he realized Hermione didn't remember their apparent relationship.
"And let me guess, you're called the Marauders?"
"We're called the Marauders," Remus corrects quietly from his spot right beside her. He'd insisted on staying by her side.
"Right. So," Hermione falters for a split second before continuing, "we're the Marauders. You're the Captain of the ship," she turns to look at Remus, then continues again once he nods. "I'm the Sailing Master, James is First Mate, and Sirius is the Quarter Master."
"It's a sweet title. The ladies flock around me all the time," Sirius says, and his eyes glint again with that playful spark.
"Were they caught in the gravitational pull of your arrogance?" Hermione snaps, and only after did she realize he had done that on purpose to get a reaction out of her. The man laughs, and Hermione can't help but smile as she sees true happiness in a man whom she had only previously linked with sorrow.
"Alright," James says, pocketing his knife. "I'm going to go check on Lils." The messy-haired man is almost out the door when he pokes his head back in to declare playfully, "And behave tonight, you three. I could hear you guys all the way from my cabin last time."
Hermione feels her face flush red. She has no idea why—it's not like she'd ever done anything with the two men.
"Dream a little harder then, James!" Sirius yells after the First Mate.
"What did he mean by that?" Hermione asks, desperately hoping the blush on her cheeks had died down.
Remus flushes and Sirius only grins. The sandy-haired blond shakes his head at his companion before turning to meet Hermione's questioning gaze. His face is still flushed red as he mumbles, as if embarrassed, "The three of us are — were — in a relationship."
If she ever finds out who blasted that spell at her, she'd personally hex their arse off. She doesn't understand why or how, but the time-turner must have broken when the spell hit it. Not only had it thrown her back thousands of years, but it had also changed reality, sending so many people she knew, and some people she'd only heard of with her. They had lived this life, truly lived it, and for all Hermione knew, the reality she came from could have been wiped out of existence.
It'd been a whole month since she woke up on The Marauder. She'd scoured every inch of the ship, hoping to find the time-turner, or anything that could point her back to her timeline. Nothing. And that wasn't even the worst problem.
Hermione honestly didn't know how to cope with the situation.
Not with the fact that she's now the Sailing Master on the most respected and feared ship that's ever sailed the seas — no, she'd gotten used to that. It's not much different than being Harry Potter's best friend.
It's the fact that Remus Lupin, her caring professor, now a well accomplished Captain and swordsman (which is the reason behind his scars, not Werewolf claws) is in love with her.
It's the fact that Sirius Black, also an accomplished swordsman, is also in love with her.
Her, as in Hermione Granger; bushy-haired, buck-toothed, her.
And Hermione is starting to love them back. Both Remus' gentle touches and soft words, and Sirius' witty comebacks and wicked smirk; she is falling for them both and she doesn't want to stop her heart from doing so. There would be nights where she is lying alone in her chambers, lulled into a blissful calmness by the slow rocking of the sea, that she would think about how life would be if she stayed. If she were to stay here, with Remus and Sirius, with James and Lily and Marlene. Hermione knows enough about sailing a ship, she knows how it works. She could be a navigator.
No.
No, she couldn't. No matter how much it defies reason, Hermione has to believe that her reality is still out there. She simply has to believe. The brunette sets her jaw and stands up from where she was lying.
There is still one place Hermione had yet to search: The Captain's Quarters
And it is there that Sirius finds Hermione, hunched over as she tries, to no avail, to pick open the locked door with a pin she'd found lying on the deck.
"I taught you how to pick locks, and this is how you're using that skill."
"Hush, Sirius. Help me open the door." Hermione prays that Sirius' love for her will make him listen, even though she knows trying to access the Captain's Quarters is a death sentence.
"'Mione, only Remus has the key. You know that." Sirius crosses his arms as he stares at the brunette in amusement.
Unfortunately for Hermione, before she can say her next words, they're cut short by a deafening explosion.
A completely unforeseen event.
*Pokemon Go Challenge.
*Famous Witches and Wizards Card Challenge.
*Procrastinators Come Forward Competition.
*A Doomed Ship Challenge: Remus/Hermione/Sirius.
*Percy Jackson Character Challenge: Alecto: Write about someone who's out of place.
*Greek Mythology Category Competition: Eros: Write about falling in love.
*Hogwarts Houses: Drabble Club: Dialogue: "Were they caught in the gravitational pull of your arrogance?"
*Hogwarts Houses: Quidditch Pitch: "I taught you how to pick locks, and this is how you're using that skill."
*Hogwarts Houses: Room Of Requirement: Time Travel!AU