Chapter One
Time Doesn't Matter...
Hermione didn't remember much of what happened the night she went back in time. She remembered flashes of light from curses being shot, she remembered her two best friends Ron and Harry fighting next to her, and she remembered pain. The pain is what stood out most in her memory. It had hit her back, which was now covered in blood. Hermione had blacked out after that. The next thing she knew, she was laying on the ground of the Forbidden Forest, surrounded by two boys and a girl. The one boy looked extremely familiar, and she muttered, "Harry...where's Ron?"
The boy looked at her with a confused expression, then looked at his companions. "Who's Harry?"
"Maybe someone she knows, James. Someone who looks incredibly like you," the woman responded, and a memory came up in Hermione's mind. James...Harry's dad!
"Hey, that's impossible. I'm not copied, and only my son will have my amazingly good looks," James retorted. Hermione squinted to make out the other faces. She didn't need to look at James; she knew Harry had inherited his father's looks, but his mother's bright green eyes. She knew already that James had messy black hair and large round glasses that sat on the bridge of his nose. But Hermione was concerned about who the others were.
The woman had fiery red hair, so red she could've been mistaken for a Weasley, and bright green eyes like Harry's...she had to be Lily Evans. There was no doubt in Hermione's tired mind about that fact. However, she didn't recognize the other boy, and before she could ask how she got here, Hermione blacked out.
James looked at Sirius and Lily after the girl passed out. "Who is she, Padfoot?" he asked. Sirius fished out a map and looked for where they were sitting in the forest. Lily shook her head. "Does that even matter? Put your Marauder's Map away and let's get her to Madame Pomfrey. The girl is seriously wounded. Look at her back..."
Sirius and James gently turned the girl over onto her stomach, and Lily was right about her back; blood covered the slim jacket she wore. All three students took out their wands and hovered the girl, being careful not to bump her into anything. Sirius looked at the map again, then nudged James.
"Her name is Hermione Granger. Reckon she goes to our school?"
"Doubt it. She wouldn't be in this condition if she did, now would she? Hogwarts is the safest place on earth."
Sirius nodded at his friend's reasoning, and they walked into the Hospital Wing.
Sirius stayed by the girl's side the rest of the weekend. Not just from curiosity about where she came from, but also because he felt drawn to her...her frizzy brown hair covered the hospital wing pillow and some of her face. She had a light dusting of freckles along the bridge of her nose, which was a bit on the long side. In the short time she had been awake two days ago, Sirius noticed that she had deep brown eyes.
All throughout the weekend, James, Remus, Peter, and even Lily came to drag him away from Hermione's bedside, which rarely worked. There was something mysterious about her that kept him in the chair beside her bed.
Monday came, and Madame Pomfrey walked inside the wing to see Sirius sitting where she had left him the night before, sleeping. The old Healer sighed and woke the boy up. "Mr Black, you have classes today," she said quietly. Sirius woke up, winced at his stiff neck, and massaged it.
"Monday already?" he asked, and Madame Pomfrey nodded. Sirius looked at Hermione, then Madame Pomfrey.
"I don't have classes today, honest."
"Mr Black, I know from all your visits here in the past year alone that you have Potions in an hour. Now hop to it. She'll be fine."
"How do you know?"
The question startled the Healer, and a sigh once again escaped her mouth.
"I've had plenty of experience with this, Sirius. The curse that made the wound on her back was severe, and I'm not sure which curse could've made it. I had to knock her out for a few days to make sure she felt as little pain as possible."
Sirius nodded in defeat-there was no way he could convince Madame Pomfrey to think otherwise-and was on his was out of the wing when a movement came from the bed. Sirius turned around and saw Hermione sit up in bed, wincing, and rub her eyes. Madame Pomfrey and Sirius rushed to her bed at once.
"Mr Black, I said out." Madame Pomfrey ordered, but Sirius ignored her. He looked at Hermione with fascination, still curious as to how she got through the Hogwarts boundaries. No one could Apparate on Hogwarts grounds except the Headmaster, everyone knew that.
Hermione looked around the wing. "Madame Pomfrey...where's Harry? Ron? What happened to the wing? It couldn't have been repaired so quickly...the damage was severe! Where is everyone?" she started asking the Healer, then glanced at Sirius. "Who are you?"
"That's what we'd like to know, Miss Granger. That is your name, correct?" a kind voice said, and Sirius and Hermione looked over to see Albus Dumbledore walk into the wing. Hermione looked like she'd seen a ghost. She nodded, still staring at her old headmaster.
"Professor Dumbledore...how did you...what...what's going on?" Hermione asked frantically, getting out of bed and looking out the window. The grounds didn't look like a battle had just happened. A few tired looking students were on their way to Hagrid's Hut, which was occupied not by Hagrid but someone else. Her heart was beating fast as she looked for any explanation. Dumbledore looked at Madame Pomfrey, then to Sirius. He walked over next to Hermione, and stared out the window.
"Miss Granger, you seem to know a lot about the school that none of us were aware of. Tell me, when was the wing destroyed?"
"Just the other day! A few hours ago at least...and Professor, how are you here?" Hermione turned to the older man and spoke in a whisper. "Everyone saw you fall off the Astronomy tower last year, Harry saw it happen himself. I'm so confused, what's going on?"
Dumbledore was silent, then looked at the other two occupants of the hospital wing. "Poppy, Mr. Black...not a word of anything you may hear is to be told to anyone. Understand?" The two nodded, and Dumbledore cast a quick charm around the four of them.
"Miss Granger, I can assure you I never fell of any towers last year, nor do I know any boys named Harry who could've seen such a thing happen. Miss Granger...tell me what year it is."
Hermione was startled by the question. "Sir, it's May 3, 1999."
Dumbledore was again quiet. "I'm sorry...it's 1979, not 1999. What do you recall last?"
"Professor, of course it's 1999. It's impossible to go twenty years back in time. Even if it were, all the time turners were broken, so there's no way it's 1979." Hermione argued, but thought. She looked at Sirius, then Madame Pomfrey, then Dumbledore. "The last thing I remember...Harry was about to turn himself over to Voldemort...Ron, Ginny, and I were trying to convince him not to, then we got caught in a duel with at least a few Death Eaters...I remember curses being thrown, getting hit in the back...then nothing."
Everyone stared at her. "A curse can't cause time travel, can it Professor?" Sirius asked. "If it could, it would either be really dark magic, or old magic."
Dumbledore nodded. "Correct, Mr. Black. Miss Granger, what Mr. Black said is the only possible explanation I can come up with. Time travel is rare, and over a course of twenty years is, like you said, nearly impossible. However, whatever curse hit you could be the exception."
"Albus, there was a scar left on her back after I healed it up...it wouldn't go away no matter what I tried." Madame Pomfrey said, and Dumbledore nodded.
"Good. Please draw it out for me, Poppy. I highly doubt Miss Granger would like for me to look at her back."
Sirius chuckled, then received a glare from Hermione. While the Healer and professor talked, Sirius sat on Hermione's bed. Hermione sat next to him.
"I'm Sirius. Sirius Black," Sirius said, and Hermione's eyes widened. She was meeting the young Sirius...how odd this little adventure would be. She remembered seeing his older self fall through the veil in the Department of Mysteries...then realized she was staring. "I'm Hermione."
Sirius grinned. "What house are you in, Hermione? Since you're from the future Hogwarts and all, you would obviously have a house."
Hermione nodded. "Gryffindor. And you are too."
"How did you know that? Did you meet my future self?" Sirius asked, and Hermione pointed at Sirius' Gryffindor tie. "I took a lucky guess."
Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey walked toward the two students. "Miss Granger, while we try to figure out which curse this could've been, you shall finish your education here in this era. What year are you in?"
"Seventh, professor, though I haven't really been in school. I was helping Harry find Voldemort's Horcrux's." Hermione explained.
"What's a Horcrux?" Sirius asked, but was ignored.
"Understandable. You can catch up anyway. And your house?" Dumbledore asked.
"Gryffindor."
"Perfect. I will get everything you need for your stay here. And Miss Granger...if anyone asks, you are a transfer from Beaboux in France. You're running for safety because of Voldemort's followers have a strange interest in you. Your family knows me, and I have agreed to take you in. Mr. Black, you will confirm this story if any of your friends ask. Understood?"
Both students nodded. Dumbledore summoned some clothes and gave them to Hermione.
"Change quickly, breakfast is about over. You will begin classes tomorrow. Miss Evans will be excused from classes to show you around the school, since she is Head Girl. Mr. Black, get Miss Evans and get to class."
Seeing that Dumbledore's tone of voice was final, everyone hustled around to do as he said.
