A?N: This is a story set between the time of the last chapter of the DH and the epilouge, so obviously there will be spoilers. I hope that you enjoy it, because I have enjoyed writing it!
Chapter 1: A new life, with an old twist
Hermione Granger had always thought herself to be a very rational woman. She was an avid learner, was training to be a healer, and even kept a tidy and neat house despite the fact that she was worked to the bone and Crookshanks was a messy cat. And it was for that reason exactly that she, along with the rest of the magical community, felt as though something was terribly wrong with her.
Over the past two months, Hermione had quit her job, sold her small London apartment, moved to France and joined the guerriers noirs, a formidable and exclusive auror group. It was a drastic change and one that shocked everybody who knew the girl.
And even now, as Hermione got out of bed, the weak rays of early morning sun streaming through her window, she was still trying to make excuses for herself. She slowly padded her way along the carpeted floor to her bathroom. Crookshanks lazily brushed up against her leg, his way of wishing her a good morning.
Hermione went to her sink and looked at herself in the mirror. In her opinion, she had not changed one bit in the four years since the Battle at Hogwarts. Her hair was still mousy brown, along with her large eyes. Her skin had lost some of its pasty parlor after a month in the lovely French son, but she looked just as tired and forlorn as always. She also looked like a woman confused out of her wits.
"I'm turning 21 in a month" she said to herself "I'm still young enough to make rash decisions"
Crookshanks meowed loudly from his place in the bathroom doorway, as though he had understood how ridiculous Hermione's words had been. The girl had always been much more mature than her peers, making rash decisions was not normal for her at any age.
"Well then, I guess I just wanted a change of scenery" Hermione continued, though this was just as big of a lie as every other story she had come up with. The real story was as clear as the ring she wore, which was now flashing in the warm light. The truth was that Hermione was engaged and scared stiff because of it.
Ron had asked Hermione to marry him five months back at Ginny and Harry's wedding, and she had, of course, accepted. What other choice did she have? She and Ron were a dream couple, two members of the glorious and fateful trio, watched closely by the whole magical community. They were what everybody wanted to be. Hermione was a sensible, sharp girl on her way to becoming a great and respected healer. Ron was quickly rising up the ranks of the ministry and was slated to become the minister once his father left office. It was only expected that Ron and Hermione would marry, have a lovely family, and be envied by all. It was the safe and predictable thing to do.
The only problem was that Hermione did not know if she wanted to be safe and predictable her whole life. Did she want to spend the rest of her days smiling prettily for the cameras while being a perfect wife and healer? Did she want to go to pointless cocktail parties and make worthless banter with a group of people that cared more for her social class than for her personality? In the beginning she had told herself that those things didn't matter. All that mattered was that she loved Ron and she wouldn't mind the parties and the primping and the perfect life if he was there to share it with her. But now she wasn't so sure of even that.
"I don't want to be trapped" she finally said, leaving her bathroom and walking to her clothes cupboard. And it was the most truthful thing she had said in a while. Even Crookshanks gave a pleased meow as he trailed behind her. Hermione put on her robes and ran a comb through her messy hair before deciding it was pointless anyways.
Dressed, she went down the narrow stairs into her kitchen. Her house was much bigger than anything she had owned in London, and much more airy as well. If there was one thing that Hermione did not miss about her native country, it was the muggy weather.
"I'm running late, Crookshanks" she said to her cat "I can't make breakfast so you'll just have to eat cat food today, okay?"
Crookshanks gave her a disgusted look and hissed.
"I know you don't fancy it too much- but I get off at lunch today so I'll bring you something from the commons, okay?" she said. Crookshanks looked a bit more pacified, but he still flinched as Hermione dumped a can of cat food onto his plate and set it before him.
"Watch the house while I'm gone, okay? I'll see you at lunch" Hermione called to the cat before grabbing her bag and walking out the door. She hated Crookshanks by himself, but her job wasn't exactly cat friendly.
Hermione walked down her walkway and onto the sidewalk. Her house was located in a busy area, surrounded by lovely shops, cafes, and parks where she and Crookshanks liked to roam around on the weekends. It was a beautiful place and one that Hermione was glad she had the opportunity to live in.
"Mademoiselle Granger!"
Hermione turned around and saw Armel, her old and loveable neighbor.
"Bonjour Armel!" Hermione called out to the man, smiling brightly at him.
"You are going to work so early?" he asked, his English only slightly accented. He had lived in America for a while and had picked up the language quickly.
"It's not that early and I have a long commute" Hermione said. Armel was a muggle, so he did not know what Hermione's job was. She told him that she was a dentist in the city.
"Ah yes, but you could not have had breakfast" he said to her.
"I ate late last night, so I'm not very hungry" Hermione answered, checking her watch quickly. She was running late…
"You ate late again?" the man said, sighing "just you and cat again, right?"
"It's been that way since I've came" Hermione said, trying to hurry the conversation along.
"You need to get out more, mon cher, enjoy the town" he said, smiling.
"Well, I guess I work too much to do that" Hermione said, smiling back at the man "I have to go now, have a nice day Armel" she said, walking down the street.
"You too, mademoiselle, do not work too hard. It is not good for the health!" he called back. Hermione just shook her head at the man. If Armel actually knew what kind of work she was doing, he would know that there were much larger things that Hermione should be worrying about than just working too hard. People thought that now that Voldemort was dead there was no real threat to aurors. But how wrong they were. Once the Dark Lord fell, the real work began. There were old Death Eaters, trying to gain their master's old glory or just bitter about his fall. And they were the mild ones. There was much danger out there that no one knew about, and it was Hermione's job to make sure that no one ever did know about them. The monsters and horrors that the girl had seen in just the past month were gruesome enough to last her a life time. But for some reason, Hermione couldn't stop working. There was something about the thrill of danger that called to her. She guessed old habits never really died…
Once Hermione got to the end of her street, she turned into a large and dense clump of trees that would effectively hide her from any passersby. Once she was safely hidden, she apparated to the city, in front of an old and crumbling house in a deserted neighborhood. She quickly entered the dismal front room of the house, which consisted of four gray and dilapidated walls and one rickety staircase. Hermione climbed the staircase and got to the second floor, which was nothing more than a narrow hallway with a warped door at the end. She hurriedly made her way over to the door and placed her hand on it.
"Je ne sens aucune crainte, aucune pitié, aucun plaisir" she whispered and the door opened slowly. Hermione stepped inside and found herself in a large drawing room, ornately decorated and beautifully kept. At one end of the room was a large fire with two large, plush armchairs in front of it. Once of the chairs was occupied by a small, gray haired lady that looked at Hermione reproachfully.
"You are going to be late again, young lady" she said. Hermione groaned.
"I know, I know. I woke up late again" she said, walking up to the fire.
"Tardiness is not an enviable quality" the lady said, eyebrows raised.
"Well, none of my qualities are very enviable, so I don't mind" Hermione answered, picking up a small pot from on top of the fireplace. Inside contained floo powder.
"You look at yourself too critically, Hermione" the lady said. Hermione turned around to face her. The lady was Adele Vorous, a very noble woman and a one time leader of the guerriers noirs. Now she was the guardian of the gate for the organization and was known for spouting out her opinions on anything.
"I know I do, but that is the only way that I keep myself grounded" Hermione answered before tossing a handful of powder into the fire and stepping inside.
"le palais de guerriers" she said clearly and felt the familiar and uncomfortable rush of hot wind around her. She closed her eyes and let herself drift on until she landed hard in a large, stone fireplace. She quickly got out and dusted herself off.
"Your late again, miss Granger"
Hermione looked up and saw Amorphous Smith, the new leader of the guerriers and a very intimidating man indeed. He had a lone mane of sleek black hair that he pulled up away from his colorless skin. Most disconcerting of all where the man's eyes, which were large and a pale, icy blue color. He looked like something out of a nightmare, but he was one of the most dignified and fearless men that Hermione had come across during her time.
"Very sorry, Master Smith" she said hastily, craning her head to look at the man. "I overslept…again"
"Try not to do so in the future" the man said, his voice and emotions as unfathomable as ever "now come with me, I have a rather large assignment I would like you to take"
Hermione followed the man as he swept across the large room and down the hall. The guerriers noirs headquarters was an immense and beautiful place, an old palace perched high on a very lofty mountain in Northern France. It was constantly covered in fog, which gave it a very surreal look, especially when walking through the corridors, which were covered walkways with stone archways on either side.
Amorphous led Hermione into a small room at the end of the left corridor, which was once used by the King and his military consultants to plan and chart out battles. It was now used for about the same purpose, except the king was an impossibly tall and imposing man and the military consultant was a small and confused woman.
Hermione had only been in the room once before and that was when she was first accepted into the group. It was a small place, but it was still as intimidating as the man who worked in it. It had only a desk and two chairs. There was no window, no decorations on the walls, no personal touches anywhere besides the desk where there sat a ball filled with cloudy purple smoke.
Amorphous sat down in one of the chairs and offered the other one to Hermione, who fell into it right away.
"There has been a death eater sighting in Northern Romania" Amorphous said slowly "and we could like for you to go and see if the statement if valid". Hermione almost chuckled.
"A Death Eater sighting? That's just simple routine, I don't see why it's such an important thing" she said. Amorphous just looked at her with his large, untarnished eyes.
"This sighting was in the Forest of a Thousand Times" he said, causing Hermione to gasp.
"You mean…there really is such a place!" she asked.
"You know of it?" the man asked. Hermione nodded.
"Well, slightly. I mean I've read about it before, in a 101 mythical lands of Europe and even a slight excerpt about it in Difficult Charms for Master Witches…" she started.
"So you know what it is?" Amorphous said, cutting her off.
"I have an idea. From what I've gathered it's a bit of a nasty place. Charmed by a deranged wizard thousands of years back. It's supposed to take you to different times" Hermione answered. Amorphous nodded slightly.
"That is part of it" he said "The Forest was bewitched a very long time ago by a powerful wizard that who was driven insane for some reason. There is a section of glades that can transport a person to a different time period, but the only person who knew how to work it was the wizard, and it was presumed that the secret died with him"
"So why is this a worry to us?" Hermione asked.
"We were never certain if the wizard who charmed the forest told anybody else how to use the travel mechanism" Amorphous said. "He could have very well told anybody the secret before he died, and that secret could have been passed down."
"It seems like a sketchy theory to me" Hermione said.
"It does, but we cannot take any chances. If this death eater knows of the forest, he might know of how to use it, and imagine what an evil person could do with the power of time travel." Amorphous said. Hermione didn't even want to think of such things, it was too gruesome of a picture to paint in her mind.
"So you want me to go and stop this death eater" Hermione asked. Amorphous nodded.
"You are the member with the most experience in dealing with death eaters, I feel as though this is a suitable assignment for you."
"Do you know who the death eater is?" Hermione asked. Amorphous shook his head.
"Our informant did not tell me a name, but I am sure that you recognize most of them" he said. Hermione nodded, it was a true fact, sad, but still true.
"One more question…how do I get to this forest?" Hermione asked. Amorphous smiled and stood up. He walked over to the wall behind his desk and pressed his hand to it. He whispered a few words and the wall disappeared. Behind the wall was a sort of living room, containing a large sofa, a coffee table, and a massive window looking out into the fog. There was an open door a few feet away from the sofa that led to a hallway.
"This is my personal living quarters" Amorphous said, leading Hermione into the living room "I would rather you not tell the other guerriers this exists"
"Of course not" Hermione said, looking at the room around her in wonder. Amorphous led her to the fireplace that stood on the wall next to the coffee table. He took out a jar that held floo powder.
"Floo powder?" Hermione asked, amazed. "The mystical Forest of a Thousand Times can be accessed through the Floo Network?"
"No, the guerriers built a small house in the forest many years back to keep their eye on it. Usually they assign a member to be on constant guard, but there had been no disturbance in the place for the past hundred years" Amorphous said.
"Except for now" Hermione said, taking some floo powder.
"Except for now" Amorphous agreed. "Just toss the powder into the fire and say 'Myrmidon Manor'" he said. Hermione looked up at him, confused.
"Myrmidon? That isn't a very flattering word? Why would they pick that to be the name of the manor?" she asked.
"I wasn't alive when it was built and named so I would have no idea" Amorphous said. Hermione just shrugged, knowing she would not get a better answer out of the man.
She checked her robe pocket, making sure her wand was tucked securely in it before presiding. It would be a dangerous and tricky job, even if it was a death eater cop-out. And going on dangerous and tricky jobs by herself made Hermione a bit wary. In the past, she had usually faced her dangers with Harry or Ron by her side. But now was a different time and a different Hermione. She would have to get used to flying (or fighting) solo.
She tossed the powder into the fire crying "Myrmidon Manor". The fire whisked her away and Hermione was reminded once again of the reasons that she hated traveling by floo. Ash flew up her nose and it took all of her strength not to lose her composure and swat at it. But she knew that if she did it would risk her getting off track, and Hermione would much rather not be stranded in some odd, unfamiliar place.
After what seemed like forever, Hermione finally felt hard ground under her feet. She stepped out and brushed the soot out of her hair. The first thing she noticed was that it was cold, much colder than it had ever been in England and defiantly much colder than in France. And it was dark. Dark and cold, not a very favorable combination.
"You think Amorphous could have lent me a jacket" Hermione grumbled as her eyes adjusted to the low amounts of light. She looked around her and saw that she was in a small stone room. There was a lonely table in the middle of it and a sink behind it. The cupboards on the wall were closed, but Hermione knew that if she looked inside they would be probably be filled with age old food and dusty bottles. The air had a damp and dingy quality to it. All in all, it was not a very nice place to be in. There was a door near the fireplace and Hermione yanked it open, stepping outside into the forest.
The Forest of a Thousand Times was never described in any books and Hermione had been very excited to finally see the mythical forest. So, of course, she expected to be very disappointed when she stepped outside of the cottage. She knew that nothing ever lived up to their expectations, and she was usually right- except for in the case of this forest.
The forest was a beautiful yet sinister place and it made Hermione speechless. The trees were so tall that it was impossible to see their tops, no matter how high Hermione craned her neck. Now usually, trees that tall blocked out any light, but the forest was well lit, as though the sun shined lower in this area. The light, however, did not make the place feel warm or welcoming in the least bit. There was a thick fog that hung damply in the air, but unlike the pleasant mist that covered the guerriers hideaway, this fog was dense and had an eerie green tinge.
Hermione just stood and took in the wonderfully wicked sight around her before remembering the reason why she had come here in the first place. She was on a mission, not a sight seeing expedition.
She slowly started to make her way through the forest, careful not to touch any trees. She didn't know which ones were charmed and she didn't want to take her chances and end up a hundred years in the past…or the future, though the thought of it did cross her mind a few times. How much would she be able to learn if she could travel through time? How many people could she save? That one thought made Hermione stop in her tracks. There was a tree in this forest that could allow Hermione to go back and save the lives of so many people; Lupin, Tonks, Sirius, Fred….the thought was alluring.
"This is why this place is so dangerous" Hermione whispered. The power of the forest was so strong it was almost tangible and Hermione couldn't blame the mystery death eater for waning to have the power, she was very tempted herself.
Suddenly, Hermione caught sight of a flash of black in the thicket of trees next to her. It seemed as though her mystery target was on the move. Hermione moved into the thicket, slowly and soundlessly, hoping to catch the death eater off guard.
The black figure moved further into the thicket and Hermione followed. It was getting a bit darker and the fog was hanging a bit lower, but Hermione didn't notice any of this. She just had eyes for the moving figure. The figure suddenly stopped in a glade that was surrounded by trees and took out a piece of parchment. Hermione decided that it was a good opportunity to attack. She took out her wand and stepped behind the death eater.
"Make one more move and you die" Hermione said, trying to sound as intimidating and imposing as she could. The death eater stiffened and turned around suddenly, wand in hand. The movement was so abrupt that the death eater's hood fell down, exposing his face. Hermione looked at it and gasped.
"Draco" she said, aghast, looking at the familiar face. Last she had heard, the boy was running the family's estate in Kent.
"Granger" the boy said, looking as disgusted as he was shocked. Hermione cringed. She was used to being given spiteful looks but that didn't mean that they still didn't bother her.
"Didn't think you'd stoop down to this level" Hermione said, wand still pointed at the boy "a remnant death eater trying to regain his master's old glory". Draco gave her a contemptuous look, his eyes flashing.
"Don't pretend like you understand anything, Granger." Draco said "I should have known that you'd become an auror. Missed the fame of being in the spotlight all the time? Trying to reclaim your days of glory?"
Hermione gaped at the boy. How much more wrong could he be? Hermione had been trying to escape the spotlight, trying to regain her independence, move away from her glory days.
"Still as pretentious as ever I see" Hermione said icily to the boy. "But we don't have time for reminiscent conversation. Hand over whatever that paper is and I won't be forced to hex you"
"In case you didn't notice, Granger, I could hex you just as easily" Draco said, shaking his wand slightly at her. Hermione looked at it questioningly. It was made out of some sort of bright white wood and seemed to be very new. She wondered who Draco had stolen it from. But still, Hermione knew that a wand battle would be of no use. She was clever with her spells, but she knew that Draco was no retard. Her only chance was to catch him off guard, and that she would.
With one quick, deft movement, Hermione tucked her wand into her robes and launched herself at Draco, throwing both of them to the ground. She had been training in the physical fighting area for a while and while she wasn't that big of a person she could be pretty ferocious in a fight.
Draco, clearly caught of guard, didn't even react as Hermione threw him to the ground. But when she tried to wrestle the paper from him, he decided it would probably be in his best interest to fight back. He tried to push the girl away, but that just sent the both of them rolling dangerously close to a large elm tree. Hermione tried to get the paper away from Draco, clawing him.
"Stop it you mad woman! You'll…"
But Hermione never got to hear the rest of Draco's sentence, for at that time both of them had rolled into the large elm tree and there was a sudden burst of light.
When the light subdued, Hermione found herself and Draco sitting in the middle of a large field with a cobblestone road next to it. The air was warm and the sun was shining merrily.
"Where are we?" Hermione asked, looking around. Draco just sat in stunned silence before turning to Hermione.
"Do you know what you did, you daft girl?" he asked, shocked "you've sent us back in time, and by the looks of it; we are very, very far back in time"