Extended Summary: AU in that only two horcruxes have been destroyed and Voldemort is still with power by the time Hermione finishes her 7th year. She is tasked by Dumbledore to go back in time to the First Wizarding War and acquire information before it is Obliviated from people he has interrogated. She also must stick close to Severus Snape, much to the young Potions Master's chagrin-he is constantly running into this new, insufferable know-it-all who has taken up his coveted Defense Against the Dark Arts post for the 1980-81 academic year.
Notes: This first bit is exposition and exists to give the reader a background as to why she has been sent back in time. This will eventually be SSHG goodness, but there must be angst and a slow burn in order for me to truly enjoy this pairing. Slight HGRL for a minute.
Disclaimer: All things recognized belong to J.K Rowling and I am making no money or anything off of this.
Title is derived from the two songs that inspired this story: 'Madness' by Muse and 'Demons' by Imagine Dragons.
"What I have been attempting to understand, Miss Granger, is why you have decided to keep it."
Silence fell upon the Headmaster's office. Even the strange, mechanical objects humming and whirring about in their bronze and crystal cases ceased as though listening to this conversation.
"I-I'm sorry, Professor." Hermione Granger stammered. She wasn't sure if it was an apology or if she was asking him to repeat himself.
"What is it that you were hoping to achieve?" Dumbledore went on, as though she hadn't spoken. His hands were folded together under his nose and he was peering at her over his fingertips. His blue eyes were enflamed.
The room was stifled, sans Fawkes' minute chirruping from his stand near the Headmaster's desk.
Hermione felt her hands folding over and over themselves all on their own, reaching for something to ground her. They shifted in her lap slightly, as though wishing to raise and tug at the chain wrapped around her neck and touch what hung from the bottom of it, beneath her robes. The object that this conversation was based upon.
"Miss Granger, you know as well as I—perhaps better than I—that supposedly all the Time Turners were destroyed in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries not even two years ago. Several Unspeakables have attempted to account for just how many were destroyed and they keep coming up short one number. They have surmised that there has been a miscount and have chalked it up to every one of the devices being lost to time, so to speak. However, I have documentation indicating that the one assigned to Hogwarts was returned to the school, but not to the Ministry." He smirked. "Curious, no?"
"Oh." Hermione didn't know what else to say. She knew that the blush creeping up her cheeks and inflaming her face and ears would soon betray her.
"Professor McGonagall has confided in me that you returned the device to her in your third year, however, she seems to believe that she has lost track of its status shortly before the start of this academic year."
"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione blurted out, unable to listen to him any longer. Portraits of past headmasters and headmistresses no longer pretended to sleep and instead leaned forward (if at all possible) in their frames. She was sure Fawkes and even the mechanical objects were listening closely. "It was never my desire to steal from Professor McGonagall, honestly. You are aware that I have nothing but the utmost respect for her."
Dumbledore has not moved and continued to pierce through her gaze.
She dropped her eyes to her hands still fighting in her lap. "I had been in the professor's office earlier that day—the day before we went to the Department of Mysteries—inquiring about when our O.W.L.S would be sent to us during the summer." She was aware that she must be babbling at this point with how rapidly she was speaking. Her mouth and throat were unbearably dry. "I noticed the Time Turner still in its case in the corner of her bookshelf, collecting dust. I nicked it after the Battle at the Ministry. I knew the others were destroyed. I remembered how pertinent it was to the success of saving Sirius Black two years previously. I knew that this device would be a most valuable asset to our side should we need more time. I—I thought about using it to go back to before the battle. To save Sirius. To stop the destruction that occurred. But every time I thought about it, I could not devise a plan that seemed to work without confiding in Professor McGonagall or yourself. I did not wish to do that, because then you would know I had it in my possession." She looked down at her lap.
Dumbledore sat back in his chair and seemed to relax. "Miss Granger, your intent on this matter is nothing but noble. It is apparent that you had the Greater Good in mind when you decided to bring the Time Turner into your possession once more. And it was a good thing, I may add." Her head snapped up and she fixed her gaze intently on him. His eyes began to twinkle at this point. He continued, "I have devised a plan that will be entirely useful to the tool around your neck. I have been in search of this Time Turner for ages. If only you said something sooner!" This last bit was said almost ruefully and Hermione bowed her head once more.
Hermione said nothing. Was she in trouble? She had already taken her N.E.W.T.s and she would soon be graduated and gone from Hogwarts forever. Surely she could simply return the Time Turner to Dumbledore now and he could use it for whatever mission he has crafted and she could go on with her now adult life, hopefully without may points taken from Gryffindor during her final moments at school.
"I would like for you to use your Time Turner to go back to the First Wizarding War, one year or so before the Potters' murders."
Hermione gaped at him. He could not be serious. Had he fashioned this mission specifically for her? Why her?
"Ah, silence." Dumbledore chuckled to himself. "You are neither denying nor consenting to my proposal."
"Excuse me, sir, but I'm not sure I understand. You wish for me to go back and prevent Harry's parents from being murdered? Clearly you are the more apt and appropriate wizard for the occasion."
Dumbledore smiled gently at her and placed his hands, palm down upon his desk. "No, Miss Granger, I wish for you to go back. I am needed here. You are the only member of the Order—sans perhaps Remus Lupin—who would have a viable excuse to be gone and unreachable for an extended period of time."
An excuse?
Her parents. Of course. She'd sent them away so long ago. She ached with longing to see them again and the wizened old man in front of her suggesting she use them as a ploy to further another one of his plots along made her chest tighten and ache for her mother and father. How she missed them. It was sickening to her that they were unable to miss her in turn.
It was suggested to Hermione before the start of her seventh year that she send them away—Voldemort and the Death Eaters had already targeted too many Muggleborns and their families. Dumbledore and the Order were sure her parents could be targeted any moment—it was widely known by the dark side how close she was to Harry Potter and they were hell-bent to have him suffer by watching his loved ones suffer. It was also suggested to her that if after some time the attacks decreased, they could perhaps attempt to bring her parents back at the end of her seventh year.
"You," Dumbledore said, breaking her out of her reverie while stroking his beard thoughtfully, "are to notify everyone that you are going on a journey to retrieve your parents and help them assimilate to home once more."
"Isn't there someone else you can send?" She asked desperately, aware of the waver in her voice that she didn't even attempt to swallow back before speaking to him. Her fingernails were now clawing into the soft skin of her hands.
"I'm afraid not. As I've stated, and as I'm sure you've surmised, the only Order member able to take on this task would be Remus Lupin with his current lack of responsibilities and commitments. However, it would be impossible and disastrous to send him back to be in constant contact with his past self. No, it is entirely desirable that someone who did not even exist at the time be sent back."
It made so much sense. It was as though she were destined for this task. She swallowed hard, biting back all cowardice. She dropped her hands to her sides and lifted her chin as if in defiance. "What is my mission, sir?"
Dumbledore leaned forward once more. "I need you to somehow become involved with one of the two sides of the war. The choice is yours. Consider whichever one you feel would give you the most information. You may also choose the one that feels the safest to you. Or, whichever one you feel would be the easiest to infiltrate knowing all you do now about both sides."
"You want me to choose to join up with the first Order of the Phoenix or the Death Eaters. However could you think I'd choose the latter?" She felt herself flush and knew her face was as red as she was angry.
Dumbledore's eyebrow quirked and waved his hand lazily. "Severus is a Death Eater now."
"He is noble and honorable—he does not count. And besides. We are not the same person." Then she added as an afterthought, "Sir."
"Regardless, Miss Granger," he held his palm out to her as if to show how courteous he was being. "I need you to infiltrate one of these groups and do whatever you can to retrieve any information concerning Lord Voldemort. If you choose to go with the Order—"
"Which I will," she said under her breath.
"—I ask that you apply for whatever open position at Hogwarts that is available that academic year so that you will be in close confides with other Order members, Severus, specifically. Although, he will still be a full-blown Death Eater at the time you meet him. I then ask you to become his confidante and see if he has any early memories of Voldemort that the Dark Lord may have Obliviated from him before I had the chance to perform Legilimency deeply upon our dear Potions Master."
"And what makes you think that Professor Snape would so willingly open up to a complete stranger?" Hermione knew she would be no match for the accomplished Legilimens.
"Because he will be entirely vulnerable. This will be around the time that Harry's mother has married his father and she will soon become pregnant with Harry. Severus will be rife with guilt and regret. This is also where he becomes entirely unhappy with serving the Dark Lord. He will pledge allegiance to me less than a year from the time you meet him. Please note, Miss Granger, that I am not asking you to intervene with the fate of Harry's parents, nor to tamper with the past in any way that is unnecessary. I am asking you to receive information and then come straight back when you believe you have what I—you need. The further back you go in time, the more dangerous it is to stay for very long. I'd like you to spend no more than a school year there."
Hermione had a million questions, but she could only address the latter part of his speech. "Why is it dangerous to stay for long periods of time?"
"I am not entirely sure. I believe only those who could truly be certain about that would be the Unspeakables who worked exclusively in the Time Room."
Hermione knew that he was lying to her, but she pressed onward, clinging to the small amount of Gryffindor courage that she had been awarded at the moment. "What do you need me to do?"
Dumbledore held up his hand, his palm facing himself this time, showing her a ring on the blackened hand she hadn't noticed. "I need you to find out what the five other horcruxes that Tom Riddle created are, and where he hid them years ago."