A/N- I recently read a very good HG/SB time-travel fic, and I absolutely loved the Hermione with young Sirius pairing. Hermione with the older Sirius that she knew was a little too creepy to me. I mean, c'mon, she's the best friend of his best friend's son. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy something different coming from me. Please review! –Phoenix

Hermione Jean Granger sat in the kitchen of her current residence, Number 12 Grimmauld Place in London. She was reading her new textbooks for her upcoming fifth year at Hogwarts. All of her homework was done, but that was no excuse to slack off now.

It was a week before she and her friends were due to return to Hogwarts, and she was very excited. This was the year where she would finally take her OWLs and then she would begin to work for her NEWTs. It was incredibly exciting for her.

Her two best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, were currently upstairs playing wizarding chess instead of finishing their homework. It irritated her to no end how they would wait until the last minute and then turn to her to bail them out. But, it irritated her even more how she caved and let them do it every time.

She sat there reading by herself for ten minutes until she heard footsteps in the hallway. She lifted her head out of her book and smiled when she saw Harry's godfather and the owner of Grimmauld Place, Sirius Black, walk down the hall right past the kitchen.

When he didn't respond to her wave, Hermione frowned slightly. Sirius usually responded cheerfully to any greeting from her. But, this time he looked too preoccupied to notice her. No, he looked too sad to notice her.

Hermione frowned and put her book down on the table before getting up and following him. She had seen Sirius looking down before, but he had never seemed this depressed to her before.

She followed him to the Black library. When she got to the room she poked her head in and saw Sirius looking among the books with his back to her. He looked for a minute until he found what he was looking for and pulled it off of the shelf. It was a small and dusty book, but when he held it he stroked it fondly. He opened the book and took out what looked to Hermione like a photograph and tucked it in his shirt pocked delicately.

"You can come in now, Hermione," he called.

Hermione winced at being caught and entered the room. "I'm sorry Sirius," she said apologetically. "You seemed really sad and I wanted to come and see if you were alright."

Sirius looked at her with a warm look in his eyes. While he had always been fond of her, he had never looked at her so fondly before.

"Come, sit," he requested while gesturing to a couple of chair in the reading area. When they were settled he continued to stroke the book that he was holding with a spark in his eye that Hermione had never seen before.

"Sirius…" she began hesitantly. "What book is that?"

Sirius looked up from the book and smiled. "This book is actually a diary, and it was filled in by someone who was very dear to me."

"Was," Hermione echoed.

The fugitive nodded sadly. "She was killed during the first war. It was right before Harry was born actually. Losing James and Lily after losing her was what drove me into a murderous rage to try to kill Wormtail."

The young witch's eyes filled with tears and she hastily wiped them away. "I'm sorry to hear that, Sirius," she said emotionally.

"I keep her close to my heart," he said as he patted the pocket where he had put the picture. "But, there are many times when I wonder if it is alright to compromise some things in order to prevent others. Hermione let me ask you something."

"Anything," Hermione said instantly.

Sirius smiled bitterly. "If you could change the past to prevent this war, would you do it?"

Hermione looked a little stunned at the question. "I-I don't know," she admitted. "After my work with the time-turner, I know just how fragile time is. The tiniest change could have the gravest outcome."

Sirius leaned forward and took Hermione's hands in his own. "This war is going to get really bad, Hermione," he said darkly. "People will die now, just like they did then. If you could prevent Harry's parent's death, would you?"

"I don't know," she said anxiously. "Who knows the consequences that that could bring?"

"Just like my friend used to say," Sirius said softly. With a sigh he stood up and stretched. He gave Hermione a sincere smile and a pat on the head before he left the library and Hermione.

"What was that all about?" Hermione asked herself softly.

After her conversation with Sirius, Hermione found herself avoiding being alone with Sirius for the remainder of the summer. His question had unsettled her greatly and she felt guilty for not instantly saying that she would change the past to save Harry's parents.

They made it to the train station early and quickly loaded their trunks and found a compartment before going back on the platform to say their farewells. Hermione hugged every adult who had accompanied them and promised to let them know how school went.

The train was set to leave in ten minutes when a nose nudged Hermione's hand. Looking down, she saw that Sirius as Padfoot was trying to get her attention.

"What is it Snuffles?" Hermione asked quietly.

Padfoot whined and gestured towards one of the empty offices that were on the platform. Having no choice, Hermione followed the shaggy dog and opened the door to the office and shut it behind them. When the door was shut and the blinds closed, Sirius transformed back and swiftly cast some privacy charms on the office.

"I'm sorry that I waited so long to do this," Sirius told her once the room was secure. "I really wanted to do this that day in the library, but I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do."

"What are you talking about, Sirius?" Hermione asked timidly.

Sirius groaned and sat down in one of the empty chairs. "I have to tell you something, Hermione. You're probably going to think that I'm crazy, but I must convince you that I'm telling you the truth."

Hermione fidgeted uncomfortably on her feet. "Sirius, I have no reason to doubt your word."

"Still," Sirius insisted. With a sigh, he reached his hand in the pocket of the coat that he was wearing and took out the small diary that she had caught him finding not too long ago. "I have been debating with myself whether or not I should do this, but in the end it only came down to one thing. Giving this to you was my close friend's last request."

"I don't understand," Hermione said faintly. "Why would someone who has been dead for fifteen years ask you to give that diary to me?"

Sirius took a deep breath and handed the diary to her. With slightly shaking hands, Hermione took it and opened the cover. Written on the inside cover was a name.

"Jean Hanley," she read. The name wasn't too odd; Jean was a common name as was Hanley. In fact, her own middle name was Jean. What stuck out to her was the familiar, neat handwriting. "This is my handwriting," Hermione gasped.

Hurriedly, she opened the diary to find that all except the first page were blank. She frowned and looked at Sirius, her brown eyes demanding an explanation.

"I charmed the pages so that they only reveal themselves on the day that they were written," Sirius explained.

"That doesn't explain anything," Hermione said dryly. "I'd recognize my handwriting anywhere."

Sirius seemed to brace himself. "That's because you wrote it. Hermione, you are my friend Jean."

Silence filled the room they were residing in. Sirius braced himself for one of Hermione's lectures to disprove something, but was instead surprised by laughter.

"I'm your dead friend," she laughed. "I'm sorry Sirius, but that's impossible. Even with a time-turner, it is impossible to travel back over fifteen years."

"Nothing is impossible for magic," Sirius told her seriously. "I am giving this to you because if you go through Jean's past actions, you will be given a chance to stop this whole war. Jean didn't realize it until she was dying in my arms that it was worth a shot to try and change things."

"But the repercussions," Hermione began.

"Would be worth it to save the countless lives," Sirius said softly.

"Even if it meant that Harry wasn't born?" Hermione challenged.

Sirius flinched but held firm. "It all depends on what you change. Hermione, I'm not asking you to make your decision now. But, if you do decide to go back, it is written in your diary and should reveal itself day-by-day."

Hermione's hands trembled as she held the diary in her hands. "But Sirius, you said that Jean died in your arms. If I am your Jean…then you're asking me to go back to my death."

Sirius's eyes flashed in anger. "I would do anything to save Jean," he said fiercely. "And you will not make the same mistake that she did. If you heed what Jean wrote then you will not meet the same fate."

"I can't go!" Hermione burst out. "It's too risky! And you talk as if Jean and I are two separate people when we are the same!"

"Because you are," Sirius said seriously. "Jean is who you will become; it is Jean who I grew close to while in school. I wasn't even aware that you are Jean until recently. Hermione, there are manipulations going on. I didn't remember Jean completely until about a month ago. She was one of the closest friends that I ever had and I just forgot about her? I didn't remember her at all until I first saw you. At first it was just a tug in my mind, but they grew into fuzzy memories and then I finally remembered her name. Remus doesn't even remember her and he was close with her too. Memories of Jane were erased in everyone who knew her."

Hermione's mouth gaped in alarm. "Who would obliviate that many people?"

"I can think of someone," Sirius said bitterly. "But I won't tell you that." The train whistle began to blow and Sirius swore. "You have to go," he said hurriedly. "Please think about it. I know that I'm asking a lot, but you have a chance here. Who knows what you will be able to prevent. You can make the future a better place." He dug his hands back in his pocket and pulled out a small bag. "You'll need this," he said as he put the bag in her shoulder bag.

"Sirius," Hermione started, but he canceled the charms and shifted back into Padfoot. "I'll think about it," she promised.

Hermione patted Padfoot on the head and raced back to the train, making it just in time for the clock to strike 11. It was a good thing that it was a long train ride, because she had a lot of thinking to do.

The whole train ride Hermione was silent. Her friends tried to include her in their conversations, but Hermione would just smile politely and go back to looking through hers…or Jean's diary.

While the whole prospect was absurd, Hermione couldn't help but feel that she could do some good. With Voldemort biding his time until he publicly announced his return, things were relatively quiet. There weren't any attacks going on. But, there were still the deaths from the first war and Cedric's death just a couple months prior.

Hermione took in a deep breath and opened the diary to that day's entry. Her neat handwriting was painfully obvious but Hermione could also tell that Jean was feeling anxious when she was writing this entry. While other people wouldn't catch up on this, Hermione could point out the parts where the words were written by a trembling hand.

September 1, 1995

Hello Hermione,

If you are reading this, then that means that you talked to Sirius. I know what you're feeling, I was skeptical about what Sirius told me as well. I have tried time and time again to try to figure out how to understand time-magic, but it's not meant to be understood. Sirius told me that I was his friend, Jean, and that I died in his arms. He asked me to go back hoping that I could fix things in the world. Well, if you're reading this then I guess that I failed. I don't know why I failed, but I'm sorry that this process is getting repeated again. I hope that you can do right where I did wrong and we'll fix this repeated cycle. All time-magic is one big cycle. If you're even considering going (don't automatically go just because I have gone through time-magic, go because you want to go) then get a blank diary and write in it each day. Like my Jean's diary told me, I will tell you how to go back. Also, be sure to bring only your wand and whatever Sirius gives you. I suppose we're meant to buy things from that time.

I'm scared. I'm writing this right before I go, and I can barely move my legs. Just knowing what has happened before makes me feel like I'm signing my own death certificate. I'm going to use all of my Gryffindor courage to go and try to change things. Hermione, I'm going to learn from my Jean's mistakes, so you need to learn from mine. Who knows, they could be relatively insignificant changes that saves everyone. To go back, you need to truly desire it. The Mirror of Erised does more than just show you your heart's desire. It can also grant it in some cases. The mirror hasn't been moved since our first year.

If you choose to go, good luck,

Jane Hanley

Hermione read the entry five times before she closed the book and put it in her bag. When her hand brushed against something velvet she remembered the bag that Sirius had given her. She took it out and opened it. When she saw the contents she nearly dropped the bag.

Inside of the bag were countless galleons, sickles and knuts. She quickly noticed that the bag had a bottomless and a feather-light charm on it.

Well, that solves my money problem, Hermione thought dryly. It seems that Sirius was determined to ensure that Jane would be well-cared for. But, that doesn't nearly solve all of the complications that I would face…if I choose to go.

When the train arrived at Hogwarts, Hermione followed her friends to the horse-less carriages and sat down next to Harry who looked at her in concern.

"You alright Hermione?" he asked worriedly. "You've been awfully quiet all day."

Hermione smiled reassuringly and nodded. "I'm just thinking about stuff. Harry, if you had the chance to change the past to save your parents, would you?"

Harry's eyes widened at the question. "Of course," he said instantly.

"Even if the repercussions were bad?" she continued.

"I guess that some things are worth the risk," Harry said with a shrug. "But, if I could change things for the better, then I would at least try."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "Thank you, Harry," she said softly.

After the feast, Hermione excused herself from her friends and went up to her dormitory. She dug through her trunk and pulled out a blank book.

"I guess I'll finally write in this," Hermione mused as she opened the blank diary that her parents had given her before her first year.

She left her book bag on her bed and tearfully removed the Gryffindor Crest and trim from her robes. There were no guarantees that she would be sorted into Gryffindor again.

The last thing that she did was take a good, long look at the room that had been her home for the past four years. Even though her mind was screaming for her to stay and that what she was about to do was stupid, but for once her heart was louder than her mind.

With just her clothes, diary and the bag that Sirius had given her, she walked down to the common room. She saw that the common room was empty which made her decision easier. If her best friends had still been up she wasn't sure if she would be able to go through with it.

She quietly made her way through the castle toward the third floor corridor. Without the Marauder's Map and Harry's invisibility cloak, she was a lot more vulnerable to get caught. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the same door that she had stood in front of with Harry and Ron by her side years ago.

"I made the decision," she told herself. "I'd do anything to help Harry, and I suppose that I'm helping myself too."

With resolve, she opened the door, half-expecting Fluffy to try to eat her. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the room was empty and that there were no obstacles preventing her from walking to the trapdoor. When she opened the trapdoor she tried to look for any signs of the devil's snare that used to be at the bottom.

"Lumos," she said as she pointed her wand in the hole.

When her wand lit up she saw no traces of the deadly plant. She conjured a rope and quickly tied it to one of the unlit torches on the wall and dropped it through the hole.

It would be safe to say that climbing down a rope in the pitch black from an unknown height was one of the most terrifying things that she had ever done in her life. She didn't like heights at all, but she liked them even less in the dark.

By the time she made it to the bottom she was trembling. It took her a minute to regain her composure enough to banish the rope and close the trapdoor with her wand.

Going through the chamber a second time was much easier than the first. There were no charmed keys to catch and no giant chess game to play, which was a relief because she was terrible at the game. The faint smell of troll was still evident and it made her shiver as she had flashbacks from her own troll attack. There were no flames or logic puzzle to go through. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the Mirror of Erised.

She had never seen the mirror before, but she could immediately understand why Harry was drawn to it. She didn't dare get close to the mirror just yet, in fear of getting whisked away right away. There was something that she had to do first.

Taking out her diary and a pen that she usually kept on her at all times, she wrote her first entry. Her entry wasn't really any different from the one that she had read earlier. Her hand trembled as she wrote, but with each letter she felt more and more confident in herself. When she was done with the entry she safely tucked the diary back on her pocket and walked up to the mirror.

When she looked in the mirror she saw only herself. She frowned in confusion and touched the mirror, wondering if something was wrong.

"Am I missing something?" she asked herself.

"Indeed, you are Miss Granger," a voice said behind her.

Hermione nearly jumped in surprise and whirled around. "Professor Dumbledore," she gasped. "I-I…"

Albus Dumbledore walked into the room and stopped twenty feet in front of her. "Miss Granger, I cannot allow you to finish what you have sought out to do. You are meddling with magics that are very dangerous."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione said while she backed up into the mirror.

"Do not lie Miss Granger," Dumbledore said sternly. "I have known for quite some time that you would destroy the world as we know it. You threaten the Light."

Hermione's eyes widened in alarm. "I'm not threatening the Light!" she protested. "I'm trying to change things for the better."

"And it is your delusional idea that will threaten our world."

"You mean our world where countless people have died in a war that can be prevented and those who are different are prosecuted because of our so-called 'government'?" Hermione demanded.

Dumbledore's eyes flashed angrily. "I had thought that all traces of Jane Hanley were erased years ago. But I see now that as long as you live, so will Jane Hanley."

Panic filled Hermione's chest. "You're the one who obliviated everyone's memories of Jane!"

"And now I will be more thorough," Dumbledore said regretfully. "In order to preserve the Light, you must be extinguished." He raised his wand and pointed it at her. "Goodbye Miss Hanley."

Hermione pressed herself up against the mirror even more. Right then, she wanted with every fiber of her being to go back and prevent the war and Dumbledore from hurting who knows how many people. Right when Dumbledore's wand began to dispel a green light, she felt her body begin to fall backwards, through the mirror.

The last thing that Hermione remembered was Dumbledore's furious shout when the world went black.

A/N- I hope that you all enjoyed the first chapter of my story. The reason why I'm approaching time-travel from this perspective is because I believe that time is one big circle. Please review and let me know what you think! -Phoenix