Hi! I just want to start off with a few words, I don't own anything that you may recognize. I am not making any money off this.

I also want to say a major thanks to my alpha reader, Ashley, and my beta reader, Rachael!

0o0o0 March 24th 0o0o0

Searing pain.

That's all she could feel.

The feeling of her bones breaking and mending, only to be broken again. The feeling of her skin being ripped apart and sewn back together. Her heart stopped. Her lungs stopped working. Is this what it felt like to die?

They'd been searching for Horcruxes for nearly eight months now, and she knew that they were getting close. But one slip of the tongue had led them to be captured. Ron had told them that the name was taboo, but Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself. That one slip up had broken all enchantments that she had placed around the tent. They'd been caught. And it was all her fault.

The pain stopped, but not for long. She knew that it would soon start again. She didn't know if she would be able to survive this much longer.

"TELL ME! HOW DID YOU GET INTO MY VAULT?!" the deranged witch screeched.

"We… We didn't!" Hermione gasped. "We've never been inside of your vault."

"LIAR! CRUCIO!"

The pain was back, only not as bad. She was slipping, her vision began to blur.

"We must call the Dark Lord. Enough with your taunting," Lucius ordered.

The pain finally ended, she could breathe, but her insides were beginning to feel like jelly. She wanted- no needed- to hold on. She couldn't die, not yet.

"HERMIONE! HERMIONE! WE HAVE TO SAVE HER!" she heard Ron yell from the cellar.

"Ron. Harry." She whispered. "I'm sorry."

"Bellatrix, either you end this or I will," Lucius's voice boomed.

Silence. More silence.

She didn't know how many seconds, or minutes, had passed. She couldn't die. Not yet. "Please," she whispered.

"Impetus Dolor!"

"Doloris et Mortis!"

She felt no more pain, surely, she was dead, there was no other explanation. She felt cold and wet, but there was no more pain. Finally, she sighed, and let the darkness take her.

0o0o0

She heard buzzing and could tell that she was no longer wet and cold. But that buzzing was driving her mad.

Her first mistake was opening her eyes. The bright light nearly blinded her, and she groaned in pain. Maybe death wasn't as peaceful as she had once believed.

"I can assure you that you are very much alive and that death is peaceful. No need to open your eyes just yet, or move. Don't move," someone told her.

"That voice, where do I know that voice from? And how did he know what I was thinking?" Hermione thought.

"Well Miss Granger, I knew what you were thinking because I am a very skilled Legilimens, and when you were brought to us, I took it upon myself to figure out who you are. And from what I've encountered, you are a skilled Occulmens. You blocked many of my attempts while you were unconscious. Here, let me help you get more comfortable," the man finished as he reached into his pocket.

Hermione heard two clicks.

"Alright, Miss Granger, you can open your eyes."

Hermione gasped. "Professor Dumbledore? How—I mean… I don't understand. What's going on? Where am I?"

"From what I've gathered, you've taken an unfortunate tumble through time. Your last waking memory was sometime in late March of 1998. Today's date is the 28th of August 1978. As to how you got here, my dear, I am afraid that I could not find that answer. Now that you're awake, I would ask you if you would allow me to enter your mind once again. Not right now of course, once you're feeling better, and once Madam Pomfrey has cleared you." Dumbledore stated. "And as for where you are, you are in one of our safe houses."

Hermione's head was reeling. 1978? That can't be possible.

"Sir, I can't be in 1978. That's impossible. Awful things happen to those who meddle with time, Sir. I must get back to Harry and Ron. They need me. I can't stay here. I'm sorry, Professor." Hermione rambled as she tried to push herself off the bed that she had been lying on. Her muscles protested, and she was only able to push herself up into a sitting position before her muscles gave out and she found herself on her back once again.

"Miss Granger, I will do everything in my power to find you a way home, but I must insist that you rest for now. You've been in our care for many days now. Your body is healing, you must give yourself time. Everything will sort itself out." Dumbledore assured her.

"Many days? Exactly how many days?" Hermione inquired.

"Today is the fourth full day that you've been here, Miss Granger. Now please, rest or I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will have my head," Dumbledore smiled as he stood.

"Professor, one more question. How did I get here? You didn't say." Hermione wished she could remember who brought her here.

Dumbledore smiled, the twinkle in his eye growing brighter. "Young Sirius Black brought you, my dear."

And with a wave goodbye, Dumbledore walked out of the room.

0o0o0

She was warm, she hadn't been this warm in months. Why was she so warm? Hermione reached her arms over her head and stretched. Her joints popped and her muscles began to loosen. She let out a loud moan as her stretch came to an end.

"I thought you'd never wake. Did you know that you snore?" a male voice said.

Hermione shrieked, she wasn't expecting anyone to be there. Turning her head towards the voice, she gasped, "Sirius?"

"The one and only," he smirked.

He was staring at her and it made her feel slightly uncomfortable. "Would you please stop staring at me? It's slightly unnerving," Hermione quipped. But he didn't, he just kept staring. And his smirk grew into a full-on smile.

"Usually, people say 'thank you' when someone else saves their life," Sirius remarked, his smile reaching his eyes. "But I can see that you're not like most people, so I'll forgive you."

"Oh, my goodness," Hermione rushed, embarrassed. "I'm so sorry. Thank you, Sirius."

"Don't mention it," he shrugged. "It's not every day you become a hero. But there is one thing you can mention." Sirius added taking note of how her cheeks blushed as he spoke. "How do you know my name?" he asked simply.

Hermione stared, what was she to say? She couldn't tell him that she knew him from the future, that wouldn't be smart. She couldn't not answer him. "I… Umm..." she began.

"Oh good, you're awake. Mister Black, you were instructed to retrieve me as soon as she had awakened," a witch's voice cut Hermione off, saving her from answering Sirius. "Now, out you get. I won't have you harassing this poor girl on my watch."

"Wait!" Hermione nearly shouted. "He can stay, it's fine." She was desperate for someone to talk to, and she wanted to find out where Sirius found her.

Sirius nodded his head and settled back down into the chair next to her bed. They both watched as Madam Pomfrey tended to Hermione's wounds, careful to not let the covers slip too far. When she handed Hermione a vial of pain potion, she turned to Sirius, "Don't keep her up too late, she needs her rest." And she walked out of the room and closed the door.

They sat in silence for a moment staring at each other, waiting for the other to speak. Hermione watched as Sirius shifted in his seat, most likely feeling uncomfortable in the silence. She waited to see if he was going to say anything. He cleared his throat.

Sirius smiled at Hermione, and it made her uncomfortable. She knew what he wanted to know, but she had hoped that he would have forgotten. But it seemed that she had no such luck.

"So," he began, "are you going to tell me how you know my name?"

Hermione fiddled with a loose string on the blanket that was covering her. She needed to come up with something. And fast.

"I, ummm, well, when Professor Dumbledore was here, he mentioned that someone named Sirius Black found me, and with you being my only other visitor, I guessed," Hermione rambled. It wasn't a complete lie, Dumbledore did say a young Sirius Black had found her.

He watched her. Hermione couldn't tell if he believed her or not. There was no reason for him not to.

Thankfully, he nodded, accepting her answer.

"So, what's your name?" he inquired. He watched as she took a deep breath and fiddled with her hands. And then she smiled.

"Hermione."

"Hermione. Hermione. Mione. I like it," Sirius stated as he stood.

"No, Her – my – oh – nee. "I don't like nicknames," Hermione cringed.

Sirius ignored her, "So, Mione, you said Dumbledore came to see you?"

Hermione nodded, slightly upset that Sirius had ignored her.

"Did he say anything else? Other than that I brought you here?" Sirius asked slightly impatient.

Hermione shrugged, "No, not really. Where did you find me before you brought me here?"

"My mates and I were out for a pint, and as we were leaving the pub, we saw a flash of bright blue light come from the alley in front of us. When we got to the alley, we didn't see anything, but I noticed you in a puddle on the ground, and we brought you straight here. The others went home, but I stayed here with you. Figured you'd want someone around when you woke up," Sirius recounted, his face flittering through multiple emotions as he spoke.

"Thank you," Hermione replied after a minute.

"My pleasure," Sirius smirked. "It's getting late and Madam Pomfrey wants you to get some rest. It was nice talking to you. Would it be alright if I visited you again? I'm sure it'll be boring being here by yourself, especially when school starts in a few days." He looked at her hopefully, waiting for an answer.

"Yeah, that would be great. Thanks again for bringing me here, Sirius," she said.

Sirius smiled and left the room.

Hermione plopped back against her pillow and groaned. She needed to get back to 1998. Soon.

0o0o0 Aug 29th 0o0o0

The day after she talked to Sirius, he came back to visit her like he asked. They talked for hours and Hermione was even able to get herself out of the bed. She didn't get very far though. The aftershocks of the Cruciatus Curse still plagued her body. Her muscles would tense and lock up for minutes at a time. She could only hope that one day, her body would heal completely. If an aftershock occurred while Sirius was there, he would massage her legs or arms, whichever was closer to him, trying to help her body to relax. Sirius stayed with her as much as he could. He would tell her about his friends, James, Remus, Peter, and Lily, and their adventures while they attended Hogwarts. Hermione would listen intently, laughing at his many misadventures. They had fun together, listening and talking to each other.

Nights were the worst for Hermione. Between still healing from the Cruciatus Curse and being in a different time, her sleep was haunted by nightmares. She dreamt about Harry and Ron and their time at Hogwarts and the nights they spent on the run. But those dreams didn't last long. Often, she would dream of Bellatrix, Lucius, and Horcruxes. Each Horcrux they'd found before she was sent back haunted her dreams because since she had been sent back in time she knew that they were still out there. She knew that she either had to get back to her time to finish finding Voldemort's Horcruxes, or she had to find them now and stop him from rising to power.

0o0o0Aug 30th 0o0o0

Hermione had woken up from her torture-induced coma 5 days ago, and she was beginning to go stir-crazy. She didn't have many visitors since the new term at Hogwarts was starting soon, and Madam Pomfrey had to make sure the infirmary was ready for the students. Sirius still came by, but she wished she could go with him when he left.

"Miss Granger, I would prefer it if you stayed in the house. At least until we figure out how and if we can send you back," Dumbledore reasoned, his half-moon spectacles sitting atop his nose. Dumbledore had paid Hermione a visit that morning.

Hermione sighed, "Sir, I can't stay here any longer. I've reached my wits end. Just, let me go to Diagon Alley, just for some fresh air and a change of scenery," Hermione pleaded. She had been locked in the house essentially, the Floo had been disabled, and since she didn't have a wand, she wasn't able to Apparate.

"Miss Granger, I assure you that within a few days' time you will be able to leave the house," Dumbledore began. "I have been in touch with a dear friend of mine who knows a great deal about time traveling, and he will respond to my questions soon. With the memories from your torture, I'm sure he will have nothing but good news for us."

Hermione scoffed, and folded her arms, but continued to listen.

"If it is found that you can go back," Dumbledore continued, "then you mustn't be seen. We've already taken a risk with Mister Black spending so much time with you. I want to be sure that if you are to return to your time, that nothing has changed. However, if it is found that you cannot return, I do not see any reason as to why you need to stay in this house. But we must wait until we know for sure, for everyone's sake."

Hermione knew he was right, Awful things happen to those who meddle with time. "Fine, may I at least have some more books?"

"Of course, I'll send some over later today. Now, I must be off. Start of the new term is only a few days away," Dumbledore said a little too brightly for Hermione's liking.

Since Hermione knew the books wouldn't arrive for a couple of hours, she decided to take a nap.

0o0o0

Hermione woke with a start. Looking around, she realized that she had slept the day away, the sun was setting. She hadn't meant to sleep that long. Stretching, Hermione rolled out of bed and made her way to the kitchen.

Rounding the corner into the kitchen, Hermione stopped in her tracks. Sirius had come to see her, but he wasn't alone this time.

"Mione," he began.

"Not Mione," she grumbled.

"Mione, I'd like you to meet Lily. She's my best mate's girlfriend," he said introducing the witch next to him.

"Hi, how are you? I've heard so much about you. It's nice to finally meet you," Lily said reaching to bring Hermione into a tight hug.

"Nice to meet you, too," Hermione said awkwardly hugging the witch back. "I wish Sirius had told me that he was bringing you, I would have cooked something. How long have you been here?"

"About ten minutes. Lily here didn't want to wake you when we got here, so we were going to start cooking and hope that you would join us soon," Sirius said as he opened cupboards and drawers.

Hermione looked over at the smiling witch. She'd seen pictures of her multiple times, but they didn't do her justice. She was taller than Hermione, and her infamous red hair reached the middle of her back. Her light brown skin made her hair stand out even more. And her green eyes – Harry's eyes – were as strikingly beautiful as Harry's had been. Hermione smiled, since there was a chance that she would be stuck here, she may as well make the best of it.

"I hope you don't mind me being here. Sirius would not stop talking about you, so I wanted to come meet you. And make sure that you were real," Lily laughed as she began helping Sirius.

"I don't mind at all, it's nice meeting new people. Being stuck in this house all day is no fun at all," Hermione pouted. She knew she shouldn't let Lily stay, but she couldn't be rude and throw her out now. And plus, the witch brought her food!

"Well, now that we're all acquainted, let's start cooking!" Sirius exclaimed.

And so, they began. The three quickly found a flow; Hermione chopped the vegetables and peppers, Lily diced the chicken, and Sirius watched. It's not that he didn't know how to cook because he did. He just made a better taste tester for this dish. The trio talked and laughed the entire time. Sirius once again recounting his adventures from Hogwarts, but this time included many interjections from Lily and Hermione learned the full story about how things happened instead of the Sirius version.

"Lily, do you remember the time Prongs proposed to you in the middle of the Great Hall?" Sirius asked before shoveling a forkful of food into his mouth.

"Which time?" Lily snorted.

"The time you hexed his hair an unattractive shade of green and refused to give him the counter curse for a week?" Sirius laughed. "And every time he would try to change it himself, it would turn brighter?"

"I do remember that," Lily snorted. "I also remember that you took pictures. We should send one to the Daily Prophet, maybe he'll make the front page."

"We had some good times, Mione. You would have loved it," Sirius said.

Hermione smiled, she was sure she would have loved it. Not having to worry about a deranged wizard trying to kill your best friend every year.

"Where's James?" Hermione inquired.

"He's hanging out with Remus," Sirius supplied as he finished up his food. "Didn't want to bring the whole gang over. I've been told that we can be a bit overwhelming to some."

"That's an understatement," Lily snorted.

Hermione frowned, "I don't think I should meet anyone else for a while. I'm still not feeling my best."

"I completely understand Hermione, there's no rush to meet the rest of the boy's," Lily reassured her. "When you're ready, we'll bring them over."

Hermione smiled and nodded, happy at the possibility of meeting Harry's father.

0o0o0 Sept 2nd 0o0o0

It had been three days since Sirius had brought Lily over and Hermione missed them. Before they had left, Hermione pulled Sirius aside and told him that she thought it would be best if he didn't come around anymore at least until she heard from Dumbledore. The look on his face when she told him that nearly broke her heart, but she knew that it had to be done. There was a possibility that she would be going back to her time, and she didn't want to get attached to anyone in the past.

Hermione closed the book she was reading and looked around the room. The room held a large bookcase, that covered the entire wall, and stretched from the floor to the ceiling. There was a lovely overstuffed chaise lounge right under the window, where she usually snuggled up with a book. The natural light that came through the window was always enough during the day, and she only had to read by candlelight during the night. The tan colored carpet was the softest that she had ever felt. She could walk around barefoot and be comfortable. With each step, it seemed as if her feet would sink into the carpet. Other than the chaise lounge, there were two other chairs and a small table.

She'd been in 1978 for two weeks now, and she had yet to finish exploring the house she was in. There were more rooms than she originally thought and she was going to explore them all.

Leaving the study, Hermione walked into one of the rooms that she hadn't been to. Upon opening the door, Hermione froze. It was another bedroom, and twice as large as the one she was currently sleeping in. The canopy bed was situated in the middle of the wall to her left, there was a bay window that faced the backyard. In the corner between the bed and bay window was a freestanding floor mirror. At the foot of the bed was a bench that looked as soft as the chaise in the other room. The dresser was made of wood and was stained a dark brown to match the rest of the wooden furniture. On both sides of the dresser were two doors. Stepping further into the room and opening the door closest to her, Hermione realized that she had found the closet. A walk-in closet. Along the sides of the closet were four racks, two on each side, where shirts could be hung, and along the back of the closet was a rack where pants and dresses could be hung. Along the baseboard of the entire closet and on top of the racks was cubbyholes, clearly for shoes.

Hermione left the closet and opened the door on the other side of the closet where she found the bathroom. She had never seen a bathroom so large. She noticed that there was a claw-foot tub that seemed to be twice as large as a regular claw-foot tub. She could imagine herself in that tub. The counter stretched along the wall by the door holding two sinks, and she noticed that there was another freestanding floor mirror. Hermione walked up to the mirror and gave herself a look. She hadn't really looked at herself in what felt like months, and she figured that now was as good of a time as ever.

Looking at herself, Hermione noticed just how different she looked. Comparing herself from how she remembered looking before the horcrux hunt to now, Hermione picked up on many differences. Though her light brown skin and dark brown hair was the same, her eyes were different, sunken a bit. The brown in them was no longer shiny, but now dull. She could see her collar bones sticking out underneath her shirt, something that she was never able to see. Not that she was overweight before, because she wasn't, she had more of an athletic build and that's what she was used to seeing. She lifted her shirt and noted that she could slightly see her ribcage and quickly let it her shirt fall again. It was time for a change and for her to start taking better care of herself.

Without a second thought, Hermione turned and began rummaging through the drawers in the bathroom. Coming up short, she exited the bathroom and then the room and ran into the kitchen. Once in the kitchen, she began rummaging through those drawers, and after a few minutes, she found what she was looking for. Scissors. Making sure she was holding the scissors the correct way, Hermione quickly walked back to the newly found bathroom. Once in front of the mirror, Hermione took one last look at her waist-length brown curls, grabbed a fistful, and cut just above her shoulders. She continued to cut until all her hair was above her shoulders. As soon as the last fistful was cut, Hermione felt a weight being lifted from her shoulders.

"Change is good," Hermione murmured, taking a closer look at herself. She rather liked her hair short.

"Indeed, it is, Miss Granger."

Hermione jumped. "Oh, Professor. I wasn't expecting you." She said, clutching her chest. "What brings you around? Have you heard from your friend?"

She was hopeful, but there was a nagging feeling inside of her reminding her that there's a chance that she won't be able to go back.

"I have heard back from him, but if I may. Would you mind joining me in the library down the hall? I find that with my old age I need to sit more," Dumbledore chuckled.

"Of course," Hermione said as she followed the elder wizard into the library where they both took a seat in the chairs around the table.

Hermione waited for Dumbledore to speak, that nagging feeling returning and getting stronger by the second. A couple of moments passed before Dumbledore began to speak.

"Miss Granger, how familiar are you with time travel?" he asked.

"Very. In my third year, I used a time turner to help me take extra classes. I also used it to help save Siri… a friend during that year also," Hermione corrected herself. "Why do you ask?"

"So, you know that to travel through time, you need to have an object that can manipulate time," Dumbledore said, and continued after Hermione had nodded her head. "Miss Granger, I'm afraid that what caused you to travel back in time was the two curses you were hit with while you were being tortured. According to my friend, the combination of the two curses and your weakened state at the time, is what brought you back. And since there was no object that brought you back, I'm afraid that there is no way to send you back."

Hermione's heart sank into the bottom of her stomach. She couldn't go home, well not that she had a home to go to. Her parents didn't remember her, as they were in Australia. Harry and Ron would miss her, hopefully, Harry would win the war soon.

"Sir, what happened to my…" past? Future? Hermione couldn't find the right word to use.

Dumbledore understood, "We believe that your old timeline continued and that you created another timeline the moment you were sent back. There is no guarantee that this theory is true, but we strongly believe that is what happened in your case."

Hermione bowed her head, "So what am I to do? I can't just sit here and let history repeat itself."

"I understand. That is why I hoped that you would become a member of the Order of the Phoenix. With what you know, we can be sure to win this war for good. I have called for a meeting for tomorrow night, should you accept, I would like to introduce you to the rest of the members," Dumbledore stated.

"Of course. Umm, sir? Since I'll be staying… I don't have a wand and…" Hermione began before Dumbledore cut her off.

"No worries, Miss Granger," he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small change purse and handed it to her.

"I can't accept this, professor," Hermione put her hands up by her chest.

"Yes, you can, and you will. Think of it as a gift to get you started on your new life. You need a wand, and maybe some new clothes," he said as he placed the purse on the table. "I wonder if Miss Evans would like to go shopping with you. I believe Sirius brought her over the other day?"

"Yes, but how did you know that?"

"Miss, Granger, I am aware of anyone that comes into this house," he said, his eyes twinkling.

Hermione smiled, of course he would have some sort of security in place. "Thank you, Sir. I really appreciate it."

Dumbledore smiled, "Now, the meeting will begin at 7 pm tomorrow night. Please be sure to owl Miss Evans. I'm sure she will be delighted to go shopping with you."

Hermione beamed, she couldn't wait to see Lily. She wanted to get to know her better, and James, and Remus, and even Sirius. Maybe staying in this time, she could save Peter and keep Sirius from going to Azkaban. Maybe she could do a lot of good. For the first time in weeks, Hermione felt hope.

Hello everyone! Here's my new story. The plunny came to me in January 2017, and I started writing it in July. I've been working on it on and off since then, and it's coming along just nicely. Posting won't be regular, I'll tell you that now. My plan is to post a chapter as I write a chapter. I have 5 chapters written so far, so when I write chapter 6, I'll post chapter 2 and so on. I'm not planning for it to be more than 20 chapters, 25 at the most.