A/N: Many parts of this story belong to JKR, as is the case with all of us. Enjoy
Why do bad things always happen to good people?
It wasn't generally Hermione Granger who chose to break the rules. She'd break them, of course, but that was usually after thorough convincing from Harry and Ron. She was a good person. No, she is a good person. So why? Why had she kept the time turner after all this time? She thought back to the events leading to the discovery of the offending item.
Naturally, she had been made Head Girl after returning to repeat her seventh year. Having her own dorm room could be quite lonely, but the privacy was nice. She had already completed her studies for the night, but it wasn't quite time for dinner. Three months into the year, she decided with her free time that her residence was permanent enough to finally unpack her trunk.
She had already transferred her clothing into her wardrobe and was midway through relocating her books to the provided shelves. She removed a copy of The Essential Defense Against the Dark Arts by Arsenius Jigger. She hadn't read through the book since her third year, but it was always practical to study the fundamentals as everything else was built off it. As she removed the book, she noticed that it was not fully closed. She opened the book to find the cause of the issue. She was greeted with the sight of her old time-turner. It had been misplaced for so long that she believed that she had returned it.
Why hadn't they asked for it back? She sat on her bed contemplating what to do with the time-turner. Should I return it? Well, this was the last one. Wouldn't they want it back? But the ministry lost all of the others, could they really be trusted with the last one? If I can keep this a secret, then I don't have to make the decision now.
She stood to place the item in a drawer of her desk. There was a knock on her door.
"Granger, it's time for dinner. If you don't come now, you'll miss it."
"I'm going Malfoy. Just give me a minute."
They had grown since the war. She wouldn't necessarily call them friends, but they could now make it ten minutes in the same room without a disagreement. Even then, their disagreements held less detestation. It was progress.
She hurried to drop the time-turner in a drawer, but she missed it by a millimeter. She could only stand by and watch as the time-turner plummeted to the ground, shattering into just enough pieces to ruin her chances of enjoying the evening. She felt a disagreeable pull to her stomach similar to that of a Portkey. Maybe I was the one that couldn't be trusted with the time-turner. And then she was met with the anticipated darkness that could only mean she had fainted.