Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

AN: For such a bright girl Hermione certainly doesn't seem very curious. Pity, because things could have gone very differently if she'd made the most of her opportunities.

The curtains around the bed were tightly closed, protected by both silencing and locking charms. The young witch within held a fragile hourglass in one hand, and her wand in the other.

"Alright, it's nine now. I swear on my magic that if another time turner does not arrive on my bed in the next ten minutes I will wait until just after ten, and send this one back in time one hour. But if a second time turner does appear, I won't send mine back. So mote it be!"

She noted the momentary glow of the magical oath taking effect, and then settled back to wait. Barely a minute later a time turner appeared in the air before her, and fell into her lap.

"Yes!" She hissed with a fierce grin. "I knew the past couldn't really be immutable. Reflecting a sunbeam is as much of a change as killing your grandfather, as far as the laws of physics are concerned. If you can do one and not the other, that obviously implies that whatever stops you has a human perspective. So, there must be someone out there who wants people to think you can't change the past, and all I have to do is avoid drawing their attention. That shouldn't be hard, since I've got no interest in doing such a thing."

"Let's see now, if I were a meddling old headmaster who was willing to murder his oldest friend just to keep Voldemort away from the Philosopher's Stone, where would I never think to look for an illicit artifact?"

The spare time turner spent the remainder of the year taped to the inside of a box of tampons.

-oOoOo-

"Harry, may I borrow your cloak of invisibility for a day?"

"I suppose so, Hermione. But what do you need it for?"

"Well, I talked Professor Lupin into giving me a one-day pass to the restricted section for that research project we're supposed to turn in next week, and I wanted to make the most of it."

Ron stared at her. "You're going to hide in the library after it closes so you can spend all night reading? Hermione, that's completely mental!"

If he'd followed her to the library that evening Harry probably would have seconded that opinion. With a Quick-Copy Quill and a couple of fresh notebooks it took three or four hours to copy each book. With six quills and a hefty stack of notebooks she could copy a whole shelf in three or four time turns, and the boxed lunches she'd obtained from the kitchen would keep for a week. It was an odd way to spend the weekend, but she could read while the quills worked.

Hermione surveyed the shelves of the restricted section, set up six workstations for the quills, and mentally double-checked her system for ensuring that no book was overlooked or copied twice. Then she turned to an empty corner in the back of the last aisle, and waited.

A tall stack of notebooks appeared, a time turner perched atop the pile with its chain wrapped around them. A moment later a second pile appeared, then a third, fourth, fifth, sixth…

Humming softly to herself, Hermione produced the self-expanding trunk she'd persuaded her parents to buy her over the summer and set about organizing her new collection.

-oOoOo-

"Odd-looking coins," the pawn shop clerk told her. "What are they?"

"No idea," Hermione claimed innocently. "We found them in the attic."

"Hmm. Well, they're real gold alright. Obviously not very old, so I'd say the only value is the actual metal. I'll give you four hundred pounds for the lot of them."

"Deal," Hermione replied thoughtfully. Apparently the Gringott's exchange rates were last updated sometime in the early nineteenth century. So, change the money back to galleons at the official 5-to-1 rate, sell those at the next shop down the road, head back to Gringott's…

Hermione decided it felt rather nice to be rich. But she was definitely going to have to master apparition soon.

-oOoOo-

"You don't understand, Hermione," Lavender exclaimed. "Cosmetics are one thing, but permanent beauty potions are incredibly hard to make. It takes a master potion brewer, and even the less complicated potions take weeks to brew, so they're terribly expensive. But what's worse is that the Ministry requires potion masters to file regular reports on their sales, so everyone would know! Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be for all your friends and rivals and potential dates to know you had to resort to magic to look pretty? It would ruin any girl's prospects!"

"I see," Hermione mused, still fuming a bit over the way Ron's eyes were glued to that French slag's arse every time she walked by. At least Harry had some control.

Then a thought struck. "A potion master, you say? So, we're talking about the sort of person who could brew Polyjuice Potion as a second-year student?"

"Exactly," Lavender confirmed. Then she frowned. "Wait, you aren't thinking…"

"Obliviate," Hermione replied sweetly.

-oOoOo-

Harry had been relieved when Hermione offered to help him prepare for the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and the spells she'd turned up for the first task had certainly been helpful. Between his flying skills and her Flame-Shield Charm getting the egg had been almost easy. But being alone with his best friend had become a new source of stress recently.

Hermione burst out of the water, and he was again reminded that his bushy-haired friend was most definitely a girl. She'd always been mature for her age, but apparently sometime in the last few months the breast fairy had come to visit. Her one-piece bathing suit clung to every curve of an hourglass figure to rival anything he'd glimpsed in those magazines the Weasley twins sold in the boys' dorms, and he found himself cursing the fact that this vision of perfection would soon be hidden beneath a Hogwarts robe again. He'd known for nearly a year that Ron fancied her, but the temptation to make a move himself was quickly becoming unbearable. If that git didn't get his head out and make a move soon he was going to find out the hard way that he wasn't the only fish in the sea.

Hermione noted his reaction with a smug smile, and chalked up the first round of potions as a success. Now if she could just tame her hair, and perhaps add a couple of those health and longevity brews…

But first, she had to keep her best friend alive.

"I think you're right, Harry. They'll put something you treasure at the bottom of the lake, with the merfolk guarding it. That means you'll need a way to breath underwater, vision and tracking charms, and some sort of spell to deal with the merfolk. Come to think of it, if whoever put your name in the goblet really is trying to get you killed it might be smart to study battle magic anyway."

Harry managed to force his eyes up to her face, and after a moment his brain resumed operation. "It takes years to really master battle magic, Hermione. I've done a bit of work on it, but I don't want to spread myself too thin."

"Oh, I didn't mean you should study dueling," Hermione explained. "You're right, that would take years. But adult wizards don't expect students to be able to put up a real fight, so it wouldn't be hard to surprise one. The key is to pick one or two effective spells, and train until you can cast them so quick you take down your opponent before he realizes he needs to defend himself. I've got a couple of good books on speed casting you can borrow, and you can get a quick-draw wand holster by owl order."

"I didn't realize you were interested in that sort of thing, Hermione. Maybe you'd like to start practicing together?"

Hermione gave him a startled look. Was he…interested in her? He never had been before, and she'd long since resigned herself to just being friends. With half the witches in school to pick from, why would he settle for a bushy-haired know-it-all like her?

But now I'm not just a bookworm anymore, she realized. At this rate I could be the prettiest girl in Hogwarts as well as the smartest. Maybe I should set my sights a little higher than Ron.

"I'd like that, Harry," she smiled.

-oOoOo-

"Kill the spare."

"Yes, Master. Avada-"

Harry spun at the sound, and replied with a wordless Stupify that blew their attacker off his feet. The man's cloak flutterred free as he fell, revealing the face of Peter Pettigrew.

"Incompetent fool!" Hissed the bundle. "You can't even handle a pair of schoolboys? Enerv-"

The spell was interrupted by two bolts of red light, one from Harry's wand and the other from among the headstones to his left. Harry stupefied Pettigrew again just to be sure, and turned to the source of the other spell.

Hermione stepped into the light with a nervous smile. "Hello, Harry," she said. "Looks like putting a tracking charm on you was a good idea."

He blinked. "You put a tracking charm on me? Why? Wait, scratch that, stupid question. But how did you get here?"

"I taught myself to apparate over the summer," she replied. "It's illegal, of course, so please don't tell anyone."

Cedric whistled. "Harry, your girlfriend rocks."

"Believe me, I know," Harry replied, before walking over to examine the two prone forms.

Hermione joined him, and frowned. "I recognize Pettigrew, but what's that…thing?"

"Voldemort," Harry said shortly. "Good thing he's not as powerful in this form. Let's get them both secured, and then we can sort out how we're going to get back."

-oOoOo-

"The Draught of Living Death doesn't completely arrest the decay of the homunculus, but it should be several years before it degrades enough to free his soul. So we should have time to finish our schooling before he comes after Harry again."

"Yes, yes," Dumbledore nodded, and smiled warmly at the two students who sat in his office. "Well done, both of you. And thank you, Ms. Granger, for trusting me with the truth of this affair."

"You're welcome, sir," she replied with a smile. "So, are you ready to tell Harry why Voldemort is after him, yet?"

"There's no need to worry yourself over that at this juncture, Ms. Granger. With Voldemort imprisoned, you can both be free to enjoy what remains of your childhood."

"We haven't been children since first year, Headmaster," Harry observed heavily. "But if that's your concern, I suppose it can wait until I reach my majority. Either way, we should have plenty of time to get ready for his next try."

"Yes, Harry," Hermione confirmed. "We'll have all the time we need."