Disclaimer: That loophole that means I own all of Harry Potter hasn't yet been invented – it still all belongs to J.K.Rowling, Warner Brothers and (I think) Scholastic Books. I am making no profit from this story - it has been written solely for pleasure.

A/N: I'm incredibly flattered about the response to this fic, so thank you so much, to all you lot who have added me to your alerts/favourites and read this fic thus far!

Thanks go out to Voldie's Mistress, p, Aly Martin, anglbby989, MoonNightLover and tate4eva, for fantastic reviews!

Hope you all like the chapter –unfortunately this is the 'explanation' chapter, but everything will liven up in the next!

Enid stepped into the lift, pressing the number nine, and she watched as the grilles slid shut with a resounding 'clang', shuddering as the lift jolted and clattered it's way down, her eyes firmly shut. As a muggleborn, used to smooth, silent lifts, the jarring, jolting lift made her nervous – it often felt as though it were going to fall at any second.

She was often the butt of gentle teasing because of this, sometimes slightly more vicious jibes were directed at her – 'mudblood' was a more common epithet, but only out of earshot. The lift stopped abruptly, it's incessant clanging ceasing momentarily – she opened her eyes. A shock of red hair greeted her.

"Hi Arthur."

The red headed wizard jumped, surprised. Turning round, he smiled. "Hi Enid. You're early! On your way down then?"

"Someone in the Magical Maintenance accidentally created thunderstorms in the department." Enid murmured tiredly, rubbing her eyes in a vain attempt to rub away her sleepiness with it - but Merlin, those incompetants - and she was expected to clean up after them, at this hour in the morning!

"That department always seems to have leakages," Arthur nodded sympathetically, as a solitary plane nosedived towards his head, which he caught, flicking open to read it. "For the past three weeks we've had hurricanes outside – and sometimes inside!"

Enid smiled awkwardly. "I remember that. Well, I remember Moody chewing some poor soul's ear off!"

The clanging paused momentarily again, and a flurry of more paper planes flew in, fluttering around their heads. The golden grilles clattered together, and the lift resumed its movement.

"So how's Molly?" Enid asked, curiosity mingling with common courtesy. "Has she found out about the oven yet?"

"Not yet." Arthur sighed, scrunching the parchment up. "She found the washering machine though."

"What did the washing machine do?" Enid was curious as to what mishap Arthur had caused this time - it was something of an inside joke in the Ministry that the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad spent more time at the Weasley's than they did anywhere else.

"Well, it developed an unfortunate tendency to burp when it was washing - it shot clothes and bubbles all over the place!"

Enid laughed, imagining Molly's face as she envisioned a crazed washing machine burping clothes. "I bet Molly loved that!"

Arthur winced, probably in memory of Molly's telling off, Enid thought. "Molly most definitely didn't!" he replied, rubbing the bald spot, at the top of his head. "Bill and Charlie did though -they thought it was a game!"

"I can imagine," Enid replied, smiling, as she rummaged around in her bag, with a small frown of concentration. "By the way, I've got some more plugs for you Arthur!"

"Really?" Arthur sounded excited. "They run off ekeltricity, right? I've got a fairly good collection now."

"Yes, these are the German and American ones I promised!" Enid tipped the plugs into Arthur's hands, laughing nervously as his face lit up.

"Best not let Molly see them!" Arthur grinned at her, obviously attempting to put Enid more at ease.

"I don't think she'd be best pleased." Enid smiled, as the lift stopped with a bang, allowing a number of memos to fly out and half-a-dozen more to fly in. "British plugs she might be able to understand, but other countries' plugs? I'm not so certain!"

"I think I'll have to agree there!" Arthur grinned once more, gazing at the plugs. "Thanks Enid!"

"This is my floor," Arthur stepped out the lift, waving to Enid as he did so. "See you."

Enid gave him a nervy wave as the lift doors shut. The memos flew in circles, seemingly impatient. Enid removed one that had nose-dived into her hair with a frown - someone's spell casting was a little off. The lift continued to chunder on it's way down through the levels, and Enid met no-one on the way down, but then again, no came into work this early unless they had to or where merely stupid. 'The Department of Mysteries' a cool female voice stated, over the squeal of the braking lift, the grilles dragging open and Enid exited the lift with a sigh of relief, her knees trembling only slightly, amazed as always that she'd made it down to work alive.

Her relief was, however, short lived. Rain poured from the black clouds that filled the corridor, and the static from the lightening made her hair stand on end, changing her appearance from normal to slightly crazed, and she could do nothing until she'd performed her signature code - damn the fanatical Ministry policies. She drew her signature in the air - the ankh, drawing the energy through her, her arm pulsing, magic coursing through her veins, before bursting outwards to form the symbol in the air which hung motionless in the air - and for a second, Enid feared she'd miscast the spell, and eyeing it fearfully, drew back towards the promised safety of the lift - squealing breaks or no. Swollen and saturated, the ankh lingered for a moment longer before disappating softly, and Enid - soaked to the skin - flicked her wand, relieved that she hadn't miscast the spell.

"Meteolojinx recanto."

There was a slight popping noise as the clouds disappeared, leaving only the puddles and scorch marks as testimony to their existence. Enid ignored these, picking her way down the corridor, heading towards her office.

Turning a corner hurriedly, eager to get on with the day's work, so that she might get home before ten o'clock that night, Enid gasped at the sight that greeted her – a prone body lay on the floor…

"Yes, I'm positive that no-one could get into the Department without authorized access!" Enid repeated.

She refrained from mentioning that the Ministry's numerous anti-apparation wards – strengthened over the centuries – security guards and spells – added to over the war – and not to mention the taskforce aurors, located in the Ministry, made it almost impregnable – although it took a great deal of self-control. Enid was rarely confrontational, but the dim-witted auror in front of her was pushing his luck.

"So let's go over this again." The auror stated, and Enid nearly groaned aloud. "You came in early to the Ministry to fix a jinx in the Department of Mysteries, as no-one but the Unspeakables is permitted there, correct?"

"Yes." For the love of God, she added mentally.

"And," the irritating auror added, "Whilst there you found the body of a girl, located?"

"I'm not allowed to tell you." Enid replied patiently – annoying the auror would detain her longer than necessary, not that she'd ever snap at him anyway.

"Miss Jones it is imperative that you inform of us of all relevant information, concerning this case - " The auror began haughtily.

"Ah, but you're forgetting Pritchard, something vitally important about the Unspeakables." A voice interrupted the auror, and Enid inwardly sighed in relief.

"I'm sure that, Miss…Jones? Would tell you if she could, but as it as Pritchard, she will have entered a binding magical contract, upon joining the Unspeakables, rendering her unable to tell you this information. Hence the term Unspeakables." The auror who had been irritating Enid so, flushed red. "I'll conclude this interview Pritchard. You're dismissed."

The pompous auror picked himself up, out of the chair and fled the room, red-cheeked in embarrassment. The second auror extended a hand to Enid, "Benjy Fenwick."

"Um…" Enid paused, taken aback. "Enid Jones." She said, shaking the auror's hand, feeling exceedingly grateful to the auror.

"Not quite sure then? Any relation to Hestia Jones?" Benjy asked, as he let go of her hand.

Enid pulled a face, feeling far more at ease with this auror than the previous. "Muggleborn, so I'm afraid not."

"Right," Benjy scanned the case notes. "Breach in ministry defences, individual in question currently located in Saint Mungo's…"

"Are you sure reading that aloud in front of me is such a good idea?" Enid asked pointedly. Benjy waved a hand.

"Probably not." Benjy frowned, reviewing the minutes taken by the Quick Quotes Quill. "Pritchard's useless," he muttered under his breath. "Why not? You're an Unspeakable," he pointed out, with a glance upwards. "How likely are you to blab? Anyway, I came up to say, we've got new evidence on the case, just released from the Department of Mysteries." He wiggled his eyebrows, feigning shock. "First thing we've ever heard from there!"

"Well we are known as the Unspeakables!" Enid reminded him with a grin – there was something endearing about Benjy - an air surrounded him that immediately put you at ease, although his infomality was slightly disconcerting.

"Fair enough." Benjy threw down the case notes onto the desk, leaning forward, his voice taking on an earnest note and he ticked off the points on his fingers. "Okay, here's the facts, we both know that it's almost impossible to break into the Ministry, what with all the extra security – and this girl is only about sixteen, or at least that's what our identifying spells are telling us. And added to that, she's got pretty bad internal injuries, so there's no way she's in a fit state to have broken in anywhere. The information that makes this so interesting is that your department says the evidence suggests," his fingers making quotation marks, " 'that there has been a rupture in the fabric of time.' So basically, anything you can tell us about the 'circumstances in which she was found' would be rather helpful. And that's it, in a nutshell." Benjy leant back against his chair, evidently waiting for Enid's reply.

"I don't know…I mean…" Enid began, her mind rapidly examining the various choices. "I'm not sure how much I can tell you." She finished.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Benjy slapped himself in the forehead, and rummaging about in a file he'd brought with him. Several minutes of frantic parchment scattering later, and he held a thin piece of parchment in front of him. "Knew I had it somewhere!" He said, cheerfully, handing it to Enid.

Enid scanned the parchment, at first with little interest, and after gathering the general gist of it, examining it more closely. "This claims to temporarily release me from my Unspeakable oath?" she asked sceptically. "And binds you into a contract, not to reveal anything that doesn't concern this case?"

"Pretty much, yep." Benjy leaned back against the chair, yawning.

"How can you possibly be sure?" Enid asked, examining the paper once more.

"Well there's one way to find out!" Benjy took the paper out of her limp grasp.

"You must be joking." Enid felt weak – surely he didn't intend to just road test this, without any precautions?

"I assure you I'm not." Benjy sounded serious for the first time. "I don't joke around when it comes to things like this. I promise you, you'll be fine."

Enid searched Benjy's eyes, where sincerity mingled with concern. "Alright." She sighed inwardly. "I'll do it." She grabbed the parchment and signed the paper with a flourish. "The bare facts?"

"Just the bare facts for now – then the theories."

"I thought the auror department didn't believe in theories."

"Nah, that's just Mad-Eye. Wild theories are my speciality, as I've been told!"

"Okay," Enid took a breath, and began to explain. "I'd come in early, because Maintenance had flooed me, and told me something had gone wrong with a charm in my department and of course, no-one's allowed down there but the Unspeakables and the Minister-"

"Who obviously, Maintenance isn't going to disturb to fix a jinx!" Benjy interrupted.

"Obviously," Enid agreed. "And as the most junior member, they figured I was easy prey-"

"Not to mention that you're obviously very easy going, whereas anyone else would've kicked up a great big fuss."

"Really?" Great, I'm reputed as a pushover - Enid shrugged. "Oh well. So anyway, I came in early and cleared up the Department, which didn't really take long and then made my way to my office, and as I turned the corner, I came across a body -"

"Where was this?"

Enid stopped herself rolling her eyes with difficulty– he interrupted her more often than her nephew used to! "In the Time Room, beneath the..."

"Beneath the?"

Enid frowned "I'm not…this is relevant isn't it?" "

"The whole 'rupture in time' thing makes that a yes."

"Fine. We're investigating time in the time room. I found her beneath the prototype time-turner."

"Illuminating."

"Well, I found her there – and that's one of the only places I could possibly think of that, that could occur…I mean." Enid said, unconsciously making the transition into 'lecture mode'. "Currently, I'd say, even when we perfect the time-turners, a single one alone wouldn't be enough to send you back more than a week or so – and this girl, she's a mystery?"

"No records on her, nada."

"Well, unless something more powerful's been invented in the future – then I'd say that breaking even a single time-turner couldn't cause a rupture in time – certainly not one great enough to bring her back before she was born. Because the thing is," she continued, "Considering how carefully monitored this project is, I doubt that anyone would want – or be permitted - to create a device that powerful – imagine what people could do with it? What would happen if one happened to shatter?" Enid shuddered. "I dread to think."

"So somehow," Benjy stated. "Something happened, with a large number of time-turners, somewhere and this girl got sent through the rupture."

"My only question, is how?" Enid pondered. "To go back through a rupture," She explained to Benjy who leaned forward in interest. "You'd have to have previously had something to do with a time-turner. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to pass through – you'd be anchored in the present. But if you'd gone back in time before," she continued. "You'd be-"

"Pulled into the past." Benjy finished.

"Well, if you've travelled in time," Enid explained, understanding the situation more, how the girl had appeared there. "You belong less to your own time, if you get me." She glanced at Benjy, who nodded. "It's…how do I explain this? The anchor's drifted a little – you're no longer anchored to that particular time, your present. Which means you can become susceptible to the rupture."

"This all makes so much more sense!" Benjy banged his hand down on the desk, a delighted expression crossing his face.

"This is all hypothetical you know…" Enid's voice died away.

"It all fits though!" Benjy protested, "Sorry, continue with the story."

Enid nodded. "Anyway, I checked her pulse-"

"Just like that?"

"Do you ever shut up?" Enid asked impatiently, before she slammed a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry!"

"Don't be!" Benjy laughed loudly. "Sorry! Carry on, and I'll try not to interrupt!"

"Alright…well that's actually about it. After screaming and getting over the shock," she added,. "I checked her pulse and saw she was still alive, then I flooed Saint Mungo's from my office, got her out of there…and you know the rest."

"You know what?" Benjy stated, "I think we've got enough to get you off the hook for now. No more interviews for a while!"

"Hmm…" Enid looked politely sceptical.

"Well," Benjy admitted, "You might have to have an interview with Mad-Eye Moody."

There was a slight gap in the conversation and Enid felt a question that had been plaguing her since the discovery of the girl, rise to the fore of her mind – and slid out of her throat without warning.

"But…" Enid hesitated, "What about the girl? What'll happen to her?"

"I dunno. The Ministry'll sort it out I s'pose."

"If it's not too much of a problem, I'd like to visit her." Enid felt a little awkward making such an unorthodox request.

"Why?" Benjy didn't appear scornful; instead an intriguing mixture of curiosity and thought crossed his face. "What do you care about her?"

Enid squirmed. "Well…I don't know." She replied slowly. "It just feels like she's my responsibility I guess, since I found her."

Benjy looked thoughtful, "I'll arrange a meeting as soon as I can then!"

"Um…thank you." Enid said, perplexed, pulling her chair back from the table. "I guess I'll be seeing you around."

"Probably." Benjy escorted her to the door. "Enjoy meeting Mad-Eye!"

"I'll be certain to." Enid smiled wryly.

A familiar clinical scent washed into her nostrils, bringing childhood memories of dull afternoons ensconced in her parent's dentistry. Blinking blearily, she opened her eyes, her mind uncharacteristically blank. She vaguely wondered why it was so difficult to breathe.

That sparked a flurry of memories, that flooded into her mind, and Hermione sat up, suppressing a shriek as a dagger-sharp pain tore through her chest – increasing her breathing difficulties and ripping through her mind, the only bonus being the fact that the pain lifted the fog from her mind.

"Oh you're awake!"

Hermione jerked her head in the direction of the speaker, regretting it a moment later, as the dull throbbing in her head increased to a roar. The speaker sat on a chair beside her, a discarded magazine sitting next to her, a copy of 'Transfiguration Today', an mousy fringe falling into her eyes – and was someone Hermione had never seen before in her life.

"I am." Hermione stated, wincing as her head throbbed particularly nastily again as she spoke. "Where am I? What happened to Harry and Ron? Are they alright?"

"You're in Saint Mungo's." The witch replied, speaking slowly, as if she were considering what she was about to say next. "And…I have to ask…who are Harry and Ron?"

Hermione was flabbergasted. Who was this woman? How could she not know who Harry and Ron were? Ron she could understand – he wasn't exactly famous – not wishing to be derogatory to him in any manner, but Harry? Harry was the-boy-who-lived, much as he might he wish he wasn't – the Minister of Bulgaria had heard of him. So how could this woman not have?

"Harry and Ron…are my friends." She began as soothingly as she could with the pain racking her. "Are you sure you should be wandering the corridors alone?" Hermione continued gently.

Enid stared at the girl, dumbstruck for a moment – had her brains been addled by her trip in time? Then she realised what the girl thought – she thought Enid was a patient! Enid couldn't decide whether to laugh or be offended. In the end she chose the middle route. "I'm not a patient." She replied, her tone peppered with amusement.

The girl's tone immediately changed. "But then how could you not…" she began bossily, but she tailed off, "It's not possible!" she muttered. "Could you…could you tell me the date today?" she asked, a hopeful look emerging on her panic-stricken face.

Enid took a breath. "It's June the eleventh." She replied as evenly as she could – praying that the mediwitch would return soon.

"What year is it?" She asked, glancing sideways at the copy of Transfiguration Today. "Is it 1996?" She looked so terribly hopeful, the kind of hope that was born out of desperation.

Enid closed her eyes, hating the cruel fate that had chosen her to be the one to bear the news. Slightly, almost imperceptibly, she shook her head, hating herself at that moment. She heard the girl's sharp intake of breath.

Hermione's world had crumpled. "Then…what year…what year is it?" She asked, praying that she wasn't so far back that she would never see Harry, Ron or her family again – although as she thought this, she knew she couldn't be too far back, not before the original publication of Transfiguration Today at any rate.

The woman, her eyes still shut, opened her mouth slightly, and shut it again, and Hermione opened her mouth to protest, to shake it out of the woman – her distaste for violence be damned, she had to know! The woman groped about on the chair for the magazine, handing it to her wordlessly and Hermione understood the action.

Hands shaking she poured over the cover, searching for one thing – the date. There at the top corner she read what she had been looking for: June 6th….1976. Hermione's mind went into overload. She was twenty years in the past, horror and shock overtaking her, her mind atypically blank. With the mental numbness came physical agony and Hermione almost screamed in pain, as the pain in her head went into overdrive and her ribs felt as though they were being squeezed out of her.

The woman next to her seized a potion, "Drink this, it'll make it stop!" And although Hermione had an aversion to drinking potions offered to her by strangers, she drunk it down, willing the pain to end. Slowly, the pain ebbed away from her, dulling to a gentle throb instead of the burning, white-hot fury it had been a moment ago. In the reprieve her mind returned to its thoughts.

Twenty years in the past? What would become of her? She was alive three years before she was born. What would she do? She remembered the department of Mysteries, the fight and flight from the Hall of Prophecy and…the Time Room. Hermione's mind connected together the dots. A sense of rising curiosity rose in Hermione's mind – how did the woman know all this?

"Who are you?" Hermione asked, an accusatory tone entering her voice.

"Enid Jones," Enid answered, and she hesitated before adding, "I'm an Unspeakable."

Over the next couple of weeks, Hermione's main visitor was Enid, and they grew to know each other fairly well, the conversation generally flowing although there was the odd awkward silence. These visits had also prevented Hermione from dwelling on the future and the loss of her friends - during the visits at least.

Hermione had also received visits from Mad-Eye Moody – who plagued her with suspicious questions that reminded Hermione of the old (or future) Mad-Eye Moody greatly, although his nose was still intact. An auror named Benjy Fenwick visited with Enid a couple of times, and had a terrific sense of humour, even if his tendency to constantly interrupt a story had driven Hermione to despair sometimes. The visits Hermione grew to dread, were those from a particularly burecratic official, called Ezekiel Nott, a stringy man, who was graced with a blonde moustache with twitched when he spoke.

There had been a loud confrontation with Nott last time he had appeared, and he had left – furious.

Hermione glared at him. "I'm sure the Ministry would love to cater for a penniless orphan such as myself, wouldn't they Mr Nott – after all they've served house elves so well!"

"What the Ministry does with it's own is none of your business girl!"

Nott had slammed the door after him, eliciting a gasp from a nearby mediwitch.

Hermione dreaded his return, and had informed Enid of this, in not so many words – she was afraid Nott would wreak revenge upon her, although she had not informed Enid of his status of a Death Eater – that would change far more than she already had.

Enid edged into a dimly lit pub in a muggle bar – Benjy had told her to meet him here. Shuffling up to the bar, she ordered a glass of water – causing the barkeep, who looked as though he'd had a few too many of his own pub lunches, to scowl at her, for such a miserly order. Enid didn't care for once; she had far greater concerns than the opinion of a bartender.

Sitting at a table, sipping her water, Enid tried to ignore the stares of the bar's usual patrons, wondering why on earth Benjy had wanted to meet her here – in a seedy bar in the back streets of muggle London – of all places.

When she'd first mentioned what she knew of Hermione's fears about Nott and his thinly veiled threats, Benjy had been uncharacteristically silent, and for a moment Enid was afraid she'd offended him in some way. Instead he'd told her in loud tones that she wasn't to pester him again, whilst handing her a note. The note had simply read, 'Can't speak more now.' A time and an address – and here she was, sipping water out of a dirty glass, and awaiting Benjy's arrival.

She'd come slightly early and was consequently perched on a dingy chair, hearing the full-throated roars of the football supporters in the corner. After an age, the door swung open and Benjy walked in. Enid stood to greet him, but he strode past her to the bar, ordering a small lager. Enid watched him curiously, Seconds later, he appeared at Enid's side, clutching his drink.

"The barman doesn't let you stay if you don't buy something, he's a bit of a miserable old git!" Benjy said, by way of explanation. "Sorry about before – it was the only way I could think of to put them off my scent."

Enid was puzzled. "I don't mean to pry, but who's them?"

Ben lowered his voice. "Tell me, what do you know about the Order of the Phoenix?"

There'll be more of Hermione in the next chapter as well as the Order of the Phoenix, and possibly a little of the Marauders!