The Price of the Hour
Chapter 1
Fabian Prewett x Hermione Granger x Gideon Prewett
…
Alastar Moody was not the most happy of wizards.
He was bitter towards everyone and everything and if you asked him the happiest he was would be when he got the chance to nab a dark wizard.
He supposed his job made him quite cynical and he'd suppose that would have to be because he was the longest working auror as of a week ago. Most retire to desk work after this many years of fighting. He wasn't ashamed to admit aloud that he thought those aurors were just a bunch of pansies anyway.
Despite work being where he was happiest he did not appreciate being called in for mundane tasks, and little slip of a teenage girl magically appearing in the Department of Time was quite mundane. Though he reasoned he wouldn't live up to his paranoia of "Constant Vigilance!" if he didn't at least check it out.
It did not mean by any significance he was happy about it.
The girl was strange when he walked in whispering a shocked, "Mad-Eye" before covering her mouth like she just kissed a hippogriff.
Choosing to slip that bit away for later he ignored the statement for now before shooing away the ministry officials to interrogate the young woman.
"What's your name?"
"Hermione Jean Granger."
"How old are you?"
"Sixteen but due to being in use of a Time Turner in my Third Year, I'm physically seventeen."
Hermione's eyes widened as she realized she was somehow dosed with Veritaserum.
"Time Turners are only known by specific individuals of the Ministry how did a child get their hands on one?"
"You've dosed me." she accused instead, and Moody merely shrugged his shoulders in an unabashed way.
"Standard protocol. Couldn't count on you to drink the potion yourself so pricked you with a little spell with the tip of my wand to get the potion in your bloodstream."
"That's fascinating and sounds extremely illegal."
Again Moody shrugged before replying, "Can't be too careful with the rise of all these dark wizards lately.
"What year is it?"
"What's it to ya?"
"I told you I've traveled through time before for extra classes and I appear out of no where? It doesn't make sense unless when I traveled I was already here."
Moody's eyes faltered a bit. He knew that the time turners were a relatively new invention and should a traveler from the future be found out she'd never leave spending the rest of her days as a guinea pig here.
"In about another minute the Veritaserum will wear off. You're to tell anyone who asks you received a botched portkey some newbie at the Italian Ministry messed up and landed here instead of the Leaky. I'm sure you know where that is?" At her nod he continued, "Good, because that's where we'll be heading. You look as though you've been through a battle and I skipped lunch to check on the dark witch who broke into the ministry."
Hermione, completely flabbergasted just looked at the young version of her Moody in shock. Her face must have been completely comical however because he let out quite the barking laugh as he escorted her out of the ministry.
…
"I never quite expected you to take this news so well. Though it wasn't exactly in my plans to travel here." Hermione spoke to him informatively and while she always kept him in his peripheral view she scanned her surroundings several times much to his pleasure.
Moddy never noticed however her eyes widened as she drank in the cover of the Daily Prophet a nearby wizard was reading.
"You were attacked." though to most it would appear Moody was asking her, Hermione knew better and drank a sip of her butterbeer before answering the slightly deranged auror.
"There was someone who tricked us into breaking into the Ministry to steal a prophecy. I knew it was a trap but he wouldn't hear me out and I couldn't let him go alone, he's so brash he'd likely get himself killed without me."
She debated giving him anymore infortmation, 'What if I change the future? What if I stop myself from being born? Can I even get back home? The magical advancement of my time is still only a few hours in the past. I've messed up and I allowed hundreds of time turners to break around me. This has never happened before there's no way I can return home.'
"I'm not sure about the workings behind this type of magic. I'm sure you know Dumbledore, if I introduce you, you two might be able to figure out a way to-"
"NO!" Hermione rushed more loudly than she intended, "Dumbledore is … Dumbledore has played things a little too closely to the vest, keeping things from us. I – I worry what he would do should he find out …"
Moody looked at her in thought then smiled, "Very well. I think I know someone we can trust to help."
…
Hermione meeting an elder wizard by the name of Hector Dagworth-Granger was not what she have thought of when Moody said they could trust someone to help. She had to give the old auror credit he was a good liar when it was needed.
Hector listened intently as Moody spun him a story of this poor orphan girl was the victim of two thieves whom attempted to steal from their manor. It was just the two of them since her father died when she was a babe and her mother was so paranoid she home schooled her only child. It all happened in such a rush that her mother misconstrued the portkey a bit and she ended up in the Department of Mysteries.
"I checked the manor out myself when I heard the lass' story. There was one hell of a fight but unfortunately it appears one of the thieves foolheartedly cast the Fiendfyre curse and there were no survivors."
"Absolutely tragic. I'm so sorry for your loss my dear girl. I have to ask though Alastar why bring her to me?"
Moody hesitated a bit before replying, "Ms. Sayre here lost her mother, I believe, from a ring of dark wizard thieves, I fear if she were to continue using her real name they might attack again in hopes of retrieving whatever artifact they failed to the first time. I was hoping old friend, you might be the girl's sponsor, allow her to take your name as a long lost niece or granddaughter let her experience Hogwarts, I'm sure being home schooled it would be quite the experience."
The potions genius looked her up and down in quite an unnerving way before he smiled fondly and nodded his head in acceptance.
"So what is the name of my long lost granddaughter?"
"Hermione Granger, sir."
And Hector laughed with mirth as he gave the younger girl a hug, Hermione joining him as her true name became her own alias.
"Well then perhaps a meeting with Dumbledore is in order?" Hector asked.
Hermione didn't hesitate for long before relenting in her agreement. Her best bet at doing anything to help in the future war was to integrate herself within this time. Befriend members of the Order who were yet to be and to keep a closer eye on her enemies. If she was stuck here like she assumed then she would do her damnedest to make a difference.
"So when was my granddaughter born? Curious to see what year you'll be in."
"September 19, 1957."
"A sixth year then. I hope you know, I'll be expecting great things from you missy. We have a family reputation to uphold after all."
"Of course, grandfather. Thank you for this."
"Not at all perhaps we shall get you supplies and I'll owl Albus to see if he can set up a meeting."
When Hector walked off Alastar quickly pulled her aside by her arm and whispered quietly, "He's a good man, he'll help however he can but I expect an owl every now and then with information. You want to change your world and I want to help you do it. I don't know details but I'd wager that whoever you fought when you arrived here wasn't just by coincidence. Children fighting battles. Even I know where to draw the line on that one."
"I'll owl you when something comes up. Thank you too, Mad-Eye."
"You'll have to explain that damned name eventually too, ya know."
Hermione merely laughed softly as Hector returned offering up the news they had a meeting with Albus later that afternoon and until then he would be taking his granddaughter shopping for her school supplies and some new clothes.
…
It was only an hour later when they bought all of her basics for the next school year. Apparently they still had a month left before the new term started, plenty of time to get her paperwork in order her grandfather had claimed.
He was a peculiar man, she had read about him of course, Hector Dagworth-Granger, the founder of the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers.
She had to admit she wasn't that fascinated with potions to do some more digging into the man in front of her but know she wished she had. He was without a doubt remarkably comparable to her father and she idly wondered if she were in fact related to this man in some way.
While not wild and curly like her own the man's wavy chestnut hair and eyes were the same color as hers, the only difference being the flecks of gray throughout the man's mane.
A fairly soft nip of her fingers drew her from her thoughts as a puffed up pygmy owl hooted impatiently at his new owner.
"All right Artoo, let's get you some food then."
The little owl lost some of its puff at those words and when Hermione place his treat in front of him he fully deflated and allowed her to graze her fingers over his light colored feathers in contentment.
Hermione smiled fondly at the little bird, she had read that pygmy owls were a bit more aggressive than normal but the spitfire reminded her greatly of Hedwig with its white belly and she couldn't hide the longing on her face as her eyes connected with Artoo's. Grandfather Hector was only too pleased to dote on his new grandchild and proceeded to buy her the owl and any accessory he could think of that he might need.
She needed a plan now though, before school started.
Voldemort was making moves now but no one knew what they were yet. No one knew what he was yet. If she was going to do this she had to do it right she'd let him make the first move and then she would strike until then, her mind was her greatest ally and she got to work making a timeline of events she remembered learning of the first war.
There would be no prophecy to steal in a little over twenty years time. She'd make sure of it.
AN 1: The year for those of you wondering is 1967. Fabian and Gideon don't have much on information so I looked up what I could and found that Molly was born in 1950 I added seven years to that because seven is a powerful magic number. The twins will be one year older than Hermione in Hogwarts and while I plan on writing them often during Hermione's "first" year of Hogwarts her final year will go off without a hitch. I have plans for her after passing her N.E.W.T.S. But I won't really write much of what goes on her seventh year as it won't do a lot for the plot. You will hear about it in later chapters what she was planning on her down time before Voldemort really starts raging hell in the seventies, but it's not important now. If you have any questions about the years or how old every one is feel free to PM me so I can try to better explain to anyone who might still be a little confused.
AN 2: Artoo means small and cute, quite fitting for Hermione's adorable yet aggressive little owl.
AN 3: I appreciate all of the reviews, favorites, follows and PMs. I've also had some concerns about starting stories and abandoning them. Let me take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about myself, when I was fourteen years old I was diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder not to be confused with social anxiety; as I got older while still having those same issues from anxiety I began getting different symptoms as well and was diagnosed with depression at sixteen though it wasn't as bad as my anxiety I began another medication to help with that as well. At twenty-four years old I still have those same diseases along with PTSD from the death of my two year old son, KJ. I try to update as often as I can but all of my stories are sporadically updated, I never know when I'll update because I write when inspiration hits me I hate trying to force my writing because then I'll turn out a shit chapter and I truly believe my loyal readers deserve better than that. With that being said please bear with me concerning updates, I will get to them when I'm able my first priorities are however; my husband, children and our health. If it's a few weeks between updates please forgive me as the reason is probably my PTSD and depression rearing its very ugly head. I'm still trying to manage my life after the death of my oldest son this past July and would really hope you all stick it out with me through this journey. Thank you for your time reading this author's note if you've made it this far, I know most skip over this sort of thing to get to the next chapter or a different story.
CajunMoma2014, Laura