Hermione woke. Suddenly there was light and the sound of gentle breathing. A heavy weight pressed into the side of her body.
"Harry?" The weight on her shifted slightly as the boy with raven hair stared at her. He was pale. As pale and fragile as she had ever seen Harry and Hermione had seen him at his worst. The part of her that was pure Ravenclaw intelligence saw what was happening and quietly presented the facts.
"Don't you leave me." She whispered quietly. She didn't have the energy to do much more. "Don't you dare Harry Potter. I can't do this without you." The boy smiled slightly and in his beautiful emerald eyes Hermione saw the pain of everything he had been through. Every trauma he had suffered through and locked away the pain. Hermione knew he wasn't good with dealing with his feelings. He had bundled up all of the pain and suffering and left it to fester and now it was taking its toll. It was killing him. Death has a certain look. Be around it long enough and you start to recognise it. Hermione could see that Harry simply couldn't survive in this world any longer.
"Hermione I love you. You are the best friend I could have ever hoped for." The words were faint and whispered as his eyes started to dim. Each breath sounded like it could be his last. The Gryffindor in Hermione simply accepted the truth and moved on to comfort her friend.
"Go in peace Harry. I love you too." She found the energy to move her hand and stroked his face gently. "I hope you see your parents and Sirius. They have missed you. I will see you again. I know it." She smiled at him through her tears, wishing it didn't have to be this way. Yet she knew she couldn't change it. Harry clasped her hand and shut his eyes, the energy leaving him. She listened to his breathing until the breaths stopped, the tears continuing to pour from her eyes.
"Ah Miss Granger. You're awake." Madam Pomfrey bustled into view looking cheerful. She stopped abruptly when she saw Hermione's face and the still body of the Boy-Who-Lived. "Oh Merlin save us" the witch whispered.
Hermione wouldn't let him go to begin with. Eventually an Order member forced some dreamless sleep potion down her throat and her grip on his relaxed. When the darkness receded and she woke she was alone. The room was dark and the cool air was gentle on her face. She didn't cry. Harry had wanted to go. It was his choice and she would always stand by his decisions. Hermione tensed her legs and decided she could probably walk. She was still wearing the clothes she's had on during the battle although her shoes were gone. Slowly and carefully she eased her weight onto her feet. The cool flagstones were solid and grounded her, something she needed. Slowly she made her way through the door at the end of the room and slipped quietly into the corridor beyond. A familiar ginger blur slipped from the darkness to pad along by her side, offering her the silent comfort and companionship she needed. The rubble had been cleared although the scorch marks remained. The portraits were no longer empty, the inhabitants of their frames having decided it was safe to return. Their gentle snoring filled the corridors as Hermione made her way to the Headmaster's office. The Gargoyle only opened without the password and she assumed she was expected. Professor McGonagall waited in the Head Masters chair. Obviously it was her chair now.
"I am glad to see you're awake Hermione." The woman looked tired, her stern feature sunken slightly and the bags under her eyes prominent. I probably look worse Hermione thought.
"I had to wake up sometime. I'm sorry for barging in like this." She took a seat in one of the armchairs by the fire and stroked Crookshanks when he jumped up into her lap. "Can you tell me what day it is."
The tall witch joined her by the fire, Crookshanks giving his fellow cat a respectful nod. "It had been almost exactly two weeks since the death of You-Know-Who. Everyone is starting to rebuild. Slowly at least."
"This story didn't end the way it was supposed to. There was supposed to be a happy ending. An epilogue, showing us with our children, wishing them off to Hogwarts. But that's never going to happen now. We've lost too much for this to be happy." The curly haired witch stared into the flames. "I wish I could go back and change it all. Harry may have fulfilled his destiny, but the result killed him. Ron should never have died. None of this should have happened."
McGonagall watched her in silence before sighing slightly. "Hermione who bit you?"
"Lupin. Why?" Hermione's eyes widened, "Oh."
"I'm sorry dear. I though you realised. The bite on your hip was Remus Lupin's way of marking you. Can I ask why he did it?"
"Death Eater hit him with a Befuddling Jinx. He was confused as to who he was attacking. He came to his senses not long after. He died not long after, protecting me"
"Well that explains something." Hermione raised an eyebrow and the older witch flushed slightly. "When Remus joined the teaching staff in your third year, I decided to research werewolves. Although there is not a vast quantity of information on the subject, I found myself in possession of a book which explained the habits of werewolves in great detail. As far as I'm aware it's the only one in existence." She got to her feet and wandered across to the bookshelves, selecting a thin volume bound in thick leather. "Lycanthropy by an unwilling victim. An excellent read." She smiled as she passed the book over "Page 70 or thereabouts, describes the biting habits of werewolves. Most, when they are bitten, are bitten on the shoulder as a show of dominance. However Remus chose to bite your hip. He was quite delicate about it too." McGonagall noticed the girl's blush. "Pomfrey showed me the wound. Nothing to be embarrassed about. As we assumed it was one of Greyback's followers we were naturally amazed at the location and situation of your bite mark."
Hermione lifted the side of her tattered shirt to inspect the bite. The wound itself had closed over but there remained a perfect imprint of Remus's lupine teeth. She hadn't been savaged, like many others who fell prey to werewolf bites. Instead she had been quite carefully bitten, by someone that knew exactly what they had been doing. She remembered being stunned by a passing jinx and having the huge wolf advance on her. It had stared at her with those beautiful amber eyes and sniffed her quite gently. She had been too scared to move for fear of provoking him. He had dipped his head and bitten her hard before quickly loping off to face the Death Eaters.
"That's a mating bite isn't it?" McGonagall nodded wearily.
"It would appear that Moony took rather a shine to you. The Befuddlement Jinx you mentioned probably only affected Remus, causing the Wolfsbane potion to wear off. Moony was probably just going by instinct. He sensed his mate and decided to do what he was supposed to."
Hermione sighed. "So not only have I lost my best friends, my parents and my home, I've lost my mate as well? Brilliant." She said not caring how childish she sounded. She deserved some time to wallow in self pity. "What about Tonks?"
"Remus told me once that his wolf hated being around her. Apparently he went insane, for no real reason. Besides…" The older witch returned to her chair "Their marriage was falling apart anyway."
The two witches and the cat sat in silence as the sun began to rise over the ruins of Hogwarts. The dust motes floated across the room, catching the rays of sunshine. Crookshanks purred contentedly at having his mistress back and McGonagall played thoughtfully with the chain hanging around her neck.
"You're right you know" She said suddenly. "This isn't how the story should have ended. But just because the author has put down her pen, doesn't mean it can't be rewritten."
"It's cruel to get a witch's hopes up and then slash them to the ground." Hermione said blandly, not even looking up from the fire.
"Oh hush you. Enough negativity." Hermione was startled by the smile in her old professor's face, to start to take her seriously.
"What are you going on about?" The witch, almost humming with excitement lifter the chain she had been fiddling with from beneath her robes.
"This is my personal time turner. My father was an unspeakable in the Ministry. He…appropriated this for me in case I was ever in need of one. It's slightly more advanced than the one Dumbledore gave to you." She stroked the gold lovingly.
Hermione snorted inelegantly. "So you want me to go back two weeks and stop the War early?"
McGonagall sighed. "No. I want you to go back 20 years and stop the second war from ever happening."
This is by far the maddest thing I have ever considered doing, Hermione told herself as she scrubbed the dirt off her body. Her wounds had healed up although the mating bite throbbed strangely. The shower washed her clean, removing the filth of the Battle that she'd been wearing for two weeks. It took ten minutes to wash her hair clean and she emerged from the Head Mistresses private bathroom feeling slightly more human. Although, she mused quietly, I'm not even that anymore.
Professor McGonagall was going to send her back to the Marauders 7th year. All she had to do was make sure the Horcruxes were destroyed along with Voldemort and that Lily and James Potter survived the war. She would be giving Harry something he had always dreamed of. A life free from guilt and strife. A life with a family who loved him to distraction. She dressed quickly in clothes she'd pulled from her beaded bag. McGonagall was gathering supplies she might need for her trip. She'd offered Hermione her fire to say goodbye to anyone. But really Hermione couldn't see the point. If what they were attempting worked, they wouldn't remember her anyway.
"Are you ready?" McGonagall appeared with a large satchel and a letter. Hermione nodded. What else could she do? "Brilliant. This bag has an undetectable extension charm on it. I've given you everything I can possible think of, including a good supply of Wolfsbane potion and the recipe for it. I raided the potions department and the Library. I assume you already have everything of personal importance in your bag." Hermione nodded and accepted the satchel, swinging it across her shoulders so the strap crisscrossed with her beaded bag, along with the letter. "The letter is from me to myself. It will vouch for you. The password to my rooms is Tabby Cat."
Hermione giggled, and the older witch smiled in relief. McGonagall reached into her pocket and withdrew a small bag on a leather cord. Hermione's smile faltered and she winced.
"This was Harry's. It contains the Marauders Map, his invisibility cloak and several other personal items. They belong to you. Mr Potter was very clear in his will who his beneficiaries were to be. As You are the only one remaining, I have taken the liberty of obtaining some money from Mr Potter's vault. It's about half of his entire fortune I believe. You'll find it in the satchel in a leather bag. Is there anything else you'll need?" Hermione shook her head and tucked the pouch beneath her shirt. She slipped the letter into her jeans pocket and hoisted Crookshanks into her arms. The cat, showing his uncanny intelligence, crawled up and laid himself securely around her neck, so he couldn't be shaken off during the journey.
"Thank you for this McGonagall." Hermione's voice was still lacking emotion, but her eyes were watering as she accepted the Time Turner. "You have always been a brilliant teacher. I'll see you soon."
The woman smiled at her. "2 turns should do it. I've set it to 10 years a turn. You'll arrive just after the end of term."
Hermione gathered her courage and twisted it twice.
A/N My thanks to punkyredhead for that review. I think that sounds about right, although I'm thinking about adding Moony to the equation. Can't wait to see what happens when they meet. Hope you enjoy this chapter too.
I cried when Harry passed on. Is that weird?
Again please review.