NotAnotherTimeTurnerFic Challenge

Pairing: HG/MA, Hermione (genderswap)/Merlin (BBC kind of)

Summary: Hermione sends herself back in time to the founders era. Unfortunately her body gets lost in the process. She needs the help of the strongest wizards of the past to help fix the future. But its hard to convince people to help you when you are one of the most feared dark creatures out there. Dementor!Hermione Boy!Hermione HG/MA

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, that goes to JK Rowling. Nor do I lay claim to Merlin. That's BBC's and (Wiki) Geoffrey of Monmouth. Thanks Schermionie for the challenge idea.

AN. Its starts getting less scary now :D Also Hermione and Ron never got married. They dated for a little while but then broke it off and stayed as friends. Merlin comes in in this one. J

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Hermione was jolted awake when there was a bang on the door. She was disoriented for a moment until she remembered the events of last night.

Hopefully it's not still night time and that isn't a werewolf trying to get in and eat us, she thought. Hermione took a deep breath and extricated herself from the clinging boys. Then she drew her sword and cautiously approached the blocked doorway, kicking various tossed vegetables out of the way that littered the floor. The boys were awake now and the older boy grabbed up his pitch fork and placed himself behind Hermione.

The banging had paused and Hermione was just about to take a step forward when there was a flash of golden light, the cupboard was shoved aside and the door opened. The boys cried out and Hermione raised a quick invisible protego shield.

"William?!" A voice cried out. Hermione blinked. Ahead of her was an old man who was looked suspiciously similar to her old headmaster Dumbledore. He wore a robe that was significantly less flamboyant however, being a dark red colour. His eyes were blue, but instead of the pale blue of Dumbledore's they were a dark ocean colour. Had the long white beard down perfectly.

Hermione's observations of the unknown wizard were cut off as she was pushed to the side, and the excited boy's voice rose up in a shout, "Mer-Er, Dragoon!" Her foot landed awkwardly on a potato and she just managed to catch herself on a shelf.

"William then," Hermione began, "you know this man?" Hermione had sheathed her sword. If he was a wizard it wouldn't do much good anyways if it came to a fight. She leaned against the shelf she had used to steady herself on and attempted to look casual.

"Yes, he's the great Sorcerer Dragoon. He visited us before about a school or something."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, wondering if Hogwarts was built yet. Then shrugged at the thought and asked "Are you talking about Hogwarts?" The old man straightened up at that announcement, his deep blue eyes sharp.

He spoke, "Yes, but how have you heard of it? I can't recall meeting you before."

"I wouldn't think so. I just arrived in the area last night and came upon this cabin when it was being attacked by a werewolf. I wasn't bitten, but the young woman wasn't so lucky." Hermione said. That would be really weird if you had met me seeing as I'm from over a thousand years into the future.

William's hand reached up and snatched at Dragoon's cloak, furiously rubbing his eyes dry with his fore arm.

"Did you kill her?" Dragoon suddenly asked. It might have been a trick on the morning light but Hermione thought his eyes flashed gold for a second there.

"No, she had no magic in her to stave off the disease, and she perished." Hermione stated in a firm voice. She didn't know how skilled this Dragoon was; though she had survived the war in the future she was weary to test her skills against an unknown entity.

Dragoon glanced down at William and the boy nodded once firmly and the old man relaxed somewhat. Then he looked around the dark musty room until he landed on the younger of the two boys and motioned him forward. "Come on Bael let's get you out into the sunshine. William look around for any food that you can put in a sack. We'll go to the school." William nodded and leaped forward, gathering supplies. Hermione left the musty cabin and stepped out into the misty morning.

The sun filtered through the trees in broad god rays that turned the clearing that last night had been so ominous into a more serene landscape. She kept the wizard Dragoon in the corner of her eye as she made her way to the side of the cabin where the boy's mother had been thrown out last night. The body lay still and covered in a fine layer of dew, her simple brown dress still splattered with blood. Hermione rubbed her face tiredly and held off a jump as dragoon spoke up from nearly right behind her. "There was another body in the forest. I couldn't help but notice that it looked like his head had been cut off by a blade, and not a werewolf's jaws."

There was a faint thum of power in his voice and Hermione couldn't help taking a quick swallow. She still didn't know how she had woken up in the woods with a pike sticking out of her. This man was obviously protective of the boys. She really did not want to make an enemy of the apparent friend of the founders she needed to have an audience of.

Hermione decided quickly on what would be as close to the truth as she could make it. Looking the man in the eye she stated, "I woke up in the clearing that man was in. The blood was on my blade but I don't remember any attack or how I got there." A little lie, she remembered the portal from the veil. She didn't remember getting skewered onto the ground though. "I left shortly after that when I heard wolf howls and a woman screaming, along with a baby's crying. I ran toward the sound and thought it was a pack of wolves after her. I was somewhat surprised at the werewolf but managed to run it off and take the woman inside where her boy almost skewered me with a pitch fork. She had already been bitten though and the disease, as I said earlier, took her life. I blockaded the doors and the window in case the werewolf came back, and woke up this morning to you blowing in the door." She ended in a tightly chipper tone. She didn't say anything about using magic. She didn't know the man well enough yet to gage what his response to that might be.

"EW!" Hermione and the man broke off from there staring contest to look over at the toddler whose hand was stuck in a squash in the vegetable patch. He pulled away and giggled as his hands were completely covered in green goop.

Hermione went over without thinking, reminded of some of the children she had taken care of in the beginning of the war and said, "That is disgustingly cute little man. Let's get that cleaned off." She wiped off his hands in the dewy grass and dried them on her cloak then said, "Don't go sticking your hands back in there. Why don't you go help your brother." She ruffled his thick mop of brown hair and pointed over at William who was exiting the house, arms hugging a brown sack to his chest.

"Looks like a frost set in overnight." Dragoon stated, looking down at the vegetable patch. Hermione grimaced a little and wandered away, remembering her weird animagus episode from last night.

"I'll bury the mother over in the woods." She stooped down and cradled the woman in her arms. It wasn't until she was beyond the tree line that she remembered she didn't have a shovel. Setting the woman on the ground she glanced to see if she was alone and used a quick whispered wingardium leviosa to raise a deep well of dirt off to the side and then whispered another mobilicorpus to lower the woman into the grave. She covered the dirt back over and gathered a pile of stones.

Hermione stood back to survey her work, frowned and quickly transfigured a bundle of purple wildflowers out of a stick just as a patting of feet came up behind her. She turned and saw William, Bael, and Dragoon making their way toward her. She handed the flowers to William, trading it for the sack which she slung over her shoulder.

William and his brother set the flowers at the grave, saying a quick farewell. Hermione sighed. It had been a very long time since she had seen a grave made for the dead. Her friend's faces splattered with blood from the gunfire flashed across her mind. She realized that her vision had become a blurry and quickly wiped her eyes and nodded at Dragoon, pushing thoughts of her friends away. There would be time for mourning later. And if she finished her quest she might not even have to mourn.

-Earlier that day from Merlin's perspective-

Merlin hummed as he picked his way through the dense undergrowth.

It had been three years since Arthur had taken the throne and magic was declared legal in the kingdom.

It had been a several months since four warlocks, a Salazar Slytherin, Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Helga Hufflepuff had approached him about a school for witchcraft and wizardry.

He was astounded to learn that they had built the castle beside the Lake of Avalon. It made sense though, since the lake was a hotspot for magic and only those with the gift could travel close to it. The Lady of the Lake had given her permission and had also bestowed some of herself into the actual castle giving a consciousness to the stone walls. Since then he and the founders had been searching for teachers and students for the school. Families moved closer to castle and began making homes and other buildings further down the hill.

At the moment Rowena, Sal, Grodric, and Helena were busy helping set up the school and the town. So it was left to Merlin mostly to contact the families whose names showed up from a quill Rowena had enchanted to write down those with magical potential. Unfortunately he didn't look nearly as impressive as the four other magicals because of his age. So as he neared the next location of the two magicals he used an aging spell and dawned the guise of Dragoon the Great.

He had just stepped out into a small clearing when he spotted a man in brown clothes lying on the ground. His head was lying at his feet and blood surrounded his neck. Battle wariness sharpened his vision. He recognized the clean cut of a blade. He also noted another large blood stain just ahead of the body, along with a strange pile of ash. A vampire? Merlin wondered. But the ash was the grey of wood ash, not the strange red ash vampires left behind. Then he remembered the reason he had come here and dread pooled in his stomach.

Although magic had been allowed throughout the kingdom, there were still a great many that were fearful of those with power. It was safer now than it had been in years for magic users, but it was still not without dangers of attack from fearful non magicals. If someone had spotted the two names on his list as magic users that could very well have been the cause of this violence.

He rushed through the woods, glancing at the enchanted parchment occasionally to make sure he was headed the right way and came out in a yard with a garden and small cottage. His heart jumped into his throat as he spied some bloodied form crumpled up against the side of the house.

He approached her slowly; keeping his ears and eyes peeled and froze when he recognized the woman as a young mother who traded vegetables at the near towns and villages. He couldn't remember her name. But he remembered her son, William, who had been lighting a small campfire behind a building with his giggling little brother.

Flashback

The crowd was thick in the large village Merlin was passing through. He was getting jostled a lot, losing his balance, when a burly man shouted just in front of him with his back turned, backing into Merlin, and knocked the young warlock into a stall. A wizened old crone shouted and prodded him away from her herbs. He kept a tight hold on his pack and was nearly flung into a side alley by the heaving crowd, barely managing to stay on his feet.

He breathed a sigh of relief and straightened the dull brown traveling cloak so it covered the gold dragon crest on his tunic, pushing his short dark brown hair out of his eyes. Merline started to walk down the alleyway only to pause when he saw two boys crouched on the ground. Amusement and surprise flickered across his face as the oldest held his hand over a small pile of sticks. He was repeatedly lighting and snuffing out the flames with waves of his hands as his younger brother watched. Just then a group of four men entered the alley and the boys fell back from the small fire, a hint of fear on their faces.

The man in the front had spotted the fire and came forward, his face darkening in comprehension. Merlin moved forward quickly. The law against magic had been lifted over two years before but some people still attacked magic users.

"What were you boys doing with that fire?" He asked menacingly.

"I was teaching them how to make a fire." Merlin stated, holding up his flint and steel. He never really used them anymore, but kept it for situations like this one. The man and the boys looked over at him. The older of the two brothers started nodding frantically, and the younger one bobbed his head along obediently. The man eyed the flint and steel suspiciously. Merlin raised his chin and casually moved his cloak aside revealing his gold crest. By this time the man's friends had arrived and were pulling at the other man's arms.

One of them said quickly, "Sorry Milord, he didn't mean anything by it. Just too much to drink."

Sorry milord's Rang out all around and the group hurriedly shuffled off. Amusement licked at Merlin's insides. If Arthur had heard someone calling Merlin a lord he probably would have bust himself laughing. (Merlin has always been an Arthur's servant). He kept his face straight easily though, only the faint twinkling in his eyes giving him away.

"Thank you my lord." The older boy said.

Merlin smirked. "I am not a lord. I am a servant. But we will not tell them that." The boys grinned. Merlin replaced his cloak over the crest of his tunic and said, "I am also a warlock just like you. The law against magic was lifted two years ago but I would caution you against using it in such an open space. You just saw that not everyone is as accepting of magic as King Arthur. There is however a school starting up in a couple of months that teaches magic. You might be interested in it. My name is Merlin Ambrosias." He held both hands for the boys and pulled them to their feet. Then he stared at the fire and said a few words in the dragon tongue. His eyes glowed gold momentarily and a small dragon made of embers flew above the fire before dissipating. The boys grinned up at him, bouncing in excitement.

"I'm William and this is my little brother Bael." The boys both had darker skin like Gwen. They spent another hour talking before Merlin dawned his old man guise and headed on his way.

Flashback end

Merlin quickly made his way over to the wooden door and tried to open it. it wouldn't move so he knocked loudly and called out. When that also had no answer he stepped back and spoke in the dragon tongue. Gold light ran from his feet across the ground and under the door. There was a scraping of something heavy being moved and then the door opened.

Merlin jumped inside, prepared for the worst and saw a tall hooded figure with the hood shadowing his face. He seemed to suck in the darkness around him, and in his dark gloved hands held a sword pointed at Merlin.

Behind the menacing figure stood one small boy holding a pitch fork. "William!" Merlin exclaimed with some relief. William rushed past the swordsman and grabbed Merlin around the waist in a hug.

"Mer-er, Dragoon!" William caught his slip.

The man spoke then in a deep voice, "William then? You know this man?" He sheathed his sword, and leaned against the shelf, arms loosely crossed over his broad chest.

William glanced quickly up at him, a question in his eyes and stated with exaggerated excitement, "Yes, he's the great Sorcerer Dragoon. He visited us before about a school or something."

A barely seen eyebrow in the hood was raised, and the man lifted off from the shelves then surprised Merlin briefly when he asked, "Are you talking about Hogwarts?"

Merlin's mind flickered over the strange inflection the man placed on that sentence, and he straightened to meet where the man's eyes would have been. "Yes, but how have you heard of it? I can't recall meeting you before." Yeah, he probably would have remembered meeting this man before, what with the way the shadows seemed to cling to him like smoke.

There was a quick flash a cold and a hopeless feeling crawled its way into his heart. Williams hand latched onto his cloak and Merlin gathered his magic around him. "Did you kill her?" He demanded a nearly a whisper.

"No, she had no magic in her to stave off the disease, and she perished." The as yet unnamed man stated firmly. The cold had seeped away by now and the feeling off hopelessness trying to claw its way into him went with it. Merlin glanced quickly down at William to see if he agreed with the story and got a quick nod in response. He relaxed slightly, then remembered the younger brother and looked for him around the cabin. He spotted the youngest on a straw mattress watching the proceedings and motioned him forward.

They exited into the yard and Merlin couldn't help but notice that even in broad daylight the man seamed a shadow. A shiver went up his neck when he felt the man watching even though his face was turned away.

He kept a hold of the two boys as the man walked around the side of the building to where the woman was crumpled against the wall. Merlin said, "Come on Bael let's get you out into the sunshine. William look around for any food that you can put in a sack. We'll go to the school." William nodded up at him and quickly re-entered the house.

Merlin left the boys near the vegetable patch to approach the body and the man. He noticed then that it did indeed look like something had bitten the woman.

"There was another body in the forest. I couldn't help but notice that it looked like his head had been cut off by a blade, and not a werewolf's jaws." Merlin said, as he watched the man's back for his reaction.

"I woke up in the clearing that man was in. The blood was on my blade but I don't remember any attack or how I got there." Merlin's face remained impassive. He didn't appear to be lying precisely, but he was definitely holding something back. Growing up at court Merlin had learned how to pick up subtle speech nuances, and he braced his magic. "I left shortly after that when I heard wolf howls and a woman screaming, along with a baby's crying. I ran toward the noise and thought it was a pack of wolves after her. I was somewhat surprised at the werewolf but managed to run it off and take the woman inside where her boy almost skewered me with a pitch fork. She had already been bitten though and the disease, as I said earlier, took her life. I blockaded the doors and the window in case the werewolf came back, and woke up to you blowing in the door." The shadowing man ended in a sarcastically chipper tone.

"EW!" Bael's voice cried out in childish ecstasy. His hands were covered in mucked squash.

Merlin's heart froze a beat as the shadow blew past him and glided over to the small boy. He was just about to call out when he heard the man say in the softest tone he had heard from him yet, "That is disgustingly cute little man. Let's get that cleaned off. Don't go sticking your hands back in there. Why don't you go help your brother?" He then ruffled the toddler's hair and sent him on his way, leaving Merlin alone with him for a little bit.

Merlin looked over the ruined squash and noted that all of the vegetables appeared to be mucked and dead as well. "Looks like a frost set in overnight." He murmured to himself.

"I'll bury the mother over in the woods." The man spoke in a sudden non sequitur. He went back to the woman and scooped her body into his arms like it was a feather pillow, and then disappeared off into the woods. Merlin waited for a moment before making his way into the cabin. William stood outside the door holding a brown sack, and Bael stood by his side chewing on a carrot. Upon entering he noticed something that he had missed before.

There was no blood.

"William. Did that man ever bring your mother inside?" He queried.

"Yes." William said in a hushed tone.

Merlin frowned and looked over at the inside of the wall where the woman had been leaning up against the outside of the house. There was a cupboard there against the wall, but the items on it were shuffled across the top, a bowl containing berries overturned. Merlin stepped forward and tried to move the shelf, but it was too heavy and wouldn't budge. He stepped back and said a few dragon words. His eyes glowed golden and the cupboard moved aside. Walking up to the window, Merlin leaned over the sill. There was an almost perfect line where the blood started from a body being pushed over the sill to slide down the wall to the ground outside, and the rest of the window sill was left clean.

"He put her on the bed. But he said that she had been bit and since Mother didn't have any magic in her that the werewolves bite would kill her. Then he pulled me behind him, I was holding Bael, and there were growls coming from where Mother was. I think she fell off the bed because I could hear her shuffling getting closer. The man had his sword out the whole time and was pointing it at her. Then there was-" His voice caught in his throat but continued on "There w-was this loud snapping noise, and then nothing. The man picked me and Beal up and put us on a shelf and put Mother out the window." He were tears streaming down his face. "Mother told us before to keep the door closed no matter what. I moved a box in front of it. But the box moved back on its own. I picked up the pitch fork and was prepared to ram it into whatever came through the door, but he was holding Mother. And he moved the pots cupboard in front of the door and said no one would go out until it was m-morning. I thought he was going to- I thought he hurt Mother. He said he didn't and I heard the howling and the whimpers from outside before he came in. I was going to escape out the window with Bael but the man put the cupboard in front of it. Then he grabbed m-me and Bael and lay down with us on the mattress. I tried to stay a-awake but I c-couldn't." William by this time was squeezing the life out of the bag, and he and his little brother were sobbing.

Merlin knelt down and placed a hand on both their shoulders, drawing them in. His brow furrowed, Merlin said, "You did really well for the circumstance. And you're both still alive. Alright? You're a smart kid William. You handled the situation really well for you and your little brother. Plus, I don't know if this man is bad or not. I think he might be a warlock, though I haven't seen him doing magic. His story fits so far and it seems like he was trying to help your Mother. But we'll stay cautious. We will go to Hogwarts where some of my friends are."

They made their way through the woods to where the man had disappeared off to. They saw him standing over a mound of fresh dirt that had a small pile of stones at the head. The man stood holding a small bouquet of purple flowers which Merlin had no idea where he had gotten. He didn't recognize the species and after being apprenticed under Gaius, who is a physician, he knew the properties of nearly every species in the isles.

The man turned then and handed the flowers to William, trading it for the sack which he slung over his shoulder. The boys paid their respects, and then Merlin turned to them all and announced, "Well I think we should be heading off to Hogwarts. Are you coming with us?" Merlin raised an eyebrow at the man.

"Yes I would like that very much, thank you." The man answered.

"Great, well we should probably know your name then sir." He stated.

"Her-Er. Sir? What?" The man reached up and tugged his hood back. He had a square jaw and curly, light-eating black hair. But the feature that stood out the most was the man's eyes. They were a piercing pale violet. Nearly white, making the pinprick pupils stand out all the more under his raised aristocratic eye brows. A thin scar ran down the left side of his face.

"I'm a woman."

Merlin blinked. He stared, an eye brow rising. He really didn't know what to say to that. The man didn't appear to be joking either.

"Er, no you're not." William spoke up, helpful as he was.

"What?" The man's voice trailed off. Merlin watched as the man brought his hands up to his face and tugged on a piece of shoulder length hair. He stopped and stared at it in utter confusion for a little bit, then turned and startled everyone when he waved his hand and muttered a few words and an ornate mirror appeared out of nowhere in the middle off the forest. He looked into it and then just gawped at his reflection.

"I look," He stuttered, "I look so," He looked back at them in panic momentarily before turning back to the mirror. "I look so EVIL." He stated in a high pitched voice.

Then he fainted.

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AN: Lawlz. Hermione finally notices she's a man. This was a much longer chapter than the other two. Next chapter is traveling adventures. After that they'll be meeting the founders. Yay.

See you laterz.

Peace out