All she wanted to do was find the closest bed and pass out. The magical jet-lag had gotten to her worse than she thought it would. It would be a while yet before she could seek any kind of rest though. Because from the moment she'd entered the MACUSA's offices, Hermione had been directed from the International Visitor's Check-In and then was sent off to the Magical Quarantine and Inspections to clear customs. Then they had detoured over to yet another division that she was just too tired to even remember the name of. The whole practice of the Wand Registry bothered her on so many different levels, but she recognized there was a practicality, still it felt incredibly invasive.
As promised, the license she was given would apparently register her magic, no matter what year or area of the United States she might find herself. They had specially crafted it for the few people that were working on this project or anyone in the government with clearance to a time device. She had to admit, it was quite handy, especially when you considered that they didn't know what the device was a capable of yet. Hermione was eager to get her hands on it and uncover the plethora of secrets it had been buried with.
After the seemingly endless paperwork had been completed Mr. Henderson, who hadn't left her side all day, finally guided her to a heavily warded room. She could feel a ripple in them as they adjusted to recognize her magical signature. Once the wards had settled in around them, Hermione was introduced to the research team she'd be joining.
The team was surprisingly small, despite the study of the artifact being such an important undertaking—in her opinion, anyway. It was headed by a stony man in his mid-sixties named Mitchell Brown and his mousy assistant and junior researcher, Lisa Phillips.
Hermione was handed a stack of all the research they had complied so far. Along with all the information came orders from Mr. Brown to catch up quickly as possible. Miss Phillips barely breathed a word in her direction.
Hermione was shown to a small office space that they designated for her use. They spent a few hours debriefing her before finally noticing the time difference was affecting her. Brown briskly dismissed her, knowing there was little she could do until she slept, with the instructions to report back by nine the next morning. Miss Phillips directed her out of the department filling the air with a stream of chatter Hermione couldn't recall a word of.
Once they returned to the lobby Mr. Henderson reappeared at her side. With few words exchanged, he accompanied her to the furnished apartment that the MACUSA was providing. He took a brief moment to connect her floo to the MACUSA lobby and her office before leaving his contact information in case she needed anything.
She knew that she should unpack her clothes and set up her new living space but, as Mr. Henderson left, Hermione could already feel her remaining energy draining out. Hermione stumbled slowly back to her new bedroom and flopped down on the bed. There wasn't even a moment to think about changing into her pajamas or even crawling under the covers. The last thought she had was how thankful she was that they'd gifted her with a bed that felt heavenly.
The next morning, Hermione woke early enough to explore her neighborhood and was lucky enough to find a charming independent coffee shop. After a quick cup of passible tea she ordered some pastries and coffee to go for her new team. Maybe it would be a nice enough gesture to reduce the tension.
Even with her side trip, Hermione arrived at the office before anyone else. She took these precious moments to set up her work space, make copies of all the files they would need, and the less delicate books that were tied to their research. If she had copies in the office and at home it would help her move this project along quicker and she'd be able to return to her own projects sooner. As she was finishing up all the transfers and copying her new coworkers arrived, helping themselves to the food and drinks she'd left on an empty table space in the middle of the room.
Hermione greeted them as they settled in. Miss Phillips offered a shy smile while Mr. Brown only nodded her way. Looking over her shoulder, Mr. Brown nodded towards her office, "Making yourself comfortable already?" His tone surprised Hermione in its hostility.
She quirked an eyebrow and took a sip of her coffee. She wasn't going to dignify such behavior with a reply. Her patience with his attitude was bound to be tested quickly.
Turning his eyes back to her he scowled as he said, "Understand this, Miss Granger. This is my project. I have no desire to invite a Brit into this, much less you." His sneer was audible. "I could not care less about who you are or what they say about you. You may think your celebrity status over there means something here but it doesn't. I won't have my discovery usurped by you. As long as we are clear on that we should work together just fine."
Hermione mentally rolled her eyes at the posturing before flashing a sickeningly sweet smile. "Fair enough, Mr. Brown. Then you should understand that it was not my choice to be here. The request was sent through and the Ministry selected me. I assume they felt you weren't making the necessary progress quickly enough."
Hermione tried to stifle her amusement as the red flush which creeped up his neck. "Mr. Brown, you are the lead on this collaboration. That isn't something I planned on challenging. I am here to assist as needed and not to have a measuring contest with you. Now shall we begin?" Refusing to back down, Hermione held Mr. Brown's indignant stare while maintaining a slightly condescending smile of her own.
The older man broke eye contact first, turning to glare at Miss Phillips. With a growl he ordered the poor girl to bring out the device so that their 'guest' could begin 'assisting' them.
Upon her return, the group gathered around a table as Miss Phillips gently placed the device down. If this really was a time-turner, it's unlike any she'd seen before. Instead of rings and an hourglass design she was used to, the device in front of her appeared to be a pocket-watch.
Made from what she could only assume is gold, its cover has a sky map etched in meticulous detail. There appeared to be symbols from Celtic astrology along the edges. Delicate knot work was carved into the sides and at top sat a raven. It was larger than any pocket-watch she'd seen before. It looked like it was larger than the palm of her hand. Picking it up, Hermione could feel a warmth emanating from it. It was eerily similar to the cursed locket but this magical device didn't feel malicious. The feeling was hard for her to place at first, but she was eventually able to pinpoint it as a longing. Almost like it was waiting for someone.
Pressing the raven, the cover swung open to reveal a piece of pure beauty. The inside seems to have been carved from jet. There were the familiar rings of the time-turner set into it, though they only be spun clockwise and counter-clockwise. Each ring had silver runes engraved into them. She'd never seen a device with so many rings. She knew for sure, that this wasn't an ordinary time-turner.
This, if she assumed correctly, would have the ability to not only send a person back hours or mere minutes. No, it looked like it could feasibly send a person back months, years, or possibly even decades. Her chest tightened with a flash of fear but she swallowed it down. The potential this device presented to cause chaos was terrifying.
Mr. Brown's voice cut through her thoughts as he crowded her space. "We've been able to identify the runes on the front and some on the watch face. There is writing on the back which has us puzzled. What we have deduced is that the glyphs appear to be the key to making the device work."
Hermione's head shot up and she fixed him with an incredulous stare. "Work?! You mean to tell me you've tried to use this thing without fully knowing what it is capable of? That is unbelievably reckless!"
"It wasn't that dangerous, Miss Granger." Miss Phillips pointed towards one of the rings with a shaky finger. "We deduced that this ring was what controlled the minutes. When we decided to test it we only moved this one a few spaces."
She made eye contact with Hermione, who was surprised to see no trace of the usual meekness. "You are probably feeling a current going through the device. When I first picked it up it sent a shock through my hand and felt like ice to Mr. Brown. When we adjusted the ring it seemed to be drawing a bit of energy from the holder but that faded quickly. What do you feel?"
Hermione studied the device in her hand warily. The thought that it drew energy from the user was not something to be taken lightly. She could feel the device settling heavier in her hand. There was a low vibration that traveled from in and through her hand.
"Heat. I feel a low heat and a sense that it's waiting for something. I don't recognize the runes on the back. I may have some books that can help. Is there sand anywhere in this?" She lifts the device up to examine it from different angles, trying to see if she can catch sight of any granules.
Miss Phillips stringy brown hair swung as she shook her head. "None that we have seen."
Both women jumped when Mr. Brown dropped a stack of books on the table. Hermione hadn't even noticed him leave the room. "Miss Granger, see if you can find anything in your materials about the runes. Lisa, make yourself useful and look through these. See if you can determine all the time increments I want to see all notes before either of you leave for the day."
Returning to her normal meek self, Miss Phillips, well Lisa now, she supposed, grabbed up all the books and quickly scurried off with what looked like a flash of anger. Hermione had to be imagining it, Lisa had been nothing but timid and cooperative since they'd met.
Shaking the thoughts away, Hermione turned back to the device. "I'm going to copy these runes down so I can start to work out a translation. If we can lay them out better it may make identification easier.".
An hour later she had all the runes transcribed and she was completely baffled. From what she could tell there was a mixture of rune types. At the very least there was Norse and Anglo-Saxon. There may have been one more that she was unfamiliar with that could be a combination of both.
How this device made it to the Americas was beyond her. If she could just translate parts she might be able to decipher the meaning of the mystery markings. One thing was very clear though: the creator of the device did not want just anyone to use the watch.
Lisa sat near and kept an easy conversation going. Hermione enjoyed having the chance to explain what process she was used to translate the runes, and breaking down the components of each one. The collaboration had turned into a training session but it worked well for the both of them.
The only issue she had was contending with was the shared workspace. Books and notes were not in the places she left them and sometimes went missing all together. Whenever she brought it up Mr. Brown criticized her ability to maintain her space. Hermione suspected tampering, but hadn't been able to turn up any proof. Security tighter than the stitches on Mrs. Weasley's sweaters. It was still suspicious when books and notes were put away in one place and found in another the next day.
After everything she had been through during the Second Wizarding War, Hermione had started to leave all her notes in code. The journal she used was spelled to duplicate everything that she wrote down to a companion journal she kept in her apartment. She had taken inspiration from the Marauders Map. If someone didn't know the correct phrase to unlock the notebook it would show nothing but false translations, half notes, and insults.
Some could call her paranoid, but this object was too important and dangerous to allow anyone outside the researchers to know of its existence. The same journal held every bit of progress she had made in her personal projects. It was one of her most valued possessions.
While the pocket watch could very well be the earliest version of time-turner ever created, it was truly unlike any she had experienced before. If her translations were correct it would be able to transport the holder to any point in time that they may desire. There were limitations to how many people could be transported. The numbers impacted the distance back in time the users could travel. There was also the energy factor to worry about and where it was sourced from, but she thought she was getting close to cracking the code on that.
Hypothetically, this meant one person could potentially travel back centuries or maybe even millennia. It would require the foreknowledge of what existed in the area and that it would be a safe area to land. The other thing she was shocked to discover was that it didn't create a loop. With how far back a person could travel there was no limitation on how long the traveler could stay in the past. Which meant this device had a component that allowed the traveler to move forward to the point they started.
The very idea terrified her. No longer would the holder be bound to their own timeline. The potential to change everything was astronomical and unsettling, to know that such power existed. In the wrong hands, the world as they knew it could cease to exist. Even the most well-intended person could be tempted to try and alter history for what they believed to be better. If they did such a thing there would be no way to tell if it was an improvement over the original or not.
Hermione's concerns over the security of their project impressed upon her that it would be a good to leave a trail of false notes that implied she'd cracked how to make the device work. If what she was suspected was correct she planned to hint that she was leaving the office early one day. She warded her office space to notify her to anyone entering.
Walking home, she reflected on the lengths she was having to go to in order to protect her research. On a whimsy, she dreamed that maybe, one day, she'd be able to live a normal life, with a normal job.
With her track record, she doubted that dream would ever be a reality.
The next day, Hermione approached Mr. Brown with part of what she'd uncovered about the pocket watch. She wasn't the least bit surprised that he was dismissive of her concerns about how powerful and sensitive the device was. In typical project manager fashion, all he cared about were results: her notes and runic calculations on statistical odds of a successful time jump were correct and fool-proof.
The idea that they would want to test it, not just on a theoretical level was daunting. Hermione was convinced that it could be easily accomplished, but there was no way to predict what impact it could have. Predicting what could happen on paper was vastly different from the actual outcomes: such as completely altering the timeline–which would be breaking the biggest fundamental rule of time travel: Do not change anything.
For all they knew though the device could be powerful enough to create alternate timelines with each jump. Or alter the entire universe. Some research suggested time was a loop and everything that happened was exactly what was supposed to happen. There were just too many variables for her to contend with, which just made it all the more dangerous and unfathomable that the American's were contemplating testing it.
Mitchell Brown's single-minded focus on his own notoriety was something Hermione found loathsome. The goal of any discovery, in her mind, was that it should be to bring new found knowledge into the world and not to inflate someone's ego. Hermione was no stranger to hard work and little sleep, but the demands the man placed on her were exhausting. She pulled long hours and only saw her bed every other day while he kept the nine to five life.
Frankly, it was a little disappointing, even though the device was fascinating. A little bit of sightseeing would have been a welcome break. It's not like it would have actually impacted her work. Instead, she was locked in a battle of wills with a bullish man who was dead set on testing a magical device they were only on the brink of understanding. All because Hermione may have discovered how to use the pocket watch.
Mr. Brown decided that he would ignore the risk, even though it wasn't him who'd be testing it and proceeded under the illusion that they knew exactly what would happen. It didn't matter to him as long as the success was credited to his name. This man incited far too many flashbacks of former Ministers.
Hermione'd spent much of the morning arguing against putting aside the research. The entire situation was caused heavy tension and sense of disquiet. Every single red flag she had was raised. Was the goal just the prestige of discovery or was this what Kingsley warned her about? If she was back home she'd be more concerned about some blood purist trying to bring back Voldemort but in America it seemed like a far-fetched thing for them to do.
Miss Phillips sat to the side quietly observing the minor power struggle, nodding along to points each sides was making. Every now and then she'd ask questions of both of them to help clarify their points. There was an odd hunger in the way she followed along to their argument.
Hermione could relate to the need to absorb more and more information that the young woman must have been feeling. For all her timidness, Lisa seemed to have a hand in all the research. This was probably her first assignment since leaving school so there was a need to prove her worth. It would be prudent to keep an eye on Lisa. She was, likely, the person going through Hermione's notes in a need to know more and maybe establish a name for herself in their field.
They walked through the office door and Hermione threw her bag down by the door. "What an incompetent, egotistical, narcissist arse. Is there something in the water here that breeds that? The stupidity of just jumping into experimenting with an unknown magical artifact is obscene! He would rather rush ahead and risk history and the timeline itself instead of waiting for more accurate information. I'm growing tired of people being more concerned with their careers than genuinely wanting to research new discoveries." Hermione rakes her hands through the mess of curls and sits heavily in the chair.
Lisa coughed out a laugh. "You know he's threatened by you, right?"
She raised her hands to placate Hermione's aggravated scoff. "Hear me out. Not only did they bring in someone from outside our department but they brought in you. Miss Granger, you are not only famous, but outstrip most in the intellectual arena. Not to mention, you have experience with time devices. Hell, according to your file you've been around time devices since you were thirteen. Most of us don't get their first peek a time turner until we're 20! Events showed the world that you have no problem challenging authority and you are everything he hates the most. You are younger, smarter, and more influential. Everything he wants to possess, you already own. Your involvement in this project changed all our, his, plans."
Hermione took a moment to consider Lisa's words. The more time she spent on this project the more she wished that Kingsley would've picked someone else for this hellish assignment. Too many things were connected to this device that were not on the level but what all of them were was giving her a headache.
The minute they discovered what this thing could do she knew someone would make plans to use it for their own devices–the most predictable to be changing the course of history. After everything Hermione had already battled, she believed her instincts when they told her something was off.
She knew far more about the time device than she'd shared. Last night, she'd been unable to sleep and spent more time trying to decode the remaining runes. The safest thing she could do would be to never share what she discovered. Should a person use this device and make changes, it would ripple through time, making permanent changes on the world. There would be no going back to fix it either.
Hermione found that the device did have a limit to how often it could be used; the distance back in time one traveled dictated how quickly it could be used again. One day back and it needed to reset for half an hour. One week needed three and a half hours. A month needed a few days and it just kept growing. There was no real way to predict how long before it could be used again after that. Travel too far back and the traveler could end up stuck.
While it could send someone back to the time the traveler is originally from there is no guarantee it will actually be the exact moment they traveled from. It would be the general timeframe but the person could come back hours, days, maybe even weeks after the initial travel.
From what Hermione could tell the device they had found was an abandoned prototype that had belonged to a cancelled experiment. Much of what she discovered was inference only and some obscure passages in her rarer off the runes and images it was Gallic in origin.
"I can't believe I'm about to say this, Lisa, but I'm exhausted so forgive me. How would you feel about us taking the rest of the day off? I spent far too much time working last night and not enough sleeping. It's Friday and I think we have earned an early start to the weekend."
Lisa perked up and moved to sit near Hermione's desk. "Did you find something?"
Hermione bit the inside of her cheek. Was the eager look in her excitement over information or something more? Or was Hermione just channeling Moody in her exhaustion? Constant vigilance was for during the times of War, right? And it would be nice to share her discovery with someone, since there was no way she'd be sharing anything with Mitchell Brown anytime soon. Could she share with Lisa Phillips?
No. Not yet. She needed to ferret out the possible threats that Kingsley cautioned her about. She'd contact Harry through their mirrors later tonight to see if he had any advice on the situation.
"It's nothing, Lisa. Just a few words translated but nothing helpful. I'll probably work a little more before heading home early, too. But do enjoy the day. At least one of us should remember what sunlight feels like."
"If you found something, Miss Granger, you shouldn't be keeping it from the team. There are important people that are eagerly waiting for our discoveries."
"I'm sure they can wait one more weekend. I don't put much trust in higher ups who demand information be found within, what they deem, acceptable timeframes. That's how mistakes are made or the wrong people get access to things that could harm the population." Hermione stood and with a wane smile at the woman motioned to the door. "Go home, enjoy some time away, and we will start back up on Monday."
If Hermione paid just a bit more attention to that cautious voice she would have never turned her back on anyone. If she was smarter and less exhausted, she wouldn't have missed the look of anger and resentment on the mousy woman's face. She most certainly would have seen the curse coming straight for her.
The pounding in her head was the first thing Hermione registered as she slowly regained consciousness. Thankfully, the lighting was dim enough that opening her eyes didn't add to the pain. Not sure of where she was or who it was that had attacked her, Hermione thought it best to pretend she was still unconscious. At the moment, it appeared as if she was alone.
Whoever attacked her had clearly overestimated their curse's power. From the woozy feeling that she couldn't seem to shake Hermione suspected they had slipped her something too. Curious to have Muggle tactics used in the magical world.
After taking a closer look around from her position on the floor, Hermione found that she was still in her office. They had even left her messenger bag by the door. She wasn't close enough to be sure but it didn't even look like they had tried to go through it.
She'd never admit it to his face but right now she silently thanked Harry for all his paranoia. Her own paranoias might be what gets her out of this mess, too. Her wand should have reappeared in the messenger bag pocket. If her attacker hadn't grabbed it first.
There is a rush of panic as Hermione realizes that while their curse might not have been as strong as they anticipated they had been smart enough to bind her hands and feet. Struggling against the restraints proved they were tied tightly. She felt the cold slide of sweat creep down her forehead. It wouldn't be impossible to escape but it would take time Hermione wasn't sure she had.
Hermione worked to keep her breathing even as she battled flashbacks of another time she'd been exposed and vulnerable on a cold floor. She counted as she inhaled and exhaled to hold off hyperventilation. She kept reminding herself that she knew her surroundings and all she needed to do was reach her bag.
She held her breath as voices echoed from the other side of the door. She couldn't hear what was being said. Their voices sounded angry with each other. She filed that away for possible use later.
Breathing deeply, Hermione considered the ties around her wrists. Fairly straight forward, they had tied her arms behind her back. If she could get enough leverage she'd be able to maneuver her hands to her front.
Cautiously, she pulled her knees up to her chest and shifted to bring her arms down. Her eyes stung with the sweat rolling down into them. She slowly passed her feet through the circle of her arms until she'd passed her body through and had her hands in front.
Rope. Poorly knotted rope but heavy. Her teeth picked at the ropes tying her feet together frantically until they loosened. Quickly, Hermione rolled to her feet crouched at the end of her desk.
She jumped at the loud bang that rocked through the office from the research room. The voices grew louder. The noises grew more desperate. Whoever was out there had to be tearing apart the research table.
Hermione dreaded the thought of what might have happened to Lisa. The woman had been here with her but disappeared. She hadn't considered that maybe the pushover a woman might be involved.
The door rattled as a book slammed into it from the other side. Hermione held herself very still. A man's voice broke through and she couldn't place it. He yelled at whoever was with him about their plans having been disputed enough. "Now make the fucking thing work!"
Bollocks! The time device.
"Get the Mudblood out here to decipher her damn notes. They are out of patience and you will fulfill your promise. Or you will die."
Shit. They were coming for her now. She had to move quickly.
Hermione decided to forget about being quiet and scrambled to reach her bag. Thank Merlin, she could see her wand sticking out of pocket. She wrapped her hands around it as the office door slammed open.
With barely time to think or see who her capture was, Hermione fired off a quick stunning spell. It slammed into the figure who dropped heavily to the floor.
His face caught the edge of the desk on his way down and his head clipped the corner of the desk, striking him solidly in the temple. One down.
After a sparing a moment to slice the ropes off her wrists, Hermione pressed herself against the wall nearest to the open door. She couldn't hear anything but she knew at least one more person had to be there. She quickly poked her head out to try and get an idea of what is out there.
Her hair was singed as a curse goes rocking past her head. Well that certainly confirmed there was at least one more person out there. Throwing the messenger bag strap over her shoulder, Hermione cast a Protego. She took a deep breath and flattened herself as close to the floor as she could.
She crept forward to the next table that offered cover. Right above her was an old looking box carved with the same runes on the watch. Her hand shot up and grabbed it as another curse flew past.
Whoever fired at her was blocking the only door out of the department. Hermione needed to find a way out before the one she took down woke up or reinforcements were called. At the rate the curses were coming there could only be one person attacking.
Hermione stood and strengthened her shield as she scanned the room. On the other side of the room, Hermione saw the body of Mitchell Brown sprawled at an awkward angle.
Her breath exhaled in a rush as she saw the tiny frame of Lisa Phillips standing over him. "Miss Granger. You are really causing too much of disruption to our plans." She threw the notebook Hermione kept in her office at Hermione's feet. "Tell me what it says and maybe I'll let you live long enough to see the world become what it should always have been."
"Let me guess. Blah, blah, blah, Dark Lord, blah, blah, blah, Pure-blood supremacy. This song and dance is getting old." She took perverse pleasure at the woman's anger to her flippant attitude.
"Your Dark Lord was a pathetic substitute to my master. The worthless half-blood means nothing to us. I admit the first hope was to bring him back but I've been shown a better choice for our future: Hydra." She rolled her sleeve up to show Hermione the tattoo on her left forearm.
Hermione could see where it once was the Dark Mark but it had been altered. Along side the serpent spewing from the skull's mouth there were now red curling tentacles. It was disturbing.
"Fantastic," Hermione snarked, "You've found yet another terrorist organization to follow. Do you want an award?" She knew if she could make the woman angry enough she might slip enough to be taken down. She shifted her stance prepared to move quickly.
Lisa whipped her wand around and pointed it directly at Hermione's face. "I take great joy in the fact that the world's top Mudblood is the one that unlocked the key to our victory. Shame you won't be alive to see the world remade."
Hermione dove as the curse careened towards her. She can feel the heat of it sting her arm with how close it comes to her. The smell of burning skin filled the air. Quickly, she used her momentum to kick out the chair neatest her. It slammed into the side of her attacker causing the crazed women to stumble and crash into the desk.
Drawing in a sharp breath, Hermione rolled into a crouch to survey the room. The two attackers had blocked the door out of the research room with some of the office furniture. Behind her the unknown man stirred.
It was going to be now or never.
Hermione lunged up from her position and rapidly spewed curses at the two before they could collect themselves and counterattack. She heaved a chair and heard as it splintered against a hastily cast shield.
She continued to magically fling furniture and books at the two to keep them distracted from her main objective. Not a few feet in front of her sat the pocket watch on top of a collection of notes, photos, and what looked like a map.
A hiss escaped her lips as a well-aimed severing charm cut into her calf but Hermione pressed forward. Frantically, she grabbed the items and shoved them into her bag but kept a firm grasp on the pocket watch.
Behind her little mousy Lisa Phillips let loose a high pitch screech the moment she realized what Hermione had taken. "Kill her! Do not let her leave with that!"
The wall next to her exploded as she dodged a Reducto curse. Not bothering to try and wrench the door open, Hermione bolted through the newly formed hole as bits of plaster rained down on her.
Once in the empty hallway she sprinted, putting distance between her and her attackers. The air burned her lungs as she tried to breath past the pain radiating up her leg. Why was it that no one could be found when everything was going to shit?
Heavy footfalls thundered behind her, gaining on her. She could feel the cold sweat rolling down her back as she pushed herself harder to get away.
Not bothering to turn around, she flung a Stupefy over her shoulder. She almost stumbled in her shock as Hermione heard a yell and a loud slapping sound as a body slammed into the stone floor.
Hermione cried out as her knees cracked against the ground after she was hit by a knock back jinx. She clawed at the ground as she stumbled trying to get back to her feet.
In her left hand the pocket watch seemed to pulse.
Her head snapped back as Lisa's hand gripped her hair. "Dirty bitch. You won't stop Hydra from changing history. Give me the device. Once I kill you, I leave to cement our mastery of this pathetic world."
"You crazy-types talk too much." Hermione's head snapped to the side as the woman's hand slapped her face with an echoing crack.
"Give me the watch now!"
Hermione clutched the pocket watch tightly and pressed the hinge at the top as she jerked her hand out of the mad woman's grasp. At the same time she took her other hand and reached behind her grabbing the woman's ankle to pull her down to the floor.
The two struggled against each other on the ground trying to overpower the other. In her hand, the pocket watch pulsed in time to Hermione's own heartbeat. The curly haired witched rolled and managed to pin the crazed woman.
In the same instant Hermione felt a jerking sensation behind her navel similar to the feeling of a Portkey activating. She whipped her head to look at the now glowing watch in her hand and went white.
The next thing she could register was the world around her melting away in a blur as her stomach heaved violently. She couldn't tell if the panicked scream was her or the woman beneath her.
Just as quickly as it started, the world shifted back into focus as they found themselves outside in some dirty alley. Dusk was settling in and everything felt different. There was a current of anticipation in the air.
A wheezing laugh started from the woman below her and Hermione had just had enough. She pulled back and used all her remaining strength to land a solid punch to the woman's head, shutting her up as she was knocked unconscious.
Hermione staggered to her feet and braced herself against the side of the alley. She could feel her chest tightening as she battled to breathe. The adrenaline was draining out of her body as she staggered away from the body behind her.
Casting a quick look around Hermione was fairly confident thinking she was still in New York City. She made her way to the street at the opening of the alley and sighed in relief when she spotted a discarded newspaper.
Her relief was short lived as she read the date over and over. She prayed that her eyes were lying to her but knew better.
LONDON HOSPITAL BOMBED:
R.A.F. BATTERS BREMEN
There in her hands the words stared up at her. The headlines from New York's Daily New from October 9th, 1940.
"Shit."
