"Who is… Hermione Granger?"
Chapter Eight
Mia could feel the anxiety bubbling in her gut as they left the Room of Requirement. She knew what was about to happen, and she felt sick. When he asked, though, when she heard her real name… It felt like everything stopped. It wasn't right. This wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to know her.
And then the moment passed and the panic and anxiety set in. She didn't say anything, just walked silently back into the room and let them follow her. When she sat down, all of the boys followed her lead.
"My name is Hermione Granger. I am a muggleborn and the brightest witch of my age." She refused to look at Fred, who had the grace to look guilty and ashamed. "I mastered silent casting before my sixteenth birthday and wandless magic before my seventeenth. I am seventeen years old. I have been taught at Hogwarts since I got my letter when I was eleven."
"That doesn't make sense, Mia. You just started here," James protested softly.
"My name is Hermione Granger, and I was born on September 19, 1979."
There were three sharp gasps, but Fred just looked at her sadly, like they'd just dug their own graves.
"That's… impossible." It was Sirius, and he looked torn between desperately wanting to believe her, and letting logic encompass him.
"I assure you it is not impossible. Don't you remember Frederick," using his full name didn't bode well for him, he thought. "pulling Professor Dumbledore's wand out of his robes?"
The boys nodded uncertainly. Remus had dropped his defensive stance, his wand held at his side now.
"He… I'm sorry." Mia's voice cracked as she fought tears. She couldn't cry. The anxiety and sadness couldn't win right now. "A Death Eater killed him at the end of my sixth year. At his funeral… Fred and I went to find his wand so it could be…" her voice cracked as she was taken by a sob. Fred stepped in now, allowing her to collect herself.
"So it could be buried with him. When we were both touching it, it brought us back here. When… Remus, what you heard…" And Mia took over again, sparing him the task of telling the Marauder's about his uncle.
"People die. This is war, and Voldemort- "everyone in the room, bar Mia herself, flinched, but she ignored it. "kills a lot of people. Fred saw someone and we argued. We can't save people; it's not how time works. When he and I were talking, I mentioned Sirius." She glanced at him, her eyes sadder than ever. "In my third year at Hogwarts, you're in danger and Harry and I saved you using a Time-Turner… Which is a legal form of time travel, if you've got permission from the ministry, which I did. But the only reason we were able to save you is because we already did. Time isn't malleable, not really. It's fixed. So even… even though we know some people are going to die, we can't… save them…" her voice broke again as she fought the tears, refusing to look at Sirius or James.
"You… saved me?" Sirius stared at the girl, wide eyed. "I owe you a life debt?" He didn't sound bothered by it, but Mia tensed.
"No… You don't. Not now. You did in the future. Just as I owe Remus a life debt in the future, not that he'll let me do anything about it." She seemed annoyed by that fact, but Remus's eyes were wide.
"What do you mean, you owe me a life debt? What happened?"
Mia sighed as she looked at him, glad for a place to look, and lifted her shirt up to show a nasty purple scar on her ribs. "June 18th, 1996, my friends and I fought Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries." Her voice was shaking as tears flowed freely down her face. "Dolohov hit me with a curse that would have killed me. Sirius healed me as best as he could before… before returning to battle to find Harry."
She kept her eyes steady, not bothering to wipe away her tears. "June 31st, 1997, Bellatrix threw another dark curse at me," she motioned to her hip where there was another angry scar. "Remus pulled me out of the way before it could hit me too badly."
Fred moved closer and Mia didn't bother pushing him away. He was the only one there who knew everything. He wiped some tears away with his thumb and wrapped an arm around her.
"Bellatrix killed someone very important to Harry, someone important to me. She tortured… she tortured a friend's parents into insanity. She rejoiced over Dumbledore… his death. She is the worst kind of person that there is in the world, and someday I will kill her."
Even though she was crying, the Marauders could see and hear the determination, the steel in her eyes. She just made a promise and none of them doubted she would follow through.
"Good. The world will be better without her." Sirius spat.
Mia closed her eyes tightly, willing the tears to stop. When they finally did, she smiled at them all.
"The world isn't all bad. Hogwarts is great when something isn't trying to kill Harry, and the wizarding world is nice, forgetting the bigoted pureblood traditions and values. The war was gone for years, you have to understand."
"I know him." Sirius stated, frowning at Mia.
"Huh?"
"You said I went back into battle… after Harry. I know your best friend."
"I… Yes." Mia said lamely.
"How?" he frowned at her.
"Padfoot, maybe now's not the time." James suggested gently, and Mia nodded.
Remus shook his head, frowning. "I just… I don't get it. You're from the future. How can you two accept this so easily?!" He stared at his friends, who shrugged in unison.
"Dunno, mate. Just makes sense."
"Yeah, I mean, they've kinda proved themselves." James added.
"How? All they've told us is some admittedly shitty stuff and showed some scars." Remus pointed out shortly.
Mia sighed. All or nothing now. "You're a werewolf," she pointed at Remus before turning to James and Sirius. "And you two are animagi… along with… Pettigrew." She tried to get rid of the distaste in her voice, but she wasn't sure it had worked.
There was silence in the room as they tried to process her words.
"And you… aren't afraid?" Remus asked carefully.
"Merlin, mate, get over yourself. You're a little extra furry once a month, but otherwise you're just a bookworm with a pension for pranks." Fred grinned at the Marauders. "Oh, we know so much."
"Fred," Mia warned, "be careful."
"Okay… so you are from the future. One where the war isn't over and tons of people have died and for some reason, everyone wants to kill this Harry kid. Okay. That's totally normal." James finished sarcastically.
"It doesn't really matter, though, because I'm working on getting us back. We can't stay here. Can you imagine what Voldemort," - four flinches - "Honestly, boys, it's a name! Get over it! Anyway, can you imagine what he would do if he knew there was someone with invaluable knowledge of the war sitting right under his nose? Someone who knows the past and the future alike? Someone who could, if she wanted, easily guide him to victory?" She looked at their faces and rolled her eyes. "Oh, relax, I don't want to, I'm just saying I could."
"Okay…" Remus started slowly, "So, we get you two home."
"Yes, but I have some… other things I have to do, too."
"Fine, okay, but we'll help you." Remus insisted.
"Wait, hold on." Sirius stared at Mia, frowning. "Freddie Boy said James looks a lot like Harry. Does that mean…" he trailed off, the question obvious: Is Harry James's son?
"Yes," Fred answered before Mia could, earning him a glare.
"What?!" James gaped at Fred while Sirius gave Mia a sad smile.
"That's why he felt so familiar to you. Not only does he look like Harry, but he's his dad too. And you said Harry was like your brother. Family bonds are such interesting things." He let Mia put the pieces together. Mia liked being near James because she and Harry had a familial bond, and James was Harry's dad. According to the bond, James was family to Mia.
"Oh." She let her gaze fall on James, who was calming his excitement and smiling softly at her.
"You protected my… son for years?" He asked her.
She gave a small nod and Fred released her, stepping back as James moved forward to hug her. She let him envelope her in warmth and comfort, pulling herself together.
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"I had an idea." Mia looked at Fred. They were still a bit rocky, but it seemed they were both calming down slowly.
The five of them – Sirius, Remus, James, Fred, and Mia – had decided to spend the night in the Room of Requirement. When the decision had been made, the Room placed some very comfortable sleeping bags and wonderfully soft pillows on a table opposite them. The Marauders grouped together, with Mia and Fred to the left and a bit apart.
At about one a.m., Mia had gotten up for some hot cocoa, and Fred had followed. They were now seated in the chair Mia had been in earlier, which was big enough for three teenagers.
"That doesn't sound good," Fred joked.
"This is serious, Fred." Both of them, out of habit, waited a beat for the joke. When it didn't come, Mia continued. "I think I found a way for Fabian and Gideon to survive."
Fred choked on his drink. "What?!" Mia nodded slowly.
"But we'll have to break into the DOM again, or find some other way to get a Time-Turner."
"Mione… Time-Turners only go back."
Mia shook her head, a devious smile on her face. "Not if you're the brightest witch of your age."
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Fred wasn't as enthusiastic as he had originally been. No, the idea of breaking into the DOM was a bad one at best, a suicidal one at worst. It hadn't been hard to leave Hogwarts and it was even easier to break into the Ministry. The DOM was guarded, but not very well. Mia had said it was guarded as well as the Ministry had been in the future. But what had broken his enthusiasm had been finding the Veil. Mia had been marking the doors as she went, leaving a note on each of them as she tried to find the Time room. She had opened the door to the Veil, and Fred felt sick. Which, he guessed, was better than how Mia was doing. She stared blankly at the Veil, a cold look in her eyes. She closed the door softly and marked it before moving on.
Five doors later and they'd found it. It looked… less impressive than Fred had expected. It was literally just a room full of Time-Turners. Mia ran forward, looking through the small devices.
"Hermione? What are you looking for, exactly?"
She grumbled a bit before pulling one up and waving it at him.
"The runes are special. I wanted to see if they had one that had the rune for Protection. They did." She waved a decidedly small hourglass at him and smiled. "Can you apparate us out?"
Fred nodded and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tight, and turned his foot.
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"So, what exactly are you gonna do with it?"
They had slipped back into the Room of Requirement silently, and Mia had placed the Time-Turner around her neck to keep it safe. They settled back down on the chair and he was facing her, a smile on his face.
"I found a spell. I'm not sure how the Room had it, since Time-Turners are so new in this time, but it did. The spell helps you remove and place the Sands of Time from the device. If I can get two out safely, I can place it in something else, probably a locket, and make that a portkey. See? A Timekey! When they're… Attacked, they can just point at the locket, say 'Portus' and then they should, theoretically, be wherever and whenever I set it to. Your mum will lose them for about eighteen years, but getting them back eventually is better than never." Mia watched him nervously.
"Blimey, Hermione, that's… that's bloody brilliant!"
Mia grinned brightly, a gentle blush sneaking up on her.
"Well, it's nothing. I felt so bad, and… I couldn't do nothing. You were right. And it'll take some time to perfect, and I'll have to make and test one myself during Hogsmeade weekend, but the theory is sound."
Fred smiled at her gently before frowning to himself.
"What's wrong?" Mia asked, frowning now, too.
"Well… it's just… Couldn't that get us home too?" He looked up at her, waiting for her to disprove his idea, but her eyes widened and her mouth fell open.
"You… you're right! Oh, Merlin, Fred, we can go home!"
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Woo! I like to think that Hermione would find a way back pretty quickly.
So they found their way home, and how to save some people! Fabian and Gideon (the latter being someone I will introduce soon. Don't worry.) will be getting a locket that is a Timekey both. Can you guess who else will?
Yep, Hermione is brilliant, but Fred is, too. It would've taken her a long time to get to that realization.
But don't think they're going home right away. It'll take her months to even remove one little teeny tiny grain of Sand to practice with. However, removing them will be quick once she gets the hang of it.
So, they're still stuck there for a while.
I hope you enjoyed!
