*updated! don't kill me!*
"I think I may be sick." Hermione said nervously as she ran around her room putting her necklace on, and locating both of her shoes.
"You will be fine." Severus attempted to reassure her.
"Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough." Hermione slipped on her heels. "How do I look?" She was wearing a fitted burgundy skirt that fell mid-thigh, and black blouse finished off with black heels.
"You look nice, Hermione." Severus nodded.
"I don't know." Hermione shook her head. "But I don't have time to change; I don't want to keep him waiting."
"Come, I will accompany you to Minerva's office." Severus stood up.
"I wish you could come with me." Hermione bit her lip as she reached for her purse.
"I wish the same, but you know I cannot." Severus opened the door for her, and followed her out and closed the door behind them.
"I know." Hermione sighed, as she flipped her hair back over her shoulder. "What am I going to do if he tells me I have to go to Azkaban?"
"That will not happen." Severus stopped and put his hand on her shoulder. "Look at me. You risked everything so save me; I will not let anything happen to you. Do you trust me?" Hermione stared into his eyes for a moment.
"Yes. I trust you." She replied as she threw her arms around him. Minerva walked up to them as they released one another.
"Are you ready?" Minerva asked looking from Severus to Hermione.
"As ready as I can be." Hermione replied taking a deep breath.
"Are you still going with her?" Severus raised his eyebrow.
"Yes, of course." Minerva nodded as she held her hand out to Hermione. "Everything will be fine."
"I know." Severus stood up a little straighter. "Go on, you don't want to keep the Minister waiting." Hermione nodded, and walked into Minerva's office. Minerva paused at the door, and turned back to Severus, she lowered her voice.
"I don't know what's going to happen, but if it is the worst I promise I will notify you at once. I won't leave her side by choice, Severus. Sit in my office near the floo once we leave, in case I must contact you quickly." Severus nodded his response as Minerva shut the door.
"Let's go." Hermione said as she grabbed a handful of floo powder, and stepped into the fireplace. They arrived in the reception area outside of the Minister's office. The room was deserted save for the secretary who was using an automatic quill to take notes. The blonde woman looked up, peering over her spectacles.
"It's about time you showed up, the Minister is expecting you." The woman's voice was high pitched and snobby. She stood up and walked around her desk. "Go on in. I was given the rest of the day off, but I couldn't leave until you arrived."
"I apologize for the delay." Hermione mumbled. The woman stopped in front of Minerva and Hermione as she was making her way to the door.
"You can't go in." The woman was speaking to Minerva. "The Minister requested a private meeting with Miss Granger. You can wait here, just don't touch anything." The woman put her nose in the air and left the room.
"Why I never…"Minerva scowled at the door that the woman had just walked through. "Speaking to me as if I am a child. Go on, I'll be here when you're done." She patted Hermione gently on the shoulder.
"Ok." Hermione nodded as she took a deep breath and walked through the door leading to the Minister's office. The room was brightly lit, and comfortable. Hermione closed the door and took a few steps into the room.
"Ah! Miss Granger!" A voice came from seemingly out of nowhere. Hermione's eyes darted around looking for the source of the sound. Kingsley walked through a door on the other side of the room, that didn't appear to be a door but a bookshelf. "I apologize; I was making use of the facilities. Come in please!" Kingsley motioned for to take a seat across from him on a very plush sofa.
"I came as soon as I could after receiving your request." Hermione's voice shook slightly as she spoke.
"Please, Miss Granger, we've known each for a long time. I may be Minister of Magic, but I do believe you have earned the right to speak freely."
"Thank you." Hermione smiled nervously.
"I merely wanted to have a discussion with you." Kingsley crossed his legs. "It was brought to my attention that you utilized a time turner recently. Is this accurate?"
"Ye-es." Hermione stuttered. "Am I in trouble?"
"Why would you ask that?" Kingsley tapped his chin with his forefinger.
"Because I meddled with time, and terrible things happen to wizards…or witches…who meddle with time." Hermione swallowed hard.
"That's true, terrible things do happen to those who meddle with time." Kingsley nodded slowly.
"Am I going to Azkaban?" Hermione blurted.
"Azkaban!?" Kingsley laughed. "No, you're not going to Azkaban, my dear. It just so happens that when Albus put forth your paperwork to grant you permission to use the time turner during your time as a student he filled it out quite cleverly. You see, the paperwork contained no time frame for your use, as well as it was worded in such a manner that as long as you only used the time turner while on Hogwarts grounds, it was permissible. Your use did not violate those terms."
"But Severus…" Hermione quickly stopped talking. Again, Kingsley chuckled.
"Yes, well you and I are the only ones who know about that aren't we?" Kingsley nodded slowly.
"Yes." Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.
"He was a member of the order, that combined with his memories that he gave to Harry show me that he, in fact, deserves a second chance." Kingsley stood up and walked to the window. "It was a smart move on his part to ensure Harry received those memories, and knowing Severus as I do, I am aware it was a difficult thing for him to do."
"So I'm not in trouble?" Hermione asked tapping her knee with her fingertips.
"No, you're not in trouble." Kingsley turned back around and smiled at her. Suddenly a strange noise began to come from the secret adjoining room he had just come out of. "Excuse me one moment please." Kingsley walked back through the book shelf door way. Hermione exhaled slowly and began to calm her nerves. A moment later Kingsley walked back into the room, appearing to be angry.
"Am I free to go?" Hermione asked as she stood up from the sofa. Kingsley walked up to her briskly, and pulled something from his pocket. He held it out to her, and she looked down at what seemed to be the Daily Prophet. She reached out to take it from him, but the moment she touched it she knew that she had just made a mistake. It was a port key, and it was active.
She slammed into the ground hard, and sat up holding her shoulder which had hit first. She was in a clearing, and could see a small house about thirty yards away.
"Kingsley, why are we here?" Hermione asked as she looked beside her. Kingsley was standing very near to her, looking down at her angry. Suddenly his appearance began to change, and Kingsley turned into Ron. "RON!?"
"Shut up." He reached down and took her by the arm, pulling her to her feet. "You have no bloody idea how hard it was to get in there like that."
"Where's Kingsley?" Hermione asked confused.
"Still at the Ministry. Good thing Dad informed me you'd be there today, or else I wasn't sure how I was going to get you here."
"Why did you bring me here? I don't know what's going on." Hermione shook her head as Ron pulled her towards the small house.
"I'll take that." Ron reached around her and took her wand. He snapped it in two and threw it in the grass.
"Ron! Why did you break my wand?" Hermione cried out trying to pull away from him and get to her broken wand. "Oh my god, you're mad! Absolutely mad!"
"You're staying here, with me until you come back to your senses. You aren't the only one that knows how to use a time turner, 'Mione! Good thing I knew about everything. I woke up one day months ago with a random letter from myself warning me that Snape was in love with you, and I warned myself you were probably in love with him too. I can't believe you went back in time and saved him like that, what in the bloody hell Hermione!? And I'm not mad, I love you, and that makes me do things I need to. Mad. You're the one whose mad!"
"Wait, how on earth did your past self, warn your future self when I was changing things?" Hermione scrunched her face.
"A spell my dad told me about a long time ago, you can cast it on things so they remain unaffected if the timeline is changed." Ron smiled wickedly.
"I still don't understand." Hermione replied as Ron opened the door and thrust her though.
"You don't need to understand it, I knew for certain I was right about everything when Ginny told me she saw you two holding hands, and then I mentioned Lavender and you didn't call me out on her being dead." Ron locked the door with several dead bolts. "I out smarted the brightest witch of her age. If you thought I was just going to let you go, so you two could be together you thought wrong. I'm not losing out to that greasy git. I'll get my happy ending."
"He'll look for me! Minerva will look for me!" Hermione cried out as Ron forced her further into the house.
"Let them, this place can't be found. You can't leave either, it's warded, and the wards will only obey my voice. I need to get back to the burrow so I can be surprised and horrified with your sudden disappearance." Ron let go of her. "I don't care how long we have to stay here; you're not leaving until we're married." Ron stormed out of the room, slamming the door. Hermione ran at the door, grabbing at the door knob but it wouldn't budge. She turned and ran to the window and began trying to force it open. It wouldn't budge either. She took a few steps back and sunk to the floor, there was no leaving until Ron let her out. Hermione drew her knees up to her chest, buried her head into the crooks of her arms and began to cry.