Ungoliant Reborn.
Timeline may not follow the movies/books.
Hermione –
"So, what do I do now?" I sat atop a fallen behemoth of a tree, tapping at my hip as I mused in front of the hourglass. Talking to myself wasn't something I normally did, but sometimes it was simply unavoidable. Vocal cords fell under the "use 'em or lose 'em" category in my opinion. Besides, a decision of such magnitude deserved a verbal marker.
The sun was falling, but it didn't have to. A few twists of the hourglass and it would be noon again. I would be free of all responsibilities for a few more hours, free to travel where I wished. 'Such a small device, but so addictive.' The power of a Time Turner... no one who hadn't used one could fully understand what it felt like to live outside of time. The temptation to continue using it, to continue experiencing the freedom of it, was so strong it seemed almost an addiction.
Strictly speaking, there was no reason to give up the time turner this moment. No one knew I had it. Thanks to a terribly risky trick, McGonagall thought I'd already turned the device into the Ministry. But that didn't mean there weren't dangers, the results of the paradox I'd created to steal back the hourglass not least among them. I hadn't even expected the trick to work, after all, causing anything more than a slight paradox in wind currents was supposed to be far beyond the capabilities of an inch-high time turner. Perhaps the reason it was presumed impossible was because no had survived to tell the tale.
Causing a paradox such as I had created had left a rift in the very fabric of the world. High atop the astronomy tower it lay unseen and unheard, but it was very much there. A little push was all it took to press through to the other side. It was another world beyond the rift, so far as I could figure. One far less developed than the one of my birth. Over past few weeks I'd explored thirty miles in every direction from the rift and found only animals, fields and forest, not a hint of human civilization to be found. But I knew I was lucky. Instead of a tiny tear in the fabric of reality it could have been a maelstrom, sucking the entirety of Hogwarts and all its inhabitants not into a world of plants and sunshine, but a hell of darkness and fire. Yes, the dangers of continuing to use the time turner were far from inconsiderable. It was only luck that I'd found out about the Marauder's Map and destroyed it before Harry could blunder his way into a paradox.
Not only was the hourglass dangerous, strictly speaking I had no legitimate reason to keep it any longer. I'd only been given it (and truly I could not understand why they would give such a dangerous object to a child, but wizards were a rather irrational lot) in order to take extra classes, classes I no longer had. I'd dropped Muggle Studies and Divination early on after realizing how insufferably boring they were. Naturally McGonagall had asked for the time turner back, and while reluctant I would have done so if not for my favorite cousin fallen deadly ill.
Giving magical medical assistance to anyone outside a witch's immediate family was strictly forbidden under the Statute of Secrecy, so naturally I couldn't ask a mediwitch or wizard for assistance, and even as smart as I was I knew I couldn't learn how to heal her in the few days she had left. And so I'd risked a deadly paradox to steal back the hourglass from McGonagall's owl. Sixty days compressed into three later, I'd managed to illegally heal my cousin Sophie with none the wiser.
All my immediate goals met, I still struggled with giving up the device. It was dangerous, but wondrous as well. And who could know when I might need it again, or indeed what might happen if I didn't keep progressing in my studies. Harry needed me, the world needed me, and if I only had twenty four hours a day to study then I'd never acquire the knowledge I needed in time. Perhaps it was paranoia or a rationalization to keep hold of such a powerful object, but I didn't think so. Living the same day over and over let me see things that others couldn't. And that was that the wizarding world was unstable. Sooner rather than later it was all going to go downhill fast and likely end with thousands of casualties, Muggles and Magicals alike. Really it would be rather irresponsible to stop using the time turner.
I gave the hourglass three turns and leaned back against the fallen tree as the world spun backwards. I smiled as the noonday sun kissed my cheeks. "What a beautiful day. Again."
End 1.1
Mmm...