Shipping Bingo: E3 - Soulmates
Trope Bingo; C1 - Time Loop/Time Travel
Spring Bingo: C4 - Ribbon Cord
Team: Earth Tones
Chimera: Jerry (Love/Hate)
Stacked With: Ship, BAON, FPC, ToS; SN; T3; Star; Fence
Challenges: Long Haul (Y), Bucket Listing (Y); Two Cakes (Y); Eating Cake (Y); LEO MCx3; Professor MCx2; Neurodivergent (Y); Rian-Russo Inversion (Y); Ethnic & Present (Yx2); Setting Sail; Hold the Mayo (Y); Lunar Era (Y); Gryffindor MC, Hufflepuff MC, Ravenclaw MC; Old Shoes (Y), Magical MC; Sliding Scale; Fix-It Felix (Y); Tell My Story (Y)
Primary and Secondary Challenges: Unwanted Advice; Spinning Plates; Middle Name; Tomorrow's Shade; Mouth of Babes; Second Verse (Nontraditional; Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; White Dress); Chorus ( Peddling Pots; Machismo; Pocky Pockets; Pear-Shaped)
Tertiary: T3 (Thimble); SN (Intercept)
Warnings: war imagery, foul language, violence
~o0o~
It was hopeless. They'd lost so many already. Hermione rubbed the soulmark on her wrist. She'd lost her soulmate before she even knew they were meant to be together. Your mark appeared when you turned seventeen. When Cedric Diggory told her he thought they were soulmates, she didn't believe him. She was sure it would have been one of her best mates. Harry or Ron, but they turned out to be each other's soulmates. Now she didn't know if Cedric was meant to be her true love or her best friend, but she would forever regret being unable to find out.
With the way things were going, she'd never get the chance for any of that with anyone.
"LOOK OUT!"
Hermione dodged falling debris. The giant that caused the damage to the castle roared and those who had managed to avoid the wall ran.
"Who's left?" she screamed. "Who's in charge?!"
A green light flashed and Ginny backpedaled into her avoiding it.
"You are," she said. "Run for it!"
The two girls ran out of the castle. There was no point in trying to win. Now all they could do was not be captured. If they got far enough away from the wards they could apparate to safety. The Forbidden Forest was no less treacherous, but they could at least have a better chance. The sounds of battle drifted away.
There was so much unknown about the forest. Things that hadn't even reached the point of rumors.
Hermione tripped into one of them.
She had thought it was a patch of sand, but when she fell in she kept falling…
And falling…
And falling…
And falling…
Hermione's stomach jolted like when she dreamed of falling and she inhaled sharply for air. She clawed at her chest and sat up in bed.
Her bed?
She looked around and recognized her dorm room. No… this couldn't… How?
Ripping back the curtains, she stumbled into the room and looked around at her roommates. They were all still here. Sleeping soundly. But… they weren't seventeen. Hermione looked down at her body. She was… how old was she? She staggered to the mirror and looked at herself. Much younger. She bared her teeth and saw they were still a little too large and had that gap. Her brown curls were a mess. This was before she started wearing the sleeping cap.
"Hermione?" said Lily Mun sleepily. "Are you alright?"
"I… I don't know…" Hermione rubbed her temple. "What day is it?"
"Tuesday. What's wrong?"
"It's obvious," said Sally-Anne Perkins. "After what happened to Colin Creevey on Halloween… 'course, she's not alright. None of the Muggle-borns are."
Colin Creevey… Halloween... Oh, no way. There was no way she was thirteen, there was no way it was 1992. Just no way. Hermione pinched her arm. Ouch!
No change.
Okay. Stranger things have happened. Oh, who was she kidding, no they haven't. Clearly this was a ruse and everyone was just stuck in the same fever dream.
No, that was too convoluted. Perhaps the library would have an explanation. Hermione found her uniform and changed into it. Ugh, did she really walk around with her hair like this? She found her wand in its case and used a fancy bit of spellwork to get rid of the frizz so her hair was in perfect curls then adorned it with a blue ribbon. Just because she was back to thirteen didn't mean she had to carry herself the same way she did then.
"Whoa, your hair!" said Lavender. "It's beautiful!"
Hermione touched it. "Oh, thank you."
Once she was ready, she went to the library and skimmed through the books making notes on the ones about the Forbidden Forest. She had nearly missed the tolling bell until Madam Pince informed her breakfast was ready and she didn't want students running around the library without supervision. Hermione reluctantly went to the Great Hall, though her thoughts were full. The words didn't float off the pages like they did in her dreams, so it was looking like this might have been real.
Deep in her thoughts, she didn't notice where she was going until she collided with someone.
He turned around and her heart jumped in her throat.
"Oh, are you alright there, Granger?" he asked, giving her that kind smile.
"Cedric…" she whispered. "You're alive…"
She wandered ahead,slipping back into her thoughts. He seemed too genuine to be an illusion.
"Hold on," he said. "What do you mean? Granger! What do you mean "alive"?"
If she truly was in 1992… then there was time to fix things. She could make sure that battle would never happen. Stop Tom Riddle from resurrecting before he ever gets the chance. Where should she start?
"Granger!"
"Hm?"
"What do you mean alive?" Cedric demanded.
"Er… don't worry about it," she said. "I just… it's good to see you."
He relaxed, thinking she had meant "alive" in a teasing way.
"Well, I would have seen you tonight," he said, cracking a smile. "Astronomy Club meeting and all."
"Yeah. I know."
That's right. She and Cedric were among the only members of the school Astronomy Club. Most people thought having it for class was enough. They had been decent friends, but hadn't been able to be around each other much during the day. He had his many friends and… she didn't want to make him choose. She liked being around him though. He was funny in an unexpected way and was insightful. They both had an understanding, her autism overlapped with his ADHD in a way that made them get along.
He fidgeted with his watch for a moment and sat next to her at the Gryffindor table.
"I like your hair," he said.
"Hm? Oh, yeah. Thanks."
"Are you okay?"
Everyone she knew who died was here and alive. Of course she wasn't okay.
"Hey, 'Mione," said Ron. "Cedric… what brings you over here?"
"Er… change of scenery?" he said.
"What's up?" Hermione asked.
"Not much," said Harry.
"Scabbers has been acting weird," said Ron, taking him out of his pocket. "So I thought I'd take him to class with me."
Hermione stared at the rat and saw the missing toe.
She pointed at Peter Pettigrew and bellowed, "YOU!"
He was the cause of all this! He sent Sirius to Azkaban leaving Harry to be raised by Petunia, he escaped, he helped resurrect Voldemort, he killed her soulmate! She launched herself across the table with a furious roar and tore the rat out of Ron's hands.
"Stop it, Hermione!" Harry cried in shock.
"What are you doing with Scabbers?" Ron screamed.
Hermione drew her wand and raised the rat in the air.
"Miss Granger!" said Professor McGonagall. "What is going on? Look at this mess."
"Homenum Revelio!"
The alarmed chatter fell away to dead silence as the rat grew and stretched. Hermione was grateful that animagi's clothes transformed with them. When Peter Pettigrew finished his transformation she felt angry all over again.
Ron and Percy started babbling about something or other, pointing at their former rat.
"You like sleeping in bed with little boys?" Hermione snarled.
"I— I— I can explain!"
"Oh, by all means explain!" she snapped. "Peter Pettigrew!"
Professor McGonagall lowered her wand. "No… it can't be."
"Oh, but it is!" said Hermione. "Why don't you tell everyone about how you framed Sirius Black for the murder of James and Lily Potter?" She paused. "Sorry you had to find out this way, Harry."
"Scabbers is a human," Harry whispered.
"We'll unpack that later, then." Hermione turned back to Pettigrew. "WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?"
"Miss Granger," said Dumbledore, rising to his feet. "That is a serious accusation and there is much to discuss with the act of hiding in animagus form and allowing everyone to believe him dead, but… perhaps it was just… fear?"
Hermione set her jaw. "Oh, and I'm sure all the facts of the matter came forward during Sirius Black's trial, didn't they?" She gasped before he could respond. "What's that? Sirius Black didn't have a trial? Of course! Because Barty Crouch was allowed to fast track the line to Azkaban and didn't allow any due process!"
"He was found in the carnage of twelve muggle corpses!" said Snape.
"And yet nobody even asked what sort of spell he used that would cause a man to implode, killing twelve people, yet leaving only a finger of Pettigrew? No blood, no guts?" She smacked Pettigrew, spinning him around in the air. "He's had every opportunity to ask for help. Hiding around in animagus form, sleeping in the beds of little boys, making no effort to reveal the truth is incriminating isn't it? Now I know the story. Hagrid! Is it true that on the night of the Potters murder, Sirius Black approached you asking to take Harry?"
"Er… yeah, but… I thought… after I realized he was… might've been guilty. I thought maybe he just wanted ter… finish the job. He gave me his motorcycle so I couldn't've."
"But would it not have been easier to kill you and then Harry?" Hermione suggested. "Why beg? Why give you his motorcycle?"
"The girl lies!" Pettigrew wailed.
"Quiet you!" Hermione grabbed his face. "I will not give you the chance to cause any more pain. You'll never get the opportunity to kill my soulmate or ruin the lives of everyone else!"
"How do you know all this?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"I know what's going on here!" said Professor Trelawney.
"No you don't," said Hermione.
"Miss Granger has a clear Inner Eye!"
"No she doesn't. The answer is much more simple." Hermione waved her hand. "I am from the future."
"Prove it!" said Draco Malfoy.
Hermione stared at him incredulously and pointed at the sobbing man. "What the fuck do you call that?!"
The call gasped.
"Miss Granger!" said Professor McGonagall.
"I got to do everything myself don't I?" Hermione huffed and twirled her wand. "Expecto Patronum."
A badger clawed its way out of her wand. It had turned into that when she realized Cedric was meant to be her soulmate.
"Go to the Ministry," she said. "To Madam Bones. Give a message: There is a fugitive at Hogwarts. Also, the Chamber of Secrets contains a Basilisk. Bring the entire Auror squad and…" she wiggled her hand, "blue-tinted specs to protect against the Basilisk gaze. End message."
The badger turned into a ball of light and shot out through the open windows.
"Since you refuse to believe me," said Hermione. "We'll let the Aurors at him. Give him a dose of veritaserum, put him on trial. Then, Sirius Black will be freed and he can assume guardianship over Harry so he doesn't have to live with his awful, awful relatives."
"Miss Granger, that is not for you to decide," said Dumbledore.
"It's not for you to decide, either. I'm sure the Dursleys will be happy to send him along and you are not Harry's legal guardian." She clicked her tongue against her teeth. "But I suppose we can tackle one thing at a time. There's a good tower up here for a prisoner isn't there?"
"But of course!" said Gilderoy Lockhart, the first to overcome his shock and move forward.
"Not you, you hack!"
"Poor, girl. So overcome with emotion. Best to let the adults handle all the messy bits."
"You didn't handle it the first time, why am I going to let you now?" Hermione backed up, accidentally stepping into the pot of beans. "Oh, bugger. Don't!"
"I'll just take over holding him for you."
"I think not! Somebody stop him!"
"Gilderoy, perhaps you better not," said Professor McGonagall.
"Nonsense! An expert in these things is just what we need."
"You mean an expert in memory charms?"
Lockhart jumped at this and the spell he cast cancelled Hermione's, releasing Pettigrew.
"Now you've done it. DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!"
Pettigrew shrieked and lunged for the closest person who happened to be Cedric, holding him back and taking a meat knife off the table to hold against his throat.
"Nobody move or the boy gets it!"
Hermione pointed her wand at Lockhart. "I can't believe I ever had a crush on you. Petrificus Totalus." He fell back with a satisfying thunk and she returned her wand to Pettigrew. "You harm one hair on his head and you'll wish for the comfort of Azkaban!"
"I'll kill him! I mean it!"
She tipped her head. "I believe you."
Cedric looked up at her wide-eyed. She remembered he had been a natural legilimens and didn't know when he started reading thoughts. She hoped he had the ability now. She made direct eye contact and thought loudly,
"Pinch under the arm with the knife. When he eases up, stomp on his instep and you'll be able to get away. Blink twice if you understand."
He blinked twice purposefully.
"Anybody moves, I will slice his throat!" said Pettigrew, backing up towards the Great Hall doors. No doubt upon reaching them, he'd steal Cedric's wand and return to his rat form.
Hermione lowered her wand. Cedric pinched the skin on Pettigrew's bicep, causing him to yell out in pain. The boy stomped hard on his foot, and with the knife clear, jumped out of the way. Hermione kicked the bean pot off her foot, smacking Pettigrew in the head. She ignored the way her sock squelched and stormed forward.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Pettigrew froze in place. Hermione jumped off the table, landing onto his face. His nose cracked beneath her Mary Jane.
"That's for everything you did," she said, backing off.
"Wow…" Cedric whispered.
"Albus!"
Madam Bones entered the Great Hall, an entire team of Aurors led by Rufus Scrimgeour crowded behind her.
"What is this about a fugitive?" she asked. "Is it true that a Basilisk is what petrified that boy?"
"Sure is," said Hermione. "Hi, Hermione Granger, time traveler. Details to follow. I captured Peter Pettigrew for you. I imagine you'll want to bring Sirius Black to trial after eleven years of waiting in Azkaban. Um… there is a Basilisk beneath the school. I learned that blue-tinted specs can stop the deadly gaze, it'll just knock you out for a couple hours along with a monster headache. No pun intended. I only ask that you give me a couple Basilisk fangs because they are the only thing besides fiend fyre that can destroy a horcrux. Details to follow."
"So how far in the future are you from?" Tonks asked, earning her a swat from Mad-Eye Moody.
Hermione hummed. "Five years and… four months. All of you are dead by then. Details to follow."
"But—"
"Details to follow."
"Hm…" Madam Bones studied Pettigrew then her. "Can you show us where the Chamber is?"
"Sure. Also, you need to arrest Lockhart, too. He hasn't done anything from his books, he's been collecting stories and memory wiping the people." Hermione cleaned the blood and beans off her shoe. "Follow me, please."
Tonks pushed her way forward.
"You're really from the future?"
"Mmhm. You're Nymphadora Tonks, but you like to be called Tonks. You're a metamorphagus. You're Mad-Eye Moody's last trainee, after your probationary period, if he decides you're ready, you'll be a full Auror and he'll retire. At least, until he's attacked by Barty Crouch Jr." She snapped her fingers. "You might want to send a surprise inquiry to Sr. He's been hiding his son under an invisibility cloak. Did you know if you die under the influence of polyjuice you remain in the form of the person you were disguised as?"
"I did not know that," said Tonks. "Anything else from the future?"
"Well, I imagine by telling you all this, things are going off track anyway. Honestly, my main goal is to stop Voldemort from resurrecting. The way I left things… it wasn't good. Everyone was dead or captured. I don't care where we go from here, I just can't let that future happen."
"How did you come back?"
"Ginny and I were running. I didn't want to lose any more friends." Hermione made a face. "Though I'm sure everyone thinks I'm a nutter now. Though, that was nothing compared to what happens next year! Sirius escapes from Azkaban and he sends Harry a firebolt. I thought the broom was suspicious and turned it over to Professor McGonagall. Everyone except for Cedric and Luna hated me! I nearly lost my mind with that and with using the time turner. Not making that mistake again, I can tell you that. Hm… I'll have to make sure Buckbeak doesn't get put to Death this time around."
"Perhaps you can tell us how the Chamber was opened?" suggested Madam Bones.
"Oh, yes. A student, I won't name who, I don't want them to be interrogated, was given a cursed diary, which I will acquire and destroy with the Basilisk fang. It was passed along by Lucius Malfoy. I don't know if there's enough to incriminate him and I worry that he's too influential."
"Actually, girlie," said Mad-Eye Moody. "I heard from a Goblin that those sodding Death Eaters signed a liege lord oath. Supposedly, whoever kills Voldemort becomes the new de facto head of everything belonging to him. You say you've got a horcrux, yeah?"
"Actually, I know of six horcruxes. One of them I'll need to research more, but if we take out the first five, we should have time. What's your point, though?"
"You become the head and you have seats in the Wizengamot," said Moody.
Hermione thought about it and grinned. "Oh-ho-ho!" She rubbed her hands. "I'm gonna give Magical Beings so many rights! Redistribute money! Give Hogwarts funding for more teachers!"
"Whoa there, don't go mad with power!" Tonks teased.
"Here we are," said Hermione, entering Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. "Hi, Myrtle! Sorry for all the traffic."
"There are boys in here," she said.
"I know," said Hermione. "We'll be out of your hair soon, we're just here to avenge your death. Is that cool?"
"What?"
Hermione went over to the sinks and studied them. "I think… it's. Ah-ha! There it is." She tapped the snake on the faucet. "Oh, how did it go? I heard it just a few hours ago." She hissed and the sink pushed back. "Oh… I hope it isn't flooded down there. It's connected to the lake." She rubbed her mouth. "Did you bring the specs?"
"Took a few moments to charm them, but yeah." Tonks placed a pair of blue-tinted goggles over her eyes. "Is this right?"
"Does yellow-green look black through those?"
"Yes."
"They're good." Hermione worked her jaw. "It's a bit of a slide along the way down and there will be another door that you have to speak parseltongue to in order to open. Now the Basilisk is about a thousand years old; it's mind-bogglingly humongous. I've only ever seen the skeleton, but it's frightening to look at."
"You've done just fine, Miss Granger," said Madam Bones. "We'll let the Aurors take care of it and they'll get you the fang."
"Go on Tonks," said Moody. "You're the youngest so you get to scope it out."
Tonks muttered under her breath and readied her wand. She jumped into the hole and ten seconds later a chameleon patronus returned announcing the all-clear.
Hermione stepped aside with Madam Bones while the Aurors went in to do their job.
"How much do you know of the future?"
"Enough," said Hermione. "Enough that I can prevent it from happening."
"Tell me everything."
In the time it took to do so, the Aurors returned looking stricken. A couple were knocked out, but everyone was alive. Tonks handed Hermione a fang wrapped up in a bit of cloth.
"Thank you. I can take care of two horcruxes right now."
"Tonks and I will assist you," said Moody. "The rest of this lot has to bring in Pettigrew and Lockhart. There's still Crouch to worry about."
"I'll handle that. When all is said and done, leave Miss Granger here for her safety. If everything else is true, we can fast-track the rest."
"Thank you, ma'am," said Hermione. "Follow me, please."
~o0o~
Changed and showered, Hermione sat in the courtyard tipping her face up to the sun. The diadem and diary had gone with Moody and Tonks back to the Ministry, but they left the fang with her. Nobody talked to her yet. She didn't take it personally. She certainly wouldn't have talked to herself, either.
"Room for two more?"
Hermione looked over her shoulder to see Cedric and Luna. She waved her hand and they sat next to her.
"You dropped your ribbon," he said, handing it to her.
"Oh… thank you." She took it, stuffing it into her pocket rather than try and fix her hair.
"Thank you for saving Cedric this morning," said Luna. "As well as the rest of our futures."
"I couldn't just sit by," said Hermione. "Pretend I wasn't from the future… wait and bide my time. I've spent years thinking about what could have been done better and now I can do it."
"So when you said I was alive," Cedric murmured. "In your timeline I'm dead."
"Yes."
"How?"
She bit her lip. "You entered the Triwizard Tournament. The odds were rigged for Harry to win but the two of you decided to win together. The cup was a portkey and it brought you to a cemetery. Pettigrew murdered you."
"That's why you were so angry when you saw him."
"Among other reasons." Hermione stopped picking her nails. "But my action was largely due to you."
"You said he killed your soulmate. Does… am I your soulmate?"
She felt her ears warm. "Yes… you discovered it first, but I was driven mad by boys and thought you were making fun. I didn't believe you and you told me you could wait until my soulmark showed up in two years. You were killed, two years passed, and I learned you were right."
She stroked the inside of her wrist where the mark would appear. It seemed she had to physically be seventeen, not mentally.
"Thank you for rescuing my cousin," said Luna. "I would miss him terribly if he were gone."
This time, she wouldn't dismiss her funny creatures. She wouldn't turn her nose up at things she didn't understand. Though she thought Divination was rubbish, she wouldn't think herself superior to those who believed in it. She would be kinder, more compassionate.
Cedric tentatively took her hand. She rested her head against his shoulder.
This time… she would do things right.