Sea of Constellations
Rose_Quartz_Cloud
1:Redo
The smoke finally cleared from the battle between good and evil whilst everyone held their breaths waiting to see the outcome and although everyone was fooled by Harry's acting earlier, they knew that this was the final duel.
Voldemort's billowing robes flew around him as the force of Harry's attack waned and he breathed in with anticipation and felt relieved when no pain was felt. He was alive and his opponent?
Harry Potter struggled to stay standing but a dribble of blood ran down his lips as he glared at his adversary.
Voldemort's spell hit him in the chest first and he was dying.
Hermione and Ron bolted from the mass of students and teachers and halted on either side of him before the trio slumped to the ground in a heap.
"What can we do?" mumbled Hermione, fingers trembling, desperately trying to think of a healing spell.
Ron bowed his head as he gently grasped Hermione's wand hand and pulled it away shaking his head.
Harry smiled at the both of them, wanting to make a lasting impression that although they had lost and he was going to be leaving them behind, he wanted them to know that he was finally at peace.
He closed his eyes for the final time…
Voldemort enjoyed his victory, and ordered his death eaters to gather and apprehend everyone as swiftly as possible, he didn't want anyone getting any brave ideas in avenging Harry.
Hermione clung to Ron as they were personally escorted to the great hall and then left as the others were gathered behind them.
"Is he planning on killing everyone?" Ron asked humorlessly and slightly wondering what was going to be the outcome now that Harry couldn't save them.
"Ron…. where did everything start going wrong?" Hermione whispered, the words barely leaving her mouth.
He didn't have an answer as they had been battling 'evil' since they first arrived at Hogwarts years ago.
Hermione felt like she had betrayed him, Harry and everyone else in this outcome and desperately wanted to fix it. She boggled her mind for a solution but none came.
Ron wrapped his arms around her, trying to be comforting but he knew that their time was going to be limited. The dark lord would never let them live if there was a slight chance that they would fight back and gather up hope for the wizarding community once again.
Neville and Luna appeared next to them and well Neville felt the same as the other two, Luna seemed not as distressed when she began reminiscing about past years and adventures while they were in school.
Her comments about their third year sparked an idea in Hermione.
She was never required to return her time turner until she graduated and well she had been using it as of last year in a much smaller capacity compared to when she first received it in their third year. All the time jumping revolved around Sirus which was just meant to be, as silently encouraged by Albus Dumbledore.
She kept the chain that held the device close to her heart, in her bra for safekeeping as it was more important to her than her wand, mostly because she was safeguarding it and it couldn't fall into the wrong hands if someone discovered it on her person.
Hope burned alive once more though she held many reservations about considering using it as time travel came with consequences as she had been drilled into her by Professor McGonagall and well this couldn't end like this right?
It could be a one-way trip, as she would encounter her younger self… which wouldn't help them.
"You know I wonder if Harry knew that all that we did was for nothing but probably felt the most burdened because we all expected him to fulfill the prophecy and get rid of You Know Who," Ron commented to them while joining Luna in thinking about the fonder memories of the past.
Guilt wrenched her insides once more, listening to their conversation and Hermione made up her mind. She may be very well lost in this possibly one-way trip but she had to try, she had to see if she could fix this and save them all. She owed it to Harry and his sacrifice.
Focusing deep into herself, she concentrated on using wandless magic, using one spell she had learnt on her own but read that it was technically forbidden and for good reason.
She dug into her shirt, producing the time turner, garnering the attention of the others as their eyes widened, knowing what she planned on doing.
Ron attempted to hold her more firmly but Hermione weaseled out of his hold and whispered the incantation because waving goodbye to them and disappearing to a time where everything had begun. 7 years into the past, into another branch of existence, a parallel universe, where she would become her younger self, withholding all the knowledge she had from the time she just escaped.
When she opened her eyes again she was on platform 9 ¾, 11 years old and on her way to Hogwarts for the first time.
Like she did the first time, she bid her parents farewell, a bit overwhelmed from seeing their faces again after wiping their memories, a year and a half ago in order to prevent them from becoming casualties in the war she wanted nothing to do with.
She remembered traversing the train, introducing herself to everyone she met and gaining others' opinions on Hogwarts houses and its history. All before bumping into a boy who cried because he had already lost his pet toad, Trevor. Oh, Neville…
This time she decided to find the first empty compartment, ignoring everyone and thinking about what she planned on changing now that she was here. What key moments of her first moments were important to avoid or keep?
A part of her wondered if she should bother Harry and Ron, like before, they might not remember her if she kept her distance.
A jarring of the sliding compartment door brought her back to the present as she watched a younger Pansy and Daphne walk into the space.
They glanced at each other quickly, not recognizing her.
"Who are you?" Pansy asked bluntly.
"Hermione Granger" she replied, almost expecting a scowl in recognizing she wasn't of a typical wizarding family or other sorts of a rude response but instead Pansy and Daphne sat down and introduced themselves.
The three witches spent the rest of the trip conversing about what they hoped their life was going to be like, the two of them predicted they would be sorted into Slytherin, like their parents and Hermione kept avoiding giving a direct prediction, in case she was again sorted into Gryffindor and thus would end this weird sort of indifference between them. Halfway there, a blonde boy entered the room without his cronies and only said a polite hello to Hermione before engaging in conversation with Pansy about some family business between the two of them.
The first time she met Draco was in the corridors whilst pestering everyone to see if they had seen a green toad and after she maneuvered around him several times, he decided to stop her and tease her for being such an annoying pest, probably referring to her 'pacing' the corridors, trying to be helpful.
This time around, he was much more subdued to her liking, knowing what he was capable of.
The announcement that they would be arriving in five minutes grabbed her attention as she silently hissed, knowing she had missed her chance at recreating her first encounter with the boys. Hermione let it slide though as she didn't think her badgering them to get dressed and see what magic they could perform was very impressive.
The first years travelled across the lake in boats, taking their time compared to older students and Hermione forgot how the excitement and awe of seeing the castle at night time under a wave of starry skies reflecting off the lake's surface could shock anyone into how beautiful their scenery truly was. Her awe waned faster than the others as she thought about her original plans for her seven years of study before getting mixed up in Harry's adventures of becoming an unwanted and underappreciated hero figure.
Someone lightly splashed for her attention and she glanced ahead a few boats to see Draco stare at her briefly before directing her sights to the skies where a sudden meteor shower began flashing streaks above, they were the first to notice before they began yelling at others to look above them for the shiny spectacle.
Hermione thought it was so beautiful and when she glanced back at him to nod her thanks, he was already looking back ahead at the docks in the distance.
Hmm, maybe there was a kind side to Malfoy she never got to see?
Hermione had a higher impression of him up until she saw him glaring back at Harry and Ron and knew that they had almost fought on the train and well that put him back at zero for her for the moment.
They had started the sorting and the first 5 students had been sorted into what houses she remembered them being in her timeline and before she knew it, it was her turn.
"You… have an excellent mind and bravery than most here…. Wait… hmm, there's a heaviness you are carrying, and a sense of maturity of things to come… well I was going to place you as before but this time…" the hat murmured to her in her mind.
"RAVENCLAW!" it proclaimed.
Hermione gasped, not expecting to be completely torn away from the boys.
"Wait, I need to be in Gryffindor, I'm one of Harry Potter's best friends and he needs me…" she uttered to the hat mentally panicking.
"You want to be of use to him to alter the future, my dear then I have helped you already, believe in yourself a little" was all the reply she got before the Professor swept the hat off her head and called the next name, prompting her to move along.
Hermione struggled to keep the tears at bay as she dragged herself to the table of blue instead of red.
She had secretly preferred Ravenclaw values over Gryffindor but she was a true lioness at the same time and now her plans were ruined. Taking a big breath, she abided in rethinking her position overnight. It gave her way less opportunity but being in a different house did not prevent her from being friends with the others, like before.
Before her fifth year, Hermione did spend more time with other houses and others, like-minded as herself. In her first two years, before things got a lot darker she hosted a series of study groups where she liked to help others that wanted the help.
She would later complain to Ron and Harry that they took advantage of her kindness because they never wanted to join in the learning when she offered, only when they procrastinated and there was little she could do to help them at so last minute.
There was one old secret she kept and one of the few times that she and Malfoy acted civilized and neutrally, they were just two intelligent kids who were not on opposite sides of a silly rivalry that would continue their entire 7 years together…
Malfoy joined the study groups after a few weeks, he wasn't surprised that it was Hermione hosting them but on the first night, he sat away from the rest and when she approached him, wondering if he was there to join them, he was nice for a change but only requested if she could keep it subtle and he would give her a break in agonizing the trio in public for a while.
She agreed and left him be during the sessions but subtly spoke slightly louder so he could hear but not loud enough for anyone to know it was for his benefit.
Hermione shook herself, she found herself remembering a lot of instances of Malfoy when he had nothing to do with her mission… damn him for grabbing her attention this time around, she was beginning to believe that he wasn't evil but found himself on the wrong time and wasn't brave enough to switch sides, probably wanting to protect his mother…
Hermione made sure to be as nosy as she was butting into the business of the famous Harry Potter and his sidepod Ron Weasley.
They like before would save her from a troll, and a friendship was born.