Disclaimer:
I'm only borrowing them. I swear I'll give them back.
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Harry stared as Fred and George stalked away. He turned to Hermione, who looked
just as shocked as he was.
"I guess we know what happened to him." Harry said. He had trouble
squeezing the words past the lump in his throat.
"And to Moody."
"We'd better tell Dumbledore."
The two slowly walked the halls of Hogwarts. When they reached the gargoyle,
Harry mumbled the correct password, so they could trudge up the stairs to
Dumbledore's office.
"Ah, Ms. Granger, Harry. I must say, I-" Dumbledore stopped. He gazed
at them, taking in the tears threatening to abandon Hermione's eyes, and
Harry's pale, solemn face. "What's happened?" he asked softly.
"Ron's gone. Dead."
"Just now?"
"No. Fifteen years ago. He died the day he was born."
"I'm afraid I am rather confused."
"It's simple, Professor." Dumbledore turned his eyes to Hermione.
"Someone went back and killed Ron in the past, rather than doing it now.
And," she blinked back tears. "They killed the rest of the family
too, except Mr. Weasley, Fred, and George."
Dumbledore sank into a chair. "Then I believe," he stated heavily,
"that I know who killed him."
"Voldemort." Harry said softly. It wasn't a question.
"Yes. Now we know why he has killed those Death Eaters. They knew what he
was planning."
Hermione listened in silence. She was busy putting the pieces together.
Voldemort had found a way into the past, presumably by inventing something.
Wormtail had probably tested it. He would've been eliminated once the object
worked perfectly. Lucius Malfoy had either known too much, or been an unrelated
danger to Voldemort, maybe after his power. The other one...Well, Voldemort
would need someone to research dates for him. How else would he have gotten
Ron's birth date? And if he'd gotten Ron's, then...Hermione felt a pang of dread.
"When were you born, Ms. Granger?" Dumbledore asked abruptly. He had
apparently arrived at the same conclusion she had reached seconds ago.
"September 8, 1986." she replied faintly.
Harry was puzzled. How did her birth date fit in with Ron's death? Then the
words he had repeated to Dumbledore came back to him. "...He
was killed the day he was born." Voldemort was
after his friends. Hermione was next.
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July 31, 1986
A happy young couple were together in the room. Her red hair tumbled over her
face as she gazed at her new son. The father of the child was bending over the
two, beaming.
"How sweet," Voldemort whispered. "Like a scene in a storybook.
Well, don't worry Potters, your time will come."
It would be so simple to kill the family now, and be done with it. But he
wanted credit for the crime, and at this time, the Potters had been
unimportant. Wormtail had not joined him yet, either. Useless as the man most
often was, he was a servant that never questioned orders, was loyal, and too
afraid to usurp power. The perfect follower.
He pulled his thoughts to the task at hand. Destroying the Mudblood girl would
be harder. No doubt that old fool in charge of Hogwarts had discovered his
plan. Although, Voldemort mused, he didn't really need to worry. It had taken
him months to perfect the Turners. Dumbledore would have only days. The few
days Voldemort would need to observe the Granger family, and determine if the
girl's parents were also threats.
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Present Day
"The question is," Hermione said slowly, "What did You-Know-Who
use to get into the past?"
"It
is my belief that Voldemort took an existing time-travel device, and altered it
to his own devices."
"Then
which one would he have used?" Harry asked.
Hermione began to list them, using her fingers. "Well." she said,
pulling her fingers back, "there's the Time-Turner, the Hop-back, the
Backwards Gazer..." She stopped. "Although that's more like a
Pensieve, really. As for spells, there's Whizbactim and Altimefora. But neither
of those lets you go back more than a few minutes."
"The Hop-back is likely too large for Voldemort's purposes. And he would
dislike altering spells. Too much risk in mispronunciation and the like."
"So...he must be using an altered Time-Turner."
"That appears to be the most likely explanation."
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A/N: Finally! This chapter has been completed! Writer's block is gone! (I hope)
