Summary: Post HBP. While Harry preps for his search for the Horcruxes, Hermione attempts to finish some extra schoolwork about the mediaeval world, leading to a little field trip plus some recon for Harry. Little does she know, there was more the founders then met the eye, and she soon finds herself falling for another protégé like herself, a dashing knight trading loyalties to fight alongside Bishop Odo in defending the Norman conquest, with the intent of uncovering yet another relic that Hermione knows has disappeared from the Muggle world. But could it really be with the Wizards?
And why exactly was the brilliant mind of Hermione placed in Gryffindor, rather than Ravenclaw? Of course, there is a story behind all. The hat knows everything.
Harry straddled his broomstick, twisting the snitch in his hand, the glint of the gold catching off the setting summer sun. While Hermione stood beside him, in contemplation, he was trying his best to help her, but he didn't have any bright ideas. "Harry, the project is due TOMMOROW. I know in Ron and your little world, that would mean that starting on it tomorrow morning would be fine, but I'm not like you."
Harry dismounted off of the left side of the broom, following the tradition of the knights and their steeds, and unlocked the box of Quidditch supplies. Tossing the snitch inside, he knew he had other matters to concern himself with, like those bloody Horcruxes, but as of now, his main concern would be consoling Hermione. Hogwarts was closed, but Hermione was taking classes from anyone who would teach her, and Harry had caught a rumor from Ron that she had considered temporarily enroll in another wizarding school. Apparently, Hermione had taken up an extreme interest in how the wizarding world and the Muggle world fed off of each other, and was planning on researching how the medieval fascination with the mystical aspect of the Arthurian legend had grown from relations with wizards. Unfortunately, Hermione had no way of researching her topic; with Hogwarts closure, the library was off limits, and with the Ministry of Magic attempting to remind the Wizards that they were still in control, Hermione didn't want to wander anywhere near their heavily guarded locks and accidentally be seen with an incriminating book about Salazar Slytherin.
"Hermione, do you still have it?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows and trying not to say the name, at least in this fairly public setting. They had chosen this hill for training because of the visibility, and its proximity to the Weasely casa. However, it had its disadvantages.
It took Hermione a second to determine what Harry was talking about. She thought that their frantic search for any information about Godric Gryffindor was rubbing off on him, and he was beginning to lose touch with reality. After all, it wouldn't be the first time Harry hadn't quite been in sync with the world, since he had spent his childhood among muggles. "No, but I'm sure I could acquire it, if I could persuade the powers that be that I needed it for more than some study," Hermione answered back, hesitant and wondering if she should even be considering abandoning her best friend in one of his hardest times, since now she had to serve as his mentor.
Harry sighed, and waited as Hermione grabbed his arm, and together they apparated back to the Weasley house, now a fortress surrounded by dragons and various guarding spells. Well, not really, but that's what it felt like. "I guess I'll just have to talk to Minerva. Harry, I bet I could use it to find out more about...""
Interrupting, Harry snapped, "Godric, I know." Sometimes, Hermione still treated him like he was 11. He felt like he needed to constantly reassure her that he was doing his homework, except now, no offense to Hogwarts, his homework really mattered. "Why don't you go talk to her, and I'll sit here and twiddle my thumbs for a few more days."
"I'm sorry Harry to leave you like this, but in real time, you won't even miss me. It's important. To both of us," Hermione reassured herself and Harry, but it wasn't working strong enough magic. She prepped the floo power, since unlike everyone else; she knew that with the strong magic now surrounding the site, one couldn't apparate. Trying to avoid Harry's resentful eyes, as his task, his task alone was slowly falling out of his hands. Instantaneously, she found herself standing before the technical Headmistress of Hogwarts, except, Hermione did not want to stir up any emotional baggage in addressing her that way, with Dumbledore still a strong memory in the minds of the trio and their current advisors. "Hello, Pro- Minerva," Hermione stuttered.
"Paper finished?" McGonagall asked, and Hermione struggled to meet her gaze. "I'll take that as a no," she quipped, and waited for an explanation from Hermione.
"I need to do some first hand research for the project, and for Harry," she stressed, saying the words that would hopefully carry weight with McGonagall. The reaction was immediate; the elderly Headmistress had procured a time turner from the confines of the ministry, possibly from the Department of Ministries, a place Hermione knew she would probably have to return to but dreaded a reunion with the tragic curtain. Accio didn't even escape her lips, and Hermione now knew this was due to the spells one didn't even need to say. McGonagall must have really wanted to the time turner. Giving Hermione the look of trust, McGonagall dropped the time turner in Hermione's palm, interlocking their fingers for a moment, probably binding Hermione to a sort of promise against any misuse.
" Be careful, we never know where our enemies are, or who they are," McGonagall warned, and Hermione nodded and whispered thank you a dozen times. "You'll be needing these," she continued, as with a swish of her wand transformed Hermione into a relic of the age of Chivalry, complete with a delicate bundle of braids and flowing robes. I look like something out of L'Morte de Arthur, Hermione thought, but acknowledged that that was McGonagall's intention. "Leave from here, it's safer, and I can make sure that you get back," McGonagall added, and Hermione wished she could at least try to mend things with Ron and Harry before she left. It wouldn't serve to have both of them mad at her, and possibly each other. But alas, she couldn't, and held the time turner's thread as McGonagall twisted it back to the proper year, one she knew and Hermione was about to find out.
With a whirlwind and vortex of spinning walls, Hermione dropped onto the plains where the Ministry of Magic now sat, almost 1,000 years in the future. In fact, just this morning, Hermione had caught Harry buying the new Oasis cd as a present for Ginny in the Virgin records store right down the street and sneaking a peek at the liner notes of the Spice Girls cd (A/N: Had to work in the fact the story is in 1997/1998). But now, there were no disk players, no nothing. Just a bunch of farmers in what would soon be one of the biggest cities in Europe, one of the first to hit the one million mark. It was almost enough to cause Hermione to reminisce of Rome, and consider talking a quick sojourn to the island of Alba. Oh yeah, she had business to take care of, and she should be wasting any precious time turner minutes. It was like cell phone air time, one never knew if roaming charges might cause some trouble and service could be sporadic.
Now, she just had to find out where to begin, and if she needed to get to Hogwarts. Surely Minerva knew exactly what she was doing. Especially since Hermione looked like a lost princess, probably to attract the right crowd. Hermione gripped her wand tightly and was about to use a wizarding-summoning trick she had recently taught Harry, since he might need to call for assistance, but she heard a voice call to her. "My lady, do you need a hand?" the person asked, and Hermione whirled around to find herself facing two barely disguised young wizards. Add that to the list: Rarely care if a Muggle spots them and notices the whole wand thing. Very laissez-faire in Muggle/Wizard relations. At least these young men not only looked like promising help in answering any of her questions about wizards, they were dressed in regalia befitting royalty.
Hermione brought her wand out into the open, and the wizards acknowledged it. "Ah, my lady, you are one of us. Come, we must hurry. My friend here has a meeting with Odo, and I have some business to attend to with his Majesty as well," the fair-haired one beckoned, while his companion withdrew quickly from the conversation to tend to something in his pocket. "I hope you do not mind snakes madam. Saz here has a thing for them. They take a bit getting used to," the man chuckled, and elbowed "Saz" back into the moment and away from his pet. "Sir, if it is feeding time, I doubt that your fingers will suffice."
While the one man was overly enthusiastic with her, and the other creepily embroiled in reptilian care, Hermione sensed that she would at least be safe with these well-traveled and well-heeled men. "Sir, I failed to catch your name," Hermione prodded, even though she could sense that he was guiding her to the mediaeval incarnation of Diagon alley.
He leaned towards her and whispered, almost sensing what she was thinking, " We can talk safely there, my lady. Not all of William's men are kind to the wizards. The Normans do not see the same as us Britons. That's not the only thing we do not see eye to eye on," he hinted, and backed away, keeping his eyes locked on "Saz." Hermione was getting flustered by this stranger's presence, and previously, only Ron and, for a brief time, Krum could do that to her. Perhaps it was the unknown, or the fact that her current temptation had, in her time, been 6 feet under for her entire life span. She kept trying to tell herself that he was dead, but to her, in the now, with him standing right in front of her, it was difficult. What would her Hogwarts crowd think?
"Saz" finally spoke up, and muttered, "'Ric, don't get to close to her. We don't know her blood ties and loyalties."
"I think we can deal with that, it's the least of our problems," "Ric" responded, and smiled, a little too suggestively, to Hermione. Maybe its only Chivalric love, Hermione thought, and allowed herself to return the smile. At least he was looking out for her. Suddenly, Hermione found herself in a stave structure that had just appeared out of thin air. "We're here," Ric added, speaking the unspoken. He took Hermione's hand in his and led them to a table, taking a seat beside her, while "Saz" took another, facing towards the exit.
"Saz" removed something from his pocket, and set it on the table, and "Ric" immediately leaned over it, and placed a hat, which had come from nowhere, on top of. "What the heck do you think you are doing? Not in front of these people," Ric warned the other man, and Hermione could tell that their friendship was not as solid as it initially appeared. Even though they seemed so much older, "Ric" and "Saz" could not be too much older than Harry and Ron, yet they were already scarred by the years and exposed to their own world just as Harry and Ron had faced the ups and downs of theirs. "Saz" didn't seem to enjoy his spot as the second in command, and "Ric" looked like he was regretting having stopped "Saz" and further tearing their relationship.
"So, I imagine that our companion wants to know who we are," Ric whispered, and Hermione sensed being lifted off her feet and taken into another room. One of the two men was a well-trained apparater. "Well, it is what I was employed to do."
Why didn't I learn occumency from Snape? Hermione screamed at herself, even though she knew that the powerful legilemens knew exactly what she was thinking.
"I don't know a Snape, but I assure you, any thoughts of yours are safe with me. Even when I'm 'six feet under.'"
Hermione was taken aback, and felt ashamed that he knew all of her thoughts. "I'm sorry," she whispered back to him.
"No need to fuss up your face, my dear. But there is something you need to tell me before I reveal my nature. Especially since it is...very interesting. How do you know about Hogwarts?" he asked her, and it finally clicked with Hermione who "Ric" and "Saz" were. "I see you know who I am."
Hermione couldn't believe her luck. She was sitting here with the man himself, in a North Sea Kingdom style building...in a room, with him, alone. Oh my. Apparently, "Ric" didn't want "Saz" to hear all of it.
" I attend Hogwarts." Hermione tried to state it as flatly as possible, and trying to make it sound like a small factor in her life. In her mind, she added, or did attend it, but then she realized that Ric knew that now as well.
Ric looked a little saddened, and Hermione wasn't sure if it was over the fact Hogwarts was closed or that she obviously wasn't from his present. "That complicates things. The reason why I was in Caen was to meet with William to find the results of his census, and determine a location for Hogwarts. And of course, to relay information between Odo and William, but Will knows my real purposes."
"Oh," Hermione muttered, and took a seat on the plain bed in the small room that she had found herself in for her little private conversation with "Ric."
"Where have my manners gone, m'lady. I'm Sir Godric Gryffindor, liaison between the wizards and the Normans. I hail from the Pictish lands, although my forebears arrived in the last wave of invaders. And who exactly are you?" he asked, and refrained from sitting beside her. Before he learned her mysterious circumstances, he would have been much more relaxed, but now he was less curious and more concerned. Why would someone from the future come to visit him? He was just a humble graduate of the Roman wizarding schools trying to establish a school in his own land.
"I'm Hermione. I'm from centuries in the future. I went to Hogwarts. I don't think you need to know the rest."
"I would like to, child of Menelaus and Helen," he alluded to mythology, and tinkered with Hermione's already fluttering heart, "but I presume I will have to suffice with that for the time being."
"Ric, how do you know Saz? Hermione asked, not completely knowing how Gryffindor would ever befriend Salazar Slytherin, especially after meeting them. It defied common sense, here she was, in the past, wondering how it affected her future, but she still was curious about the complex relationships that were still being played out.
"He was a court scholar for a very brief time at the Holy Roman courts, and was released under mysterious circumstances. I never quite heard if it was an affair with the Empress or something magical," Ric sort of chuckled, attempting to liven the stale mood Hermione had caused to permeate the room.
"So he was working for the HRE, and you were in Italy? Was it a part of Italy under much HRE influence?" Hermione interrogated.
"My lady, you know your history."
"I'm a Muggle born," Hermione blurted out. And then immediately regretted it.
"Really?" Ric asked, probably not intending to sound surprised, but their relaxed atmosphere had crumbled.
"Why would I lie about something like that?"
"It's just, unless I can get someone else to assist in the formation of Hogwarts, it's going to split Saz's way, no muggle-borns"
"Oh," Hermione sputtered, and her weakness and concern showed to Ric. He sat down beside her, and put his head in his hands, thinking. "Do you have the building plans?"
Ric perked up, even if it felt strange to call the renowned wizard "Ric", much too personal. "Yeah, I have them with me," he murmured as he summoned them onto the sheets beside them. He carefully spread them out, and outlined the different levels so it appeared in three dimensions. Hermione, in her attempt to get the best angle, found herself brushed again Godric, who didn't seem to care.
Catching sigh of some passages she recognized as secret, she laughed, "Some of my troublesome friends would love a copy of these."
Ric grinned, and started to point out what he felt were his more ingenious efforts in the building. "We start with a fairly basic Romanesque structure, ribbed vaults, but then there's my favorite..."
Hermione chimed, "the ceiling," almost gasping, wanting to hear all about it. Ric knew he had her captivated now, and made some adjustments to the plans while Hermione waited in pure pleasure. (A/N: Hermione's a nerd. Had to play it up)
"Well, you see here," and he pointed, and launched into an explanation of the logistics. By the end, Hermione was absolutely star stuck, but she had one sticking point.
"Obviously, you've never bothered to read Hogwarts: A History, because in reality, that never turned out... Ric, I'm so sorry. I'm such a creature of habit," Hermione, very embarrassed, tried to explain herself out of her little mistake.
"Hmm, Hogwarts: A history, might have to find that one some day. They have it at Oxford?" he grinned, trying to play along, and loving the way Hermione had opened up to him.
"Stop it," she teased back at him, and playfully smacked her forehead with her palm. "Erg, I can be so in my own little world sometimes, can't I?"
Ric grabbed a hold of Hermione's hand, and leaned it, brushing his lips against hers, and holding them there, for just a moment. As he backed away, he whispered, "Miss Hermione, I plan on finding out more about you. And why you are here."
Gosh, kill the moment why don't you. Kiss me, and then talk business. So something Harry would do. Always one-step ahead, always the hero, always on some sort of mission.
"Who is Harry?" Ric prodded Hermione for answers.
"Godric, if you can just invade my mind, why don't you just find out for yourself?" Hermione spat at him.
"Hermione, be rational. I wouldn't feel right if I did that. And I might discover something that it would be best to keep from me."
"Do you know?"
"About what?"
"Oh, so you don't. You were speaking hypothetically." Hermione relaxed, and tried to only relay to Ric exactly what he needed to know. But watching him stare at her like that, like he was prying the layers of her soul off, she couldn't stand it. "Do not leave your personal belonging near Saz."
Ric took this to believe that he could not completely trust his business partner, but before he could further question Hermione, she had apparated away.
Hermione resumed her spot at the table with Saz, and wondered how long it would take for Godric to find her. Before she could begin eating the meal know sitting before her, Godric was sitting beside her, almost protecting her from Salazar. Not that much, Ric. Just with things like the Sort- your hat. Godric immediately reached out and reclaimed his hat, and the fingered something strapped to his belt, that he had earlier tried to keep out of Hermione's way. Oh it's the sword. Godric didn't exactly know how to react to her nonchalant way of dealing with the sword, like she had already seen it. But he couldn't ask her about it here, with Salazar. Not after what Hermione had said.
Godric couldn't concentrate about Hogwarts anymore. But then again, he had that meeting with Odo that he couldn't exactly blow off, even if he didn't want to take Saz along anymore. Out of habit, he ran his fingers along the edge of his sword, just to remind himself that it was there, if he ever did need it. Hopefully, it would just be used in self-defense, but against whom? Saz? Godric murmured to Hermione, "We better be going," and helped her up, keeping her very close.
"Ric, I didn't mean Saz wants to hurt me. He's not even completely the bad guy. Just misintentioned." Hermione shot back, still not sure how close she wanted to get to Godric Gryffindor. She felt that she was cheating her friends by every moment she spent in this time frame, since McGonagall had informed her that this Time Turner was special, and incredibly valuable, since it not only had the ability to go back and time but also return to her present. Even though she wouldn't lose any time, she felt that as soon as she had answers, she needed to return to Harry. That's why she didn't want to get any closer to Sir Gryffindor. She was using him, in a way, to find answers for Harry. But there was much more than that going on. Oh shoot, he could read that.
Ric slunk away a bit, pulled a coat out of thin air, and handed it to Hermione, and placed his arm over her shoulders after she put it on. "Now you really are going to have to tell me about Harry before I can help you," he rebutted, and Hermione resigned herself to the idea that she had to tell him. She had to. He might even know a little bit about them. "I might," Ric smiled, "I might. If you were to tell me." Ric made a sort of signal to Saz, grabbed Hermione tighter, and suddenly, Hermione found herself outside of Westminster Abbey. Godric continued to keep her under a watchful eye, but allowed her to see it, in its Romanesque condition, for the first time. He could tell she was enthralled, and loved to see her smile rather than to worry about her friend, Harry. Ric, do we get to go inside? "Follow me, my lady. We are running late."
Hermione wanted to shriek with anticipation, and tried to walk alongside Godric to the entrance, but her excitement was bubbling over, rubbing off on Godric. "I've never been this excited for a business meeting before," he laughed, and Hermione found herself inside the Abbey, brushing past the Benedictine monks. However, towards the sanctuary stood another man, not part of the order, who obviously was waiting for Godric, and well, Saz, who had followed Godric and Hermione inside. "Good Day, sir," Godric greeted Odo, who eyed Hermione, but refrained from any questions.
"I pray you bring good news, Gryffindor," Odo bypassed any niceties. Godric removed a folio from his pocket, and presented it to Odo, who immediately stuck it in one of his pockets. "And so where will Hogwarts be?"
"His Royal Highness, Duke of Normandy and rightfully restored ruler of the British Isles, has granted me land in the far reaches of his Empire, in an easily guardable and open expanse."
"I hope you are satisfied," Odo spat out. "And my tapestry?"
"It's coming along. The House elves have made much progress," Godric offered. (AN: Duh, the Bayeux tapestry was made by House Elves. How else would there have been those twisted images and loyalty to Odo?)
"Well, I bid you well. I believe you have permission for construction?"
Godric nodded, and without further exchange, was released from the audience of Odo. Hermione walked beside him until they exited the building, and he pulled her aside, letting Saz depart on his own business. "Now, I really want to know." He wrapped his arm around her, and together, they apparated to a vaguely familiar place. Hermione glanced around, and knew that she had been here before, but couldn't put her finger on it. "We're here, Hermione."
But where is here? Hermione hadn't figured it out yet. And then it hit her..."Hogwarts," she gasped.
Ric nodded, smiling, and started to flick his wand and mutter incantations. Suddenly, bricks flew towards him, and he guided them to the center of a freshly cleared field. They assembled without much more assistance, and while the building constructed itself, Godric laid the plans out on one of the surrounding tree stumps. "Furnishings... the lake...It's all here," Godric informed Hermione. "We have an hour before the other backers come. It better be ready."
Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, so that's how they fit into the puzzle. Ric nodded, and watched as another level on Hogwarts was finished. Quarried from miles away, so that's how they did it. Like... "Stonehenge," Ric interjected. As he outlined in the cliff side the lake, Hermione started towards the near complete castle. When she reached the door, she felt a presence next to her, and turned slightly to see Godric standing next to her. "Couldn't let you be the first inside," he added, as he opened the doors to Hogwarts, doors Hermione felt she was seeing for the first time, yet she had walked through them many times before.
Once inside, Hermione immediately noticed the lack of any of the items that had made Hogwarts, well, Hogwarts. Maybe it was the people after all that had made Hogwarts her strongest connection to the wizarding world, and her home in it. People like Dumbledore...she couldn't stop thinking about him.
Ric noticed her thinking, and he was getting a little tired of prying into her thoughts. "I think I might have, just might have, mentioned this before, but I think that we made a deal." He paused, and ducked, pushing Hermione down with him, as one of the Great Hall tables soared over their heads and eventually skidded to its place. "That make it better?" A little.
Leading her over to the Great Hall, Ric took a seat on top of what Hermione knew to be the Gryffindor table, and out of habit, she took her regular place. Ric apparated next to her, and waited for her to begin an explanation. Saz was supposed to be here in a half hour, he didn't have all day, but he was willing to let Hermione speak for herself. "Well, I come from the future, and in my time, the wizarding world has resumed a war. My friend, Harry, is fighting against one of Saz's own, and well, our enemy had the advantage. Ric, do you know what horcruxes are?"
Hermione watched the color drain from his face. "Saz...he mentioned something about them. I think it was in reference to what he was doing... It's some sort of Dark Magic, isn't it?"
Nodding, Hermione unveiled to Ric all that she knew about the horcruxes. It was one of the oddest feelings she had ever experienced, the idea that someone was practically allowed to find whatever they wanted in her own mind. He noticed her unease, and moved closer.