You Are the Reason
Part 1
Chapter 1
Hermione ran. She ran through the forest faster than she could remember ever running before. The snatchers were hot on their trail and she had no time to think. She could hear others running in the leaf beds and didn't dare look back. Hermione could hear one of the boys breathing heavily to one side as they ran, almost in step. She turned corners, lept over rocks, and suddenly tripped over a high running root system.
Thinking this was the end, Hermione flipped over and was about to send a curse to her left when she realized she was alone. She listened hard and found no noises coming her way, no rapid footsteps. Not daring to call out to them, she gazed out around her looking for Ron or Harry. Slowly Hermione stood up. What if the snatchers had caught Harry? That had to be what happened as he was the prey they were looking for in the first place. If they had captured Ron first, Harry would have given himself up to try and help his friend.
So many scenarios went through Hermione's mind as she slowly started to walk around the area she was in. Moving past a particularly dense patch of dead brambles in the direction she has come, Hermione came upon a circle of standing rocks. I know I was distracted but these definitely were not here when I came past the first time, she thought.
Hermione quietly looked around, not really knowing what to do next. She had to find her friends. They had to be in danger, possibly in front of Voldemort as she stood here. A few large rocks being misplaced should not be at the top of her list of important things. Even so, the rocks intrigued her, like they were pulling her in against her will. The largest of the standing stones seemed to have an aura that she couldn't give a logical answer to.
Walking toward the rock, Hermione could feel her apprehension growing. This rock formation was starting to feel like a trap of some kind, though she knew the snatchers were not smart enough for such elaborate spellwork. The aura from the largest stone was starting to pulse outward. Hermione started to walk toward it, void of her own free will it seemed. The aura felt… uneasy. Not quite evil, but definitely not the most friendly of auras. It also felt unnaturally old, ancient even.
When Hermione reached the stone, she felt a pull and touched the center where there was a carving of a large butterfly. As soon as she brushed the stone, she felt fixed in the spot. All the noise around her stopped and Hermione could not even move her head in any direction. Then, as soon as it began, the moment stopped. Birds were singing again and Hermione could almost act like the moment had not happened. If it weren't for what she found around her.
The forest had changed. The spring-time new growth had changed to a late summer haze. The dead brambles she had walked shrunk in size and had berries hanging in heavy clumps. If it had not been for the large stone circle, Hermione would have guessed she was in an entirely different forest than the one she had run through not 10 minutes before.
"What the fuck just happened?" Hermione gazed around the forest trying to get her bearings. She was no stranger to time travel. She had done it many times as a third-year at Hogwarts, but this was different. This looked as if she had traveled back in time by months, if not years.
Hermione sat down to think. She started to place when she was based on the season. She used to camp all the time with her family and, of course, she did well in Herbology. It seemed that she had landed somewhere in late July or early August based on the change in flora. She obviously went back in time if the bramble bush is now alive. That means that she, at minimum, went back 8 months.
"Well, shit."