Uncertainty Principle
Chapter 2: Time Turns Backwards
xXx
June 15, 2005
The war is over, it has been for years now. Harry is married and expecting his first child, Ron is flourishing at his career of choice. Remus and Tonks are expecting another child and Sirius Black has finally found a healthy balance in his life since returning from the veil. And she's happy for them, how can she not be. But the sorrow and the pain and the nightmares that plague her seem to drain hope from her body and she just can't stand it some days.
She finds no joy in the things that used to make her smile. Her laughter, her happiness is all fake now, plastered on so no one will worry about her. She devotes herself to work as she has her entire life and she just pushes forward. She counts the days, ticking them off one by one as each week passes into each month.
Hermione's life in the magical world had started out incredibly. The way anyone would expect. She was a girl in a normal life who was suddenly told that the stories in her favorite books weren't as far fetched as people would have her believe. She was a witch and she was blessed with the ability to do amazing things. She made friends and learned, but her joy was short lived as the reality of being different was shoved in her face by prejudice. She started fighting a war at eleven and now? Now she was twenty-five and completely lost. She knew nothing but war. She fought that war for seven years, how was she supposed to be normal now?
Hermione sighs as she enters her flat in Diagon alley. She has exactly forty minutes to freshen up for the party Sirius is throwing Harry and Ginny. It's a cross between a baby shower and a send off on their road to parenthood. If they hadn't asked her to be godmother, she would have come up with an excuse to blow the whole thing off. But the more she blew off her friends, the more they'd notice and worry about her and they had their own lives, their own responsibilities to worry about without adding her into the mix.
She chucks her heels and slips on some flats, taming her hair after a long day at the office and freshening up her makeup. When all that is done, she grabs her purse and a light sweater and makes her way through the floo where she falls out in front of Sirius and Remus setting out food on the coffee table. She sighs.
"I've been going through floos since I was eleven years old you'd think I'd get the hang of it by now." she grumbles, taking Sirius' hand to pull her to her feet. She dusts off her skirt and sighs looking up at the older men. "Where is everyone?" she asks, noticing the quiet that is not normal for a gathering like this.
"They'll be along shortly." Remus replies with a smile. The tired lines that had formed years ago were lessening with each day spent among friends and his growing family. A small part of her is jealous, but she knows that is irrational. If anyone deserves to be happy it's Remus Lupin.
"Alright." she finally replies. "Need any help?"
"No, I think we've got it sorted, but I have something for you upstairs." Sirius tells her stepping aside to let her walk past him. In doing so she misses the look Sirius and Remus share.
"Where am I going?" she asks as they ascend the stairs.
"The library, Kitten. Where else?" he replies with a chuckle, following her up the steps. When she reaches the library she steps aside letting Sirius pass her and then follows him to the leather, wingback chairs near the fireplace. He gestures for her to take a seat and she does while he continues on to the bookshelf on the far side of the room. He pulls a small gift box off the shelf, hidden behind a row of books, and returns to her a moment later. "This is for you." he tells her, handing over the box. The box is red with a gold ribbon keeping the lid secure.
"What is it?" she asks.
"Open it and find out," he says.
She looks up at him suspiciously. Sirius is, for lack of a better word, usually rather jovial. Especially now that he seems to have come to terms with his life and how things turned out. He's become a support system for all of them, an ear to bend, a shoulder to cry on, a man who'd seen too much too soon and was there with a word of advice when you needed it. Merlin only knew how hard he tried to help her in the last few years, trying to cheer her up, get her to open up to someone. He tried to convince her that she didn't need to keep all this to herself, but it was never that easy and while she appreciated his, and Remus', all of their efforts for that matter, she just couldn't seem to shake the feelings of despair.
Curiosity gets the better of her and she pulls at the ribbon, loosening it from the box. She sets it aside and carefully lifts the lid, peering down into the box before looking back up at him confused.
"Sirius? What is this?" she asks, looking back down and reaching in, pulling out the familiar gold time turner. She's positive it's the one she'd used third year. The time turner isn't the only thing in the box either. Three white envelopes and a full, black velvet coin purse fill it as well.
Hermione feels his hand on her cheek and looks up at him, startled by the pain in his eyes. "Nothing you do will ever change what has to happen." he tells her, his eyes glassy with tears. "And that's okay. It's not going to feel like it for a long time, but it's not on you."
He stands then and pulls out his wand. Before she can react he taps the tip of his wand to the time turner and it begins spinning on its own. She just barely has the thought to drop it but it's too late as she feels the familiar pull.
xXx
August 25th, 1971
"Miss Granger? Can you hear me?" a familiar voice calls out to her and she swims through the darkness to reach it. "Ah, here she comes." the voice announces softly as her eyes open slowly.
"Professor Dumbledore?" she questions, confused. She tries sitting up but Professor McGonagall is there, gently pressing her back down.
"Don't move around too much, my dear. You've had quite a long journey." she explains. "You need to rest."
Hermione looks up at her favorite professor confused, before her eyes trail to the man she knew couldn't possibly be there. Her mind works quickly rolling through the last things she remembered before waking up in what was clearly the Hogwarts Hospital Wing. "Merlin." she gasps. "What year is it?"
"Such a bright young witch." Dumbledore replies. "It's 1971, Miss Granger." wide eyed she stares up at her former headmaster.
"But… why?" she asks, finally managing to sit up. "Why would he…" she trails off. She feels the bed dip beside her and looks up to see Dumbledore looking at her kindly.
"Miss Granger, if I may. Mr. Black has explained everything in a letter he penned to me and left in that little red box." Dumbledore begins. "Now he's asked me to make sure that you have these." he continues presenting her with the black coin purse and one of the three envelopes from the gift box. "It would appear that you are part of a time loop and until the time turner is ready to send you back to your own time, you must remain here." he explains. She shakes her head.
"But why me?"
Dumbledore smiles kindly. "From what the future Mr. Black has explained, you are an extraordinary young witch, the brightest of her age were his words I believe." she rolls her eyes, something that seemed to amuse the old headmaster. "Now, I do not know what will happen to you while you are here, not fully, but if what little Mr. Black has disclosed is true, you have many great adventures ahead of you and, well, a lot of healing to do."
Her hand absently goes to the word carved in her arm, hidden under layers of glamor and the sleeves of her shirt. "And there's nothing I can do to get home now?" she asks, although she already knows the answer. When McGonagall had given her the time turner at the start of her own third year she'd done extensive research as was her prerogative with all things in life. A charmed Time Turner like the one Sirius had given her doubled, theoretically, as both a portal to the past and a portkey to a location, ensuring that she wouldn't end up in the Library of Number 12 Grimmauld Place in 1971, where she would most certainly not be welcome at this point in time.
"I think you already know the answer to that." Dumbledore replies and all she can do is nod.
"So what happens now, then. What do I do?" she questions.
"Now," he begins calmly. "I shall have a de-aging potion prepared. I have arranged for a family to take you in and Mr. Black has offered only this for you." he hands over a folded piece of parchment. There is silence as she stares down at her lap. The coin purse and the letter, the objects of her focus.
This is all happening so fast. It can't have been more than a few hours ago that she was sitting in the library with Sirius and now… she was about to relive her life, not only go back in time but revert in age as well. She'll relive the years of Hogwarts, but this time there will be no Harry, or Ron or Ginny. No twins, no Luna, and no Neville along for the ride.
She was alone.
xXx
"Glamours should be enough to keep your scars hidden should you choose to keep them that way." McGonagall tells her, but she's only half listening, her eyes glued to her own reflection. She'd taken the potion under McGonagall's watchful eye and had reverted to her eleven year old self. Frizzy hair and buck teeth in all. She scowls, pulling out her wand.
"That's not happening." she mutters to herself, waving her wand and shrinking her teeth. She stands straight, adjusting her clothes. McGonagall had been kind enough to shrink them for her when the potion had also reverted her to her shorter height. Seeing the effects of the potion now, it's hard to miss how much she had changed.
"The Headmaster is waiting for you." Mcgonagall tells her. "He'll apparate you to your new home." She continues leading Hermione out of the hospital wing and along the familiar path to the entrance hall. Once there she's handed off to Dumbledore with a kind smile from McGonagall and a promise that should she need anything she needed only to ask. Hermione smiles back, but it doesn't not reach her eyes.
"Are you ready?" Dumbledore asks and she nods, letting the old headmaster lead her out the front door and off the grounds. "School will resume in just under a month." he tells her as they walk. "I've left your letter with your new legal guardian and he shall ensure that everything you need is taken care of. Now," he stops just outside the anti apparition wards and turns to her. "I know that all of this is a little overwhelming, moving so quickly. As Professor McGonagall has said, if you require anything, you need only ask." Hermione nods and when he is satisfied that she understands, he offers her his arm and she takes it, bracing against the pull behind her navel.
When her vision clears a bit and she takes in her surroundings she speaks to Dumbledore for the first time since meeting him in the entrance hall. "Where are we?" she asks. Before her sat a small cottage, with brick structures here and there. It did not appear much like a wizarding home, but she knew looks could be deceiving.
"This, my dear, is Ramsey Cottage." he tells her with a twinkle in his eye. She had been following him up the front walk and immediately stopped.
"What?" she asks, confused. Dumbledore, however, doesn't stop and Hermione is eventually forced to catch up before he makes it to the door. He knocks and within moments an older man of regal stature with kind eyes answers the door. He's tall with cropped gray hair, darker only slightly at the temples and sharp aristocratic features. He wears a tweed suit with a dark red pocket square and leather elbow patches. Hermione knows him all too well.
"Albus, welcome." He greets the headmaster before turning his smile on Hermione. "And you must be Miss Granger." he continues with the slightest hint of pity in his eyes. Hermione couldn't really blame him for it though. She'd taken the time to read the story Sirius had sent along with her.
She was a muggle born witch from Hampstead in Heathgate, just like in the future. However, over the summer her parents were attacked by Death Eaters. Hermione had been tortured, which was of course the best way to explain her scars without lying and left for dead after her parents were killed. Their home had been burned to the ground along with everything in it.
It would be near impossible for anyone not to pity her. And that of course made Hermione uncomfortable. She'd never liked to be pitied, especially now. She really just wanted to get through whatever time she was stuck here and go home, back to her job, her flat and Crookshanks.
The man ushers them in, and Dumbledore introduces her. "Miss Granger, this is Carmichael Ramsey," he explains. "He has agreed to take you in for your school years," he continues. She smiles lightly at Carmichael, and once again it doesn't reach her eyes, a fact that isn't lost on the older man. "Well then, if you're alright here, I must head back to the school. There is much to prepare for."
"Of course Albus." Carmichael replies, seeing him to the door. While he's gone Hermione takes a quick look around from her spot in the foyer. The home, if the entrance is anything to go by, is quite welcoming. She feels a warm sense of comfort in this house, with its small windows and plush furnishings. It was dim and cozy and Hermione just wanted to curl up with a book. For a brief moment she forgets all her troubles, the nightmares and scars and her fears.
"Why don't we get you settled, dear." Carmichael's kind voice pulls her from her thoughts as he returns. Hermione nods and follows the older man through the entrance toward a narrow hardwood staircase. They ascend the staircase to the second floor where Carmichael leads her to a bedroom near the back of the house. "This will be your room. It's a bit scarce right now, but we'll rectify that in short order." He explains. "Make yourself comfortable. I know you've been through alot but I hope you'll consider this your home too." He continues. Hermione nods her understanding, taking a slow stroll around the room.
There are the basics. A bed, a desk, a wardrobe. An enchanted picture of the forbidden forest hangs on the off white colored walls, little creatures running between the trees. A nearly empty bookshelf in the corner is her only problem with the room. The bare shelves left her longing for her carefully curated collection of books, both muggle and magical back in her own time.
Carmichael must have noticed her staring and followed her train of thought. "Do you like to read, dear?" He asks. Hermione turns to face him where he remains in the doorway and nods. He smiles motioning for Hermione to follow him. They tracked back down to the first floor and Carmichael led the way to a set of double doors under the staircase. He pushes the doors open to reveal a library nearly as big as the one at Grimmauld Place. "You're welcome to help yourself to whatever you like." He explains amused at the way Hermione's eyes light up as she scans the shelves from afar.
"It's a start." Carmichael thinks to himself watching the young witch, clearly broken and lost, relax in a familiar environment.
"Thank you Mr. Ramsey." Hermione finally speaks.
"You're welcome. And please, call me Carmichael. Now, my house elf has made dinner for us. Are you hungry?" he asks. She nods after thinking about it for a moment. "Excellent. She's a fantastic cook, you're in for a real treat."
Hermione nods. "Thank you." she replies, following him out of the library into the kitchen where the table is being set by a little female house elf in a beautiful blue dress with little red rose buds embroidered on it.
"I figured we could go get your supplies tomorrow." Carmichael says as they sit and begin to eat. She thanks him again and he smiles, digging into dinner. Carmichael keeps up a steady conversation as they eat, telling her about his work as a prosecutor at the Ministries Criminal Prosecutions office. She knows all of this however, she's worked with Carmichael on several occasions and has found herself with an affection for the older man in the future. He's retired in the future, working as a consultant on cases. Seeing him now would certainly explain his tendency to gravitate toward her whenever he stopped by the office though.
Hermione mentions her interest in law, trying to find some semblance of commonality with the older man, but the fact of the matter is, she's still a little out of it.
When they're finished with dinner, Carmichael leaves her to her own devices, making sure she understands that this is her home now and she's free to roam. Hermione decides to pull a few books off the shelves in the library and retreat to her room, trying her hardest not to think about the mess she's in.
