Disclaimer: I don't own the HP universe; I'm just borrowing it for a while.
Back, back, back, back, back.
Hermione had always considered this her dream job, her calling. She still remembered the exact details of the day she'd received what could be considered the second most important letter of her life.
'Dear Miss Granger,
The Historical Preservation Society humbly invites you…'
She'd always wondered how the Wizarding World had maintained such an accurate and detailed account of events, even when all other records of them had been destroyed.
Granted there were problems; she'd left her house one morning and returned several hours later and several weeks older. She'd alienated those she'd considered close friends at school, even Ron who still pestered about her work even though they were silent about their jobs at the Department of Mysteries. She found it rather amusing that there was a part of their department that even they didn't know about.
But the things she'd seen! Oh they far outweighed any downside. Who else could have seen Pompeii in its heyday, the fall of Egypt, Columbus stepping onto the New World? It was all there, written down in her own handwriting, an accurate and detailed account of events. All because of a little charm she'd been given in her third year. She was sure it was the same on she'd used back then, the dents where she'd hit it, the tiny scratches, even the one hair of Crookshanks' that had somehow got into the sand was there.
But this… this was different. How could they have given her this assignment of all things? Knowing what they did? They could hardly expect an indifferent, unbiased account of it, considering…
Ah, but there it was, wasn't it? Perhaps they didn't want an unbiased account this time. The wounds were too fresh, the scars nowhere yet faded. What they wanted was a story, a legend, a myth to be passed down through time; something that lasted far longer than simple facts on scrolls or parchment.
She'd be able to give them that and they knew it; the perfect hero, the monstrous villain and the noble sacrifice. Yes, she'd give them that, certainly.
And in return they'd given her a 'gift'. She'd see Harry again, even if it was… then. His most glorious moment… a mixed blessing as all things were.
It was her last assignment after all; she wouldn't live long enough to see another. A farewell gift for those she'd worked so well for for what most people saw as years but for her was decades. Harry wouldn't recognise her, an old crone, even if he did see her from her hiding place under his Invisibility cloak. She would do this for him, her gift to a lifetime of friendship…
Back, back, back, back, back, back.