"Miss Granger!"

"Miss Granger, you must wake up!"

Hermione blearily heard Poppy calling her. She must be really concerned, Poppy hadn't called her Miss Granger since her seventh year. Something niggled in the back of her mind. When she opened her eyes, looking up at the white cloth of her four-poster, it came rushing back to her – the spell! It worked! She was here, at Hogwarts, Poppy wasn't the vigilante leader but the school nurse.

"Po- Madam Pomfrey!" Hermione said as the woman leaned back over her. "What happened? What time is it? Where's Harry?" She was starting to panic.

"Miss Granger, please calm yourself," she said crisply. Hermione stiffened and nodded, breathing deeply. This sounded more like the leader she had followed. "You had an accident with your time turner, and you've been in the hospital wing for six days. The farewell feast is this evening, and the Express leaves tomorrow at 11."

Hermione stayed calm, but her mind was racing. Six days? What had gone wrong, that she had been unconscious for six days?

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey." She said blankly. Her mind was elsewhere.

Something had gone wrong- really wrong. She wasn't supposed to be here; and she didn't mean in the hospital wing. No, that was solvable, but this was third year! She was supposed to come back first year, with Draco in tow! She had seen herself and Harry coming back from the trip to save Sirius and Buckbeak, instead of 11-year-old Hermione as a first year walking through Platform 9 3/4. She integrated with her past self just fine, but that was supposed to happen first year, not third.

All their plans were ruined. Draco had come up with most of the ideas to lock their future thoughts in their mindscapes until second year; they couldn't maintain a timed obliviate anymore, to preserve the timeline until certain events came up (like the debacle with Quirrel or the Chamber of Secrets). All their carefully timed schemes were useless. She needed to talk to Draco- but no, Draco didn't make it, did he? The image of his broken body, half covered by the mist of the veil of death, half stuck in the the future-

She gasped, letting out one choked sob, and Poppy bustled over to her. Her last friend was dead.

"Miss Granger, are you feeling quite well?" She asked, and Hermione realized that her friends weren't quite dead, were they? Her Draco was gone, but Draco still existed in this timeline. Hell, Sirius and Cedric still existed in this timeline!

Hermione considered her words carefully, realizing Poppy was waiting for a reply, "I'm just afraid they won't let me take all my classes next year, since I messed up with the time turner."

Poppy sat down, her face darkening. She was looking more like the woman Hermione knew, all business and getting to the bottom of things. "Miss Granger, you seem to have used the time turner more than you ought-" She put up a hand to stop Hermione from saying anything, "No, let me finish. Someone gave you advice to use a dangerous magical artifact when you were already emotionally and physically exhausted. Now I'm sure you remember how to safely use the time turner, and the willpower that the caster must maintain during the trip."

Hermione nodded silently. McGonagall, all those years ago, told her quite clearly that without the necessary focus, one could easily get lost in time. That's why you had to watch the world move around you, you had to consciously pick the moment where the timeline stopped, disengage the time turner, and reintegrate into the timestream. She briefly wondered if the presence of her younger self using the time turner had interrupted her travel, but Poppy was already talking again.

"You won't be blamed for the time turner usage last night. Headmaster Dumbledore," she pursed her lips in a way that Hermione knew meant that Dumbledore would be having a talking to, "took the liberty of smoothing things over to the Kairos department, and no one was informed of this occurrence."

In her mind, Hermione sent a faint thanks to Dumbledore, the manipulative old goat, for prioritizing the Greater Good over the time-space continuum.

Poppy continued, realizing that Hermione wasn't going to speak. "I cannot stop you from continuing your classes, Miss Granger." Their eyes met, and she felt a prickle of legilimancy at her defenses. She let her gratitude and relief cloud her mind, and the prickle disappeared. "I won't stop you, Miss Granger, but I will insist that you keep up your health. I'm frankly appalled that I wasn't informed earlier, as your primary physician."

Hermione lowered her eyes, "I'm sorry, Madam Pomfrey, I was told not to tell anyone at all, and-"

Poppy cut over her again, "Oh I'm not angry at you, child. The Deputy Headmistress and I will have a brief chat," her eyes flashed dangerously, "but it isn't your fault. How do you think Professor Dumbledore got twelve OWLs?" She let that sink in for a moment, a wry grin on her face.

"You are not the first to use a time turner for classes, Miss Granger, and you certainly aren't the first to have any problems with it. I will insist, however, that you meet with me at least twice a month to make sure you're not neglecting your own needs."

Hermione reddened slightly, looking down at her slim 15-year-old body. She had no muscle mass to speak of, and she knew her past self hadn't eaten enough. She had lived an entire 11 months extra during the year, making her current body 15 and 8 months old (not to mention that her mind was twenty-one). "I promise, Madam Pomfrey, I'll come meet with you."

"Excellent, my dear," she said pleasantly. With no further ado, her wand whipped furiously in the air, running diagnostics charms with the speed of a seasoned dueler. "I have asked the house elves to help you pack: you must limit strenuous exercise for the next few days, your muscles will be weak after lying in bed for six days. I suggest beginning to walk around your neighborhood when you get home, and perhaps running and calisthenics once you feel up to it."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said, letting her very real relief color the words.

Poppy smiled warmly at her, belaying her harsh words, "Now off with you, before I decide to keep you here for another week!"

AN: Thanks for the review, favorites and follows! What do you think of my Poppy Pomfrey? I always thought she was an underrated character, being a doctor isn't easy, especially in a school full of hundreds of magical students! I haven't quite established what my plan is for this story, so if you have a request I'll definitely consider it!