"Sirius Black." Hermione called, holding her mirror aloft. It was her first go-through of July 3, and she felt the anxiety of the quickly flying summer closing in on her.
Sirius's distinctly less disheveled face appeared in the mirror. "Guten morgen, Hermione! Wie gehts? Es geht mir gut, und dir?" He fired off quickly, in what Hermione assumed was the most butchered accent German had ever had the misfortune to be represented by.
She shook her head at his antics. "Hey Sirius, you seem a lot better. Berlin is going nicely, I infer?"
"Brilliantly," said Sirius, "you're right, they barely batted an eyelash when I showed up. I've been staying above a nice old pub called Der Zauberschwein. Blokes are nice, they've got a hell of a distrust for government. I don't blame 'em. I wouldn't trust any government past where I could throw 'em."
Hermione nodded her agreement. "I assume you haven't told anyone of your, erm, history?" She asked hesitantly. The last thing she needed was to be cleaning up after Sirius's messes on top of everything else.
"'Course not," Sirius said, "I learned how to lie at my mother's knee. It's hard not to, with a berk like her for a mother…" he trailed off awkwardly.
"Did you sort out that problem you had last time we spoke?" Asked Hermione. She was about to add 'about two months ago,' but realized at the last second it had only been one month for everyone else.
"Ah yeah, I had a bit of a run in with my family's old house elf. Ruddy menace, that one is. And time has only made him worse. He wouldn't do a thing I asked, despite that I'm the last living member of his family."
Hermione picked her next words carefully. "Say, Sirius, where is your house elf? Maybe I can convince him to be a bit nicer to you."
Sirius looked at her dubiously. "He's living at my old family flat in London. But no offence, Hermione, he might listen to you less than he does me. Y'see, my family was a bit more… traditional, and not in a good way. You're a muggleborn, right?" She nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, I'm not opposed to you trying, but he's not likely to respond well at all."
"I'm very convincing." Hermione said, "would you let me try, please?" He still looked uncertain, so she continued, "You can tell him he has to listen to me, first, so at the very least he can't try anything. It's worth a shot."
"What the hell, alright." Sirius threw his hands up in defeat. "I suppose it can't hurt. Kreacher!" He called loudly, and Hermione heard the telltale crack of apparition. Kreacher grumbled something that one may be able to consider a greeting, before Sirius continued.
"Kreacher, this is Hermione Granger – you are going to visit her, and you're to obey anything she tells you. Understand?"
Kreacher muttered unintelligibly, before looking up at her and scowling nastily. She met his eyes calmly, knowing he would be dancing to a different tune quite soon.
"Do you understand, Kreacher?" Sirius said sharply, and Kreacher nodded. "Thanks for trying to help, Hermione, but honestly, I'm not expecting any miracles. Just send him back to Grimmauld Place when you're sick of him. Kreacher, go."
Hermione heard another crack, and turned to see a rather dumpy Kreacher standing on her floor, looking like he wanted to spit on it. "I hope I can surprise you, Sirius. Have fun in Berlin." She waved goodbye, and he mirrored the motion before hanging up.
"Hello, Kreacher," Hermione said quietly, "My name is Hermione. It's nice to meet you."
Kreacher stared sullenly back at her without replying, but she pressed on.
"I think you have something at Grimmauld Place, Kreacher. A locket. It belonged to Regulus Black."
That got his attention, and he narrowed his eyes at her. He started muttering, and she caught, "… the Mudblood is not only a blood traitor but also a thief, yes, what a nasty Mudblood it is. Trying to steal from Master Regulus…"
"Kreacher." Hermione said sharply. "I believe Regulus gave you a task concerning that locket, one you haven't been able to keep. Is that correct?"
He stared at her, wide eyed.
"Answer me, Kreacher. Is that correct?"
"Yes." He bit out, unwillingly.
Hermione smirked. "And do you still have the locket?"
He gave her the same curt, "Yes."
"I want to destroy the locket, Kreacher. I know that was your task, and I know why you haven't been able to. I can help you finish your… master Regulus's dying wish. But you have to bring it to me. Can you do that?"
As she spoke, Kreacher's posture changed. A spark she hadn't seen before entered his eyes, and it seemed as if he was much more hopeful; she imagined it had something to do with him getting away from the thrice dammed locket, too.
"You are wanting to help Master Regulus?" He said, seemingly amazed.
Hermione nodded. "Yes, I do. But I need you to give me the locket. Will you bring it to me?" She asked carefully. She wanted it to be his decision to give it to her, not just him following orders. He was much more likely to be nice to Sirius, that way.
"I'll bring it." He said, and popped away to do just that.
Hermione let out a hum of satisfaction. There were only two more horcruxes to gather, not including Harry, and this whole mess would be much closer to being finished. Kreacher popped back, holding the locket almost reverently. She held out a hand for it, and saw him hesitate, eyes flashing angrily.
The locket had always been the most active of the horcruxes, at least the ones she dealt with. It probably had some sort of sentience, and that sentience recognized Hermione as a threat. "Kreacher," she said slowly. "Give me the locket."
With extreme reluctance, he held it out to her. His bony arm was shaking, and he screwed his face up in what looked like pain. She grabbed it, and none too gently yanked it from Kreacher's grasp.
Quickly, Hermione stuffed the locket in a lead- and salt-lined box she had prepared especially for this occasion, and the tense atmosphere all but vanished. Kreacher looked like a huge weight had been taken off of his shoulders, and perhaps it had been. Hermione was equally relieved: one more horcrux in her possession meant one less thing to check off of her never-ending to-do list.
"Thank you for the locket, Kreacher. I promise you, it'll be destroyed before summer's up." And then, almost as an afterthought, she added, "Oh, and if you could, please be a bit nicer to Sirius. I doubt he told you, but he just escaped from Azkaban. He's had enough negativity to last several lifetimes. Do you think you'll be able to do that, Kreacher?"
The elf nodded. "For you, Mistress Hermione. You have avenged my Master Regulus."
"Thank you, Kreacher. I think Sirius would be very happy to know how brave Regulus was. You should consider telling him. Unless he asks you directly, though, please leave me out of it."
"Kreacher will." He said, much more politely than he had ever spoken to her before.
Hermione smiled at him kindly. "Then that's all I needed. Thank you for all your help, Kreacher. You've made the world better, and fulfilled Regulus's wishes today."
Without another word, Kreacher popped away. The Crack! echoed through her house, and she was thankful that it was empty. She felt guilty about lying to Sirius, but all the guilt she had been feeling for manipulating her friends and peers was quickly fading to the back of her mind.
She thought about Dumbledore briefly, and his whole 'greater good' – it wasn't as if she was ruining other's lives with her manipulations; in fact, she was helping them all more than anything. But the niggling reminder that the 'path to hell was paved with good intentions' haunted her. Not for the first time, she wished she had Draco with her.
He had been a grudging ally, at first, someone she worked with towards a common goal, but not from any desire to interact. Eventually, however, they became more than that. They were friends, allies, partners: they ran the resistance meetings, taught their allies to protect themselves, and confided in one another. The image came to her mind, unbidden, of his unseeing eyes as he lay across the Veil of Death.
Even if they landed three years late and had to scramble as she was doing, at least she wouldn't be at it alone. Sure, she had plenty of help from Dobby and now Kreacher, but she had no confidant: no one to share her theories and fears with, to bounce ideas off of, to laugh and cry with.
Shaking off her maudlin thoughts, Hermione began to prepare for another go-round. She carefully took out her notebook – charmed to look like a copy of Hogwarts: A History – and scribbled down:
July 3: 10 PM, travelling back 24 hours. Running total of extra time – 12 months, 3 days.
With a jolt, she realized that her combined travelling had earned her another full year to her life. Instead of turning fifteen in the fall, she would be sixteen – and if she kept traveling as much as she had, it would be on the fifth of August. Barely a month away.
She didn't regret her actions, nor did she miss her childhood – after all, her mind was twenty-one, and she hadn't been a kid in a long time. It would all be worth it, when they could defeat Voldemort. Then, she could think about relaxing.
AN: I've had a lot of people giving me suggestions on who Hermione should work with, so I wanted to assure all of you that there will be more characters coming in later; to Snape fans, you're in luck. He will be a huge character in this story, only second to Hermione. The Quiddich World Cup is coming up soon, so you'll see a lot of familiar faces then! As always, thanks for your support.