When Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked into double potions on Friday, they knew it was bound to be a painful day. Snape looked as if he was on the warpath, glaring daggers at all the Gryffindor's in the room. When Harry dared to whisper to Neville, asking what Asphodel was, she started to understand the reason Professor Snape was so very angry.
"Potter, four years in my class still has not taught you any distinguishing elements of Asphodel, and would stoop to asking Longbottom for help, I'm afraid there is absolutely no hope for you. Fame, as I've always said, is not everything." Snape tut-tutted at their table, smirking evilly as he saw all of them bristle.
Hermione frowned at Snape. As much as she wanted to respect all the professors at school, he was one of the most difficult people she had ever met!
Harry sat up in his seat to respond, and she put a comforting hand on his arm. "Let it go." She whispered to him, desperately hoping he would take her advice. "Just ignore him." She felt as though her entire year thus far had been telling Harry to "just ignore" all sorts of things around the school. She remembered the night Harry's name came out of the goblet – having Ron turn away from him really was one of the worst things that had happened all year, and he hadn't come back to them until the first task-
But hang on, that hadn't happened at all! No, Ron stood up for Harry in the Great Hall, he even yelled out that it was a mistake. Why did she have two sets of memories? She would've blamed the time turner, but that didn't change history, just make it come to pass. No, there was something very wrong. She tried to think of that night, to let it play out in her head, but she couldn't reconcile the two histories-
Two reactions, two amazingly different outcomes. Two reactions from Ron, and the whole year changed. And now that she thought about it, the rest of the year hinged on that moment, and as she tried to grasp at one of them, they both played out in her mind. The "potter stinks!" badges that Malfoy made, sneaking out to see Sirius in the cave…
Then she remembered the weird conversation she had with Malfoy before. He had been almost cordial compared to the insults and slander he'd spread about Harry. Even Malfoy turning into a ferret had two memories, two directly opposing histories. Because Sirius wasn't living in a cave. Sirius talked to Harry through a conversation mirror. And… hadn't Hermione given a mirror to him? And made up the idea? Hermione's mind started to go into overdrive, trying to remember what was real. Sirius was either in a cave or in Berlin. Ron defended or derided Harry after he got put in the Triwizard Tournament.
Hermione dropped the pestle she was using to powder lacewing flies. It clattered to the ground, stone on stone. If she had been looking up, she would've noticed the entire classroom looking at her, but she was clutching her head. It was all she could do not to throw up, as the memories swirled underneath her eyelids like a monstrous typhoon. She heard a strange sound, like a kettle reaching boil, before a voice cut through and it stopped abruptly.
"Miss Granger, cease this at once!"
Hermione lifted her head slightly. It was heavy, and she couldn't help but let it back down to the table with a thud.
"Miss Granger. Look at me." She heard again. That was a familiar voice. She knew that voice. That was Sev- no. Snape. She opened her eyes a crack, and thankfully the flood of memories receded slightly.
Where was Snape? All she could see was a blackness, and the blurry gray in the corners of her vision. She lifted her head higher, and realized that the blackness was Professor Snape's robe. Ah, and the gray was the stone walls. Snape looked very grim for some reason, and Hermione met his eyes – the eyes could tell you how angry he was, and if she'd be getting detention.
"Class is dismissed." Snape snarled. Hermione didn't move, although everyone around her was scraping out of their chairs and packing up. The fuzzy gray spots hadn't left her vision yet, and her body felt very heavy. It was easier to sit, she thought.
"But Professor, we haven't finished our Wit-Sharpening Potions!" Said a voice that was disturbingly like Malfoy's. Between the haziness of her vision to the twisting and churning of her stomach, it may as well have been Albus Dumbledore.
Something must've occurred between them, but suddenly arms were grabbing Hermione and pulling her upward. "Hermione, you alright?" That was Ron, if his twiggy frame had anything to say about it. Her world tumbled upside down, and she clutched at her stomach. The gray spots were worse, now.
"Unhand her this instant, you imbecilic buffoon," snapped Snape. "Everyone, out!"
The remaining students rushed to get away from the angry professor, but Harry and Ron stayed where they were. "She needs the hospital wing." Said Ron firmly.
"Nonsense, I am perfectly aware of what is wrong with her. Leave, Weasley."
Ron started shouting, and Hermione couldn't tell quite what was going on. It sounded like they were fighting over where to take her. Well, Hermione would love to be in a hospital wing bed right now, but she couldn't really imagine getting there.
But she didn't have to do anything, it turned out. Suddenly, the world became very floaty, and she was being carried somewhere. Why did this feel so familiar? She opened her eyes a sliver and saw only a wall of black. Well, no reason to worry about that, she thought, and shut her eyes for good.
Hermione awoke in a bed. She groaned and opened her eyes. The ceiling was white. The walls were white, and the bed she was on was white. She looked down at her hands, and they were pale, too. Like she hadn't had blood circulating for too long.
Madam Pomfrey bustled over. "Oh good dear, you're awake. Excellent. What is the last thing you remember?"
Hermione looked at her blankly, noting the white in her uniform. She really had to talk to them about the color scheme. "Blackness." She croaked, for it was truly the last thing she saw. "I think… potions?"
"Very good, Miss Granger. What potion were you making when you became incapacitated?"
"Wit-Sharpening. I was doing the lacewing flies." She said. Her mouth seemed very far away from her, and she mouthed the words like they were strangers. "I remember being confused, really confused. And then I got the most horrible headache." Hermione rubbed at her forehead as if it were going to come back. Her arms felt rubbery.
"Professor Snape brought you here, do you remember talking to him?"
Hermione shook her head slowly. "No. I can't. Oh no, did I really forget that? What happened?" She started to sit up. What if she'd said something rude to him? He was a nasty person, but he was still her teacher. She needed to apologize.
Pomfrey gently guided her back onto her bed. A good thing too, because Hermione's head was already spinning. "Miss Granger, you must calm down. I believe the gaps in your memory today are connected to your recent memory loss. I've taken the liberty of contacting Professor Moody to help you combat this-"
"Professor Moody?" Hermione cut in, surprised.
"He is a master legilimens, and he will be able to discover whether there was foul play between you and your… friend, leading to your memory loss." As she spoke, Madam Pomfrey continued to bustle around Hermione, casting diagnosis charms and handing her potions, which she dutifully drank.
"Professor Moody is a master legilimens?" Hermione said. She remembered Professor Snape was a legilimens, Viktor had told her. But Professor Moody, now that was a surprise. And an unwelcome one, if she was honest. He gave her the heebie-jeebies, although she couldn't put her finger on why that was.
Pomfrey nodded. "Yes, and he will be here immediately following the end of the school day. We're very concerned about you, Miss Granger. Headmaster Dumbledore asked to speak with you, but of course after you're healed." Hermione's lips parted in a gasp. Professor Dumbledore wanted to talk to her! Her, Hermione Granger! "Now Miss Granger, drink this," she handed over a small vial, "you should rest before Professor Moody arrives. There now, drink up."
And for the second time that day, Hermione's world went very black.
"I must insist you take a look at her." Hermione heard very distantly.
"This isn't part of my job description, Albus. I'm here to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, not mend the minds of stupid teenage girls."
She opened her eyes. White, white, white surrounded her on every side. Ah, yes, she was in the hospital wing.
"I don't know what's wrong with her. Why don't you do it?" The voice sounded gruff and uncomfortable. "Not to mention, it's illegal. I've already bent enough laws for you, Albus, I'm not keen on doing it again."
"I'm afraid I lack your talent for legilimency, Alastor." That was definitely Dumbledore, Hermione realized. His voice seemed old and defeated, weary. "As we have discussed at length before. I must insist, old friend, that you help heal her memories. This could very well be related to Voldemort's growing strength. Who knows what she stumbled upon?"
"Use your pet Potions Master, Albus. I thought he was your choice for reconnaissance."
There was silence for a very long moment, and Professor Dumbledore finally answered, "You know why I have picked you for this task, Alastor."
"Very well, Albus." She heard the other voice – Alastor – say. Oh yes, Alastor was Professor Moody's first name. Hermione got that same queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Honestly, she would prefer Professor Dumbledore digging through her memories if anyone had to do it. She'd even prefer Snape at this point! At least she knew he was trustworthy.
Professor Moody is one of Dumbledore's oldest friends. She thought. He wouldn't put you in danger, Hermione. Get a grip!
"Miss Granger!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "May we enter?"
Hermione nodded, then realized he couldn't see past the curtains surrounding her hospital bed.
"She said yes," said Professor Moody. He must've used his magical eye to see through the curtains, which really made them pointless in hindsight. Perhaps that was why Hermione didn't trust him. Who would trust a man that could see through anyone's clothing? It was a breach of privacy!
Although, that breach of privacy was nothing compared to what was about to occur. Professor Moody was going to enter her mind to try and fix her memories, so she no longer had any gaps.
Almost in response to her thoughts, Professor Dumbledore swept the curtain aside. "Ah, yes. Good evening, Miss Granger. I'm sorry to hear about your memory loss." Hermione didn't quite know how to respond, so she simply nodded. "Professor Moody has come at my request to help you solve these gaps in your memory. We will be using an art called legilimency, which Madam Pomfrey informed me you have some experience with."
He said this very cheerfully, but Hermione could see an underlying question under the statement. He was wondering where she had picked up an art like legilimency. It certainly wasn't part of the curriculum at Hogwarts. Again, she chose to stay silent.
"Alright, Dumbledore, stop tip-toeing around the subject. Miss Granger, I will need your spoken permission to use legilimency on you, even though it shouldn't be happening at all, as you are a minor." The last bit was directed at Professor Dumbledore with a venom she had only heard him use concerning the dark arts.
She realized they were waiting for her answer, so swallowed her discomfort and managed a, "Y-yes, you have my permission."
"Excellent!" Professor Dumbledore clapped his hands.
Moody came to stand above her, a stark contrast to the white of the hospital wing. "Alright, Miss Granger. I'm going to need you to keep your eyes open, and look at me."
She did so, looking up guilelessly. Her brain was still a bit fuzzy, and she wondered if the legilimency would even work.
"Legilimens!" He said, and her world went dark.
Break
Hermione was in a box. A wooden box, if she was correct. The grooves in the wood were old, weathered by time. She looked for an exit, but nothing stuck out.
So instead, she looked around the box, looking for something to entertain herself. Perhaps a book?
But she didn't have a chance to find a book, for there was a knock on the door.
There was a door? Then maybe this wasn't a box, but a house. A very small house, a cottage really. There wasn't much in it, that was for sure.
The knock got louder, but Hermione didn't want to answer. Something told her it was a bad idea, and Hermione had always trusted her instincts.
"Who is it?" She asked instead, walking up to the door. It didn't have a peephole.
"Miss Granger?" A voice said. "Is that you?"
"Yes, who is this?" She replied. Something felt very bizarre about the cottage she was in, and the voice at the door. It didn't feel… real.
"Will you let me in?"
Hermione did not want to let the voice in. This was her cottage, and she wasn't going to let just anyone in! But it wasn't very polite to say so. "I can't. There's no doorknob." She lied.
"Dammit!" The voice sounded angry now. "I'll break it down then!"
The knocking, which had never really stopped, turned into a pound. It reverberated through the door, through the cottage, through her head. She decided she did not like that voice. The voice needed to go.
"Goodbye, voice," Hermione said calmly. Somehow she knew that if she were to swipe away the voice, it would leave. So she brought her hand close to the door, and backhanded it. The pounding stopped. The knocking was gone, and the cottage returned to normal, albeit very dark.
From her cottage, for it truly was a cottage and not a box, Hermione was very alone. No more voice and no more pounding. But then the voice came back, very distantly.
"- can't breach it, Albus. I'm afraid you're going to have to use your Death Eater after all - know his particular form of legilimency might hurt - works."
"Very well, I will call for - she stable?"
"Yes, I -"
"A door, you say? With no knob? Why-"
Hermione shook her head, and banished those voices too. She liked her cottage how it was, thank-you-very-much.
But another voice cut through, a completely different one from the last two.
The knock at the door was crisp, polite. "Hermione?" The new voice said. "Are you there?"
She knew this voice.
"Severus?" She couldn't remember anything else about this 'Severus,' but that name was familiar. Trusted.
"Yes, you foolish girl. May I come in?"
"There's no doorknob," she said dumbly, for the doorknob had disappeared when she didn't want the other voice coming in.
"Then make a doorknob."
Oh yes, she could do that. Hermione waved her hand and the doorknob reappeared. Another wave of her hand and the door was unlocked. "Come on in!" she said cheerfully, sitting by the fire. Had there been a fire before? She wasn't certain. At least it lit up the door, and she saw a dark figure come in.
"Severus!" she said. The moment he crossed the threshold, she knew exactly who Severus was.
Severus Snape, potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her school. She was a fourth-year – but not a normal one, no, she was a time traveler. She and Draco Malfoy came back in time from the year 2000. She was Hermione Jean Granger, a mentally twenty-five-year-old, physically seventeen-year-old witch. And she was a bloody idiot.
"Oh Merlin, Severus. I forgot everything!"
Hermione woke with a start, running her head straight into Severus's forehead. "Ouch…" She muttered. But the pain that created was nothing like the pounding in her skull. "Shit, I'm sorry." She said to Severus, but he shot her a look.
"Language, Miss Granger!" She heard, and Poppy bustled over. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I just got run over by a rampaging hippogriff. But I'm fine, Madam Pomfrey. I remember everything now."
And she did. Hermione was keenly aware of her memories, her recent actions, and the general stupidity that she had recently entertained. She shared a look with Severus, who seemed to know exactly where her thoughts were. He didn't look angry at her, per say, but she could see that he was quietly fuming.
"Were you successful, Severus?" Dumbledore said mildly.
"I was." He answered. "You should've come to me immediately, Albus. She had gone into a mental lockdown. Suppression of memories due to improper occlumency training. Something only a master of both arts would be able to overcome." The whole time, he held Hermione's gaze. She said nothing, but he understood.
They needed to give Dumbledore a believable, acceptable story. She had an absolute disaster to deal with in her own mind, and that wasn't even including the fallout from Crouch invading her mind! Who knew what he saw? She wasn't exactly a good occlumens at the age of fourteen (or seventeen, physically. But the mind that Moody dove into was her fourteen-year-old mind.)
It was a mess. It might even be an irreversible error. The blood rushed through her ears as she contemplated the consequences.
Dumbledore and Snape had been speaking, but she was busy planning her next moves. Well, they could tell him a very modified version of the truth. Hermione was experimenting with legilimency with Viktor Krum – who shouldn't be penalized at all for his actions, for she needed him to stay as a champion – and she made a misstep with the occlumency, leading to some suppressed memories. Nothing important, nothing related to Voldemort, just things she'd rather keep secret from Viktor. Like her feelings for him, or Harry's plan for the second task. Basic, harmless secrets of a teenage girl.
She would probably get in trouble for being out of bounds, attempting magic above her level – that was fine. With any luck, she would be put in detention with Severus, and they'd be able to scrap up a plan together.
"Miss Granger?" Dumbledore said kindly. "Are you quite alright?"
Both Severus and Dumbledore were looking at her. They must've asked a question, and she had been too wrapped up in her thoughts to hear it. "Yes, Professor. I'm fine." She said, the lie sliding off of her tongue like water off a bridge.
"Very good. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that you've broken many school rules today." He said seriously, looking over his half-moon spectacles at her. "I realize that you're almost an adult, especially with your… extracurricular activities-" he looked at her time turner, and Hermione remembered that only he, Minerva, and Poppy were supposed to know about it, "but you are still a student at this school, and must abide by school rules. Madam Pomfrey informed me that you were in the forbidden forest?"
Hermione squirmed in the hospital bed, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "Erm, yes, Professor. I went to the forest with Viktor – Viktor Krum, I mean, after hours and all – but I really didn't think anything was going to happen! We were studying occlumency together, and it really wasn't his fault, I'm a bit of an over-achiever, you see-"
"Mister Krum will not be in trouble for this occurrence, Miss Granger, set your heart at ease. Please, what happened in the forest?"
Hermione took a moment to look at Severus, who raised an eyebrow in response. "Well, he was trying to teach me how to communicate mentally, erm, what's it called, Communicative Legilimency? But I think it was a bit outside of my abilities. And I wanted to hide some memories from him, you know, and I just ended up forgetting them completely-"
"She created a safe-room in her mind, and subconsciously locked it. Quite clever, if she had the grasp to make it reversible." Severus cut in.
Albus nodded. "I see. Miss Granger, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that you made some very poor decisions. Mind magic is very complex, and should only be practiced in a controlled environment. As it is, you have broken no less than five school rules. Because of this, I am assigning you three weeks of detention with Professor Snape, in which he will teach you basic occlumency so that these mistakes will not occur again."
Hermione's head snapped up. "Three weeks?"
"Albus, certainly you don't mean to ask me…" Severus started angrily.
Dumbledore looked at both of them sternly, and Severus quieted. "I'm sure you realize why this is necessary, Severus. With such fresh wounds, her mind will need extended healing. And lastly, Miss Granger?"
"Yes, Professor?" Hermione said.
"I will be taking one-hundred points from Gryffindor for your behavior. I'm very disappointed in you."
Hermione made her face look suitably upset and looked at her lap. "Yes, Professor. I'm sorry for disappointing you. It won't happen again." She twisted her hands anxiously.
"Of that, I have no doubt." He said. "Now get some rest. You and Professor Snape can coordinate the time of your detentions once you have had a chance to return to Gryffindor tower and recover."
AN: Thanks for reading! I really appreciate your reviews- keep them coming, for they keep me writing! I know my updates have been slower, but this chapter drove me crazy! Thankfully, we have our heroine back and healed. Also, we've officially hit 100,000 words! I'm amazed by the response and feedback I've gotten from all of you lovely people. I couldn't have done it without your support.
About the legilimency: Alastor Moody is a master legilimens, which is a part of how he was so effective in the DMLE. However, Crouch is not. So while he could invade Hermione's mind and read her thoughts, he was unable to break in when he wanted to. Severus, on the other hand, could've broken past her defenses if she was unwilling to let him in.
Hermione is 100% Hermione now, with all of her memories. The copies of memories appeared because she locked away anything past fourth year and memories that strictly gave up her future knowledge, just in case Viktor proved to be inclined to dig through her memories.
About Dumbledore: I've had a few questions about why Dumbledore hasn't been more present in this story. Dumbledore is a busy guy, and I don't subscribe to the "manipulative Dumbledore" trope that's become so common. However, I do think Dumbledore gets a lot of his information from other people – Snape, Moody, the paintings, the ghosts – they all allow him to know much more than the average wizard when he's in Hogwarts, because he's far too busy to pay attention to it himself. Think about it, he's a politician, a member of parliament, and he runs a school. That is one busy dude! So his information is often second-hand from trusted sources. One of those sources is Snape, so he's getting a very edited version of Hermione's actions at school.