A/N: Been a while, yeah? Well, here we are. I've got anywhere from 5-7 chapters after this planned and we're done!

Hope you guys enjoy and are staying safe and healthy.

Hermione tried desperately to avoid thinking about what was going to take place that night.

Half of her face was warm where it was pressed against Fred's – surprisingly bony, but still soft – shoulder. The other half was chilled and starting to redden from the wind rushing past them. Slight hitches and corrections in movement from the dragon jostled them every now and then making her clench her muscles to stay in place. She felt Fred rest his cheek on the crown of her head.

In a few moments, in a few minutes, in an hour, they would have to plummet over the side of the dragon. Harry will collapse because Tom will know. They'd apperate to Hogsmeade and sneak past death eaters. Aberforth will say his piece and Neville will lead them to the room of requirement.

She'd see friends she's known for years and friends she hadn't seen in one. She'll have to look them in the eyes and accept that she can't help them. She'll follow Harry into war again.

She opened her eyes but didn't look up. She grabbed Fred's hand in hers and felt him squeeze twice. She traced paths between the freckles on his arms with her eyes. She could feel the others' gazes on her from time to time but she didn't feel like deciphering who it was. With her other hand, she gave in and began to trace the veins on the back of his hand.

"Is it just me or is the ground getting closer?" Ron asked.

Hermione squeezed Fred's hand. She never liked heights.

"I say we jump when it gets low enough!" Harry suggested.

So many years of watching Harry on a broom high in the sky right before he falls.

"Straight into the water before it realizes we're here." He continued.

It was always the fall. And the landing that never comes.

She took a deep breath and let go of Fred's hand. He met her eyes and she nodded. His mouth twitched and mirth danced in his eyes. Her eyes narrowed. She knew exactly what he was thinking.

She let a slow smirk crawl across her features. Her eyes never left his. She heard George cough a laugh somewhere towards the front of the dragon.

"Now!" Harry yelled.

She pushed Fred.

He fell backwards off the dragon. His face made her laugh, but it was short lived. Fred grabbed her arm and pulled her with him.

"Fred!"

They splashed into the water and Hermione had to hold in a gasp at how cold it was. She kicked as hard as she could until she broke the surface. She looked around and found Ron and Harry treading water. George came to the surface. Griphook was already making for the shore.

"Fred?" She looked around but couldn't find him.

Something grabbed her around the waist and pulled her under.

She kicked and pushed against whatever it was that held her. When she felt the familiar beater's build she kicked harder and he let go. They swam to the surface.

"That was a bit uncalled for." Fred said as he gasped in air, coughing and holding his stomach where she kicked him.

"You idiot!" She splashed water at him and he spluttered and coughed.

She could hear George's laughter from the shore and set off in that direction. The heavy clothing from the remains of her disguise wasn't helping. She could hear Fred following behind her.

They made it to the shore and Hermione quickly rid herself of the rest of her Bellatrix get up.

"If anything it was your fault." Fred reasoned.

She threw her corset at him.

"Oi! Don't give me that look! You pushed me off a dragon!"

"Because you were going to push me!"

Fred paused.

She shoved her hand into her beaded back and began passing out dry clothing to the other boys who were trying to hold in their laughter. Well, George gave up on trying and was openly giggling like a school girl. Hermione was going to tease him later.

"Well, that's beside the point, innit?" Fred took off his wet shirt and let it fall with a wet slap. He looked around. "Where's the goblin?"

"He disappeared as soon as he made it to the shore." Harry explained as he pulled on his new clothes.

"So now we don't have a sword, the ruddy thing took off with it," Ron fumed.

"He's not a thing, Ron," Hermione lectured out of habit. She conjured a sheet to hang around her as she changed into her dragon hide armor. She didn't care if it practically screamed that she was not from this time, she was not about to go into battle in a jumper and jeans.

She vanished the sheet started putting things back in her bag. She noticed Fred, shirt still off, running his hands through his wet hair. The auburn tresses, dark from the water, would fall limp back into his eyes after each pass through his fingers.

"Are you a wizard or are you not?" She waved her wand, drying his hair for him. She knew he didn't like wearing a shirt with wet hair because the water would make his collar wet and cold.

Fred nodded his thanks and threw his shirt on. Hermione did not watch and she was not strangely disappointed when his shirt was properly in place.

"And you then?" He walked over and gestured to her own wet mop of curls.

"It's all tangled by now, drying it by magic will just make it worse." She closed her bag with a sigh and shoved it in her coat. "I should've braided it."

"Let me," He stepped closer, hands reaching for her hair.

She slapped him away. Harry and Ron were watching them. Again. "There's no time. I'll just let it air dry."

"We've got a bit of time." He looked up at the sky. "Sun isn't going down for a while yet. You said we'll have to rely on the night to cover us getting into Hogsmeade."

She cocked one hip to side and thought. He wasn't wrong. She checked her watch. Late afternoon. They were ahead of schedule. He was right, they'd be waiting a bit. Well, that is if Harry lets them. Tom will find out soon and Harry will want to act fast.

"So what's all this then?" Ron asked.

Hermione blinked and looked over at him. Ron and Harry were standing together, arms crossed, and looking directly at her. The giddy amusement from before was gone and in place was a seriousness that she didn't think she'll like. It was too similar of their third year when she'd gotten Harry's broom confiscated and they'd turned their backs on her.

"What-"

George was studiously avoiding everyone's gaze. Fred placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I think what Ron means is that you're different," Harry began, his voice tense. "You disappeared from the cottage and you returned looking healthier and with armor and Fred and George – who now know about our mission. But there's 'no time to explain' because we had to break into bloody Gringots." His voice increased to where he was nearly shouting with frustration.

She took a step back and bumped into Fred.

"Not to mention how you're now such great friends with Fred." Ron spoke quietly but he might as well have shouted.

She sighed and rubbed her hands over her face. She knew she'd have to explain. She knew from the beginning that they'd know right away something was odd. She never stopped for a moment to think about how the hell she'd actually explain it. It was much easier when she was bleeding and had sand and glass in her stomach as evidence.

"I- I- Oh for God's sake! It sounds mad." She turned around and walked away to go sit on a rock.

The heat from the sun and their scrutiny was making her hot despite the cold spring air. She took her jacket off and threw it on the rock next to her. Her hair fell against her back making the fabric of her plain tank top wet and stick to her skin. She could understand why Fred found it annoying. She balanced her elbows on her knees and put her face in her hands.

She didn't know what she would do if Harry and Ron didn't believe her.

She felt fingers in her hair and looked over her shoulder to see Fred starting the long process of detangling her wet curls. She also saw Harry and Ron approaching cautiously.

"I time traveled." She whispered, barely audible.

"What like third year? I thought those were only for a few hours." Harry asked.

"We destroyed the time turners, 'Mione." Ron tried to explain.

"Not all of them." She focused on Fred's long fingers in her hair, soothing. Keeping her together. "A rogue death eater got a hold of a prototype that held the Sands of Purpose."

"And what do the Sands of Purpose do?" Harry asked.

"I don't know." Hermione said quietly. She closed her eyes and imagined what Fred's fingers looked like carding between her dark curls. How the freckles would pop in contrast to his pale skin. How the veins she traced mere moments ago would move with his hands.

"All I know is that a death eater put a time turner around me, it exploded, and I woke up at the twin's flat confused with a new tattoo." She smiled falsely. She clenched her hands together.

"Hermione, how do you not know-"

"Because I got thrown back into the middle of this bloody war!" She stood and faced them. A knot in her hair pulled harshly at the motion. "Because I was almost done! Because I couldn't research it! Because Hermione Granger doesn't know everything!"

Everyone was silent. Birds chirps in the distance. The dragon on the other side of the lake shook out its wings. Hermione's breathing was heavy.

"Hermione how far did you come back from?" Harry asked, his green eyes intense as they locked with hers.

"A year." A tear traced her cheek and she swatted it away.

"Impossible! There's no way-"

"In a few moments, Harry's scar will hurt and Tom will know what we're after. The last one's at Hogwarts and then it's just the snake." She choked because it's not the last one.

She turned back around and sat heavily on the rock. Fred detangled the rest of the knots and set about drying and braiding her hair. George sat next to her and would occasionally bump his shoulder into hers. He continued until she cracked a smile.

Harry let out a shout and fell to his knees. Her smile dropped. She could hear Ron tending to him. She let out a sigh. The sun still hadn't set. Harry would want to move fast. They won't have the cover of night. But if they waited too long, Hogwarts won't be ready for battle. Distantly she felt the twins each take one of her hands. She would've pushed them away, but she knew she'd have to be strong all night. She could allow this small weakness.

"Hermione," Harry walked over to her. She tilted her head and met his eyes over her shoulder. "Do we win tonight?"

She nodded.

"Let's keep it that way. Let's not change anything."

She smiled sadly. "I have to. I already have." Her eyes flicked to the twins.

"Hermione," He sounded agonized and panicked. He always was when coming out from a vision with Tom. "We can't jeopardize anything."

"You think I don't know that?" Her eyebrows knit together. "We'll still win. And I can still save people."

Fred coughed and opened his mouth to speak.

"That's not on you, Granger." George spoke faster.

She'd grown tired of hearing the same argument for weeks. She just wanted this night to be over so she'd never hear it again. No matter who they lost.

Her stomach clenched and she squeezed her eyes shut. She shouldn't think like that.

She heard gravel crunching beneath boots as Harry turned to leave. She opened her eyes and debated a moment on what to tell him. Hermione stood up to go with him. She grabbed his arm and pulled him into a fierce hug.

"Harry, I'm so sorry." She willed her tears to stay behind her eyelids. She felt she was apologizing for so much. Everything they've gone through together. That she can't be the same Hermione for him. That they will lose people tonight that will be out of her control despite her best efforts. That she can't tell him that he'll have to sacrifice himself. And that makes her no better than the mentor that betrayed him.

She'd looked into it after the war ended. If there had been anything they could've done differently to get the horcrux out without his willing sacrifice. She came up blank at every turn and Harry eventually had to tell her to stop dwelling on what ifs.

"It'll be alright, 'Mione." He hugged her back just as fiercely.

"Oi! We need a plan! And I'm sure, Hermione's got one!" Ron called.

Hermione let go of Harry and swept some stray curls from her face. The weight of her braid hung between her shoulder blades. The wind blew making the wet spot on the back of her shirt colder. She shivered.

Fred and George came up on either side of her. The rooks to her queen, strong and protective. She tried not to think about what that made Harry and Ron. Or how she was no better than Dumbledore. Moving pieces in place, setting up pawns.

Fred handed her her jacket and she shrugged it on. The sun was dipping lower in the sky. Had time really passed so quickly?

"Hogsmeade. We sneak past the death eaters and make it into the castle," She stated.

Ron frowned, thinking it over. "We'd have to find a way to sneak up to the castle, then. By now all the secret passageways will be blocked or guarded."

"Not all of them."

Despite his best efforts, his boots still scuffed and clicked on the cobblestone street. Hermione had put him and his twin under disillusionment charms while Harry and Ron were under the cloak. Fred liked to think she was punishing them slightly. He kicked a rock and cursed himself internally as it rolled and bounced noisily to the side.

"Hermione, I really don't think-"

The blur that was the curly haired witch whirled around.

"Shush! You don't speak. You can't speak- you can't speak when you're invisible!" She hissed lowly at the boys. Her frustration was clear. They'd been walking for a while and had taken too many turns for her to claim she knows where she's going.

Fred heard quiet thwaps of a hand hitting the fabric of the cloak. He held in his sniggers.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" She grumbled. She was closer to Fred now. If he held out his arm he could reach her. He kept his hands at his sides.

They continued walking, searching for the back entrance of the Hog's Head. Or Aberforth's house. If they were different. Fred had the feeling that Hermione didn't quite know for sure.

"All I'm saying is: the sun's gone down, and Tom is on the move, and," Ron paused. "Maybe you're wrong."

Fred knew Ron had a death wish.

The Hermione blur whirled again and Fred was actually worried for a moment that they would be discovered.

Before she could say anything, the door next to them opened and they all stilled.

A pale stripe of light beamed onto the filthy cobble alleyway illuminating the space were their feet would be. A large shadowy figure stood backlit in the doorway. Distantly, they could hear the death eaters cackling and talking at the Three Broomsticks. A cat hissed from somewhere behind them.

"Potter?" The silhouette of a man whispered.

Fred's heart pounded and he was sure it was beating loud enough to give them away. His lungs burned from his careful breathing.

"Get in here quick," The man said, voice low and hoarse. "Patrol'll come by soon enough."

The Hermione shaped blur moved with no hesitation and that was all it took for Fred to follow her through the door.

The door closed behind them and the man, who Fred is willing to bet is Aberforth, locked and bolted it. Harry and Ron pulled the cloak off and Fred felt the tell-tale cold egg of his disillusionment charm falling away.

"You bloody fools. What were you thinking, coming here?" Fred could see the resemblance to their Headmaster. "Making all that noise. Did you want to die faster?"

As he usually did when an authority figure scolded him and his twin, Fred tuned him out and only listened with half an ear. He observed their surroundings quickly spotting the portrait of a girl Hermione described. Ron's stomach growled and Fred wondered if there was any food. Or would it be better not to eat before a battle? Did it matter all that much anyway?

"I disarmed it."

Fred tuned back in at Hermione's voice. She had her hands on her hips, back straight, and chin tilted up. He grinned. It was one of his favorite poses of hers. She got the same look every time she had to explain something that was elementary to her.

"You," Aberforth gestured his hand up and down Hermione. "Disarmed a death eater's caterwauling charm."

"It's a caterwauling charm. An infant could do it."

Fred snorted. He walked over to his twin who was sitting at the wooden table off to the side, fiddling with something in his hands. Fred lit the lamp and sat down. The chair groaned under his weight. He rolled his neck and sighed and the satisfying pops.

"Alright there, Georgie?" He spoke quietly. He noticed that he was holding a photograph in his hands, fingers playing with the corners. It was the same photo that had sat in their kitchen for over a year.

"Yeah."

"Me too." Fred watched him slip the photograph into his pocket spelled with a sticking charm.

Fred only heard bits and pieces of the conversation taking place. Dobby, a mirror, doe patronus. Fred just wanted the night to be over with. He felt like a coiled spring. Excess energy pent up, adrenaline making him restless. There was going to be a battle and they were sitting.

A battle he would die in.

He looked over at his twin who was watching the trio talk to Aberforth. Hermione mentioned briefly that George was a wreck afterward. That he was a shell of what he used to be.

Fred couldn't imagine it. Ever since they were born they'd been together and Fred has only ever seen George full of life and happiness. Even when he was upset or down, there was still some part of him that kept him afloat.

Aberforth was explaining about Ariana, but Fred didn't particularly care. Hermione told them the basics of what happened all those years ago. The death of a sibling. Fred never entertained the idea.

"I'm not going to say goodbye." His twin turned his head and looked at him. "It doesn't feel right. Because I'll always be there."

George frowned. "Fred?"

Harry and Aberforth pulled their attention away. They were practically shouting at that point. That this was war and Harry knew, had known, it was either him or Tom. Fred didn't really know what he thought. Harry was a little brother to him, and Fred trusted Hermione implicitly when she said Harry would survive. But Dumbledore… He knew Hermione had a bad taste in her mouth thinking Dumbledore, as great as he is and as much as he loved Harry, still groomed them to fight.

"We need to get into Hogwarts."

The girl in the painting walked away.

And maybe Dumbledore did love Harry. Fred looked at his twin who'd been distracted from their earlier conversation. He looked at Hermione who compulsively checked her watch and pursed her lips, eyes flicking to the, now empty, painting every so often. Maybe love is powerful, but maybe it isn't enough sometimes. Other factors are at play.

The painting swung open and Neville stood there, worse for wear with a huge grin.

"I knew you'd come! I knew it, Harry!"

Soooo. I did it. Despite not being a part of the Supernatural fandom (I dropped off around Season 8?) I finally broke down and read Twist and Shout. I sobbed worse than Endgame. "I can dig Elvis."

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I'll see you with the next update whenever!