Chapter 3: Help

3rd of May 1999

After George had fallen back asleep again, Hermione had levitated him into his bed and positioned herself right next to him. It was a tight fit as George only owned a single size bed, but it would do for a night. Maybe it wasn't appropriate to crawl into bed with your boyfriend's brother but she was sure Ron would understand considering the circumstances. And it wasn't like anything was going to happen between the two of them. Hermione was just here for comfort and she was determined to give the lonely twin at least that much.

Her thoughts drifted back to the fate of the Weasley family. She could understand why Mrs Weasley thought, that her family was paying the price. Because basically, they were. It wasn't just the dead brothers and son she had to mourn. Mr Weasley had always suffered for his status as blood traitor and money had always been scarce because of the salary he was getting from the ministry. Bill had gotten his injuries while fighting in the war, too, and as far as Hermione knew, he had never been compensated. She was sure that it would have been differently if he had been a Malfoy. Hermione could still remember, how Draco had been scratched by Buckbead after he had provoked him. The animal was ordered to be put down, for basically nothing. What would have happened, if Malfoy had been in Bill's place when Greyback had attacked? There would at least been some sort of monetary compensation, that much was sure.

It was all unfair and not for the first time Hermione wished, that she could do anything to help, anything to change this unfair and totally messed up situation. But she couldn't. And Hermione hated it. She must have fallen asleep after some time because when she awoke from George's pained moaning, she was pressed against his chest and it was the middle of the night.

"George?" she asked uncertainly, but her friend just kept shifting and moaning. He was having a nightmare, Hermione realized. She gently turned around in his arms, before carefully shaking his shoulder. "George, George wake up," she whispered and after a moment the man awoke with a gasp.

"Hu?" he asked and looked at her confusedly. "Hermione? What are you doing here? Are you in my bed?" He stared at her with wide eyes. Hermione smiled sadly.

"Don't you remember, George?" she asked, but she knew the answer already. "I… I found you in the bathroom. You weren't well…"

George groaned. "I asked you to stay, didn't I? Merlin, that's just pathetic, isn't it?" I smiled crookedly at her, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

Hermione shook her head in sympathy. "Don't say that, George. It's not pathetic!" She said and looked at him sternly. "It's obvious that you're not well and it's nothing to be ashamed of. Do you hear me?"

He pulled himself up into a sitting position and looked at her sadly. He didn't say anything for a long time and Hermione could see the struggle within him. But she didn't rush him and waited patiently next to him.

"Did you know that Percy blames himself for Fred?" he finally said and stared straight ahead.

Hermione frowned. "Why would he do that?"

"We made up just minutes ago and Fred revelled in the situation. He was even more reckless than usual. If he would just have paid more attention… not have been so distracted…" George closed his eyes to hide his pain, but the tears still found their way down his face. At first, he cried silently, but soon heavy sobs were wracking his body. Hermione pulled him into her arms and started to stroke his back soothingly. And he clung to her like she was some sort of lifeline.

"It's nobody's fault," she finally murmured. "It was a war George and we could as well all be dead by now. But we aren't, Okay? We aren't dead and I don't want you to blame yourself for surviving, do you hear me? Fred wouldn't have wanted that…"

But at that, he just sobbed harder and the only thing she could do was holding him silently.

"I'm trying Hermione, I really do. I know Fred would have wanted me to live, but I can't…" George admitted after the sobs had finally subdued.

"What do you mean, you can't?" she asked alarmed. He sighed tiredly.

"Fred and I are magical twins. It's rare and therefore not much is known about the bond but… magical twins usually die together. Until last year I didn't know why, but now I understand. It is like a part of me dyed, too. And it's getting worse…"

Hermione looked at him in shock. "No… there must be something we can do, George." Her head already started spinning, looking for a way out, but the sad fact was, that she knew almost nothing about magical twins at all. But there needed to be something, anything…

"Don't bother Hermione. I read the books, I've read them all. There's nothing to be done. I have a few more weeks, probably less by the rate, this is going. The only way to save me would be bringing back Fred and we both know this is impossible."

She shook her head unbelievingly, as the first sob escaped her. Then the tears started coming and refuse to stop.

"Don't cry, Hermione. Please don't be sad because of this, because I'm not. I'm kind of looking forward do see him again, you know." But that sentence made it only worse for her and she threw herself into his arms, where she cried until no tears seemed to be left in her. George didn't say anything the whole time but rocked her slightly in his arms and she almost felt bad, that he was the one consoling her now.

Hermione didn't know how long it took, but finally, she managed to calm herself down. "Is there anything I can do for you, George? Anything at all? I could write to professor McGonagall and ask for a leave. I'm sure she'll grant me one considering the circumstances. You don't need to be alone if you don't want to be. I could stay until…" She couldn't say it, couldn't even think it.

He sighed tiredly. "I know you would, Hermione. I can never ask that of you. And I don't want you to remember me like that. I want you to remember me like I was … before. Not this empty shell, because honestly, that's all that is left here. The George you knew is already gone." With that, he looked at her with sad eyes and took her hand. Before she knew what was happening, he had pressed something small and heavy into her palm.

"I want you to take that, Hermione. This watch had once belonged to my uncle Gideon. Mum gave it to me, after … after we buried Fred. It helped me through the last year, you know. Fabian and Gideon were also magical twins and they already went the way, that I am about to go. I no longer need the watch, as I'm almost there. But maybe you would consider wearing it?"

The tears had started bursting from her eyes again, and she wiped them away angrily, before putting the watch on her wrist. It was way too big for her, but she would adjust it later. It was all so unfair. How could she survive burying another Weasley, another friend? And what would happen with Percy, when he learned of his brother' fate? What would happen to Ron, to Ginny, to his parents? It wasn't fair, it all wasn't fair. It was really the Weasley's paying the price for all that went wrong with the wizarding world. But Hermione was no longer going to accept it, she wouldn't.

"I'm not letting you die, George. I won't," she said and looked at her friend with moist eyes. "I don't care what I have to do, George, but I'll save you. I swear it."

George looked at her with almost something like panic. "Hermione, don't make such promises. You don't know what you're saying." But his words just made her more and more determined and she shook her head resolutely.

"You're wrong, George because I mean it. I meant every word of it. And now listen closely. I, Hermione Granger, swear that I will save you. I will save you even if that means bringing back Fred or changing the cause of history. I am not accepting the fate that is forced on you and your family. I don't care what it will cost me, George. I will save you. I swear it on my magic."

He looked at her with a gasp and first Hermione didn't understand, but then she saw the fine golden threads of light that had started forming around her and his body. They encircled their hands, arms, legs and as the first one wrapped itself around her throat, her world started spinning. George lurched forward, tried to grab her, but his arms just went through her like she was made of air. Her eyes widened in shock but as their eyes met for a last time, she didn't feel an ounce of fear and so she smiled at him. Because Hermione had meant it - every word of it. She would save them and she didn't care if she was the one paying the price in the end.

25th of April 1981

When Hermione's world shifted back in focus, she was no longer in George's flat. She wasn't even sure if she was still in London, as she finally found herself in a street full of small, white houses that all looked more or less alike. Where in Merlin's name was she? And more importantly, what happened to her? It must have had something to do with the oath, that she had given George. She knew that such a promise would attach itself to her magic, she had almost counted on it. But she had never heard that it could also cause teleportation. But Hermione didn't doubt, that there was a reason her magic had brought her here. And she was determined to find out what the reason was.

With a flick of her wrist, she pulled out her wand and shrunk the watch on her wrist, so that it fit her comfortably. It had not fallen off through her journey and Hermione was determined to not lose it. It was a gift from George and no matter what happened, the watch would remind her of their friendship and the promise she had given him. Hermione studied the watch carefully. It was clearly a man's watch as the clock face was still much too big for her wrist but the design was extravagant. Unlike other watches, it had stars as clock hands that moved their circles above a night-blue, shimmering background. It was beautiful!

A loud bang from the neighbourhood pulled her out of her thoughts. It was like being thrown back into the middle of the battle of Hogwarts. Her body instantly seemed to know what was happening, had registered the direction of the spellfire and started moving into that direction, even before her head had fully realized what was happening. But Hermione was alright with that. She had no problems with her subconsciousness taking the lead if it was helping her to survive the next hours.

Another loud bang rang through the air and finally, Hermione could make out the origins of the noise. Within the row of white houses, there was one house standing out like a sore thumb, as it was at least double the size and painted in bright red and gold. It didn't take an expert so see that it was a wizarding home – and it was currently under attack by five black-robed, masked figures. Hermione shivered as goosebumps started spreading on her skin. Death eaters, she thought and her heart started beating violently in her chest. For a short moment, Hermione closed her eyes and reminded herself of the promise she had given and the reason she had deemed it necessary. Then she gripped her wand tightly and started running. They didn't see her coming, as she came from behind and they clearly weren't expecting being attacked. And Hermione used this advantage with the determination of somebody, that had seen all the distress those masked bastards had caused. The first two silently cast stunners took out two of her enemies before they even realized that something was wrong. They sunk into their knees without an ounce of resistance which was giving Hermione something like grim satisfaction when she saw the heads of the three remaining death eaters whip around to her. Duelling three of them at once was suicide, but Hermione didn't care. Instead, she fired off a modified bluebell-flame-spell that Flitwick had taught her. She had never truly seen it in action, but as the flames touched her enemy's robes, they lit up like torches and even though they didn't truly burn or harm, they still made it feel like they did.

"You'll regret this, bitch!" she heard the shriek of rage and Hermione could have sworn, that it was Bellatrix Lestrange shouting at her. But before she had time to fully consider that fact, a sickly green spell hit her into the chest. And Hermione's world went black.

"They killed her Arthur, I saw it," a foreign voice murmured close to her ear, before she felt, that her body was gently lifted up. "She went at them like a berserk, didn't even shield herself and just kept casting."

At that, the person carrying her must have started moving, as her world suddenly started shaking. "I've no idea where she suddenly came from as Gideon and I just tried to hold up the wards as long as we could. But I'm sure it would have only been a matter of minutes until they had gotten to us." This time it was another person talking, one further away even though his voice sounded pretty similar to the first one.

"Let's bring her into your house, boys. If she really saved you, then she at least deserves to be buried properly. We might not know her name, but we will remember her, won't we?" This made her listen up. She knew this voice, it belonged to Arthur Weasley. And she didn't like what he was saying. She groaned, and immediately the arms holding her stiffened.

"Merlin, she's alive!" the first voice called in a panic.

"Alive?" Arthur Weasley's voice asked right next to her. "Then we need to send for Molly. She will know what to do."

6th of September 1999

Hermione leapt from her bed with a gasp and looked with wide eyes at the curly-haired man leaning over her bed. She didn't know how long she had been out, but it didn't matter. Because suddenly she remembered.

"You're Fabian and Gideon," she murmured and looked from one to the other in shock. "I… I saved you, didn't I?"

The man on her bed, supposedly Gideon, smiled. "You remember us?" he asked and Hermione couldn't help but hear the hopefulness in his voice.

Hermione nodded. "At least part of it, yes. I… I somehow travelled through time, didn't I?"

Molly and her brothers nodded. "That's what you told us back then, yes. First, we had our doubts of course, but as you always seemed to know things, it kind of made sense after a while." This time it was Fabian talking to her and when he did, his eyes sparkled mischievously. But before Hermione could reply anything to that, Malfoy suddenly appeared next to her bed and looked at her with furrowed brows. "Time travel, hu? I have to admit, this isn't what I expected at all. Frankly, this is out of my depth, Miss Granger. But it explains a lot of things. By going back you must have changed the reality you originally came from. This leads to people suddenly not knowing you and you no longer knowing them."

"Wicked!" Fred and George exclaimed from the back of the room, but Hermione didn't have time to pay them much attention. Instead, she looked at Malfoy wide-eyed. "Whatever I did, I must have changed quite a lot of things that my friends suddenly no longer remember me."

Malfoy nodded and smiled at her crookedly. "That's what I suspect. I'm almost sure that you'll keep remembering more and more of your time in the past, as the days go by. The process is possibly triggered by meeting certain places or certain people. But some memories might also come back on their own. I'm sure sooner or later you'll be able to tell, what exactly happened back then."

She smiled humourlessly. "And you'll keep me locked up here until then?"

At that, Mrs Weasley huffed behind him in annoyance. "Don't be ridiculous! The boys will take you home of course. By Merlin, we have enough experience patching you up. And your healer can visit if he really has to."

She looked at the six of them with wide eyes. "Are you serious? I can go?"

At that two sets of twins nodded enthusiastically, before Gideon said: "Absolutely. You're coming home with us."

At that, something shifted within her chest. Home… She didn't even know where exactly that was any longer.

A.N.: Some of you guessed correctly. This is a time travel fic. I always wanted to write one, where also the time after is described. Because this leaves so much potential that can be explored. J