A.N.: Hey guys, I am totally overwhelmed by your feedback and the number of people following this story. Thank you so much! You have no idea how much that motivates me to write.

I Hope you like this next chapter as well. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 4: Homecoming

7th of September 1999

It took, in fact, another day for Hermione to be released from the hospital, even though Mrs Weasley strongly objected and wanted her home with her brothers immediately. The healers didn't budge and kept Hermione for another set of diagnostics and questions, which she all endured with stoic patience. Hermione was secretly happy to be allowed to stay for another day, before being thrown into a house with two men that were at least fifteen years her senior which she barely even knew. But where else should she go? Her friends no longer knew her and if it was true that Hermione Granger did not exist in this time than she didn't even have a Gringotts vault any longer. She had nothing but the clothes on her body and her wand, which meant that she'd have to get used to accepting charity from strangers. At least until she came back onto her feet again.

Hermione was discharged the next morning. Malfoy was nowhere to be seen and instead she received the prescriptions for her potions from the beautiful blonde healer that had seen her the first day. It was quite a list of potions she would be forced to take for the next two weeks, but Hermione didn't object as her body still felt like she was run over by a lorry.

"Are you decent?" came an uncertain voice from outside, after a soft knock on the door had alerted her of the presence of a visitor. Hermione quickly hopped from her bed and straightened her robe, before she shouted:

"I'm decent. Do come in."

It was Gideon and somehow Hermione wasn't even surprised that he was the one picking her up. Had they been close in the past? Where they maybe even friends? She didn't know and as she listened inside of herself, she only felt uncertain neutrality towards him. She sighed.

Gideon looked at her with his bright blue eyes and studied her almost shyly. "Are you ready to get out of here Hermione? I know how much you detest being in hospitals and I can only imagine that you were starting to get cabin fever in these white walls. You never liked the colour…" The man had started rambling and it was obvious, that he was kind of nervous. And Hermione understood somehow as she could only imagine how it would feel if she would try to have a conversation with Harry now, or even worse – with Ron. Merlin, it hurt thinking about her boyfriend – or should she call him her ex-boyfriend now? The man couldn't even remember her any longer, for god's sake. "Hermione?"

Hermione snapped her head up and looked at her guest with wide eyes. "Sorry, seems like I was miles away," she apologized in mortification.

He looked at her with warm, understanding eyes. "Miles? Or years?" he asked before opening the door for her.

She sighed. "Years, I guess. I'm sorry, but I fear I'll need some time to adjust."

Gideon nodded. "Don't stress yourself, Hermione. I'm sure your memory will come back soon enough. Until then we'll just take things easy, alright?"

She smiled gratefully, even though her stomach churned with uncertainty. Taking it easy? What was that supposed to mean? "Alright," she replied anyway and with a bout of courage, that she didn't feel at all, she took the arm he offered her. "Well, lead the way, young man. I'm not keen on getting lost again."

He grinned before pulling her close. "Don't think I'm letting you out of my sight, anytime soon," he said and flashed her a grin. And the uneasiness within her grew. Merlin, who was this man to her? And who was she to him?

7th of September 1999

Fabian's and Gideon's house still looked, like it had in her memory. It lay indeed in some urban outskirts of London and the white small houses that gave the street its character still looked pretty much the same. She'd have to ask those two for their reason to settle down in such a neighbourhood as it was more fitting for a family like the Dursleys or even the Grangers but not a wizarding family like the Weasleys or the Prewetts, for that matter.

"How do you keep that place a secret for the muggles?" Hermione couldn't help but ask when Gideon led her through the front door into the house and he flashed her a charming smile.

"To them, this house looks exactly like the others. We put some muggle repelling charms on top and combined with the wards we designed, it is a perfectly safe place to stay." He winked at her and something within her clicked.

"I asked you the exact same question years ago, didn't I?" Hermione asked embarrassedly, but he waved her off with a cheeky smile.

"Where would be the fun, if I'd told you that? Nope, I'm not spoiling the fun by telling you everything beforehand. You never did with us."

Hermione looked at him with raised brows. "What do you mean? Is this some sort of payback for something I did in the past?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "You never told us, what happened to us in your time. Back at St. Mungo's, you said you didn't know who we are, but you knew some of the others. Does that mean you never met us before travelling to the past?"

This time it was Hermione's turn to smile if only to mask the churning of her stomach. "Well, where would be the fun, if I simply told you that?"

He grinned at her boyishly. "Exactly."

25th of April 1981

"Who's that Arthur?" the muted voice of Molly Weasley pulled Hermione back into consciousness. Merlin, she was tired and her body was aching all over. But she seemed to be alive, which was more than she could have hoped for after her run-in with five death eaters. But why was she still alive? And why was she suddenly with Arthur and Molly Weasley?

"She turned up at Fabian's and Gideon's house during a death eater attack," Arthur said, but he was interrupted by one of the other two.

"She saved us, Molls. I swear we'd be dead if she hadn't taken on those five. I've never seen anything like it. Took two of them down like it was nothing."

There was a huff next to her ear and Hermione felt gentle hands probing her face and forearms. She groaned and tried to pry her eyes open.

"Stay still honey," Mrs Weasley's voice urged her. "You got yourself beaten up quite badly. But don't worry, dear. Heaven knows I've had enough practice with these boys running around and playing heroes."

Hermione wanted to reply, she really did, but her body simply wouldn't comply. Instead, she felt her world turning black and before she could say another word she lost consciousness again.

26th of April 1981

The next time Hermione awoke she found herself in a cosy four-poster bed that almost made her feel like she was back at Hogwarts again. But even though her bedding was indeed red, the bed didn't even look remotely like the bed that she had occupied for years in the girl's dorm. The most remarkable about it was the sky, that was projected right there, where the roof of the bed would normally have been. It was a bit like being in the great hall, only on a much smaller scale. And she loved it.

"Look who's awake," a voice to her left said and when Hermione turned her head with a gasp, she saw a curly-haired redhead poking his head through her curtains. "Oh, sorry. Did I startle you? Wasn't my intention. Gid's just left a monitoring charm on you so we'd know when you finally woke up. Took you long enough." It almost sounded like he was pouting.

" 's alright," she slurred and tried to pull herself up into a sitting position, but her world immediately started spinning and she sunk back into her pillow with a grown. "Merlin, I feel totally out of it. What did you give me? That doesn't feel like regular healing potions."

The young man grinned at her. "It's one of the Order's secret recipes. Cures almost everything, but leaves you high like a kite. Don't worry, it will be gone in a bit."

She nodded weakly. "Let's hope you're right. Where am I? And who are you? 'm sorry but I think we haven't met before."

"I'm Fabian Prewett. You're in my and my brother's house. Was the least we could do after you saved our arses."

Hermione groaned. Fabian Prewett? That was impossible. Merlin, those potions must have been worse, than she thought. Because she was clearly starting to hallucinate.

7th of September 1999

"This place still looks almost the same," Hermione said breathlessly and looked around in wonder. "You even kept the bed!"

Gideon shrugged next to her unconcernedly. "It's your room. Of course, we kept it."

She stared at him with a wrinkled forehead. "But you thought I'm dead. At least that is what George told me. Why would you still keep the room?"

But her host waved her off with a careless grin. "Nah, the house is huge. We had enough space even without this room. And it was nice to have a place to remember you by."

Hermione stared at him full of confusion, before sitting down on the edge of her bed. "I'm sorry you had to mourn me," she said and couldn't help that her voice was growing thick. "I… I buried a lot of people … friends… in my old life and I know how painful it is. I'm sorry you had to go through this."

With a sigh he sat himself down right next to her and before she could react, he had taken her hands into his. "I won't lie to you Hermione, it was hard. I was at your side when it… happened. Merlin, I was so sure we'd lost you and sometimes I blamed myself for your death. It was stupid, really, but I couldn't help it."

She nodded in understanding. "Well, there's nothing to blame yourself for," she said lightheartedly and forced herself to smile. "As you see I'm not dead at all." With that, she pulled her fingers out of his grasp and jumped from the bed. It was so strange sitting together with this almost stranger like they were friends. The man was surely Snape's or Lupin's age and even though she had been friendly with the latter, they had never been friends exactly. Not that she minded befriending somebody his age, not really, but as long as she couldn't be sure about his intentions towards her, she'd keep him at arm's length. Everything else simply felt strange.

26th of April 1981

When Hermione was finally able to crawl out of her bed, it was already past noon. Fabian had left her room soon after the end of their conversation and Hermione had kept her eyes fixed on the enchanted ceiling of the bed. And she started thinking. Had her vow towards George really thrown her into the past? It was possible of course, as changing the past was possibly the only way to keep her promise towards her friend, but she had never heard or read about people who had have travelled time that way. But if she had really gone back and saved the Prewett twins, then she had already started to change things. And nobody could tell what consequences this would have.

Hermione slowly walked towards the door and opened it as silently as possible. She wasn't sure if she was allowed to leave the room, but when her head had stopped spinning she had realized how hungry she was. And as it felt strange to simply shout for somebody, she decided to look for the kitchen on her own. But she hadn't even fully closed the door behind her when she heard quick pounding steps on the chairs.

"Mummy, mummy, she's awake!" a small redhead shouted and ran towards her. Just a second later she saw another very similar redhead appear just behind him. The two of them rushed towards her full of energy and squeals until they came to an abrupt halt right in front of her.

"Are you the mystery lady that saved our uncles?" the first of them wanted to know and stared at her with curious brown eyes.

"Mummy said, you're some kind great witch, but I think you look totally normal. Shouldn't a great witch be old or something? You're just a girl."

Hermione giggled and suddenly she knew who those two identical redheads in front of her were. "Well Fred and George, I'm sorry if I have to disappoint you. But it looks like even a girl like me can sometimes do something great like saving a life. I'm Hermione by the way."

The two of them gaped at her with wide eyes. "Mummy! She knows our names!" one of them, most likely Fred, shouted before bolting down the stairs. "She's really some kind of great witch." With that, he was off and the other little redhead looked back and forth between her and the direction in that his brother had disappeared. But after a moment he seemed to have come to the conclusion to stay with her.

"You're really cool," he said with eyes full of adoration before offering her his hand. "Do you want to be my friend? Fred and I don't have friends. We usually just play together, which is fine as we really like each other. It's dangerous to go out, my mum says, and so we hardly meet anybody. But now I've met you. You're cool and you look like you're not afraid to play outside. It's okay that you're a girl, you know? I still want to be your friend. Do you want to be my friend, too?" At that, his eyes transformed into something like puppy eyes and Hermione could hardly suppress the giggle that wanted to escape her mouth. When she had first met Fred and George they had already been lanky thirteen-year-old teenagers. Nothing could have prepared her for these cute three-year-old versions of the future pranksters.

"I'd love to be your friend, George," she said with a huge smile and took his hand. "Under one condition. If you ever feel like pranking somebody, I want in. It's been ages since I've seen a good prank."

The redhead squealed and shook her hand enthusiastically. Then he bolted from her side and rushed down the stairs. "Fred! Fred! She wants to do pranks with us! She's really cool! And she's my friend now!" he boasted and Hermione could no longer suppress the nostalgic sigh escaping her mouth. It warmed her heart to see George that happy again, even if it was just a tiny three-year-old version of him. And at that moment she decided that she'd do anything to never see the broken-spirited man again, that he had been in her future. Hermione Granger would save him from that fate. No matter what she had to do to accomplish that.