A.N.: Wow, I am blown away by your interest in the story and I really hope I won't disappoint you with what I have planned for the next chapters. I was asked about an update-schedule for this story, but this is difficult to predict. It's pretty safe to say that there will be at least one update per week, but there might be more. But that highly depends on how life is treating me and my free time I guess.

Chapter 5: Trust me

26th of April 1981

Hermione had just to follow the sound of excited chatter to find the kitchen. There a much younger and definitely pregnant Molly Weasley stood in front of the stove and cooked, while the rest of the kitchen was occupied by two hyperactive and giggling twins and a redheaded toddler, that could be no other than Ron. The baby-version of her boyfriend, Merlin it was weird to even think that, sat on a blanket in the corner of the room, stuffed something that looked like cookies into his mouth and munched on them happily. The sight was almost too much for Hermione and she could only barely suppress a delighted giggle.

"I see you're up, dear," the matron said and looked at her with calculating eyes. "Feeling better?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, thank you," she replied politely. "I'm still a bit sore all over but I'm sure that will fade soon enough. But I was wondering… is there maybe some food around? Must have been a while since I have had something to eat."

Molly sighed before a wave of her wand produced a plate filled with mashed potatoes, beans and meat on the table. "Cutlery is in the drawer over there," she said, before looking sternly at her older sons. "And you two leave her alone. And forget this nonsense about being friends with her. She's a total stranger after all and these are dangerous times."

Hermione swallowed heavily and looked at the twins that backed away from her while grumbling something in the direction of their mother. At that, Molly sighed tiredly. "I'm sorry if I can't be as welcoming, as I might usually be. But these are dangerous times. And even though you saved my brothers, you're a stranger to us, which is suspicious in a small wizarding community as ours."

Hermione nodded. "Don't worry, I understand. You need to protect your family and that's only right. I won't bother you any longer than necessary." With that, she sat down on the table and slowly started eating. Molly was an excellent cook in Hermione's time, but she was obviously already skilled at cooking back then. Hermione sighed with pleasure. But Molly looked at her with an unreadable expression.

"I fear we can't let you go just yet. Your little rescue mission of my brothers made quite an impression and there is somebody that would like a little chat with you before you disappear on us again." She looked at her with piercing eyes. "It's nothing you need to worry about if you don't want us any harm. But as I said, these are dangerous times."

Hermione looked at her uneasily and suddenly the delicious food on her tongue tasted like sawdust. Who was it, that wanted do meet her? Someone from the ministry? Or did they send the Aurors for her? But she willed herself to stay calm. It was no use to start getting skittish and making herself even more suspicious. She'd take this hurdle when she came to it. And until then she would use her time and plan. Because if she really wanted to change the future, then there was still much work ahead of her. And sooner or later she would need some help. The question was just, whom she could trust?

7th of September 1999

Hermione inspected her room with a precision that would be more fitting for a crime scene. After Gideon had finally left her alone with the promise to make some lunch, she opened all the wardrobes and drawers and inspected their content. To her delight, they weren't empty but filled with clothes and some trinkets that seemed to have belonged to her. At least she got some quick flickers of memories after she touched some of them. She remembered wearing the yellow summer dress and staring into the sky on a big green meadow or duelling with a high-spirited laugh in the chequered shirt and shorts in some sort of training room. But it was only small flashes of memories that came back to her and not really something that would help her with the problem at hand: figuring out those twins, that were currently hosting her so readily. Was it because she had saved their lives years ago? Or was there more history between the three of them? She didn't know and she hated not knowing something.

After being finished with the drawers, Hermione inspected the rest of the room. There was a desk at the window, but here everything was empty and not a single book could be found. Disappointing. Didn't she read when she was living at this house? All in all the room was immaculately clean and not a grain of dust could be found anywhere. Did these two have a house elf or was this place recently cleaned? Again she didn't know, but she was determined to find out, even though Gideon hadn't exactly been forthcoming with information. Would that change, if she told him something in return? It was worth finding out, she guessed.

Before she went downstairs, she changed out of her old clothes into jeans and a comfortable knitted jumper that somehow reminded her of the ones that Mrs Weasley had always knitted for Christmas. This one was thinner though and had an elegant pattern around the bust and the sleeves, but that didn't matter. It reminded her of home and of people that now most likely couldn't even remember her – people that she started to miss very badly.

Finally, she left her room silently and padded down the stairs to find the kitchen. Luckily she could remember its position now and had, therefore, no problems finding it. The scene she found there made her giggle hysterically though. On every surface there where used pots and pans and remains of different ingredients, that had ended there for no obvious reason. It was like stepping on a battleground. And the flour-covered man in the middle was the obvious loser of the fight.

"Merlin, what happened to this place? Did Molly's twins hide some of their joke products or was there some kind of explosion? Or maybe an earthquake? No, I'd probably have felt that one." She couldn't help but giggle at the pouting face, that the man-made at her.

"Fabian wasn't here to save the day but I wanted to prepare something nice for you. Who could have guessed that this stuff is so difficult? With Molly, it always looks like child's play…"

She giggled even more before waving her wand expertly and letting all the mess disappear. "So no house-elf to save the day?" she grinned at him cheekily. He huffed in annoyance.

He snorted. "The Prewetts might be an old pureblood family but we were never very much into this kind of thing. We prefer to get our hand dirty as you can see." He held his hands up. They looked like some sort of dough had dried on them and he wiggled his fingers with a grin. "Don't worry, the pastries are already in the oven. But I don't mind your help with cleaning up this mess. I always wondered if keeping and restoring order was a secret talent of yours."

Hermione shrugged before grinning embarrassedly. "Does giving your friends colour coded schoolwork-planners count as a talent?"

He snorted. "Did you really do that? Let me guess: they were positively thrilled at their gift."

"Something like that, yeah. Was the perfect Christmas gift for two teenage boys." She grinned fondly at the memory.

Dinner was ready shortly after and even though Gideon's pastries looked horrible, they actually tasted quite good. They sat themselves down at the kitchen table and after a moment of hesitation, Hermione decided to take the chair across from him at the table. First, they ate in companionable silence but in the end, her curiosity won out and she decided to try getting some information from him. "What is it you and your brother are actually doing for a living?"

Gideon looked at her with twinkling eyes. "I've got a mastery in charms, while Fabian is more into transfiguration. We never felt like teaching though and working for the ministry was never an option. So we finally ended up as professional warders, even though that is not, what we originally studied. But we are quite adept at it now and we do some freelance work in the other fields now and then."

She looked at him in awe. "Warding is brilliant. I did some basic wards before… well… I was on the run once and I and my friends thought it a brilliant idea to hide in a tent in the woods. The wards might have been nothing special, but they fulfilled their purpose…most times."

Gideon looked at her with raised eyebrows. "That sounds like an interesting story," he said with a small smile. "Maybe you'd like to share it with me one day. Would you like to show me the wards you did back then? Maybe I could teach you a thing or two."

She smiled shyly. "I can show you the wards after lunch. As for the story… maybe I'll share it with you someday. But at the moment… maybe if we get to know each other a bit better."

He smiled unconcernedly. "You don't trust me and that's alright. I know the feeling all too well. I promise you, Fabian and I don't want you any harm. You can trust us. But you'll hopefully learn that on your own soon enough."

Hermione nodded uncomfortably and with a pounding heart. Why did she suddenly feel like bolting from the room? "I hope so, too. Just… give me some time, yeah? I'm just so confused at the moment, that's all. There are all these memories inside of me and sometimes… sometimes I no longer know what's real. Well, that's not even true. For me all these things were real and it is just so hard to put some things behind me…"

Gideon looked at her sadly. "I know exactly what you mean. Putting things behind you can be… hard. And sometimes it's simply not possible. Just know that I'm there for you. And I mean that in a totally non-creepy way."

She laughed and after swallowing down the last bit of her lunch, she got up from her chair. "Now… about those wards, do you want to have a look?"

Her host grinned charmingly. "It would be my pleasure."

26th of April 1981

Hermione went back to her room after finishing her meal in the kitchen. Conversation between her and Mrs Weasley had more or less been none existent and after being told that she would be kept here until having met some ominous interested party she didn't feel like talking anyway. Instead, she ate her lunch broodingly and observed younger Weasleys that kept throwing her smiles and glances secretly. Seeing that they hadn't given up their idea of befriending her warmed her heart. Because next to Harry those three redheads were the persons, she considered her best friends. And if there was a chance of getting only a fraction of that back, she'd grab it with both hands. Those three were family for her, even if they didn't know jet.

Fabian and Gideon came to see her when it was late afternoon. She had spent most of the day dozing on the bed and watching the enchanted ceiling of her bed with tired eyes. Still, she felt worlds better than she had in the morning.

"Are you awake?" one of them, she still had some problems telling them apart, asked after opening her door for a small slit.

"I'm up, do come in," she replied and just a few seconds later the two of them were standing in front of her bed and stared at her uncertainly. She hadn't heard much about the twin uncles of Fred and George, but they looked as alike as her friends. Their hair was darker and longer though and fell in soft curls around their faces and their eyes were of a stunning, piercing blue.

"Hello," one of them said politely but with some distance in his voice. "I'm Fabian Prewett, that's my brother Gideon. We've seen each other yesterday, but I'm not sure how much of it you can still remember. You seemed pretty out of it."

She nodded embarrassedly. "Yeah. Those potions did quite a number on me. I'm Hermione, Hermione Granger. Thank you for taking me in. I'm still not sure what exactly happened to me though."

They looked at each other uncertainly. "You came to our house, while it was under attack," Fabian explained.

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, I remember that part. I think I managed to take two of them out from behind. They didn't expect to be attacked I guess. But then I was hit, wasn't I? I didn't recognize the spell, but it knocked me out quite thoroughly."

Gideon nodded seriously. "That part is a mystery to us too and we hoped you could help us with that one. Because I'm pretty sure you were hit by a killing curse."

She looked at him with a stunned expression. "Are you serious? But…" she looked down at herself and her mind already started to analyse what she had seen before being knocked out. "I… I think you might be correct. I remember seeing a yet of green light…" She shook her head, before looking back at them. They were studying her with wary expressions. Hermione sighed. "I have to think about that fact. If it really was the killing curse, then there needs to be an explanation why I'm not dead. There is only one person who…" At that, she stopped with her sentence and looked at them with wide eyes. She remembered Harry's words towards Voldemort during the final battle. Of course! He had said that he had willingly given his life for all of his friends and by that he had put the same protection on her, that he had gotten from his mother. But did this make her immune to the killing curse cast by just anyone? It couldn't have been Voldemort casting on her… None of Harry's friends had been wounded during the final battle after he had given his life for them, no matter whom they had duelled, so it was a possibility that she had been protected during her fight through Harry. She furrowed her brows.

Hermione sighed before looking back at the two men in front of her, who studied her with a guarded expression. "Well, there might be an explanation, but I'll have to look into it."

They nodded reluctantly and sighed. "Hermione, it's not that we aren't thankful for what you did for us. Without you, this could have ended very badly. But… you know… my grandma always said that, if something looks too good to be true than it is probably not true. And you saving us, out of nowhere… why were you even in the area? It is a muggle area after all. Then you mysteriously surviving a supposed killing curse…" he trailed off, but Hermione knew where he was going. And if he put it like that, it did sound highly suspicious. But she couldn't very well tell them the truth, could she? Not, if she didn't know if she could trust them. But that was exactly the problem, wasn't it? They didn't trust each other and that meant that there was nothing left to say between the three of them.

She sighed. "I understand, I really do. And I'm sorry I can't tell you more. Don't worry, I'll do exactly as you say. Should I stay in the room? Do you want me to go? It's fine with me."

Fabian and Gideon looked at her with hard eyes. "Stay here for now. You have access to the bathroom and the kitchen. Don't bother with the other rooms, we warded them quite thoroughly." She nodded and filed that information away for later. They could do some grade of warding then - interesting.

"Alright," Hermione agreed and looked at them with a polite smile. "Do you need anything else?"

Fabian nodded. "We want you to meet somebody tomorrow. He'll come to our place in the morning."

Hermione hummed in agreeance. "Yeah, your sister already told me. I'll meet him, whoever he is."

They nodded in unison. "Excellent," they said and without another word, they turned around and left the room. Well, it looked like she'd have to wait for tomorrow then. Until then she was stuck. But that was alright. She still had plans to make, if she wanted to go through with her idea to change the future. For George, she whispered to herself and cast a long look at the watch on her wrist. She had given him an oath and she was determined to keep it.