Grudgingly, the three marauders left Hermione outside the gargoyle Hippogriff, after informing her of the password - Licorice Wands. With not a small amount of trepidation, Hermione climbed up the spiral staircase and, after taking a minute to compose herself, knocked on the headmaster's door.

'Enter,' came a familiar voice from within. Pushing the door open, Hermione found herself in the most wondrous of offices. She'd never before had cause to visit the headmaster, and so she found her eyes drawn to the many oddments, everything from a phoenix (that she knew to be named Fawkes), a pensieve, the sorting hat, to an assortment of things she wouldn't even know what they could possibly be called.

A younger looking Albus Dumbledore watched her from the other side of a mahogany wooden desk, his piercing blue eyes examining over the rims of his half-moon glasses.
'Good afternoon, Miss -?' He said, after a moment.
'Granger, Sir. Hermione Granger.'

'Miss Granger, yes. Forgive me for any rudeness, but I'm afraid I have not yet had the pleasure of your acquaintance. Have a seat and tell me why it is that you have come; you are not a Hogwarts student.'

'That's not exactly true, but it's kind of a long story.'

'Miss Granger, I may be rather old, but I have been blessed with a rather extraordinary memory. Many students have passed through these halls, and I think it is safe to say that you are not one of those that have.'

'No, but I'm one of those that will. Professor Dumbledore, sir, I will explain everything... but I think it might be best is Professor McGonagall was here for this as well.' Those piercing blue eyes searching her for a moment, before Dumbledore swept to his feet to the fireplace. Tossing a pinch of Floo powder into it, he called the transfiguration master from her office. A minute later, a younger (but no less dignified) McGonagall emerged from the green flames, looking from Dumbledore to Hermione. Her brows creased marginally, before turning to the headmaster.
'Yes?'
'Miss Granger came here to speak with me, and requested that you be present. Am I correct, Minerva, in assuming that you have not seen her before?'

'I don't believe so, no.' She said without hesitation, eying Hermione up and down.

'You haven't, no.. That's why I'm here. If I may, I'd like to start off with a question...', and when neither of them responded, she swallowed again. 'What's the date, professors?'

'The seventh of June.' Dumbledore said, his brow frowning.

'And the year?'

'1974.' Hermione found herself nodding, that would only make sense.

'Right then, well, professor McGonagall, you may want to sit… this is going to take a while,' she said, before pulling the broken Time turner out of her sweater.

'This is a Time Turner, Professor, you gave me one so that I could get to all of my classes. I have a rather full schedule, you see..'

'Yes, Miss Granger. I am well aware of what a time turner is. May I ask how it got to be in such a condition? And I most certainly do not recall ever giving you one, let alone meeting you.'

'Well, that's the problem... You give it to me in September of 1993. I was a bit too close to the Whomping Willow, see. My friend, Ronald Weasley had been dragged through the tunnel there by a massive dog, Harry and I were going to go after him and try to rescue. Though, we argued...' For a couple of minutes, Hermione told the two professors of the day's events, from the time turner breaking, to waking up and meeting the Marauders - and making the mistake of revealing that she recognized them - and to them deciding that she needed to speak to the headmaster.
After that, the three of them sat in contemplative silence for a few minutes, speculating on her situation.

'Miss Granger, to go back or forward in time is quite difficult and risky, as I'm sure you know. Time-turners, the apex of our knowledge of time manipulation is only really enough to send a witch or wizard back as many as half a day, though it should be noted that anything more than five hours is already an extreme risk. Miss Granger, you're speaking of two decades; I don't know that anything can or should be done.'

'I can't just stay here! Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore, sir. I know too much of the future, and messing around with time before I'm even born has to be breaking at least a dozen laws, not to mention that.. that I could cause other people from my time to not be born, or anything else!' Hermione said, trying to sound logical and rational, though her voice came out as a squeak by the end. She looks frantically between the two, and sighed, noticing their forlorn expressions.
'I'm afraid, Miss Granger that you are stuck here for now, at the least. We will have to look into the matter.' McGonagall said, looking at Hermione with pity shining clearly in her eyes.

'Now, Albus-'

'Yes, she will have to be enrolled in courses. Miss Granger, to which house did you belong?'

'Gryffindor, sir.'

'The courses you were taking?'

'Divination, though I really am not so keen on continuing that, and I think I'll skip on Muggle Studies as well, you see, I'm rather ahead on the topic; Arithmancy, Transfiguration, Defence, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, History, Charms, Astronomy, and Herbology.. I think that's all of them at least.'

'Very well, Miss Granger. I will hang out your schedule to you at breakfast. We can order your books and materials then. Be on your way.'

'What do I tell people? When they ask?' Hermione asked, before turning to leave. She really hadn't the foggiest as to what she'd do about the Marauders, she'd made a fine mess of that situation. Dumbledore considered her for a minute, before nodding to himself.

'Miss Granger, you were home schooled, you are here under the advisory of Professor McGonagall… You outgrew what you could be taught in your home environment.' Hermione nodded, hoping that the story would suffice. Though, she was sure there would still be questions.

'Thank you. Before I go, Professors, I was wondering about whether I might do some research in the library, and if perhaps a letter could be written to Professor Saul Croaker? He works for the ministry, and knows of time magic. I read about him in Unlocking the Past: A Study of Time'

'I will send word to Mr. Croaker this afternoon.' Professor Dumbledore said, reassuringly. 'And, as you are a Hogwarts student, I see no reason you would be unable to make use of the library.' He smiled, his eyes twinkling before turning back to the transfiguration professor.

'Oh, and Miss Granger?'

'Yes?'

'Gryffindor's password is Quid Agis.'

#

Hermione didn't go straight to the common room, she didn't want to face the Marauder's again so soon. Though, a small part of her whispered that she merely didn't want to see James, who looked so much like his son. She'd left Harry, and Ron.. I will get back to them, they'll be alright. I just need to stay calm, cool and collected. Books and cleverness would get her through this.

With that in mind, she grinned. It was not noon, lunch wouldn't be served for another hour. Clearly, it was time for the library.