A/N: Hey there! This is a Harmony story that deals with weird time loops and what reliving the same day over and over would do to a person. Or two persons, since this is about Harry and Hermione. Films such as 'Groundhog Day' or 'Palm Springs' were obvious inspirations when I began writing this story, so you might see a few references. I will give short warnings whenever serious topics such as self-harm come up in later chapters. I'm writing this purely for fun, since I don't own Harry Potter — J.K. Rowling does (she's clever like that). English is not my first language. Enjoy and be excellent to each other!

Minerva McGonagall thought about the passage of time as she was looking out of the window in her office. The evening had finally brought some cool air to the unusually warm June day and she enjoyed feeling a bit of wind on her face after a busy day of administrative work.

Another year at Hogwarts was about to end and as always she was both proud to see her seventh-year students leave the school and enter the Wizarding World in earnest but also sad about the unrelenting passage of time.

She wasn't allowed to pick favorites — at least publicly — but it always hurt to see young men and women whom she'd grown to care about leaving Hogwarts. Autumn would bring a new year of bright-eyed first-years and some of those would show lots of potentials too but there would be a lot of work before that.

Minerva was considering treating herself to a glass of that old bottle of Odgen's Finest in the bottom drawer of her desk when someone knocked on her door.

Looking at the clock, she saw that it was past 8 o'clock. Her visitor probably had a non-trivial concern then.

"Come in!"

Hermione Granger entered her office and closed the door silently before stepping up to her desk.

"Professor McGonagall."

The girl looked exhausted, Minerva thought. Her hair wasn't as frizzy as it was during most school days and held with a number of bobby pins, but the face of the young Gryffindor was pale and there were dark lines under her eyes.

"Miss Granger, what can I do for you at this late hour?" She turned to her student, standing on the other side of her desk.

"Professor, I… I have thought about this for some time but I feel that I need to return this to you."

She watched as Hermione removed the Time-Turner from her neck and held it out to her.

"Why is that, Miss Granger?" She took the device and carefully turned it in her own hands, having a good idea what the girl was about to say.

"I… " Hermione swallowed, visibly uneasy with her confession. "The stress is too much. I seem to be unable to cut back the number of courses I want to participate in and I… I've used the Time-Turner so often that I lost both sleep and track of time myself."

Minerva nodded. "I am sorry to hear that, Miss Granger. I believed it worth a try at the beginning of the year but not everybody is able to wear one of these long-time."

She saw the crestfallen look on her student's face and sighed. "That wasn't meant to be a reprimand, Miss Granger. Lots of witches and wizards — both young and old — are unable to reliably use a Time-Turner without suffering for it in one way or another. I myself wouldn't dare to use one, no matter how beneficial it might seem."

Hermione looked up again, her eyes brighter now. "Thank you, Professor. I am just… sad about the opportunities I'm going to miss, I guess. There is just so much to learn."

"Indeed. But many of the authors of the books you hold in such high regard visited Hogwarts without the benefit of a Time-Turner so I think you will be just fine with a regular schedule."

The brown-haired girl smiled. "Thank you."

"And your decision is final? I'm just asking because it won't be easy for you to get access to such a device again as a student once I've filed the necessary papers with the Ministry."

Hermione shook her head and send her curls flying. "No, Professor, I am quite sure. This year…" She blew out the air in her lungs. "This year was just a bit much, to be honest. Again. I'd rather go back to standard coursework after the holidays if that's all right."

Minerva's gaze softened. "Absolutely. Your grades are outstanding as usual and I'm sure you will profit from the additional classes you took in the years to come." She knew the young girl had been alluding not only to school being stressful but also to the entire… debacle concerning Sirius Black. She suspected that there was a bit more to the story than what Albus had told her but she decided not to pressure the young Gryffindor in front of her.

"Is there anything else, Miss Granger?"

"No, Professor, that's all. I'll see myself out."

She nodded. "Good night, and have a safe trip back, Miss Granger. Enjoy your holidays."

Hermione smiled and seemed as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders. "Thank you, Professor McGonagall. See you in September."

Minerva watched the girl leave the office, her back a bit more straight than before.

She looked at the Time-Turner in her hand and pondered what role the device might have played in this year's inevitable adventures of Harry Potter. In her opinion, Miss Granger was besotted with the boy if she knew it or not. She always thought that the pair had a special relationship. One that belied their age, a friendship that ran much deeper than the usual connections students made at Hogwarts.

Minerva sighed again and opened the second-to-last drawer of her desk where she stored special and dangerous items and related Ministry paperwork.

Then she stopped.

"What in Merlin's name…"

There already was a Time-Turner in the drawer.

It looked a bit different than the one Hermione Granger had just returned, slightly larger and more tarnished. The tiny hourglass was of a different make too — it seemed as if the model in the drawer was one of the first ever issued by the Ministry.

The problem was that Minerva had no memory of ever handling this device, let alone putting it in her drawer.

Curiously but also wary she drew her wand and cast a few charms to figure out if the item was cursed or otherwise dangerous to touch. The magic didn't reveal any unseen effects tough and she finally reached out to retrieve the mystery Time-Turner.

Holding both at the same time she was absolutely sure that she'd never seen the one from the drawer before. Minerva wasn't stupid — she knew she might be looking at the very answer to all of her questions. Messing about with time was always serious and often dangerous, and the sudden appearance of persons or objects could be proof of such recklessness.

It seemed unlikely though that she would find an answer herself so it would probably be best to talk to Albus.

Minerva sat down again and wrote down a number of quick notes about Hermione Granger's Time-Turner and what her charms had told her about the mystery model. With temporal magic involved, it was always wise to review one's ideas and assumptions before acting.

As she finished the last line and removed her quill from the parchment, Minerva saw that the strange Time-Turner was leaning on the model Hermione had just returned. Its hourglass — although almost perfectly balanced in its sideways position — was slightly swinging up and down.

She hadn't touched the device on the table at all.

Then it started hissing like a tiny kettle.

"Oh bugger."

A cold shiver ran across her skin as she slowly put some distance between herself and the desk.

But when her chair was stopped by the small cabinet behind her, the resulting bump on the floor was enough to make the Time-Turner react. Just as Minerva was raising her wand, she saw the hourglass tilt and was suddenly blinded by bright light and —

"Is that all, Miss Granger?"

The girl nodded. "Yes, Professor, that's all. I'll see myself out."

She gave her a weak smile. "Well, good night then, and a safe trip back tomorrow. Enjoy your time away from Hogwarts."

Hermione returned and seemed as if she was a bit relieved. "Thank you, Professor McGonagall. I hope you have a chance to relax as well. See you in September."

When the door closed behind the young Gryffindor, Minerva looked at the Time-Turner in her hand again. It might just have been the best decision really to not have Hermione Granger exhaust herself more than necessary since she'd probably used the device to aid her friend Harry Potter during this year's adventures.

Ah, those two…

Minerva smiled to herself, fully now. Thinking about the special friendship between the two most distinctive students that had been sorted into her House in decades always put her in a good mood.

On a whim, she decided to just go and have a drink with Albus and leave her paperwork for the evening. She could even take the Time-Turner with her and have him return it tomorrow on her behalf since he had an appointment in the Ministry anyway.

Minerva grabbed the bottle of Odgen's Finest from her desk's bottom drawer and one of the Ministry forms from the drawer above that without really looking. She carefully put the Time-Turner in her pocket and left to find her friend and advisor in his office a few floors up.

Three years later

As Hermione brushed her teeth in her dormitory's bathroom, she decided that the entire day had pretty much been a complete disaster.

There hadn't been a single moment since she got out of bed that could redeem this black Friday. Especially since Ron had again behaved like a complete and utter muppet, clueless to anything going on, except maybe the attachment of Lavender's face to his. Thinking back to her flight from Transfiguration class at noon made her angry enough for her eyes to tear up, probably for the umpteenth time today.

The shame she'd felt from Ron's mocking and over-the-top imitation of her still ran deep, and the laughter and snickering comments from Lavender and her ilk hadn't helped. Hermione had half a mind to strangle the stupid cow in her sleep tonight — also not for the first time this day.

But all that almost paled in comparison to the anger that ran through her when she thought of Slughorn's Christmas party and the stupid, stupid mistake she'd made in choosing McLaggen as her date for the evening. That arrogant prick had quite literally left a bad taste in her mouth when he'd suddenly gotten all handsy and even kissed her uninvited, and things had only deteriorated afterward.

Rinsing her mouth over the basin, Hermione shuddered as she remembered how McLaggen's hands had felt on her body and in her hair and how she'd very much wanted to knee him for that. Repeatedly.

Why hadn't she done that instead of fleeing the scene?

In hindsight, it seemed less like a missed opportunity and more like yet another mistake.

Lost in thought, it took Hermione a minute to notice that she'd grabbed her old brush again to tame her hair for the night and she cursed loudly before reaching for a comb. It was embarrassing enough that it'd taken her years to learn that brushing was the main reason for its bushiness that she disliked so very much, but even more embarrassing to do it again just now because she was still mad about Ron and McLaggen.

Who even needed boys, anyway?

Why couldn't she feel different?

Why was nothing ever easy?

"I hate it! Hate it," she finally screamed out when she couldn't bear swallowing her bubbling emotions anymore, stomping on the bathroom floor and squeezing her comb so hard she expected it to break. "I hate this so much!", now a mere whisper.

Her mirror reflection stared back at her, equally as shocked as she was about the uncharacteristic outburst but unable to provide any response or insights. It was very rare for her to let anger out like that, but Hermione felt like she was reaching her breaking point. The past few weeks had been emotionally draining and Ron's behavior agitated her more than ever before. Not that Harry was any help right now, thank you very much. But Ron…

Seriously, why had she ever liked him?

Sadly, no answer was forthcoming, at least none that she found in any way helpful.

"Stupid hormones," she whispered before she took a few deep breaths and continued to comb her hair while returning to the empty dormitory.

Everyone else was still out and about since professors were lenient with curfew times this close to Christmas, which made her feel more alone than before. As she sat down on the edge of her bed, Hermione suddenly was overcome with a wave of misery and she cried silently, still working on her hair. This blasted day couldn't end fast enough.

When she finally turned off the lights and lay down, she thought about Harry again, who probably still was at Slughorn's party. Maybe he'd been more successful in chasing Ginny than she'd been in her ill-fated pursuit of Ron's attention.

Hermione didn't know exactly how she felt about Harry swooning over the redheaded witch, who at this point was or wasn't still together with Dean Thomas, but she could clearly see why he was interested in Ron's sister. She was beautiful and popular with the boys, she played Quidditch and wasn't all bad in her classes either, from what Hermione had picked up.

Comparing herself to Ginny just put another major damper on her mood though and she punched her pillow unnecessarily hard while she adjusted her position in bed.

Why was everything always so bloody complicated?

The only silver lining Hermione could find at that point was the Christmas break and her return home tomorrow. At least she didn't have to endure Ron or Lavender then. Her luggage was already mostly packed.

Trying to slow her racing mind down for once, she conjured memories of prior Christmases and happier days, both at home and at Hogwarts. Even though the latter place had made her miserable more often than not recently, there'd still been lots of moments where she had laughed with her friends, right?

Hermione's last conscious thoughts returned to dating and caressing someone and what happiness might be found in love, even though it appeared that she wasn't destined to experience such a thing while being a student.

"... and then he told me, and I'm quoting, 'to try again in a few years'. The nerve of that man!"

Minerva smiled at Aurora's outburst and opened her office with a wave of her wand while balancing a stack of papers. "I can't really say I find Horace all that agreeable myself. He is a bit… "

"He's a wanker, Minerva." Aurora followed her into the dark room and dumped the heavy stacks she'd been carrying for her friend unceremoniously on an empty spot on the desk.

"Aurora!"

"What? I will not excuse my language if he treats people and women in particular like things, to be either prized or to be discarded without thought. In some ways, he's even worse than Severus. Minerva, I'm a member of his House, for Merlin's sake!"

Minerva snorted. "As long as you refrain from cursing like that when students are around." She lit the lights in the room with another flick of her wand.

"Please." The dark-skinned woman raised an eyebrow in perfect imitation of McGonagall's habit when she was trying to intimidate rambunctious Gryffindors. "When have I ever?"

"I am just saying."

"I'd rather you get that bottle of Whisky you hide in your desk instead."

"I should have known there was a catch when you offered your help." Minerva chuckled.

The Astronomy Professor sighed. "Sorry. It's just… the past few weeks have been exhausting. I realized that's to be expected with Christmas but… I don't know, I feel just beat."

Minerva nodded. "I get your meaning. Ever since that… woman defiled our school with her presence, I feel there's something brewing in the shadows. More so than before."

Aurora folded her arms under her chest and leaned against the desk. "I know there are things going on behind the scenes I'm not privy to and I don't intend to pry but — it has to do something with Harry Potter, doesn't it?"

Minerva just nodded but didn't elaborate.

"Ah well, can't fault a Slytherin for trying, can you?"

She closed her eyes for a second. "Aurora, please. That has nothing to do with that."

"I know, I'm just pissed that Albus seems to tell Severus and you everything and I'm on the sidelines all the time, just like Pomona or Bathsheba." Aurora snorted and shook her head.

"You know, I believe it is indeed time to get that Whisky of mine you mentioned earlier."

"Now that's the Gryffindor spirit I've heard so much about!" Aurora stood up and walked around Minerva's desk. "Bottom drawer?"

The Scottish woman smiled despite herself. "Do I even want to know?"

Her friend waved her off. "I remember the first time I came to you after I was hired. I had a nervous breakdown and wanted to quit and you talked me out of it. Gave me some liquid courage but you had to fight to get the drawer open because the bottle inside was jammed." She knelt behind the desk.

"That was almost ten years ago. Your memory is astonishing, Aurora." Minerva took two glasses from her small cupboard.

"At least one good thing that came out of all those Occlumency lessons I took." She held up the bottle of Odgen's Finest. "Since I'm still rubbish at it."

Minerva smiled. "We can't all be Albus, my dear."

"Ain't that the truth." But just as the Astronomy Professor was about to leave the desk, she stopped. "Did you hear that?"

"What?"

"There's something — in one of the drawers?" She knelt again. "Minerva, are you starting your own collection of weird thingamabobs now? There is a hiss."

Minerva put the glasses on the desk. "I definitely did not start hoarding oddities the way Albus clutters his office. Every now and then I use the second-to-last drawer for dangerous artifacts."

The women looked at each other in silence.

"Do you right now?" Aurora swallowed.

"No."

"Well, explain this hissing then."

Minerva's squinted at the drawer. "Maybe this is a prank in progress? But who aside from Fred and George Weasly would even dare to rig my office, and they're not at Hogwarts anymore."

"Let's find out." Her friend drew her wand and reached out for the drawer. "I mean, how bad can it be? This is your desk we're talking about."

Minerva draw her own wand and huffed. "Aurora, I'll have you know that I caused one or two perfect scandals back in the olden days."

"Oh my, did you speak out of turn? Those poor people around you." Aurora grinned.

"Are you finished enjoying yourself? Can we just open this bloody drawer, please?"

"As you command, Deputy Headmistress." Carefully, the Slytherin pulled the drawer out.

Inside there were a few Ministry forms… and a Time-Turner, old and tarnished. Its hourglass swung back and forth.

"What."

Minerva had no idea how to react to their discovery. "I have never seen this one before, Aurora."

"Are you quite sure?"

"Absolutely."

Aurora took a deep breath. "Okay, what we should do is…"

But at that exact moment, the artifact's hourglass turned sideways and then around. A blinding light came from within the Time-Turner and as Minerva and Aurora tried to jump out of reach, bright energy jolted to the floor and upward to the ceiling like a lightning bolt and —

Hermione woke up instantly, with no memories of awkward dreams or disturbing questions that her unconsciousness so often liked to ponder during sleep. The dormitory was dark, illuminated only by a faint light in the far corner. Fay always left it on since she had to go to the bathroom at least once each night.

She listened to the quiet breathing of her dorm mates for a while, remembering her idea of strangling Lavender Brown for being — in her opinion — the textbook definition of a bitch queen. But she put the growing anger aside since she didn't want to spoil this day before it even began.

Christmas break was upon them and Hermione looked forward to the train ride home.

She had already put aside a few interesting books and a cinnamon chocolate muffin from yesterday's dessert as a little culinary sin she planned on indulging in. Thank Merlin for preserving charms.

The prospect of a few hours of quiet reading and watching snowy landscapes pass by the window seemed just about the right thing to do before Christmas, she reflected — to hell with gossipy bitches and Ron and probably also boys in general.

Having improved her mood, Hermione stood up to get ready before the usual chaos of holiday departure would eventually descend upon Gryffindor Tower. She quickly and quietly finished her morning routine and was about to put the last items in her suitcase, when she finally noticed that had vanished.

Looking around the silent dormitory, still holding clothes and toiletries, Hermione tried to remain calm. She knew exactly where she'd put the suitcase before bawling her eyes out last night — but it was gone.

Her first thought was that the other girls had pranked her, which they hadn't done in years.

Swallowing hard, she put down her things on the mattress and looked under her bed.

Nothing.

Hermione briefly considered turning on the lights and making a ruckus the likes of which Lavender had never experienced in all their years at Hogwarts, but she tried to stay calm.

Maybe, somehow — even though she knew it to be impossible — this was all a mistake on her part.

Quietly she opened her trunk to verify that she had indeed taken out her shrunken suitcase. Instead, she saw it in between her clothes, books, and other things, on the left side as if untouched all year.

Both annoyed and slightly curious, Hermione removed it and enlarged it on her bed. The inside was empty, all clothes she'd folded back in her trunk and the small wardrobe at the wall beside her bed.

Hermine blinked in irritation, not knowing what to feel right now.

It didn't feel like a prank to her, because it was too elaborate and without any… finale? Unless the aim was to make her doubt her own sanity, in which case the unknown pranksters had indeed been successful. Lavender or Parvati wouldn't do something like that — they just wouldn't.

This wasn't Slytherin or Ravenclaw, where bullies rifled through students' things at will.

After looking hard at the still-sleeping forms of the other girls in the dormitory, Hermione re-packed her things and descended to the common room. She could try and solve this riddle on the train, if only she got out of Hogwarts before she'd lose her mind.

To her surprise, only two other Gryffindor students were already up: Riley Mallard, a tall fifth-year student, and Angelina Johnson, who both sat on the couch with books and scrolls strewn around them — very much just like yesterday morning. Hermione stopped at the bottom of the stairs with her suitcase, looking at the pair with slight confusion.

"Good morning," she said somewhat hesitantly, not sure what to make of this after she saw Riley flinch back from Angelina like he'd been caught in a crime, his cheeks growing red.

Two days in a row?

Was there something going on? Yesterday she'd spared them only half a glance as went out, hurrying out of the room as had become her routine during the last weeks.

"Hey, Hermione!" Angelina's smile seemed genuine, ignoring the apparent discomfort of Riley. "What's up, you're already leaving for Christmas, eh? Isn't it a bit early for that?"

Hermione shook her head. "I just want to be ready before the big rush. Don't like it when people run back and forth, packing their things on the fly while shouting at everyone around them."

Angelina made a grunt, knowing that she'd referred to a typical Weasley departure, but her gaze remained fixed on Hermione's suitcase. "I understand but still, why pack one day early? It's not that bad." She threw Riley a glance, which made him find the presence of mind to join the conversation.

"H-hey, Hermione," he mumbled, fidgeting with a scroll he'd picked up from the couch.

Hermione found this behavior increasingly strange. Yesterday, he'd pretty much reacted the same way when she came down. Only then did she actually process what Angelina had said. "Wait, what do you mean, one day early? The Hogwarts Express leaves in less than an hour. I didn't plan on staying here."

Now it was Angelina's turn to look confused. "I… what?"

Riley was following the exchange silently with now slightly less reddened cheeks. His somewhat reserved manner and lack of most idiotic teenage-boy tendencies had always impressed Hermione, but right now she wished he'd just open his mouth and help clean up the situation.

"Is this part of the suitcase prank?" she asked. "Is that why the two of you are again up so early?"

"What are you talking about?" Angelina looked taken aback. "I don't understand."

"Okay, wait a moment." Hermione purposely let go of her suitcase, closed her eyes, and took a breath. She had no intention of any drama or fight unfolding today, thank you very much. She looked at Angelina and Riley again. "Today we're leaving for the Christmas break, right? I just wanted to get a head start, nothing more. I'm sorry if I bothered you, I'll leave now."

"Hermione, wait, what is going on?"

Angelina was up now, closing in on her. "What in Merlin's name are you talking about? Today's Friday. Classes will begin in... " She looked at the clock above the entrance. "In about one and a half hours, give or take. Tomorrow is when we'll all leave for Christmas."

Hermione just stared at Angelina, not finding an answer to that ridiculous statement. She liked the older student and couldn't read any signs of falsehood or trickery in her face, but that didn't make any sense.

Indeed, what was going on?

"Hermione." Angelina looked worried now. "Have you been studying all night again? You've got to take it a bit easier, this isn't healthy, you know."

"No, I haven't." Hermione shook her head slightly.

She saw Riley standing up and silently disappearing towards his dormitory.

"Riley, please, as I said, I'm leaving anyway."

"I… I have to get ready for class, sorry," the flustered fifth-year answered before fleeing the scene.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said to Angelina, who'd followed Riley's exit with a silent stare.

"It's okay, I was just helping him study, it's not like we were flirting or something."

Hermione had the sneaking suspicion that flirting had exactly been what they were doing at this unusual time but didn't say anything about it. There were more important things to discuss anyway, like the sequence of days in a given week.

"Why did you say it's Friday, though? It's Saturday."

"No, it's not. Hermione, what is this? Are you having a breakdown or something?" Angelina looked her up and down. "What is going on with you? I know you can be a bit intense but this is so unlike you."

Again, Hermione had no answer and just stared at the other woman.

Was she in the wrong?

Had she mistakenly skipped a day in her mind?

But yesterday had happened, had it not? Both Transfiguration class and the Christmas party were still fresh on her mind, she couldn't have dreamt up something excruciatingly awkward and painful like that even if she wanted to.

But how?

"I don't know what to say," she answered, looking around the common room for any sign that soon, or right now, others would come out of their dorms to leave for Christmas. "I think I'll just leave. Have a nice day, Angelina."

Angelina shook her head. "Hermione… this is so strange. Are you all right?"

"It's all right, really, this situation will clear itself very soon, I'm sure." Hermione nodded more to herself than to Angelina and left, eager to avoid the awkward situation. "Bye."

She left both her fellow Gryffindor and her good mood behind.

Soon after though, the situation hadn't cleared itself in any shape or form. Hermione stood at the entrance to the Great Hall, which was populated by a small number of students — a usual sight on any given school day.

But today?

There was barely anyone up yet.

Nobody seemed excited, or in a rush.

Hermione also couldn't see any luggage, coats, or anything resembling preparations to leave Hogwarts soon. This was ludicrous!

"Excuse me," someone behind her said, and Hermione only barely managed to swallow a shriek of surprise. A Hufflepuff student from seventh year passed by her, looking curiously at her suitcase before he settled down at his house's table to get an early breakfast.

She shook herself out of her reverie and moved to the Gryffindor table, silently cursing her frayed nerves. This day's start was not promising at all.

Hermione decided to get some tea herself and calm down before proceeding with any attempts at clearing up the ever-increasing confusion she felt. She even eschewed reading material for the time being so that she could watch all the other early risers.

But that only added to her growing despair because the scenery in the Great Hall conveyed a strong feeling of constant déjà-vu.

There was the lonely Slytherin girl who sneezed repeatedly and loudly just like she'd done yesterday, accidentally tipping her mug in the process — again. Then Professor Sinistra arrived, carrying an unusually large scroll under her arm to the staff's seating, also a familiar image to Hermione. And those boys at the Ravenclaw table, would they…? As it turned out, yes, they indeed started laughing about something in a book lying between them, just like yesterday.

While her eyes raced back and forth across the Great Hall, Hermione felt her confusion slowly being consumed by fear and growing panic.

What the bloody hell was going on?

She tried to keep a calm facade as she watched more and more students filter into the hall for breakfast and experienced one déjà-vu after another. While not every single moment sparked her memory — or increased her anxiety — Hermione knew it probably only was because she'd been reading yesterday morning and not paid that much attention to her surroundings.

Or had it been today?

The concept of yesterday was beginning to lose its meaning to her increasingly confused mind. Hermione swallowed a few times as she felt her heartbeat rising. Was she about to have a panic attack? If so, she'd also die of shame, probably.

This had to be a dream.

Or a really bad joke.

That thought quickly evaporated though as she saw Ron and Lavender enter the Great Hall. They seemed unaware of anything other than each other. Watching as Lavender made gooey eyes and Ron behaved like a spellbound imbecile had her cringe inwardly.

The problem, aside from the obvious Ron-shaped coming up to her table, was that none of them gave her any attention. Nobody tried to sneak a glimpse at Hermione to gauge her reaction to the great ol' prank they all were acting out.

It was business as usual, really.

Which in return made Hermione nauseous.

"Hey, Hermione, is that your suitcase?" She flinched as Neville sat down beside her. He was looking at it, then at her with furrowed brows.

"Did I miss something? You're leaving early?"

Hermione felt overwhelmed. What was she supposed to answer? The truth? What was that even, anymore? She decided to just nod, then changed her mind and shook her head.

"Is that a yes? No?" Neville's face would've made her laugh on any other day.

"I tried to pack early to skip all the usual chaos", she finally answered in a noncommittal way, not trusting herself to make bold statements about things such as time at the moment.

"Oh. Okay." He clearly had further thoughts on that but decided to just shrug and focus on his breakfast. Probably telling himself that she'd gone mental or something along those lines. Or not, because this was Neville and he was nice.

Hermione swallowed again and stared at her own plate.

What was she supposed to do now?

Neville harrumphed. "Say, Hermione, have you seen Harry?"

She stared at him. "What? Sorry, I mean — come again?"

"Harry?" He gave her a confused half-smile. "You might've heard about him, unassuming bloke really, not someone who stands out, just your average hunter of Dark Wizards and fulfiller of destinies and all that."

Hermione had trouble following Neville but tried to not let her state of total confusion be even more apparent. He'd mentioned Harry? Probably expecting her to know where he was. "I don't know where Harry is, Neville."

"You don't? Because he was already out of his bed when I woke up and I thought that… "

"That he was what? Studying with me?" Hermione snorted. "Not these days. Not since he fell in love with that blasted book."

It was Neville's turn to swallow. "Okay. Sorry."

Hermione sighed again and pushed her plate away, not feeling hungry.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Angelina's voice.

She looked up. "Of course. Why wouldn't it be?" She knew her fake cheer wouldn't fool anyone let alone the older Gryffindor but she had no mind for explaining herself right now.

"If you say so, Hermione."

Maybe, if she continued to feign ignorance to herself, this day would reveal itself to be nothing but a strange dream or something. Or just end. There was a scream deep down in her throat waiting to be unleashed but she refused to have a breakdown in front of the entire school like that. Especially with Christmas being literally around the corner.

This must be what it felt like to go crazy.

Herbology class came and went without really registering in Hermione's mind.

After she'd put her suitcase in an empty broom cupboard and sealed it magically, she followed her classmates to the greenhouses and went through the motions as they cleaned the delicate Jade Vines while Professor Sprout walked up and down the rows, encouraging or correcting students in her usual friendly manner.

Hermione's problem was that they'd already done that — yesterday. Or some day. She clearly remembered washing her hands after class because the vine sap had leached into her skin. It'd been the first time they worked on Jade Vines.

Only now the rows of plants were unclipped again and tangled with weeds that shouldn't be there.

There was no way anyone could fake that.

Not only because Professor Sprout would tell off even Voldemort should he be so brazen as to consider messing with her beloved greenery, but also because the delicate magical nature of the Jade Vines made it impossible to accelerate or decelerate their growth. At least not in amounts necessary to pull off a prank of epic proportions such as… this.

Thankfully nobody had bothered Hermione or noticed her basically being in shock — or that she hadn't raised her arm when Professor Sprout finally asked a few questions shortly before the end of class. Neville had been able to answer those easily enough. Ron and Lavender had thankfully been preoccupied with each other further down the rows.

Washing her hands for the second time in… well, whatever, really, Hermione still hadn't found a way to really deal with the fact that this day, reality had made a step to the left where she'd expected one to the right, as it had always done so far.

Why did nobody react to things repeating themselves at all?

Or had Angelina been right and she was so overworked that her mind had made up an entire miserable day of experiences as she slept? Was that even possible?

Hermione still remembered her agitation about Ron and what'd happened during Transfiguration. Her flight from class and Luna finding her, Harry collecting her things. Then… the awful Christmas party with McLaggen. Would all of that just repeat itself?

Or not, probably.

Because even in her dazed state of mind Hermione had noticed a few differences during Herbology that she didn't remember from… before? It was possible though that she'd simply forgotten — her mind was good, but not that good. At least not until she became an Occlumens with perfect recall. Something that she would love to be right now very much to make sense of this bizarre experience.

With trepidation in her heart, Hermione followed the rest of the Gryffindors back to the castle.

She was very much not looking forward to a double Transfiguration class with Ron and Lavender.

She needed to talk to someone about this.

Soon.

"Does anyone know the whereabouts of Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked in her crisp voice after everyone was seated, clearly conveying her judgment of his absence as one of the most heinous of all scholarly crimes imaginable.

Hermione winced slightly, even though she wasn't the recipient of this admonishment. This in return made her realize that this was a new situation, clearly standing out of the series of soul-crushing déjà-vu moments that she'd experienced so far.

Harry hadn't been in Herbology either.

She felt goosebumps rising on her back and her arms, as her mind went into overdrive.

"Dunno, I haven't seen him all morning," Ron mumbled with irritation as most eyes in the classroom fell on him. McGonagall clearly had thoughts about his choice of words as well but refrained from voicing them.

"Miss Granger?"

Hermione had the presence of mind to shake her head slightly. "I'm sorry, Professor, I haven't met Harry today."

"Well, we shall proceed then and hope that Mr. Pottery will eventually find his way here," McGonagall remarked before proceeding to dive into the complicated topic of human transfiguration.

Hermione waited for something to happen, something to… blow up?

But it didn't.

The class just continued as it had yesterday.

When Ron managed to — again — transfigure a giant mustache onto his face, Hermione couldn't help but snort as most of the others laughed at his misfortune. He seemed to have noticed though because a while later he gave an impression not of her jumping in her seat when answering one of Professor McGonagall's questions but of her holding her wand all prim and proper while casting a spell in class. It was different from yesterday's awful moment in her memory but Hermione still felt shame and anger, and Lavender's and Parvati's shrill laughter didn't help.

Tears in her eyes, she tried to follow the lesson and did even a little bit better because she knew what was asked of her this time. When the bell rang, she left quickly but remembered to put her things into her bag beforehand.

When she reached the second floor's lavatory and shut the door behind her, Hermione leaned against the frame and tried to breathe as tears were running down her cheeks. She felt humiliated and exhausted and her ongoing confusion didn't make things easier.

Crying almost silently for a few minutes and expecting Luna to barge in any minute, Hermione wondered what she should do next. There was no way she could just continue repeating things from the day before, or whatever those memories were.

Feeling drained of willpower and stamina, she allowed herself to sink onto the cool floor, her back still to the door. When had been the last time she'd visited 'Myrtle's Bathroom'? It might indeed have been back during second year and that disastrous Polyjuice potion incident. No, that wasn't true, she'd been here... yesterday.

Luna had comforted her here.

Hadn't she?

Her eyes wandered to the stall she'd hidden back then, seeing the water from the still-defunct toilet on the floor. Why had nobody repaired it yet? She knew that the Headmaster and at least Professor Snape had been here and down in the Chamber of Secrets when Ron, Harry, and Lockhart went missing.

Had they just left it like that afterward?

Happy to have found something new for her mind to chew on, Hermione recalled everything Harry had told her about the horrifying adventure he'd experienced as she was in the Hospital Wing, petrified.

Harry.

Adventures.

There was… something.

Something in the back of her mind, an idea, a thought…

Hermione tried not to force it because she was frustrated enough as it was and instead tried to let her thoughts wander. It was hard, but she knew herself and how she loved to obsess over things that hovered on the tip of her tongue for hours on end.

She didn't have the energy to do that to herself right now, so she wouldn't.

Taking another breath, Hermione closed her eyes and focused on the cool floor, the faint noise of dripping water, the low drone of the empty lavatory…

Harry.

Adventures.

Herself.

Helping Harry.

Homework?

No.

Something more tangible.

A quill?

Something he'd used?

Something she'd used.

Because of Harry.

He'd been desperate.

No.

They had been!

She and him, together?

Out of time, as always…

Time…

Hermione opened her eyes again and felt goosebumps on her arms and her back as the thought manifested itself clearly in her mind.

Time-Turner.

Of course.

She was experiencing a loop. A time loop!

Like she was using a Time-Turner.

Like back in third year.

How proud she'd been for Professor McGonagall to offer such a device to her at the year's beginning. The secrecy. The knowledge to have... such power. The exhilaration once she'd decided to use it for the mess they'd found themselves in. Sirius Black. His escape from Azkaban. Buckbeak's execution. Hagrid's hut. How weird her hair had looked on the back of her head.

Almost unconsciously, she sobbed once.

She didn't possess a Time-Turner anymore, but someone clearly was messing around with temporal magic in Hogwarts. Maybe she was immune because she'd worn one of those devices. Or something else?

Probably something else, or maybe...

"What are you doing here?"

Startled by the voice, Hermione grabbed her wand but it was Myrtle who hovered in front of her.

"Did you fall asleep in a lavatory?" Myrtle giggled.

"No, I just needed a quiet moment."

"Oh, it's you! You had cat ears last time I saw you!" The gist whirled around and pointed at her. "Half-cat, half-witch! So ugly!"

Hermione sighed. "Yes, I was. It was a most unfortunate accident."

"Where is Harry?" Myrtle came closer again. "I haven't seen him all year. He isn't dead, is he? If so, could you tell his ghost to come and move in with me?"

"Myrtle…"

"He has such as nice bum!" The dead girl blushed and giggled again before looking around as if they were observed by others. "But shhh!"

Hermione didn't know what to make of the ghost's antics but felt a bit more energized now that she knew this strange day probably had a connection to someone's Time-Turner. She stood up again and grabbed her bag.

"If I see him, I'll tell him you said Hi", she offered.

"Oh, you would do that to poor Myrtle? Thank you!"

"Of course. See you later."

"Don't forget to flush!" Myrtle screamed just as Hermione opened the door before she dove headfirst into the broken toilet.

Feeling embarrassed, Hermione carefully stepped outside but thankfully the corridor was deserted at the moment. A small miracle really, considering her experiences so far. She hesitated for a second then began to walk towards the Grand Staircase.

She needed help or at least someone who could explain to her what was going on.

Professor McGonagall had given her a Time-Turner three years ago, she knew about the dangers of temporal magic and would listen to her. Hermione would tell her everything. If she hurried, she might even catch her Head of House alone in her office because she'd always return there after class before taking the time for a brief lunch.

Time.

Hermione began to run, breaking at least two different Hogwarts rules she was aware of.