A/N: I am going to get a bunch of things out of the way now.

First of all- Disclaimer: No owny. Wanty, but no owny. So don't sue me. Unless you want cough drops, in which case all you gotta do is ask.

Second- This story will be a hard one to understand at first. Bear with me, let me know in reviews EXACTLY what questions you have, and I'll work to fix it.

Third- I'm a student. A student who gets sick often, with a mother going through kidney failure. Actually, that's a lie, she has no kidneys at this point. They've all been removed. She's sick often, and so I'm often unable to have my wits about me enough to write. So, if I'm on hiatus for more than three months, feel free to write me nasty reviews yelling at me.

Fourth- I don't even own this plot. So I'm not above, should I got on hiatus for too long, allowing someone else to take over the plot and continue writing this as their own, should they request it. But please don't ask while I'm active.

On to the story!

PROLOGUE: What Should Have Been- 1980

Dumbledore bowed his head and stared at his aging hands, all trace of a twinkle gone from his eyes. Somehow, it seemed, for all his careful planning over the past two years, words had escaped him. He'd known this would have to happen, but the stress of being the only one currently in existence— No, he amended himself, but the other person who would ever have any idea of this secret was currently not even a year old, and wouldn't learn the secret for years. — had bore in on him deeply, and the weary look in his eyes made him seem, somehow, so much older than his 130 years of age.

He gently fingered the embellishing on the book, turning to the offending page. 1991. That would be a hectic year all around. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he leaned back in his chair. The groaning stones of the gargoyle at the mouth of his office told him that it was time, and he stood up and came around the desk to greet his guests.

He expelled his breath and relaxed a bit upon seeing only his deputy headmistress looking at him with a puzzled expression. "You didn't tell me you were expecting visitors today, Albus."

"I apologize, Minerva. I assume that they've arrived?"

"They're on their way up. They asked me to send the message that they were here. Last I saw, Lilly was heading for a washroom. Poor thing." Her expression softened and she almost smiled at the thought of one of her cubs having cubs of their own.

Dumbledore gave his long-time friend a small smile. "I understand. Are they all here?"

Minerva's face closed again. "Yes. They are. What is this about, Albus?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "Minerva, please understand that there is something important I have to tell them. All of them. And I do believe it will affect things. But I must tell them first. It is not fair to them, or her, if I don't."

The woman in his doorway looked reluctant to let it go, but after a moment of staring at her boss, she nodded. "They'll be up shortly. I'll announce them."

"Thank you, Minerva."

Dumbledore did something not entirely foreign to him. He paced his office, his gaze shifting from portrait to portrait as if begging them for advice. At the moment, however, most of them were sleeping or visiting others, and would be of no help in any case. He'd heard their opinions on the matter many times, and none of it had helped.

Finally, he forced himself back into his chair, glaring down at the book as if it had caused all of these problems. He wasn't one for glaring, or for blaming, he felt it petty and below his great number of years, but the situation seemed to call for it. Even the headmaster of Hogwarts was allowed a moment of immaturity and indecision.

He jumped up again, hearing the gargoyle's grinding announcing the entrance of others. Forcing his expression to seem welcoming, he smiled at Minerva as she again entered the office. "They're here, Albus."

"Thank you, Minerva. I appreciate this more than you know."

She gave him a tight lipped smile as she moved aside for the five Gryffindors and the single Slytherin to enter the office, then exited herself. Dumbledore turned his attention to his former students. He couldn't help but remember them as children, entering Hogwarts for the first time. But they were children no longer, as proved by Lily Potter's swelling stomach, with her husband standing behind her, holding her carefully. The twenty-year-old group stared at the Headmaster, and Dumbledore gestured to the seats he had placed in his office. "Sit, sit," he said, his gaze warm on the children. "I fear you may need to."

The last part should have been too quiet for anyone to hear, but Severus, in the corner, raised an eyebrow at Dumbledore as he sat down, furthest away from the group. Dumbledore picked up his small dish of sweets and handed it to Sirius, closest to his desk. They passed it around the room, only Lily taking one, before it ended up back on his desk.

"Before I begin, I must ask if you remember the... visitor Hogwarts had in your final year." As the words came out of his mouth, Dumbledore popped a sweet into his mouth for support and watched the reactions of the students. Lily leaned forward, holding James's hand a bit tighter. Sirius and Remus simply looked at each other, then back at Dumbledore. Peter looked at him in surprise, jolting forward in his chair excitedly. Severus's reaction was the most curious of them all. His face closed, even more so than usual. He suddenly seemed extremely interested in something a few inches above the Headmaster's head.

"I don't know what she told you. I asked her to keep as much as she possibly could quiet, but I understand that she became extremely close with you six, and that secrets would be extremely difficult in those circumstances."

At the looks of confusion, Dumbledore continued. "It appears she kept her word. Good. Although that makes my job all the harder."

He stood up and came around his desk, looking intensely at everyone in the group. "Time travel is a sketchy concept, and not one that many care to experiment with. However, it was somehow believed to be of great importance to her safety that she go back in time a few months from her own time. Due to some... unforeseen... circumstances, she was sent back a bit too far, landing back years away from her destination. Travel back into her present hadn't been important when she was only going to have to relive a few months. So there was no counter spell. Now that it would be years, we had to search for a way to get her back."

Remus looked at Dumbledore, his eyes thoughtful. "I'm sure we're all grateful to finally have the chance to understand everything, but why now?"

Dumbledore looked down at the book. He'd hoped to have a bit longer before he had to get to this. "It seems," he began, pulling the book over toward him and flipping through until he reached the cursed page. "that she came back more than a few years. It appears that she was sent back twenty years." He turned the book around and held it up. There, in the middle of the list, read the name Hermione Granger.

"1991?" Sirius asked, sounding slightly faint.

"Are you trying to tell me that this girl will be in a class with..." Lily's voice faltered.

"Our son?" James picked up for her, looking at Dumbledore, who nodded.

"I understand she was quite close with your son. Possibly why she clung to the two of you so much. You reminded her of her best friend."

Remus stared at Dumbledore, obviously trying to figure things out in his head. "Headmaster, do we all know this girl in the future?"

Dumbledore glanced down at the book, weighing just how much needed to be said. Finally, he looked out at the group. "Yes."

"All of us?"

Dumbledore nodded. "All of you." He looked directly at Severus, who had been silent throughout this entire thing. Severus simply looked back at Dumbledore, his eyes masked heavily. Not even the headmaster knew the extent of the turmoil the young man was currently in.

Or, at least... that's the way the meeting should have gone.

A/N: I know, it's weird. Ask your questions. I'm working on Chapter 1 right now, but you have to understand that I know what's going on. I don't know what it's like to be in the dark here. I'm not going to spill everything in the first chapters. If it makes no sense at all, I blame the fact that I'm on eight different medications trying to get over a bad cold. (I always write when I'm sick, somehow.)

PLEASE REVIEW. They're my medicine.